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Chapter 2




Chapter 2. Screw Regrets
“Cough.”
On the blood-soaked ground, a puddle of blood spread out.
Though it was hard to notice among the already widespread blood, I silently took in the small amount of blood mixing into the puddle.
‘...What the hell went wrong?’
The fresh blood flowing from the corner of my mouth wouldn’t stop. Even when I tangled with the Lortelga knights, it wasn’t this bad.
Right then, a voice reached my ear.
“Quite impressive. I thought you were done for, but you managed to hang on.”
A face I never wanted to see again.
It was the head of the house.
Unlike me, who was battered and bruised, the head of the house was perfectly composed. He looked down at me with a gentle tone.
“After all, didn’t I tell you? The gap between you and me is something you can understand without a fight.”
“Damn... you’re strong.”
Indeed, as he said.
The battle started with great enthusiasm, but the process was utterly futile.
Or rather, if you only looked at the process, it was incredibly intense. But only for me.
The head of the Deculan family’s magic was both solid and vicious. It was truly a—
Disaster.
With a step, the earth would crack, and with a wave of his hand, lightning would rain down like a storm, making it feel like I was fighting against nature itself.
Amidst this, I was the only one desperately trying to reach the head of the house.
While I was reflecting on the battle, the head of the house’s voice made me lift my head.
“Seems like you’re ready to talk now. How about we finish our unfinished conversation?”
“So, you want me to come back under the shadow of the Deculan family?”
“That’s right.”
The casual answer made me burst out laughing.
Even though it hurt my abs with every laugh due to the injury I sustained during the battle, I couldn’t stop laughing.
“So, you want me to become a troubleshooter again?”
It wasn’t a question that required an answer. I just found it amusing. But why, the head of the house narrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head.
“Ah, didn’t I say? I don’t want you to become a troubleshooter again. Rather...”
Suddenly, the head of the house rummaged through his clothes and handed me something. It was a jade-colored token, and his voice echoed in my ear.
“I think you’ll recognize it.”
“...!”
He was right.
Without any explanation from the head of the house, I immediately recognized the token. It was something I couldn’t mistake.
A Vassal Token.
Even the great Deculan family can’t shine alone. There are pillars that support the Deculan family.
These are the vassal families.
And the Vassal Token is a symbol given to families that swear loyalty to the Deculan family. What the head of the Deculan family was proposing to me was this.
So...
“You want me... to become the head of a vassal family?”
“Exactly.”
I silently took in the Vassal Token.
‘Damn, what madness.’
If he had offered me a fortune, I wouldn’t have been swayed.
I was a troubleshooter. Wealth was never important to me. If I needed it, I could just take it, and the secrets of various noble families would be mine.
But the position of the head of a vassal family was different.
“A position where you can do anything. If you want, I can give you a good piece of land.”
A position where you can do anything.
Yes, if I had to describe the vassal family in one word, the head of the house’s words were the most fitting.
The Deculan family, the greatest magical family in the Eastern Continent, has power that rivals the emperor.
How else could you say that the emperor governs the empire, and the Deculan family governs the entire East?
“What do you think?”
I silently looked at the head of the house.
“Of course, this was the goal, right?”
I pulled out an ancient book from my clothes. It was a magical book I obtained unintentionally while raiding the Deculan family’s secrets.
If I could get the magical book safely, he would give me the position of a vassal family. I understood his intentions.
But why, the head of the house suddenly burst out laughing.
“Haha.”
It was a dry laugh. An uncomfortable sound. But his expression was genuinely amused, and the laughter suddenly stopped.
“You seem to underestimate your own value. Look at the scene you created.”
The head of the house’s eyes changed immediately after.
He spread his arms wide, and behind him, a gruesome scene unfolded.
The Deculan family’s mages who met their end at my hands. The scene was destroyed by the battle with the head of the house, but the traces were still clearly visible.
“Who would believe that a dirty black-and-white zone vagrant could create such a scene? A vagrant who only learned the trash that troubleshooters learn.”
His voice grew stronger, and his eyes were filled with an unknown madness. But the emotion in his eyes looking at me was pure goodwill.
He continued.
“I’m curious. If the wings of the Deculan family were attached to your talent, how high could you rise? How high could the Deculan family rise with you as a sword?”
His eyes no longer held me.
Or rather, they held me, but he was looking at a slightly distant future. The glorious future that would unfold when I joined the Deculan family.
The great Deculan family becoming even greater.
He subtly urged me to make a choice.
“Come under the shadow of the Deculan family. And rise together. Right by my side, making the Deculan family even greater. You will also leave your name in history. Of course, you’ll have to return the magical book.”
My gaze was fixed on the Vassal Token.
‘...’
I never regret the past. I had no reason to lament a status I never chose.
But, I was curious.
Born a black-and-white zone vagrant, I started learning late. But what if I had the wings of the Deculan family? How high could I rise?
Just as I thought that,
“Alright, you’ve thought it over.”
My hand was already reaching for the Vassal Token.
As I felt the cold touch at my fingertips, I suddenly looked up at the head of the house.
His face was filled with pure joy.
As his hand fell and the Vassal Token was in my hand, I handed over the magical book.
“Take it.”
“Thank you. With this, your crimes are all forgiven. From now on, you will only have the glory of being with the Deculan family...”
The smile on the head of the house’s face deepened. His voice was almost excited.
But the smile didn’t last long.
Whoosh.
“...!”
A sudden burst of flames.
Just as the head of the house’s hand was about to touch the magical book, a small flame engulfed it. A low explosion echoed through the space.
Crack!
This time, the Vassal Token broke.
Or rather, I should say I broke it.
The head of the house, unable to accept the situation, stiffened for a moment before looking at me with a cold expression.
“...What are you doing?”
“Haha, what am I doing? I told you to take it. If you like it burned, that’s fine too.”
“...”
A heavy silence fell.
I laughed, and the head of the Deculan family glared at me with a cold expression.
A dry wind swept across the ground where the Deculan family’s mages lay still.
No, it wasn’t the wind.
Between me and the head of the house, a single thread of killing intent blew. It was the deep killing intent emitted by the head of the Deculan family, unable to control his anger.
I suddenly looked up at the sky.
Although no wyverns were flying, the sky of that day was clear. The day I decided to retire.
‘Thinking about it, there was a reason.’
I decided to retire because of that sky. The wyverns flying in the sky looked so free, but there was a reason I looked up at the sky.
“Head of the house, listen.”
“You won’t die easily.”
“I understand, so shut up and listen.”
I opened my mouth.
“Originally, as a troubleshooter, I didn’t need retirement funds. We know our lives are worth less than a piece of paper.”
What’s a piece of paper? A troubleshooter’s life is lighter than a feather.
If it were other troubleshooters, they would be grateful just to have the chance to retire, let alone retirement funds. But I was different.
“But why did I gather all this? It’s related to my reason for retiring. Do you know about the young master of the Deculan family who devoured troubleshooters?”
“...”
The head of the house didn’t answer.
The one who was just glaring at me as if to kill me was now frowning and waiting for my words.
Of course, he had to.
The young master of the Deculan family touched a forbidden area. Lacking the talent of his father, he tried to compensate by going to extremes.
So, what he touched was...
Forbidden magic.
The young master devoured my comrades with it, and when the Deculan family found out, they thoroughly covered up the incident.
“So, are you planning to take revenge?”
“Haha, why would I?”
I know my life is cheap, and so do my comrades. Why would I repay such a cheap life?
But...
“I was thinking of fulfilling what they wanted. But to do that, I needed a lot of money. That’s the reason. Yes, that’s the reason.”
That day, I looked up at the sky for that reason. I couldn’t calm the rage over my comrades’ deaths, and I couldn’t do anything.
So, I wanted to retire.
Revenge? They died because they were weak, so that’s fine. But I wanted to fulfill what they dreamed of.
“Oh, there’s one more.”
Actually, this was the most important reason.
“After deciding to retire, you want me to come back to the doghouse? Just because it’s a bit bigger and has a shiny collar, it’s not a house, is it? Haha.”
“Are you done with your last words?”
“I could talk for a lifetime if I wanted. Do you want to keep listening?”
The head of the house shook his head.
That was the end.
There was no more conversation between us.
Sizzle...
A tingling pain started from my toes. Looking down, I saw blue flames flickering.
“This is the Deculan family’s pride, the Blue Flame. It’s a flame that never goes out. In it, you will bitterly regret your choice.”
“Screw regrets.”
The pain slowly eating away at my body from my toes was truly intense.
No matter what I did, my mind remained clear. But there was no regret.
‘Who would become a dog again?’
No way!
Rather than being a loyal dog to the Deculan family for generations, I’d rather return to the dirty black-and-white zone.
If that’s not possible, death isn’t bad either.
“Haha.”
Even in the excruciating pain, the laughter didn’t stop.
What a long time it’s been since I felt this sense of liberation.
It would have been better to escape alive, but looking back on my life, I have no regrets.
If I were to be reborn, I’d be a wyvern.
‘I’d spend my days roaming the vast sky, and when I’m bored, I’d come down to the ground to torment the Deculan family.’
Finding freedom and taking revenge. It would be like catching goblins and orcs.
Just thinking about it made me smile.
Flash!
The world flashed before my eyes.
“...?”
Perplexed, I lifted my head and soon noticed the changes around me.
The blue flames that were devouring my body had solidified, and the head of the house was motionless.
As if time had stopped.
The only thing moving was...
Wriggle.
‘...The magical book?’
The ashes of the magical book in my left hand wriggled like a living creature.
It repeatedly clumped together and dispersed like a slime. Then, something strange happened.
Squish.
The ashes penetrating my skin.
No, they weren’t ashes. They were in the form of characters.
‘What the...’
The strange characters seeped into my skin, climbed up my arm, and gathered in my chest.
Right above my left heart. The strange characters overlapped and lost their shape.
Then, they suddenly flashed.
Crack.
Only one character remained and disappeared.
That was the last of my memory.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again.
“...”
Clang.
I tilted my head.
‘I didn’t... die?’
Not only that, something was off.
How should I put it? The scene in front of me was so familiar.
The crumpled can in my hand, the coins inside, and even the alleyway were familiar.
It was as if I had returned to the past, a familiar scene.
After a moment of puzzlement.
“Ah.”
A gasp escaped my lips.
I remembered.
This place was...
The black-and-white zone.
The very alley where I lived day by day before becoming a troubleshooter.
‘Could it be...’
Did I travel back in time?
There was no other way to explain it.