The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“Wow, seriously! This is so annoying!”

Set clenched his fists, clicking his tongue in frustration as he shook his head.

“As expected, are they the knights of the front line?”

Senior knights possess physical abilities and mana control far superior to other knights.

Additionally, they have overwhelming practical experience in systematic formation building and organizational tactical operations.

In other words, they are the unit that has mastered the best ways to win in battle.

“Unless we completely turn the surroundings into chaos, it’s going to be hard to break through using conventional methods. What do you think, Princess?”

“Even if we escape this scene, there is no retreat route for us in this Velias! We have to subdue them all here and now!”

However, contrary to Arin’s wishes, the faces of the envoys began to show signs of exhaustion one by one.

Although there were no casualties or serious injuries yet, the battle was leaning unfavorably towards the envoys.

Meanwhile, the frontline knights’ eyes were burning with fighting spirit.

Seeing this, Luna glanced around briefly.

“Set, can you buy us some time?”

“Huh? What are you planning, junior?”

“We need to divert these knights’ attention elsewhere.”

Luna immediately opened a magic book in his hands.

“I’ll use spatial transfer magic to draw their attention. Please create a breakthrough in the meantime.”

“But then you, Luna…!”

“Princess, the person you should be worried about right now isn’t me.”

Arin was momentarily stunned into silence by the suddenness of Luna’s words.

“Wouldn’t senior Cyan say something like this?”

Luna gave a nonchalant smile as he looked at Arin.

“Are we in agreement? Then I’ll start!”

Rushing forward as the vanguard, Set clenched both fists, taking a stance with his hips slightly back, gathering energy.

Suddenly, a sharp wind whipped around the previously calm surroundings.

Soon, coarse sand grains began to spew from Set’s entire body.

The knights, hit by the sudden sandstorm, immediately took a step back.

Seeing this, Luna also began to channel mana and chant a spell, but—

-Snap

She suddenly closed the book she was chanting from.

“What’s this? Didn’t you ask for time?”

“That’s true, but now it’s no longer necessary.”

The people around her blinked in confusion.

“It seems our savior has arrived.”

“Argh!”

At the same time, screams erupted from behind the knights.

“Finally showed up!”

Set also smiled broadly.

While one might think it was reinforcements coming to help the envoys, it was, in fact, a single person, not a group.

A lone assassin capable of taking on 100 of the front line’s senior knights by himself.

Cyan Vert had finally appeared.

-Swoosh

Cyan leapt into the air, instantly drawing everyone’s attention, and scattered black mist from his body like a smoke screen.

“May the light of glorious guidance pierce the darkness…!”

One of the senior knights hurriedly began to cast a spell to prevent their vision from being obscured, but—

-Slice

The sphere of light failed to rise into the air and fell straight to the ground.

Even as the other knights tried to respond quickly—

-Swish!

They couldn’t match Cyan’s swift movements. The once impenetrable formation of the knights began to collapse helplessly.

“All envoys! Don’t panic and move!”

Believing they had gained the upper hand, Arin immediately issued orders, and the envoys began to move again, reorganizing their formation.

“All knights! Retreat to the inner gate!”

The frontline knights, instead of fighting back, suddenly began to retreat towards the gate. It was a stark contrast to the fighting spirit they had shown just moments ago.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Set chased after them.

Ignoring whether he was following or not, the knights swiftly moved inside the gate. As soon as all the knights capable of moving had retreated, a few magic knights began to chant a spell.

“Drawing an insurmountable forbidden line…”

A transparent, purplish aura began to shimmer in the center of the gate. Sensing the strong flow of mana, Luna shouted urgently at Set.

“Fall back, Set!”

But Set, not hearing this, recklessly chased the knights and finally reached the gate’s boundary.

-Crash!

A purple lightning bolt shot up in front of Set.

“Uwaah!”

Thanks to his quick reflexes, he managed to back off just in time, but his elbow got slightly singed in the process.

“What… What is this?”

“Don’t touch it!”

Luna, who had rushed over, pulled Set back from the unexpected obstacle.

“It’s a restrictive barrier. It’s got a very complex and dangerous spell on it…”

It appeared to be a strategy that had been prepared long before the envoys arrived.

The enemies blocking the way had all fled.

Just as they were about to turn their attention to the remaining enemies,

“It’s over.”

The situation behind them had already been resolved.

“…”

Regardless of how the envoys viewed him, the main culprit silently observed the state of the knights he had defeated.

* * *

“F-food!”

People, losing their senses, rushed towards the opened relief storehouse.

“Please maintain order!”

He raised both hands to calm them down.

But those who had gone hungry for days couldn’t hear him.

Schurz’s assessment was accurate. The people of Velias had not had a proper meal in nearly two weeks and were on the brink of starvation.

The reason was simple.

Harsh taxes and conscription for war preparations.

On top of that, officials had gone around taking anything usable for military supplies from every house. Some people had even hoped for Mist to appear and assassinate Duke Vert.

The monsters roaming near Velias were also following the Duke’s orders.

The Duke had released captured Hellhounds near Velias to attack people, intending to instill fear of monsters within the empire’s lands.

“Even the corrupt nobles of the past who committed numerous atrocities were not this bad! This is an inhuman act! Princess, you must punish the perpetrators in the name of the royal family!”

Having confirmed the severity of the situation, Ressimus urged Arin to judge the culprit.

“Punishment? Yes, of course. But who should we punish?”

“Well, that’s obvious…!”

Ressimus couldn’t immediately answer Arin’s calm question.

“What’s the state of the knights?”

“We’re continuing to interrogate the captured knights, but… most of them keep saying they don’t remember anything.”

We were just following the Duke’s orders. However, there was no will of their own in it. We moved like puppets, without any memory.

The knights all repeated the same thing.

“I’m starting to get scared, thinking that somewhere we don’t know, something even more terrible might be planned.”

Arin sighed deeply, expressing her genuine feelings. To end this situation, they too needed to get to the front line as soon as possible.

“What about Luna?”

“She’s still examining the barrier on the gate.”

“Let’s go there too.”

Arin headed towards the gate where the earlier incident had occurred with Ressimus. Bloodstains and the smell of blood were still lingering around the gate.

Despite the unsettling atmosphere, Luna continued to scrutinize the purple, transparent barrier with a fierce gaze.

It seemed like it wasn’t the right moment to speak to her. Arin awkwardly watched her for about five seconds, unsure of what to do.

“You’re here?”

Luna greeted her first.

“Oh! Yes! Don’t mind me, continue with what you were doing!”

Though knowing it was impolite, Luna looked away from the barrier, rubbed her eyes carefully, and stood up.

“How’s it going? Found anything?”

“I’ve figured out the flow of the spell on the barrier. But it’s so intricately tangled that it will take some time to unravel it.”

“How long do you think it will take?”

“If I start now, it might take about a day. I’ll do my best.”

“No, don’t push yourself.”

Luna stared blankly at Arin for a moment before tilting her head.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“Weren’t you with Senior Cyan?”

When someone hears something completely out of context, they can’t react properly. That was exactly Arin’s state.

“No, no! You saw it too! He came without a word and left without a word…”

Arin quickly waved her hands in denial.

Cyan had saved the encircled envoys and then left without a word.

“During the remainder of the journey, he won’t appear directly by our side. It’s better for both sides that way.”

“You wanted the assassin senior, not the Duke’s heir?”

Arin answered with silence.

Luna nodded in understanding.

“Now that I think about it, where’s Prince Set?”

“He said there was nothing for him to do, so he’s gone off to train…”

Luna suddenly shifted his gaze to the stone wall stretching along the border gate.

“He’s probably having a sweaty conversation with the other guys.”

* * *

“It’s been a while. Can’t you at least say something?”

Say something? Look at yourself and then ask that.

You look like a beast about to pounce on its prey.

Unable to bear it, I reluctantly said a word.

“Why are you here?”

“Why am I here? Is that what you say to someone who came to help you?”

He started nagging in a way that didn’t fit his large frame, complaining about my lack of gratitude.

“That stubborn junior called me! She told me to come help you!”

So it was Luna’s doing?

I wasn’t surprised since I had expected as much.

I briefly scanned his entire body with a deep gaze.

I knew he was big and strong, but now he seemed twice as large as before. Not just his physique, but the occasional surge of energy emanating from him was unusual.

“Anyway, whether you like it or not, you owe me. When this is over, you have to grant me one request.”

“Aren’t you tired of sparring?”

“What, do you think I’m just some brute who only knows how to fight…!”

The man, who had been standing firmly like a sturdy tree, suddenly knelt on one knee and collapsed.

“Damn it! Why is it going crazy without any warning?”

He started muttering to himself in incomprehensible words.

Seeing that he wasn’t in a normal state, I decided to watch quietly for now.

“Hey! My lover, who can’t let me go and is clinging to me, seems to want to say hello to you. Honestly, they do whatever they please!”

“Can you explain so I can understand?”

I frowned, demanding a proper explanation, but soon realized there was no need for it.

He straightened his bent knee, stood tall again, and made eye contact with me.

With a completely different aura.

“It’s been a while, Heir of the Mist.”

Sabulom, the God of Sand.

The guardian deity of the Kingdom of Spania once again showed himself to me through Set.