Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 72

“Hap!” Ronian shouted. Bright orange power burst from his sword. It was different from the usual red power. Two waves of orange energy shot out. They were only two meters wide. But then – WHAM! The power smashed three wooden dummies. They broke into dust that blew away in the wind.

Haa… Haa… Ronian was still not happy, even after that amazing attack. He was breathing hard. He swayed a little, then slowly got his breath back. He lifted his sword again. He remembered his brother’s words clearly in his head:

“This war will be over soon. You don’t need to go. You still need to get better at fighting. Times are not safe, so keep training hard.”

Because of these words, Ronian stayed home during the last war. Even though he had Force powers and knew this amazing sword move.

‘My brother can’t keep treating me like a kid! I am a McLane too! I am a sword to protect our family.’

He remembered seeing his brother just days ago. His brother was covered in mud and looked terrible. His brother said he fell off his horse while sleepy. But everyone knew that was not true. Ronian didn’t know exactly why, but he knew something was wrong.

‘Our family is still not strong enough…’

He bit his lip so hard he tasted a little blood. His brother said everything was fine, but Ronian felt that his brother was getting worried and impatient.

Just then, the voice Ronian was thinking about spoke from behind him.

“You’re working hard, Ronian. Rest for a bit. I want you to meet someone who will train with you from now on.”

“Brother?!” Ronian turned around. His brother was smiling. Next to him was a boy who looked shy. He was touching a knight’s armor with a flame picture on it. The boy had blue hair and eyes that were different colors – one red and one blue! He looked even more unusual than the McLanes, who were known for red hair and eyes. You couldn’t miss him.

“He got his Force powers recently. He has been learning to use them. He’s the same age as you, so you two will be good training partners.” His brother gently pushed Viktor forward. The boy took a step and bowed his head awkwardly.

“N-new knight. I’m Viktor.”

Viktor’s face turned a little red, like even talking felt strange to him. They said he was the same age. He was about the same size as Ronian, maybe even a little shorter than a normal sixteen-year-old.

‘He has Force powers too?’ Ronian knew he was very talented. But someone his age also had Force powers? And with those strange looks, he must be special…

“Brother, is this the person you brought here because he is so talented?”

“Yes. He was a slave before. I promised to free him, and I did. I even made him a knight. So, treat him with respect.”

“Of course. But if you mean training with me…”

“Sparring, what else?!” Even Ronian, who was usually calm, was surprised. He trained alone for a reason. Normal knights at his level were not as good at sword fighting as him. Even better knights who used Force were still not as strong as him with swords. That’s why he trained alone, to not hurt the other knights’ confidence in their sword skills. If this boy was not just good at using Force, but also good at sword fighting…

As if reading Ronian’s mind, his brother smiled.

“Why don’t you two have a practice fight to start? Just a light one.” Ronian agreed. Why not?

“One of you is tired, and the other is new to fighting with others. So, now is a good time for a practice fight. I will stop you if it gets too rough. Fight as hard as you want! Now, start!” As soon as his brother said “start,” Viktor’s shy face changed. His eyes filled with fire! Ronian saw Viktor’s strange grey Force power. Right away, Ronian gripped his sword tighter.

Thud! Viktor’s right foot slammed hard on the ground in front of Ronian. At the same moment, Viktor’s wooden sword flew out like an arrow. He had leaned back so far his body almost touched the ground. Ronian could see the grey Force power glowing in the wooden sword. It wasn’t as strong as the power used by better knights to make their weapons stronger. But the grey sword was still dangerous, just from its speed and force. The attack was meant to smash Ronian. It was the famous “Iron Blood Sword” move, the secret skill of the McLane knights!

‘Inexperienced, he says? How can anyone call this inexperienced?!’ Whoosh! The sword whistled past Ronian’s head as he ducked. Then,

‘My turn!’ Ronian swung his sword back, aiming for Viktor’s waist. He was counter-attacking after Viktor missed. Ronian thought Viktor would fall down or just barely block and step back. But… ‘Huh?’ Viktor jumped up in the air! He twisted his body in mid-air to get away from the attack. Then, using that jump, he swung his sword down at Ronian! ‘In the air?!’ Normally, jumping in the air in a fight is stupid. It leaves you open to attack. Knights never do that. But Viktor’s timing was perfect.

‘Eek!’ Ronian quickly dodged and swung his sword again.

Wham! Clang! One wooden sword spun up into the air. Thud. Thud. “Ugh.” Ronian had to step back twice because of the hard hit. His hand tingled in pain. He had never felt this before. And then, Viktor, who was pushed back even further, used the force of being pushed back to quickly grab his wooden sword from the ground.

‘He even thought of that?’ Ronian saw Viktor’s face was a little pale, but Viktor didn’t look upset. Even after just a few moves, Ronian knew it.

“You… you are a monster!”

“Haha! Listen who is calling someone a monster!” His brother laughed loudly. Ronian realized he said something he often heard from other knights. His face turned red with embarrassment. But inside, he felt very happy!

‘Okay, let’s really fight now!’ Viktor was the same age and just as skilled. He could think and plan his moves. Ronian felt a fighting spirit he had never felt when training before. Viktor seemed to feel the same way. He grinned and ran towards Ronian again. Ronian liked Viktor’s eagerness to fight. For now, Ronian forgot all his worries and impatience. Ronian didn’t know it, but he was smiling as brightly as Viktor.

Wham! Scrape! Thud! Wham! Thwack!

“Argh! He punched me!”

“So what if I’m losing?!” Viktor grunted, swinging his wooden sword again.

“Just you wait, you punk!”

Thwack.

A smile touched Logan’s lips as he watched the two spar.

From the moment they met, Viktor and Ronian sparked off each other.

Over the past few weeks, Viktor was making the Iron Blood Sword, a powerful and direct style, his own. Viktor practiced the Iron Blood Sword forms again and again, but Logan could see him starting to add his own quick movements and unexpected angles.

Ronian used to easily beat knights even when he followed strict sword forms. Ronian’s movements, once precise and controlled, were now becoming wilder, more unpredictable. He danced around Viktor, his sword flashing like lightning.

Viktor’s powerful strikes were becoming more controlled, while Ronian’s precise movements gained a new, raw power from Viktor’s style. Each clash of swords seemed to teach them something new.

Furthermore, as their fighting spirit intensified, the subtle changes in their auras were clearly perceptible to Logan. Logan, with his heightened senses, could even feel the subtle shifts in their fighting spirit, like a heat rising from their bodies.

‘The future Aura users might become the family’s main force faster than I thought.’ Those two, and Logan himself.

Other knight trainees were also working hard. Soldiers would continue to be recruited, chosen more carefully than before.

If things went as he expected, there were eight years left until the Imperial War was supposed to begin.

He felt a surge of hope. Maybe his new knights would be ready in just five or six years, even sooner than he’d planned.

The only concern Logan had right now was this:

‘Should I trust Viktor with the secrets of the Divine Sword, or should I not?’

His father had tried to teach the Divine Sword techniques to his older knights, but they were too set in their ways to learn.

Viktor was different. His talent was raw, untamed, perhaps even greater than Ronian’s already impressive skill.

However.

‘Can I really trust him completely……?’

Logan’s brow furrowed as he watched Viktor stumble back again. He chewed his lip, his eyes fixed on the sparring match, weighing the risks in his mind. And finally, he made a decision.

“Is that her?”

“Yeah. She’s the one who…….”

Victoria walked towards the town hall, its tall stone walls making her feel small. She still felt a little nervous going there, even though she wasn’t a slave anymore. She heard the whispers directed at her.

Victoria straightened her shoulders. The whispers used to make her shrink, but now she just lifted her chin a little higher. Let them stare. But it was no big deal anymore. Unlike before, she knew that most of those voices were due to envy.

“Her brother became a knight after being a slave…….”

“But why is she still working as a maid?”

“I don’t know. She wants to repay the favor, or something?”

Of course, there seemed to be some misunderstandings mixed in with the envious gazes.

‘……That’s not it.’

She felt deeply grateful to Logan, the kind master who had changed everything for her and Viktor. Her grateful heart towards Logan, the kind master who had changed her and her brother’s lives.

Victoria could have stopped working. Viktor was a knight now. They had a house. He earned a good salary, more than she could have dreamed of as a slave. But gratitude wasn’t the only reason she stayed a maid.

The thought echoed in her mind: *I can’t be a burden anymore.*

Victoria still remembered it clearly. She remembered the rough bark of trees scratching her cheek as Viktor carried her through the dark forest. She remembered the gnawing hunger in her stomach, and the way Viktor’s small body would tremble with exhaustion as he hunted for berries or begged scraps from farmers. She remembered the blood staining his thin clothes, the way he’d try to hide his injuries from her, even though she saw him wince with every step.

Even as a child, she understood. She was the reason for his pain. She was a weight dragging him down.

The day the slave hunters caught them, a strange feeling washed over her. Relief. If she was gone, maybe Viktor could finally be safe. Maybe he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore because of her.

Of course, it was a child’s foolish thought, born from fear and desperation, but fortunately, she met Logan, and her brother found hope.

Viktor was free. He could have a future, a real life, without being tied to his weak, useless sister.

To Victoria, being a knight wasn’t just about swords and armor. It was about freedom. Viktor’s freedom. And maybe, someday, her own.

Thirteen. She was thirteen now, not a child anymore. It was time to be useful. It was time to do something. ‘I’m thirteen now. I have to do what I can.’

Each time she thought of being useful, a lump formed in her throat, and her eyes stung with unshed tears. But she swallowed them down. Every time she thought this, she felt like crying, but she held it back.

If rumors spread that she was crying, her foolish brother would drop everything and come running. He might do something reckless, like he had before, the time he’d gotten into a fight defending her and almost ended up in jail. Her brother was now in a position where he couldn’t do that.

She would be useful. She would prove herself. She would show everyone, especially Viktor, that she could stand on her own two feet. Only then could he truly focus on being a knight, on his new life. ‘I will become a helpful presence in this castle, too. So I have to show that I can live even without my brother.’ Only then would her brother be able to do what he had to do with peace of mind.

Victoria walked with a determined stride, her small boots hitting the cobblestones with a surprising amount of force. Today would be different. Today she would prove herself. That’s why Victoria strode forward with energy today as well. However.

The head maid’s voice was cool and dismissive. “I’m sorry, Victoria, but it’s not going to work out. I’m sorry. I don’t think it’ll work anymore. It seems the other girls are uncomfortable because you’re the knight’s sister. And you’re too young…….”

Victoria’s breath hitched. It felt like a physical blow to her chest. ‘I’m…… I’m really a useless thing, aren’t I?’ The words of the head maid crushed Victoria’s tender heart.

As she walked home, the tears she had fought so hard to hold back finally broke free. On the way home, the tears she had been holding back finally overflowed.

She scrubbed at her eyes with the rough sleeve of her dress, the scratchy fabric doing little to stop the flow of tears. She tilted her face to the sky, hoping the bright sunlight would somehow dry them, but they kept coming, hot and unstoppable. She wiped away her tears with her sleeve and looked up at the sky, thinking that she shouldn’t let anyone see her crying, but the tears didn’t stop easily.

She was small for her age, tiny even. People still thought she was ten, not thirteen. She barely reached the waist of the tall, red-haired man who suddenly appeared in front of her – Logan, one of the most important people in the castle. The fact that Victoria was too short was also a problem. The girl, who was still mistaken for being around ten years old, didn’t even reach the waist of the red-haired young man, one of the highest-ranking people in this castle.

Her vision blurred with tears, her mismatched red and blue eyes still turned upwards, when suddenly, she saw another pair of eyes looking down at her. Red eyes. Logan. Therefore, her tearful, mismatched red and blue eyes, which were facing the sky, happened to meet a pair of red eyes.

Logan’s voice was gentle, but his red eyes were sharp and observant. “Victoria? What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, Master Logan,” she mumbled, trying to sound casual. “Just… dust.” She scrubbed harder at her eyes, bowing her head to hide her tear-stained face. Victoria? What’s wrong?” “Oh, it’s nothing. Logan. I just got some dust in my eyes.” Wipe wipe. She quickly wiped away her tears and kept bowing her head.

Even to her own ears, it sounded ridiculous. Only a complete fool would believe that. But even she thought it was an excuse that wouldn’t work unless the person was a complete fool.

“Did someone bully you again?”

“No!” Victoria said quickly, then bit her lip.

“Or is there something uncomfortable…….”

“Absolutely! Absolutely not!”

“Hmm. Well, I’ll tell Viktor. If there’s any problem…….”

“Oh, no! Don’t! Please don’t tell my brother!”

Logan paused, hearing the desperation in her voice. *This is more than just dust.* He looked at Victoria, his smile softening. That desperate voice stopped the Grand Duke, who was about to pass by. ‘It’s a problem I can’t solve. Well, not that I need to.’ Logan smiled silently after hearing Victoria’s situation.

Victoria’s idea was sweet, but she was being too hard on herself. Human relationships, especially emotional ones, are never established by someone unilaterally giving something. The girl’s idea was commendable, but it was also a pointless self-reproach.

Viktor had survived slavery, had found the strength to become a knight, partly because he had Victoria to protect, to fight for. Viktor, too, was able to maintain his will to live through the difficult life because Victoria was there.

Victoria was still too young to understand the complicated ways people needed each other, the invisible threads that tied them together. But Victoria, who was still young, would not be able to understand this story yet.

Logan smiled gently. “You’re too young to decide what you can and can’t do, Victoria. Don’t worry so much. Let’s figure it out together, okay? We’ll find something you’re good at, something that helps both you and Viktor.” So. “You’re too young to decide what you can and cannot do. Let’s take our time to find out, starting now. If you learn this and that, you’ll eventually find something that will help your brother and yourself.”

Victoria looked up at him, her red and blue eyes wide and hopeful. “Do you… really think so?”

“Of course!” Logan said, his smile warm and reassuring. *That should be enough for now,* he thought. *Just a little encouragement.* But he was wrong. It was enough to cheer her up like this for now. No, that’s what he thought.

Victoria pointed towards the training grounds, her tears forgotten in a rush of excitement. “Then… then can I learn to do *that* too? Move those clay dolls with the yellow strings? If I had dolls like that, powerful dolls…”

Logan stared at her, his smile fading. “…What?” Then, can I also learn to move those clay dolls with the yellow strings? If I had such powerful dolls…….” “……What?”

In the direction Victoria pointed, a man – Clayton’s disciple, Grik – was working with golems. These weren’t ordinary dolls, but magical clay figures, used for heavy work. Although McLaine Town was said to be completed, there were still many trials and errors and many places to be modified, so such a sight was common. In the direction Victoria was pointing, Clayton’s disciple, Grik, was busy handling golems for construction. Although McLaine Town was said to be completed, there were still many trials and errors and many places to be modified, so such a sight was common.

Logan’s eyes widened. “Yellow strings?” he repeated, his voice hushed. “You can see… yellow strings connecting the golem – no, the clay doll, as you called it – to Grik?”

Victoria nodded eagerly. “Yes! Bright yellow ones!” Yellow strings? “You can see yellow strings? Connecting the golem, no, that clay doll, and that man?” “Yes!”

Logan stared at Victoria, his mind racing. *Yellow strings… So, she can see them. She can see magic.* ……So that’s what she was seeing?