The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 38: We Need Mercenaries

"Brother, that was insane!"

"You moved like you already knew where the claws would land!"

"Yeah, reckless as all Hell, but you were still in control!"

Seven guards circled around Ignotus like excited kids, their voices overlapping, each one eager to throw their praise and question him at the same time.

"You weren’t scared? At all?"

"Wait, why didn’t you use your Runes?"

"Right? You could’ve ended it way faster!"

"Yeah, I was sure you’d blast it or something."

"You made it look easy..."

"I’ve never seen anyone fight like that."

"Who are you really?"

They all kept buzzing, but Ignotus didn’t even look at them.

He stood still, his sword loosely resting in his grip, his eyes fixed on something only he could see.

—

{Ordination: 12}

[SF: 4/40 → 8/40]

—

All of that...

All of that was just for four Soul Fragments.

Four. That was it. FOUR!

HE DIDN’T EVEN GET A SNIFF OF A RUNE!

Calamity was utterly curb-stomping him right now.

This actually managed to annoy him.

Ignotus wanted to yell at the sky, curse this system to Hell and back, maybe even throw his sword at someone—anything.

’You’re acting too... unhinged.’

But Eris whispered a reminder in the back of his head, and he quickly swallowed it down.

If he was unhinged even by their shared twisted standards, then it was bad... to say the least.

Shutting off the system with a blink, he finally turned back to the group, plastering on a lazy grin.

"Good fight, huh?"

He brushed off their barrage, answering only the safe questions while ignoring the ones that tried to poke deeper, not wanting them to know too much about him for now.

After calming them down, Ignotus slowed his pace until he ended up alongside Felix, Ulv, and Lykos.

He flexed his barely-there bicep at them.

"Hey, hey, do you see how strong I am?"

Lykos’s fluffy ears twitched.

"Y-You’re insufferable!"

Ignotus leaned closer, smirking.

"Admit it, boss. Impressive, right?"

Lykos turned his head away, but his tail flicked a few times.

Perhaps that was his sign of approval, the poor pup too shy to actually compliment.

’The Lord likes him already...’

Ulv raised a brow, silently watching this little act unfold.

"Yes, you were very strong!"

Ignoring Felix, Ignotus continued his teasing:

"You’re so red, boss. Is that embarrassment? So cute~."

Lykos snarled, kicking up some mud at Ignotus.

"SHUT UP!"

Ignotus casually side-stepped it.

"Not shutting up... c’mon, say it. Say I was strong."

The wolf-boy gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and had his eyes burn holes in the dirt.

Finally, he looked back up and spat out through his fangs:

"...you weren’t bad."

Ignotus blinked slowly.

"Oh."

His voice came out softer than he expected.

"Thanks."

Ulv’s blue eyes went wide as he stared into nothing.

Did his Lord just compliment someone?!

He couldn’t believe it!

"You—you complimented him before you ever did me!"

And so, he complained with the outrage of a jealous lover!

"W-What...?"

Lykos choked, his fur puffed up, and he jumped back a step, flustered beyond control.

"T-That’s different! And—and who said I complimented him?!"

"You did it right in front of me!"

Ulv pressed dramatically, his blue eyes glistening with betrayal.

"Guards, you all heard him, right?!"

The seven other wolves, who hadn’t heard a damn thing before Ulv’s questions, all nodded their heads in unison.

"Yes, we did!"

"We heard it all!"

"You’ve betrayed us, Lord!"

"Shameless!"

Lykos’s face went completely crimson, his ears twitching madly.

"I—I WILL KILL YOU ALL!"

He stomped forward, his teeth bared as he chased after them.

The guards scattered, running for their lives, while Ignotus and Felix bit the inside of their cheeks to keep themselves from bursting out laughing.

’These guys are pretty fun.’

Journey companions who were worth the trouble.

Perhaps the next few days wouldn’t feel too long.

...

The laughter died down as the miles racked up, replaced by the heavy breathing of marching and the dull thuds of boots on dirt.

The adrenaline from the crab fight had faded, leaving everyone with the realization that they were tired, smelly, and still a long way from safety.

Ignotus walked with his hands behind his back, looking completely unbothered, while Felix trudged beside him, looking like he was about to collapse.

"Hey, Boss..."

Seemingly coming to a decision, Ignotus called out, skipping a step to catch up to Lykos.

The young wolf, who was currently trying to pick a piece of crab meat out of its shell, looked up, his ears twitching irritably.

"Stop calling me that. My name is Lykos, or Lord Lykos to you. ’Boss’ makes it sound like I run a criminal syndicate."

"Sure thing, Boss."

Ignotus grinned.

"Anyways, quick question. How attached are you to your internal organs?"

Lykos stopped walking and stared at Ignotus, his blue eyes wide.

"Excuse me?"

Ulv immediately stepped between them, his hand drifting to his weapon.

"Is that a threat, Stranger?"

"No, it’s a survey."

Ignotus rolled his eyes, pushing Ulv’s arm down with a finger.

"Relax, big guy. I’m talking about logistics."

Turning around to face the entire group, he walked backwards so he could address them all while looking at them.

"Look, everyone, at this rate, we’ll barely survive more Giant Crabs, never mind other assassination attempts. Hours ago, you guys were getting rolled by bandits. No offense."

"Some offense taken."

One of the guards muttered, but Ignotus continued, ignoring him:

"The point is, that was the appetizer; more crabs will come. The bandits were One-Rune trash, but whoever put this hit out on you? They aren’t going to stop sending people just because we killed the first wave. In fact, they’re most definitely sending a stronger force right now."

He gestured vaguely at the horizon.

"Whoever comes next won’t be bandits but an actual assassin squad or something similar. In other words, professionals."

Lykos frowned, his tail lowering.

"You really think... more are coming?"

"I guarantee it."

Ignotus answered flatly.

"And right now? Aside from you two, we have seven exhausted guards, one Spoon who cries when he sees blood—"

"I do not cry!"

Felix protested weakly. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"My eyes just sweat!"

"—and me."

Ignotus finished.

"We’re understaffed. We need more bodies."

"Bodies?"

Ulv asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Meat shields, distractions, sell swords... call them what you want."

Ignotus shrugged.

"We need mercenaries."