The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1238

 Chapter 1238

 

Kuuuuung!

Martha stomped hard on the ground in the empty training ground of the Wise Martial Palace. One kick wasn’t enough to vent her frustration, she lashed out again and again, pounding the earth until violent tremors rippled through it.

“Damn it!”

Even that wasn’t enough. She hurled curses at the sky and swung her fists wildly.

“Shit!”

At the fifth training ground, she’d brushed it off and acted like nothing was wrong, but there was no way she could so easily swallow such a crushing defeat.

And losing to Runaan, whom she’d always thought was just a step behind her, only made her blood boil even more.

But the biggest reason she was angry wasn’t the loss itself.

‘I wanted to help her…’

But there’s nothing I can do.

Runaan was clearly going through something hard right now. Martha didn’t know what it was, but seeing dark circles under that sleepyhead’s eyes, seeing her so worn down, was incredibly rare.

She wanted to defeat Runaan with the might she had trained day and night, and then say she would help her, but instead, she’d lost by such a wide margin that even someone as action-oriented as Martha couldn’t bring herself to say anything at all.

“Now that I think about it, maybe the gap is natural….”

Unlike me, who had obtained the authority of envy only recently, Runaan had been the first to receive the authority of sloth and had been training with it.

According to Raon, Runaan’s compatibility with Sloth was at the Demon King level, and since she had received it much earlier than me, it wasn’t strange that a gap like this had formed.

“But even so…”

Martha clenched her teeth and drew her sword.

“I don’t want to fall behind like this!”

It seemed my competitive spirit, the very thing that made me worthy of the authority of envy, was paying off, despite suffering an overwhelming defeat, I didn’t want to give up like this. Somehow, I wanted to catch up and defeat Runaan.

“Hraaaaaah!”

With a shout powerful enough to make the sky quake, Martha swung her sword. The techniques she hadn’t been able to use against Runaan poured out one after another, shaking the training ground with violent force.

She didn’t know it at all, but setting a clear rival and burning with competitive spirit had a great effect in stimulating the authority of envy.

Sssss—

It was while Martha was slowly letting the authority of envy embedded in her soul bloom and was swinging her sword like a madwoman. The door to the training ground opened carefully, and a black-haired, black-eyed beauty who looked exactly like her entered.

It was Elena, Martha’s mother, whose body had once been stolen by the White Blood Religion’s leader.

“Huff…”

Unaware of Elena’s arrival, Martha continued her sword practice, half training, half venting, for nearly an hour before finally spinning her sword to a stop.

“Huh? M-Mom?!”

Only then did she notice Elena and widen her eyes.

“Looks like you had a rough day.”

Elena walked carefully across the ravaged floor, smiling faintly.

“It’s already dinner time, and you didn’t come back, so I came to get you.”

She nodded, as if to say she’d been waiting.

“S-Sorry. Something made me a little angry.”

As if embarrassed that she had vented her emotions in front of Elena, Martha scratched the back of her head.

“That can happen. Rather, it’s admirable that you didn’t explode in front of others and instead swallowed it down on your own.”

Elena tightly held Martha’s hand, saying that the way she had grown more mature was very nice to see

“Ugh…”

Feeling the boiling emotions inside her finally cool at Elena’s gentle words, Martha scratched her cheek awkwardly.

“So what happened? Tell your mom.”

Still holding Martha’s hand, Elena plopped down beside her on the training ground floor.

“Well…”

Martha glanced aside for a moment, then met Elena’s eyes and told her everything that had happened in the fifth training ground that day.

“I see. Runaan…”

Elena, while surprised that Runaan, who had appeared to be nothing more than cute and guileless, was strong enough to lightly defeat her daughter, nodded calmly.

“When a companion you thought was walking alongside you goes ahead, it’s understandable to feel anxious. But….”

She smiled softly and patted Martha’s back.

“To this mom, her daughter looks even more impressive than Runaan.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Martha tilted her head, clearly confused.

“Just as you said, even after suffering an overwhelming defeat, you thought of your friend first and spoke words of concern for her, that’s admirable. There aren’t many people with such a broad heart.”

Elena smiled gently, saying she’d seen Martha in a new light today.

“That’s not it! And she’s not even my friend! None of that!”

Martha shook her head furiously, her face turning red at the praise.

“I see.”

Elena kept smiling, as if she understood Martha’s feelings perfectly.

“Ugh…”

Martha let out a groan, looking at her mother.

“I’m not eating dinner tonight! I’m just going to keep training!”

She sprang back to her feet, declaring she’d rather eat dust in the training ground than dinner.

“Alright. Sometimes that’s fine too.”

Elena nodded calmly, seeming to think it was good to give her some time alone.

“Though… your sword balance looked a bit off. In the first form, put more strength into your left leg, and in the second form, it’s better to bend your lower body a bit more. You’re also trying to move your aura too broadly, which is actually slowing you down. As for the third form…”

She rattled off detailed advice about Martha’s swordsmanship and movement, as if she’d been closely observing the whole time.

“Uh… Mom?”

Martha blinked her eyes blankly. She had no idea what her mother, who had never learned martial arts, was talking about right now.

“Oh my! Without realizing it.”

Elena lightly tapped her lips, as if she had made a mistake herself, and stepped back.

“Don’t mind it. It’s just how it looked to me.”

She waved her hand with an awkward smile and left the training ground.

“What was that…?”

Martha tilted her head while recalling the words Elena had said. For advice from a mother who had never even held a sword, it was strangely detailed and precise.

“Should I try it?”

Following Elena’s words and trying it wasn’t difficult, and since there was nothing to lose, she decided to try it once.

Chiaaang!

Martha recalled Elena’s advice and, in the first form, put strength into her left leg as she executed the sword technique, in the second form, she lowered her lower body, and in the third form, she rotated the wrist holding the sword a little more.

Huuuuuk!

She had only changed her posture slightly, but the power of the sword technique changed sharply. She could feel the heaviness and speed she had wanted at the same time.

‘On top of that….’

Instead of moving all her aura at once, splitting it into two stages made it easier, and faster, to control shifts in power.

“Hah!”

Martha let out a disbelieving breath as she stared at the door Elena had exited through.

“Mom. Just what….”

*   *   *

“So, what do you want to do today?”

Raon held Runaan’s hand, a deep smile on his face. Unlike his usual self, this smile looked a bit greasy, a little too smooth.

“Um…”

Runaan stared blankly at his face, then lowered her chin slightly.

“I want to train…”

She blinked, saying she wanted to swing her sword even in her dreams.

“Train?”

Raon’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah… Martha’s gotten really strong…”

Runaan briefly smacked her lips as she recalled the spar she had had with Martha today.

“I also… want to become stronger….”

As if she had felt many things through the spar with Martha, she clenched her fist, saying she wanted to grow stronger.

“Hmmm…”

Raon crossed his arms and curled his lips.

“I worked really hard to prepare some fun things for us, but if you want to train, I guess it can’t be helped.”

He squinted one eye, looking genuinely disappointed.

“Fun things…?”

Runaan tilted her head, curiosity piqued.

“Yeah. I prepared a new kind of bead ice cream, and I even built something that can take us up into the sky so we can look down over the whole village. And then…”

Raon went on about the ice cream, food, and attractions he’d prepared with the villagers just for her. He kept smiling the whole time, but strangely, there was a faint, unfamiliar sweetness to his expression that wasn’t usually there.

“Mmm…”

Runaan seemed oblivious to the overly sweet smile on Raon’s face, rubbing her chin as she sank into thought.

“But still, for now….”

It was just as she was about to say that she wouldn’t give in and would go train.

“I’ll stay with you.”

Raon squeezed her hand firmly as he said he’d stay by her side.

“Let’s enjoy ourselves first. We can train after that. We’ve got plenty of time together.”

He smiled softly, saying they could train together after she loosened up first.

“Ah…”

Runaan stared blankly at his smile, then slowly parted her lips.

“Okay… if that’s what you say, Raon…”

She knew that the real Raon would never put training off, but since this was a dream, she didn’t notice the difference and simply nodded.

“Shall we start with the flower crown the children made for you?”

Holding her hand, Raon led Runaan toward the flower garden.

“Big sister! Why are you so late!”

“Big sister! Hurry over here!”

The children who had been playing at the flower garden waved their hands at Runaan with bright smiles.

“Big sister! Try this on!”

“We worked really hard to make it for you!”

They held out a crown woven with colorful flowers, gesturing for her to put it on.

“Thank you…”

With slightly trembling hands, Runaan took the flower crown. Just imagining the children making it with their tiny hands made it feel both adorable and precious.

“Put it on.”

Raon nodded, saying it would suit her.

“Okay…”

Runaan placed the crown, still warm with the children’s touch, on her head.

“How is it…?”

Unlike in reality, she looked at Raon with a soft, gentle smile.

“You’re beautiful. It suits you perfectly.”

Raon, too, spoke without hesitation words he could not easily say in reality, and smiled softly.

“We really worked hard on it!”

“Yeah. I’m glad it suits you.”

The children beamed and nodded enthusiastically. Their hands were rough and swollen from dirt and flowers, proof of how much effort they’d put in.

“You guys…”

Runaan held their hands, lightly biting her lip.

“Runaan. Let’s go get some bead ice cream next.”

Raon placed a hand on her shoulder, eager to move on to the next thing.

“Huh? Then what about the kids…?”

Runaan blinked, feeling a slight tremor in one child’s hand.

“It’s okay. The children already ate.”

Raon shook his chin, saying he had taken care of the children first.

“That’s right!”

“We ate a lot already!”

The children quickly let go of Runaan’s hands and nodded, urging her to go.

“Really…?”

Only after hearing that did Runaan turn away.

“Let’s go.”

Raon took her hand again and headed toward the bead ice cream shop.

The shop in this village was several times larger than the ones in Zieghart or even Cameloon. Calling it the biggest on the continent wouldn’t have been an exaggeration.

“Wow…”

Runaan gasped as she looked at the bead ice cream filling the shop. For someone whose emotions rarely showed, it was a truly rare reaction.

“Pick whatever you want.”

Raon nodded broadly, as if he’d buy her anything.

“Okay!”

A faint blush spread across Runaan’s pale cheeks as she examined the display case one by one. She seemed genuinely happy, wiggling her fingers and toes without realizing it.

“……”

From behind her, Raon watched her reflection in the glass. His gaze was gentle, yet there was something faintly unsettling lurking beneath it.

“How many…?”

“Pick as many as you like. I told you.”

Raon pulled out a pouch of gold coins, telling her to choose anything she wanted.

“Mmhhm…”

More pleased by Raon’s reaction than the ice cream itself, Runaan smiled even more brightly and began choosing.

After that, she rode attractions with Raon, wandered around the village, and enjoyed delicious food, spending a wonderful day with him.

The warmth transmitted from Raon’s hand made her completely forget the thought that she should train, a thought that had arisen from seeing Martha’s fighting spirit.

“It’s time to go now.”

Raon released Runaan’s hand, which he’d been holding all day, and nodded softly.

“Yeah…”

Runaan let out a murky breath, sounding disappointed.

“Don’t worry. We’ll meet again. And…”

Raon nodded calmly, saying they’d keep seeing each other.

"Later on, we will never be apart."

He clenched his fist, as if making a vow to always stay with her.

“Mmhhm…”

Runaan smiled faintly, clearly happy.

“Then…”

As Raon waved goodbye, Runaan felt the world begin to sway and slowly closed her eyes.

“Hah!”

When Runaan opened her eyes again, she saw her own room where she had fallen asleep without even changing her clothes.

“What…?”

She knew she’d had a long dream, but she couldn’t remember what it had been about at all.

No matter how hard she tried to think, not even a speck of memory surfaced.

It was definitely a happy dream, one of those rare, pleasant dreams that felt like she’d done nothing but sleep, but the fact that she couldn’t recall any of it left her strangely frustrated.

And it wasn’t just the dream.

“Yesterday… what happened yesterday…?”

Not only the dream, but even the things that had happened in reality yesterday were hazy.

“I was definitely at the training ground…”

Runaan clutched her head, trying to recall what had happened in reality.

“I trained…”

Runaan completely forgot that she had sparred with Martha at full strength and that she had been moved by her words, and ended her recollection by remembering it only as having trained.

“Haa…”

Runaan raised her body while looking at the faint sunlight breaking over the window. She grabbed the Snow Flower Sword draped over the bed and let out a rough breath.

“I’m tired…”

As she walked toward the door, her reflection appeared in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes had deepened, yet a faint smile lingered on her lips.

“I want to sleep again…”

 

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