The Regressed Magic Swordsman Devours the North - Chapter 20

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 20. The Geumsung Tournament (5)
Before the finals, competitors received two days of rest. I changed clothes and went to find Sid. Carrying a thick bag with me, no less.

Knock, knock.

“I’m coming in.”
“Come in.”

I opened the door. Sid was already waiting—he sat on the sofa inside and gestured for me to approach.

“Sit here in front.”

I settled onto the plush sofa. On the table before it sat elegant tea and pastries.
He’d known I was coming.

‘Good instincts,’ I thought.

“So, are you warming up to the idea of doing business together?”
“I need to hear more first.”
“Can’t you just trust your brother?”
“Ha. That’s exactly what con artists always say.”
“I’m a good judge of character. I won’t get swindled anywhere!”

Both Sid and I laughed loudly.

“For the Northern Region to thrive, we need to find Mana Stone veins in the Bukcheon Mountain Range.”
“Do you actually understand what that entails?”
“Of course I do.”

The Bukcheon Mountain Range was like a living treasure vault. Rare Demon Beast hides, valuable medicinal herbs, rich mineral seams extending endlessly—it had it all.
But.
Until now, the Northern Region’s harvest and production had been negligible.
“Then you’d know why it hasn’t worked either.”
Demon Beasts were a problem, yes, but the brutal cold was the real one.
Sending workers into blizzard conditions, making them labor there, transporting goods from such a place—the whole endeavor was an enormous challenge.
“I do.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s cold.”
“Exactly!”

Sid Karsen shook his head and took a sip of tea. Then, in a measured tone, he continued.

“You have a solution, then?”
“I do. But send everyone out first.”

When Sid nodded, the servants around us left. Soon only the two of us remained.
I expanded my senses to check for any eavesdropping.

Once I’d confirmed there was none, I opened the bag. Warmth radiated from it the moment I lifted the lid.

“Don’t tell me—”
“That’s right. Sunstones.”
An enormous quantity of them. The size and luster were extraordinary enough that Sid pressed his palm to his forehead with a sharp exhale.
“Solving the cold problem solves a substantial part of everything else, doesn’t it?”
At my last words, Sid’s expression shifted visibly moment by moment. His face asked a silent question: ‘Where did you get these?’ But what actually came out was entirely different.
Of course, his actual words were something else entirely.

“You’re definitely my brother, aren’t you?”

I laughed softly and answered.
“What do you mean? There’s twenty times that amount here.”
My brother paused to consider. I didn’t bother elaborating—he’d understand what I meant well enough.

“So you’re saying we keep what we need for the business and adjust the volume we sell to generate capital.”
He looked as though he were mentally working through the calculations.
“We could certainly sell to the Northern nobles. Better yet, they’d pay a premium. They’ve never seen Sunstones of this caliber.”
He was thinking of the sense of exclusivity the nobility felt—and how to exploit it for profit.
“So here’s my question: what do you want in return for providing this?”

That’s right. A calculation of this magnitude demanded a proper response. And I’d already prepared one.
“Let’s establish a company where you and I are the majority shareholders. Then we expand into various ventures. I’ll provide the capital and ideas. You handle the actual operations.”
“Other nobles and merchants won’t sit idle.”
“Brother, why should the Karsen Family concern itself with the likes of them?”
“What?”
“Waste time worrying about them one by one, and the entire Northern Region collapses.”
…….
My brother’s eyes widened at my blunt words. But I pressed on without hesitation.
“I’m going to make the North as prosperous as it’s never been. Even if it means sweeping away everything except the soundest of the existing nobles and enterprises.”
“……A special investigative bureau for that purpose?”
“Among the nobles and merchants who monopolize the distribution of goods, there’s far too much rot. The common folk languish in poverty while those bastards feast amongst themselves. Many of them have connections to the Central Empire and skim off tributes.”
…….
My brother looked utterly stunned.
“There’s so much I mean to change. So when you’re certain, tell me. Father will surely approve.”
An odd expression crossed his face. Was it emotion? I couldn’t tell. But still.
“You’re insane, aren’t you?”
“Perhaps.”
“Right then.”
My brother ran his hand through his hair as he spoke.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but let me ask you one more thing.”
“Ask away.”
“What exactly are you looking at?”
I answered with conviction.
“The future.”
“You really are mad. Completely mad. Do you genuinely need me for this plan of yours?”
“Of course. I can’t do it without you.”
This had been the plan from the beginning—even before the Regression. I never intended to handle everything alone.
Beyond the business itself, my work was already overflowing. That’s why I need my brother. And not just him. I need far more talent.
I rose from the soft sofa, and my brother followed suit. He extended his hand to me.
“All right then. We might die of boredom otherwise. Let’s do it.”
I clasped his hand in return.
“Good. Partners.”
***
After my verbal agreement with Sid, I wandered alone through the Karsen Family Manor.
I walked slowly, turning over in my mind two remaining challenges that needed resolution.
The first.
The finals of the Geumsung Tournament.
As expected, my opponent was none other than Silvia Meyer—the girl I’d grown up with since childhood.
There was a time when I’d had feelings for her, but that was no longer the case.
The real problem wasn’t that, but rather her talent, which seemed divinely gifted, and the fact that even now she was stronger than most Intermediate Knights.
‘I’d say she’s approaching Upper-class Knight level.’
The second.
Before I could properly begin the ventures with my older brother, I needed to recruit essential talent.
“……Hmm.”
Despite the complexity of my thoughts, the walk itself was refreshing.
The manor was splendid as a heavenly palace transplanted to earth, and vast beyond imagination.
“Decided.”
Having resolved my thoughts, I turned my steps toward a place I’d kept the most distance from before the Regression.
The Karsen Family Grand Library.
In the days when Mother was alive, it had been her most beloved space—so filled with every conceivable sort of book that one wondered why the family needed to own such things.
In short, it was a treasury of wisdom.
I looked around the vast library and thought of my mother. All I remembered was that she’d been a mage, but nothing more—not what magic she wielded, not how she’d lived her life.
What would she think if she could see me now?
Then I found it—the book I’d been searching for.
“The Development of Magitech Engineering and Mankind”
It was less a formal book than a scholarly document, but I tucked it into my coat and returned to my room.

Creak—
The moment I opened the door, I saw Roman sitting intently at a desk, his fingers working an abacus.

“Ah, young master. You’ve returned.”

Roman rose hastily to bow, but I raised a hand to stop him.
“Stay seated. More importantly, did my brother deposit the funds properly?”
“Yes, young master.”
“How much?”
“Precisely fifteen billion Jeni, sir. He said it was in gratitude for the Sunstone you sent previously and for acquiring the tavern, the Igwen Luna.”
“……He certainly keeps his accounts in order.”
“Ah, and one more thing. I’ve begun to sort out the ownership rights to the Kroem Mountain Range.”
Roman unfolded a map on the table. Circles, triangles, and X marks in red ink dotted its surface.
“I’ve identified the owners of these parcels here and here. They say they’d sell even at a pittance if given the chance. But the rest… most of the proprietors are dead or have disappeared, making them difficult to trace.”
“Dead land, then.”
“……Yes, sir.”
“That sort of problem will resolve itself once I obtain the rank of Inspection Bureau Knight. For now, purchase only the properties we’ve identified. And pay fair value—not bargain prices.”
“Yes! Understood, sir!”
After dismissing Roman, I sat in thought for a moment. Finding ore veins, building mines, running factories, developing the mountain range. All of it would enrich the Northern Region. But to do any of it, I needed more expertise—and the finest technicians I knew of were among the Resistance.
There was only one man who would suffice.
“That eccentric alone.”
Now seemed the right moment to recruit him.
Before the regression, our first meeting had been far from pleasant, but I had a feeling that this time, perhaps I could avoid the worst.
“Doctor Crombell.”
A man known for developing remarkable magitech devices.
Currently scorned by most Magitech scholars as an oddity, yet destined to be recorded in the annals of Magitech Engineering as a legend in the years to come.
I would see his future and invest in it. And right now, he was desperately short of funds.
I unfolded a sheet of paper and uncapped my pen. With careful deliberation, I began drafting a letter to Doctor Crombell.
Scratch, scratch—
Dissatisfied with the phrasing, I crumpled it and started anew. No sincerity in the words. Crumple, rewrite, repeat.
“……My penmanship is rather poor.”
I’d need to find a master calligrapher later.
To prevent humanity’s extinction, I would not shrink from any means.
And politics would be essential to that end.
What did it take to master politics? Reading human desire, grasping interests, compromising at the right moment?
Perhaps for others. Not for me. I had a purpose that brooked no compromise.
What mattered was image. Image was the easiest way to create persuasive power.
Public speeches would build image, yes, but written words could sow it into the minds of the masses just as surely.
Before the regression, I’d seen countless politicians handle their rivals through such methods—they were everywhere. Now it was my turn to employ them.
In any case.
I wrote with great care.
To persuade Doctor Crombell.
He was undoubtedly a genius. When the world teetered on the brink, it was his genius in Magitech Engineering that kept humanity breathing.
So I needed him. Desperately. But how could I possibly persuade an eccentric Magitech scholar?
After considerable deliberation, I completed the letter.
“To the Esteemed Doctor Crombell, Brilliant Magitech Scholar.
Scholars call you mad, I understand. But I know the truth. The age simply wasn’t ready for you.
But.
Doctor.
An uncut gem, unrecognized, is merely a stone. So I ask: will you rot away in the corner of a laboratory for the rest of your life?
Will your achievements go unacknowledged, your name met only with ridicule, until your days end?
Or will you walk beside me and etch your name into history?
I have the backing of the Karsen Family. I have the funds to support you. Come here, and I promise you food, shelter, a laboratory, and an initial research budget of five billion Jeni.
Now only one choice remains. Will you take the hand I extend and leave your mark on the world?
cast aside my hand and fade away in misery as a madman.
Then I shall await you at the Karsen Family Manor.
—Sion Karsen.’
I won’t claim it was written perfectly, but I’ve mixed flattery and provocation well enough that this should suffice.
The research investment won’t be wasted either. If his research and ventures bear fruit properly, the money will flow like a waterfall from this point forward.
I immediately enclosed the letter and wrote an address on the back of it.
The author of “The Development of Magitech Engineering and Humanity,” which I’d brought from the library, is Doctor Crombell.
I’m aware it’s unusual, but he’d written his laboratory’s address in the back of his own book. I used that.
I went out at once and posted it—express delivery. If all goes well, he should receive my letter by tonight.
A Regressed Sword Master Devours the Northern Region
Author
: Bangshim
Publication Date
: June 16, 2026
Publisher
: Aces Media Co., Ltd.
Editor
: Aces Media Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work has been published by Aces Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
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UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260615032

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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