The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

In this unfamiliar city, this elf is not carrying this around for self-defense.

Look at this viscous green liquid oozing from the tip of the dagger.

It’s poison.

And a very deadly one at that.

This elf has come purely to kill me.

“Yiik!”

The elf tried to resist it and swung the other fist at my face.

I turned my head lightly, and I dug into the empty armpits of the guy and crushed the bottom of the lower rib cage.

“Agh…!”

Just as he tried to scream, I grabbed his jaw, completely blocking any sound from coming out.

Is the groin a bit too obvious?

As even a small force can bring about the greatest agony, there’s no better target to aim for.

Besides, an elf’s body isn’t much different from a human’s.

If the pain is intensified, it will not be lessened, that’s for sure.

Just 10 seconds.

I’d like to ask how it feels to experience pain you’ve never felt in your entire life, but unfortunately, time doesn’t allow it.

I lifted his collar without a moment’s pause.

“What are you? And why are scum like you near Hastia?”

You shouldn’t be asking questions right now?

It seems his enlightenment time was insufficient.

To prevent any doubts this time, I raised my hand again for a second enlightenment.

“Wait! Don’t misunderstand! I just appeared because it seemed like you were harassing Lady Hastia! I had no other intentions!”

Every time this situation arises, I wish if they were going to make excuses, they’d at least make them plausible.

Including this foolish elf and the others lurking around the corner who don’t even consider coming out, they’ve been following us since the city entrance.

Perhaps, like Hastia, they sensed the same White Elf aura and came looking for us.

If they were normal comrades who sincerely wished for her safety, they would have appeared immediately and asked what was going on.

But they didn’t.

Instead of showing up warmly, they secretly followed with an intention beyond malice.

‘Can you hear my voice? It’s Hastia! Is there anyone around?!’

The naive elf continued to mentally communicate in all directions.

In any other place, it might work, but this is Gaul, the capital of the Garam Kingdom, and in front of the headquarters of the Garam Guild, where mages of 7th rank and above abound.

It means there are plenty of humans who can hear that mental communication.

If she keeps doing that recklessly, she’ll be taken away by the Guild’s mages before the White Elf even notices.

Deciding that the situation was not relaxed, I turned my gaze forward again.

“There will be no more warnings. From now on, you’ll only answer my questions. No private conversations allowed.”

Placing the hand raised gently on the other side, I pressed it against the elf’s rib cage again.

With a resolute gaze, the elf nodded his head painfully, indicating that he would answer any question.

* * *

It was strange.

She could feel the presence of clan members nearby, yet there was no one appearing.

She wondered if her voice wasn’t reaching them, so she tried to adjust the mana more precisely, but nothing changed.

Hastia puffed up her cheeks in frustration.

But she couldn’t give up.

As she closed her eyes again to focus on mental communication,

– Jaw

Without a sound, someone grabbed her arm.

Startled, Hastia turned her head.

‘Cy-Cyan?’

It was none other than Cyan, whom she had just parted ways with.

“…”

Without a word or explanation, Cyan silently led the bewildered Hastia somewhere.

Hastia, with a flustered expression, could only open her mouth, and for some reason, her cheeks were burning red.

As they walked, their steps halted in the middle of the street.

‘….?’

As Hastia looked ahead with a puzzled expression, she noticed several men wearing hoods at the end of the street.

They too spotted the two approaching and turned their gazes.

‘They’re my clan members!’

Hastia smiled with relief at finding them, but the clan members’ expressions were not as cheerful.

‘I was worried that my voice didn’t reach you! Cyan found me…’

For a moment, as Hastia looked at Cyan, her face froze.

She sensed a hint of vigilance mixed in with Cyan’s indifferent gaze as he stared ahead.

– Shove

Cyan tightened his grip on Hastia’s hand.

– Twist

Instead of continuing in the direction they were heading, he abruptly turned and headed towards a side alley.

‘C-Cyan, what’s going on? Is something wrong with my clan members?’

Despite Hastia’s urgent question, Cyan didn’t respond.

If anything, he seemed displeased with their current speed.

– Swiftly

‘….!’

Suddenly lifting her lower body, he grabbed onto the wall and flew upwards towards the top of a building.

Caught off guard, Hastia’s face turned as red as an apple, and she couldn’t even muster a word of resistance.

As their unexpected escape continued, Cyan flicked his finger in front of Hastia’s face as they landed back on the ground.

“Wake up.”

Startled, Hastia quickly nodded her head.

From Cyan’s half-lowered eyelids, a sense of disdain for her foolishness was clearly visible.

“How did you know that your clan members are living in this land?”

Cyan didn’t even take a moment to catch his breath before asking the question.

‘Um… I didn’t know from the beginning, but I heard from clan members who had been to the handover. They’ve been settled there for quite some time…’

“Do you know where they’re settled?”

‘Uh, well… I heard it’s called the Ushif Empire.’

“But why did they agree to meet in the Garam Kingdom?”

‘Um, well… I, um…’

Hastia couldn’t easily answer.

‘I-I’m sorry. I’m not sure either. Just… our companions who came with me were promised to meet them here in Gaul…’

Her voice was gradually fading into a mosquito-like buzz.

‘The name of the clan member who agreed to meet, is it Nephrodite?’

“H-How did you know?”

Cyan, as if expecting such a response, bit his lip.

‘Hastia?’

In the midst of their serious conversation, another voice suddenly echoed in their minds.

They both turned their gaze towards where they felt the energy.

“This, this can’t be! It’s really Hastia!”

Similar to the White Elves they encountered earlier on the street, three White Elves with hoods covering their heads were running towards them.

“Roel!”

Hastia’s face brightened suddenly.

As the elves approached, they kneeled before her.

“We’re so relieved that you’re safe! We were really worried about what happened to Hastia…”

Some of them were even shedding tears out of relief.

“We need to leave this city immediately! Everything has gone wrong! There are no clan members here to help us!”

Hastia looked at the clan members with a perplexed expression, as if she couldn’t understand.

* * *

In the past life, just once.

I set foot in Pruina.

To sum up my impressions in a single line, I’d like to call it a land where humans simply can’t survive.

The cold weather and rugged terrain aside, the way White Elves looked at humans was quite impressive.

To put it simply, they avoided humans like pests.

It’s different from the concept of disdain for a weak race like dragons.

They just dislike the race itself.

To the extent that they believed humans should disappear from this land altogether.

So, this naive elf is even more peculiar.

Despite being in a strange land and being kidnapped, she followed a suspiciously dubious human?

Any other White Elf would never have imagined such a thing.

Anyway, a race that avoids humans as much as pests comes to ask humans for help when they face danger?

Yet they’re not a race devoid of conscience to the extent of abandoning their own traditions.

They would try to solve their own problems even if it means facing extinction.

They can be considered a far more honest race than humans born with a tendency for domination.

In other words, what they’ve been trying to do so far isn’t the decision of the entire White Elf race.

It’s purely an individualistic and unacceptable deviation.

“It was wrong from the beginning! There were no clan members who assimilated into human society from the start! It was all a scheme by the Garnian faction!”

A middle-aged elf named Roel revealed the true colors of the Garnian clan, saying that they were instructed to follow Hastia to Gaul after she disappeared.

While reluctantly following them, Hastia’s voice was heard in the city, and they followed her energy to this place.

Unable to understand the serious situation, Hastia asked with a puzzled expression.

‘B-But! Even if we were deceived, why did the Garnian clan bring us here and what were they trying to do?’

“That’s something we’ll find out later! For now, please just think about getting out of here and returning to Pruina!”

Hastia, seemingly unable to make a firm decision, clasped both fists in deep thought.

Though I don’t want to intervene in such a serious situation, those friends are under two big misconceptions right now.

There were no clan members assimilated into human society from the beginning?

No.

There were.

And what?

The Garnian clan is the culprit behind this?

It’s not 100% certain yet, but I’m 99% sure.

That guy isn’t the culprit.

He’s just a faithful executor who follows orders.

The real culprit is much higher up.

While watching the somewhat uneasy conversation of the unfamiliar foreigners with interest, an elf suddenly approached me.

Judging by the thoroughly aroused suspicion in his eyes, it didn’t seem like he came to say anything good.

“Hey! What’s your identity?”

It seems like he’s aimed the protest in the wrong direction.

“Why were you lurking around Hastia?”

I’m not someone who doesn’t understand their vigilance, but haven’t they realized that such unrestrained suspicion won’t help at all yet?

Thinking it’s not worth responding, I just kept my mouth shut.

“Stop it, Alphonse! Sir Cyan is solely here to help!”

“That’s why I’m even more suspicious! Can a human emitting such a suspicious, if not downright evil, aura truly help Hastia with a pure heart?”

Such a suspicious, if not downright evil, aura.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong.

Rather, I’d say it’s accurate.

I was judged more accurately than that naive girl did.

‘Pointless accusations won’t help! What’s certain is that I was rescued by Sir Cyan! Without him, I might have been in some bad situation by now!’

Despite her resolute outcry, the suspicious glances towards me didn’t seem to fade easily.

‘Even though we’ve spent little time together and my immature heart may have made rash judgments, I’ll tell you clearly here!’

With a somewhat determined expression, she suddenly grabbed my hand.

– Jaw

‘I gave my soulstone to Cyan here!’

Then she suddenly said something incomprehensible.

What, a soul stone?

Let’s just stay still.

It doesn’t seem like the first time I’ve heard of such an item.

It seems like I’ve heard of it somewhere…

“A-Are you insane, Hastia?!”

Their reaction, more of sheer horror than disgust, was quite a spectacle.