Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 18

Logan thought, “This is amazing! This is really working!” He knew just meditating wasn’t enough.

After the problem with his planned marriage, Logan stopped sleeping much and started meditating every night. He thought this was better than just pushing his body harder in training, because his body was already stronger than a Force User needed to be. It was working well. He was used to it now, and even small tiredness was gone.

But when things got really tough, like now with this hard training, his Force Core seemed to burst out and quickly make him strong again. It felt even stronger than when he meditated. He was tired in his body, yes, but seeing his Force Core grow stronger right now made him smile happily.

So, Logan said what he really felt. “You knights train like this all the time? No wonder you are so strong! I really respect you all.” Logan also wanted to flatter them a little, but his words made it impossible for Heinkel and the knights to stop training now.

“‘Ha, haha. Really? Th-thank you for saying so,’ Heinkel laughed nervously and bowed his head. The knights watching him looked like they were going to explode with anger.

‘This is crazy…’

‘Ugh, that awful guy. How much more is he going to make us suffer?’

‘Why did he even come here?’

‘You are insane!’

‘Please, just leave us alone!’

Because of this, the knights became even angrier at Logan, even though Logan didn’t mean to make them angrier.

The next training was climbing a cliff. It ended suddenly when half the knights just fell down, completely exhausted. The tired knights wanted to shout in frustration, but they were too tired to even speak. Logan patted Heinkel’s shoulder again and again, looking like he felt sorry for them. ‘I still have high hopes for you, Commander,’ Logan said. He really meant it as a compliment, but Heinkel still looked very unhappy.

When the sun went down, Logan went back to the villa in the south. But instead of going to his room, he went to the mountain. His Force Core made his body recover quickly, but he thought his mind should still be tired. Everyone gets mentally tired, but Logan felt no mental tiredness at all, which was strange even to him.

“‘This must be because of the Force Core too…'”

Logan smiled. He could feel his Force Core pulsing strongly, like it was proud of itself. He reached a quiet mountain ridge where nobody could see him and used his power as much as he could. Then, a soft golden light began to glow around the long sword in his hand.

Logan looked at the light and felt very pleased. He swung his sword in the air.

Even though it was just a light swing, the sword sliced through the air with a loud sound, and a wave of force pushed outwards. He only had a 1-Star Force Core, but it was already giving him power close to a knight who was at the middle level.

Being a Force User at the middle level meant he could not just make his body stronger, but also put power into things. He had already managed to send energy into the sword, even if it was still weak. It looked like he would reach the middle level naturally as time passed.

This new, stronger Force felt amazing in his body. It was much better than the basic Force he knew before. It made him much stronger and healed him quickly. He felt like he could fight a whole group of weaker knights all by himself.

“‘If I’m already this strong at just 1-Star, how strong will I be at 2-Star?’ Maybe he could become as strong as his father, Patrick McLaine, who was a very powerful knight. A power so strong it could scare enemies just by being there. His hands shook just thinking about reaching that level of power.”

If he could get just a little stronger before the war for the land, his own power could change everything in the war. It could be as important as having the crossbow soldiers on horses. ‘I have to work harder,’ Logan thought. His eyes shining with determination, he swung his sword strongly for a long time before going down the mountain late at night.

After that day, Logan’s routine became almost fixed. He faithfully participated in the knights’ training and devoted himself to solitary training in the evenings, seemingly without fatigue. Every few days, he would check on Hamar’s progress and the mercenary company’s training situation. Occasionally, he would also look in on Ronian’s swordsmanship training or Viktor’s condition.

Of course, unlike the results of his training, which he was satisfied with, there were still conflicts in other areas.

“‘Is this all you can do? Is this really your best work? Then just stop! Maybe you should just make knives instead!'”

The small crossbow and the part that held the arrows flew through the air, hit the wall, and fell to the floor. Hamar’s face shook with anger as he watched.

“‘M-Master,’ Hamar stammered. ‘This shoots faster and further than any crossbows that exist…'”

“‘But what about the fast shooting I asked for? It only shoots once at a time! And the arrow holder? Who said I wanted one that was built in?'”

“‘B-but…'”

“‘Oh, goodness. I’m sorry, Hamar. I was too hard on you.'”

“‘That’s right! Even if you are the master, you should respect the pride of a craftsman…'”

“‘Well, if this is really your best, then I guess I have to accept it. I’ll just have to be happy with this. Sigh, did I really spend all this money just for this…'”

Hamar’s face fell apart like paper when he heard Logan’s sad words, which Logan made sure to say very loudly.

“‘Ugh… One week! I’ll make a new one in one week!'”

Finally, the dwarf, who had broken the thing he had just made, rushed out of Logan’s room, breathing heavily and angrily.

Only when the door was closed, Logan smiled, feeling pleased. ‘If I push him a bit more, he’ll make something incredible, right? He really is a dwarf.’ If Hamar had heard this, he would have grabbed his neck and fallen to the ground in shock.

Two weeks later.

Hundreds of warhorses ran fast across the field. The riders held crossbows, the kind used for hunting.

“‘Ready!'”

Even while riding fast, all the riders lifted their crossbows at the same time and pointed them at one place.

“‘Fire!'”

The crossbow arrows, shot at the same moment by 312 riders, flew quickly across the field and hit a group of Krolls that were running towards them.

The Krolls screamed in a horrible way. These were weak monsters, like wild dogs, and many of them died at once. Just one shot had killed more than half of the Kroll group, which looked like it had more than 100 monsters.

Even though the Kroll group, with their eyes red with anger, kept running forward, the horse riders moved away from them in circles around the field.

After some time, when the monsters were tired from running, the horse riders turned around and shot another volley of arrows. This time, all the Krolls were killed. But Logan, watching from the mountain, still didn’t look happy.

“I guess this isn’t enough after all. Why does it take so long to catch even the remaining scraps?”

“Lord Logan, this is the limit of the crossbow. If you seriously want a usable force, you should consider mounted archers instead…”

“It’s fine. It’s enough.”

“Yes?”

“Well, I’ve confirmed that they can move in unison, and their shooting skills aren’t bad considering the training period. Good work. And please keep up the good work.”

“Ah, yes. Well, I’m just doing what I’m paid for.”

Even with Logan’s praise, Kai’s face remained sullen. It was difficult for anyone, let alone him, to be satisfied with what the mercenary company had shown. He was a highly trusted A-rank mercenary, and his conscience pricked him for receiving so much pay.

‘Is this really just playing soldier? I’m confused.’

He would need much more time to resolve his curiosity.

Another two weeks passed.

“‘Master! I did it! I finished it!'”

In the workshop in a corner of the villa, Hamar shouted happily to Logan, holding a small crossbow, as long as his arm.

“‘Yes, I heard. That’s why I came. Let’s see it.'”

But when Logan looked at the crossbow, he didn’t look very pleased. He had hurried here when he heard the crossbow was ready, but the crossbow Hamar was holding was not what he had imagined.

‘Why is it so tiny?’

Usually, with weapons, smaller means worse. Especially for weapons that shoot things using a string, like bows and crossbows. The smaller they are, the weaker they are. So, it was not surprising that Logan looked unhappy.

“‘Haha! You look surprised by the size, right? Don’t worry! It works even better than what you asked for!'”

Hamar saw what Logan was thinking and confidently took his hand, leading him away. And then, in an open space on the mountain, Logan went with a mix of hope and doubt. There, for the first time, Logan understood how truly amazing the work of this dedicated dwarf was.

With just the sound of the string being pulled back, two bolts (crossbow arrows) shot through the air. The bolts flew from the string, traveled over 300 meters in a flash, and went deep into the target, disappearing completely. Logan’s mouth dropped open in shock at the power.

A normal crossbow could only shoot well up to about 150 meters. But this crossbow, which was half the size, shot two bolts at the same time, and they went more than twice as far!

And then, in less than 5 seconds, it happened again. It wasn’t like he was shooting two crossbows. When Hamar pulled a small lever next to the crossbow, another bolt was loaded by itself. It only took 5 seconds to reload.

“‘Ahem, what do you think? I made it shoot one less arrow than you first asked, but it’s easy to hold in one hand, and you can change the arrow holder easily…'”

Hamar kept talking, explaining things in a proud way, but Logan wasn’t listening to anything.

‘The range is a bit shorter than the best crossbows I remember from the Empire, but it’s much better for soldiers on horseback.’

One of the weapons he had planned was now finished, and it worked much better than he had hoped. Also, there were still six months before the war for the land, just like in his past life. Suddenly, Hamar, with his short, strong body, looked more wonderful than any treasure. So, Logan just hugged the old dwarf tightly, even though Hamar was still talking excitedly about how great the weapon was, with spit flying from his mouth, and lifted him into the air.

“‘Haha! Amazing! Amazing, Hamar! Long live the dwarves! No, long live Hamar!'”

At that moment, all the worries he always had in his mind just vanished. But Hamar’s happiness wouldn’t last.

“‘How many can you make?'”

“‘Enough for 400 people.'”

“‘400… You…!'”

Even while looking at the dwarf with a face that looked like he was about to cry, Logan asked, not worried at all, “’How long will it take to make them all?'”

If he could get these crossbows, it would really help with his plans for the future.

“‘If I take my time, maybe 6 months…'”

“‘Make everything ready in 2 months. Can you do that?'”

When he heard this crazy request to make it three times faster, Hamar stepped back in shock.

“‘I won’t do it! No, I can’t! It’s completely impossible!'”

“‘Are you saying you can’t do it even if you try your hardest?'”

“‘It’s completely impossible! Have you even thought about how much work it is to make these? Just making the shorter arrows for the first model takes so much time…'”

“‘Okay, what do you need then?'”

“‘I need at least five helpers who know how to make things.'”

When he heard that, Logan’s face became serious.

“‘Someone might find out about this special weapon. That can’t happen.'”

“‘Then I can’t do anything. Well, you can just wait 6 months.'”

“‘Ugh.'”

This time, Logan held his head in his hands. Hamar smiled. For the first time, he was in control.

“‘If I give you five helpers who know how to make things, can you finish in two months?'”

“‘That’s still hard. It would take at least three or four months…'”

“‘Hard means it’s possible, right?'”

“‘…Gasp.'”

Hamar being in control only lasted for a short time.

“‘Tell me straight. Is it possible? If you really try your hardest?'”

“‘Ugh…'”

“‘That means it’s possible, right?'”

“‘Damn it…'”

The dwarf agreed to try his hardest, and Logan didn’t stop pushing him.

“‘Aargh! Fine! It’s possible, it’s possible! I can do it! Damn it, why did I agree to this…'”

Only after hearing Hamar’s answer, which sounded like he was about to cry, did Logan leave the workshop, looking pleased.