The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“This is not good! Successor!”

I don’t know who the subject of “this is not good” is, but I’m not doing this just for myself.

In the center of a dark alleyway where shadows fell.

The smell of blood, fresh from the wound, spread in all directions from the place where the smell of neglected garbage was rampant.

There was only one member left standing, holding his sword against me until the very end.

The rest were all desperately trying to stop the bleeding that was pouring out like a waterfall from their respective wounds.

“Aren’t you the one who knows the Leader better than anyone else? The Leader is not abandoning you like this out of a desire to harm you, the successor! This is all for your sake!”

For my sake.

Those words are dangerous in many ways.

You may not feel it right now, but maybe if time passes and you might realize, ‘Ah! The Leader did this for me back then!’, but I don’t think I’ll feel that way even after a hundred years.

I stretched my arms forward to break the balance of the sword that was barely being maintained,

“……!”

The arm of the member who was holding the sword against me began to slowly move back.

And the moment my face was close enough to his face for only one finger’s width,

“Go and tell the Leader.”

I whispered softly to him.

“I don’t want to be an onlooker.”

It’s my turn to be an onlooker now?

When was I ever formal enough to keep my turn with each other?

The Leader is right.

I’m a very selfish bastard.

Because I’m a selfish bastard, I’ll do whatever I want to the end.

Entirely for myself.

-Slash

“……!”

I dropped the sword I was holding against him straight down the center line, and the member who lost his balance staggered for a moment.

I didn’t miss that chance and mercilessly cut off his right calf as he fell.

“Ugh!”

The member collapsed with a scream, and I walked out of the alleyway indifferently, leaving them behind.

“What the hell do you want!”

The member’s screams that rang out behind me as I left echoed inside me, but I tried my best to ignore them.

Just as I cannot understand them now,

They cannot understand me either.

I returned to the street and headed to the restaurant where Hastia and Brian were.

I had spent more time than I thought.

I hoped that they had at least eased some of the awkwardness in my absence, and the moment I reached the vicinity of the restaurant,

“……!”

I stopped three steps from the restaurant entrance.

Something felt different from before I entered the restaurant.

I can feel the presence of others in addition to the presence of Hastia and Brian.

You could say they are just ordinary customers, but no.

I guarantee it’s not.

Look at the transparent blue aura that I can see right now.

A stream of high-grade mana flows out clearly from the gap between the entrance of the restaurant, as if telling you to feel their energy.

-Creek

Then the door of the restaurant opened and a woman appeared, making eye contact with me standing blankly.

She didn’t look surprised at all, as if she knew I was coming.

“What are you doing? Why don’t you come in?”

Luna Rainriver.

The same indifferent eyes that hadn’t changed at all compared to seven years ago were staring at me as if piercing me.

* * *

Nothing is as embarrassing as an unexpected encounter.

I wasn’t particularly surprised to meet the members of Mist, as it was something I had expected to some extent, but this woman is different.

Why is she in the empire when she was in the Garam Kingdom just a while ago?

Currently, there are a total of five people in this old restaurant, including me.

I think I’ve seen the black-haired man who looks like a companion somewhere, but I don’t remember exactly.

I glanced at Brian,

He was rubbing his hands together with a pleading face that said, ‘This was the best we could do.’

“You may not believe it, senior, but we were in a pretty serious situation until just before you arrived.”

“You all look fine, though?”

“This is the best alternative we could come up with after much deliberation. Otherwise, you would have had to meet us in the middle of the forest with a restriction barrier in place.”

Hastia and Brian didn’t exactly deny it.

After all, she’s not the kind of woman who would lie to me, at least.

“Why don’t you say something?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Well, you haven’t changed a bit in seven years. You just left without a word even in Gaul…”

The reason I passed her by without a word was simple.

There was nothing good that would come from pretending to know her in that situation.

For my sake, and for hers.

“I had to run away because I didn’t know what would happen to me if I got caught by you.”

“If anyone hears it, they’ll think I’m trying to prey on my senior.”

I responded with silence.

Luna made a blank face for a moment before turning her gaze to Hastia, who was sitting quietly to the side.

“I guess you’re a son of a gun who can’t live without a woman. The elf clearly told me that you had nothing to do with me.”

Hastia, startled, waved her hands.

‘No, I really don’t! I’m just going with them for a while because of the situation right now…’

“What’s the situation?”

“It’s not something we need to tell you.”

“Is this another secret you can’t tell me? You’re still full of secrets.”

Luna shook her head and sighed, as if a little bored.

There would be no meaningful progress if we continued this kind of dry conversation.

I soon turned to Brian and said,

“Take Hastia and go out for a while.”

“Yes, I understand!”

Hastia looked a little embarrassed, but soon got up from her seat and followed Brian.

“Schurz, please wait outside for a moment as well.”

Luna also sent her own knight out after me.

Soon, the restaurant was left with just me and Luna.

Contrary to my expectations, she didn’t speak first, but waited quietly for me to open my mouth.

“Why are you in the empire?”

“It’s a personal matter.”

I glared at her with furrowed brows, and she shrugged as if there was no problem.

“I’m not here on official business. No one, including the society members, knows that I’m here. The only escort I have is the one outside.”

It was a very her-like thing to do, so I wasn’t surprised.

In fact, it’s none of my business to know what she’s doing here, as it’s literally a personal matter.

However, there is one thing I must make clear to her.

“I’ll cut to the chase and say this one thing.”

“Please do.”

“Don’t go to the Imperial City.”

“It sounds like you’re warning me that something big is going to happen.”

She continued speaking with an intrigued expression.

“Is that for your sake, senior? Or for my sake?”

“It’s for my sake.”

“I understand. I’ll do as you say.”

I was rather taken aback by her immediate agreement without a single moment of hesitation.

“There’s no need to make that face. You know I’m sincere with you, senior.”

There are things in the world that are scary because they change, and there are things that are scary because they don’t change.

This woman definitely falls into the latter category.

“But promise me one thing.”

She demanded a promise from me as a condition of her agreement.

“What?”

“Once you’re done with whatever you’re planning, let’s meet properly next time.”

“……What do you mean?”

It was a genuine question out of confusion.

“What do you mean, what do I mean? I just mean let’s meet properly again and talk about how we’ve been. Do you think I’m expecting something big from you, senior?”

I couldn’t bring myself to finish my sentence and just stood there with my mouth open.

Luna smiled contentedly at me.

“I’ll pretend we never met today. Please pretend you didn’t see me either.”

“Do you have to?”

“It’s not worth attaching too much significance to our reunion after seven years…”

“……?”

“I don’t think either of us will feel that much emotion.”

I wasn’t exactly shocked, but I felt strangely dazed.

“See you next time, senior.”

She left the restaurant without a second thought, leaving me alone.

“It’s not worth attaching too much significance to our reunion after seven years…”

I can’t quite understand what she meant by that, but I think I can be sure of one thing.

Before I start the big thing that’s in front of me right now,

I need to make sure that I don’t let her emotions consume me.

I’ll just proceed as if we never met,

And then we can meet again when it’s all over.

Wow, she’s gone from impressive to downright amazing.

At this point, I can’t help but be curious.

“What are you living for?”

I blurted out the question that had been lingering in my heart.

* * *

“Is it over?” asked Schürtz, almost in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s done,” Luna replied, with barely a trace of emotion. Their conversation was so brief that it seemed like they might have barely touched on anything important.

“Wasn’t this the long-awaited meeting you’d been looking forward to? You sure it’s okay to end it like this?”

“It wasn’t a scheduled meeting, so it’s fine. Sure, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel any sense of loss, but adding more significance to this moment wouldn’t be good for him.”

Schürtz frowned, puzzled by the explanation.

“He tries to act nonchalant, but deep down, he seemed a bit uneasy. It’s like he was experiencing affection for the first time, just like I once did.”

Luna saw in Cyan the same confusion she had felt when she first encountered the emotions that came with human connections.

“I don’t want to add to his turmoil.”

She hoped that someday, they could meet again with less tension and more clarity.

It was a simple wish, but it felt almost unattainable.

* * *

“Ah, are you done?”

“Yes, I’m done.”

Their conversation ended so quickly that it seemed as if they had resolved their mutual misunderstanding.

There was no trace of regret or longing on Luna’s face.

“Wasn’t this a long-awaited meeting? Is it okay to end it so quickly…?”

“Well, it was an unplanned meeting anyway. I’m fine. It would be a lie to say I’m not sorry, but I don’t think it would be good for senior to put unnecessary meaning into it.”

Schurz, not understanding the meaning, frowned slightly.

“He was pretending to be indifferent on the outside, but he seemed a little anxious on the inside. It was like you were looking at me, who was feeling emotions for the first time.”

He was confused, not knowing how to handle the emotions he was feeling for the first time in his life.

Luna saw him as a reflection of herself a little while ago.

“So I can’t cause him any more confusion.”

Luna could only hope for the day, not far in the future, when they could see each other again with ease, a day that seemed simple but would not come easily.

* * *

[To discuss the reorganization of the Order of Salvation and the direction the Ushif Empire should take in the future, I would like to seek the advice of the Count Nigriti’s family. Please be sure to attend.]

[Violet Sevellerus]

There was no greeting or introduction.

It was closer to a summons than an official decree.

Although the name of Count Nigriti’s family was written, it was clear that the same decree had been sent to other noble families of the empire.

Silica let out a dry laugh as if she couldn’t believe it, and then muttered softly.

“Are you setting a date for the implementation?”

It felt like a challenge to her.

“Lady Silica!”

In the meantime, a maid rushed into her room without knocking.

She quickly approached Silica and whispered in her ear.

“We found the successor in Roland!”

“…”

Silica didn’t show any sign of being shaken.

“Four senior members and one executive-level member fought him to subdue him, but…”

“What’s the condition of the members?”

Silica asked about the condition of the members without caring about the results.

“Their lives are not in danger, but they all have fatal injuries on one side of their bodies. They said they would do their best to recover as quickly as possible, but it doesn’t seem easy.”

Silica’s face was still expressionless, but one hand that was holding the official document was suddenly clenched into a fist, and a faint tremor ran through her.

“And he asked me to tell this to the leader.”

“…”

“He said he didn’t want to just stand by and watch…”

“I see. Get out.”

The maid left the room without saying anything else.

Silica closed her eyes tightly and exhaled calmly, then raised her head to the ceiling.

“You’ll find out eventually too.”

And then she began to pour out her true feelings.

“What path you should take…”