Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 19

Six weeks after Logan asked the old dwarf, Hamarr, to make them, the crossbows were finished. Hamarr was even done two weeks early! He had made one hundred extra crossbows. Completely tired, he announced he would rest for a while.

Logan smiled, pleased.

The next morning, eager to show off the new weapons, Logan went straight to find the mercenary group.

When the mercenaries saw the crossbows, they looked confused. These weapons were small! But when Logan showed them how they worked, their jaws dropped.

“Wow!” one shouted.

“That’s amazing!”

“It shoots so far!” another exclaimed.

“And so fast! A strange little crossbow indeed.”

Most of the mercenaries were just impressed. But one man, Kai, saw much more.

“Hoo…” Kai breathed out slowly. He pictured his 300 cavalry soldiers, all armed with these fast-shooting crossbows. Suddenly, his skin prickled with excitement.

*This could destroy an army,* he thought, his heart racing. *Even knights would be in danger if they didn’t know about these.* Kai clapped his hands without thinking.

“Amazing!” he said. “So, *that’s* why you wanted crossbow cavalry!” He suddenly understood. Logan’s request for crossbow cavalry had seemed strange before, almost useless. But now it made perfect sense.

“And,” Logan added, “tell them not to try to take apart the back of the crossbow. It will break if they try to force it open.”

Kai nodded slowly.

“Yes,” he said, “a weapon this powerful must be very complicated inside.”

Actually, it was very simple. That’s why Logan had made it so it would break if anyone tried to open it.

*These crossbows are too important to be copied yet,* Logan thought. *I need to keep them secret until after the war.* So, the workers who helped Hamarr only made small parts in their own workshops. Logan only planned to make enough extra crossbows for the mercenaries, and no more.

Logan thought, *The mercenaries will be enough to win the territory war.* If he made more crossbows, he might give them to the knights. *But the knights probably wouldn’t even want crossbows,* he chuckled to himself. He decided only the mercenaries would get them for now. He couldn’t make enough for all the soldiers anyway, it would take too much time and money. And even if he could, it was too risky to let the secret out to too many people.

*Once the mercenaries finish training…* he thought, *then we’ll be almost ready for war.* *Yes, almost.* Just one last thing.

“Kai,” Logan said, “I need to check something.”

“Yes, Archduke?” Kai replied.

“Get the mercenaries ready with the crossbows. We’re going out. Clear out all the monsters outside the territory, all the way to the southern mountains.”

“To the mountains?” Kai asked, surprised. “Is that even possible?”

“After seeing the crossbows?” Logan raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm,” Kai thought about it. The monsters near the mountains were mostly weak ones. “…Maybe,” Kai said doubtfully.

“Not maybe,” Logan said firmly. “It *has* to be possible. Otherwise, this is pointless.”

“…Yes, Archduke,” Kai said, still confused, but Logan didn’t explain further.

A little while later…

“Let’s go!” Logan called out.

With a snort and the thud of hooves, the mercenary group, carrying their new crossbows, rode out of the castle gates. They were going to test the weapons’ power. *Thump-thump, thump-thump* went the horses’ hooves as they galloped across the open field. Suddenly, about a hundred Kroll monsters saw them and turned to run, surprised. These were weak monsters, the kind that used to take days to defeat. Kai’s eyes shone as he saw them. He raised his fist, then opened his palm wide. It was the signal. The mercenaries, who had been riding in three lines, spread out into a long, thin line.

“Aim! Fire!” Kai yelled.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh* went the crossbow bolts. They flew much quieter than the old crossbows. The bolts rained down on the running Krolls. *Kieeeek!* Most of the monsters, almost a hundred of them, fell dead in the first volley. The few that were still alive were quickly hit again and dropped to the ground. In just ten seconds, this small group of mercenaries, only a third the size of the knight order, had destroyed a whole monster horde. Even the knights would have taken longer!

Logan, watching from the back, smiled broadly.

But the mercenaries themselves were even more amazed.

“No kick at all!” one shouted.

“They shoot much further than I thought!”

“Mine went right through one and hit another!”

And they didn’t stop there. Logan kept pushing them on, and the mercenaries charged south, destroying every monster group they found. Monster screams echoed across the fields. Soon, the monsters started running away as soon as they saw the mercenaries coming. It was like the monsters were being pushed back, a wave of monsters running *away* from the mercenaries. This ‘monster retreat’ shook the southern part of McLane Territory.

“It’s the Archduke’s mercenaries! Open the gate!” shouted a guard.

“What are they doing out so late?” another grumbled.

“I know! No one even lives in the south because of all the monsters.”

“Shhh! The Archduke is right there!” As the sun went down, the soldiers on the castle wall complained quietly about the mercenaries making them open the heavy gate so late. They couldn’t say anything loud because the Archduke was there, leading the group. But the mercenaries could feel the soldiers’ annoyance. They didn’t care.

“Hey! This thing is amazing!” one mercenary whispered, stroking his crossbow.

“You’re my best friend now!” another said to his weapon.

“The captain said he’ll punish anyone who breaks it! Be careful!”

“I am! I am!” They all stared at their crossbows, almost in a dream. They had only been hunting for half a day, and the monsters were weak, so they hadn’t found anything valuable to sell. But they had killed over a thousand monsters, more than three times their own number! They were thrilled to have such powerful weapons, something most mercenaries could only imagine.

“Did the Archduke really make these?” one asked in awe.

“You idiot! The dwarf made them,” another replied.

“But the dwarf works for the Archduke, doesn’t he?”

Soldiers gathered around, looking at the new crossbows. “I heard he designed it himself,” one said, impressed.

“Nah, no way,” another replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

Because of this, the mercenaries thought even better of their boss. He was rich, scary, and people said strange things about him, but now they were really impressed.

Kai, a mercenary with gray hair who stood at the front, smiled proudly and turned to Logan. “Are you happy with it?”

Logan looked at the crossbows. “It’s alright, I suppose.”

Kai’s smile dropped. “Sorry?” He looked confused.

“You are still using old crossbow ideas. Why change positions after only one shot? Also, make the reload faster.”

Kai’s happy face turned long. It was like Logan was just waiting to complain.

*‘He’s still not happy? This is amazing firepower! What does he want?’* Kai wondered.

Kai had stopped thinking Logan’s crossbows were just a rich man’s strange hobby. But now, he started to worry. Logan seemed too greedy.

Kai didn’t say any of this out loud, of course.

“…I will train them again for these new weapons,” Kai said.

“Good. I will check again soon,” Logan replied.

Even though Logan had complained to Kai, he was actually happy.

The crossbows made by the dwarf Hamar were even better than Logan hoped. The mercenaries were now much stronger than he had planned.

Even if he could get more crossbows, it wasn’t useful to make more right now, even with the magazines.

Even though the fast crossbows were strong, he couldn’t just say war was coming soon and tell the soldiers to train with them. It wouldn’t work.

He was worried they would think he was crazy.

*‘I should focus on getting stronger myself for now,’* Logan thought.

*‘It would also be good to get the knights on my side. They are the strongest soldiers in the family.’*

Even though things were going well, Logan was still worried. He decided to fight against becoming too relaxed.

The bitter winter finally let go, and spring arrived. The wind now felt soft and warm on the skin, not biting and cold.

All winter, people in the family had talked about the “mad young duke” and the “genius illegitimate son.” But as the weather got warmer, and Logan didn’t cause any more trouble, the talk slowly died down.

But people still didn’t think Logan was good.

Nobody knew how it started, but a new rumor was going around: the “genius illegitimate son” would take over the family. Everyone was talking about it.

But there was one place where people were saying something different: among the Knights.

“Wow, he’s got amazing stamina!” one knight said.

“Yeah, seriously!” another agreed. “It must be in his blood, right? Like his family.”

“If he’s like his father, he should be as good at swords as he is strong,” a third knight said.

“But then look at Dominon…”

“Dominon? Don’t use him as an example! He’s not very skilled…”

“Yeah, but…”

“Enough!” another knight interrupted. “Dominon even lost to Logan before Logan got his powers. We all saw it.”

“That’s true… hmm, it’s weird, isn’t it? Just stamina? How can that be?”

“If he trained with a sword instead of just causing problems with that strong body…”

Some knights still had doubts, but at least no one in the Knights called Logan “mad duke” anymore.

Logan had been training with them for months, and he always worked hard.

Also, the horse race through the mountains, which they first made up to get rid of Logan, was now something the Knights were proud of.

At first, they kept doing this strange horse training just to save face. But they found something surprising: it made the younger knights, who had been lazy in training, work harder.

*Fluttering hooves.*

“Good boy, good boy, Ray. Just a little further. We’re almost done,” Knight Henderson whispered gently, stroking his horse. He held the horse carefully on his shoulder, like it was a precious friend.

All around, other knights were doing the same, talking softly to their horses and encouraging them.

At first, the horses were given medicine to keep them calm. Sometimes they would wake up during training and get scared, making trouble. But slowly, the horses got used to the training and started to like their knights more.

Knights and horses belonged together.

The horse was like another weapon for a knight, making him stronger in battle.

As the knights spent more time with their horses and learned to understand them better, the knights became better fighters.

This wasn’t just something they imagined.

More experienced knights could use magic called “Force” to make their horses faster and stronger when riding them.

The better they knew their horses, the better they could use this magic.

After the horse race training, even the younger knights started doing similar things without even thinking about it. They were talking to their horses and caring for them, just like the older knights.

It had become a way to improve their skills without even trying.

*‘It’s not all because of Logan, but still…’*

Heinkel looked at Logan with kind eyes, not angry like before.

He looked at Logan like he was a good luck charm, something that brought good fortune.

This wasn’t exactly the respect Logan wanted, but it was definitely better than before.

*‘Tonight,’* Logan thought, *‘I think it will finally happen.’*

A bright moon shone in the dark sky.

Logan sat on his bed, legs crossed, a small hope growing in his chest.

Training hard with the Knights every day, and also meditating to find his inner power, was working together. He was getting stronger for sure.

He could feel his Force Core getting bigger every time he focused on his inner self.

And lately, when his Force Core pulsed, he felt like something important was about to happen.

Logan took a deep breath, calming his thoughts. He remembered the words from the book, words burned into his memory.

*‘The closer I get, the slower I need to go. Be patient…’*

But it was hard to stay calm. He was so excited to finally get stronger.

It made sense that he felt this way.

Getting stronger himself was just as important as taking care of the family business.

If everything worked out, his power would be the most important thing to stop the terrible future he knew was coming.

*‘Those monsters…’*

Logan remembered the unbelievably powerful people he had seen in his past life: Aura Masters and Archmages.

People so strong they could win battles all by themselves and change the world.

He would have to fight enemies like that one day.

*‘I have to become as strong as I can, as strong as my talent and hard work will allow. Maybe even stronger.’*

Luckily, he knew how to use the Divine Sword’s Vision, a special way to train. And he still had time to learn.

*‘Even a small step forward for me will make it more likely we can win the war for our land.’*

This was important right now, for the problems they were facing soon.

Strangely, thinking about the bad future actually made him feel calmer right away.

He started to say the words he always used for meditation. Logan closed his eyes and felt his mind go deep inside, to the center of his chest.

*Oooong… A low hum seemed to vibrate inside him.*

Of course, no one could see it, but in his mind, Logan felt like his Force Core was huge, bigger than his whole body.

Especially tonight.

Logan knew instinctively that the time had come.

*Flash!*

As soon as Logan focused his mind, a bright light exploded from his chest, right where his heart was.

Then, from the golden Force Core, another small, bright core appeared.