The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

I have no idea who this elf is.

Nor do I know why she is here.

But I do know what she is trying to do.

She is trying to end her life, which is, without a doubt, precious in this world.

Of course, I don’t know why.

“…….”

The elf and I looked at each other with wide eyes and remained silent for quite a long time.

Now, what should I do in this awkward situation?

There are two options.

Either dissuade her from dying,

Or just stand by and watch.

Naturally, I choose the second option.

I waved my hand as if to say, continue what you were doing.

However, the elf seemed reluctant to accept my “consideration” and instead put down the piece of ice she was holding.

Then she slowly got up and started walking towards me.

Normally, I would have drawn my sword and warned her not to come closer,

But I felt no need to.

Her frail body, devoid of any magical aura, seemed incapable of doing much.

The elf approached me shyly, like a girl delivering a love letter to her first crush, and extended her hand when she was just one step away from me.

It seemed like she was asking for something.

Despite having a face that seemed to be begging for food like a puppy, I had nothing to offer.

I simply maintained my indifferent expression with my arms crossed.

The elf made an awkward face and pointed at my hand with her other hand.

Was she asking for my hand?

As she seemed like she was about to cry if I continued to do nothing, I reluctantly placed my hand in hers.

The moment my hand touched the elf’s delicate hand, a chill ran through my body.

This wasn’t a corpse, and yet her hand was colder than ice.

Startled by the touch, it was only a moment before I heard,

‘Why are you here?’

A strange voice suddenly echoed in my head.

I immediately realized that this was a telepathic message sent by the elf.

Was this why she asked for my hand?

Why go through such an awkward method instead of speaking directly?

It was a bizarre way to communicate, but what puzzled me more was something else.

Usually, when meeting a stranger, one would ask “Who are you?” not “Why are you here?”

Yet, that’s how this elf had questioned me.

As if she knew my identity from the start.

“Do you know me?”

To my question, she sent another telepathic message.

‘You are the heir of the God of Black Mist, Lord Cyan Vert, aren’t you?’

She knew exactly who I was.

I immediately drew Kaeram with my other hand and aimed it at her throat.

There’s no situation more dangerous than when your opponent knows you, but you don’t know them.

The startled elf wrapped her other hand around her shoulder, shivering.

Then, Kaeram whispered quietly.

[These ones.]

“What?”

[These guardians of the trees.]

Kaeram seemed to be enjoying the situation, letting out a sly laugh.

For the first time, I thoroughly examined the elf from head to toe.

Her fragile body looked like it could barely protect itself, and her eyes brimmed with anxiety.

She hardly seemed like a “guardian”—rather, she seemed more like someone who needed protection.

‘My- my name is…’

Her hand, still clasped in mine, trembled violently.

‘I am Hastia, the twelfth prophetess of the White Elf tribe.’

* * *

I had seen humans occasionally who claimed to be prophets, foretelling futures bestowed upon them by gods, speaking nonsensical things.

Naturally, all of them were charlatans spouting useless drivel.

Thus, it was hard to take this elf named Hastia at her word when she introduced herself as a prophetess.

After the somewhat awkward introduction, we inadvertently found ourselves in a conversation.

Hastia and I sat facing each other at an altar in front of the sacred tree, hands still clasped.

“Do we have to communicate like this?”

‘Elves endowed with the gift of foresight lose their voices as the price for their abilities. I apologize for the inconvenience.’

It was a bit unfamiliar, but not a major issue, aside from her cold hand.

Even for a White Elf living in the frost, it seemed too chilly to be sitting here in such light clothing.

I felt colder just looking at her.

Unable to stand it any longer, I took off my cloak and draped it over Hastia.

‘……?’

She blinked her icy blue eyes in surprise as the cloak enveloped her.

That should be better.

I reached for her hand again to continue our conversation, but Hastia only blushed, not sending any telepathic messages like before.

This time, I asked first.

“Were you trying to kill yourself earlier?”

‘Yes…’

“Why?”

‘I had to.’

Her response was vague and hard to understand.

So, I posed a clearer question.

“There were dead elves near the cave. Were they your tribe?”

Hastia’s expression darkened instantly.

‘How- how many were there?’

“About thirty.”

I answered without hesitation.

She seemed deeply shocked, and a fierce trembling transmitted through our clasped hands.

Then, her other hand reached again for the piece of ice she had set down earlier.

‘I, I really shouldn’t be alive…’

This time, it seemed she was determined as Hastia tried to stab her own throat with the ice shard.

-Thunk!

I stopped her just in time.

I snatched the ice shard and threw it out of the altar.

Then, I said nothing.

Deciding to end one’s own life requires tremendous courage.

Unless one truly feels worthless in this world, such a resolution cannot be made with a mere whim.

It was evident even from looking into this elf’s eyes.

Her words said she shouldn’t be alive, but her eyes clearly conveyed a desire not to die.

It was not an unusual thing at all.

If there is even a little bit of reluctance to leave this world, it’s natural that nobody would want to die.

Tears, clear as crystal, formed in Hastia’s eyes and slowly fell one by one.

I quietly waited until her heart settled.

When she had calmed down somewhat, Hastia conveyed her emotions again.

‘Not long ago, I saw the future. An army of humans clad in golden armor was coming towards our clan’s territory. They were coming to steal the power of foresight that I possess.’

It didn’t seem like she was lying, but I still couldn’t believe it was a prophecy.

However, it did seem certain that the Order of Light, which I had seen earlier, had come for this elf.

‘The clan, upon learning the truth, vowed to protect me at all costs and was ready to fight, but I urged them not to, to abandon me and flee quickly.’

“And you?”

‘I am the seer of the clan, and it is my duty to protect this sacred tree. I couldn’t just abandon it and save my life alone, as my clan has protected it for a long time, so I chose to stay till the end. But…’

Overwhelmed with emotion, Hastia covered her mouth again.

‘Even so, this tragic future won’t change. The humans won’t leave until they achieve their goal, and my clan members will continue to die. Rather than that…’

She had considered committing suicide to thwart the goals of the Order of Light.

Now that I understood the whole story, her actions somewhat made sense.

‘The barrier of the sacred tree still prevents the invaders from approaching, but it won’t hold much longer. That’s why I decided to give up on everything and end the tragedy myself. And then…’

After wiping away her tears, Hastia looked me in the eyes again.

‘Lord Cyan appeared.’

I tilted my head in confusion.

“Was it wrong for me to appear?”

‘In the future I saw, there was no meeting with Lord Cyan.’

“You didn’t know I was coming, but how did you know who I was?”

‘Oh, that’s because I incidentally saw Lord Cyan’s future in a vision I had before. That’s when I first learned about your existence!’

Since it was about my future, I couldn’t just ignore it.

However, Hastia hesitated to speak, suggesting it wasn’t a particularly bright future.

‘In the near future I saw, Lord Cyan…’

I didn’t really believe it anyway, so whatever she said wouldn’t really matter…

‘You die.’

* * *

Meanwhile, the knights who had entered the cave before Cyan found themselves wandering like him and eventually came back out.

“How did this happen?”

There was no fork in the road; it was a straight path that somehow led them back to the starting point.

It was only then that the knights realized they had been walking through an illusion.

“We’ve been completely toyed with.”

“I had a feeling we were going in circles.”

Acknowledging their ignorance, the knights quickly rechecked their armaments.

While they were regrouping, the rest of the Light’s Order who had temporarily retreated returned.

They were accompanied by a carriage with someone inside.

The knights on the scene immediately reported what had just happened.

“We went straight, and we ended up back at the start? Could it be some kind of illusion magic?”

“I didn’t feel any special flow of magic during our journey. It seems like the elf inside there is playing tricks.”

“This is problematic. If it’s not magic but some sort of special curse, it could be difficult to tackle…”

The knights began to brainstorm strategies for entering the cave.

However, finding a solution to an unknown phenomenon was as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.

-Creak-

Just then, the carriage door opened and a woman with long hair wearing a white veil stepped out, escorted by a knight.

The knights saluted her in unison.

“We welcome the Holy Lady!”

The saintly figure smiled gently and moved forward, the knights clearing the path for her.

Soon reaching the front of the cave, she took a deep breath.

“It’s the Divine Tree’s barrier. The Divine Tree must be angry that the blood of an elf was spilled on this land. It seems there’s no way to break through this barrier and enter right now.”

The saintly woman, showing a look of pity, touched the cave wall.

At this, Mihan Hasselrus, her personal escort knight, approached her.

“We can’t solve the problem by just guarding it like this… The elf race is truly ignorant. What should we do, Holy Lady? If you wish, we could capture another White Elf alive and try torturing them.”

The saint shook her head.

“That would be futile. They are determined to protect only one prophet. They would willingly lay down their lives to protect her.”

“I expected as much, but they really are a relentless tribe. Is the prophet inside just watching all this?”

“She must be grieving too. She might be in agony, wishing it would be better if she herself died. So we need to comfort her quickly. We must soothe her well, so she can see what a good future for both sides might look like.”

Then, the saint looked around at all her knights and said,

“No need for an escort from here. I will go alone. Please wait here until I come out myself.”

“We will follow your divine guidance, Holy Lady!”

With that, the saint entered the cave alone, leaving behind the empire’s elite forces.

However, her experience was not much different from that of the knights who had ventured in earlier.

There was a single path without forks, and the landscape repeated itself.

But the saint continued forward undeterred.

Finally reaching a certain point, she sat down and placed her hand on the icy cold floor.

-Woosh!

A wave-like ripple occurred as the saint’s holy energy touched the Divine Tree’s barrier.

Watching the phenomenon with satisfaction, the saint’s expression quickly darkened.

Beyond the barrier, detected through the power of light, she felt the presence of not just the caretaker of the Divine Tree, but another person.

“She is not alone?”

(To be continued)