The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1242

 Chapter 1242

 

“Reports indicate it wasn’t the Heavenly Demon nor Eden itself moved.”

Burren stroked his chin with his hands clasped behind his back.

“The head of house believes it was the work of a small number of demons who slipped out of the Heavenly Demon’s control.”

In a calm tone, he coldly explained the current situation.

“Because the witnesses were ordinary people, they could not accurately recognize what kind of helmets or masks the bastards were wearing. This mission is to investigate Birdnew village together with agents of the Shadow Agents in order to determine their identities.”

There was a commanding weight to Burren’s voice, one that pressed down on everyone listening. By now, he carried the dignity of someone who wouldn’t seem out of place leading an entire faction.

“However, there is a possibility that Eden is backing them from the shadows. Make sure you are thoroughly prepared for any scenario.”

Saying that they must be able to fight and win against Eden anytime and anywhere, Burren raised a fist tightly clenched before his chest.

“Yes!”

The Light Wind Palace swordsmen swallowed their dry saliva at the heavy energy wave emanating from Burren and raised their voices.

“We depart at dawn tomorrow.”

Lowering his hand, Burren slowly looked up at the sky as the sun sank toward the horizon.

“As I said earlier, our main mission is to escort the Shadow Agents’s agents, so complete the preparations appropriate for that and gather in front of the main building by dawn tomorrow.”

As if dismissing them, he moved to the edge of the platform and waved his hand.

“Yes!”

The swordsmen bowed their heads with respect toward Burren, who stood in the position of master of the Light Wind Palace in Raon’s stead.

“Damn those Eden bastards! Attacking a village under our affiliation!”

“We have to find them no matter what and smash those fucked-up helmets to pieces.”

“Damn straight! I’m going to plant the Zieghart flag right in their skulls!”

“Let them learn how terrifying Zieghart really is!”

“Seems like the Heavenly Demon isn’t all that, huh? Can’t even control his own subordinates!”

“Seriously. He’s basically advertising that he has no control over them.”

As they headed back to their quarters to pack their belongings, the Light Wind Palace swordsmen spat curses at the Heavenly Demon and Eden alike. Their clenched fists radiated sharp killing intent, as if they were itching to teach someone a brutal lesson.

“I did tell you to bring back something interesting, but…”

Martha bit her lip slightly as she looked up at Burren on the platform.

“I didn’t want to hear about an entire village being wiped out.”

She let out a sigh, as though old memories had surfaced.

“I’m not bringing missions for your amusement.”

Clicking his tongue at her, Burren stepped down from the platform.

“The report says not a single corpse was left intact. It feels like they did it on purpose, to provoke us.”

He frowned deeply, clearly pained by the fate of those who’d died in Birdnew.

“Those fucking vermin!”

Martha slammed her foot down in rage. She’d unconsciously used her aura, and the entire fifth training ground shook.

“N-not even a body left...?”

Dorian trembled at first, but once the reality of the villagers' brutal fate sank in, he began to grind his teeth loudly, letting his anger show.

“Yeah! That’s it! Get angry like that!”

Krein clapped Dorian on the shoulder again and again, telling him to pour all of that fury onto those Eden bastards.

“The masks and helemts… they don’t know…?”

Runaan stepped closer to Burren, her breath cold.

“Y-yeah.”

Burren nodded awkwardly, caught off guard by the icy stare in her eyes.

“Like I said, all the witnesses were civilians. They only saw the attackers from a distance, so they couldn’t identify the masks or helmets. But considering that even the warriors on watch were taken out without leaving a signal, they must’ve been strong.”

He relayed everything he knew from the report and from Karoon’s words.

“I see…”

Runaan nodded with a deathly pale face and stepped back. Her complexion was always fair, but now she looked like someone who’d never seen sunlight in her life.

“R-Runaan.”

Burren swallowed and called out to her.

“Are you really okay? If you’re not feeling well, maybe you should sit this mission out—”

He reached out, genuinely worried by how bad she looked.

“I’m fine…”

Runaan shook her head calmly.

“I’m… perfectly fine. No, better than ever.”

Despite her clearly unhealthy complexion and voice, she slowly lifted her head, insisting she was fine. As her hair slipped aside, her eyes were revealed, darkened, black as if stained by death itself.

“Uh…”

Burren’s jaw trembled as he stared at her face. He’d seen dark circles from exhaustion before, but he’d never seen someone’s eyelids darkened like that. It rattled him.

“I’m going too.”

Still insisting she was fine, Runaan gripped her Snow Flower Sword tightly. It looked like she’d draw it on the spot if anyone tried to leave her behind. Strangely enough, even though she looked worse than ever, her might felt stronger, more dangerous, than when she’d fought Martha before.

“But—”

“Let her.”

As Burren tried to stop Runaan, Martha stepped forward.

“She’s way more stubborn than she looks. And…”

Martha bit her lip slightly as she met Runaan’s clouded gaze.

“If she stays here like this, she might actually kick the bucket.”

She smacked her lips, saying that it might rather be better to bring her outside and let her at least get some air.

“…You’re probably right.”

Burren nodded heavily. As Martha said, if they left Runaan here alone, it really felt like something serious might happen.

“Hey.”

Martha waved at Runaan.

“Hurry up and go pack your stuff. And….”

She leaned forward with one hand on her hip.

“Stop sleeping so much. It seems like it would be better for you not to sleep.”

She frowned deeply as she said it.

“……”

Runaan quietly studied Martha’s face. Despite her twisted expression, the concern she was trying, and failing, to hide was unmistakable.

“Okay…”

Unlike Martha, she gave a half-hearted nod, then turned her back and left the training ground as she was.

“Runaan looks worse than I thought…”

Burren gnawed at his lip as he watched her go.

“Y- Y-yeah. It’s been a while since I saw Lady Runaan’s face up close, but I didn’t think it’d be that bad…”

Krein scratched his cheek nervously.

“N-no, it’s not just her face. Her mind’s in way worse shape…”

Dorian said her mind was far more damaged than her appearance, his jaw trembling.

“I-I think this is something Sir Raon has to step in and fix.”

Letting out a rough breath, he said he didn’t know what to do.

“No!”

Martha shook her head sharply.

“We don’t know when Raon will be back, we can't just wait! We have to learn to solve things without him now!”

She placed her hand on her sword, telling them to stop relying on Raon for everything.

“This time, I’ll handle it. That girl is…”

Martha clenched her lips tightly as she looked at the training ground door, which had turned pale as if frozen after Runaan left.

“My friend.”

*   *   *

“Haaah…”

Runaan entered her room and let out a shallow breath. As usual, she moved to lie down immediately. then paused.

“Don’t sleep…?”

Martha had told her not to sleep this time, her face twisted with anger. Runaan couldn’t understand what she’d meant.

“Why…?”

She walked slowly to the vanity in front of the bed. The lights were off, but the sun hadn’t fully set yet, so the mirror was still clear.

“Why, exactly…?”

The Runaan reflected in the mirror had corpse-like pale skin. The shadows under her eyes and across her eyelids were pitch-black, and her lips had turned a dull gray.

She looked closer to death than a centenarian, but she tilted her head, as if nothing seemed strange.

“I look better than usual…?”

She murmured that her skin actually seemed better than before, gently rubbing her roughened cheeks with both hands.

“Yeah. I really should sleep…”

As if thinking Martha’s advice was wrong, she nodded her head and headed back to the bed.

“Haa…”

She tossed aside even Snow Flower Sword, the beloved sword she always held close, and collapsed onto the bed without another thought.

As always, the moment her head touched the pillow, she fell into a dream world different from reality.

“Mmm…”

When Runaan slowly opened her eyes, she found herself before a fountain lavishly adorned with countless statues. She walked closer and leaned in, letting her reflection surface in the water.

Skin soft like a baby’s and white like jade, eyes without a single dark shadow, and lips red like a fully ripened apple. Even she had to admire the face staring back at her.

“Mhm.”

Runaan gently curved her lips into a soft smile. Unlike in reality, in this world she wore the most beautiful smile of all.

“I knew it… I’m fine.”

She nodded in satisfaction, pleased with her face and her smile—

“Runaan!”

From behind the lake, Raon of the dream world came running out.

“Raon…”

Runaan lifted her hand and waved at him with a bright, refreshing smile, nothing like the one she wore in reality.

“It’s almost time.”

Raon crossed the lake and stopped in front of her.

“Time for what...?”

Runaan tilted her head, not quite understanding.

“The day we meet in reality!”

Raon clasped both of her hands tightly, saying that not just in this dream, but soon, they would meet in the real world as well.

“You’re coming out of seclusion?”

Runaan smiled as if that were good news and nodded her head.

“……”

Raon didn’t answer. Instead, he opened his arms and pulled Runaan into an embrace.

“I’ll never let you go again.”

“Ah… okay…”

Runaan nodded awkwardly, her face flushing red.

“Never.”

Raon whispered the word coldly, as if once wasn't enough.

Sssssssss!

The face Runaan couldn’t see was twisted into something spine-chilling, shadowed, warped, and unmistakably malicious.

*   *   *

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Drops of red blood fell one by one from Glenn’s sleeve. He lifted his left hand and looked down at the small cut on the back of it.

“Hmm.”

The wound was so tiny it would vanish with a mere touch, yet Glenn examined it with visible surprise, letting out a low murmur.

“Even if my true might is suppressed within this training ground, I never once let my guard down.”

He nodded slowly, the corner of his lips lifting.

“Impressive.”

As he spoke, he clapped his hands together, the same hand still stained with blood.

“Huff… huff…”

The one receiving that praise lay sprawled flat across the training ground, gasping for breath mixed with blood.

“Th-thank you…”

Raon barely managed to lift his head to look at Glenn. Blood streamed from his entire body, his stamina was completely spent. He panted like someone on the brink of death.

“But... I’m not done yet... Ugh!”

Raon tried to push himself up again, only to collapse forward. Blood pooled beneath him, soaking into the sand of the training ground.

“You’re relentless.”

Glenn let out a dry chuckle as he looked at Raon’s fingers, still gripping his sword even now. If the word relentless existed for anyone, it was for his grandson.

“I-I can still do more…”

Raon blinked as he spoke, insisting he wasn’t done, yet his body, having already poured out every last ounce of strength, refused to move any further.

“When you first came here, you said you wanted to be of help to me.”

Glenn calmly nodded as he looked at the cut on his hand, which still hadn’t stopped bleeding.

“Your fighting spirit, no, sparring with you, was an immense help to me. Thanks to you, I feel as though I’ve regained my prime. No… surpassed it.”

He brushed the blood from the back of his hand, saying he’d gained far more than he’d hoped for.

“I could defeat the Heavenly Demon without much trouble now.”

Glenn smiled faintly, confidence settling into his expression.

“Then…”

“Go up.”

He pointed upward as he looked down at Raon, who was still twitching on the ground.

“It’s time for you to take on the role of head of house.”

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