Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 254

“The King has taken the lead in overcoming the epidemic. I hear rumors are spreading among the people……”

Mike Teroda sounded angry. Jacques Juan’s face became serious when he heard Mike.

Ivan Claude added his warnings about bad things.

“Because we wanted to kill people in Raftan, our situation is now worse. If people find out about this plan…”

Jacques felt the pressure building, and he revealed his emotions fully for the first time in a long while.

“If people find out, what?! What will happen? Do you think the ignorant peasants will revolt against the nobles or something?”

Peasants could be massacred by the tens of thousands with just a hundred knights.

That was the thought behind his words, but Mike and Ivan couldn’t hide their displeasure at Jacques’ raised voice.

“Count Jacques! We’re talking about your plan to pressure the King using what people think! What’s with that attitude now? Hey, wait a minute! You’re not talking down to us, are you?”

Jacques realized his mistake at Mike Teroda’s sharp words and finally calmed down.

“Ahem. Ahem. Forgive my rudeness. I lost my calm in this unexpected situation. I apologize again.”

Even after those words, Mike and Ivan’s expressions didn’t completely soften.

‘Such a mistake……’

Blaming himself for not controlling his emotions, Jacques took another deep breath.

Then, he smiled faintly and opened his mouth again.

“Ahem, what I said earlier was to emphasize that even if the King wins back the hearts of the people, what truly matters is what we nobles want.”

Their expressions remained unchanged.

Jacques paused, thinking hard. Then, a small smile appeared on his face. He had an idea that could quickly fix this small problem.

Only then did the two men’s expressions change.

“……What plan is it?”

“Don’t beat around the bush and tell us quickly, Count.”

“It’s simple. Both of you must know that the people will start to starve soon.”

“Hmm. So?”

“It’s common for those poor people to be hungry at this time of year. But what does that have to do with us?”

Seeing the two men’s attitude, which clearly showed they didn’t care whether the people starved or not, Jacques grinned.

“Last year, because the King used force, we nobles ‘because they had to’ collect heavier taxes than in normal years. So, this year, the people won’t just be hungry.”

Jacques poured dark red wine, thick and rich, into his glass. It smelled of ripe berries and spice, a wine that cost more than a farmer’s yearly earnings, and let out a small sigh. Of course, he didn’t bother to consider that one bottle of this wine could feed a family of commoners for a year.

This was a right that nobles deserved to enjoy.

However.

“Around the farming season, some people will starve to death. If the labor force for farming dies off like that, our income will also decrease, so shouldn’t we do something about it in our own way? Like releasing some food?”

“How is that an idea to strengthen our power?”

Seeing Mike Teroda’s unhappy reaction, as if he hadn’t expected that at all, Jacques laughed to himself.

But on the outside, he still maintained his smile, gently raised his glass, and met the eyes of these two foolish nobles.

“We release food to the poor people and then collect interest during the harvest season. About 50 percent would be appropriate.”

“Ah……!”

The two nobles were momentarily impressed by the scheme to further swell their coffers.

However.

As if to prove that they weren’t complete fools, Ivan raised an objection.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just squeeze taxes out of them? Why bother with interest?”

Of course, Ivan Claude wasn’t saying that for the sake of the people.

His intention was simply that: Why go through an intermediate step when you can do it all at once?

Of course, what Jacques had prepared was the main point from now on.

“I’m talking about releasing food not only to our territories but also to the King’s own lands and the residents of Esperanza and McLane territories. And collecting interest. Especially since the King’s own lands are quite close to our three territories, isn’t it?”

At those words, the two nobles gasped.

“The King won’t be able to stop us from taking over the residents and land of other territories for a ‘just’ cause.”

“Oh……!”

“Indeed…….”

Amidst the exclamations of the two fools, Jacques smiled, feeling his discomfort ease.

‘By now, they must have used up all the taxes they’ve collected. The royal family no longer has any resources. Even if what people think has changed a little due to the epidemic, fate will not change. Soon, this kingdom will be at my will……’

Jacques Juan’s hopes swelled greatly once more.

While the nobles plotted, in the villages, people were starting to starve.

“Lete, I’m really sorry, but…… if you have any food left at your house, could you lend me a little? I’ll definitely, definitely pay you back next time!”

Farmer Geron had come to his neighbor’s house with difficulty after thinking for a long time. But Lete’s reaction, a long-time friend and neighbor, wasn’t very good.

“Hey! My friend! What do I have to spare!?”

“But your family is smaller than ours! W-we don’t even have food to eat tomorrow!”

“We’re only going to last a few weeks. There are still months until the harvest……, I’m sorry!”

Lete, with a very thin and tired face similar to Geron’s, closed the door with a firm attitude.

Geron had no choice but to fall down on the spot.

The fact that they didn’t have food to eat tomorrow was true.

Even now, they had been eating only one meal a day, watery rice soup, for the past few weeks, to the point where the sky looked yellow.

‘Do I really have no choice but to go to the lord?’

The announcement that had come down a while ago contained information about food loans.

A hungry time. At first, some residents cheered without thinking, but they quickly realized the weight of the 50 percent interest: that it was an act of securing future hell in exchange for escaping immediate hunger.

However.

‘If I don’t, my family will starve to death right now.’

Let’s get up. Let’s go to the lord.

I have to put something in my mouth right now.

Is it because he knows that even as he thinks that, he’s walking into an even bigger hopeless situation?

His legs, once tired, wouldn’t get strong easily.

It was then.

“Ge, Geron!! News! Did you hear the news!?”

Geron’s eyes widened at the sight of another neighbor, Soren, running towards him from afar, shouting.

It was because the neighbor, who he knew had been starving since yesterday, suddenly appeared very energetic.

‘Where did he get the energy from?’

Naturally, such a question arose.

“Someone from the royal family is going to give out food!! If you return the same amount during the harvest season!!”

“What!?”

Geron wore an empty look, unable to understand the words for a moment.

A loud bang echoed through the room as the door burst open.

Behind him, the door that had been so coldly shut burst open, and Lete came rushing out.

“Hey! Is it true? Are you giving away food for free?”

Only then did Geron understand, and he jumped up in surprise.

“Where is the royal person? Is it true about the food?”

“What?”

“Where is the person from the royal family!?”

“I-in the castle…”

Before Soren could finish speaking, Geron, as if he had never been sitting down, began to dash towards the castle like a whirlwind.

The royal family will lend food for free. There are no conditions, and you only need to return the same amount during the harvest season.

The news about the royal food spread like wildfire across the kingdom. Many farmers, who were worried about having enough food to eat right away, regardless of the success of their crops, cheered throughout the kingdom.

“I can’t believe it! We will survive!”

“The King is a true savior!”

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Of course, not everyone was happy.

“No, if they were going to do this, why did they raise taxes in the first place?”

“Don’t be stupid. It was the nobles who raised taxes, not the King.”

“What are you talking about? The nobles raised them because the royal family raised them.”

“Well, they’re both the same bastards. But there’s a difference between those who give out food for free and those who take half the interest.”

“…Yeah. At least the royal family is better than the nobles.”

Although there were those who criticized, everyone could feel that public opinion of the king and the royal family had improved significantly compared to before.

The meeting room door slammed shut, and Mike Teroda’s angry voice filled the air.

“You said the royal family didn’t have any more resources! Count Zak, you said that!”

Mike Teroda, who had agreed that the plan was good when it was first proposed, shouted at the top of his lungs, and Zak’s expression hardened.

The royal family’s power is completely different from what we expected!

“Then what about the army! What about the army? Are they really targeting us?”

“W-well. Surely not. Have we done anything wrong to His Majesty? If we have, there’s no need to…”

All the gathered nobles were looking at him with distrust in their eyes.

‘Foolish nobles, now they panic.’

He bit his lip tightly, but an answer did not come to mind easily.

It was a very embarrassing situation for Zak. Where on earth did the royal family have such resources?

No, if they had such resources in the first place…

‘They could have slowly built up the army over several years. There was no reason to take such a risk.’

It was a natural deduction as long as he did not know Logan and his aides’ thoughts on the empire’s invasion.

In the end, Zak’s thoughts led to his own conclusion within his own common sense.

“Suddenly raised that much money? From where? It certainly wouldn’t be a normal route, would it?”

He had already commissioned several information guilds.

But because he couldn’t guess at all, it was a murmur that hadn’t left his lips for weeks.

But as if he had heard the murmur, one of his subordinates burst in noisily.

“C-Count Zak! The results of the request have arrived!”

The paper he received contained content that would make a smile reappear on Zak’s face.

Even the three most famous information guilds in the kingdom brought the same information.

Why would the empire suddenly help the kingdom?

If you think about it deeply, it was literally nonsense, but people tend to see only what they want to see even in the same scene.

‘That’s right. Grandia’s Star. It’s famous that the Emperor praised King Logan.’

Zak, who had thought that far, jumped up and raised both arms.

“Now, now, nobles. Don’t get excited and listen to me. It is clear that the royal family has no more resources. They squeezed everything to the limit and used tricks. Now, when the harvest season comes, the royal family will pay a much bigger price for this reckless food distribution.”

A confident smile was already on Zak’s face as he said those words.

If they borrowed food from the empire, it wouldn’t end with the royal family shaking. It was a bad move that could ruin the McLaine and Esperanza territories, no, it would definitely happen.

‘Thank you, foolish King.’

He couldn’t help but laugh naturally.

‘Everything will be decided in this year’s harvest season.’

His future as the kingdom’s real power was already clearly visible in his head.

Logan chuckled softly.

“Yes. Good work, Phillip.”

Logan thought again that he was lucky to have scouted Phillip first.

This time, Phillip not only solved the food purchase problem, but also showed a clear presence in the policy of distributing it to the people.

Free rental, not free distribution.

Phillip’s opinion was that unilateral support would be received by everyone, even those who didn’t need it, so the necessary cost would increase several times.

And it proved to be true with the food being distributed more efficiently than expected, and public opinion was changing more favorably than expected.

But Phillip, who had done such a great job, stopped laughing and immediately hardened his expression.

“I’m sure of it now. My lord, no, His Majesty’s mention of the empire’s invasion was not just a concern.”

Looking at the serious light in his vassal’s gray eyes, Logan also nodded with a firm expression.

“…So your role is important in the future, Phillip. But, will this cause problems for future imperial activities?”

“It was going to happen someday if you look at the tricks I pulled this time. But since they’re not openly interfering, I’m going to pretend I don’t know and continue trading. Because the food sent to the kingdom has different names.”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

“But do you really have to go this far? They are the nobles of your own country that His Majesty has to embrace anyway.”

“It’s something that has to be done. Because I’m going to change the country’s constitution itself.”

Phillip simply nodded at Logan’s firm answer.

Now, all of his close aides agreed with Logan’s idea of preparing for war in preparation for the empire’s invasion, but it was still a path to that process. Especially when it came to matters related to the nobles, Logan did not share his thoughts with anyone.

Therefore, his close aides were just guessing that Logan was trying to punish some of the nobles who didn’t listen as an example.

Of course, Logan’s inner thoughts were a little different.

‘Changing the constitution is not something that can be done by punishing just one or two people.’

He knew that he was not very smart, but what he was trying to do now was something that had already been successfully done in the neighboring country hundreds of years ago.

That’s why he didn’t bother to discuss it. Furthermore, if it were to leak out, there was a high possibility that there would be a backlash from his close aides, who were ‘nobles’.

So.

“I will organize everything in the kingdom within this year.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

In the midst of so many people’s thoughts diverging.

Autumn was already approaching, bringing with it the promise of harvest and the threat of change.