It all happened in an instant.
The moment I saw the assassin’s dagger lunging for my throat, I tried to move my body out of the way.
But my body, tired and slow to respond, wouldn’t cooperate.
The assassin’s skill was impressive, making it nearly impossible to react in time.
In short, the dagger was already aimed at my throat.
Just as I felt the cold edge of death—
Clang!
A new dagger appeared in front of me, stopping the assassin’s blade.
The owner of this unexpected dagger was none other than the person I’d been searching for: Kai.
Kai fixed the assassin with a glare, his eyes radiating murderous intent.
“…How dare you go after Young Master.”
“Hm?” The assassin, apparently quite shocked that his dagger had been stopped, widened his eyes and stepped back.
His face was hidden behind a mask, so I couldn’t see his exact expression, but you didn’t need a crystal ball to know he was rattled.
“You managed to block that? That’s not what the intel said.”
“Shut up. Before I pluck those eyes out of your skull.”
“Quite the rough mouth too, surprisingly.”
The assassin and Kai traded barbs, then a brief standoff ensued.
The assassin was the first to break the silence. “Not planning to step aside? I’d rather not kill a talented junior, you know.”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut it?”
“Argh… Is that how it’s going to be?” The assassin let out a sigh and scratched his head. Then, with a glint in his eyes, he lowered his stance. “At the very least, I’ll make it painless.”
“You sure talk a lot.”
“Tsk.”
The assassin clicked his tongue and shifted his posture, his form blurring.
Whoosh.
CLAANG!
Once again, the assassin’s dagger lunged for my throat.
And once again, Kai blocked it, emanating killing intent.
“…”
But the assassin, as if he’d expected Kai to block, pulled out a new dagger and drove it into Kai’s abdomen.
Shlk!
The dagger was shaped like an awl.
Kai clutched his stomach, his body swaying for a moment.
But his hand, the one gripping the dagger, was still tight with resolve. If anything, he only grew fiercer—coating the blade with a vivid red Aura.
“Hmm…?” The assassin eyed Kai’s Aura, his masked face twisting in awe and disbelief.
“Well ain’t this a monster.”
“I’ll kill you… I’ll kill you, I swear…”
“And with killing intent like that… I’d believe you were the Veilmaster’s kin.”
The assassin smacked his lips, as if genuinely lamenting the waste, and asked, “Really not going to move? I might even let you live, if you step aside now.”
“SHUT UUUUUUP!”
“Tsk. An assassin with loyalty. Now that’s a mutation.”
The assassin stared at Kai, as if trying to decipher a riddle. Then, apparently reaching a conclusion, he let out a long sigh and tightened his grip on the dagger.
A dark, blood-red Aura oozed over the assassin’s blade.
“…No helping it, then. Shame, but the mission comes first.”
In that instant, all emotion drained from the assassin’s eyes.
A killing intent so thick you could spread it on toast poured from him—enough to make most people forget how legs work.
That murderous intent now fixed itself on Kai.
“Here I go.”
The assassin vanished from sight, slipping out of view.
But only for a heartbeat.
He reappeared behind Kai and pinned him down, forcing Kai’s body to the ground with a crash.
“Let me goooo!” Kai struggled, but escaping the assassin was beyond him.
The assassin looked down at him with cold, empty eyes and muttered, “Sorry.”
Just as the dagger was about to strike—
“The Slayer’s Birthright.” I spoke to the assassin straddling Kai. “This boy possesses the Slayer’s Birthright.”
The assassin’s gaze darkened with deeper intensity.
* * *
Assassin Rique couldn’t quite comprehend what he’d just heard.
The Slayer's Birthright?
How could House Berg’s infamous wastrel possibly know this name?
Even within Death Veil, only a rare handful know about that trait…
The Slayer's Birthright trait was, in its own peculiar way, a kind of innate talent. The sort of talent an assassin needed to have.
Even possessing just a fragment of Slayer's Birthright was enough to set you on the fast track to assassin stardom.
But if you were born with the whole thing—well, becoming a Thief Master wasn’t much of a challenge at all.
The current Veilmaster, for instance, had inherited the Slayer's Birthright himself.
Naturally, a talent like that wasn’t exactly something you could pick up at the corner store. In fact, even within Death Veil, only the Veilmaster possessed this constitution.
And yet, here was a snot-nosed brat Rique had stumbled across on a mission—apparently born with the Slayer's Birthright.
Frankly, Rique found the whole thing a bit hard to swallow.
But still…
If he doesn’t have it… then nothing about this kid makes sense.
What was he, ten? Maybe?
A mere whelp, and yet he could use Aura and unleash incredible killing intent. And on top of that, he’d managed to block Rique’s attack.
That meant the brat could sense killing intent—and not just sense it, but respond to it with force.
Assassin Rique turned from Kai to look at Louis Berg, asking slowly, “How do you know about that?”
“I read it in an old book once. And besides, Kai has the Death Veil’s badge. Isn’t that what you’re after?”
…The Death Veil’s badge?
Rique stifled a dry chuckle as he looked at Louis.
How this fellow knew about Death Veil or the Slayer's Birthright was, admittedly, a curiosity—but not one that mattered anymore.
Or rather, he was curious, but that curiosity had just been bumped down the priority list.
What mattered now was that the brat apparently had the Death Veil’s badge.
“…Is that true?” Rique asked Kai.
But Kai, still squirming beneath him, offered no answer—just more frantic thrashing.
So, once again, it was Louis Berg who answered in Kai’s stead. “Check his clothes. The badge should be there.”
Rique, following Louis’s suggestion, rummaged through Kai’s clothes.
Sure enough, his hand closed around something.
“…Hah.” Rique snorted incredulously.
A crimson star against a black sky. There was no mistaking it—it was the Death Veil’s badge.
“…Well, that changes things.”
The Death Veil’s badge conferred absolute authority on anyone who possessed it.
Whoever had the badge, their orders were law. Everyone else had to follow them—no ifs, ands, or buts.
Well, except for one rather important but.
You couldn’t use it to kill someone else who also had a badge. That was the one rule even the badge couldn’t bend.
“…This is a real headache,” Rique muttered, scratching his head and sighing.
If Kai was the one with the badge, that was fine. The target was Louis Berg anyway, and Kai could be bundled up and whisked away.
The trouble was, Kai’s loyalty was questionable, and Louis Berg clearly knew about the badge. That was two headaches for the price of one.
Just to be sure, Rique turned to Kai and asked hesitantly, “Who’s the owner of the badge?”
“I said let me goooooooo!”
“Damn… He’s been completely overtaken by killing intent.”
At this rate, it’d take a while for him to come back to his senses.
Which left only one person to interrogate: Louis Berg.
“…Who’s the owner of the badge?”
“Why, obviously, that would be me.”
…Damn it. So he knew that, too.
“…Then, am I allowed to kill this kid?”
“Killing a child of the Slayer's Birthright… You must have quite the grudge against Death Veil.”
“…How do you know even that?”
“Trade secret, I’m afraid.”
This was driving him mad.
Rique let out a sigh and released Kai.
With Louis Berg as the badge’s owner, the mission was null and void. And with a Slayer's Birthright in the mix, this was well above Rique’s pay grade.
“…I’m heading back,” Rique said, putting away his dagger.
Louis Berg, wearing a leisurely smile, called out, “Travel safely. Give my regards to the Veilmaster. Tell him I’ll be visiting soon.”
“…Alright.”
With that, Rique left the scene.
He had to report everything he’d just witnessed to the Veilmaster.
* * *
“…Is he gone?”
I collapsed to the ground with a thud, sighing in relief.
Judging by the Aura I’d sensed, that man was an assassin nearly on par with a Thief Master. Someone I couldn’t possibly hope to stand against right now.
It was a stroke of genius—divine inspiration, even—that I’d remembered that story my master told me in my previous life.
So it’s true. Death Veil really does go weak at the knees for a Slayer's Birthright.
To be perfectly honest, what I’d just done was a bit of a gamble.
After all, I’d only ever heard about it from my master, Divine Archer—I’d never actually experienced it myself. I couldn’t believe my luck that it worked.
Anyway…
I turned my head to look at Kai.
The boy was busy suppressing his own killing intent, worried it might spill over and do me harm.
Before long…
“…Young Master.” Kai, having finally come back to his senses, approached and bowed his head. His face was practically wearing an apology.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked.
“…No, sir.”
“That’s a relief.” I nodded and gestured for Kai to come closer. Then, I reached out and gently patted his head, giving him a faint smile.
“Thank you for saving me,” I said.
“Ah… Of course!” Kai stared blankly for a moment, then broke into a bright grin.
To think he could gather up that thick killing intent in an instant—he really was a talent destined to become the strongest Thief Master someday.
I only had a moment to ruffle Kai’s hair.
Before I knew it, the squad members who’d finished cutting down all the monsters were approaching.
Rom, of course, had been by my side ever since the assassin appeared.
Roxen and Lancelot came running over, full of concern for me.
“You all right, Boss?”
“My liege, forgive us for being late.”
I raised a hand to wave off their worries, then got to my feet.
Thanks to the Monster Wave being dealt with, the tension finally started to ease.
But there was still work to do.
I need to find out why a Lord-class monster appeared.
This sort of thing hadn’t happened before my regression.
The assassin had delayed me, but this was something I still had to check.
Forcing my trembling legs to move, I headed for the corpse of the Kobold Lord.
“Where are you going?”
“My liege, let me help you.”
The other squad members moved to support me, but I couldn’t spare them a thought.
The reason was simple.
“…Runes?”
I found a stake inscribed with runic letters.
The ominous script—the mark of the Demonkin—was embedded right in the Kobold Lord’s chest.
And even more surprisingly, it hadn’t suffered a scratch from my new skill, Buckshot.
I scrutinized the stake, unable to understand what I was seeing.
Why had the Demonkin suddenly gotten involved? And why, for that matter, had they gone and cooked up a monster that hadn’t even existed in my previous life?
The only future I’ve changed is the House Artezia’s. Which means…
House Artezia and the Demonkin were connected.
I chewed my lip and sank into thought.
It was a leap—a wild, acrobatic leap—of logic. But it was a leap worth considering.
…I’ll have to keep an eye on this.
With a sigh, I shook my head.
Then, before Roxen could catch sight of it, I slipped the stake inside my coat.
The runes carved into the stake—they were identical to the emblem of the Demonkin who’d massacred Ayla Village.
* * *
Once the commotion had died down, just as Hans had said, the 2nd Imperial Knights arrived.
The commander of the Imperial Knights dismounted, his face frozen in a daze.
“…What on earth…”
A horde of monsters, nearly a thousand strong. This was the sort of disaster that would normally require the full might of a Count’s House to resolve.
And yet, it had been dealt with by nothing more than a Baron’s forces.
There wasn’t even a proper knight here, let alone a large-scale army.
But the monster corpses piled up everywhere were testimony enough; no one could claim this was a tall tale.
The commander let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
Just then, the Baron appeared behind the commander.
The Baron, like the commander, looked around and wore a face of utter shock.
But before long, he rushed forward and stopped in front of a certain young man.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
The Baron even burst into tears.
The commander of the Imperial Knights glanced at the Baron, wondering if that young man was truly responsible for defending the domain.
If so, it would be wise to remember his face.
After all, His Imperial Majesty was always in need of new talent.
The commander of the Order of Knights stepped forward and began, “Excuse me, but…”