Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 289

The market was loud and full of smells. People pushed past each other, calling out to sell their goods. “Rare herbs from the Southern Mountains!” one voice yelled. “Fresh fish from Calon, kept cold with magic!” shouted another. Victor walked through the crowd, listening. “Silk from Mount McLaine!” someone announced. *Silk?* Victor thought. *Does our kingdom even make silk?*

Victor moved through the busy market, looking around quickly. He felt strange here, like he didn’t belong. He caught sight of himself in a mirror outside a shop selling hats and clothes. It was still strange to see. Brown hair, blue eyes, skin made darker by the sun. This wasn’t his usual face. Everything here was new: the place, the job, even his own reflection.

Victor had been in Tahinan, the main city of Tahiti, for a week. He was learning about the city and comparing it to what he had been told. He realized one thing: being a spy is not easy. Nothing felt natural. Luckily, most of what he needed for this job was just strength and fighting.

He was pretending to be a rich nobleman from another country, on holiday in Tahiti. If he wasn’t dressed like this, people would think he was strange and notice him right away. *But even now,* he thought, *people are still looking at me.*

Victor turned a corner and saw a man following him, not too far behind. He looked away quickly and kept walking, trying to seem relaxed. *This is bad.* It was the same man he had seen in the market a few days ago, dressed as a seller. That man had talked to him for a long time, showing him different things to buy. Now, the man looked different, but Victor could sense it was him. He could feel people’s energy, not just see their faces. This made it even stranger. A man in disguise was following him. *And there might be others,* he thought.

Victor remembered the man’s energy because they had talked for a while, even if it was by chance. Now that he was thinking about it, he noticed two men who were always near where he was staying. Did this city really watch visitors so closely? It was a place for trade and tourists. *Of course not,* he thought. Had someone told them about his mission?

He thought about all the reasons why he was being followed. The most likely idea was: “Just some robbers trying to steal from a tourist?” he wondered. He had dressed as a nobleman because he heard there were many thieves in Tahinan who targeted rich people. *People say they don’t bother nobles,* he thought. *Damn it. This makes things harder.* Feeling worried, Victor went inside the place where he was staying. He was starting to feel comfortable there after a week.

Inside the large, fancy rooms that were right for a nobleman, the face Victor still found strange waved to him. It was Jang Han, a man in his thirties, with blond hair and a face marked with scars. This was really Grick the mage, changed to look like this. Grick used to be thin, with brown hair and a tired face. Victor blinked, still not used to seeing Grick like this.

“I saw it myself,” Grick said.

“…I don’t know exactly what you mean, but does that mean you’re sure?” Victor asked.

“Yes.”

“You also know the palace map and how guarded it is?”

“Yes.”

Even though Victor answered strongly, Grick still looked worried. Why had Grick, a student of the famous golem maker Clayton, come all this way? Partly to keep the magic disguise working, but also to help Victor prepare for this mission. Grick had looked at the information from Damian’s spies, “Eyes of the Flame.” He realized the palace was very well protected. They thought it would be like a big castle in their own kingdom, but it was much harder to get into alone. Grick was worried, even though Victor was very skilled, maybe even the best fighter of his time.

“Just to be extra safe,” Grick said, “shouldn’t we ask for help?”

“It’s okay,” Victor said.

“Are you really sure?” Grick asked, his voice full of worry. Victor just nodded calmly.

“You can go now, Grick,” Victor said.

“What?”

“It looks like some small pests are bothering me,” Victor explained.

“Pests?” Grick looked worried when Victor said he was being followed.

“Could it be about the mission…?”

“I don’t think so,” Victor said. “They were just weak fighters. I couldn’t feel any magic or power from them.”

“Hmm…” Grick knew Victor was very good at sensing things, so he believed him.

“Still,” Grick said, “maybe I should stay, just in case?”

Victor didn’t want Grick to stay. “If things go wrong,” Victor said, “it’s easier for me to escape by myself.”

“W-well, maybe you’re right,” Grick said, agreeing with Victor’s cold, practical words.

“Didn’t you say the disguise magic lasts for a week?” Grick asked, still worried.

“…Are you really going to do this all alone?”

“We can’t use your golems here, can we?” Victor’s face, which had been calm all week, now showed a little annoyance. Grick’s voice got quieter as Victor looked at him with a sharp stare.

“Well, yes… I’m just worried…” Grick mumbled.

“I’ll bring you good news,” Victor said firmly. “Please go back now.”

Seeing how determined Victor was, Grick just nodded slowly.

Three days passed. Victor was still worried about the men following him. He decided he had to act now. He put on his dark blue stealth suit. It was so dark it seemed to disappear into the night. *I’ve learned everything I can here,* he thought. He moved silently into the shadows. These movements were like a part of him now, like breathing. He moved like a ghost in the dark, quiet and fast.

Suddenly, Victor remembered his lord’s voice, the one who taught him these stealth skills. *If it’s too hard, run away right away. Honestly, I could do this mission myself. Just keep up the disguise. Officially, I’m resting because I’m hurt. If I became a killer, I’d be almost as good as my teacher. Except for those Ghost people.* Victor smiled a little. His lord, a king, offering to be a killer himself! His lord always did things in surprising ways, in everything he did, from ruling to fighting wars. *Even if he was joking,* Victor thought. He didn’t want his lord to have to do this job. Even if his lord was right that he could do it, a king should never risk himself like that. Victor sighed softly, made himself ready, and moved deeper into the dark alleys.

He followed the best path he had learned in the last ten days. He would use the spy information inside the palace, but he also had another advantage: his clothes. This stealth suit was magic. It could even stop people from seeing him properly. It was the same kind of suit worn by the “Ghosts.” But there were problems. *For some reason,* Victor remembered Clayton saying, *the magic is getting weaker because the person who made it is dead. I didn’t think that could happen. I don’t know why it’s so hard, but the magic patterns… Oh, you don’t care about this, do you? Sorry. You remind me of Leah sometimes… It’s a very interesting thing to study, but we have ten of them, so we can give you one… It should work for at least a month. Take it.* Clayton said it wasn’t perfect, but it was still strong enough. *Maybe this won’t be as hard as I thought,* Victor considered. But as soon as he thought that, his desire to fight grew even stronger.

Part of it was his own ambition, not just loyalty to his lord. He had reached a limit in his skills before. He had seen a new level beyond that limit, and it made him want it badly. He had felt like he could do anything, like he was completely free for a moment. It was a powerful feeling, like his spirit had left his body and taken in the whole world. He wanted to feel that again. And seeing the queen, who was as skilled as him, go beyond that limit, made him even more determined. *I can do that too,* he thought.

Victor remembered what his lord, who was like a teacher to him, had taught him. *Your life and what you believe in become part of your special skills, your traits. If you just want to be strong like other knights, you’ll only get normal skills. Of course,* his lord had said, *being normal isn’t bad, but the more special your skill is, the more you can grow. You’ve lived a very special life,* his lord continued, *so think about what you really want. That’s the first thing to do to get the skill you want. What if you don’t become super powerful?* his lord had joked. *Haha. You will be. I promise.*

Following his lord’s teaching, Victor understood what was most important to him. *Choosing when and how your special skill appears. When I saw the King do it, I thought everyone could. I thought I had found the most important idea of the time.* *But then I realized it was too strange. How can you control something you don’t even know you’re doing? That’s when I started to wonder. You’re very good at using your energy, but you can also control when you become even stronger? Just to get the skill you want? Can you really stop yourself from becoming stronger? No way!* *You’ve changed a lot, like going from an insect to a human, but can an insect control when it changes? You’ve felt it a little, haven’t you? Right? Isn’t it weird? If you could control it, you’d want to do it now, wouldn’t you? Exactly. The King is really strange.* Victor also thought about the words of Luther Kyle, who had come up with the idea of “skill design,” which his lord had also talked about.

Also, Victor remembered more of Luther Kyle’s words. *From the moment you can do that, you’re already beyond normal human limits. But from my idea and the King’s example, I know one thing for sure: To really understand your own life and beliefs, and to want them even more strongly. That strong want makes you go beyond human limits. And the better you understand yourself, the more you can control how you become stronger. Even if you can’t create your own skills like the King, you can make the skills you get even stronger. It shows you the right way to go. That’s the best thing about this idea, I think.* Luther Kyle said Victor was the best example of this. *Ronian would have just wanted to be stronger,* Victor thought. *He would have wanted to be better than his lord. But me…* Victor had a dream since he was a child. And he had a dream now. He was also thankful to the person who made everything possible for him, and he wanted to protect that person no matter what. Victor understood his own beliefs and life now. Because of that, he knew what he had to do. So, what he needed now was clear.

*I need a real fight, so dangerous that I could die,* he thought. *If I fail… no, no. I won’t fail.* Victor bit his lip, pushing away the bad thoughts. If he didn’t have this mission, he would have had to find a war or a dangerous magical place. Only then could he find the kind of danger that would make him stronger. Maybe he was crazy in his past life, someone who died because he couldn’t fight enough. *Or maybe a killer,* he thought, with a strange idea. Even as he had these strange thoughts, he kept moving forward. He could see the royal palace in the distance now. From now on, one mistake could kill him. He cleared his mind and focused all his senses. But suddenly, he felt something strange, a cold feeling down his back.