Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 185

Ro-gun felt a heavy weight in his chest as he thought about the King’s reaction.

‘I can’t let the King keep making mistakes like this.’

A huge problem still remained. It was a crisis so big that the whole kingdom needed to work together to face it with all their power. Time was running out, so they couldn’t afford to fight among themselves.

‘We have to find the people who did this.’ But his determination faced a problem right away.

“Royal Archmage Chayson said he found nothing.”

“Chayson?” Ro-gun asked, surprised.

“Yes, the Royal Archmage. He is a very powerful magic user. If even Chayson can’t find any clues with magic, it means these criminals are very good at hiding their tracks magically. They are untraceable by magic.”

“Our best trackers and the King’s own police also couldn’t find them. This made us think it was someone from inside.”

Basically, they had no real clues. Searching around the capital was now just going through the motions. Because they didn’t know who to look for, the search teams just arrested anyone who looked a little suspicious. They only caught a few criminals who were wanted for other things.

Ro-gun sighed deeply. ‘This is hopeless.’ He then used a communication device to call his territory. He hoped that a smart person he knew there could help him with this confusing problem.

[Wait, what? Why are you asking *me* about this?]

Damian’s voice was full of surprise.

[Giving me secret information like this means you really trust me, and I appreciate that… but why are you asking *me* for ideas about catching the people who attacked the King?]

He looked completely confused.

[I’m just someone who manages things here because I’m good at writing poems… Did these criminals leave behind a poem or something?]

Ro-gun suddenly remembered. Yes, that’s right. Damian Nadal was just an administrator he hired after Damian’s family lost their power. ‘Could it be that Damian became talented in a way I didn’t expect, something from his past life that I didn’t change?’ If so, then my plan to find talented people early was actually useless in Damian’s case.

His head started to hurt suddenly. He had promised himself to be more careful, but he had just blindly trusted what he knew from his past life and made assumptions. Had he become too relaxed because things were going well? Without even noticing, he had become too confident and thought he could just rely on Damian. He sighed, annoyed at himself.

Because of this, he realized he had to completely change all his plans for gathering information.

While Ro-gun was criticizing himself, Damian’s voice came from the communication device, offering an idea.

[I guess they didn’t leave any poems then. But if you still want to hear what I think, can I tell you my idea?]

“…Do you have a solution?!” Ro-gun asked quickly, hope rising in his voice.

[Well, it’s not really a solution, just an idea. And like I said, I don’t really know much about this kind of thing…] Damian replied hesitantly. Ro-gun’s hope dropped quickly. But he was so desperate now, he would try anything.

“If you have any ideas at all, please tell me.”

[Okay, um… First, I think we need to think about what we already know. If everything I’ve heard is correct…]

“It’s true,” Ro-gun confirmed.

[Okay. If that’s true, then maybe those people didn’t actually want to kill the King?]

“…What do you mean?” Ro-gun asked, confused.

[Think about it. Usually, when people try to kill a king, they are very desperate. Everything changes depending on whether they succeed or not. If these people really tried to kill the King and failed, they couldn’t have escaped so easily and left no trace. Unless they planned for failure from the very beginning…]

“Ah…!!” Ro-gun suddenly understood. It was like a light bulb turning on in his head. Damian was explaining exactly what had been bothering him about the attack, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“So, you’re saying they…?”

[Usually, when something strange happens, the person who gains the most from it is probably the one who did it. But in this case, no one seems to gain anything. So, it’s more likely that this attack was meant to hurt someone.]

“…Me?” Ro-gun asked, his voice quiet.

[Huh? What are you talking about?] Damian asked, sounding even more confused.

Ro-gun sighed and explained, “The King thinks I planned the attack on him. I know it makes no sense for me to do that, but the King seems to believe it.”

[Ah, I see. A powerful noble who is stronger than the King. They must be trying to cause trouble between you and the King. That makes sense.]

“So, what do you think?” Ro-gun asked.

[Huh?] Damian asked again, sounding lost.

But Ro-gun continued, “What should I do now? Is there any way to catch these people?”

[Um… well… you said magic can’t track them, right? What can *I* do about that…?] Damian sounded unsure.

“Think about it like this: if *you* were the one who told them to attack, how would *you* have escaped? Think like you planned it! You’re good at this kind of thing… you have a talent for it. You led the Grandia rebels against that huge empire for 30 years, remember? ‘They must have escaped already. But if there’s any chance to catch them, please tell me!’ Ro-gun stared at the communication device, his eyes fixed on it, hoping Damian could help.”

[…Hmm.] Damian thought for a moment, then said something surprising. [If it were me, I wouldn’t run.]

“…What?” Ro-gun asked, confused.

[Why bother running and getting tired? You said no one saw their faces, right? Magic can’t find them, and if they take off their masks, no one will know who they are, right?]

“Huh…” Ro-gun made a sound, listening carefully.

[Think about it from their point of view. They probably think the whole capital is being watched. They are probably sure they didn’t leave any clues, but they won’t risk moving around too much, just in case.] Ro-gun nodded slowly, surprised by Damian’s idea.

“That makes sense,” Ro-gun agreed. “But right after that, they put magic users at all the city gates to check everyone leaving. If these people are using special powers and their identities are not known…”

[I heard the guards were slow to react at first. If that’s true, they could have escaped through the gates before the magic users arrived. And they can’t hide in the busy streets of the city for long.]

“So….”

[Yes. If they are still near the capital, the slums outside the city walls are the most likely place.] Ro-gun was amazed by Damian’s calm and logical idea. His mouth opened in surprise.

“…The slums? You think they are hiding in the slums?”

[It’s a forgotten area where no one even counts how many people live there. Plus, you mentioned someone with an injured arm. That kind of thing is normal in the slums, so it’s a good place to blend in. They can hide there and leave quietly later when things are calmer, and no one will find them.]

“The people who vanished from the royal palace without a trace are hiding in the slums?” Ro-gun thought it was more likely they had run far away.

[If they are smart, that’s what they might do. But it’s just my guess. You don’t really believe me, do you?]

Logan thought to himself, “No. Still, I think it’s worth investigating.”

Damian’s worried voice filled the room. “Excuse me? But I’ve heard the rumors about the capital’s slums myself. If those guys, whose names and descriptions we don’t even know, are determined to hide there, who could find them?”

Logan replied with determination, “There are those who can find them.”

Logan knew he needed to find someone else, someone outside of Damian’s usual contacts.

Logan immediately sought out Knox.

He knew just where to go: the information guild. They were based right in the slums.

Knox, a middle-aged man, greeted Logan with a smile, but his eyes wavered as Logan spoke. “A list of those who’ve hidden in the slums around that day……you say?”

“Yes,” Logan replied firmly.

Knox hesitated. “Your Excellency, we would like to step forward and resolve anything you request, but even we cannot grasp everything in the slums.”

Logan pressed on, “One of them will be missing an arm. No right arm.”

Knox seemed doubtful. “The slums are hardly short of people with disabilities…….”

Logan questioned, “You can’t do it?”

The sound of gold coins clinking on the table filled the silence. Knox’s eyes widened at the pouch Logan placed down, and he hurriedly replied.

“Ah, no. If you give us some time, I think that much is certainly possible.”

To do business in the Grandia Kingdom right now, one must not displease Logan McLaine.

With such a certain reward in such a situation, he had no choice but to accept.

“We will mobilize all the personnel in our branch to find them. Please wait just one day,” Knox promised.

Logan warned, “It would be troublesome if they noticed and ran away.”

“That will never happen,” Knox guaranteed.

Before long, Knox returned with the promised results.

Knox read from a piece of paper. “We found all the one-armed men who came to the slums that day. They seem to be just poor people, not Force users. Is that okay?”

Logan nodded.

Knox looked up, changing the subject. “Oh, and about your other request. The one about the five people with names and descriptions? We found one already. We should have news on three more soon.”

Logan thought to himself, ‘……Unaffiliated Force users.’

He shook his head, dismissing the thought of the request he had almost forgotten, which he had heard as a bonus.

Now was the time to find the attempted assassins.

Logan slowly moved, recalling the information Knox had given him.

There were three one-armed men without a right arm that Knox had told him about.

He had considered mobilizing troops, but the moment the Knights or soldiers flocked in, the slums would turn into utter chaos, and catching them at that moment would become impossible.

So Logan put on an old robe himself and walked through the alleys of the slums as the sun set. The air in the slums was thick with the smell of smoke and dirt. Broken buildings leaned against each other, blocking out the last rays of the sun. Whispers and coughs echoed in the narrow alleys.

He had already confirmed two of them. They were poor people who were former soldiers.

If this one was also a dud, he would really have to assume they had run away early on.

If that happened, at least the probability of him catching them would disappear.

Logan, who was sighing inwardly as he moved, soon shone red eyes in one alley.

Three poor people, scattered and lying prone in a corner of a ruin without even a roof, came into view. They lay in the shadow of a crumbling wall, on the cold, hard ground. Rats scurried nearby.

At first glance, they looked no different from other beggars, but…….

They looked different to Logan.

‘Found them!’ Logan thought.

All three were Force users.

Moreover, they were hiding their Force, which was at the High level, with some special means.

High-level Force users could hide their power with magic. Even Knox’s information guild wouldn’t know. Only someone like Logan, or a mage using a special spell, could find them easily.

‘Damian, that fellow. As expected…….’ Logan thought.

The Evil Brain of his past life was certainly showing talent in this life as well.

The exhilaration of finding the enemies and the confidence in the talent he had.

That made a smile appear on Logan’s face. A grim smile touched Logan’s lips. He had them. He felt a surge of satisfaction, but also a cold anger at what they had tried to do.

Of course, regardless of what he was thinking, there was no hesitation in Logan’s steps as he walked through the alley.

“Just one coin……,”

“Please, just one coin……,”

They were holding out hands wrapped in rags so that even their skin was not visible, but he was willing to bet his entire fortune that the hands hidden inside were full of thick calluses.

Above all, one of them, who was lying down as if he didn’t even have the strength to beg, was missing his right arm.

The injury Louis had inflicted on the one who seemed to be their leader.

Logan chuckled inwardly and took out a gold coin from his pocket.

“Tsk. Here, take this.”

The gold coins glittered in his hand.

Whether it was unexpected or not, the hands of those begging paused.

At that moment, the thrown gold coins dug deeply into their solar plexus instead of their hands.

Thwack.

“Keuh-euh.”

“Cough!”

Only one of the one-armed men managed to avoid the gold coins and flew up.

“It’s an enemy!” The guy ran away immediately, riding on the roofs of the ruins without even thinking of resisting.

But despite such quick footwork, Logan was already standing behind him.

Logan moved like lightning. His sword flashed in the dim light and sliced through the air.

“Ack!” The man cried out as his remaining arm fell to the ground.

Logan smiled with satisfaction. “Got you. Trash.”

However.

“Heh. Don’t, don’t be ridiculous……,”

Shiver.

Puck.

The moment Logan saw the face of the one-armed man, no, the man without both arms, turning black with a powerless smile, he had no choice but to distort his expression.

“You crazy……!”

Plop.

He hurriedly grabbed him, but rather, a tingling sensation rushed to the hand stained with the blood the guy spat out.

A dirty feeling he had only felt a few times near the end of his previous life.

Poison.

“Damn it!”

The golden Force, spewed out with a face flushed red, forcibly drove out the poison that was trying to dig into his hand.

And he hurriedly turned his head.

“You goddamn……,”

The remaining two guys, who were gasping for breath while lying on the floor, were also sticking out their tongues with complexions that had turned black.

“……I’m going crazy.”

The only achievement Logan gained that day was three poisoned corpses.

The traces of the attempted assassins were completely cut off with that.