Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 168

Heavy breaths filled the air.

“This is crazy…” one knight gasped.

“This is madness!” another groaned.

The new knights training were suffering. Their voices were full of pain.

The morning run started easily at the training grounds. But then it went on and on, ten times around the huge McLaine Town. At first, most knights still had some energy left.

But then came the horse training. They had to run while carrying their horses! Just hearing the name made everyone surprised and confused. Trying to do it was even worse. More than half the knights cried out in pain. Muscles screamed, backs ached, and sweat poured down their faces.

And when they started climbing the rock wall with boulders attached, almost every knight began to groan.

‘Could they really be planning to get rid of many of us?’

The thought crossed their minds.

This very hard physical training even caused beads of sweat to form on the brow of Jorge, the highest-ranking knight. He had only been doing swordsmanship training for the past decade instead of physical conditioning.

Yet, he silently persevered with the training.

His determination to settle in McLaine was one reason, but there was also another…

“C-Captain. Can’t you step up and say something…?”

“Quiet, Denmil. Watch where you’re going. What can I say in this situation?”

“Ugh. I suppose not.”

It was clear that the existing McLaine knights were undergoing the same training as them. They weren’t just instructors; they were suffering with them. Jorge couldn’t quit if they weren’t quitting.

Even more than that, the regular knights were completing this extremely tough training with calm expressions.

“This is the McLaine Knights’ usual training. This insane training. No wonder they’re so strong.”

Hearing those words, Denmil’s complaints stopped. The other knights around them, who had been listening to their conversation, nodded in agreement.

After the civil war, people talked about McLaine. They mostly talked about Logan McLaine and their weapons.

But most of the knights who had fought with them directly in the war added another reason.

– McLaine knights are stronger than other knights of the same level. They easily beat knights of the same rank and can even bother higher-ranking knights.

Jorge felt like he had glimpsed the source of that power today.

And without them knowing, that conversation made Logan smile as he listened to their voices while leading the group from afar.

Several hours later.

“Alright, everyone, take a break!”

“Whoa! I’m alive!”

“Shh, quiet. My ears are ringing.”

The physical training ended with about ten regular knights dropping out because it was so intense.

‘Brutal…’

The training was enough to surprise Jorge.

What he found particularly harsh was going back to the training grounds from the cliff after the physical training.

Even then, they had to carry their horses—a terrible finishing touch.

They had been relieved at the thought of riding back, only to be caught off guard.

Most of the ten or so dropouts were because of that.

“This knight order just… carries horses around, haa… Is this even possible?”

“Th-There must be a reason.”

“Yeah. A reason to make us suffer.”

Everyone was exhausted and collapsed on the spot after the extreme training they had never experienced before.

“From now on, I will teach you the Iron Blood Sword. It is the symbol of the McLaine Knights. It is an intermediate swordsmanship technique held by our knight order, and we are proud that it is the highest level of intermediate swordsmanship. Everyone, stand up!”

“Ugh!”

“Intermediate swordsmanship?”

Screams and questions happened at the same time.

“The swordsmanship instruction will be one instructor for every two people. The existing McLaine knights will teach two knights of the same rank. Those who are learning should treat them as teachers and be humble, at least while training. And that teacher will also be responsible for becoming the senior knight of their temporary students in the future, teaching them the culture of McLaine, unless there are special reasons.”

The faces of the knights from McLaine lit up.

‘The young lord is really trying to treat us well.’

But at the same time, the faces of the new knights who had collapsed turned sad.

They were thinking that the good treatment they had received for the past few days was all a trick to make them suffer in this training.

‘These mean people.’

And training with swords? And treating them like teachers with the respect of a student?

‘I might actually die.’

The eyes of the fallen knights all focused on one place.

Jorge, who felt those eyes on him, sighed a little and stood up from his seat.

He also thought this was a bit much, but for a different reason.

“Young Lord. I’m sorry, but the knights from the Calia Knights already know intermediate swordsmanship called Wind Breaker. Why learn something new now…?”

“You don’t want to learn?”

“It’s not that, but…”

“Sir Jorge. Then would you like to test it out first?”

Logan smirked.

Jorge, seeing the amusement in those red eyes, felt scared.

“I only use the Iron Blood Sword. You can use any method you can.”

His confident words didn’t matter.

Jorge knew that Logan was stronger than him.

But even so.

Thud.

“Now, take your sword. Ah, you can use your special sword.”

“…Excuse me?”

Logan’s words as he picked up a wooden sword were sure to hurt his pride.

“My special sword is a 3-class artifact…”

“It doesn’t matter. Do everything you can.”

“…”

Jorge’s face became very serious.

He wanted his skills to be recognized, not to be ignored.

‘Even so, this is…’

Crack.

He knew that while it was impossible for him, those who were very talented even among the highest-ranking knights could use Force Blades without a sword to replace it.

He also guessed that the monster named Logan McLaine was good enough to do that.

But even so, the difference between a real sword and a wooden sword was big.

Just because you can use something else instead of a sword, doesn’t mean a real sword isn’t better.

The power of Force makes the weapon one has stronger. To face a real sword with a wooden sword was something one would do to someone who was weaker.

Also, he was told that he could use an artifact?

‘Weren’t you able to stand against superhumans thanks to that sword and other artifacts? But with bare hands and a wooden sword? Against me? This Jorge?’

The strong emotions made him angry.

“If you wish…”

Swoosh.

“As you command.”

A red light came from the end of his special sword, Fortitudo.

However…

“Understanding your place is…”

Wham!

“More important than anything else to a knight.”

Thwack!

“And what can you do with swordsmanship like this?!”

Pow!

“Ugh, cough…”

Jorge fell to the ground along with the loud sounds of the hits.

The highest-ranking knight had been completely beaten without landing a single hit on someone known to be of the same rank, and then collapsed.

The eyes of the onlookers, twice as wide as before, turned towards the sadly fallen Jorge.

Jorge was looking at Logan with eyes full of surprise rather than embarrassment.

Cough.

“H-How can there be such a difference? Could it be…?”

“It’s just the difference in swordsmanship.”

Logan looked at Jorge. He saw something in Jorge’s eyes – maybe challenge, maybe anger. Logan smiled a little and tossed the wooden sword.

The wooden sword flew through the air and hit Jorge hard on the forehead with a *thwack*.

“Ugh…….”

Jorge fell to the ground, holding his head. Everyone else watched in silence.

“Well, that showed him! Anyone else want to try?”

Instead of sword fighting, everyone just stood in lines and practiced basic moves together, saying the forms out loud.

The plan was for older knights to teach the new ones, but this hadn’t been officially announced yet. They needed to decide who would train whom.

Logan gathered the leaders of the older knight orders and said something very surprising right away.

“Train them as hard as you want.”

“Excuse me?!”

“I mean you can push them until you’re satisfied. Just don’t kill them or leave them crippled.”

“My lord…….”

Victor, who stood next to him, looked completely confused. He stared at Logan, eyes wide.

Logan could feel Eileen’s eyes on him. He glanced at her; she was watching him with a strange, questioning look.

The knights were too shocked to say anything right away.

“They were enemies who fought to the death until recently, so just looking at them probably makes you feel bad. It’s unsettling, too. Maybe you even feel like they’re taking your place. So, I’m letting you get your anger out.”

A tempting offer.

But upon hearing those words, Digrom’s expression hardened instead.

‘I tried so hard to prevent turf wars, and now the Archduke is encouraging them?’ Digrom worried about fights breaking out between the old and new knights.

Only a fool would believe these words without thinking more.

What if the knights really quit because of it…….

“……Are you really sure about this?”

No, is that idiot serious?!

Digrom’s head snapped around.

Fortunately, he wasn’t the only one thinking that, as everyone was staring at Henderson, who had spoken, with wide eyes.

‘Does he still have no brains even after receiving a title……?’

However.

“Of course. Those who fall behind to that extent were never meant to be accepted into our knight order in the first place. So, train them as hard as you want, without holding back. Until you’re satisfied.”

The Archduke agreed with him.

‘He’s serious.’

The moment everyone felt that, the atmosphere changed completely.

How careful they had been all along, fearing talk of turf wars or sabotage.

But now the Archduke was directly and clearly expressing his intention to favor the existing knights.

Their instincts, sharpened by years of being told what to do, now came out as harsh jokes.

“I will teach them so thoroughly that it will be etched into their bones!”

Starting with Henderson’s booming voice.

“They’ll wish they could train in their dreams to escape this!”

“I’ll make them beg to leave!”

“They’ll learn to lower their eyes when I’m near!”

Digrom clicked his tongue as he watched his colleagues, who seemed like children, spouting rough jokes one after another.

‘How childish…….’

If he added a slightly more extreme remark here, his colleagues would restrain themselves.

“My lord, if a student gets seriously hurt, or even dies, during training, is the teacher responsible?”

He wanted to calm down the excited, aggressive mood, but was it a bit too much?

The atmosphere instantly turned chilly.

Did I go too far……?

“……Why? What! What’s with those looks? Am I the only piece of trash here?!”

The gazes of his colleagues were as if they were looking at something disgusting.

On top of that.

“Squad Leader of Squad 7, Sir Digrom. Follow me.”

It seemed Logan had chosen him for something.

Digrom had no choice but to follow Logan, feeling nervous.

However.

The Archduke’s first words, which Digrom thought Logan would be very angry, were surprisingly warm.

“So, Baron Digrom Sheffield. Do you like the newly received mansion?”

He mustn’t let his guard down here.

Digrom answered with great tension.

“Yes! Thanks to your consideration, I am living well.”

“Good, that’s good. But you seem a bit uncomfortable. Were you holding back your feelings a lot?”

As expected.

“I was just asking about the possibilities, just in case. I would never! Think of doing anything that would harm the family.”

Digrom quickly gave the excuse he had ready, speaking fast as he walked.

“Yes, yes. I trust you, Sir. It must have just been a joke.”

“That’s right!”

‘It’s a relief the Archduke understands,’ he thought, breathing a sigh of relief.

He chuckled.

“Surely you didn’t think that was why I called you here. Actually, I should have arranged this meeting sooner…….”

The Archduke looked at him with strange eyes and brought up the main topic.

“I wanted to talk to you about something… I heard you did really well in the last war, reaching the advanced level.”

“Yes, that’s right. I was lucky.”

“Hmm. I’m sorry, but I actually thought it was quite unexpected. I thought the leaders of Squads 1-4 would reach the advanced level first.”

He was referring to Ronian, Victor, Eileen, the three young geniuses, and Henderson, who had joined the order at the same time as Digrom himself.

People with tremendous talent, even in Digrom’s own eyes.

The three geniuses had caught up to his 15 years of training in just a few years, and Henderson was always a step ahead of him.

“No, I thought so too.”

He meant it.

He had experienced life-threatening crises one after another in the last war, and his level had risen by overcoming them, but he thought that they were talented enough to reach the advanced level soon without such experiences.

Moreover, considering their ages, the leaders of Squads 1-3 were clearly more talented than the lord, who had reached the advanced level at a young age without much war experience or intermediate swordsmanship.

‘I’ll probably be caught up with soon.’

That was also why Digrom humbly regarded his own achievements.

But the Archduke’s thoughts seemed a bit different.

“But you were the first to reach the advanced level. You can be proud. Besides, you seem to have good charisma, as everyone is picking you as the next commander of the knight order.”

“……That’s too much praise.”

“So, there’s something I want to ask.”

“Yes?”

“What do you think of Sir Jorge?”

“…….”

Digrom was speechless at Logan’s sudden question.

“……What do you mean?”

“I’m asking you, Sir Jorge and you, who do you think should be the commander?”

He didn’t think it would come to this…….

He was surprised for a moment by the very direct question, but Digrom spoke his usual thoughts.

“I think it’s best for the knight order to be led by someone with outstanding skills.”

“It’s right for Sir Jorge, who just transferred, to become the commander of the knight order?”

“Yes. That is the proper way.”

“Hmm…… That’s a very logical answer, but wouldn’t the existing knights dislike it?”

“Most of them will be satisfied with the measures you mentioned today.”

“No, no. Even if they understand it in their heads, people’s emotions won’t accept it so easily.”

What does he want me to do?

Digrom was confused.

“So, I’m thinking of giving you a chance to choose.”

“……Yes?”

Digrom’s eyes could not help but widen at Logan’s next words.