The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Somewhere in the western entertainment alleys of Lambusta.

The surroundings were in such chaos, it was hard to believe it was a woman’s space.

The hallway was overflowing with crumpled papers, and the smell of broken perfume bottles and cosmetics made one frown.

“What a mess.”

Morris, clicking his tongue, eventually stopped in front of a door.

Sounds of sighs or screams could be heard from inside, but he opened the door without care.

“This is no condition for a person, Delkia.”

Her hair was tousled, and her complexion was pale.

She looked like someone who had lived like a recluse for days.

“Morris… Why are you here?”

Delkia looked up at Morris, her eyes still alive.

“There’s only one reason a merchant would visit someone, isn’t there? To propose a deal, of course.”

Morris, sitting in a chair, picked up a paper from the floor to check its contents.

“I had no idea it was this bad. You seem quite infatuated with that boy.”

“What do you know?”

“Who in this city doesn’t know about your peculiar sexual preferences? I heard you’ve even neglected facility management lately. Especially after meeting that boy named Cyon.”

Morris flaunted the paper he was holding.

The paper contained an unfinished drawing of a young boy.

“I’ll get straight to the point since we’re short on time. Let’s join hands, Delkia.”

“What do you want?”

“There’s no need to be so defensive. I’m not interested in the same thing as you. All you want is the boy’s body, isn’t it?”

Delkia didn’t deny it.

“Take it all. I only want one thing he possesses. Give that to me, and I won’t care what you do with the boy.”

“Are you suggesting we collaborate?”

A mutually beneficial arrangement.

They would cooperate to achieve each other’s goals.

Delkia asked with a mix of skepticism and interest.

“What do I need to do?”

With a smile, Morris presented her with an item.

It was a small glass bottle containing a bright pink liquid.

“This is the highest quality paralysis potion recently imported from the Kingdom of Garam. It’s a blend of every poison, a single drop of which can paralyze instantly, but all harmful substances that could endanger life have been magically removed. It’s a potion that only knocks a person out.”

She examined the bottle with suspicion.

“You want me to administer this?”

“I’m not the one to set the stage. My role is strictly to supply the item, not to execute the task.”

Delkia glanced at Morris, opened the bottle, and brought it to her nose.

“!”

A strong scent of flowers spread, and suddenly her head spun.

She quickly pulled away and closed the bottle.

“Can you do it, Delkia?”

-Flinch

Her eyes were trembling and her lips were quivering.

It’s said that humans become most grotesque when their desires are within reach.

And she, with her bizarre smile, was the very embodiment of that saying.

“Yes, it’s possible. More than possible…”

In her sparkling eyes, the image of a naked boy was reflected.

* * *

Day 8 in Lambusta.

It feels like I’ve caused quite a stir, but the yield seems less than expected.

Let’s think about this for a moment.

Why did I come here?

To kill Rinze Nihalov, the owner of this Lambusta Cage.

And what have I done to achieve that?

I participated as a fighter in the arena, hoping to draw their attention to me.

However, contrary to expectations, the owner of this facility has not shown themselves to me at all.

Did I underestimate Rinze too much?

They say you start thinking about irrelevant things when you’re desperate, and that’s exactly where I am now.

Kaeram, lying on the bed, looked at me with pity in her eyes.

[You wouldn’t make that face even if you were chewing on dung. Haven’t you got eyes? Why not take a look in the mirror?]

Led by her words, my gaze naturally drifted to the mirror.

“……”

I do look a mess, indeed.

Yesterday was rough.

It’s not like I can blame Kaeram now.

Even if she hadn’t materialized, I would have reacted to those words anyway.

The longer I stay in this city, the less good it will do me.

With my mind made up, I immediately got up.

Time for a change in plans.

If they won’t come to me after all this, then I’ll have to go to them.

I left my room without hesitation and headed straight to the first floor.

“Ah! Mr. Cyon, hello!”

On my way down the stairs, I spotted a familiar face.

“……?”

He was dressed in a rather neat uniform, almost making him unrecognizable.

It was the kid who sold cigarettes, now employed here.

“Are you working?”

“Yes! I was just looking around the Cage! The manager told me to familiarize myself with the layout as quickly as possible!”

He seemed brighter, perhaps due to doing a proper job.

Though it’s wrong for someone his age to be working at all, it’s certainly better than selling cigarettes on the streets.

“Good, keep it up. Don’t mess up and get scolded!”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Seeing his cheerful smile, I noticed the name tag on his chest.

Come to think of it, I didn’t even know his name until now.

He seemed to be heading towards the arena.

Next time, I’ll call him by his name.

I moved back towards the lobby.

“Th-This is Lisa, an employee at Lambusta Cage! How may I help you?”

As usual, she was playing the role of both manager and employee.

Standing at the counter, I stared intently at her face.

An awkward smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

Something’s off.

By now, she should be accustomed to this, but it was as if she had reverted to the flustered state of our first encounter.

“Do you need something?”

I disregarded it and said,

“I would like to meet with your owner….”

Her face instantly turned pale and stiffened.

“If you’re talking about our owner… who might you be referring to?”

“Obviously, the owner of this facility. That Rinze Nihalov.”

Her face couldn’t hide the panic.

It would be foolish not to be suspicious at this point.

“Are, are you wishing to make a complaint? Is there something unsatisfactory about our facility…?”

“No, there isn’t. I just want to meet them personally.”

I know it’s an unreasonable request.

A stranger demanding a face-to-face meeting with the owner out of the blue would naturally cause alarm.

But her reaction wasn’t just about that.

It was as if she absolutely must not let the two of us meet.

I couldn’t be sure, but she was definitely hiding something.

“Well, that is, our owner isn’t someone you can just meet because you want to…”

“Then what must I do to meet them? Should I file a formal complaint?”

Eventually, she sighed deeply and looked down.

“Since it has come to this, I have a question for you.”

Her voice suddenly became grave.

“How much longer will you be staying in our Cage?”

“Why do you ask?”

Urgency was evident in her lifted face.

“I don’t know why you have come here, but let me tell you this with my eyes closed. Leave this city as soon as you can.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“And what if I don’t?”

“……You’ll die.”

Silence fell in the lobby.

While it appeared calm on the surface, I expected that inside her, it was as tumultuous as a storm with thunder and lightning.

The same went for me.

“I’m going to die?”

I murmured softly, and she barely nodded.

How to describe it?

It wasn’t a strong blow, just annoyingly like being hit in the back of the head.

And though I didn’t show it, it wasn’t just the manager and me in this lobby.

Unseen guards, not present before, were now watching me with uneasy eyes from hidden spots.

Some even with a faint murderous intent.

Meaning, the words weren’t thrown out just for the sake of conversation.

Why? Why is that?

Why would they warn me of death now?

After a brief thought, it seems to boil down to one of two reasons.

One is that they simply perceive me as a threat and want to eliminate me.

In the dynamics of the arena, it’s not good for one fighter to almost dictatorially control the game.

While it might bring a lot of attention in the short term, if I decide to make the games boring on purpose, the popularity of the arena would quickly wane.

Though possible, this reason seems too weak to justify killing me.

So what’s the second reason?

It’s potentially the most dangerous reason for me.

My identity has been somewhat exposed.

Through yesterday’s game, Kaeram’s existence was accidentally revealed to a merchant.

Far from mitigating the situation, I ended up confirming his suspicions.

He said that no one else would know besides us, but that’s uncertain.

That person named Rinze must have definitely seen my game yesterday, and might have picked up on some suspicious signs from me.

But regardless of the reason, there’s one thing that’s most perplexing at this moment.

This woman, the manager.

Why would she disclose such confidential information to me?

Effectively, it’s as if she’s risking her life by telling me.

Or rather, from her expression alone, it’s as if she’s hoping for the plan to fail, isn’t it?

Why would she do that for me…

“Ma-Manager! There’s a big problem!”

Amidst the increasingly serious atmosphere, a man’s urgent shout interrupted.

The man, who ran through the front door, was a guide from the betting area.

“Wh-What happened?”

“Gunther’s gang has attacked the arena… Eek!”

Behind the astonished man, a hulking man blocking the door just grinned at me with a malevolent smile.

If there was one notable thing, it was that he was missing an arm.

“Seems like you two were having a serious conversation? Why so glum?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards who were on standby around us appeared and immediately blocked his path.

“What’s this? I thought I didn’t see the guards around, but they were all here?”

“Gunther! What is this madness!”

Infuriated, Lisa stormed up to him and grabbed him by the collar.

“Whoa, whoa! Calm down! Let’s not be too harsh on a man who’s down to one arm, shall we?”

“Cut the nonsense and tell me! Why are you here!”

His gaze immediately turned to me.

“Hey Cyon! Looks like you and I need to have another go.”

Apparently, my lesson wasn’t enough.

I should have not left one arm; I should have taken both.

“Was one arm not enough for you?”

“Ha! That look is still the same? I swear I could rip those eyes out and chew them up, it’s unbearable! You seem to be misunderstanding something. This isn’t a suggestion, it’s a demand. You have an obligation to fight me again!”

-Whisk

He pulled something out with his one hand and threw it towards me.

It was a crumpled pack of cigarettes.

“Check this out!”

I nonchalantly picked it up to check the inside.

“……!”

The moment I saw the contents, my body froze as if it had stopped.

A gold object the size of a finger.

Inside the cigarette pack was someone’s name tag.

I was slightly stunned.

Facing this familiar name, I was unsure of the reaction I should display, so I lifted my head again and asked.

“……What did you do?”

“Your expression is intriguing. Nothing much! Just in case you’d refuse to fight bare-handed. I thought I’d prepare a little gift. Do you like it?”

Do I like it?

Whatever his intentions were, oddly enough, it sounded to me like only one thing.

Was he asking to be killed?

(To be continued)