The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Every morning at 7 a.m.

Appear on the bustling Axilium Street to start the workday.

From simple tasks like moving luggage to solving complex problems like healing and crafting artifacts with magic, earn compensation commensurate with the difficulty of the tasks, which then are used to purchase food for the day and distribute it to the residents of the slums.

This has been Boris’s personal routine for the past week, without a single day missed.

It was information so unbelievable that even the members stationed in Axilium initially failed to recognize him as Boris.

Well, I don’t blame them.

Even to me, Boris looked no more like Boris than just a face.

When I considered his manner of speaking, personality, and even his gait, it felt so different from Boris I knew that I couldn’t believe it.

However, no matter how well he concealed his outward appearance, human nature cannot be hidden.

The scent of mana emanating clearly from beyond that false mask is evidence of that.

There’s a saying that a person is only recognized as talented when someone acknowledges their abilities accurately.

I’ve known that Boris was from the slums since my previous life.

He bore the shameful past of being despised as a member of the cursed Black Blood clan, rejected even as a human being.

But just two years ago, Prince Louisnel, who was visiting the city, discovered him and took him in as one of his own, allowing him to see the light.

From then on, he truly began to wield his abilities under the eyes of that devil’s spawn.

He even rose to become the head of the Magic Society, firmly establishing himself as a key figure in the empire.

As for what kind of life he lived here and how he was regarded by the residents, that’s not something I know for sure.

I don’t particularly want to know either.

But judging by the way most of the slum residents treat him as if they’ve known him for a long time, I can vaguely guess that he may have lived a not-so-different life before.

Look at the faces of those residents who seem to have lost their minds in ecstasy.

The title of savior truly suits him.

It’s a situation I can’t ignore no matter how much I try to look away.

[I’m back, Master.]

Kaeram, who had been somewhere else for a while, appeared with a rather displeased expression.

“How was it?”

[Absolutely terrible! I couldn’t sense even the tiniest trace of his presence. It’s not like he just hid somewhere; I can’t feel any energy at all. I guarantee that even if I search the entire slum, not to mention the entire city, there won’t be a single trace of him.]

I can’t feel the energy of Hishkrea, and the owner of the Bible, Boris, is showing a completely different appearance.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not the Boris I know.

Even now, the scars on my heart continue to signal that he is.

Moreover, didn’t he blatantly reveal his name as Boris Ruchelheim?

Then there is only one hypothesis that can be formulated.

That guy isn’t Boris’s original personality.

He’s probably another personality created by magic, not his original one.

Just like how I changed the personality of Kellen, who was once Aschel’s servant, using magic, he must also have been replaced by another personality created by some force.

Then the question is, who changed the personality of that scoundrel?

[Well, whoever it is, they played quite a prank.]

“It’s so unique that it’s mind-boggling….”

[What do you think, Master? Should we try to kill that ignorant fool? Even your reputation wouldn’t be tarnished by it, right?]

I couldn’t bring myself to deny it, so I just bit my lip in frustration.

I dare say, there can’t be more than five people on this continent who can create personalities like the ‘Shadow’s Persona’ I can create.

Of course, that’s only natural, isn’t it?

Creating a completely new personality that doesn’t exist in the world is much more difficult than erasing thousands of existing personalities.

Even with vast mana and a high magic grade, it’s not possible.

Even if I, with my extraordinary attribute values, poured almost all my power into it, it’s highly unlikely that a wandering mage would accidentally perform such a feat.

“If it’s the power of the Bible, it’s more than enough and even leaves a surplus….”

I don’t particularly want to suspect anyone else.

Boris intentionally changed his own personality.

I wonder if he anticipated the reaction when I faced him with the changed personality.

If it were the Boris I knew, he would have definitely done something like that.

Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, I willingly admit that his audacious plan worked perfectly.

Right now, I have no intention of killing this changed Boris Ruchelheim.

Even if his exterior is just a facade and he’s ultimately an idiot who doesn’t remember anything he’s done before, killing him won’t erase the scar of resentment etched into my heart.

Even if I killed him, there’s no guarantee that his original personality, if he still possesses it, would also be destroyed.

So what I need to do is find Boris’s true personality.

In addition, I need to locate the Bible and completely annihilate everything related to it.

Otherwise, there would be no point in making a big fuss in front of the leader.

Night comes even in unlit slums.

As the shadows of the night envelop the slums, those who had sought refuge in the sanctuary of the savior began to leave one by one.

A shabby shack that could hardly be called a home.

Even compared to other houses in the slums, it was much more pathetic and filled with loneliness.

To me, it just feels disgusting.

Without hesitation, I entered.

Among the countless books piled up to the ceiling, there was a solitary figure with a desolate back.

“I’ve been waiting for your return.”

As if he knew it was me just from the presence, he turned his head immediately.

“You’ve been waiting for me?”

“Yes….”

“Do you know what I’m here to do?”

“You’ve come to kill me, haven’t you?”

Denying it in the light of day only seems ridiculous.

“Why would I want to kill you?”

“I don’t know….”

Disgusting.

Although he resembled the target of my long-awaited revenge, his inner self was completely different.

It’s an incredibly unpleasant feeling, to say the least.

“It’s a shameless question, but I’ll ask anyway. Did I ever wrong you in the past?”

Even though it may seem shameless, it’s such a blatant question that it can’t be helped.

“If that’s the case, I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

He suddenly knelt down and bowed his head to the ground.

“But, I’m truly sorry. I have no memory of what happened between us over the past few years.”

“No memory?”

“Yes! You may not believe it, but I suffer from severe amnesia….”

Amnesia.

Well, it’s not unreasonable for him not to remember anything during the personality change, to the extent of not even being able to think about what he did.

Assuming he wasn’t aware that his personality had changed.

“The last thing you remember?”

“About two years ago, when Prince Louisnel Sevellerus of the Empire came on a tour to Axillum. At that time, I went to seek support from the prince, coming from this backward slum. But right at the moment when I saw the prince’s face, my memory was cut off. And when I regained consciousness, I was back in this slum, and people told me that two years had passed….”

[PR/N: WAIT! What if Aschel did something? Same thing on duke vert and princess violet? Or maybe there’s another power? So far aschel seems like a fucking idiot not worth being the final enemy ngl]

“When did your memory return?”

“It’s been a little less than a month….”

It aligns roughly with the time I lost track of him in Luwen.

Since fleeing with the power of the Bible, had his personality changed?

The personality I knew and the one I’m facing now are different.

By this point, I started to feel confused about which side to address as his true self.

No, why am I even confused about this?

I’m fed up with confronting his face.

Shouldn’t I just kill him and be done with it?

“I don’t mind if you kill me. Just please don’t harm the innocent residents of this slum! They’ve done nothing wrong!”

Seeing me keeping my face scrunched up and silent, he opened his mouth again.

“You may already know, but the people here, including me, have lived under persecution and contempt, with our very existence considered a sin. They are called a cursed clan with black blood…”

He looked at me with pleading eyes and expressed his sadness.

“But that’s an absurd exaggeration! Just because we inherited the blood of a previous generation whose faces we don’t even recognize doesn’t mean we should be treated as criminals!”

My gaze involuntarily drifted to the white bandages around his neck.

The pre-Holy War era.

The cursed clan whose bodies bore the mark of unforgivable sins, provoking the wrath of the gods.

Just as the prohibition against worshiping the Black Mist God had rooted deeply in the continent.

They, too, were considered impure just by their mere existence.

Maybe we have an unintentional commonality.

But.

“Those people are still human beings, just like you! They have the same right to happiness and sadness!”

That’s not your absolution.

Human beings just like them?

Did you ever think the same in your past life?

Even after repeatedly leaping over the threshold of death and sacrificing everything for you, did you trust me?

You didn’t trust me, not even as a human, but treated me as a disposable doll, merely watching me with malicious intent.

I don’t care about your clan or what blood runs through your veins.

You’re just another target of revenge who betrayed the being that sacrificed everything for you.

Enough of these useless thoughts.

I probably don’t need to hesitate anymore.

Regardless of where his true personality lies, I don’t want to face his repulsive face and have a conversation anymore.

As I made up my mind and slowly turned towards Kaeram,

“Boris!”

A bold call from outside the shack.

Startled, Boris quickly went outside.

“W-What’s going on?”

“Lord Galas is looking for you! There’s no time to waste, hurry up!”

From the impression, there were about five of them.

Judging from the heavy footsteps, they were knights of Axillum, not residents of the slums.

But who?

Galas?

“Why is Lord calling for me?”

“You’ll find out when you get there.”

The knights didn’t explain the reason and just showed an impatient demeanor to take him away.

I usually remember people’s names for two reasons:

Either they have a close connection to my past self, or they were someone I killed in my past life.

Galas Avon.

A noble with close ties to Prince Louisnel Sevellerus and the lord of Axillum.

He was also one of the targets I dealt with during the purification operation.