Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 1394. Crimson Ball (4)

It felt like the entire ballroom—no, the entire castle was actually shaking. The luminous night pearls illuminating the hall went out one by one. In an instant, darkness enveloped the ballroom.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

“W-what’s going on?! What’s happening?!”

“Get out! Everyone, get out of here!”

“Damn it!”

As expected, the hall instantly plunged into chaos. Voices full of shock and confusion rang out from every direction. I could hear people running somewhere, people bumping into each other, and objects shattering into pieces.

Naturally, I could hear people screaming in panic, and strangely enough, I could hear Marquis Jayce's voice amidst the harsh, discordant mixture of noises.

He was shouting Lady Peneloti’s name. His voice made me realize that perhaps he wasn’t the one who had pulled the trigger.

If Lady Peneloti's safety was one of his top priorities, then the chance that he had pulled the trigger was extremely low.

The answer was either one of these possibilities—an overzealous subordinate of Commander Jin had pulled the trigger, or the Brigade had pulled the trigger for them. Of course, which group pulled the trigger no longer mattered.

Since things had literally exploded, the operation could be considered to have begun. Soon, each faction would start making moves toward its goals.

Regardless of whether it was the Brigade that had pulled the trigger or not, the fact was that they were already here. The golden time was at most fifteen minutes, or rather, less than ten minutes. It was more than enough time for them to reach the hall.

First of all, I had to get up and check my surroundings. It wasn't comforting, but...

“Peneloti. Are you alright? Peneloti!”

The young ladies of the Black Rose Salon were all together. The first one I saw was Lady Pastel, who had been shielding me. When the explosion erupted, she instinctively grabbed me and rolled us across the floor. She was coughing violently, but she was still concerned about my safety.

After her, I saw Lady Paint and Lady Palette.

“Is everyone alright?” Lady Paint asked.

“We’re fine, Lady Paint.”

In the midst of it all, Lady Brush looked extremely distraught. She was muttering the same words over and over. Worried that she was having a panic attack, I moved closer to her, and I heard what she had been muttering.

"W-w-what do we do..."

"Lady Brush. Are you alright?" I asked.

"What do we do? Hic... what are we supposed to do? What is this? What in the world is happening?!" Lady Brush shouted.

‘This is obviously the normal reaction.’

"It has begun..." Lady Brush mumbled.

"L-Lady Brush?" I stuttered.

"It has finally begun. The Union of Kingdoms is done for. It's over," Lady Brush said.

‘What the... You knew something was going to happen?’

"The enraged citizens have finally raised their banner against the Union of Kingdoms. It is a revolution. It must be a revolution. Everything is over. The Union of Kingdoms has collapsed.

"When did it even begin? They have finally lost their patience. Things have been progressing in secret all the way up to this point. They have even infiltrated the ballroom," Lady Brush added.

‘No, that is not it. Damn it, it is not a revolution.’

"T-this cannot be. Ladies! All of you, follow me! We must join the others! We must join the revolution! That’s the only way to survive. When it comes to revolutions, one must always—" Lady Brush shouted.

‘It’s nothing like that. Damn it.’

"That’s not what’s happening, Lady Brush," I interrupted her.

“...”

"There isn't a revolution or anything like that. This is... terrorism," Lady Pastel chimed in.

‘Correct.’

"It is definitely terrorism. And... it must be a terrorist attack planned by Marquis Jayce," Lady Paint said. Then, she looked at me with eyes that demanded an explanation. She clearly remembered the fact that I told everyone to run.

It wasn't hard to guess why she was looking at me that way. After returning from the balcony with Marquis Jayce, Lady Peneloti immediately told everyone to flee.

Lady Paint realized that whatever happened on the balcony and whatever made Peneloti cry wasn't a lovers’ quarrel.

Naturally, I had to say something.

"H-he’s not Marquis Jayce," I said.

"Wh-what?"

"He introduced himself as Jin Cheong of the Republic’s Five Tiger Generals. I don’t know the details. He told me he wanted me to come with him to the Republic. He told me to leave the ballroom immediately and return to the salon.

"And he said that if I... wished to go with them, I should wait in the garden. It's clear that he has been planning something," I revealed.

"W-wait. I-I don’t really understand. So then..." Lady Paint trailed off.

"..."

"So you’re saying that Marquis Jayce was actually a terrorist who infiltrated the ballroom for some hidden purpose?" she asked.

"Exactly, Lady Paint. I don’t know yet what his objective is, but I-I’m certain this is his doing," I answered.

"My head... hurts," Lady Paint said.

"This is insane... W-what is that supposed to mean? It’s so sudden that I don’t even know how to react... Is that really true?" Lady Brush asked.

"It’s all so sudden. I don’t know what to say," Lady Palette said.

"Peneloti. Is that really true? What does that even—" Lady Paint asked.

"We can confirm things or ask questions later. Right now, we have to get out of here, ladies," I said, interrupting her.

‘Yeah, that's right. Unless you want to get stabbed by a stray sword.’

"If he's really from the Republic, then something is definitely going to happen. Their objective is probably to assassinate the key figures here. Some nobles here may be their targets. We have to get out of here for now," Lady Paint said.

"Paint, then... we're just going to run away?" Lady Brush asked.

‘Of course, we're running away. What else would you do, fight them?’

"It’s not running away. It's moving the battlefield," Lady Paint answered.

‘What do you mean by moving the battlefield? What are you going to do?’

"We simply don’t have enough information yet. If what that guy said is true, the salon is guaranteed to be safe. It’s better to regroup there and plan our next steps. Right now, we can’t do anything when we can’t even see what’s happening around us," Lady Paint explained.

‘Why is she so calm?’

Lady Paint was so calm and composed that she stood out among us.

"The guards of the Union of Kingdoms will probably try to take control of the situation. A battle can break out as well, but we most likely won't be in danger," Lady Paint said. Then, she quietly scanned the surroundings while calming down the young ladies.

Soon, the other young ladies converged on us, and all of them were crouched in a circle around Lady Paint. Of course, not every young lady was as composed as Lady Paint. Some were sniffling with tears, and others were frozen in fear, but they were quickly collecting their composure thanks to the help of the other young ladies around them.

"First, the lights—"

"No, don’t turn on the lights. We can’t reveal our position. We’ll stay low like this and leave the ballroom as quickly as possible. Lady Pastel, would you lead the way?" Lady Palette requested.

"W-will that be alright?" Lady Pastel asked.

"Yes. It will be fine," Lady Palette answered.

‘Yeah, I think so, too... It will probably be fine...’

If they were from the Republic, they were unlikely to attack targets they didn't need to attack. However, the problem was that they weren't the only ones here.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"S-save me. Save... aaaaagh!"

‘Damn it... they’re here.’

"Move! Quick!"

There was no need for me to see them to know that they were here. From the noises, it seemed like they were fighting the guards, and there weren't just one or two of them.

I had no idea where they picked up those criminals, but in addition to the original Brigade members, there were even more murderous lunatics among their ranks.

‘Is this area just a diversion? Jung Jin-Ho... is he here, too?’

I wasn't sure, as their destination could change depending on whether the Brigade targeted Song Jung-Wook or Kim Hyun-Sung. If Jung Jin-Ho was here, then no one here... was safe.

"Send Alps and Belier here. Where are they? Commander?"

— They’re not far, and they were ready, anyway.

"Assign Ha Yeon-Soo to Hyun-Sung. The chances are low, but if Hyun-Sung looks like he’s about to get killed by the Brigade or by the Republic forces, she must intervene immediately. You know Kim Hyun-Sung cannot die here, right? Send Chang-Ryeol to rescue the young ladies who couldn’t escape the hall."

— What about you...

"I think I need to move with the ladies for now. I’ll contact you again after we reach the salon."

— Very well.

"What are you doing?! Lady Peneloti, start moving."

"Okay."

The ballroom was large, so crawling across it would take a while. Battles were breaking out everywhere, and it was impossible to tell who was the enemy and who was the ally.

From the situation, it seemed that the guards, the Republic's forces, and the Brigade were all fighting each other, but there was no way to know who was who.

The ballroom was dark and filled with smoke, so the other ladies probably couldn't see even an inch in front of them. Even if they could, identifying friends from foes would still be impossible.

‘Damn it, why are there so many fakes?’

Starting with Marquis Jayce, the entire ball was full of people wearing false identities, so the same people we greeted yesterday had just drawn their weapons to fight each other.

Blood dyed the ground crimson, and screams echoed endlessly around us. The terrified ladies crawled forward with their ears covered as people collapsed lifelessly next to them.

The bards playing the music and the workers working in the ballroom were all sprawled out in the pool of their own blood. I could even hear squelching noises as the ladies crawled across the puddles of blood.

"Aaaagh!"

"S-save..."

"..."

"Look straight ahead and keep crawling, ladies," Lady Palette instructed.

"..."

"Put your hand on the shoulder in front of you and keep moving forward. Don’t look anywhere else," she added.

‘Why are they not here yet?’

Naturally, my resentment toward Alps and Belier grew stronger with each passing second. Perhaps Shiro wasn’t allowed into the ballroom, so he couldn’t track us at all, or perhaps they were already in battle somewhere.

Fortunately, we only need to go a bit farther.

"Lady Pastel. To the left," I instructed.

"Okay, Peneloti."

"Run."

"Everyone, run!"

"Hurry!"

The crawling ladies rose to their feet at once and rushed toward the exit.

One of the young ladies tripped on something mid-way, but someone caught her and pulled her up before she could fall. Before long, we found ourselves standing before a faint light.

Swoosh!

A cold glint streaked across the air before us. Before I realized it, I saw a blade cutting through the air toward me. Unfortunately, I threw myself to the side a bit too late.

The blade was now a few inches away from my stomach. I braced myself for the sickening feeling of metal piercing me. I even winced in advance, but the pain never came.

‘Huh?’

The blade had come to a halt in midair. I wondered if it was Marquis Jayce or Count Kim Hyun-Sung. I also thought that perhaps Alps and Belier were finally here, but I was mistaken.

"Huh?"

I saw a figure shrouded in dense smoke. The figure shrouded in smoke looked like a monster, but my jaw fell to the ground when I saw where the smoke had come from.

"What... is that?" I questioned.

I see Lady Palette with a cigarette between her lips. She looked as emotionless as ever while puffing out smoke. With a hiss, she inhaled sharply, and the long cigarette between her lips burned down rapidly.

Then, she exhaled with a soft whooooo, and the smoke pouring out of her mouth crushed the trapped blade with a crunch. Immediately afterward, the smoke engulfed the attacker and crushed them as well.

‘Unique magic?’

"Hiss..."

"..."

"Whooooo.”

"L-Lady Palette... is that..." I stammered.

"The result of general education," Lady Palette said.

"What?"

"This is from my general education curriculum, Lady Peneloti. Though rather than learning, saying I created it would be more accurate..." Lady Palette clarified.

‘I knew you all learned many different types of magic and skills as part of your general education curriculum, but this is just...’

I looked around with Mind’s Eye, and I saw details I had never noticed until now.

"..."

‘Just what exactly are you people?’

"..."

"..."

"..."

How come their stats were so high?

‘How did you learn... all this?’

'Do you all go to war... when things go south?'

"Whoooooo..."

Lady Cigarette took another long drag off her cigarette.