Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 29

“What?”

Logan’s words surprised everyone again.

People knew Logan had changed after the war, but they still remembered his past mistakes.

People still remembered Logan as someone who loved money.

“I don’t want money as a reward. I want land instead.”

Everyone nodded, but they were surprised again by what he said.

“Are you saying you want private land in our territory?”

Patrick’s friendly expression changed slightly.

But Logan’s attitude didn’t change.

“Yes.”

With a deep sigh, Patrick listened as the administrators protested strongly.

“That’s absurd! Private land in our territory?!”

“Giving land is out of the question, no matter how great Logan’s achievements are. This territory is small.”

“That was only possible a long time ago.”

Patrick calmed everyone down, even though he might have ignored them before.

“Let’s ask him first. Why do you want land suddenly?”

Logan smiled, realizing how much his reputation had changed.

“I know the territory needs money. Use the money for the territory. I want to take a wild hill in the western wasteland and make it better.”

“Wasteland? Wild hill?”

“Yes. The wild hill near the border with the Tesron territory, with the stream, is enough.”

The McLaine territory was poor everywhere, but the western wasteland was the worst, except for the dangerous south full of monsters.

People called it a wild hill, but it was really just dry, brown land. Rocks covered the ground, and only a few tough, grey bushes grew there.

“Why that place?”

“What’s there?”

“What could there be?”

The administrators were confused, and so was Patrick.

“You’re going to make that land better?”

“Maybe there’s gold buried there?”

Everyone stared at Logan with confused faces because his words were strange.

“The royal family already took all the gold mines… But never mind. Why am I explaining? You just want that land, right?”

Patrick held his head like he had a headache. Logan nodded.

“Yes.”

The retainers shook their heads. They thought Logan was acting strangely again.

Everyone agreed: It’s useless land, Logan is happy, and we save money. It’s good for everyone.

“Alright. Logan’s reward will be that wild hill. Dwayne, bring the map. Exactly where… Yes, I give him this mountain as private land.”

The opposition disappeared, and permission was given easily.

‘I got it!’

Logan secretly clenched his fist under the table.

‘This land is more important than 300,000 gold.’

Winning the territory war made his heart race, but he couldn’t stop there.

‘Nine years from now.’

The disaster that he dreaded would happen.

The kingdom’s noble family, and Logan, had to stop the empire’s attack.

And the problems inside the kingdom before that were also important.

‘There’s still a long way to go.’

He and his family had many challenges.

This choice was to prepare for those disasters.

‘It’s easier to respond if I have the land than if the family does.’

The meeting ended, and Logan got what he wanted.

Immediately after leaving the conference room, Logan faced another problem he had been thinking about.

This worry now showed itself to Logan.

“What are you thinking?”

“Mother!”

“What are you planning! Do you think I’m stupid?!”

Even with Ronian’s attempt to stop her, his stepmother shouted with bloodshot eyes and a pale face. She looked pitiful.

“Mother! Please! Brother, I’m sorry. Mother is sad because of her family’s problems.”

“It’s alright, Ronie. It’s okay.”

Logan smiled gently at his worried younger brother and looked back at his stepmother.

Even if they had a long-standing problem, she had now lost power.

She was no longer a threat to him.

So, it was time to fix their relationship.

‘In this situation, would she accept a sincere apology?’

He was prepared.

Logan took a breath, organized his thoughts, and spoke calmly.

“Mother, I know you don’t trust me because of how I’ve acted. I regret what I did because I was jealous.”

“See, Ronian! He admitted it! It’s all his fault!”

“Mother! Please stop!”

Ronian held Merian’s waist and looked at Logan with sad eyes.

“Brother, Mother isn’t thinking clearly. Don’t talk about that now.”

“Just listen, Ronian McLaine. I really need to apologize to you.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve said I was sorry since I came back, but I haven’t said what I’m sorry for. My regrets from the past made it hard for me to be brave.”

“Brother?”

Ronian looked confused.

“You knew it too, Ronie. You’re not stupid.”

Ronian’s expression turned to stone.

“For the past few years, I hated you.”

Merian was speechless, and Ronian turned pale.

Logan smiled sadly.

“I tried to hide my own problems by hating you. I regret those days, Ronian.”

Logan tried to look his brother in the eye.

“Ronian, my brother, I apologize to you now, even though it’s late. I was really sorry.”

His stepmother’s eyes widened, and his brother looked awkward.

As he spoke, he felt emotional.

He regretted not saying these words for so long.

Only after returning to the past and fixing the family’s problems did he have the courage to apologize.

‘You can’t fix a wrong with a good deed. I’m still young, Logan McLaine.’

He laughed at himself.

“It’s okay, Brother.”

Ronian, his younger brother, had been still as a statue for a moment. Then, a wide, bright smile spread across his face.

“I was alright, even back then,” Ronian said, his voice a little softer than usual.

“…What?” Logan blinked, surprised. He had never thought of this, not in his past life, and not now.

Ronian chuckled, a light, happy sound. “I believed if I was good, you would become the brother I remembered. And you have… Haha.”

Logan forced a weak laugh. He looked at his smiling brother, but his own smile felt empty.

Why was he so worried about telling the truth? It was actually quite simple.

Logan looked at his stepmother, who still regarded him with distrust, and said as if swearing an oath.

“Mother, if I had wanted to harm Ronian, I would have had many opportunities, even in this war alone.”

“That’s……”

“Rather, he saved me. My brother did.”

“My feelings for Ronian are genuine. And it is also my sincere wish that Ronian becomes the successor, if possible.”

“Yes? Brother. That’s……”

“I know it’s too much to ask you to believe me right away. So, please watch. Watch how I act.”

His stepmother did not answer, but that was enough for Logan.

Even after the distribution of rewards, the McLaine family’s command center was in chaos with postwar processing. They were extremely busy.

The most important issue was what to do with the captured knights and soldiers.

It didn’t take much to persuade the soldiers, but the knights needed more time.

The duty of a knight, deeply ingrained in society, placed loyalty above all else.

For a knight to abandon their lord and serve another was like calling them a traitor.

It was a shackle that prevented them from gaining a foothold in aristocratic society, blocking them from moving up in society.

However, there was still room for persuasion because they were lords serving the same country and the same king.

The knights’ main loyalty was still to the king and country. Only their immediate lord would change. This was like pretending everything was fine, but this excuse was important to them.

If there wasn’t even that excuse, they would have to choose between dying or being branded with dishonor.

‘Since there’s an excuse, they’ll all choose to switch sides, even if the monthly salary is a bit less.’

Knights were people too, and Haman Tesron was not someone who could be seen as a good lord, not even as a figure of speech.

Of course, some would resist to save face, so it would take time.

From Logan’s point of view, it was something he couldn’t understand, but there were people for whom such things were important.

In addition, there were administrative issues between the Tesron and McLaine territories, troop issues for maintaining security, taxes, tax rates, and territory income issues.

All the remaining problems were difficult to solve quickly.

However, Logan, who did not yet have an official position, was doing his own thing even in that situation.

‘That’s why it’s not good to be the successor. I almost got caught.’

He had barely overcome one of life’s crises, but he was about to be buried in documents without even having time to enjoy it.

‘More than anything, it’s difficult at this point.’

A flame flickered in Logan’s eyes, which had seemed relaxed.

He had barely overcome a small wave, but the great wave that would engulf the family and the country was just beginning.

If the Empire’s invasion, which would lead to the country’s destruction, was the final obstacle, then what would happen next winter, a year from now, would be the starting point for the country’s decline.

That was the death of the current king, Samuel von Grandia.

No matter how weak the royal family’s power had become, the king was the rightful ruler of this country.

The sudden death of such a king without any particular signs gave a great shock to the entire kingdom.

The psychological shock to the people was, frankly, nothing.

However, the war that started in the kingdom’s capital, Grand, due to the sudden death of the king, and the civil war, which broke out as factions were divided by each heir to the throne, lasted for three years and greatly reduced the kingdom’s power.

And before that power could be recovered, the Empire’s invasion began.

In fact, it was the first cause of the country’s downfall.

The McLaine territory, which did not particularly follow any faction, might have been able to avoid the typhoon by remaining neutral and crouching down.

They could have simply stepped back and enjoyed the stories of the many heroes and villains created by the civil war, like an audience, by bowing their heads.

‘But I can’t just let that opportunity pass.’

Logan was planning to take advantage of the chaos to actively expand the family’s power, to restore the territory of the former earldom as soon as possible, and regain the position of Lord of the Southwest.

And if possible, he hoped to go one step further and become a card that could end the tense civil war, or even more than that…

Slap.

‘Let’s get a grip. I’ve barely overcome one obstacle. It’s a relief that I can even have these worries.’

Logan, who shook off his endless imagination by slapping himself on the cheek, thought again about what he had to do right away.

‘Whether it’s expanding the military or starting a territorial war, if I say it now, I’ll just be told I’m crazy again.’

From Logan’s point of view, it was time to increase his power, but there was no way to persuade them of this.

‘So, first of all…….’

He needed to take control of the family’s finances. To do that, he needed to get access to the family accounts.

Whether he increased military spending or hired talent to prepare for battle, no one would be able to say anything about managing his personal funds.

Now was the time to prepare for that.

‘If the family refuses the territorial war, I…….’

“Where exactly are you going?”

As his thoughts branched out and spread, a voice suddenly broke Logan’s thoughts.

Logan turned around and saw a dwarf with a sulky expression slowly following him.

Logan chuckled at the sight.

“You’ve rested enough. It’s about time to work.”

“I’m anxious, anxious. When you smile, Master, I remember when you squeezed those things out of me……”

“Don’t worry. This time, it’s definitely something you’ll like.”

“How do you know what I like?”

Logan’s smile did not disappear despite the blunt response.

Unlike humans, who varied greatly from person to person, those forgotten races had a common taste among the race.

And Logan was sure that what he was about to do would suit the dwarf’s taste.

“Stop talking and follow me. You won’t be disappointed.”

“Then why are we going to the prison? Don’t tell me you’re going to throw me in jail for playing around a bit……”

“Don’t imagine useless things, Hamarr. I’m going to pick up the people you’ll be working with in the future.”

“To the prison, you say?”

“Yes.”

Hamarr was shocked, but those words soon became reality.

They arrived at the dungeon of McLaine Castle, where prisoners were held.

In one corner of the sturdy, heavy iron door where knights were imprisoned, there were middle-aged, furry men huddled together who didn’t seem to have much power at first glance.

“Oho! He really came! That young master!”

“Ooh! It’s real!”

“But what’s next to him? Not a person……”

“A, a dwarf!”

“What? A dwarf?!”

They saw Hamarr, who had appeared with Logan, and their eyes lit up.

“W, what? Who are those humans?”

It was a gaze he had never felt, even when he was in the slave market.

Since all of them were furry, middle-aged men, Hamarr’s beard stood on end.

“They call themselves geologists or mining experts, but in my opinion, they’re just crazy about digging.”

“……Miners, you say? Why suddenly miners?”

“Because I need them.”

“Yes?”

“I’m thinking of developing a mine.”

“Yeeeesh!?”

Logan grinned as he watched the dwarf’s surprised expression.