Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 213

“Success?! You’re saying we succeeded?!”

“Yes!”

“Oh, how much…?”

Logan was surprised, but he didn’t say everything he was thinking. Clayton understood and gave him the answer he wanted.

“Now that we can replace the most important metal with iron, the cost will drop to at least a thousandth of what it was.”

“Are you serious?!”

Logan’s fist trembled as he listened to Clayton.

The mass production of simple artifacts was now possible.

‘One of the Empire’s greatest weapons will disappear from their hands and come to me!’

Logan laughed out loud, a sound full of surprise and delight. He pumped his fist in the air. This news was even better than developing the rapid-fire crossbow early, or even creating the Liberatio, which could be copied with scrolls, but at a much higher cost.

“Hahaha!”

Even simple artifacts could help knights. These artifacts, from the 1st and 2nd class, could make a knight 5 to 10% stronger in battle.

But they couldn’t be produced quickly and easily, like toys in a factory because the material was rare and it cost a lot to hire a mage.

Even the simplest 1st-class artifact cost millions of gold. No lord would spend that much to equip his whole army. Even the richest empire would go broke trying to give artifacts to all its knights.

In other words, he now had a weapon the Empire could never copy.

“Clayton, you must never tell anyone this secret. It’s more important than the Liberatio! Understand?!”

“Of course, Master Logan.”

Clayton had been watching Logan’s excitement with a smile. He nodded and handed over Kraune’s research journal, which he had been keeping safe.

“Now that I’ve finished the most important research, I thought I should give the journal back. I’ve learned so much.”

“Huh? Ah…”

Logan then noticed the change in Clayton’s face, and his own expression changed again.

He could see the flow of Mana and Mana Force, but he had been so focused on the great light that he was only now seeing the small light next to it.

“Clayton, don’t tell me…”

Clayton nodded.

“I had a small breakthrough when we succeeded in the experiment.”

Clayton then shared what he had learned from the research journal.

He did this because he thought Logan should own the journal in the first place.

‘He really is very honest.’

Logan’s eyes sparkled as he listened.

“The Language of the Soul, meaning the soul of words? That’s a great explanation. We may have different paths, but I will also find it useful.”

Clayton tilted his head.

Everyone knew that Mana, the power of nature, and Force, the power of life, were very different.

He had only talked about his breakthrough because he thought it was the right thing to do, not because he thought Logan, a Force user, would learn anything from it.

But Logan was serious.

The 5th Form of the Divine Sword Secret Arts, which was slowly being created, had things in common with Clayton’s explanation.

‘Do the two abilities have something in common as one gets better at them, or…’

Or was it only the Divine Sword Secret Arts that were special?

Logan couldn’t answer that question yet, so he gave the journal back to Clayton.

“I don’t think I need to keep this journal.”

“Huh? But it’s very valuable to mages…”

“That’s why you should keep it, Clayton. Because we’re like family now, right?”

Family.

Clayton smiled a little more at those words.

Their relationship had started as a business deal, but it had become a partnership through many events. Now, they were both important and needed each other, and they couldn’t be separated.

To the point where the word ‘family’ felt natural.

Clayton’s achievement would be kept secret between him, Logan, and Hamar for now.

There were still magical problems to fix before they could mass-produce artifacts perfectly. The workshop thought it would take another year to get the facilities ready.

“It’s too bad, but it’s okay. Even a year from now, there will still be more than three years left.”

Even if something unexpected happened, the Imperial War probably wouldn’t start any earlier.

What was important now was selling the Mana Stones, which they had just started mining in large amounts.

[I’m sorry, Master. It’s too dangerous to sell them in our country. It’s best to only sell small amounts to the western or eastern kingdoms of the Empire. But we can’t use the Maclane Trading Company to do what you asked. So…]

“So you’re saying you can’t do it yet?”

Damian’s face didn’t change in the communication device, even though the question sounded like an accusation.

[Please wait a little longer. We are finding ways to sell Mana Stones while also growing our organization. If you really need it quickly, we could try harder…]

“No, no. I was just checking. Don’t push yourselves. Do it slowly and carefully. It’s enough for now to just change the information about the Taren mine.”

[Don’t worry about that. We have told the Royal Magic Tower that a high-quality silver mine has been found. Even if they check with other information guilds, they won’t find any problems.]

“Silver mine?”

[It would cost too much to keep an iron or copper mine secret.]

“…That’s true.”

He didn’t ask how Damian did it.

The administrative manager had asked him a year ago how he could do such a thing. Now, his face was calm and impossible to read, like a person who always knows more than they say.

‘I used to hate that expression.’

Now, it made him feel secure.

“Good. Thanks for your hard work. Oh, and try to sell the Mana Stones to the Magic Towers of the kingdom alliance as much as possible. Don’t sell them to the Empire if you can help it.”

[Huh? Isn’t the organization supposed to gather information in our country and in the Empire?]

“Yes. But they are watching us closely, so I don’t want to do anything that could help the Empire.”

[…Understood.]

He was also happy that Damian didn’t ask why, unlike others.

And luckily, there was a place to use the Mana Stones that they were now producing, besides Clayton’s experiments.

“Master, what did you say?”

“Let’s go to the dam. Load up all the Mana Stones that we have.”

“…I can pack, but why are you taking the Mana Stones to the dam?”

“I’m going to grind them into powder and put them in the water.”

“Pfft. If you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to, but why joke like that…? What? Why are you so serious? No, you’re not joking?”

“I’m serious.”

“Are you crazy, Master?! Why would you waste something so expensive in water?!”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

As expected, Hamar brought Clayton and complained, saying it couldn’t be done. Damian wouldn’t have done that.

Clayton didn’t like the idea either.

“Put Mana Stones in water? Why? Why would you waste them like that?”

“I’m trying to make the wasteland produce more crops by using Mana Stones that we don’t need right now.”

“…Mana Stones are minerals made of Mana. If you grind them into powder, they will dissolve and flow into the water. Using that to help the farmland is possible.”

“Wizard! Are you…?”

“But! It’s not worth the cost. The crops from that whole plain in a year will be worth less than the Mana Stones we mine in a month.”

“See? Master. If it’s hard to get rid of them, let’s just store them. The ore isn’t going anywhere, is it? If we take care of it…”

“No, I’m going to do it.”

“Master!”

“Young Master!”

Logan sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was tired of this happening every time.

“Why don’t you just trust me no matter what I do now?”

Clayton paused, but Hamar’s face started to twitch and his hands shook.

“Huh? Heh heh, heh heh heh. T-trust you? How can you say that to me?”

Logan felt guilty in front of Hamar, who had been through big promises, tricks, and making people work too hard.

“Ah, no! Not the process, the result! I mean the result! Anyway, everything went well like I said, right?! Trust me this time too?!”

Logan pounded his chest and tried to convince them.

“…I want to ask you something, Master. Please answer me seriously.”

Hamar narrowed his eyes and spoke quietly.

“…What is it?”

“Honestly, you only care about the result, right? You don’t care who gets hurt or what gets wasted, do you?”

Hamar’s words hit him hard.

It was a direct question about what Logan had been doing since he came back.

‘W-what’s wrong with that? I have to get it done first. It’s all for the best…’

Logan’s eyes shook and he looked away from Hamar’s sharp gaze.

“Ah, no? Absolutely not? The process and the result are both important? Haha.”

He realized his mistake and tried to make excuses, but his voice sounded strange.

“See? He doesn’t care. Who can we trust? This is my fate.”

“…Master Logan. It’s a waste unless the crops increase tenfold. Please think again.”

“What if they increase tenfold?”

“Huh? There’s no way they could increase that much…”

“I’m sure they can.”

“Here it comes! Logan is being stubborn! Wizard, you have to stop him! You can do it!”

Hamar was making strange faces and noises, but Logan didn’t change his mind.

“If we use Mana Stones for a month, the crops will double for 10 years. Isn’t that worth trying?”

“…Has any country ever tried that?”

“Not yet.”

But he knew it had happened in his previous life.

Logan looked into Clayton’s eyes, which were filled with doubt based on his past life.

Hamar spoke sarcastically, seeing Clayton’s hesitation.

“A crazy Master. Wizard, you have to stop him… Ack!”

“Get out, Hamar.”

“V-violence is wrong! I’m just talking about it reasonably…!”

“I’ll make you sick.”

“Aaaargh! I’m getting dizzy!!”

Logan was angry and started spinning Hamar above his head. Clayton chuckled at the sight.

‘Logan could just do it, but he still wants to convince me and Hamar.’

Logan had already done many things that had never been done before.

And had any of them failed?

They had all been successful.

‘No, wait. The Tomodo side was a bit strange. And the Allied Forces suddenly appeared in the civil war… Hmm.’

Clayton’s positive thoughts stopped.

‘Could it just be luck… No way.’

He started to sweat, but then he remembered their recent success.

Clayton remembered Logan’s words about the research journal, which had helped him understand the key points even though he didn’t know anything about magic.

He had been able to do the experiment because of those words.

‘Yes, I have to believe. If I don’t believe in Logan, who else can I believe in?’

Of course, everything would now happen as Logan wanted.

So he should help make things go smoothly.

‘With all my power, if possible.’

Clayton smiled.