The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1247

 Chapter 1247

 

“I’ll do what needs to be done as the acting head of house.”

Raon nodded as he placed the remaining documents on the desk before the throne.

“Good call!”

Evelyn smiled brightly and nodded along.

“Those kids need to learn how to stand on their own now.”

She clapped her hands in approval, clearly convinced Raon had made the right choice.

You crazy bastard!

Wrath screamed at the top of his lungs.

They’re still nowhere near ready! And isn’t the Ice Cream Girl cursed by sorcery right now? Maybe normally it’d be one thing, but in a dangerous time like this, they need help!

He grabbed Raon by the collar and shook him, demanding that he go help Runaan immediately.

“Hmm…”

Sheryl let out a low hum, running her fingers along her sharp jawline.

“I’m a little worried….”

Hearing Evelyn’s words, she frowned slightly, saying that she was worried about Runaan.

“I agree with the acting head of house.”

Roenn chuckled softly as he brushed his silver hair back.

“Growth only comes through crisis. This will be a great opportunity for them.”

Despite his gentle expression, he nodded firmly, treating this like a mandatory trial for the Light Wind Palace.

Among those present in the audience chamber, excluding Raon himself, opinions were split right down the middle. It wasn’t an easy call.

“I’ve already made my decision.”

Raon spoke without lifting his gaze from the documents.

“What matters most right now is proving that I’m qualified to serve as acting head of house.”

Of course he was worried about the Light Wind Palace swordsmen, saying otherwise would be a lie. Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to run after them right now. But this time, he wanted to trust in their strength, their experience, and the bonds they’d built with one another.

“If I had already met the minimum requirements for this position, it might be different, but I haven't. I will focus on my duties, and I expect you all to do the same.”

After making it clear he had no intention of changing his mind, Raon buried his face back in the documents. However, the white papers in his hand trembled as if a gust of wind had blown through.

Tch.

Wrath clicked his tongue in irritation.

Seriously, this stubborn bastard!

He shook his head, muttering that Raon never changed.

“If that’s what you say, then I suppose there’s no helping it.”

Sheryl shrugged and moved to stand behind Raon.

“I’ll carry out my duties as the acting head’s guard.”

She bowed her waist, saying she would follow Raon’s decision.

“Huhuhuhu.”

Roenn let out a warm laugh and stepped to Raon’s left.

“You made a difficult decision right from the start. This experience will surely be a great help, for you, and for the swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace as well.”

Nodding as if he thought it was a good decision, he gathered the documents Raon had processed into his arms.

“……”

Raon showed no reaction, fully absorbed in processing documents and reviewing reports.

“Focus on my own work, huh?”

Evelyn smacked her lips as she looked up at Raon on the platform.

“Alright. If that’s what you want…”

Noticing the slight tremble at Raon’s fingertips, she turned away.

“Then I’ll do what I want to do.”

Leaving those words behind, Evelyn vanished from the audience chamber in a flash of blue light.

*   *   *

“This is Birdnew village.”

After crossing a high hill, an investigator from the Shadow Agents raised a finger and pointed downward.

Below lay land blackened by ash. The outer walls that once protected the village had completely collapsed, half-destroyed buildings were smeared with blood, and thick smoke and stench filled the air, making it hard to breathe.

“A village…?”

Standing beside the investigator, Burren let out a hollow breath.

“This is supposed to be a village…?”

Staring at ruins that could no longer be called a village, he swallowed hard.

“I wish it weren’t true, but this is Birdnew village.”

The team leader of the Shadow Agents let out a deep sigh.

“As you’ve already heard, there are no survivors. The bodies were all burned to ash, and those who were still alive were burned with them.”

He ran a hand through his hair, saying that even with all the scenes he’d witnessed, something this horrific was rare.

“Those sick bastards!”

Martha spat out a curse as she looked over the charred ground of Birdnew village.

“I don’t think my anger would be satisfied even if I burned them alive the same way!”

She ground her teeth hard, as if the brutal massacre scene was being vividly drawn before her eyes.

“Eden were always like this.”

Krein’s shoulders trembled as if he could barely suppress his rage.

“They’re monsters who don’t even see people as human!”

He stomped his foot as if he would beat them to death on the spot if they were in front of him.

“Ugh…”

Dorian bent over, panting, as if he were feeling both nausea and sorrow at the unpleasant, foul smell of burned corpses.

“Eden…”

With her arms crossed, Runaan lifted her gaze slightly. Unlike usual, her eyes moved quickly, as if she were carefully examining the village’s condition.

“Damn it…”

“This is worse than I expected.”

“Even a battlefield isn’t this bad.”

“They’re not sane. How could anyone do this to ordinary people…?”

The Light Wind Palace swordsmen bit their lips until they bled, their fury toward Eden plain to see.

“Then we’ll begin the investigation.”

After bowing to Burren and asking for protection, the Shadow Agents’s team leader headed down into Birdnew village. The investigators of the Shadow Agents took out their respective equipment and followed behind him.

“Light Wind Palace will escort and protect the Shadow Agents investigators.”

Burren quickly regained his composure and issued orders to the swordsmen who were still shocked by the horrific state of Birdnew village.

“Yes!”

Following Burren’s command, the Light Wind Palace swordsmen split up into groups and moved together behind the Shadow Agents members who were investigating Birdnew village.

“I’m going too.”

Martha rolled her shoulders, scrunching up her nose.

“Standing here watching is driving me crazy. I need to move.”

She let out a heavy breath, needing some form of action to vent her boiling rage.

“Wait.”

Without taking his eyes off the scene, Burren raised a hand to stop her.

“There’s something I need you to do.”

He turned his gaze toward her, saying there was a separate task meant for her.

“What is it? I’m pissed right now, so get straight to the point.”

Martha stopped mid-step and told him to talk.

“The area behind Birdnew village borders our Zieghart territory. Check how the swordsmen guarding that border were killed.”

His eyes narrowed as he told her to confirm the deaths of the Zieghart swordsmen.

“In terms of might and circumstances, you’re the perfect fit.”

He nodded, saying she was the only one who could handle it right now.

“The border, huh…”

Instead of replying immediately, Martha turned her gaze to Runaan on the right.

“……”

Runaan stood silently with a hand resting on her sword. White frost bloomed around her like flower petals, freezing the ground beneath her feet, proof of how deeply enraged she was.

“Yeah… that needs looking into too.”

Martha nodded, though she clearly hated leaving Runaan alone in this state.

“Alright. I’ll be back soon. But…”

She trailed off, looking at Runaan again.

“Don’t worry.”

Burren waved his hand lightly.

“I’ll keep things under control while you’re gone.”

He dipped his chin with quiet confidence.

“You’ve changed a bit.”

Martha smirked and nodded.

“Alright then. I’m off.”

She waved quickly and disappeared into the forest behind them.

“Haa…”

Martha let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Trouble on every front.”

An Eden attack could come at any moment from the outside, and on the inside, Runaan felt like a fuse burning down with no warning. The pressure from both sides gnawed at her. She just wanted to finish the investigation quickly and get back.

Paaaang!

She pushed her footwork to the limit, tearing through the forest toward the Zieghart border. She had been here a few times on patrol, so the path was familiar.

“It should be right around... huh?”

She stopped near what looked like a barrier and scanned her surroundings. Then the stench hit her, rotting corpses. Her stomach lurched in reflex.

“Ugh…”

Biting her lip, Martha followed the source of the smell, and her eyes flew wide open.

“What the hell…!”

Swordsmen wearing Zieghart uniforms lay dead, their flesh melted away as if they’d turned into zombies.

“How is this possible?”

She clenched her lips as she stared at the bodies, already decaying and crawling with maggots.

“It’s only been three days since Eden attacked!”

The Light Wind Palace had set out the very next day after hearing about Eden’s assault on Birdnew village. It hadn’t been an instant response, but it certainly wasn’t late either. There was no way bodies should have rotted this badly in such a short time.

“Necromancy… or sorcery?”

Martha tightened her fingers as the foul stench wafted up from the corpses.

“Disgusting bastards, really.”

If they were going to kill them, they should have cleanly taken their heads in one strike. Seeing them humiliated like this made her rage toward Eden burn even hotter. If those bastards were in front of her, she would have torn them apart without leaving even a scrap of flesh.

“Haa…”

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to rein in the boiling anger.

“Focus. Investigate first.”

The only bodies remaining at the scene were the two right in front of her eyes. If she could at least properly examine the deaths of these two, she would be able to identify what kind of bastards they were.

“Where are the wounds… huh?”

Martha let out a hollow breath while turning over the sticky corpses of the swordsmen.

“Wait. They were stabbed from behind. And…”

No signs of resistance.

“How is that possible?”

The men lying before her were Zieghart elites. If they were stabbed from behind, there should have been some attempt to counter or turn. But the wounds suggested they had been run through and died without ever lifting a finger.

“Same for this one.…”

The second swordsman was the same. Stabbed in the back, dead instantly, no resistance.

“So that’s why…”

Martha bit her lip again as she examined the bodies more closely.

“They never sounded the alarm.”

Border guards always carried alarms to warn Zieghart and the surrounding area of enemy attacks.

She’d thought it strange that they’d died without activating one, but now it made sense. They’d been ambushed from behind. By someone they didn't expect.

“Three possibilities.”

Martha brushed maggots off the corpse and counted on her fingers.

“First, an absolute master who made resistance impossible. But if it were someone like that, they would’ve just gone for the neck.”

An Eden top-tier could have subdued them without trouble. But for someone like that, stabbing them in the chest makes no sense, they would’ve finished them decisively. And after wiping out Birdnew village, such a figure wouldn’t have just left without doing more.

“Second, they were hit by a weapon mixed with sorcery and couldn’t resist at all? This seems the most likely. The bodies are actually rotting badly enough to stink.”

She frowned as she looked down at the corpses again.

“But it feels too deliberate. Like it was staged to look that way.”

Unlike the complete annihilation of Birdnew village, these bodies had been left out in the open, almost deliberately. It felt like a trap.

“Then the last possibility… the one who ambushed them was—”

She was folding her fingers back down when—

Whoooooom!

A surge of mana rippled out from the direction of Birdnew village.

Boom!

Martha gritted her teeth and bolted upright.

“Enemy attack!”

 

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