The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

Blood-stained eyes and blurred vision.

Within them he saw a presence that was not unfamiliar.

Brian eventually doubted his own eyes.

Dark hair darker than the blackest night, indifferent eyes drawing a straight line.

And a fierce aura that contradicted his youthful face.

There was only one person he knew who could evoke such a feeling.

“Yo- Young Master…?”

His lord, Cyan Vert, to whom he had sworn to give everything, was right before his eyes.

Just as his eyes were about to close, they snapped open at the moment.

He felt like he should answer the question “What are you doing?”, but his injured throat hardly allowed any words to come out.

“Aaaagh!”

Meanwhile, screams as if vocal cords were tearing apart erupted around him.

The mercenaries who had just been beating and torturing Brian were now screaming in pain, clutching at their severed body parts.

Cyan, paying no heed, gently stroked Brian’s neck.

“Your vocal cords are damaged, aren’t they? That’s why you can’t speak. Is it because you were beaten to the point of being unable to speak, or because you ended up unable to speak after being beaten?”

He wanted to say “It’s the latter,” but even that was impossible in his situation.

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice the crows lurking around? If you didn’t want to end up in a bad state, you should have just run straight to me. What’s this about sacrificing everything for me, only to end up giving your throat to some worthless place? Are you really my man?”

It was not a situation of having nothing to say but rather not being able to say anything (?).

Despite clearly being scolded, Brian felt a mix of embarrassment and happiness.

Eventually, Brian grinned at Cyan.

Seeing this, Cyan let out a small sigh.

“Ah well, it’s done. What more can I say to someone who’s been beaten to a pulp? You’re not at death’s door, at least. Just sleep through it until the situation is over.”

Cyan gently caressed Brian’s blood-stained face.

“……”

Although it was just a light touch, curiously, sleepiness crept in, and his eyelids began to close.

It seemed like the screams for help from people were continuously heard, but he didn’t particularly feel like paying attention to them.

Soon, Brian fell into a deep sleep, unable to feel anything anymore.

* * *

Isn’t it said that a promising tree is recognized by its leaves?

I’m not particularly fond of old sayings, but I think this one is truly a wise saying.

What? Who did what to whom and for what purpose?

It’s not my place to say, but I wonder if those words should really come out of the mouth of an eleven-year-old child.

Just because it’s a young shoot, you won’t pluck it, and because it’s a child, you’ll let it go?

Leave such foolish notions to the knights.

A shoot quickly grows into a tree, and a brat quickly becomes a villain.

Therefore, it’s important to properly nurture that shoot so it grows correctly.

“You- what the heck are you? Why are you doing this to me?”

Barrett yelled as if roaring, sitting down.

Anyone would think he’s already been tortured.

However, Barrett’s limbs are still intact without a single wound.

That means, I haven’t done anything to him.

“Don’t come! Don’t come any closer!”

With every step I took, he desperately retreated.

“It seems there’s been some misunderstanding, Sir Cyan! I wasn’t trying to harm your knight! It’s, it’s just that I thought he was up to something suspicious, so I was interrogating him! I heard he was trying to kill you, so, that’s why……!”

His sudden change of stance reminds me of someone living in a ravine.

Not intending to listen to his cheap talk any longer, I firmly stepped on the retreating man’s left foot.

-Crack!

A pleasant sound, like a branch breaking, was heard.

“Aaargh!”

Barrett screamed loudly from the pain of the broken bone.

Unbothered, I gently bent down and looked him in the eye.

“What are you going to do to me?”

He glared at me with eyes full of hatred and said.

“Do you think you’ll get away with doing this to me? I’m Barrett Luymil! When I get angry, no one can stop me! The pain I’m feeling now will be nothing compared to the agony you’ll……!”

It seems my actions didn’t get through to him at all.

If you are asked a question, you should answer it, not spout irrelevant nonsense.

I gently grabbed one of his hands.

“What- what are you doing……?”

It was not smooth, but rough and coarse to the touch.

Here and there, marked by scars, it was hardly imaginable as the hand of a noble.

Perhaps others might mistake it for the hand of someone who’s done a lot of manual labor or training.

But these weren’t scars from that.

“You’ve been beaten quite severely……”

The so-called traces of beating.

The scars weren’t from being beaten, but from his own acts of self-harm.

Meaning, from a very young age, he habitually inflicted violence on those around him.

He truly must be material for great growth.

“Isn’t there a saying that underlings suffer when they have an incompetent master? Well, I guess that’s true…”

I don’t have much else to say.

After all, due to my negligence, Brian ended up suffering.

“But when you think about it, isn’t that incredibly unfair? The underlings suffer because of an incompetent master, but the so-called master doesn’t take any responsibility. Isn’t that the case with you too?”

Look at these corpses strewn around.

They are the underlings who just bid farewell to this world because of an incompetent master.

Fellows who met a bad end because they chose the wrong master.

All because of this worthless brat.

“What are you talking about… Aaargh!”

I plunged the karambit I took out directly into him.

Barrett’s body jerked violently, like a fish pulled out of water.

If you intend to inflict pain on others, you must be prepared to endure the same.

The pain of this blade cutting through flesh is, in fact, barely qualifying as pain.

I haven’t yet inflicted proper pain on him.

Forcing him to look me in the eyes as I grabbed his head, I said,

“I could be unlucky. You might have found me disagreeable. I don’t care what you say behind my back.”

After all, it’s just the inferiority complex of those without ability.

“But why did you mess with him?”

“Ughhh…”

Barrett couldn’t answer, just kept crying.

“If you hated seeing me, you should have confronted me directly. Why did you mess with him?”

“I- I’ve done wrong, Sir Cyan! From now on, I won’t even come near you! I won’t approach the princess or that commoner either! Please, just spare my life!”

The one who had been shouting as if roaring just moments ago was now nowhere to be seen, replaced by a figure groveling so pathetically it was pitiable.

[Why is this one so bland?]

Kaeram, who had been watching from the side, commented as if it was all too dull.

“I agree with you there.”

After all, this was someone who had previously snarled and defied me fiercely,

It goes to show how important early impressions are, doesn’t it?

But it’s because I don’t easily trust those who only talk big….

I set Kaeram down on the ground for a moment and then flicked my hand slightly.

“…!”

As if he had a premonition of his future, his pupils shook violently.

“What, what are you trying to do?!”

Then, with a stretched-out hand, a black sphere condensed with high-level mana appeared.

The sphere emitted a dark aura, as if it could devour anything at any moment.

“Time to finish what we didn’t last time, right? The game where we put each other’s mana spheres into our mouths.”

“That- that kind of game doesn’t exist! If you put it in wrong, I could actually die!”

“Don’t worry. Just because I put a mana sphere in, doesn’t mean you’ll die.”

It’s better for you to think that I spared your life just because you’re a noble.

Not that I’m not, but killing you would be more trouble than it’s worth for me.

But you’ll experience pain worse than death.

“So engrave this well. If you catch my or my subordinates’ eye once more, you’ll wish you were dead…. Remember my words, until the day you die.”

If you don’t want to die a more painful death later on.

Without hesitation, I shoved the sphere into his mouth.

“Aaaagh!”

A desperate scream echoed through the lonely forest.

Barrett flailed about like a fish out of water.

There’s no torture quite like this kind of mana torture.

“Bleagh!”

He struggled in vain to expel the ingested mana, but that only intensified his pain.

After all, once the mana began to spread fully, he wouldn’t even have the energy to do that.

Having finished my business, I turned away without a second thought.

The trimming of the sprout was done.

If it shows any sign of growing crookedly again,

Then I’ll pull it out by the roots and burn it to the ground.

So that not even a speck remains….

* * *

“Ugh!”

The moment I came to, my head throbbed painfully.

“He’s awake!”

A single moan escaped as I opened my eyes, only to be met with a short cheer from a sweet voice.

“Did you sleep well, Brian?”

A small tail wagged cutely back and forth.

The owner of the tail was sitting on the bed, watching him with pure eyes.

“Nana…?”

Brian hurriedly rubbed his eyes and looked around.

The warm morning sunlight filtered through the window of the peaceful dormitory.

Touching his head due to the throbbing pain, he found it tightly wrapped in white bandages.

“I heard about it! You went to buy snacks for Nana and tripped over a stone and passed out, you silly Brian! Papa found you lying on the street and brought you here!”

She stroked Brian’s wound with an innocent face.

Who else in the world would get such a severe injury from tripping over a stone?

Brian, with a dumbfounded expression, tried to recall the events of the previous day.

He was sure he had last been in the middle of a forest, reeking of blood.

He had been captured by Barrett’s gang, undergoing all sorts of beatings and torture, when Cyan appeared, and then he lost consciousness.

“The young master is…?”

-Creak

As if summoned by his words, Cyan opened the door and entered.

“Are you awake?”

His face was as impassive as ever.

Yet, Brian felt an inexplicable sense of relief at his appearance.

“Go eat, Nana.”

“Okay, got it Papa!”

At the mention of food, Nana scampered out of the room.

Now, only Cyan and Brian were left in the room.

“Are… are you alright?”

“That’s not something you should be asking me, right?”

Brian awkwardly smiled and scratched his face.

It seemed more appropriate to ask that question to himself in the mirror.

“I- I’m truly ashamed. I tried to handle things beyond my capacity, causing trouble for you… I’m sorry.”

Cyan crossed his arms.

“Honestly, I don’t want to complain about you getting involved. But did you really think you could handle those guys with your own strength?”

Brian waved his hands in denial.

“I- I didn’t actually plan to fight! From the moment I followed them, I could tell they were fierce, so I just wanted to figure out what kind of people they were and then run away. But I never expected them to attack without a word…”

“So, you’re saying you knew they were approaching with the intent to kill from the start?”

“Yes…”

Cyan’s cold gaze made Brian feel as if he was being squeezed.

Even without saying it, Brian could tell how pitiful Cyan found him.

“It’s one thing to offer your body in service to your master, but if you can’t even protect yourself… Once your injuries are healed, your training will start immediately. Be aware of that.”

Cyan took something out of his pocket and handed it to Brian before standing up.

“Where are you going?”

“For a walk.”

As usual, Cyan was off to an unspecified place for his walk.

“…?”

Left alone, Brian stared blankly at the item Cyan had given him.

A dagger, heavy for its short length.

Carefully drawing it from its sheath, he saw the double-edged blade emit a chilling coldness.

(To be continued)