The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

“Ugh! Get off! I said get off!”

The entire basement echoed with the sound of violent beating.

Zickerman ruthlessly trampled on the woman clinging to him.

“This filthy creature isn’t even worth being a slave! How dare you obstruct my path…!”

“Ah… Agh!”

Despite the pain of her bones being crushed and organs rupturing, she remained immovable.

He tried hitting her with his feet and lashing her with chains, but there was no sign of her letting the box go.

“Huff, huff…”

Zickerman, gasping for breath as if he was out of strength, eventually pulled a small dagger from his bosom.

“This is why creatures like you will never do! You should live within your means! It’s because you engage in such mismatched acts that you rush towards your death!”

-Swish

Realizing that he couldn’t detach her with force, Zickerman aimed the drawn dagger towards the woman’s nape.

“Isn’t this your good fortune? Rather than growing up worthless in the hands of ones like you, I’m helping by raising you well in a good place, aren’t I? You should be thankful to me even in the afterlife!”

Zickerman, with a laugh of madness, mercilessly brought down the sword.

-Swish

-Clang

However, the tip of the dagger met not the woman but the dull steel floor.

Feeling that something was off, Zickerman slowly looked at his right hand with trembling eyes.

“Hyeeek…!”

Blood gushed out of his severed wrist.

Before he could utter a sound, a blunt object struck his throat.

“Gah!”

His body lost balance and fell forward.

“Zickerman Albas. One of the three wealthiest individuals on the continent and a notable figure in the Ushif Empire…”

A young boy’s voice came from somewhere.

It was a voice that certainly did not exist in his memory, a voice he was hearing for the first time.

“Monopolizing the empire’s commercial rights through murder and threats, engaging in corruption to silence the empire’s officials, and even operating a slave market prohibited by the empire’s laws…”

These were the evil deeds Zickerman had committed over time.

He wanted to say something, but all that came out was a muffled groan.

“Isn’t that reason enough to die?”

Zickerman mustered all his strength to desperately shake his head.

However, the mysterious voice continued, unfazed.

“I’ll give you one minute…”

“…?”

“Neither more nor less, exactly one minute. Use that time to repent for the evil acts and mistakes you’ve committed. After one minute, the pain you’re feeling now will completely disappear…”

Zickerman understood the meaning of those words.

After that one minute, it meant that he would be mercilessly killed, didn’t it?

“But during that one minute, no matter what happens, you absolutely won’t die. Of course, you might experience pain far worse than what you’re feeling now…”

It was a situation he couldn’t understand no matter how hard he thought.

Zickerman mustered all his strength to barely lift his head.

“…?”

A boy with an utterly indifferent face was looking down at him.

But Zickerman could immediately tell that this was no ordinary boy.

‘Mi- Mist…?’

In a moment of utter despair, with all hope extinguished.

What remained for him was the worst minute of his life, which would feel the longest.

* * *

Should I say I was lucky?

I never expected him to come to me on his own.

With the target right before my eyes, there was no need to waste time.

After allowing him a final moment of repentance, I immediately split his heart open and cut off his breath.

I stood up and looked towards the woman.

“Ugh…”

It seems she hasn’t died yet.

She continued to stroke the box with a desperate look in her eyes. Could the child she was calling out for so eagerly be inside that box?

I decided to approach her.

“I’m sorry… I’m truly sorry…”

From her frail voice and bitter tears, I could sense her desperate emotions.

She realized that she didn’t have much longer to live.

Do I pity her?

Well…

To be honest, I’ve become indifferent a long time ago.

When I first started this work, I was so angry that everything in the world seemed vile.

The harsh laws of the world that I never knew within the confines of the duke’s family.

Once I became accustomed and numb to it, my eyes and lips were drawing a straight line before I knew it.

That’s how many people like this woman have met miserable deaths in this world.

This woman just happened to catch my eye, but in the end, she was no different from the many people who had passed through my hands.

“My child… my child…”

“…?”

I was a bit surprised.

She pushed the box she seemed to never let go of towards me.

For a moment, not understanding the meaning, I looked into the woman’s eyes,

-Thud

Her face lifelessly hit the ground.

She had taken her last breath.

There would be no one to care for her body if I left it as is.

I gently placed my hand above the woman’s head.

-Swish

Fog spread from my hand and wrapped around the woman’s body.

The fog warmly enveloped her body, and soon, it turned into smoke and disappeared.

[Why don’t you pray for her soul’s peace?]

“It doesn’t seem like that’s necessary….”

I can guarantee that that world is better than this one.

The purification work is also done; now, all that’s left is to report back to the clan leader and return.

[Are you going to leave this here?]

An item that’s somewhat awkward to call a trophy.

[I felt that energy from outside, and it’s very clear in this chest. Is this the special item that idiot mentioned?]

It was in the hands of our target, Zickerman, and he desperately tried to take it from a woman.

Moreover, Kaeram feels a clear energy from it,

So I guess this item inside the chest might be that special product mentioned for today’s auction…

Just when I was about to touch it to check.

-Wriggle

“…?!”

Suddenly, there was movement from the chest.

“What- what’s this?”

A clear movement that made the chest quiver.

What? Is there really a child inside?

I got this strange feeling that I shouldn’t rashly touch it.

[Could this be…?]

Kaeram was just as surprised.

The movement just now seemed to give him a clearer sense of the energy.

[What are you doing? Open it quickly.]

Regardless of how I felt, Kaeram urged me to open it quickly.

Right, I’ll try opening it, but I don’t think there’s really a child inside this airtight chest, so what exactly is inside?

-Thunk

Upon opening the golden lid, something wrapped carefully in colorful cloth was inside.

It was slightly larger than a human head.

Wondering if it could be the head of a death knight, I cautiously lifted the cloth…

“…?”

[…?]

I was utterly dumbfounded.

The contents of the chest were none of the things I had imagined.

“An egg?”

It was an egg.

The problem is, this was no ordinary egg.

A white egg emitting a brilliant radiance.

If an egg is emitting such a mystique, then this must surely be…

[A dragon’s egg?]

* * *

I had seen a dragon’s egg just once in my previous life.

There wasn’t any particularly special impression about it.

Just thought it was somewhat large and mystical, that’s all.

The only general sentiment was realizing that even those formidable and immense dragons start from something about the size of a human fetus.

And what about the impression upon seeing it for the second time?

Setting everything else aside, only one thought comes to mind.

Why is this here?

“It seems we underestimated that man Zickerman too much. To think he would dare put a dragon’s egg up for auction.”

The clan leader stroked his chin as if he had never anticipated this.

“Was there nothing else besides this egg?”

“Nothing else seemed particularly special.”

Though, with this here, it’s unlikely anything else would catch our attention.

“Hmm…”

Her eyes, which had been intently observing the egg, suddenly turned towards me.

“You seem rather calm about all this.”

“Are you referring to the egg?”

“No, about killing Zickerman. It must be the first human you’ve killed with your own hands since entering the Mist, yet you appear as natural as if it were an everyday occurrence.”

She wore a strange smile, one that was hard to tell whether it was out of curiosity or satisfaction.

I didn’t bother to argue.

“Well, our target Zickerman is dead, and we’ve freed the slaves from the other locations. Plus, we’ve accidentally obtained the special item Lord Aer mentioned, so it seems our mission was successfully completed. Well done, Cyan.”

That was the extent of our mission in the Mist.

The moment the target was assassinated, the purification work was considered complete, and we don’t take responsibility for the lives of the freed slaves.

We are assassins, not saviors.

“So, what should we do with this egg?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s your trophy, so naturally, you should take care of it. We have no authority over it!”

“…”

I feel like I’ve been tricked.

Was this their way of saying they only told me to verify, not to steal?

[Why don’t you try raising it, now that it’s come to this?]

Now this perverse magic sword is throwing absurd suggestions.

Can it even be hatched?

For dragons, bestowed with long lifespans from the beginning, even the time it takes to hatch from an egg far exceeds a human’s lifespan.

It could be anywhere from 50 to 100 years.

Moreover, I have no idea when this egg was laid.

If I’m unlucky, I might die without even seeing a crack in the egg, let alone witnessing its hatching.

No matter how sacred and noble a dragon’s egg is, right now, it’s just a meaningless rock.

“Who knows when it will hatch? Maybe it’ll hatch one day if the timing is just right.”

[Maybe you’ll see it when you’re about 100 years old? Hahaha!]

“…”

At this point, I wonder if I might as well just eat it.

After all, the egg must contain the dragon’s mystique and blood, so wouldn’t eating it be akin to consuming dragon’s blood?

I immediately shook my head at the thought, knowing it made no sense.

-Twinkle

Was it trying to catch my attention?

The pure white egg was twinkling with a radiant light that seemed unmatched by anything in this world.

* * *

“Sir, what is this?”

“A dragon’s egg.”

“Excuse me?”

Thinking he had misheard, Brian scratched his head.

“Just leave it anywhere for now. It probably won’t break.”

I handed the egg I was holding to Brian.

“Woah!”

He staggered, surprised by its unexpected weight.

“Where in the world did you…?”

“Found it while I was out for a drink.”

Given that I probably won’t see this egg hatch in my lifetime, it’s better to lose interest and focus on other matters.

First, I headed to the shower to wash off the sweat.

After a refreshing shower, as I was drying my hair with a towel, I heard Brian calling me in a very urgent voice.

“Sirrrrrr!”

He came running to me, no need for me to go to him.

“What’s wrong?!”

“It’s hatching!”

I doubted my ears for a moment.

“What?!”

“The egg, it’s hatching! It suddenly cracked and started to split open…!”

“The egg is hatching?!”

What? Wasn’t it supposed to take a long time before it hatched?

I decided to see for myself and hurried to the living room with Brian.

-Crack, crackle

It’s real!

It wasn’t just cracking; it was moving and struggling.

[What’s this? Is it really hatching?]

Suddenly, Kaeram materialized in a rush as well.

She hadn’t expected the hatching to happen so soon either. “……!”

Everyone held their breath, watching the egg.

Seemingly unable to touch it, they were all sweating profusely.

-Crack… Pop!

[It’s hatched!]

A sacred life form emerged as the shell broke, and a bright light shone, gradually fading over time.

After all this regression, I’ve experienced everything.

To live and see a dragon hatch…

“……?”

Everyone tilted their heads as if on cue.

“Sir… Is this a dragon?”

Two horns sprouting above its forehead.

A pair of wings stretching out from its back.

And a long tail growing below its hips.

So far, it’s definitely a dragon’s body, but…

[What kind of dragon is this? I’d believe it if you said it was human!]

Kaeram voiced the words I wanted to say.

Without a single scale, white skin.

Tiny, curled hands and feet.

A face that wouldn’t look out of place on a human.

This is clearly not a dragon but…

“A dragonkin?”

(To be continued)