‘Screw it, I don't know. Let's just make him do it and see.’
The regressor shoved me. Since it happened at the exact same time as his thought, I couldn't react in time and stupidly muttered.
"Huh?"
Because he pushed me with qi infused, my body was helplessly pushed back. I stepped backward, my foot got caught on the sled, and I slid right down the rear slope of the catapult. By the time I realized it, I was already scraping against the ground.
Uh, wait a minute. He just pushed me like this?
"Here."
The regressor snatched the handle from Azi's mouth and threw it to me. A drowning man will clutch at a straw. I quickly grabbed the handle that flew right up to my nose.
"Hold on tight. If you don't want to fall."
The rope pulled taut right before my eyes. Reflexively, I gripped the handle with all my might. Immediately after, I felt a sensation of being yanked by my grip, arms, legs, and waist.
When I came to my senses, I was riding the sled exactly as the regressor had drawn. Steadying my shaking body, I desperately shouted.
"Aaaargh! W-What are you doing!"
Crazy! He just pushed me like this? Without even thinking twice?
I've seen countless people until now, but this is my first time meeting someone as impulsive as this regressor! Since he moved reflexively the moment he thought of it, I couldn't even counter it!
Even while I was screaming, the regressor silently pulled the rope and answered.
"Hmm. Good job. Try to hold on as much as you can. If you fall, it'll hurt, so try your best not to fall."
"Is that even a thing to sayyyyy! Of course it'll hurt!"
‘Well, I'll catch you if it looks like you'll fall. But if I tell you that, you'll lose your tension, so just hold on for dear life for now.’
Stop reading my thoughts!
Still, I can't let go. Even if someone swears they'll catch me, and even if they mean it, it's hard to just fall backward trusting that.
No matter how sincere he is, what if that unreliable regressor fails to catch me! I'll die!
Tch, I have no choice! Even if I look pathetic!
"Tir! Please pull me up!"
I shouted desperately, but Tir didn't pay much attention. Rather, she seemed slightly pleased by my appearance.
"Your striving figure is a beautiful sight."
"You think this looks good? I'm in a life-or-death crisis every time!"
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If you become even stronger, won't you be able to overcome even greater threats?"
"That's only if I don't die right now!"
Am I some betting money? If I bet by risking greater danger, the amount increases? What if I fail and lose everything with a crash!
"It's fine. I will keep watching so it doesn't get dangerous. Also…."
‘You won't die even if you fall here. If by chance you get hurt to the point where you need my power, I will generously give you my blood. Perhaps... the King of Humans could become the King of Vampires.’
Just watch me fall. I'll hold on with sheer malice and grit.
Actually, the regressor's words aren't entirely wrong. I am a mind reader. Rather than making my own hand strong, I'm the type who reads the opponent's hand and plays off of it.
If I can't win, I don't fight head-on or I win them over. If they force an operation on me, I turn it against them. Walking a tightrope without any overwhelming victories is my way of winning. So I've increased my power by increasing the number of cards I can use.
But... in the face of overwhelming power, the variety of cards in your hand is meaningless. Even if cloth beats rock, a cloth the size of your palm can't wrap up a cascading avalanche.
Training might not make me stronger, but if it gets me even a slightly better card in my hand, I'll endure it!
"Do whatever you want! I'll clearly see just how much stronger I can get from this mere training!"
"You're the one training, so why are you the one gritting your teeth..."
I turned my head away from the regressor and focused my mind.
Qian, Kun, Kan, Li. The four directions in which humans can extend their qi.
Qian is heaven. In other words, all things. Placing myself at the center, it influences all things in the world. I extend my qi with the Qian Qi Art and grab the handle. The handle and my hand connected as if they had become one.
Kun is earth. Placing the world at the center, I stand myself upright within it. Fully realizing how small I am compared to the grand world, and planting my feet firmly on the ground is the essence of the Kun Qi Art. I feel with my qi sense how the ground beneath my feet flows.
Kan is the flesh. From here on, the world and everything else don't matter. The body is a small universe isolated by a single thin layer of skin. I infuse qi into my muscles, bones, and flesh, transcending the human body....
"Ugh. My qi already..."
...But from here on, I'm a bit weak. Since the Kan Qi Art affects the entire body, the amount of qi consumed increases several times over. It's fine if a weapon breaks, but that's a problem if it's the body.
After fixing my posture as much as possible, I gathered the bare minimum of qi at the connection between my waist and arms and held on. Using even a rat's tail worth of qi made it a little better. If I can just hold on like this.
"Woof! Grr! Woof!"
Maybe it was because it felt I was in danger in the meantime. Azi poked his face toward me and barked fiercely. He even fidgeted as if he would leap out at any moment.
Right, man's best friend. Even though he's just barking, I'm thankful. Dogs really are a comfort.
"Azi. It's only you. But don't worry. I will definitely..."
"Grooooowl! I can't hold it in!"
Spitting out those words, Azi just jumped right down.
Azi's figure brushed past behind me. Leaping over me and landing far ahead, Azi made urgent footsteps as he chased after me from behind.
Huh, don't tell me. The excitement I felt from Azi was him getting thrilled.
"Woof woof! Catch the tail!"
"Was it your hunting instiiiiinct!"
"Rawr! Woof, caught you! I'll let go!"
"If you're going to let go, don't grab me in the first place! I'm losing my balance!"
Every time Azi slightly appeared at the edge of my vision, the sled shook like crazy. Fortunately, it didn't seem like he intended to pounce and knock me over completely, but he kept poking at me, ruining my balance.
This is bad. If a human was messing with the sled, I could read them in advance and prepare, but of all things, it had to be Azi, so I had to rely purely on my own skill! I'm not confident in that!
"It's really dangerous! Hilde! Emergency! Emergencyyyyy! Help me!"
When I screamed and asked for help, Hilde smiled nonchalantly and asked back.
"Shall I help you?"
"Yes! Quickly!"
Hilde stood up abruptly. With a serious face, she put both hands on her hips, then stretched her arms and legs alternately and shouted.
"Fighting, fighting! Do your best, Father! You have 'me'!"
"Don't just cheer! Give me practical help!"
"If I may offer some advice, bend your knees a little more! Father, you somehow look like you have a weak lower body!"
"How is advice practical help!"
And the weak lower body is unavoidable! The King of Humans doesn't have a particular strength in his legs!
Damn it. They're happily watching me suffer from up there. I feel like I've been through a lot of rough situations, but I'm still the King of Humans in name.
I shouted, full of malice.
"Just you all wait! When I get stronger, I'm going to land a punch on every single one of you there first!"
"Sure, please try."
Especially you! Regressor, you'd better be ready!
***
"Woof. All used up."
Azi saved me when I was about to collapse from exhaustion.
Or rather, should I say he saved me? He just grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and leaped up in one breath because he thought I wouldn't be able to hold on any longer.
My arms are sore. My waist aches. My grip is trembling, and my calves are swollen. My body has no strength left, and my qi doesn't move as I want it to.
"That was fun! Woof! Let's play again later!"
"You really are a dog, always saying..."
We're both kings of beasts, but while one exhausts his qi just by holding on to a sled, the other has energy to spare while running at a similar speed. This is definitely unfair.
As I lay face down on the floor of the catapult, filled with nothing but malice, the regressor spoke to me.
"Your qi is already depleted? I can't believe it! It's too pathetic compared to the fact that you've even learned the Kun Qi Art!"
"...Do you think I wanted to be born like this? If I could have chosen the body to enter before I was born, I would have chosen Xei's body."
"Do you think I got my strength for free?"
I don't know about your strength, but you definitely got your regression for free. If you obtained qi arts, magic, and artifacts thanks to regression, then that's getting them for free.
The regressor scratched his chin and looked down at me.
"Anyway, your balance looks better than I thought. There's no problem with the emission or manipulation of your qi. It's just..."
"Just what?"
"...You have a devastatingly lacking amount of qi. It's only a little more than an ordinary person who hasn't learned anything."
Thanks. As if I didn't know, you even put a confirmation stamp on it.
"But it's fine! It actually became simpler. If you lack qi, you just need to increase it!"
"Easier said than done. How do I increase it?"
"There's a simple way. It's expensive, though."
The regressor drew a circle in the air with his finger. Following the trajectory of his fingertip, a round hole appeared in the air. The regressor reached his hand in and rummaged through something.
Hilde saw that and covered her mouth.
"Wow. Xei. Don't tell me that's..."
"My pocket."
"That's Rene's pocket, right? You had something like that?"
"Just one."
"There are only four in the world! Just one? Are you a king's son or something?"
"I wish."
‘This is... hmm, alchemical fire. This is for emergencies. Not this either. Ah. Found it.’
Casually brushing off the troublesome question, the regressor stirred his hand a few times and took something out. It was a small wooden box locked with a black padlock. The regressor easily opened the wooden box and held it out in front of me.
"Here. This. It's a spirit medicine."
A white bead wrapped in medicinal herb paper was revealed. A scent that was slightly fishy yet fresh wafted out. I just slightly lifted my head to look at it.
"A spirit medicine?"
"Yeah. How much you absorb depends on your skill, though."
A spirit medicine, huh. That's ambiguous.