Chapter 47: Is He A Regressor, Their Respect
Reincarnators were people reborn into a new body after their death.
Transmigrators possessed someone else’s body.
Regressors were those who returned to the past with memories of the future.
But even then, something didn’t fit.
’No... if he was a reincarnator or transmigrator, that wouldn’t explain how he knew about Carlotta’s family situation,’ she reasoned. ’A normal person’s past isn’t something you’d know unless you lived it.’
That left only one possibility: regression.
’But that’s impossible,’ she thought firmly.
The System had assigned her to guide him since he was a child.
If he had gone back in time, the System would have detected it, and it wouldn’t have sent her.
Time magic wasn’t something that could slip by unnoticed.
Even the strongest Chrono Mages couldn’t hide the ripple of a time reversal from the System.
’There is no way he is a regressor.’
And yet, here he was, acting like someone who already knew every step before it happened.
She frowned.
’None of this is making any sense,’ she admitted to herself.
She found his excuse that the Shadow Class told him everything hard to believe.
But the alternatives were even harder to accept, which left her with no choice but to believe that suspiciously fake excuse.
’I’ll have to observe me more to understand what is happening.’
...
Adrian POV
Adrian lay on the sofa.
His head was tilted back, and he was staring at the ceiling.
"It’s a mess," he muttered.
He had almost died, then somehow survived thanks to an unknown Exorcist.
But now, Nisha, Oliver, and Lily were in danger for standing up against the Exorcist Union.
He remembered hearing Oliver’s voice earlier, trying to convince Nisha to reveal the identity of the one who had saved him and exorcised the Cursed Spirit, Elicoras Arena.
Oliver said that if that Exorcist’s name came out, they might still have a chance.
But Nisha refused, saying she would do it later.
"Who is that Exorcist?" Adrian whispered to himself.
He rubbed his temples.
It didn’t matter who saved him; whoever they were, they’d painted a target on their back.
And Adrian knew his own enemies weren’t going to stop anytime soon.
"The Exorcist who was guarding me also disappeared. They were probably killed. The Provisional House Head won’t like that. That person worked for her."
He covered his face with both hands.
Everything was a mess.
And he had to deal with it now, right after finally regaining his sanity.
"World of Exorcists is really a big pile of dung, don’t you agree?" he said aloud.
"H-Hahaha! You are absolutely correct," said a nervous voice from across the room.
The man behind the office desk forced a laugh, wiping the sweat on his forehead.
He was the head of the Exorcist Union branch in Chambéry, France.
Each major city had an Exorcist Union branch where Exorcists could get their Exorcist licenses or take jobs.
The Exorcist Union itself was made up of all major Hidden Clans and normal Hidden Clans working together, so this branch, being in House Daelthorn’s territory, was naturally run by someone tied to the House Daelthorn.
Adrian didn’t recognize this man, which meant he was probably from a branch family or some other family serving House Daelthorn.
Normally, a person in this position would be full of pride.
Getting appointed as a branch head was considered a success in life.
But this man—Cedar—was sweating bullets.
He didn’t even try to hide his fear.
"Seems like you know me. Have we met before?" Adrian said, raising a brow.
"Haha! There is n-no Exorcist worth their dime who doesn’t know you, sir," Cedar stammered. "Of course, it’s normal that you don’t know a small branch head like me."
"Hm."
Adrian’s gaze lingered on him.
Since news of his exile was public, Cedar should’ve been treating him like any other low-level Exorcist.
And until recently, he had.
’If he is so scared, he must have already gotten a message from House Daelthorn. He knows he’ll be punished for being part of the attempt on my life,’ Adrian thought.
Normally, Adrian would’ve killed the man himself.
But that wasn’t an option now.
Not with how delicate things were politically.
He sighed and leaned back, waiting.
The door suddenly opened without a knock.
Nisha, Oliver, and Lily walked in.
"Damn, those prison cells are moldy and smell awful. What’s the janitor even doing?" Nisha grumbled.
Adrian sat up slightly, smiling when he saw them. "You guys got released? That’s good news. How did it happen? Did you finally tell them who saved me?"
"No, we didn’t. Someone from House Daelthorn came and got us out," Oliver said, collapsing onto the sofa across from him.
Lily dropped down next to Oliver, looking drained.
They had been through a lot in the past few hours.
Nisha stayed standing, looking at Adrian silently.
"What?" he asked.
"Scoot over. I need to sit."
Adrian looked at the empty space on the sofa beside him, then back at her.
"You’re serious? You can just sit there."
She glared. "Look at this bastard. I nearly lost my life and spent all my money trying to save you, and you can’t even give me a bit of space to sit?"
"I’ve saved your life more times," he said.
Their eyes met, tension crackling between them.
Lily glanced at Oliver, worried. Her look said, Should we stop them?
Oliver just waved his hand lazily. "I’m too tired for their nonsense. You handle it if you want."
Lily sighed.
Adrian and Nisha were still glaring at each other, neither willing to move first.
The air in the room grew heavier, but beneath it all, there was something faintly familiar like two old friends too stubborn to admit they cared.
Cidar, the branch head, watched the four of them from behind his desk.
They were talking and joking like they were in their own house, not inside the Exorcist Union office.
He didn’t understand how they could act so calm.
Just hours ago, they had been fighting for their lives.
But for Adrian and the others, this was normal.
They had faced Cursed Spirits and death countless times before. Today was just a slightly worse Tuesday.
Cidar couldn’t relate.
He had always done the bare minimum as an Exorcist.
He only fought weaker Cursed Spirits, and most of his success came from his smooth talking, not his strength.
At that moment, the door opened again.
Adrian turned his head and immediately recognized the two who entered.
"Melissa? Lucas?" he said, surprised.
They were the two kids his elder brother, Elias, had taken a liking to.
"Good morning, Uncle," Melissa said, bowing.
"Greetings to the uncle!" Lucas saluted.
"Huh? I mean, yes, Good morning," Adrian replied, confused.
The last time he had seen them, Melissa had glared at him coldly and Lucas had looked down on him.
Their sudden respect caught him off guard.
Lily frowned.
"Those heads..." she said softly.
Adrian followed her gaze.
Lucas was holding several severed heads by the hair.
"These people tried to kill Uncle. So, we punished them," Lucas said proudly.
"That’s not it," Melissa corrected him calmly. "We found out they were involved in embezzlement and other illegal activities. They were stealing money from House Daelthorn, so they received official punishment for their crimes."
Cidar froze.
His hands started shaking.
He knew what she said was only a cover.
House Daelthorn didn’t care about small crimes like minor bribery or a little laundering.
The real reason those men were killed was because they had gone after Adrian.