The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 9: To Hug A Thigh III

The kitchen had gone silent as the staff watched with bated breath, expecting Ignotus to cower.

"Hm, not quite the reception I expected."

Instead, Ignotus chuckled and stared at the lead guard’s hand, the one on his sword’s hilt.

"I’m sorry to ruin the fun we’re having but I have to ask..."

Something dark had flashed in his gray eyes.

"Are you truly threatening to hurt me, your own Lord?"

The air temperature seemed to drop, and the guards shifted uncomfortably.

"We are under Lord Genus’s orders! You are not to enter such places as you please!"

His hand began to move—

"Don’t."

Ignotus’s smile vanished.

"If you dare unsheathe that sword, you will die."

The sheer weight of the statement and its certain delivery made the lead guard freeze, his knuckles turning white on the hilt.

"But if you do have a death wish..."

Ignotus gestured for him to do so.

"Then please... unsheathe it now."

The lead guard’s survival instinct screamed at him.

Do not draw the blade.

And so, he gritted his teeth, released the hilt, and raised his fists instead.

"Grab him! Drag him out!"

It was the right choice, as the four guards lunged. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

To the onlookers, it looked like a beating waiting to happen.

Four armored men against one skinny teenager.

Ignotus didn’t retreat, however; rather, he stepped in.

The lead guard threw a right hook, but Ignotus ducked under it, just enough, before he grabbed the lead guard’s extended arm and used his attack’s momentum to slam him into the ground before stomping the back of his head, knocking him out completely.

Second of the four guards tried to tackle him, but Ignotus sidestepped, grabbed the guard’s shoulder armor, and yanked downward while driving his knee up.

His knee met the chin-piece of the guard’s helmet, making him bite his tongue hard and fall backward into a metal prep table while gurgling, his head crashing hard on it.

"So damn clumsy."

The third and fourth attacked together, but that didn’t seem to bother Ignotus, as he grabbed a ladle from a pot of boiling soup nearby and splashed hot broth into the third guard’s visor.

"ARGH! MY EYES!"

While that one flailed, Ignotus turned to the last one.

The bastard threw a heavy punch, only for Ignotus to catch his wrist.

Yes, his strength was low, but physics was universal, and he used it to his advantage, twisting the guard’s wrist against the joint of his gauntlet, grinding metal against bone.

"Uggh!"

The guard yelled, his knees buckling to alleviate the pressure, but Ignotus, not giving him a moment, stepped behind him and kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to the ground.

"Shut up."

Placing his foot on the guard’s armored back, he pressed down, pinning him like a bug.

Guard three, who’d almost turned blind, remained laid at the side, likely acting out his unconsciousness.

It had taken Ignotus less than ten seconds to turn them into a groaning pile of metal and bruised egos.

"See that?"

He turned back to Spoon, who was now as pale as a sheet, clinging to a counter for support.

"Unless you want to end up like them, you should watch your manners around me from now on."

"A-As you say! As you say, Young Lord!"

The butler shrieked while repeatedly bowing.

"You..."

Ignotus glared at him, making him sweat.

He glared for long, and the butler began to tremble worse than the guards.

The pressure he exuded was simply suffocating.

"What’s your name?"

Almost having a heart attack, the butler let out a long, shaky breath.

"Felix! My name is Felix!"

"Oh."

Ignotus’s face brightened instantly.

"You’re quite lucky indeed. Nice to meet you, Felix."

Felix bowed so low his nose almost touched the floor.

"Thank you, Young Lord. Thank you!"

With that, Ignotus turned his attention back to the head chef.

The man was trembling so hard his white hat was vibrating.

"Now then. My food was poisoned. Which one of yours did it?"

The head chef paled.

"P-Poisoned? I... I don’t know what you mean! We follow strict—"

"Save the speech."

Ignotus waved his hand.

"No doubt accepting his... friend’s request, my brother, that little rooster, asked for it. I know he did... and one of you gentlemen must have obliged. Perhaps someone new that isn’t yet bound by a Rune sworn Oath?"

His eyes scanned the line of cooks behind the head chef.

Most looked confused or terrified, but one man, a skinny sous-chef near the back, was staring at the exit, sweat pouring down his neck as he wiped a knife with a cloth, over and over again.

"You’re not very good at these things, are you?"

Sighing, Ignotus walked past the head chef and stopped in front of a man skinnier than him.

"I..."

The man stammered, dropping the cloth.

"I was just... Lord Acer said—"

Ignotus didn’t let him finish.

He reached out, calmly picked up a heavy meat cleaver from the cutting board, and swung.

A butcher’s chop dropped the man dead.

Blood sprayed across the pristine white tiles, speckling the station next to him.

The kitchen went deathly silent; even the boiling water seemed to quiet down.

Ignotus, wiping the cleaver clean, looked at the rest of the staff, who were now huddled together, tears streaming down some of their faces.

He sighed once more while wiping a speck of red that somehow reached his cheek.

"Just make good food..."

Ignotus turned around and began to walk out, stepping over the guards.

"And be better."

The doors swung shut behind him.

Meanwhile, Felix stood there, staring at the closed doors.

He looked at the groaning guards, at the dead man, and at the terrified head chef.

His heart was hammering against his ribs.

Was this the ’useless’ Young Lord?

The one everyone laughed at?

The one with no future?

’Impossible.’

Felix’s inadequate mind raced.

Was Ignotus hiding his true self until the Day of Ascension?

Or did the Ascension break something inside him and replace it with... this?

Either way, Felix realized something with crystal clarity.

This was the temperament of someone who was going places.

Calm as a raging river.

Keen as a fox.

Kind as a mother.

And brutal as a demon.

Felix swallowed the lump in his throat.

He needed to survive... and in this House, survival meant power.

So he made a decision right then and there... he needed to hug that thigh.

Felix needed to hug it tight!