Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 219

Maybe there was a better way.

If things hadn’t happened so fast, Logan could have waited.

He could have waited for the King to admit he was wrong and give up.

Logan knew the Sword Master was stubborn, not just with him, but with everyone.

But the Sword Master believed in Logan.

Logan thought that if the Sword Master kept believing, the King’s stubbornness would break eventually.

“But even then, I might not have had enough time to wait,” Logan thought.

Now, there was definitely no time.

He knew the King would not change his mind.

If that was the case, Logan would face the problem directly.

“My territory is in danger! The King is attacking McLaine! I have to go, now!” Logan said urgently, his voice tight.

The Sword Master hesitated, his blue eyes troubled. “…I… I will fix this.”

“If I stay, Master, the King will kill me! And if he tries, I will fight back,” Logan warned, his red eyes flashing.

“Then I’ll send my best knights, the Esperanza elite, even if it means—”

“No! That won’t work!” Logan cut him off.

Logan’s fiery red gaze locked with the Sword Master’s sad blue eyes.

For a long, silent moment, they just stared at each other, the tension thick in the air.

Then, with a heavy sigh that seemed to shake his whole body, the Sword Master stepped back.

*CLANG!*

Red light exploded from the Sword Master’s blade, and the prison door swung open with a crash.

He had sliced through the thick bars as if they were butter.

Logan stared at the open door, then back at his master. “Are you… letting me go?”

“…No,” the Sword Master said, his voice low and strained. “I am not letting you go.”

Logan frowned, confused by the words that didn’t match the action.

“I am giving you a choice, Logan.”

“A choice?” Logan repeated, his voice wary.

“I admit… you might be right about some things,” the Sword Master said, his voice barely a whisper.

“But I cannot betray my duty to the King.”

He turned his head slightly towards the open door, but didn’t look at Logan.

“I am doing what I can to help you escape. But if you walk out that door now, you will be a traitor, Logan. Truly a traitor.”

The Sword Master turned away completely, his shoulders slumped, his face hidden.

But Logan could see the pain in the set of his jaw.

His words, full of sorrow and effort, hung in the cold prison air long after he was gone, leaving Logan alone in the silence.

Logan’s own heart felt heavier than stone.

*I have to do this, Master. I have no choice now.*

A flash of golden light erupted from Logan’s hands.

With a series of sharp *SNAPS*, the heavy metal shackles on his wrists and ankles broke apart like twigs.

The news that Logan McLaine had escaped from prison sparked tension throughout the kingdom.

Everyone sensed that the worst-case scenario they had half-expected was about to unfold.

“Declare Logan McLaine a traitor and order his capture! All nobles are to gather their forces before the royal palace!” The King’s angry shout echoed through the palace’s grand hall.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The King’s new ministers, who he had chosen himself, answered all at once.

The room felt more tense.

However, because one person remained silent, the grand hall was soon filled with silence.

Everyone in the hall turned to look at the Sword Master, who had tightly closed his eyes from the moment the word ‘traitor’ was spoken.

The King, too, watched him with a cold smile.

“Grand Duke, the loyal subjects are waiting.

Are you just going to stand there while that traitor destroys everything?!”

At those words, the Sword Master slowly opened his eyes.

“There are still many things that don’t make sense about that incident.

There isn’t enough proof.

If Your Majesty would forgive Logan, there wouldn’t be a rebellion.”

He sighed softly and hesitated, looking troubled, before speaking.

At that, the King looked at the Sword Master with calm eyes.

“Logan McLaine has disobeyed the royal order and escaped from prison, so he has lost the chance to prove he is innocent.

Isn’t that right?”

“…That is so.”

The Sword Master reluctantly nodded, his eyes fixed on the King.

“Are you still defending Logan McLaine even after that?

Do you value your friendship with him more than the royal family’s power?”

“…That could never be, Your Majesty.”

The King smiled, pleased with the Sword Master’s sad answer.

“It is time to make the royal family’s power strong again, Grand Duke.

Think about what’s best for the kingdom, not just your friendship with Logan.

If even you betray me, what’s the point of being King?

What’s the point of my family’s history?”

“Your Majesty is the rightful ruler of Grandia.

Don’t say that.”

“No, no.

You are the only one I can trust now, Grand Duke.”

The King stepped down from the throne and walked towards the Sword Master.

After staring into the Sword Master’s eyes for a long time, the King took his hand.

Then, he bowed his head to him.

“Your, Your Majesty?”

“Good heavens!?”

The ministers were flustered, and even the Sword Master looked surprised.

“I beg you, Grand Duke.

Please, show everyone in this country that the royal family is still in charge.”

The King held his hand and bowed his head in front of his subjects.

“Your Majesty, please raise your head.”

With those words, the Sword Master knelt down on one knee.

Then, with a deep sigh, he spoke as if he was cutting something off, saying each word carefully. “I will obey the royal command and capture the traitor with my own hands.”

The nobles in the grand hall held their breath.

The King smiled.

The news of the Sword Master’s shocking decision spread like wildfire across the country.

The Sword Master has decided to capture McLaine himself.

“Hey, that’s crazy!”

“What nonsense!?”

“It’s true!”

The story was so unbelievable that everyone who heard it asked about it several times.

It meant that just two years after the civil war, the main people who ended that war were starting a new one.

And it was between a master and his student.

The kingdom’s heroes, the superhumans.

“Is this really going to be a big problem this time?”

“Surely not!”

“What’s going to happen to the country, having war every year…”

Those who heard the news were worried about the country’s future.

The shock to those directly involved was, of course, even greater.

And that shock spread from the Sword Master’s home in the capital.

“Your Excellency, this is wrong! You have made the worst decision!” Luis, the adjutant, shouted.

“…Do you think so too?”

“Yes! That’s right.

Everyone in the world would think the same.

Why would a superhuman like Lord Logan try to assassinate someone with poison!

Only a fool would think this isn’t a setup!”

“Yes, that’s probably right.”

“…Knowing that, you still said you would capture McLaine?”

“It can’t be helped, Luis.”

“How can it be something that can’t be helped!?

If you had disagreed, His Majesty would not have insisted on war!

This decision will ruin the country!”

That painful word hurt the Sword Master deeply.

It reminded him of everything his student had said, the student who had started all this trouble.

The Empire is preparing for war.

It is clear that His Majesty has played his last card, one from which he cannot retreat!

There is no time for this now.

‘Logan, I understand your thoughts, but your method was wrong.’

It wasn’t just a decision made by the King.

He thought Logan’s ideas had some good points, but Logan had no proof.

Logan had ignored the King and the royal family, who had been in power for a thousand years, just because of his own ideas that weren’t proven.

‘I told you to wait.’

His heart ached.

But Logan chose his own path.

Because he had always been loyal to the King, he had to choose to fight against his own student.

“To protect the future, the royal family must be strong and respected.

That’s the only way to save the country.”

“Your Excellency, the royal family is not everything to the kingdom!”

“It’s not everything, but it’s the foundation.

That’s why I’m trying to protect it.”

“The country does not belong to the royal family, but to the people, Your Excellency!”

“Only when the royal family is strong can the people be at peace!”

“Your Excellency…”

Luis sighed.

His lord was very stubborn.

It was almost impossible to change his mind.

Luis took a deep breath and knelt before his lord.

“Lord Logan McLaine is a hero of the kingdom, and most people think His Majesty is being unfair.

The knights don’t like this either.

I have followed you my whole life, but this doesn’t seem right.

Please, think about it again.”

Luis said these words, his heart aching.

It was the first time anyone in the Esperanza family, since they became Grand Dukes, had disagreed with the family leader’s decision.

But even with his desperate request, the Sword Master was calm.

“Is that so.”

“Lord?”

Then?”

Luis looked up with a glimmer of hope.

But his lord shook his head sadly.

“Yes, I suppose you could think that way.

But I can’t help it.

I have lived my whole life as the king’s sword.

And I can’t refuse the King’s order.

Remember, I helped put him on the throne.”

“Lord!! There will be great opposition even within the family!”

“Then you may leave.”

“…Yes?”

“These words are for you and all the vassals.”

Luis looked at his lord, confused.

He didn’t understand.

But the Sword Master sighed deeply and said something unbelievable.

“If you think I’m wrong, you may leave.

You may go to McLaine or elsewhere.”

“Your Excellency! What are you saying…!”

How could a knight leave the family just because they disagreed with their lord?

The Sword Master’s words sounded like a final statement, leaving no room for argument.

“I am simply doing what I believe is right.”

The Sword Master’s voice was heavy with anguish.

Luis, with a heavy heart, left the office, leaving his lord behind.

Around the time this was happening in the Sword Master’s family, Logan was entering McLaine Town.

“It’s the Young Lord!!”

“The Young Lord has returned!”

“Wh, what!? Really!?”

“Open the gates!!”

The knights and soldiers guarding the town’s east gate became excited.

Logan saw the guards.

There were many more than usual.

He knew again how serious things were.

“Young Lord, I’m glad you’re safe…”

“Where’s Father?”

“He’s in the house.

I’ve sent word…”

“I’m going.”

Logan rode his horse quickly towards the town’s residence.

“Logan!”

“Lord Logan!”

“Young Lord!!”

He smiled, almost forgetting the danger for a moment.

His parents, fiancée, servants, and other helpers rushed towards him like a wave.