Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

“Julius! Julius! Julius!”

“Hooray!!!”

“All hail the Reinhart family!!”

When Allen had finally left the sewers, the battle between Julius and the mercenary group had come to its conclusion. The news of the duel had already spread throughout the streets, and people were chanting Julius’s name.

It was a sight to behold—everyone cheering with such excitement.

⟬Ah, it’s so loud.⟭

Incongruent with the wishes that Vestla had expressed to see the festival, she complained quietly, disliking the noise.

‘...Do they know how loud they’re being?’

Keeping in mind that it would be difficult to respond to her, Allen immediately handed over the captured bandits to a nearby soldier.

“Take care of them so they don’t die.”

“Yes, sir!”

“There are traces of them in the waterways, so you can take care of the rest.”

“But where would they be…?”

“I’ve marked the location on this map.”

“Ah! Understood, sir!”

Allen handed the soldier a map he had drawn on as he exited the underground waterway. After giving a salute, the soldier dragged the bandits away, still groaning about their wounds.

They would receive bare-minimum treatment before being interrogated.

⟬You said you’d have some free time after this, right?⟭

“Hm… Probably. Why?”

⟬Fufu, it’s nothing.⟭

“Fine.”

Allen quickly headed for the manor.

Julius was going to show off his achievements, so he needed to boast his own too.

* * *

A few days later, the whole story came to light.

The mercenary leader revealed the whole truth on a platform in the town square as a result of Julius’s threats. In front of the public with a face of apparent humiliation, he confessed that he had received a secret request.

“Well, then. What about all those people who lost their family members to Young Master Julius?”

“That was also a lie.”

He had brought in the victims who had appeared to shout malicious lies, but were actually normal people who had nothing to do with Julius.

Additionally, he confessed that while some of the city was left unguarded, a swarm of bandits would be allowed to attack the manor via the underground waterways, causing a tremendous sensation.

“Is everything okay now?”

“Are we in danger?”

The citizens were upset and confused, and just as anxiety spiked in the population…

“Sir Allen has caught the bandits!”

Allen had sensed the anxiety in the air in advance, and announced that he had subdued the band of bandits himself. The uproar subsided immediately, the people of the city relieved.

“Wow. Sir Allen… I knew he could do it.”

“Both young lords are superb. The duke must be proud.”

“Sir Allen took down the bandits so the festival wouldn’t be ruined…”

Hearing this, the mercenary leader—who had already been forced to confess the truth—became dejected. At the knowledge that all of their plans had failed, he realized that he would have no more chances at escaping.

When he was finally asked who the culprit was, he unhesitatingly gave the name of the nobleman who made the request.

As soon as the mercenary leader uttered the truth in front of the public, Gaielle dispatched both the knights and soldiers.

The mastermind had been caught.

“L-Let go! Do you know who I am?!”

He had been demoted from nobility a few years ago.

He said that he had been promised an astronomical sum of money for stealing a special item from the trove.

“Who made such a request of you?”

“Well, I couldn’t see their face…”

As soon as he had been captured, Gaielle decided to execute him.

There was a good enough reason to do so. He caused a major disturbance during the festival and plotted to disgrace them. And rather than a nobleman who would be protected by royal law, he was nothing but a fallen noble.

Moreover, nobody could stop the duke in his own territory.

“S-Sir, you’re making a mistake. If you kill me, you’ll regret it…”

Clink.

Just like the rest of the mercenaries, the leader wouldn’t be able to avoid his judgment. 

“P-Please spare me!”

“I didn’t know anything! Please! Please!”

“B-Boss, I told you we shouldn’t have done this one!”

They poured out their pleas, despair, and resentment as they died.

Those who knew nothing said that justice had triumphed, praising the family and enjoying the festival. Those with thoughts expressed their doubts. The deep thinkers remained silent on the suspicion that there was a purpose behind raiding the duke's treasure trove.

The harvest festival resumed, and through the results of the failed raid, the duke was able to show those around him that he was still competent.

The streets echoed with the cries of Allen’s and Julius’s names, and residents and travelers alike happily enjoyed the festival.

In the midst of it all, someone had been forgotten.

Squeeeaaak.

The unoiled hinges creaked as they opened.

The guard retrieved the key that opened the door, looked into the darkness, and said, “Come on, you dumbasses. What if they don’t fall for it? Tsk, tsk.”

“Oh, stop. Those stupid bastards won’t figure it out.”

When another guard told him to quit it, he muttered to himself for a while before shouting with an annoyed expression, “That’s true, but… Tsk. Whatever. Come out already!”

Thud, thud.

Up until a few days ago, he thought he could get revenge for his family and make them pay. Yet what had actually happened? He had become nothing but a fool who had been tricked, criticized for having been stupid at best.

In the end, he hadn’t done any harm to Julius.

“You should be glad that Sir Julius took care of you. Anyone else and they would’ve given you the death penalty, you know.”

“Stop, please. What do you know.”

“Tsk.”

The sound of his tongue clicking made his body recoil.

Callon raised his head to look at the expression of the adults he was with.

Having shared the same pain, they could call themselves comrades; their expressions were dark.

“Ackan said that we’d be able to do it…”

They were the same adults who had told him that there was hope up until a few days ago, despite being locked in the cold darkness behind iron bars.

Their faces were painted with terror, as if they made a grave mistake.

“Hurry up and walk!”

Those who had been slowing down accelerated. Callon followed them up the stairs.

Creeeaaak…

The guard leading them turned the heavy door’s lock.

Thunk.

After opening the very heavy door, fresh air and warm sunlight greeted them.

Nothing had happened.

Driven into the streets, they dispersed without need of disbanding. Callon felt that the vitality of the street did not suit him.

He was frustrated, but he couldn't help it.

“…I have to go back to my brother.”

His footsteps followed quietly behind him as he left the city.

* * *

* * * 

Just as other families do, the Reinhart family raised butlers for lifelong servitude from generation to generation through a systematic education starting in early childhood and indoctrinated loyalty. A know-how built by the family for generations.

That was how their butlers—in charge of various administrative tasks for the family—were raised.

However, there were instances in which outsiders would also be hired in.

One of such hires was Gardell, one of the house’s butlers. He was an excellent butler who had never caused even a single problem in his decades of servitude to the family.

Now, rather than retiring for his old age, he had taken a step back from his butler position. Though, nobody ignored him. He was deeply respected, despite coming in from the outside.

“Hinell, you’re looking like you’re in better shape. You’ve cleaned up nicely too.”

“Bidun, how’s your sick brother doing? You used the herb I gave you? I’m glad.”

“Tina, you look lovely today. How’s your relationship with Cain going?”

Gardell smiled kindly and greeted everyone he encountered while walking through the halls. His kind, benevolent character made him like a grandparent to the other servants. Not a single person in the manor spoke ill of him.

He slowly walked into the room with a warm smile on his face.

Thud.

As soon as the door closed, his expression was wiped off his face.

There was already someone waiting in the room.

“You’re late.”

Wine-colored hair trailed down to her waist accompanied by a beautiful smile.

Even as she grew older, she remained a charming woman.

Gardell bent his knee at her reprimand.

“I’m sorry, Lady Eliza. I didn’t expect Young Master Allen to improve so much.”

“...Allen? Hm, so he grew that much during his training?”

She had been glaring coldly from his late arrival, yet it loosened up after hearing the news about Allen.

“Yes. Although only for a moment, he managed to sense my presence. If it were someone else in my place, they would’ve been caught.”

The news of Allen’s overwhelming growth had eased the tension for a moment. However, until that time, Gardell had never thought that he would get caught.

He couldn’t believe that Allen had found him—someone who was once one of the Dark Kings.

“...Really?”

Eliza looked amazed, then pouted her lips at her recollection of Allen only a month before.

“He said he’d come to see me four times a week, but he didn’t.”

“With all due respect, Lady Eliza…”

“What?”

“I am a tad suspicious of his sudden growth. Perhaps he—”

‘No.”

She immediately refuted Gardell’s thought.

‘Allen? Well… I was a little suspicious at first, but…’

Eliza recalled the first time she’d met Allen.

“He isn’t like Julius.”

She had called Allen in to confirm it, checking everything. His habits, tone, speech patterns, values, and personality. It was a little different from what she knew, but it was still Allen.

However, things weren’t entirely clear, so she found out even more by keeping Linbelle and Inellia by her side under the pretext of training them.

The innocent women didn’t even know that they were providing her with information about him.

It didn’t matter even if they did.

‘What’s wrong with a mother wanting to know about her child?’

Gardell remained silent in response to her declaration.

‘If that’s how she feels, then so be it. She must be aware of something that I’m not.’

“So Allen is fine. And what about Julius…?”

“Young Master Julius is… I can say that I’ve examined him thoroughly. Compared to a few months ago, he’s completely different.”

Subtle changes in gait, pitch, subconscious habits, and even his preferences. These may have all seemed to be only minor clues, but to assassins like Gardell, they were credible evidence.

That was why he was so sure.

“He is… a different person.”

Hearing Gardell’s report, Eliza closed her eyes. Lots of emotions rattled around in her mind, but she didn’t let it show. It still wasn’t the right time yet.

“Well… have you found any of the people who tried to mess with Julius, no, that other person?”

“...My apologies. I sent everyone to pursue them, but found only one lesser nobleman who appeared to be giving orders.”

“And you?”

“I found some people who seemed to agree with their cause, but they didn’t appear to be connected to them.”

“So you’re saying that you couldn’t find the perpetrator? Gardell, don’t make me demote you.”

With that, Gardell bowed even lower.

“I was able to find a lead, fortunately. I started tracking it, but…”

“But?”

“They were headed towards the Great Desert.”

A smile formed on her lips.

“Oh the Great Desert… Then that means…”

They were with Galshdin Academy.

Eliza understood why he stopped trailing them. The Academy was a place with lots of technology. It made sense, with the Academy being the place where at least two of the Top Eight were permanently stationed. It would be a waste of a life to try to break in.

“And…”

“Hm?”

She looked at him, and Gardell lowered his head.

“The bandits’ capabilities far exceeded my expectations. If the attack were to have progressed any further…”

His identity could have been revealed.

Gardell stated his expectations without exaggeration.

Eliza could tell what he was talking about. So she understood his actions. It was his instinct. If he wasn’t sure, he wouldn’t have gone.

That was the essential nature of the Dark King Gardell. And that was their promise.

There was another curious fact.

“You were strong enough to handle them all at once?”

“No. I couldn’t kill dozens of people at once without appearing. I didn’t reveal my identity. Because that was the promise I made with you, Lady Eliza.”

Despite Gardell’s cold words, Eliza didn’t even do so much as raise an eyebrow.

Such conditions enabled her to use him, a Dark King, as an invisible sword for decades, so what he said was correct.

“Then there’s nothing we can do. A lot of people have gone missing in the pursuit of the truth behind this incident.”

Otherwise, the bandits would have been dealt with without Allen needing to come in at all.

‘Then does that mean that there are people who had predicted this…?’

Eliza’s eyes curved like crescent moons.

Her son had changed. Her husband had changed.

Something had been trying to use those around her unbeknownst to anyone else.

So, was it necessary to stay put any longer?

“Gardell, send out invitations for me. I’d like to meet with my friends for the first time in a while.”

Her ‘new son’ had made a lot of money, it would only be right to have some fun with it.

Didn’t she deserve as much, playing the role of stepmother?

“High society… Oh how long it has been.”

‘If you can’t do something alone, then you have no choice but to borrow someone else’s strength.’

She waved her hand, and Gardell quietly left the room.

Left alone, Eliza quietly dusted off the armrests.

A number of things came to her mind. Of happy daily life, of peaceful days, day after day. Now, that routine had fallen apart.

‘...Julius…’

She would have to stay busy from now on, taking part in high society, displaying their luxury, and secretly pursuing her goals.

Despite the uproar ringing throughout the city, her own surroundings were silent.

Like the calm before the storm.