The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 13: Wrong

Ignoring that thought, Ignotus, honed from years of killing bastards and stealing their valuables, grabbed a loose stone from the path and hurled it toward the opposite side of the yard.

Clack! Clack!

"...Hm? Did something fall?"

The guard jerked his head towards the noise and started walking that way.

’That actually worked? Good, good’—but not good enough.

A moment later, the same guard returned.

’Hm.’

It seemed they weren’t as dumb as he would have liked them to be.

He half expected the guard to go, "It must’ve been the wind."

But unfortunately, no such thing was uttered. Truly, and incredibly unfortunate.

"You see something?"

To make things worse, another patrol came from the other side.

’Double hm.’

"No, but..."

"Yeah, I get it."

Ignotus was about to be caught... or so the uninitiated might think.

He didn’t panic, which wasn’t much of an achievement; again, it might not have been possible for someone like him, and crouched low. He let the first guard pass him and thankfully went unseen, his black-dressed body blending into the dark.

His hair was completely hidden. Otherwise, this guard would’ve clocked him in a moment.

Though Ignotus wasn’t out of the woods just yet, as a second guard neared, this one looking more closely.

But just as Ignotus was about to be seen...

"ROLL CALL!"

A loud bastard punctured his eardrums.

His Rune helped in the end, but... it was all as he predicted~.

The guard paused his steps and looked over to where his captain’s order had originated.

Clicking his tongue, he joined the others and grouped up for roll call, leaving the main path momentarily wide open.

’Perfect.’

Slipping through the gaps, Ignotus made it to the final obstacle...

A damned wall.

The manor’s gate was too heavily guarded to risk.

He was forced to find another way out, and this seemed to be the best one.

But now that he was here, seeing how tall the wall was, he...

’Damn this weak body... at least there’s one thing I’ll miss.’

Well, no problem; he had a plan.

Using all of his strength and a lot of momentum from swinging his rucksack through his legs, he barely managed to toss it over the wall, ’barely’ able to hold back a grunt.

It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

Then, depending more on his bones and limbs than his muscles, he jogged to a tree planted too close to the perimeter and climbed it naturally. So naturally that if anyone were watching him, they’d think he was a monkey in his past life.

’It pays to be an assassin~.’

Ignotus chuckled.

’But, hm. Seriously, they should cut this thing down.’

Now at its peak, he glanced down.

’It’s a total security breach.’

Well, they certainly would after this...

’I just can’t get caught.’

That wasn’t his problem, though.

"Hup."

With a final push, he leapt from the branch he was standing on and vaulted over the wall, landing with a hard thud on the other side.

There, he paused for a few seconds, listening to the manor with a thumping heart and a smile.

"..."

"..."

"..."

He heard nothing.

No alarms or shouts.

Ignotus had succeeded.

’Freedom.’

Dusting himself off, he threw the rucksack over his shoulder and started walking down the hill toward the town in the distance, street lamps and an old stone path leading the way.

Ignotus couldn’t show his face in the town directly beside their House; he’d be caught in seconds. He held no doubt that Genus had his people keep watch on them.

Rather, he was somewhat surprised he didn’t have anyone watch the house.

Or maybe that was his Rune allowing him safe passage; he didn’t know.

What he knew, though, was that this trek was going to exhaust him.

The town wasn’t all that far, but with the weight he was carrying?

He was far beyond overencumbered, moving at a snail’s pace.

It’d be tough, but judging by his still smiling face, he liked ’tough.’

Of course, he could just go and hitch a ride, but...

He, Ignotus, once of House Plant, a child of the very hand of Great House Death, the rulers of the Third Stratum, owners of Hell, was completely and utterly BROKE.

Ignotus only had a few coppers to his name.

Yeah, only that pouch that he had found.

He couldn’t waste those; they’d be used at his inn for the night.

But that was fine, not at all a problem, and this time he wasn’t being sarcastic.

His future, or at least its beginning, was in that town.

A local Parish.

The Parish wasn’t only this realm’s policing organization, acting directly under the Temple of Gods, but they were also the equivalent of your average ascendant association, only way more complicated, political, and Divine... a pantheon of sorts.

After all, they were controlled by the Temple of Gods, a unified coalition on par with many a Great House faction, the one entity overseeing this realm’s Three Strata... its government.

Of course, that meant that the Parish was on par with all the Main Houses combined, and that he couldn’t go to his local Parish and cause chaos there unless he wanted to be publicly hanged or sent down to Hell for treason.

And yes, ’Hell’ was very real, this realm’s greatest Demon. Again, it was owned by House Death, but that was a rabbit hole he didn’t want to dive into now, literally in a sense, so he stopped thinking about it.

Instead, he focused on how he’d find the local Parish in the next town over.

He couldn’t go around asking people; that was too risky, but honestly...

’It’s fine. I’ll just comb over the entire place.’

Part of the fun of doing these things was figuring it out himself; guides were boring.

Sure, it was life and death for him, but it was somewhat of a good time.

At least for now, it wouldn’t be so bad, right?

Right?

...Right?

Ignotus smirked to himself, kicking a pebble down the dirt road.

’Wrong.’

That same pebble hit a figure that appeared before him.