The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

The city of Roland, located closest to the Imperial capital of Ushif.

It was a city that was neither large enough to be called a city nor small enough to be called a town, but it was a very populous city due to its proximity to the Imperial Palace.

As such, there were many shops, restaurants, and inns lined up from the entrance, but the place Luna and Schurz headed to was an old and shabby restaurant in the farthest corner.

It was to avoid places with a lot of people.

It had been seven years since she had last visited the city.

For Luna, it was her second time since she was a student at the academy.

Unlike that time when she had no feelings, she was now much freer and more emotional.

As she ordered food and waited, Luna began to look at the imperial proclamation that was spread out like a flyer on the street.

“The Order of Light is changing its name to the Order of Salvation. Personally, I don’t like the new name as much.”

“I wonder if there’s a special reason for the name change?”

“Changing the name of something is actually a very meaningful act. It means that you want to change the existing flow and concepts that have been maintained through that name. On the surface, they say they will inherit the original form of the Order of Light, but I think they will not be able to fully inherit it.”

Luna frowned and showed a somewhat unpleasant expression.

“I guess a new trend will start from the people who wanted that name change.”

She had no doubt that this new trend would not go in a good direction.

-Sigh

Suddenly, the group at the table in front of them, who were eating before they arrived, carefully got up from their seats.

Then, they quickly paid the bill and ran out of the restaurant as if they were running away.

Just as she was about to turn her attention back to the proclamation,

“……!”

Luna’s gaze turned back to the door they had gone out of.

A woman with her hood pulled down and a strong, brown-haired man.

She couldn’t tell who the woman was because her face was covered, but the man with her felt very familiar.

She had first seen his face at a high-end restaurant in the Imperial Palace seven years ago, and he was the guardian knight of a noble child who lived in the Royal Hall when she was a student at the academy.

Luna’s quick guess soon became a certainty.

“Schurz.”

“Yes?”

“The people who just left. Do you remember their faces?”

“Yes, I do remember, but…”

“We have to catch them right now.”

Exactly one second after the word “catch” came out of her mouth.

Schurz jumped out of the restaurant like a summoned beast following his master’s orders.

In just a few seconds, or maybe a few tens of seconds.

However, when Schurz rushed out recklessly, they were nowhere to be seen.

Schurz didn’t give up and carefully looked at the faces of the people passing by.

It was the time when the streets were most crowded, with the sun high in the sky.

Among the countless crowds passing by on the streets,

“……!”

He saw the familiar figures entering an alleyway in the distance.

“That way, Lady Luna!”

Luna, who followed after him, ran straight to where Schurz was pointing without any hesitation.

They also increased their speed to escape, realizing they were being chased.

They followed diligently, afraid of losing them, but in the end, Luna and Schurz lost them in the middle of a sparsely populated place.

Just as they were about to cast a spell to detect their presence,

-Crash

A sound came from the bushes on the left, and the woman with her hood pulled down revealed herself.

‘Lady Luna?’

A face that was very familiar to the two.

It was Hastia.

Luna asked with a narrowed brow.

“Why are you here?”

‘Well, I was on my way back to Pruina with my clan members!’

“But the route we gave you shouldn’t have been this way, should it?”

‘Yes, it wasn’t! But we had an urgent situation on our side, so we ended up here unintentionally.’

“Did you know we were at the restaurant?”

‘Yes. But I thought it would be misunderstood if I greeted you for no reason, so I just left quietly. But I guess I should have greeted you if I knew this would happen.’

Luna thought.

The emotions Hastia was transmitting right now were not entirely truthful.

There was definitely a lie covering up something to hide.

“Where is the man who was with you?”

‘Oh, if you mean Mr. Brian…’

Hastia, who had inadvertently revealed the name, quickly clamped her mouth shut.

“Brian?”

However, the name had already reached Luna’s mind.

Just as she was trying to recall that name from somewhere in her memory,

-Crash

Schurz, who was standing by her side, suddenly jumped up and rushed towards a spot.

Then, he hurriedly drew his sword and swung it wildly into the dense bushes.

-Clang!

Soon, a clear clashing sound rang out, stimulating their eardrums.

A dagger clashing with Schurz’s longsword in the bushes.

After a brief struggle, Schurz gained some distance, and the owner of the dagger also revealed himself from the bushes.

He was wearing a black mask, seemingly trying to hide his face.

Schurz, who had stepped back, instinctively touched his wrist gently.

His body felt a monstrous force, as if a hammer had been swung from that small dagger that was about to pierce him.

It was definitely not an ordinary power.

“Since when have you been under the protection of a human male, Hastia?”

‘Do I have to explain…?’

“Unless you want to see me interrogating you myself.”

Hastia, who was exchanging glances with them and hesitating a little, finally hardened her face and said firmly.

‘This is a personal matter. I know I’m indebted to Lady Luna as well, but I can’t tell you this.’

“I guess since you’re from a clan that keeps secrets. You sure have a lot of personal secrets.”

Luna mocked Hastia like that.

“Alright. It’s none of my business what you guys do in private, so I won’t bother you anymore…”

Luna’s sharp gaze turned to the man in the black mask.

“I think I need to see that man’s face.”

‘Ku, what is your reason for wanting to see him?’

“You have no right to protect him since he is not from your clan, Hastia.”

Hastia couldn’t convey any more emotions.

Leaving Hastia behind with her mouth shut, Luna slowly approached the man.

“Shall I take it off? Or will you take it off?”

“…”

“You’re not talking? Do you need to use telepathy like that woman too?”

The man remained silent.

“You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. When I say take it off, I don’t mean I’ll just gently take it off with both hands.”

Mana manifested in Luna’s hand, who was a bit annoyed.

“It means I might blow away everything under your face. Do you want that?”

The man still did not open his mouth.

However, signs of a difficult struggle could be seen under the hidden mask, and soon the man’s left hand, which was not holding the sword, began to move towards the mask.

Finally, the man took off the mask, revealing Brian’s face with a troubled expression as if things had gone wrong.

Luna’s pupils shook slightly when she saw him.

But she quickly regained her composure and asked with a stiff gaze.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“I think we haven’t met before…”

“You may think so, but I don’t. We definitely saw each other for the first time at a restaurant in the Imperial Palace, and we saw each other often, though not frequently, at the Royal Academy…”

“I think you’re mistaking me for someone else.”

“Absolutely not.”

-Woowooong

Soon, the mana that manifested from her hand spread out in all directions, creating a transparent restriction barrier around the forest.

“Brian Kendrick.”

“……!”

“The only guardian knight who was responsible for protecting Cyan Vert, the youngest son of Duke Vert, at the Royal Academy.”

Brian couldn’t deny it.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to be embarrassed just because we met. Why did you run away as soon as you saw me?”

“I was trying to avoid unnecessary contact as much as possible.”

“That’s a bit disappointing. I even risked my life to help you escape from Brenu seven years ago…”

In an instant, as if the memories of that day came back to her, Luna showed her sincere feelings of disappointment.

“Is it your idea to avoid unnecessary contact, or your master’s?”

“I don’t think there’s any reason to tell you that.”

“You don’t have to say it. I don’t really want to hear it from your mouth anyway.”

-Crackle

Following the creation of the restriction barrier earlier, sparks suddenly appeared around it and electricity began to flow.

“I think your master will be here soon if we wait like this.”

Her eyes were filled with a strong conviction that Cyan would come.

* * *

I rushed out to erase my tracks, but it seems I was too late.

Exactly twenty steps in front of me.

Five men, who were members of Mist, were staring at me among the countless passersby.

They were all executives who worked directly with the leader.

Oh, there’s one more.

The member who delivered me the blank warrant was also there.

While he had a troubled look on his face as if he was wondering what to do, the other four were all staring at me with a stern gaze.

After continuing the meaningless staring contest for a while,

I soon turned my body and headed towards an alley instead of the street.

They followed me as if it was obvious.

In the middle of a dark and gloomy alley.

I stopped and turned to face them again.

“Why are you following me?”

“Why are you here?”

They answered my dry question with another question.

“Are you so free to care about the safety of a member not assigned any mission?”

“Didn’t you hear the leader’s words telling you to stay away from the Imperial Palace as much as possible?”

The members asked me questions again with expressionless faces.

“I heard that. But I never agreed to it.”

I stated the facts as they were.

“I won’t say any more. Leave Roland right now and stay as far away from the Imperial Palace as possible. If you do that, neither we nor the leader will care what Cyan does.”

In an instant, I saw their right hands, hidden under their fluttering cloaks, move slightly.

It was a subtle preparation gesture, as if they were about to draw their swords.

A precautionary stance in case of an emergency.

However, they should already know.

Even if they all attacked with all their might,

It would be difficult to subdue me.

That’s why they’re showing this kind of attitude, even though they know it’s necessary.

It’s really funny.

Both me and them, in the end, are moving for Mist and the God of Destruction.

With a common goal in front of us, why do we have to clash swords?

“I know you’re all also part of the mission to assassinate Princess Alrin this time,”

I moved my right hand as naturally as flowing water.

“If something happens to you guys, it means that the mission will also be compromised, right?”

The moment I grabbed the hilt of Kaeram that was sleeping in my arms with my moving right hand,

-Clang!

They charged at me as if they had been waiting.