Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 39

“Excuse me, what did you say?”

“I need you to buy food worth one million gold coins every month. Send it to Tesron and McLaine Castle.”

“Really? One million gold coins? Every month?”

“Yes.”

“What on earth… Are you planning to feed everyone in the territory all by yourself, Lord Logan?”

“Enough. I’ll be buying continuously for at least a year, so find out where we can purchase it.”

Philip chuckled, a little surprised. “Heh. You’re serious. I didn’t know you cared so much about the people here.”

Logan gave a short laugh, but it wasn’t a happy one.

*Caring for them?* he thought to himself. *Not really.*

To be honest, it was just something he had to do. McLaine Castle had a long-standing problem: not enough food. And it wouldn’t get better until next year at the earliest.

They had obtained the Tesron Plains, but Tesron Castle grew just a little more food than they needed for themselves.

Adding McLaine’s poor land to that meant they were still short on food.

Moreover, it was early summer now.

The food stored up in winter was running out, and the next harvest was still far away.

It was the lean season – the time between harvests when food was scarce – right after the spring famine.

It wouldn’t be strange for people to starve to death in McLaine Castle at this time.

The people’s work was essential for the things he would do in the future, so he had to keep them strong.

‘But buying food is just a temporary fix.’

A more fundamental solution was needed for the future. But food was not the only thing he needed. He also needed skilled people.

“Stop talking nonsense and buy it. Is it difficult?”

“Ah, no. If it’s a long-term contract for more than a year, many merchants will be happy to provide it. Plus, we can buy it even cheaper in large amounts.”

“Then proceed with that, and send Imporic as soon as we arrive. Prepare for trading until then. I’ll send a mercenary company to escort the supplies, so get to know their captain…”

After giving Philip detailed instructions, Logan sought out Knox again for another request.

“You’re asking me to find these people?”

“Yes.”

“With just their names and one or two details about how they look? We don’t even know if those are their real names. Plus, we don’t know where they live. Are you asking me to search the entire continent? This is…”

“Can you do it? Or can’t you? Just tell me that.”

“Ugh. You’ll have to give me 100,000 gold coins as a down payment. And I can’t promise when I’ll be able to find them.”

“Contact me as soon as you confirm even one person. I’ll be in McLaine Territory.”

“May I ask why you’re trying to find these people?”

“Of course not.”

Knox paused.

“I’ll give you as much money as the down payment for each person you find. But only if the information is correct. So find them as quickly as possible.”

“I understand…”

Bang.

Knox’s annoyed voice echoed in the empty doorway. “Tch, what a rude fellow.”

Logan, already gone from that place, was running towards the west gate.

And even as he ran, his mind was racing.

‘The powerful people who are not working for anyone. I must find them and get them to join me.’

But as Knox had said, it wouldn’t be easy to find them.

The fact that they were wandering around without being attached to anyone, even after becoming powerful, meant that each of them had their own reasons.

Maybe even the names Logan knew were not their real names.

‘But there’s no other way. I have no choice but to wait.’

He had to focus on building up his family.

If necessary, he had to build up strength so that he could fight in the Imperial War even without those talents. And even if he found them, he had to consider extreme measures if they refused his offer to join him.

‘Especially that guy who mainly worked as a mercenary for the Empire…’

As he was having such complicated thoughts, he felt a little impatient, even though everything was going well.

And at that moment, he realized that it was strange.

‘Why am I so worried?’ Logan thought. ‘It’s like an obsession. I need to calm down.’

“Slow down. There’s still time. It’s okay,” Logan calmed himself down by talking to himself, slowly catching his breath.

He was feeling impatient even though everything in the capital had gone better than expected.

‘It’s an obsession, an obsession. I need to clear my head for a while.’

The moment he realized that, his pace slowed down a lot.

Now was the time to go and make a more important deal.

He looked up at the distant sky to relax his mind.

Just as he was trying to find peace of mind, a huge tower could be seen in the distance.

“Ha… Damn it.”

He had just decided to take it easy, but seeing his destination reminded him of the things he had to do again.

‘The Magic Tower, huh…’

The Magic Tower was where wizards gathered, wizards who followed the same path and lived together.

They built tall and massive towers to show off their magic and power.

Of course, wizards were rare, so even if it was called a power, it was at most a few hundred people. But so many wizards gathered together were as strong as an army.

However, most wizards spent their time developing and researching their magic rather than fighting, so they rarely showed themselves outside the Magic Tower’s laboratory.

Lower-level wizards, who really needed a master to teach them, mostly belonged to the Magic Tower and tried not to leave their master’s side.

Therefore, it was hard to find wizards in a rural territory like McLaine.

‘It’s hard to find them, and even if you find them, they’re picky about their work.’

That was the biggest reason why it was hard to see wizards in war unless it was a national war or a territory war of a large territory that had its own Magic Tower and wizards.

There were five Magic Towers in Grang, the capital of the Grandia Kingdom.

And the place Logan was going to now was one of those five Magic Towers.

It was the Earth Magic Tower in the west of the royal capital.

Ting-a-ling.

A huge, seven-story Magic Tower with a dusty brown color.

The first floor was so empty that the large space felt lonely.

The first floor of the Magic Tower, which seemed to be over 300 square feet, was so far away that even the reception desk closest to the entrance was a long walk away.

At the reception desk, a young man wearing a robe the color of dry earth, with a pattern of dark grey rocks stitched into the fabric, was dozing off.

“Ahem. Excuse me.”

Tap tap.

“Huh!”

Roy, an apprentice wizard of the Earth Magic Tower who had been dozing off, was startled by the sudden voice and woke up with a start.

“I, I’m sorry! Customer!”

He quickly stood up and bowed deeply, apologizing, but he was screaming inwardly.

‘This is a disaster. Damn it.’

Most of the guests visiting the Magic Tower were nobles.

They were visitors who came to buy magical items made by the Magic Tower or to make requests, and the money they spent was the Magic Tower’s biggest source of income.

The research costs that high-ranking wizards spent on a single magic experiment were beyond imagination, so no matter how much money they earned, the Magic Tower was always short of it.

Moreover, if he caught the eye of a valuable guest at a time when the Magic Tower’s situation was bad like these days…

‘Huh?’

The sight he saw when he raised his head was very different from what he had expected.

Sturdy but worn-out boots and leg armor, and armor in a similar condition.

The metal armor had a fire design in the middle. Roy had never seen a design like it.

The man’s face looked very young, even younger than Roy’s brother.

Right away, Roy knew something.

“This guy is easy money.”

Roy thought about the small mistake he made earlier. It seemed unimportant now, so he started to relax.

“What brings you here?”

Roy thought the man was probably a rich person from the country, visiting the city.

Roy thought, “Someone dressed like that? He definitely doesn’t have a meeting with the important magic people.”

He must have just come to see the magic tower because it was famous.

Lots of people were silly enough to think the five big magic towers would show off valuable magical items.

And these country people always said the same thing.

“I came to look at some magic scrolls…”

Just like Roy thought, he was right. Roy decided the customer was a country person.

“Stay calm. Stay calm.”

Roy tried hard not to smile in a mean way as he spoke quietly.

Magic scrolls cost the same price for everyone. A 1st circle scroll is 1,000 gold. A 2nd circle is 2,000 gold. A 3rd circle is 5,000 gold. And a 4th circle is 10,000 gold. Which scroll do you want?

These magic scrolls could be used once and then thrown away. Anyone could use them, even people who weren’t magic users.

They were amazing, but hard to make, so they cost a lot of money.

Roy was sure the country person would get nervous, make up an excuse, and leave.

But the other man’s reaction was very different from what he expected.

“Huh…”

The man seemed to wake up suddenly. He looked Roy up and down, then smiled a little.

It was obvious what he was thinking.

Logan didn’t want to argue with this unimportant man. So, he just said what he wanted.

“150 Collapse magic scrolls.”

“…Excuse me?”

The man’s pupils widened at those words.

Collapse magic.

Collapse magic was a 4th circle spell. It used earth magic and could affect a large area. It was very strong magic. It could break apart many square meters of rock at once, depending on how skilled the magic user was.

But it had problems. It took a long time to use. It was easy to see when someone was casting it. And it didn’t work well against living things or things not made of stone or earth. So, it was never used in battles.

But in fields other than war, it was a different story.

“Perfect for construction.”

Logan wanted to use it to make the mine grow faster and fix problems in his other lands.

“…As I said, Collapse magic is a 4th circle magic scroll, so it’s 10,000 gold each. You’re saying you want to buy 150 of them?”

“Yes.”

“…If you say yes but can’t pay, you will be in big trouble, sir.”

The man frowned a little and looked Logan up and down again.

Logan sighed at the silly threat. He didn’t want to spend much time with this man.

“It’s Collapse scrolls I want. So, if you can’t handle it, get someone who can.”

“…Yes?”

“Can you sell them? Then let’s buy them now.”

Logan took out a bank paper from his pocket. It was from Coopers Bank.

This paper was made so it could not be copied. It had magic to stop anyone from making fake ones.

“Gasp!”

The man jumped when he saw the number 4 million gold printed on the paper.

“150 Collapse scrolls cost 1.5 million gold. That’s a lot of money. I don’t know if you can pay for that…”

The man’s face went pale when Logan said that.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I can’t sell something this big by myself…”

The mean smile he had just a moment ago was completely gone.

Logan laughed softly as he saw the man’s hands shaking.

“Then you should bring someone who can, shouldn’t you?”

“Yes? Ah, yes! P-Please wait a moment. I-I’ll be right back!”

The magic man at the desk ran upstairs and was gone. Then, a short time later…

Thump thump!

An old magic man came rushing down the stairs the first man went up.

“W-Where are you from? Ah, that person?!”

The old magic man made a loud noise as he came closer. He looked very weak, like he might fall down. He walked unsteadily towards Logan, but he looked very happy.

Half of his beard was white, showing he was old. But his eyes moved quickly from side to side. His lips were thin, and he looked very clever and sly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to make you wait, important sir. I am Radios Gratte, the boss of the Earth Tower. Can I ask what family you are from?”

The magic man bowed low to Logan. Logan looked much younger than him.

But the introduction was more than enough to surprise Logan.

‘The master of the tower?’

Even though 1.5 million gold was a lot of money, it was only half a year’s money for a small piece of land.

He had heard the Earth Tower didn’t have much money…

‘The boss of one of the five big towers came running himself? Just for this money?’

But Logan could feel strong magic power from the man. He felt like the man was a very powerful magic user.

A 5th circle magic user. He was definitely strong enough to be a leader anywhere in the tower.

‘The situation at this tower may be more serious than I thought.’

Logan remembered this information while things were still confusing. He bowed back to the man.

“Logan McLain.”

“…McLain?”

He looked confused for a moment when he heard the name. But then the tower boss quickly understood his mistake and smiled in a strange way.

“Hahaha. I’m sorry. I was rude because I don’t know much. Please come with me. I want to talk to you in my office where it’s comfortable.”

Logan wasn’t used to the tower boss being so polite. This man was the most important person in the Earth Tower, one of the five big towers. But it wasn’t a bad thing for Logan.

‘If he is weak, that’s good for me.’

Logan smiled and bowed his head.

“I just have a small piece of land in the southwest. Don’t worry about it. But I have enough money to buy things, so don’t think I can’t pay like that man over there.”

“Ah… Haha. It looks like our new worker made a mistake. I’m sorry. I will tell him off strongly.”

“Ah, no. It’s nothing, really.”

“Thank you for being kind. Now, please come with me.”

But even though he said that, Logan looked quickly and angrily at the first man. The first man looked down, his face pale.

Seeing this, Logan thought the tower boss, who seemed sly, was not as nice as he acted. But Logan didn’t care about that.

‘Tsk. It’s his own fault.’

Right now, it was more important to buy the scrolls.

‘I wonder if the Earth Tower has enough scrolls for me? Hmm.’

For building things, a better magic scroll would be the Fire Tower’s Explosion scroll, which was also 4th circle magic.

But Explosion magic was known as fighting magic. So, it cost much more than other magic of the same level. And buying many fighting magic scrolls would make people notice him too much.

That’s why he chose Collapse magic instead. And the Earth Tower.

‘Well, it’s not like this is the only magic tower.’

Magic users who were experts in one type of magic were better at it. But the magic users at the Royal Magic Tower could also make similar things.

‘If I need to, I can buy fewer from each tower.’

And from how things were going, he felt like he could get a much better price than he thought.

Logan smiled faintly and followed Radios.