Cold sweat trickled down Kwon Oh-Jin’s spine.

At the sight of Alina’s gaze, mixed with anxiety and anticipation, Song Ha-Eun’s words suddenly echoed in his head.

“Nothing will happen, right?”

Alina’s eyes looked full of worry.

Kwon Oh-Jin deeply sighed and shook his head. “We didn’t have the kind of special relationship you’re imagining.”

He had already proven more than enough to be a Regressor and didn’t need to grow any closer than necessary to Alina. To be precise, it wouldn’t hurt to be on good terms with her.

But I really don’t want to cut it off...

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked as he recalled the vow he had made in front of Song Ha-Eun.

“Ah... I-I see,” Alina stuttered and awkwardly turned her head away. She cleared her throat for no reason as she averted her gaze. “P-Please forget what I just said.”

“Haha. We weren’t lovers or anything like that, but... it wasn’t just the typical relationship between a superior and a subordinate either.”

“Then, what exactly was the relationship between you and me in your past life?”

“Comrades... would be the most fitting word.”

“Comrades?”

“Yes.”

Drawing the line at being comrades who had each other’s backs, fighting to protect a world racing toward ruins, seemed the most appropriate.

“I see... Comrades...” Alina faintly smiled and nodded. “If I willingly shared my secret, then... we must have been reliable comrades who deeply trusted each other.”

“At least in battle, we were friends who could always rely on each other.”

Were, huh...

The word stung, reminding Alina of his cry before she had left the meeting.

“So, I... betrayed such a friend.”

“Don’t worry about it. It hasn’t even happened yet.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “And besides, I came here to prevent that kind of future, didn’t I?”

Alina nodded with a sigh. “That’s true...”

Now that she was convinced Kwon Oh-Jin was truly a Regressor, only one thing remained.

“Tell me. What do I need to do?” she asked.

Even if it wasn’t for some grand goal of protecting the world, she had no choice but to cooperate with Kwon Oh-Jin for the sake of protecting her own son.

“I’d like you to deploy troops to Italy using your authority as Supreme Commander.”

“Are you seriously thinking of going?”

“Yes. If we don’t stop it this time, the same future will just repeat itself.”

Alina closed her eyes, weighed the matter, and then slowly nodded. “I understand. I’ll leave just enough forces behind to maintain public order and send the rest of the army to Italy.”

Nice.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s lips faintly curled in satisfaction. Now he had secured a strong enough force to face the demonic beast army at least.

Next is...

All that remained was securing the funds needed to mobilize an army.

Armies literally use up money just by existing.

People said the loser of a war was the side that ran out of money first. From basic food and water supplies to the equipment needed to fight the enemy, maintaining an army demanded astronomical funds. Of course, he could draw from the Alliance's shared resources.

But that would just spark more complaints from the China-Russia Alliance.

It would be like one person doing all the research, the slide deck, and the presentation in a group project. In a world-scale group project of defeating the Black Star Celestials and rescuing the hostages, he couldn’t afford to demand sacrifices only from the China-Russia Alliance.

Well, securing funds won’t be difficult.

“Then, shall we head back to the conference room?”

Whether by coincidence or by fate, one of the wealthiest men in the world just happened to be among the Seven Stars.

***

A bombshell statement dropped right at the start of the second meeting.

“The China-Russia Alliance will deploy a large-scale army to Italy.”

Edward Walton and Bianca Bennett, who had been on the same side as Alina in not participating, looked at her in shock.

“What...?”

“You’ve completely changed your stance from yesterday?”

Just yesterday, Alina had opposed so firmly that everyone wondered whether it was even necessary to continue the discussion. Now, she had suddenly declared that she would deploy troops.

Naturally, everyone in the conference room looked at Kwon Oh-Jin.

His eyes swept across the room and nodded. “I showed Miss Alina proof that I am a Regressor.”

“And what exactly is this proof?”

“That’s something I can’t say.” Kwon Oh-Jin briefly glanced toward Alina.

“Just as Mr. Oh-Jin said, he presented me with proof, and I decided to believe that he truly is a Regressor.”

“See? I told you I was right!” Deneb said.

As he tried to hop over excitedly, Vega caught him by the back of the neck. “Compose yourself.”

“What do you mean compose myself? Now that it’s certain Alkaid is a Regressor, isn’t the discussion over?”

“Even so, the choice is still the children’s to make.” Vega sighed and tugged the grumbling Deneb into his seat.

“Ahem. So... right now, only Miss Bianca and I are in opposition?”

“No, I plan to go to Italy as well.” Bianca leaned back lazily and crossed her legs.

“You’re going to Italy too?”

“Yeah.”

“Because of the future Alkaid mentioned yesterday?”

“Well... that’s part of it.” She glanced briefly toward Allen before continuing. “And also, as he said, we’re in the same faction, aren’t we?”

“I was under the impression that Britain and Italy didn’t get along all that well.”

“They’re still better than those French bastards.” Bianca chuckled with a shrug.

Edward swallowed his words and sighed. Only he still opposed among the Seven Stars.

“As I said before, I won’t be participating beyond financial support.” Edward shook his head firmly.

Allen’s expression twisted ever so slightly. “Are you saying you want to stay out of this even though everyone is going?”

“Blame me if you like. As a businessman, I can’t just follow along because everyone else is doing it.”

“This is about saving lives.”

“It’s also about lives being lost.”

“Did you not hear what Mr. Oh-Jin said yesterday? If we do nothing, everyone dies anyway.” Allen’s eyes turned sharp and cold as he glared at Edward.

Edward deeply sighed. “It’s not that I don’t understand that. Even if I wanted to help, unlike Miss Alina, I have no means to move such a large-scale army.”

The United States possessed the most high-ranking Awakeners, but its vast land and free-spirited culture meant those countless individuals had split into dozens, even hundreds, of independent guilds. Despite being one of the Seven Stars, Edward held no military authority to force them into action.

“If they can’t be forced, then why not make them act on their own?” Kwon Oh-Jin, quietly observing the meeting, suggested.

“You mean by giving them some kind of reward?”

“Yes.”

“Ha. Even if we offered ten billion dollars, would they really move?”

Even if they offered over a trillion won in Korean currency, what guild in their right mind would rush into a battlefield against a demonic beast army and a Celestial? They had all seen Italy’s capital reduced to rubble overnight.

“Then how about one hundred billion dollars? No, let’s go big. One trillion,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

If something couldn’t be solved with money, perhaps the problem was that they simply didn’t have enough money.

“Do you think money just grows on trees?”

Even Edward, ranked among the world’s richest men, didn’t have over a hundred trillion won at his disposal.

“You said money was the only support you could provide, didn’t you?”

“Still, there’s a limit! At one trillion dollars, I’d practically be putting up my entire fortune as the reward!” Edward exclaimed in disbelief.

Kwon Oh-Jin simply shrugged, unbothered. “When it comes to saving the future, what’s a mere trillion?”

“You treat money far too lightly. That amount could save not just a hundred times, but a thousand times more lives than those currently trapped in Italy.”

“Ah, I think you’ve misunderstood me. I have no intention of forcing you to sacrifice blindly, Mr. Edward. In fact... It’s better to think of this as an investment.”

“An investment?”

Kwon Oh-Jin nodded. “If this situation is resolved successfully... I’ll increase your wealth by three—no, five times.”

“Ha! And what confidence do you have to make such a claim?”

“Didn’t I already mention that I’m a Regressor?”

Edward knew better than anyone how valuable knowledge of the future was in business, and yet—

“But if the future changes, wouldn’t all of your knowledge become useless?”

Kwon Oh-Jin calmly nodded, as if he had expected that objection. “That’s true, but what if I could see the future?”

“See the future?”

“Of course, I can’t see years ahead. At most, I can glimpse a few seconds or a few minutes into the future.”

Edward, who had ruled the world of capital, knew full well that even a minute into the future was far from trivial. In finance, even knowing the next sixty seconds could mean infinite profit.

“Is that true?” Edward asked.

“Of course. Right, Vega?”

Edward’s gaze shifted to Vega.

“H-Huh? M-Me?” Vega stuttered, her shoulders trembling in surprise. She quickly nodded. “It’s true. My child can see very short spans into the future.”

“I’ve never heard the Stigma of Lyra having such an ability.”

“It’s not the Stigma of Lyra. It’s because Polaris bestowed a blessing upon my child.”

“Hmm.”

A blessing from Polaris, huh.

Edward narrowed his eyes and thought it through. Normally, he would’ve scoffed at such nonsense. However, Alina’s sudden change of stance from yesterday suggested that whatever proof Kwon Oh-Jin showed her carried real weight. Vega, a North Star, also confirmed Kwon Oh-Jin’s ability and made his claim even more credible.

“All right. I’ll take your word for it and join.” Convinced of the worthwhile investment, Edward extended his hand.

Kwon OH-Jin clasped it and grinned in satisfaction.

With the funding secured, the real preparations for war could finally begin.

He had more than a trillion dollars worth in assets... We won’t be short on funds.

With this kind of money, they could cover the costs of deploying the Alliance army and offer a large enough reward to attract the Awakeners in the United States.

“Thank you, Mr. Edward.” Kwon Oh-Jin smiled brightly at Edward’s generous investment.

What else do you call this if not an investment?

Kwon Oh-Jin hadn’t exactly lied. Although it wasn’t because of Polaris’s blessing, he did possess Foresight.

I can’t control when I want to use it, though. Oh well. After all, it’ll be Edward who blows his entire fortune, not me.