REAPER SCANS
Five-Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path
[Translator – Anwen]
[Proofreader – Valirius]
Chapter 42
'It’s already been a while since the royal family’s quarrel. If the aristocrats aren’t idiots, they should have followed the bloodline and gotten some rough information. Or they may already know about the only remaining royal descendant.’
If so, what was the cleanest method of murder?
If Rush really had the emperor’s bloodline, they would definitely kill him and cover it up as an 'accidental death’ in the army.
There was no place more prone to accidents than the military.
I went through all the information and then immediately got up to leave.
Since I’d paid in advance, the clerk let me leave without issue, saying 'Come again next time.’
I began to walk down the street when I noticed I was suddenly being tailed.
There were a total of four people, and they seemed skilled from the way they walked. I turned into an alley.
I walked aimlessly through the alley for a long time before a sword flew to my neck.
They were pretty fast.
I could guess that they were quite proficient with killing.
However, to me, their speed only made me smile. It came at me so sluggishly that I lightly blocked the sword with a finger.
The man saw my smile under the moonlight and flinched in shock from behind his mask. Before he knew it, he was slammed to the ground.
But I had deliberately stayed my hand to extract information.
He should have only fainted from a concussion.
I immediately spotted two more about to attack me, plus one who was already fleeing.
I saw through their plan. Witnessing my skill, two were buying time so the remaining one could retreat and inform whatever group they belonged to.
'Seems like someone is behind this.’
Judging by the aura, the levels of these three were around Sword Expert.
I didn’t know much about this world, but that wasn’t a low level.
They must’ve had professional training.
Third Form—
Lightning Sword Extraction.
When the two rushed to kill me, my sword cut through them with the fastest speed.
I walked past the two who had yet to realize they’d been cut, still wielding their swords. I poured aura into the Heavenly Star Sword without hesitation and immediately swung it toward the one fleeing.
Fourth Form—
Heavenly Thunder Dragon.
Lightning aura created a phenomenon in the form of a dragon and struck the one fleeing.
I controlled my aura so he wouldn’t die, but after such a hard hit, he rolled on the ground a few times and fainted after hitting the wall.
After that, I dragged the guy who’d been knocked out back to the two standing around with a puzzled look on their faces.
"What are you guys doing? Isn’t it about time you noticed?!”
The moment my question startled them was the moment their legs were cut off.
With the realization of their legs being cut, the two tried to scream. Before they could, I splashed a potion I had with me onto their legs.
An amputation recovery potion I received on Floor 17.
The good thing about this potion was that it refilled every hour. A small downside was that the recovered body part didn’t move for roughly an hour, as it took time to adapt to the body.
For me, possessing the skill Time Reset, this highly efficient item wasn’t so useful. I usually kept it tucked away, but it was very useful during interrogations.
I grinned at the four men I’d overpowered and laid them next to each other against the alley’s wall.
"Alright. Now, shall we have a talk?”
It was most enjoyable when you could comfortably gain information.
* * *
Afterward, I was able to extract all the information. I light-heatedly stood up.
At first, they had the demeanor of veterans, keeping their mouths tightly shut. However, they weren’t the only ones who were veterans.
When I harassed them for about an hour, they started spilling secrets one after the other.
Firstly, these four were hired by Gritia nobles.
They were ordered to capture, if not kill, those who buy information regarding the emperor from the Information Guild.
And in addition to that, there was one more group like them making a move.
They were responsible for pursuing the emperor’s bloodline and so far, they’d killed three they assumed possessed it.
When I asked for the name, one guy pleaded saying they didn’t know that much. After a few more interrogations, they kept repeating the same thing, so I stopped there.
'It looks like Rush hasn’t been targeted yet.’
I was confident in the fact that Rush was of the emperor’s bloodline. After a moment of thought, I looked back at the trembling four.
"Take the lead.”
I should just take down the group.
They saw my bright grin and began to cry. When I tortured them for another ten minutes, they finally began to guide me.
"I don’t care about any traps. I’ll destroy them and kill the guys who made them, and then you. It doesn’t matter if they’re your family, your friends, or someone you know. Doesn’t matter if you were raised alone, I’ll just kill everyone.”
I spoke with promise, causing their shoulders to flinch.
I deliberately interrogated all four of them separately, so I headed toward the common location they’d all mentioned.
We arrived at what looked to be like a commercial building.
"Location.”
"I-In the basement. There’s a hidden passage, so we probably have to go together.”
"Then how many exits are there that come back up to the ground?”
"Well, there are several exits all around the building.”
"You mean there aren’t any exits other than those connected to the commercial building, right? Like, none that connect to another basement or anything like that?”
"Ah, yes. That’s correct.”
I took out the Heavenly Star Sword.
Aura wrapped around the Heavenly Star Sword and I gave a light swing.
CRRRRRRRAAAAAACK!
The entire commercial building was blown away.
As if it was because of poor construction, the building collapsed in an instant. The loud noise disturbed the area, causing a commotion.
The four who witnessed this were trembling, shocked. One of them even fell flat onto the ground with their face down.
"I-I-I’m sorry! There, there is still one more exit! There is one underground exit, so I’m sure people would escape through there as soon as they realize that the entrance above is blocked.”
"Of course there is. I thought so. I was right, wasn’t I?”
I gave him a bright smile and he nodded his head vigorously.
The other three wore a dazed expression with gaping mouths, but soon realized the situation and copied the one who’d bowed down first. I pressed down onto their heads with my foot and spoke.
"Let’s do better next time, okay?”
"Y-yes!”
When I trampled on them to the point they were almost crushed, the only one spared began to rush toward the other exit.
The exit we arrived at after a long walk was a sewer large enough for a person to enter.
It was a sewage hole where polluted and dirty water was draining. I gestured with a flick of my chin and one of the three who previously withheld the truth hurriedly opened the hole and jumped inside.
"Hey, is everyone okay? There was a commotion up there, so I came to the underground passageway. What happened?”
The voice of the guy who went inside traveled through the sewage like he’d found someone.
"Is that Number 9? We don’t even know what happened. All of a sudden, our hideout just collapsed.”
Another voice came from inside.
"You guys call each other by numbers?”
"Yes, I’m No. 6. He is No. 7, and he is No. 10.”
All four of them were wearing masks, so I couldn’t tell them apart.
* * *
Reaper Scans
[Translator – Anwen]
[Proofreader – Valirius]
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* * *
"The leader is No. 1, the strongest among us. Oh, the voice you heard just now was No. 4.”
No. 7 started wagging his tail like a puppy and was rambling on even without me asking.
After lightly blowing up the commercial building, they were fawning as if I was their owner.
"No. 3, 4, 5, and 8 are in charge of disposing of the emperor’s bloodline. No. 4 seems to have been in the hideout, so I think you could capture him and see what he has to say.”
Not wanting to lose to No. 7, No. 6 hurriedly disclosed another piece of information.
Oho, I see.
Then I waited for No. 4, who was talking to No. 9 with an irritated tone.
A moment later, No. 4 came out of the sewage and saw the other three. He frowned as he spoke to them.
"What the… What are you guys doing, bringing a woman here? Did you already forget what No. 1 told us? He told us to stay away from girls during the assassination.”
"Really? Then, since what happened up there was caused by me, are you going to just let it go?”
No. 4 showed a confused expression.
But soon, as if a light bulb went off in his head, his eyes widened and he shouted at the four.
"Did you guys betray us?! You idiots! You know No. 1, yet you still betray us?!”
He immediately pulled two daggers from his waist while shouting.
"I don’t know who this chick is, but you guys made the wrong choice. You seem to have forgotten the difference between our numbers. It’s no trouble for me to kill all of you myself. Of course, I won’t just kill you. I will dig into the reason for your betrayal.”
"You talk a lot.”
"Hu-?”
No. 4 failed to notice I’d moved in front of him. He seemed surprised.
But as soon as he came back to his senses, a dagger was thrust at my neck. I retaliated with a light kick to his stomach.
"Keuk?!”
His body hit the ceiling of the sewer and fell face first into the sewage. His body was trembling.
I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him out, throwing him onto a grassy area before leisurely sitting on his back.
"Alright. Why don’t I have a talk with you, too?”
"T-Talk?! Don’t make me laugh! Do you think I’ll tell a bitch like you anything?”
I let out a sigh as I spoke.
"Those fuckers were like you, too. At first, anyway.”
I pointed to the four who led me here, causing No. 4 to shout.
"Scum! No. 1 will kill you all! You’re all as good as dead!”
He shouted harshly and the four showed faces of pity.
Just like that, I began the interrogation without hesitation. A while later, No. 4, who had been full of pride and determination before, was shedding tears.
"Please, please stop.”
"Are you ready to tell me? Ah, it’s also okay to call No. 1. Because I can do the same thing I did to you to him.”
"I-I’m sorry. I truly apologize with all my heart. So please. Please stop.”
"I just injected aura into your body a few times and made it explode. Don’t worry. I have a lot of recovery potions. Let’s do it a couple more times.”
"Ah, aaahhh! I’ll talk, I’ll tell you anything! Now, please stop! I will live properly from now on and serve you as my master for the rest of my life!”
He was banging his head on the ground and even drooling. I shrugged my shoulders and straightened my legs to stand up.
I flicked a finger, telling him to stand up as well. No. 4 stood up with wobbly legs.
"Good. Now tell me the name of the emperor’s bloodline that you guys have found.”
"Yes. The three killed were Latali, Gora, and Sherman. Three more who are identified as having the bloodline through our investigation are Coman, Shebelle, and Nariya.”
"Wait, there isn’t someone named Rush?”
"R-Rush? We haven’t investigated such a person as of now. Ah, oho, maybe we didn’t find the person! We’ve only recently received information began moving. So we probably haven’t found everyone yet!”
"Okay, I get it. Now shut your mouth.”
No.4’s voice has gradually grown in volume but, fearing I might interrogate him again, he quickly shut his mouth. I scratched my head, thinking.
Maybe, just maybe… Maybe Rush was just some guy who had one more day before he had to go to the army.
But that was weird.
My senses were clearly pointing to the fact that Rush was of the emperor’s bloodline.
I couldn’t understand why the Constellation would have kept me by Rush’s side without some reason.
'Does the Constellation have some ulterior motive?’
[‘Indolent Pleasure’ remains silent at your pondering.]
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