How to Raise Your Regressor

"Is something the matter?" Samur asked in Azell's voice.

Of course, he didn't forget to smile like a victor when he said that.

This smile was always effective.

That's when it dawned on Tristan. The pieces inside his mind clicked and formed the complete picture.

"So… it has always been you."

"Exactly, Mr. Kidnapper," Samur winked. "It has always been me."

Get pranked, big gurl.

Also, Lecia was still crying as the knife was still in her arm. But Samur and Tristan seemed to occupied with themselves to pay any mind to her.

<This fucker...> Neia growled.

As she had feared, the kidnappers were using Lecia.

"B-but… why would you do that?" Tristan asked in stupefaction.

His confusion was understandable.

Tristan's first impression of Samur was a piece of shit who didn't care for, or hated even, Lecia.

Samur had deliberately gone out of his way to make sure that their negotiations failed. It was almost as if he wanted to ensure that Lecia would not return.

In Tristan's mind, Samur was an asshole who did not deserve Lecia.

However, as it had turned out, Samur was in charge of getting kidnapped comrades back through negotiation. The Guild Master, Azell, was the one who rescued their comrades through brute force.

And Azell had warned them that he would come for them, and that he will kill them.

When he had heard those words, some of Samur's actions started to make sense to him.

Perhaps Samur was so infuriated by Lecia's kidnapping that he deliberately sabotaged the negotiation to make Azell move and kill them.

That was a likely possibility.

Now, as Azell had claimed, he had come to rescue Lecia. Tristan sent several men to stop him but all of them dropped dead like flies.

Tristan could clearly see where Azell's confidence came from. Of course, he also knew that as long as he had Lecia, he would ultimately win.

But when he stood face to face with the invader, it turned out that Azell was, in fact, was Samur.

What was this, some inception level bullshit?

What was worse was that Samur was using Azell's voice.

A doubt arose in Tristan's mind; back then, had he really talked to the Guild Master?

And that suspicion had been confirmed when Samur told him that it had always been him.

Tristan shuddered. How long had he been dancing on Samur's hands?

No, before that, what was Samur's end goal?

Since the Azell who had threatened him turned out to be Samur, it would be safe to assume that the two steps, namely negotiation and annihilation, in their Guild Member Kidnapping protocol were nothing more than a lie.

Samur had deliberately acted like he had given up Lecia, and he had deliberately posed as Azell to threaten them.

And he had deliberately let him escape with Lecia.

Earlier, Tristan had been sure of his victory because he knew that Azell cared for his comrades. After all, he considered them family.

But what about Samur? Did Samur care for Lecia?

No, did he even see her as human? He didn't even spare her a glance when she cried out in pain.

But there must be something that Samur wanted to achieve by doing all this. There must be a concrete reason behind this elaborate play.

But what was it?

"I can see the gears of your mind turning," Samur chuckled.

It was always fun to watch people desperately try to make sense of his actions.

"That aside," Samur continued in Azell's voice. "I must say that you've prepared quite the entourage for us."

"!!" Tristan's eyes widened.

Samur seemed almost... pleased with seeing this many people.

Was it possible that Samur had done all this to draw them out? Was his plan to bait them out of their hiding and take them out in one fell swoop?

Another realisation hit Tristan.

Hadn't he just confirmed to Samur that there was a whole organisation behind him?

'Monster…' He inadvertently muttered in his heart.

Just how far had Samur seen?

Just how far did his stratagems reach?

Just how long had he been planning this for?

"How long…" Tristan swallowed his words.

"Ah, are you perhaps wondering since how long I have been planning this?"

Samur was simply too familiar with the questions his enemies asked as they looked too deeply into his actions.

｢What are you talking about?｣ Neia asked.

There was a plan? Hadn't they just picked up their weapons and barged into this hideout?

"Well," Samur continued. "I made it up on the spot."

"Eh?"

"I planned everything while talking to you."

"…"

*Tristan.exe has stopped working*

"Hah," he scoffed as he rebooted and the meaning behind Samur's words dawned upon him.

He had been dancing on the palm of a guy who was just improvising.

This was beyond hilarious.

As this point, Tristan wasn't sure what Samur's true intentions were.

And as this uncertainty dawned on him, he decided to just keep it all aside and focus on what actually mattered right now.

Samur was in front of him, and he was an enemy that he needed to kill.

Their chances might have dropped, but they were not yet zero.

As long as he played his cards right, he might win, or at least, get out of here alive.

And that's all that mattered right now.

"You seem to have made up your mind," Samur commented as he saw Tristan's determined expression.

"..." Tristan's glare sharpened in response.

"Nice," Samur clapped and the ice spears hovering in front of the guards suddenly turned to their left. "Then I suppose it's time to finish this."

The moment he finished his words, the ice spears launched themselves in the direction they were facing.

But there was no one in that direction. Those spears would just hit the wall.

'What is he up to?' Tristan scowled.

BANG!

As expected, the ice spears smashed into the wall on their left and blasted it into smithereens.

As the dust from the explosion settled, they saw that the entire wall had been pulverised.

And what entered their view was the green of the forest.

"Neia," Samur started. "Switch off the sensors."

｢Roger,｣ the Draconic Sniper replied with a sadistic smile.

As Samur had promised her, he handled it.

And he did it just as Neia was craving for some blood.

Lecia's scream had snapped something inside her.

"The guy behind Lecia is the leader. Do not kill him."

｢…｣ She contemplated going against Samur's words and ending that motherfucker's life once and for all.

"Ah, but please shoot his legs and arms so that he cannot run."

｢Roger,｣ Neia replied delightfully.

She wanted to kill that fucker, but she'll have to make do with incapacitating him for now.

"A mere sniper cannot possibly- aaarrrggghh!" Tristan screamed as his legs were blow off.

"Well, lucky for me, she's not just a mere sniper."