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Chapter 73

“If you get rid of places related to them one after another, they\'ll collapse on their own.”

“Only fools fight head-on. You should infiltrate and gnaw away at them from the inside.”

Their methods were either brutish, insane, or bothersome, but despite that, they did have a success rate matching their promise. He still outrightly excluded them from potential options though—those options were only possible since they were the strategies of a powerful hero, a terrorist, and the leader of an intelligence organization. Not a single one was suitable for a blacksmith like himself.

As such, he went back to pondering what method would then suit him, and soon, he found the answer.

“Can you assist me in bringing down the Barmuths?”

Deciding to stay true to his identity as a blacksmith, he planned on just spectating from afar after forging weapons for his allies.

“...”

Upon hearing Se-Hoon’s out-of-the-blue proposal, In-Cheol blanked out.

He couldn’t believe that Se-Hoon had come all the way to his workshop on a Sunday morning just to make the outlandish request of enlisting his help in taking down the Barmuths.

Wondering if he was still half asleep, In-Cheol rubbed his eyes.

“Are you talking about Vier?”

“No, I’m talking about the entire Barmuth family.”

“So... you’re planning to bring down the entire family?”

“Yes.”

In-Cheol then sat up straight, his sleepiness disappearing when he heard not a single trace of hesitation within Se-Hoon’s response.

“Start by telling me what happened.”

Se-Hoon roughly explained the incidents that occurred at the Noblesse, including the clash with Vier and Aria’s partnership proposal to mass-produce sword aura equipment.

“So you’re saying that you improved Barmuth’s prototype on the spot and even forged sword aura equipment without the help of a sword aura user... you really are something.”

Realizing that he was worried about Se-Hoon not because he lacked talent but because he was too talented, In-Cheol chuckled bitterly.

“I understand the situation now. Now that you’ve rejected their recruitment and even belittled their technology upfront, they surely won’t come at you peacefully anymore.”

In-Cheol frowned and sighed, remembering the villainy that the Barmuths had done in the Department of Blacksmithing.

“Unfortunately, however, given the current situation, it’s quite difficult to put any real pressure on them. There’s no solid evidence that Vier attempted to injure you.”

Raising any objections against the Barmuths right now would just end with the prototype’s flaws or Vier’s own incompetence being blamed. It was far from serving as justification to bring down the entire family.

He was attacked unilaterally, and yet there’s nothing I can do...

It wasn’t the first time such a situation occurred, but In-Cheol felt a greater sense of powerlessness than before. He felt miserable at the thought that a talent capable of making significant changes to the era could crumble due to his shortcomings.

I absolutely cannot let them have their way this time. He began solemnly pondering the methods at his disposal. But then, Se-Hoon spoke up with a calm expression.

“I have no intention of shooting them down with such methods, either. I’ve already generally planned out how to dismantle the family, so I just need you to help with the finer details.”

“You’ve already... planned it all out?” In-Cheol was completely mystified by how Se-Hoons was talking like he found it easy to tackle a massive conglomerate like the Barmuths.

“What’s so special about a company going under? That’s just what will naturally happen if their products don’t sell.”

“That’s true, but...”

Considering that the Barmuths were far ahead in terms of technological capabilities in the blacksmithing industry, it was far from as easy as how Se-Hoon made it sound.

Unconvinced, In-Cheol was about to dismiss the unrealistic approach, but Se-Hoon brought out something from his void pocket.

Thump!

Se-Hoon had dropped a large stack of papers on the table.

“Are those... blueprints?”

Puzzled at the bundle of blueprints Se-Hoon had just taken out, In-Cheol picked up the blueprint on the top to examine it.

At first glance, the sword drawn on the blueprint seemed like nothing special, but when he looked closer, his eyes widened in astonishment.

“Wait, what is this...?”

The blueprint was detailed enough that it could immediately be brought to mass production. But what truly shocked In-Cheol wasn’t the completeness of the blueprint, but the note written on it.

These will be over twenty percent more powerful and durable than the Barmuths’ E-tier mass-produced longswords that currently dominate the market. The cost of materials can be further reduced by up to thirty percent if the forging process is properly set up.

The blueprint depicted a perfectly superior alternative to the Barmuths’ current mass-produced longsword. Realizing what the others likely were, In-Cheol quickly examined the other blueprints as well.

Flip. Flip.

Superior alternatives to the various weapons, armors, auxiliary devices, and everything else that the Barmuths were currently mass-producing were precisely drawn in the blueprints.

They had exceeded his expectations by so far that In-Cheol was overwhelmed; all he could do was read and review each blueprint over and over.

These are actually... real.

He didn’t need to test them out to know; his intuition forged by decades of blacksmithing told him the forging processes described in the blueprints were genuine. Unable to take his eyes off them, he remembered Se-Hoon’s confident smile and felt a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

“What do you think?”

At Se-Hoon’s question, In-Cheol set the blueprints down again and laughed helplessly.

“I can’t help but be amused.”

Even before the concept of mana was introduced to humanity, consistently forging high-quality equipment in large quantities was not easy. Then, after the advent of mana, it became even harder. The process had become dozens of times more complex due to now needing to consider the structure of the mana circuits and the properties of the materials.

Even one of these blueprints would have taken a research team years to develop... yet he’s carrying dozens of them around.

He knew about Se-Hoon’s exceptional talent already, but it was truly a situation that was extremely unusual.

It was to the point that In-Cheol even briefly considered whether Se-Hoon might actually be associated with the group he had been part of in the past, but he quickly dismissed the thought.

Those guys wouldn’t simply hand out blueprints to exaggerate someone’s skill.

These blueprints were purely the result of Se-Hoon’s talents.

Gathering his thoughts, In-Cheol asked, “So, how do you plan to use these?”

“I’ll pick some appropriate manufacturers who are willing to compete against the Barmuths to the end, and then I’ll pass the blueprints to them. I’ll leave the minor negotiations, like profit sharing, to you, Professor.”

“Are you sure about that? You could make an incomparable amount of money that far surpasses what you would gain by setting up your own workshop and selling them yourself.”

“That would take too long. To shake a business as big as them, you have to hit them all at once.”

Also, setting up his own workshop would make it an easy target, increasing the likelihood of getting entangled in all sorts of troublesome situations.

So, Se-Hoon had chosen the easiest way, even if it meant giving up a bit of profit.

“If that’s what you want, I have no objections. But for this plan to work, we’ll need two more things.”

He looked at Se-Hoon with a serious expression.

“Firstly, a way to guarantee the quality of the equipment to the public. And secondly, protection for the manufacturers that we\'ll collaborate with.”

It wasn’t likely that their collaborators would be eliminated all at once, but a ‘coincidental’ explosion could wipe out an entire manufacturer without a trace. Similar incidents had actually happened before the regression, slowly eliminating those who had opposed the Barmuth family.

Thus, without any preparation for these potential sabotages, few would be willing to step forward.

However, Se-Hoon was already prepared.

“Of course, I have a plan that solves both of those too,” responded Se-Hoon confidently.

***

“The Barmuths are trying to kill me, so I’m going to bring them down before they can. Are you willing to help me?”

“...”

Sitting across from Se-Hoon, Eun-Ha didn’t respond immediately to his request, slightly lowering her head in thought. Her face was expressionless, giving no hint of what she was thinking. A while later, her lips slowly parted.

“Do you mean... bringing them down through brute force?”

Her determined expression made it seem as though she was ready to devour some equipment and reduce the Barmuth headquarters to dust right then and there.

Seeing that, Se-Hoon quickly clarified, saying, “No. I mean bringing down their business. Not literally demolishing them.”

Although physically destroying them would be easier, actions warranting a worldwide manhunt didn’t seem advisable, especially since he had memories from before his regression.

However, despite his words, Eun-Ha’s expression remained unchanged. She nodded her head.

“I see.”

“Yes. So...”

“Do I just need to destroy their factories at night?”

Confronted with her new solution, he suppressed the urge to agree and shook his head.

“We’re going to do this legally. It defeats the purpose if we become wanted.”

“Hm... I understand. Then, how do you plan to proceed?”

Was it because he told her that he was being targeted for assassination? Pleased by her proactive stance in bringing down the Barmuths, Se-Hoon briefly outlined his plan.

“...Impressive.”

Her eyes sparkled upon hearing about the dozens of blueprints he had. And seeing that her usually expressionless face now had some vitality, Se-Hoon smiled.

“I’d like you to consume both mine and Barmuth’s equipment for comparison. Your reputation in this field is well-known, after all.”

If Se-Hoon or In-Cheol had stepped forward, they would have been quickly dismissed as simply hostility toward the Barmuths, but Eun-Ha’s endorsement was different.

As the Dean of Borsippa and the S-rank hero Weapon Eater, known also as the Gourmet in the equipment industry, even the Barmuths wouldn’t be able to dismiss her influence.

“So I just need to compare those two?”

“Yes. Oh, and it needs to be filmed since it’s going to be uploaded to the internet. The rest we’ll take care of, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Okay.”

Seeing her agree without hesitation, Se-Hoon made a mixed expression.

She’s being more cooperative than before the regression.

Even though she had complied with most of his requests back then, now it felt like she was willing to go above and beyond. He looked at her curiously.

A moment of thought later, Eun-Ha spoke again.

“If it still seems impossible to take them down after trying this... let me know.”

“You?”

“Yes, me.”

She nodded, her tone carrying an odd chill. Immediately convinced that he absolutely should not ask her for help, Se-Hoon nodded reluctantly.

“I’ll keep that in mind... for now.”

“Okay. I’ll contact you as soon as I’m ready,” said Eun-Ha.

Now finished notifying Eun-Ha of her part in his plan, he left the office and headed straight to Aqar Quf.

The final issue remaining was the protection of the collaborating workshops that would manufacture the equipment in the blueprints. This part was the most troublesome aspect of the plan.

There are way too many workshops to protect, and more importantly, we won’t know when or how the other side might attack.

They could attack immediately following the announcement or suddenly after a few months.

He had considered hiring security companies or heroes to guard the workshops during this uncertain period; however, it was questionable if they could even provide the needed protection, and the cost would be enormous.

In the end, it’s better to entrust it to the one remarkable person I know.

Thus, Se-Hoon decided to consider an entity capable of protecting dozens of workshops scattered around the world. And there was only one way to reach out to that person. He organized his thoughts.

It’s worth a shot.

If possible, great; if not, then it couldn’t be helped.

With his thoughts in order, he knocked on the door of the Physiology Controls classroom, located in the deepest part of the Department of Martial Arts.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

A brusque response came from inside. Opening the door and entering the room, Se-Hoon saw Kwang-Soo lying on the bed with dissatisfaction on his face.

“While other guys are desperate to rest on weekends, you’re here, wandering around in broad daylight.... You seem to have a lot of free time.”

“My apologies. It’s just a bit of an urgent matter...”

“I’ll hear about it for now. What’s the matter?”

Se-Hoon explained the general situation, similar to how he explained it to the previous two. After hearing everything, Kwang-Soo furrowed his brows.

“I’d like to say that you’re being delusional... but if it’s related to those Barmuth guys, then there’s a lot to talk about. Way more than enough.”

“Would you be able to help me?”

“Well... I’m curious about one thing...”

Trailing off, he looked at Se-Hoon.

“Why do you think I can help? I’m just a has-been, retired from active duty.”

His question was laced with doubt—for good reasons. There was no apparent reason to ask him for help based on the situation at hand.

Well, it’s because I know which organization you belonged to before the regression, but I can’t say that.

Unable to reveal the true reason, Se-Hoon somewhat indirectly answered.

“Just because one has retired from active duty doesn’t mean all their connections will just disappear. I’m asking you because I thought you were the most suitable among the people I know.”

“And what if I turned out not to be?”

“Then I’ll just have to look for another way.”

Letting Se-Hoon’s calm reply hang in the air, Kwang-Soo stared at him for a moment before getting up from the bed.

“Fine. There’s nothing impossible about it, anyway. But I’m not doing it for nothing.”

“We could discuss the protection fee separately—”

“No. I don’t need your money.”

Cutting off Se-Hoon, Kwang-Soo picked up a packet of documents from one side of the classroom and threw it to him.

Catching it, Se-Hoon read the words written at the top of the first document: Eyes of Clairvoyance Ver.12.

That’s quite the number of revisions...

As he flipped through the pages, he soon realized what the documents were about.

“This is the technique you said you’d teach me before.”

It was a skill that could potentially enhance his talent for stealing the opponent’s movements.

Did he manage to systematize it this much in such a short time?

A part of him was impressed by Kwang-Soo’s capability, but... he was also slightly annoyed by it.

If he could make stuff like this, then what were all those random techniques he taught me in exchange for his debts before...

As something that happened before the regression, he tried to let it go, but it still irritated him. He vowed to himself that he would get back at Kwang-Soo properly someday.

Meanwhile, Kwang-Soo finally got to his condition.

“If you can master that, I’ll lend you a hand.”

“This is all it takes?”

“Yes. You should at least be able to pull that off for me to bother dealing with those annoying guys.”

Se-Hoon nodded, understanding his intentions.

“Understood. Let’s get started then.”

“We’ll start tomorrow. Just take it with you for today and have a look.”

They weren’t able to start right away since the necessary equipment to practice the Eyes of Clairvoyance couldn’t be gathered immediately.

However, Se-Hoon shook his head.

“I’m not suggesting we practice.”

“Then what?”

“The Eyes of Clairvoyance. I’ll show it to you right now.”