Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 66

The sword was big, longer and wider than a normal sword, almost like a greatsword.

It was in a simple leather cover, but you could see the silver handle, the round part at the end for balance (pommel), and the bar across the blade to protect the hand (cross guard). Just seeing these parts made it look impressive.

Creak.

And the moment he drew the sword…

“Wow…”

Logan could only whisper in awe.

The silver blade was wide and long, a perfect match for the hand’s-breadth cross guard and the flame-shaped pommel.

Holding it, he could feel the perfect balance.

It wasn’t just a well-made sword.

It felt like…

“A sword for me.”

The length, width, shape, and feel of the blade were perfect for him.

It felt like a part of him, like another arm.

“I can’t believe it…”

Whoosh.

He lightly swung the sword, using only his wrist. The sound of it cutting through the air and the feeling of it in his hand were amazing.

Even though it looked like it should weigh at least 5㎏, it felt like only a third of that.

“A pure mithril sword…”

Whirr.

The Force he used made the sword shine even brighter than usual.

In that light, Logan remembered the dwarf who had been watching him closely recently.

“It’s really amazing. Thank you, Hamarr…”

It was a work of art.

He was surprised by the skill of the dwarf as he put the sword back in its cover.

Plop.

A note fell to the floor; it had been stuck between the sword and its cover.

It said, “I’ll rest for half a year after making all the knights’ weapons. I’ll do my best! Of course, it won’t be as good as the master’s.”

Logan laughed when he read it.

Logan spent the whole day practicing with the sword, enjoying his new partner.

Two weeks passed since Silvan was taken over and became part of the McLaine territory.

People say you can’t serve two masters.

If that’s true, then the knights of Silvan, who were now prisoners, were all traitors because they all decided to switch sides in just two weeks.

Of course, that’s without considering the special situation of a war.

“Still, there might be problems later. They were knights who served a bad leader, so we don’t know if they are all good people,”

“That’s normal.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think the people from Tesron would have been any different? If you treat people badly, they won’t think about anything else.”

“…I see.”

Logan chuckled at his father’s answer, which brushed aside his worries.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay going alone?”

“It’s enemy land. If I take people with me, something might happen. It’s better to be alone so I can escape if I need to.”

He sounded like a veteran who had run from the Imperial Army for 20 years, but it didn’t work on his father.

“One person can’t beat many. At least take some stronger knights…”

“Even if I take all our knights, we can’t win right now. It’s easier alone.”

“At least take someone to help you. A noble needs to have some dignity…”

“If I worry about dignity, the people I take will die.”

“If your plan works, that won’t happen, right? Unless you’re planning to cause trouble… You, don’t tell me…”

“I’ll be back!”

“Logan? Logan!!”

Tap tap tap tap.

Logan rode off, leaving his shouting father behind.

‘I don’t really want to cause trouble… but I probably will.’

He didn’t say it out loud, but he kicked his horse to go even faster.

It took two days to walk across the Silvan territory from Silvan Castle, where Logan started.

From the border of that territory to Bifrost Castle, the center of the Bifrost territory, it was a four-day walk.

But Logan was a strong knight. He used the Force to make his horse faster, so the five-day trip would take less than a day.

That’s if he let the horse rest enough.

Logan left Silvan Castle with five days to spare.

He wanted to see the towns and villages around Bifrost Castle and the people living there. He wanted to see what Bifrost was like, since he might have to fight them later.

But things were different than he expected.

“- The lord? He’s a good person. Yes? I’ve never met him, but the taxes are low, so… Haha.”

He didn’t go into other castles because he didn’t want to waste time or get caught. But the people in the villages he stayed in for four days all said the same thing.

Bifrost wasn’t doing bad things like Silvan or Pereta.

And that meant…

‘The lord of Bifrost is strong and doing well. He doesn’t need to take too much from the people.’

Logan’s face turned serious.

When he arrived at the eastern gate of Bifrost Castle, he saw a flag that made him frown.

It was a flag with an eagle flying over a flame.

‘Pereta…’

He wasn’t the only one who had arrived just in time.

“Who is that?”

“…A flame emblem?”

“McLaine?!”

The Pereta group started talking when he got close.

There were more than 20 knights, about 100 soldiers, and over 50 servants.

The fancy carriage at the front was as big as a small house.

Logan thought it was strange. Why bring such a big carriage and so many soldiers?

‘What are they doing?’

It wasn’t enough soldiers to fight, but it was too many to be escorts.

It would have been better to come alone like him, to avoid making people suspicious.

But the others thought differently.

“Alone?”

“Is he crazy? Not even one escort?”

“He must have used up all his energy taking over Silvan.”

“If we had met him before he arrived, we could have quietly… What a shame.”

The knights whispered to each other, but Logan heard everything.

Logan smirked.

‘If we had met a little earlier? I wish that were the case too.’

He clicked his tongue, feeling real regret.

They had three experienced knights, but that wasn’t enough to stop him.

They were lucky. Logan thought the Fereta family was alive because of Bipros. And their leader’s son was alive because they met at just the right time. Logan thought maybe the Feretas were using up all their good luck right before something bad happened to them.

Logan thought, ‘Only five months left to wait.’ He was angry inside, but he walked forward calmly. Suddenly, Fereta’s soldiers stopped him. They pointed their spears at him. Logan was surprised to see how nervous the soldiers looked. He laughed a little, not really happy, when—

“Are you Master Logan McLaine?” a knight asked. “We will take you this way, separately.”

Knights with badges showing a rose on fire walked between Logan and the Fereta group.

“Yes, I am Logan McLaine. Do I go in a different way from them?”

Logan showed his badge with the emblem. The knight bowed again.

“Please wait a moment,” the knight said. “Someone will come soon to guide both of you. We have sent for them.”

Logan looked confused about the guide. Then, he heard an annoying voice from the Fereta side.

“What is *that*?” the voice said loudly. “Did he come dressed like *that*? Am I supposed to be treated the same as someone who looks so bad?”

“Young Master!” someone said, trying to quiet him.

“Oh, I know, I know,” the voice said. “Don’t be so worried. He can’t hear me from here. Tsk. This is so annoying. If the Count’s family hadn’t asked us to be nice, he should be on his knees, begging me to let him live.”

The person with the voice didn’t seem to understand the real situation at all. He said foolish things as he came from a fancy carriage. He pushed past his own soldiers. He was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a coat with rich designs. He smiled, but it didn’t look real, and offered Logan his hand.

“Flon Fereta,” he said. “Nice to meet you. Rihalt told me a lot about you. He said you fought six knights all by yourself.”

Logan looked at Flon carefully. He saw the Bipros knights, who were nervous before, step back a little. Even under his fancy coat, you could see Flon was strong. He looked about twenty-five years old. You could feel he had a special power, like a Force User.* (*Force User: Someone who can use a special, magical power.)

If Flon hadn’t said such silly things, Logan might have been rude back. But they were in the land of a bigger enemy. Logan didn’t want to cause trouble right now.

“Nice to meet you too,” Logan said. “I am Logan McLaine.” He took Flon’s hand, but he didn’t really want to.

“You look much younger than I thought,” Flon said, laughing a little. “Maybe the stories about you are too big. Haha.”

Flon squeezed Logan’s hand very hard, trying to show he was stronger. It was like a child trying to show off.

Logan was going to ignore Flon’s weak try to be strong. But then he had an idea. *If* Flon was really this foolish, he might do exactly what Logan wanted him to do. ‘Okay,’ Logan thought, ‘I’ll play along a little.’

*Crack.* A bad sound came from their hands. Flon’s hand turned blue right away. He tried not to show it, but his face was shaking.

“Oh, sorry!” Logan said, pretending to be innocent. “I thought you wanted to see who was stronger…”

Logan let go of Flon’s hand. A normal person would have seen they were not as strong and stopped trying to fight. But not Flon.

*Clang!* “Y-you coward!” Flon yelled, pulling out his sword and saying foolish things again.

‘He fell for it!’ Logan thought. Now Flon had given him a reason to act. Logan could kill him right now. But he didn’t need to go that far. A weak enemy was better than a strong friend. It was better for Flon to stay alive but be useless. So— *Snikt.*

Logan quickly cut through Flon’s sword and put his own sword to Flon’s neck. The silver line of his blade, from his waist to Flon’s neck, looked perfect, even to Logan. His new sword was also perfect, shining in the sunset.

“Why do you keep saying things you can’t back up?” Logan said quietly. “And why do you, as the leader’s son, not understand yourself at all?”

Flon’s face turned even whiter as Logan spoke softly. The Bipros knights had been running to stop them, but they froze, their faces becoming serious. But the Fereta knights behind Flon moved forward.

“Hey! How dare you treat our Young Master like this!”

“Attack him!” It seemed like neither the leaders nor the soldiers knew who was friend or enemy.

“Fighting is not allowed in Bipros land…” one of the Bipros knights started to say, surprised. Before they could stop them— *Swish.*

Logan’s sword cut through the swords of three knights who attacked at almost the same time.

*Thud.* The knights stared at their broken swords. People from Bipros, hearing the noise, started to come closer. Logan slowly put his sword back in its holder. He made sure not to use his special power. He only used the power of the sword to break the other swords. The sword made by Hamar, called Lux (which means hope or dawn in old languages), could do this.

‘Any knight will see it,’ Logan thought. Even how clean the handle was would show it was a new sword. *Sreung.* Just as Logan wanted, the sword made of mithril, made perfectly by Hamar, caught everyone’s eyes as it went back into its holder.

“…It’s not magic.”

“No,” someone said. “I don’t feel any magic. But…” Everyone who saw the sword, especially the knights looking at each other, knew it was something very special.

“That’s a very good sword.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Is it okay to ask where you got it? It doesn’t look like a normal sword…”

“No, it’s not okay to ask,” Logan said, cutting off their questions quickly and coldly. Show the treasure, but don’t tell them anything about it. This would make people curious and start rumors. The rumors would reach a Count who loved treasures. If that Count was as smart as people said, he wouldn’t hurt Logan easily, at least because of where the sword came from.

‘I didn’t plan to show it off like this, but it’s not bad,’ Logan thought. He still had his other plan, but it was good to have another option. This was like having extra protection. Logan smiled a little, listening to people talking quietly.

And then— “…they’re here!” Soldiers at the gate shouted excitedly. The big gates opened, and someone with a strange look walked in.