Not A Regressor - Chapter 190

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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I Am Not a Regressor Chapter 190
Monsters of the Sacred Oil Site (1)
“Kyaaaaaahhhhh!!”
A scream that seemed to tear the very air pierced through the beautiful beach.
Blood, blood, blood spreading along the cross-section of melted lower body.
Crimson blood diffused into the emerald seawater like drops of ink.
“S-someone’s dead!”
“W-what happened?!”
Tourists leisurely enjoying their vacation heard the commotion and rushed over, only to discover a corpse with its lower half melted away, and they screamed.
“O-jin?”
“What’s all this fuss, kid?”
Ha-eun and Riak, who had been playing not far away, heard the commotion and approached Kwon O-jin.
“…I’m not sure.”
Kwon O-jin shook his head as he examined the corpse of the woman with only her upper body remaining.
The woman who had just been thrashing about in the water moments ago now lay grotesquely dead, her eyes rolled back and her tongue hanging out long.
‘So the thrashing from before….’
What if it wasn’t drowning and struggling, but something in the sea ‘biting’ her legs?
“Let’s get out of the water first, sis.”
“Y-yes!”
Kwon O-jin dragged the corpse onto the beach.
People gathered around like clouds, their gazes filled with fear as they looked at him.
Kwon O-jin spoke in a calm voice to the people watching him with cautious expressions.
“When I found her, she was already dead.”
“Surely you didn’t….”
“No! This person heard my scream and came to rescue that woman!”
The woman who had shouted to Kwon O-jin about someone drowning defended him.
Well, thinking about it logically, it was obvious that no one would commit such a conspicuous murder in such a crowded place.
“Then who on earth….”
“It appears to be the work of a monster.”
“A monster?”
Kwon O-jin nodded.
He could only think that something lurking in the sea had killed her.
And there was no entity other than a monster that could ‘melt’ a person’s lower half to death.
“C-call the Colgrand Family administrator!”
“Didn’t the Saint of Rome just arrive here earlier?”
“How on earth did this happen….”
While tourists in a state of panic were causing a commotion.
[My child.]
“Yeah.”
Kwon O-jin slightly submerged his hand into the seawater and concentrated his mind.
‘Lyra Constellation’s Hound.’
Blue electricity spread from my fingertips, dispersing widely through the seawater.
“Tsk.”
Kwon O-jin furrowed his brow as he searched the waters using Lyra Constellation’s Hound.
Ha-eun, watching him from beside, gazed down at the seawater where visceral fragments drifted and asked.
“Did it escape?”
“No, I can’t find it in the first place.”
Perhaps it was because this was a Sacred Oil Site.
The mana permeating the entire seawater prevented Lyra Constellation’s Hound from functioning properly in its tracking capacity.
‘In seawater like this, there’s no way any scent could linger.’
Kwon O-jin gazed at the sea with a troubled expression.
The sea, shimmering with a clear emerald hue, was as serene as if nothing had ever occurred.
“I’ll go in and check.”
Riak volunteered himself as bait and waded into the seawater.
“If you sense anything, get out immediately!”
“Hmph. Who do you take this body for, lizard woman?”
Riak flashed a grin at Ha-eun’s worried cry and splashed deeper into the sea, advancing toward the darker waters.
Thus, they lingered for quite some time at the location where the first woman’s body had been discovered.
“It seems to have fled.”
Splash!
Riak emerged onto the beach and clicked his tongue with furrowed eyes.
They had even attempted to lure the creature by suppressing their mana, but the beast hiding in the depths refused to reveal itself easily.
“Maybe it didn’t react because it’s not human? Should I go in and look?”
Ha-eun swung her arms and began walking into the sea.
Kwon O-jin shook his head and grabbed her shoulder.
“There’s no need for us to get involved.”
“Huh?”
“Look there.”
Several vans—three or four of the same model as the one Kwon O-jin’s group had arrived in—pulled up to the coastal area.
“What’s the matter, Kwon O-jin?”
Isabella, who had been resting inside the van, also emerged upon hearing the commotion.
Kwon O-jin calmly explained to her what had just transpired.
“…So you’re saying something presumed to be a monster attacked a tourist?”
“Yes.”
“I understand. Our family will investigate this matter, so please go inside and rest.”
“You don’t need our help?”
“It’s fine. This is our family’s affair.”
Isabella spoke with a cold gleam in her eyes and a resolute tone.
True to her words, it was the Colgrand Family that oversaw the management of San Fruttuoso.
There was no reason to meddle when they hadn’t even requested assistance.
“Understood.”
“When you return to the mansion, there’s a hot spring there fed by seawater. If you soak in it, you’ll be able to continue healing your internal injuries.”
Isabella said this while turning her head toward the Colgrand Family employees who had stepped out of the van.
“Close off the beach immediately and evacuate the people. Then re-examine the testimony of the first witnesses and search the seabed for traces of the monster.”
Commands flowed from her lips without hesitation or stumbling.
Gone was the gentle, affectionate demeanor Isabella had displayed before me—in its place stood a queen commanding the scene with charismatic authority blazing in her eyes.
‘So she really does lead both the Leech Faction and the Colgrand Family simultaneously.’
I let out a short exclamation of admiration as I watched her swiftly organize the scene.
Precise commands without excess, rapid judgment, and a charisma that naturally compelled people to follow.
I could manage quick situational awareness and issue directives just as well, but leading people with such sharp charisma was something impossible for me.
“Hmm.”
My eyes gleamed as I regarded Isabella.
If I could draw her to my side as an ally.
If I could grasp her in my hand.
It wasn’t difficult to imagine what a tremendous asset she would become.
‘Let’s head back for now.’
There was no reason for me to get in her way here.
“Hmm… something about just leaving like this feels off.”
Ha-eun scratched her head and kept glancing back toward the beach.
“Better than staying here and just getting in the way.”
“True. She’s the administrator, so she’d know better.”
Ha-eun nodded with a shrug of her shoulders.
I led Ha-eun, Riak, and Vega back to the mansion on foot, retracing the path we’d driven down.
“It’s completely empty.”
“Everyone must have gone to investigate the incident.”
I stepped into the mansion, where an eerie silence hung heavy.
“Where… where is Isabella?”
Then.
A middle-aged man emerged from within the silent mansion.
It was Gilford, Isabella’s uncle.
“She’s directing operations at the scene.”
“…Is that so?”
Gilford nodded, his expression tense with worry.
He surely must have heard about the incident that occurred at the beach.
Yet here he was, the island’s highest administrator, planted firmly in the mansion with his heavy frame.
“The Colgrand Family will handle this matter ourselves, so don’t concern yourselves with it.”
He spoke in a blunt tone, then abruptly turned and disappeared into his room.
Ha-eun’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Gilford’s door, adorned with ornate decorations unlike the others.
“Is that bastard really part of the Colgrand Family?”
“Well, strictly speaking, he’s not even a blood relative.”
“So she’s the top administrator of this island, right?”
“Yeah. That’s what I heard anyway.”
“Hmm. Now I understand why this incident happened.”
Ha-eun frowned disapprovingly at Gilford and let out a dismissive snort.
“…I suppose.”
Kwon O-jin trailed off, his gaze fixed on Gilford’s firmly closed door.
It was true that he seemed incompetent to the point of being hard to believe he shared the same family as Isabella.
‘If an incompetent fool like that has been managing things, this island shouldn’t have had a single incident until now.’
Yet an incident occurred on the very day I arrived.
I felt like a harbinger of calamity, like Conan or Kindaichi, dragging misfortune wherever I went.
‘Well, if Isabella takes charge of the investigation, something will come to light.’
For now, it seemed best to leave this incident to Isabella and focus on treating my internal injuries.
“I’ll head to the hot spring then.”
“Hehe. Want me to join you, oppa?”
Ha-eun smiled sweetly and gently hooked her arm around mine.
“I’ll wash every inch of you?”
Her voice dripped with sticky desire.
I chuckled softly and flicked her forehead lightly with my finger.
“Let me treat the internal injuries first.”
“Ugh. Fine. I’ll rest in my room then, so come out when it’s time for dinner.”
“Actually, I’ll eat dinner at the hot spring. Bring the food there.”
“Huh? You’re eating there?”
“I need to treat my internal injuries as quickly as possible.”
“Okay. Got it. I’ll bring the food there then.”
I nodded and entered the hot spring that had been created using seawater drawn from San Fruttuoso.
As my body sank into the hot spring, a warm energy enveloped me.
‘The effect is a bit weaker than the sea.’
Still, because they used seawater directly, the star’s mana seeped into the hot spring.
I submerged myself in the hot spring, which was over thirty meters across, and gently closed my eyes.
Eyes closed.
I recalled the corpse of a woman whose lower body had melted away, her entrails spilling out pathetically.
‘I don’t know what’s happening, but.’
To deal with this incomprehensible incident, I needed to put my body in the best possible condition first.
Warm energy seeped into my wounded mana circuits, soothing them like a warm compress.
* * *
I spent three days at the Colgrand Family Mansion like that.
Isabella continued her investigation without returning to the mansion, absorbed in the case, while I spent most of my time in the hot spring to focus on treating my internal injuries.
If it was less effective than submerging directly in seawater, then spending more time in it would solve the problem.
With the mindset of quantity over quality, I recovered from my internal injuries over three days, eating and sleeping in the hot spring itself.
“At this rate, my skin’s going to get all wrinkled, you know.”
Ha-eun, dressed in a swimsuit, approached Kwon O-jin and gently caressed his wrinkled skin with a worried expression.
“Still, this is the fastest way to treat it, even if just by an hour.”
“Didn’t you say there’s been no news for three days anyway?”
“That’s exactly why it’s more concerning.”
If they had found anything at all, it would be different.
The Colgrand Family and Isabella had mobilized their full resources, yet nothing had been caught—which meant this incident couldn’t be taken lightly.
“Maybe some underwater monster just drifted in from somewhere far away, devoured one person, and left?”
“If that were the case, it would’ve been caught by the barrier the Colgrand Family set up.”
Kwon O-jin recalled the Colgrand Family’s warning markers that floated like buoys when he ventured far into the sea.
Those buoys didn’t merely bear a simple warning message saying “Don’t go further”—they had a barrier erected that sealed off the outside from the inside.
“Hmm. I’m not sure. Anyway, are your internal injuries all healed?”
“Yeah. It looks like they’re almost completely healed now.”
Kwon O-jin nodded, gently stroking the constellation mark on his left chest.
Thanks to soaking in the hot spring for three straight days, my internal injuries had nearly recovered.
“Then…”
Ha-eun’s eyes gleamed like a cat’s as she nimbly pulled Kwon O-jin’s arm.
Soft skin brushed against him through the thin fabric of her swimsuit.
“Want to come to my room?”
She licked his neck softly, her hand caressing his chest with a gentle touch.
“Or… should we just do it here?”
She whispered a melting temptation into his ear, her hand slowly sliding downward from his chest.
Dawn had just broken, the sun about to rise.
The faintly emerging sunlight gleamed off her wet hair and body.
Faced with such breathtaking beauty, Kwon O-jin swallowed hard.
What man could resist such a bewitching temptation?
Just as Kwon O-jin began to slowly reach for her.
Whoooooooosh.
A sound reaching their ears.
The roar of a massive wave.
“…Huh?”
This mansion was built atop a sheer cliff.
No matter how fierce a typhoon raged, the sound of waves from below shouldn’t reach inside.
“What is it?”
Kwon O-jin and Ha-eun rose to their feet, looking around in confusion.
Perhaps clouds had rolled in. The sunlight that had been pouring down suddenly vanished, and the surroundings darkened.
‘No.’
Just five minutes ago, the sky had been a clear, cloudless blue.
“O-O-jin. W-what is that?”
Ha-eun’s trembling voice.
Kwon O-jin turned toward the direction she was pointing, her mouth agape.
There.
“…Insane.”
Something.
Absurdly colossal.
A vast something that transcended the scale of any living creature by an incomprehensible margin.
It was rising from the depths of the sea.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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