Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 225

Logan McLane stood in the tense silence, his heart pounding. He had heard about the trouble just three days ago, but the waiting since then felt like forever.

The King sat on his throne and lifted his cup. His face showed he was very excited and maybe a little crazy.

McLane’s knights stood around the King, but the King didn’t even look at them. His eyes were only on Logan.

The King stared hard at Logan. Logan’s face was serious as he walked slowly towards the throne.

Thud, thud.

He stopped right before the king, gazing up into his blue eyes.

His eyes were red, but his pupils were steady, not moving.

Logan thought the King might be confused from drinking potions, but looking into his eyes, he wasn’t so sure. The King seemed clear-headed.

So, Logan asked the question that was on his mind.

“…Why have you done this, Your Majesty?”

You almost destroyed everything.

Logan spoke respectfully, but he couldn’t hide the anger in his heart. He wanted to kill the King.

If the King wasn’t confused by potions… if he did this on purpose, it was even worse.

“‘Your Majesty’? You still call me ‘Your Majesty’ even now? I’m impressed,” the King said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Even though Logan was giving off a powerful, angry feeling, the King still stood up to him. His face was pale, but he was defiant.

Someone who depended on potions to be brave wouldn’t be able to do this.

Logan’s expression hardened as he gazed at the king.

“…If you hadn’t done this, you could have kept being called ‘Your Majesty’.

“Indeed. If I were to listen to your every word and live like a puppet.”

“It is for the good of the country.”

“The country? I bet it’s for *you*. Don’t give me such weak excuses.”

“Do you truly believe they are excuses?”

A composed, hardened face.

A fiery spirit blazing within red eyes.

The King’s face became even paler as he felt Logan’s powerful anger again.

But.

The king gritted his teeth and raised his voice.

“Someone who takes all the power in the country and won’t give it back, saying it’s for the country? Ha! Do you know what history calls people like that? It calls people like you…!”

The king, his once pale face now flushed crimson, glared at Logan for a moment before continuing.

“…A traitor!”

Logan stopped, surprised by the sudden accusation. The King shouted again, his voice rough and strained.

“Or shall I call you a tyrant, Logan McLane? A traitor who will now kill me and become king himself! Haha!”

The king, covering his face and laughing, revealed the madness of a man who had given up all hope.

But Logan did not waver.

“Tyrant… No. A *king* who starts a war just because he doesn’t like one of his people – *that’s* a tyrant.”

If the King was just drunk and couldn’t tell right from wrong, Logan might have just locked him up, not killed him.

But if not…

Clang! Logan drew his sword.

‘I will kill him.’

Logan’s red eyes seemed to glow with anger, and a golden light shone from his sword.

But the King wasn’t scared by Logan’s power. Instead, he chuckled, like he found something very funny.

“Heh heh heh. Yes, that’s the real you. You’ll kill me because you don’t like me. It would be better if you just said what you really meant, like you’re doing now. Heh heh heh.”

“…You caused this yourself, Your Majesty.”

The King’s face became serious when he heard Logan’s angry words, and he stopped chuckling.

“What?! I caused this? Don’t be silly, Logan McLane! Let’s be honest. Is this really for the country? Or is it just because you want power?”

Logan’s answer to that angry shout was cold and sharp.

“If I just wanted power, I would never have made you king to begin with.”

“You needed someone you could control! Even if I hadn’t done this, you would have killed me later, right? Why? Because I wouldn’t do everything you wanted!”

“Not just ‘not follow my will,’ but you started doing sneaky, small things! *You* went too far first, Your Majesty!”

The two men stood face to face, yelling. Both their eyes were filled with anger – Logan’s red, the King’s blue.

“Went too far? *Me*, the King? No, *you’re* the one who went too far! Look at you! Is that how someone who serves me should talk?”

“What can’t I say to a king who would hurt himself just to trap someone who serves him?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You want to take over the country! If I kept saying no to you, would you really have let me live? Just because I’m king? Huh? Answer me, Logan McLane, the ‘great’ one!”

Those words made Logan even angrier.

– It is not that you wish to become king?

The last question his dead teacher had asked him.

It brought back the question he had struggled to answer then.

Before he went to the Empire – the powerful enemy country – he would have been sure of his answer.

I have no desire to be king. We simply need to find a way for everyone to cooperate and stop the Empire.

But now?

‘There’s no time. I have to stop anyone who gets in the way of getting ready for the Empire. Even if that person is… the King.’

He wouldn’t let anyone stop him.

His strong feelings gave him a clear answer.

It had to be this way.

After seeing how strong the Empire was himself, he couldn’t even think about hesitating.

But the King could never understand how Logan felt.

“No, even if I did everything you said, wouldn’t you have done this anyway? How long do I have to live scared, like I’m in your prison!”

The king, his eyes filled with madness and rage, stared at him.

The king he had placed on the throne.

And now, he heard the voice of the king he was trying to remove from the throne.

‘I became a threat to the king?’

He understood.

But so what?

Logan gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

‘There is no turning back now.’

He could not choose a different path, not after coming this far.

Make peace with the King and work together?

Put a new king in place, take his power, and control him?

‘What would be the point?’

He knew what caused all this trouble.

So that such a thing would never happen again.

‘I will control everything directly.’

The anger in Logan’s eyes turned into a golden light shining from his sword.

“That’s not a good reason for what you did, Your Majesty!”

Logan’s angry shout filled the hall, making the King feel small. The King just laughed again.

“Your Majesty. Your Majesty. Heh heh heh.”

Thud.

“Forget all that talk about the country. Just say it, Logan McLane. You just want to take over the country for yourself!”

Thud, thud.

“Stop pretending to be good and just kill me! Heh heh heh. Yes, those eyes! Eyes full of wanting! That’s the real you!”

“Is that all you have to say?”

The King’s eyes flickered as he looked at the sword so close to his face.

But.

“Heh heh. I really want to see what you, the famous tyrant who even turned against his teacher for power, will do next. Too bad I won’t be around to see it.”

Blood came from the King’s mouth as he said those words, like a curse.

“Poison?!”

Seeing the shock on Logan’s face, the king smiled for the last time.

“Heh, heh heh. I will die as king. Even if my death… even if I choose when it happens…”

The King’s face suddenly went still and lifeless. Logan looked down at the dead King, his face showing many feelings, for a long time.

In a dark, silent room made of stone, Cleo pulled out a glowing marble from inside his clothes. The room had no windows, and the stone walls felt cold.

It was the only thing giving off blue light in the dark room.

He put magic into the marble, a secret pattern. The dim blue light started to blink, and then, a picture appeared in the air. It was like a doorway connecting him to someone far away, someone from his past. Cleo had been traveling in other countries for a long time.

When Cleo saw the picture, he quickly knelt down on the floor and spoke quietly.

“Crow Number Three. Reporting in, Your Highness.”

The picture in the air seemed to look down at Cleo, who was kneeling. The figure in the picture spoke in a cold voice.

[Speak.]

“The second war in Grandia finished much faster than we thought. It ended sooner than the worst plan I made, so I had to run away and hide.”

He had planned to give a long, complicated excuse, but the question he got back was simple.

[…The king?]

“…I tried to get the King out, but he was too stubborn and I couldn’t. I couldn’t use the ‘ghosts’ – it wasn’t the right time – so I couldn’t use force. I’m sorry.”

[Ha, failed…? The trouble in Grandia will be over sooner than we thought. This is bad….]

“…I am sorry, Your Highness.”

Cleo lowered his head even more when he heard the cold voice from the picture. It was the Second Prince.

The Second Prince just clicked his tongue and glared at him from the picture.

And the next words were even colder than before.

[Bad. Very bad. Should I just be happy with leaving the Sword Master stuck….]

These were quiet words, but they were full of anger.

Cleo knew if he argued back, terrible things would happen.

Cleo remained motionless, his head lowered even further.

‘Perhaps that Sword Master is still alive.’

He did not utter those words.

He didn’t need to say anything that would hurt him.

‘If I make him angry, I’ll die. So… for now, I’ll just stay kneeling.’

“It’s all my fault. Please punish me.”

Thud.

Blood ran down Cleo’s face where he had hit his head hard on the floor.

Even so, once more.

Thud.

“Please punish me for messing up the big plan!”

Even as blood flowed down his eyebrows, Cleo did not even blink.

Had his desperate plea worked?

[Tsk….]

The Second Prince’s face in the picture seemed to become a little less angry.

[Okay, fine. You did good before when you killed the old king and started the first war, so I’ll forget about this mistake. Wait a minute… that war ended fast because of that guy too, right? Logan McLane… huh? Where did *he* suddenly come from….]

‘Thank goodness.’

He just lowered his head again, because it wasn’t a question he needed to answer.

Suddenly, like he just had an idea, the Second Prince asked quickly.

[You did not leave any traces, did you?]

This question was a surprise, just when Cleo was starting to relax.

But because he had expected this question, his answer was fast.

“Yes! Make people suspect things, but never let them find proof. I followed the Crow’s rules perfectly, like always.”

[What about Temia powder? There must be some left on the King’s body, right?]

This must have been the question he was aiming for from the start.

‘If I say I messed it up, I’m dead.’

But he was confident.

It was a real smile, showing he was sure of himself.

“I didn’t use the powder at all.”

Perhaps that was unexpected.

[…You didn’t use it? Then how did you control the King?]

For the first time, the Second Prince took a moment to answer. His face showed he was very interested.

“The King was already very worried about Logan McLane. I just had to make that worry stronger.”

[Hoh? You stimulated his anxiety?]

“Yes. The king was worried that Logan McLane would kill him someday.”

[…Right. Logan McLane doesn’t let anyone stop him from doing what he wants. It wouldn’t be surprising if he used his sword against the King one day.]

“Yes, that’s right. The King was so worried – he was the one feeling it – it must have been terrible for him. Maybe the King didn’t even know I was making him more worried until he died. I didn’t need the powder at all.”

It was a statement for Cleo to show off his abilities.

[Yes. That could be true. Power is more scary than any drug.]

The Second Prince wasn’t as excited as Cleo thought he would be.

But Cleo didn’t do anything without thinking. He just lowered his head carefully again.

After a long silence.

[…Collect all the information about what you did and come to Lusphelheim. After I look at it, I’ll tell you what to do next.]

The Second Prince’s voice, like he had made up his mind, came from the picture. Cleo answered right away.

Thud.

“Yes, Your Highness!”

After Cleo spoke, hitting his head on the floor again, the stone room became silent once more.