The Regressor Can Make Them All

Chapter 267

The air was thick with tension, making it seem like a fight could break out at the slightest trigger.

Yet, it didn’t go that way.

“Well, you’re our esteemed guest, and it must’ve been hard coming all the way here, so how about we save it for after dinner?”

Seeing that Ren didn’t seem interested in fighting immediately, Se-Hoon briefly hesitated before just nodding.

“Sure, it’s not an urgent matter anyway.”

“Then we’ll see each other later. Make sure to show him around the house well, Erika.”

Giving them a smile, Ren walked down the corridor and deeper into the building, disappearing from their sight.

And as soon as he did, Erika calmly spoke up. “He’s probably going to prepare for the duel. That’s just his nature.”

“Is he going to set up something?”

“It’s not that.... He'll likely be observing you while we're in the house.

“Ah, I see. So he’s that kind of person, huh?”

Se-Hoon remained completely nonchalant, as if he had expected as much since the beginning.

“Well, that’s fine with me. The more prepared he is, the better for me.”

“Why do you think so?”

“That way, he won’t have any excuses later like, ‘I was only using one-third of my strength’ or something like that.”

“...”

Erika gave him a peculiar look.

Does he take my brother that lightly...?

She knew better than anyone that Ren wasn’t someone to be underestimated. Despite being ranked third in the Hall of Martial Arts, he was the third years’ honor student at Babel. If it weren’t for the outlier Aria, Ren would have easily been regarded as the strongest in the academy.

“Aren’t you being a little too confident?”

While she understood that Se-Hoon was also somewhat special, she deeply believed it wasn’t wise to be overly confident.

Hearing the hint of a warning in Erika’s voice, Se-Hoon calmly replied, “It’s just a figure of speech. I’m not underestimating your brother.”

“Then why are you so confident?”

“I just have this feeling that”—Se-Hoon’s lips curled into a slight smile as he recalled the way Ren deflected Baek-Yeon’s arrow—“I’ll win without much trouble.”

“...I’m not sure if I get it,” Erika replied, making a faintly unsure expression. She hadn’t been able to process his words.

“You will when you see it for yourself later. Now, how about showing me around the house?”

“Okay.”

Accepting his words, Erika started guiding Se-Hoon again, leading him through the house. As they walked deeper into the house, Se-Hoon glanced around and observed not just the guards and workers but the several artificial shikigami roaming the premises as well. From what he could tell, each was unique in form and function.

Hmm, these all seem quite well-made.

Similar to golems, shikigami were magical constructs, though with some differences. If a golem was like a container holding water, then a shikigami was like the water itself, molded into a container.

It’s not like blacksmiths can’t forge these... but they don’t really get along with the way we forge.

Crafting shikigami required meticulous synchronization with their creator’s synesthetic mindscape. If there was even the slightest misalignment, the shikigami had a chance of going rogue and attacking its summoner.

Watching a frog-faced shikigami, Se-Hoon asked, “What are those used for?”

“They’re not much different from the guards and workers. They patrol and perform chores,” Erika replied without even looking back. Her steps never stopped.

“I assume they also help maintain the barrier?”

But at those words, Erika stopped in her tracks and turned to him with a curious expression on her face.

“How did you know that?”

“Huh? Isn’t it pretty obvious if you look closely?”

Explaining what he meant, Se-Hoon mentioned that the way the shikigami were placed and the ley lines beneath the ground flowed gave away the presence of a barrier surrounding the estate.

“Hmm...”

Intrigued by his answer, Erika led him to another room.

It was a space that smelled of old books, and looking at the shelves, Se-Hoon could see rows of scrolls and tomes that radiated strong magical energy.

“This is the family’s archive. It mostly holds documents and books on sorcery.”

“Oh... Can I take a look?”

“Feel free.”

Having gained permission, Se-Hoon immediately pulled out a few volumes and skimmed through them.

Some of these look familiar.

He recalled the days he spent combing through various archives, searching for information. Glancing around the room, he soon noticed Erika watching him intently as if waiting for something.

There’s something more to this room, isn’t there...?

Scanning the shelves again, Se-Hoon’s eyes soon fell on an old, unremarkable scroll. And the moment he did, he understood what Erika had been waiting for.

“This might get a bit messy. You okay with that?”

Erika simply nodded in response.

Seeing that, Se-Hoon pulled the scroll from its place with a small smile, and the flow of mana in the archive shifted slightly. He then moved a few more items around, correcting the deliberately skewed flow.

When everything was in place a few moments later, the furthest bookshelf faintly shimmed. He slowly approached the shelf.

Thump!

Having been unlocked, a hidden archive was revealed behind it, one three times the size of the outer archive. In there, shikigami guarded every bookshelf unlike the shelves in the previous room, and the atmosphere was distinctly different.

So, this is the real collection.

Se-Hoon had been wondering why such a significant family had that small of an archive, and it turned out the true archive had been hidden all along.

“Did you figure it out just by looking?” Erika asked with curious eyes, having followed him into the hidden archive.

“Pretty much. But was it really that impressive?”

While the room was well-concealed, Se-Hoon didn’t think it was anything extraordinary.

It’s more like a moderately hidden storage area than anything else.

He genuinely couldn’t understand why Erika seemed so fascinated by his achievement.

“You didn’t sense anything strange?” Erika tilted her head curiously at his puzzled expression.

“Strange?”

“Our family house sits on a nexus of the spirit mountain’s mana source, so it’s easy for your senses to become dulled. The mana here has a unique quality.”

Not knowing what she was talking about, Se-Hoon glanced around, trying to sense it. The mana didn’t seem particularly different from any other concentrated ambient mana to him.

I don’t really get it...

He waved his hand through the air, trying again to grasp the feel of the mana. However, he just shrugged a moment later.

“I really don’t feel anything out of the ordinary. Maybe I’m just dense.”

“...”

Erika remained silent, considering something.

“This way.”

Grabbing Se-Hoon’s wrist abruptly, Erika led him out of the archive and deeper into the main house before he could respond, only stopping when they entered a room filled with dozens of hanging cages.

At first glance, Se-Hoon thought it was a place for raising birds, but the bookshelves and desks hinted there was a more personal touch to the room.

Is this Erika’s room?

It wasn’t quite as strange as Eun-Ha’s house, which had no walls at all, but this room certainly felt off in its own way.

Meanwhile, as Se-Hoon was examining the empty cages, Erika had walked over to one and pulled it down.

“Here.”

Taking the cage from her, Se-Hoon inspected it closely.

Hmm. Is it a magical artifact?

Noticing the signs of a specific spell engraved onto it, Se-Hoon brought up its information message to see what it was.

[Shadow Cage]

[Tier: Rare] [Quality: Perfect]

[A cage imbued with magic.

It can summon shikigami in the form of shadow crows, up to five at a time. The form and characteristics of the crows vary based on the user.

*When infused with mana, summons the shikigami ‘Shadow Crow’

*Enables the use of the skill ‘Crow’s Eye’]

This just looks like a training tool.

Rather than actual combat, the cage seemed more suited for learning to control shikigami.

“Try using it.”

“I’m not sure what it does, but...”

Glancing at Erika, who was urging him with a tense expression, Se-Hoon just infused the cage with his mana. From her expression, Erika didn’t seem like she would give further explanation.

Wooong!

Activated, shadows surged up from the bottom of the cage, rippling like liquid, and soon formed into a crow that looked almost identical to a real one, save for the shadowy texture that clung to its body. Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“...”

Observing the shadow crow in silence, Erika softly whispered, “Come here.”

It shouldn’t have responded. And yet, even though control of the crow should have still been in Se-Hoon's hands, the crow hopped out of the cage and perched on Erika’s shoulder.

What just happened?

Se-Hoon couldn’t believe his eyes. He hadn’t used any spells to give up control, so why had the crow obeyed her? And while that was strange enough, he became even more shocked by the crow itself.

Caw! @@novelbin@@

Its eyes were gleaming. Previously, it had resembled a simple shadow model of a crow, but now... it appeared more alive, as though it had a genuine pulse.

There's something here... but I have no idea what.

Struggling to comprehend what had just happened, Se-Hoon furrowed his brow. And upon seeing that, Erika muttered under her breath, “I see now.”

Being too gifted can be a flaw after all.

While Erika had seen many people fail due to a lack of talent, she had never imagined someone would fail for having too much talent.

“Huh? What do you see?” Se-Hoon asked, confused by her cryptic remark.

But instead of answering, Erika slowly raised her head to meet his gaze and calmly ended the conversation.

“It's nothing.”

Her eyes were filled with emptiness, bitterness, and disappointment.

***

Having finished dinner, Se-Hoon arrived at the training grounds in the eastern wing of the estate for his duel with Ren.

It’s a pretty standard setup.

The dojo-like space had an eastern design and was layered with barriers to contain shockwaves. In here, even an S-rank combatant could wreak havoc without causing any damage.

Observing the training grounds, Se-Hoon inadvertently made eye contact with Erika, who was checking the equipment.

“...”

“...”

An awkward silence hung between them before Erika turned her head away. But rather than looking like she was avoiding him, she simply looked like she had no interest.

It made Se-Hoon feel uneasy.

This... it’s not even disappointment. It feels more like she’s completely given up on me.

From what he had learned about Erika, she was the type who would point out any faults to see if he could improve. But now, she neither asked questions nor offered suggestions, implying that she believed he had no room for improvement at all.

It felt like the Relationship he had built with her over the past six months was crumbling. Yet, even though he didn’t know why, Se-Hoon remained calm. He figured he would eventually get another chance for reassessment.

In fact, this could be a good opportunity. I still need to figure out what truly matters to her in our Relationship.

If they were mid-war with the Demon Force, he wouldn’t have had the luxury of unraveling the mystery. But he had plenty of time right now, so he could take advantage of the situation to understand what exactly Erika was evaluating and what she expected from him.

So far, the key things seem to be... the mana of the spirit mountain and shikigami.

Se-Hoon fell into deep thought. There had to be some connection between the two that had caused Erika to react as she did.

“What’s gotten you so deep in thought?” Ren asked, having approached with a smile while Se-Hoon was lost in thought.

Startled, Se-Hoon gave him a blank look.

“...Does the Inoue family have a tradition of sneaking up on people?”

Ren raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Oh, didn’t no one tell you?”

“Huh?”

“It’s not exactly a tradition, but it’s common practice in our family. We tend to approach people we’re interested in this way to assess their skills.”

“Are you being serious?”

Se-Hoon had always assumed it was just something done for fun, but it turned out there was a deeper meaning?

At that moment, however, Ren broke into a grin.

“No, I’m just kidding.”

“...”

“You actually fell for that? You’re more gullible than I thought.”

Se-Hoon’s eyebrow twitched.

The expression on Ren’s face was one of pure amusement. It was as if he had been waiting all along for Se-Hoon to take the bait.

This guy... why does he remind me of the Three Dogs?

Thinking Ren seemed like the kind of person who found satisfaction in getting under someone’s skin, Se Hoon briefly debated whether to punch him on the spot.

Before he could decide, though, Ren had stepped back with a chuckle.

“Well, it’s not entirely false. Erika probably did have that kind of intention.”

“...”

“She likes you, or rather...” Ren’s tone shifted to one of quiet reflection as he muttered, “I guess now I should say she used to like you.”

“I see you’re pretty sharp,” Se-Hoon replied dryly.

“She’s my sister, after all.”

Se-Hoon stared at Ren, who had responded nonchalantly, in silence for a moment, before deciding to ask, “Then you should know what the reason behind her disappointment is?”

Ren—the next heir—would surely know if it were something related to the Inoue family’s secrets. But Ren just shrugged.

“Hard to say. It’s hard for me to read her thoughts sometimes, too.”

“...”

“But if I had to guess...” Ren trailed off, flashing Se-Hoon a knowing smile before continuing. “I’d say you’re overestimating.”

“Overestimating...?”

“Think about it carefully. But don’t get too distracted by it.”

Saying nothing more, Ren turned and walked away, leaving Se-Hoon standing there with a frown.

Sharp my ass...

Remembering the vision of Ren’s past he had seen during their previous encounter, Se-Hoon was in disbelief. He was the same man who had sworn to kill even his little sister if it meant becoming the head of the family. How could he say such things with a straight face now?

I’m overestimating, huh...?

Was Ren trying to mess with his head before the duel? Or was he offering a genuine hint? Unable to reach an answer, Se-Hoon had to pause his thoughts when Ren called out from across the training grounds.

“The duel will follow the rules set by the head of the family—one round, first to land three hits wins. Any objections?”

“No.”

“Good. Then let’s make this a fair fight.”

Readying themselves, Se-Hoon gripped the weapon he had borrowed from Manuel while Ren unfolded his black fan.

Both stood still, sizing each other up as Erika silently watched from a distance. The tension in the training ground grew taut, ready to snap at any moment.

Rumble!

But then, from out of the blue, an earthquake made the building tremble, cutting the lights in the training hall.

Suddenly plunged into darkness, a stifling, oppressive silence followed. He could feel it. The mana in the air was draining away as if something had gone horribly wrong.

And just as the three of them exchanged uneasy glances—

BOOM!

A massive lightning bolt tore through the ceiling of the training hall.