The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1259

 Chapter 1259

 

“S-Sir Raon is the acting head of house?”

Dorian was the first to react to Illiune’s words, springing forward.

“Has it already changed?”

He blinked, as if it felt faster than he’d expected.

“It’s not ‘already,’”
Trevin said as he slowly uncrossed his arms.
“Hasn’t it been over two months since the palace master went into seclusion with the head of house? It’s about time for the change.”

He nodded, as though Raon had come out at an appropriate moment.

“I wonder how much he’s changed….”

Mark Goetten curved his lips into a faint smile, anticipation flickering in his eyes.

“Ugh… why did it have to be him….”

Krein clutched his head, his jaw trembling as if the thought of meeting Raon as head of house genuinely terrified him.

“Sir Raon as head of house….”

“So it finally happened.”

“I’m excited… but also scared.”

The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace bit their dry lips, excitement and dread crashing together inside them.

Burren, Martha, and Runaan, however, reacted a little differently.

“Raon, huh….”

Burren let out a quiet sigh, already bracing himself for a scolding.

“Just looking at the results, it’s not bad. But I feel like we’re going to be stuffed to bursting with nagging.”

No one from the Light Wind Palace had died. Runaan had reached Transcendence. Syria Sullion and Eden’s demons had been completely wiped out. The outcome was good, but there had been many mistakes along the way. Burren was certain Raon wouldn’t let that slide.

“Obviously! We’re getting chewed out for at least an hour!”
Martha grumbled from atop Runaan’s back, gnashing her teeth.

“He’s definitely going to make us do a week of focus enhancement training afterward!”

She broke into a cold sweat just thinking about Raon’s hellish training.

“…….”

Runaan, meanwhile, was calmer than anyone else there. She knew exactly what she’d done wrong, and that certainty seemed to ease her heart instead of weighing it down.

“Your face looks good.”

Runaan wasn’t her usual gloomy self, she actually looked calm, and Martha smirked.

“If you were all mopey again, I was ready to kick your ass.”

She flicked her fingers, clearly pleased with how Runaan looked right now.

“I’m not a child anymore….”

Runaan nodded slowly, as if this incident had forced her to understand something fundamental.

“Alright! Let’s go! We’re all getting yelled at together anyway!”
Martha slapped Runaan on the back, urging her forward.

“Yeah….”

Runaan smacked her lips once and headed toward Zieghart’s main gate, which Illiune opened for them.

“Right. If we’re getting scolded, it should be together.”
Burren followed after her with a wry smile.

“Let’s hurry! I really want to see what Sir Raon looks like sitting on the throne!”
“I think I might start laughing without meaning to.”
“Same. We all remember what the palace master was like as a kid.”

The Light Wind Palace swordsmen entered Zieghart’s main gate, anticipation building at the thought of Raon seated as head of house.

"Their reactions are even more entertaining than I expected."

Illiune chuckled, saying it was worth telling them that Raon had become the acting head of house.

“But laugh… huh.”

The smile vanished from his face as he snorted at the swordsmen chatting away.

"I wonder if they'll even be able to breathe, let alone laugh."

*   *   *

“Ugh….”

Burren couldn’t even bring himself to raise his head. His lips trembled as he stared at the red carpet spread across the audience chamber.

‘It’s… different….’

It was hard just to breathe.

The person sitting on the throne, looking down at him, was Raon Zieghart.

He’d watched Raon grow up. No matter how much Raon’s status had changed, Burren had thought it would still feel familiar.

He’d been dead wrong.

The Raon before him now was releasing an energy wave so immense it rivaled, perhaps even surpassed, his father Karoon’s, and felt frighteningly close to that of Glenn, the true head of house Zieghart.

“Ghk!”

Martha couldn’t meet Raon’s gaze either, clenching her jaw so hard it felt like her teeth might shatter.

‘What happened during his seclusion? Or is there something about that throne?’

She’d expected anger. She’d expected a harsh reprimand. But she hadn’t expected this, this overwhelming pressure that crushed them in place. The sheer gap between them made it impossible to move even a finger.

“Hngh….”

“Ah—!”

The weaker swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace went pale, on the verge of passing out under the weight of it.

“Speak.”

Just as they were about to foam at the mouth and suffocate, Raon finally opened his lips.

“About this mission. And what happened before it.”

He deliberately suppressed the overwhelming energy wave pressing down on the chamber and quietly lowered his gaze.

“Ha….”

Burren let out a weak breath when he met Raon’s lowered eyes.

‘So he already knew.’

From Raon’s reaction, it was clear he knew everything that had happened up to now. Burren had never planned to lie, and now there was no choice but to tell the whole truth.

“Ghh….”

Martha’s shoulders trembled under Raon’s energy wave as she narrowed her eyes.

‘I should be the one to speak.’

It would be hard for Runaan to confess her own mistakes, and Burren didn’t know everything. She decided it was her responsibility to step up.

“Hoo….”

“Hah!”

Just as Burren and Martha were about to force words through their lips—

“I will speak….”

Runaan straightened herself and stepped forward. She’d clearly pushed her injured body too far, a thin line of red trickled from beneath her lip.

“…….”

Raon gave a brief nod, his cold eyes telling her to continue.

“It started with a dream. Ever since I stayed at the main house of House Sullion, I began having strange dreams. I became more immersed in them than in reality….”

Runaan laid out everything that had happened, hiding nothing as she spoke before Raon.

“…Thanks to the Rakshasa Squad leader and the vice palace master waking me, I reached Transcendence and opened my sword field, which allowed me to kill Syria Sullion….”

Even as she spoke of that tremendous achievement, her expression twisted as though she’d committed a grave sin.

“I…In the end, we… finished the battle without major casualties.”

Burren raised his hand as if trying to help Runaan.

“R-right! I mean, yes, that’s right!”
Martha almost spoke casually to Raon out of habit, then hurriedly corrected herself.

“Thanks to the Full Moon Squad leader’s enlightenment, we were able to survive.”

She nodded as well, clearly wanting to shield Runaan.

“…….”

Raon said nothing, his steady gaze passing over Burren and Martha in turn.

“No.”

Runaan shook her head, exhaling softly.

“I was consumed by the desire to become stronger. Even knowing something was wrong with my sleep, I kept choosing to sleep anyway.”

She didn’t hesitate or deflect, and calmly stated exactly what she had done wrong.

“The authority of <Sloth> gave me explosive growth and tremendous might, but more than that, it drove me into an obsession with sleep.”

She clenched her fist, which still overflowed with power.

“That, too, was my immaturity. If I lacked the power to overcome <Sloth>, I shouldn’t have clung to it excessively. Instead, I fixated on sleep alone and fell far too easily into Syria Sullion’s scheme.”

The wall of Transcendence. Becoming the first to reach that realm after Raon. Ignoring the warnings of her body and soul out of desire. None of it could be excused.

“The vice palace master, the Rakshasa Squad leader, and the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace all tried to help me. But I rejected their concern and obsessed only over sleep and power. This incident is entirely my fault.”

Ignoring the fact that she’d crossed the wall of Transcendence, opened her sword field, and killed Syria Sullion, Runaan focused solely on the mistake that had nearly put the Light Wind Palace in danger. She knelt on the blood-red carpet and bowed her head in apology.

“Runaan….”

“You….”

Burren and Martha stared at her wide-eyed, stunned that she would lower herself this far.

“I see.”

Raon gave a small nod while looking at the dark circles beneath Runaan’s eyes that had not yet faded.

“The Full Moon Squad leader’s mistake is clear. As you said yourself, you failed to trust companions you’ve fought alongside for a long time, fell for empty, illusory power, and put everyone in danger. You did overcome that crisis by killing Syrian Sullion, but even that wasn’t something you achieved alone. You had your comrades’ help.”

There wasn’t the slightest warmth in his voice as he calmly laid out Runaan’s mistakes.

“……”

Runaan remained kneeling just as she had been from the start, as though she had nothing to say in response to his words.

“The Light Wind vice palace master and the Rakshasa Squad leader aren’t without fault either. If the Full Moon Squad leader was clearly not herself, and the problem was beyond what you could handle yourselves, you should have sought help from others. Instead, you stopped there, overconfident that the two of you could resolve it on your own. That was excessive faith in yourselves.”

Raon turned that same cold reprimand toward Burren and Martha, pointing out that trusting Runaan, and themselves, too much had also been a problem.

“I’m sorry.”

“Ugh….”

Burren lowered his head immediately, clearly at a loss for words, while Martha struck her own cheek with her fist, angry at herself.

“The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace are no different. Even though you all knew about the Full Moon Squad leader’s change, leaving everything to the vice palace master and the Rakshasa Squad leader and pretending not to notice was not a good choice. Even if stepping in directly was difficult, you could have raised concerns or offered your opinions. In that sense, you too bear responsibility.”

“Hnmmh…!”

“That’s—”

“Haaah….”

The Light Wind Palace swordsmen couldn’t refute his words. They could only sigh, fidgeting with their fingers.

“Of course, that was the matter of faults, achievements should be addressed separately.”

Raon lifted the hand that had been resting on the armrest of the throne.

“The Full Moon Squad leader pronounced a death from which there could be no return upon the Evil Goat Demon. Syria Sullion was a vile and tenacious man, if he’d been left alone, he would have caused immense damage across the entire continent, so killing him can only be counted as a significant achievement. On top of that, she reached Transcendence and even opened her sword field, which will be a great asset in the coming war against Eden. When all of that is taken together, her merits outweigh her faults.”

He nodded calmly, saying that when one considered not only what Runaan had done this time, but also her future, her accomplishments surpassed her mistakes.

“Next, the Light Wind vice palace master and the Rakshasa Squad leader. In trying to persuade the Full Moon Squad leader, you realized your own lack of might and threw yourselves into personal training, even cutting back on sleep, achieving clear growth as a result. The opportunity for the Full Moon Squad leader to reach Transcendence also came from your efforts, so your contribution is by no means small.”

Raon briefly closed his eyes, then opened them again, acknowledging Burren and Martha’s role in awakening Runaan as a concrete achievement.

“Therefore.”

As he gathered in the chilling presence that had been quietly blooming around him, Raon revealed calm, steady eyes.

“I will neither punish the Light Wind Palace for its faults nor reward it for its merits. Instead, I want all of you to reflect on what you could have done differently to bring about a better outcome.”

Rather than rewards or punishments, he deliberately gave the entire Light Wind Palace an opportunity to reflect on their actions and grow stronger because of it.

“Th-thank you.”

“Thank you!”

Burren bowed first, and the other Light Wind Palace swordsmen followed, lowering their heads together.

“Thank you….”

Runaan held Raon’s gaze for a long moment before bowing her head again.

“Then we’ll take our leave.”

Burren let out a short breath and began to rise—

“No.”

Raon spread his palm, his eyes turning cold and sharp.

“What we’ve discussed so far is everything up to Syrian Sullion’s death. There’s more after that.”

He told the Light Wind Palace swordsmen to wait, then snapped his fingers.

Snap!

With a sharp crack like a walnut splitting, Sheryl dragged a thick-robed, pig-nosed man out from behind the throne, while from the door on the left, Roenn carefully led in several children who still looked very young.

“That man is—huh!”

Burren recognized the pig-nosed man and froze, his mouth falling open.

“Ah….”

Runaan’s thin jaw trembled as she stared in shock at the children she had seen in the dream world now standing before her.

“W-who are they?”

Martha blinked blankly, clearly having no idea what was going on.

“This one is the Bear Alteration Demon, who acted on Syrian Sullion’s orders and placed the dream-illusion sorcery on the Full Moon Squad leader. Those children were kidnapped by the Bear Alteration Demon and used as pillars of the dream sorcery to lure Runaan into the dream world.”

Raon personally introduced the Bear Alteration Demon and the children.

“T-to think he was still alive….”

Burren swallowed hard, disbelief written all over his face.

“Mmhh….”

Runaan let out a dull groan as well, likely remembering that she’d never confirmed The Bear Alteration Demon’s death.

“Killing Syrian Sullion doesn’t mean all of his subordinates die with him. You should have confirmed and dealt with the enemy’s fate to the very end, but you didn’t. Because you let the Bear Alteration Demon escape, those children nearly became sacrifices forced to wear Eden’s masks.”

Raon dipped his chin heavily, saying that if the Bear Alteration Demon had fled while alive, every one of those children could have been offered up as sacrifices to Eden.

“In other words, you were intoxicated by victory and nearly caused even more people to be sacrificed.”

His voice was colder and more merciless than before as he pointed out the Light Wind Palace’s mistake.

“I-I’m sorry….”

Burren slammed his head to the floor, unable to say anything else.

“This is my fault. I focused only on Syrian Sullion—”

Runaan bit down on her dry lips until they bled, the shock hitting her harder because she’d known those children existed.

“Haa….”

Martha lowered her eyes, having been unconscious at the time and seemingly unable to say anything.

“I… I was there too.”

“I just assumed he was dead.”

“To think we’d make such a mistake….”

The other Light Wind Palace swordsmen also sighed, admitting they hadn’t confirmed the Bear Alteration Demon’s body either.

“D-does that mean the acting head of house had been watching everything from the beginning?”

Dorian’s fingers trembled as he realized Raon had known it all from the start.

“……”

Raon didn’t answer. He rose from the throne.

Towering in height, with a presence even greater than his frame, he unleashed an absolute, godlike energy wave and gazed down heavily at the Light Wind Palace, the comrades he had spent his life with.

Rumble!

The Light Wind Palace swordsmen couldn’t even raise their heads under the terrifying presence Raon emanated. They could only stare at the floor.

“If you want to rest, you may. But right now, there’s a chance in front of you to make up for this mistake.”

Raon turned a cold smile toward the Bear Alteration Demon, who was trembling in fear.

“An eye for an eye. Blood for blood. Eden made Zieghart bleed, so it’s only right we repay them in kind.”

Red lightning flashed above his eyes as he let out a chilling voice, like a blade pressed against a throat.

“Follow me.”

 

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