Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 159

The room where the royal family made decisions was now red with blood. It was the worst thing to ever happen in Grandia’s thousand years of history.

Soldiers and nobles saw what happened. They told everyone. Quickly, all of Grandia heard about Logan McLane’s terrible act.

The very next day, Logan spoke. “I want to see Prince Rogers. Take me to him.”

Francisco Romero, the head of the Royal Knights, went white as a ghost when he heard Logan.

“He won’t hurt the prince, will he? The prince who will be king?” Francisco hoped this was true. He walked forward, but he didn’t want to. Logan and his knights looked angry and dangerous. Francisco could almost feel their desire for violence.

“Lord Logan, please wait,” said a knight guarding the Sword Master’s house. “The Prince will be here soon.”

Logan stopped. His group, which had been walking through the streets with everyone watching, also stopped.

“Is he going to imprison or kill the prince too?”

“Surely not……”

“Surely not, what? Didn’t you hear what happened yesterday?”

“The fact that he gathered so many people might mean……”

More and more people whispered quietly. Francisco, who was leading Logan, realized something was wrong. He had forgotten something important in all the confusion.

‘Logan is the Sword Master’s student. He must know the prince is here. Did he really need me to show him the way?’ Francisco thought, ‘Are we, the Royal Knights, just doing Logan’s small jobs?’

Francisco’s face became serious. Then, the gates opened. A young man came out. He had white-blonde hair and blue eyes. Knights in armor stood beside him. Their armor had eagles on it. It was Prince Rogers von Grandia, the Third Prince.

Everything went quiet when he appeared. It was strange, but people looked at Logan, not the Prince.

Thud. Thud. The Prince walked slowly down the steps. He looked a little nervous. His knights looked very serious, like statues.

Thump.

“Logan McLane greets Prince Rogers von Grandia,” Logan said. He knelt down on one knee and put his fist over his heart to show great respect.

People’s eyes opened wide to see Logan bow so low.

Thump. Thump.

“We greet the Prince!”

Logan’s knights shouted together, following his lead. Their loud voices made the tense silence in the streets disappear.

The Prince, who had looked a little nervous, smiled gently. Louis Haion, who was guarding the Prince and looked very worried, sighed and took his hand off his sword.

“Lord Logan……”

“I can finally keep the promise we made long ago. Sorry I’m late.”

“A promise…?” the Prince asked. He looked confused for a moment, then laughed a little.

“Yes… we did make a promise. Yes, we did… Ha…” His small laugh grew louder and louder. Soon he was laughing loudly, and everyone could hear him.

“Hahaha! I never thought the promise would come true like this. Thank you for everything, Lord Logan.”

The Prince took Logan’s hand and helped him stand up. He patted Logan’s shoulder. Without thinking, the Prince spoke to Logan in a polite way for the first time. That one polite word made Logan very powerful.

Louis let go of the Prince, and Logan took him to the royal palace. Then, they told everyone in the country that the Prince would be the new king. Logan and his knights stayed in the palace, saying they were there to protect the Prince until he became king.

“The Royal Knights are supposed to protect the palace, Lord Logan!”

“Yes, Your Highness. Should we do that?”

“If I could trust the Royal Knights, would I have had to hide at the Sword Master’s house? Lord Logan, I want you to stay with me.”

“I will always be loyal to you.”

“Count Francisco?”

“…I will do what you say.”

From then on, Logan’s knights started to guard the royal palace instead of the Royal Knights. The next day, Logan told all the nobles in the capital to come to the palace. He said it was for a temporary meeting to plan for the new government.

‘Lord Logan McLane… please come in.’ The call was strange, without any title. The palace servants who were guarding the big room spoke in shaky voices. Maybe it was the first time they spoke like that. No one laughed at their shaking voices.

Instead, all the nobles in the big room stood up when they saw the red-haired young man come in.

“Oh, don’t stand up,” Logan said. “Please sit down. Being too polite makes me uncomfortable. I don’t even have a title. And sorry I’m late.”

Logan smiled gently and sat in the most important chair. He got right to the point.

“I asked you to come here because we need to make a new government group. Prince Rogers isn’t king yet, but we still need people to do the work, even if it’s just to get ready for the day he becomes king.”

A new government group. That meant the nobles in the room could become the new leaders. The nobles, who had been hidden away because of fights between groups, suddenly looked very eager.

Even though they looked eager, no one spoke up right away.

“Well,” Count Roberts Floyd said, smiling politely. “Lord Logan got rid of the bad guys and made a new country. We should just trust Lord Logan and do what he wants. We can’t be selfish.”

The other nobles nodded, agreeing with him.

“That’s right!”

“Who would argue with Lord Logan’s smart ideas?”

“We must trust the people Lord Logan chooses, no matter what.” Smart ideas? Trust no matter what?

Logan smiled, but it was a fake smile. The praise was too much.

But this entire situation was what he had intended from the start.

Logan stopped himself from twitching and kept talking.

“Hmm,” Logan said. “It seems no one else has ideas. So, I will share mine. Here is a list of people for minister jobs. I picked them based on what *I* think.”

The nobles looked quickly at the papers and sighed softly.

They didn’t need to read all the names. The first name on the list showed Logan’s plan.

[Prime Minister: Earl Roberts Floyd]

He put his future father-in-law’s name right at the top. Earl Roberts Floyd was the most important government worker in the kingdom.

And the list below was filled with names of those who were usually close to Earl Roberts Floyd.

Selections based on friendship rather than ability.

It looked like a bad list, one that could hurt the country. But no one said anything against it.

“Ahaha… Sa… ahem,” Earl Roberts Floyd laughed nervously. “Logan thinks too highly of me. I am just a simple man. But I will work hard for the country.”

Even though they had planned this all before, Roberts Floyd made it seem natural and friendly.

“A *very* smart choice,” one noble said, hoping Logan would notice him.

“Yes, Logan. You are very wise,” another added quickly.

“We all agree!” shouted a third, clapping loudly.

Everyone smiled and clapped, even those not on the list. They all hoped to get something good from Logan.

‘In my past life, I killed all the government workers who followed the First Prince and ruined the country. These men will be better than *them*, at least. And some of these people were fired because of fights between groups.’

This list, made with help from Earl Roberts Floyd, would be better than the group of ministers from my past life.

‘And they will have no choice but to follow my orders.’

Feeling confident, Logan spoke again, his voice sounding calm and polite.

“If anyone has any objections, please state them immediately.”

There was no way there would be any objections.

“Then I will tell the King about this list. He will be happy that you nobles all agreed so quickly.”

Agreement?

More like an agreement between two people.

The same thought crossed the minds of everyone except Logan and Earl Roberts.

Naturally, no one objected.

“Of course, you will officially get the jobs after the King’s crowning ceremony. Those on the list should use this time to get ready.”

For the first time since entering the Grand Hall, Logan gave a genuine smile.

In his past life, he didn’t care about government jobs, so he never heard any news about good leaders.

People don’t usually talk about good government leaders like they talk about famous knights or magic users.

But he had a small safety plan.

“For the workers who will do the real work, we will first hire people who lost their jobs because of fights between ministers. And we will get more workers from the Government School. Does anyone disagree?”

“None!”

One of the few nobles genuinely smiling among those gathered.

Roberts Floyd laughed loudly and agreed. The meeting, which was just about picking ministers, quickly finished.

* * *

Even though one group won the civil war and took control, things were still messy.

It took more than a week to deal with the mess after the last battle in McLaine. Then, the Sword Master returned to the capital city, Grand, a week later.

And when the Sword Master finally entered Grand…

The capital was buzzing with the news of what Logan had done.

The Sword Master thought about what he heard for a long time. Then, he went to find Logan. His face looked serious.

“Did you really have to go that far? The royal children were barely over ten years old.”

“I thought I had to get rid of anyone who could cause trouble later. But I didn’t kill the last royal child.”

The Sword Master was quiet for a moment. He watched Logan, who sounded like he was sorry he hadn’t killed the last royal child. The Sword Master had just told him off for killing the others!

“…Do you truly believe that is what is best for the country?”

“Yes,” Logan said. “I do. Thinking about what will happen when Rogers becomes king, this is the best thing to do.”

“And it’s not driven by your own ambition?”

“Of course not.”

The Sword Master looked closely at Logan. He couldn’t see any sign that Logan wanted power for himself.

But that made him feel even more uneasy.

“Did you come to the capital first to do this? Afraid I would stop you?”

“…I didn’t want to involve you in this dirty work, Master.”

“Excuses… Hah. Well, at least you know it’s wrong.”

“…Master.”

Logan’s expression darkened.

“I won’t mess up what I’ve already done. Don’t worry.”

“…Thank you.”

“But remember one thing. You have already crossed a line.”

“Yes?”

“You have reasons for what you did, and you think it’s right. So, I will ignore it *this time*. But I am worried.”

The Sword Master’s eyes, filled with meaning, met Logan’s wavering gaze.

“What are you saying…?”

“You need to know where the line is – the line you should never cross. If you start thinking it’s okay to cross that line, even a little bit, you will become like Jordan and Juan.”

“Master, that’s…”

“You swore before that you wouldn’t resemble those men, didn’t you? Don’t disappoint me any further.”

They were silent for a moment. Then, Logan spoke, his voice low and serious.

“…I will never change.”

“We’ll see.”

“…?”

“If you were the Logan I first met, wouldn’t you have told me the truth just now? That you left me and came to the capital *just* to do this?”

Logan flinched.

Logan’s eyes opened wide. He was shocked by what his master said.

Looking at his disciple, the Sword Master sighed softly.

“People always change, Logan. Just as I, who used to stake my life on keeping my word, have changed to protect you.”

“That’s really… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It was my choice. But you need to know that *you* have changed too. And remember this: everyone, even a king’s servant, no, everyone, has a line they must not cross to stay human. When you can’t see that line anymore, you become a monster. Like Jordan, who you killed.”

With those words, the Sword Master turned and walked away. Logan just stood there, staring at his master’s back for a long time.