The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“……?”

A familiar yet distinctly different scent carried by the wind.

It was similar to the usual smell of Cyan, yet entirely different, stimulating Luna’s sensitive nose.

This meant that the owner of the scent was not far away and rapidly approaching.

“Hey, junior, could you do me a favor?”

“Yes?”

Luna was quite taken aback when Cyan asked for a favor.

“Calm him down, would you?”

He was pointing at Set.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me! Don’t get it twisted! Just give me 5 seconds, and I’ll smash you all!”

Set, hurling deadly threats and curses, resembled a large, barking dog tied up by a leash.

Luna then quietly placed a hand over Set’s head.

“Sweet Sleep.”

A moment later, white powder sprinkled from her hand into his nose and mouth, and Set’s eyes closed gently as he immediately fell asleep.

“He must have been very tired. The magic worked better than expected.”

Set was now sound asleep, snoring away as if nothing had happened.

Turning her head, wondering what would happen next,

“……?”

Luna was startled by Cyan’s unexpected secretive glance.

“Why- why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, it should be fine…….”

He lifted one hand above his head, uttering something incomprehensible.

-Woong

A black mana sparkled and then spread out across the area where they were.

“A Restriction Barrier?”

In a place brimming with magicians of 7th rank and above, a mere academy student of around 5th rank casting a Restriction Barrier seemed almost laughable, causing some magicians to scoff.

However, Luna did not.

What was the intention behind creating a Restriction Barrier?

It surely meant that they did not want what was about to happen to leak outside.

In other words,

No one could predict the dreadful events that were about to unfold within.

-Shwook

Soon, Luna saw it.

Behind the academy members who were blankly staring at the barrier Cyan had erected,

Mysterious figures wearing black masks appeared.

“Hm?!”

Sensing something, the academy members quickly turned around, but

-Squeak

some couldn’t even identify what the sound was before it was too late.

What they saw was heads soaring into the sky,

-Plop

and droplets of red blood falling onto their faces.

“Aaaah!”

The frightened members screamed, but the masked assailants continued their ruthless slaughter without mercy.

“What, what?”

Unable to believe the scene before her, Luna was at a loss for words.

What were these people?

Knights? Mercenaries? Or assassins?

She dared to say that the scene before her was the most cruel and merciless she had ever witnessed in her life.

Gently turning his head, she glanced at Cyan next to her.

“……”

His face was so peaceful it seemed as if the scene before him was of no consequence.

So peaceful that it bordered on leisurely.

“The flames of hell will engulf everything!”

Suddenly regaining his senses, a mage shouted a spell at them.

A 7-star fire attribute magic, Inferno Flame.

The rising flames transformed into the shape of a monstrous beast with its mouth wide open, attempting to subdue the approaching assailant, but

-Hiss

The assailant immediately manifested an unknown, mysterious power.

A mist-like form, mingling with something similar to mana, yet different.

It was a similar energy to what had been seen emanating from Cyan in the ruins a moment ago.

“Black mist?”

The mist effortlessly extinguished the fierce flames of hell approaching.

The mage, whose magic had been neutralized in an instant,

-Swipe

met the same fate as the Auram Academy members who had gone before.

The Auram Academy mages, all dealt with in less than a minute.

The mages from the Garam Academy, trembling like aspens, barely managed to speak.

“Could it be? No, it can’t be! Why would they be here?”

Movement beyond human limits, mercilessness that does not fear killing, and the black mist filled with all sorts of negative energy.

In this continent, there was only one place known for such actions.

“Mist…”

Why were the followers of the black mist god, who seek to deny the world’s truths, here?

And what is the identity of this man, who looks upon them so indifferently?

Eventually, the assailants turned their gaze to the Garam Academy mages, filled with fear.

However, they did not approach and merely stood by, catching Cyan’s eye.

“I’ll at least ask.”

Then, Cyan, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“Can you handle them?”

To handle them.

That phrase could be interpreted in two ways.

Whether she would kill the academy members herself instead of the assassins,

Or if she could take responsibility for what had happened and keep her mouth shut.

Luna thought it was the latter for some reason.

Either way, they would not want the incident to spread outside,

So if she said she couldn’t handle it,

The assassins would kill the Garam Academy mages without a second thought.

Without hesitation, Luna immediately responded.

“I’ll take responsibility. Those academy members won’t be able to report today’s events to the academy. If necessary, I’ll even pull out their tongues…”

Hearing this, Cyan smirked and slightly shook his head at the assassins.

The assassins then promptly put away their weapons and started cleaning up the scene.

* * *

Set, unlike those around him who were endlessly serious, was taking a peaceful sleep, showing no signs of waking up despite being poked in the cheek and shaken back and forth.

After the situation was resolved, Luna moved Set to the village chief’s house.

There, she apologized for the unfortunate incident caused by the academy and shared the events that occurred at the ruins.

“The prince had been through such events, huh? Just when I thought things had settled, it seems the problem has resurfaced,” the village chief sighed heavily after hearing the facts, gazing at Set.

“Do you know something about it?”

“I can’t say for sure. It’s just a cautious guess among us that the god Sabulrom has passed through Prince Set’s body…”

“The god of sand, Sabulrom?” She asked, her eyes flashing.

“Though he looks robust now, Prince Set was born frail. He fell ill often and was close to death several times. Yet, his talent was remarkable, manifesting mana at the mere age of seven,” the village chief explained, noting that it was three years earlier than usual.

Despite being a bit slow-witted, she couldn’t deny that Set was a rare talent in the continent.

“The issue was that he couldn’t control his talent. One day, while manifesting mana, he suddenly lost consciousness and caused a massive sandstorm in the heart of the royal palace. The situation was quickly controlled, but unable to withstand the power, Prince Set vomited blood and fainted for several days. Such incidents happened about three times, as far as I remember.”

The fact that his magic was so strong that it caused him to lose control to such an extent was indeed astonishing.

“How he survived all that is truly a miracle.”

“I don’t know what went through his young mind, but it seems Prince Set was very angry at his own weakness. Consequently, he left the palace on his own and came to live in our quiet village, diligently training his body every day for four years. It wasn’t always peaceful, though…”

“What does this have to do with the god of sand?”

Prince Set once said that before he went berserk, he always heard a strange being speaking to him in his mind. And after the rampage, he remembered nothing as if someone had come and gone in his body.

“Is that the god of sand?”

“It’s just speculation, speculation! It was just a joke among us. Maybe Lord Sabulrom just came to test the prince’s power for a moment, something like that.”

The village chief waved his hands in denial, but it didn’t seem entirely far-fetched.

A god dwelling in a human body.

Regardless of the power, can a human truly handle it?

The human body has its limits, and no matter how much one trains and tries to become stronger, there are bound to be side effects if it’s too much.

This was a fact all too well known to her, having been subjected to numerous experiments at the academy.

Perhaps feeling a sense of camaraderie, Luna’s gaze towards Set was filled with a hint of compassion.

“You must have been quite shocked, but about today’s events…”

“Don’t worry about it. What good would it do for ordinary people like us to speak up? I think we also have to take responsibility for lowering our guard and accepting outsiders so easily. I’ll make sure to warn the villagers.”

The village chief agreed to her request without much resistance.

Somewhat relieved, Luna stood up and walked outside.

In front of the house, the only three members of the research team who had survived were waiting for her.

They all seemed to have a lot to say.

Luna asked them calmly, “You know what I’m going to say, right? Without me having to say it?”

“Are you saying we should keep our mouths shut? About this incident?”

She simply nodded without saying a word.

“But how can we say nothing when things have come to this! How are we supposed to face the chairman…”

“It’s not that you shouldn’t speak; you don’t need to. I will report everything that happened in this village to my grandfather myself.”

“You, Luna, will report?”

“Yes.”

She meant that she would reveal her whereabouts, which was not at the academy but elsewhere, to the academy herself.

“Then, about Cyan Vert…”

“Cyan Vert? What are you talking about?”

“……?”

Confused, the academy members looked at each other, their eyes flashing.

“The only ones whom you have seen in this village are me and senior Set. There was never a person named Cyan Vert to begin with. You understand, right?”

“But, that is…”

“Swear on the name of the academy.”

Reluctantly, they recited the academy’s creed and swore not to divulge anything about today’s events to anyone.

Luna passed the academy members and headed towards the center of the village.

As if nothing had happened, the scene had quickly returned to its original state.

Not even the faint smell of blood, let alone a corpse, was present—a perfect restoration of its previous state.

Where could Cyan be?

Quietly closing her eyes, Luna tried to catch any scent of him that might still linger.

Eventually, sensing a trace, she turned her steps not towards the houses but towards the village entrance.

Step by step, gradually.

As Cyan’s scent grew stronger, ominous gazes could be felt from all around.

It was as if she was walking towards the domain of the grim reaper herself.

Luna was not unaware that the owners of those gazes could lead her to the afterlife at any moment if they wished.

Yet, she did not care and continued moving forward.

What Cyan was, what powers he might be hiding, none of that mattered.

The only thing that was important was that the Cyan she liked was there beside her.

Eventually, around the corner in the shadows, she saw Cyan coming towards her.

“Have you finished talking…”

Just as she was about to greet him happily,

Luna froze on the spot, sensing an unusual aura.

This was a very unfamiliar sight from him, who was always full of leisure, without a single disturbance, deeming everything trivial.

So much so that it felt like the one before her was not the Cyan she knew.

Was this the hidden true face of his, obscured by a black mist, or was she simply seeing things?

His cheeks flushed red.

Rushed breathing.

Even his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

Luna thought to herself.

For some reason, the Cyan she was looking at now was on the verge of losing his rationality.

(To be continued)