How the Regressor Loves the Reincarnated

47. Inside the scorpion’s lair

1.

Tick- Tick- Tick- Tick-

The gloomy sound of the clock hands resonating inside the orphanage was enough to make the super coward inside me cower. You might be tempted to say that you really have all sorts of things to peck at. The feeling itself is different from Earth, where ghosts and supernatural psychic phenomena have not been actually proven.

In this place, the existence of souls has actually been proven, and things such as gods and demons also exist. Undead monsters are frequently found in poorly maintained tombs, and even specters are born where many people have died and use the surroundings as their own territory. Even if it wasn’t, there was no harsher environment than this for me, who was on the timid side from my previous life.

“The orphans who grow up here are given only two choices.”

As if looking for something, Adele’s words as she tapped the floor with her feet in the orphanage’s kitchen caught my interest. Actually, whatever the subject matter, it would be nice if it could return my attention.

“Which option is it?”

“Work for the Assassination Brigade or… oh, I found it.”

From the place Adele just tapped with her foot, unlike before, a slightly resonant sound is heard, announcing the existence of the space beyond.

Generally, if there is such a space under the kitchen, it is most likely a liquor store. But that’s just a general story. It was good to see that there was little chance of that happening now.

“Luke? I think it’s locked from the inside, can you open this?”

“Oh, yes. What…”

It wasn’t that difficult, so I gladly moved my magic to move the lock on the other side of the trapdoor. Unlocking the lock was an easy task for a wizard, like eating a meal.

Click- Kiki-Ik-

“So, what is the other option you were talking about earlier?”

Without even touching it, I opened the trap door with magic and asked Adele a question.

“Huh? There’s nothing wrong. It’s just being disposed of. Because I know too much about the Assassination Brigade.”

“Ah… Disposal was nothing special. I see…”

“Um… But from my point of view, I prefer that to them rather than having them choose to live as assassins and go around killing other people. And since they were raised with a level of brainwashing from a very young age, it is probably rarer for them to be discarded.”

“…I feel sorry for them too. Being deprived of the opportunity to live the life you want, and having to live like a tool on a road that has been made… Awesome!”

“Whoops, Luke is too kind to wear. Well, that’s attractive, too.”

Adele, who flicked my nose with her finger, said with a light laugh. To be honest, that action didn’t really make me feel sick or unpleasant, but…

Suddenly, I thought, ‘Is my treatment really okay as it is now?’, So I decided to build this as one of Adele’s karma stacks. Even if I can’t do it, I’ll give it back as much as I received.

“Do you care? When today’s work is over, the children here will have nowhere to go. Luke, with the road you mentioned disappearing, the children will have no choice but to wander. Well, the story might be a little different for children who have already dipped their feet into it.”

“…Speaking like that makes me a little nervous. No, a little too much…”

“Hmm… Shall we build one then?”

“Yes?”

“What kind of ‘yes’ is ‘yes’? Orphanage, if you care, let’s make one. If I use some of the dividends from the top line that I invested in before, there’s nothing I can’t do except for one orphanage.”

“…Tell me honestly. Adele was also bothered?”

“No~? I’m a cold-blooded person with no blood or tears, so I don’t know about that.”

Adele, who answered me playfully by raising the corner of her mouth, led the way down the stairs revealed by the opening of her attic door.

She doesn’t know if she’s serious or if she’s joking. Either way it didn’t matter too much.

If she’s sincere, it’s because she cares about me so much that she brought up such a story. If it was a joke, it would have been to show what she was like as a person.

Still, if I had to tell my heart, as a man, I liked the former a little bit more. As a person, I definitely like the latter.

2.

“…Adele, when you explained to me about the Apostles.”

“Huh?”

“Is there anything else I left out of explanation?”

“Um, I don’t know about that either? First of all, I think I’ve told you almost everything I know.”

“Really…?”

That’s strange.

I stood still with my hand raised on the door at the end of the stairs, and I couldn’t help but marvel at the magic spreading beyond the door.

Because the magic composed of the strong mana felt from beyond this gate reached a terrifying realm beyond a mere high level.

“Then you don’t know if there are other wizards besides Capricorn among the Apostles, right? I’m saying this because no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem to be a level of magic that Capricorn can perform.”

“Well, as far as I know, yes. At least there’s a chance that Pisces is a wizard…? I don’t know anything about him, so I can’t give you a definitive answer.”

“…Then, that Pisces might be a dragon or something of the same level. Remember. There is not a single wizard alive today who can implement this level of magic.”

I wasn’t kidding. The magic spreading beyond this door was space expansion magic on a larger scale than any magic I had ever seen in my life.

“…Was space expansion magic really that great?”

“For magic that manipulates space, as is the case with most magic, the amount of mana required increases exponentially depending on the size of the spell… But compared to other magic, the level of increase is different. It takes more than twice as many magical powers to expand a pocket the size of a palm to the size of a brick and to expand it to the size of a small warehouse.”

The reason I admired this magic was that there was a good reason for it.

“What if it’s not a small warehouse, but big enough to fit an entire mansion? One or two human wizards are not enough, and you have to gather dozens of level wizards to be able to imitate them. Even that won’t be perfect, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to find dozens of wizards of that level.”

“…And if the magic within it is that great, then Scorpio could have been helped by a being capable of such magic, which means that one of the apostles is a wizard of that level. It will most likely be.”

“Right. And, as far as I know, there are only dragons or the Great Devil among demons… I think it would be better to be vigilant from now on.”

“…Fortunately, it would be fortunate, but I don’t think the day I encountered that being will probably be today. A being of that stature would have been able to detect it even if it was over there.”

After shrugging his shoulders once, Adele put her hand on his doorknob and said to me.

“Let’s go as planned, Luke. Shouldn’t it be leaking somewhere strangely?”

“I’m no kid, don’t worry about that.”

I grumbled so much with my mouth, but my hands followed Adele’s words faithfully. As I took out the veil of night that I had tucked away in my arms and wrapped it around my body, Adele, who was looking at me, stretched out her hand to confirm that I was there, and nodded.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look right. Okay, let’s go.”

The Night’s Veil was indeed a cheat-level item for assassins, but it also had features that could be quite useful for wizards like me. The existence of a wizard who can freely use magic without being exposed to direct attacks can boast of power that does not yield to assassins at all. Basically, mages were weak in situations where they were directly targeted by the enemy.

However, Contrary to my expectations, the Night Veil was not large enough for multiple people to use at the same time. A certain invisibility cloak was big enough to be used by three people instead of two, but if you think about it, it might just be possible because the users were children.

The space that was revealed when the door opened was originally a basement that was not very wide, but now that it has been expanded by magic, it has been transformed into a multi-story underground facility, not an ordinary basement.

Destroying the traps that lay everywhere on her way forward with her beloved sword, which she did not know when she pulled out, she steadily followed Adele, who was advancing swiftly.

With magic, only my footsteps were hidden, so that all the gazes of the assassins were focused on Adele. Just like my use of the Night Veil, it was a decision made because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to react to the assassins’ attacks in time if they aimed at me.

Adele’s steps stopped abruptly, and at the same time, a number of memorized feet, shaped like her spears, flew past her and landed on the wall opposite her. It was a situation that could have made her heart drop, but Adele’s sword swung without any concern at all, and Aura’s sword was fired at the wall in the direction from which her commendation flew.

Then the wall cracked like tofu, and Adele’s aura slashed the body of the assassin on the other side in one blow.

“Keah…!”

I expected it to some extent, but the effect of the barrier I touched did not reach the inside of the space expanded by this magic. Since the amount of magic power surrounding this space was too vast to do that, it was inevitable.

Adele’s sword did not know her mercy. The daggers and memorization of the assassins who revealed their teeth to her did not even touch Adele’s hair. They all died at the tip of her sword.

If you ask me if that fact bothers me, it certainly wasn’t. All of the assassins who were inside this space must have had the experience of taking someone’s life by carrying out the request given to them.

And above all, if you jumped at Adele, that would be a mortal sin. There’s no one else to touch, so why don’t you lay her hand on my girl?

It was a very unpleasant sight to greet us as we came downstairs after Adele had completely gutted a floor.

“Scorpio you crazy bastard…”

It was the first time I had seen curse words come out of Adele’s mouth. As angry as she was, the orders Scorpio must have given were of the kind that could never be forgiven.

At first glance, children who looked barely over ten years old, or even younger, attacked Adele. The children Scorpio raised as assassins. Since they were such young children, it was felt that Adele was also reluctant to lay her hand on her guys. Adele, who began to subdue her children one by one after a moment of thought, looked back at her and shook her head.

It’s not yet time for you to step out.

I watched the children lose consciousness one by one by Adele’s hands, calming their bubbling inner feelings at the gestures that contained such a meaning.

As expected, all the bastards called apostles deserve to die.