Chapter 129
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: The Regressor Makes Everything
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『Gongyang』 operated two groups whenever they handled external affairs.
The first was a special unit specialized in the armaments they themselves produced.
And the second consisted of heroes or demons they indirectly sponsored.
Of these, the latter was used more frequently. Even if a mission failed, it was easy to cut off tails by framing it as a hero's betrayal or a demon's terrorist act.
'This guy's one of the latter, huh.'
Victor glanced warily at the one-handed sword in his hand, a slight tension creeping in. He'd just shown an opening like that because he didn't fully understand what the item he'd been handed was.
'The surface restored itself immediately... So it's probably sealed until certain conditions are met. More likely for rituals than combat.'
Equipment like that was probably meant to support whatever incident was about to erupt next week.
Recalling the strategies 『Gongyang』 had often employed before his regression, Lee Se-hun calmly opened his mouth as if nothing had happened.
"Too bad. That was supposed to be my finishing move."
"Haha. That was seriously creepy."
Victor looked at Lee Se-hun and wiped away a bead of cold sweat.
If he'd shown any sign of charging forward to attack, Victor would have reacted instantly. But Lee Se-hun had advanced solely with the intent of getting stabbed by the sword.
Caught off guard by that unimaginable response, Victor had panicked and pulled his sword out, allowing the attack to land pointlessly.
'Too perfect to call it luck... Scary guy.'
The public knew him only as a promising young blacksmith, but that exchange showed he was no slouch in combat either.
'Now I get why the client told me to keep an eye on him.'
With talent like that, it was worth coveting. Having assessed the situation, Victor glanced at his one-handed sword.
'It won't break in a fight, but if it's too sturdy, it'll raise suspicions.'
He fought while minimizing damage to the armament as much as possible. With his strategy adjusted, Victor looked on with steadier eyes.
"Shall we go again?"
"Sure."
Lee Se-hun nodded and immediately kicked off the ground, swinging the Five-Colored Flame Blade in a surprise attack.
'Slow!'
The timing was good, but the speed was sorely lacking. Victor swung his sword in response, twisting the blade slightly to deflect the Five-Colored Flame Blade sideways.
Kaang!
A clean deflection. But far from panicking, Lee Se-hun followed up with his hammer as if he'd anticipated it. Victor's eyes gleamed at the sight.
'Knew you'd do that...!'
A relentless attack targeting the armament. Spotting the obvious path, Victor channeled mana into his fist and swung with all his might.
Thud!
The hammer clashed with the fist and bounced away harmlessly, leaving Lee Se-hun's chest completely exposed.
Victor kicked off the ground and thrust his one-handed sword forward at blinding speed.
Whoosh!
It stopped elegantly right in front of his throat.
"...I lose."
Lee Se-hun lowered his hands, which had been poised to swing again, and gave a wry smile.
"Not easy, as expected."
"I didn't earn an A-rank form for nothing. Still, good attempt."
Feeling better after making up for his earlier mistake, Victor sheathed his sword and looked at the other three.
"Next up?"
"Eh, they've already done a lot of sparring today, unlike me... What do you think, wanna go?"
At Lee Se-hun's question, the three exchanged glances and soon shook their heads.
"I'm beat."
"I'm done too."
"Pass."
They'd been competing to go first just moments ago, but now they were all backing out together.
It felt like they were avoiding him, making Victor's shoulders shrug even more proudly.
"Since everyone's like that, we'll challenge you properly next time when we're prepared."
"Sure. Anytime."
Victor left the training hall with a satisfied expression, and the cadets watching from around let out sighs.
"Ugh... the win streak ends here."
"Wait, those three fought so far, so Lee Se-hun's loss doesn't count, right?"
"Shut up and pay up."
The cadets who'd bet on how long the dojo raid would last sighed in their own ways, while a few hurriedly tapped on their phones to spread the news.
By dinner tonight, they'd probably be gleefully tearing into how Lee Se-hun's one-sided defeat had ended the dojo raid pathetically.
'This should be about right.'
Lee Se-hun, gauging the reactions, stepped down from the training hall.
"Let's go."
The four, led by Lee Se-hun, left the training hall. Once they confirmed no one was around, Jake sidled up and quietly asked,
"Why'd you signal us not to come up earlier?"
He'd phrased it as a question, but Lee Se-hun had given the three a clear glance not to intervene.
If the opponent had been overwhelmingly strong, making fighting pointless, it might have made sense. But to Jake, Victor wasn't that level.
'A-rank, sure, but his movements were unnatural.'
He'd been fine at first, but after the hammer targeted his sword, he'd fought too defensively afterward, creating openings.
Formidable due to his rank, but definitely exploitable. So why tell them not to fight?
"The spar gave me a good read on him. No need to break anything else."
Lee Se-hun's goal from the start had been to identify 『Gongyang』's methods.
Having confirmed the sword was disguised as sparring gear, all that was left was to track down similar ones.
'I know the traits now, so I can narrow it down to anyone reacting the same. And... find out where he got it.'
If it hadn't been swapped midway, then if it was prepared from Babel onward, he could uproot 『Gongyang』's internal collaborators.
As Lee Se-hun gradually pinned down the infiltrating enemy's contours in Aqar Quf,
"So."
Louise, who'd been listening from behind, cautiously asked,
"Can I stop saying... that embarrassing stuff now?"
She looked at him almost pleadingly. After a moment's thought, Lee Se-hun chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah. We're done with that."
"For real?!"
"For real. You gonna fall for it forever?"
It had been bait to lure them out anyway—no need now that it was over.
"Ahh..."
As Louise sighed in genuine relief at her liberation, Lee Se-hun belatedly added something that came to mind.
"Instead, keep up the promotion."
"...What?"
"Screaming's hard to verify without video, so how about a sash? Something straightforward like 'Lee Se-hun Weapon Owner'..."
Louise stared blankly at Lee Se-hun pondering seriously, then her eyes flashed blue as she lunged.
"Die!!!!"
She grabbed his collar and pounced like she wanted to devour him. Jake flinched back at the ferocious sight.
"What the..."
Thinking they might actually fight, he hesitated to intervene—only to see Lee Se-hun grinning while being shaken by the throat.
'Just teasing her.'
They got along well, but it was an odd dynamic. As Jake watched awkwardly, Yeom Seong-ha, who'd been standing quietly beside them, suddenly muttered,
"Wearing a sash and taking the hits doesn't sound bad..."
"..."
Hearing that, Jake was convinced: excluding himself, there were no normal people here.
Saturday morning.
Lee Se-hun, who'd come to Borsippa's exhibition hall at Lan Fei's call, gazed at the building ahead.
'No joke, it's huge...'
Even from this distance, it was too massive to take in at a glance.
As he approached, his eyes caught the electronic board listing the exhibition schedule.
'Magic engineering expo and future tech exhibit together, huh...'
With the space available, crowding wouldn't be an issue, but suspicious events in one place called for caution.
'Might end up bigger than expected.'
As Lee Se-hun scanned the surroundings carefully, he spotted Louise waiting at the entrance, having arrived early.
"Morning."
"..."
Louise narrowed her eyes at his greeting, then curtly replied,
"Yeah."
She answered shortly and entered first. Her body language screamed annoyance, prompting Lee Se-hun to stroke his chin.
'Did I tease her too much?'
Showing her the joke sash he'd made yesterday must have pushed her patience to the limit.
She'd waited at the entrance, so she wasn't truly mad, but poking again might set her off.
Deciding to behave today, Lee Se-hun entered belatedly and saw Louise standing midway, waiting.
"..."
She glanced back, then strode ahead again.
Just like Yeom Seong-ha before, making Lee Se-hun chuckle unwittingly as he caught up and headed inside together.
"You're here."
Lan Fei, waiting at the expo entrance, approached the two.
"Put these on."
Access badges on lanyards and staff jackets. Lee Se-hun and Louise donned them promptly, and Lan Fei pointed inward.
"I'll explain while showing you. Follow."
The three passed through the expo doors, revealing the vast interior.
Ceiling lights illuminated everything, with various controls regulating the hall's environment.
Company booths were neatly spaced at set prices—all familiar names.
"What're you doing! Move it!"
"Yes sir!"
Staff from the booth companies bustled about installing and checking devices—mostly supports for exhibits.
'They're really focused on security.'
Seeing the real exhibits would take more time.
As Lee Se-hun observed keenly,
"That..."
Louise stared in surprise at one spot.
Clank clank─
A pure white steel doll walking the hall. About 2 meters tall, with smoothly curved armor and natural movements.
"Marionette Factory's new automaton."
"...Way different from the old ones."
Previous automatons resembled stiff wooden puppets; this one's fluid motion felt more human.
"They optimized movements with an artificial spirit in the internal engine. Called the G-series—impressive specs."
As Louise watched in fascination at Lan Fei's explanation, Lee Se-hun narrowed his eyes at the new model.
'Marionette Factory...'
Now famous for golems, but to Lee Se-hun, they were known for producing 'prosthetics'.
They'd refined their signature humanoid golem, the automaton, then shifted to high-rank hero prosthetics.
'They shone in the war too.'
Injured or weakened heroes got prosthetics from them and returned to battle, easing manpower shortages on the frontlines.
'Though they got raided by a puppeteer at the end and collapsed.'
Not a great end, but they'd hugely impacted the Allied Forces. Thus familiar to Lee Se-hun, yet this automaton felt off.
'G-series... Never heard of it.'
Maybe unveiled only at expos with commercialization issues. Not his active era, so hard to say.
'And artificial spirits...'
Spirits: living beings of attribute mana.
Half-monster-like, actively researched post-mana emergence; artificial spirits were one result.
'Made to assist automated magic.'
Combining spells with mental images. Initially for active golem control, but results were poor.
Artificial spirits degraded too easily under certain conditions.
'Risky, but... usable.'
Lee Se-hun glanced at Louise, then turned from the new automaton. Lan Fei continued walking and explaining.
"Magic engineering trends toward automated magic now, so lots of related items. Meaning accident risks are way higher than usual."
Lan Fei pointed at small floor devices near booths, sighing.
"That's why we're installing mana blockers and spell cutters to prevent automated magic runaways. But blanket coverage could cause issues, so sectional..."
Lan Fei explained nonstop. Listening, Lee Se-hun pointed at a noticeable booth en route.
"What's that gear?"
"Heat control device, probably. Automatically adjusts flame flow to desired temps."
"And that?"
"Mana distributor? Divides mana per inscribed spells to minimize loss."
They soon toured the vast hall, then the staff-only back paths, learning the layout.
Finishing the tour, Lan Fei faced them outside.
"That's it for today. I'll call when devices are ready."
"Got it."
"And."
Lan Fei pulled two small boxes from his waist subspace pocket.
"The rewards we discussed. Keep 'em safe."
"Thanks."
They pocketed the boxes in their subspaces. Lan Fei checked a phone message.
"They're calling me in. Head back safe."
Lan Fei reentered. Watching his back, Lee Se-hun turned to Louise.
"Bit early to head back... Lunch together?"
"..."
Louise glanced sideways, then gruffly added,
"If you pay."
"Sure sure. I'll buy however many servings..."
"Excuse me."
A cautious voice from the side.
Turning, a man in his 40s looked their way.
'Office worker?'
Neatly parted black hair, crisp suit, lanyard badge—clearly expo-related.
'But... feels familiar?'
Not just the stubborn-yet-soft eyes; the features rang a bell.
As Lee Se-hun squinted,
"You're Cadet Lee Se-hun, right?"
The question carried tension and anticipation. As Lee Se-hun pondered his reply,
"Who're you?"
Louise stepped forward, glaring sharply. Her blue-glowing eyes brimmed with wariness.
The thick pressure from her latent unique skill made the man flinch, then look flustered.
"N-no! Not suspicious or anything! I'm with this expo... Ah! Wait!"
Floundering, he remembered something and pulled a business card from his inner pocket.
Louise glanced back; Lee Se-hun nodded and stepped up to take it.
[MT Industry]
Director [Li Wen]
'Li Wen?'
A familiar name. Memories stirred in Lee Se-hun's mind when,
"Um. Introducing myself like this is a bit awkward, but..."
Gauging Lee Se-hun's reaction, the man bit his lip, then resolved to speak.
"Summit Climber... Sacred Flame Artisan Li Kensé is my father."