Regression is Too Much - Chapter 87

WeTried Translations

Translator: ZEROSUGAR

Editor: Abstract

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Regression is Too Much

Chapter 087

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The Regressor is flustered (8)

In a dim room lit by a single torch.

“…But what if monsters come out from inside the castle? Why did you destroy the drawbridge?”

“The moat is filled with snow anyway, which means the drawbridge is pointless. And I plan to leave the smallest gate intact. It's narrow, but you can pass through it.”

“Hmm… I see. Have there been any players causing trouble? I saw earlier there were women among the people of the barony…”

“They have not. It's a great relief that no one is foolish enough to cause trouble when we could all die at any moment.”

“Well, then…”

I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck a couple of times. The reason I had taken the time to come all this way was simple.

“I want to learn how to handle mana.”

It was because I had decided to learn how to handle mana from Baron George.

“Hmm… where should I begin?”

Baron George gently stroked his long beard.

“First, let's start with this. Can you feel your magical power, or mana?”

“…Yes.”

In the past, on the 2nd floor, a certain nobleman had guided the mana in my body for me. With his help, I was barely able to activate Flash Step and subdue the master of the city. Since then, I could feel something swirling inside me. I couldn't control it, but I could feel its presence.

“Hm.”

Baron George nodded, walked up behind me, and slowly placed a hand on my back.

“Umm…”

I felt something flow in from my back, connecting with the mana inside my body.

“…”

The inside of my body felt tingly. It was a slightly stinging yet refreshing sensation, almost like peeling off a scab. The feeling was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant.

“Whew, that's done.”

Finishing his concentration, Baron George stepped back while wiping the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead.

“…What's done?”

As far as I could tell, nothing had changed. My body felt the same, and the mana inside me showed no signs of moving.

“I've figured out the cause of the problem. But first, let me ask you one question. You people use abilities called traits, don't you?”

“…That's right.”

“Those also fundamentally use mana. But you ‘players’ use your traits without any problems. How do you do that?”

“…It's thanks to the status window.”

I briefly explained what the status window was and what its functions were.

“So, the idea is that traits registered in the status window can be used somewhat instinctively just by trying to use them.”

“…Then, why are you trying to handle mana?”

“It's because I have some rather unusual traits.”

For some reason, the methods to use Flash Step and Heart of Lightning Flash were hammered into my head, but they didn't activate as freely as other people's traits. It could have been because they were S-grade traits and therefore special, or perhaps all traits that were acquired later, rather than given from the start, worked this way.

“…I see. That explains it, then. The phenomenon you're experiencing is a symptom commonly seen in the children of the nouveau riche in our world.”

Baron George began his story, stroking his beard.

Whether it was because the value of the land they owned had skyrocketed, or because their business had hit a massive jackpot, there were always people who became rich overnight, regardless of the world.

“When a commoner makes a lot of money… They indulge in luxury first. They buy expensive houses, squander money at gambling dens, and covet alcohol and women.”

But one eventually grows tired of luxury. And there were certainly those who were not naturally suited for a life of debauchery. For such people, it was obvious where they would spend their money next.

“They try to buy status.”

First, they would buy a barony in some remote place. But just buying a barony didn't make them a viscount or a baron, nor did it incorporate them into the five peerage ranks. They would just become a nominal ‘honorary knight’ and take a seat at the very bottom of aristocratic society. In the end, they were nothing but fake nobles in name only.

However, a way to become a true noble certainly did exist. It was possible if one achieved great merit in battle and caught the eye of the established nobility.

“After that… it's common for them to spend every last penny to feed their children elixirs.”

The child of a nouveau riche would inherit the dream of becoming a ‘true noble’ and ingest various elixirs from a young age. It was not at all uncommon for a six-year-old snot-nosed kid to possess more mana than a knight who had spent their entire life on the battlefield.

“…So, what does that have to do with me?”

“Mana, in the end, is a part of the body. The difficult part is accumulating mana through battle or mana meditation. Once you have the mana, you can naturally handle it without really needing to learn how.”

However, if you come to possess too much mana through artificial means, you lose control over the mana itself. It simply exists within your body, but you lose the ability to actually handle it.

The fact that Earthlings never had mana in the first place was likely a contributing factor as well.

“The ideal method is to slowly increase your mana while maintaining control… but for you, it's safe to say it's already too late.”

“…”

So, the amount of mana I had raised with stats was too much for me to handle.

“So what's the solution?”

But seeing how confident he looked, there was clearly a solution. A doctor wouldn't wear such an expression in front of a patient with an incurable disease.

“It's simple. You just have to keep being conscious of your mana. If you couldn't feel it, you would have needed my help, but didn't you say you can already feel it?”

“…What?”

“Sit, take slow deep breaths, and meditate. With every breath you take, in and out, try to feel the pulsating flow of mana. If enough time passes, at some point, the mana will begin to move on its own.”

“…”

Baron George's solution was simple. Just keep feeling the mana. Then it would naturally start to move.

“…That is simple.”

I finally understood why the baron had hesitated when we made our deal. It was because the tip was so trivial that his conscience must have been pricking him.

“Still, I have no intention of breaking our promise.”

“…Thank you.”

But sometimes the answers to complex problems are unexpectedly simple. I smiled faintly, imagining a future where I could handle mana as freely as I pleased.

The second day dawned.

“Did anything happen during the night?”

“No. Not even a single wild animal passed by.”

We had gone to the trouble of setting up a watch, but nothing had happened at all. The snow still fell heavily, the sky was a deep blue, and the mountains stood high.

“…We'll proceed with the same routine as yesterday. However, let's pick about ten people for guard duty while the work on the castle wall is happening. We don't know what might pop out today.”

The castle was peaceful, but that very peace felt all the more unsettling to me. Nevertheless, our daily routine didn't change.

“Move the stones!”

We were still blocking up the castle gate.

“We found a secret room on the 1st floor. There were a few books inside… Gyeong-nam-ssi is deciphering them.”

We explored the castle.

“Move. Rocks are falling.”

We were demolishing the 4th floor.

Everything flowed just as it had yesterday. There was no threat to our survival, and the mood among the people gradually began to loosen.

“…Hey, is anything actually supposed to come out?”

“The 2nd floor was a freebie, wasn't it… so isn't the 4th floor a freebie too? So far, the otherworlders have been the most threatening things we've faced.”

“…What if the otherworlders suddenly decide to betray us?”

With no immediate crisis, people's imaginations started running wild in a bad direction. For now, it was just quiet rumors being passed around, but I had no idea what might happen in the future.

“Hey, where did that bastard, Liu Huang or whatever his name is, go?”

“I know, right…”

Also, after spending more than a day on the 4th floor, I could really feel the castle's problems.

The castle had narrow passages, numerous small rooms, and paths that were tangled like a maze. In short, communication between people was extremely difficult. It took a great deal of effort to find just one person, and a rapid exchange of opinions was impossible.

“Agh, really…”

I tried to check if all 100 players were all right, but it wasn't easy. The only space large enough for all 100 of us to gather was the courtyard in front of the castle.

As I was kicking at the frozen dirt in frustration.

“Ahem, ahem.”

I heard a cough and turned my head to see Baron George standing there, accompanied by Knight Thomas.

“…I have something to show you. Can you follow me for a moment.”

“Sure.”

I had a lot of things to do, but I decided to follow him without a second thought.

This was because Baron George's expression was colder and more rigid than I had ever seen it before.

“You knew that we were tearing down the 4th floor, didn't you?”

Baron George spoke as he climbed the stairs. He was in the process of tearing down the entire 4th floor to use the materials to block the castle gate.

“…I've lived in a castle my whole life and have visited the castles of other nobles many times. This is not a castle. It's closer to a fortress.”

There are no windows. The passages are also extremely narrow. Naturally, there is no ventilation, and the inside is terribly humid. It's hard to imagine that anyone actually lived in a place like this.

“I've rambled on for too long.”

The place Baron George had brought me to was a remote corner of the 4th floor. The ceiling was already torn away, allowing snowflakes to drift inside.

He pointed.

With his fingertip, Baron George indicated something.

“Look.”

What Baron George pointed at was an old wall. There were traces where it had been torn at, as if someone had tried to break it with a hammer.

“...This is.”

But Baron George wouldn't have shown me an ordinary wall. Behind the old wall, there was another wall. A narrow gap existed between the two.

If it were just a simple gap, there would have been no problem, but…

“…”

At first glance, it was just a narrow, ordinary-looking gap. But in that tiny space, a familiar blue portal was shimmering.

Ding.

Just then, a message window popped up before my eyes.

[Great Achievement Notification.]