Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 405

The Empire’s army, marching towards McLaine, suddenly stopped. Something had gone wrong.

“The Empire? Assassination? Never! This is the Black Serpent’s doing!”

The Empire’s first excuse didn’t work.

The timing was bad for the Empire. All the clues pointed to them. Saying the evidence was fake just didn’t work for the people who were hurt.

So, the Emperor made a quick decision.

But, surprisingly, the Imperial Central Army, which was close to the battle, didn’t move back.

“I believe the Empire’s Western Legion will defend our innocence.”

“We will quickly pacify the East and then subjugate the impudent Westerners.”

The Western Nations started to unite, protesting loudly. But the Emperor just waved his hand and called them ‘impudent.’ That was all he said.

Now, the Emperor’s words, openly showing he wanted to take over the continent, caused a stir everywhere.

“He won’t stop, eh…” Logan muttered, looking worried, in Kyle’s inner room.

His best plan had appeared, but the enemy wouldn’t even pay attention.

He had thought this might happen, but he still sighed when it did. He had hoped to end the war easily, but that didn’t happen.

“Looks like we’ll have to see this through to the end. Good work, Damian.”

“[It’s nothing. It wasn’t my plan that worked, but the terrorism by unknown people. Probably……]”

“The Cashel Magic Tower, I guess.”

“[Yes, Your Majesty. It’s strange. The dead demons, the artifacts… they are just as you described. And… they even left an Imperial symbol. I just found out – someone can fake the Emperor’s insignia! Imagine that.]”

Really, there was only one possibility, as the Empire wouldn’t do something like this now. The Western nations were angry and confused. It didn’t make sense that the Empire would do this. But the evidence was there. People believed what they saw.

McLaine knew what was happening and had no reason to defend the Empire, so the Western Nations alliance would continue as planned.

The problem is…

“We’ll have to endure another, no, several more attacks.”

“[That’s possible, Your Majesty. We’ve done it once; can’t we do it again?]”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Logan said that, but he wasn’t happy about it.

‘How long do we have to keep defending…?’

If they stopped the Empire’s attack this time, if McLaine won, would the Imperial Army just go away?

And if they didn’t go away, how long would the war last?

If they did go away, would they really stop trying to invade?

Many negative thoughts filled his head.

In the end, the reason for all this had to be dealt with.

The person who looked down on him with arrogant eyes, laughing as if he owned the world.

“……If I kill the Emperor.”

“[Yes?]”

“If I can kill the Emperor, will the Empire stop wanting to take over?”

“[……In the past, they have started another war about 20 years after losing and destroyed that country.]”

Logan laughed without meaning to when Damian said that.

“Right. That’s how they became an Empire.”

“[But our kingdom is different. As long as Your Majesty is alive and well, everyone believes it will never fall. They believe that one day, it will become a powerful nation that even the Empire will have at its feet……]”

“That’s right.”

Damian’s face was red with belief. He trusted Logan completely. But Logan knew Damian’s faith wasn’t really in *him*.

‘I’ve been lucky so far.’

He didn’t know what would happen in the future.

If he stopped this war while he was in charge, the kingdom would keep growing, but the land and people were too different from the start. If the Empire learned just one secret – like how to farm mana stones, or the Liberatio mix, or how to make lots of artifacts – they would become powerful very fast.

No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one answer.

‘……I can’t just defend.’

Protect.

I must protect.

I will protect my family and the people I care about. I must.

He had only thought about making up for his past life.

But maybe that was avoiding the real problem without realizing it.

Because it felt impossible, beyond what he could do.

But in the end, to protect this kingdom.

“……I must take over the Empire.”

The thought made his body shake even as he said it.

Stopping the Empire’s invasion and taking over that Empire were very different things.

Of course, the person who heard those words was going to react strongly.

“[Yes?!]”

Damian’s eyes, which had been shouting ‘I believe!’, opened wide.

“[U-u-u…… Your Majesty? I think I just heard something very strange!? I must be hearing things!? Please tell me that’s the case! Please!!!!]”

“……You know, you’re starting to sound more and more like Rick?”

“[Why would you say such a terrible thing! No, no, before that, what did you really say just now……?]”

Damian’s eyes seemed to be begging him to say it was a joke.

But Logan told Damian everything he was thinking. Damian was his most trusted advisor, full of clever ideas.

And after a moment.

“[……That’s a valid point.]”

Damian, who suddenly looked empty, agreed with Logan’s idea.

“What?”

“[I was only thinking about good things too. But people can’t help it……. Ah, life……]”

He thought he heard something about ‘X-ing this,’ but it must have been his imagination.

‘I need to tell him not to spend too much time with Rick. He’s starting to talk too much like him……’

Logan was thinking about strange, silly things for a moment. Then, Damian spoke. Damian looked like he had finished thinking hard. His face looked even older as he calmly began to talk.

“As long as Your Majesty is here, I still believe we can prevent the Empire’s provocations,” Damian said. “However, thinking about the future, the current situation offers no solution. The Empire always wants to take over more land.”

“Indeed,” Logan replied.

“Even if we stop them now, they will eventually take more land to the west,” Damian continued. “From what I see, Guiana and Lyndon in the west won’t be able to stop the Empire either.”

Damian sighed, “Even with me here, the future will be the same.”

He seemed to have run out of ideas.

Logan wanted to say something true, but he stopped himself and calmly asked again.

“Then?”

“As you said, Your Majesty, even if our technology is better now, if they have dozens of times more land and people… we won’t be able to stop them,” Damian explained. “I only see a future where our children lose to the Empire.”

Logan thought, ‘It might not be our children, but us in just a few decades.’

“Then what should we do?” Logan asked.

He wondered, ‘Are we talking too much about the future when the Empire hasn’t even stopped attacking?’

Logan couldn’t stop himself from speaking, even with these thoughts. He felt strongly that this conversation would decide the kingdom’s future. He sensed that the goal of the war might change soon.

“…Then I would be ashamed to face my family,” Damian admitted.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Logan said. “But can we really conquer the Empire with our current forces?”

“It’s difficult,” Damian replied. “But we don’t have to conquer them completely.”

“What?”

“We only need to take Lusphelheim, or Penna, to control the eastern part of the continent,” Damian clarified. “Of course, that won’t be easy either.”

“About a third of the Empire’s land now? Would that be enough?” Logan asked.

“More than enough,” Damian assured him. “With that much land, the Empire would be too busy defending itself.”

“Hmm. A third, you say,” Logan mused.

It was certainly easier than conquering the whole Empire. Logan felt a little relieved, but he was clever, and he quickly thought about the real problems.

“The problem is whether we can do it with our current forces,” Damian pointed out. “We have to defeat the Empire’s best soldiers in a battle where the Great Magic Circle isn’t working well and the new weapons aren’t as strong. We need to figure out how to do that first.”

Logan had only one answer.

“We’ll have to figure something out,” Logan said confidently.

“…You must have a plan, right?” Damian asked, hopeful.

“Let’s try to fight them first…” Logan suggested.

“Aish! Please think before you do something reckless!” Damian exclaimed with a sigh.

The conversation continued for a long time that day.

Around the time they heard that the Empire’s army was crossing the border, guests arrived at Kyle Castle, asking to speak with Logan privately.

“I greet the ruler of McLaine,” a middle-aged man said.

They were alone in the room. Logan looked at the man kneeling before him with a complicated expression. The Eastern Wing King might be more important politically, but Logan was more interested in the man in front of him and his military power.

‘The Divine Sword…’ Logan thought.

He had heard that the Divine Sword, Haman Killbrew, was an ordinary man with brown hair and blue eyes, like many people in the western continent. But this man had snow-white silver hair and even white eyes, a more unique silver color than Plants, the Knight of the Moonlight, who Logan knew from the past.

‘If you’re going to hide your identity, why not just wear simple clothes?’ Logan wondered.

His appearance was so striking that it was hard not to notice him. But the great power Logan felt from this unusual man made him forget any silly thoughts. This silver-haired man had perfect control of his energy.

It had been a long time since Logan had met someone whose power he couldn’t understand. Logan finished his quick assessment and nodded to accept the greeting.

“Thank you for coming so far,” Logan said. “But what should I call you? Should I call you Lord Heman, as you wrote on the visitor’s pass?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the fake name, but the Divine Sword simply nodded with a serious expression.

“Yes. Please call me that, Your Majesty,” the Divine Sword replied.

The Divine Sword’s eyes were shaking as he looked at Logan. He seemed just as surprised as Logan was, or maybe even more so.

Logan realized that if they fought, he couldn’t be sure who would win. The Divine Sword had been famous for a long time, so he must have been quite surprised.

Seeing the Divine Sword’s uncertainty, Logan felt more confident. ‘He’s a little stronger than I thought… but it’s still manageable,’ Logan thought.

He believed he had a chance of winning. If he used his full power, he could handle it.

But just as he was smiling, he saw the Divine Sword smile back. It wasn’t just a polite smile; it seemed confident, and Logan felt uneasy.

‘Does he have another trick?’ Logan wondered.

He couldn’t help but think about someone in the Holy Kingdom. ‘Did Ilia really tell him to attack me? Why?’

Even if he asked Victor, he wouldn’t get a clear answer, only confusing words about considering Logan an enemy.

‘Just be careful,’ Logan thought. ‘I can handle it.’

Logan sighed softly and smiled at the ally who might become an enemy.

“Very well, Lord Heman,” Logan said. “But if you don’t mind me being too forward, we won’t be responsible for any problems between the Empire and the Holy Kingdom that might happen because of you. I hope you understand?”

The Divine Sword’s eyes flickered for a moment.

“Of course, I understand,” the Divine Sword replied.

If the Holy Kingdom and the Empire fought again, it would only benefit McLaine. Logan pushed aside his suspicions and smiled again.

“I appreciate your understanding,” Logan said. “The Empire’s army will attack again soon, so please rest well.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” the Divine Sword replied.

Logan watched the Divine Sword leave, his steps steady, until he was completely out of sight.