The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1109

 Chapter 1109

 

Whoooosh.

Rimmer tapped Raon’s shoulder with a gentle breeze, as if telling him to go ahead and speak.

“Shall we sit down?”

Raon let out a faint smile and dropped down onto the ground, leaning his back against a tree.

Wooooong.

Rimmer came closer beside him as if pleased, tickling his fingers with the wind as though urging him to talk.

“Haa…”

Raon exhaled a sigh and looked around the forest drenched in sunlight. He felt the air of the place where he had once spent time with Rimmer and Glenn, then slowly closed his eyes.

‘Is it really okay to say this?’

Although Rimmer appeared not as an elf but as wind, his soul still remained, allowing him to understand all of my words and feelings.

Not knowing what kind of reaction he would show after hearing my story, my heart pounded as if I were facing an opponent beyond comparison, and my fingertips trembled.

‘It’s been a long time since I felt fear.’

Facing my master, who saw me simply as Raon Zieghart, and telling him not about the past but about a previous life, about being an assassin who killed people, made it hard for the words to come out.

‘Still, I have to do it.’

There were only three people I had decided to tell about my previous life as an assassin.

Wrath, Glenn, and Rimmer. To these, with whom I had built a bond deeper than trust, I wanted to share my story before I died.

Sylvia, who could be considered one of the closest, would likely be sad for the rest of her life the moment she heard it, so I could not tell her.

‘Honestly, I don’t even want to say it now.’

But if this is the last time….

Rimmer had used his soul’s power so excessively that he could no longer maintain the form of an elf.

He dragged that immense malice all the way here, endured without causing harm until it was purified, and in the end awakened Sterin and Siyan with the purified energy.

Since he had consumed so much of his soul’s power, it was no strange thing if he were to disappear like this.

‘Alright. I’ll say it.’

Rimmer might not treat me as he did before, and he might even think of me as an entirely different being, but to him, who had always been genuine, I wanted to reveal my previous life.

“Master.”

Raon slowly opened his eyes. He looked up at the green trees, then lowered his eyes and met Rimmer’s soul.

“Everything I’m about to tell you from now on is true.”

Whoooooosh!

Rimmer whipped up a fierce wind, lifting Raon’s hair wildly, as if saying to stop stalling and speak already.

“This life of mine is not my first. It’s my second.”

Raon didn’t ramble, he spoke the most important fact first.

…

Rimmer made no movement and quietly waited for him to continue. He had expected such a reaction, a smile came naturally.

“I do not remember merely the past, but my previous life. In that life, I became Derus Robert’s lackey and brought suffering to many people. Even if I was brainwashed, I killed innocent people, stole and manipulated valuable information, and even raised other assassins.”

Raon exhaled a breath heavier than a sigh and began to tell of his previous life.

Woooooong!

Rimmer suddenly leapt up above his head, and as if realizing only now Raon’s connection with Derus, he spun round and round in the air like a wheel.

‘As expected, his reactions are amusing.’

Not even waiting until the end and showing such an excessive reaction right away, seeing that, I thought, As expected, that’s Rimmer.

If Wrath had been beside me, he probably would have said, “Shitty ears is at it again!”

Woooooong.

Rimmer swayed the tail formed of wind, as if telling Raon to quickly keep talking. It seemed he wanted to ease Raon’s tension so he could speak without feeling burdened.

“All right. I’ll start from the beginning. I was kidnapped in my childhood by Derus Robert’s subordinates, so young I can hardly remember. Beneath Lushen Mountain, which supports the west of House Robert, there is a cavern where assassins are raised… and I was there….”

Raon, despite the bleakness of the story, recounted it with a faint smile at his lips, speaking his past bit by bit.

“…After dying while cursing Derus, I opened my eyes again, and I saw my mother. That was how I came to live my second life as Raon Zieghart.”

Finishing the story of how he was beheaded by Derus Robert, Raon closed his eyes again.

Creak.

He didn’t have the courage to look at Rimmer directly and bit his lip.

Fwaaah.

While he lingered long in the darkness he had created for himself, he felt something softly press and lift his head. Someone was stroking his hair.

‘This is…’

When he lifted his eyelids, he saw worn boots pressed against the ground, the very shoes that kicked around the training ground floor every day. He could never mistake them: the lazy elf’s boots.

‘No way!’

Raon’s pupils trembled as he raised his head.

Whoooosh.

Formed of light-green wind, Rimmer was smiling gently as he patted Raon’s head.

“Ma-master…”

Though it was wind, Raon trembled at the warmth that spread through Rimmer’s touch.

[I wondered if you’d maybe stolen even the Nadine bread the head of house cherishes, but it really was something unspeakable. I can understand your fear.]

Hearing Rimmer’s playful voice, Raon’s chest swelled so hard it felt as though it might burst.

[Still…]

Rimmer took his hand off Raon’s head and nodded.

[Thank you for telling me. It feels like the questions I had about you have finally been resolved.]

He still looked at Raon only as Raon, his warm smile unchanged.

[You’ve been through a lot, Raon.]

Rimmer, in a tone neither heavy nor light, firmly held Raon’s shoulder as he said it.

“Hmm…”

Hearing those words from him, the dam of emotions Raon had been barely holding back collapsed. The tip of his nose stung, and his vision blurred.

“…I told you too late. I’m sorry.”

Raon bowed his head to Rimmer. Seeing his reaction, he regretted not having told him sooner.

[There’s no need for such thoughts. Since I’m already dead, maybe that’s why I can accept it so easily.]

Rimmer shook his head, saying that since he was already dead, he could accept the story of Raon’s previous life without difficulty.

[When you tell others, watch your timing carefully. Don’t just say it at any time.]

He chuckled, saying that Glenn might be so shocked he’d ascend on the spot.

“What will happen to you now, master?”

Raon rubbed his reddened nose and looked at Rimmer.

[I don't know either. I used quite a bit of power because of that old man of mine and my foolish younger sister. I didn’t think about what comes after.]

Rimmer laughed, saying he had acted without thinking of the consequences.

“How did you know that Lady Siyan and Sir Stearin would be able to awaken?”

Raon let out a dry laugh.

“It’s impossible for you to grow after you died, right?”

I didn’t know whether Sterin needed more pure mana, or whether Siyan needed mental growth.

I couldn’t understand how Rimmer had known exactly what the two of them needed.

[I just had a feeling it would work.]

Rimmer grinned, saying it was like the feeling he had when instructing trainees at the fifth training ground. It was a ridiculous answer, but a typically Rimmer one.

“It’s fortunate that it turned out well, but it could have been dangerous.”

Raon nodded, his gaze frowning.

[You handled it well. I trusted you.]

Rimmer raised his thumb, saying he did it because he trusted Raon.

“Hah, I’m done cleaning up after you now, master.”

Raon brushed off the palm that still carried traces of wind.

“Seeing my body growing faint, it seems my time to leave has come.”

Seeing his hand gradually turn transparent, it seemed his time to leave this world, like Sterin and Siyan, had also come.

[Since you came in here too, you should take something with you.]

Rimmer approached with a smile.

“I won’t change much with this amount of mana.”

Raon shook his head at Rimmer. It wasn’t out of arrogance, he truly couldn’t achieve any great change with mana of this level.

[Not mana.]

Rimmer chuckled and reached his hand toward Raon’s head.

[You should take the reward for showing courage. Thank you, Raon.]

As Rimmer said thank you again and stroked Raon’s head, his previous life and past unfurled like a panorama.

A true soul opening. The souls of past and present life, once apart, began to connect into one life like thread and needle.

His life, his journey up to this point, like paints stirred with a brush, they gently blended together, adding new colors to the soul that was merging into one.

“Haah…”

Raon let go of all strength in his body as though water called the soul was filling it, and he closed his eyes.

More than ever before, with a body and heart at ease, he sank into the sea of awakening.

Fwaaah!

Fire, wind, frost, and the earth’s energy flared up around Raon, but instead of spreading outward, they seeped only into him.

Ziiiiiing!

Raon’s soul, body, and mana formed a deep resonance.

Essence, qi, and spirit. Into a realm already once completed, a new soul entered, beginning to form an even stronger fortress.

Whoooosh!

Rimmer, seeing that Raon had truly entered awakening, stepped back.

[Now that you’ve grown taller, even patting your head is hard. Anyway, you really are a disciple who needs a lot of looking after.]

He lowered the hand that had patted Raon and gave a faint laugh.

[Derus Robert and Raon the assassin, huh...]

Rimmer smacked his lips.

[There’s no choice but to leave now. Truly….]

*   *   *

“Haa…”

Raon exhaled the lingering heaviness in his chest and opened his eyes. The World Tree that spread greenness across the continent came into view, and the vibrant leaves swayed before his eyes.

‘How strange.’

He caught a leaf drifting across his chest in his hand and wore a faint smile.

‘I never imagined an enlightenment like this.’

In truth, I had never even considered the idea of entering another’s mental world, and I had thought that simply gaining a bit of aura would already be enough of a benefit.

But after telling Rimmer about my previous life, I had gained not just martial enlightenment but also enlightenment of the soul.

It was not merely that the level of my soul had risen, I could even say I had obtained a new power altogether.

‘Of course, it won’t show immediately.’

Even now, within my body the soul of my previous life and the soul of my present life were slowly harmonizing.

The things I had merely known were turning into enlightenment, and my true self was in the process of being completed.

‘The moment my true soul is completed…’

I might be able to use a higher realm Heart Sword.

Y-You, what did you go and do?

Wrath landed on Raon’s shoulder and opened his eyes wide.

Why is your soul twisted like that!

He grabbed Raon’s shoulder and shook him with a worried voice.

It doesn’t make sense! Your soul and body are in a state where it wouldn’t be strange if they shattered right now, so how are they mixing together so harmoniously.

‘I’ll tell you later. Everything.’

Since I had told Rimmer first, I found the courage to tell Wrath about my previous life too.

But since I wouldn’t say it right now, I told him to wait and lightly patted him on the head.

Hmm…

Though Wrath narrowed his eyes, clearly thinking this was no small matter, he still nodded, saying he would wait until I spoke.

“Haa…”

Raon looked up at the World Tree, feeling his invisible sword becoming sharper and more refined.

‘…Has he truly left?’

Rimmer’s presence was gone. The breeze no longer carried that refreshing yet gentle scent unique to that foolish elf.

Shhhh.

Raon bit down on his lip and spread his aura perception, but the wind that had always stroked his hair with warmth no longer blew.

It seemed Rimmer had given everything to awaken Sterin and Siyan as he planned, taken care of Raon, and then disappeared.

Even in the way he leaves, he’s Shitty Ears through and through.

Wrath, too, seemed to have sensed Rimmer’s disappearance and clicked his tongue.

‘That’s right.’

Raon calmly nodded his head. Before the end came, he had told Rimmer everything and received comfort, so now he had no regrets. He felt he could send him off with a smile.

‘May you go to a good place.’

I wished I could meet Rimmer again, but deep down I knew that was unlikely. All I could do was sincerely pray that he would truly go to a good place.

Raon lowered his trembling hand and turned around.

Whoooosh.

A gentle breeze different from Rimmer’s, brushed softly across his skin, and the figures waiting for him came into view.

Sterin, looking younger than when Raon first saw him, and Siyan, who had shed some childishness and now appeared more mature, stood before the many elves of Seipia.

Step.

Siyan approached with calm, golden eyes.

Her elegant bearing and absolute presence proved that she was truly the Protector of Seipia.

“I, Siyan, Protector of Seipia, hereby…”

Siyan, with gratitude in her eyes, bowed.

“I support Raon Zieghart as the successor of Zieghart.”

With her subdued proclamation, Sterin and the elves placed their left hands on their right shoulders, performing Seipia’s salute.

It was the final gift Rimmer had left behind.

 

Advance Chapters