Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 327

Thud thud.

Heavy boots crunched on loose stones, the sound echoing loudly in the long, dark tunnel. No sunlight had ever touched this place. The air was damp and cold, smelling of earth and old stone. Most people would feel uneasy in such a place, but the four figures walking deeper into the tunnel showed no fear. Torches fixed to the rough-hewn walls threw flickering orange light, pushing back some of the shadows and the chill. But it wasn’t just the torches that made their faces shine. They were lit with excitement, a thrill of anticipation that burned brighter than any flame.

“It will be alright, won’t it?”

At Viktor’s question, who was holding a torch and leading the way, Logan smiled.

“Clayton said it would be. It *should* be alright.”

“Indeed. It must go well. Think of the money we’ve put into this.”

A massive minister with copious sideburns chimed in with a worried expression, quite unlike his imposing figure, making the mood suddenly gloomy.

Just as Logan was about to say something, a sharp voice cut in from the side, rebuking Dwayne.

“We are merely activating what already exists. The chances of failure are lower.”

“…That’s right.”

Despite Damian’s words and Logan’s agreement, Dwayne merely sighed.

“I truly hope so. Think of how much money went into this experiment…”

“Dwayne, if you keep that up, you’ll jinx it. We might have to start all over if it goes wrong.”

“What, you little…!”

The prospect of losing the enormous budget invested thus far was a nightmare for the Minister of Finance.

Dwayne glared at Damian, his face, already stern, appearing even more menacing in the torchlight.

Damian waved his hand dismissively and chuckled.

“Haha. Let’s think positively. Nicely, nicely. Keep that up, and you’ll only get more wrinkles.”

“You little… Half of these wrinkles are because of you and His Majesty’s escapades…”

“Hey, that’s too much. His Majesty, maybe, but not me.”

“…What’s this? This familiar, foul feeling… Ah, are you starting to resemble Rick?”

“The Head of the Royal Court? No, how could you say something so harsh?”

“Even that remark…”

Watching the pair bicker, Logan chuckled.

‘Damian has certainly changed completely from my past life.’

Even as he wore such a warm expression, Logan’s face hardened again as his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

As it was a matter requiring utmost secrecy, the number of people accompanying him was a mere three: Viktor, a superhuman who had already surpassed the level of a simple guard and could be considered a major national asset; Dwayne, the Minister of Finance, who managed the funds for this endeavor; and Damian, who, by virtue of his position, handled classified information.

‘From now on, I’ll have to keep things secret unless it involves a legion commander-level individual or another superhuman.’

Among ordinary people without special abilities, these two would be the only ones who knew about this matter.

These were the people who had supported him, knowingly or unknowingly, through many hardships.

His trust in them was already unwavering.

However, after learning about the magic of the Cassel Magic Tower, he couldn’t help but worry, regardless of his trust.

– Let’s join hands for a while. I have no loyalty to uphold after being backstabbed like this.

He didn’t know how much to trust Louisa’s words. Frankly, it could be interpreted as her intending to continue plotting while staying in Granfia Castle. It seemed he needed to consider special protective measures for the two of them, at least until a clear method came to mind.

“I’ll say it again,” Logan said, his voice serious. “Both of you must report your whereabouts to me at least once every three days from today onward. And don’t even think about going near Princess Louisa, who is confined to the detached palace.”

For reasons he couldn’t explain, he had to use his Force on them – a power that felt uncomfortable and strange, like oil and water trying to mix.

“…Yes.”

“Understood.”

Knowing the gravity of the situation, the two had no choice but to stop their bickering and nod at Logan’s repeated instructions.

In the current culture of the continent, civil officials without abilities like Force or Mana were bound to be treated poorly. But regardless, they knew how heavy the responsibilities they bore were.

Even as he watched them, Logan’s brow remained furrowed.

‘The news from the temple is also troubling…’

Once he started thinking about it, only worries continued to pile up.

Although he knew the place and situation weren’t very appropriate, Logan blurted out a question, since it had come to mind.

“Damian. Has anything changed practically since Pope Austin’s statement of support for the Empire?”

“…The Holy Nation hasn’t shown any noticeable changes yet.”

“The Holy Nation?”

Logan turned to look at him at that subtle choice of words.

“I was going to report it with the data after this inspection anyway. But…”

Damian swallowed hard and continued cautiously.

“There’s news that Prince Baros of the Empire has departed to visit Noviens, the Holy City.”

“What?”

“The exact reason for his visit hasn’t been confirmed yet. Guild Leader Phillip is also focusing his attention on Noviens, but we’ll have to wait and see how things unfold.”

“Haa…”

His chest felt heavy.

‘There’s nothing I can do.’

The changes in the temple were too sudden.

Pope Austin had openly violated the temple’s principle of not interfering with the affairs of kings and countries, so it was impossible to predict how the temple would move in the future.

Then, suddenly, he remembered Honorary Cardinal Ilia, with whom he had formed a good relationship in the past and who was recently being called a saint.

“Bishop Ilia? Can you contact her?”

Perhaps she knew something about the changes in the temple?

“I was going to send someone to contact her, but she has cut off contact with the outside world since she started a period of quiet retreat after the new Pope was chosen.”

“Huh?”

Why now of all times?

The answer to the question in his eyes was simple.

“The temple says the saint deliberately chose isolation to solidify the new Pope’s position.”

“Hmm…”

That seemed plausible.

She was the top contributor to ousting the corrupt priests and creating a new temple.

Moreover, strictly speaking, the weight of the word ‘saint’ was greater than that of Cardinal Austin, who was only famous within the Holy City. If such a saint frequently engaged in external activities, the position of the newly inaugurated Pope would inevitably diminish.

He couldn’t say he didn’t understand, but all he could do now was sigh.

“This timing is too coincidental.”

“…Since the election of the new Pope, the key figures of the clergy have been completely reorganized, so we were able to plant a number of people in Noviens with the help of Guild Leader Phillip. You will be able to grasp the situation in more detail soon.”

“Good, that’s good. Report any news immediately. Verbally first.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Your Majesty, it seems we have almost arrived.”

Logan and his group talked about the temple as they walked. Logan was worried. Would these magic circles really help them win the war? Suddenly, they arrived at their destination.

They stepped into a space filled with bright blue and white light. It was so bright it almost hurt their eyes. Viktor’s torch, which had seemed so strong just moments before, now looked weak and small in comparison. The air hummed with power.

“Your Majesty!”

“His Majesty has arrived!”

“We greet His Majesty.”

As soon as Logan and his group entered the underground plaza, the mages there bowed together. Five important mages from the Golem School – Clayton, Victoria, Grik, Enan, and Truth – were all there. They were carefully looking at a huge magic circle. It was so big, it stretched out over 300 meters across the stone floor. Glowing blue runes pulsed on its surface.

Mages were spread out around the circle, their figures small against the massive magic. Sometimes, bright flashes of blue and white mana lit up the plaza. When this happened, you could just see the mages spread out around the circle, their faces serious and focused.

Logan knew they couldn’t add more mages easily. He gave a small, understanding smile – he knew how complicated ancient magic could be – and greeted the mage who was bowing – Duke Clayton.

“You’ve worked hard, Duke Clayton.”

“Not at all. I’ve learned a great deal from reactivating a magic circle that was already in place.”

“Still, it seems like there aren’t enough people.”

At Logan’s words, Clayton smiled and shook his head.

“Studying this old magic is very helpful for me and my students. Especially Ria – she is doing almost all the important work, so it’s not too hard for us.”

“Ria is?”

“Yes. She seems much more sensitive to magic since ‘what happened.’ She’s a very special child. And her magical talent is amazing too.”

Attribute?

There were many things he was curious about, but right now, Victoria’s abilities were what mattered most.

“Ah. I see.”

Logan pushed his curiosity to the back of his mind and examined every corner of the shining magic circle. Logan didn’t know much about magic circles. He could only see that this huge circle was made of many pentagram shapes on top of each other. Logan knew old languages, but the magic writing was completely different. He couldn’t understand even a small part of it.

“You said there were five great magic circles?”

Clayton, noticing the meaning in his vague gaze, hurriedly followed up with an explanation.

“Yes. We’ve finished analyzing four of the five magic circles.”

“What about the last one?”

“Well, that one is a bit peculiar, so we’ll need more time.”

Clayton looked a little worried, so Logan couldn’t guess how long it would take. But he just smiled and nodded.

“Hmm. Well, four is better than none. Let’s hear the explanation first.”

Logan didn’t know exactly what the magic circle did, but the power coming from it felt strong and safe. If they put these magic circles in the castles at the front lines, fighting the Empire would be much easier.

“Yes. First, the blue magic circle on the outermost side is related to strengthening and automatically repairing the walls. And the second is a defensive magic circle that blocks external great magic attacks. Your Majesty is well aware of these two.”

“Oh, those are the ones I’ve been keeping going by using magic stones? But they are getting weaker?”

“Yes. We fixed the magic circles and the old writings on them that had broken down over a thousand years. Now they work much better. If they are continuously maintained, they will last another thousand years without fail.”

“Hmm, good. What about the other three?”

“One is a vitality maintenance magic circle that reduces fatigue and aids recovery for all subjects within the castle.”

“Vitality maintenance?”

“When it’s working right, it will make everyone in the castle about 30% stronger and help them heal faster. It will work a little differently for each person. But we think it can help up to 100,000 people. That’s like all the normal soldiers, but not counting the knights or very powerful warriors.”

“Huh?”

“Even if we add in all the knights and powerful warriors, it should still work well for about one large group of our army. What’s even more amazing is that even if more than 100,000 people are in the city, it will still work, just not as strongly.”

“As many as we want?”

“Yes. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number. The effect will weaken, though.”

“Weakened, but still, if it can be applied……”

At first, it might sound like a weak magic, like something a beginner mage could do. But when you think about it working across the whole city of Gran, it’s incredible. Also, this magic circle works all the time, as long as it has magic stones to power it. No single mage, no matter how strong, could do magic like this on their own.

“Amazing.”

“Yes. It’s truly amazing. We are still trying to understand how this magic circle can affect everyone’s life force in the same way, even though everyone is different. If we can figure this out, we could learn more than the greatest mages from long ago!”

“No, no. I don’t think I need to know that much detail. What about the other magic circle?”

“Ah……. Haha. The next magic circle weakens enemies. It wasn’t made to be used against humans, so we don’t know exactly how strong it will be now.”

“Ah……”

He could roughly guess what he meant.

“It must have been made to fight against non-human creatures.”

“Yes. It is a magic that weakens all races other than humans.”

A thousand years ago, humans were among the weakest forces among the leading races that roamed the continent. Races like dwarves, elves, lizardmen, and orcs. Even dragon-people and the legendary dragons themselves!

Dragons were so powerful and mysterious, everyone knew about them. And other races were as smart as humans, or even smarter and stronger. These races ruled the world back then. Humans, on the other hand, were mostly very weak. Many couldn’t even beat a wild animal. And they didn’t live very long compared to the other races.

But sometimes, very powerful mages were born among humans. Even the long-lived races didn’t see mages like this very often. These mages appeared every few generations and helped humans survive. These great mages worked together. Over many years, they built cities and created powerful magic circles to protect the weak humans.

One of those cities was the current Gran. Gran was one of these cities. Legend says five great mages built it a thousand years ago to protect humans when other races moved across the land. Gran had five magic towers and five great magic circles, all built by those five mages. It was the most important city in Grandia and the hope for all humans in the east.

But now, some of that proud history didn’t seem very helpful.

“Of all the magic circles, it had to be one that only worked against non-humans…”

A sigh of regret flowed from Logan’s mouth, and Clayton also let out an ominous sound in agreement.

“Actually, we found a big problem with the last magic circle, the one we haven’t finished studying yet.”

“Hmm?”

“This last magic circle is supposed to find and sort out who the ‘vitality’ and ‘weakening’ magic circles should affect.”

“……And?”

“Long ago, it was easy – just divide everyone into ‘humans’ and ‘non-humans.’ But now, in a war between humans, the magic circle can’t tell the difference between friends and enemies. And that’s not even mentioning that Gran has way more people now than it did in the past.”

“Ah……”

There was a fundamental problem. First, the magic circle that weakens non-humans isn’t very helpful now. Second, the vitality magic circle is weaker because there are so many people in Gran. Even if they fixed the first problem, there was another big issue. If the magic circle made ‘humans’ in the castle stronger, it would also make their enemies stronger, because they are humans too!

“Wouldn’t that just be a more energetic and bloody war?”

But Logan noticed something in Clayton’s voice. It was a hint.

“‘Was’?”

Clayton smiled at Logan’s quick question.

Clayton nodded to Victoria, who was standing nearby. She stepped forward.