The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 1030

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1030

“A ghost ship?”

I narrowed my brows deeply as I regarded Pharos.

“What do you mean….”

We had been discussing the Blue Wolf, and suddenly the word “ghost ship” emerged from nowhere—it was bewildering.

“Hey!”

Martha pressed her sword against Pharos’s head, her expression darkening.

“If you’re going to spout nonsense that even children wouldn’t believe, I’ll pierce that skull of yours right now.”

She raised a crimson killing intent along her blade, making it clear she meant every word.

“We’re all quite irritated at the moment, you understand?”

Burren exhaled heavily and clenched his fists.

“Choose your words carefully. You might not just die—you could die in agony.”

He bit his lips deeply, recalling Velder Harbor, which had been obliterated without leaving a single trace.

“….”

Lunan simply watched Pharos tremble with calm eyes, as if contemplating something.

“That bastard is definitely spouting lies just to save his own skin!”

Crain twisted his mouth, insisting that Pharos should be killed right now.

“He’s unreliable. The captain was trying to abandon his own men and flee.”

Trevin also shook his head, saying there was no need to keep him alive.

“I’m telling you the truth!”

Pharos shook his head vigorously, insisting that the ghost ship had truly existed, his blade trembling before him.

“I saw it with my own eyes, so I can say this with certainty!”

His lips quivered as he spoke of witnessing the ghost ship that had destroyed his harbor with perfect clarity.

“Fine.”

I gestured for Burren and Martha to step back.

“I’ll listen, so explain it properly.”

In a situation where even the smallest clue mattered, hearing Pharos out before deciding his fate seemed reasonable enough.

“Tsk!”

Martha clicked her tongue in disappointment and withdrew.

“Understood.”

Burren bowed immediately upon receiving my instruction, then positioned himself behind Pharos.

“Then… if I explain everything, you’ll spare my life?”
“If the information is credible.”

I nodded, telling him to begin.

“Yes, I understand.”

Pharos realized this was his last chance and dropped to his knees before me.

“The truth is, problems first began at the harbor I operated almost a year ago.”

He let out a low groan, explaining that similar troubles had plagued him since a year prior.

“Operating? More like extortion!”

Martha furrowed her brow, demanding that Paras speak plainly.

“W-well, back then, entire villages and harbors weren’t wiped out like they are now. Only a small number of people went missing.”
“Missing?”
“Yes. To be honest, it’s quite common for people to escape from the villages and harbors we… operate. Or rather, extort.”

Paras lowered his gaze, noting that it was routine for residents of villages and harbors to flee.

“Of course. You were squeezing money from them under the guise of taxes without offering any real benefits.”

Martha twisted her lips as if to say she saw right through it all.

“W-well, yes, that’s correct.”

Paras, judging that there was no point in hiding the truth, nodded in acknowledgment.

“In fact, the harbors and villages we protect have only a limited number of escape routes, whether by land or sea. If ten people flee, we can usually catch nine of them. But…”

He exhaled a heavy sigh and shook his head.

“About a year ago, we could no longer capture the escaped slaves—or rather, people. They vanished as if spirits had taken them away.”

Paras furrowed his brow, explaining how he had sent his subordinates to search for the fleeing people, but they found no trace anywhere.

“Across all the harbors and villages you protect?”
“Yes. It wasn’t just one village or harbor—people were disappearing across the entire region.”

He nodded, saying it was the first time in his life he had experienced such a thing.

“And then?”

I tilted my chin, asking what he had done after that.

“S-so as a last resort, I took the remaining residents and… tortured them.”

Paras lowered his voice, glancing at Martha.

“Usually, people fear for their lives and reveal where and how the escapees went, but back then, even when I severed their arms, they claimed they didn’t know.”

He let out a deep groan, saying that he’d considered it no ordinary matter ever since.

“With fewer people, our income dwindled, and the interrogations soured the people’s sentiment. So we ventured out for a while.”

Paras smacked his lips, mentioning that they’d conducted business outside their territory for a time.

“In other words, you were committing piracy beyond your domain.”

Burren Zigheart scoffed at Paras, remarking on his talent for dressing up wickedness in fine words.

“Well, yes, that’s correct.”

Paras nodded honestly, as if he’d already accepted that he couldn’t deceive them.

“After about a month of piracy, we grew bored and left the fleet in the Open Sea. We were returning with just our ship when….”

His lips trembled with a pallid hue, as though the fear still gripped him even now.

“We encountered a ghost ship.”

*

*

*

A night when the tempest raged.

“Move faster!”

Paras stamped his foot fiercely upon the deck.

“Yes!”
“Understood!”

The pirates who heard his shout pulled at the ropes with their entire bodies drenched in rain, and lowered the sails that fluttered as though they might tear.

“What the hell is this sudden madness!”

Pharos furrowed his brow as he watched the rain and wind tear through the night sky with violent fury.
Even in decades of pirate life, he had never witnessed a storm this fierce descend upon waters that had been clear just moments before.

To make matters worse, white fog rolled in, obscuring even the view directly ahead. It was the worst possible condition for navigating a ship.

‘Nothing’s going right these days.’

Over a hundred slaves had escaped from the Harbor and Village, yet he hadn’t managed to recapture a single one.

To compensate for that loss, he’d ventured out and spent a month engaged in piracy, but the profits had been meager.
Unable to endure it any longer, just as he was returning, this storm had to strike, filling him with unbearable frustration.

‘In the end, I need to acquire people.’

Whether dealing in slaves or farming, what was ultimately necessary was manpower.
It seemed he would have to sail South on the next voyage and abduct people from there.

“The Harbor is right ahead—adjust your distance so we don’t collide!”

Pharos gripped the railing of the pitching ship and raised his voice.

“Light the lamps first….”
“C-Captain! Look over there!”

The Deck Master approached with a startled expression and pointed toward the Harbor shrouded in white fog.

“What are you….”

Pharos furrowed his brow and stepped forward, then stopped abruptly.

“What is that….”

Before the Harbor they needed to enter, an old sailing ship wrapped in white fog moved slowly and calmly, as though the storm didn’t exist at all.

“A wreck?”

Occasionally, masterless ships drifted in along the currents, and since no signs of life emanated from within the vessel, he assumed it was a wreck.

“Since there’s no response to our signals, it appears to be a wreck indeed!”

The Deck Master nodded, saying the ship appeared to be empty.

“Good. A vessel of that size should have some decent valuables aboard.”

Pharos nodded and pointed toward the wreck.

“Go and bring back everything worth money!”
“Yes, sir!”

The pirates under his command dove into the water without hesitation and climbed onto the wreck.

But the moment the pirates boarded the wreck, their presence vanished as if extinguished.

Kiiiieeeeek!

Soon after, as if the wreck had sensed the pirates’ presence, it stirred to life and turned its direction, beginning to approach Pharos’s ship.

“Hmm….”

Pharos swallowed hard and stepped backward.

‘Dangerous.’

Watching the sailing vessel approach without a sound, chills ran down my spine. That unsettling sensation in my chest—the very instinct that had carried me to the captain’s seat was now sounding an alarm to flee.

“What is this? Why have the men’s presences….”

The Deck Master shook his head in confusion.

“All of them! Send them all back up! Now!”

Pharos grabbed the Deck Master’s shoulder, ordering him to get all the pirates back onto the ship.

“Y-yes, understood.”

The Deck Master nodded and raised his hand.

“Everyone, get onto that ship!”

He moved forward as if to take action himself, issuing orders to his subordinates.

“Hmm….”

Pharos didn’t miss the moment the pirates climbed aboard the sailing ship. He turned and ran backward, then dove silently into the sea.

‘It’s clear.’

That’s no ordinary ship.

Living as a pirate, one hears countless legends about the sea. That sailing ship was undoubtedly the ghost ship that devours people—the very one he’d heard about as a child.

No, whether it was a ghost ship or not, he had to escape. His ominous instincts had never been wrong.

‘Ugh….’

Pharos dove deep into the sea, unconcerned with what happened above. Since the martial art he was mastering was water-based combat, he descended until the ship was out of sight and breathed very slowly.
Since the martial art he was learning was water combat that was used in water, he went down to where the ship was out of sight and breathed very slowly.

Gasp!

Pharos waited until the very limit of his breath-holding, then slowly surfaced.

“The ship… it’s gone….”

The pirate ship he’d arrived on had vanished without a single plank remaining, and all the pirates aboard had disappeared without a single corpse left behind.

‘My premonition was right after all.’

Pharos exhaled a long breath and shook his head. Losing the largest pirate ship among the five vessels was regrettable, but as long as he survived, there was no real problem.

“I should head back to the harbor and contact… huh?”

As he swam toward the harbor, his eyes widened in shock.

“The… the harbor….”

Cocks Harbor, which had been his base for over a decade, lay completely destroyed as if decades had passed. The entrance where ships docked was half-destroyed, and the village beyond it had crumbled without a single building remaining.
The entrance where the ship was anchored was half-destroyed, and the village behind it was completely razed, not a single building left standing.

It was as if a massive wave had swept through the entire village.

“What in the….”

Pharos swallowed hard and climbed up toward the harbor.

“Is anyone here?”

He called out, but not a single person appeared. Even the dogs the residents had kept were gone.

“Now that I think about it….”

The mist that had emanated from the ghost ship came to mind—the same mist that had blanketed this harbor.

“Was it really a ghost ship?”

Watching it devour their vessel and annihilate the harbor in less than an hour, he could only think of it as the legendary ghost ship from maritime folklore.

“Kueeegh!”

Pharos, unable to contain his dread, retched into the water flowing toward the sea.

“Haaah….”

As he wiped the saliva dripping from his lips and lifted his head, his eyes met those of the Blue Wolf floating upon the sea.

“W-what is that thing!”

Pharos shrieked and stumbled backward. The wolf regarded him with a steady gaze before vanishing beneath the waves.

“Gasp!”

Unable to bear the terror, Pharos collapsed where he stood, his eyes rolling back.

*

*

*

“I… the last time I saw a ghost ship was back then…”

Paras swallowed hard, stealing glances at Raon.

“But similar incidents have continued occurring at the harbor I manage.”

His hands trembled as he insisted that all of it was the work of the ghost ship.

“Hmm.”

I stroked my chin, observing Paras, who was visibly terrified by my mere words.

‘If what he’s saying is true…’

Then it wasn’t the Blue Wolf that destroyed the village and harbor, but someone else entirely.

-No, that’s not it!

Wrath shook his head vigorously.

-That mutt could be working with them, couldn’t it?
‘That’s possible. But…’

I gazed out at the calm sea, my lips pursing slightly.

‘One thing is certain—this was the work of humans, not spirits.’

Whether the ghost ship’s master was raising the Blue Wolf or the beast simply followed on its own, whoever orchestrated this destruction was undoubtedly human.

“Hearing him say that actually makes me trust him more.”

Martha tapped Paras’s forehead with her finger, her brow creasing.

“This bastard sent his subordinates forward and fled into the sea again today.”

She let out a scoff, mentioning that she’d followed him all the way into the depths and dragged him back.

“I saw him dive into the sea without hesitation.”

Burren let out a hollow laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

“I… I also…”

Dorian rolled his eyes and raised his hand.

“It seems genuine.”

He nodded, confirming that when examined through his spiritual sight, Paras spoke no falsehood.

“Yeah. He’s not lying…”

Lunan Slion also seemed to sense something similar, blinking his eyes.

“I’m telling you, it’s the truth!”

Paras exhaled a sigh of relief as the others finally believed him.

“How large was the wolf when you first saw it?”

I gestured toward Paras with a flick of my finger.

“Hmm, at that time, it was no different from an ordinary wolf in size.”

Paras scratched his head, explaining that when he first encountered it, the wolf was the size of a normal beast.

“But as the harbor collapsed and villages vanished, it grew progressively larger.”

He shook his head vigorously, noting that eventually it became as massive as a house.

“What happened after that?”

I tapped the deck, urging him to recount what transpired after the first harbor’s destruction.

“W-within mere days, the same calamity befell the neighboring harbor. However, the phantom ship was no longer visible, and after the mist dissipated, the village crumbled and the people vanished.”

Paras let out a low groan, admitting that he hadn’t seen the phantom ship since then.

“So you thought it wasn’t something you could handle alone, and that’s why you fled with the villagers?”
“N-no, that’s not it.”

He shook his head with a thin whimper.

“If I fled with the villagers, the ghost ship might have followed us….”

Paras continued, glancing nervously.

“I, I took only my fleet and sailed in a different direction.”

He sniffled as he explained that he’d abandoned the villagers and fled with only his pirates to avoid being caught having witnessed the ghost ship.

“You worthless bastard!”

Martha gnashed her teeth and grabbed Paras by the hair.

“W-we had no choice! We needed to survive too….”

Paras lowered his head, insisting there was no other way.

“So when you returned, the village and harbor you promised to protect were completely destroyed?”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”

He lowered his gaze, embarrassed by the subject.

“I thought it had destroyed our territory and moved upward, but somehow it came down this far….”

Paras looked at Rabawin, explaining that he’d tried to flee after one last raid.

“Now that I’ve heard everything, I can dispose of him, right?”

Martha gnashed her teeth, eager to cut Paras’s throat herself.

“W-wait! You said you’d spare me if I provided trustworthy information….”
“I can’t trust someone who abandons his own subordinates like worn-out rags.”

I waved my hand at Martha, telling her to do as she pleased.

“Let’s go. I don’t think we can simply kill this one.”
“Wait, just a moment….”
“Shut up and follow me.”

Martha said it would be a waste to spill blood on this ship, then dragged Paras overboard into the sea.

Aaaaaaahhhhh!

I savored the sound of Paras’s screams.

“Now things are starting to make sense.”

I understood why they’d remained silent for ten days.

Based on what Paras had told me, those controlling the ghost ship clearly knew I was patrolling these waters and had gone into hiding.
To make them move again, the name Raon Zigheart would have to be erased from these seas.

“It seems….”

I curled my lips as I looked at Rabawin and the swordsmen.

“I’ll need to change my appearance.”

*

*

*

“Sigh….”

Martha sat in a corner of the Old Tavern, exhaling a heavy breath.

“This is boring.”

After extracting information from Paras, I feigned a return to Zigheart, then came back to the sea and dispersed the Gwangpung swordsmen to infiltrate nearby harbors.

However, the Blue Wolf and the ghost ship, which I expected to reappear soon, did not show themselves even after a month had passed. They were remarkably cautious.

‘Is he not going to show up anymore?’

I found myself thinking that the Sword Demon Raon Zigheart must have been so frightened by that name that he had fled this coastal area and departed for another region.

‘This is such a waste of time.’

Training alongside Raon had allowed me to experience the exhilaration of growth for the first time in ages, yet sitting idle in a harbor with nothing but the sea stretching before me made my entire body itch with restlessness.

Thud!

Martha set down her empty beer glass with a harsh clink and headed back to the Dormitory.

‘…I can’t take this anymore.’

I abandoned my aura training and retrieved a gray crystal orb from my spatial pouch, infusing it with aura.

Whoooosh!

A soft blue light flickered from the orb, and Raon’s face materialized.

[It’s not Treasury time. What’s the matter?]

Raon tilted his head as if wondering what had happened.

“How much longer do I have to stay here! It’s already been a month!”

Martha wrinkled her nose, complaining that her entire body felt stiff from not being able to move properly.

[You know as well as I do. There are plenty of missions that take a year to complete.]

Raon shook his finger, saying it was still far off.

“But this is too boring! Or at least let me be by your side!”

Martha sighed, saying she couldn’t train properly in this place.

[By my side? That would be problematic if you liked me too much.]

Raon shook his head, asking her to refrain from personal feelings.

“N-No, that’s not it! I can’t train with you like this!”

Martha’s face flushed crimson as she waved her hands frantically.

[I’m joking. Sorry, but hold on just a bit longer. They’ll definitely come.]

I shook my head, certain that those controlling the ghost ship would inevitably seek us out.

“How can you be so sure?”
[Creatures that have devoured over ten harbors and villages in a single year won’t just sit idle. They’ll make their move soon.]

I smiled with unwavering confidence in my eyes.

“Ugh….”

Martha scratched her crimson-dyed hair.

“Fine….”

Raon was the man I served as my lord. When he spoke with such conviction, I had no choice but to accept it.

[Once this is over, I’ll train and spar with you however you want.]

I extended my hand as if to seal the promise.

“You better keep that promise.”

Martha scrunched her nose and held out her pinky finger toward the crystal orb.

[What are you doing? We’re having a video call, and now you want to pinky swear?]

I simply waved the cloth in my hand as if I were just cleaning the crystal orb.

“Ugh….”

Martha’s face grew even redder as she bit her lip.

[Our Nakshal Lord. Still just a child.]

Raon chuckled as if I were being cute.

“D-shut up! You… huh?”

I shook my head and turned my gaze toward the window.

[What’s wrong?]
“I just heard a strange sound from outside.”

While talking with Raon, I heard what sounded like glass shattering from above. It wasn’t just me—people were already heading outside.

“Let me go check. Huh? Raon?”

I looked at the crystal orb to tell him we’d talk later, but the connection had already been cut.

“Could it be…?”

Swallowing hard, I stepped outside the Dormitory. A white current swept across the entire city, and from the sea, an ancient sailing ship shrouded in murky fog was approaching.

‘A ghost ship…?’

The massive vessel appeared hazy, as if it didn’t exist in this world, and made neither sound nor presence. It was exactly what Pharos had called a ghost ship.

‘They really came!’

Just as Raon said, they couldn’t wait the full month and had taken the bait we’d laid for them.

‘It’s probably not actually a ghost….’

Let me get a good look at their faces.

I pressed my back against the rear of the Dormitory building and watched the sailing ship reach the Harbor, moving only my eyes.

Thud-thud-thud!

As the sailing ship touched the Harbor, a white staircase fell from the deck.

Whoooosh!

The first figure to reveal themselves upon the fog-shrouded vessel was a Strange Being clad in a white robe marked with crimson lines.
As he descended the staircase and disembarked from the ship, a nauseating stench of blood began to reverberate through the air.

Kuuoong!

The moment Martha caught sight of the Strange Being in the white robe, she lunged forward, all thought of concealment abandoned.

“Yes. Only you wretches would commit such vile atrocities.”

Her eyes blazed with crimson murderous intent as she drew her blade with savage force.

“White Blood Cult!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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