Not A Regressor - Chapter 283
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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 283
Dog and Wolf (8)
“What do you mean?”
The attention of Kwon O-jin’s group focused on Lilu.
Lilu hesitated, her gaze darting about before she carefully opened her mouth.
“The village elders right now….”
Just as Lilu was about to continue.
Crash!
The door burst open roughly.
“Lilu! Lilu, are you here by any chance?!”
Leo entered, breathing heavily.
Upon discovering Lilu in the company of Kwon O-jin’s group, Leo collapsed onto the floor with a sigh of relief.
But only for a moment.
Leo sprang to his feet and approached Lilu with angry strides.
“Didn’t I tell you not to wander outside without saying anything?!”
Leo raised his arm as if to strike her cheek.
“I-I’m sorry, brother.”
Lilu squeezed her eyes shut and shrank back.
Leo, who had raised his arm, clenched his teeth.
“Sigh.”
With a deep breath, Leo pulled the cowering Lilu into an embrace.
“…You worried me.”
“I-I was just trying to give you the fruit I picked from the stream earlier.”
“Then you should have told me first.”
“…Sorry. I thought it would be fine since it’s right next door.”
Lilu hung her head, looking dejected.
Leo patted her back in resignation.
The sight was so endearing that Kwon O-jin’s group let out soft laughter.
“So Lilu, what were you trying to say earlier?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Ah, well, that….”
Lilu shook her head hastily.
“I-I was just saying that I told the village elders about you, brother Kwon O-jin, and the others.”
Lilu offered an awkward smile, brushing past the topic.
“…Is that so?”
It was obvious she was hastily changing the subject, but I decided not to press further.
It might be something difficult to discuss in front of Leo.
“Then let’s head back quickly. The chieftain might be worried.”
Leo used the title “chieftain” rather than “father” as he grasped Lilu’s shoulder.
Lilu nodded and turned around.
Just as the two siblings were about to head outside.
Grrrrrrowl.
A pitiful cry of hunger erupted from Leo’s stomach.
“Ah, I, this isn’t because I’m starving or anything!”
Leo shook his head urgently, his face flushed crimson.
Isabella let out a soft chuckle and pointed to the pot bubbling away on the stove.
“Want to have dinner together?”
“…But, but we have to go home.”
“I’ll explain things to Leoru separately.”
Since Leoru’s house wasn’t far away, they could make a quick trip there and back.
“Ugh.”
“I want to eat together!”
Leo, lost in deliberation, and Lilu, whose eyes sparkled as she bounced excitedly.
The two growing children were already on the verge of drooling uncontrollably from the rich aroma of pasta filling the entire house.
“Well, I suppose I can join you for dinner at least.”
Leo’s face burned as he quietly shuffled over to the table and sat down.
Isabella’s shoulders trembled with silent laughter at how adorable the two looked.
“Then I should grill some meat as well.”
“For growing kids like these, meat is the best thing ever.”
Ha-eun burst into cheerful laughter and pulled out a chunk of pork belly from her backpack.
“I’ll grill the meat.”
“…Are you confident you won’t burn it, Elder Sister?”
“Come on. Even if I’m not great at cooking, I can definitely grill meat by now, right?”
Ha-eun snapped her fingers lightly as she placed the meat on the pan.
A small flame ignited, beginning to heat the pan.
Sizzzzzzle!
The magnificent sound that erupted as the meat hit the heated pan.
“W, wow.”
“M, meat, big brother.”
Leo and Lilu watched the sizzling meat with drool literally dripping from their mouths.
Once the pork belly was roughly cooked, Ha-eun grinned widely and pulled out a red container from her backpack.
“Pay attention, little ones. This is the ultimate combination you can only taste in Korea.”
“Korea…?”
“What’s inside the container?”
Ha-eun opened the container with a proud flourish, lifting her chin.
The pungent aroma of kimchi spread throughout the room in an instant.
“Ugh! What, what is this rotten smell!”
“You, you eat something like this?”
True to their Beast-human nature with their sensitive sense of smell, the unfamiliar scent of kimchi struck them as revolting.
Leo and Lilu shot up from the table, eyeing the container of kimchi with wariness and suspicion.
“Ah, I suppose the smell might be a bit off-putting for someone trying it for the first time.”
Even among foreigners, there are plenty who recoil from kimchi—so what could one expect from a resident of another world?
“But.”
Ha-eun picked up the tongs with a confident expression.
Grabbing a handful of kimchi, she placed it on the pan where pork fat still sizzled.
Sizzzzle!
The kimchi frying in the pork fat.
She pulled out sesame oil and drizzled a few drops over the kimchi.
“…Huh?”
“W-wait, that smells amazing!”
The sour smell that had seemed revolting was barely noticeable now that the kimchi was fried in pork fat.
“Come on, wrap it up with the meat and try it! Go ahead, go ahead!”
Leo and Lilu’s eyes sparkled as they dove into the meat and kimchi.
The children, holding forks instead of chopsticks, pierced both kimchi and meat together and popped them into their mouths.
“It’s delicious!”
“W-what kind of meat is this?”
They were completely hooked on the pork belly and kimchi combination.
Isabella, who had just finished her pasta, spoke with a hint of regret.
“It seems like there won’t be any room for what I made.”
“Why not? I’ll eat it.”
Kwon O-jin accepted the pasta bowl from Isabella.
Isabella smiled brightly and linked her arm through his.
“As expected, only you think of me, Kwon O-jin.”
“Ha. But let’s all eat before it gets cold.”
After the lively meal ended, they packed up the leftovers and told Leoru to take them, then Kwon O-jin and his companions enjoyed a comfortable night’s sleep in bed for the first time in a while.
And the next day.
“You’re leaving already…?”
Kwon O-jin’s group, having finished their preparations early that morning, stood at the village entrance.
Lilu and Leo, who had come to see them off, had tears glistening in their eyes.
“We need to head to the Kan Kingdom soon.”
“But….”
“Once I finish what I need to do, I’ll come back to play. Take care of yourself, alright?”
As I gently patted the head of the dejected Lilu, she broke into a bright smile like a sunflower.
“Yes! I’ll be waiting!”
“You take good care of your sister too, little one.”
Ha-eun gently patted the back of Leo, who was turning his head away as if holding back tears.
“I-I’m not little!”
“Sure you’re not. The one who was nuzzling against a woman’s chest.”
“I-I’m a proud wolf of the Silver Mane Tribe!”
Ha-eun burst into laughter at the indignant Leo.
“The Silver Mane Tribe will always welcome our benefactors.”
Leoru extended his hand toward me with a faint smile.
The moment our hands clasped.
“….”
A flicker of conflict crossed Leoru’s eyes.
His trembling gaze lingered on our joined hands before he exhaled a long sigh and shook his head.
“Then I’ll take my leave—I have matters to attend to.”
Leoru turned and walked away into the distance.
I watched his receding figure with narrowed eyes.
‘Something’s been off since yesterday.’
It seemed as though he wanted to say something but was forcing himself to hold back.
Now that I thought about it, Lilu had also tried to tell me something, just like Leoru.
‘If I stayed here a few more days, I might figure it out.’
But time was a luxury I didn’t have.
“Lilu.”
Instead, I beckoned to Lilu with a light gesture.
Lilu scurried toward me.
“What is it, big brother?”
“I’m giving you this—keep it with you.”
“This is…?”
Lilu accepted the orb emanating blue light, tilting her head in confusion.
“It’s a communication orb.”
It was one of the sacred relics I’d prepared most carefully before coming to the Demon Realm.
In this vast expanse, if we were ever separated, there would be no way to reunite without a means of contact.
“The range isn’t particularly wide, but it should reach from here all the way to the Kingdom.”
Of course, it wasn’t like the devices used on Earth—capable of communicating across dozens or hundreds of kilometers.
Despite being called communication equipment, it was closer to a walkie-talkie than a smartphone.
“If anything happens to the village, contact me with this.”
“Yes! I understand!”
After gently patting Lilu’s head as she nodded vigorously, my group set forth toward the Kan Kingdom.
* * *
As Baek Moo-gang had instructed, equipping the fake ears and tail prosthetics made entering the Kan Kingdom remarkably simple.
Of course, the Kan Kingdom still had sentries stationed before the city gates to verify identities.
But lacking Earth’s systematic infrastructure, they fell completely under the spell of my silver tongue and opened the gates without hesitation.
Upon arriving at a nearby inn, my group paid using the money we’d taken from the hunters and began our investigation in earnest.
A week passed as we dispersed throughout the kingdom, gathering intelligence.
After a week of scattered investigation, my group reconvened at the inn to share what we’d each discovered.
“So, who wants to go first? Even trivial details are fine—tell us everything you’ve learned.”
I pulled out a pen and notepad, glancing around at my companions.
“I’ll go first, if that’s alright.”
Isabella raised her hand with the eagerness of a model student—the kind you’d find one per class.
Her hand clutched a thick stack of papers densely filled with notes from the past week’s investigation.
“First, the real power in the Kan Kingdom right now is held by Beast-human Tribe members belonging to the Pro-Mayin Faction.”
“Well, that much makes sense.”
“But here’s what’s strange… Horus apparently isn’t part of the Pro-Mayin Faction.”
“Horus isn’t?”
The regent of Kan, who’d sold his nation to the Demon Race and seized power, wasn’t aligned with the Pro-Mayin Faction?
“Right. Even though he rules under the Demon Race’s dominion, he apparently doesn’t follow their orders very obediently.”
[Isn’t that because he’s worried his own power would weaken?]
“Hmm… I’m not entirely sure about that.”
Isabella flipped through her prepared papers one by one, her brow furrowing.
“Remember when the hunters mentioned they’d take Leo to the ‘Underground Fighting Arena’?”
“Oh, right.”
I definitely remembered hearing that.
“It’s apparently some kind of underground fighting pit operated in secret within the kingdom… and Horus is the one who legally banned it.”
An underground fighting arena where members of the Silver Mane Tribe are secretly abducted and forced to battle.
Just as the Colosseum once did, blood-soaked duels have always been among the finest entertainments since ancient times.
For Beast-human Tribe members, who still retain their bestial instincts, such spectacles would be even more coveted.
From a ruler’s perspective, the Colosseum served purposes far beyond mere entertainment.
‘It allowed citizens to vent the frustrations and stress accumulated within them through leisure activities.’
Hadn’t South Korea itself once conducted the 3S Project to reduce public discontent?
Entertainment played such a significant role in governing a nation.
“And Horus himself banned it?”
“Yes. And that’s not all.”
Isabella continued, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“You know that buying and selling members of the Silver Mane Tribe is illegal, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Recalling how the hunters hadn’t dared speak openly about who they’d sell Leo to, it was easy to deduce.
“Horus is the one who enacted that law as well.”
“…”
Kwon O-jin’s eyes narrowed.
‘Horus.’
The man who had betrayed the Kingdom and sold his nation to the Demon Race—what possible purpose could he have for protecting the Silver-maned Wolf Tribe?
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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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