Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

Chapter 13

Note: There was a slight oversight in one of the terms used in the series. The novel in the series, The Feast of the Returned Demon King, has been changed to The Feast of the Reincarnated Demon King. This oversight was due to the later decision of going with the term Reincarnator instead of Returner while the initial mass release was still in the works. Sorry for any confusion this has caused thus far.

But guess what? Now you all know who the supposed Reincarnator is. Congratulations.

After finding Linbelles mother, Allen planned to deal with the chimera sorcerer.

However

Isnt it weird to be trying to find someone less than a day after arriving in the city?

Julius may have been able to deceive the baron in the past by gloating his familys name. However, Allen didnt think the same thing would work on the current Baron Bellourne given that he would act the way that Allen thought he would.

Then again, what if he just fell for Juliuss excuse due to his incompetence?

It would probably be best to just say that we found her early on into the search by luck.

Disregarding the thought of just going elsewhere, Allen thought about what they would get out of her tagging along with them.

Would she even be useful?

She would be.

She would be more useful than any soldier since as a sorcerer, her senses would sharpen fivefold every time her rank increased.

Although Allen had a relatively large ring, he could only utilize a three-meter radius to sense around him. Meanwhile, Francisca, as a Rank 4 sorceress, had a domain of 375 meters.

As is, she would be very useful as a tracker.

Well, maybe.

As Allen agonized over her, Francisca approached Linbelle and struck up a conversation. 

Your skin is so clear! Do you do anything special to it?

Ah, uhm I dont really know.

Oh, so it must be genetics. You mustve gotten it from your parents. Whats your mother like?

Yes, th-thank you My mom is a lot prettier than me. But what's genetics?

Hm Well, genetics are sort of like

It looks like theyre getting along.

Allen then gave his reply to Franciscas suggestion.

Well then, come with us. I have a lot to do, so lets get going.

* * *

Because many soldiers had gone to the villages since the morning, the wall at the west gate was quiet from the small number of soldiers remaining there.

Apart from the guards, there were masses of people moving around. Allen was initially worried about finding Linbelles mother in that kind of setting, but

Sir Allen, is this the woman you were looking for?

His worries ceased. There was no need to have brought Francisca with them. The soldiers had already found the woman by the time theyd arrived at the gate.

Ah! Mom!

As soon as Linbelle saw the woman the soldiers had brought, she immediately ran to her with tears running down her face.

Linbelle?

She hugged Linbelle, who jumped straight into her arms, bewildered by the situation.

The soldiers left as soon as Allen approached, and the woman turned her attention to him.

She appeared to be in her early thirties. She shared the same waist-length black hair and purple eyes as her daughter, and she had the solid body of a hunter, just as Linbelle had said.

Observing the behavior of the soldiers around her, she carefully asked, Could you be a nobleman?

I am the eldest son of the Reinhart family, Allen Reinhart.

He slowly walked towards them. And as he came within three meters of them, the ring around his heart gently vibrated, taking in everything within his range.

Why is my heart racing? Shes tensing her legs Is she looking to escape?

Her actions piqued his interest. 

She raised her daughter alone while working as a hunter, unlike how she lived in his previous life.

However, for some reason, she had been anxious ever since his arrival, unlike Allen who was moderately amused.

The feelings she was harboring werent the same feelings that commoners experienced when faced with nobility.

Im curious, but

That was all.

He didnt intend to dig any deeper and expose her secrets that he meant to protect.

Mom, he helped me find you, Linbelle said, softly. She had been in her mothers arms for quite some time now.

Is that so?

Also, he saved me from some soldiers who tried to Oh, and also, he let me eat in his fancy house

No matter what Linbelle said, however, her mother maintained her stiff expression and tightly shut lips.

Allen slowly approached the nervous woman.

I suppose its no use to tell you to relax. He smiled, but she didnt return it.

What do you want from us?

Mom!

You stay put.

Linbelle protested against her mother, but couldnt manage to win her over. And as her mother spoke, she became quiet again.

I dont believe youve decided to help us purely out of compassion, sir.

Her suspicions were reasonable.

Why would the dukes eldest son personally order soldiers to help a random person? And a totally unrelated village girl, at that?

Her daughter may have been naive, but she was not.

Sir, I dont know what you want from us, but we dont have anything to offer.

What could he

If you want our bodies, then take me instead of my daughter

Mom!

Linbelle, unable to stay silent, spoke out again.

Sir Allen isnt like that. He just wanted to help

Quiet, Linbelle. Nothing in this world comes without a price, even if you pretend otherwise.

Linbelle was visibly upset by her words, yet her mother didnt look at her.

How rude!

A soldier shouted.

Watch what you say to Sir Allen! Who do you think youre talking to

Thats enough.

But

With a wave of a hand from Allen, the soldier quickly shifted his gaze and shut his mouth.

Yes, you were correct. Theres nothing in this world that comes without a price.

He nodded at her words. The same held true both now and back then.

There was nothing in this world that came without a price. 

Allen thought of the price he may someday have to pay for having been able to return to the past. He just didnt know when it would be.

I hope I can put it off until after I kill him

He couldnt conceive the thought that things could possibly just turn in his favor and a price would not have to be paid.

But not this time. Well, I suppose you could say otherwise. I did have a reason for helping you.

She approved of their shared thinking. Linbelle, perhaps shocked, stared blankly.

Fransica had unexpectedly stayed quiet while observing the situation. Possibly because it wasnt any of her business.

I was thinking of asking you to

So you really just did want her for her body after all

Allen was stunned for a moment.

Francisca covered her mouth to hold back her laughter, but the corners of her mouth continued to twitch out of control until she eventually burst into laughter.

Linbelle took two steps away. Her face then reddened, just as it had the day before, as if shed only just grasped the situation.

Ah, well, I Its, uhm

Her eyes moved back and forth frantically as she stuttered. Allen continued, maintaining his expression with superhuman patience.

Ahem. Well, as I was going to say, I was thinking of asking you to work as a maid, Allen replied with consideration to what he had been worrying about since arriving in the city.

Excuse me?

Id like to ask you both, mother and daughter, to work as maids.

Despite Allens lack of involvement, history had already been rewritten. And despite having had no run-ins with Julius yet, Linbelle had already had a rough go of things. Though he hadn't been around at that time to interfere, she seemed to have been miserable, even if the outcome was different from the one before his regression.

As such

Ill take them with me.

After all, intervening like this would give them the choice between fighting on the battlefield or getting caught in the crossfire.

However, it wasnt guaranteed that the same thing would happen as it had before his regression. So he figured it best to take them with him.

That was his conclusion.

There were lots of disasters in the future to come. What if they were to die in the midst of one of those disasters? Had he not intervened, who would be to blame? Him? The disaster itself? A God who may or may not even exist?

Theres no use in worrying.

If hed known that this would happen, he wouldve acted thoughtlessly like Julius.

However, because of his worries, the standard for how he should act in the future had been set.

Time continued to pass regardless of your actions or lack thereof, and the outcome of the choices you made were unknown until they happened.

Could he be sure that there wouldnt be a better outcome if he didnt intervene?

I cant.

After all, he wasnt any kind of omniscient god. He was just a person who happened to know a little bit about the future.

The black book only contained tales of a future that would no longer line up with the events to come, right?

His eyes sparkled. 

At this moment, thered been no change in his capabilities.

Yet he was convinced that with even just a small amount of knowledge on the future, he could come to achieve new heights.

Understanding the future

He shook his head. For now, he should just finish their conversation.

Us?

Allen felt the need to think quickly, so he firmly spoke.

Well then, would you grant me permission to employ Linbelle alone?

I

The mothers expression turned dark.

Its obvious that youre concerned about her, so I offered to take the both of you as maids. I dont have any other ideas.

I I

Well do it!

Linbelle immediately accepted his proposition. However, her mother objected.

No!

Why not?! Sir Allen really is a good person! Yesterday

Linbelle then whispered in her mothers ear.

Allen waited politely until the mother startledly looked at him and slapped her daughter.

Ack! Whyd you do that?!

Ill see you later.

She glared at her daughter and came to stand in front of Allen.

She had known from the time he offered to make them maids that it was a declaration rather than an invitation. She couldnt refuse an invitation from an aristocrat, who would one day become the ruler of the land on which they stood. She could do nothing else but believe him to be truly good-natured from the nature of the request, hoping that all that she heard from her daughter truly reflected his nature.

She thought something through in her head, and then looked up decidedly, having made up her mind.

I, Inellia, and my daughter, Linbelle, accept your offer to serve as your maids. And

She came up to him and whispered, You may touch me, but please dont touch my daughter.

He hadnt even thought about doing anything of the sort.

Annoyed, Allen replied without trying to correct her misconception.

Alright. I wont.

Not having found a way to save his brother yet, he hadnt had the time to even think about trying to get with any women. Maybe once it was all over, he might take the time to think about it.

But will that day ever come?

Thank you for accepting my request.

Francisca, whod been carefully observing the series of events, looked at Allen with a vague expression on her face. It was clear that she heard their whispered exchange.

Allen ignored her gaze and talked to the mother and daughter.

Inellia, Linbelle, Ill get you a room so you can unwind for a bit. And regarding your training as maids we can discuss that once we return to the manor.

Taking in commoners as maids wouldve been an unimaginable action had it been his past life, but he didnt care.

With the two under his wing, not only would he obtain the power of the girl who would one day become very powerful, but also, his mother would support him because she wanted anyone to come in to work as maids.

Allen immediately went to approach Francisca to thank her.

Miss Francisca, thank you for coming along with us.

Oh, I barely helped at all.

Still, thank you for offering your help.

Allen gave a small bow and turned around. He needed to organize all of the thoughts that had been rushing through his head.

By the way, sir

Im sorry, but Im quite busy.

After greeting them again, he sent Inellia and Linbelle to their room in the mansion before heading to a nearby inn himself.

Come on!

Any single room is fine.

Ah, yes. Right this way!

Once in the room, the innkeeper dropped the key on accident, but Allen didn't care. He took the key and immediately went to sit down.

With an indecipherable smile, Francisca stared at his back until he disappeared into the inn.