Regressor of the Fallen Family

With a thunderous clatter, a team of ten horses entered the McLean territory, pulling a wagon and a cart loaded with goods, large as houses. The heavy weight was evident as the wheel tracks were clearly carved into the ground. Although the direction taken by the mercenary guards and the cargo was clear, nobody dared to approach the vicinity.

“Ugh, that smell. Even from this distance…”

“The stench is quite pungent.”

“How can dried meat smell so bad?”

“They say it’s monster meat.”

“Is that the…?”

“Did the young master really indulge in such a grotesque act?”

“The rumors that he gained strength from drinking monster blood…”

“Shut your mouth, you fool!”

The murmurs grew louder as the largest shipment of Karok meat since the last trade arrived at the storage.

“It’s definitely divine timing now.”

“What?”

Rick, who had been covering his nose from the foul smell, looked up in confusion.

“I was planning to use what we made yesterday, here.”

“Wha-?!”

“Bring that barrel… though, you won’t be able to lift it. I’ll carry it, just get ready.”

“Ready for what? I didn’t hear anything about this!”

“We’re doing it now!”

“Do I really have to come?”

“Of course!”

With a loud groan of disgust, Rick had never visited the warehouse since they started collecting Karok meat, unaware of the reason for his own strong reaction.

But as they opened the door to the warehouse filled with Karok meat, the reason became painfully evident. No explanation was needed for the incredible stench that assaulted their noses and brains with an odor far worse than anything they had encountered outside.

“Uweeeek!”

Logan might have thrown up on the spot if Rick, vomiting a step behind him, hadn’t beaten him to it.

Having somewhat calmed himself by shutting down his sense of smell through force control, Logan saw Rick giving him a resentful glare with his pale, vomit-stricken face.

“Cough! Now, sprinkle this ‘neutralizer’ on the Karok meat. You’ll see the color lighten with just a small amount. Just enough to make the surface completely white. The black parts contain remaining toxins. Be cautious.”

“Do I really have to…”

“Am I not doing it too?”

Rick, nearly in tears, reluctantly helped until about 100kg of meat turned white.

“Now grind it into round tablets.”

As if he had given up on everything, Rick did not utter another complaint.

However, as they created hundreds of tiny round pills, Rick couldn’t help but grow curious about what all his efforts were for.

“Why did we make these?”

“Don’t they look like medicine?”

“…Yes.”

“Good. We’re going to sell them as such.”

“What?!”

Rick’s eyes widened in horror, but his shock was not the end of it.

“Remember what we did today?”

“No. I remember nothing! What did we do? Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Sensing an ominous premonition, Rick forced a strained smile.

“You look like you remember just fine.”

“Ugh!”

It was impossible to deceive the keen eyes of Logan, who had been together as sworn brothers—or more precisely, his sworn follower—for over ten years.

And so, Rick was forced to hear what he dreaded most.

“This will be your task moving forward.”

“I refuse.”

Rick, who had never shied away from difficult tasks in his past life and eventually met his end on the executioner’s block, firmly refused the order.

“Rick. You’re the only one I can trust.”

“I absolutely refuse!”

“Rick! Don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t want to trust you!”

Screaming as if he had lost his mind, Rick ran away.

In the end, Logan was only able to assign the task to his begrudging servant by promising a bonus of 100 gold a week.

Of course, that was not the end of it.

“I suppose I’ll have to test it…”

“Just kill me. I really can’t do it. I’d rather die.”

With a look of desperation, Rick vehemently protested.

But luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, Rick wasn’t the one Logan was looking for as a test subject.

“You’re useless to me. And you’ll continue to be. Of course, it’s not you.”

“Oh, thank goodness. Thank you…huh?”

While Rick couldn’t fully comprehend what was being discussed, he had a feeling that it was unpleasant and gave his master a sideways glance. Logan quickly changed the subject.

“Do you know of anyone around us who struggles with night duties?”

“Huh? Night duties?”

“Why, you know. Like someone who doesn’t have children. Or a chaste spouse. Or a married man who’s always slumping his shoulders in the morning.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“Ah. This! You know!”

Logan eventually had to resort to using profane hand gestures he learned during his mercenary days to explain nighttime activities.

Rick, catching on quickly, suggested a candidate for the experiment.

“Administrator Dwayne hasn’t had any children yet. It’s been ten years since his marriage… He was so happy to marry a young bride back then, but these days he’s just working late all the time.”

“Ah…?”

Who would’ve guessed that the sturdy man had such a sad predicament.

Logan decided Dwayne would be the first subject of his experiment.

* * *

“Huh?”

“It’s something really good for men.”

“Really?!”

“Don’t you get it? It’s this.”

“Ah…”

How did it come to be that even cultured people could only understand hand gestures instead of words?

Dwayne, with a confused look, glanced back and forth between the mysterious pill in his hand and Logan’s face.

“…Is it true?”

“Yeah. It works after just one pill. It’s a patented product from Filips’ Shop in Kail, you know.”

To be exact, it’s more accurate to say it will become famous and patented, but Logan was confident.

‘It’s already proven, anyway.’

But why he was experimenting on Dwayne was something Logan willingly ignored.