The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1030

 Chapter 1030

 

“A ghost ship?”

Raon furrowed his brow as he looked at Paros.

“What are you talking about…?”

They had been talking about the blue wolf, so the sudden mention of a ghost ship caught him off guard.

“Hey!”

Martha scowled and pointed her sword at Paros’ head.

"If you're going to spout nonsense that even little kids wouldn't believe, I'll pierce that head of yours right now."

She infused red murderous intent over her blade, as if to show she was serious.

“We’re in a pretty bad mood right now, you know?”

Burren let out a rough breath and clenched his fist.

“You’d better choose your words carefully. Otherwise, you might not just die, you could die painfully.”

He bit his lip deeply, as if recalling Belder Harbor, which had been destroyed without a trace.

“……”

Runaan said nothing, simply watching the trembling Paros with calm eyes, lost in thought.

“That bastard’s clearly spewing nonsense just to save his own skin!”

Krein twisted his lips, insisting they should kill Paros.

“He’s not someone we can trust. That so-called captain tried to abandon his crew and run.”

Trevin also shook his head, saying there was no need to keep him alive.

“I-it’s true!”

Paros shook his head furiously with the blade before him, insisting the ghost ship was real.

“I’m only saying this because I saw it with my own eyes!”

His lips quivered as he said he had clearly seen the ghost ship that destroyed his harbor.

“Fine.”

Raon gestured to Burren and Martha to step back.

“Go on, explain it properly. I’ll listen.”

Right now, even the smallest clue was important. Hearing Paros out and deciding afterward wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“Tch.”

Martha clicked her tongue in disappointment and stepped back.

“Understood.”

As soon as he was given the order, Burren bowed slightly and stood behind Paros.

“S-so if I tell you everything, you’ll let me live?”

“If it’s information we can trust.”

Raon nodded, signaling him to begin.

“Y-yes, understood.”

Realizing this was his last chance, Paros knelt in front of Raon.

“The truth is… the first time something went wrong in the harbor I ran was almost a year ago.”

He let out a low groan, saying that problems similar to now began a year ago.

“Run it? You mean you were plundering it!”

Martha scowled, telling him to use the right words.

“A-at the time, it wasn’t like now, where entire villages or harbors vanished. It was just that a few people went missing.”

“Missing?”

“Yes. To be honest, it wasn’t unusual for people to escape from the villages we ran, I mean, plundered.”

Paros lowered his gaze, admitting that people running away from their villages or harbors happened often.

“Of course it did. You extorted money from them in the name of taxes without providing any benefits.”

Martha curled her lips, as if saying it was completely obvious.

“Y-you’re right.”

Paros, seemingly deciding there was no point in lying, nodded and admitted it.

“To be honest, the harbors and villages we ‘protected’ had very limited routes for escape, whether by land or ocean. If ten people tried to run, we could catch nine of them. But…”

He let out a murky sigh and shook his head.

“Since about a year ago, the runaway slaves—no, the people, we couldn’t catch them anymore. It was like they vanished into thin air, as if ghosts had taken them.”

Paros furrowed his brows, saying he had sent subordinates to search but couldn't find a trace anywhere.

“From all the harbors and villages you controlled?”

“Yes. Not just one or two, it was happening across all of them.”

He nodded, saying it was something he had never experienced in his life.

“And then?”

Raon tilted his chin, asking what happened afterward.

“S-so, as a last resort, I took the remaining residents and t-tortured them…”

Paros lowered his voice, glancing at Martha.

“Usually, people talk when their lives are on the line, telling us where and how others escaped. But that time, even if we cut off their arms, they said they didn’t know.”

He let out a deep groan, saying that was when he realized something was truly wrong.

“As the number of people decreased, so did our income, and because of the torture, public sentiment turned against us. So I stayed outside our territory for a while.”

Paros smacked his lips as he said he had spent some time outside his territory doing business.

“So basically, you went pirating outside.”

Burren sneered, saying Paros sure had a way of dressing up his crimes.

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Paros nodded honestly, seeming to have given up on lying.

“After about a month of pirating, I got bored, so we left the rest of the fleet in the open ocean and just brought our ship back first…”

His lips trembled, as if the fear was still vivid even now.

“That’s when we encountered the ghost ship.”

*   *   *

A stormy night.

“Move faster!”

Paros stomped his foot hard on the deck.

“Yes, sir!”

“R-right away!”

The pirates, soaked to the bone, pulled on ropes and lowered the sails that flapped violently, nearly tearing apart.

“What the hell is this out of nowhere?!”

Paros frowned as he looked up at the storm raging like it would shatter the night sky.

Until just moments ago, the ocean  had been calm. In all his decades as a pirate, he had never seen a storm hit so suddenly and violently.

To make matters worse, thick white fog was rolling in, making it hard to see even right ahead. It was the worst possible condition for sailing.

‘Nothing’s going right these days.’

Over a hundred slaves had escaped from the harbors and villages, and he hadn’t managed to recapture a single one.

To make up for those losses, they’d gone pirating for a month, but it hadn’t been particularly profitable either.

And now, on the day they decided to return, they were hit by a storm like this, it was infuriating beyond belief.

‘In the end, what we need is people.’

Whether it’s for slave trading or farming, everything came down to having people.

He figured they’d have to head south on the next voyage and abduct some people.

“The harbor’s just ahead. Keep our distance so we don’t crash into it!”

Paros gripped the shaking ship’s railing and shouted.

“Turn on the lights first…”

“C-captain! Look over there!”

The deck officer approached in a panic, pointing toward the foggy harbor.

“Look at what…”

Paros frowned and stepped forward, then froze in place.

“What the…?”

In front of the harbor they were approaching, an old sailing ship, surrounded by white fog, was gliding forward slowly and calmly, as if the storm didn’t exist at all.

“A derelict?”

From time to time, ships that had lost their owners would drift in with the current, and since there wasn’t the slightest sign of life aboard, he figured it must be a derelict.

“No response even when we signal them, looks like it really is a derelict!”

The deck officer nodded, saying the ship seemed empty.

“Good. A ship that size ought to have something valuable on board.”

Paros nodded and pointed toward the derelict.

“Go get everything that looks like it’s worth money!”

“Yes, sir!”

Following his order, the pirates jumped into the ocean without hesitation and climbed onto the derelict.

But the moment they got on board, their presence vanished like it had been snuffed out.

Creeeaaaak!

Then, as if it had become aware of the pirates, the derelict turned its direction, like a living thing, and began moving toward Paros’ ship.

“Ugh…”

Paros swallowed dryly and stepped back.

‘This is dangerous.’

The sailing ship was approaching without a sound, and a chill ran up his spine. A ticklish, unpleasant sensation tugged at his chest. The instinct that had helped him climb all the way to captain screamed at him to run.

“What is this? Why can’t I sense the others…”

The deck officer tilted his head, unable to understand.

“A-all of them! Send all of them up there! Now!”

Paros grabbed the officer’s shoulder and shouted for all the pirates to be sent aboard the ship.

“U-understood.”

The deck officer nodded and raised his hand.

“All hands, get on that ship!”

He stepped forward himself, ready to lead the way.

“Huff…”

Paros didn’t miss the moment the pirates climbed aboard the sailing ship, he bolted backward and silently dove into the ocean.

‘It’s obvious.’

That thing wasn’t a normal ship.

When you live as a pirate, you end up hearing all sorts of legends about the ocean. That ship was definitely the ghost ship that devoured people, just like the stories he’d heard as a child.

Even if it wasn’t a ghost ship, there was no question he had to run. His ominous instinct had never been wrong.

'Knghhh...'

Paros dove deep into the ocean without concern for what happened above.

The martial art he had learned used water-based techniques, so he descended to where the ship was out of sight and began breathing very slowly.

Fwoooosh!

Only after pushing himself to the limit of holding his breath did he slowly rise to the surface.

“T-the ship… it’s gone…”

The pirate ship he had come in on had completely vanished, not even a single wooden plank remained. The pirates on board were also gone without a single corpse left behind.

‘So my instinct was right after all.’

Paros exhaled deeply and shook his head. It was regrettable to lose the largest of the five ships, but as long as he survived, that was all that mattered.

“I’ll head back to the harbor and make contact—huh?”

Just as he was swimming toward the harbor, his eyes widened.

“T-the harbor…”

Cox Harbor, which had been his base for over ten years, had been completely destroyed as if decades had passed in a moment.

The docking entrance was half-destroyed, and the village behind it had collapsed entirely, there wasn’t a single building left standing.

It looked like a giant wave had swept through the entire village.

“What the hell is this…”

Paros swallowed dryly and climbed up into the harbor.

“Anyone there?”

He shouted, but no one answered. Even the dogs the villagers had raised were gone.

“C-come to think of it…”

He remembered the fog rising from the ghost ship, that same fog had covered this harbor as well.

“Was it really a ghost ship…?”

Seeing his ship devoured and the harbor destroyed in less than an hour, he could only think that it really was the ghost ship from the ocean legends.

“Bleuugh!”

Unable to withstand the tension, Paros vomited into the water flowing past him.

“Ughhhh…”

As he wiped the drool from his mouth and looked up, his eyes locked with a blue wolf floating on the ocean.

“Wh-what the hell is that now!”

As Paros screamed and stumbled backward, the wolf stared calmly at him before disappearing into the ocean.

“H-huk!”

Overwhelmed by fear, Paros rolled his eyes back and collapsed on the spot.

*   *   *

“That… that was the last time I saw the ghost ship…”

Paros swallowed dryly, glancing at Raon.

“But… similar things kept happening at the harbors I manage.”

He trembled, claiming it was all the ghost ship’s doing.

“Hmm.”

Raon stroked his chin as he looked at Paros, who was clearly terrified just recalling the events.

‘If what he’s saying is true…’

Then it wasn’t the blue wolf that destroyed the harbors and villages, but something else.

Not necessarily!

Wrath shook his head violently.

That mutt could be part of it too.

‘That’s possible. But…’

Raon smacked his lips as he gazed out at the calm ocean.

'It's certain that it's the work of a person.'

Whether the owner of the ghost ship was raising the blue wolf, or the wolf was simply tagging along on its own, what was clear was that the one behind all this wasn’t a ghost—but a person.

“Hearing him say all that… actually makes him more believable.”

Martha frowned as she tapped Paros on the forehead with her finger.

“This bastard ran off into the ocean again today after sending his men in first.”

She scoffed, saying she had chased him down all the way into the water to catch him.

“I saw it too, he dove right into the ocean without a second thought.”

Burren let out a dumbfounded chuckle.

“M-me too…”

Dorian raised his hand, his eyes darting around.

“He seems to be telling the truth.”

He nodded, saying that through his mind’s eye, he could tell Paros wasn’t lying.

“Yeah. He’s not lying…”

Runaan also blinked, as if she had sensed something similar.

“I-I’m telling the truth!”

As the others began to believe him, Paros let out a breath of relief, feeling like he’d survived.

“What was the size of the wolf when you first saw it?”

Raon gestured to Paros with a finger.

“Uh… at the time, it wasn’t much different from an ordinary wolf.”

Paros scratched his head, saying it had looked like a normal wolf when he first saw it.

“But every time a harbor collapsed or a village disappeared, it kept getting bigger.”

He shook his head, saying it eventually became as large as a house.

“And what happened after that?”

Raon tapped the deck, asking him to describe what happened after the first harbor was destroyed.

“J-just a few days later, the same thing happened at the harbor next to it. But this time, the ghost ship didn’t appear, after the fog lifted, the village had collapsed, and the people were gone.”

Paros groaned softly, saying he hadn’t seen the ghost ship again after that.

“So you thought it wasn’t something you could deal with and decided to run away with the villagers?”

“N-no, that’s not it.”

He let out a faint groan and shook his head.

“I thought… if I ran away with the villagers, the ghost ship might come after me…”

Paros glanced around nervously and continued.

“S-so I took just my fleet and left in another direction.”

He sniffled, saying that if he ran with the villagers, it might reveal that he had witnessed the ghost ship, so he ran away with only his pirates.

“You son of a bitch!”

Martha ground her teeth and grabbed Paros by the hair.

“I-I had no choice! We had to survive….”

Paros lowered his head, saying that was the only option.

“So when you came back, the village and harbor you said you’d protect were all destroyed?”

“Y-yes.”

He lowered his gaze, seemingly ashamed of himself.

“I thought they’d gone north after destroying our territory, but before I knew it, they’d come this far down…”

Paros looked toward Rabawin, saying he had planned to plunder one last time and then run away.

“Since we’ve heard everything, can I deal with him now?”

Martha ground her teeth, saying she wanted to be the one to cut Paros’ throat herself.

"W-wait a minute! You clearly said you'd spare me if I gave you credible information..."

“No one’s going to trust a bastard who tosses his subordinates away like garbage.”

Raon waved his hand toward Martha, signaling her to do as she wished.

“Let’s go. I don’t think you deserve to just die that easily.”

“W-wait….”

“Shut up and move.”

Martha said it wasn’t even worth spilling blood on this ship, then dragged Paros and jumped into the ocean.

“Uwaaaaaagh!”

Raon smacked his lips as he listened to Paros’ scream.

“Now the pieces are finally starting to fit.”

He finally understood why things had been quiet for the past ten days.

Based on Paros' story, it was clear that the ones controlling the ghost ship knew he was circling this area and had hidden themselves.

To make them move again, the name Raon Zieghart, Sword Emperor, had to vanish from this ocean.

“…Looks like…”

Raon glanced at Rabarwin and the swordsmen, curling up the corner of his lips.

"We'll have to disguise ourselves."

*   *   *

“Haaah…”

Martha let out a rough sigh as she sat in the corner of an old tavern.

“This is boring.”

After extracting information from Paros, Raon pretended to return to Zieghart, but instead came back to the ocean and split up the Light Wind swordsmen to infiltrate nearby harbors.

However, the blue wolf and the ghost ship, which they thought would reappear soon, still hadn’t shown up even after a full month. They were extremely cautious bastards.

‘Are they not coming back at all now?’

She was even beginning to think that they had fled this region in fear of the name Raon Zieghart and gone to another region.

‘What a waste of time.’

She had finally been able to feel the thrill of growth again through training with Raon, but being stuck in a harbor with nothing but the ocean in view was starting to drive her crazy.

Thunk!

Martha slammed down her empty beer mug roughly and headed back to her lodging.

‘…I can’t take this anymore.’

She was about to do her aura training, then stopped, took out a gray crystal orb from her subspace pocket, and infused it with aura.

Wuuuuuung!

The orb glowed with a faint blue light, revealing Raon’s face.

[It’s not reporting time, what’s going on?]

Raon tilted his head, as if wondering if something had happened.

“How long do we have to stay here?! It’s already been a month!”

Martha scrunched her nose, saying her whole body was stiff from not being able to move properly.

[You know as well as I do, missions that last a whole year are common.]

Raon waved his finger, saying they still had a long way to go.

“Still, this is way too boring! At least let me stay by your side or something!”

Martha sighed, saying she couldn’t even train properly here.

[By my side? You’re not falling for me, are you? That would be a problem.]

Raon shook his head, saying she should control her personal feelings.

“T-that’s not it! I mean, I can’t train with you!”

Martha waved her hands frantically, her face turning red.

[Just kidding. Sorry, but hang in there a little longer. They’ll definitely come.]

Raon shook his head, saying the ones behind the ghost ship would definitely show up.

“How can you be so sure?”

[They’ve devoured more than ten harbors and villages over the past year. There’s no way they’ll just sit around and do nothing. They’ll make a move soon.]

He smiled with confident eyes.

“Ugh…”

Martha scratched her red-dyed hair.

“…Fine.”

Raon was the man she had chosen to serve as her lord. If he said so with such certainty, she had no choice but to accept it.

[Once this is over, I’ll train and spar with you as much as you want.]

He extended a hand, as if making a promise.

“You better keep that promise.”

Martha wrinkled her nose and held her pinky up toward the crystal orb.

[What are you doing? Trying to pinky-promise during a video call?]

Raon waved the cloth in his hand as if he had just been about to wipe the crystal orb.

"Agh..."

Martha’s face turned even redder as she bit her lip.

[Our Rakshasa squad leader is still such a kid.]

Raon let out a soft chuckle, like he found it cute.

“S-shut up! You… hmm?”

Martha turned her head toward the window mid-rant.

[What is it?]

“I just heard something weird outside.”

While talking with Raon, she heard a sound like glass breaking from above her head. It seemed she wasn't the only one who heard it, as people were coming out.

“I’ll check it out for a second. Huh? Raon?”

She looked back at the crystal orb to say they’d talk later, but the call had already ended.

“…Don’t tell me.”

As she swallowed dryly and stepped outside the lodging, a white current had wrapped itself around the entire city, and out at ocean, an old sailing ship shrouded in faint fog was approaching.

‘A ghost ship…?’

The massive ship looked as though it didn’t belong in this world, its form hazy, giving off no presence or sound. Just as Paros had described, it could only be called a ghost ship.

‘It really came!’

Just as Raon had said, they couldn't wait a month and had taken the bait they had spread.

‘It’s not a real ghost, so…’

Let’s take a look at those faces.

Martha leaned her back against the wall behind the building and shifted only her eyes to look at the sailing ship that had reached the harbor.

Thud-thud-thud.

As the ship reached the harbor, a white staircase dropped down from the deck.

Fwooosh!

The first figure to appear on the fog-covered ship was a strange man dressed in a white long coat streaked with red lines.

The moment he stepped off the ship and onto the stairs, the stench of blood began to fill the air.

Thud!

The instant Martha saw the figure in the white long coat, she forgot she was supposed to stay hidden and burst forward.

“Yeah. Only you bastards could do something this vile.”

Her eyes lit with a red killing intent as she roughly drew her sword.

“White Blood Religion!”

 

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