The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

In the somewhat gloomy afternoon of the academy library, Arin wandered in search of class materials when she suddenly spotted a familiar face in one corner of the bookshelves.

‘Luna?’

While it was indeed her, what truly caught Arin’s eye was the book in her hands.

A thick, hardcover tome that reminded one of a hefty comforter.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like something a student would read, yet somehow, it appeared to suit her.

Careful not to disturb her, Arin approached quietly.

“Hello, Luna?”

Despite the sudden greeting, Luna wasn’t startled, as if she had sensed Arin approaching.

“Sorry! Did I interrupt your reading?”

“No, it’s okay. I wasn’t particularly focused on it since I’ve read it before.”

Arin doubted her ears for a moment.

“You’ve read it before?”

“Yes. I think I’ve gone through it about three times. I thought I’d revisit it for old times’ sake, but it’s not as engaging as before.”

Seemingly finding no further interest, Luna returned the book to its original spot.

“You like reading books?”

“Well, there wasn’t much else to do during my time with the council.”

“But that book you were just reading looked quite difficult…”

From its appearance, it seemed like something only the academy’s research team would peruse.

“Not really? I’ve read all the books here at least once.”

If another student had said this, Arin might have dismissed it as bragging, but she couldn’t do so with Luna.

“All of these?”

“Yes, there were many books in the council too. That’s all I could do there – reading and practicing magic… Anyway, that was it.”

“Amazing…”

Arin didn’t dwell on the hesitation in Luna’s explanation.

Was it because Cyan was absent?

Luna seemed incredibly bored, as if she had lost interest in everything.

“Why don’t you request a book you want to read?”

“A request?”

“Yes! If you write down the book you want and submit it to the librarian, I heard they can procure it for you. Don’t you want to read something new?”

“Well, that does sound nice, but…”

After pondering Arin’s suggestion, Luna eventually shook her head.

“It probably won’t work. Even if I request it, the academy likely won’t be able to get it for me.”

“Really? What’s the book called?”

Upon asking for the book’s name, Luna hesitated slightly.

“Hiskrea…”

It sounded more like a person’s name than a book’s.

Arin felt like she had heard it somewhere before, but couldn’t quite place it.

“Just by the name, it seems like it would be a complicated book?”

“Not necessarily. It’s just that the author is quite special…”

“Special? Who wrote it?”

“It wasn’t a person…”

Arin thought to herself, what could that mean?

“Not a person?”

“Yes. It’s more like a sacred text written by beings much greater than us…

A magical tome penned not by humans but by superior beings.

If it was such a book, then there was only one Arin could think of.

“Are you talking about the Holy Scripture?”

Luna nodded cautiously.

* * *

In the pages of a historical book commonly used at the academy, there’s a passage that reads:

“The race that resembles the external appearance of gods the most, yet has received the least of god’s omnipotent powers, that is humans.”

In this harsh continent, they were too frail to survive, and thus, it wouldn’t have been surprising if they had disappeared at any time.

Magic was the primary tool for human survival.

Unable to survive in the wild with their bare bodies, humans had to pursue constant knowledge and growth.

The struggle of humans to survive soon led to the creation of their own unique magical system, similar to the doctrines of gods, and they continue to grow for their existence even at this moment.

However, as mere creations, humans inevitably have their limits.

Magic, too, was nothing more than borrowing the power of the creator, the god, hence, there were limits to what they could achieve.

It is said that Lumendel, the god of light, issued a scripture to compensate for these human limitations.

That scripture was the Holy Hiskrea.

If someone among humans could understand and use this scripture correctly,

At that moment, the dark mist threatening human existence would be lifted, and only the true light of salvation would remain,

So the beings of darkness should beware.

As time passed, what was once considered a relic of an ancient era was now treated as a forgotten legend,

But now, right in front of Silica,

That very scripture.

“Ha…”

A momentary numbness in her head left her unable to react.

It was a feeling Silica had not experienced in a long time.

Was it arrogance?

Or was it ignorance?

Knowing all too well that hesitation is akin to death for an assassin, how had she come to face such a situation?

“To be honest, I was a bit surprised. I knew Silica was hiding her attribute, but I never imagined she was hiding her rank as well.”

Boris, who had been lying sprawled on the floor just moments before, was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, another Boris, who had been there for who knows how long, looked down at Silica with a triumphant face, holding the brilliantly shining scripture in one hand.

“Shall I help you up?”

Boris extended his hand to her as if to show off, prompting Silica to hastily retreat.

At that moment,

Pwoosh!

A sound like something bursting was heard, and a fountain of red blood spurted out in front of her.

“Aagh!”

Simultaneously, screams filled the air as members began to collapse one by one around them.

Silica, too, lost her strength and slumped down.

“What is this?”

The pain of a blue blade piercing flesh and vibrating bones was all too familiar to assassins, yet this pain was incomprehensible at the moment.

Why? How?

She hadn’t been cut by a sword, nor had she been struck by an invisible attack.

The only thing she had done was deal with the marionettes he had summoned, so why had this happened…

“It seems a curse has been activated,” Boris said, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

Realizing something, Silica turned her gaze to the marionettes that the members had dealt with.

“Did I not say to return what you received? Love for love, pain for pain… My dolls were merely practicing that.”

The dolls were so utterly destroyed that they couldn’t possibly move.

Incredibly, the damage inflicted on the dolls seemed to have been applied to the members as well.

As if the damage they had dealt was returned to them.

“What on earth have you done?”

“It’s . It’s a spell that places a curse on the summoned marionettes to reflect some of the damage inflicted on them back to the attacker.”

She had never encountered such magic in her life.

Not being an amateur just starting to learn magic, Silica found it utterly unbelievable that such a fantastical thing could be considered magic.

Boris continued as if questioning what the problem was.

“Black magic is ultimately just a trick concocted by some narrow-minded people. They draw a line saying others shouldn’t do it because they can’t do it themselves.”

Boris proudly displayed his writhing, burgeoning magical power.

“What I’ve done is merely the same kind of magic.”

‘Is this the magic of the scripture?’

The magic of gods, still out of reach for frail humans.

What changes would the countless spells contained within this white book bring to this continent?

One thing was certain: those changes would not be positive for them.

“Although the god of light, Lumendel, has highly regarded us humans as the race most likely to reach the realm of gods first, ironically, I don’t think so. The power of gods is still too much for us humans to handle. You know that too, don’t you, Silica?”

Hearing his words, Silica’s gaze deepened.

“So, let me ask you. Why do you protect Cyan Vert?”

“It seems that even your precious scripture doesn’t have the answer to that.”

She wasn’t the type to give a straight answer.

“Let me rephrase the question. Is Cyan Vert truly the master of the demonic sword?”

“…”

This time, she couldn’t say anything.

“I was doubtful, to be honest. I heard that the nature of the demonic sword is to take over the body of its owner, but there seemed to be no sign of that happening to the boy.”

Cyan’s inner thoughts, which even the holder of the scripture couldn’t penetrate, felt like trying to see through a fog that didn’t let through a single beam of light.

“Rather, I was the one taken aback. There should be no connection between us, yet he treated me as if I were an enemy from a past life, as if he knew something about me…”

For the first time, a note of displeasure could be detected in his otherwise composed voice.

“Who exactly are you? Cyan Vert is…”

Silica remained silent.

Not because she couldn’t speak.

She simply didn’t know what to say.

However, her hesitation didn’t last long.

After a brief silence, the first thing she uttered was…

“Huh!”

A laugh, as if the question itself was ludicrous.

Silica continued.

“That child, you see, is just perfect. More than you could possibly imagine…”

Thinking of her bold disciple, a smile naturally formed on her lips.

“If there had been even a slight flaw in that child, someone like you would have surely taken advantage of him. He would have been used and discarded like a puppet.”

As if the injuries she had suffered earlier were of no consequence, she dusted off her knees and stood up.

“But that’s not going to happen now.”

“…!?”

“To think that a mere serpent like you could covet a child that even the malicious demonic sword cannot touch… It’s absurd, isn’t it?”

Boris momentarily flinched, sensing the discord.

“That child is going to change a lot…”

Silica got back to her feet and assumed her stance.

But it was not the stance of an assassin about to kill.

-Woong

“Now that I think about it, this almost sounds like a will, doesn’t it? But it changes nothing. I will kill you here today and wait for my beloved disciple to return.”

It was not a stance for assassination, but for casting a spell.

She manifested a light of black mana from her body, where killing intent and magical power harmoniously intertwined.

(To be continued)