A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression

Chapter 64

"Welcome, Sieg."

Principal Flaubert greeted Sieg warmly.

He personally served tea to Sieg, placing it in front of him.

"I heard you like tea, but I'm not sure if this is to your taste."

Sieg wondered just how far the fact that he liked tea had spread.

While pondering this, principal Flaubert spoke to Sieg with a smile.

"I called you in for a reason, regarding this mission."

Upon hearing Flaubert's words, Sieg felt a bit tense.

Having battlefield experience, Sieg didn't believe his actions during the mission were going to be looked upon favorably.

Once on the battlefield, following superior's orders was the correct course, no matter what happened.

Ignoring superior orders and acting independently could harm the entire unit, so it was strictly prohibited.

Sieg waited for Flaubert's next words.

"It was quite impressive."

"Sorry?"

At the unexpected response, Sieg couldn't help but ask again.

Flaubert smiled satisfactorily as he gently lifted his tea cup.

"Professor Andre did keep excellent records. We even received a special thank-you and situational materials from the Delfoa inspection unit."

At Flaubert's revelation, Sieg breathed a sigh of relief.

'The Draker knights apparently have broad authority, so this seems permissible.'

In his past life, he had stayed in the North, where the harsh environment meant even a small mistake could cost lives.

Thus, military discipline was stricter, and the range of command authority was also very narrow.

Flaubert continued, looking at Sieg.

"It's unfortunate that the Black Yaksha died during transport."

At Flaubert's words, Sieg felt a slight prick of conscience.

The truth was that the Black Yaksha wasn't actually dead.

As initially planned when subduing him, Sieg had secretly arranged for the Syndicate group to handle the transport, making it seem like the Black Yaksha had died, and then smuggled him to the South.

The plan was to later clean his identity and bring him back to the Central Continent under a new alias.

Currently, only Feynon knew the truth about the Black Yaksha being an agent of the empire's intelligence bureau.

However, since Feynon had also become one of Sieg's people, there was no risk of the secret leaking out.

Sieg had originally intended to bring over the Black Yaksha, and had instructed Feynon to exclude materials related to the empire from the Delfoa documents relating to the rider, sending only documents linked to corruption over to the inspection unit.

With the empire's human experimentation data found in the South, combined with the awakening stimulant experiments and the witness—Black Yaksha—discovered this time, it would be a strong card to pressure the empire.

While Sieg was contemplating the Black Yaksha situation, Flaubert spoke again.

"Sieg, considering the various qualities you exhibited in the recent mission, the faculty meeting has proposed a different sort of test."

"And what sort of test would that be, principal?"

"Demonic beast hunting."

Sieg felt a hint of doubt at the principal's words.

For a special graduation test at Valhalla, it seemed somewhat easy.

While hunting demonic beasts was not a simple task, Valhalla's graduation assignments were notoriously difficult, so the notion of a special exam for early graduation involving demonic beast hunting seemed relatively easy.

Then, Flaubert added more details.

"It's not just simple hunting; it's a cold case you have to solve on your own."

At those words, Sieg finally nodded.

Unlike monsters, demonic beasts didn't have defined species or types.

Because of this, it was difficult to identify specific features or move patterns based on behavior.

While typical beasts had high aggression and attacked indiscriminately, there were others that didn't.

Most unsolved cases mentioned by Flaubert involved beasts with high intelligence causing the issues.

Sometimes humans committed the crimes and shifted the blame onto beasts, but there was still a clear distinction between actions perpetrated by humans versus beasts.

"In which region did the incident occur?"

"The Troy Duchy."

The Troy Duchy was under the direct governance of Draker, and also home to the Draker family.

If such an unresolved case remained in such a place, it wouldn't be an ordinary demonic beast.

Flaubert continued speaking to Sieg.

"If you pass this test, all other graduation exams will be waived. In essence, meeting the requirements for graduation with this single exam is the condition."

One of the tasks Sieg used to do in his past life was researching and tracking down cold cases caused by beasts.

It was practically his area of expertise, and given the conditions for a faster graduation, there was no reason to decline.

"I promise on my honor as a knight to quickly resolve the case so that the anxious people of the duchy can be at peace."

In response to Sieg's answer, Flaubert looked pleased.

After gaining favor with the principal, Sieg returned to his residence.

'I'm leaving tomorrow.'

Recalling the schedule he received from the principal, Sieg prepared his luggage briefly and planned to set off for the Troy Duchy.

As he organized his plan and entered the mansion, someone was waiting for him.

He was a slender young man wearing light armor, with eyes like slits.

The young man greeted Sieg.

"Sir Sieg Draker. It's an honor to meet you. My name is Felix, and I've been assigned as the guide for this mission."

Sieg spoke to Felix.

"No last name?"

"It's Valencia."

Sieg rolled the name Felix Valencia around in his mind slowly, but it was a name he had heard neither in his past nor this life.

He regarded the odd aura he sensed from Felix with curiosity.

Unlike other knights, who couldn't detect mana due to unopened Ether Hall, Sieg had keen senses, which is why Felix's energy felt different.

'There's something unusual stirring within him, but it could also be nothing. It's peculiar.'

A young knight with this level of aura despite not being of the Draker bloodline indicated there might be more to it.

'I'll have to look into this separately.'

Sieg then asked Felix.

"If you're a guide, are you from the Troy Duchy?"

"Yes. I was born and raised there. I learned family swordsmanship from a young age, completed the guild's swordsmanship course, and I'm currently serving in the Atlas Guard."

"I see."

As a member of the Atlas Guard and a native of the Troy Duchy, Felix was undoubtedly going to be a great asset in solving this cold case.

The reason Felix came as an assistant made sense.

Sieg told him, "I'll be departing for the Troy Duchy early tomorrow. See you at the central station."

"I understand, Sir Sieg."

* * *

The next day, Sieg boarded the train heading to the Troy Duchy with Felix.

As before, he could use the VIP room thanks to his status as a student of Valhalla.

Felix looked around excitedly and said to Sieg, "Wow. I didn't even know a place like this existed on a train."

Though his expression and actions seemed innocent, Sieg was not fooled by what he saw on the surface.

'There was nothing particularly special captured in the information provided by the Syndicate.'

If the Syndicate found nothing, it had to be one of two things.

Either he was an Atlas Guard who hadn't yet discovered his own talents, or he was someone whose identity had been established by an intelligence organization more exceptional than the Syndicate.

'There's a higher chance it's the latter than the former.'

Sieg concluded that with the yet-unclear Felix accompanying him, this mission was undoubtedly going to be harder than the last.

Upon arriving at the Troy Duchy, Sieg and Felix took a carriage straight from the station to the northern region of the duchy, where the events occurred.

It was near where the Giant Mountains began.

Unlike Atlas, which was smaller in scale, the Troy Duchy, home to the Draker family, was safer than any city.

An unsolved case occurring in such a place was a challenge to Draker's pride.

Upon reaching the northern region of the duchy, Sieg and Felix immediately headed to the sheriff's office.

As soon as the chief sheriff saw Sieg, he greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Sir Sieg! We've been informed of your arrival! Goodness, it's such an honor to have a pureblood awakener here in this rural area!"

In the Troy Duchy, the bloodline of the Dragon Slayer was akin to that of the divine.

The presence of a rare direct pureblood awakener individual from such a lineage seemed to give the somber atmosphere of the village a little spark of life.

Sieg realized this was exactly what Flaubert had intended.

'That old man is something else.'

Sieg received a briefing on the situation from the sheriff.

"The incidents have been occurring for a few weeks. Initially, livestock started disappearing, and nowadays, people going into the mountains aren't returning."

Livestock, children, women, adult men.

The prey targeted was becoming larger over time.

"I'd like to see the crime scenes."

The sheriff nodded and led them to the first farm attacked, horses ready to go.

The farm was currently relocating the surviving livestock while entry to it was controlled.

Sieg skillfully examined the surroundings of the farm.

Soon, he discovered bloodstains on the fence that connected to the mountain.

Sieg activated his Dragon Eyes to survey the surroundings.

With his sharpened vision, something caught his eye.

'Footprints?'

Traces larger than human footprints were left on the ground.

Sieg knelt to examine the marks more closely.

He attempted to determine the identity of the beast using memories from his past life.

'The footprints are deep. It seems to be of substantial weight. It didn't break through the fence; it leapt over it. The blood trail left the traces that dripped from the livestock carried over.'

Sieg imagined the scenario following the traces left by the footprints.

It had silently leapt over the fence into the farm, snapped the neck of a sheep, slung it over its shoulder, and leapt back over the fence to return to the mountain.

Sieg furrowed his brow.

'This isn't the typical pattern of a demonic beast I know.'

No matter how intelligent, the demonic beasts Sieg knew wouldn't move this covertly, nor would they bother to jump over a fence.

At that moment, the sheriff approached Sieg.

"Did you discover anything?"

Rising to his feet, Sieg replied.

"Does this path here lead directly to the mountain?"

He nodded.

"Yes, it does. If you follow that path up, it eventually leads into a pretty harsh mountain area. The local villagers tend to avoid climbing that high because sometimes wild monsters appear."

Sieg acknowledged and then turned to Felix beside him.

"Felix, guide us. We should take a closer look up there."

Felix hesitated and then spoke.

"Sir Sieg, is it alright to proceed up the mountain immediately? From what I know, the northern mountain is quite rugged. I thought it might be better to prepare before heading up."

"I have everything needed for camping within a space magic bag, so it's fine."

In truth, he had stored everything in his inventory, but since he couldn't explain this, he offered a makeshift excuse.

To Sieg's explanation, Felix was astonished.

"Goodness. You're more thorough than I am, the guide."

After dismissing the sheriff, the two began following the traces up the mountain.

Relying on the traces left along the path, Sieg used his Dragon Eyes to survey the terrain while Felix navigated.

As Felix had claimed his roots lay in the Troy Duchy, his skill in mountain climbing was second to none.

It was then.

"Felix."

Sieg called to Felix.

"Yes, Sir?"

Sieg gestured with his hand for Felix to wait and cautiously approached the forest area.

Holding a dagger, he moved slowly towards a large tree that obstructed his view.

There was something beyond the tree.

'This is it...'

A corpse had become shriveled and mummified, its body fluids drained.

Sieg scanned for any sign of the beast but sensed nothing out of the ordinary.

He signaled to Felix.

At Sieg's signal, Felix stepped in to see the corpse and grimaced.

Sieg cautiously approached the body.

His first inspection was of the neck.

Vampires typically drained all blood from victims, leaving them desiccated like this if unlucky.

However, there were no bite marks on the neck of the corpse.

Sieg examined the skin more thoroughly, but there was no sign where fluids had been drained.

His expression became clouded.

'Vampires usually don't venture south, so that was doubtful, but this beast...?'

Behind Sieg, Felix shook his head, speaking with disgust.

"Goodness, this is the first time I've seen a corpse like this."

Sieg stood and remarked.

"It seems we might need to camp here tonight. We'll continue the pursuit at first light."