The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“Lu, Luna?”

Schurz doubted his ears several times, thinking he might have misheard.

Even if one were not a native of the kingdom, the name was unmistakable if they had stayed in the kingdom for more than a day.

The granddaughter of Regens Rainriver, the leader of the Garam Kingdom’s Magic Society, and a once-in-three-hundred-years genius mage who might not be born again.

Recently, she had reached the exceptional rank of 8 stars at the age of only nineteen, truly a being beyond human.

Was it possible that she, who could bring down the entire building with just one finger, was now standing in front of him?

It couldn’t be.

It must be just someone with the same name, a namesake.

A person who spent the whole day holed up in the Society, researching magic, wouldn’t come all the way here to investigate a murder case.

Schurz refused to accept reality.

“Please come in.”

Upon her permission, a member of the Society wearing a blue cloak entered.

“James Rodrian. I greet Luna Rainriver!”

“…?!”

The denial didn’t last long.

While the name Luna might be the same, it was unlikely that the surname Rainriver would be the same.

In other words, the woman standing in front of Schurz was definitely the Luna he knew.

What a bolt from the blue!

Although the Society member who came in seemed to be reporting something, Schurz didn’t catch a word.

“Why are you so stiff if it’s not petrification magic?”

Luna asked, looking at Schurz with an indifferent gaze.

“Ah, no!”

Schurz straightened his back and assumed a sharp posture.

“I heard you were exercising on the morning the murder happened… Is that something you regularly do?”

“Yes, well, something like that…”

“You usually don’t go near the mines?”

“I sometimes pass by there, but I didn’t that day.”

“Then you didn’t see the knights waiting in front of the mine that day?”

“N-No, of course not.”

With that answer, a brief silence ensued.

Luna, who was staring at Schurz intently, soon handed him a few sheets of paper on the desk.

It was a list containing the personal information of several people.

“Do you happen to know anyone there?”

Schurz couldn’t answer immediately.

There were about 60 names on the list.

Among them were several names familiar to Schurz.

“What is this list for? May I ask?”

“It’s a list of the people who died that day.”

Luna shrugged as if it were nothing.

“The people who died at the mine that day, including Lord Vince, totaled 63. They were mercenaries hired personally by Lord Vince, disguised as knights of the territory. There were various mercenaries, from unregistered mages to those who had operated in other countries, mixed in.”

“Why are you showing me this?”

Schurz asked, swallowing dry saliva.

“Didn’t you also work as a mercenary in other countries, Mr. Zion?”

“Yes…”

As he realized that he had already been investigated to some extent, he didn’t deny it.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, there were no mercenaries from the Red Horse, the group he belonged to.

“Well, I might have seen some people while working as a mercenary, but I don’t know them well. Besides, I’ve already retired from mercenary life.”

Schurz distanced himself, dismissing those he deemed unrelated.

“Would you lend me your hand?”

Upon her sudden request, Schurz extended his hand.

As she grasped it, Luna closed her eyes tightly.

They stayed like that for about 10 seconds.

Finally, Luna opened her eyes, nodded, and spoke.

“Your magic level is approximately 6 stars, and your elemental attributes are quite decent, around 51%. It’s uncommon to find someone with such stats in the dark attribute…”

Schurz’ eyes widened for a moment.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s nothing to be surprised about. I simply used my abilities to assess yours. You seem to have quite a talent. With this level, even if a massacre occurred in the mines, you could easily erase traces with your dark magic.”

With each word, it felt like a dagger piercing deeper into Schurz’ psyche.

Inside him, his heart raced loudly.

“You’re sweating a lot. Is that your usual constitution?”

Dazed by the frequent shocks, Schurz couldn’t continue the conversation.

Observing him, Luna smiled strangely.

“I guess I should take you to the mines with me.”

Unable to affirm or reject, Schurz suddenly found himself heading towards the mines with her.

Inside the Uito Mines, away from the other guards and members of the Society, Luna led Schurz alone to the spot where Lord Vince’s body was found.

“Sniff, sniff.”

She started sniffing around like a dog searching for its owner.

“What… What are you doing?”

“I’m just following a scent. It seems a bit faint now. Perhaps it’s been a few days, and there’s no strong smell lingering.”

Schurz barely held back the urge to retort that such a thing was impossible.

Ignoring his protests, Luna sat on the ground and touched the mana she manifested onto the ground.

– Hmmm…

Suddenly, a strange resonance occurred on the ground in response to the magic.

Witnessing such an unfamiliar sight for the first time in his life, Schurz stared in awe while Luna calmly accepted the resonance with her whole body.

“I expected this, but it turned out to be more interesting than I thought.”

After a moment, she stood up and turned to him.

“How was it? What do you think after seeing the Black-Haired Demon up close?”

Schurz’ pupils trembled as if experiencing an earthquake.

“Why are you suddenly looking for the Black-Haired Demon?”

“No need to deny. I’ve already checked what happened here before.”

“What do you mean?”

Facing Schurz’ suspicion, Luna flicked her finger.

Then, the mana sphere still lingering in her hand suddenly moved towards Schurz, swirling around his head.

In an instant, memories from the previous day vividly flashed through Schurz’ mind as if it were a dream.

“It’s a magic called ‘Replay.’ It allows you to replay scenes from the previous day using the remaining mana or energy in a specific area.”

“I’ve never heard of such magic.”

“That’s to be expected. This magic is unknown even to the Society, let alone my grandfather.”

Magic unknown to the Society?

Could there really be such magic that even those obsessed with magic wouldn’t know about it?

In various ways, Schurz felt confused, while Luna regarded him with a gentle gaze.

“Contrary to what you said about not going near the mines, you were at the scene, and you even received healing from the Black-Haired Demon, didn’t you?”

Realizing that she would have seen the memories he had seen, there was no point in denying anymore.

Just as he had done the previous day, without a moment of hesitation, Schurz slammed his head onto the ground.

“I don’t know what you want, but I have no connection with that demon! I just happened to be there and ran into her…”

“He’s not a demon.”

At the unexpected response, Schurz subtly raised his head.

“He’s someone wearing the guise of a demon, an assassin. He’s been saving several people, including Mr. Zion and me…”

Schurz blinked, unable to comprehend her words.

“It seems like we have a lot to talk about, don’t we?”

Squatting down and meeting his eyes, Luna’s lips curled into a peculiar smile mixed with intrigue.

* * *

A pure light emanated from the mana crystal held in the hand.

Do you know the best way to move a person?

By harnessing the irresistible power of desire that no one can refuse.

Look at this mana crystal I’m holding.

Does it seem to have a value greater than gold and jewels?

Even if it’s a pure crystal that doesn’t need any processing, it’s difficult to manifest magic, let alone mana, with the mana contained within it.

It’s merely valuable as a research material, not like a gem that would fetch a high price if placed on the market.

But the world is a place where the atmosphere can change drastically with just a false rumor.

Lord of Uito, Vince Levram.

He lured in laborers with high wages, but in reality, if he were to pay all those wages, the mine would close its doors in less than a year.

So, he spread false rumors.

He incited the laborers by spreading lies that stealing mana crystals and selling them elsewhere would immediately change their lives.

Then, when someone actually stole a crystal and tried to escape, he used the laws of the territory to turn many laborers into slaves.

Then, he kept them separate to prevent the truth from leaking out.

If things had continued this way, it wouldn’t have been long before all the mine laborers were replaced with unpaid slaves.

Did he say that no one would steal the crystals if they knew their value?

That’s probably true.

If they had known that something they thought was worth more than jewels was actually no different from a shiny pebble, no one would have thought to steal it.

My business in this city is done now.

I threw the mana crystal in my hand into the flowing river without hesitation.

[Are you just going to leave that little guy?]

Suddenly, the Black Mist and Kaeram appeared, caressing me.

“Who?”

[The little guy with the black hair. The one who gave you a good smack on the head…]

“Ah….”

Suddenly, someone I had forgotten about came to mind.

That day, the black-haired man who had collapsed covered in blood at the mine.

He probably came to check things out rather than trying to steal the mana crystal.

Well, thanks to him luring the lord, I was able to deal with things relatively easily.

Originally, I was planning to kill a hundred people, but I settled for 63, so it was relatively easy to handle.

I could have implicated myself if I had let him go, so I just healed him and told him to run away.

I didn’t expect him to ask me to take him in the moment he saw me.

It was quite impressive that he sensed my presence with just a passing glance, but since I had no intention of taking him in, I left as soon as he lied down.

Although I don’t have the ability to read people’s fortunes, I suddenly felt that he wasn’t the type to die young.

– Click, click

Suddenly, I heard faint sounds of wheels from the other side of the road.

I instinctively climbed up a tree and soon saw two people, along with several armed men guarding them, who could barely fit into a small carriage.

It seemed more like they were guarding someone inside the carriage from escaping.

Seems like they’re escorting someone important.

Since it had nothing to do with me, I quietly slipped away, but then.

‘Please help me….’

Suddenly, I heard the voice of a delicate woman in my head.