Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 436

“Are you all out of your minds? Do you think the war is over!?”

Jorge’s voice boomed like thunder across the training grounds. Knights, their faces red and sweat dripping from their armor, stopped moving and stood straighter.

“No one walks around here!!”

Knights in heavy armor trained hard. They practiced sword fighting and physical exercises.

Usually, people would complain about hard training after a war. But not these knights.

‘They all feel it.’

Jorge watched them, nodding with a heavy expression.

Officially, the royal decree only mentioned the reorganization of the legion and the adaptation training that followed.

However, the deployment remained at wartime levels, and war supplies continued to accumulate.

The knights felt something was wrong. They knew they couldn’t relax.

– The war is not over.

Of course, most speculated that the Empire would invade again soon.

But Jorge and some leaders thought the danger was not just from the Empire.

It had started right after the order to recall the Home Guard.

‘If they were just going to defend, they wouldn’t have disbanded the Home Guard. Perhaps…….’

Jorge, a commander with much experience, thought of one possibility. But he didn’t want to say it out loud too quickly. If his hunch was correct, a massive storm would once again engulf the entire kingdom.

‘If it’s true… can I, can this country really do it?’

It was then, as Jorge pressed down on his chest, which trembled with an unknown anticipation or anxiety, that he heard a voice.

“Indeed, they use good equipment.”

Startled by the unfamiliar, raspy voice, he turned his head.

There stood a village elder with white hair and eyebrows, revealing his few remaining yellowed teeth as he grinned.

“……Who are you?”

What was an old man doing in the knights’ training grounds?

Confused, Jorge asked, and the old man smirked, opening his mouth.

“Why? Am I not allowed to enter?”

The old man looked confused, like he didn’t understand. He asked a simple question that annoyed Jorge.

Becoming irritated, Jorge gritted his teeth and shouted towards the outside of the training grounds.

“Guards! What on earth are you doing!?”

“Oh dear, you startled me!”

The old man was taken aback by the thunderous shout, and the guards, their faces now pale, came running like mad.

“Ch, Chief!”

Jorge didn’t even glance at the old man, instead kicking the guards hard in the shins.

“Ouch!”

“Ack!”

A fierce reprimand followed as the guards clutched their shins and hopped about.

“Are you in your right minds or not!? I sent you out to block suspicious individuals, and you let them in instead? Were you asleep on duty!?”

“Kuh……!”

“Th, that is…… Uhuhu.”

“Aren’t you going to answer?! What did you do to allow this old man to enter the training grounds!?”

‘Damn it, I was watching with my eyes wide open.’

‘Is there a dog hole in the training grounds?’

The guards were about to go mad with frustration.

They felt like crying more from injustice than from pain, but they couldn’t argue. The old man standing right in front of them was undeniable proof of their negligence.

“We, we apologize!”

“We will correct it!”

Jorge glared at them as if he could kill them, then curtly gestured and irritably ordered.

“Take him away immediately.”

The guards, who had been standing frozen with deathly pale faces, finally rushed towards the old man, grabbed his arms, and roughly dragged him away.

“Ouch, you brats. Gently, gently.”

“No, how did you even get in here? Come on, let’s go.”

“Don’t resist, old man. You’ll get hurt more.”

Soon, the old man and the guards disappeared, and the training grounds were once again filled with the shouts of the knights.

Jorge clicked his tongue and forgot about the old man.

Similar events happened in front of the supply warehouse and the food warehouse.

And those involved, like Jorge, dismissed the old man’s unauthorized visits as a kind of happening, erasing it from their minds.

No one thought it was very strange. They didn’t know it was actually very unusual.

Late at night.

After finishing his training in the training grounds, Logan, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide.

At the same time, an unfamiliar voice came from behind him.

“This place has more interesting things than I thought, heh heh.”

As he slowly turned around, he saw the figure of an old man whose age was hard to guess.

His old linen clothes were stained and yellowish, and the few remaining yellow teeth visible through his grinning smile were barely there.

Truly, an old man one might commonly see in a village, on his last legs.

However, if he were truly such an old man, he wouldn’t have been able to enter the training grounds where he was without leaving a trace.

Logan rose from his seat and asked the old man in a polite tone.

“Are you the Archmage Cassel?”

“Heh heh. That is correct, Your Majesty.”

A respectful answer returned from the gently smiling old man.

Seeing a figure so different from what he had imagined, Logan narrowed his eyes and examined the old man, Archmage Cassel.

“I did send word that I wished to meet you, but you came much faster than I expected. I thought you would be a busy man.”

“A superhuman who has embodied the realm of Aura Master after three hundred years? Or was it two hundred? How could I refuse an invitation? I was already thinking it was about time to meet you in person anyway.”

Archmage Cassel’s smile seemed very pure.

If one didn’t know the deeds that Cassel’s Magic Tower had committed, and would commit in the future, one might believe that innocent appearance completely.

“Hmm, you wanted to meet me?”

“Of course. Ah, I was surprised to hear that Your Majesty sought me out first, haha. Is this what they call telepathy?”

Logan responded to the Archmage’s smile with a smile of his own.

“Aren’t we both on the same side against a common enemy?”

Logan smiled, but inside he was thinking, “I can’t tell him I’d attack if he seemed weak.”

“Yes, it seems like a good time to talk.”

The Master of the Magic Tower responded with a gentle smile. Logan smiled back and stepped a little closer.

“We might not like each other very much, but surely we can work together against a common enemy, right?”

“Yes, we started the fight, and we were the ones who got hurt.”

The Master of the Magic Tower agreed, but as Logan moved closer, he stepped back, as if something was pulling him away.

“You are being too careful.”

“I just think it’s best to keep some distance,” he said with a small laugh. “But I am surprised. I heard you only recently got to this level of power.”

“You are too kind.”

Logan was annoyed and made a small sound of frustration. The Master of the Magic Tower just smiled, his eyes looking very sharp and clever.

They were about twenty meters apart. Any knight could cross that distance quickly.

If Logan got closer, he would have the advantage. If the Master of the Magic Tower got farther away, he would be safer. Logan still couldn’t reach him yet.

For a magician as skilled as him, making the distance bigger would be very easy.

‘I didn’t think he would be this strong. He’s almost a master… This will be hard,’ Logan thought.

He had learned important things while trying to find a teacher and understand Viktor’s mark. He was proud of how much he had improved, but he knew nothing was easy.

‘He’s as strong as the Emperor was back then,’ Logan thought.

Until he could use his Light Severance power perfectly and quickly, he wasn’t sure he could win.

And just as Logan couldn’t fully understand the Master’s strength, the Master couldn’t understand Logan’s either.

Logan tried to sound friendly as he spoke.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Do you have a plan to deal with the Empire, Master of the Magic Tower?”

Logan thought he had hidden what he really wanted when he asked the question.

But the Master of the Magic Tower’s answer surprised him.

“In this messy situation, there are always chances, if you know where to look. But first, I want to ask you something, Your Majesty.”

“Yes?”

“The Holy Sword Vanitas, where is it?”

“Ah… Haha, ha.”

Logan looked to the side, surprised.

He didn’t know what to say because he had forgotten about the sword.

But the Master didn’t wait for him to answer.

“I had some trouble because of the trick you played in the Forest of Demonic Beasts. Because of that trick, I think you know the sword is important to us, as it belonged to our founder. Will you give it to us to show we are allies?”

He couldn’t say, ‘I broke it,’ or ‘Even if I’m not part of their magic school, I’m related to their founder! Maybe I can just pretend I don’t know about the sword being broken.’ They wouldn’t believe him anyway.

The power of yearning had destroyed Jibrick Cassel’s soul. If the sword had been strong enough, it would have been impossible to break in any way.

And the old man believed that the Holy Sword could never be broken.

This meant…

‘He doesn’t know about the power that can destroy anything, the power of yearning?’ Logan thought.

Logan’s eyes flashed for a moment.

It made sense. Even Jibrick Cassel’s soul had been destroyed by the power of yearning, so how could his followers know about it?

Logan smiled secretly, making sure to remember this new information.

“A symbol of alliance…”

“It’s true that Vanitas is a very important item. But only the magicians of our school can use it fully. And you don’t need items like that anymore, right, Your Majesty?”

What the Master said was true, but Logan couldn’t give him the sword because he didn’t have it anymore.

Logan felt nervous and barely managed to reply.

“You’re asking for too much right away. The relic of the great magic saint Jibrick Cassel isn’t something you give away at the start of an agreement, is it?”

He tried to joke, but the Master of the Magic Tower was not easy to trick.

“Yes, I knew people were talking about our founder, but even his real name… How much do you really know, Your Majesty?”

Well, just that the founder was crazy and had scary power?

Logan stopped himself from saying those words and spoke instead.

“I… found a book when I found the sword.”

“A book!?”

The Master of the Magic Tower seemed more surprised than Logan expected.

“Could it be…! What book is it? Could it be our founder’s…?”

“Well, it says it belonged to the relic and has some magic spells in it, but what would I do with it?”

“I promise you, Your Majesty, if you give me the Holy Sword and the book, or even just one, I will use all my power to help you destroy the Empire.”

‘This is lucky,’ Logan thought.

He couldn’t read the Master’s mind, but the old man seemed very sincere.

Seeing that the old man was so interested in his offer, Logan smiled, feeling pleased that his trick was working.

“Destroy the Empire? Do you think I want to do something so awful?”

“The Empire is making many magical items that are not very powerful but can be given to all their knights. They are also making new explosive items and weapons. These things take a lot of time and money to make, especially when the war is supposed to be ending. It must cost them a lot.”

Ah, so you saw everything?

“Haha, you’ve looked into things very carefully.”

“I’ll say it again, Your Majesty. Give me just one of them. Then, I will help you conquer the Empire with all the power of the Cassel Magic Tower. Don’t you not need them?”

“Haha, if I’m going to give you something, I might as well give you both, right? I’ll give you both.”

“Thank…”

“But only after the Empire is conquered.”

“That’s a cruel joke, Your Majesty.”

He was not calm anymore.

The old man’s face changed quickly, and a dark, heavy feeling seemed to come from all around him.

But Logan now was strong enough not to be scared by just a feeling of darkness.

A low hum filled the air.

“Isn’t the Holy Kingdom also chasing the Cassel Magic Tower? You should be refusing to work with us completely. Or is the Cassel Magic Tower strong enough to fight the Empire and the Holy Kingdom by itself?”

The old man’s face hardened as the golden light easily pushed back the dark red feeling.

“Most importantly, we still don’t know what the powerful archmage is really planning with his secret group and the fighters who follow him. We only know their name. Can you tell us about them?”

After these words, the dark feeling around the old man seemed to lessen.

Instead, he stared at Logan with an even colder look.

How much time had passed?

“We are…”

The old man’s lips, which had been tightly closed, reopened.