Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 12

“All checks are complete. Welcome to Harun.”

After riding from Kyle for two days, they arrived at Harun, a territory in the central region.

Here, even the outer walls had thick gates, erected in double layers with many meters between them.

Therefore, unlike when he entered Kyle, Logan had to undergo a double inspection despite showing his identification papers.

There was a good reason why Harun maintained such strict security.

The moment the inner gate opened, a wave of countless people could be seen.

The bustling crowd was complex and unique in a way that differed from Kyle.

This was because a significant number of the moving crowd had shackles on their arms and legs.

“Move it, you lot!”

“Don’t dawdle!”

Everywhere, there were slaves, supervisors wielding whips, and burly figures with menacing expressions and weapons passing between them.

It was a scene so different from ordinary territories, but here, it was just a natural landscape.

“Indeed……”

It was Logan’s first visit in this life, but it was a familiar sight to him.

Harun was a royal city managing the agriculture of the Grandia Plains, the largest granary in the central region.

Originally, it was just a territory created as an agricultural city, but as slaves to work in the vast plains and mercenaries to supervise them continued to flock in, it was more often called by a nickname unrelated to its original purpose.

The city of slaves and mercenaries, or the ‘human market.’

‘I started my mercenary work here in my previous life.’

Logan was sure to feel many things seeing Harun again, but as in Kyle, there were many things to do besides thinking about his past life.

‘First……’

The top priority was to find a technician who could make the weapon he used in his previous life.

But before that……

‘I need to find an instructor first. No, a bodyguard for now.’

The slave market where Logan was looking for a technician was a dangerous place to go alone, even though it was within the city.

No matter how confident Logan was in his strength, it was a place where he could suddenly be hit in the back of the head.

It was tiresome to pay attention to such things, so he needed a bodyguard to make things easier.

‘An instructor and a bodyguard. There’s just the right person, but I wonder if he’s here now……’

Remembering his old life, Logan headed towards a familiar street he had walked countless times.

“Hey, watch where you’re going.”

“What, you got a problem?”

A street where there were far more people with swords or daggers than those without.

Two giants passing by bumped shoulders and glared at each other.

“Watch your eyes.”

“You better watch your back.”

But soon, they turned away, avoiding the glinting eyes around them, leaving behind only bluffing, menacing words.

There was one unwritten rule in Harun’s ‘second most famous street,’ the mercenary street.

Anyone who draws a weapon first will be in trouble.

This simple but certain rule maintained the security of this brutal street.

And in that dangerous but exciting atmosphere, Logan headed to a place on one side of the street where buildings with swords and shields drawn on them were gathered.

The Harun branch of Teinan, the largest mercenary guild in the Grandia Kingdom.

The spacious first floor, which looked to be a very large space, was bustling as usual, to the point where the sound of the bell on the door was meaningless.

It was hard to believe that it was just one of the three buildings of the mercenary guild, as it was so full of people.

“Here’s a request to go to the southern region……”

“Escort requests to the Empire, B-rank, five, first-come, first-served!”

“Any requests to go to the east?”

Wooden boards covered in papers advertising jobs, urgent requesters shouting next to them, and dozens of mercenaries gathered in front of them.

Among them, Logan fortunately found his target.

‘Perfect.’

Fortunately, things seemed to be going well, as his target was in the third guild building.

If he had gone out on a request far away, he would have tried to find another mercenary, but fortunately, he found the person he most wanted to find.

‘Kai……’

A gray-haired mercenary chatting with someone who appeared to be an employee of the mercenary guild at the counter.

He looked younger than Logan remembered, but his strong, serious face and a powerful body, emerald eyes, and the scar on his cheek were exactly as Logan had seen in his previous life.

‘Still the same…… No, this was his best years, right.’

He was only an A-rank mercenary because he hadn’t awakened his Force, but his swordsmanship and combat power were so great that even a knight could be surprised and defeated.

His swordsmanship, which included bows, spears, and many kinds of weapons, was enough to make him the strongest A-rank mercenary.

In addition, Kaisolon was in his forties and a great horse rider. He was a mercenary with both experience and skill.

‘But his value is much greater when he becomes an instructor than he is now as a mercenary.’

Just a year from now, after he suffered a serious injury and retired from the front lines, he would create a mercenary corps.

The mercenaries he trained there boasted superior skills to any other mercenaries of the same rank, and they made the name ‘Kaisolon Mercenary Corps’ famous everywhere mercenaries worked.

Logan from his previous life had worked with them several times and experienced their skills firsthand.

They all said Kaisolon’s teaching was why they were so good.

However, before retiring due to injury, he was said to have liked fighting himself more than teaching others.

‘I’ll have to spend a little more money.’

In any case, he was the perfect person for the mercenary group Logan planned to create.

“Kaisolon?”

Kai stared in confusion at the young nobleman who suddenly spoke to him.

Only after checking the crest on the armor did he cautiously open his mouth.

“……Yes?”

“I want to hire you long-term.”

He wondered if he was a young noble, but if he had any sense, he wouldn’t trick someone with a fake contract inside the mercenary guild.

Kai’s eyes changed to friendly ones as he looked at Logan.

“Oh? A long-term contract? Sounds good. So, how much are you thinking?”

“At least one year.”

“Oh, good. So, what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to take charge of the education and training of the C-rank mercenaries I’ll be hiring separately.”

“Education and training? Uh, you mean me?”

Kai was flustered. He had come all the way to find him, a highly paid A-rank mercenary, and was asking him to be an instructor?

He couldn’t help but sigh at the request he was receiving for the first time in his life.

“……I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’ve heard about me. I’ve never specifically trained anyone before?”

“I heard you often teach your colleagues well when needed.”

“Where did you hear that…… Ugh. I’ve just given a few pointers to some young ones, thinking it might help with the mission, but that’s all……”

“So, are you saying no?”

“It’s not that…… I’d understand if it were a combat mission, but I’ve never been an instructor……”

He was almost saying no.

But the answer was different from what he expected.

“I’ll give you 4,000 gold a month.”

Kaisolon’s eyes trembled slightly at those words.

The maximum pay for an A-rank mercenary was usually 2,000 gold per month.

The young nobleman who had suddenly appeared was offering twice that amount.

“I’ll say it again, I’ve never been an instructor……”

“6,000 gold. Per month.”

“I’m sorry, but I prefer fighting missions. No amount of money can make me want to do something I don’t like……”

“8,000 gold. That’s the maximum. No more.”

Kaisolon, hesitating because the pay was four times higher, burst into a big laugh and extended his hand.

“Haha, a warrior is better than a ghost. I’m Kaisolon. Call me Kai, employer. But what do you do?”

The young noble, no, someone who gives a lot of money, smiled and took his hand.

Kai was briefly surprised to hear that Logan was not a son of a border count preparing for war somewhere, but the eldest son of the McLaine family, who are barons.

“Aren’t you curious? Why I’m trying to hire mercenaries in this remote, quiet and out-of-the-way place called McLaine?” Logan asked.

“If you pay well enough, there’s no reason for me to be curious, employer,” Kai responded.

“You have the right mindset.”

“Of course,” Kai answered confidently, but his expression turned peculiar the moment he heard Logan’s next destination.

“The slave market?”

Mercenaries and slaves. The reason for coming to Harun from the McLaine territory was clear, but Kai couldn’t understand why a young nobleman was doing this alone.

Kai usually didn’t ask questions, and he didn’t ask now. Logan also didn’t bother to explain.

“Right. There might be some troublesome things happening, so keep a sharp lookout,” Logan said.

“That won’t be a problem. There’s no one here who wouldn’t recognize me,” Kai stated boldly.

Logan looked at Kai with renewed interest at his bold statement and nodded.

Kai was about 180cm tall, not particularly large for a mercenary, but his lean physique, the scar on his face, and the various weapons he had equipped all over his body made him seem very threatening.

He looked like someone you would want to stay away from, even if you didn’t know him.

A market where people are traded is always a place where problems arise. Kai had the perfect look to guard the slave market.

“Welcome! What kind of slave are you looking for? Just tell me your requirements…”

“Hey, young master! Come over here! We offer slaves cheaper than anywhere else!”

Harun’s central street was lined with huge, wide tents on both sides, all with their entrances wide open. Inside, slaves with dirty and ragged appearances stood in rows under the watch of mercenaries.

This was the slave market, Harun’s most famous attraction.

It wasn’t officially permitted, but the tents that had started to appear gradually increased in number with the territory allowing it to happen without saying so.

Eventually, the largest human market in the Grandia Kingdom was created, and now it was considered normal to come to Harun’s slave market to buy slaves within the kingdom.

‘That means problems happen every day,’ Logan thought.

These slaves were people from countries they had fought in wars, children of bad criminals, people who ran away from taxes or hard work, or people who owed too much money.

Logan quickly moved, receiving the dark gazes of various people, each with numerous stories.

‘I never get used to it,’ he thought.

Was it because he had seen many displaced people who had fallen into slavery after the kingdom fell in his previous life? In Logan’s eyes, both the managers and the slaves seemed to be in a similar situation.

Regardless of his complicated feelings, the crowd parted as if by magic every time he moved.

This was thanks to Kai, who was following right behind him.

A group of thugs who had approached, thinking of Logan as a naive boy, turned away as soon as they saw Kai behind him.

Thanks to that, Logan arrived at his destination without any trouble, with a satisfied smile.

It was a small, red tent with its entrance closed.

You could often see such small tents in the corner of the slave market.

Despite its small size, it had more guards or mercenaries stationed there than other large tents.

In front of the tent, a middle-aged man guarded by mercenaries spoke leisurely.

“Young master. Do you know where you’ve come…”

“I came to buy a dwarf. Open it,” Logan said.

“Oh, you’ve come to the right place. We give special care to other races of slaves because they are precious. Come in, come in here.”

At Logan’s words, the slave trader’s attitude changed and the red tent opened.

Slaves in slightly different forms, trapped in sturdy iron bars, came into Logan’s view.

The first thing that caught his eye were two pointy-eared beauties whose beauty seemed to shine even through their shabby clothes.

They were sitting powerlessly with dead eyes, as if they had given up on everything, but even that looked beautiful.

“They are elves that were difficult to obtain. Have you ever seen elves anywhere else? If I were to talk about them…”

They were elves, always the most popular slaves because they stayed young for hundreds of years and were more beautiful than humans.

“Huh…”

Even Logan in his previous life had not seen the beautiful appearance of other races many times, and Kai, who had been active in this place for a long time, couldn’t take his eyes off them, constantly exclaiming in admiration, as if he hadn’t seen elves often.

The old man continued to explain with a constant smile, but Logan showed no interest at all.

“Enough. Take out that slave over there,” Logan said.

Rather, what he wanted was the small, stocky slave next to them.

“Ah… yes, yes. Right, you said you were looking for a dwarf? Of course. Take him out!”

When the young man showed no reaction even with the elf beauties in front of him, the old man gave instructions to the mercenaries with a sullen look.

Looking at him, Logan chuckled inwardly.

‘I refuse buying things just because they look pretty, old man,’ Logan thought.

It was clear that elves were the most preferred slaves, but that was because of their appearance.

Logan, who was only interested in war right now, had no reason to pay attention to them.

Rather, the dwarf slave, who looked particularly uglier because he was next to them, was much more valuable to Logan.

“Ugh. Damn.”

The dwarf, whose height would only reach about the waist of a normal human adult, with broad shoulders and a long white beard that came down to his navel, showed a nervous reaction to the mercenaries trying to lift him up.

He didn’t seem intimidated, even though he was bound by shackles that looked as heavy as his thick hands and feet.

“As you can see, he looks exactly like a dwarf. You’ll have many uses if you take him. He’s said to be one of the few master craftsmen among the artisan race of dwarves, and he’s strong and has good stamina…”

“A master craftsman!?” Logan’s eyes widened involuntarily.

As the old man said, the dwarf race was born with delicate craftsmanship that didn’t match those thick fingers.

They create and refine something from childhood until they die, finding the meaning of life in it.

‘And on top of that, he’s a master craftsman,’ Logan thought.

He was exactly the ‘technician’ that Logan needed right now, no, he exceeded expectations.

Then there was no need to hesitate.

“Okay, how much?”

At the straightforward question, the old man smiled awkwardly and held up two fingers.

“Haha, since he’s a master craftsman, you’ll have to pay at least 200,000…”

“Tsk. Do you think I’m an easy target?”

At those words, Logan turned around without hesitation.

Even if the value of other races of slaves was great, a price several hundred times that of a healthy slave was an amount that would be difficult to come up with unless he was being taken very lightly.

Moreover, dwarf slaves had a fatal ‘disadvantage’ that was different from their fame as an artisan race.

“It’s not like the red tent is only here…”

“Wait, wait a minute, young master!”

The slave trader hurriedly called out to Logan and started bargaining.

Eventually, the deal was barely concluded after the price of the dwarf was lowered to 50,000 gold.

“Human. You’re ruthless,” the dwarf said, looking at the slave trader sprinkling salt behind him, like a bad luck charm after the deal.

It was a tone that didn’t suit a slave at all, but Logan only shrugged his shoulders without any unpleasant reaction to those words.

“Well, it’s basic.”

It was easier to kill a dwarf slave than to make him speak politely.

They rebel the more you suppress them. That’s why they were not an easy race to handle as slaves.

The continent knew that even if their bodies were bound, they would try to protect their pride with words, the stubbornness of a forgotten race.

“Where am I going now?”

“You will be going to the McLaine territory in the southwest. And you will be making the things I ask for,” Logan replied.

“I see…”

Sadness showed in the eyes of the answering dwarf.

In fact, most people who tried to buy the artisan race of dwarves wanted the same thing.

However, there were hardly any owners who were completely satisfied with the work made by a dwarf who had been forced into slavery.

No matter how much of an artisan race they were, an object made without enthusiasm could not become a true work of art.

However, even taking that into account, they were only sold at a high price because they demonstrated better skills than human blacksmiths.

In addition, the difference in performance resulting from the presence or absence of motivation was more severe for Hamarr, the dwarf who was sold to Logan, than for ordinary members of his race.

Sometimes, even he, a high-ranking dwarf artisan, was worse than a human blacksmith.

It was fortunate that he was resold without being killed by his angry former owner because of that.

‘It’s not like I want to die, but…’ Hamarr thought.

Motivation is not something that can be controlled by oneself.

However, whether the new owner knew that fact or not, he brought out a proposal that made his eyes light up.

“20 years. If you make things for me with all your effort for the next 20 years, I am willing to send you back to the mountains.”

Hamarr’s eyes shook greatly at those words.