The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

A large number of wagons were stationed at the rear camp.

The wagons were tightly packed with supplies necessary for battle, including food, weapons, artifacts, and more.

It was the arrival of supplies from the imperial city that came every quarter.

The supply workers who got off the wagons began unloading the items according to the organized teams.

In the midst of everyone including the knights busily unloading supplies, two supply workers responsible for the food exchanged some kind of unrecognizable signals.

Their faces were extremely anxious, as if they were trying to find something hidden.

Soon, as if they were moving goods, they hurriedly ran out to the food storage.

Befitting a front-line storage, the food supplies were neatly organized in their designated places.

The place the supply workers headed to was a pile of salt bags.

As always, one kept watch while the other started rummaging through the salt bags.

“There it is!”

The expression of the supply worker suddenly brightened as he found what he wanted .

What he lifted from the salt bags were two wooden boxes.

“What? There are two this time?”

“It seems like there was a lot of blood collected from the demonic beasts! Maybe we can skim off a bit more this time?”

With a joyful heart, they opened the first box.

Inside the box was a glass bottle containing a reddish liquid.

“Whoa? This is much more than before, isn’t it?”

“Honestly, last time the amount was so little that there wasn’t much to skim off, but it looks like Sir Leonard really went through some trouble this time! Chuckle!”

The supply workers were already gleeful at the thought of skimming off some for themselves, but there was still a second box left.

“Oh, this box is quite heavy?”

The second box was about twice as heavy as the first one.

Lifting it lightly and giving it a slight shake, there was not the sound of a bottle clashing, but rather, a dull thud.

“What’s this? Did they put the corpse of an unextracted demon beast in here?”

Feeling something different than usual, they set the box down on the ground.

With a hesitant heart, they carefully opened the box, and at that moment,

“Eeeek!”

“What, what is this!”

The two members scrambled away from the box without a second thought.

The contents of the box were nothing like what they had expected.

“What, what did we just see?”

“Tha, that just now, wasn’t it Sir Leonard…?”

They crawled back to the box to check its contents once again.

A box roughly the size of a human head.

Inside, the severed head of Sir Leonard Crimson, a 7th rank magic knight, filled with horror and dismay, was contained.

“How- how did this happen? Why is Sir Leonard’s head here?”

In this situation where the head of their supplier, who had been providing them with the blood of demon beasts, was unexpectedly found, The two suppliers truly couldn’t contain their astonishment.

“Wait! Then what was in that bottle? Was it really the blood of a demon beast?”

A strong sense of unease spread throughout their bodies.

Their gaze naturally shifted to the glass bottle they had taken out from the first box.

The blood was emitting an unusually vivid red hue today.

The mixture of many demon beasts’ blood generally has a dark red hue, and it was impossible for it to have such a bright red color.

This was definitely not the blood of a demon beast, but of another creature.

“Could it be… this is Sir Leonard’s…?”

“Who did this! Who could have done such a thing!?”

The suppliers were engulfed in shock and horror, feeling utterly out of their minds.

They frantically looked around, wondering if the perpetrator might still be nearby, but only the swirling dust was visible, nothing else.

In the eyes of Leonard contained within the box, there was a stiff warning look, as if urging them to run away.

* * *

The members who had finished transporting supplies were boarding the carriage once again.

Among those boarding, two suppliers were noticeably trembling.

It was not as if they were advertising, “I’m really, really shaking right now”…

It was clear at a glance that these two were the insiders who had siphoned off the blood of demon beasts, working with Leonard Crimson.

-Whoosh! Swoosh!

They were looking around in all directions, keeping an eye on every possible angle.

It seemed they had properly checked the gift I left behind, and their terrified expressions were pitiable.

Having confirmed the insiders, I turned away without any regrets.

[Are you just going to let those guys go?]

“We can’t kill those who still have work to do. They have a very important mission to carry my warning all the way to the Garam Kingdom.”

The blood of demon beasts siphoned off in the frontline area was supplied under the leadership of Leonard Crimson, a knight from the Garam Kingdom.

Before incinerating the corpses of the dead demon beasts, bits of their bodies were cut off and stored in small dimensional boxes. Later, their blood was extracted and transported through insider suppliers who entered and exited every quarter.

The final destination was the Magic Academy of the Garam Kingdom.

How should I put it? Was it a case of human curiosity and the thirst for knowledge going a bit too far?

The Magic Academy of the Garam Kingdom is known on the continent as a gathering place for the madmen of magic.

While the Magic Academy of the Ushif Empire gathers talents based on already commercialized magics and nurtures them into masters who can skillfully handle them, the Garam Academy was the opposite.

It is a place that researches the origins and foundations of magic itself, always creating new magics, and seeking new realms beyond human limits.

Simply put, it is a gathering of those mad about magic.

The blood of demon beasts was also one of the materials for their ongoing research.

I had no idea they were already up to these antics.

Had those naive suppliers not succumbed to their greed and siphoned off some blood, the supply would have continued for at least a few more years.

Now, they might be limited to creating practical artifacts like these small dimensional boxes, but considering the insane actions they took in my previous life, just standing by would complicate matters later.

For now, this level of warning should suffice.

Knowing there is someone inside the front lines aware of their conspiracy, they will not dare make a move for a while.

[Wherever you go, trouble seems to follow, doesn’t it? Why not switch careers to a problem solver at this point?]

It is a terrible suggestion, but I can not deny it.

As she says, ever since my return, I feel like I keep getting entangled in annoying situations unknowingly.

With this uneasy feeling, I headed towards the barracks where Emily was waiting.

“What? Where have you been at a time like this, my lord!”

As I pulled back the tent, Emily greeted me with a displeased face.

“I went for a stroll.”

“What kind of stroll takes you away at all hours without consideration of day or night! Thanks to you, I had to take care of all the packing by myself!”

As for luggage, almost everything I need is practically attached to my body.

The piles of bags laid out in front of us were all her belongings.

It is a situation where the maid has more luggage than the master.

Something about the master-servant relationship seems terribly amiss.

“Wow! Finally, this dreadful life at the front lines is over!”

She said, swinging her legs back and forth while sitting atop the pile of luggage.

February 15th, Year 986 of the Creation Era.

Today is the day we leave the front-line area where we have lived for nearly a year to return to the mansion.

“Yes, for me, it’s the beginning of a new hell…”

My sigh contrasted sharply with Emily’s excitement.

If you are a student, you must go to school.

At 11 years old, I am facing admission to the Royal Academy, scheduled to open in March.

As the Vert family values its creed and the growth of its children, attendance at the academy is an inescapable step for all its offspring, and of course, I am no exception.

“I’m so excited! The grand buildings and the antique atmosphere! The top-notch facilities filled with all sorts of knowledge, and places laden with foods I’ve never tasted before, like heaven! It’s incomparable to this gloomy and dreary place!”

I do not want to burst her bubble, but the Royal Academy is not as utopian as she imagines.

It is a battleground of political intrigue, a cesspool where envy and jealousy run rampant, a social party where people do not learn but indulge in frivolous camaraderie.

And above all, I had absolutely no intention of taking Emily there.

She might be expecting to accompany me to the academy, thinking it natural since she joined me at the front lines…

“Surely the instructors there are all brilliant geniuses, right? I heard they are also very handsome! Oh my, how exciting~!”

It seems best to tell her the truth later.

If I told her now, I doubt I could handle her hysteria.

* * *

As we left, the front yard of the Duke’s mansion was just as we had left it.

Disembarking from the carriage, I saw a line of servants busily unloading luggage.

It was clearly Cranz’s carriage.

He, too, was 11 years old this year, the age to go to the academy with me.

Since our duel a year ago, I had not seen his face, so I had somewhat forgotten about him.

Seeing the luggage being loaded so early, it seemed he had planned to leave before I returned.

I also had no desire to go with him, so I thought it was just as well when, coming out from the central door, I ran smack into Cranz.

“Eek!”

Even as he walked out arrogantly, Cranz froze the moment he saw me and then scurried away to the side.

I had intended to at least greet him, but he ran off immediately.

I awkwardly lowered the hand I had raised in greeting.

[What’s with that guy?]

Kaeram asked with a disdainful look as she watched him.

“That’s Cranz, my half-brother. No need to pay him any mind.”

[Half-brother? His face looked as if he had seen a demon beast. How badly did you beat him for him to have that expression?]

Ironically, I have been hit more than I have hit him, but I still felt unjustly accused.

[Seeing your father at the front lines, he doesn’t seem to place much trust in you either. Why do you seem to be at odds with your blood relations?]

It is not entirely like that.

Cranz, I have no interest in what he does now, and I have maintained a good, unreserved relationship with my sister Alice.

Even while I was at the front lines, we exchanged news now and then; she is practically the only family member I pour my sparse affection onto.

The brother who was dying to get rid of me is another matter.

I wonder if he would leave anything behind other than wanting to “use” me, though…

-Creak

The central door of the mansion opened for the first time in nearly a year.

Contrary to my nonchalant entry, the scene inside took me aback.

“……?”

As if prepared, the servants bowed their heads.

They were acting as if the Duke himself had visited, all this in front of me.

In just a year, my treatment had improved beyond words.

Those who would not even treat me as a young master before were now showing such meticulous manners, leaving me feeling quite perplexed.

Lost in these thoughts as I walked down the hallway, I soon arrived in front of my room.

Emily would be busy with her luggage, so I could take a moment of rest.

The moment I touched the doorknob without any hesitation,

“……?”

A strange sensation through my fingertips sent a chill down my spine.

This was clearly the door to my room.

It was supposed to be an empty room, untouched for a year since no one else would have entered.

But now… this sensation, this aura, this presence!

Someone unfamiliar was inside the room.

And I could assert that whoever it was, they were certainly not a welcome presence for me.

As proof, my right hand holding the doorknob was trembling intensely.

Had I ever shuddered like this since my return?

Beyond mere trembling, I felt an urge to tear apart the entity beyond this door into shreds.

Why? What could be the reason?

There could only be one reason for me to feel this way, right?

Could it be… “he” is here?

That detestable person, whom even chewing up would not be satisfying enough?

-Creak

The door opened with a loud noise, not by me, but by the entity inside.

Slowly, I moved my gaze upward from my hand, still hanging in the air.

“It’s been a while, Cyan?”

Facing me was a face of dark malice, smiling, contrasting the sunlit golden hair and ivory skin.

Flashes of decades’ worth of memories raced through my mind.

The man I thought was my everything, the man I had given everything to, the man who had driven me to death!

Aschel Vert was standing right in front of me.

(To be continued)