Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1435. Continental War (15)

‘She... seems somewhat normal.’

This wasn’t a comparison to Pastel. At least on the outside, she looked fine. The brown bob she had before was still the same, and the hairpin she always wore was still there. It was more like she had simply matured and become an adult compared to before. Of course, it wasn’t as if nothing had changed.

First, she was wearing simple clothes that commoners would wear instead of the dress she always had on. Her pants and shirt were already worn to rags, and because of her previous image, it didn’t really seem to suit her. Now that I thought about it, was it even meaningful to compare her to her image from four years ago?

It wasn’t just her clothes that had changed. The mischievous, easily excitable girl from the debutante was no longer there. Her eyes were incredibly solemn and deep. For a moment, one would even wonder whether she was really Lady Brush.

“...”

She was no longer a girl who often exclaimed "revolution" as a joke but a titan at the eye of the storm. Perhaps she had grown more than Lady Paint. At least in terms of mentality, her growth was clear. The very fact that she had chosen to meet them personally was evidence of how much she had changed.

It probably wasn’t easy.

It seemed this thought wasn’t hers alone as one of the commanders spoke up.

“Impressive... To think she would come to meet us personally... Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought she could trust us so easily.”

“She must be either foolish or naive, right? If not, then she’s confident in her ability...”

“...”

“...”

“If not that either... then she must have a reliable intelligence network.”

‘Yeah, she probably does have one.’

I glanced at Lee Chang-Ryeol, and he nodded once more. I had suspected it since she agreed to meet us, but it seemed clear that she definitely had her own intelligence network.

Of course, even with an intelligence network, the fact that she personally showed up was another matter altogether.

There were only two things I could be sure of—Lady Brush had become someone willing to take risks, and she had considerable trust in her intelligence network. Perhaps a few of her people were already inside. Whether Lee Chang-Ryeol had deliberately leaked information or she had figured it out on her own, everything that happened after we communicated our intentions was incredibly swift and smooth.

We only said we wanted a meeting, yet we were welcomed as if they had been waiting for us, even before we could present the conditions for the negotiation table.

Absurdly, the ones confused were the commanders in our own camp.

However, these guys only followed orders from above, so they weren’t immune to situations like this. In fact, they were more like messengers delivering Commander Jin’s orders than real commanders, so what could I expect from them?

‘They’re just a bunch of incompetent fools. We should replace all of them, but there’s no one worth keeping, so damn it, we can’t swap them out.’

“Could this be a trap?”

“Probably not a trap. The intelligence network is reliable, so you can relax. It just means they have more intelligence than what’s publicly known. For us, this is actually a good thing, isn’t it? Since we’re trying to rely on them?”

“That’s if they accept us. I’m worried they might be suspicious, given the nature and direction of their organization.”

“We’ll know once we face them.”

“But... I don’t even know what to say...”

‘Look at them, what a sight.’

The only one somewhat reliable was Oksana. Of course, that useless Holy Sword Hero couldn’t say a word either, sitting there like a mute. The others at least tried to chime in, but he just stared blankly at us like a damned sunflower. It

Just then, Lee Chang-Ryeol received a message from a soldier.

“They’re coming, Mr. Jin Yoo,” he said.

“Alright. We should welcome our guests,” I said.

As we slowly rose, everyone else followed, and the Holy Sword Hero scrambled to stand up. Just as expected, the tent flap opened. Through the opening, Lady Brush and seven of her attendants came into view. All of them exuded an unusually strong aura.

They felt at least a hundred times better than the random soldiers in our camp. Of course, among the extras, they could pass for formidable, but compared to the named figures, they were slightly lacking.

Naturally, a sense of tension settled over the scene. Neither side wanted to create an overtly hostile atmosphere, but it seemed they believed they had to show strength to avoid being underestimated.

They were radiating all their aura without holding back.

The Holy Sword Hero flinched, worried that a battle could break out.

“J-Jin Yoo.”

“Nothing will happen, Mr. Ji-Hoon,” I reassured him.

‘This hopeless idiot is really embarrassing.’

Lady Brush didn’t seem to feel the need to restrain them. Perhaps it wasn’t a simple matter, or perhaps...

‘Her mind is elsewhere right now.’

Her gaze fixed squarely on my face.

‘That’s a plus in my book.’

Anyone could see the surprised look on her face. It was brief, but she looked flustered. Well, she could probably see Peneloti’s face reflected in mine, so it was a natural reaction. I was used to seeing Lady Brush looking flustered, but her attendants weren’t, so they stared at her intently.

When the long silence was starting to feel uncomfortable, Lady Brush finally regained her composure.

“I apologize.” She bowed first and spoke again in a business-like tone. “Nice to meet you. Please call me Brush.”

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m J-Jin Yoo,” I introduced myself.

“...”

“...”

‘This is getting awkward.’

Oksana made it even more uncomfortable.

“He’s the saint.”

‘Why the hell start off by calling me a saint?’

“And this is the Hero, Sung Ji-Hoon,” she added.

‘Why did she even introduce him? He doesn’t look like a hero to anyone, just a scared coward.’

“Ah... I see,” Brush muttered.

‘Damn... her reaction is bad.’

Of course, the abrupt introduction would be disorienting. In this case, I had no choice but to jump in.

“N-Noona! Why are you doing this?”

“...”

“Miss B-Brush, please don’t mind what she said. I don’t consider myself a saint, and I didn’t arrange this meeting to be treated like one,” I clarified.

“Okay.”

“As I mentioned before, what we’d like to ask from you, Miss Brush, is—”

“If I remember correctly, it was to help you stay safe,” she interrupted me.

“Yes, that’s exactly it. I don’t know what you would call it, but the soldiers in this camp want to avoid any more meaningless fights. As you know, the unit is sizable, so we need a place to stay,” I said.

“...”

“The main point is that we’d like your help to let the entire unit desert safely,” I added.

“...”

“We want the unit to operate independently, but unfortunately, we can’t do that in the current situation. We can’t send the soldiers home individually, and we can’t just wait for this war to end. Naturally, there’s nowhere to turn for help, and neither the Republic nor the Empire will welcome us,” I explained.

“...”

“...”

Lady Brush nodded and said, “I had a rough idea, but I still don’t understand the part about wanting the troops to be independent. If you need a place to hide or stay, then you’ve come to the right place. That’s exactly what we do.”

‘Yeah, you guys really do good work.’

Black Rose Salon. This was the name of the organization she had formed. As she had said, she was taking care of war victims. She provided shelter for those who had lost their villages, looked after deserters, and worked for various war victims. It was a kind of relief organization. Of course, it wasn’t easy to call it a simple volunteer organization.

The Black Rose Salon was willing to engage in armed conflict to rescue boy and girl soldiers or free prisoners of war. She was neither on the side of the Empire, the Republic, nor the Union of Kingdoms. She stood solely with the victims of war.

In that sense, our unit also fell within her boundary, as she said, simply because of its size. This entire unit was made up of war victims wanting to desert the Republic. The problem was that they still wanted to remain an independent force. Naturally, from Lady Brush’s perspective, this had to be a sensitive issue.

“The only concern we have is that you still want to operate as an independent unit. As you mentioned, the size is a problem, isn’t it? Before even considering the qualifications of the troops, the sheer size surpasses that of our Black Rose Salon. Those under our protection will feel threatened, and so will my colleagues,” Brush explained.

“...”

“If you wish to be protected, the only way is to disband the unit and be managed separately. That’s our condition... and regrettably, there’s no compromise—” she offered.

Of course, I had stare straight at her eyes and cut her off.

“We’re going to stop the war, Miss Brush,” I said, immediately bringing out the main point.

I was trying to remind her of Peneloti. It felt a bit unfair, but unfortunately, there was no one else to lean on except Aina Peneloti. As she said, leading a fully independent unit into her sanctuary didn’t make sense.

Why would they give up their homes and resources for us? There was no guarantee that we wouldn’t revolt after entering the Black Rose Salon’s hideout. No matter what conditions we set, there was no way Lady Brush could allow a fully independent unit inside the salon.

‘Of course, I have to win with emotion.’

“...”

“...”

“What?”

“We’re going to stop this war, Miss Brush,” I repeated.

“What do you mean...?” Brush asked.

“I know it probably sounds ridiculous. We ourselves still don’t know for sure how we’re supposed to stop the war or how we can end it. It isn’t that we have no plan, but to be honest, there’s absolutely no guarantee things will go the way we hope,” I answered.

“...”

“But we’re going to stop this war no matter what it takes. That’s what we want to do,” I added.

There wasn’t even a trace of doubt in my eyes. It had to be the kind of straight, almost frightening purity that only a genuinely good character could have.

I didn’t even blink. I had to show the sense of justice in my eyes. Of course, I stared directly at Lady Brush. Brush seemed almost burdened by it, wanting to avert her gaze, but there was no way she could ignore my eyes that pulled like magnets.

She couldn’t look away from Aina Peneloti's eyes.

And then, I said it. I said the line.

It came out of nowhere, but I said it anyway.

“We’ll bring light to this continent.”

‘Light it up!’

“It looks dark right now, but we’ll definitely light it up. I’ll bring light to this continent,” I said.

“...”

“Together with the Hero here... and with my companions and friends,” I added.

Lady Brush’s eyes seemed to be glistening.

‘You’re not crying, are you?’

“...”

“...”

‘Are you crying?’

“...”

“...”

‘Are you actually... crying?’