Regressor Instruction Manual

I couldn’t help but realize it the moment he looked at me with that taunting look on his face.

‘That’s annoying…’

I wasn’t sure if it was because he was the same as me, but the moment I saw his face, frustration filled me because I never imagined that I would fall for such a simple trap.

‘He knew about Juliena...’

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he used Juliena because he knew that she would move on her own whenever I was in danger. Even though one of his men died, compared to what was going to happen, it was nothing, no, it was difficult to tell whether that man really was one of his men or not. I wasn’t sure if he had planned this all along or if he planned it the moment we met, but I couldn’t help but acknowledge the fact that I fell for his trap. However, it wasn’t over yet. It was ridiculous how I fell for his trap, but even Kasugano Yuno could confirm that it happened all of a sudden and I was sure that it would help if I explained Juliena’s skills to the investigators.

‘I guess I have no choice but to explain Juliena’s skills...’

It was a bit frustrating that I had to do that, but I was willing to do a bad trade as long as I could get back at him. Of course, I knew that this wasn’t going to end here. If he had already made connections with the higher-ups of the Holy Empire, then there was the possibility there would be a conflict and if a trial opened, I would likely be at a disadvantage. No matter what kind of excuse I gave, the fact that I had killed one of his men wouldn’t change.

If his nature really was similar to mine, Sota must have already planned everything out, and even if he hadn’t planned things out yet, he would soon start planning for the big picture.

‘Because I would’ve done the same thing…’

The one thing that he didn’t add to his calculations was the lovely shaman, Kasugano Yuno, who was taking my side, but it was likely that he had a way to take care of her as well.

While I was organizing my thoughts, I heard his voice. “What will you do? One of my precious men died inside the Holy Empire’s castle.”

“Please stop it with the nonsense, Mr. Ito. Your subordinate was the one that became bloodthirsty and threatened my guest, so this can be considered self-defense,” Yuno said.

“That’s surprising, Miss Shaman. I didn’t think that our relationship was that bad,” he said.

“I have no influence over your thoughts. Your subordinate threatened my guest and that’s a fact that can’t be denied,” she said.

“I’ll be grateful if you could explain exactly how he threatened him, no, even if he did threaten your guest, that’s no reason to throw his sword like that. No matter how you look at it, we’re the victims. I don’t expect you to take sides, but you’ll have to at least decide who’s the victim and who’s the assailant because that’s going to be helpful for you. It’ll also help Yozora who’s under your command,” he said.

“You…”

Kasugano Yuto was an ally I could trust. Sota kept on enticing her, but of course it wasn’t going to work since she and her guild, Yozora, were going to defend me with everything they had, but I didn’t know how to fix this situation.

When I glanced at Juliena, it seemed like she knew that she had done something wrong because she started floating around me. She looked meek. After placing her at my waist again, I continued talking. “First, I would like to apologize.”

“This is something that cannot be fixed with a simple apology, Mr. Ki-Young,” he said.

“This weapon, Juliena, the Cursed Sword, is an ego sword and reacts whenever her master is in danger,” I explained.

“Ohhh, I see. I didn’t know that a weapon like that exists…” Sota said.

“That’s surprising because I thought you knew,” I told him.

“I did hear that an adventurer in Lindel had obtained a legendary-ranked weapon, but I never knew that it was this weapon,” he answered.

He definitely knew about it. I didn’t know whether he heard it from someone else or confirmed it himself, but I was certain that the annoying bastard was the one behind the Lindel terrorist attack.

‘Otherwise, then there is no reason for him to do this to me...’

“I don’t know why your guild member threatened me…”

“He has never threatened you,” Sota said, interrupting me.

“No, I’m sure he did. If this case was taken to court, I’ll testify that your guild member threatened my guest and obviously, my guild members that are here will say the same thing,” Yuno said.

‘Your master is happy! Yuno!’

“It doesn’t matter whether you give that testimony or not, but… something is a bit strange. Right now, he definitely seems like he’s controlling his sword, and also, just like your testimony, even if my subordinate really did threaten him first, there’s no reason that my loyal subordinate should die for it. I’m not sure what he did to create the bloodthirsty atmosphere, but maybe the murderer that killed my subordinate’s comrade looked really similar to Mr. Ki-Young and that’s why he was filled with anger,” Sota explained.

“...”

“And you threw your sword just for that reason… it’s a very unfortunate situation. Not being able to control your sword is also a sin and the more I think about it, the more heartbreaking it is,” he said.

‘This bastard…’

I guess he was really determined because he kept focusing on how he was the victim and I realized that he was trying to frame me by making me the assailant.

‘Should I just fight him head-on?’

I could injure myself as well. If I used the sword that his subordinate had and stabbed my stomach with it, then it would clearly be self-defense, but the problem was that the man in front of me wasn’t going to let me do it so easily. As the person that had an agility stat of 99, he may not even allow me to stab myself. My choices were limited and even though I didn’t want to be a parrot that constantly shouted about framing people, I thought that it wouldn’t be bad to at least try that method.

“Mr. Sota, you’re the one that grabbed me while I was on my way back, and even though this happened all of a sudden, I’m starting to get suspicious of whether you sacrificed one of your men because you had something else planned or not,” I said to him.

“That’s not the case. Your imagination’s really active,” he said.

“It’s not my imagination and I only said what I saw,” I said.

“You can explain your useless conspiracy theories to the empire’s investigators. Since a person died within the castle, we should go through with the procedure. Oh, there they are,” Sota said.

He seemed calm, but I was sure that he was upset because he saw the armed guards of the castle walking toward us. I was also frustrated by the fact that I fell for his trap when he tried to make himself look like the victim.

“What’s going on?” the guard asked.

The shaman was the first one that answered, then the bastard and then me.

“A member of the Yamato Guild threatened Mr. Lee Ki-Young and he defended himself by piercing his sword through the man’s neck.”

“To be more accurate, he wasn’t threatened. It seems like there was a misunderstanding and then he responded with his sword.”

“My weapon reacts whenever there is a threat and I can show you the sword’s information to explain how this happened. The fact that I got threatened by a member of the Yamato Guild is true and Miss Kasugano Yuno and her guild members will testify to that,” I said.

Obviously, the two sides gave different information.

After the guards whispered to each other, they ran somewhere, so I thought that they were going to call their superior officer. Sure enough, moments later I saw a man dressed in ornate clothes running toward us and I guess this wasn’t part of his jurisdiction because he was running. The situation was obviously getting worse. I was sure that this was what Ito Sota wanted and when I started thinking about how this complicated situation was going to unfold, I started getting a headache.

‘I’m sure they’ll start the investigation soon.’

Naturally, I was going to be the suspect. No matter what the reason was, what kind of case it was, or who started the fight, a person had died inside the Holy Empire Benigoa’s castle. Even though we were free citizens, we were still influenced by the Holy Empire. Considering how the empire didn’t allow conflicts between guilds, I was sure that I was going to be treated like a murder suspect. This was the procedure that Sota was talking about.

As expected, I saw a man wearing an ornate uniform walking toward me.

‘Imperial people...’

“My name is Carlton and I’m part of the Holy Order that’s affiliated with the empire. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come with me for a moment,” he said.

‘I knew it.’

It was annoying, but it was okay so far. Our testimonies were different, so it was likely that Ito Sota was going to become the assailant as well. I was certain that he was being questioned as the victim, but as long as they had my shaman’s testimony, I was sure that the rumors about me being the assailant would die down sooner or later.

‘On top of that…’

Based on the attitude of the man named Carlton, I didn’t think that he really considered me as the actual suspect yet.

‘Rather, he’s being respectful...’

Of course, it didn’t change the fact that he could interrogate me after being imprisoned, but I could flip the situation around in my favor.

“Okay, I understand.”

I responded and just as I started walking, I heard Kasugano Yuno’s voice as she lowered her head quietly.

“Do not move.”

“Huh?”

“If you take one step with my guest, I will make sure that your bodies will not be able to die nor live and you will have to crawl on the floor. I told you that those people were the ones that threatened my guest,” she said.

The ground started shaking and the unknown magic circle I saw earlier started to spread in all directions. When I opened my eyes, I saw eyes that resembled a black hole. She obviously possessed a large amount of mana and even I could feel that it was enough to turn everything around into dust. I couldn’t help but gulp.

“Shaman…”

Even that bastard Sota had grabbed the handle of his sword as he gulped because he knew that the situation was going to explode any minute now.

“Remove your dirty hands from my guest,” Yuno demanded.

“...”

“I told you to remove them!”

‘This isn’t good…’

It was fine for her to defend me, but I didn’t like causing a ruckus.

Even Carlton of the Holy Order looked shocked and he drew his sword while frowning at us.

“I-I’m just trying to act according to the procedure and this type of magic is prohibited within the castle. Even if you’re a shaman…”

“I won’t say it again,” she said.

At this point, I had to step up.

“It’ll be fine, Miss Yuno. I think it’ll be best to follow the basic procedure for now.”

“...”

When her mana started fading, the shaking that resembled an earthquake stopped.

“But… Mr. Ki-Young…” she said.

“I’m sure it’s nothing and you just need to testify based on what you saw,” I told her.

The truth was bound to come out anyway.

‘Even though the world isn’t based on the truth, right?’

Sota’s expression was saying the same thing as he smiled while looking at me. Regardless of the results, it felt like he was trying to pin me as the culprit.

I immediately heard an answer as I spoke while walking.

“Will I be imprisoned while the investigation is ongoing?”

“You won’t because it’s just a procedural investigation. Naturally, I’ll try to be as considerate as possible to make it convenient for you and I hope you’ll understand that you’ll be limited to where you can go,” Carlton replied.

“Yes, I understand,” I said.

“The Yamato Guild and everyone that had been there will be questioned,” he said.

“Their words will probably be different from mine, right?” I asked.

“I’m sorry but that would most likely be the case. Since it’s a murder case…”

“I see. Is it possible to testify through an agent?” I asked.

“Yes, of course,” he answered.

“Okay, let’s go.”

* * *

“Achoo.”

“Did you catch a cold?”

“No, unnie. Sorry, I just sneezed all of a sudden.”

“I know you’ve been working a little too hard these days… it’s nice to work hard, but you need to take care of yourself first. Well, I brought you here so that you can take a break, so make sure to take this opportunity and rest. By the way, what do you think about the capital?”

“I think it’s nice to live in. It’s not bad for my first visit and everyone looks so energetic. I never imagined that the Holy Empire’s culture would be this advanced, so I was surprised at how organized this place is.”

“I knew you were going to say that.”

“By the way unnie, you’ve done a great job with your make-up today.”

“Oh jeez…”

“Or maybe it’s because your skin has improved. Unnie, are you dating someone right now?”

“I’m so busy that I don’t have time for that… actually, it seems like you’re the one that’s dating someone. Don’t you think it’s time you told me who he is? I already know everything, but it would be nice if you officially introduced him to me…”

“I’ll tell you once our relationship has developed more. Oppa is going through some stuff.”

“I guess. Oh, we’ve arrived.”

“...”

“...”

“Members of the Black Swan Guild, welcome to the Holy Empire. It has been a while, Miss Park Yeon-Joo.”

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

“Haha, I see a new face as well. If you don’t mind, could you tell me her name?”

“Of course. Ji-Hye?” Park Yeon-Joo said.

“Okay, unnie. Hello, everyone. My name is Lee Ji-Hye and I joined the Black Swan Guild after the tutorial dungeon. It’s an honor to meet the citizens of the honorable and great Holy Empire. Nice to meet you,” she said.