Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 407

A loud shout boomed through the workshop. But the dwarves and human workers barely noticed, even though they should have been rushing around.

“Ugh, I’m going to die.”

“Why do I feel like we’re fighting a war?”

“Damn it. The work is simple, but the quota is too high.”

Groans came from everywhere. But Hamarr kept pushing them. His once plump body had become thin, and his face looked gaunt, but his voice only got louder.

“If we run out of magazines and Liberatio, we’re all dead! Especially the dwarves! You can die after you finish your work!”

His shout was strong and sounded even a little bit angry. No one argued.

“Foreman, you should rest a bit.”

“Rest? What for…!”

“Your leg is shaking.”

Temar pointed to Hamarr’s leg with his hook hand. Hamarr finally noticed his leg was shaking and groaned.

“If you don’t meet the quota! Don’t eat! Don’t sleep! That’s what I’m doing!”

“Then we’ll be even less productive. It’s a bad circle that keeps getting worse.”

He pretended not to hear Temar’s quiet words. He wanted them to be ready to work very hard, but not to actually stop eating and sleeping!

“Make sure the meals have lots of meat and are healthy. Also, check the cushions in the overnight rooms, got it?”

“Yes. I’m supposed to focus on keeping the workers in good condition.”

“Good. I’ll do the pushing, so you focus on encouraging them. The carrot and the stick, you know?”

“Of course. So please, get some rest.”

“Yes, I should….”

Hamarr patted Temar’s shoulder and turned around. But when he saw a dwarf just standing around, he couldn’t help but shout.

“Hey, Duer! Don’t just stand there! I’m watching you!”

“Foreman, I said I’d handle it. You need to sit down before you fall down.”

“Alright, alright. I understand. Sigh.”

Hamarr saw Duer jump into action because of his shout. He let out a small sigh and rubbed his shaking legs as he went back to his office.

He knew he had been pushing himself too hard lately.

‘I need to get some sleep, even if it’s just for a little while.’

Plop!

Hamarr threw himself into his chair, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

He clearly wanted to sleep and rest, but he opened his eyes wide less than five minutes later.

“Ugh, damn it. I can’t sleep.”

Hamarr held his head and cursed. He looked as pale as everyone else.

The reason was clear: anxiety.

The news that they had won the first battle didn’t completely get rid of his worry.

The best worker couldn’t be silly. Hamarr knew that this win was just for now, because they knew something the enemy didn’t.

Also, the Imperial Army was coming to the front lines again, and it was even bigger than before.

Could Maclane really win, now that they knew all his tricks?

That question made him very anxious, and that’s why he couldn’t sleep.

Of course, even if things went badly.

“I can’t give up. Never.”

He was determined to gather all the dwarves of the Eastern Continent and build a city for them. He wanted to bring the dwarven race back to life, and the royal family was helping him do it. Because of that, he had to protect Maclane.

Most of all, he had a feeling that something was about to happen, and that kept him from sleeping.

“Isn’t there a better way? If only we could make a lot of those….”

Hamarr looked at the rapid-firing crossbow with the ‘red’ magazine on his desk.

The Bombard Crossbow.

It was a weapon that had been made and used in small numbers during the Grandia Civil War.

But it was stopped because it was hard to make, it didn’t work as well as it should for the cost, and it took too long to produce.

He still wanted to make it better. Even though he had tried many times and knew it was impossible.

‘If we could make a lot of them, it would really be a weapon to end the war.’

This wasn’t a weapon that just let normal people ‘threaten’ or have a ‘chance’ to kill a knight, like a normal rapid-firing crossbow.

It was a weapon that let normal people reliably kill knights. It could change the battlefield completely, so he couldn’t give up on it.

But there was no way to do it. The magic users who knew how to make Liberatio didn’t understand how the crossbow worked. They also didn’t understand the special part that was used up.

‘If only I had a little magic, or even the spirits of my ancestors.’

He wished he did.

“Damn it….”

Hamarr had to get up again, cursing. He felt like he needed to do even a useless experiment to make himself feel better so he could sleep.

But just then.

– Kawaaaang!

A big explosion happened.

“What, what is that!? Could it be!?”

Hamarr was shocked. He quickly knew where the explosion came from and gritted his teeth as he threw open the door to his office.

It was what he thought.

He burst out of his office. The air hit him like a furnace. Flames roared from deep inside the workshop, licking at the wooden roof beams. Thick, black smoke choked the air, making it hard to see. Everywhere he looked, dwarves and humans were running in panic, the workshop now a screaming, fiery mess.

“Damn it! The warehouse!”

He moved his short legs as fast as he could. He saw workers running around, leaving their work.

“Get out of the way! Get out of the way! If you’re going to get close, put out the fire! Knights!?”

Hamarr shouted as he moved toward the center of the workshop.

‘It’s not an accident.’

It was a planned explosion.

And he knew who would do that at this time.

‘The Empire.’

They were the only ones who could get through Taren’s security, which was even better than the royal palace. They were the only ones who could set fire to the workshop’s warehouse, which was in the deepest part of the workshop.

He remembered the ghosts that the devilish master had warned him about.

As if to prove it, he saw a dead body(?) in a brown robe floating in the air near the burning warehouse.

The limp body was slowly moving away, as if it was skipping across the sky. It looked like something clear was wrapping around the person and climbing over the wall.

Ignoring that strange sight, the back of the man’s head looked very familiar.

“Enan!?”

Enan was Hamarr’s second apprentice. He was now making Liberatio instead of Clayton, who had gone to fight in the war.

The moment Hamarr realized this, he shouted loudly.

“Stop him! Knights, get after that wizard! It’s the Empire’s Ghost!”

The knights who were at the warehouse turned to look at Enan as he ran away.

When Hamarr saw this was true, he jumped on a pony that was always ready. He rode very fast.

‘If Enan is captured by the Empire, he might tell them about Liberatio. That must never happen!’

He forgot about his fear of horses. He had become afraid of horses when he worked at the gold mine in McLaine. Now, he was glad he had bought ponies to help the dwarves move around easily.

‘I know the workshop best!’

This made sense because Hamarr had designed and built the workshop himself.

Luckily, he had grabbed the Bomb Bow as he ran out. With this weapon, he was stronger than many ordinary knights.

‘If I can see them, they are not as strong as the monsters that attacked the master. I can do this. Yes, I can. No, I must.’

Hamarr rode the pony quickly, guessing which way Enan was going.

Just then, he heard hooves next to him.

“Workshop Manager, let’s go together!”

He turned and saw Temarr, with dark circles under his eyes, riding a pony. Temarr had another Bomb Bow on his hooked right hand.

“You…!”

“We’ve worked together for so long, I guess we think alike. We have to block his escape, right!?”

“Don’t do too much! The knights will chase us!”

“Yes! Yes! You too, Workshop Manager!”

Tap tap tap!

‘This guy…’

The guy who was usually annoying now seemed a little reliable. But that didn’t make Hamarr worry any less.

“Giddy up!”

Neigh!

The hooves sounded very slow.

But they were lucky. They entered a shortcut inside Taren Castle, where all the buildings looked the same. They caught up to the person carrying Enan, who was heading towards the western wall.

“Stop!”

Hamarr thought Temarr was being foolish. He wanted to hit Temarr for shouting and getting in front, but there was no time for that now.

Hamarr aimed the Bomb Bow at the space below Enan, thinking of it as Temarr’s head.

Bang bang bang!

“Workshop Manager! What about Enan!?” Temarr screamed, worried about saving an ally.

Boom!

The explosion was all that Temarr heard.

“Just shoot! You idiot!”

Hamarr meant to catch him no matter what, even if Enan died.

It was a cold decision, but when Temarr saw Enan (?) coming out through the flames, he had to grit his teeth and fire the Bomb Bow.

Boom boom boom!

Hamarr and Temarr quickly used up all twenty Bomb Bows.

The figure of the black masked man carrying Enan was becoming clearer, maybe because the explosions had some effect.

The masked man was also staggering.

It was amazing that Enan, who was slung over his shoulder, was not hurt at all. If the rumors were even partly true, Hamarr and Temarr would not have been able to stop him.

‘He wouldn’t have known about the Bomb Bow.’

Maybe the masked man made a mistake by trying to block the first Bomb Bow that Hamarr fired, instead of dodging it.

Hamarr shouted at the knights who were arriving behind him.

“He’s hurt! Catch him!”

The knights quickly surrounded the ghost and began to attack.

“Catch him!”

“Kill him!”

Hamarr saw something strange. The masked man was blocking even the attacks that accidentally hit Enan’s unconscious body.

‘A killing doll that only follows the Emperor’s orders.’

Hamarr was surprised by the rumors about the ghost that everyone was talking about.

The knights also noticed what Hamarr had seen.

The knights stopped worrying about the hostage and began to attack with all their power. The masked man’s struggle lasted less than 5 minutes.

News of the attack on Taren quickly reached Logan in Kyle.

“…Yes, that’s good to hear. Thank you so much.”

Logan was relieved and praised Hamarr.

“[But we also hear that there are still attacks happening on the supply wagons going to the war. Are there no attacks at the fortress at the front?]”

“…Of course there are.”

Logan smiled sadly.

Ordinary soldiers and knights could not completely stop the ghost’s attacks. Every night, a few ghosts came and went, bothering the McLaine army. They also stole small amounts of Liberatio.

But Logan had expected this.

“[It seems like the Empire will get a sample of Liberatio, Master.]”

“Well, that can’t be helped. But you said they can’t figure out the recipe even if they get it, right?”

“[Yes, but they took a lot… No, it should be okay. Clayton’s ideas must be correct, right?]”

Yes.

Even if the worst happened, as long as they didn’t kidnap a wizard who knew the recipe, the Empire wouldn’t be able to make Liberatio during this war.

That was enough.

Logan was trying to calm down when Hamarr said something that made him feel uneasy.

“[Also, we found a magical item on the ghost’s body that made him stronger. I think they used it to fight against the weakening magic circle…]”

“Huh?”

“[These ghosts shouldn’t be affected by the weakening magic circle, right? They don’t even talk. That’s why it’s even more worrying.]”

Logan suddenly felt cold, and the anxiety he had been trying to ignore came back.

Then Hamarr said something that made him even more anxious.

“[We caught all the spies who got into Taren this time, but maybe some escaped. If this happens again, will the Empire find out what the weakening magic circle is for?]”