The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin - Chapter 124

————

Chapter 124: Appetite (2)

“Nana ate people?”

No matter how indifferent he was to people dying, he couldn’t help but react to those words.

“It’s better to listen first and then make a judgment.”

Brian’s expression as he began to explain wasn’t very good either.

“…So, to erase the traces, we burned down the location and the bodies. We thought there might be more leftovers, but we thought it was more important to erase Nana’s traces first…”

At first, he seemed a bit hesitant, but overall, he managed to convey what he wanted to say without much of a problem.

“That’s it…”

Deciding to listen first and then judge, I listened quietly.

As for my feelings about this,

Impressive, right?

It’s not just empty words; it’s sincere.

Nana, who had gone out without permission(?), was kidnapped by a slave trading group, meaning human traffickers.

They seemed to have kidnapped her thinking she would make a good prey when they saw her wandering the streets alone without a guardian.

But this was just speculation, not certainty.

When they found Nana, there was no one left except her, so there was no one to ask about the situation.

Nana, too, was apparently too shocked to say anything except sorry.

It’s been two days since the incident happened.

Regardless of what happened, not only did Brian make an appropriate judgment of the situation, but he also handled the aftermath quite neatly.

There was hardly anything to nitpick about.

“It’s my fault for not taking better care of Nana. If you want to punish me, do it gently…”

“No, you did well.”

He lifted his head, which had been bowed like a guilty person, when he heard those words of appreciation.

“Huh?”

“You did well. After all, no one got hurt, right? That’s all that matters.”

It took about three seconds before Brian heaved a sigh of relief.

You could tell how complicated his feelings must have been just by looking at his face.

“So, what about Nana?”

“She hasn’t come out of her room for a while. I checked earlier, and she wasn’t sleeping.”

She hadn’t eaten anything for two days either, they said.

For our little one, taking a nap and eating would be the greatest happiness imaginable, so it was shocking that she would refuse them.

In a way, there was no one else to comfort her.

Without hesitation, I went to Nana’s room.

“…”

She must have known I was coming since earlier.

Normally, she would have rushed over and asked if I brought any presents, but even though I had arrived, she didn’t even show her face once.

Her back, turned away, revealed a sadness I had never seen before.

-Whoop!

As if she was sneakily watching me, she suddenly flipped the blanket over herself.

It was quite a strong-walled response, to the point of being novel.

Since it was awkward to leave like this, I approached her for now.

“Sorry. I can’t see Papa’s face right now.”

As soon as she sat on the bed, she opened her mouth as if she had been waiting for me.

“Why?”

“I did something wrong…”

“What did you do wrong?”

Even I thought it was a mean question to ask.

“Nana ate people, didn’t she? The same people as Papa, Brian, and Emily…”

Hmm.

Yeah, that’s true.

I don’t know how other people would think about this, but from my perspective, here’s how it is:

Nana is half human and half dragon.

If a human eats another human, of course, it’s a problem.

But what if a dragon eats a human?

If we were to compare it, I think it’s like humans eating bugs.

In simpler terms, it’s not that they can’t eat it, but they don’t actively seek it out.

In fact, even if they were treated like bugs, it would be fortunate because dragons who disdain even the act of accommodating humans as food?

That would never happen.

Unless they were so starving that they were sticking to their ribs, would we humans ever eat bugs?

Well, I’ve heard there are some dragons with peculiar tastes, ones who enjoy eating certain things, but that’s a tiny minority.

Generally, they wouldn’t even consider it.

So, I’m a bit skeptical.

Despite Nana enjoying eating, I never thought she would eat people.

It might be necessary to give her proper guidance before she grows up to be a carnivorous dragon who preys on humans.

“Come out for now, Nana. You need to see Papa’s face.”

At first hesitant, she peeked her face out from under the blanket after a moment.

“Are you not going to hate me?”

“Let’s hear it first.”

Seeming somewhat relieved, she wriggled her body and scooted closer.

“Have you ever wanted to eat people before?”

“No, never! I’m like Papa and Brian! People shouldn’t eat people!”

The notion that people shouldn’t eat people is like an instinct that doesn’t need to be taught.

And perhaps the reason why Nana is feeling so down right now is because she knows she did something she shouldn’t have.

“But why did you eat them then?”

“W-well, you see…”

Pausing for a moment, Nana buried her face back into the blanket and said,

“I smelled it…”

“Smelled it?”

“Yeah. Those people had a really evil and malicious smell. Just by looking at them, I could tell they were going to do bad things to me…”

To put it another way, she sensed a threat with her typical dragon senses, and for now, there didn’t seem to be any problem with that.

“But that smell was so sweet…”

This part seems a bit problematic.

“Too sweet, to the point where I wanted to eat them right then and there. I don’t think I was in my right mind at that moment…”

Huh, how should I explain this?

There’s a folktale circulating on the continent that says dragons eat people who do bad things.

To sum up Nana’s words, she smelled a delicious scent coming from bad people, which made her hungry…

First of all, Nana has extremely limited experience meeting people.

Perhaps this incident can be considered her first encounter with vile humans.

I’ll have to keep an eye on her in the future, but didn’t she handle those who intended to harm her on her own?

That counts for something.

I don’t intend to criticize her with human standards or morals.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah! I’m completely fine!”

“Good then. Don’t keep it all bottled up inside.”

I gently stroked Nana’s head under the blanket.

I can’t deny that I had a hand in creating such a situation.

But I must be cautious.

If incidents like this continue, it could pose a significant challenge when she’s independent.

Nana, emerging from under the blanket, immediately looked towards the window.

“…”

There wasn’t anything there, yet she just stared silently.

Her eyes were filled with gloom, as if burdened with worries.

“I felt frustrated.”

“What about?”

“I just felt unusually down and frustrated, even during my sleep. It felt like someone was calling out to me. So, I came out. It felt like someone was calling me…”

As I looked into Nana’s desolate eyes, I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable myself.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this city somewhat related to her too?

Without delay, I got up from my seat.

“Let’s go, Nana.”

“Where to?”

“Out.”

Her eyes began to sparkle again.

***

The sky was tinged with the setting sun.

A warm evening breeze brushed against the skin, inducing drowsiness.

I had somewhat expected the mention of slave traders.

They are probably the remnants of Zikkerman Albas, the target I assassinated two years ago.

From atop a hill, I could see the building of the Merchant Guild, where I first discovered Nana’s egg while killing Zikkerman.

It was also where Nana’s deceased mother was.

“…”

Even though it was our first visit, Nana’s eyes seemed to be filled with a nostalgic gaze, as if she had returned home after a long absence.

Instinctively, she must have felt that this place held great significance for her.

“Papa.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I really fit in with people?”

She often asked this question, not just at this moment, but occasionally.

What am I?

Whenever she asked, I replied.

You’re a person.

Just a little bit more special than others.

Realistically speaking, it’s a sad position where she doesn’t belong anywhere, but I always told her that she’s no different from us.

“Is this where I first met you and Papa?”

“How did you know?”

“I just had a feeling. It felt familiar yet deeply nostalgic…”

Even without saying it, she couldn’t be anything but an amazing little one who knows everything.

The Merchant Guild building had been closed since Zikkerman’s assassination two years ago, and no one had visited it since.

Occasionally, some homeless beggars would venture there, but whenever they did, the ghosts of the dead slaves would appear and drive them away.

I was worried that Nana might be scared by the atmosphere inside the building, but…

“Do you want to go inside?”

“Yeah!”

Nana agreed without hesitation.

The interior was much worse compared to two years ago.

The floor was covered in dust and rust, mice scurried around, spiders built their webs on the ceiling, and the stench of garbage permeated the air.

However, Nana didn’t seem to mind and quietly followed behind me.

We finally arrived at some underground space.

There wasn’t a single corpse, let alone anything else.

What was strange was that unlike other places, not a speck of dust settled here.

It was a cramped space, just enough for one person to lie down.

It almost felt like someone had been sitting there until a moment ago, with even a faint warmth lingering in the air.

I crouched down and placed my hand on the floor.

A black aura surged from my hand along with mana.

“What are you doing, Papa?”

“Welcome back.”

As Nana didn’t understand my words and tilted her head, the aura enveloped her body.

“….!”

She didn’t seem to sense any threat as she didn’t resist.

I stepped back, giving her some alone time.

[Isn’t it a very unpleasant memory for the little one?]

Kaeram, who was also observing, asked me.

“It’s something that had to be done. It just happened a little sooner than expected.”

The growth of the little one was indeed rapid.

It was an illusion from the 7th-grade Dark Element Magic, [Illusion.]

It projected a false illusion of past memories onto the target, and right now, Nana was likely seeing memories from two years ago, everything that happened in this place.

I didn’t want to show her how miserably her mother died.

I just wanted her to realize one thing.

That she was undeniably a human, born from the warmth of human affection…

“….!”

As the effect of the hallucination ended, the aura vanished instantly.

Even after seeing all those memories, Nana didn’t shed tears of joy or sadness.

“Did you have a good meeting?”

“Yeah. Mama hugged me and told me to live happily.”

Even though it was a false illusion, it must have been a precious encounter for her.

“Let’s go, Papa! I’m hungry!”

With renewed energy, Nana stood up resolutely.

I watched her back as she headed outside.

For some reason, she seemed a bit taller now.

———