The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Royal Hall, 2nd floor, at the end of the left hallway.

A room where even the last remnants of warmth had now completely disappeared.

Only the loneliness and bleakness of an ownerless space filled its void.

-Clang

Strangers visited this ownerless space.

The first to enter the room was Sartwell Iris, the Vice Chancellor of the Academy.

Officials from the Academy and representatives from the Garam Academy, cloaked in blue mantles, were seen in not insignificant numbers. As if they had agreed beforehand, they started to investigate the room, dividing it into sections.

Despite a thorough investigation, it seemed they found nothing of note, as they soon gathered back in the living room.

It appeared they were discussing something, when soon, a representative from the Garam Academy spread a large piece of white parchment on the floor like a carpet.

Sartwell stepped onto it with a grave face.

After taking a deep breath, she began to manifest mana and started drawing something on the parchment.

It was a magic circle for casting high-level magic.

“In the light of the sacred truth, nothing can be hidden, reveal the traces of hidden darkness!”

As she recited the incantation in a low voice, the magic circle responded with light.

The magic circle, emitting a massive amount of mana, continued to resonate.

Soon, traces resembling footprints began to emerge from the ground but,

-Pop

They faded away as if extinguished by flames.

Sartwell, startled, tried to manifest mana once more but,

“……”

The result was no different from before. There were two possible assumptions in this situation.

Either there were no traces to be found,

Or someone had magically concealed any traces from being discovered.

Everyone, including Sartwell, thought the latter.

This meant that even the mana of her, known to be the next most powerful in the Academy after Chancellor Kundel, was not enough to uncover the powerful magic lingering in this space.

With a stern face, Sartwell turned to everyone and said,

“It seems my power alone is insufficient. I’ll need your help.”

Without any objections, the people began to manifest their mana, just as she had done.

This time, a different and more significant resonance occurred from the magic circle, and at last, proper traces began to appear starting from where the magic circle was drawn.

“It’s not too far from here.”

The traces led to a city not far from the Academy.

* * *

The streets were in a state of confusion as if a spectacle had taken place.

The crowd that had gathered was in front of a bulletin board, adorned with wanted posters.

“End times, I tell you, end times. Who knows where this country is heading…”

“In such a peaceful era, what dissatisfaction drives them to act so recklessly? Despicable, the lot of them!”

“Surely, they aren’t hiding in our city?”

Those who saw the wanted posters spat out curses and expressed their fear.

Brian, happening to pass by, stopped in his tracks.

With his face partially concealed by a cloak, he inspected the wanted poster with a controlled gaze.

Among the heinous criminals listed for rape, kidnapping, and murder, he was stunned to find a wanted poster for someone who stood out egregiously.

The key figure in the recent series of noble assassinations.

The mastermind behind the Blood Banquet incident.

The culprit who summoned a giant demon in Axillium.

Shockingly, the individual on the wanted poster, guilty of unspeakable crimes, was a son from a noble family revered across the empire.

None other than Cyan Vert, the youngest son of the renowned guardian of the continent, Duke Vert.

“Th-The young master…?”

A man’s shout directed everyone’s attention in the same direction.

“The imperial knights?”

Clad in dazzling golden armor, the royal knights were a rare sight in Brenu, far from the capital.

Easily numbering over a hundred, this significant force appeared without prior notice.

As everyone was distracted by the arrival of the imperial troops,

Brian hastily tore down Cyan’s wanted poster and fled the scene at full speed.

-Bang

He rushed home like a mad bear, bolted the door upon entering, and immediately secured all entrances and windows.

“Why- why the sudden panic?”

Emily, who had been waiting for him, asked in confusion.

“It’s a disaster…!”

Breathless, Brian handed the wanted poster to Emily.

“A wanted poster? What, has a vicious criminal appeared here or… Eh?”

Upon seeing the wanted poster, Emily screamed in shock.

“What- what- what is this? Why is our young master here?”

For Emily, this was another bizarre turn of events.

It was almost impossible for an ordinary person to even imagine—the bounty written under the picture in red letters was nearly equivalent to the annual operating expenses of a decent-sized domain, detailing an enormous list of crimes.

“What in the world has the young master been doing outside?”

Cyan, who had abruptly left the academy, leaving only the three of them behind in Brenu, and disappeared somewhere, had caused a massive problem, far beyond what anyone thought was just “staying out of trouble.”

At this, Emily thought to herself that they could never return to Vellias.

“I really can’t live because of the young master!”

She felt like climbing to the top of a mountain and screaming her frustrations into the echo.

“Wait! What about us? Can we just stay here safely?”

“Of course, we can’t just sit back and relax. I don’t know why, but now even the knights of the Imperial Army are here. For now, we should take Nana and find a safer place to hide…”

“No! We should be worried about the young master’s safety first! We don’t know what kind of trouble he’s in right now. If he’s in a bad situation…”

“Ah, you don’t have to worry about that…”

—Bang!

Suddenly, a door in the living room burst open with a loud noise.

Nana had woken up and opened the door.

“Little one, why did you wake up?”

It wasn’t time for her to wake up from her nap yet.

Brian and Emily couldn’t just think it was different from usual and that she woke up early.

Because Nana’s eyes,

Instead of the innocent eyes that first utter hunger upon waking from sleep,

Were very dangerous, bloodshot red as if she had smelled something.

“It’s strange. It’s not even dinner time yet…”

Brian felt a cold sweat run down his back as memories came flooding back.

“Why does it smell so delicious?”

As soon as Nana uttered the word “smell” and grinned, revealing her teeth,

“She’s going to cause trouble again! Don’t smell it!”

Emily hurriedly ran to her and pinched her nose shut.

Then, Nana’s bloodshot eyes gradually returned to their natural color.

But not smelling it wasn’t the solution to the problem.

“……!”

Suddenly sensing a strange presence, Brian quickly drew his sword.

The sound of the sword being drawn was followed by a deathly silence, as if even the mice were holding their breath.

Within this tense atmosphere, where only the sound of breathing and heartbeats could be heard, Brian’s gaze was fixed solely on the door.

Thump, thump-

The faint sound of footsteps, carrying an eerie sense of presence, was not merely passing by but heading straight towards this place.

The problem was that it wasn’t just one or two individuals. The sound of footsteps, suggesting the presence of at least ten or more, seemed to surround the house from all directions, drawing closer.

Scratch, scratch-

Just when it seemed the footsteps had stopped, a bizarre sound followed. It was an alarmingly loud noise, as if someone was scraping a perfectly fine wall with their hands. The noise was not only loud but also peculiar, especially considering the current circumstances.

Brian closed his eyes and recalled what Cyan had told him before. If one were to hear the strange sound of the walls being scratched while staying in this house, it would mean that the protective barrier set up around the place was running out of magical energy and collapsing. One should try to replenish even a bit of mana to maintain its form, although Cyan had said he would return before that happened.

However, Brian knew this wasn’t the natural sound of a barrier running out of magic and collapsing on its own. This was the sound of the strange beings surrounding the house, forcefully breaking the barrier by injecting their own magic.

It was careless of him. The moment he saw the wanted poster, he should have evacuated Emily and Nana first.

Although he didn’t know the identity of those outside yet, Brian was under no illusion that their intentions were good.

“Run to the back door with Nana!”

“What about you?”

“I will follow soon, so don’t worry. We need to deal with the situation at hand first…”

“Are you talking nonsense? Do you think you’re some kind of knight from the stories? It would be better to say you’re choosing to die a dog’s death alone!”

“It’s not exactly like that, but…”

Denying it felt necessary, yet it seemed wrong to do so.

Emily’s words, though harsh, were not incorrect.

But what could be done?

Staying as they were would only lead to a bad end for all.

It was better for one to sacrifice themselves then, so that the remaining two could escape.

Just as Cyan would have done.

-Squeak

The urgent bickering between the man and woman was briefly interrupted by a sound all too familiar to them, coming from beyond the door.

-Squeak, thud, squeak

These were not sounds that could be made by a human mouth.

Following the nerve-wracking sound of slicing, people fell silently, one after another.

Though not visible, the cruel and familiar scene vividly unfolded in Brian’s mind.

-Thump

“……”

A dull thud was followed by another moment of silence.

Amidst the awkward ambience, where one could neither move forward nor back, Brian approached the door to inspect the situation, when a voice, indifferent yet familiar, called from the other side.

“Open the door.”

As if under a spell, Brian quickly unlatched the bolt and swung open the house door.

“Ma…”

“Papa!”

Before the word “master” could be fully uttered, Nana had already burst out and embraced him.

Intending to gently stroke her head, the boy momentarily hesitated upon noticing the blood on his hand.

“Sorry. I was delayed by some business.”

As always, he looked at them with calm eyes, neither flustered nor entirely at ease, his black hair framing his face.

Behind him lay the mercilessly fallen knights of the Imperial Army, as if the grim reaper himself had passed through.

(To be continued)