The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 12: Dead Rune?

Time skipped forward, and a knock rapped at Ignotus’s door.

Unsurprisingly, a different maid from earlier stood there, her eyes downcast.

"Young Lord Ignotus..."

She tried to look up but stuttered. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"The Lord is waiting."

"Yeah, yeah."

He lazily stood up from the bed and followed her down the halls.

’Maybe that one quit... poor lady~.’

When they reached the guest hall, a giant room with a fireplace big enough to roast a cow and that annoying rooster in it, he immediately caught a shift in the atmosphere.

A fat man with a trimmed gold beard scowled the second Ignotus entered.

Next to him was a girl, looking to be about the same age as him, or perhaps a few years older, clutching her hands together as if she were waiting for judgment day.

Her face revealed a stunned expression the moment she saw Ignotus.

Yes, no longer horrified, the poor girl felt relieved.

’I guess she thought I’d be some deformed troll.’

Ignotus ignored the looks he was getting and walked straight to the long table, plopping down beside his father without even greeting him or their supposed guests.

Theodor of House Gift, their noble ’guest,’ sneered.

"He is as mannerless as you claimed. Though a bastard and a late bloomer, I pity my daughter."

At that, Ignotus didn’t even blink; instead, he turned his eyes to the girl, studying her quietly.

She had dirty blonde hair braided over one shoulder and big brown eyes that didn’t match her father’s icy blue ones. Her face was cute enough with soft features and a small mouth, but definitely not the kind of face that would "start wars."

Solid seven out of ten, if he were feeling judgmental.

He wasn’t feeling that, however, and was more focused on trying to remember who she was, as some part of him seemed to know her... perhaps he’d heard of her in passing in his past life.

"Boy..."

Genus’s stare burned into the side of his face.

"Introduce yourself. You at least owe your fiancée that."

Ignotus actually agreed.

Indeed, the poor girl deserved that much.

Standing up, he put on his best mock-serious face.

"I’m Ignotus of House Plant, son of Genus. The family disappointment, a spoiled brat, a useless lump, deadweight, and a local, maybe even a stratum-level disgrace. No doubt a future cautionary tale most mothers would use to scare their children into bed."

He rattled it off so smoothly, it almost sounded like a sales pitch.

"And apparently... your lucky fiancé."

He extended his hand to the stunned girl.

She blinked once, twice, then shyly reached out.

The moment she touched his hand, Ignotus gently pulled her up to her feet.

An act that made Theodore look like he was about to burst a vein.

"What the Hell are you doing, boy?!"

Ignotus ignored him completely, deeming him not worth his attention, and led the girl toward the big oak doors at the other end of the hall, without sparing their guest’s guards a glance.

Perhaps as an offense, one of them stepped forward, clearly intending to block his way, only for Ignotus’s voice to ring out, unusually cold:

"I’m taking my fiancée for a walk. You dare stop me?"

The guard hesitated, looking up at the "boy" before him, who stood larger than most men.

Behind them, Ignotus heard a grunt—probably his father—and the guard stepped aside.

’Bastard might find me useless, but at least he’s got a brain.’

Ignotus nodded slightly to the girl and let go of her hand to walk ahead of her.

She followed, looking at him like he’d just pulled her out of a burning building.

When they got a fair distance away, reaching the gardens, he finally spoke:

"We’re not getting married."

The poor girl stumbled in her steps, almost tripping over her own feet.

"W-Wha—?"

Before she could string two words together, Ignotus raised a hand.

"I’m leaving tonight. I’m ditching the House, yes, THE Plant House, the one House that’s blessed enough to be the pet dog of this stratum’s only Great House and very ruler. I’m ditching the manor, ditching all of it."

He turned to look her in the eyes, honesty obvious in his.

House Plant, one of the oldest houses in the Third Stratum with the deepest roots... comparable even to a Great House, a tree of the stratum, seemed utterly useless to him.

"No offense. You’re very beautiful; you just had the bad luck of meeting me in these circumstances. If it were without influence, my answer might’ve been different, but alas..."

Her cheeks turned bright red and her lips parted slightly. She looked like she had about a million different questions, but again, Ignotus didn’t give her the chance:

"Goodbye."

Without another word...

"W-W-Wait—"

Ignotus left.

His real future awaited.

...

Night fell over the manor, and Ignotus stood by his window.

A hood covered his head, and a very overstuffed rucksack sat on his back, weighing him down just enough to remind him this wasn’t going to be some perfect sneak-out.

For the past few hours, he’d done nothing but observe, obsessing over every little detail.

If it could, he would’ve learned the way the manor breathed.

In those hours, he noticed that the guards rotated every forty-five minutes, and with the help of his memories, he knew the maids cleaned the main halls around sunset and didn’t pass through again until way later.

Some windows stayed locked; some were loose enough to wiggle through if one wasn’t a fat idiot. He was thin, and thankfully, he wasn’t Acer. So, Ignotus mapped it all out in his head, an assassin’s kind of thinking: break down the problem, figure out the solution.

Of course, he also had to deal with his angry father after disappearing on them like that, but it wasn’t too hard. He just gave a few well-placed promises, a few ’yes fathers,’ and many nods of the head.

Ignotus was still set to marry the girl...

’Heh.’

Yes, he was.

And he’d definitely do it.

’Hm.’

Definitely.

"...It’s time."

Ignotus stepped away from the garden-facing window and crept out of his room, the door clicking shut behind him without a sound.

Step by slow step, he made it to the grand staircase, moving down it like he was floating.

The first floor was dimly lit with only a few lanterns left burning, mostly to keep the place from looking haunted.

There... a window near the kitchen. One he’d tested earlier, its latch broken.

Ignotus slid it open, slipped through, and landed softly on the gravel outside.

...Freedom.

Almost, but not quite.

He ducked low, sticking to the shadows, zigzagging between trees, hedges, the occasional statues, and Gods-awful fancy fountains... but just as he was about to round the corner to the courtyard, he froze up.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

Footsteps were closing in fast.

It was a guard, no doubt, turning the corner too soon.

This was entirely off-pattern.

’Hm... is my Rune dead?’