The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1295

 Chapter 1295

 

After giving the swordsmen two full days to recover from the exhaustion training, Raon headed not to the lord’s manor, but to the annex building.

What’s gotten into you?

Wrath drifted up beside his shoulder, looking genuinely surprised.

The King of Essence thought you’d stay behind at the training ground and keep practicing by yourself again.

His eyes widened as if the idea of Raon going to the annex building had never even crossed his mind.

‘If we head out on this mission, I might not get to eat a proper meal for a while.’

Raon shrugged as he pondered how to hunt Sariel.

‘So I figured I’d eat at home before leaving.’

If things unfolded the way he expected, Wrath would probably be deprived of good food for quite some time as well. That was why Raon had decided to visit the annex building, almost like having one last decent meal before everything began.

Hoh!

Wrath let out an astonished gasp.

To think you’d actually be considerate of the King of Essence! So you’ve finally decided to become the King of Essence’s vassal!

Wrath gave a grand nod, acting as though he were magnanimously accepting Raon into his service.

Excellent! Bring the King of Essence before Sariel! He’ll personally rip every feather from that damned pigeon’s wings!

Grinding his teeth, Wrath muttered that he still had unfinished business with Sariel.

‘Yeah, no thanks.’

Raon shoved Wrath aside and waved him off.

‘Unless I’m literally on the verge of death, I can’t use the Demon King's Advent.’

Unlike his other sword fields, the moment he used the Demon King's Advent, the martial realm and soul level he had painstakingly built through blood and sweat would both regress.

Some might consider the penalty excessively harsh, but since the sword field worked by accepting another soul into his own to defeat an enemy, Raon didn’t think the drawback was entirely unreasonable.

Tch! Damned causality!

Wrath clicked his tongue in irritation, clearly annoyed by the laws of causality restricting him.

‘And besides, like I told you before…’

Raon narrowed his eyes slightly as he recalled what he knew about Sariel.

‘I think that bastard can read people’s thoughts. Though probably not without certain conditions.’

Wrath had said that Sariel fled the moment he merely saw him. If Sariel somehow read my thoughts and learned about Wrath, he would undoubtedly turn tail and run without hesitation.

‘For someone as prideful as him chooses to run away, that means he has absolutely no intention of fighting you. Your existence can’t be exposed.’

Hmph! Well, the King of Essence is simply that powerful! A flock of those pigeons could come at him together, and he’d still devour them all!

Wrath curled his lips upward proudly, apparently taking Raon’s words as praise.

‘Sure, sure.’

Raon answered halfheartedly before smacking his lips.

Then how exactly are you planning to hunt him down?

Wrath leaned closer, sniffing curiously.

‘The archangel Sariel is exactly what you described, prideful and cautious.’

Combining the information Chad had gathered with what Wrath had seen himself, Sariel seemed to be the type who was both arrogant and extremely careful, making him especially troublesome to deal with.

To bring down someone like that, we would have to provoke his pride while standing on equal footing.

‘In other words, we challenge him from the same level.’

The same level…?

Wrath tilted his head, still unable to grasp what Raon meant. The demon king was too used to solving every problem with brute force.

‘You’ll understand when the time comes.’

With a faint smirk, Raon crossed the annex building garden and headed inside.

“Huh?”

“Young master!”

“Sir Raon!”

Helen and the maids tending the garden immediately straightened up the moment they saw him.

“I-Is something the matter?”

Helen’s shoulders trembled slightly in surprise at his sudden visit. Since Raon was currently acting as temporary head of house, she seemed especially nervous around him.

“What kind of question is that? I just came because I wanted to eat at home before heading out on a mission.”

Raon waved both hands lightly, signaling them not to tense up.

“Huh? Then you should’ve told us beforehand! We barely have anything prepared right now…”

Helen frowned slightly, already worrying about what to serve for dinner.

“It’s fine. I just want the usual dinner.”

Raon smiled softly and told her to prepare whatever they normally made.

“I’ll prepare it immediately.”

Judiel bowed and hurried inside the annex building to begin preparing the meal.

“Honestly, you haven’t changed a bit since you were little.”

Helen let out a helpless laugh before heading toward the kitchen with the other maids.

Kuh! Exactly! Nothing beats a home-cooked meal!

Wrath let out a short cheer.

It seems you finally understand the joy of good food!

Smacking his lips, he admitted that what he’d truly missed wasn’t some extravagant feast, but simple home-cooked meals.

‘Yeah. The usual is best.’

Raon smiled faintly and walked toward the lake behind the annex building.

Hm? You’re not going inside?

Wrath tilted his head, wondering why Raon wasn’t going inside the annex building.

‘The usual.’

Raon stood before the lake reflecting the night sky.

‘I wanted to see this place too.’

Despite saying he wanted to see it, he slowly closed his eyes instead. The place was so familiar to him that even with his eyes shut, he could feel everything around him.

The branches swaying in the night breeze. The ripples spreading across the lake from water striders skating over the surface. Even the warm, lively atmosphere inside the annex building.

Though he had been away from this place for quite some time, it somehow felt as if everything here touched his skin and soul more deeply than before.

Ssshhh.

As Raon slowly opened his eyes again, he felt his soul and mind becoming as clear and transparent as the lake before him.

Perhaps it was because of the full moon reflected on the water, but a faint golden glow seemed to bloom within his red eyes.

Hmm…?

Ras let out a low murmur as he stared at Raon’s eyes, where gold and red light intertwined.

Those eyes…

*   *   *

Two days later, at the head of house’s training ground.

The swordsmen of the Light Wind Palace stood in formation, releasing chilling waves of energy sharp as frost. Their eyes blazed with fighting spirit, as if they could march straight into war that very moment and emerge victorious.

Step.

Raon climbed onto the platform, feeling the cold pressure radiating from the Light Wind Palace swordsmen wash over his entire body.

“Today is the day we depart.”

Standing at the edge of the platform, Raon gave a slight nod. Unlike the others, his eyes remained calm and unwavering.

“I trust you’re prepared?”

“Yes!”

“We’re ready!”

“We could go to war right now!”

The Light Wind division swordsmen nodded confidently, openly displaying the assurance they had gained from surviving the exhaustion training.

“So who’s the enemy we’re supposed to kill? No… who exactly is it?”

Martha licked her lips impatiently, demanding to know who their target was first.

"I'm overflowing with confidence this time!"

Krein clenched his fist, saying it felt like he could beat anyone today.

“I-I’m not…”

Even after surviving the exhaustion training, Dorian still sniffled nervously, unable to shake off his fear.

“This might not even be a combat mission, so calm down a little.”

Burren let out a sigh as he pressed a hand onto Martha’s shoulder.

“Whatever it is…”

Runaan lowered her head slightly, saying she was ready to carry out any mission Raon gave her.

“Good. I like the spirit.”

Raon nodded in satisfaction as he felt the swordsmen’s fighting spirit.

“The enemy we’ll be cutting down on this mission… is an archangel.”

He narrowed his eyes as he revealed that their target was the archangel Sariel.

“An archangel…”

Burren bit his lip slightly, visibly tense at the sheer weight carried by that title.

“Yeah! That’s the kind of opponent we should be facing!”

Martha grinned, saying that after surviving such brutal training, facing an archangel sounded about right.

“That's right! Right now, we could even crush those celestial bastards!”

Krein stomped his foot, overflowing with confidence.

“Y-You’re all insane…”

Dorian swallowed dryly, wondering what the hell was wrong with everyone.

“……”

Runaan silently rested her hand on her beloved sword, Snow Flower Sword, looking as though she was already prepared to fight.

“Grrrraaaah!”

“Bring it on! I don’t care if it’s an archangel or all of Eden!”

“Yeah! I’m confident I can kill every last one of them!”

As if the aftereffects of the exhaustion training still lingered, the Light Wind swordsmen raised their swords while letting out beast-like growls and displaying reckless confidence.

“Attention.”

Raon lightly stomped his foot, and the swordsmen, who had been noisier than a crowded marketplace, instantly fell silent and returned to proper formation.

“Confidence is good, but listen first. I’ll explain our target, the archangel, before anything else. He…”

Raon explained everything Chad and Wrath had told him about the archangel Sariel.

“H-He can read thoughts? That’s completely insane!”

Krein’s jaw trembled in disbelief.

“That’s not even the real problem. The ability to control human souls is absurd beyond reason….”

Burren bit his lip, unable to comprehend how such a power could even exist.

“Who cares if he reads thoughts or controls souls? Cut his head and it’s over!”

Martha bared her teeth in a savage grin, declaring that she would personally cut off Sariel’s head.

“Hmm? He reads thoughts?”

Unlike usual, Dorian didn’t seem particularly frightened. Instead, he simply tilted his head, looking less shocked by Sariel’s abilities than everyone else.

“Let’s go already! I mean, let’s go, sir!”

Martha flashed her white teeth eagerly, ready to charge into battle immediately.

“Not just the archangel, even the people he controls will return to normal once we smash their heads in!”

She even drew her sword, as if eager to show off the results of her training.

“There will definitely be a war against the celestials, including Sariel. But like I said before, our first step is…”

Raon curled his lips into a faint smile as he looked down at the Light Wind swordsmen, all of whom were brimming with fighting spirit.

“Becoming con artists.”

As he said that, his gaze shifted toward Dorian, who stood at the center of the Light Wind Palace.

“Eh…?”

Dorian swallowed hard beneath Raon’s burning stare.

“M-Me?”

*   *   *

“Step right up! This isn’t something you get to see every day!”

Krein, his hair dyed blue, clapped loudly to draw the crowd’s attention.

“The greatest sage in the northern continent has descended upon the Kingdom of Winten! The Transcender who resolved the concerns of the Castellan of Habun Castle and won Zieghart's trust! The messenger of the gods who knows all and sees all stands before you today!” 

With his hair dyed black, Raon stepped forward and seamlessly picked up where Krein left off. 

As though he had been born to work a crowd, he raised his voice and praised the sage without the slightest hesitation. 

“A sage?”

“He resolved the Castellan of Habun Castle's concerns? I've never heard of him.” 

“I heard there was a sage in the Kingdom of Sarion. Could it be him?” 

“Isn’t this just some scam?”

The crowd tilted their heads skeptically, still unconvinced about the sage. Still, Raon sold the story so well that they decided to stay and see for themselves. 

“The sage arrives!”

“He arrives!”

As Raon and Krein bowed deeply with exaggerated reverence, Burren carrying a long spear and Martha resting a greatsword on her shoulder stepped forward from behind them.

The oppressive pressure radiating from the two was so overwhelming that the crowd could only swallow nervously, unable to look away. 

Thud.

As if neither of them were the true star of the show, Martha and Burren stepped aside. Between them emerged a gaunt young man with hollow cheeks, leaning on an old wooden staff.

His eyes were empty, and his footsteps carried both coldness and dignity.

“Ah….”

“Haa…”

“Those sorrowful eyes…”

“I-Is he really a sage…?”

The crowd let out sharp breaths, overwhelmed by the strange atmosphere emanating from the young man. 

"This is Sage Doraen, the great sage who has unraveled every secret of the continent!" 

At Raon’s proclamation, Burren and Martha slammed down their spear and sword, creating a thunderous boom.

Kuuung!

The young man walked forward along the path opened by Burren and Martha, his sorrowful gaze growing even deeper.

“Look at him…”

“The atmosphere around him is terrifying.”

"Is that what a real sage looks like...?"

The crowd broke into cold sweats as they took in the young man's gaunt face and the sorrowful atmosphere surrounding him. 

But the man known as Sage Doraen was thinking something entirely different.

‘Please…’

Dorian, the necessity fanatic who was constantly getting bullied, looked at the crowd with desperate, pleading eyes.

‘Somebody save me!’ 

 

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