How to Raise Your Regressor

｢Hey.｣

"Azell?!"

This can't be!

Is that… really Azell? Or are my ears playing tricks on me?

They must be. Didn't the New Dawn Guild abandon me just seconds ago?

"Someone you know?" Tristan asked.

"…"

Should I tell him?

"You just screamed out his name, Lecia," he sighed. "Samur also mentioned him, so what's the point of lying?"

Shit.

"So?" He asked again.

"…He's the Guild Master of my Guild."

"Don't you mean your former Guild?"

Former…

Shit.

｢You must be the kidnapper Samur told me about.｣

"What?"

What?

The kidnapper that 'Samur' told him about? THE Samur? The piece of shit who threw me aside by saying that there was nothing he could do, even though he never really tried?

What the hell is going on here?

｢I assume you are related to Lecia's father.｣

"Hooh… I see, you are the one who took her away and killed Aflan."

｢Who knows? Maybe I killed him, maybe I did not. What I do know, however, is that right now, you're trying to take away one of my family members.｣

Wait, wait, what? Did he… did he just call me 'family member'?

B-but why? Hadn't they betrayed and abandoned me just because they didn't have the money to negotiate my release- ah.

The New Dawn Guild didn't desert me; Samur did.

Right. Samur said that no one other than him knew that I was being abducted. He thought that the situation wasn't important enough to disturb them and decided to handle the situation on his own. When he failed, he forsook me.

From the beginning till the end, it was just him.

Yeah, Azell would never betray me. After all, he promised me that he would protect me as long as he was alive.

And that's what he is doing right now.

"Take her away? Oh, please. I tried negotiating with Samur but he just wouldn't listen to my demands; he refused to pay me the amount I asked for. Instead, he told me that I was asking for too much and that I should just take Lecia."

But why is Azell here? He called Tristan 'the kidnapper Samur told him about'. Does that mean… Samur never threw me aside?

｢And what? You thought that the New Dawn Guild would just abandon a comrade just because we didn't have the money to pay the ransom? This is beyond hilarious.｣

"…What is that supposed to mean?"

｢Let me put it in words that even a fermented meatsack like you can understand. My Guild has a protocol for dealing with hostage situations. Now, basically, there are two steps in this protocol. The first involves negotiating with the kidnappers to ensure that we can safely get our comrades back.｣

Is it just me, or does Azell sound… angry?

"Oh? And do tell me, what is the second?"

｢When verbal conflict resolution fails, as it usually does with people like you, we move onto the second step; eliminating anyone and everyone involved in the abduction of our comrade. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone.｣

E-eliminate? Does that mean he'll kill everyone here?

Now that's what I'm talking about!

"Oh my."

｢It should be obvious by now, but in case it isn't, Samur is in charge of the first step while the second step is under me. And as you just said, negotiations have fallen apart.｣

"Ah, so you're going to the second step now, right?"

｢Seems like you are not as stupid as I thought.｣

"I see, I see… now listen to me, you stupid fucking imbecile," Tristan's voice suddenly grew cold. "I have been quite lenient with you guys till now by quietly listening to your bullshit till now. I even agreed to participate in… diplomatic talks with Samur. You were the ones to back out from the negotiation first."

｢In Samur's defence, 100,000 Gold Coins is a bit too much.｣

"A bit too much? Ha!" He cackled. "As I thought, you don't know Lecia's true worth, do you? It does make sense, now that I think about it. Anyone who knew how valuable she is would never have let her out of the house."

What!?

｢I know far more than what you could ever imagine. So much, in fact, that I'd say that you are the ones who don't realise her true worth.｣

"Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to gauge her worth when we get back."

｢Hah, it must be nice having a brain so smooth it just rolls around in your head like a fucking ball bearing. You still think you're going back?｣

"Oh, and what are you going to do? Track us down using the coordinates that the ring has been sending out?"

｢Obviously.｣

"You are more stupid than I thought. Have you not realised it yet?"

｢That you are bounding off your location around the continent using by interfering with the signal the beacon is sending out? Fufu, don't worry, we will find you.｣

Excuse me?! He has been bouncing off the location?

Now I see why no one has arrived at our position yet.

"It's a race then. Let's see whether you'll find us first or we'll escape to a place the likes of you could never even hope to reach."

What is that supposed to mean…? Ah, don't tell me?!

"Azell, he's trying to- mmp!"

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch!"

｢Alright, then. But before that, the protocol we have at our place requires us to make one last offer before we move to hunt you down.｣

"Oh my, the New Dawn Guild Master is quite generous, isn't he?"

｢Magnanimity runs in our veins. Now, we do not know who you are, or what is your true purpose behind abducting Lecia. It sure as hell wasn't ransom, or we wouldn't be having this conversation.｣

"Haha, you got that right! I never planned to give Lecia up!"

What? So he has been lying since the beginning?

｢Just as Samur said, heh.｣

"Hooh, just as he said, eh?"

｢Let me in you on a secret. Everything that you have done till now has been within our expectations.｣

"Ah, the man behind the ring knows my every move. I'm so scared! Oh, fuck off."

｢I was just trying to let you know what we're capable of. Anyway, you have two options now. The first is that you let Lecia go. If you do that, we'll forget that this even happened so that both of us can be on our way. If you don't, we will find you. We will come for you, and we will kill you. And believe me when I say this, we are very good at that.｣

"Good luck."

｢As you wish.｣

With that, the other side quietened down, and so did Tristan. He was deep in thought.

Heh, despite his bluffs, he's scared of what Azell can do, just as he should.

Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and turned to his subordinate, "Go ahead-"

But before he could finish, the head of the man he was talking to… exploded.

｢Boom, headshot.｣