The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

I naturally spend more time moving around at night than during the day.

Being more accustomed to darkness than light, I still found it hard to adapt to the glaringly bright sky of the polar regions even after the sun had set.

But just because the sky was bright didn’t mean it wasn’t night.

Now, as all the elves were asleep, it was time for me to move alone.

“Do you really know for sure?”

[Have you only been deceived all this time? How can you fight in the future if you don’t trust your precious sword?]

“If you had done something trustworthy all this time, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Kaeram deflected with a teasing smile.

[It’s not far from here. We can return before the white ones awaken.]

“Any guards?”

[There weren’t any before. Not sure about now.]

The ruins of the water goddess Aquanis.

Only the elders among the white elves know the location of this sacred place, and it was known by none other than my beloved sword.

Naturally, I had no reason to refuse Kaeram’s guidance.

Of course, I didn’t inform the elders or any other white elves.

From now until the sun rises again, it was supposed to be a quiet trip just for Kaeram and me…

-Rustle

That seemed unlikely now.

I turned towards the corner of the fence and said,

“Come out.”

With a stern call, Hastia timidly emerged.

I had noticed her presence for a while and was just waiting for her to come out on her own.

Hastia scurried over and grabbed my hand.

‘Where are you going in the middle of the night?’

“Somewhere.”

‘Are you going to the relic of the goddess?’

I flinched momentarily but didn’t show it on my face.

“Why would I go there?”

‘I saw it in a prophecy just before. Tonight, Lord Cyan, you are heading to the ruins of Lady Aquanis…’

Hastia gave a confident smile and shrugged her shoulders.

It seemed that this naïve elf was trying to sell me some audacity.

I lifted my finger and flicked her forehead.

Hastia silently screamed, rubbing her forehead.

‘Really! I saw the future where Lord Cyan goes to an unknown ruin tonight!’

Prophecies are useless in front of someone who doesn’t believe in them.

I grabbed Hastia’s shoulders and turned her around.

“Go use that great prophecy to find out what tomorrow’s weather will be.”

‘Wait, Lord Cyan! Please let me come with you!’

Hastia clung to my hand tighter than ever.

‘You can deny it all you want! I know that Lord Cyan is definitely planning to go to Lady Aquanis’s ruins!’

“Suppose that’s true. Why do you want to go there?”

‘I want to check something.’

Hastia conveyed her determination with a resolute look.

‘I won’t tell the elders or anyone else. Please, let me come with you.’

Regardless of whether she tells someone, this naïve elf would only slow me down.

I was better off putting her to sleep and leaving alone…

-Ssssss

At that moment, black mist seeped out from within my cloak.

The mist approached Hastia and enveloped her.

[It seems this cute white one wants to go for a walk with us?]

Kaeram, who hadn’t materialized since we arrived in the frozen lands, showed herself to Hastia for the first time.

Startled, Hastia shivered.

Kaeram poked her cheek and smiled her uniquely eerie smile.

[Shall we take her along?]

* * *

It had been clear all morning and afternoon, but just when I thought about heading to the ruins, a blizzard blew in.

It was so severe that I could barely see a few steps ahead.

Despite this, Kaeram still pointed out the direction, guiding me forward.

[Even though this is a land of the non-greedy white ones, nothing has changed? It looks just like it did back then.]

Kaeram seemed slightly nostalgic as she looked around with interest.

In contrast to her vibrant demeanor, the fortune-telling elf by my side clung to my hand and was unusually quiet.

I had expected her to chatter excitedly about where we were and where we were going, but now she was as mute as ever.

‘……’

Instead, she kept glancing at Kaeram.

Noticing her gaze, Kaeram patted Hastia on the head.

[Is our little white one cold? Why are you trembling so?]

Startled, Hastia shuddered.

‘Oh, no, Lady demonic Sword! I’m just a bit nervous…’

[Nervous? What’s there to be nervous about? You’ve been quite bold with our master so far.]

‘What?! I-I haven’t been clinging to him…!’

“Enough, Kaeram.”

Unable to bear it, I interrupted, and Kaeram cackled and returned to my embrace.

Hastia’s face turned red to the tips of her ears.

‘Um, all the conversations we’ve had until now… You’ve heard them all, haven’t you, Lady demonic Sword?’

“That’s right.”

Probably every single word.

Hastia eventually covered her face with her hands and flapped her arms in embarrassment.

Once she calmed down, she continued with what she had intended to say.

‘Actually, I had something to tell you on the way. Lord Cyan, have you ever seen a dragon?’

Many times.

I’ve even lived with a human mixed with dragon blood.

I nodded.

‘Here in Pruina, we have a dragon who guards our white elf tribe.’

I thought I knew who she was talking about.

It was the dragon I had encountered in my past life when I had come to the frozen lands.

‘Her name is Marian del Antkart Luskal…’

“Just Marian, then.”

I cut her off before she could go through the whole name.

‘Anyway, Marian has been protecting our tribe here in the frozen lands for hundreds of years. In fact, if she had been around for the recent events, they would have passed without issue.’

“Why wasn’t she here this time?”

‘She mentioned having personal matters to attend to and disappeared three years ago. That period also coincided with the last time Lady Alice visited Pruina.’

I could roughly guess what she was getting at.

“Is that what you want to say… that they have some sort of relationship?”

Hastia nodded.

“Was Sister Alice close with this dragon named Marian?”

‘Lord Marian cared for Lady Alice as much as she did for us. She used to say she was a human with a rare pure heart. They had many deep conversations that we don’t know about.’

Just how far does my sister’s charisma reach?

If Hastia’s words are true, this isn’t just idle speculation.

Regardless of the reason, my sister seeking the goddess’s ruins and the guardian dragon of Pruina disappearing to coincide with it all-it felt like the scale of things was growing ever larger.

[Here we are.]

Amidst my complex feelings, Kaeram announced our arrival.

We were in a barren, snow-covered plain with nothing around.

There was no visible sign of any ruins, but I didn’t question Kaeram. The continental history stated that the divine relics scattered across the land are not in obvious places, easily found by passersby.

They are hidden deep and secretive, inaccessible to the unworthy.

It was the same with the temple of Lumendel where I found the holy and demonic swords.

There would be no difference here.

The flow of mana trembling beneath the earth to the point of foolishness was proof of that.

I immediately channeled the power of the mist with my hand, transferring it below the ground.

-Boom!

There was an immediate response.

Hastia and I stepped back to observe the change.

From beneath the snow blanket, a giant ice formation emerged with a hole just big enough for one person at the center, leading down to a staircase.

I didn’t hesitate and entered right away.

‘Le- let’s go together, Lord Cyan!’

Hastia hurriedly followed me.

Inside, the place looked more like a naturally formed ice cave than a man-made ruin.

My reflection shimmered across sparkling crystal fragments and pristine ice surfaces.

It felt like it had been managed for a long time by nature rather than people or elves.

‘It has a different atmosphere from the Altar of the Divine Tree. It’s mystical.’

Hastia also expressed her admiration, captivated by the atmosphere of the ruins.

We had managed to arrive here somehow, but there didn’t seem to be anything else to do.

We didn’t even know if Sister Alice had been here, nor was there anything specific to find.

Was there ever anything here to begin with?

Could there be another divine artifact stored here like in the temple of Lumendel in Vellias?

Or, like the ruins in Nodeli within the Kingdom of Spania, could there be some strange beast lurking around?

One thing was clear: the deeper we ventured into the ruins, the more distinct the presence of something else – or someone else – became.

Just then, Hastia, who was leading the way, twitched her ears.

‘I hear water, Lord Cyan!’

Not long after her announcement, a vast body of water appeared before us. At first glance, it seemed like a mere puddle.

“An underground spring?”

It was a massive underground waterway that stretched to the dark horizon. The water appeared clean, devoid of any contamination, but it was opaque due to the frost settling on it.

Without a bridge, crossing seemed impossible.

‘……!’

Suddenly, Hastia let go of my hand and scurried off. She soon gestured towards me with a bright face from where she stood. There was a precarious ice bridge in front of her, fragile enough to break under the weight of a single person.

‘Luckily, there’s a bridge! We can cross the waterway with this bridge!’

Really?

Maybe you alone, but if I were to step on it, it would probably shatter instantly.

However, Hastia had already crossed part of the bridge and was motioning for me to follow quickly.

Reluctantly, I placed my foot on the bridge,

-Swoosh!

I felt an immense pull and immediately withdrew my foot.

Something from beneath the water had tried to drag me down.

Startled, Hastia quickly ran back to me.

‘What happened, Lord Cyan?’

Hastia, still communicating her concern, had her feet planted on the ice bridge.

“Come off the bridge for a moment.”

Following my instruction, she stepped off without protest.

Cautiously, I attempted to step onto the bridge again,

-Swoosh!

And immediately withdrew my foot once more.

The same thing happened.

Hastia looked on with wide eyes, fascinated by this strange phenomenon.

“Try going up again.”

Without hesitation, Hastia climbed back onto the bridge.

‘……?’

She was perfectly fine. She walked, jumped, and even hopped on the spot, but the bridge showed no signs of instability.

“What’s going on here?”

This difference in how the bridge reacted to each of us hinted at some selective mechanism at work, or perhaps an unseen force that specifically targeted or reacted to me. The question was why, and what could be causing such a phenomenon.

Frustration suddenly surged within me.

Hastia, returning to my side, scoured the surroundings of the bridge. Unexpectedly, she found a stone slab and brought it to my attention.

‘Lord Cyan, look at this!’

The slab was inscribed with characters that were unfamiliar to me.

“What does this say?”

‘It’s an ancient language passed down only among our white elves. I’ll translate it right away!’

While holding one hand in mine, Hastia traced the characters with the other, interpreting the sentence.

‘It says… “Those who have touched… even a drop of another’s blood… cannot cross this bridge.”’

A curse slipped from my lips.

Those who have touched another’s blood?

It’s as if it’s saying I shouldn’t cross.

Even excluding myself, was there any other human who could cross this bridge?

(E/n: I could)

It was as if the pure and noble water goddess would refuse beings mixed with impurities.

‘What should we do, Lord Cyan? It seems you cannot cross this bridge…’

Hastia was at a loss facing this unexpected obstacle.

“What can we do? We have to turn back.”

At least I had this naïve elf with me; otherwise, I might have spent the whole day wrestling with the slab.

We thus turned around and headed down another path.

* * *

As Hastia was about to set the slab down and follow Cyan, something thin caught her eye on the bridge. She quickly climbed up to check.

‘A hair?’

It was a long strand of dark hair, rare in the frozen lands and certainly not belonging to Cyan.

Hastia stared at the hair, then looked beyond the bridge.

‘Could someone else have crossed this bridge besides us?’

“What are you doing? Are you coming?”

Impatient, Cyan called out from ahead.

Hastia hurriedly collected the hair and followed after Cyan.

(To be continued in the next episode)