The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 365

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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 365

I left the trembling Dorian behind and examined the people collapsed across the peak.

‘Their condition isn’t bad at all.’
-Indeed. They’ve improved considerably.

The villagers’ bodies bore dark holes, but they weren’t particularly large, and the black veins hadn’t spread extensively. It was a world of difference from when I first arrived here and examined them through Seolhwa’s senses.

‘Did someone administer first aid properly?’

I thought they’d only been given painkillers, yet the people’s condition was better than expected. Just as I was about to ask how this was managed, a glass bottle beside one of the patients caught my eye.

‘Was this used?’
-Ugh, it reeks of something filthy and vile.

Wrath grimaced at the sight of the glass bottle.

‘I can’t blame you. It’s holy water. Extremely expensive holy water at that.’

This wasn’t just any holy water—it was genuine holy water brought from the Kelton Holy Kingdom.
Beyond its exorbitant cost, it was something difficult to obtain even with money, yet it had been used without hesitation.

I chuckled and turned to look back. Despite his fear of the approaching ordeal, Dorian was feeding water and food to the injured.

-That fool is too kind for his own good. He has the face of someone destined to be deceived.
‘Do they read faces in the Demon Realm too?’
-Don’t mock the Demon Realm! We have systematized physiognomy texts as well! Character changes depending on horn length, you know!
‘There’s everything under the sun.’

I chuckled and nodded in agreement.

‘Regardless, I can’t bring myself to hate that fool.’

Cowardly and somewhat lacking in certain ways, yet he possessed a kindness that surpassed most.

‘When we return, I’ll reduce his training from five times to four times.’

I couldn’t simply ignore someone who’d been called a “character wreck,” so I decided to reduce their training load slightly.

-So there’s no option to not do it?
‘There isn’t.’
-What kind of person does this….

Wrath’s jaw trembled as if he found the situation utterly absurd.

I turned my head and placed my hand on the Old Man’s shoulder.

‘Now then….’

The question was how to remove this.

Darkness mana was negative energy. It clung to the human body and refused to dissipate easily, making complete removal difficult.

‘I’ll have no choice but to burn it away with the Ring of Fire and Manhwagong… wait?’

Just as I was about to incinerate the darkness mana by relying on the purifying power of the Ring of Fire and the purity of Manhwagong, the Soul Reaper Sword sheathed at my side resonated with a clear ring.

‘You can do this?’

Uuuuung!

The Soul Reaper Sword rang out even louder, as if affirming my question.

‘Hmm….’

Since the Soul Reaper Sword wouldn’t lie, I decided to test it and brought the crimson blade toward the Old Man’s wound.

Uuuuung!

The Soul Reaper Sword erupted with brilliant golden light and began drawing the darkness mana dwelling within the Old Man’s body into itself.
The blackened veins receded, the dark holes narrowed, and eventually vanished completely.

Splash!

Fresh red blood flowed from the wound where the darkness mana had been completely purged, and color gradually returned to the Old Man’s complexion.

“That’s enough.”

I smiled and drew the Soul Reaper Sword. As promised, it had absorbed every trace of dark mana from within the Old Man’s body.

‘So this is possible….’
-It’s similar to vital energy, blood essence, or demonic qi—just negative forces. Useless tricks anyway.

Wrath waved his finger dismissively.

Whooooom!

The Soul Reaper Sword paid no attention to Wrath’s words, too busy digesting the dark energy it had consumed.

“Dorian.”
“Yes!”

Dorian, who had been watching from the side, startled and rushed over.

“Stop the bleeding for him. I’ll treat the next person.”
“Right away!”

Seeing the Old Man’s color returning, Dorian’s expression brightened as well.
He immediately pulled out hemostatic powder and bandages from his pouch, staunching the Old Man’s wounds.

‘Next….’

As I moved to examine the wounds of the young Charm Girl lying behind the Old Man, a message flashed before my eyes.

[Outstanding Heart Technique….]
[A Higher Realm….]

I immediately dismissed the message and brought the Soul Reaper Sword to the Charm Girl’s wounds.

-Aren’t you going to look? There seem to be quite a few….

Wrath’s jaw trembled as he glared at where the message had vanished.

‘That’s not what matters right now.’

Now was not the time to celebrate growth, but rather the moment to heal the people as quickly as possible.

Since Wrath absorbed the darkness through the Soul Reaper Sword as if savoring ice cream, all treatment was complete by the time dawn began to break.

Uuuuuung!

The Soul Reaper Sword released a satisfied hum as if sated, then quietly drifted into slumber. It seemed to be preparing to digest all the darkness it had consumed.

“It’s all done!”

Dorian finished bandaging the Ogre Warrior’s shoulder—the last patient—and grinned.

“What should we do now?”
“There are two problems.”
“Two?”
“Yes. The first is that Drake.”

I pointed to the Drake embedded in the peak directly below us.
Normally, I would have asked the Black Market to handle the transport, but the situation had unfolded so rapidly that we hadn’t made any preparations.

“Why are you worried about that?”
“Huh?”
“It’s simple.”

Dorian shrugged as if it were nothing and descended below the peak. He lifted only the Drake’s head and stuffed it into his ship’s pouch.

Kuguguguuu!

The massive Drake, as if affected by a shrinking spell, slipped smoothly into Dorian’s pouch.

-What?
“Huh…?”

It all fit inside?

I was so dumbfounded that words escaped me. Watching a Drake exceeding thirty meters from head to tail disappear into a pouch transcended astonishment and bordered on terror.

Tak!

Dorian leaped lightly and bounded back up onto the peak.

“See? Nothing to it, right?”
“Y-yeah, I suppose.”

I nodded awkwardly.

“So what’s the second step?”
“We need to transport these people.”

I gestured toward the unconscious figures scattered across the peak. With so many of them, it wouldn’t be easy to escort everyone down to the village.

“Taking them down one at a time would take far too long.”

Even though I’d purged the darkness from them, they’d expended considerable stamina. I wanted to get them down quickly so they could rest.

“Could you perhaps connect these peaks and create an inclined ice slope?”

Dorian pointed toward the peaks that jutted up like steps.

“It’s possible.”

I nodded. Unlike the heat from Manhwagong, I hadn’t depleted much of Glacia’s chill. Creating an inclined ice slope was well within my capabilities.

“Then make it for us. We’ll go down all at once.”

Dorian grinned and thrust his hand into his spatial pouch. When his hand emerged, he was holding an elegant carriage—a massive one that would require eight horses to pull.

-A carriage? He has a carriage?
“A carriage came out?”

Wrath and I dropped our jaws in unison.

‘Wait, is this really something to be shocked about?’

Drake had gone into that pouch, so a carriage emerging from it wasn’t exactly the strangest thing.

‘Shocked or not….’

Having that would certainly make things easier.

With myself and Dorian controlling the carriage’s speed from the front, we could reach the village far more conveniently and quickly than escorting people one by one.

“A carriage is naturally something we must carry with us. It’s an essential item, after all.”

Dorian chuckled as he wrapped iron chains around the carriage wheels to prevent them from slipping.

I swallowed dryly as I watched Dorian smile as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

What exactly isn’t an essential item to you?

*

*

*

By the time Dorian and I arrived at Weathers Village with the rescued people in the carriage, the sun had already reached its zenith in the sky.

I had intended to clear away the rubble quickly so the people could rest, but there were already many workers there reconstructing the village.

“We pay our respects to the White Sword Dragon. I am Henderson, directly under the Branch Director.”

A middle-aged man with half his gray hair swept back stepped forward and bowed. He was the warrior who had been standing beside Deningrose.

“How did you come to be here?”
“The Branch Director instructed us to restore the village, saying that the White Sword Dragon would return after rescuing the people.”
“Hah….”

I let out a hollow laugh as I looked at Henderson.

Did she predict that I would win?

Deningrose would have certainly detected that assassins had moved in this direction.
She had anticipated—no, she had believed—that I would break through the ranks of assassins and the Black Tower forces to rescue the people.

What an unusual woman.

If even a single decision had gone wrong, everyone from the Black Market could have perished. The fact that he entrusted me with their lives and sent them here showed he was no ordinary man.

“I’ve also brought a priest and healers. Please leave the treatment of the villagers to us.”

Henderson pointed toward the back. Beyond the workers restoring the village, an elderly man in priestly robes and several people who appeared to be healers stood waiting.

“Dorian.”

Dorian nodded and opened the carriage. He brought out the people from the compressed carriage and laid them before the priest and healers.

“Huh!”

The priest exhaled sharply and lifted his head with a start.

“B-but these are clearly wounds inflicted by dark energy, yet there’s not even a trace of its lingering essence! How is this….”

He examined the people’s wounds, his mouth falling open in astonishment.

“How on earth did you treat them?”
“This fellow deserves the credit for using holy water at the right moment.”

I smiled, gesturing toward Dorian.

“After that, I erased the rest using my aura.”

I mixed in a lie, unwilling to reveal the Soul Reaper Sword’s true power.

“Even with holy water, wounds don’t disappear this cleanly. Remarkable! It seems there will be no aftereffects!”

The priest smiled with relief. He cast blessings upon the villagers to enhance their recovery, then entrusted their wounds to the healers.

“You possess truly extraordinary skill!”

After blessing all the villagers, he approached and grasped both my hands.

“Would you consider joining us? With your abilities, people might even say you’re the reincarnation of a saint.”
“Ha ha….”

I laughed awkwardly.

‘It seems they don’t know who I am.’

For a priest of such exceptional skill to say such a thing, the Soul Reaper Sword must be quite effective at handling matters.

“I’m not really that impressive…”
“Priest Camen. This person has been fighting through the night and must be exhausted.”
“Ah, my apologies. I made a mistake.”

The priest bowed respectfully and stepped back. He seemed a bit hasty, but not a bad person.

“We’ve prepared a place for both of you to rest.”

Henderson pointed to the barracks set up on the right side. Built with the finest canvas, it was spacious, sturdy, and odorless.

“Hmm…”

I watched Dorian blankly inspecting the tent and smacked my lips.

‘Dorian must be relieved to rest.’

Starting with climbing the peak bare-handed, fighting Drake, and then dragging the carriage—he must be exhausted enough to collapse.

“Branch Master. Let me rest first…”

Dorian smiled and bowed his head, then collapsed right there.

-He’s worn out.
‘Yeah.’

From the look of it, he’d lost consciousness once his tension eased.

‘What an amusing fellow.’

I chuckled softly, laid Dorian on the cot inside the barracks, and entered my own quarters.

“Phew…”

I sat on the cot inside the barracks and exhaled a long breath.

‘Fortunately, I’ve done everything I could.’

I had thwarted Derus Robert’s surprise attack, annihilated the Black Tower Master and the shadow creatures, and safely rescued the kidnapped people.
Since I had even obtained Drake, the very purpose of coming here, it was no exaggeration to call this the best possible outcome.

-It was a close call, but not bad at all.

Wrath nodded in agreement.

‘Then shall I check what I’ve obtained?’
-Obtained? What did you obtain?
‘The gifts you gave me.’

I smiled faintly and recalled the messages I had previously dismissed.

-The True Demon King gave you a gift… Wha-what?!

Leaving Wrath with his mouth agape, I examined the messages.

[You have outwitted multiple enemies through superior heart technique.]
[You have overcome the combined mastery of two warriors of higher realms.]
[All ability stats increase by 8 points.]

It appeared these points were awarded for making the Black Tower and the Poison Clan fight each other, and for overcoming the combined mastery of the Black Tower Master and Roktan. However, the messages were not yet finished.

[The grade of trait 【Seolhwa’s Senses】 increases.]
[The grade of trait 【Bleeding Curse】 increases.]
[The grade of trait 【Poison Resistance】 increases by 2 stages.]
[The grade of trait 【Seolhwa’s Shadow Veil】 increases.]

The second set involved grade increases for the traits I had used in this battle. I had naturally expected Seolhwa’s Senses and Seolhwa’s Shadow Veil to rise, but I hadn’t anticipated Poison Resistance jumping up by two stages.

‘The effect of consuming the Phantom Jellyfish’s poison must have triggered when I blocked Roktan’s poison.’

With my current level of poison resistance, I might be able to withstand Roktan’s poison without relying on the Ring of Fire.
After fire and water affinities, now poison resistance too. I could feel my vulnerabilities gradually disappearing.

-Is… is this even possible?

Wrath’s lips trembled as he read the message.

-You’re telling me you’re raising my stats and traits just for catching a bunch of weaklings like that?!
‘You did well.’
-Well?! The True Demon King could crush them with his pinky finger. Hell, just flicking a booger would kill them, and you’re rewarding stats for that?! That’s absurd!

He insisted he could do it with just a booger and pretended to flick his nose—though now that I thought about it, I had no idea how he even smelled things without a nose.

-I won’t acknowledge this! Honestly, you didn’t do anything but watch the fight!
‘I finished them off. And what does it matter if you don’t acknowledge it? The points are already in. Deal with it.’

I felt the thrill of 10 points being added and smiled with satisfaction.

-Grrrrgh! If only I could…

Wrath glared at me and gnashed his teeth.

-When I return, I’ll smash that system to pieces and rebuild it! You blockhead!

‘….’

I wanted to tell him that he was the blockhead, but I held back, knowing he’d throw an even bigger tantrum.

‘Sorry, but I have something to tell you.’
-What is it now?!
‘The raspberry pie and chestnut compote… I don’t think we’ll be able to have them.’
-What nonsense is that?!

Wrath’s eyes snapped toward me. The intensity in his gaze was even fiercer than when he’d raged about losing stats, and my fingertips trembled.

‘People are injured and dead. It’s hard to ask for those things in a situation like this.’
-That’s ridiculous! Why did I even come here?!
‘If we were staying for about a week, maybe, but I have to leave in two days. I’ll buy you something delicious from the Merchant Guild instead.’
-No! I absolutely must have the raspberry pie and chestnut compote from this place!

He clung to the ground, shaking his head insistently. It was like watching a child throwing a tantrum on the ground, demanding candy from the market.

‘Look, even if I wanted to, I can’t.’

The Village lay in ruins, with countless casualties. Even if I wanted to repay them, I was neither mentally nor physically capable of moving.

-Hmph! You underestimate humans far too much.
‘What?’
-You have no intention of taking money from these people, do you?
‘Of course not.’
-Then let us make a wager, True Demon King.

Wrath spoke thus and sent me a message.

[【Wrath】 proposes a wager.]
Condition: Leave Weathers Village without being treated to strawberry pie and braised chestnuts.
Success: All stats +10.
Failure: Generate 10 Emotion Points of 【Wrath】, return to Sepia Trading Company and eat all foods that 【Wrath】 desires for 3 days.

-Well? If you’re so confident, then accept it.

Wrath pointed to the wager’s contents and snorted with a huff.

‘…Fine.’

Since I could now use Wrath as well, I accepted the wager without much concern.

‘Besides, I said I’d leave in two days anyway.’
-Excellent!

Wrath grinned wickedly and nodded.

-You are a demon, so you know nothing of humans.
‘Wait, aren’t you the demon here….’

*

*

*

Two days later.

As expected, the people bowed in gratitude and shed tears, but they didn’t bring the wild strawberry pie or the roasted chestnuts.

I chuckled as I watched Wrath furrow his brow in displeasure.

‘I told you. It’s not happening. This isn’t the time to be making desserts.’
-It’s not over yet!

Wrath shook his head, insisting that it wasn’t finished until it was truly finished.

‘It’s pointless. Like I said, we’re leaving before lunch.’
-I understand.

I left the village and surveyed the surrounding area carefully. I extended my senses to check for any sign of the Black Tower, Derus’s shadows, or monsters, but fortunately, I felt nothing.

With the warriors the Black Market had sent, I felt confident we could depart without any concerns.

-Still, your worries are—
‘Better than yours, which only fixate on food.’
-For the True Demon King, it’s merely a hobby….
‘From where I stand, your entire existence revolves around food.’
-That’s not true!

As I teased Wrath and returned to the Dormitory, the Village Chief of Weathers Village was waiting for me.

“Village Chief?”
“My benefactor!”

The Village Chief bowed so deeply his forehead nearly touched the ground.

“Welcome!”
“You don’t need to greet me like that.”

It was burdensome enough that not just the Village Chief, but all the villagers greeted me this way.

“That’s not nearly enough to repay you, sir.”

He smiled awkwardly and shook his head, his lips pressed firmly together as he spoke of a debt he would spend his entire life repaying.

“I heard you’re leaving today. Is that true?”
“Yes. I have something important to attend to.”

I nodded. Since I couldn’t predict what might happen during the succession competition, I needed to visit the Sepia Trading Company beforehand to make preparations.

“I see. You’re truly leaving after helping us.”

He bowed his head apologetically once more.

“We’ve collected a reward for you. It would be wonderful if you’d accept it.”
“You should use it for the village’s reconstruction.”

I shook my head. Since I hadn’t done this for money, I was satisfied enough with my victory over Wrath in our wager.

“Then please accept something else.”

As the Village Chief gestured behind him, a girl with freckles dotting the bridge of her nose stepped forward and offered two boxes.

“My granddaughter made these from the finest wild strawberries and chestnuts remaining in our village. Please do enjoy them, and visit us again someday.”
“Thank you, my benefactor.”

Both he and his granddaughter bowed simultaneously.

“Uh…”

I accepted the elegantly wrapped boxes, my mouth falling open.

‘They made all this?’

They hadn’t even held the funeral services for the victims yet, and here they were giving me local delicacies. I was so taken aback that words escaped me.

-Puhehehehehehe!

Wrath clutched his belly and burst into frivolous laughter.

-Didn’t the True Demon King tell you! You are a demon and know nothing of humans!

The wretch prattled on as if he were human himself, calling me a demon.

“Th-thank you.”

As I forced myself to maintain composure and reached for the box, a message materialized before me. Naturally assuming defeat, I bit my lip.

[You have achieved victory in your wager against Wrath.]
[All stats increase by 10 points.]
[Due to your winning streak, an additional 5 points are granted.]

‘What?’
-Huh?

Yet the message proclaimed my victory.

-What, what is this! Have I truly lost my mind? How could the True Demon King have been defeated!
‘I have no idea either.’

I tilted my head in confusion and lifted the lid of the box. Only then did I understand why such a message had appeared.

‘It’s not raspberry pie and chestnut compote.’

Inside the box lay delicate pink macarons crafted from wild strawberries and candied chestnuts.

-Ah….

Wrath’s jaw dropped as he beheld the two confections.

“These are new desserts to succeed the raspberry pie and chestnut compote. Please, honored benefactor, taste them first.”

The Village Chief smiled, assuring me they would be even more delicious than the raspberry pie and chestnut compote.

“They truly look exquisite.”

I nodded at the sight of the two desserts. I wanted to restrain myself, but laughter kept bubbling up, so I covered my mouth with my hand.

-What is this!

Wrath, utterly blindsided by this unforeseen turn of events, threw his gaze skyward and let out a wail of anguish.

-Why do you always do this?! Why did you have to make a new dessert right now?!
‘You’re welcome.’
-Bring me wild strawberry pie and candied chestnuts!

This is just forced complaining!
Why does the world hate the True Demon King?!

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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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