The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman

g master, please take care.”

“Please don’t overdo it.”

“Run away if it gets difficult.”

The maids gave him items necessary for traveling, along with a worried line each.
Even though Raon had already had it all, he still took them and put them in the bag.

“Thank you.”

“Please take care.”

Judiel also said her goodbye and gave him a package wrapped in cloth.

After all the maids finished telling him goodbye, Raon went to Sylvia, who was standing at the end.

“Raon, good luck.
Mom will be waiting for you here.”

She smiled, telling him she would be waiting.
The maids' eyes had all gone teary, but she was the only one smiling.

“Okay.”

Since Raon was aware of Sylvia’s feelings, he bowed and hugged her lightly.

“I’ll be back.”

Raon brushed tears from Sylvia’s eyes as she started trembling, then turned around.

“Young master! Please be careful!”

“You have to return safely!”

“Don’t skip your meals!”

He waved his hand to answer the maids' voices and headed to the training ground.

It’s just one year.
I don’t understand why they worry so much.

‘It’s because it’s a dangerous place.’

Every maid except for Judiel had been living in the annex building since they were born.
It was obvious they would be worried, since a boy they considered their own son was going to a dangerous place.

The King of Essence has been fighting extremely severe danger throughout his thousands of years of life.
It’s something humans would never be able to imagine…

‘I see.’

Please listen to me.
This is really important…

‘I see, I see.’

Raon opened the training ground’s door while making fun of Wrath.
The trainees and instructors were all gathered at the center.

“You’re late!”

Rimmer was sitting at the edge of the platform as he grinned and waved his hand.

“Since everyone is here, I’m going to announce your graduation exam once again.
It will last for one year, and you have to survive in your designated area.
Isn’t it simple?”

“B-but that place isn’t normal!”

Dorian’s lips were trembling, as he was going to Habun Castle along with Raon.

“It can’t be called an exam if it’s too easy.”

“Ugh!”

“He’s really hateful…”

“In addition, you aren’t allowed to use the Zieghart name.
Only use your name without mentioning your family name.
As for the job, you can make it a mercenary or a swordsman trainee.”

Rimmer flailed his legs in the air, telling him to have fun suffering.
He gave a refreshing smile, looking around at the trainees.

“Lastly, I’m going to be honest with you.
Your abilities are already no different from a rookie swordsman.
You will be able to reach an even higher level if you manage to overcome this trial.”

The trainees straightened their spines, recognizing his serious gaze and voice.

“And this is my gift to you.”

Rimmer pointed at a box with a lion head drawn on it.
An instructor opened the lid of the box in front of the platform, and several dozens of gray gloves could be found inside.

“Those are the knight gloves we were supposed to receive for winning against the Owen Kingdom.
I’m glad they’ve arrived in time.”

He grinned while touching the gloves.

“They are light and protect your hands.
Since they are valuable items that are difficult to buy with money, take them with gratitude.”

Rimmer personally took the gloves and distributed them to the trainees one by one.

“Hmm.”

Raon nodded after equipping the glove.
It fit his hand perfectly, and didn’t feel inconvenient at all to wear while using a sword.
It was befitting the Owen name, which was famous for its handicrafts.

“I hope you will stay safe and healthy.”

Rimmer went back up on the platform and smiled widely.

“Line up.”

The trainees lined up in front of the platform, following Raon’s instructions.

“Bow to the instructors.”

“Thank you!”

The trainees bowed to the instructors.
Their sincere shouts resounded throughout the training ground.

“Become stronger and return.
I’ll be waiting right here.”

Rimmer left the training ground after saying the same thing as Sylvia.
Each of the instructors also gave them a word of encouragement before following him.

Raon turned to look at the trainees.
Facing the determined gazes, he nodded.

“I don’t have anything special to say.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, don’t be like that on a day like today!”

“It might be the last day we see each other, so you have to say something as the top trainee!”

“You usually speak so well!”

The trainees stomped on the ground like angry monkeys, as they were now close to him because of the various incidents.

“Then I’ll say just one thing.”

Raon raised his hand and everyone closed their mouths.
They straightened their backs, as if they were listening to the instructors.

“As the saying goes, warriors that survived their first real battle don’t die easily.
And we’ve already experienced our first real battle, even though it was a coincidence.”

The trainees' minds returned to the time they encountered the Blood Raving Demon a year ago.
Some of them felt fear, some felt competitive, and others felt regret.

“We survived a situation where we had no choice but to die, and managed to complete the mission.
Just as the saying goes, you aren’t going to die.
Return after getting strong enough to represent the fifth training ground’s name.”

“Woaaahh!”

“Let’s survive and win!”

“Let’s goooo!”

The trainees drew their swords and shouted in unison.

Raon stepped aside, looking at the passionate trainees.
It was now time for them to say goodbye to each other personally.

“Raon Zieghart.”

Burren approached him nervously.

“I’m going to become stronger during the next year at a killing pace.
I’ll ask for a spar right after I return, so make sure to not disappoint me.”

“Are you going to run away again?”

“Th-that’s! Because… You were trying to kill me!”

His confident voice became as small as a hungry kid’s.

“I never tried to do that.
I was just practicing my swordsmanship.”

“Anyway! I’m leaving first.
Get stronger at all costs! Enough that I’ll be satisfied after catching up to you!”

He shouted at him to live like a Zieghart swordsman no matter where he was, then left.
Krein, who was going with him, nodded at him as well.

“Hey.”

Next up was Martha.
Her nose was wrinkled.

“I don’t forget debts or revenge.
There’s no way I would forget about you, as I have both with you.”

“I see.”

“Since I have to pay them both back, don’t you dare die over there.
I’ll find you and kill you if you die like an idiot.”

“Ah, and Mom wanted to say thank you for the meat.
She told you to visit the annex building next time.”

“Why are you saying that right now…”

“Return safely, don’t die.”

“Keuh.”

She murmured something incomprehensible with her head lowered.

“Don’t you dare die either.
Never!”

Martha said that last line with her finger pointed at him before leaving the training ground alone.

“Mhmmm.”

It was a humming sound that had begun to sound cute.
As expected, Runaan was standing behind him when he turned around.

“Here.”

She extended her hand, holding an ice cream box.

Oh, the ice cream girl! I’ll make an exception and keep taking care of you even after the King of Essence conquers the world.

Wrath licked his lips slowly, thinking about the ice cream’s taste.
He had taken a great liking to Runaan, who gave them ice cream all the time.

When he assumed that she was telling him to take one and was about to open the lid, Runaan pushed the entire box onto him.

“Are you telling me to take them all?”

“Mhm.”

Ooh! The ice cream girl! The King of Essence will appoint you as the first maid.
I don’t think you are aware of it yet, but…

‘Can you go away?’

Raon pushed Wrath back into the bracelet as he kept making a scene.

“Is it really okay to give me all this? What about you?”

“Here.”

Runaan took out the ice cream boxes from her bag.
One, two, three, four.
There were four of them.
She gave him a big nod after showing him all four of them.
It looked like she was asking for his opinion.

“That’s amazing.”

Raon snickered and took out some handmade beef jerky from his bag to put it in Runaan's box.

“It should be delicious since it is handmade.
You can eat it when you get bored on the way.”

Runaan stared blankly at the beef jerky pouch and nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, too.”

“Mhm.”

The corners of her lips were slightly raised, despite having been frozen stiff.

“Return safely!”

Runaan waved her hand as if she was shaking a balloon, then left the training ground.

Just like that, the trainees left one by one.
Raon and Dorian were the only people left in the training ground.

“Ugh, I don’t want to go.
I seriously don’t want to go.”

Dorian, who was completely terrified, was driving his head onto the ground.

“Shall we visit somewhere else, then?”

Raon raised Dorian up by grabbing the back of his neck.
He was about to burst into tears.

“What? What? Where?”

“The merchant city Cameloon.”

He smiled, pointing at the south.

“Let’s grab some good equipment before starting our fight.”