I Alone Regress in a Hero Party That Was Annihilated - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#26. Narok (1)

 

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Featherback sat in his room, meditating.

 

A single red serpent entered his ear and circled around inside his skull.

 

Simultaneously, the mana throughout his body began to burn white.

 

Behind Featherback’s back, white serpents and snowflakes swirled, forming two large mana rings.

 

In terms from the Demon Realm War period, this was the realm of White Serpent Penetrating Barrier.

 

It was the halo that announced a complete 2-Star Master.

 

‘…But I’m still far from it.’

 

To rise to 3-Star, he needed to stain his sword with much blood.

 

Of course, not innocent blood, but blood that harbored evil and demonic essence.

 

That was how the bloodline of the Demon King Slayer was cultivated.

 

Featherback spent time burning away the waste accumulated in his bloodstream while expanding his mana throughout his entire body.

 

Just then.

 

Knock knock knock—

 

Someone knocked on the door.

 

“Come in.”

 

As Featherback’s command fell, the door opened.

 

A young official stood there, looking at Featherback with a terrified expression.

 

“The Family Head is looking for you.”

 

“I understand.”

 

Featherback rose to his feet.

 

Red sweat flowed down like blood from his lean, muscular naked body.

 

Featherback wiped his body with a dry towel and put on his clothing.

 

Then he turned to the official beside him and asked.

 

“The registry for ‘that place’?”

 

“I’ve prepared it as you instructed!”

 

The official held out a thick document book toward Featherback.

 

Featherback’s status within Mörsolt Castle was like the difference between heaven and earth compared to before.

 

Now the officials here would even pretend to die if Featherback told them to.

 

Featherback nodded and accepted the registry.

 

“I will be going to ‘that place’ soon. Make the preparations.”

 

“Of course!”

 

The official nodded with a crisp attitude.

 

It was an even more disciplined attitude than when facing the Family Head.

 

* * *

 

The Family Head’s Office.

 

Featherback approached Soleil and delivered his report.

 

“I report to you. Since the law was posted, we have identified 34 violent criminals, 553 economic criminals, and over 3,000 accomplices. Of these, 108 have been executed, 185 have received summary execution, and the remaining personnel are awaiting trial.”

 

This was the number of rat bastards who had died over the past week.

 

Through informing, rooting out, and thorough control, the criminals of Mörsolt had been completely eliminated.

 

Of course, during this process, there was no harm to the common people whatsoever.

 

Rather, the budget for poverty relief policies increased dramatically, making the lives of the territory residents much more prosperous.

 

So these days, the knights of the Mörsolt Family found pleasure in going out to the villages.

 

Whenever people from the Mörsolt Family came down, all the village residents would scatter flowers and cheer with joy.

 

Soleil nodded his head.

 

“Public opinion is extremely favorable toward Mörsolt. Even the Imperial Nobles are sending letters of support.”

 

“That’s fortunate.”

 

“However, it would be better to refrain from summary executions for now. You’ve killed too many. Some are saying that Mörsolt has gone mad with blood.”

 

“We are mad with blood. More precisely, we’re mad with the blood of evildoers.”

 

Kill one evildoer and draw their blood, and a hundred good people can live their lives in peace.

 

Soleil smiled.

 

“That’s quite a different opinion from Cardona’s.”

 

“What did older sister say?”

 

“Yes. Calling her older sister instead of elder sister sounds much softer and nicer, doesn’t it? A while ago, Cardona came to see me and talked about the new law.”

 

Soleil lightly tapped his desk as he continued speaking.

 

“Cardona said the special law seems a bit harsh.”

 

“That’s surprising. I thought older sister was an Iron Blood judge.”

 

“Even that Iron Blood judge said the special law was harsh.”

 

“But the effects are certain, aren’t they?”

 

“Hmm, but there’s a saying, isn’t there? Better to let ten thieves go free than to wrong one innocent person.”

 

At Soleil’s words, Featherback nodded his head.

 

Good words.

 

They were good words only until the Demon Realm War broke out.

 

Having experienced the war with the Demon King, Featherback knew better than anyone how fleeting those words would become.

 

‘Better to let ten thieves go free than to wrong one innocent person.’

 

During the Demon Realm War, this saying changes to this:

 

‘Better to wrong ten innocent people than to let one thief go free.’

 

The reason is all too obvious.

 

‘Because the moment you let one thief slip by, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of humans would die.’

 

The Demon Realm War period was just that brutal a time.

 

If you missed even one traitor within, fortresses housing tens of thousands would fall to the demons.

 

As humanity’s numbers gradually dwindled like that, in the end fewer than a hundred remained.

 

Extinction.

 

The complete downfall of a species.

 

Having experienced that, Featherback could only possess entirely different values.

 

“…I understand for now.”

 

Featherback nodded at Soleil’s words.

 

Since he had already executed almost all the serious criminals, from now on only small fry remained.

 

Since there was no longer reason to abuse his summary execution authority, Featherback followed Soleil’s words.

 

Soleil nodded.

 

“Thank you for agreeing. And you’ve worked hard. You must have been short-handed.”

 

“The soldiers worked hard.”

 

“I intend to grant them a special bonus.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

Featherback nodded.

 

The laughter of the knights and soldiers who had worked hard traveling around the territory for the past few weeks rang in his ears.

 

Then, Soleil asked.

 

“By the way, a major manpower shortage has occurred in the process of purging the criminals this time.”

 

“We’ll need to recruit new personnel.”

 

“For now we’re preparing large-scale public recruitment, but I called you to ask if you have any thoughts on the matter. No matter how much they helped in this war, we can’t employ those informant bastards, can we.”

 

“Of course not.”

 

Many gaps had already formed in Mörsolt Territory’s administration and supply management.

 

To fill these would require large-scale hiring and recruitment.

 

Soleil seemed to be pondering deeply.

 

Then.

 

“Please transfer me to another position. Then I’ll handle both the disposition of the informants and the recruitment of new talented individuals at once.”

 

Featherback requested.

 

Soleil’s eyes widened.

 

“Transfer to another position? Where do you mean? Do you have somewhere in mind?”

 

The Mörsolt Family had several good posting locations.

 

The medical center where intelligent personnel gathered.

 

The Judicial Office that enacts laws.

 

The Arts Center where all cultured individuals gather.

 

These places don’t have much work to do, carry great honor, and are popular because they allow constant contact with upper-class figures.

 

They were workplaces everyone wanted to be assigned to, as they offered opportunities to build connections with the next generation of prodigies who would lead this territory.

 

However.

 

“I want to go to ‘…’.”

 

“!”

 

At Featherback’s subsequent request, Soleil couldn’t help but be shocked.

 

The workplace Featherback wanted to be assigned to was truly the worst place, an exile destination no one wanted to go to.

 

In fact, new officials assigned to this place would submit resignation letters or, in severe cases, even take their own lives.

 

It was essentially a pit where those cast out from the family would fall, swallowing their resentment over demotion.

 

But Featherback was resolute.

 

“I wish to work at that place.”

 

“Are you serious? No, why on earth?”

 

“Beyond simply working there, I want to take full charge of its authority and bear all responsibility.”

 

“There wouldn’t be any authority in that place. Only painful duties exist there.”

 

At Soleil’s words, Featherback showed a rare smile.

 

“That pain and duty is exactly what I want.”

 

“….”

 

After sitting with a dazed expression for a while, Soleil eventually nodded his head.

 

“Alright. You must have some plan in mind.”

 

“Then I’ll place the seal here….”

 

Featherback immediately pushed a document forward to Soleil as if he had been waiting for this.

 

Soleil pondered for a while longer before finally nodding his head.

 

…Thud!

 

The Family Head’s seal was stamped.

 

With this, Featherback’s new assignment was.

 

【New Prison Warden of Underground Prison ‘Narok’: Featherback Mörsolt】

 

It was the bottomless pit that had been devouring criminals for decades.

 

* * *

 

Featherback immediately headed to the underground prison ‘Narok’.

 

The entrance to Narok was connected by stairs that stretched for several kilometers.

 

Step― Step― Step― Step―

 

The spiral stairs connected vast underground caverns, extending deep underground like an ant colony.

 

Passing through the underground storage where supplies were stocked and descending another hundred meters below, the soldiers standing guard saluted Featherback.

 

“Loyalty. No abnormalities during duty.”

 

“I will descend to the bottom.”

 

“We will open the gate.”

 

The guards opened the thick iron gate.

 

Cold aura and damp earthy smell rose from inside.

 

Beneath the underground foundation of Mörsolt Territory, there are very many large caverns.

 

And among them, there existed several caverns of such vast width.

 

They were large enough that a single city could be built there.

 

“….”

 

Featherback looked at the walls and stalactites connected to the stairs.

 

The bluish-tinted bedrock looked extremely solid at first glance.

 

Creak―

 

Even when he pressed hard with his mana-infused fingers, it wouldn’t give way at all.

 

The underground foundation here was made of demon element mineral layers, making it very hard and solid.

 

Step― Step― Step― Step―

 

Featherback moved his steps forward.

 

The stairs continued downward endlessly.

 

In vertical spaces they were spiral, in horizontal spaces they were zigzag, and there were so many stairs that no end was visible.

 

Featherback had walked down to a depth of about 2 kilometers.

 

However, crossing bridges in between and riding pulley elevators, the actual distance he had traveled was about 13 kilometers.

 

Before long, Featherback stepped onto the last stair.

 

In front of him, red signs reading ‘No Entry Except Authorized Personnel’ were lined up in rows.

 

Beyond the signs, a massive iron gate over 15 centimeters thick was visible.

 

“Unity! We greet the Prison Warden.”

 

The soldiers saluted toward Featherback.

 

The soldiers here looked extremely gaunt, unlike when they were on the surface.

 

Soon, the soldiers put their strength into pushing the iron gate.

 

Rumble… Rumble… Rumble…

 

The gate had a total triple-layer structure with mana detectors installed between each layer.

 

It was extremely strong security.

 

Step―Step―Step―Step―

 

Featherback entered inside the gate.

 

A damp, foul stench like what would emerge when digging a tomb.

 

Countless rusted iron bars stretched endlessly on both the left and right sides.

 

Between them, white hands protruded out, swaying like seaweed.

 

“Get me out…”

 

“I’ll tell you everything, so please!”

 

“Please let me out of here…”

 

“Just kill me instead! Kill me, I said! Aaaaah!”

 

“Ehihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi―”

 

The Residents of the Abyss were welcoming Featherback.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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