The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Exactly half a day after reports surfaced of a Demon Dragon, presumed to be a demonic beast, appearing in the northern city of Axillium within the Ushif Empire, the reinforcements dispatched from the imperial capital finally arrived. However, by the time they got there, the situation had already been resolved.

Nothing was left at the scene except for burnt remnants, not even a corpse.

For the reinforcement troops, the scene seemed less severe than anticipated, breeding slight doubts in their minds. The casualty count was remarkably low, almost negligible.

Lord Galas claimed that it was his thorough command that allowed for a calm resolution to what could have been a chaotic situation. However, the knights present at the scene told a different story. Most were too terrified to even approach the Demon Dragon, let alone deal with it, to the point where they couldn’t even remember what they had done out of fear.

However, there was one consistent story among them: it was about the person who had dealt with the demonic beast. Due to the distance and the figure being cloaked in a black mantle, they couldn’t make out the face, but they unanimously agreed that the person seemed closer to a boy than an adult.

Additionally, there were strange beings that seemed like his clones, positioned at various points in the city, preventing any potential secondary damages. Some even went as far as to call these beings saviors.

“Are you expecting me to believe this now?” Prince Luinel scoffed as he read the report, clearly incredulous.

“I-I have merely relayed the report I received,” the servant stammered, at a loss for words.

The servant could make excuses for everything else, but the claim that a single human being had taken down a Demon Dragon, a creature of considerable threat, was absurd to the point of disbelief.

“Here I am, pouring all my efforts into dealing with that damned woman, and now this…”

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Luinel crumpled the report in his hand, dissatisfied with how things were unfolding, as if the world had deemed him useless.

Sensing the prince’s mood, the servant cautiously presented another letter.

“This was personally sent by Lord Galas…”

“Personally sent?”

“Yes. I do not know why, but he insisted that it be directly reviewed by Your Highness. There seems to be something important he couldn’t convey through official reports.”

Luinel quickly snatched the letter from the servant, tearing open the envelope and beginning to read its contents. Initially, the letter contained nothing of note, mainly praises for the royal family and a sort of complaint asserting that Lord Galas was blameless in the current situation.

Suppressing his urge to immediately discard the letter, Luinel read on.

“At the time I received this letter, I also learned of another fact…”

“What is it?”

“He’s dead. Lord Galas…”

Luinel looked up sharply, fixing the servant with a stare for about ten seconds.

“What are you talking about?”

“He was found in his room, his body torn into dozens of pieces. It’s being treated as a homicide, but the perpetrator has yet to be identified…”

Laughing hollowly once more at the absurdity, the prince’s gaze returned to the letter.

At the very bottom of the letter.

A section that, at a glance, seemed to have been written in great haste.

“……?”

While the content was nothing but uncertain speculation, it was more than enough to catch the prince’s attention.

Just before a demon appeared in the city, an unidentified assassin had sought him out, speculated to be the very person who dealt with the demon. Although there was no certainty, the content suggested the assassin bore a striking resemblance to someone he had seen at a previous imperial banquet.

It was none other than the youngest son of the Duke of Vert, the guardian of the continent, who had recently become engaged to Princess Arin…

-Knock knock

Breaking the silence, Luinel’s gaze shifted towards the door.

It was a simple knock, but enough for Luinel to recognize who it was, as he quickly got up and rushed to the door.

-Swing

Upon opening the door hastily, Luinel seemed to shiver with thrill, a captive smile spreading across his face.

“Aschel!”

The dear friend he had longed and yearned for had appeared.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness…….”

Aschel greeted Luinel with the same gentle smile as before.

“Where have you been all this time? Why didn’t you respond to my calls? The anxiety and pain I felt in your absence, I could talk all night and it wouldn’t be enough!”

Luinel went on without pause, as if trying to release all the pent-up emotions.

“This is not the time for that. We must devise a plan to kill Violet immediately. Otherwise, she will… Are you even listening to me, Aschel?”

Despite the prince’s scolding, Aschel maintained his smile, offering no response.

Sensing an ominous atmosphere, Luinel’s brow furrowed deeply.

He seemed to be the same person Luinel had known, yet there was an unmistakable change, an unfamiliarity.

Had he, who lived as if there was no one above him except for the emperor, ever felt oppressed by someone else?

It was as if he was facing a divine being rather than a human.

“There’s no need to rush.”

After a moment of silence, Aschel spoke softly.

“No matter how thick the darkness, it cannot cover a light that shines, however small. We just need to follow that light.”

Luinel’s eyes trembled fiercely, not understanding the words.

“Let’s go. To where the path of truth leads…….”

“Where- where do you mean?”

“To the Royal Academy.”

A place so unexpectedly random and unappealing to the prince, just as he was about to inquire why,

“……!”

Luinel saw it.

At the moment he naturally blinked,

The figure of a noblewoman with flowing golden hair appeared behind Aschel and then vanished…….

* * *

“A Demon Dragon?”

“Yes. Although witnesses at the scene unanimously claimed so, there’s no concrete evidence. Everything has been completely eradicated without a trace.”

It had been ten days since the Axillium incident occurred.

Given the magnitude of the event, news spread across the continent, reaching even the distant Royal Academy.

“Rumors have it that a man cloaked in a black mantle killed the beast, presumed to be the Demon Dragon, all by himself. But such a tale seems too far-fetched, so the academy is currently looking into these claims.”

…

Hearing the story, Luna was enveloped in shock, unable to utter a word.

“No matter how you slice it, the story seems implausible. A mere human defeating a behemoth that even the continent’s top knights would struggle against? It must be an exaggerated rumor.”

Ramela dismissed the rumor as fanciful, but Luna’s thoughts were elsewhere.

For some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the man might be Cyan, although she wasn’t sure why.

“Could the person who dealt with the Demon Dragon possibly be…”

-Suddenly

Before she could continue her inquiry,

a member of the academy, who had been waiting outside, hurriedly burst through the door.

“It’s a disaster, Miss Luna!”

“What happened?”

The urgency in the academy member’s face left no room for Luna to reprimand the intrusion without knocking.

“The Chairman has arrived in Luwen!”

…

Both Luna and Ramela were visibly shocked, springing to their feet.

“What do you mean? Why would the Chairman come all of a sudden?”

“I’m not sure myself! It’s the first time he has visited Luwen directly without any prior notice…”

While the other academy members buzzed with activity, Luna’s expression quickly returned to calm, as if she had been expecting this.

Soon after, news arrived that the Chairman of the Garam Magic Academy, Regens Rainriver, had reached the Noble Hall, but she showed no intention of greeting him, resuming her reading with equanimity.

Moments later, he entered her room, and all the academy members, including Ramela, bowed their heads towards him.

“What brings you to the academy without any prior notice, Chairman?”

After a silent gaze, Regens softly commanded in an agitated tone,

“Everyone, leave us.”

Ramela realized immediately.

The instruction to leave did not include Luna.

Despite their frequent clashes, today’s atmosphere was tenser than usual.

The Chairman’s gaze at Luna was not the gentle look of a grandfather but filled with an inexplicable rage, as if he was on the verge of hurling thunderous magic at her.

After all the members had left the room, Luna asked in her usual indifferent tone,

“Have you resolved everything I asked for?”

It was about the matter related to the Auram Academy.

Instead of answering the question, Regens began to speak with a tone filled with suppressed anger.

“As not just a Chairman, but as your grandfather, I’ll give you one last chance. Tell me everything you know.”

“About what?”

“About Cyan Vert.”

It was only then that she looked at Regens with eyes filled with distrust.

“Why did you not mention that Cyan Vert was in Nodeli?”

“There was no need to mention it. I thought it wouldn’t do any good to say anything.”

“It wouldn’t do any good?”

The anger he had barely been controlling began to show on his face bit by bit.

“Have you already forgotten the immense damage that boy has done to our academy?”

“Weren’t those all baseless suspicions? As far as I know, there wasn’t a single fact that was confirmed…”

“Luna!!!”

Regens finally exploded, shouting and pressing her further.

“It’s the same with the matters of the Auram Academy! If you had just spoken a bit sooner, you wouldn’t have been kidnapped, and they wouldn’t have continued to grow their power within the academy. How could you just watch? You were said to be the future who would lead our academy! What exactly have you done for…”

“For the academy’s future?”

She sneered at the mention of the future.

“Why should I live for the academy? Has the academy done anything for me?”

“What?”

“If I hadn’t been at the academy, I wouldn’t have been kidnapped, and the Auram Academy wouldn’t have had the chance to grow its influence in trying to kidnap me, right? In the end, the existence of the academy has brought me nothing but bad things instead of good. Thinking that I should stand up for such an academy makes no sense…”

Regens’ face suddenly turned red with rage.

“People say that you can live with someone for 20 years and still not trust them. Seems like that statement is true. To you, Grandfather, I was nothing but a test subject necessary for the future of the academy. There was never any affection between us, was there?”

“So, what’s important to you is that boy, Cyan Vert, not the academy?”

“Yes.”

Her answer was firm, without a hint of hesitation.

“I understand your intention. All of this is the result of your own actions. Don’t regret it later, Luna…”

Having made up his mind, Regens immediately manifested mana, along with creating a restrictive barrier around them.

“I was prepared for this. Just don’t think it’ll be easy. After all, I am a 9-star Grand Sage and the granddaughter of Regens Rainriver, the head of the Garam Academy. You might need a few days to recover.”

Luna’s eyes remained undaunted to the end.

In the small room where only two people were present, a massive magical power capable of blowing away an entire city was fiercely surging.

(To be continued)