The Regressed Magic Swordsman Devours the North - Chapter 45

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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 45. Securing Evidence (1)
E5 Frensis was ostensibly a company engaged in the research and development of engineering products utilizing Mana Stones.
Among the technologies they had developed were the Mana Engine, Mana Luminescent, and Mana Stone Powder for soil cultivation.
Many of their products sold quite well.
Yet behind that thriving enterprise lurked a horrifying research institution conducting repeated human experimentation—Post 24.
“So. You couldn’t source any Experimental Subjects?”
The man with a Refined Mana Stone Cigar clenched between his teeth narrowed his brow as he spoke, and the two men and one woman standing across from him flinched, their heads bowing in shame.
“I am ashamed.”
The three were bosses of the Iron Fangs, Red Three Eyes, and Green Serpent respectively.
The man with the cigar was Vice President of E5 Frensis.
“No, no. It can’t be helped. If what you’re telling me is true, the Yarel Mountain Range was razed in a single night. What could you have done?”
Sigh—
Pale smoke drifted from the Vice President’s lips, rising and disappearing through the ventilation shaft.
The man in the black uniform returned the cigar to his mouth. He spoke again.
“I was already aware that your capabilities have their limits. It’s not as though I didn’t know. However.”
His voice suddenly dropped to a low rumble, settling upon the floor.
“Without Experimental Subjects, things become inconvenient. So select some from among your subordinates and bring them here.”
“””…….”””
The bosses of each organization turned to ice. This was knowledge that would cause their own members to faint were they to learn of it.
These men made their living kidnapping others for ransom, but they had never imagined themselves on the other end of that chain.
“Why the silence?”
The Vice President pressed further.
“One might think I’m condemning you to death, but I’m making your subordinates stronger. I’m equipping them with Mana Engines so they become Knights. Do you understand?”
The bosses reluctantly nodded. E5 Frensis did indeed possess soldiers with Mana Engines implanted in their bodies.
They were formidable, and with that formidable strength, they had swiftly brought Travis’s criminal organizations under heel.
But of the Experimental Subjects taken away by these people, fewer than one in ten thousand had emerged alive. And even that sole survivor was fractured in mind, anything but normal.
“Fine. You bastards. I hear you. Then, instead of your subordinates—grab some Territorial Subjects and make up the numbers. I’ll smooth things over with the Nobility.”
The Nobility of Travis had been receiving bribes from E5 Frensis in exchange for turning a blind eye to the disappearances of Territorial Subjects.
But that did not mean indiscriminate kidnappings were permissible.
There were agreed-upon quotas, and they were careful not to exceed them.
Otherwise, the Territorial Subjects, growing suspicious, would raise arms in rebellion.
“……Thank you.”
“We are grateful for your consideration.”
“We shall meet the quota shortly.”
“Good work. This is the last time.”
From the Vice President’s perspective, this represented a significant loss. Yet it was a loss he was willing to bear.
The three bosses bowed deeply at the waist as they spoke.
“””We shall bear it in mind.”””
“Yes. Go.”
The three bosses left the room. The Vice President turned to Jackal, the secretary standing behind him.
“Check whether those who escaped from the Yarel Mountain Range are connected to the Self-Defense Corps. Once I confirm they’re being eliminated, it’ll be easier.”
“Yes. Understood.”
The secretary vanished into the darkness. Ivan, Vice President of E5 Frensis and Director of Post 24’s research division, returned the cigar to his lips.
“Has a Knight arrived?”
Bribing the Nobility was tedious enough. Now Knights, too.
Placing a puppet president at the helm of E5 Frensis, working in the shadows—he was beginning to tire of it all.
Did he really have to keep doing exactly as ‘they’ commanded? If so, sacrifices would be necessary……
“Should I run tests with the research staff and my subordinates?”
Whoooosh————
Pale smoke billows forth.
It enters the ventilation shaft, following the airflow.
Drifting, drifting.
It emerges beyond the building.
The smoke, steeped in Mana, is drawn onward by ‘something,’ eventually arriving at a location that exists on no official map.
The secret stronghold of Human Traitors.
Black-Veil.
A meeting of those who remain unseen begins there.
“It seems a Knight has stepped forward.”
“Wasn’t your disciple also killed by that Knight?”
“He was no disciple of mine. I merely gave him a handful of artifacts imbued with Black Magic.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“No, it’s not.”
A subtle battle of wills unfolded.
Though not a fierce one.
“Anyway. What matters now isn’t that. The staff and ring have been handed over.”
“Where are they?”
“Unknown. The signal’s gone dark.”
It couldn’t have been otherwise.
After Sion had wrapped the staff and ring tightly in a Seal Cloth before sending them to Doctor Crombell—
“What’s the chance that the lost artifacts will expose our existence?”
“Less than one percent.”
“There’s no scholar in the North right now with the knowledge to infer us. No technology either.”
“…I see.”
Silence settled over the round table.
“What’s your thinking on Travis and Post 24?”
“…It’s not yet time to clash with the Knights. We can’t give them leverage.”
“What if we just killed them all?”
“We can’t. The Black Magic Tower’s Oracle will be watching.”
“…How vexing.”
Silence again. Then—
“A little chaos might be acceptable, though.”
“Agreed.”
“Agreed.”
“Then we plant the Seeds of Corruption and withdraw.”
The veiled meeting adjourned. The small spark Sion had kindled had become a raging wildfire, scorching the horizon.
Yet.
Only a handful knew of it.
***
“This is how you analyze traces of Mana.”
—Whoosh.
Suddenly my eyes flooded with blue. Something materialized in my wet retina—a scene.
What had just happened. I sketched it onto paper, fingerprint-like impressions left behind.
Sylvia and my comrades, seeing the drawing, spoke.
“You’re worse at drawing than I thought.”
“Yeah. What’s this supposed to be?”
“Damn it. Just look at the essentials. It’s the lodging, isn’t it?”
The scene of our lodgings. Pointing at crooked lines and circles, I insisted they were five Knights, adding this and that until—
My comrades finally got it, exclaiming, “Oh wow, so that’s what this is.”
Just then, Ivan set his drawing beside mine. Using only the smallest clues, he wove them into clean lines—
And they formed a scene of the lodgings as if alive.
“Wow… that’s real drawing right there.”
“Lord Sion, shouldn’t we have Ivan do the drawings instead?”
“Come on, don’t be ridiculous.”
Damn. I’ll admit it. He draws well.
I was never good at art.
Music, though—that was my strength.
I’d played piano well since childhood.
But I couldn’t just conjure up a piano to play here, so I went on as if nothing bothered me.
“That’s not all. If you use Mana Detection properly, you can even hear sounds that have already faded. Strictly speaking, you’re analyzing the vibration patterns left in the air—”
“””…”””
My comrades stared as if they had no idea what I was talking about. Fair enough. I couldn’t do it either until I gained Lumen’s Divine Blessing.
“Still, this will be tremendously useful.”
My comrades nodded as if they understood.
“Then. Let’s begin.”
After training in the lodgings for several days, my comrades and I affixed the Imprint Faces that Q had crafted to our faces. Pressing them carefully in place, they became completely undetectable.
‘Q’s craftsmanship truly is remarkable.’
And so, dressed as delivery mercenaries, we took on actual work at the North Wing’s logistics warehouse.
Not half-heartedly—we worked with exceptional diligence.
Using a Knight’s natural endurance, we made deliveries to distant, difficult places and visited dangerous areas, all without incident.
In doing so, we naturally came and went from Nobility estates, and examined corporate correspondence—
Whenever I spotted something suspicious, I’d slip into a nobleman’s residence during the predawn hours and conduct a covert search.
An Inspection Bureau knight disguised as a delivery man investigating a nobleman’s estate?
Under normal circumstances, such a thing would never happen.
But.
Knights of the Special Investigation Division were permitted full use of false identities, disguises, and impersonation.
Therefore, even if our cover was blown during a mission, we faced no repercussions whatsoever.
That was the fundamental difference between the old Inspection Bureau and the Special Investigation Division.
So. We each conducted our investigations in our own manner. Openly.
I always targeted the night hours or early dawn because the Shadow Room I’d purchased at auction allowed me to conceal myself within darkness.
Whirrrr—
An artifact that created a pocket dimension within shadows by channeling Mana into them. I’d poured an astronomical amount of Mana Stones into completing this thing.
The sheer cost of it all. Damn it.
Once I’d carved out a space within a shadow, I could extract the artifact in an instant and slip into another shadow to continue on my way.
Fwoosh— Fwoosh— Fwoosh—
Moving through shadows a few times on a midnight expedition meant reaching even the deepest recesses of the estate in moments.
And then.
“Mana Detection.”
Thump— Thump—
A second sensory organ granted by the Divine Blessing of Lumen. Mana Detection and the Shadow Room had exceptional synergy.
‘Here it is.’
I ransacked Duke Caster’s office.
After confirming with Mana Detection.
There were no cameras or wiretapping devices.
Just beneath the desk.
A hidden passage lay concealed.
Creak—
I opened the secret passage.
After stepping inside, I closed the door behind me.
I descended along the corridor.
A massive iron door came into view.
I activated the Shadow Room.
I slipped into the shadows beyond the iron door.
—Whisk.
Analyzing the traces of Mana lingering in the air.
Pinpointing the location of the ledger.
‘Found it.’
I opened the ledger at once. Sure enough, transaction records with E5 Frensis appeared.
Countless bribes. And records of criminal organizations under control. There were even details regarding the transfer of Mana Stone development technology from the Central Empire.
It seemed Duke Caster had intended to acquire the technology and make Travis even more prosperous.
The problem was that his methods and results led to ruin. Should we really leave people who’ve gone down such a destructive path alive?
My deliberation didn’t take long.
I used a Copy Stone to duplicate the ledger and all supporting evidence. The volume was substantial, but this much would be ironclad.
Then I returned the ledger to its original location and covered my tracks.
I exited through the Shadow Room beyond the iron door, retraced the passage, and emerged back in the office.
But then.
“Y-you. W-what. What are you?”
The voice sounded almost inhuman. I turned naturally to face the sound, and a man stood there.
Eyes gleaming strangely in the dead of night. A tilted head. Something decidedly unnatural about his expression.
‘Ah. A victim of the Mana Engine experiments.’
He was an Experimental Subject, but unlike Zephren, he didn’t appear to have retained his sanity.
“Tee-tee-tee. An intruder? Or staff? But… at this hour? Huh?”
I watched the man nod and assess me, my brow furrowing. This poor soul was clearly another victim of these atrocities.
Yet here he was, having lost his sense of self, condemned to obey another’s commands.
It was truly a tragic affair.
“T-trespasser. Kill them. Orders… given.”
A wretched creature who could never return to what he once was. My teeth ground together. Rage surged through me toward those responsible for this. A burning, incandescent rage.
Thud—
The moment the man took another step toward me.
Slash—
I severed his neck. He had no time to feel pain. Then I invoked the third-tier spell Prison of Flames.
———Whoosh.
The man who had been an Experimental Subject crumbled to ash, leaving behind only a small Mana Engine that had remained near his heart.
Creak.
I opened the window.
The wind carried the ashes away.
Whiiiing—
‘Go in peace.’
Criminal organizations. E5 Frensis. Post 24. The nobility and their corporate partners—I would deliver unto them a fate most bitter.
Afterward, I secured the Mana Engine in my possession. No evidence remained. To Caster, it would appear as though it had simply vanished.
I slipped out of the manor with ease.
By now, I had succeeded in copying the ledgers not only of Caster’s household but of countless noble families and enterprises as well.
It seemed the Inspection Bureau’s Special Investigation Division had taken no countermeasures. The work had been remarkably smooth.
The collected evidence was forwarded to Midgal through the North Wing express line.
A little more, and we would have enough to warrant a sweep order.
The Demon Swordmaster Who Returned Devours the North
Author
: Bangsim
Production Date
: June 16, 2026
Publisher
: Acesmedia Co., Ltd.
Editor
: Acesmedia Editorial Team
Address
: 10F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work has been published by Acesmedia Co., Ltd. in accordance with the copyright holder’s contract.
Without authorization from the company and author, the contents may not be used in any form or by any means.
This e-book is protected under copyright law, and unauthorized reprinting or reproduction may result in legal liability.
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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