Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 251

People whispered in fear: “The King worships demons!”

At first, no one knew what to believe about the King’s new cure. Some said it was a miracle, a real way to stop the terrible sickness. Others called it madness, dangerous nonsense.

The rumour started like this: the King had made a cure, but only by making a deal with dark, ancient spirits. People said he had borrowed power from demons.

Soon, the two stories mixed together. “The King’s cure is demon magic!” people whispered. It became a strange, scary rumour. When the King heard it, he just laughed sadly. It was all so wrong.

One of his ministers bowed low. “Your Majesty,” he said, his voice worried, “right now, only a few sick people are spreading these rumours. But the priests are making things worse. If you don’t stop the priests from protesting, everyone will believe it’s true!”

Even without the worried advice of his ministers, the issue with the priests had to be resolved.

The priests were angry about the King’s cure. They said it was wrong to use demon power. They started a protest. This protest had been going on for three days already, and because of it, the plague treatment, which he thought had found a breakthrough, was faltering again.

In the end, Logan decided to negotiate with their representative.

“Bishop Ilia, let’s talk.”

However, the conversation with Ilia was not easy from the start.

“I will listen here. Speak, Your Majesty.”

“…Are you sure? It’s about the blasphemy you mentioned. It’s a sensitive matter…”

It was just an excuse to prevent other priests from joining the conversation, but she wouldn’t be able to refuse.

As expected, Ilia twitched her eyebrows once and then nodded with a heavy face. Logan was able to meet with Ilia alone in his tent.

“Why do you worship God?”

Ilia’s face crumpled at the question.

“…Your Majesty, are you now openly trying to blaspheme?”

“Ah, it’s not like that. I’m just curious as to why you became a priest.”

Ilia, who had a complicated expression on her face at those words, quietly shook her head.

“…I don’t think it’s a topic that deviates from the subject of our conversation right now?”

“Hmm, was I being rude? Well, fine. Then let’s get straight to the point. Actually, I’m disappointed in you, Bishop.”

Ilia’s beautiful eyes contorted once again.

“The saint of the slums. The only bishop whose name the residents of the capital know. I believed that such a bishop, who cherishes and loves the people, would understand what I am trying to do.”

“There is no priest who will understand the act of violating the temple’s taboos, Your Majesty.”

“Bishop Ilia, which do you value more, violating the temple’s taboos or following the word of God?”

Was it too obvious what he was aiming for?

Ilia’s face hardened a little more.

“…There is an error in your words, Your Majesty. Taboos exist to follow the word of God.”

“I’m just saying, isn’t the temple defining the scope of those taboos too broadly?”

“As I said! Taboos are created to fully follow the word of God!”

“Even if you can’t follow the word of God in order to keep taboos that are nothing more than empty shells?!”

“That’s tricky arguments…!”

“It’s not tricky arguments, it’s reality! Bishop! Aren’t you doing that right now?!”

“Your Majesty, your words are too harsh!”

“Ignoring the word of God to save the people and clinging only to taboos, you haven’t stopped the relief efforts! The people who need to be saved are collapsing and dying before your eyes, and you’re just talking about taboos!!”

Ilia flinched at the burst of shouting.

“Having done that, do you have the right to call it tricky arguments, Ilia? Are you really a priest who follows the word of God?”

Now, even Logan could clearly see the expression on Ilia’s face wavering, but she didn’t back down easily.

“If Your Majesty removes the taboos, I and the priests will faithfully continue the activities of following the word of God.”

“So, can you save the people who are sick and dying?”

“The best…!”

“I’m asking if you can save them by doing your best! Bishop Ilia! If you and the temple give me that assurance, I can give up right now!”

Logan’s shout shook Ilia once again.

“So, swear on your conscience and faith. It’s not enough to do your best. So, can you suppress this plague!? If you say you can do it with everything on the line, I will gladly give up.”

His wide, red eyes stared into Ilia’s blue eyes as if to bore into them.

‘This woman will be different. The saint of the slums. A bishop unlike any other bishop.’

As Logan expected, Ilia’s face only grew cloudier, and she couldn’t answer easily.

After a long period of contemplation, she opened her mouth.

“…I will request additional support from the temple, putting my bishopric on the line. If satisfactory support is not provided even then, then… I will reconsider.”

It wasn’t a very satisfactory answer, but it was the next best thing.

“…I’ll look forward to the temple’s support.”

Along with Logan’s cynical reply, the treatment using deer blood was temporarily suspended.

“Bishop Ilia persuaded His Majesty!”

“As expected!”

“We must follow the word of God.”

The priests, who had become elated, also began their treatment activities again.

Three days passed like that.

“How, how could this…!”

Ilia’s hand, holding the same message from the temple as before, trembled slightly.

‘I conveyed my intentions so desperately.’

Because they didn’t even support a communication structure under the pretext of a budget shortage, there was no way to protest to the Archbishop right away.

If she sent another letter, another week would pass in a flash. Moreover, it was questionable whether her words would be understood even if she asked for support again.

Above all, it was clear that the King would not wait for that time.

If she stopped the priests’ treatment again, what would happen to the people who would die because of it?

“Oh, God… What should this insignificant servant do?”

Tears flowed from her tightly closed eyes, and a prayer flowed from her kneeling lips.

“To my Lord, who embraces everything…”

Under the unusually bright moonlight, Ilia repeated the prayer that had protected her heart for over twenty years, and she repeatedly agonized over it.

– The people who need to be saved are collapsing and dying before your eyes, and you’re just talking about taboos!!

– Are you really a priest who follows the word of God?

The King’s shout, still vivid in her ears.

The faces of the people who died while protesting to the King.

– We can’t just sit back and watch this! It’s blasphemy, Bishop!

The faces of the priests talking about taboos.

It tormented her endlessly.

How much time had passed like that?

When the flowing tears dried up and faint blood began to flow from the reddened corners of her eyes.

[When our Lord came into the world, the calm sea embraced everything, spat out all the life in the world, and changed the world. It is the order of things that all life flows back into the sea and returns to the Lord. Embrace and change are one, and all is the will of our Lord.]

The Bible of Amunda, the god of the sea and change. The first verse suddenly gave her enlightenment.

‘Taboos must eventually change if necessary. All things must prioritize the will of God to cherish the people.’

But the bishop was ignoring the people, using taboos created by humans as an excuse.

“Indeed, my sin is great…”

A comfortable smile appeared on Ilia’s lips, even though the blood tears that flowed down were pale, and a halo spread softly behind her, not inferior to the moonlight in the night sky.

And the next day.

Ilia went straight to Logan.

“I greet Your Majesty.”

As she greeted him, the tent where the King resided was already covered in deer blood.

It seemed that the King, having heard the temple’s intentions, had immediately resumed the deer blood treatment.

The faces of the people, all distorted from drinking the disgusting blood, painfully pierced her eyes.

‘This is all my fault…’

Logan saw Ilia’s serious face and spoke sternly.

“I’ve heard the temple’s intentions. No matter what you say, I will resume treatment through deer blood. No, I’ve already resumed it. There are over 100 deer that have come into the village, and the food to feed them is also a problem. I won’t ask you to cooperate. Just don’t interfere with demon worship or anything like that.”

“…How much.”

“What?”

“How effective is it? The deer blood?”

Inside the dim barracks, the air thick with the smell of sickness, Ilia carefully poured glowing, golden power onto the girl. The girl, pale and weak, was slowly drinking from a wooden cup filled with dark deer blood. Ilia avoided looking directly at Logan, who stood nearby, but her actions spoke louder than words. She was helping him, even before she said yes.

A small smile touched Logan’s usually serious face. He understood.

“One cup of deer blood,” Logan explained, his voice quiet, “works like a weak healing spell from a priest. If you drink it every day, it could be as good as the magic you are using.”

“…I will support it.”

Logan, having finished his explanation, finally heard the answer he had been hoping for.

“Leave the persuasion of the priests to me.”

“Very well. I ask that of you, Bishop Ilia.”

It’s not surprising that the priests didn’t like the idea of using deer blood again.

“Absolutely not!”

“Sacrilege!”

As expected, objections erupted from everywhere, but this time, the circumstances were different.

“We have been interpreting the temple’s rules too broadly. Animal blood, not human blood, does not fall under the taboo. I guarantee this with my position as bishop!”

Ilia used to be the main priest against deer blood. Now, she was trying to convince the other priests to use it!

“That…”

“Bishop…?”

“Do you not see the suffering people? What we must consider first and foremost is caring for the people according to the word of God!”

When she said that, Ilia was smiling brightly, as if she had shed all her inner conflicts.

And at that moment, a mysterious halo began to shine behind her.

Even priests who always talked about the temple’s rules stared in shock. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Oh, Lord…!”

“I will follow your word.”

The halo that appeared when a high priest’s divine power was maximized meant that, at that moment, the priest’s words were fully in accordance with God’s will.

Of course.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but the divine power she’s wielding has increased quite a bit in an instant. It seems like it’s leaking out because she’s not used to it…’

Logan, who could even see the cause of the halo, could only tilt his head in bewilderment.

However, good was good, and Logan had no intention of making a fuss about the cause.

Even with this amazing thing happening, Priest Fabian still disagreed with Ilia.

“…You must keep that promise, Bishop, that you will take responsibility.”

Priest Fabian, who was also surprised by the halo, still said that.

In addition, Ilia’s escort knight, Timo, also approached her with a worried face and whispered in her ear.

“Bishop. The temple may take issue with this. The main church is already watching our kingdom closely because of ‘that problem.’ If we make a mistake, they might send people to investigate and punish us…”

“I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry.”

“Bishop!”

Timo bit his lip as he looked at Ilia’s stern expression, but her decision did not change.

“Priests, remember your main job is to save people!”

With her firm attitude, Timo, as well as Fabian, had no choice but to back down.

However.

‘That bastard…’

Logan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Fabian, the fat priest full of greed.

It was obvious that he was the type to cause problems sooner or later.

‘It’s not a problem I should touch.’

Now was not the time to cause problems because of a guy like that.

“Combine the priests’ treatment with the deer blood treatment! Everyone, restart the relief efforts!”

With Logan’s cry as the starting point, the village began to regain its vitality, suppressing his displeasure.

“I-is it really okay to drink this?”

“T-the priest said it’s okay, didn’t he?”

“Greg from next door is already cured.”

“T-that’s right? Then…”

Even the patients who had been holding out, saying they would rather die and go to heaven, drank the deer blood one by one.

Of course, there were still some faithful(?) people who stubbornly resisted.

“I’d rather die and go to heaven…, Ack!? Argh?”

“Don’t struggle. You’ll bite your tongue. Here! For guys like this, just shove it in their mouths like this!”

Logan took the lead, grabbing the face of a patient with oozing sores and pouring deer blood into his mouth. The other knights began to force-feed blood to those who refused treatment.

The village was a strange sight. Knights were killing deer, blood was flowing everywhere, soldiers were forcing people to drink it, and priests were chanting prayers. It was a mix of chaos and holiness.

Scritch.

“H-hey, there’s deer blood overflowing there. Make sure to catch it so it doesn’t spill on the floor!”

Behind the eerie scene of knights slitting the necks of dragged-in deer and soldiers receiving the pouring blood, and the people drinking that blood.

“Oh, God!”

The voices of the priests constantly calling out to God echoed as holy healing was performed in parallel.

It was a shocking and strange scene. Healing and violence were happening at the same time, which felt very wrong.

However, such two-way treatment began to show definite effects in just a few days.

“The number of cured patients is far greater than the number of new cases!”

“The fallen soldiers and doctors have all recovered!”

The noticeably brighter atmosphere and the decreasing number of patients brought a smile to Logan’s face.

Moreover.

“If we can make the deer blood mixture a bit better, we can make a real medicine from it. If successful, we can stop the same sickness early on if it happens again!”

With Gilbert’s hopeful report, Logan could breathe a sigh of relief.

– His Majesty the King and the relief team are stopping the epidemic.

Because the treatment was working, the rich and poor people who were scared of the disease began to feel calmer.

While the village was healing, Logan was also working on other ways to help his people. He remembered the water project…

In addition.

“The King himself…?”

“I thought he was just a tyrant…?”

“Eh. It’s probably a made-up story.”

“Still, it’s true that he stayed in the village where the epidemic spread, right?”

Rumors about him spread throughout the kingdom, and the evaluation of King Logan gradually changed.

In one of the royal direct territories, more than 10,000 people were looking at a huge stone gate with nervous eyes.

“Really?”

“Will it really work?”

Years ago, workers in McLean estate had been just as nervous. Now, these workers watched the stone gate, their mouths dry with worry.

Grrr.

As the huge stone gate rose with a loud noise, a stream of water poured into the waterway carved into the barren wasteland.

“It’s water!”

“Really…?”

“This is possible?!”

“Everyone has worked hard. According to His Majesty the King’s orders, the families of the workers who participated in the reclamation project will be given priority in the tenancy rights of this land!”

Everyone was silent for a moment, surprised. Then, a loud, joyful shout filled the air.

“Long live His Majesty the King!”

“Long live Logan McLean!”

“Waaah!”

Soon after, a huge shout erupted.

It was just a cheer from one corner of the royal direct territory, but it was more than enough to bring a bright smile to Logan’s face when he received the report.

“All the big crises are over. Then now…”

A tightly clenched fist.

The light in Logan’s red eyes, looking to the future, burned more and more fiercely.

Now that the epidemic is being effectively controlled by the relief team’s activities, there is no need to dispatch priests who are suffering in other areas.