The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 86: Hunt Your Hunters

Gaia blinked.

"Do we even... know what time it is?"

"Nope."

Ignotus shook his head.

"But I’m sure you’re tired, so it’s night now."

No one argued; like he said, they were too tired to care.

The walk down the hill was filled with creeping dread.

The closer they got, the more worried they became.

Would those in the kingdom be hostile towards them?

Were they going to have to clear the entire place out just to sleep?

Were they really going to have to kill other Runebearers?

Soon, they would find out, as before them a wooden gate loomed high.

It hung open, one door barely clinging to its hinges.

Ulv stopped just before entering.

"...this place feels wrong."

"Everything in this dungeon feels wrong."

Ignotus shrugged off his worry.

"You should’ve gotten used to it by now."

He walked first through the gates, past the... guards?

Yes, there were guards there, two of them, standing on either side.

They wore no armor, only rags, and held on to something resembling a spear.

And when Ignotus went by, they didn’t even look at him.

It wasn’t because they were too tired or something, no...

They simply didn’t see him, nor did they see the others.

Even when Mer waved a hand in front of one’s face, nothing.

No reaction at all, like they didn’t exist in the same realm.

"They didn’t even blink."

Gaia shivered.

"Creepy~."

Mer giggled.

"They feel dead."

"They are dead."

Ignotus pointed at the Hanged Tree towering over them.

"They’re just pretending to be people."

That did not help but rather made Lykos rub his temple.

"Can you not say things like that so casually?"

"I could, but I don’t want to."

With that, they moved through the main street, their boots echoing on cracked stone.

The town was a ruin of collapsed homes and black sludge that leaked from windows.

Faded banners hung limply across the road while lamps flickered below poles. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Aur somehow kept her voice level even now, when the others’ nervousness returned.

"If we do find this inn, we’ll need to pay for rooms."

"Pay?"

Ignotus blinked, like he’d just heard a foreign word.

"Oh, that’s funny."

Ulv raised a brow and asked:

"You don’t plan to do that, do you?"

Ignotus tilted his head.

"You saw the guards, right? Do you think anyone here cares about currency?"

Lykos spun on him, indignant.

"I’ll have you know, as a noble, I will not cheat the less fortunate!"

"Cool."

Ignotus nodded at him.

"Do that."

He walked ahead.

"Hey! Don’t ignore me!"

Lykos shouted, storming after him as Mer snorted.

"You’re adorable when you’re mad."

"Shut up!"

Ulv sighed, looking half amused.

"Your constant banter is going to get us killed."

The cohort stuck out like sore thumbs, a rowdy bunch walking through a ghost town.

Eventually, the streets began to get filled up by people, or things that looked like people.

They moved about their business like actors in a play, repeating movements that didn’t make sense.

A woman poured water into a bucket with no bottom while a child ran in circles, laughing, as if playing with friends, and a man hammered a wall that wasn’t there.

Again, like the guards, none of them even glanced at Ignotus or his group.

"Since when did this turn into horror?"

Ignotus would’ve sounded rattled if he could.

"I-It’s... it’s sooo creepy...."

Gaia nearly whimpered.

"This is officially the worst village I’ve ever been in."

Mer’s smile faltered, and even Aur’s calm fell.

"Please don’t speak. Let’s just walk through."

And they did just that.

Step by step, through the crowd of hollow puppets.

Until eventually, they reached the inn, a crooked three-story thing with windows lit by soft, flickering light. The sign read {The Still Hearth,} though the letters looked burned.

Inside, it was somehow worse.

Full of people talking, laughing, and drinking, but every sound was muted.

They only mimicked the motion of such actions; none actually left their lips.

The barmaid passed in between them, making Ignotus simply give up on thinking about it while the others jumped in fright.

He walked up to the counter where an old man stood, wiping a cup that wasn’t dirty.

The man, of course, didn’t greet them, but interestingly, he placed two rusted keys on the counter.

Ignotus stared at them.

"...so they do know how many of us there are."

He scratched his neck, a small grin forming.

"I bet the spell is the reason."

No doubt the spell that brought them here had something to do with this.

Perhaps this place was the usual testing ground for the Academy before the game began.

And these people, though they didn’t see them, the students, they came to learn of them, helping them despite feeling hopeless, perhaps thinking that one day, they would be saved.

"S-Stop smiling!"

Lykos tapped Ignotus forward.

"Just take the keys."

Ignotus picked them up.

"Sure."

He turned and led them upstairs.

Soon after, they found the two rooms. One for the girls. One for the boys.

They said their goodbyes in tired voices and shut their doors behind them.

Ignotus kept the keys for the girls with him, claiming that it was for security.

Again, no one bothered to argue; at this point, no one doubted him as a leader.

Ignotus collapsed on the bed without even bothering to take off his boots.

And for the first time since his regression, he didn’t care about the bath either.

He was done for today, so even when his new roommates tried to talk, with Lykos muttering about how "dishonorable" it was to not pay and Ulv asking if the ceiling looked like it was moving, perhaps a little traumatized from earlier, Ignotus didn’t bother to listen.

He was already halfway to sleep.

It claimed him for a few hours until—

’Ignotus, MOVE!’

His eyes snapped open.

Instinctively, his head snapped to the side.

Something cold and sharp brushed his cheek.

It was a blade, slicing through the pillow where his head had just been.

The thing buried itself deep, missing by less than a breath.

"...yeah, I figured."

He smiled faintly.

Ding!

—

╔════════╗

║NEW QUEST!║

╚════════╝

[SECOND HUNT]

[Objective: Hunt Your Hunters!]

—

Nap time was over.