The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman

you for the ice cream.”

It was great!

Runaan paid him a visit with bead ice cream while he was bedridden, and Wrath enjoyed it more than him because they were all mint chocolate flavored.

“You’ve returned rather quickly.”

Dorian came up to him while eating snacks.
It looked like he ate a lot while resting, since his cheeks had become plump.

“You’ve gained weight.
It looks like you are taking it easy.”

“E-Easy? Not at all!”

He freaked out and shook his head.

“H-He said he took it easy.”

“No way, is he about to start it again?”

“That can’t be it.
The spars are already over!”

“There’s no way! It can’t be!”

“Hmm…”

The Light Wind members stepped away from him while trying to read his intentions, as they couldn’t forget their hellish three months.

“Have you already recovered? Are you an iron man or something?”

“What a stupidly healthy body.”

Burren and Martha’s manner of speech was brusque, as if they were not welcoming him—but they had a small smile on their faces.

Slam!

As he was about to call those three over to tell them about the mission, the training ground’s door burst open, and Rimmer entered wearing a golden coat.

All kinds of jewels were dazzling on his fingers, wrist, and neck.

“Huh…”

Raon exclaimed.
He’d never seen anyone who looked more like an upstart than him.

“S-Squad leader, why are you…”

Burren’s jaw dropped.

“I had nowhere to spend my money because I had too much.
That’s why I started by buying some jewels.”

He violently shook his hands and fingers to show them off.

How annoying.
Trample upon him and burn them all up!

Wrath also growled in displeasure at him.
Rimmer was truly a peculiar person.
While he was pitiful when he didn’t have any money, he looked irritating now that he had become rich.

“Are you training again? Just take it easy.
We are just trying to make a living here.”

Rimmer grinned, looking at the swordsmen one after the other.
His voice was softer than usual, probably because his mind had become more laid back.
Though, that wasn’t something a squad leader should be saying.

“Oh, Raon! My lucky charm is here! Have you completely recovered?”

“Yes.”

“Nice, nice.
I’ve been praying for your fast recovery.”

“But it looks like you’ve been so busy that you wouldn't have any time for prayers.”

He pointed at Rimmer’s clothes and jewels with a cold smile.

“I’ve been busy, and I prayed each time I spent money.
I prayed for Raon’s long life, since he allowed me to earn all the money!”

“Long life…”

Raon fell speechless.
He apparently went as far as praying for his long life instead of his fast recovery.

“I have something to tell you.”

“I’m listening.
I’ll grant you any wish!”

Rimmer immediately nodded.
It looked like he would do anything for him—except for giving away his money.

“A moment ago…”

Raon told him about the Heavenly Blade leader visiting him and asked him whether he could go on a mission with the team leaders and two additional members.

“The Heavenly Blade Division leader? Of course! You should go!”

Rimmer clapped his hands.

“She knows all of the different characteristics of swordsmanship.
I’m sure you will learn a lot from her if you follow her.”

He said it was a great opportunity for him, and he definitely should go.

“To begin with, I mentioned we will be reinforcing others a lot when I first made the squad.
You should go.”

“A-A mission with the Heavenly Blade leader? This is a great opportunity!”

Burren shouted with joy once Rimmer gave his permission.

“The Heavenly Blade Division leader?”

“Hmph.
I heard she’s the strongest swordswoman in the house, but let’s see if she really deserves that title.”

Runaan looked like she didn’t really care as she tilted her head.
On the other hand, Martha couldn’t hide her trembling fingers, despite snorting on the outside.

“You have four people, including you.
Who are the two other people you are going to bring?”

Rimmer asked, pointing at the remaining Light Wind members.

“For now, I’ll take my pouch.”

“Pouch?”

“Ah, I mean Dorian.
I think he needs to lose some weight.”

Raon smiled faintly while looking at Dorian.

“Hiee!”

The pouch—or rather, Dorian—freaked out and dropped his snack.
His plump cheeks were trembling.

“Then, what about the last person?”

“Hmm…”

Raon looked around at the rest of the Light Wind members.
Most of them were rolling their eyes, pretending they couldn’t hear them.
It seemed they didn’t really want to go.

“Krein, come forward.”

He bobbed his hand at the long-haired swordsman, who was hiding at the very back.

“M-Me? Why me…?”

Krein’s eyes widened so much they looked like they would explode.

“I saw during the spar that you had many complaints about me.”

Raon tapped his scabbard with a smile.

“Let’s have a heart-to-heart talk during the mission.”

“Ah…”

Krein fell back, remembering that he had called Raon a demon and a crazy bastard at the arena.

“I’m so dead…”

He closed his eyes while drooling from his mouth, as if he had already been beaten up.

“Since it should take some time, please take care of the squad members in the meantime.”

Raon told the other five members going on the mission the schedule, then bowed at Rimmer.

“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you, since I’m the squad leader?”

“Do you even have the intention of doing the job of a squad leader?”

“Nope.”

He proudly shook his head.

“That’s why I said that.
You should stop gambling, too, since you’ve earned a lot now.”

“I won’t.
Don’t worry.”

Rimmer shook his two hands, gesturing that he took his hands away from gambling.

“Try learning a lot from Sheryl.
It’s not just her swordsmanship, but also her postures, footsteps, breathing techniques that are all worth learning, so steal everything from her.”

It had been a long time since the last time his voice was so serious.

“Okay.”

“I’ll tell you the magic word that you can use if there’s ever a problem.”

“A magic word?”

“Yes.”

Rimmer continued with a grin.

“Tell Sheryl…”

* * *

Two Days Later

Daybreak

Raon was holding Heavenly Drive with two hands in the annex building’s open area.

It was the middle posture, which was the most basic posture.
Holding the hilt in front of his energy center, he pointed his blade forward and spread his pressure without any movement.

Whir!

Raon’s energy wave flew as slowly as a cloud floating in the sky, engulfing the open area at an extremely slow pace.

When approximately ten minutes had passed, Raon’s pressure had filled the entire open area, and the entire space vibrated with his breath.
The space was in Raon’s hand.

“Haa…”

Raon scattered his pressure, which was dominating the open area, in an instant.
He caught his breath.

You are so damn slow.
I almost died from boredom.

Wrath clicked his tongue at his pathetic performance.

“That’s because this is a heavy technique.”

Are you trying to swallow the space with the heaviness?

“Yes.
During the last fight against Garon…”

Who is Garon?

“You know, the man who fought against me recently.”

Ah, that insect?

Considering Wrath couldn’t even remember him despite it being a recent incident, Garon must’ve been mere riffraff to Wrath, even though he was still a Master.

“Anyway, he used a quick sword that could block the space, and I figured heaviness would be better than speed to dominate the space.”

Garon’s sword was certainly powerful and fast, but it had many flaws when it came to dominating the space.

Raon felt like it would be better to make sure to engulf the entire space by sacrificing speed instead of forcibly increasing the speed.

That’s true, but I wonder when you will ever reach your enemy at your snail’s pace.

“I should reach it one day, as long as I keep working hard.”

He understood the space sword to a certain extent, thanks to witnessing Garon’s sword.
Constant practice in the future should allow him to harmonize the heaviness and space dominance.

Raon opened the status window for the last time before leaving.

Status Window

Name: Raon Zieghart.

Title: ‘The Enlightened One’.

State: Curse of Frost (Two Strands)

Trait: Wrath, Sloth, Ring of Fire (Six-Stars), Water Resistance (Five-Stars), Perception of the Snow Flower (Four-Stars), Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation (Four-Stars), Glacier (Four-Stars), Fire Resistance (Four-Stars), Bleeding Curse (One-Star), Backstab (Three-Stars), Iron Will (Three-Stars), Adaptation to Ghastly Energy (Three-Stars), Focus (Four-Stars).

__

Strength: 181

Agility: 175

Stamina: 176

Energy: 178

Perception: 199

Wrath: 25

Looking at the stats and the trait ranks, which had grown a lot since the last time he had looked at them, was enough to make him smile.

‘I’ll be there soon.’

He clenched his fist, resolving to change the title into something related to Master and achieve harmony between heavy sword and space sword by the time he returned to the house.

‘I’m curious.’

He was already filled with anticipation about how his swordsmanship would change once he became a Master with those inhuman stats.

‘I should get going.’

As Raon was about to leave the open area after picking up the backpack he had left on the side, Judiel approached him.

“I didn’t manage to investigate much because I didn’t have much time.”

She spoke as she handed over a thin booklet.

“What is this…?”

It was information about the youngest daughter of the Yonaan family and the Retran province, where the Ragged Saint was located.

“Ah!”

Raon opened the booklet.
The name of the youngest daughter of the Yonaan family was written in the most recognizable size.

“Encia Yonaan, a genius artifact crafter?”

It was written under her name that she was an excellent crafter even among the members of House Yonaan.

“She’s supposedly unmatched when it comes to accessory-type artifact crafting, despite being only in her mid-twenties.
Considering the fact the Central Martial Palace isn’t aware of her case, her illness seems to be top secret.”

‘Exactly’, Raon thought.
Since the mission came to Sheryl directly from Glenn, he could guess there would be an extremely small number of people who knew about her illness.

“Since her name is rather famous in the central area, many people will target her once she leaves House Yonaan.”

“I agree.”

Despite what Sheryl said, escorting someone as talented as her couldn’t possibly be a comfortable journey.

‘That’s even better.’

Something like a comfortable journey was nothing but a waste of time.
He was ready to even walk down to hell if it meant he could advance faster and reach a higher place.

After all, it was obvious that he would get stronger from hardships and difficulties.

‘It will be interesting.’

Crimson flames shone in Raon’s eyes.

____