Chapter 537: What the Tiger Leaves Behind
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 537: What the Tiger Leaves Behind
That was a truly unexpected answer. I’d read Nevida’s mind before, and she was the person furthest from the concept of sin.
Nevida was an ancient druid who had lived since before the inception of humanity’s rise, back when the King of Humans still existed. Sin? She had no interest in such things. It wasn't edible, so why should she care about something like sin? She’d rather spend that time hunting or farming. In terms of ideology, Nevida was probably the most similar to me.
When I read her mind, Nevida had only one interest: the King of Humans, lost long ago. Though it seemed she didn't think it necessarily had to be me.
“The Great Druid is collecting sin? How?”
“I don’t know the details. But…”
‘When I wasn’t involved, the King of Sins took the form of the woman inside the fruit that grew from the Tree of Corruption.’
Ha, I get the feeling things are getting a little complicated.
The Regressor didn’t seem to be lying. It was true that Nevida had tried to create a King of Humans. Nevida’s Divine, the Tree of Genesis, had branched out in tens of thousands of directions, but all its paths led to a single human.
And a King of Humans ‘created’ by committing all sorts of taboos would have a high chance of becoming the King of Sins. The Regressor’s guess was a reasonable one.
But one question remained unanswered.
“Wait a minute. Then what about Azzy? How do you explain that halo?”
Azzy was still trying to grab the ring floating above her head. By now, it looked like she was just playing. The Regressor looked puzzled at the sight, which seemed a world away from the concept of sin.
‘You’re right. The ring of radiant light is only given to Saints, so why did it appear on Azzy?’
“…Hmm. I think we’ll have to ask.”
“Ask who?”
“The Saintess, of course.”
“You what?”
Even if we had no one else to ask, she wanted to go to the Sanctum?
The Regressor glanced at me cautiously before continuing.
“Hey, don’t get upset. You wanted to go to the Sacred Mountain Yullim, where Chun-aeng was sealed, right? The Sacred Mountain Yullim is a sanctuary of the Sanctum. To enter Yullim, you have to get their permission anyway. We can just ask while we’re at it.”
“The Saintess must hate my guts. Are you trying to get me killed?”
“We don’t have to go in person. There should be a Great White Wall of Rakion at a nearby convent. We can contact the Saintess from there. If I explain, she’ll give us an answer.”
The Great White Wall of Rakion was a wall of revelation through which the Sanctum conveyed its will to convents across the continent. With that, we could certainly contact them without having to go to the Sanctum itself.
But ‘being able to contact them’ and ‘getting an answer’ were not the same thing. Even if we asked, it was up to them whether they answered.
“And what makes you so special to them?”
“I’m the master of Chun-aeng. Chun-aeng is a treasure with close ties to the Sanctum.”
‘In the seventh timeline, I happened to receive Chun-aeng from the Chief Crusader of the Sky. In the eighth, I passed the Saintess’s trial and became its master. After that, Chun-aeng came to my side even if I didn’t go to Yullim. Just presenting Chun-aeng should be enough to guarantee my identity to some extent.’
Would it really? Well, if it worked, that was good for me. The Sanctum was deeply connected to the Divines, but it was practically impossible for me to approach them. Without the Regressor, I wouldn’t have a line to the Sanctum either.
I had to admit that. Hmm.
“A treasure with close ties… Hmm.”
“…What is it?”
“Nothing. Just thinking you’re not really hiding your identity anymore.”
As a mind-reader, I knew she was a Regressor, but to anyone else, she just looked like a Crusader—a strategic weapon nurtured by the Sanctum with all sorts of treasures.
How long are you going to live with these misunderstandings? It might be tiring to reveal you’re a Regressor, but instead of constantly being suspected, why not just come clean?
“…Even if I told you my identity, you wouldn’t believe me.”
“You don’t believe me because you won’t tell me. I’ll decide for myself whether to believe you or not, so just say it.”
‘That I’ve regressed, that I’ve returned after experiencing over a dozen apocalypses. Even if I said that, you wouldn’t believe me. No, if I say it, my true intentions will be doubted. Since I can leave this timeline and go to the next, I’m a stranger to time….’
Ha, seriously. Should I just reveal that I’m a mind-reader? If she realized I could hear her inner thoughts, she wouldn’t even think of hiding things anymore.
But if I did that, she might not approach me at all from the next timeline onward. The risk was greater on my side. The Regressor could just flip the board and start over, but this was my last game!
“…If we make it to the Sacred Mountain Yullim.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll tell you everything. What I am, and what happened.”
After saying that, the Regressor turned her head away, as if there was nothing more to say.
It wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but getting this far was a huge step forward. Prying any further would only make her more guarded, and since I had to go to Yullim anyway, it was a decent deal.
“Alright. Don’t forget what you said.”
Just then, the doorbell rang from outside. The food had arrived. I left the Regressor and walked over to get it. Everything would become clear once we reached Yullim.
…Wait a minute. Come to think of it, Yullim is a sanctuary of the Sanctum. If we go all the way there, won’t I basically know everything anyway? If I read the Saintess’s mind, I’ll learn almost every secret, won’t I?
What the hell. Did I just get played with an empty promise? By the Regressor?
…Let’s eat first and think about it later. I turned my eyes away from the hard-to-believe truth.
“…This is difficult.”
“Woof? What is?”
“Hughes. He’s wary of me.”
“Woof woof?”
“I can’t blame him for not trusting me…. But it’s the same for me. There’s something about that Hughes guy. You know it too, right, Azzy?”
“Woof? Woof?”
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Woof, you, not know? Human!”
“Human? You mean the King of Humans? Are you talking about Hughes?”
“Woof!”
“What about him? He’s just an inscrutable guy who’s lost his power and relies on petty tricks.”
“I know him! Human, is beast. Simple!”
“Hughes is simple? Are you serious?”
“Woof!”
“How can that be? Hughes is so twisted, isn’t he?”
“No! Woof! He. Likes humans.”
“The idea that Hughes likes humans is hard to believe in itself…. That guy goes around saying humans are beasts all the time.”
“Right! Is beast! That’s why he likes humans who like humans! Like me!”
“Humans who like humans?”
“I, like humans. Because humans like dogs. Humans, like me. Because dogs also like humans. We are friends.”
“Friends…”
“And you, like humans!”
“M-Me? I like Hughes?”
“No, not one human, many humans! Woof! You, are kind!”
“Oh, that’s what you mean… Huh? That’s a little strange, too. I don’t really… like humans.”
“You do! Woof! I, know!”
“I don’t think I do…”
“That’s why, humans like you too!”
“…it is!”
Surprisingly, Theia herself had come to deliver the food. I wondered if the head of the Pabal Clan had nothing better to do than make deliveries, but Theia hadn’t come just as a delivery person.
“You heard, right? What do you think?”
Ende must have a lot on its mind, asking for my advice. Well, not that there was anything I could do to help just because they asked.
“Yes. But even if I heard, there’s nothing I can do for you.”
“No! You’re the one who knows the most about San… um! That Which Cannot Be Named! I’m just asking for your opinion!”
“Well, this much is certain. San'gun won’t get upset or try to take revenge just because you use his name. After all, San'gun is a beast too.”
Even though I answered kindly, Theia asked back with a terrified expression.
“Is-is it okay to say the name of That Which Cannot Be Named so carelessly?”
“What’s That Which Cannot Be Named? You mean San'gun?”
“Grrr. Did you call?”
The words were barely out of my mouth when San'gun appeared behind us as if summoned. Who was the person who came up with the saying, “Speak of the tiger, and he shall appear”? Thanks to you, I can’t even say the word ‘tiger’ freely anymore.
San'gun licked his lips as he looked at the terrified Theia and me.
“Tsk, tsk. How lamentable. I have answered your call, yet you cower in fear.”
“How can you not be scared when a tiger appears behind you…”
“Then you should not have called. I cannot dance to the tune of humans.”
Come to think of it, San'gun did disappear from time to time. He must have been appearing whenever his name was called, instilling fear in the people of Ende.
Thanks to that, it seemed Ende was planning to spread the absurd rumor that this land was under San'gun’s rule.
Even Theia, the fastest person in Ende, could not escape her fear of San'gun. She prostrated herself on the ground and offered up a pot.
“O, San'gun! Here is meat… huh?”
“Tsk, tsk. This meat is too tender for me. I can hardly tell I’m eating.”
“What do you mean, you can’t tell! You know damn well! You’ve already devoured ten pieces!”
“Ten pieces? To me, that is but a single mouthful.”
San'gun, who had slurped down the meat like noodles, wiped his mouth with his forepaw and licked his lips. He was an even bigger pig than Azzy. Though I guess he couldn't help it, being a tiger.
“Th-then I’ll be on my way!”
Theia set down the pot and bolted. The sight of her fleeing with her tail wagging seemed to catch San'gun’s attention; he stared intently at her retreating back. But only for a moment. His interest apparently faded, and he took out a piece of meat and began chewing on it, bone and all.
Phew, what a relief. I thought he was going to give in to his old habits and chase her.
“Hey. Tiger.”
“Grrr?”
“How long are you planning on staying here?”
“That depends on my whim. However, I feel something.”
“What is it?”
“The dog is taking away my ferocity.”
San'gun, who had been crunching on a bone, glanced at the mansion.
“In this land, there were too many things that called to me. So I, too, went through the trouble of looking after my territory. But the ear-wearing humans would scream and run away with their backs turned. It made me want to chase them.”
“You managed to hold back?”
What do you do when you provoke a beast’s instincts? If San'gun had pounced and used their backs as a scratching post, they would have had no one to blame but themselves. It seemed people these days had forgotten how to deal with tigers.
“That is the strange thing. I have no reason to hold back.”
Chasing down and killing a person is something a human should never do. But for a tiger, it’s as natural as instinct. To resist that is impossible unless one is thoroughly tamed.
But there was no way San'gun, the King of Tigers, was tamed. The reason lay elsewhere, and the tiger had realized it instinctively.
“Just as the wolf did, the dog is also influencing me. No, perhaps it is because of the human who influenced the dog.”
So Azzy’s very existence was suppressing San'gun’s aggression. If San'gun was determined, he could kill humans, but if he wasn’t hungry, there was no need to. Azzy, having become the King of Kindness, must be emphasizing the merciful side of beasts.
Ende seemed to want to keep San'gun here for a long time to use him as a deterrent, but the Beast King wasn’t so easy to use. Unless it was livestock, or at least an animal friendly to humans, even coexistence was difficult.
I’d better send him home before San'gun destroys Ende.
“We’ll be leaving soon, too. You don’t have anything to do in the city anyway, right? What if you waste your time here and another tiger settles in your territory?”
“Grrr.”
Tigers are territorial animals. They need at least a mountain peak to call their own to feed their massive bodies. The only enemy of a strong and fearsome tiger is another tiger. That’s why they don’t form packs.
Reminded of his territory, San'gun rose to his feet without a hint of hesitation.
“I shall return. The wolf… that troublesome beast has made things bothersome.”
“Just think of it as a short visit. Anyway, farewell. It wasn’t exactly a pleasure to meet you.”
“The feeling is mutual. Humans, you are too ferocious. If I stay by your side, I too will be swept up in it.”
Without any lingering attachment, San'gun leaped. In a single bound, he was on the roof. His jeogori [traditional Korean jacket] fluttered as he looked down at me.
“I shall return to my mountain. Humans, I will watch from a rock on the hill, over the mountainside, to see how your ferocity, which has changed even me, will change you.”
With only those words, San'gun leaped and vanished, leaving behind nothing but a heaping pile of bones.
…Agh, that damn tiger. He ended up eating everything before he left. I’ll have to go get more.