Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1483. Backstage (4)

— Of course, the word "purge" is just a term circulating among us. Officially, it would be more accurate to call it another military operation.

— ...

— A plague has broken out in the slums.

— The slums...

— It's West of Rahel. Quite far, isn’t it? I’m not sure if you’ve heard of it. It’s a small city you can only reach after going much deeper past Celia. I looked into it myself. Apparently, it’s a gathering place of all the wanderers with nowhere else to go.

— It’s hard to describe, but it’s a city that barely functions as one... Since the central authority can't reach it, the Empire more or less abandoned it.

— ...

— For some reason, it seems to be running a bit more properly lately, but its essence hasn’t changed much. It sits along the border, and the proportion of foreigners is high... no, almost the majority... you get the idea, right?

— It’s a lawless zone. All kinds of illegal activities take place there... Drugs, illegal retainers, andd even people from the Federation and the Union of Kingdoms visit it quite often... Naturally, the black market is thriving out in the open. It’s become a dumping ground for powerful figures from the Federation and those nobles from the West.

— ...

‘Rahel?’

Of course, I knew that place. It was a small city bordering the Republic and along the Federation. Just as Jung Yoo-Ra had said, a black market was bound to flourish there.

There were many reasons Rahel became a rotten city, but the decisive one was that it was located beyond the proper reach of the central authority.

The vast size of the Empire played a part, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the region was abandoned due to the Empire’s primitive administrative capacity and incompetence. Before we took power, it was fair to say more than forty percent of Imperial land was neglected, so they wouldn't devote attention to a small city like Rahel.

Slash-and-burn farming villages went unmanaged, and undeveloped lands were simply left to rot. If I remembered correctly, Rahel was in a similar situation. What differed from the second life was...

‘If my memory is serving me correctly, that place... is so small that it can't even be called a small city.’

It would be more fitting to describe it as a fairly large frontier settlement. The fact that it took me a moment just to recall its name said enough. In the second life, it merged with a nearby city following the establishment of the democracy, but in the first life, it seemed things had turned out differently.

‘Isn’t that the place where I was with that stupid pig?’

If a large village grew large enough to be called a small city, then many things had to have happened there. Rather than the ability of any city administrator, it was probably...

‘Due to the Influence of war...’

The civil war had to have been quite impactful. It had likely walked a tightrope between factions, clearly avoiding the worst of the war’s devastation. Then, it expanded again and again in ways that allowed it to grow steadily in size.

I couldn’t be certain, but there was a high chance it had connections to the Federation as well. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have survived for so long.

It had to be a source of war retainers, weapons, and provisions. Naturally, it trafficked various illegal goods as well. It didn’t seem particularly concerned with the quality of the people who made up the city, but in such chaotic times, did clear lines between good and evil even exist?

People would simply move to survive, and Rahel survived.

It had grown beyond comparison to what it once was. It sounded plausible enough.

If, as Jung Yu-Ra had suggested, Rahel was the target of a purge, then from Charlotte’s perspective, it was a fairly rational choice. Chances were high that war criminals or survivors of the Imperial Civil War were staying in it.

Even if they couldn’t enter the city outright, there was a strong likelihood that routed soldiers or Imperial nobles had taken refuge there, so from the standpoint of cutting off the problem at the roots, it wasn’t a bad decision at all.

The overwhelmingly high proportion of foreigners in the area had to have fueled her determination to do the purge. It was true that Charlotte promoted preferential treatment for adventurers and presented a stance of respecting them, and in many ways, that was sincere, but ultimately, she prioritized Imperial citizens before anyone else.

Outwardly, she could claim that the blood of foreigners and Imperials was equal in value, but inwardly, there was a strong possibility that she didn’t believe that at all. In her eyes, the foreigners, especially those residing in places like Rahel, were tumors gnawing away at the Empire.

In extreme terms, she probably believed the Imperial Civil War had occurred because of those foreigners.

She probably even hated them. Of course, whatever thoughts she held about foreigners couldn’t justify wiping an entire city off the map. No matter how unhinged someone was, they couldn’t simply erase a city because they disliked it.

But... a plague? What a bunch of nonsense.

Jung Yoo-Ra wasn’t foolish enough to leave it at that.

— Isn’t the timing a little too convenient? A plague suddenly breaks out at a time like this...

— Are you saying it’s a lie?

— Who knows? I don’t know for certain either. There might really be an ongoing plague there, but I’d say the odds are low. How would anyone even hear about a plague in a region the Empire has never paid attention to?

— The plague is just a pretext, a justification to wipe out the tumors gnawing away at the Empire, the war criminals of Celia, and their backers all in one sweep. The defeated nobles and Celia’s powerful figures must have decided to hide there.

— Isn't that obvious? And what they're doing in Rahel is obvious, too. Do you really think Her Majesty will just sit back and watch?

— ...

— She'd crush them, even if she had to come up with a reason. Under Imperial law, how long do you think it would take to properly arrest and execute them all? I'm sure some of them will slip through using one excuse or another. They’re nobles, after all.

‘No, even so... that alone isn’t enough.’

Would it not sound more plausible to simply eliminate them under charges of being war criminals or aiding the opposing faction? Rather than spinning the media with talk of a plague, that approach would be far more effective in uniting an Empire torn apart by civil war.

Of course, under Imperial law, punishing nobles was complicated, so Charlotte wanted to skip trials and formalities altogether, but I couldn’t understand why the word "plague" was specifically chosen.

One could fabricate a reason if needed, but why a plague of all things? It could simply be a convenient label, but out of all possible pretexts, why that card? The only thing that came to mind was...

‘Is there a reason to seal off an entire region?’

There had to be a reason Charlotte needed to quarantine an entire city. Even if it meant fabricating a plague, there had to be a reason why she wanted to freeze the surrounding cities and impose a total lockdown.

A reason not to let even a single ant crawl out of Rahel...

It seemed Kim Hyun-Sung hadn't realized it, and Jung Yoo-Ra remained unaware as well. Of course, this could all be a story spun by my own imagination, but when I realized that I was staring at the Empire, a plausible answer immediately appeared in my head.

“...”

‘Someone with the bloodline of the imperial Family is still alive.’

Whether it was an illegitimate child of the aging Emperor or Charlia, I couldn't say for sure, but someone was there. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. I was even unaware of their age, but they were in Rahel. Most likely, a war-criminal noble fled to Rahel with a member of the Imperial Family in tow.

Having lived longer in the modern era and under a democracy, this was difficult to even imagine, and it was still hard for me to fully grasp, but from the standpoint of the Empire and Charlotte, this had to be dealt with at any cost.

The Empire needed to move forward, so nothing could be worse than the sudden appearance of a new imperial heir.

It wasn’t that Charlotte was drunk with power and was seeking to crush any surviving bloodline out of obsession. She simply didn’t want the Empire to fall into chaos again. She was intelligent, ruthless, passionate, young, and had the conviction to change the Empire.

She knew all too well what had to be done to stabilize the Empire as quickly as possible and to ensure that its citizens could live in safety and peace. She had to declare that the civil war was over.

She had to cooperate closely with the Vatican. She had to root out and punish Celia’s war criminals and the traitorous nobles to clearly define the victor and the defeated. She had to erase any surviving member of the imperial bloodline. She also needed to create a justification to grant titles to foreigners.

These had to be done to demonstrate that her authority was unshakable.

At this point, the purge felt almost inevitable. In the face of such grand objectives, the deaths of foreigners rotting the continent were insignificant to her. Those foreigners, who would be sacrificed without ever knowing why, meant nothing to her.

Foreigners who had been committing crimes to survive weren't even worthy of her consideration.

‘If I were Charlotte...’

“...”

‘I'd do something similar.’

It wasn’t as though there were no other options, but the current state of the Empire was far too precarious to afford a slow return. Rather than dragging things out, sorting them piece by piece, and exposing weaknesses to her political enemies, she chose to gather all the trash at once and seal it away.

It was a decision made with a trace of self-justification, but from the standpoint of efficiency, her choice was the most effective, the most fitting, and the most rational choice.

As always, when cornered, she wasn't the only one who would seek the most rational course of action.

— So... what will you do? Blue Guild Master...

— I... will vote in favor as well.

Kim Hyun-Sung had felt more than anyone the importance of strength and power stepping toward what he believed to be the most rational choice in order to protect himself and those around him.

“...”

‘Damn it, stop trembling, Hyun-Sung. I’m watching this right now. Focus.’

“...”

‘I can’t breathe, you idiot. Seriously. I can’t breathe... I’m not going to abandon you, damn it. Cut it out. I understand your situation. Just stay still for a moment...'

— I’m jealous. To think you’ll be granted a title...

— ...

Just then, the world stopped and shattered again.

In an instant, countless scenes flashed past. The decision-makers gathered in the Imperial capital along with the figures who would lead the Empire forward. They raised their hands one by one to cast their votes. Song Jung-Wook of Small Stone, Cardinal Marlen of the Vatican, Jung Yoo-Ra of Black Swan, and Kim Hyun-Sung of Lindel.

Troops were being reorganized and prepared for their departure.

Strangely enough, Hyun-Sung looked fairly at ease. He seemed as though he had been freed, at least a little, from the stress and pressure that had been weighing down on him. It looked as if he was relieved by the fact that he now had strength and power. He looked relieved that no one could treat him or those around him carelessly anymore.

Of course, all that changed was that he was sleeping a little longer than before and was now eating proper meals, but even that alone made him look reassured. After all, he was a future count. The powerless twenty-two-year-old Kim Hyun-Sung had to watch his steps and live constantly on edge, but today, he no longer existed.

Now, he had power, and soon, he would have authority. No, he already had authority.

Somewhere deep in his heart, he was pleased by that fact. He believed that he no longer had to live in a hellish place. He no longer had to tremble in fear of when death would come to him. He no longer had to lose the people precious to him, and so, he decided to place those hellish days in the back of his mind.

Jung Yoo-Ra, Song Jung-Wook, and the other Imperial appointees treated him with courtesy. They weren't rude, and they showed him proper respect.

Kim Hyun-Sung was staring at them without any emotion on his face, but I had been watching him for so long that I knew what he was feeling right now.

Kim Hyun-Sung was—

— Relax. You’re still like a block of ice... Count Kim... Ah, not a count just yet, right?

— Don’t forget we were the ones who backed you, okay? We’re close now, right?

— ...

— So, are we going to see a little something come our way, too?

— Watch your tone and address him properly. Is he not a count now? He's the pillar of us, adventurers, after all. We should be the first to show him proper respect, so that his authority stands firm. Wouldn’t you agree, Count?

—The twenty-four-year-old Kim Hyun-Sung was happy.

Just then, the world stopped, and it shattered again. I craned my head forward once more to catch a glimpse of Kim Hyun-Sung, but instead of his face, I saw my face.

‘No... damn it...’

“...”

‘No... what the hell is this sudden curveball?’

I instantly tensed up. The scene had changed so abruptly that I swallowed a mouthful of my own saliva. I had no idea what I had done in Rahel, so my jaw tightened for no reason. It wouldn’t be strange if I had committed a few crimes.

I could finally understand why Kim Hyun-Sung was trembling. Watching what was about to unfold made me want to turn the screen away.

I ran simulations in my head, wondering how I ought to react if something vile appeared. If it were after the purge, I could at least say that it was due to madness driven by vengeance, but if it was some trashy act from before the purge, I had no idea how I would justify that. Escaping this situation felt like the top priority, but...

— Hyung-nim... is this... is this really okay? The troops outside are–

— Don’t worry, Deok-Gu. I don’t know who started spouting nonsense about a plague breaking out, but if we can just secure a proper sample, we’ll definitely find a way to treat it. Hey, gramps!

— W-what did you say! You brat! Who are you calling gramps?!

— Ah, here we go again. It’s Ki-Young! Lee Ki-Young!

— Ah... ah... Ki-Young? My grandson?

— I’m not your grandson... Have you seen anyone who’s sick or anything? I asked you this morning, remember?

— I-I don’t know... I don’t know anything...

— ...

— ...

— I’m an idiot for expecting anything... He’s perfectly fine and sharp when he’s in his right mind... Let’s go, Deok-Gu.

— H-hyung- nim... how can you be so relaxed at a time like this...

— Don’t be a chicken, Deok-Gu. What do I always tell you? I’m standing here calm, so why are you, built like a mountain, so nervous? It’s always been like this. If I can do it...

— I-I can do even better.

— Yeah, that’s it. Get a grip... don’t tense up... and let’s check the slums first... If we ask Kenji, we’ll get something.

Fortunately, it looked like I was playing the role of an innocent victim.