Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 187

“Ares Empire Special Envoy! Count Christian Molan, Your Majesty!” A knight’s voice echoed loudly through the Great Hall of Grandia. The heavy oak doors at the far end of the hall creaked open, and a group of about twelve people entered.

Among them, a middle-aged man with black hair and yellow skin immediately caught the eye.

“Look at that skin tone…”

“A real imperial noble…”

Black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin were symbols closely associated with the Imperial Family.

These features clearly distinguished them from the white skin of most people on the continent. Nobles from the Empire with very strong black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin felt very proud. They believed it meant they were closer to the Imperial Family.

It seemed that Christian, the middle-aged man entering, felt the same way. As the ministers’ voices grew louder, so did his smile.

“Christian Molan, Envoy from the Empire, at your service, King of Grandia.”

Instead of kneeling, the ultimate sign of respect, he merely bowed.

It was the very image of an imperial noble who would never show extreme courtesy to a king of another country.

The King’s voice was stiff. “So, Envoy,” he said, his eyes narrowed slightly, “what brings the Empire all the way out here to Grandia?”

The title the envoy used to address him was displeasing from the start.

Your Majesty.

It was a title reserved for princes of a kingdom or the kings of the Empire who served the Emperor.

As the King of Grandia, a sovereign nation that used the title ‘His Imperial Majesty,’ it was bound to be unpleasant.

However.

Christian Molan bowed, but not deeply. A confident smile played on his lips. “Though perhaps a little delayed, Your Majesty,” he said, “I am here to offer congratulations on your ascension to the throne, and to present gifts from His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor himself.”

The unpleasant expression on the King’s face melted away as he saw the objects being placed down at Christian Molan’s gesture.

“The first gift is the Essence of Moonlight, a rare elixir said to be found only once every ten years in the extreme northern regions of the Empire.”

At Christian’s gesture, a servant who had come forward placed a transparent box.

Inside the box was a small potion bottle, and the blue liquid inside shimmered with a magical blue light in all directions, captivating the eyes of those who saw it.

“As some of you may know, the Essence of Moonlight is an unparalleled elixir that, if consumed entirely in one bottle, can maintain youth for 20 years. It is a treasure of nature that cannot be manufactured by alchemy or magic.”

“Ooh!”

“Such a precious thing?!”

Exclamations erupted from here and there.

The Essence of Moonlight was a treasure that could not be bought with money.

The Empire had presented an elixir, highly valued even within its own borders, as a gift to the king of another country.

And it didn’t end there.

“The second gift is an artifact created with great care in the Imperial Magic Tower, Elohim.”

Inside another box placed down by a different servant was a beautiful golden necklace.

“It is a 5-class artifact with built-in magic to aid health, such as facilitating metabolism, relieving fatigue, and clearing the head.”

Upon hearing those words, the same thought flashed through the minds of the sensible nobles.

‘What an enormous waste that is.’

To create a 5-class artifact, which a 7-circle or 7-class Archmage could rarely produce with extremely rare materials, simply to aid health.

However, Logan was more concerned with the implications naturally inferred from the existence of this artifact than with the surprise at the waste of manpower, and his expression could not help but darken.

‘If they made that for a gift…?’

The King, whose expression had hardened again, resolved Logan’s question for him.

“It seems an Archmage has appeared in the Empire. Should we congratulate them?”

The 6-circle, commonly classified as superhuman, was further divided into Beginner, Expert, and Master levels.

The difference in power between those levels alone was said to be as different as heaven and earth, a dream realm and a massive barrier in itself, that was the 6-circle.

The emergence of an Archmage who had broken through even that would be the appearance of a talent that could be regarded as a national treasure, and at the same time, it meant the birth of a monster that was nothing short of a disaster for neighboring countries that had often been in conflict historically.

“Unfortunately, that is not the case, but the highest-level mage in our Imperial Magic Tower has recently completed a new technique that allows them to create artifacts just below that level. This gift was made possible thanks to that.”

Even with Christian’s explanation, the King’s expression did not improve much.

If it was a new technique that broke the existing artifact creation formula, it would also be directly linked to national power.

However, upon hearing those words, Logan felt his heart calm down and sighed in relief.

‘Ah, that’s right. There was something like that.’

The gift that Christian presented was a kind of showmanship.

It was certainly true that the new technique he spoke of existed, but the amount of resources required was so enormous that it was actually a dead art in the Empire.

In his previous life, the Empire abandoned that and chose to generously support Crowne’s low-cost artifact production, buying them cheaply.

‘But I took Crowne’s research away early on. Even if Clayton fails, the Empire won’t be able to use it.’

A smile naturally appeared at that thought.

Christian smiled as he watched the nobles wavering and introduced the third gift.

“The third gift is a diamond called the Eye of the Continent. I believe some of you have heard of it.”

When the cloth covering the transparent box that the servant had placed down was removed, a fist-sized blue gem revealed its beautiful form.

“Ooh!”

Unlike the previous artifact, exclamations immediately erupted from the hall.

It was the finest diamond on the continent, discovered 30 years ago, a treasure that one of the Empire’s top 10 merchants had mined and presented to the Imperial Family.

The price estimated by that merchant at the time…

“Is that the gem with an estimated value of 100 million gold?”

“They said it would never appear again. To give that as a gift… ?”

“I don’t know whether to call it the generosity of the Emperor of the Empire…”

Christian Molan, who had been smiling as he listened to the exclamations pouring out from around him, once again bowed respectfully to the King.

“His Imperial Majesty hopes that the friendship between the Kingdom of Grandia and the Empire will be eternal, and has bestowed the diamond, the elixir, and the artifact as gifts in the hope that Your Majesty, who has newly ascended to the throne, will govern the kingdom peacefully for a long time. I sincerely hope that they are to Your Majesty’s liking.”

Such an enormous gift that the word ‘bestowed’ didn’t even feel too heavy.

The King could only nod, making an effort to manage his expression.

“I am grateful for the precious gifts, and this country also hopes to establish a friendly relationship with your country. By the way, having received such gifts, I must give something in return…”

The King looked around as if in trouble. The Sword Master and Logan, who met his gaze, wore puzzled expressions.

“Ah, His Imperial Majesty did not expect a return gift. However, regardless of the gifts, he recently conveyed his wish to invite the young hero who has resolved the kingdom’s recent troubles, Count Logan McLain, to the Imperial Capital once. If Your Majesty permits, I would like to ask for his opinion.”

‘What?!’

A sudden bolt from the blue.

Logan, who was about to jump up from his seat in surprise, managed to control his startled heart as he felt the gazes gathering on him.

‘The Emperor wants me?’

He was busily racking his brains over this completely unexpected event.

“The special envoy says so, wouldn’t it be good for you to go? Even for the sake of friendship between the two countries.”

The King spoke to Logan in a cautious tone.

However, unlike his attitude, the King’s eyes, which he met after sorting out his complicated thoughts, certainly seemed to be smiling.

‘Could it be…?’

For a moment, it occurred to him that the fact that he had learned about the Empire’s special envoy so late and this unexpected situation were all the King’s doing.

But Logan immediately dismissed that suspicion.

‘The Imperial Family is playing along with the King? There’s no way. Unless it’s the opposite.’

If that were the case, it would be the worst situation.

“Ah, so you are the young hero. What do you say? Will you accept the Emperor’s invitation?” His question was confident, as if Logan had no choice but to say yes.

Christian was very sure of himself, and he had good reason to be.

Christian probably thought that if Logan said no, the Emperor would be angry. This could hurt the friendship between their countries. Christian believed this pressure would be too much for Logan to handle.

Also, Logan knew that saying no could quickly lead to war. He wasn’t sure he could deal with a war or other bad things that might happen.

And even without considering all that…

‘I want to meet the Emperor.’

The Emperor was the main enemy of the Grandia Liberation Front in Logan’s past life. (The Grandia Liberation Front was a group Logan fought against before.) But Logan had never seen the Emperor’s face in his past life. Not when the Emperor was ruling, and not even later when he had stepped down and lived alone as a Grand Duke.

This Emperor was the one who started the Imperial War and took over Logan’s kingdom. Logan wanted to see this man face-to-face and decide for himself what kind of person he was.

The problem was that it had to be now.

“…I accept.”

Logan sighed. Then he added, “But, since I am going to meet the Emperor, I need to get ready. Could I have some time to prepare?”

“The Emperor thought you might need time! He has already planned everything. How about you come to the Imperial capital, Aserian, next year for the spring festival? That gives you plenty of time.”

Logan’s face involuntarily hardened at those words.

‘He’s already set the date?’

Traveling to the Imperial capital, Aserian, took about three months if you went slowly. And the year was almost over. Even if Logan traveled very fast, he only had one or two months left.

“…I understand. I will get ready.”

Christian smiled, happy that Logan had basically said yes.

And then…

“Now, let’s have a party to welcome Count Christian, the special messenger! I want all important leaders to be there to show how friendly our countries are.”

The King announced this with a happy smile. And with that, the meeting in the big hall finished.

“Here is the Emperor’s invitation.” Before the party started, Count Christian gave Logan an invitation. It had a beautiful dragon symbol on it.

The golden dragon symbol meant it was from the Emperor’s family. Just the fancy work on the cover probably cost hundreds of gold coins.

“This invitation has a little magic on it. When you go to the Imperial capital, just show the cover. It will make things easier for you everywhere in the Empire.”

“Thank you.”

Logan couldn’t frown at Christian when he was smiling and giving him the invitation.

However…

“Then, I’ll see you at the party.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I have to go back to my lands quickly to take care of some things. So, I can’t come to the party. I hope you have fun.”

Logan thought about all the important things he needed to do in the next month or two. He couldn’t waste time at a party, just laughing and talking.

“Oh, that’s too bad! I was hoping to talk more with the hero the Emperor admires so much. Well, maybe you could visit me when you come to the Imperial capital?”

“If I have time, I will.”

“Haha. Thank you! I’ll be looking forward to it!”

They were both Counts… But the Empire was much stronger than the Kingdom. So, Christian’s very polite behavior was surprising.

Logan also remembered that the Emperor hadn’t sent any gifts like this in his past life. He knew this because he had lived through this situation before.

“‘The Emperor wouldn’t usually care about gifts like this, especially not for someone like me. So, it must be important to him that I accept this invitation,’ Logan thought.”

Logan realized he wouldn’t figure out the Emperor’s plan just by thinking about it more right now. ‘First, I need to quickly do what I have to do,’ he thought.

After Christian Molang left, Logan went straight to his mentor’s house.

“You’re leaving right away? Without even attending the party?”

“Yes. The Emperor didn’t give me much time. And I have work to do back home.”

“Heh heh. What’s the rush? Things will get done even without you.”

“I think bad things might happen if I’m not there.”

“Hmm? What’s making you so uneasy?”

“Master, I’m sorry to ask this, but could you watch the King while I’m gone?”

“What?”

The Sword Master’s smiling face instantly turned stern at those words.

“Didn’t you… make peace with the King?”

“I hope so. That’s why I’m asking you to watch him. And I’ll also do things to protect myself.”

“Hmph…”

The Sword Master, who had been peering into his disciple’s eyes, nodded heavily.

“Hmm. Okay. It sounds like there’s something you’re not telling me again. I understand. But I won’t stop the King from doing what he has the right to do. Remember that.”

“Yes? …Ah, yes. I’m worried the King might be too angry at me.”

“Okay. I’ll help with that.”

Logan let out a small sigh of relief at his mentor’s assurance.

“But Logan, the messenger from the Empire was very friendly. Do you still think the Empire will start a war?”

“Yes, I’m certain.”

“Why?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking at the gifts they sent?”

“Gifts?”

The Sword Master looked at Logan with a puzzled expression.

“They sent a potion to stay young, a magical item for health, and pretty jewels that we can’t even sell because everyone knows the Emperor gave them. Do any of those things really help our country become stronger?”

“…So that’s how you see it.”

“Master, it’s better to prepare for war and have nothing happen, than to not prepare…”

“The country will be destroyed. Okay, I understand. I’ll be careful too.”

“I’m counting on you, Master.”

As Logan bowed and hurriedly turned to leave, the Sword Master added a word.

“Oh, and since we’re talking about the Emperor’s invitation, I’m going to send someone with you to the Empire.”

“Yes? Why would I need an escort?”

“Think of it as your mentor being worried about his student going into danger.”

“Yes. Well, if you say it like that, I’ll say thank you. But who are you going to send…?”

“Heh hehm. I’ll keep that a secret for the fun of it later.”

The Sword Master’s smiling face was a bit unsettling, but it wasn’t a bad offer.

Logan left his mentor’s house quickly. He jumped on his horse and rode fast towards Taren. He knew he had to use every minute he had left.