Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 8

The Armenian Rebellion.

Once, it erupted like a wildfire and engulfed the entire continent, toppling over a dozen kingdoms, slaughtering hundreds and thousands of nobles, and even threatening the empire itself.

In fact, the imperial family had faced a crisis of being overthrown at one point.

Of course, in the end, the rebellion was completely crushed under the emperor’s ruthless suppression, but the impact it had on the continent was tremendous.

However.

The reason why this incident remained as a vivid memory for Yan was different.

‘The Chief Instructor… he was one of the main leaders of the rebellion.’

The Chief Instructor had shown a remarkable feat of strength that made him rise to one of the ‘Three Swords of the Continent’ in a short time.

Yan didn’t know how he, who had been a member of the Special Task Force, ended up joining the rebels.

After the rebellion was quelled, all the records related to the Chief Instructor were destroyed.

He only remembered one thing.

The Chief Instructor was an absolute powerhouse in the continent, and he was actually a bastard of the imperial family.

That is, he was the emperor’s half-brother.

‘Yeah. That’s fine. It doesn’t matter to me whether he started a rebellion, was dragged to the execution ground, or became one of the Three Swords.’

But.

What if there was even one thing that was related to him?

‘If that mark has anything to do with my family.’

And if it was also somehow related to the Armenian Rebellion.

What should he do then?

‘If my family is connected to the Armenian Rebellion… I have to stop it. Somehow.’

Yan knew better than anyone what kind of fate the rebels who participated in the Armenian Rebellion had faced.

It wasn’t just execution or exile.

Massacre.

A massacre took place.

Hundreds of thousands of corpses piled up like mountains, and blood flowed like rivers.

There was no mercy or justice in it.

What if they had even a distant relative or a slight connection?

They were also executed on the spot.

The emperor did not want to spare anyone who was related to the Armenian Rebellion.

As if he wanted to uproot them all.

Of course, these speculations might be too far-fetched.

But.

‘I don’t know anything about my family. The only clue I have is this pendant.

Then…’

Yan’s eyes sank deep.

‘I have to bet everything on that little hope.’

He had to dig up the Chief Instructor’s past.

Then he scrapped all his plans for the future in his head.

‘I’ll postpone the escape and stay in the training camp.’

His mind started to spin in a different direction.

“Oh, you had such a trick up your sleeve?”

At that moment, the Chief Instructor chuckled and spoke.

Yan calmly stared at his eyes.

“I like it, very much.”

Yan did not miss the ‘greed’ that flickered in the Chief Instructor’s eyes.

‘No. Greed is not enough. I have to make him need me. So that he can’t kill me no matter what happens.’

Then he needed something that would pique the Chief Instructor’s interest.

What did he need right now?

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t there a big conflict between him and the Special Task Force Leader around this time?’

The Chief Instructor and the Special Task Force Leader belonged to different factions.

Their goals also clashed several times.

The Special Task Force Leader was determined to get rid of the Chief Instructor, and vice versa, the Chief Instructor was looking for any weakness of the Special Task Force Leader.

‘What if I give him the Special Task Force Leader’s weakness?’

The Chief Instructor would be hooked.

But.

‘It’s no fun to tell him everything from the start.’

Yan’s lips curled up.

This gave him confidence that the Chief Instructor would not be able to kill him anymore.

“Simmons Baronetcy, 52nd Street.”

Yan’s lips moved slightly.

So that only the Chief Instructor could hear.

“…Huh.”

At that moment.

The Chief Instructor’s face, which had been making various noises, froze stiffly with a smile.

He understood what he had said right away.

And.

-You know what that means, right?

Yan’s lips twitched without making a sound.

Fortunately, the other instructors were behind the Chief Instructor and couldn’t see it.

-…How do you know that address?]

The Chief Instructor’s voice transmission came into his ear.

He tried to sound casual, but Yan didn’t miss the wariness and confusion in his tone.

So he twitched his lips again.

-I know where the person who lived there went.

Yan chuckled.

-Do you want me to tell you?

* * *

The Chief Instructor decided to spare all four of the runaway trainees.

The official reason was.

Their skill to shake off the pursuit almost to the end as trainees, their killing of two instructors, and their thick guts.

He also claimed that it would be a waste of their potential to deal with Roman and the other two here.

Some of the instructors vehemently opposed the Chief Instructor’s decision, but… after he cut off the necks of two of them for ‘insubordination’, the rest of the mouths shut up.

In his room, the Chief Instructor slumped into his chair and rubbed his forehead.

“Ha, haha.”

A dry laugh escaped his lips.

It was because the information he had been trying to dig up had come into his hands too easily.

Just then.

Ring ring ring. Ring ring ring.

The communication orb on the desk rang loudly.

The Chief Instructor lifted his lips with his index fingers again.

Like a clown.

“Smile. Yeah. Smile and you’ll feel better.”

He checked his expression in the desk mirror and tapped the communication orb lightly.

Soon, a man with an indifferent face appeared on the orb.

[Yeah, how do you feel about ruining the imperial etiquette and coming back?]

“I caught all four of the runaways, but you sound so bitter?”

[They would have been caught anyway without you. Don’t you think the etiquette towards His Majesty is more important than that?]

The Chief Instructor thought with a smile on his face.

Bullshit.

If it wasn’t for him, he might not have caught 12, but he was sure he would have missed 974.

He didn’t answer, and the man on the other side of the orb, the Special Task Force Leader, clicked his tongue.

[Tsk, well, I guess that’s why you’re sitting there with that blood.]

The Special Task Force Leader said that and snickered.

It was a clear mockery.

The Chief Instructor also curled his lips and bowed his head.

“Yes, I understand, sir.”

His mouth said that, but his eyes were cold.

* * *

Yan smiled inwardly as he watched the Chief Instructor fiddling with the communication orb with fierce eyes.

‘The conflict is bigger than I thought?’

It was good news for him.

The value of the information he had would increase as much as the Chief Instructor wanted to kill the Special Task Force Leader.

Crack!

The Chief Instructor smashed the communication orb with a smile on his face.

Then he turned his head and looked at Yan, who was sitting quietly, and lifted his lips.

“So.”

The Chief Instructor’s eyes were mixed with killing intent, curiosity, and doubt.

Yan tensed up as he saw the whirlpool of emotions.

He hoped that this madman wouldn’t lose his temper and torture him.

But that worry was unfounded.

The Chief Instructor restrained his boiling emotions and asked Yan.

“How did you know that there was a rift between me and the Special Task Force Leader, 974?”

A question he expected.

He had already prepared an answer for that.

Yan gave his prepared answer.

“…I remembered what you said when you explained about the Blade Mountain Range.”

“Me? What did I say?”

“Then, you said to another instructor, ‘That shitty palace trip’.”

“That doesn’t mean I hate the Special Task Force Leader, does it?”

His voice was playful, but his eyes were icy cold.

He seemed to check if there was any error in Yan’s words.

“But I took it as a sign that you didn’t like going to the palace for some reason.”

“Go on.”

“That means, there is someone in the palace that you dislike, and I don’t think it’s easy to assume that it’s a noble or someone from another agency.”

“Why not?”

“Nobles wouldn’t want to clash with the second-in-command of the Special Task Force. Even if there was such a case, it wouldn’t be a reason for you to avoid it.”

“Why?”

“The power of the Special Task Force is strong. I know that you can easily destroy any noble family. Then the nobles would be the ones to avoid you, not the other way around.

The same goes for the people from other agencies.”

“Hmm, so the only one left is the Special Task Force Leader?”

“Yes. The Special Task Force Leader… no, the Special Task Force Leader fits the hypothesis better.”

“How so?”

“You wouldn’t casually mention him to the instructors who can report you anytime, and he’s your superior in authority and position. And most importantly…”

Yan hesitated, and the Chief Instructor urged him to continue.

“Most importantly?”

“You wouldn’t have killed him if you wanted to, but you’re just annoyed, which means it’s hard for you to do that.”

“Hmm… that makes sense, but it also makes me more suspicious.”

The Chief Instructor’s lips tore up.

“Doesn’t it fit too well? How did you get this lucky when I really wanted to find out?”

His eyes were filled with desire.

“Maybe the goddess of fortune is on my side? Right?”

Yan smiled back at him.

“That’s right.”

But.

‘He still doesn’t believe me.’

The Chief Instructor still seemed doubtful.

* * *

Right after Yan left.

“Hmm.”

The Chief Instructor sat on his chair and stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Then he took out the ‘Personal Records’ of the trainees from his drawer.

A pile of hundreds of documents.

The Chief Instructor frowned and flipped through the personal records one by one, looking for the information of 974.

He scanned the contents of the document and lifted his lips at some point.

“Would you look at that?”