Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 246

“You crazy bastard!!” Logan’s thunderous roar shattered the brief silence. Most of the party, speechless, stared blankly at him.

“It’s not too late if it’s before noon! Knight, send a messenger to stop the killing!”

“Yes, sir!” Logan said, “Change all orders to the soldiers. Seal off the village with the sick people completely. Gather all the sick people in one place!”

“Yes, I understand!” The decision in Raftan was quick, and everyone moved fast.

But when Logan and his group reached the village, they saw a terrible sight. Dead bodies were everywhere, lying on the ground. Villagers cried out in pain and anger.

“Curse you all!” one screamed.

“God will punish you!” yelled another.

A woman held her dead child, her face red with tears and sickness.

“Kill me too!” she wailed. The smell of death and sickness hung heavy in the air.

Soldiers stood in a line, blocking the way. Their faces were grim. As Logan’s group came closer, they quickly moved aside.

“Sir Hamel,” one soldier asked, “who are these people with you?” Knight Hamel was furious.

“You! I told you to stop the attack!”

“We stopped as soon as we got the order, sir,” a soldier, who looked like he was in charge, said to Knight Hamel. His face was white with fear. But the King was watching everything.

Knight Hamel pulled out his sword. The sound of metal echoed.

“Disobeying orders is a serious crime, Gerick,” Hamel said angrily.

“S-Sir Hamel!”

“Stop!” Logan shouted. He could not watch this play out in front of such sadness.

The knight and soldiers stopped, surprised by Logan’s shout. Logan sighed. Knight Hamel quickly knelt down.

“I-I’m sorry! Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty?” someone whispered.

“Everyone, kneel!” Hamel shouted. “The King is here!” The village changed again.

“Attention!”

“Loyalty!” soldiers shouted. But behind them, people whispered.

“King?”

“Why is the King here?”

“He’ll punish them!”

“Lie down, quickly!” someone yelled. Even in their sadness and anger, the villagers panicked and knelt down. The knight’s shouting made the sad scene even more confusing.

*Are people crazy because of the sickness?* Logan thought. He was too tired to be angry. He walked silently past the soldiers, past the dead bodies. Then he saw the sick people. It was a terrible sight. Some people’s faces were just red, and they were lucky. Others had bright red rashes all over their bodies. The rashes stuck out from their skin. Sick people coughed and scratched themselves until they bled.

“Hot, itchy,” one person mumbled, not even knowing what they were doing. Some people were unconscious, foam coming from their mouths, blood from their eyes and ears. Everywhere, people were collapsed, their skin cracked and bleeding, yellow pus coming out. They looked like they were dying. The air smelled of sickness and death.

“Please save my mom! Save my mom!” A child, his face red with fever, ran to Logan.

“Kid, stop!” a knight yelled.

“Please, save her!” the child cried. “Sir, please!” Behind the child, a woman reached out weakly. She looked like his mother. She was too weak to speak. Her skin was cracked and bleeding, and she was clearly very sick.

Logan said to Bishop Ilia, “Ilia, I leave this to you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she replied. The priests stepped forward. Ilia spoke to the villagers. “We are from the temple. We are here to help. Please come to us in order, starting with those who are sick.” The villagers looked confused and lost. They stared at Ilia in her clean white robes.

The villagers all thought the same thing: *What is happening?* Dead bodies were all around them. There was a terrible sickness, and now a massacre. And now, priests – people they had never seen before in their small village – had arrived. No wonder they were confused. Ilia saw their faces and spoke again, softly.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “The soldiers will not hurt you anymore. We are here to heal you from the sickness. If you are sick, please come forward.” Ilia’s gentle voice helped a little. The villagers, who had just gone through something terrible, started to move slowly.

Among the priests and villagers, some healers were talking.

“Let’s help!” one said.

“Wait,” another replied. “Maybe we should wait until the priests treat them first.”

“We are not miracle workers like Gilbert,” a third healer mumbled. Gilbert cleared his throat. “Have you forgotten the King’s orders? The priests will treat us first if we get sick. Remember our mission is most important.” The healers looked unsure, but they followed Gilbert into the village. First, they carefully checked everyone and wrote down their symptoms. Then, the priests started to treat people. The healers would use this information to find ways to help, maybe with herbs or other remedies. This plan was made even before they arrived in Raftan.

*Divine power can heal anything,* they believed, *but even priests have limited power.* That’s why sicknesses still happened long ago, even when the temple was very strong. So, Gilbert said they should try to find a cure here in Raftan, working with the priests. Logan agreed right away. He hoped this plan would stop the sickness for good.

Logan gave orders. “No one can travel between villages from today. Each village is now closed off. Wait for the relief teams to arrive. They will bring food and everything you need.”

“Yes, sir!” everyone replied. Logan wanted to go and help the sick people himself. But people stopped him.

“Your Majesty, you don’t need to do that,” someone said.

“We will do it,” another added.

“Please, let me help,” Logan started to say.

“No, Your Majesty,” Gilbert said. “We know you want to help, but it would make everyone uncomfortable if you took care of the sick yourself. Just being here is a great help to us.” Logan knew Gilbert was right. He sighed and stepped back. He watched the healers and priests working together. He helped by telling people where to give out supplies and food.

As Logan watched, he saw and heard things that made him angry. Some priests were whispering to each other.

“Why are we helping these ordinary people?” one said.

“I just had bad luck in the lottery to end up here,” another complained.

“Let’s just pretend to heal them,” a third whispered. “Don’t waste real divine power on these nobodies. They are not knights or nobles.” Anyone who heard these words would be shocked. Logan’s eyes turned bright red with anger. *How dare they!* he thought. The priests thought they were whispering secretly, but Logan could hear everything in the village.

Logan walked quickly towards the priests. “You priests,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “What did you just say?” He pointed at them. The priests, who had been whispering mean things, jumped in surprise.

“We were talking about how to best help the people, Your Majesty,” one stammered.

“Y-yes, Your Majesty,” another added quickly. They tried to lie.

“Then you need to work harder,” Logan said, his voice cold.

“Yes, yes! Of course!”

“We will, Your Majesty!” The priests’ faces changed. They started to work much faster. But…

But it wasn’t just those priests. Priest Tail was another problem. He touched a sick villager, closed his eyes for a moment, then wiped sweat from his face.

“Next!” he said, waving the woman away. The woman, her face red with fever, looked sad.

“Father,” she said quietly, “I don’t feel much better.”

“Shut up!” Tail snapped. “What do you know? Next!” Tail knew that people couldn’t see divine power. So, he pretended to heal but did nothing. *Why should I waste my precious divine power on these poor villagers?* he thought. *It takes so long to get it back.* Tail had become a priest after years of study and prayer. He knew that even a low priest like him was treated like a noble. But these villagers were nothing. *It takes three days of fasting and prayer to get my divine power back! Why should I do that for them? Maybe if they were rich…* He was only here because he had lost a lottery. Some priests had already used up all their power and were resting. But Tail wasn’t just lazy. He was also scared. *I heard some priests died from the sickness because they used up all their divine power. Am I crazy to heal these people? I need to survive too.* Tail was sure he was right to save his power.

But Tail was wrong. Someone *could* see divine power. It was the King.

“What are you doing?” Logan’s voice was like ice, right behind him. Tail jumped and turned around. Logan’s face was hard and angry.

“Y-Your Majesty! I was healing them!” Tail lied.

“Healing? It looks like you are just waving your hand and pretending.”

“B-but divine power is invisible…” Tail stammered.

“Not to me,” Logan said coldly. “Heal that woman again. And if you pretend again, I will cut off your arm.” Tail’s face turned white with fear. Logan’s voice was deadly.

“Yes, yes! Of course!” Tail had no choice. He quickly focused and really used his divine power to heal the woman. A faint glow surrounded his hands. This time, Tail was really sweating. The woman’s face changed. She looked much better. She felt lighter and stronger. She quickly stood up and bowed to Logan.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Okay, next,” Logan said. He looked at the next villager, a man who was nervously coming forward. Logan tapped Tail on the shoulder. “I’m watching you,” he said. Priest Tail’s face was still pale. He just nodded.

Logan’s threat to Tail was just the start. He walked around, watching the priests carefully. He quickly found other priests who were not working hard. He told them to work harder right away. Soon, all the priests believed that the King could really see divine power. The priests’ attitude started to change. Even though they were priests of the temple, they were also people of this kingdom. They did not want the King to be angry with them. Most of them started to work harder. But not everyone changed.

“Your Majesty, I am doing my best,” a voice said. “But I feel it’s unfair for you to treat me like this.” It was Fabian, a senior priest of Aion, the god of water and farming. Fabian was a large, plump man. He bowed to Logan, but his face looked like he was being treated unfairly. “Even though you are the King, Your Majesty,” Fabian said, “you cannot order the priests of the temple around like this!” He was bowing, but Logan could see the angry look on his face. A cold smile appeared on Logan’s lips as he looked at Fabian.