Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 313

Louisa frowned, impatient. “Can’t we skip the diversion?” she asked Jun.

“Finding the King’s aura is what matters most. Don’t rush,” Jun replied calmly.

“…Understood,” Louisa muttered, clicking her tongue softly as she watched Jun, the captain of the guard, bow his head.

*He doesn’t get it,* Louisa thought. *He’s not one of the brainwashed knights, and he’s not cleared for top-secret information.* There was no way he could understand her plan.

She didn’t feel like explaining, so Louisa simply shook her head and headed towards the entrance of the detached palace.

The escorting knights, surprised, hurried to follow her.

Except for Jun, who wasn’t brainwashed, they were slow to react, which annoyed her. She frowned.

*For upper-level knights to struggle to keep up with a mage whose magic is mostly sealed… I doubt they could even beat a mid-level knight in a real fight.*

*The Imperial Family has been chasing them for centuries, so I understand their need for secrecy. But if everyone is a brainwashed puppet, it’s always going to be frustrating.*

*How can we build a new world like this?*

This was one of the things she needed to fix first.

To do great things, secrecy was important, but she also needed trustworthy people.

The current rules made that impossible, which made her even more frustrated with the old men in charge.

*I need to get results, right now.*

Louisa bit her lip, determined. Then Jun, who had been following her, spoke up again.

“Are you sure Count Ronian is really under a spell? He seems fine to me.”

“What?” Louisa asked.

“Normally, it would have worked, but I’m worried now. Didn’t you say you can’t be sure if the magic has taken hold?” Jun asked with concern.

“Ah…” Louisa clicked her tongue.

Jun was doubting her because her magic was sealed.

Sealing her magic to avoid detection from aura users limited her abilities. It was hard to even guess the king’s power, even when she was standing right in front of him.

But Jun was worrying too much.

“I’ve been influencing him slowly. If he didn’t notice, it’s magic that even an aura user can’t resist. Even a top knight can’t escape it, even if they know,” Louisa explained confidently.

Even with her magic sealed, it was magic that a mage had carefully crafted, using the finest magic dust.

It was a magic passed down from the Soul Wizard school, which followed the teachings of the Magic Saint Zibric Cassel, who wanted to become more than human, even a god.

“Still, I’m worried…” Jun repeated.

“Enough, Jun! You worry too much. If you keep questioning everything, why did I even bring you?” Louisa snapped, her irritation growing.

She had brought him to help with the brainwashed knights’ slow reactions, but he was just making things worse.

Louisa’s eyes narrowed, and Jun immediately lowered his head.

“I apologize,” Jun said quietly.

Louisa stopped and glared at Jun before continuing towards the detached palace.

As she approached the entrance…

Woong.

A faint burst of energy, only audible to Louisa, signaled that the magic preventing their voices from leaking out had disappeared.

*Even with my magic sealed for disguise, this should be enough.*

At the same time, Louisa began to act, subtly flushing her face and making her eyes sparkle.

As soon as she left the detached palace, knights blocked her path.

“Where are you going? We will escort you,” a knight with mismatched red and blue eyes and blue hair said, bowing.

“Sir Viktor… was it? Count Ronian invited me to the royal castle. He said he’d show me his training with His Majesty. Didn’t you get the message?” Louisa asked.

“Ah… so it was today. Please, follow me. I will escort you,” Viktor replied.

This knight was polite but interfered with everything. He followed her as soon as she left the palace, excessively devoted to his duty.

*There are many loyal people like this even without brainwashing. The organization’s foundation is wrong.*

Louisa smiled and nodded, hiding her irritation.

The Royal Training Ground in the main palace was off-limits to the escorting knights.

Louisa, accompanied only by Viktor, entered the training ground. Ronian, the red-haired young man she had spent the most time with recently, greeted her with a bright smile.

“Welcome, Princess. I’m sorry I couldn’t escort you myself,” Ronian said.

“It’s not that far of a walk, don’t worry about it,” Louisa replied.

The young man lowered his head shyly, the corners of his mouth almost reaching his ears.

*The enchantment has definitely worked,* Louisa thought.

She dismissed Jun’s concerns.

“His Majesty has granted your request. Greet him first,” Ronian said, pointing.

Louisa bowed politely to the man standing where Ronian indicated.

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting my request,” Louisa said.

“Not at all, Princess. I train with my brother regularly, so it doesn’t matter if there are a few more observers,” the King replied.

“Thank you for your generosity,” Louisa said.

“But I wanted to ask, why do you call me ‘Your Majesty,’ Princess? Isn’t that against the Empire’s customs?” the King inquired.

“If I marry Count Ronian, I’ll be a member of the royal family, so customs don’t matter,” Louisa explained.

“And I thought it would be impolite to use the title of the Imperial royalty for the ruler of McLaine, which isn’t a vassal state of the Empire,” she added.

“…Those aren’t the words of an Imperial Princess. You’re very thoughtful,” the King commented.

“I’m just stating the facts,” Louisa replied modestly.

After a brief conversation, Logan and Ronian stood in the middle of the training ground.

“Hap!”

Clang.

“Faster!”

Wham.

“Ack!”

The brothers hid Ronian’s true skills and put on a showy display. With their experience, they made sure a mage wouldn’t notice the openings in their moves.

*Especially a mage who is limiting their own abilities.*

Logan watched Louisa’s reaction.

But…

“Ha… Haha. It, it was real. Really…” Louisa muttered, her eyes sparkling with excitement. She looked like a noble girl seeing aura users or top knights spar for the first time.

*She’s really putting on a show,* Logan thought.

Her reaction was so natural that he felt foolish for suspecting she had a hidden motive for her request.

*So, she just wanted to see Ronian’s reaction.*

Logan refocused on the act, unaware of the gaze that followed him.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It really is a golden aura. It wasn’t just rumors about the earth attribute aura!”

“Yes! I’m certain!”

Louisa was very happy. Even the Archmage’s voice shook a little as he spoke through the magic ball.

He said, “The one who changes fate, that legend reappears in my time… So, the prophecy…”

This was happening in an era when the gods had left.

They had discovered a sign that their organization had waited a long time for: children were being born who were immune to magic power from gods.

And they were right to focus on McLaine, a place where many more of these children than normal were being born.

“All the signs in the prophecy have appeared.”

Her hands trembled just thinking about it.

Now, the organization’s actions would change depending on what the Archmage did. Louisa tried to calm her racing heart, waiting for him to continue speaking through the magic ball.

After a long pause, the Archmage, who was lost in thought, finally spoke.

“Stop the killing. No, you must not kill him. We will proceed with the Empire’s request in the second way you mentioned.”

The Empire’s request. Even though the Second Prince said they wanted to stop fighting, they called it a request, not an order.

If the Emperor heard that, he would immediately start the war again. But Elder Louisa knew the organization’s goal, so it made sense to her.

“You mean the chaos in the kingdom?”

“That’s right. If that Second Prince plans to assassinate the King, you must stop him. The one who changes fate must be alive until the time of the prophecy.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. He is at least a mid-level Aura User. He won’t be taken down by mere assassins.”

“Even if they are Ghosts?”

“Yes. No matter how much our Ghosts contain some of our vision, it will be difficult. Besides, I heard they already failed once.”

“That’s probably because the Dark Swords or their leader didn’t step in directly.”

“That’s probably true.”

Could the one who changes fate be defeated so easily?

Even as she thought that, Louisa had to agree with the Archmage.

She hated the Imperial Family, but she strangely seemed to support the Ghosts.

She could clearly feel both love and hate for the group created by the Tower’s vision.

“Certainly… The Emperor would only try to assassinate the King right before starting a war. We need to pay closer attention to the Imperial Family’s movements.”

“In other words, we can rest assured until then.”

“Yes.”

It seemed they were going to protect the target they were about to assassinate, but to the two people talking, that was the obvious thing to do.

“Carry out your plan. Once the kingdom is weak and the Empire takes over, it will be easier to find the one who changes fate.”

Of course, they weren’t doing it to be kind.

“Yes, I understand.”

A cruel look flashed across Louisa’s face as she bowed her head.

Meanwhile, in another part of the kingdom…

“Fire!”

“Shoot!”

Tap tap tap.

With the knight’s command, dozens of arrows rained down on the target all at once.

A moment later.

“Tenon. Another perfect score!”

At the knight, Deck’s shout, cheers erupted from the surroundings.

“Yeah!”

“Amazing. He’s a hunter after all!”

“Hey, if I had hit just one more…”

“Give up. The prize money is Tenon’s anyway.”

In the middle of the noisy crowd was Tenon. He was a middle-aged man. Despite the praise around him, he silently adjusted the crossbow’s string and checked his equipment.

This was the training place for the Clide area’s soldiers. It was a friendly place.

His childhood friend, Aman, approached him.

“Tenon. You really have to have a drink today, right?”

Tenon’s ordinary brown eyes turned to Aman.

It had been 10 years since ‘that day,’ since he had become disgusted with the world and hid in the forest.

He pushed away everyone who approached him. He was receiving cheers from the soldiers because of Aman, his friend who always bothered him. He was grateful, but his heart, which had already poured everything out 10 years ago, had no room to express that gratitude.

“……No need.”

“Just come back to the village, Tenon. Living in the world has gotten better. The lord can’t do the same terrible things as before anymore.”

He knew. He knew, but…

The person who left would not return.

“……I’m going.”

“Do you still want to take revenge on the lord?”

Halt.

Aman asked this question at the perfect moment, stopping Tenon as he was about to turn around.

“I’m just too worried, you know.”

“……Mind your own business.”

He said gruffly to his approaching friend, but Aman didn’t stop saying what he wanted to say.

“Even though the lord doesn’t have any knights or soldiers now, he’s still a noble. If you cause trouble, not only you but also our villagers will be in trouble. You know?”

“……I know.”

Yes. He knew.

They were all simple and grateful people. The connections his past family and Erina had left behind were all in that village.

And that fact was like a chain binding his ankles.

That’s why it hurt even more.

Leaving his worried friend behind, Tenon returned to his forest home alone.

As he laid his tired body down in the quiet cabin, he felt very lonely.

He couldn’t fall asleep easily. As always, he tossed and turned, thinking of his loved one.

‘Erina…’

He remembered his wife’s face. She had died without even closing her eyes, as if she was full of anger. He unconsciously bit his lip, tasting blood.

He could kill a knight with the crossbow in his hand, but he couldn’t even try to take revenge on the lord, who had no knights or soldiers now.

‘Am I a coward? Huh? Erina.’

As always, he felt sad as he looked at the sky that had no answer.

“No, dear. You can do it.”

He heard a voice that shouldn’t be there.

“Erina!?”

A faint gray aura flashed in Tenon’s eyes as he jumped up.