The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 108

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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 108

“I’m insane. I’m absolutely insane….”

Dorian stood watch in the Auction House restroom, his lips trembling.

‘To even consider robbing the Black Market—is his audacity as vast as the Continent itself?’

He wanted to tear open Raon’s skull and examine whatever madness dwelled within.

‘Surely he won’t actually do it?’

He desperately wanted to believe that even Raon wouldn’t truly rob the Black Market.

Yes. That’s what he wanted to believe. But this man—when he says he’ll do something, he does it.

Raon had never broken his word. He’d slain the Green Warrior, survived Gwahyeolgwi, and hadn’t he beaten Rayden to a pulp?

“Sigh….”

As Dorian exhaled a long, weary breath like drawing on a cigarette, the door opened, and Raon emerged dressed entirely in black night clothes.

‘Oh no! He actually put it on!’

He donned the black garments from his pocket and pulled a face mask down over his head. He even nodded with satisfaction.

“This should work. I won’t be recognized.”
“No, Young Master, please…wait?”

Dorian tilted his head in confusion.

‘What’s this?’

Raon’s height had recently grown, so they’d been at eye level lately. But now his height appeared noticeably diminished—roughly the mid-160s in centimeters, conspicuously shorter than before.

“Y-Your young master? Your height….”
“I reduced it a bit. Can’t let anyone find out.”
“Ah, I see. What?”

I see, my foot!

Even Sword Expert advanced practitioners or Masters couldn’t freely reduce or increase their height at will. He seemed like a completely different person from when he was at the estate.

“W-Where did you learn such a thing, young master?”
“From Rimer, my instructor.”
“Ah….”

Since Rimer was such an unusual elf, it seemed plausible that he could teach such techniques.

“I’ve roughly surveyed the surveillance network, and it seems manageable.”

Raon stretched and smiled wickedly. It was a grin that sent chills down one’s spine—like the smile of a demon.

“Y-Young master, about that butterfly. It’s rare, but not impossible to find later, so perhaps….”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have much time. We can’t come here frequently either.”

Raon smiled gently, but flames flickered in his eyes.

“Besides, I was openly disrespected and mocked. There’s no reason to tolerate that.”
“Ugh….”

Dorian scratched the back of his head. In truth, that reasoning was sound. That woman had openly provoked him and even disrupted the auction.

“Did you find out who that fox-masked woman is?”
“Yes. That’s exactly why I want to stop you. Honestly, I’d like to tie your hands and feet!”
“Who is she?”
“She’s Princess Jeina of the Valkar Kingdom. She has exceptional magical talent, and her eye for equipment is so keen that the current king treasures her as his daughter.”
“Valkar, then.”

At the mention of the Valkar princess, Raon’s smile deepened. He looked like a beast stalking its prey.

“Then the items that princess purchased would go to the VIP room?”
“What? Presumably, yes?”

The Auction House provided luxurious private rooms to VIPs who spent lavishly, and delivered purchased items directly to their chambers. As the princess of Valkar Kingdom, she would naturally have her own exclusive suite.

“So we’re not really breaking into the Black Market. We’re breaking into that princess’s room. Once the item enters her chamber, ownership transfers to her.”
“Eh? Is… is that how it works? I’m having trouble understanding…”
“I’ve thought it through. We can do this. Wait here.”
“Eek? Young master!”

Raon smiled gently before vanishing into the restroom. I watched him disappear right before my eyes—literally vanish.

“Isn’t the princess more dangerous than the Black Market? Have I lost my mind?”

Dorian shook his head at the empty restroom.

*

*

*

The movement techniques of the greatest assassins each bore their own distinctive character.

Kazan, the assassin of the East, was swift. Doruma, the assassin of the West, was fluid. Patu, the assassin of the North, was razor-sharp.

And Raon, once the assassin of the South, was imperceptible.
Through the Shadowless Step he had mastered, he reduced his presence and aura to the absolute minimum, like a shadow on a moonless night, making even masters unable to properly track his movements.

Raon deployed the Shadowless Step at full power for the first time in ages, arriving undetected at the fourth floor of the Auction House where the VIP rooms were located.

‘The Shadowless Step is supreme in moments like these.’

The Shadowless Step was a concealment technique that even wind and shadow could not follow. Though slower than other methods, no technique surpassed it for hiding presence and form.

With Body Control reducing even my height and build, the people attending the auction and the guards protecting the VIP floor passed right through me without sensing my existence.

-This is strange. Given your usual nature, you wouldn’t commit such madness. Has leaving home truly driven you to insanity?

Wrath was right—openly provoking, being ignored, having the auction disrupted, and now stealing the princess’s belongings was madness. Especially considering my typical character.

Yet Raon remained utterly composed, his mind settling into a state as cold and crystalline as the glaciers of the Northern Sea.
The reason he pushed forward with such deliberate intensity was simplicity itself.

‘Because I’ve been here before.’

In my previous life, I came to this place and assassinated a high-ranking nobleman in the VIP chamber. Of course, I had staged it as a natural death, so no one discovered my involvement.

Because I retained those memories, I could proceed with absolute certainty of success.

‘And the timing couldn’t be better.’

Soon the item that woman had won at auction would be brought up. If I enter the VIP chamber with that item, stealing the Black Butterfly would be as effortless as taking candy from a child.

Whoosh.

I regulated my breathing and positioned myself at the end of the lobby.

‘This is only possible because of this location, though.’

The deeper one descended into the Black Market’s underground levels, the exponentially greater the security and vigilance surrounding the auction items became. Honestly, if this had been on the second basement level, I would have abandoned the attempt.

Whirrrr.

Moments later, an Auction House staff member pushed a cart up to the fourth floor. The cart was covered with thick cloth, and one of the items beneath bore the silhouette of a birdcage.

‘There it is.’

Princess Jeina’s auction item was confirmed.

As I prepared to follow the staff member pushing the cart, the sound of a magical barrier rotating reached my ears—thin and sharp, like a squirrel’s cry.

I pinpointed its location by the sound, then carefully navigated through the web-like barrier.

‘But this isn’t what’s truly dangerous.’

The real threat wasn’t barriers made of mana threads, but rather the traps and sensors that detected mana itself.

Traps and sensors crafted from high-grade mana stones could detect the mana of unregistered individuals.

No matter how well humans accumulate mana, they can never achieve the purity found within high-grade mana stones.

‘Of course, I’m different.’

My aura, cultivated through the Thousand Harmony Art and purified by the Ring of Fire, was purer than high-grade mana stones, if not quite matching natural mana itself.

A low hum resonated through the air.

I drew the Thousand Harmony Art to an impossibly thin thread and passed through the traps and sensors constructed from mana stones.

As expected, the sensors and traps registered me as a mass of natural mana and remained dormant.

I bypassed every trap and sensor, following directly behind the auction house staff member.

I stopped at Room 404 and knocked on the door. Moments later, it opened, and one of the guards standing beside the princess stepped out.

“I’ve brought the items purchased by the VIP.”
“Mm.”

The guard nodded, and the staff member pushed the cart inside.

‘Now!’

The moment their attention turned inward, I activated the Shadowless Step at maximum intensity and slipped into the room.

There were two other guards inside, but none of them detected my presence.

“A total of twelve items were purchased. Let’s verify them.”

The staff member produced documents and began removing the items from the cart one by one.

Twelve items, including the Black Butterfly, were laid out on the floor, and the guard nodded before signing the paperwork.

‘Perfect.’

Now the owner of these items was no longer the Black Market, but the princess herself. There was no problem with taking them now.

“Spending fifty gold coins on something like this.”

Raon observed the Black Butterfly with a look of disdain.

“Once you set your mind to something, you see it through to the end. Though this time it was revenge.”
“Before that, he ruined an entire family just for hoarding some goods. Ruthless, I tell you.”
“That bastard from earlier would’ve had his face ground into rock and died if he hadn’t handed over the ring, right?”
“I’ll handle that. I’ll scrub him like laundry.”

The guards seated at the table chuckled wickedly.

‘They’re all the same.’

After stealing the Black Butterfly, I’d hesitated slightly at the thought that the guards might suffer consequences, but they were nothing special. My pangs of conscience evaporated.

“Let’s keep playing cards. I was winning, wasn’t I?”
“That guy yesterday was really skilled. Should we ask him some forbidden techniques if orders come down to kidnap him?”
“Let’s do it. If we bury him and ask, he’ll answer real well.”

The guards stacked auction items beside the table and began playing poker with wicked laughter.

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue.

‘They’re too close.’

With them clustered like that, it would be difficult to retrieve the other items.

I could win in a fight, but there was the risk of being caught by the Black Market guards waiting on the fourth floor.

‘I have no choice. I’ll just take the Black Butterfly and leave.’

I crouched low like a frog and gazed at the cage containing the Black Butterfly.

The Black Butterfly dies rapidly in enclosed spaces, which is why it’s kept in a cage like that.

Then why does the Black Butterfly remain attached to the mana stone despite being in a cage from which it could easily escape?

The answer was simple. It feeds on the pure mana concentrated on the mana stone.

In other words, if I provide the Black Butterfly with mana of superior quality to that within the mana stone, it will break free from its cage and fly toward me of its own accord.

A low hum resonated through the air.

I maintained my shadowless steps while operating the Ring of Fire to purify my aura. I drew the refined aura into threads as thin as silk and let it flow toward the Black Butterfly.

The black butterfly, which had been clinging to the mana stone and draining its essence, flinched in surprise. Its wings fluttered as it broke free from the cage and descended.

‘As expected.’

I had made the right choice to lower my posture. Had I called it while standing, the guards would have noticed the Black Butterfly’s wing movements.

A slow breath escaped my lips.

The Black Butterfly had escaped its cage, but this was no time to relax my vigilance. It was passing beneath the table where the guards’ legs rested.

If the Black Butterfly’s wings so much as brushed against the guards’ legs, everything would be ruined.

I controlled my aura with the gentleness one would show a newborn babe, guiding the Black Butterfly with meticulous precision.

From right to left, from below to above. I directed its flight so that even its wings would not disturb the guards’ clothing.

A soft whoosh filled the silence.

The Black Butterfly, fluttering like a leaf caught in the wind, completed its brief yet arduous journey and alighted upon my palm.

‘Welcome.’

I slipped the Black Butterfly into my inner pocket and rose slowly to my feet. The guards remained oblivious, their attention consumed by their card game.

“Damn it, I lost again!”
“That’s your sixth loss in a row. Hand over this month’s wages to me.”
“Tch, what a mess! This is—huh?”

The guard who had been throwing down his cards suddenly noticed the empty cage where the Black Butterfly had been held. His eyes widened in alarm.

“H-Hell! It’s gone! It’s really gone!”
“What?”
“The butterfly—it’s disappeared!”

The guard examined the cage from every angle, his jaw trembling.

“Search! Search everywhere! If this goes missing, we’re truly finished!”

The guards overturned not only the auction items but beds, chairs, and every piece of furniture. They opened the windows and finally the door itself.

At that moment, I smiled from where I pressed against the wall.

‘Now I can move.’

I collected five more auction items from the chaos of the floor, then slipped leisurely through the open door.

-You’ve lost your mind. You’re not a con artist at all—you’re a thief! What kind of life were you living before I arrived!
‘A filthy one.’

I laughed coldly and bitterly.

‘An absolutely filthy one.’

*

*

*

I returned to the restroom, changed my clothes, restored my body to its normal size, and made my way back to the Auction House.

The Announcer’s voice boomed louder than ever, as the final auction was underway.

“Ah, my, my heart is tingling….”

Dorian was scratching his heart and shoulders with trembling hands.

“That’s why you should cut back on snacking in the first place.”

I clicked my tongue disapprovingly.

“Sigh….”

Dorian’s mouth fell open in utter disbelief. His expression screamed: *This is all your fault—what nonsense are you spouting?*

“Young master, sir.”

He exhaled a long sigh and leaned closer, ensuring no one else could hear.

“You really weren’t caught, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Phew, thank goodness you gave up halfway through. Honestly, stealing from the Black Market is absolute madness….”
“I didn’t give up.”
“Huh?”

His voice suddenly rose. He’d assumed I’d abandoned the Black Butterfly since I’d returned so quickly.

“Wait… surely you didn’t….”
“It’s right here.”
“Gaaahhh!”

I tapped my inner pocket, and Dorian’s eyes began rolling wildly in their sockets. It had been ages since I’d witnessed a human’s eyes move quite like that.

“Ugh….”

As Dorian began to stumble backward, a shadow fell across him from behind. I turned to see a woman wearing a fox mask standing there.

“It seems you’re in quite a predicament.”

Her voice dripped with contempt so thick it was almost palpable. The mockery was so blatant I wanted to call it a snout rather than a mouth.

“That’s why you need to know your place. What’s a penniless wretch like you doing clinging to pride?”

Even behind the mask, her tone betrayed her expression.

“The world doesn’t flow according to your whims. Understanding your station is how you survive long in this life.”

Her clumsy threats, delivered without understanding the situation, only drew a scoff from me.

“I’m giving you one last chance. You must know who I am by now, so hand over that ring. It’s not a threat, but if you refuse, your life will become very difficult. I’ve never failed to claim what I set my sights on.”

She opened her palm, her expression suggesting: *You wouldn’t dare refuse me.*

“It’s not a threat—it’s definitely a threat. And are your ears broken? I said I don’t want to.”

I waved my hand dismissively, as though swatting away a fly.

“What, what? What did you just say?”
“Get your ears pierced and listen properly.”
“You, you!”
“Stop being annoying and leave.”
“Ugh!”

The mask trembled violently. The princess, unable to contain her fury, began drawing mana to the surface.

“You won’t listen to reason, will you? The item you were after was that butterfly, wasn’t it? Whether at auctions or shops, I could buy every single one that appears and make sure you never lay eyes on it again.”

It didn’t matter. I’d already obtained it.

“Or perhaps I could prevent you from ever seeing tomorrow’s sunrise? A worthless mercenary like you—I could erase you with a single finger. Do you have any idea who I am…?”

Just as the woman let out a scoff and reached to remove her mask—

“Excuse me, miss!”

The guard I’d seen in the VIP room approached her with a grave expression.

“I, I have something urgent to tell you. Just now…”
“What? What nonsense is this!”

The woman’s expression hardened into something lethal as she heard the guard’s whispered words.

“Seems like you’ve got a problem.”

I smiled faintly, sensing the presence of the Black Butterfly in my inner pocket.

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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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