The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1246

 Chapter 1246

 

“Runaan…?”

Raon stared at Karoon, eyes wide.

“What do you mean by that?”

Runaan, who was always half-asleep, was the quietest among the noisy swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace. In battle, she displayed swordsmanship more brilliant than anyone else, but she was someone who stayed quietly within the house, so he couldn’t imagine what could have happened to her.

“It wasn’t an official report, so I don’t know the details,” Karoon said, shaking his head. “But it seems she’s developed a problem with her sleep.”

He added that he hadn’t investigated thoroughly himself.

“Burren was very worried. He said that only by defeating Runaan with his own might could he stop her strange training, and he spent the entire day doing nothing but swinging his sword.”

Karoon closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, saying that Burren had been training with everything he had, for Runaan’s sake.

“After hearing that, I watched Runaan from a distance. Just like Burren said, she didn’t look well. Even after sleeping and waking up, she looked utterly exhausted. But…”

Karoon narrowed his eyes slightly, as if recalling the Runaan he’d seen before.

“Her might was real. She’s already at the level of a Transcender. With even the smallest trigger, no, even without one, I felt she could break through the wall of Transcendence by her own strength alone.”

He nodded, clearly impressed by Runaan’s might.

“…Hmm.”

Raon narrowed his eyes, recalling the last time he had seen Runaan.

‘She seemed fine back then.’

Before heading down to the first head’s training ground with grandfather, I had gathered the Light Wind swordsmen and explained the situation to them. I had spoken with Runaan then as well, and nothing had felt off.

‘No, maybe the time was too short for me to notice.’

Because I had to go down right away, there was not much time to have conversations with each Light Wind swordsman. With Runaan, I had only asked whether her training was going well. She could’ve been showing signs something was wrong, and I missed them.

Well, you’re hopelessly bad at picking up on things, after all.

Wrath snorted, saying it wouldn’t be strange for Raon to miss Runaan’s change.

‘I admit I’m bad at that, but you didn’t notice either.’

Raon wrinkled the bridge of his nose and looked at Wrath.

H-hmph! The King of Essence merely chose to observe, that’s all!

Wrath shook his head fiercely, acting as though he’d known everything from the start.

‘He says a demon king doesn’t lie, but now he lies every time he opens his mouth.’

Raon let out a deep sigh and lifted his head.

“I understand. Thank you for telling me.”

He gave Karoon a slight bow, grateful even though the matter didn’t directly concern him.

“Looking after members of the house is also part of the head of house’s duty. And…”

Karoon shook his head, his gaze calm.

“From now on, don’t bow or bend your waist. You are the acting head of house of Zieghart.”

He said that his earlier bow had been excessive, then turned away.

“…Then.”

After looking around the lord’s manor audience chamber, where he had lived almost as if it were his home for the past two months, Karoon bowed one last time and left.

“Huhuhu. No matter how many times I see it, it’s an astonishing change.”

Roenn let out a hearty laugh, clearly impressed by Karoon.

“I never thought that scheming young master would change like that either.”

Sheryl nodded thoughtfully, as if she too had been moved by the Karoon she’d seen over the past two months.

Hey.

Wrath placed a hand on Raon’s shoulder.

Why don’t you just hand the throne over to that Big Shitty Eyes?

He nudged Raon’s shoulder lightly, seeming to have taken a liking to Karoon.

Come to Devildom instead and try being a real king. It’s on a whole different level from this place!

Wrath smacked his lips, saying he’d personally back Raon if he became king of the Devildom instead of Zieghart.

‘I’ll think about that later…’

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the documents Karoon had left behind.

‘For now, I need to do what’s in front of me.’

What?

Lars raised an eyebrow.

The Ice Cream Girl might be in danger, and you’re saying you’re not going after her right now?!

He ground his teeth, saying Raon should be chasing the Light Wind Palace immediately instead of doing this.

‘Burren is the one leading the Light Wind Palace right now.’

Raon shook his head, recalling Burren’s face, so reminiscent of Karoon’s just moments ago.

‘Burren was also the one who told Karun about Runaan’s strange condition. If he decided to take Runaan with him, that means he believes he can handle it.’

I couldn’t shoulder everything about the Light Wind Palace forever. Burren, Martha, Runaan, and the other swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace were more than capable of dealing with any danger themselves.

‘So…’

Raon pressed his lips together slightly as he looked at the documents Karoon had left behind, along with the materials he needed to review as acting head of house.

‘I’ll do what I need to do right now.’

*   *   *

Puh-buh-buh-buh-boom!

The moment Karoon opened the doors to the Central Martial Palace, magical fireworks burst one after another above his head.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Palace master! Thank you for your hard work!”

“Welcome back!”

“We’ve been waiting for you!”

The Central Martial Palace swordsmen bowed deeply toward Karoon. Aside from those out on missions, it seemed everyone had gathered, the vast Central Martial Palace looked packed to the brim.

“Thank you.”

As if he had expected the Central Martial Palace swordsmen’s welcome, Karoon calmly nodded his head and accepted their greeting.

“Anything out of the ordinary?”

As if to say the welcome were enough, he waved a hand and motioned for the butler to speak.

“You were still keeping track of the Central Martial Palace’s affairs while serving as acting head of house, weren’t you?”

The head butler let out a small, dry chuckle as he looked at Karoon.

“There’s nothing worth singling out, so you don’t need to worry, Sir. Aside from the matters I’ve already been reporting to you regularly, there were no issues.”

“I see.”

Karoon slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.

“Hearing that makes it feel real. That my duties as acting head of house are over.”

He let out a heavy breath, finally feeling the weight of the position leave his shoulders.

“I need to prepare. I’ll be heading to the underground training ground where the head of house is tomorrow.”

Saying there was much to prepare,, Karoon turned toward his private training ground.

“Palace master! Don’t worry!”

“Yes! You’ll definitely become the successor!”

“We’ll do whatever it takes to make you head of house!”

“Even the residents are praising your leadership!”

“Let’s just start calling you head of house from now on! They say words become seeds, don’t they?”

The Central Martial Palace swordsmen looked at Karoon with unwavering eyes, as if they had no doubt he would ascend to the position of head of house.

“Don’t talk nonsense. That path isn’t so easy.”

Karoon shook his head as he looked at them.

“My opponent has reached a level that would be difficult for me to touch even if I trained my entire life. I’m starting from a losing position, so it may be impossible to reach that throne at all.”

He bit his lip slightly, recalling Raon’s gaze, along with the suffocating pressure of his overwhelming might.

“Ugh…”

“That’s…”

“Raon Zieghart…”

The Central Martial Palace swordsmen, too, fell silent, their shoulders trembling as they recalled Raon’s terrifying presence and overwhelming achievements.

“Still, don’t worry.”

Karoon let out a rare, light laugh as he looked at the tense faces before him.

“I haven’t given up. No, I have no intention of giving up.”

He jerked his chin toward the training ground as he turned away.

“Follow me. This path will lead straight to the golden throne.”

Leaving those words behind, Karoon did not look back and entered the training ground. Behind the path he walked, the massive roar of the swordsmen following him resounded.

Uoooooooh!

*   *   *

“Hoo…”

Raon set down the documents he had been reading and exhaled.

“That’s most of it.”

As he read through the documents Karoon had organized for him to read and the books listing the duties of the head of house, before he knew it, the positions of the sun and the moon had changed.

He thought he was fairly quick at handling work, but as expected, the duties of the head of house that supported such a massive house were on an entirely different level.

“Huhuhuhu!”

Roenn gave him a gentle, knowing smile, as if he’d read Raon’s thoughts.

“Don’t feel so pressured. For an acting head of house, you’re picking things up remarkably fast.”

He nodded, saying that Raon was grasping the work far more quickly than he’d expected.

“That’s true. You’re several hours faster than the previous acting head,”

Sheryl let out a dry laugh, saying she never imagined he would be faster than Karoon.

“Honestly, I didn’t think you’d finish reviewing all of those documents and materials today.”

She whistled softly while glancing at the pile of papers stacked neatly to Raon’s right.

“I prefer to deal with what needs to be done first.”

Raon shook his head after making sure even the last document was properly sorted.

“Then I suppose you’ll be going to see Runaan now.”

Sheryl smiled knowingly, as if she could see right through him.

“Taking care of those beneath you is also part of the head of house’s duties.”

She lifted the documents slightly and nodded, urging him to go.

“Huhuhuhu!”

Roenn also curled his lips into a smile, apparently expecting Raon to leave immediately.

“……”

Contrary to their expectations, Raon didn’t rise from the golden throne. Instead, he narrowed his eyes.

“Evelyn.”

Rather than heading off to find Runaan, he called Evelyn’s name from where he sat.

“Huh? You called me?”

As if she’d been waiting for it, Evelyn dropped her invisibility and popped out from the right side of the audience chamber.

“Whoa!”

“W-what the—!”

Roenn and Sheryl froze, mouths hanging open at her sudden appearance.

Kyaaaaaaah! Again! It’s her again! She popped out again!

Unlike the others, Wrath outright screamed in terror.

“How did you know I was here?”

Evelyn grinned, saying it felt like they were finally on the same wavelength.

"I just had a feeling you'd be around."

Raon gave a faint smile. He suspected she’d be watching, but he had also felt a tiny trace of her presence through his senses. It felt like his perception had leveled up after his time in the underground training ground.

“I knew it! We’re totally meant for each other! You’re the only one who really gets me, Raon!”

Evelyn clutched her throat, looking like she might die of happiness.

"Don't start that."

Raon waved his hand with a sigh.

“You know what’s happening to Runaan, don’t you?”

He lowered his chin slightly. If it was Evelyn, she would definitely be aware of Runaan’s change.

“Hmmm…”

Evelyn frowned, clearly displeased.

“I don’t like it when another woman’s name comes out of your mouth, Raon.”

She turned her head to the side, making it obvious she didn’t want to talk.

“Please.”

Raon looked at Evelyn with desperate eyes.

“Ugh…”

Evelyn scrunched up her nose as she met his gaze.

“You can’t look at me like that. I can’t say no when you do!”

She let out a long sigh, muttering about how unfair he was.

“Fine. That sleepyhead’s is under an ancient sorcery. It’s something monsters empowered by demonic power mainly used. It drags the chosen target into dreams, enthralls them in that world, and eventually turns them into a slave even in reality. A truly vile piece of sorcery.”

As if she knew exactly what kind of sorcery had been cast on Runaan, Evelyn explained it in detail.

“Dreams? A slave?”

Raon let out a breath of disbelief at the words he hadn’t expected.

“Yeah. Once you’re exposed to it, you stop wanting to live in reality and start wanting to live only in your dreams. No matter how much you sleep, you’re still exhausted, headaches and fatigue just keep getting worse. And even so, you still want to sleep, because the dream world is just that blissful.”

Evelyn brushed her hands off, clicking her tongue in disgust.

“It’s a high-level sorcery, so the materials alone cost a fortune, and there are hardly any sorcerers who can use it properly. Whoever did this must have been extremely desperate.”

She shook her head, saying that even she herself probably wouldn’t be able to use that sorcery.

“I see…”

Raon bit his lip as he ran a hand along the armrest of the throne.

How dare they!

Wraith swung his fist, looking ready to beat whoever had harmed Runaan to death.

‘I think I know who did it.’

He hadn’t even seen Runaan yet, and he’d only just heard the explanation, but he could already tell who was responsible.

‘I need to go.’

If his suspicion was right, Runaan was in real danger. This was something he needed to handle himself.

“Right now—”

Raon was just about to rise from the throne and step down from the platform.

“But something interesting happened.”

Evelyn raised a finger, eyeing his tense expression.

“That foul-mouthed girl came looking for me and asked how to save the sleepyhead. Said she’d do anything.”

She smacked her lips, as if recalling the desperation in Martha’s eyes.

“And?”

Raon tightened his grip on the armrest and looked up.

“I barely managed to make something and gave it to her. The price she paid was... quite favorable.”

Evelyn smiled as she rubbed her wrist.

“If things go well, they might be able to handle it themselves.”

She tilted her head, clearly amused.

“Or do you want to go yourself?”

She shrugged at Raon.

“It’ll take a bit of time, but it’s still way better than running there.”

She drew a small circle in the air with her finger, saying she couldn’t leave immediately, but it wouldn’t take long either.

“……”

Looking at Evelyn’s finger, Raon pictured the faces of Runaan and Martha, who used to fight like sworn enemies. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again and sat back down on the throne.

“Huh?”

“Acting head of house?”

Roenn and Sheryl stared at him, wide-eyed, as they watched him remain seated instead of moving.

Wh… what?

Even Wrath gaped at him in disbelief.

You… you’re really not going?

‘This time…’

Raon leaned back against the throne once more and picked up the remaining documents with a slightly trembling hand.

‘I’m going to trust them.’

 

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