Chapter 113: A Clash Between a King-Kong and a Hybrid Species (1)

Derrick was extremely at loss.

How so?

Was he cornered, or surrounded by enemies after they somehow discovered him? Well, no.

…If anything, I prefer that outcome…

Because at the very least, my mind would be at ease…

As he thought so while letting out a bitter smile…

[Are you listening to me?!]

“A-Ah, I-I am…”

[Then, repeat what I said. Word by word.]

“T-That…”

[I knew it! You’re just too much, Derrick! How could you forget your promise to me?!]

“…I don’t. But Young Miss, that promise was something you forced me to make…”

[What did you say?]

“…Yes, Young Miss, everything’s my fault. Please, calm down.”

[Hmph!]

“Ugh…!”

Derrick gulped, feeling both surprised and confused. At the same time, he also wondered why he was doing all this in such a dangerous place—the tunnel.

Fortunately for him, Lee Han wasn’t there to witness what seemed like to be a lover’s quarrel between the two. Or else, he’d definitely be eating the instructor’s fist.

…No, really, if he had seen it, I’d have been in trouble for sure…

My luck hasn’t run out yet…

Of course, there was no such thing as communication technology in this world. The reason why Derrick could flirt—or rather, talk with the young lady—who was still in the royal capital, hundreds of kilometers away from the tunnel—was thanks to an artifact.

The [Blue Bird’s Chirp], an item that could be obtained in the Academy.

It was an artifact in the form of an earring that could only be used when each pair was worn by a man and a woman. Derrick had retrieved it in advance because he knew that it was an event-specific item.

Even though it had a condition that it had to be shared by a man and a woman, everyone would agree that its utility was enormous. One only needed to look at the history of modern warfare. The nature of the battlefield changed as soon as communication technology was born. It was a pretty good cheat item for an event-specific item.

But because of that artifact, right now…

[So, when are you coming back?]

“A-Ah, maybe around the time the Academy break ends…”

[So when summer is almost over?! You mean you aren’t going to keep your promise to visit my mansion?!]

“T-That’s not…”

…He ended up having to tank the wrath of the woman he became close with.

And now, he regretted his life’s decision.

…It’s my fault for giving it to her.

She was the closest to him among all the women he knew, and he trusted her more than anyone, so he left the earring to her. But, he never foresaw that he’d make such a lapse in judgment(?).

Derrick held back his groan as he spoke to Karin.

“Young Miss, no, Karin. Please forgive me, just this once. Next time we meet, I’ll apologize to you properly.”

[Hmph! I’m not buying it…]

“Haa. Please. Just this once.”

[Hmph! Fine. Just this once, though.]

“Oh, thank you…”

Derrick didn’t know why, but whenever he called her by her name, she’d suddenly calm down. Seeing this method work well again today, he was relieved.

Thank goodness.

Considering that the last time he had to tank her anger he had to suffer for a whole day, she calmed down rather quickly this time.

As he was feeling relieved and tried to catch his breath…

[Since you contacted me first, I’m guessing you’re curious about the situation in the capital?]

“…”

[I hate you.]

“I-I’m sorry.”

[Hmph!]

As expected of a smart woman, Karin quickly figured out why he had contacted her first.

Though, this made Derrick feel sorry towards her. All this time, he had been relying on her kindness to gather information about the thing that transpired in the capital. After all, he shouldn’t just focus on his work here, but also pay attention to the capital, the center of everything.

Young Master Roen and Miss Irene are in the capital right now…

If things are going according to the original work, those two will act following their roles as the main character and villainess respectively…

But, if the instructor’s guess was true…

About them being a regressor and a tranmigrator…

They were clearly the unpredictable fluttering wings of a butterfly, just like the instructor. Hence why, Derrick couldn’t help but be curious about news related to them.

[Hmph, the cost of using me as an informant will be expensive.]

“…I know.”

[Haa… In any case, currently, there’s nothing much going on in the capital. ‘Externally’, that is.]

“What do you mean…?”

[It means, internally, there are a lot of things going on. For example, there’s news that His Excellency Marquis Tristan has officially registered Young Miss Levy to his family.]

“R-Registered…?! He isn’t just accepting her as an adopted daughter, but also bestowing the Tristan name onto her?!”

[Apparently His Excellency the Marquis is quite fond of Young Miss Levy. If this news has been officially announced, I reckon there’ll be a lot of noise in social circles for a while.]

“Huh…”

Derrick knew of a saying that said no one could predict someone’s future, but, never in his wildest dream did he expect the unfortunate hero would achieve such a rise in status.

At this rate… Won’t all the information I have become useless?

But, the problem here was that the fates of everyone had derailed so much from what he knew. Hence why he became unable to guess what kind of torrent this flow of events would bring to the world, making his head—which was already hurting—to hurt even more.

However, Karin’s words kept on coming, as if telling him that there were still many more complicated things she needed to tell him.

[Also, recently, it has been revealed that a certain group has been operating an ‘illegal slave auction house’.]

“…”

[According to the rumors, the person who revealed the existence of the auction house to the world, destroyed the auction house, and freed the slaves, was a black-haired warrior. It seems like he has no intention of hiding his identity.]

“…Young Master Roen.”

[Most likely, yes. Thanks to that, many people now praise him as a hero. Though, he himself still denies it.]

“Hmm.”

…He went to save them.

Hearing the news about Roen, Derrick realized what kind of slave auction house that the black-haired guy had attacked. The same auction house that appeared in Chapter 17, a place that was run by the ruler of the underworld. Because of its owner, it was simply impossible to predict where the auction would take place.

Derrick knew of its existence, but he didn’t know where exactly it was. However, as expected of someone who was presumed to be a regressor, Roen seemed to know where it was, and barged into that place. As for why he did that, Derrick made a rough guess.

Is he trying to get rid of Count Nolan, the master of the underworld, recruit the talents who were caught in the auction house, and promote friendship with the dwarves?

Count Nolan, the master of the underworld, was a troublesome enemy who’d appear in Chapter 30. This was the perfect time to deal with him in advance, as the royal capital was at its weakest due to the terror attack, and everyone was so sensitive towards even the pettiest of crimes.

If he could take care of Count Nolan, he could get the count’s hidden funds, which would be enough to feed an army of over ten thousand for half a year. It was just a guess, but Derrick thought that the reason he was denying the achievements was to completely get his hands on those hidden funds.

However, the real benefits of hitting the auction house early were none other than ‘talent’ and ‘connection’.

Those twin halflings should be in the auction house, at this point in time, right? If he could get them, it would be good for him. They are tier 1 talents…

Talents that could easily grow to Lv. 7 if raised well.

This was the perfect opportunity to obtain [Hero-class] that couldn’t be obtained even with power and money. Not only that, among those caught in the auction house, there was also a ‘dwarf’.

A mystical race that repaid enemies two-fold and favors tenfold. They were a race that was good with their hands and famous for their wisdom. The value of having a connection with them was simply astronomical.

That guy killed two birds with one stone—no, four birds with one stone.

Fame, money, talent, and connection.

He could say that it was as expected of a regressor.

However, Derrick didn’t envy or resent Roen.

Why should I? He didn’t do anything bad.

Honestly, he had never had a proper conversation with Roen. Besides, him being a regressor meant that he wasn’t the Roen that he was familiar with, so he had no idea what his personality was like.

However, although ultimately it was for his own benefit, Derrick thought that he deserved extra points for attacking and destroying the auction house among the other hidden pieces. The thing with the auction house was that, the longer they left it alone, the more people they’d kidnap and have to suffer in their hands. With this, he had saved the future victims of the auction house.

If he wanted to really gain profit at this time, he could have targeted something like [the dungeon], but instead, he attacked the auction house. I guess he isn’t a bad person…

Derrick, who secretly gave Roen a positive evaluation, assessed that he could let go of his suspicions about Roen.

Of course, given his personality, he wouldn’t let all of his suspicions go just like that.

“K-Karin, i-if you can, can you keep telling me about Young Master Roen’s achievements? You don’t have to dig too deep.”

[Hmm, do you have some suspicions about him?]

“…Ahaha.”

I can’t hide anything from a smart woman like her, huh…?

[Hehehe, well, that isn’t a problem. He already has my interest anyway.]

“?”

[W-Wait, don’t get me wrong! I-I didn’t mean it that way, okay?! Moreover, he isn’t my type! I like men who are both cautious and pitiful like a puppy that got wet in the rain. Do you understand?]

“Yesss…?”

…Isn’t her taste in men too peculiar?

For a moment, that thought crossed Derrick’s mind, but he didn’t make the mistake of saying it out loud.

Instead, he chose to just respect her tastes.

Still… A man who’s both cautious and pitiful like a puppy that got wet in the rain?

Is there someone like that around her?

And at the same time, he wondered if such a person actually existed.

[A-Anyway, about Young Miss Irene…]

“…”

It was obvious that Karin was trying to change the subject, but Derrick just focused on the name she just uttered.

Irene Windler.

The girl who was presumed to be a transmigrator.

However, unlike the regressor, she seemed to have no information about this world at all.

After all, he had never seen her making any moves on her own.

And she was acting like a typical heroine in a romance novel.

[She’s getting the attention of many big names. It’s bound to be, after all, she’s Galahad’s adopted daughter, but after showcasing her magic the other day, the attention she received is on a whole different level. There’s talk that the successor to the Imperial Magic Tower will come see Irene in person. Additionally, the Sultan of the Western Continent also expressed his interest in her water magic, and planned to visit the kingdom.]

“…Huh?”

The successor of the Magic Tower of the Central Continent, and the Sultan of the Western Continent would be visiting her in person?

Wait, are you telling me that both of them are interested in a single woman?

Wow, now it really feels like Miss Irene has turned into a rofan female protagonist…

The original story was supposed to start next year, when Derrick had become a sophomore, but the storyline had derailed this far from the original already. This meant, not all the information he knew would be accurate, as the events that should’ve happened next year were already happening.

Because of that…

What a mess…

He felt that more than 70% of the information he had was useless, and by extension, the regressor’s information too.

This is why a ship shouldn’t have too many captains!

Right now, the ship he was riding could end up in the mountain or sky for all he knew.

“Haa…”

[Why are you sighing so suddenly?]

“Oh, I’m sorry, Karin. It’s just…there’s a lot to think about…”

[…Don’t worry too much. It’s not like there’s no one around to help you. I’m always here for you.]

“…”

[I told you not to suffer all by yourself. Can’t you not understand after hearing it once? Tsk.]

“…No, I can. Thank you, Karin. Thanks to you, I feel a little better…”

[Just a little?]

“I-I mean, a lot! A lot better!”

[Hahaha, now that’s something I love to hear.]

“…Ahaha.”

Derrick couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh at confident words, but he really felt a little better inside.

Perhaps it was because she was always confident and positive, unlike him…

You’re a good person, Young Miss Karin.

Her positivity could always impact him in good ways.

She’s right. Suffering all by myself wouldn’t do me any good.

I need to focus on the present…

And start to think positively.

It isn’t like I can’t use the information I have. There are ‘two’ other people who could utilize them well.

They can take care of it in my stead.

Derrick tried to look at things positively, and he concluded that all the disasters and problems that would happen could be resolved by all of them.

After all, they were the three most cliche figures in the pop culture industry. The regressor, the transmigrator, and…

The status window; the biggest one of them all.

So he just had to do his job well.

As long as he did his job well, everything would be fine.

With that newfound mindset, Derrick had a few more words with Karin before returning to his trustworthy collaborator. He wanted to share the information with him quickly and resolve the matter.

However…

“Oh, you’re here?”

“…?”

“Oh, that? Don’t worry about that. Think of it as decoration.”

“…”

“Ah right! I found out something. It seems like those Blood Cult ripoffs are up to something weird.”

“…Huh? Huh?”

“We just need to take care of that and go home. I don’t think it’ll take long.”

“??”

…This development made Derrick begin to think that maybe his presence wasn’t necessary at all.

H-He’s doing everything all by himself…

A strange sense of disappointment washed over him.