Regressor of the Fallen Family Novel - Chapter 114 (New)

Chapter 114

Logan’s strategy wasn’t limited to just picking off survivors from noble houses ruined by internal conflict. While he couldn’t initiate a formal recruitment drive, he had been subtly planting seeds via traveling traders and neighboring hamlets that the McLaine lands were a safe haven for those displaced by war. As the domestic strife dragged into its third month, a steady stream of refugees began to flow into his territory. This trickle was rapidly turning into a flood.

Before long, a formal update landed on his desk: McLaine Town was hitting its capacity far faster than anyone had anticipated.

“It appears the timeline for the second town expansion needs to be moved up,” Dwayne noted, his expression heavy with concern.

“The second town? You mean the site situated between Tomodo and Sylvan?”

“Correct. Consolidating the scattered hamlets on the old McLaine plains—the area now known as the Bifrost plains—along with the new arrivals, would streamline our production efforts. We’ve already seen the success of this model in McLaine Town.”

“But the rapid military expansion and our current consumption of resources are draining the treasury, aren’t they?”

“We’re staying afloat for now. However, that’s precisely why we must finish the town before the spring planting. We need to maximize our harvest projections for the coming year.”

“Is the funding secured for this?”

“We’ll be living on tight margins for a while. So, I must ask you to keep your spending in check…”

“I get it. Go ahead with the plan.”

Construction on the second McLaine Town commenced shortly after. However, the project hit a snag almost immediately.

“Are we facing a deficit?” Logan asked.

“The ongoing war has caused timber prices to skyrocket. We can no longer source wood from the Tritan estate, and while we could try to log the southern mountain ranges, the political fallout from the local inhabitants would be severe. Our only other option is expensive imperial imports.”

Logan felt a surge of frustration. Yet, as the person who had personally mandated the troop increase that led to this shortage, he knew he couldn’t shifted the blame.

“…We’ll have to bring it in from the empire and supplement it with what we can log ourselves. What’s the bottom line?”

“For the moment, we can cover it. But from the completion of the town until the next harvest, things will be precarious. Between the infrastructure and the soldiers, even the gold mine profits are stretched thin.”

As the mood in the room darkened, Philip, who had been quietly observing, spoke up with a look of confusion.

“Why the concern over a shortage? The territory has a massive asset ready for market.”

“A market asset?”

“What asset?”

“Grain.”

Philip’s nonchalant answer caused an immediate stir.

“Sell our food?! In the middle of a crisis! We have to maintain our stockpiles for an emergency!” Dwayne shouted, his face reddening. Logan, however, looked intrigued.

“Food? Do we really have that much of a surplus?”

“Indeed. You held onto the excess yields to prepare for the war, but our part in the fighting ended quickly. Now, with the civil war in full swing elsewhere, grain prices have hit the ceiling. Selling just half of our reserves would erase our debts. We could even speed up the ranch project you wanted.”

The ranch project.

This was a vital step for Logan’s long-term goal of fielding thousands of crossbow cavalry. Up until now, they had relied on expensive horse imports. Logan wanted to transition to domestic breeding to ensure the military’s sustainability.

Selling the grain meant they could finish the ranches much sooner than planned.

“He’s right. Grain prices won’t go much higher than they are now. It’s the optimal time to sell.”

Logan knew the prices would actually peak in about two years, but he also saw the immediate necessity.

“It’s a solid plan.”

“Milord!” Dwayne cried out.

“I had a feeling you’d see the logic in it!” Philip grinned.

“Wait, Milord. If a disaster strikes, how will we feed our people…”

“Think of it as reinvesting our capital. We aren’t just selling; we’re building our future,” Logan countered.

“But you can’t possibly mean—”

“Relax, Dwayne. It won’t come to that.”

“Milord!”

While Dwayne’s caution was grounded in his role, Logan’s perspective was shaped by a different kind of foresight.

War is often the product of calculated logic gone mad. Eventually, that madness consumes everything in its path. As the damage mounts, the bitterness only grows. The current civil war was destined to spiral into a much more brutal conflict.

And when it did…

‘The factions will be too busy cutting each other’s throats to notice a neighbor quietly prospering.’

A predatory grin touched Logan’s lips.

“Liquidate half of the grain surplus to the warring factions. Philip, you’ll oversee the sales. Get the highest possible price. Use that capital to handle the timber procurement as well.”

“Consider it done, Milord.”

“Dwayne, start the preparations for the second town immediately.”

“…As you wish.” Dwayne yielded with a defeated sigh.

Despite the stress of the rapid growth, McLaine was undeniably rising.

Just as Logan was savoring the progress, a message arrived from Nox, who had been working on a long-standing assignment Logan had almost pushed to the back of his mind.

To the Young Lord Logan McLaine. We have tracked down the individual you described two years ago—the magic user Chern Crow. He is currently located in the Rusfell territory, near the eastern fringe of the Empire, bordering the Grandia Kingdom. The target aligns with your description and power estimate. Though he isn’t using the name Krawne as you suggested, the probability remains high…

This was the result of a two-year hunt for a freelance powerhouse who would eventually become a nightmare during the imperial conflict.

“The Sorcerer of Slaughter, Krawne. Why now of all times…”

The news left Logan feeling conflicted.

In his previous life, during the war with the empire, a specific mage had served as an imperial mercenary. He didn’t hide in the rear like most mages; instead, he fought on the front lines, draped in powerful artifacts he had crafted himself. He decimated the kingdom’s ranks. Unlike The Evil Sword Banjoni, whose atrocities made him a political liability the empire wouldn’t officially claim, the imperial court actively sought out Krawne. Despite their offers, Krawne remained a freelancer.

But Logan’s concern wasn’t just the body count Krawne had racked up.

— The genius behind the mass production of low-tier artifacts and one of the empire’s ten wealthiest merchants.

Historians believed he had been coerced into the war by the empire, but within ten years, he would become a titan of both magic and finance. His artifacts, distributed to imperial knights, were cited as a primary reason for the rapid collapse of the Grandia kingdom.

Therefore…

‘I must either recruit him or end him.’

Logan’s eyes turned cold with a murderous light.

Thinking of the soldiers who died by those artifacts and the suffering of the resistance later, Logan’s first instinct was to kill the man.

‘But if I can bring him to our side, the advantage would be unparalleled.’

Krawne was a once-in-a-generation talent.

This was an opportunity Logan couldn’t let slip. Even if the report was just a lead, he had to see for himself. Since he was the only one who knew what Krawne actually looked like, he had to go personally.

Logan gathered his advisors to inform them of his trip to the empire. The reaction was exactly as he expected.

“You’re leaving now? Where could you possibly need to go?”

“Just a short trip to the border.”

“You mean the imperial border?”

“A domain adjacent to our lands, essentially.”

“But that’s still imperial soil!”

“Technically, yes, but it’s right next door.”

“What is so urgent?”

Patrick stared at his son with total disbelief. Logan decided to offer a partial truth.

“I followed up on a lead. There is an item I must secure, regardless of the risk.”

“An item?”

“Yes.”

Logan couldn’t admit he was hunting a person, as that would be hard to explain if he ended up killing the man. However, there was a grain of truth regarding the “item.”

‘At this stage, Krawne would already have several experimental artifacts, perhaps even prototypes of his later masterpieces.’

He spoke with total conviction. “Artifacts.”

“I see…” Patrick trailed off, looking at his son.

He never knew how Logan obtained his information, but his son had a track record of making strange, successful gambles. The lack of an explanation was unsettling, but the results were hard to argue with.

“Will you be in danger?”

“I can handle myself.”

“And while you’re gone?”

“Keep a close eye on the civil war. It’s simmering now, but with our recent moves against Bifrost and Duke Yordan, the situation is volatile. Our new recruits are still green, and our veteran forces haven’t fully bounced back yet.”

“We didn’t start that fire… well, actually, we did. Fine. If you know the risks and still insist on going, then go.”

“Thank you!”

Patrick studied Logan’s eyes—eyes so like his own. He didn’t understand the boy’s methods, but they always served the family’s interests. He decided to trust him one more time.

“Fine. But use a disguise. The McLaine look is too famous; you’ll be recognized instantly.”

“Of course.”

With his father’s blessing, Logan left the office feeling relieved.

“Safe travels to you.”

“My thanks, gentlemen.”

The border guards at the kingdom’s post pocketed the bribe and let the lone traveler pass. They saw him as just another desperate peddler, one of the many who dreamed of a fortune in the empire but would likely never even make it to the big cities. To the guards, such travelers were just a source of pocket change.

The guards at the imperial post just a short walk away were no different.

In fact, they were even more corrupt. Many were in league with the local bandits. A soldier would tip off a gang based on what he saw in a merchant’s pack in exchange for a cut of the loot.

‘The world is a dangerous place for a lonely merchant. You should have stayed home,’ Largo, an imperial guard, thought to himself. He chuckled as he remembered the red-headed, blue-eyed trader who had just handed him a gold coin.

“So this is the empire…”

After walking a significant distance past the border, the rolling green plains began to stretch out before him. Logan rubbed his eyes, which felt irritated by the magic used for his disguise.

Being back on the road in a peddler’s outfit felt strangely nostalgic.

He had spent years in his past life living in disguises where a simple change in eye color made him unrecognizable. His distinctive features actually made it easier to mask his identity with just a few small adjustments.

If he followed the highway west, he would reach Rusfellheim, the empire’s supply hub and staging ground for invasions. He had visited that city many times in his past life, fueled by a deep-seated hatred. He wanted nothing more than to burn it to the ground.

But that wasn’t his goal today.

‘Southward. Deep into the borderlands…’

He wasn’t sure why a future powerhouse like Krawne was hiding in the sticks, but he wasn’t going to complain about the opportunity.

‘He shouldn’t be a superhuman yet.’

It was unlikely a mage of that caliber would be wasting away in a backwater domain. Given Krawne’s future reputation, he wasn’t exactly a man lacking in ambition.

‘He’s likely just focusing on his research for now.’

If that were true, he might be around the 5th Circle or a 5th Class mage. That would make him a match for elite Force Users. Since Class Mages took longer to prepare their spells than Circle Mages, Logan felt confident he could win a fight if it came to that.

Slap!

“Stop that. Recruitment is the priority. I need to put the past aside.”

After giving himself a quick reprimand, he pushed forward. He walked for several hours until the sun began to dip below the horizon. Finding himself on a secluded forest path, he decided to wait for the stars to guide him.

He had left the main highway behind, and the path ahead seemed swallowed by the trees.

‘I’ll have to use the stars to navigate through the night.’

As he settled in to wait for nightfall…

“Hold it right there, redhead!”

“Hey, wasn’t this guy supposed to be going to Rusfell? Why’d he take a detour?”

“Looks like a spy to me. We’re doing the empire a favor by stopping him.”

“Don’t move a muscle. You’re a fast walker for a merchant, but we’re going to see if you bleed as red as your hair. I’m exhausted from chasing you.”

A group of thugs in leather armor, brandishing iron blades, surrounded him in the blink of an eye.

Logan looked at them and smiled.

He had just found the guides he needed.