Five Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Just in case, I utilized mana, and it formed at the tip of my finger.

Fortunately, I could still use mana without any problems.

‘Of course. That’s the way it should be.’

Two months had passed after gaining my stats.

I spent two full months opening the mana path through my body.

Sitting cross-legged under the moonlight, I used my immense stats to endlessly open up the path of mana.

And finally…

‘I even went through metamorphosis.’

Metamorphosis. Something I never experienced even during my previous regression.

It was something only Emperor had experienced, and now I did, too.

Thanks to that, my face became soft like I was in my teens.

Therefore, I could still handle mana even in a child-like form.

‘That’s all that matters.’

I began by approaching the children while repeatedly clenching and relaxing my hand.

According to the clear conditions, I had to settle the witch’s grievance without getting my identity discovered.

Now then, I think it’s safe to say that currently, it’s before the witch’s grievance.

“Guys.”

“Hey, it’s Chun-Sung. Run away!”

As soon as the children saw me, they ran away.

I was just standing there, frowning, and having no clue what I did.

They called me by my name. That I don’t care about, but running away as soon as they saw me was quite unpleasant.

“Tsk, I don’t like kids.”

Of course, it was not because they ran away after taking a glimpse at me.

Grumbling, I entered the building.

From a child’s perspective, this was a fairly large building.

I began to walk down the corridor, looking around with each step.

‘They definitely said she was the director of the orphanage.’

Realizing that finding the witch was the first thing I should do, I began to search from room to room.

‘……?’

At that moment, I stood still at the sight of an elderly man over at the window.

His stare was concentrated on the children, and I had a feeling of something strange, perhaps suspicious.

It was because he gazed at them with greed instead of any form of kindness or love.

‘Those eyes. I’ve seen them too many times to even count.’

In normal circumstances, I would’ve lived as the son of a wealthy family.

Among those who approached me, there were often people who had that look.

And all of them were annoying.

‘I forgot, who was it? A guy from the mafia in the US had the same exact look as that wrinkly old man.’

While I was remembering my past, the old man walked away from the children and I was about to follow.

“Chun-Sung, what are you doing here alone and not playing with your friends?”

I stopped moving as my feet were in the air.

That was because the person who appeared behind me had lifted me up.

My child’s body couldn’t even resist.

I turned my head around and shifted my gaze up.

‘Witch.’

She had the same face as the woman in the glass box.

Camoa Arda, the current director of this orphanage, and the woman who would later be called a witch.

“Ms. Director.”

“Yes, what is it?”

The witch smiled brightly at my call.

There was not a trace of resentment in her smile. Looking at the witch’s face for a moment, I looked away.

“Nothing.”

“I see. You aren’t getting along with the kids again, right?”

I scrunched up my face after hearing that and scoffed.

It was unpleasant to hear my name being used for such a thing.

I am the youngest son of a rich family.

“That’s not it.”

“Right.”

From her reply, I knew she wouldn’t listen even if I said no, so I struggled in her arms.

After she released me from her embrace, I glanced up at her.

The main objective was to clear her of her grievance.

‘Does that mean something that would bring about that grievance would soon occur?’

If so, the first suspicious individual that came to mind was that elderly man.

I wanted to follow him, but the witch kept talking to me.

“It’s nap time soon, Chun-Sung. Do you want to take a nap with the teacher?”

“So annoying. Gosh.”

“Huh? What did you…”

My, she even has good hearing.

Anyway, I decided to hang out with the witch, so I grabbed her hand to go take a “nap” and…

I really fell asleep.

* * *

By the time Ha Chun-Sung entered Floor 22, Sword Queen could barely move from the strong pain in her abdomen. With the help of the guard supporting her, she could finally return to her room.

She sat down on the floor and loosened her clothes to check the damage. She saw a big bruise in the shape of a fist.

“Just how…”

As she vividly recalled the blow of Ha Chun-Sung, Sword Queen shivered and pressed her lips.

Ha Chun-Sung avoided her attack and even threw a counter.

The counter was only a single blow, but it was strong enough to make her fall.

As if he was several leagues ahead of her.

‘Perhaps his level is much higher than mine…’

However, Ha Chun-Sung’s name was not in the ranking, and he himself had said he didn’t have a designated name. That meant he must be below level 50, yet that didn’t match his power.

‘It definitely felt like he was holding back.’

She was the one called Sword Queen, who saw countless strong people.

Her eyes were always accurate, and she was also a quick-witted person.

‘Is this…’

The appearance of a new and powerful king on Crown Road.

She wasn’t aware of the exact details, but was sure he held a certain strength.

But by chance, if he was a Yashin…

‘No, there is no reason for a Yashin to take the initiative to clear Floor 22. They probably know that we’ve been stuck on Floor 22 the past month. They know we’ll fail this regression the more time we spend.’

It may take a few more months to clear Floor 22.

There wasn’t a single reason for Yashin to come forward and clear such a Floor.

‘Therefore, it’s highly unlikely that he is related to Yashin.’

And in her memory, Ha Chun-Sung always hated and fought against Yashin.

Not to mention he was the son of a very wealthy family. That’s another reason why he had to go back to Earth.

‘Wait a minute, he probably doesn’t know about the witch’s grievance.’

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind, and she jumped up.

Ha Chun-Sung was strong.

However, she wasn’t sure if his power was enough to work against the witch’s grievance.

Plus, there weren’t too many people who invested stats into vitality.

To begin with, wasn’t that the whole reason she couldn’t clear Floor 22?

‘Besides, even in the past and regardless of skills, he was an overconfident person.’

Recalling the days when Ha Chun-Sung was called Lightning Emperor, Sword Queen hurriedly opened the door and left.

Ha Chun-Sung was a newfound powerful figure.

If he, who defeated her with a single blow, was beaten by the miasma on Floor 22, then victory against Crown would become that much more distant.

‘I have to rescue him.’

She was a woman who had a bit more of a worrying streak than others.

But there was one thing she forgot.

It was the fact that the guard, who was always standing guard, had stepped away from his position to help her return to her room.

And so, in that short period of time, both she and the guard remained oblivious to the fact that a certain someone had entered Floor 22.

* * *

Even though I took over the body of a child, I didn’t think I would really fall asleep, but I was wrong. I sat there with a bewildered expression.

If that’s true, then that meant I would be drastically drowsier during the night.

I sighed.

‘I’m busy enough already. Just why…’

I stood up and made the bed, then looked around.

Maybe it was still nap time, because the kids of my (physical) age were all asleep.

‘What about the witch?’

When the director and teachers who put us to sleep were nowhere to be found, I walked near the door.

Then I poked my head slightly through a crack in the door.

Finding the hallway quiet, I carefully pushed open the door.

‘Earlier, I couldn’t find the director’s office.’

Thinking that I should search for it again, I began my trek down the hallway.

The place called the nap room was located on the second floor.

This building seemed to be four stories, so there were still many places I hadn’t been to yet.

I busily walked around the second and third floor, and before I knew it, lunchtime had arrived.

Finally, upon reaching the fourth floor, I was able to find the room labeled as the Director’s Office.

I placed my ear against the door and concentrated my mana on my ear. Learning that no one was present, I opened the door.

Inside was a bookshelf, a chair high enough for a child to sit on, and a desk.

I walked into the simple room, and after quietly closing the door, I approached the desk.

A desk with numerous drawers. When someone wanted to hide documents or something, they would usually hide them in places like the drawers.

Rattle.

Obviously, the drawers were locked.

I looked around to see if there was a key, but the witch herself probably had it.

‘The reason why she’d keep it locked?’

There must be something she’s hiding.

I was contemplating if I should break it open, but I suddenly remembered a skill I’d gained.

‘I thought it was useless, but I guess it’s handy for times like this.’

It was the baptism of ‘Mocking Cinderella’

Those on the receiving end of a Constellation’s baptism gain special powers.

The baptism of ‘Mocking Cinderella’, Glass Fabrication.

It was the ability to create something of a certain shape out of glass.

‘That means…’

I placed my index finger against the keyhole and activated Glass Fabrication.

Upon activation, liquid glass seeped into the keyhole and hardened into the shape of a key.

Click.

‘Nice.’

Turning the key, I opened the drawer and hurriedly looked inside.

I didn’t know what it was for, but the drawer was full of papers.

I started going through them one by one.

‘This…’

I frowned, looking at the contents.

All these documents belonged to adopted children.

‘Hmm?’

I found a piece of paper sandwiched between the adoption papers.

‘Certificate of Balance.’

Was there a bank account for the orphanage or something?

I checked the balance just in case, and there it was written on the paper, the details of the deposited money.

It was specifically written if the money was from the country or a donation, but it was coming stably.

However, the closer I got to the more recent dates, the more the support began to decline, and the amount of money coming in decreased considerably.

‘Did the donations stop?’

After looking at the balance for a long time, I crossed my arms and fell deep into thought.

A grievance originated from lack of money.

But I wonder if that was the actual reason why she became a witch.

‘There’s probably a connection, but I’m not sure yet.’

Realizing I was still short of information, I put the Certificate of Balance back between the documents.

I’ve done all this, only to have no progress.

I sighed and locked the drawer.

After that, I looked through the bookshelf just in case, but couldn’t find anything.

‘Is the witch just a director of the orphanage?’

If so, that meant the witch’s grievance came forth due to an outside influence, and not from the inside.

As expected, that elderly man was suspicious. I left the office.

The moment I stepped into the hallway, the sound of footsteps reached my ears.

From the sound of it, the person was still a bit away, but it wouldn’t be long before we came face to face. I looked around, searching for a hiding spot, but came up empty.

Then…

I opened the window, looked down, and immediately jumped.

I jumped from the fourth floor and landed lightly, with a slight feeling of floating from the fall. I dusted off my hands and glanced back up.

“Ha Chun-Sung?”

I was startled by the voice and quickly whipped my head around.

There stood a girl who looked to be around seven.

She was looking at me with wide, twinkling eyes.

“Finally, I found you!”

I sucked in a breath at her shout.

Did she see me jumping out the window?

Oh no.

If that was the case, clearing this stage was also out the window.