The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“Your external wounds have healed to a certain extent, but to recover from your internal injuries, you need to rest. So, it’s best not to move around and rest here today.”

“Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness…”

She says ‘thanks’, but her expression doesn’t quite match her gratitude.

We are in a healing center located in the heart of Luwen.

It’s where Princess Airen brought Resimus after he was assaulted by Barrett and his gang.

As soon as that blonde madman saw my magic sphere, he ran away as fast as lighting saying that we’ll do it next time.

I even thought about catching him and forcing it in, but it seemed like healing her was the priority, so I accompanied Princess Airen to the healing center.

From fractures to internal organ rupture and even a mild concussion.

Honestly, looking at her condition, it wasn’t something that could be improved with just a day or two of treatment.

Maintaining consciousness in such a state is actually quite remarkable.

Is this perhaps the spirit of the continent’s greatest swordsman?

“Would it be okay to ask when they started harassing you?”

At the princess’s question, Resimus hesitated for a moment.

“From the first day I arrived. It seemed like they were deliberately targeting me.”

She herself acknowledged that she had been bullied.

“It was almost a really big disaster. I never expected them to be so shameless. To think someone would try to force their mana sphere into someone else’s mouth…”

It was truly a critical situation.

If Princess Airen hadn’t appeared at that moment to intervene, then, by now, Resimus would not be resting in a regular ward but would likely be in intensive care undergoing major surgery.

But as things stood, it was obvious that the bullying would continue.

Resimus seemed to know this, as his expression remained grim.

“Um, I’ve been wondering about something…”

Resimus suddenly looked my way, curiosity in his eyes.

“Do you know me?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean, you’ve been staring at me for a while now…”

Of course.

Resimus Klein, the greatest swordsman of the continent.

A knight who was revered as having reached the divine realm with his sword, having cut down hundreds with a single stroke.

The last guardian who protected the kingdom of Garam to the very end during the continental unification war that broke out after the demon king’s army was subdued.

However, as mentioned before, she was killed by me.

Originally, her nationality was from the Ushif Empire but after graduating from the academy, she entered the martial family of the Klein Countys in the kingdom of Garam, changed her surname, and later even changed her nationality.

At that time, the Empire had conquered all the castles of the Kingdom of Garam, leaving only the territory of the Klein family as the last stronghold.

In order to achieve complete unification of the continent, efforts were made to persuade her to surrender if possible. However, Resimus refused to abandon the kingdom that had recognized her worth for the first time, no matter how unremarkable she had been, and steadfastly refused to surrender.

Ultimately, judging that her will could not be broken, the Empire ordered me to assassinate her.

Although the Empire’s order was assassination, I, who had infiltrated the castle, formally challenged her to a duel instead.

The reason was simple.

Before being an assassin, as a fellow swordsman, I did not want to kill the continent’s greatest sword in such a vain manner.

After all, she was not the type to be easily taken down by an assassination attempt.

She was a formidable opponent who made me feel the aura of defeat once again, something I thought I would never experience after the bloodbath against the Demon King.

It is worth noting that she was also famous as a swordsman who did not use magic.

While most knights with a decent mastery of the sword also utilized mana and magic to enhance their swordplay, she had reached the pinnacle as a swordsman by employing solely her own unique swordsmanship.

Thinking about it now, it wasn’t that she didn’t use magic, but rather, she couldn’t.

Due to the interference of that blond madman, her mana flow had likely been destroyed since she was young.

Yet, she still rose to become the greatest swordsman of the continent.

Had she been able to incorporate magic into her swordplay, how much further could she have grown?

She might have reached an even higher realm than she had at that time.

Was this what Aer meant by looking around?

For now, I decided to give her a vague answer.

“I thought you looked similar to someone I knew. But it seems I was mistaken.”

“Ah, I see…”

As the conversation ended, an awkward silence ensued.

Princess Airen tried to change the subject to improve the atmosphere.

“So, Resimus, how did you come to be here at the Royal Academy? I heard they bring in commoners with special talents and the instructors do special recruitments. Was that the case for you?”

“Yes, that’s right. I was recruited into the academy for my swordsmanship by Instructor Jade, who had promised to sponsor me thereafter… but he was suddenly expelled from the academy the day before I was to enroll…”

The sudden expulsion of the instructor who was supposed to sponsor him.

It might be an overstep, but somehow, it doesn’t feel like a coincidence.

“So that happened… Where are you staying now?”

It’s obvious.

For someone like her, neither royalty nor nobility, there was only one place available for commoners to stay.

“The Communal Hall…”

The Communal Hall is a dormitory exclusively for commoners, housing about 5% of the academy’s students.

While it’s not that the facilities are old or anything because they are used by commoners, it’s undeniable that there’s a difference compared to other dormitories.

In fact, it wasn’t that the academy didn’t want to manage it.

As mentioned before, our esteemed nobles protested vehemently at the thought of lowly commoners receiving the same treatment as themselves, leaving no choice but for things to be this way.

Not even the guards, perhaps even the cleaners, would work there more than once a month.

“It’s a tough situation. Going back there might mean those people could come again…”

In such a situation, and now that the instructor who was supposed to sponsor him had been expelled, it wouldn’t be strange if those blonde madmen came back to cause trouble again.

The princess was pondering, touching her lips, wondering if there was a good solution.

I looked at her and said,

“Why don’t you take him with you, Your Highness?”

“Hmm?”

She tilted her head, thinking she might have heard wrong.

“Take him in as a servant? After all, there’s no rule in the academy that one cannot stay in another’s residence.”

Everyone refuses because they think it’s absurd for a lowly commoner to share a room with a noble.

“What are you talking about? No matter what, how can I share a room with a boy I just met today…”

“She’s a girl.”

“…?”

Princess Airen looked at Resimus with disbelief.

“I… I didn’t mean to deceive Your Highness…”

Her face blushing with embarrassment and hands neatly gathered.

She had the demure appearance of an eleven-year-old girl.

The princess’s face also turned red.

“Sorry! I just assumed you were a boy because you have short hair and all that!”

“There’s no need for you to apologize! It’s my fault…”

It really wasn’t her fault, though.

A commoner without a guardian attending the academy? And as a girl, not a boy?

Honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising if one day she was found as a naked corpse.

Cross-dressing was merely a means to ensure her safety.

In fact, in the empire, there were quite a few female knights who joined orders under the guise of being men, so it wasn’t that strange.

Airen looked at her with even more pity.

“It must have been very hard for you…”

Was it that she saw some of herself in her? Compassion was evident in the princess’s emotions.

“If she was recruited through a special selection for her swordsmanship, it definitely means she has considerable skill. If Your Highness were to take her in, not only could you learn swordsmanship from her, but she could also become a personal guard in the future. I think it’s not a bad condition.”

It didn’t seem like the princess would take long to consider.

“May I ask where you’re from?”

“From ‘Brenu’, a southern city in the Ushif Empire…”

And her nationality is still that of the Empire.

There was sufficient justification to take her in as a servant, even without being a foreigner.

“What do you think? I think Cyan’s suggestion is good. If you become one of mine, you won’t have to suffer from those bad people anymore, and you can live comfortably. Learn what you want to learn, do what you want to do…”

Resimus had a complex and subtle expression on her face.

She probably couldn’t understand the current situation.

It was surprising enough that the princess had saved her, and now she was being asked to stay with her.

She might want to pinch her cheeks to see if this is a dream.

“Why me, specifically…”

“I am a princess of the Empire. It’s only natural for a member of the royal family to save its people. I’m not saying I’ll take you without any expectations in return. Since you are skilled in swordsmanship, I also want to learn a lot from you.”

Tears started to well up in her eyes.

“The truth is, I’m just lonely living by myself. Wouldn’t it be fun to live together, especially since I have no friends to talk to in this large dormitory?”

At this moment, Resimus might have thought a goddess had descended from the heavens.

A savior had appeared suddenly in what seemed to be a bleak future.

Resimus, bursting into tears, embraced the princess.

“…”

It’s a beautiful scene that can’t be watched without tears.

It seems my role here is done.

I quietly got up and left the room.

Really, getting involved in all this when I have my own issues to deal with.

Have I changed my mind?

Not at all.

I simply judged that it’s better for her to be by the princess’s side than to be taken care of by me.

For now, she’s just a small sapling.

But if this sapling grows into a tree, and these trees multiply to form a forest,

That becomes her own domain and power.

I merely paved the way for the future’s greatest swordsman of the continent to become an ally, and it was the princess who nurtured this sapling.

The rest is up to her.

However, there’s one thing to keep in mind.

Making one ally is the same as making several enemies.

Just as my enemy becomes my ally’s enemy, my ally’s enemy becomes my enemy as well.

Who knows?

At this moment, a new enemy that even the princess is unaware of might be sharpening their blade for her.

* * *

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Aaaaah!”

Barrett screamed in humiliation, a feeling he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

Always used to trampling others underfoot, it was indescribable how it felt for him to be pushed back and lose his momentum for the first time.

“Airen Sevellus… lecturing me, a mere powerless fifth princess?”

It was such a laughably pitiful statement that it couldn’t even provoke a chuckle, utterly devoid of any noble pride.

“Who are you to order me around?! Just pass by quietly like everyone else!”

Before he could suppress his anger towards her, another person came to mind.

“Cyan Vert…”

No one had ever looked at him with such eyes before.

A look of disdain, as if to say he was nothing of significance.

It was an immense humiliation, enough to twist his entire body in shame.

“Aaah!” Barrett finally began smashing everything around him with the sword in his hand.

“This isn’t enough…! This won’t do it!”

Unsatisfied with the broken debris, Barrett proceeded to smash them into even finer pieces.

When they were ground down to the point where they could no longer be divided, he smiled in satisfaction.

“I’ll make all of you the same! I’ll give you such tremendous pain that you won’t even be able to beg for your life! You’ll all pay dearly for angering me, Barrett Luymil!”

Barrett seemed to be predicting their futures, as if the pulverized debris was a preview of what was to come.

(To be continued)