A Regressor's Bucket List

Chapter 177 : Beastkin Faction (4)

The story that came from Valencia's lips was nothing short of shocking for Jerry.

If what she said was all true, then it wasn't just some fragmentary, unofficial history suggesting Dracula hadn't wanted the fall of the Beastkin Nation.

The world believed that Count Dracula had taken his retainers and single-handedly invaded the Beastkin Nation, destroying everything.

If Dracula had truly practiced non-killing there, it meant that the universally known fact, ‘Count Dracula destroyed the Beastkin Nation,’ was no longer correct.

“It's the truth, without a single lie.”

“……”

“…That said, there's no proof. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. But you must have had your own doubts, right?”

Shrug-

“…Is this a message from the former king?”

At Jerry's short question, Valencia nodded.

“You could say that.”

Nod-

‘…….’

‘Not a single Beastkin died at the Count's hands.’

This held a slightly greater significance than what he had previously heard from U-jin—that Count Dracula had also been cornered and had no choice.

The story of being forced to commit murder with a gun to the back of one's head certainly had room for extenuating circumstances.

That was why he had been able to persuade Tom Hardist, who had been rushing to kill him on the spot.

But the story of not killing anyone despite having a gun to his head was impactful beyond its literal meaning.

To put it simply, it was a groundbreaking story.

Enough to make even those who hated Dracula pause for a moment and think, ‘Huh?’

‘…….’

Of course, that didn't mean Count Dracula could be completely absolved of his responsibility.

The fact that Valencia knew the political situation of that time so well meant that Count Dracula, who had gone to the Beastkin Nation himself, must have also had some understanding of the circumstances.

That heading to the Beastkin Nation would provide the Demon King's Army with a pretext to invade the Beastkin.

In other words, he couldn't be completely free of responsibility for heading there knowing that the fall of the Beastkin Nation depended on his actions.

However.

The fact that Count Dracula could not escape that responsibility, and his descendant, Jerry Dracula Junior, escaping that responsibility were, to some extent, separate issues.

“…That's enough.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“It's embarrassing for me to act like a representative now, after I abandoned everything and ran away… but it seems there's no one else to say this.”

“……”

Ssk-

“You can stop. Being tied down by things that have already passed.”

It was obvious what Valencia was saying.

That he should no longer be bound by the name of his clan and feel guilty.

…It was a meaning that went beyond simple guilt, telling him to lay down an indescribable burden.

“…Someone has to do it.”

“…You're not wrong.”

Just as Jerry said.

It was indeed a problem for which someone had to pay the price.

The Beastkin Nation, known to have fallen at the hands of Count Dracula, had created countless Beastkin refugees, and the hatred they carried in their hearts was of a nature that had to be directed at someone.

If it had been the death of a single person, perhaps it could be overlooked, but the fall of a nation was an event on too grand a scale to simply ignore.

“But.”

“……”

“…Unlike what you think, most have already forgotten.”

But.

Just as Valencia said.

Compared to the period right after the Beastkin Nation collapsed, too much time had passed.

In reality, while people remembered the Vampire Clan as traitors, most only knew it as a ‘fact’ and not many held a direct, seething hatred deep in their hearts.

Those like Tom, who directly remembered that time and carried its scars, were few enough to be counted on one's hands.

In Valencia’s eyes, Jerry's attitude of deliberately trying to shoulder the name of his clan even now seemed a bit excessive and unnecessary.

It might have been different before, when she believed Dracula had actually participated in destroying the Beastkin Nation.

But now that she knew the inside story, she couldn't push the Vampire Clan that hard.

In the first place, she knew well that Count Dracula had had no other choice at the time, and the Vampire Clan had simply followed his decision without any malice.

Moreover.

“…You've done enough. Both Dracula. And your clan.”

“……!!”

If what Valencia knew was correct, it went beyond simply the passage of time; they had already paid the price in full.

“Countless Vampires have already died. Branded as the culprits who destroyed the Beastkin Nation, at the hands of Vampire Hunters.”

“……”

“Most of them died without even knowing the full story, simply for being part of the Vampire Clan.”

Of course, paying the blood price for a great power like the Beastkin Nation with the single life of ‘Count Dracula’ was absurd.

What they had paid was not simply the life of their leader, ‘Count Dracula.’

Even after the fall of the Beastkin Nation, the Vampire Hunters, who had become incarnations of that hatred, hunted down the Vampires who had been cast out of the Demon King's Territory and were living in hiding within The Order's lands, as well as those who remained in the Demon King's Territory.

They had been utterly annihilated.

All for the reason that they had to take responsibility for the fall of the Beastkin Nation.

One didn't have to look far; Tom Hardist was one such Hunter who went around hunting Vampires.

And Jerry himself had, in fact, lost his life at Tom's hands once before.

Furthermore, the fact that Jerry was alive was completely unknown to the world, so in effect, the Vampire Clan had paid its blood price with the extinction of the species itself.

Although she couldn't know the extent of the weight Jerry was carrying without shouldering it herself.

Valencia vaguely felt that what they had gone through was enough to have paid the price in full.

Valencia snorted, blowing air through her nose once.

“…Honestly, I don't think I have the right to say this either.”

“……”

“You said you want to rebuild it. The Beastkin Nation.”

“……”

“But are you going to stay trapped in the past the whole time? Paying for a sin your hands never even touched? That's not right. It's good to have a sense of responsibility for your race. But that's just making everyone around you uncomfortable.”

“…Is that so.”

“To be brutally honest.”

Shrug-

“Between Tom, you, and me, you're the one who has done the most for the Beastkin.”

She was talking about how he had bought up Beastkin slaves at a premium.

He didn't know who she had heard it from, but Valencia knew far more than Jerry had thought.

“…Well, even if I say all this, it's just my opinion.”

“……”

“If you don't like it, I have nothing more to say, of course… but in my opinion, that's more than enough.”

“……”

“No, it's already excessive.”

Pfft-

“For a ruined nation.”

It wasn't something she, who had the duty to rebuild the Beastkin Nation, should say, but Valencia truly thought so.

That she, Tom, and Jerry.

Were all too tied down.

Of course, she too had thought a little differently until just a few days ago.

Just like Jerry, she had thought the fall of the Beastkin Nation was a huge deal, that someone had to take responsibility for it, and that nothing was more important.

However, the more she conversed with Allen Tigris III.

The more those thoughts of hers shattered.

Rather, to rebuild the Beastkin Nation, it was necessary to break free from the past.

The fall of the Beastkin Nation and the subsequent extinction of the Vampires were, in themselves, no different from a natural disaster.

The bifurcation of the continent by the Order Alliance Forces and the Demon King Federation Forces was not a current that could be overcome at the level of an individual or a single group.

A current that was destined to occur inevitably, sooner or later.

In other words, even if it hadn't been Count Dracula's choice to defect to the Demon King's Army at that time.

As long as the Beastkin Nation held the position of leader of the neutral zone, it was bound to happen in one form or another.

Complying with the Demon King's Army, which had threatened him with the lives of his clan as collateral, and heading to the Beastkin Nation was Dracula's small struggle to resist, and it had simply led to an accident, the tragedy of the Vampires' extinction.

She felt that if Count Dracula hadn't gone to the Beastkin Nation that day, the order of events might have been reversed, but the outcome would not have changed.

“If Dracula hadn't come to the Beastkin Nation that day, the Demon King probably would have annihilated the Vampire Clan.”

“……”

“…And the next step would have been the same. The method might have been different, but since the Demon King had made up his mind, it was only a matter of time before it was carried out.”

The conclusion was simple.

The thorough logic of power.

The weak cannot oppose the will of the strong.

It was just that the various attempts to overcome it and a few undisclosed secrets had muddled the circumstances; the essence was simple.

…That's why Valencia thought it all the more.

That being tied to the past was of no help at all in establishing a new Beastkin faction.

That for the Beastkin faction to truly regain its former glory, they needed to forget the past and build everything up again from scratch.

“…This is what I wanted to say. Jerry Junior.”

“……!”

At Valencia's words, muttered with the corners of her mouth turned up, Jerry realized one thing.

It wasn't that Valencia had sent Tom Hardist away and readily accepted his request for a private meeting.

“…You didn't accept my request.”

It was that she had been calling for him and waiting here from the very beginning.

“I felt we needed to settle this once and for all. It's not something to talk about where there are a lot of people. And Thomas is especially difficult.”

“…Is that so.”

“I'll talk to Thomas. It doesn't seem like he'd listen to you anyway.”

Jerry thought.

That she might be more suited for the Beastkin throne than he had previously considered.

‘…….’

There were few.

…No, there were only two.

People who could steal his pace like this and lead the conversation as they wished.

“…As expected, you're similar.”

“…Similar to what?”

At Valencia's question, Jerry gave a faint smile and shook his head.

“…There's just something.”