The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

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Chapter 143: True Face (1)

With casual strides, a black-haired man strolled leisurely through the ruins.

There seemed to be something pleasant on his mind, as a faint smile graced his lips.

Suddenly, a small whirlwind of sand materialized before him, soon taking on the form of a person, blocking his path.

The man, with a firm expression, questioned.

“Why are you looking at me with that sinful look on your face?”

(Are you not supposed to refrain from ruining causality?)

A voice, not particularly loud but resonant with authority, subtly spread around.

“Do not be mistaken sand gentleman. I am not obliged to heed your words as a mere servant. Do I need your permission even to seek out a damsel in distress?”

(The one without a master speaks so boldly.)

The man merely furrowed his brow slightly, offering no rebuttal.

(Let’s cut to the chase. You know that the successor of the God of Black Mist is here in these ruins, don’t you?)

“If you claim ignorance, you would be lying, wouldn’t you? Planning to host a welcoming party, perhaps?”

(I intend to kill.)

For a moment, the man’s pupils trembled slightly.

(The justification is sufficient. Trespassing on my ruins and causing disturbance—punishing as the owner of the ruins is only natural.)

“Why are you telling me this? Do you seek my cooperation?”

(It’s quite the opposite. You should refrain from meddling in killing the successor. If you show even the slightest interference…)

“What if I do?”

(You will be deemed to have violated the rules of the divine realm and will be annihilated. Even your absent original body…)

The man shrugged nonchalantly, as if it didn’t concern him.

“Would the lord of this land go so far as to threaten me? So, how are you planning to kill me? Will you appear in person to slit my throat?”

(I cannot do that. I will instruct my tribe, who have come to these ruins, to kill you instead.)

“You have quite the eccentric personality. Since it has come to this, I can’t help but ask. Why do you want to kill that successor?”

(Because they are dangerous.)

It was a simple yet clear answer.

( I don’t know from where that exile might have found such a person from, but the successor is a very dangerous presence that could greatly overturn the causality of this world.”

“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated? Even though he dealt with your summoned beast, that’s because he had the demonic sword…”

(He is the one who controlled the demonic sword.)

“…!”

At that statement, the man’s gaze trembled significantly.

(You understand what this means, don’t you? Tome Remiaram?)

* * *

“Wow, he just disappeared? Where on earth did Cyan go?”

It was a lone country road with no intersections, but he disappeared at lightning speed, leaving him behind.

Set, who gave up chasing, felt a sense of disappointment and suddenly relaxed where he stood.

“If I knew this would happen, I should have caught those darn wizards instead. I should have interrogated them to find out what they were up to.”

(Can you hear my voice, Shaharkhan tribe…?)

Suddenly, an unknown faint voice echoed in his head.

(If you can hear, answer.)

It was somewhat rude and merciless.

“What? Who are you to intrude into someone’s mind and speak?”

(…Seems there’s no issue.)

With that, the voice ceased to be heard.

In addition to suddenly appearing and disappearing after saying only what he wanted to say, Set yelled into the void in frustration.

“Are you the one? The one who occasionally appeared and made me feel strange! When will you be caught? I’ll…!”

For a moment, amidst his ranting and swearing, Set’s body seemed to freeze as if under a petrification spell.

“Heh…”

With a calm exhale, accompanied by a gust of wind around him, Set regained focus.

His unfocused eyes and slightly parted lips seemed to stare into the void like an empty shell for a moment, but soon, Set’s gaze returned to the front.

-Snicker

A faint, sinister laugh could be vaguely heard amidst the rough sand particles.

With that inexplicable laughter in mind, Set moved forward.

* * *

I didn’t say anything.

Or more accurately, I couldn’t.

What could I possibly say in this absurd and bizarre situation?

[Did you turn into a plaster statue? Why are you silent, our master?]

Kaeram was mocking me more than ever with his heightened voice.

It’s pointless to deny or resist now.

This bold junior must have already figured everything out.

Although outwardly I maintained a composed expression, inwardly I was extremely flustered.

Who was the one who rescued me when I was kidnapped at the academy, and who released the Heart Curve that was suppressing my growth?

Her confident expression revealed her inner thoughts.

“Please say something. If you’re not going to continue hugging me like this forever.”

I quietly withdrew my hand, releasing her body.

“Too bad. Actually, this side wasn’t so bad…”

Luna, brushing off the dust from her body, got up from her seat.

It would suffice for me to be momentarily shocked into silence.

Did I even have a reason to speak?

Should I explain that I was a Regressor who concealed my strength, and out of undeserved sympathy, I extended her lifespan?

It didn’t seem necessary.

There’s no need for that.

She’s the woman whose fate I changed with my own hands, by my own decision.

If her altered fate poses a threat to me, then I must not hesitate to kill her.

If she veers off the path she was supposed to follow, that’s it.

“Your expression has changed? Are you about to kill me?”

Anyway, she’s incredibly quick-witted.

“Why? I have no intention of telling anyone about my senior’s secret. Should I die just because I know my senior’s secret?”

The problem isn’t her speaking out; it’s that she knows.

I have no words.

It’s just my ordinary compassion that has led to the current situation.

This is entirely my responsibility.

So, I’ll deal with it.

“It seems a bit unfair, doesn’t it? If you were going to kill me just for knowing this much, I might as well have dug deeper into the secrets you held. I still don’t know anything about you, so do I have to die at your hands without knowing anything?”

“What are you curious about?”

I asked in a somewhat indifferent tone.

“Why did you save me?”

She asked as if she had been waiting for it.

“If you were going to kill me anyway, why did you rescue me from the kidnappers, remove the Heart Curve from my body, and change my life?”

She pressed me with a calm but clear voice.

Why did I save her?

Well, to be honest, everything related to her was of no benefit to me.

I didn’t care about being trapped in the academy’s confines for a lifetime, nor did I care about being kidnapped by the opposition faction and dragged away helplessly.

I could have just pretended not to see her, like Karun spoke earlier, and there would have been no problem.

Why?

Because from the beginning, there was no connection between her and me, in this life or the previous one.

Everything I’ve done for you under the pretext of letting you go was just my insignificant change of heart.

You were just that to me from the beginning.

You are not a precious being that needs to be protected even if it means throwing away my body.

“For no reason.”

“…”

Whether it was not the answer she expected or not, her eyes sharpened sharply.

“Even I don’t know why I did that.”

“That’s the worst answer.”

[PR/N: This guy likes to leave his enemies so they can get stronger and come bit his ass what did u expect from him luna??]

Was it because she didn’t want to hear the answer?

Luna spoke in a flat voice and lowered her head deeply.

Didn’t I always say it?

I’m not a savior.

Just because I let you go on the path doesn’t mean I’m going to guide you correctly.

I won’t fulfill any wishes or hopes you have.

My true nature is not a light that illuminates darkness but rather a dark fog that obscures such light.

-Thump, thump

Amidst the confusion in my head, I heard footsteps from behind.

Not human footsteps, but the heavy footsteps of a beast.

Yet, the familiar aura was very palpable.

Among the humans in this ruin, there’s only one who could make such footsteps.

“…”

When I only heard the footsteps, I thought it was just him approaching, but when I saw the figure revealed from the darkness of the passage,

“…”

I felt something was off.

Is that… the Foolish Prince?

“S-Senior, Set?”

Luna also seemed to sense something strange as she cocked her head.

The cheerful appearance of the guy who was lively just when we met Balrog has completely disappeared.

What I felt from his bulky body right now was nothing but a fierce intent to kill someone.

-Splat!

Before I could even ask what was going on, he charged towards me.

-Thud!

Even if rocks collide, they wouldn’t make such a sound.

A massive fist, filled with strength and weight, flew towards my face, and I immediately raised my hand to defend myself.

“Senior!”

I knew this reckless Foolish Prince’s strength was tremendous, but it seemed even more than I had anticipated.

This wasn’t a strength that could be obtained simply by training the body.

It wasn’t physical or magical strength, but another unknown force contained in his fist.

-Whoosh!

After deflecting his fist, I struck his solar plexus with my raised leg.

The guy, who had received a direct blow without any defense, slammed into the wall.

-Thud, thud

As the wall collapsed, debris fell onto his head.

He probably wasn’t dead.

At least his head would be tougher than the walls of this ruin.

“…”

But he immediately got up.

I knew from the moment he swung his fist that this Foolish Prince wasn’t in his right mind.

Was he under mental control by the society guys?

But I couldn’t sense any magic.

What’s going on?

Did a rock fall on his thick head or something?

This isn’t right.

He’s already abnormal, but now he’s even weirder…

“May the holy light’s grace protect us…”

With a chant from behind, a wall of white magic was erected in front of Set.

I instinctively turned my head towards the source.

“Senior Set. You don’t seem to be in your right mind, do you?”

She was casting magic with her usual expressionless face.

“What are you doing? You don’t have any mana left.”

“After a sigh and a nap, I’ve recovered somewhat. Even if I was in best condition, I’m not sure if I could withstand that foolish senior’s power…”

It was a lie.

Look at her trembling hand.

Just like before, she’s gathered what little mana she has left.

At this rate, she’ll faint again soon.

“I don’t know why, but Senior Set seems to be trying to kill us right now. We should stop him before we’re helpless.”

“…”

“First, how about we stop Senior Set? Think about killing me later. If we’re going to die anyway, it’s better to die at the hands of Senior than to die at his hands.”

It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Even in this situation, she remains as steadfast as ever.

She looked at me with a smile as if to say, ‘What’s the problem?’

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