The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

The mercenaries who locked eyes with their target hastily left the academy.

In the midst of a sparsely populated forest, they stopped for a moment to catch their breaths fiercely.

“Huff, huff!”

They were no greenhorns or amateurs.

They were veterans with at least a decade of experience, having been through many battles and spilled much blood.

However, the current situation was very unfamiliar to them.

While they had felt danger and retreated during missions before, they had never fled out of fear or terror.

This action was clearly not a retreat but a flight.

The unfamiliar feeling was not something they could easily shake off.

“This doesn’t feel good! Let’s pull back for today and keep an eye on the situation for a while. We might need to rethink this mission.”

Leader Gerrick seemed to sense the danger of the mission, his face scrunched up in worry.

To this, Jason let out a strange chuckle.

“Why? We’ve already been caught, haven’t we? What’s there to think about? They say to strike while the iron is hot. Let’s just go and attack now!”

“Get a hold of yourself, Jason! You still haven’t grasped the situation……”

“……!”

Sensing an unfamiliar presence, the mercenaries all turned their heads in unison towards one direction.

About ten steps away from where they were, a boy was half-hidden among the dense tree branches.

The moment they realized who the boy was,

The mercenaries froze on the spot.

“What- what? How did he…?”

The youngest son of the Duke of Vert, Cyan Vert, was emitting a strange red aura as he looked at them.

“…….”

However, he remained silent, only observing them without a word.

After about a minute of silent observation,

“Haha……”

Jason, one of the mercenaries, broke the silence first.

“You have better instincts than I thought, young lord. Not only did you spot us from that distance, but you also came to us in person. I’m not sure how to act now.”

“Ja- Jason!”

Despite the attempts of the leader and his companions to stop him, Jason slowly walked towards the boy.

“You must be curious about who we are? I’ll tell you straight. We are mercenaries, assassins, hired to kill you. Some noble’s sons asked us to kill the youngest of the Vert family at the academy. And they wanted it done brutally……”

Revealing his identity while spewing menacing words, the boy did not even blink an eye.

This piqued Jason’s interest even more, and he approached closer.

“It’s a bit out of the blue, but shall I share one of my hobbies with you? Before I kill people, I strip them naked and peel off their skin. Then, I check the flesh inside.”

“…….”

“Why, you ask? It’s said that a person’s inner beauty is more beautiful than their outer appearance. What you see on the outside isn’t everything. Others might think it’s bizarre and abominable, but I always want to see the inner beauty that people possess. That doesn’t mean I check just anyone, though. I’m only interested in men, after all.”

Finally, Jason, having approached right in front of the boy, flashed a bizarre smile.

“Even someone with a perfect appearance like you, I can’t help but wonder how beautiful your insides must be… I really can’t wait.”

-Slurp-

He even licked his lips, indicating he was far from sane just by his eyes.

But then,

“Heh…”

He laughed.

The boy, who had been blankly staring like a doll, finally burst into a wide smile.

It was a smile that didn’t match his indifferent yet sharp face, incredibly childlike.

“Laughing? You’re laughing? Wow? This is a first for me! Looks like my words don’t scare you?”

Jason was delighted by this friendly response he was encountering for the first time.

Regardless, he began to sniff around with his pointed nose.

“Smell…….”

The mercenaries doubted their ears.

The first word to come out of the boy’s mouth, who had followed them without their knowledge, was about smell.

They couldn’t yet understand the intention behind his words.

“Smell! Smell! A bad smell! Evil and vile smell! And yet…….”

The boy finally stuck out his tongue and moistened his lips.

“A very delicious smell…….”

-Boom!

At that moment, an indescribable sound occurred, and smoke rose from the boy’s body.

Once the smoke cleared, revealing the figure that had been obscured for a moment,

“……?!”

The figure that appeared from the smoke was not the boy they knew.

The girl, not a boy but of a similar age, was unnamed.

At first glance, she was so petite that she couldn’t help but seem cute,

“Hor- horns?”

She had strange and unfamiliar physical features that humans couldn’t possess.

Some mercenaries, terrified, either sat down on the spot or backed away.

“How should I eat this? Swallow whole? Chew thoroughly? Or, suck on it like candy?”

She looked like an innocent child pondering over how to enjoy the delicious food laid before her.

Jason, who witnessed this up close, couldn’t bring himself to speak, twitching his lips in vain.

His feet, glued to the ground, trembled, unable to move.

“It’ll be delicious no matter how I eat it…….”

An unfamiliar fear, a sense of helplessness that seemed inescapable.

Even he, who had killed and toyed with countless people, couldn’t do anything at this moment.

He could only wonder why such a situation had arisen.

The expressions of the many humans he had tormented, seen on their faces just before death, were now mirrored on his own.

“Then, I’ll eat well~!”

-Crack!

With a ruthless sound of flesh being split, half of Jason’s body vanished in an instant.

“EEEEK!”

The remaining mercenaries screamed almost convulsively, and without a moment’s hesitation, they began to flee desperately.

“What, what the? Why is there such a monster in the Academy?”

“Abort the mission! Stop daydreaming and leave this place now! No more assignments for a while! Go into hiding!”

Though Gerrick shouted after the fleeing mercenaries, his voice went unheard.

“What on earth is the identity of that noble? That’s not human, it’s like a dragon……!”

-Slice

A chilling sound of flesh being cut made their steps halt abruptly.

The body of the leading mercenary fell, and his head rolled in front of him.

“…….”

A strange black mist of unknown origin brushed their skin, causing sweat to roll down between their chest and back.

Barely suppressing their bursting fear, the mercenaries slowly lifted their heads.

-Slash

In that brief moment, as the sweat flowed down to their hips,

The sound of a sword strike followed, and the heads of the leading mercenaries fell.

Gerrick was now left alone as the leader of the mercenaries.

His strength drained, he knelt, and the woman in the black mask softly said,

“Drag him.”

-Thud!

A dull impact hit his head, and he lost consciousness, collapsing.

* * *

“Master! How should we even look at this…?”

A scene so shocking that even seasoned assassins couldn’t help but keep their mouths open in disbelief.

For ordinary people, it was a sight so horrific that they couldn’t bear to watch it with open eyes.

“Was I too complacent? Or was it ignorance?”

Silica let out a bitter smile, her expression extremely displeased.

The body of the mercenary was gone, vanished.

Instead, only flesh and bone fragments, presumed to be remnants of the body, were scattered about, mixed with blood.

At the center of it all, Nana sat with a contented smile, as if she felt a sense of fullness.

“Hehe…”

Her eyes were bloodshot, and her pupils trembled uncontrollably.

At first glance, it was clear she was no longer in her right mind.

Not the innocent and cute human girl she was, but a ferocious dragon awakened to its dormant appetite.

The sight was so repulsive that it induced an involuntary feeling of revulsion.

“First, take care of the bodies and erase all traces of us being here. Leave not a single drop of blood.”

“What about this dragonkin?”

Silica stared intently at the blissful face of Nana.

She was no longer just a frail little thing.

If left unchecked, she could cause untold disasters, making her a very dangerous being and therefore someone who should not be kept by Cyan’s side.

“I’ll handle it. Focus on erasing our tracks and don’t worry about anything else.”

“Yes! Understood!”

The members received the order and immediately began to clean up.

As Silica, resolved, approached Nana,

“Who’s there?”

A strange presence and a young girl’s voice were heard.

“Miss Arin, it’s dangerous to go alone!”

She wasn’t alone.

The presence of another girl, presumably a student, followed, and then the heavy footsteps of several knights.

“Master! Someone is coming!”

“Halt your work and retreat immediately!”

Without any questions, the members swiftly began to leave.

The last to remain, Silica, picked up Nana, who was sitting on the ground, and murmured softly,

“This has gotten messier than expected.”

As all the assassins disappeared, the forest was left in eerie silence.

Soon, rustling through the bushes, Arin and Resimus appeared.

“Could you have been mistaken? What could possibly be in such a forest?”

“I’m not sure myself. I just felt something without thinking…”

After parting ways with Nana so abruptly and heading back to the dormitory, Arin sensed a strange presence in the middle of the forest out of curiosity and brought the knights along, but they found nothing.

Just as they were about to shrug it off and turn around,

“……!”

Something viscous touched her foot, drawing her gaze naturally.

Although the identity of the liquid wasn’t confirmed yet, its blood-red color made Arin’s skin crawl.

Then, upon witnessing the gruesome something connected to the liquid,

“Aaaaah!!”

A piercing scream echoed throughout the forest.

* * *

“The bodies discovered so far total four. One of them was found in such fragmented pieces that it’s barely recognizable as a corpse. These individuals were from a merchant group originating from the empire, who had entered Luwen the day before. Upon investigation, it has been confirmed that they were mercenaries registered with the Continental Mercenary Guild.”

The instructors were utterly shocked by the report.

“Why would these mercenaries infiltrate the academy?”

“If we were to speculate, it might be that they were hired by someone to surveil or possibly assassinate a specific target. Whether that target was a student or a staff member is unknown, but either way, it’s clear they were embarking on a brazen plan.”

The instructors nodded in agreement with this assessment.

“We are currently collaborating with the Luwen guards to locate one more individual whose status, dead or alive, has yet to be determined. However, the most pressing issue is…”

“Who killed those mercenaries.”

Silica, who had been silent since the emergency meeting was convened, finally spoke up.

“After the incident was initially reported, the administration immediately informed the chancellor, and we’ve just received a response.”

Without further delay, Vice Chancellor Satwell presented the chancellor’s response to the instructors.

“Effective immediately, all classes are suspended, and students are to remain in their dormitories until the incident is resolved. All external activities, including exercise and sparring, are strictly prohibited, and no contact with other students or instructors is allowed.”

The severity of the measures took everyone by surprise.

Silica observed the situation, swallowing her dryness anxiously.

“Is the chancellor on his way back?”

“It seems he’s quite outraged by the series of unfortunate events that have occurred at the academy recently. Moreover, it appears he suspects someone within the academy might be a prime suspect in this incident.”

“From the academy, you say?”

“Yes, particularly…”

Silica’s pupils trembled slightly as she sensed the unsettling atmosphere.

“He has instructed us to keep a close watch on the Royal Wing, where the royal family’s students reside.”

(To be continued)