A Regressor's Bucket List

“…I have returned.”

U-jin's low mutter was just a very short phrase announcing his return, but the people inside the barracks sensed something unusual in that single statement.

The reason was simple.

A body drenched in blood.

And the timing of him cutting off Kanna Cartier.

A strange sense of urgency from his unannounced arrival.

‘…….’

These external factors, visible without a word, combined to create the intangible feeling that ‘something was wrong.’

For a moment, everyone inside the barracks was feeling the same thing.

…And it went without saying.

It didn't just end with their ‘feeling’.

“Sir Seo U-jin, this won't take long, so please wait outside for a….”

It was immediately clear from his appearance and tone that U-jin had something to say, but they were already in the middle of hearing a report from Heart de Garcon, who had come representing the 10-man vanguard.

The conversation was already in its final stages and wouldn't take much longer.

Therefore, Kanna Cartier euphemistically gave U-jin an order to leave and wait outside.

…No, she ‘tried’ to.

“You failed to survey the mountain range's terrain, and while you clashed with Orcs, you found nothing of note.”

“……”

“Is that correct?”

U-jin cut Kanna Cartier off and questioned her instead.

It was, in fact, an absurd thing to do.

Even if a Hero and a Priest directly under the Order weren't in a strictly hierarchical relationship, that was only a formality.

The Commander-in-Chief, who held all final decision-making and control on the battlefield, was indisputably the highest position in the army.

It wasn't a relationship where a mere 1-Star Hero could recklessly interrupt.

Thus, it wouldn't have been strange for her to scold him for his rude manner of interrupting and questioning her, but Kanna did not.

No, to be precise, it was closer to say she ‘couldn't’.

Regardless of her own will, an inexplicable power within U-jin's words and actions blocked her from even thinking that the current situation ‘could harm military discipline.’

How should I put it?

Would ‘overwhelming’ be a fitting description?

Kanna unknowingly swallowed once and nodded.

Gulp—

“…That is correct.”

“Then there's no need to listen. It's all wrong anyway.”

“……”

“If you've heard that much, it was pretty much over anyway.”

At U-jin's dismissal, Heart de Garcon's brow twitched.

“…You there.”

Heart de Garcon was not unfamiliar with U-jin.

He had never spoken to him separately before, only seen him from a distance, and even now, drenched in blood, his appearance was honestly a bit hard to place.

But seeing the 1-Star Hero's insignia on his epaulet, it wasn't difficult to identify the person interrupting his report.

‘…Seo U-jin.’

The guild master of ‘Hunter’, a guild the Order had approved for the first time in 100 years, and an unknown figure with some sort of relationship with Leonardo Louis Button.

Of course, since the man hadn't confirmed it himself, his assumption could be wrong, but honestly, he didn't think so.

In the first place, among the 1-Star Heroes participating in the Allied Subjugation Forces, Seo U-jin was the only one who could enter the tent of the Commander-in-Chief, ‘Kanna Cartier’, directly.

Besides.

‘…I'm only telling you this, Sir Heart, but there is one other person on an individual mission besides the vanguard.’

‘…What?’

‘If you happen to run into them, they are an ally, so ensure there is no conflict.’

‘…Understood.’

Before departing with the vanguard, he had been tipped off by Kanna that there was another operative.

Of course, Heart de Garcon had no idea that person was ‘Seo U-jin’, but the moment he saw him, the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place in his mind.

Moreover, Heart de Garcon was the captain of the 1st Hero Squad of the Allied Subjugation Forces.

Since its members were high-ranking Heroes, U-jin was not directly under his command, but it was Heart de Garcon who had witnessed his prowess firsthand while hunting the Minotaur on the Downhill Plains.

So, he was naturally aware of U-jin's identity and had some inkling of ‘that inexplicable something’ formed by the collection of information about him.

However, regardless of his personal greatness, on the battlefield, there were protocols to follow and military law to uphold.

He was already displeased by U-jin barging into the tent without any notice through an aide, but interrupting the Commander-in-Chief, Kanna, was an act of rudeness so great that even he couldn't imagine doing it.

Therefore, Heart de Garcon felt he had to point it out himself.

Even if U-jin wasn't his direct subordinate, as someone in charge of managing Heroes, he bore some responsibility for a Hero's lapse in military discipline.

…However.

Ssk—

At the sight of Kanna's raised hand, his head turned forward again.

“…Commander?”

“Just a moment, Sir Heart.”

Kanna herself stopped Heart de Garcon, who had been about to reprimand U-jin for his breach of military discipline.

For Heart, it was difficult to understand.

Kanna wasn't one to be lenient; if anything, he was the more generous one, while Kanna Cartier was stricter than anyone when it came to military discipline.

But, it was also an undeniable fact.

It had clearly happened right before his eyes.

An expression of incomprehension immediately appeared on Heart de Garcon's face.

However, there was no need for Kanna Cartier to explain.

Because the sentence that immediately came out of U-jin's mouth erased his doubts.

“I've finished surveying the mountain range's terrain, clashed with the Orcs, and discovered their unique features.”

“……!”

The doubt on Heart de Garcon's face instantly turned to astonishment at U-jin's words.

The reason was simple.

The single sentence from U-jin's mouth completely overturned the report brought by the vanguard.

The problem wasn't just that he had brought different results.

Having attempted the mission himself, he knew just how difficult U-jin's claim of 'surveying the Orc Mountains' terrain' was, causing an involuntary gasp to escape him.

Hah—

Of course, Heart de Garcon was the only one in the barracks to let out a groan of disbelief.

Kanna Cartier was growing somewhat accustomed to the unique exceptionalism U-jin exuded, while Ludwig and Louis were actually smiling knowingly, as if to say, ‘I knew it.’

A rebuttal immediately came from the one person who couldn't naturally accept the situation.

“…You finished surveying the terrain?”

From Heart de Garcon's perspective, it was an utterly incomprehensible claim.

The 10-man vanguard wasn't some ragtag group; they were an elite force of 4-Star or higher veterans of the War against Demons.

Beyond mere strength, their level of experience was different, as they were individuals who had fought on the battlefield as if it were their daily bread.

Naturally, having faced life-and-death situations countless times against the Demon King's Army, they were bound to have a good sense of direction.

That was why Heart de Garcon hadn't simply acted on his own judgment but had deployed their reconnaissance strategy by fully incorporating their opinions.

Furthermore, as Ludwig had mentioned during the report just moments ago, even the UMC had failed to map the Orc Mountains due to their unique complexity.

Of course, the situation was different now, so the story might be different as well.

In any case, it was a survey of the Orc Mountains' terrain that even the Order's most elite troops had failed to accomplish.

In the military, 'terrain survey' didn't just mean a topographical level of understanding, like where the ground was high or low, but referred to 'strategic information' that could be used in battle.

The location of enemy camps, which high ground to capture for an advantageous battle, the enemy's supply routes, and so on.

It wasn't something you could know just by looking.

And it wasn't the kind of thing one could carelessly claim to have 'surveyed' based on a mere feeling.

Heart de Garcon's report of 'failure to survey the terrain' was also based on this understanding, meaning that several more reconnaissance missions were needed for an accurate assessment.

But U-jin was claiming to have surveyed the Orc Mountains' terrain after just one sweep, and 'by himself' at that.

Given that the time taken was similar, U-jin's words meant that his own individual performance was superior to that of ten elite soldiers of the Order's Subjugation Force, including Heart de Garcon himself.

It was a story that went beyond ‘envy’ or ‘jealousy’; it was simply illogical.

However.

“Well. Of course, I didn't survey all of it. It's too vast, and anything beyond the border region is meaningless anyway, right?”

“……”

After muttering quietly, U-jin pulled something from his waist and presented it, and Heart de Garcon could only shut his mouth.

“I forgot to bring writing tools, so I just roughly drew it with blood. It's a bit smudged, but you should have no trouble making it out.”

Because on it was a drawing that truly seemed to depict the terrain of the Orc Mountains.

Contrary to U-jin's claim of drawing it roughly, despite being drawn in blood and slightly smudged, the illustrations on the paper depicted the terrain of the Orc Mountains down to considerable detail.

It was certain.

Just by looking at it, Heart de Garcon found himself unconsciously tracing the route the vanguard had taken in his mind.

“How in the…”

Heart de Garcon let out an involuntary sigh.

He couldn't help it.

He had roughly guessed at U-jin's extraordinariness since watching him hunt the Minotaur on the Downhill Plains.

But that was limited to his ‘martial’ prowess.

‘…How.’

If you survived on the battlefield long enough, you would occasionally see monsters born with extraordinary talent.

Veritable monsters who nonchalantly crushed and crossed the lines of common sense held by others on the battlefield.

But even such individuals only possessed that kind of singularity in one unrivaled field; it was rare for them to have talent in different areas simultaneously.

If it were a talent for Mana, he could have understood.

Even that was a bit of a stretch, but combat talent and Mana talent were somewhat intertwined.

But, the ability to draw a battlefield map after seeing it just once.

In other words, that ‘intuition’ was not something that could be explained simply at the level of talent.