Obsessed with Regressors

The fire was concentrated on windows and desks. The small piece of furniture in front of the window had turned to ashes, and the area around it was a mess of ashes, enough to ask if it was a desk. Even the top of the bed was full of gray ash and blackened marks.

“Looks like someone tried to burn the desk.”

She muttered as she held Elliot’s hand. The fire had scorched the windows black, but the door on the other side and the stove next to it were rather intact. Usually, if there was a fire, the reason was the stove or lamp. Could it be that the lamp on the desk fell over and caught fire?

“You’re right.”

Elliot said, guessing why the fire started, right? When she turned around, he nodded and continued.

“Someone tried to burn the desk. To be precise, desk drawers and bookcases.”

Did she have a bookshelf? She turned around in surprise, but the place where the desk used to be was only a heap of ashes, so even if there was a bookshelf, she didn’t think she would be able to recognize it. Why did they burn the desk? As she thought so, Elliot gently began to lead her out of the room.

“Shouldn’t we see more?”

“It’s okay since I took care of everything important.”

All Elliot took with him was this manuscript. It was then that she remembered that she had received Rachel’s manuscript from her. Rachel said she worked at a restaurant, she heard. She didn’t know she was writing.

Wait a moment. Only then did she remember the first time she and Rachel met. She had some stories in mind, she said. He said it was similar to an adventure novel she recently read that she enjoyed very much.

“Be careful.”

Elliot said that, so she realized she had reached the top of the stairs. But she couldn’t take her eyes off Rachel’s manuscript. Was this something she knew? It was so similar to what she knew that it was difficult to say that it was just similar. A man who lost his friend to a monster goes hunting for it. Then he gets chased by a monster and survives with the help of another man. The difference was that in Rachel’s manuscript, the main character was a woman, not a man.

“Eugenie?”

It wasn’t until Elliot called her that she realized she was already down the stairs. It was a deep, narrow stairway, and she didn’t know how she got down. She looked at the manuscript in her hand again and turned to Elliot.

“Have you read this manuscript?”

“No.”

Elliot answered simply, and she hesitated for a moment. Had she read the popular novel these days? She hadn’t seen Oliver. The reason was simple. Oliver: He hated reading. When he was young, he didn’t even reply to a letter she sent to her older brother. Of course, he just didn’t.

“I didn’t see it.”

When the title of the book was called out, Elliot shook her head again. She was he was having fun, she paused as she tried to add. She felt a bit strange.

“Because Miss Juggler said he thought of a similar story. But I guess I wasn’t thinking about it.”

Come to think of it, she said she had shown it to her friends. It seems that the manuscript has already been completed to some extent. She checked the last chapter of the manuscript just in case. The last piece of paper was only slightly filled in at the top. When she checked it, it was the second story in the book she read.

“Are they that similar?”

Elliot asked. She nodded quietly. It was amazing. There was also something like this.

“Only the gender of the main character is different.”

Oh, and the friend of the protagonist who was killed by the monster. In the novel she read, they appeared as friends, but in the story Rachel wrote, they were the main character’s family. She went back to the front of the manuscript and started reading. There was a small part of Rachel’s story that made more sense. Like the scene where she finds her family killed by a monster. In the novel she read, the main character goes to a friend’s house to find it by chance and vows to avenge his friend. But Rachel was a family member living together. Upon returning home from work, the protagonist discovers that a monster has killed his family.

“Oh, sorry.”

As she frantically read the manuscript, she realized that they were still standing inside the building, under the stairs. Elliot was silently waiting next to her.

“It’s okay.”

Saying that, he moved his body. Then, in an instant, the surroundings darkened.

Huh? It was only then that she realized that Elliot had stood still so as not to cover the only window. If he had moved, he would have covered the window, making it difficult to read the manuscript in the dark. He was a friendly person. She thought so as she looked at Elliot’s back as he opened the door for her. From the outside, it seemed blunt, but these trivial actions were kind.

“Miss.”

Ann, who was waiting for her outside, approached her with an expression asking if she was okay.

“How is it? Did you find the person you are looking for?”

“No, Count Burns is protecting her here.”

Anne’s face was half happy and half surprised. She turned to Elliot and held out Rachel’s manuscript.

“Thank you.”

“Why don’t you give it directly to the little sheep? I will tell you where she is.”

She hoped so. She said thanks again, and Elliot told Rosie and David to lead her to the little sheep. He wasn’t guiding her. Oddly enough, it was a bit disappointing. But Elliot has work to do. By coming here to see what was going on, he had done more than he was supposed to. She climbed into the carriage with a greeting to see her next time.

“Are you the noble Lady Biscon?”

David, who was sitting across from her and Anne, asked as the carriage started to run. Ann opened her eyes wide in surprise, and she said calmly, remembering that he was a mercenary.

“This is Lady Biscon.”

It was difficult for commoners to know the titles of nobles. In fact, if you were not the Lord of the territory you live in, you wouldn’t have many encounters with nobles. So it’s nothing to be ashamed of or angry at if they get her title wrong.

“What is different?”

Rosie asked this time. She said softly.

“Noble lady is a title given to the daughter of a princess or Duke. The daughters of Marquises and Counts are called by adding lady before their last names.”

Rosie and David looked like they knew. But it’s amazing. There were no princesses in Balsian. The one and only princess, when she was born, became the queen of a neighboring country. And the Duke had no daughters. Where did you hear the title of noble lady? Thinking that far, she remembered that Elliot also called her a noble lady when they first met.

She asked out of curiosity.

“Where did you hear the title of noble lady?”

People who didn’t know usually say Lady Biscon or Miss Biscon, but they didn’t mistake her for the noble Lady Biscon. Elliot was the first to call her the noble Lady Biscon.

“Oh, where did you hear that?”

David looked up at Rosie as he spoke, and a wrinkle formed between Rosie’s brows. Even if you were aristocrats, it’s not an easy title for commoners to hear.

“It must be Captain Burns. Where do we know the noble’s name?”

David nodded at Rosie’s words. She heard that Elliot was also a commoner. She asked cautiously.

“I heard that Count Burns was not of noble origin. He seems to know a lot of nobles, doesn’t he?”

Maybe it was. So he must have gotten information on where the dragon was. Rosie and David looked at each other again, then nodded and said without saying who came first.

“That, right? It seemed like he knew the nobility.”

“He seemed to know me well. There were rumors between us that he worked for at least a nobleman.”

“You probably didn’t work for an aristocrat.”

Then, Anne intervened. She talked as usual about whether Rosie and David were a little less scared now.

“If you worked for a nobleman, wouldn’t someone know someone? But no one knew about a man named Elliot Burns.”

It seemed that Elliot was quite famous even among the servants. Seeing Anne said that. ‘Haha’ the commoners closest to nobles were the servants of noble families. Even her mother would ask the butler if there was a rumor that they didn’t know about. She got out of the conversation and watched the three of them.

“Maybe he changed his name.”

Rosie quickly retorted David’s words.

“Isn’t that it? Because there was someone who knew Cunt Burns who went to the academy.”

“Maybe he changed his name when he worked for a nobleman.”

In response to David’s rebuttal, Anne stepped forward this time.

“It can’t be. If there was a man like that, even if he had a different name, people would definitely recognize him.”

What? Surprised by Ann’s words, she looked at David and Rosie, both of them agreeing. ‘Oh my god.’ She finally couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter. Then three people looked at her with expressions asking why.

“Oh, sorry. I just wanted everyone to know that Count Burns is handsome.”

Then, this time, Anne’s expression became strange. Why was that? When she stopped laughing, Rosie said with a smile on her face.

“Well, the captain is handsome.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Rather, it was David’s expression as if he did not know. He said scratching his head.

“Rather than being handsome, it’s a bit scary.”

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Translator Note:

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