Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 207

“The rebels in the old Zahid territory are gathering soldiers and declaring that Clavis, a former royal, should be king. Our reports say…”

In the meeting, they said the rebels were about as strong as an army led by a count in the old days.

But their numbers keep growing.

More nobles and viscounts who used to support the First Prince are joining them.

“Are these rebels crazy?”

“They lost a lot after the civil war. Maybe they think it’s better to die fighting than to live like this.”

“Tsk, tsk. Honestly, these nobles…”

Their power was growing, and the royal investigators said that waiting would only make things worse.

Most nobles agreed on what to do.

“Either the Esperanza Ducal House or the McLaine Marquisate must step forward.”

“If you two work together, it will be quick. Even one of you should be able to handle it.”

The smaller nobles weren’t worried because they trusted Logan and the Swordmaster, who had ended the civil war before.

“If McLaine steps up, won’t this be easy? Lord Logan, can we ask you to do this?”

When the King asked him directly, ‘Lord Logan, may we ask you to do this?’, Logan felt a weight settle on his shoulders. He sighed quietly, so only Eileen might have noticed. *It has to be McLaine,* he thought. *There’s no other way.* He knew it was the right decision for the kingdom, but a knot of unease tightened in his stomach.

Since Esperanza’s forces were guarding the capital and the border, it made sense for McLaine, who had more soldiers ready to fight, to go.

*If we add our family’s best troops and volunteers from other nobles, we can keep the damage low.*

He made a quick decision.

“Yes. My family will take care of these rebels.”

His answer was firm.

The King and nobles applauded Grig’s decision.

So, they decided that McLaine would lead the force to stop the rebels.

“Gather the army.”

With Logan’s command, McLaine’s forces moved fast.

They had over a thousand knights and more than 10,000 soldiers.

That was just the trained army, not counting the extra soldiers.

The army had been growing, but even Logan was surprised by how many knights there were.

Knights from fallen families were looking for work at McLaine, which had become the most respected family since the civil war. Also, some of the soldiers in the territory had become knights themselves.

“Leave enough soldiers here and move the whole army. We’ll crush them quickly.”

“Other nobles are helping. Do we really need to send so many? It feels like our family is doing too much.”

“We need to make sure the rebels are gone for good, so this doesn’t happen again. And the more soldiers we have, the less we’ll lose.”

He also had a reason he couldn’t say out loud.

*We can’t spend too much time on these rebels.*

He still had a lot to do to get ready for the Imperial War.

The King seemed to feel differently about him, but he couldn’t be sure.

*Whether it’s the real Clavis, the First Prince’s old supporters, or someone else in charge, we’ll finish them now.*

So.

“Tell the other nobles to bring as many soldiers as they can. We’ll defeat these rebels all at once.”

“Understood.”

Two weeks later, 70% of the family’s soldiers gathered in McLaine’s front yard.

The other nobles also sent soldiers, who were almost as good as Logan’s.

“We have 700 knights and 7,000 soldiers. With the others, we’ll have 1,500 knights and 15,000 good soldiers.”

“The enemy has less than half that many.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

They had so many soldiers that they couldn’t lose, even if they tried.

The nobles had stopped joining the rebellion, so the soldiers in front of McLaine Town were excited.

Then, something strange happened.

“A terror attack? Again?!”

[Yes, that’s right. The King was badly hurt this time. The temple bishops are there now.]

The old minister, Palman Terrich, looked pale and worried on the communication device.

“Did they break into the royal castle again?”

[It seems so. The King wants to ask something of Lord Logan. But…]”

Palman looked troubled.

“It’s okay. Tell me.”

Logan told him to go on.

[…He wants the McLaine Knights to go to Gran. He says that if the rebels want the throne, we need to protect it with soldiers we can trust…]

“Our family’s knights?”

Logan frowned, and Palman waved his hands quickly.

[Not me, the King said so. The Esperanza Knights have to guard the border, so he trusts Lord Logan the most…]

Palman was sweating and looked pitiful, but Logan didn’t have time to worry about him.

“Now? When we need to defeat the rebels?”

[The King said that McLaine has more soldiers now, so you can still defeat the rebels without the Knights. Not me, the King said so!]

“Young Master! This is crazy! Asking for troops now! Especially the Knights!”

Even Eileen, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

*It’s not like we can’t beat them without our knights.*

He didn’t want to cause more trouble with the King.

“Understood. The McLaine Knights will guard the King. Then…”

“Young Master!”

“Don’t worry. It will be enough.”

He answered Eileen and was about to turn around when Palman spoke again.

[He said he doesn’t trust the royal guards anymore, so he wants soldiers to protect the capital. He said those Crossbow Cavalrymen are good…]

Huh…?

Is that so?

*Could it be…?*

He looked serious and his eyebrows twitched.

Palman bowed repeatedly.

Before Logan could answer, Eileen shouted.

“Even the Crossbow Cavalry? No way! Lord Logan, this is too much! It’s not right! Don’t agree to it!”

[Sorry. I’m old and I forget things. This isn’t what the ministers think.]

Hmph…

Logan listened to Palman and thought.

*So, that’s what you’re doing…?*

The King’s kind face was fading from his mind.

[I’ll tell the King it’s too hard. It’s nonsense. McLaine’s forces need to fight the rebels…]

“No, say we’ll do it.”

[I thought so… Yes?]

“Lord!” Aileen cried out, her eyes wide with worry as she stepped forward. But Logan held up a hand to stop her.

He shook his head slightly. His face was tight and serious.

Seeing his face, Aileen sighed and stepped back. She knew better than to argue when he looked like that.

With the same serious look, Logan spoke into the communication device.

“I will also send the crossbow cavalry. Is that enough for you now?”

[Are you… serious?]

Even Palman, who was speaking for the king, could not believe what he was hearing.

Logan nodded firmly and quickly left the communication room.

*Bang!* The door slammed shut, the loud noise echoing Logan’s anger.

He had acted calm while talking, but inside, he was boiling with rage.

*’What does this mean?’* Logan thought angrily.

Even the emperor of another country wanted him to work for them to make their country stronger. But the king he worked for was trying to ruin him!

*’This will be very bad for you, Your Majesty, if you keep doing this,’* he thought, his anger growing.

He fought to push down the scary thoughts that kept coming into his mind. He tried to calm himself, but his anger just kept growing.

*’Patience,’* he told himself. *’I must be patient. I cannot fight with the king when we have rebels to deal with. We are still strong enough for now.’*

But just one day later.

Baron Torres, a noble leading the army against the rebels, carefully told Logan something that made him even more impatient.

“While the McLain army attacks the rebels’ main base, we have been ordered to go in different directions and defeat the other rebel groups in different areas.”

This meant facing the rebels’ main camp with McLain’s main army gone.

It was an order to attack the center of the rebellion with only about 50 young trainee knights and regular soldiers.

Wasn’t this like sending them to die?

“Ha…” A weak laugh came from Logan. A sudden feeling of wanting to kill filled him, and the air in the room seemed to grow cold. Baron Torres felt this strange and scary feeling and quickly changed what he was saying.

“This is too much, right? We will tell them that we will follow McLain to attack the main base,” Baron Torres said quickly, sounding nervous.

But Logan sighed and shook his head.

“No, it’s okay,” Logan said.

He was being patient for the same reason as yesterday.

He could ignore the king’s orders and make the nobles in charge of the army do what he wanted.

He was still more powerful than the king.

But if he made the nobles do what he wanted without a good reason, he didn’t know what the king would do.

“…Do what you want,” Logan said. “We will deal with the enemy’s main force.”

“T-thank you, Lord,” Baron Torres stammered, his face suddenly looking happy. He had been watching to see what would happen between the king and Logan, and he was relieved.

*’It seems the king has decided what he wants to do,’* Logan thought.

It was clear the king planned to fight him and become more powerful because of this rebellion.

And maybe he wanted even more than that… Logan frowned, thinking about the king’s possible hidden plans.

Logan’s face hardened as he thought deeply.

Of course, the people around him did not understand why Logan had made this decision.

“Lord, this makes no sense! The king is trying to kill us all! Shouldn’t we change our minds?”

Aileen argued with Logan, her face red with anger.

Logan knew Aileen was not angry at him. He gave her a sad smile to calm her down.

“I know,” he said.

“Huh? Then… why are we doing this?!” Aileen asked, confused.

“Even so,” Logan said, “it’s better to listen to him this time.”

“Why?!” Aileen demanded.

“Because,” Logan explained, “it’s clear to everyone that this is a crazy order. Since we are doing what he says, it will give us a reason later to do what *we* want to do. It will give *me* a reason to act in the future.”

“…What do you mean?” Aileen asked, still confused.

“This is only for now,” Logan said, his voice grim. “I am only doing what the king wants just this once.”

Seeing Logan’s serious and angry face, Aileen knew not to ask more questions.

[Is he really doing what we expected?]

“Yes. I made sure that the knights and crossbow soldiers, except for a few needed here, are leaving for the capital.”

[Heh heh, so Logan McLain just accepted it like that?]

“Yes.”

[I thought he would fight back, but he just agreed. This is even better for us than we planned. Right?]

“That is correct.”

The person staring at the communication device nodded.

[Yes. But something is bothering me a little. What on earth is he thinking? He doesn’t really think he can beat the rebels with just the soldiers he has left, does he?]

“Maybe he thinks the mage will help him?”

[Does he think he can replace 500 knights with just the mage and himself? No, he’s not stupid. There must be another reason…]

“Well, I’m not completely sure, but there’s a rumor that Luther Kyle is now living in McLain.”

At those words, the face of the person in the communication device distorted.

[Huh…?! That man is a Sword Master… Oh no. They are teacher and student after all….]

The person, who had been lost in thought, sighed softly.

[That must be it. If there is another very powerful person with him, that’s a reason for him to be so risky.]

“Even if that’s true, it won’t be easy.”

[…’Not easy’ is not enough. I want Logan McLain to die there. If he doesn’t die, McLain must be badly hurt at least.]

“I will use a few more tricks.”

[A few?]

“……It will be as you wish, Your Majesty.”

The young face reflected in the communication device finally smiled with satisfaction.

“All troops, advance!”

With Logan’s cry, the McLain forces began to move.

It was only a small part of their family’s total strength.

50 knights and nearly 7,000 regular soldiers.

It was a weak force because most of the main knights and crossbow soldiers were gone. It looked very small compared to the rebels they had to fight.

Besides the soldiers sent to the capital, they had to leave some knights behind to protect their land in case something bad happened.

Also, the local soldiers with fast crossbows had to protect their large land instead of the regular army.

This was actually all the soldiers Logan could gather right now.

It was only natural that everyone watching the departure was worried and concerned.

“What is he planning?”

“Isn’t he going to die?”

“Why?”

But Logan’s face at the front, though serious, did not look worried.

The person on his right was Clayton, the kingdom’s famous mage. And on his left was Luther Kyle, a very powerful person who had joined McLain and was appearing in public for the first time.

With three very powerful people, including himself (and no one else knew about the other two yet), and all the weapons they could gather.

Logan looked at the carts in the middle of his soldiers and smiled coldly as he looked at the sky to the northeast.

‘Whoever planned this and played games, I will destroy all their plans.’