Everyone Else is a Regressor - Chapter 57

◈ Everyone Else is a Regressor (57)

Chapter 12. I’ll Carry This (2)

Up at the crack of dawn, marching while munching on energy bars made of hardened nuts and grains, and even running excitedly to shake off the pursuit – everyone must have been starving.

KiJun couldn’t tolerate setting out on a relic expedition on an empty stomach. That just wasn’t the way of a straight-laced guy like him.

“Here, I made these last night and kept them in the inventory. Come and eat.”

After asking Ur to keep watch, KiJun spread a large mat on the ground, took out five lunch boxes, a thermos, and five mugs from his inventory, then poured steaming hot tomato stew, quickly preparing a meal for everyone.

“Hmm… Did you make all of this yourself, Jun?”

Herbert, clad in black armor, sat cross-legged on the mat and asked with a look of disbelief. Until just moments ago, he’d been scanning the surroundings with a serious expression.

KiJun nodded calmly, now quite adept at fibbing.

“Flame Humans excel in all tasks involving fire.”

“Good one… Really?”

Beef pilaf neatly packed in lunch boxes, various fruits and vegetables tossed in dressing with cheese sprinkled on top, and appetizing sausages in hot tomato stew.

Herbert wasn’t the only one whose eyes flickered in amazement at the dishes that seemed to shimmer with light.

“Ur will cover for us. Everyone, come and eat.”

―Kihiit!

“Right, Ur. There’s some for you too.”

As KiJun tickled Ur’s chin and opened its lunchbox, Ur hopped around happily, showering him with affection.

Naturally, Lucy couldn’t resist reacting.

―…Give me some too, Contractor.

‘Sure, come here and I’ll feed you.’

Since Lucy had to stay hidden and could only eat bits and pieces from KiJun while he ate, she grudgingly clung to him, even though she was annoyed.

KiJun’s tactic to physically close the gap and forcibly mend their relationship was a roaring success. Unbeknownst to him, this was exactly what Lucy had intended.

“You said it was called Red Flame Water? It’s amazing that it can even keep watch! Can we really relax and eat?”

“Of course.”

“Then, let’s dig in―!”

While the other party members were just gawking, Armillca, the lightest on her feet, was the first to plop down on the mat and took a big scoop of pilaf.

Then she froze.

“This, this, this is…”

After a few seconds of being frozen, she regained her composure, chewed the rice, swallowed, and exclaimed with a surprised face.

“It’s really delicious! I would have eaten it all if I wasn’t controlling my diet…”

“Warriors fighting in the front lines worrying about diets… Let me try. Oh?”

After teasing Armillca, Herbert sat down and tried the fried rice, then wore an expression as if he couldn’t believe what he was tasting.

“Jun, may I ask what level your cooking skill is?”

“It’s Unique.”

“No wonder it’s a taste I’ve never experienced before. I’ll enjoy this, it’s quite a treat to indulge our taste buds on a relic expedition.”

Hearing this, Lora, who had been hesitantly reaching for her lunchbox, blinked rapidly and asked.

“There are grades in cooking skills…?”

“In large cities, there are high-class restaurants that can only be opened by proving an Uncommon grade in cooking skills, Lady.”

“My goodness… Wow.”

Carefully starting her meal, Lora soon joined the others in their exclamations of amazement, then quietly focused on her food.

KiJun hoped that the delicious meal would ease her tension a bit as he amiably shared his food with Lucy.

“…Delicious.”

Meanwhile, the staff wielder In, true to his size, quickly emptied his lunchbox and finally let out an exclamation of admiration while eating the tomato stew.

“It’s energizing. Did you put some herbs in it?”

“I loaded the fried rice with garlic. In the stew, I added onions and herbs that are good for stamina.”

“Oh, that’s lucky.”

Herbert, overhearing this, joined in excitedly.

“It’s perfect since we suspect werewolves might appear in this relic. They are especially sensitive to smells. Garlic and onions will really give them a hard time.”

“Is that so? Lucky indeed.”

In reality, KiJun, being Korean, tended to generously use garlic and onions in most of his cooking. It wasn’t so much luck as it was habit.

“From now on, I’ll take care of the meals during expeditions.”

“Really? Maybe we need to rethink the reward distribution…”

Except for Armillca, who tearfully left about half of her lunchbox and stew, as she was on a diet, all the party members cleaned their plates.

However, as soon as she finished eating, Armillca, who left some food, quickly rinsed her mouth and pulled out a homemade chocolate bar, feeling the gaze of the party members on her. She shrugged her shoulders and retorted.

“What are you looking at? You know dark chocolate doesn’t make you fat, right?”

“If that makes you happy, then that’s all that matters.”

Herbert scoffed and gave the signal to move out. KiJun and the others, either donning their helmets or circulating magic power, readied themselves and followed him.

The relic they entered was of the subspace type, not a typical relic with expanding or altered internal spaces, but a completely separate space from reality.

As such, it was impossible to gauge the interior size from the outside and it often operated under different laws than reality – like the immediate feature of this relic.

“That moon, it’s fixed in position. It probably won’t set.”

Herbert, with his sharp eye for tracking, pointed at the moon hanging in the night sky.

“An eternal night, huh. Werewolves will love it.”

“And vampires, too.”

KiJun jokingly replied, causing Herbert to laugh at Armillca’s horrified reaction, then he sank into his own shadow.

He was scouting ahead before the group moved on.

“That guy is so annoying…”

Armillca ground her teeth and muttered, which KiJun overheard and pondered.

Could that be part of his Casanova strategy to get her attention?

―Contractor, usually women pretending to hate someone don’t actually despise them at first. They just act that way. But right now, she really hates him.

‘Women’s hearts are complicated.’

―You don’t need to understand that, Contractor, you got it?

Engaged in a leisurely conversation, they slowly descended the hill, and then Herbert emerged from a shadow near a tree and reported to KiJun.

“Jun, as expected, there are werewolves. Six of them, no other enemies in sight. What will you do?”

“Is there room for dialogue?”

“What?”

Herbert looked puzzled, then explained.

“Ah, you might be confused because I said werewolves. They’re not the Lycanthropes of the Light faction but the Vrykolakas of the Dark faction. Monsters.”

KiJun fell silent upon hearing this, lost in thought.

Competition in Reta is broadly divided into two types.

One is the competition among civilizations to become the final victor, and the other is the struggle between civilizations split into the factions of Light and Darkness.

The latter is a more constant and tangible reality compared to the former, which seems too vague. The monsters KiJun had faced during the last Overflow all belonged to the Dark faction.

‘It’s the same werewolves, but the Lycanthropes of the Light faction are allies, and the Vrykolakas of the Dark faction are enemies…’

If KiJun hadn’t checked the information before entering the relic, he wouldn’t have questioned it. However, the fact that the werewolves in this relic had run away from their pack and that some of them wished to become human troubled him.

“I understand your hesitation, Leader. When I first encountered orcs from the Dark faction, I tried to talk to them too. But they are our enemies. That’s an unchanging fact.”

In, the spear warrior, said this with narrowed eyes, seeing KiJun’s hesitation.

Half of his blood was Orc, likely from the Light faction.

It was easy to imagine the shock he must have felt when he approached monsters because they resembled him, only to be rejected.

KiJun understood In’s feelings and also agreed with Herbert’s stance, but he still couldn’t ignore the information he had gathered about the relic.

“…I’ll try approaching them.”

“Jun?”

“Eh? Are you stupid, Leader? We should ambush them, ambush!”

Herbert widened his eyes, and Armillca protested dramatically.

Ignoring their reactions, KiJun replied.

“We’ve just entered the relic. I want to try everything possible… I’m confident we won’t be pushed back even in a direct confrontation.”

“Ha, the hero of Turris really is different. Do you dislike ambushes?”

“I don’t hesitate to ambush a confirmed enemy.”

Unfazed by Herbert’s sarcasm, KiJun instructed his party to wait and started walking down the hill alone.

He knew it might seem foolish, but he had no regrets. This was in line with the standards he had set for himself.

The only frustration was not being able to share the information he had gathered with his party members.

―Can’t help it, that title is too powerful to reveal.

‘If they all rush at me without discrimination, it will be troublesome, right?’

And soon enough, it became troublesome.

―Grrrrr…!

―Annoying smell. Kill! Cover with blood!

As KiJun closed in enough to see the werewolves with his naked eye, they all turned to him, baring their teeth.

They were larger than KiJun, even in his armor, with thick gray bristles covering their bodies, making them look like they were wearing heavy armor. Their loins were crudely covered with dirty leather, making them look even more barbaric.

Despite their openly hostile demeanor, KiJun first tried speaking to them calmly.

“Are you willing to talk?”

―Talk? Sure. After I rip out your heart!

Starting with the leader of the werewolves, five of them, halfway between bipedal and quadrupedal, lunged at KiJun.

Someone from the party on the hill seemed to scream, but of course, it was a needless worry.

The moment the leader extended its arms with long claws towards KiJun, a pair of white fangs, crafted of holy flame, surged through, tearing at the werewolf’s neck.

―Gruk…

No second strike was needed.

The holy fire, presumably a combination of Lucy and Ur’s spirit power, was fatal enough to burn the werewolf to ashes on the spot.

It was fortunate that at least one of its fangs remained, thanks to KiJun’s Slaughter skill.

Picking it up and storing it in his inventory, KiJun clicked his tongue.

“If you’re not willing to talk, there’s nothing I can do.”

―Brother!

―So easily…

―Run away!

Unlike typical monsters, these werewolves, part of a civilization, quickly realized the disparity in strength with KiJun and tried to escape.

But by the time they turned to flee, walls of fire had already surrounded them on all sides.

“Ah!”

―M-Magic… Cough!

A shield, thrown like a flash of lightning, lodged into the throat of one werewolf, knocking it down.

KiJun caught the returning shield mid-air and charged at the remaining werewolves, burning and tearing them apart with two massive fangs.

If they had been merely brave monsters, they might have attacked all at once without thinking, but these half-intelligent beings tried to flee for their lives, leading to their pitiful annihilation.

―You have hunted five Rare-grade ‘Werewolf Assault Troopers’ and earned an appropriate amount of experience.

KiJun felt a bitter smile form as he realized he was gaining decent experience from these high-ranked enemies, finding himself thinking about experience points as soon as the enemy was confirmed.

The realization that there were still remaining werewolves came right after.

“Please, save me…!”

“So, there were six… Ah ha.”

Herbert had said there were six werewolves, but KiJun had only faced five, including the leader.

He had assumed they were all one group, but now it was clear that one more werewolf, entirely different in size, fur, and even clothing from the other five, was left.

“Please, I can talk. So please save me, I’m a human…!”

It was uncertain how the system would judge.

However, to KiJun, the werewolf in front of him, significantly smaller and with a thin, boyish voice, didn’t seem like a monster compared to the others.

Moreover, considering its severely torn clothes and numerous scratch wounds, it seemed to have been bullied by the other werewolves that were alive until recently.

―Hmm, it doesn’t seem to be lying.

‘I don’t know yet. If it’s similar to a human, it might be even better at lying.’

KiJun hadn’t come to the relic to help the werewolves.

He just didn’t want to mindlessly hunt them down only to later realize their circumstances and be left with a bad taste.

“Jun!”

“Mr. Jun!”

As KiJun was having a stare-down with the werewolf, Herbert and the rest of the party members rushed to his side.

Some held their weapons as if guarding against the werewolf, and Armillca even seemed ready to step in and slay it herself.

“Please, save me! I can talk well, really!”

Watching the werewolf plead in front of KiJun, Herbert let out a strange exclamation, staring at KiJun intently.

In quietly observed the werewolf, ready to respond to any sudden movements, and Lora clasped her hands in prayer.

“Ah, this is getting troublesome. I don’t know, you handle it. Ahh, Lo――ra!”

Meanwhile, Armillca, realizing it was too troublesome to kill the werewolf, clicked her tongue in disappointment and sheathed her sword. Losing interest in the werewolf, she changed her expression and clung to Lora, flirting with her.

“It’s good you’re willing to talk.”

“Gasp!”

Finally, KiJun bent his knees to meet the werewolf’s gaze.

Facing KiJun’s blazing eyes through his helmet, the werewolf’s fear intensified.

“I’m Jun. Tell me everything you know, including your name.”

“Is interrogation considered a conversation now? I had no idea.”

“Do you want to talk with me too, Herbert?”

Herbert closed his mouth.

Of course, the werewolf immediately started spilling all the information it knew…