A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 173 : The Second Time (5)

‘…You’re saying my father is in here?’

*Yeah.’

‘…….’

‘Well, to be precise, it’s just a Thought Form.’

Until the very moment she received the sword hilt from U-jin, Valencia couldn't shake the skepticism from her heart.

Without a doubt.

She had been certain that her father, Allen Tigris III, had been annihilated by his hands.

The reason Valencia, who had shed tears only a handful of times in her entire life, had shown such a pathetic side of herself, even crying in front of Thomas, was because that thought had moved beyond a vague guess and become a certainty.

It wasn't just a conjecture based on the circumstances; thanks to the long time they had spent together, she could feel it instinctively.

That Allen Tigris III, who had always been by her side, no longer existed in this world.

The fact that the terrible headache that had constantly squeezed her temples had vanished proved it once more.

…But.

After listening to U-jin and receiving the sword hilt, Valencia could clearly feel the familiar aura dwelling within it.

The presence it gave off was so faint that she hadn't noticed it until she touched it directly.

But the aura lingering there was unmistakably identical to the one Allen Tigris III had exuded.

‘…Check it yourself.’

‘…….’

‘It’ll be hard to confirm right now since it hasn’t properly synchronized yet, but if the Thought Form has been properly imbued… you might not hear a voice, but you should at least be able to confirm a response.’

In fact, even when U-jin had said that.

Valencia had been half-believing, half-doubting.

Of course, the aura she felt in her palm was certainly her father's, but whether it could truly exist forever by being imbued in this way, as he claimed.

Or whether it was just a fleeting wisp of energy that would soon scatter, a momentary deception, was something she couldn't know.

‘…No way.’

To be honest, Valencia leaned toward the latter.

The reason was simple.

If such a thing were possible, why wouldn't Valencia have done it herself by now?

The reason she hadn't taken any particular action, despite having noticed early on that the Thought Form was not persisting in a normal way, wasn't simply because she was foolish.

It was an indispensable necessity because she knew all too well that there were no other alternatives.

‘…It’s impossible.’

Imbuing a being's thought into an object was not a simple matter that could be done just by wanting to.

Throughout the vast history of the Upper-Dimensional Plane, spanning eons, Artifacts were precious precisely because they were so rare.

Moreover, among them, items imbued with a thought transcended the level of Artifacts and were categorized separately as ‘Holy Relics’, existing so rarely that they required special management.

Of course, it wasn't as if there were no items among non-Holy Relic Artifacts that held a consciousness, in the manner of an ‘Ego Sword’.

But that, too, was an occurrence so rare it was considered the stuff of legends.

Valencia, too, had once considered the method of imbuing Allen Tigris III's Thought Form into a weapon.

The only reason she had given up without even attempting it was because the impossibility of it was so starkly apparent to her.

As she possessed eyes that could see through to the essence of things.

It was all too clear to her that artificially imbuing a thought into an object was impossible from the start.

“…….”

Nevertheless, the reason Valencia accepted the sword was simple.

‘…It has been a long time, Valencia.’

The familiar voice that came from the Thought Form when U-jin stabbed its brow.

She had thought it an auditory hallucination, experienced amidst a throbbing headache, but if it wasn't a hallucination and was something she had actually heard.

She thought, just maybe.

It was a Thought Form she had been with for a long, long time.

But that was the first time she had heard her father's voice directly.

And though it was only once, the voice was so identical to what she had experienced when he was alive that she recognized it in that instant.

Thus, unable to shake her skeptical heart, Valencia took the sword hilt U-jin offered and focused on the aura she felt in her palm.

At first, just as U-jin had said, she felt nothing special even while holding the sword hilt.

But.

A short while after she closed her eyes, as time slowly passed.

She soon found herself inwardly astonished.

‘…This is.’

Just as U-jin had said before, the aura of Allen Tigris III imbued in the sword hilt was gradually growing stronger.

It was expanding its presence as if it were slowly settling in.

…That wasn't all.

At a certain moment, as the aura and presence grew.

Her vision, which had been pitch-black with her eyes closed, tilted once—and twisted diagonally, and then in the blink of an eye, a grayish-white, unknown space unfolded before her.

“……!”

And at the front of that space.

『…It has been a long time, Valencia.』

The eyes of Allen Tigris III were greeting her once more.

* * *

“Do you remember that time? When I was about five. The whole palace was in an uproar because I went missing.”

『I remember, Valencia.』

“Back then, I just made an excuse that I had fallen asleep under the bed… but that was actually the first day I ever went outside the palace. I meant to go out for a bit and come right back, but I got lost… Only Thomas got scolded.”

『…I knew.』

“You did?”

『Wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t? I had days like that myself.』

“I really thought you didn’t know…”

The two of them talked for a long time.

Time stood still and did not flow within the grayish-white Innate Barrier, and the stories Valencia had accumulated over the years and…….

The stories Allen Tigris III had yet to tell were not the kind that could be fully shared in just a few sentences.

From Valencia’s silly childhood stories to the tale of the Beastkin Nation’s fall.

The story of their escape and wandering from the Beastkin Nation, the story of her time as a Man-eating Beast.

And so on.

“Hah… I never thought the day would come when I’d say all this.”

『The same goes for me.』

“…It feels strange, Father.”

In the midst of endlessly pouring out stories that flowed without a moment's thought.

At a certain point, as if by agreement, both their mouths stopped, and silence fell.

And in that moment, Valencia suddenly realized two things.

That the corners of her own lips had turned up into a smile.

“…….”

And.

『…I believe I’ve said all I need to as a father, and now, what remains must be said as a former king.』

That the final story Allen mentioned was not something she particularly wanted to hear.

“…….”

It was obvious what Allen would talk about in the current flow of conversation.

There was only one story that the former king of a fallen nation could pass on to his successor.

It was the story U-jin had already spoken of outside.

『No matter how I think about it, I don’t think it’s a position you can take because you want to, or refuse because you don’t.』

『…What are you?』

『What do I look like?』

『…….』

Destiny.

The fate of one born into the royal bloodline of the Beastkin Nation.

In truth, the one who knew it best was Valencia herself.

Among all the beings currently treading this land, she was the only one who could perform the ‘duties of the Beastkin Nation’s throne’.

She had just been turning away from it and denying it until now.

『Inherit the throne.』

“…….”

『Valencia la Bael Tigris.』

Whenever Allen recited his daughter's full name, it was always to deliver a message as king.

The corners of Valencia's lips tilted in a bitter smile.

“How?”

『…….』

“It’s already… fallen.”

The Beastkin Nation had fallen.

It was shattered into four and scattered across the continent.

The Beastkin Nation, which once possessed a long tradition and brilliant honor, no longer existed.

So Allen's words to inherit the throne were no different from telling her to become the ‘queen of a fallen nation’.

『…That is all the more reason why you are needed, Valencia.』

“…….”

『From the very beginning, you must rebuild the Beastkin Nation.』

Naturally, that was not an easy task.

Inheriting the throne itself would not be a simple matter to begin with, but at least the Beastkin Nation in its prime had a system.

There were plenty of people to help a lacking king, and countless tribal elders to ask about things she didn't know.

But it was different now.

No system existed, there was no suitable personnel to help her, and she had to take responsibility herself and devise solutions even when she didn't know the answers.

Leaving aside her preference for doing it or not, Valencia simply couldn't imagine herself being able to do it.

…That was why she had been running away all this time, despite knowing her role.

『…I know. That it is not an easy task.』

Perhaps he read her bitter smile.

Even without a clear answer, Allen Tigris III added, as if he knew her heart.

『…However. Is there not someone who will help you?』

Someone who will help.

Normally, at that line, she should have naturally thought of Thomas Lycan Hardist, who had served her since childhood.

But why?

『I didn’t come here to apologize or anything.』

The one who came to Valencia’s mind at that moment was that unidentifiable man who had answered her so brazenly.

“…….”

A human who exuded an inexplicable aura, yet gave a strange sense of reliability.

Valencia had seen countless types of humans while wandering here and there after leaving the Beastkin Nation, but she had no memory of meeting a human who gave off such a feeling.

If she had to pick someone, a certain old general she saw chugging beer in a tavern after surviving decades of the War against Demons seemed similar, but.

U-jin seemed to possess something more, something that couldn't be explained with words.

…In the first place, if that weren't the case, Valencia, who was already worn out and had inwardly wished for death, would never have had a change of heart and come this far.

『…With him, it will be possible.』

“…….”

『That is what I feel.』

He was stating a simple feeling.

But the words of one who inherited the blood of the White Tiger carried more meaning than that.

It meant that even if he couldn't explain it precisely, he had seen some kind of essence within it.

“…What if I say no?”

Even while sensing that she could no longer escape, now that things had come this far, Valencia deliberately asked back.

And Allen's answer to that was.

『…Then get married.』

A refusal disguised as a joke.

Pfft—

Valencia, raising the corners of her lips, answered softly.

“Don’t blame me later for how things turn out.”

『…….』

“…That will be me doing my best.”

And with that answer.

One of Valencia’s eyes was colored in gold.