The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

[Ding!]

[A target meeting the requirements has been detected!]

[Target: Sophia Candice.]

[Reward: Two lives.]

[Note: The target is a Variable Target.]

[Variable Target: A Variable Target’s Records can be obtained without absorbing their soul essence.]

[The Host may obtain the Records once the target submits to him or becomes a follower under his command.]

[An additional ability will be unlocked for the Host—one directly related to Sovereign Pride—should the Host choose to absorb the Records by bringing the target under his command.]

[Reward for subduing the first Variable Target: Sovereign Soul Communication.]

[Sovereign Soul Communication: The Host can hear messages from followers under his command from any distance whatsoever, and vice versa.]

Though the notification caught Ravian off guard, he soon studied the window, and a pleasant surprise greeted him.

But wait.

She met the requirements.

That sentence was by no means a simple one, for it raised the likelihood of something Ravian had spent a long time investigating.

’Connected to the Taboos... and there’s a strong chance she’s one of the seeds of the Fourteen Taboos as well.’

The guess circled through Ravian’s head as he walked toward the open hall ahead of him, the light around him dimming further while his eyes adjusted to it bit by bit.

’Getting that ability would be useful.’

Ravian turned the matter over from every angle.

’And I’ll be killing two birds with one stone if I can extract a bit of information from her too.’

Ravian examined the matter more and more deeply, never halting his steps and never rushing. Sophia would come to serve him his coffee soon enough anyway.

’But...’

A thought flashed through Ravian’s mind out of nowhere.

And he did not hesitate to ask the System about it, for it would have a major impact on his plans if things were as he now suspected—because the System had not stated that particular detail clearly.

’System, you mentioned earlier that they would become my followers.’

[That is correct, Host.]

’Good. Will a Variable Target be incapable of betraying me once they submit to me or become my follower?’

Ravian asked the question that mattered most to him.

But unfortunately, the System’s reply came down on his hopes like an iron hammer.

[No, Host. A Variable Target does not become loyal, nor do they gain unbreakable fidelity, merely by becoming your follower or submitting to you.]

[It is simply that they accept being your follower, at which point you and they can make use of the ability—nothing more. Lying, deception, and all other human behaviors remain things the follower is capable of doing to the Host, and they remain counted as a follower in submission to the Host until they harbor clear hostile intentions or become hostile toward the Host.]

[Only in that case does the submitted person lose the title of follower, along with the ability to communicate with the Host or with the other followers.]

Ravian read the System’s windows, the frown on his face deepening with every word, as he finally reached the source of the commotion and found it to be an arena that looked like a betting den.

Before him stood a fighting pit, currently empty of fighters, and he decided to sit at the nearest wooden table to sort out his thoughts.

The place was larger than it had seemed from the entrance.

Beyond the tables, the hall widened into a sunken arena surrounded by low wooden railings and uneven rows of benches. Oil lamps hung from iron hooks along the walls, their flames trembling whenever the crowd roared, casting long, restless shadows over the floor. The smell of spilled liquor, sweat, smoke, cheap perfume, and the metallic trace of blood filled the air, creating a scent that would have made an ordinary noble wrinkle his nose and leave immediately.

Sigh~

Ravian, however, found it strangely comfortable. Not because the place was clean. It was not.

But because it was honest.

The smiles here were ugly, the greed obvious, and the violence barely hidden behind rules and wagers. Compared to noble streets where everyone hid their blades behind silk gloves and polite words, this tavern felt almost simple.

’So this is where the capital throws away its manners,’ Ravian thought, his gaze moving from the gamblers to the servants, then to the men collecting coins near the pit.

There were small-time merchants, bored guards off duty, clerks pretending they were braver than they were, and a few men whose hands were too scarred to belong to peaceful workers.

Not gangs, perhaps.

But close enough to the kind of people who knew where the city’s dirt gathered.

And that alone made the corner worth remembering for later tonight, perhaps.

The people around him sat at the wooden tables, loudly debating a wrestling match that seemed to have just ended. That much was obvious from the traces of blood and strange fluids scattered across the pit, which two of the tavern’s male servants were currently cleaning up.

Ravian spotted an empty table at the far right of the hall, so he walked over, pulled out the chair, and sat down, the rough old wood creaking under his weight as he settled in.

’Poor quality and old. The worst combination.’

The thought drifted through Ravian’s mind as he ran his index finger along the wooden table, then looked at it to find it coated in dust.

It bothered him a little, but Ravian let it slide for now, because he had something more important to focus on.

’This doesn’t give me enough control over how credible the information I get will be. It’ll be a double-edged sword. Is there no other solution, System, instead of leaving it to the follower’s whims whether to lie or not?’

Ravian asked, hoping for any means of verifying the truth of the information he would obtain in the future. Otherwise, relying on it would be a gamble he would rather not shoulder.

[No, Host. This ability includes no other form of assistance of any kind. It is simply an ability that binds the followers’ Records to the Book of Sovereign Pride to facilitate soul communication with them across long distances and barriers—nothing more.]

The System explained in a wide window.

’Damn it!’

Ravian cursed inwardly as he read the System’s window.

’No other way, then... I’ll just have to verify things myself.’

Ravian concluded, finding no alternative solution for the time being—and he was not considering killing Sophia to absorb her Records.

The man’s sudden death earlier was something he could somehow slip away from, since the witnesses had seen that he had not touched him at the time. But repeating the same thing with Sophia would wrap him in suspicion, and he was new to the city to begin with. He could not afford that kind of scrutiny right now.

Besides, Sophia had not done anything to deserve being killed for.

’At least, not yet.’

Ravian thought as he watched Sophia approach the hall’s entrance and glance around in search of him—until she found him, and a smile quickly spread across her face as she came toward him with his white cup of coffee.

”Here’s your coffee, sir,” Sophia said, handing him the cup with the elegance of a true maid, utterly unlike the sly, careless way she had been handing cups of liquor to the bald man earlier.

”Thank you, Miss...?” Ravian said, smiling at her with a noble grace he had no idea where he had picked up, waiting for her to tell him the name he already knew.

”Sophia. It’s Sophia, Mister...?” Sophia replied in the same manner, tilting her head playfully as she asked him.

’No fake name this time, then.’

Ravian noted, his smile widening in a way Sophia could not detect.

”I’m Rayan, Miss Sophia. A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Ravian said, taking the cup of coffee from her before extending his hand in greeting.

”The pleasure is all mine, Mister Rayan,” Sophia replied, clasping Ravian’s hand with both of hers and shaking it up and down with great enthusiasm.

”Haha. By the way, did you call the city guards or the medical service to check on that man from earlier? He collapsed without reason or warning, as you know,” Ravian said, gesturing toward the place Sophia had just come from.

”Right?! It was absolutely dreadful! I thought you were about to take a serious blow back there, but thank goodness he just lost his balance and collapsed all of a sudden from all that drinking,” she said, her body visibly relaxing now that she could finally let out the worry she had been holding in with someone.

”And don’t worry, I called the city guards. They’ll arrive soon, and a team of physicians will be coming with them,” Sophia continued, her eyes sliding away as a loud commotion suddenly rose from the pit in front of them.

Ravian followed her gaze and noticed people opening the pit’s gate and stepping inside.

’Well... damn,’ Ravian thought as he saw what was stepping into the pit.