I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 22

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (22)

After sniffling for a while, Raymond took a document out of his pocket.

“This is the information I have.”

“Give it to me.”

Ethan took the document from him and looked at the title.

[Technology Transfer Agreement Details]

“What is this?”

“…Do you know that the 10 branches of the family took the duke’s technology?”

“Yeah. I heard they stole it and learned it poorly.”

How could they misuse such advanced breathing techniques?

Even if the duke had taught his intermediate knights the breathing techniques, they would have been able to use them better than that.

“…That’s how the 10 branches of the collateral line divided the Duke’s techniques among themselves. Later, while the collateral lines were analyzing the Duke’s techniques, the 7 branches of the kingdom sent a letter.”

“A letter?”

“At that time, weren’t most of the senior knights of the Duke’s family dead from the war with the Yongin tribe?”

Ethan nodded.

It wasn’t just the previous head of the family and the head of the family before him who had died in the war against the Yongin tribe.

The knights who had followed them also suffered near-total casualties.

“That’s why they made such an arrogant proposal. They demanded that we hand over all of the duke’s techniques. They threatened that if we didn’t, they wouldn’t be responsible for what happened next…”

“You handed them over.”

Raymon nodded.

“In fact, the reason our collateral branches were able to form the Council of Elders was not because they were particularly talented.”

He was not wrong.

The Council of Elders was an organization formed by gathering the ten most powerful collateral branches that had not been drafted into the war against the Yongin tribe.

In other words, it was a group of people who knew nothing about war.

“At that time, we didn’t have the power to stop the Seven Houses of the Kingdom. Many of the knights in the Duke’s family had disappeared, and our power wasn’t that great. We had no choice.”

“What a mess.”

This isn’t charity.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

Hearing that the Duke’s techniques had been leaked everywhere made my head spin.

I wondered if there was another family in the world that was so kind… or rather, so gullible.

“So they gave it away for free?”

“It wasn’t completely free. Our branch of the family couldn’t interpret the subtleties of the technology we got from the public works department. The Seven Families of the Kingdom agreed to add separate footnotes to explain them.”

They said they couldn’t properly use the advanced technology because they weren’t qualified?

I began to doubt whether these people were even human.

Only then did I begin to understand why the sons of the baron’s family were so clumsy in their use of mana.

These people were not just stupid, they were far below average in terms of ability.

“Ha. I thought the family’s techniques had been lost in battle.”

I had thought that perhaps some of the techniques had been lost, causing them to learn an incomplete breathing method, but that was nonsense.

“So, did you receive the interpretation?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It wasn’t free.”

“Then?”

“…They started selling the interpretation for money.”

“Huh.”

Ethan let out a hollow laugh.

Raymond, his face red, continued.

“The price of the interpretation varied depending on the level of the technique. The interpretation related to advanced techniques was sky-high. In addition, they started selling training manuals that mixed several techniques with the royal family’s secret techniques. My father… started squeezing money out of the domain to buy them.”

At this point, he looked not just stupid, but pitiful.

How could he obtain the technology but not understand it, so he had to pay money to buy interpretation books?

To Ethan, it was as foreign to him as the distance between the West Continent and the East Continent.

“Ugh.”

Ethan sighed, and Raymond added apologetically.

“…We had no choice but to buy them. The difference in power was too great, and we couldn’t even put up much of a fight.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

Even though the Seven Houses of the Kingdom were a group of fools, they were still a group that could hold their heads high in the Kingdom of Haidern.

They were a group that could easily crush even the side branches who couldn’t even properly learn advanced techniques.

So, they had no choice but to hand over their techniques like fools and then buy the interpretation for money.

“Moreover, it wasn’t just the Kingdom’s 7th Family that wanted the techniques to be revealed, but also the royal family. They wanted to quickly increase their power because they didn’t know when the Yongin tribe would attack again.”

They were losing not only power but also justification.

Ethan chuckled.

The Kingdom’s 7th Family and the Haidern royal family.

In both their past and present lives, they were still revealing their admiration and jealousy toward the duke’s family.

How else could they threaten to reveal the family’s technology as soon as the duke’s family faltered, and even go so far as to modify the technology to suit their own purposes?

“So, did you buy the interpretation?”

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

“I heard it was too expensive, so I haven’t purchased it yet. However, I do have a few modified training manuals. Would you like to see them?”

He seemed willing to give away everything he had.

Ethan nodded.

“Sure.”

“Here you are.”

Raymon took what appeared to be a training manual from his pocket.

What would a hybrid of the Kingdom of Seven’s vision and the Duke’s techniques look like? Ethan turned the first page of the training manual… “Huh.”

His eyes began to sparkle.

The Duke’s techniques.

It was as if the tearful efforts to add their own color to those techniques could be felt beyond the pages of the book.

Ethan’s impression of the training manual was very simple.

“How crude.”

If he were to give them a lot of leeway, he might consider teaching it to the Duke’s training knights.

As an example of how not to mix techniques.

“If you’re going to mix them, at least mix ones of the same level.”

The essence of the techniques themselves were on a completely different level. How could the techniques of the seventh house of the kingdom be mixed with those of the duke’s family?

The advanced techniques of the duke’s family were so high-level that if one understood the essence of them properly, one could continue to use them until becoming a transcendent.

In fact, not only the direct descendants who had mastered the family’s secret techniques, but even knights who had only mastered advanced techniques occasionally reached the level of transcendence.

That’s how outstanding the techniques were.

Mixing them with the vision of the Kingdom’s Seven Houses inevitably resulted in a crude mixture. There were some creative elements, but that was all.

“They didn’t even mix in any proper vision techniques.”

It seemed as if they had mixed only the lowest-level vision techniques that even direct descendants could learn.

“Well, I guess so.”

In a situation where they had to sell to the 10 collateral branches, would they be crazy enough to release a product mixed with advanced vision techniques?

No one in their right mind would do that. If there were any results, they would have been secretly passed down only to the core members of the family.

“What’s the point of mixing them anyway?”

No matter what those guys did, it would be impossible for them to surpass the vision technology of the Ardan Duke’s family.

He closed the book and looked at Raymond. He had thought he was just a fool, but he had asked for some useful information after all.

Ten collateral branches and seven royal branches.

He had brought back documents that were clear evidence of their connection and also gave a clear glimpse into their relationship.

“All right.”

“Thank you.”

Raymon bowed his head respectfully and handed him several more documents.

“What is this?”

“These are the financial records of the viscount’s domain.”

Ethan looked at the records and was shocked.

Not only were taxes being squeezed out at the maximum rate, but there were also dozens of organizations sending in protection money every month, which was piling up.

This wasn’t the only source of income for Helmut.

This was because he was receiving about 2% of the total taxes collected from the entire ducal domain every month.

Under the strange pretext of balanced development support funds or something like that.

“If the weakest takes 2%.”

Ten collateral branches.

It was said that the taxes they took from the duchy amounted to at least 20% of the total.

The duchy and the barony.

They were incomparable in terms of size and the number of subjects.

Even though it was only 2%, the amount was close to 30% of the barony’s tax revenue.

“So that’s why Foert was able to develop so much.”

Poert.

It was just a small town attached to a baron’s domain.

I wondered why it had developed so magnificently, but now I think I understand the reason.

Even after developing a city like that, they still had money left over to save up little by little.

“So, the money they saved up was actually used to purchase technology?”

“Yes. We’ve purchased several training manuals so far, but my father is still not satisfied. What he wanted was an interpretation of the secrets contained in the advanced breathing techniques.”

“So that’s why you’ve saved up a hundred platinum coins?”

“Probably. The price of an interpretation explaining the secrets of mana breathing techniques is said to be quite expensive…”

Ethan nodded.

Black magic, blood magic, white magic, martial arts, spirit magic, and so on.

There were many professions in the world that utilized various types of energy, but they all had one thing in common.

“In the end, they all utilize mana.”

Everything was ultimately energy created by manipulating the properties of mana.

Therefore, breathing techniques that allowed one to accumulate mana were the most basic and essential foundation.

That was why the price of commentaries on mana breathing techniques was so high.

“One hundred platinum coins.”

That was ten thousand gold coins.

That was roughly the annual tax revenue of a wealthy baron’s domain.

Not only did he increase the number of soldiers and develop his territory, but he also gathered such a large amount of money.

Even if this were a wealthy viscount’s domain, it would be hard to believe.

“I’ve read the information you gave me.”

“Then… will you guarantee my life?”

“I’ll spare your life.”

It was the baron and his two sons who had treated him with contempt, not the eldest son who had insulted him.

Therefore, there was no need to kill him. Of course, not killing him did not mean that his life would be completely guaranteed.

It was just a promise to spare his life.

“Is there a separate building here?”

“Yes, there is.”

Excellent.

He would round up all the people connected to the baron, lock them up there, and then send them away.

“If you want to live, don’t leave there with your family.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Then get out.”

Raymond hurriedly left the office.

* *

It had been two days since Ethan occupied the viscount’s territory. In that time, rumors had spread throughout Poert.

The news was that Viscount Karagas had been completely occupied by the Grand Duke.

On the first day, people were skeptical, but now, on the second day, the rumors were almost certain.

Even the knights and soldiers working in the inner castle were talking about how all the baron’s family members had been locked up in the annex.

Not only that, but there were even rumors that all the luxury goods in the inner castle were being distributed through the Misa Trading Company every day.

Judging from the circumstances, it was clear that something had happened to the baron’s family.

Then what would happen to the baron’s territory?

The people of the territory, who had been oppressed by excessive taxes, were listening intently to the news of the new owner of the inner castle.

Meanwhile, Ethan was receiving a special guest in his office.

“Oh! Prince! It really is you!”

An old man spoke to him with a trembling voice.

He had no memory of what happened before he collapsed. However, he could not fail to recognize this old man.

In his previous life, this old man was a legendary figure who rose from a commoner to a count through his achievements in domestic affairs, and eventually became the chief administrator of the duke’s family.

“Plexian?”

“Yes, it is! You still remember this old man’s name…!

The old man called Prexian trembled with emotion.

“It’s been a long time.”

When he ruled the duke’s domain in his previous life, he had entrusted many tasks to him.

He was a person he had valued greatly.

He never thought he would meet him again like this.

“Have you been doing well?”

“Although I was expelled from the duke’s family, I have been doing well in my own way, Grand Duke.”

“Expelled?”

“Yes. Not only me, but most of the officials were expelled.”

“Since when?”

“…It was about a year after you collapsed. We could no longer stop the tyranny of the collateral branches.”

The collateral branches may have been weak, but that did not apply to officials like San-nim.

It must have been easier than eating cold noodles for the Council of Elders, who had temporarily taken over the head of the family, to expel the family’s officials.

The situation was easy to grasp.

“I was just in need of someone to handle the work.”

Just in time, someone who could manage the administration had appeared.

Ethan was satisfied that the ties that remained in the duke’s domain had not been completely severed.

“Do you like tea?”

His eyes lit up when he saw Prexian.