Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 268

The kingdom’s forces would be completely changed. All soldiers would be put into five groups called legions. Each area would have its own legion to keep order, working with the local guards.

– The 1st Legion, including the Royal Guards of the capital.

– The 2nd Legion, based around the Esperanza Archduchy in the northwest.

– The 3rd Legion, based around the McLaine territory in the southwest.

– The 4th Legion in the northeast.

– The 5th Legion in the southeast.

Each legion had about 1,500 knights and 40,000 to 50,000 regular soldiers. The King had the highest command over all of them.

The King commanded the 1st Legion directly. Geom-gong, Archduke Patrick McLaine, Luther Kyle, and Wicken Kalia were in charge of the 2nd through 5th Legions.

Clayton’s magic group, with almost 1,000 members, was under the Royal Family’s direct control. They were made into a special group that could help any legion.

This change meant the King had all the military power in the McLaine Kingdom. But no one complained.

After Jack Huan’s group was removed, the King had almost total power. Logan also handled the lords very well.

One thing was clear: the lords would lose the knights they were supposed to send to the royal family for three years. But now, these knights belonged to the King directly.

– I am sorry, Lord.

This was expected when the knights started serving the royal family directly, instead of being sent by the lords.

Also, since all the territories were in the same situation, no one felt unfairly treated.

– The lord saves money on troop upkeep, and the kingdom has a strong army.

However, something seemed strange to many people.

“Isn’t too much power in the west?”

“It seems so.”

“Like we’re going to war with the Empire….”

“Hey, don’t say scary things like that.”

“Ah, it must be because of where Esperanza and McLaine are located. It’s just a coincidence.”

They thought the 1st and 2nd Legions in the west had too much power, but they tried to ignore it.

“The Empire has 15 legions like that.”

“And that doesn’t include the Imperial Central Army.”

“His Majesty wouldn’t be crazy enough to….”

No matter how they looked at it, the kingdom had no reason to fight the Empire.

Of course, the person who now controlled all the kingdom’s military power had different ideas.

“Now, we’re almost done with the first steps.”

He could see it.

Hope felt close.

Logan clenched his fist, enjoying the exciting feeling.

The five legions would start training together. In two years, they would become elite soldiers, as good as any legion in the Empire.

‘The knight order with artifacts will be better than the Empire’s knights.’

The repeating crossbows, still being made quickly, would make the thousands of militia stronger, making up for the lack of soldiers.

‘If Liberatio is given to each legion regularly, then we’ll finally be ready.’

But it wasn’t time to relax yet.

Logan took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

“Your Majesty, a message has arrived from the Temple.”

As if to stop him from feeling comfortable, a problem came from an unexpected place.

* * *

[The Temple is worried about the strange things happening in the McLaine Kingdom and the Royal Family’s actions. We are asking for permission to send Inquisitors to investigate the entire kingdom.]

The message was simple and direct, making people feel annoyed.

The message said they were *asking* for permission, but Logan knew the Inquisitors were likely already traveling to his kingdom.

If he didn’t give permission, the entire kingdom would be called heretical.

Then, the Temple’s Holy Knights, known for being terrible, would attack the kingdom directly.

Even if he was sure he could defeat the Temple, he shouldn’t do it.

Fighting the Temple would upset the people, who strongly believed in the Nine Gods.

More than anything….

‘This didn’t happen in my past life. Did I cause this somehow?’

He closed his eyes, thinking hard.

But he couldn’t guess the reason.

Instead of guessing it was because he went back in time, it seemed better to understand the situation in front of him.

Logan sighed and calmly thought about it.

‘Children are being born who are not affected by divine power. I heard about that. But is that enough to send Inquisitors? Or is it because of the plague?’

Inquisitors were priests who hunted down anyone who didn’t follow the Nine Gods. They were known for being terrifying.

They usually had strong divine power and could drive away demons. But they were seen as scary figures across the land.

People called heretics were killed, along with their families, neighbors, and relatives, who were also labeled as heretics.

They burned entire villages with thousands of houses and people, saying they were places where heresy had grown.

They didn’t care about the opinions of lords or the royal family.

They only followed their own rules and didn’t care about the lives lost in the process.

People thought they were worse than demons.

Also, an event a hundred years ago made the Inquisitors even more feared.

Inquisitor Balama, known as ‘The Devil of Blood,’ was incredibly cruel.

He nailed and burned over ten thousand people, not for religious reasons, but just because he wanted to.

When the Central Temple felt uneasy about the large number of Inquisitors, the Empire’s inspector caught him, and his terrible name became known.

Because the Temple’s power was declining, they had to take extreme measures.

All the Inquisitors were called back to the Central Temple, and individual priests were not allowed to perform inquisitions.

So, nowadays, Inquisitors usually only came when a lord or king asked for them. And only if there was clear proof of a bad cult.

“But why…?”

No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t guess without knowing the Temple’s reasons.

“What’s going on? I need to meet Bishop Ilia.”

“Yes, I’ll send word.”

He thought he could figure out a plan after hearing about the Temple’s message.

But things went wrong from the start.

“Bishop Ilia has been called to the Central Temple.”

“What?”

“They say it’s an interrogation for breaking the rules….”

“That’s nonsense!”

Clang!

The throne’s armrest broke because Logan was so strong.

“Could it be because of the plague?”

“I don’t know for sure, but maybe… It was hard to get information from the Temple. I’m sorry.”

Logan’s face looked even angrier at Damian’s answer.

“I’ll go to the Temple. I have to meet the Archbishop.”

In the end, Logan heard an even stranger answer from the Archbishop.

“Since His Holiness has given the order, there’s nothing I can do.”

Pamiel Gernheim, the old priest who was the Archbishop of the God of Water and Agriculture and the head of the McLaine Diocese, refused with a worried look.

“Please explain why this is happening. We need to prepare.”

“I’m sorry. It’s the Pope’s order….”

No matter how much he asked, Pamiel only said the same thing.

His wrinkled face looked sincere, but Logan could see the greed behind it.

Logan was angry about the money Pamiel had received when he was recognized for the new dynasty and invited to the ceremony, but he couldn’t show it.

“I’ll donate ten million gold to the Temple of Aion. Please give me your advice.”

“Oh, thank you. But that’s all I can say.”

…Was this guy really like this?

Logan looked at him suspiciously, realized his mistake, and corrected himself.

“Ah, since I’m asking for the Archbishop’s advice, I should donate directly to the Archbishop, not the Temple. Would that be okay?”

The Archbishop chuckled, his eyes gleaming. ‘Since you ask so kindly, Your Majesty, how can this old man refuse your wish?’ He rubbed his hands together, a greedy look in his eyes.

Logan wanted to hurt him, but he didn’t show it.

“First, I want to know why this is happening. What happened to Bishop Ilia?”

“Ah, it’s a pity. Before Bishop Ilia’s matter, let me tell you about the strange thing that has happened in this kingdom.”

“Strange thing?”

“Children who are not affected by divine power have been born here for years. Do you know about that? Even Lord Geom-gong’s daughter, whom I consecrated, was like that.”

How could he forget?

Stella, the child he had named, flashed through his mind. She now called him ‘Uncle Majesty’ and giggled.

She was a cute child who made him want to have a daughter just like her.

“At first, it was rare, so the clergy invited them to do studies….”

Crunch.

“I’ve heard of it, Archbishop. I’m more interested in the present than the past.”

Logan unconsciously ground his teeth.

Because of the situation, the word ‘studies’ sounded even scarier than when he heard it in the Empire.

Pamiel sensed the anger in Logan’s eyes and cleared his throat.

“Ahem…… Oh dear…….”

“Please speak simply! What does that constitution have to do with the Inquisition?”

“Hee hee…….”

“To be blunt, I’m curious about the Central Temple’s intentions. Please understand.”

Pamiel chuckled and continued.

“Yes, I will. To put it simply, the Temple, or rather the Pope, suspects that this kingdom has been ‘abandoned by God’.”

That went beyond what Logan had imagined.