The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 465

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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 465

Ariel glared at Raon, her crimson lips trembling with barely contained fury.

‘Is this man truly insane?’

Communication was utterly impossible.

Whenever she initiated conversation or posed a question, he would abruptly cut her off mid-response, ending the exchange with demands to hurry up. Nothing more.

It felt like speaking to a stone wall. The inability to maintain any coherent dialogue was driving her to madness.

‘There’s no reasoning with him.’

Raon had no intention of continuing the conversation. He was applying pressure through crude disruptions of the dialogue flow, and there seemed to be no way to counter it.

“…I apologize for arriving late.”

She’d lost count of how many times she’d apologized, but she had no choice but to offer another one.

She cast a pleading glance toward Glen, asking him to rein in Raon, but he merely observed the situation with keen interest.

“How many times are you going to apologize? If you’d arrived earlier, you wouldn’t have needed to.”

Raon clicked his tongue dismissively.

‘That infernal word—faster! Faster!’

She felt herself developing a neurosis over the word “faster.”

‘Damn it.’

This had to be premeditated.

If this pretty-faced fool hadn’t planned it in advance—late adolescence or whatever excuse—there was no way he’d be acting so wild.

Ariel bit her lip thin with tension.

‘I have to endure this.’

Right now, I was outmatched in power, authority, and justification. Even as rage threatened to consume my heart, I had to hold firm.

“Hah….”

I steadied my breathing and cooled my mind. Imagining myself as an emotionless stone, I lifted my head.

“As the Gale Wind Squad Commander said, we recklessly invaded Zigheart Territory and struck first twice. I have prepared appropriate compensation. But first, I wish to offer an apology.”

Heekyuk Je straightened her shoulders and waist, meeting Glen’s gaze.

“All the problems my subordinates caused stem from my own shortcomings. Ariel of the White Whale confesses her sins to the Northern Tyrant.”

She bent gracefully at the waist. A respectful posture with proper etiquette. Even as she admitted fault, she did not lose her composure.

‘Even that reckless fool can’t object to this.’

She offered no excuses, mentioned compensation first, then immediately acknowledged her wrongdoing. Even Raon couldn’t find fault with this.

But Raon was no ordinary reckless fool. Just as I began to relax, his voice came from behind.

“Ugh! If you’d come and apologized earlier, I’d already be back home taking a nap with my subordinates. Wouldn’t I?”
“Huh? Well, yes, that would be the case?”

Raon narrowed his eyes, and Rimer reluctantly nodded.

‘That damned bastard, again!’

Ariel clenched her fist inside her sleeve. The composure I’d barely regained seemed to crumble like a sandcastle.

‘He’s not just a reckless fool. He’s an absolute scoundrel!’

I shook my head slightly, thinking of Raon as the worst kind of reckless fool.
I bit my tongue to suppress my emotions and lifted my gaze.

Whoooosh!

As Ariel drew a circle in the air with her finger, a spatial rift opened, and gold ingots, jewels, elixirs, and weapons poured forth.

“I’m aware that such treasures won’t be of great benefit to Zigheart. Please accept them as a token of goodwill from myself and my subordinates.”

She murmured that even if I didn’t forgive her, she hoped I would at least accept the gift.

“Hmm….”
“You’re giving all of that?”
“The quantity is impressive, but the quality is exceptional across the board. Even the gold coins look like platinum.”
“This exceeds expectations.”

The executives of Zigheart also widened their eyes in astonishment at the sheer volume and quality of the treasures Heekyuk Je had presented.

‘Yes, the quality and quantity are excessive. But this is nothing compared to what awaits.’

Once I returned with my subordinates rescued, I would gain fame and prestige that couldn’t be measured against mere material wealth.
Money and treasures were easily obtainable if one had information to trade, so I felt no regret in parting with them.

“Wow, how much is all that worth? If we’d arrived sooner, half of that would’ve been enough. It must’ve been difficult gathering all of it, right?”
“Ugh, why is everyone else rich except me….”

Raon let out a scoff, while Rimer’s jaw trembled so hard it made clicking sounds.

‘Ignore him. Ignore him. He’s not even human.’

Ariel’s neck tensed. Her expression nearly crumbled because of Raon, but she steadied herself and fixed her gaze solely on Glen.

“From now on, refrain from entering Zigheart Territory, and should you ever need to, please seek permission in advance….”
“Ah, wait a moment.”

Raon waved his hand, cutting off my words.

“I think that might not be quite enough.”
“Pardon?”

Ariel blinked her eyelids.

‘What is this reckless fool trying to do now….’

Just moments ago he’d been astonished enough to ask “how much is all that worth,” and now suddenly it wasn’t enough—truly, he was a man she despised dealing with.

“Are you saying the compensation is insufficient?”
“Yes. It feels a bit vague, you see.”
“Hmm….”

Normally, one wouldn’t speak so bluntly considering rank, honor, and age, but it seemed such conventions didn’t apply to this reckless fool.

“Well, as I mentioned, this represents our sincerity….”
“Ugh!”

Just as I was about to explain calmly, Raon grabbed his shoulder and grimaced.

“The wound from Baek Rangdo’s blade is throbbing!”

He bent at the waist as if in genuine agony, cold sweat dripping down his face.

‘This bastard….’

According to reports, Raon had subdued Baek Rangdo with ease. The blade hadn’t even properly touched him, let alone struck him. This was clearly malingering.

‘What’s even more absurd is that the location keeps changing!’

Now Raon was holding his right shoulder, but moments ago when he complained of pain, he’d been rubbing his left shoulder.

“A moment ago, you were touching your left shoulder….”
“Both shoulders hurt!”

Raon writhed, cold sweat streaming down his face, both hands clutching at his shoulders.

‘I’m going to lose my mind.’

He was openly mocking me, and there was nothing I could say. My blood felt ready to boil over.

“…Very well.”

Ariel shook her head and opened a spatial rift once more. She even poured out emergency reserves she’d brought along just in case of unforeseen circumstances.

“Sigh….”

I exhaled an irritated sigh and turned around, only to find Raon rotating his shoulders as if he’d never been ill at all.
The cold sweat that had covered his forehead moments ago had vanished as if washed away.

“I’m feeling much better now. If you’d arrived sooner, you wouldn’t have had to pay the additional compensation. It’s all karma, really. Karma.”

Raon grinned widely and wiggled his fingers.

“Ugh….”

Ariel’s entire body trembled as fury surged from her toes upward.

‘Hold it together. Not now.’

There was no way to kill Raon here, no matter what she did. She had to endure for now and plan for the future.

“Head of House.”

She suppressed the molten rage burning inside her as she looked at Glen.

“I don’t expect forgiveness at this level. We will reflect sincerely on the problems we caused, and we will never….”

As she met Glen’s impassive gaze and tried to continue speaking, Raon’s voice came from behind her again.

“That’s not all, though, is it?”
“Perhaps you should stop now….”

As Ariel turned around, her voice dripping with fury, a crimson flash gleamed in Raon’s eyes.

“This is just the beginning. What do you mean by ‘stop’?”

Despite his casual tone, there was an icy edge to his words that sent a faint sting across her temples.

“You haven’t mentioned the most important thing.”

*

*

*

“W-what are you talking about….”

I watched Heekyuk Je’s wavering eyes and let out a cold scoff.

“What truly enrages us isn’t that you invaded Zigheart, nor that you attacked first.”
“Then….”
“The hostages.”

I slowly lifted my eyelids and met Ariel’s gaze.

“Knowing that the Black Tower’s barrier is sustained by the life force of hostages, yet choosing not to act—this is no trivial matter to be settled with mere treasure.”

I looked at the mountain of wealth Heekyuk Je had laid out and wrinkled the bridge of my nose.

“That the Black Tower held hostages was something we couldn’t have predicted.”
“Hyeol Unkgyeom knew about it, so how could you, who gave him orders, not know?”

I brought up the information extracted while interrogating Hyeol Unkgyeom and tilted my chin to the side.

“That was Hyeol Unkgyeom’s….”
“The New Rising Powers declared they would belong to neither the Six Emperors nor the Oma, planting their flag in neutrality.”

I cut off Heekyuk Je’s attempt at excuse and continued with what needed to be said.

“If you’re neutral, should you simply stand by and watch hostages? Innocent people bleeding to death, yet you remain still to gather information? How admirable of you all.”

I drawled my words and painted a cold, mocking smile across my face.

“The only order I gave Hyeol Unkgyeom was to gather information on Zigheart and the Black Tower.”

Heekyuk Je shook her head as if to say it truly wasn’t so, looking toward Glen. The statement wasn’t a lie, but there had been additional instructions.

“I truly didn’t know the Black Tower was holding hostages.”

She sighed, saying that had she known hostages existed, she wouldn’t have made such a judgment.

“No, that’s not where this ends.”

I waved my hand and stepped forward.

“Ariel gave Hyeol Unkgyeom an additional instruction not to dispel his concealment under any circumstances, didn’t she?”
“Hmm….”

Heekyuk Je’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“I find that statement rather strange. Under any circumstances? Isn’t that something someone would say if they knew there was a serious problem?”
“The members of the Black Tower are unpredictable in their actions. As for me, I was thinking of my subordinates’ safety as much as possible….”
“Then when giving the order, shouldn’t it have been ‘never clash with the Black Tower’ instead of ‘don’t dispel your concealment under any circumstances’? That would have been more convincing, wouldn’t it?”

I let out a cunning laugh.

“If I gave orders in that manner, then when encountering a member of the Black Tower….”
“Ah, honestly, it doesn’t matter what it was.”

I cut off Heekyuk Je’s excuses. She would have prepared many answers coming here, so she likely had some reasonably plausible excuse. There was no need to listen.

“The conclusion is that the White Whale stood by and watched innocent people die.”
“Hmm, I have nothing to say regarding that part. However, regarding Hyeol Unkgyeom….”

Heekyuk Je acknowledged this and lowered her head.

“Ah, you’ve admitted it. That’s a relief.”
“Pardon?”
“It just so happened that this conversation reached the hostages’ ears as well.”

I smiled faintly.

“What do you mean….”
“While explaining the situation to the hostages, I accidentally let slip that the White Whale had remained silent despite witnessing it. Is that alright with you?”
“Hmm, it is our sin, so it doesn’t matter.”

Ariel nodded.

‘It’s fine. I can contain this.’

I heard that all the hostages were inside Zigheart. If I gave them both carrots and sticks, I could prevent the rumors from spreading.

“I would like to meet with them in person and ask for their forgiveness. Could you give me that opportunity?”
“Ah, unfortunately that’s not possible.”

Raon shook his head slowly.

“They’ve already left the Family Estate.”
“What?”

At the mention of the hostages moving, his eyes widened.

“When did…?”
“I sent them away when Ariel arrived here. By now, they might have already met up with the people who were following the captain’s group.”
“Ah…”

Ariel swallowed dryly as she watched Raon’s eyes grow cold and distant.

‘Was this his plan all along?’

She was trapped inside this place, so she couldn’t issue orders regarding the hostages.
Though there were warriors from the White Whale among her followers, they couldn’t make a move with Zigheart right in front of them.

‘This reckless bastard…’

If rumors spread that the White Whale had ignored the hostages, her reputation and standing wouldn’t rise—they’d plummet instead.
The very reason for coming here would be nullified.

‘Damn it…’

The situation had spiraled completely beyond her predictions, and she couldn’t maintain her composure. Her eyes narrowed involuntarily.

“So there’s something I need to say.”

Raon rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes narrowing to slits.

“I’m quite conscientious, so I plan to keep checking whether they made it home safely. If anything happens to them—if they get hurt or go missing—the White Whale would naturally be the first suspect, wouldn’t you agree?”

He spoke words that others would refrain from saying out of respect for their opponent.
This was a threat. A warning that he wouldn’t stand idle if the hostages were harmed.
The White Whale would have no choice but to protect the hostages rather than lay a finger on them.

“….”

Heekyuk Je said nothing, merely glaring at me with eyes that burned a fierce crimson.
Since it was similar to the method she had attempted to use Zigheart, a sense of satisfaction bloomed within me.

“Hmm….”

Glen’s lips curved upward slightly, as if he too found the situation gratifying.

“That won’t happen….”
“Then that’s fortunate.”

Raon chuckled softly and nodded.

‘In truth, I don’t need your assistance.’

I had contacted the Black Market in advance with two requests. First, the protection of the hostages, and second, the spreading of their story across the entire Continent.

The prestige and standing that Heekyuk Je had sought would have vanished into the darkness by now.

“You said your name was Ariel?”

At Glen’s call, Ariel’s gaze shifted toward him. Even in this moment, the way she forced herself to maintain her composure suggested she had honed her mental fortitude as rigorously as her martial prowess.

“Yes.”
“This leniency ends here. Should you attempt such petty schemes again, I shall erase the name White Whale from the Continent itself.”
“…I shall remember this.”

A chill swept through Heekyuk Je’s eyes. She made no attempt to conceal the emotions already laid bare, nodding with a gaze sharp as poison.

“And.”

Heekyuk Je withdrew a white envelope from her bosom and extended it forward.

“Next year, a festival shall be held to commemorate the establishment of the five organizations of the New Rising Powers. Should the opportunity arise, I hope you will attend.”
“I shall consider it.”

As Glen nodded, the letter in Heekyuk Je’s hand rose like a cloud and descended upon the armrest of the Jade Throne.

“Roen.”
“Yes.”

Roen descended from the platform and approached Ariel’s side.

“I’ll guide you to where the others are.”
“I appreciate it.”

Ariel nodded and turned to follow Roen.
She walked with deliberate slowness, her gaze fixed upon me with eyes that burned like hellfire—blazing with fury and malice.

I met Ariel’s stare head-on, swallowing hard.

‘Quite the intimidation tactic.’

Cold sweat trickled down my spine despite my aura remaining dormant and my presence suppressed. A formidable master indeed. Without this sanctuary, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against her.

‘But then again….’

This is our home turf.

And I had the master’s permission to stand my ground here, which gave me the advantage to push back.

“Lady Ariel.”

I called her name with a faint smile, and Ariel came to a halt.

“Would you like me to give you a new pair of shoes?”
“Shoes? What do you mean….”
“You seem to have much on your mind, and you’ll need to walk when you leave. If you’re going to play the Alley boss again on your way out, wouldn’t new shoes be better?”

It was a sarcastic jab, repurposing the excuse she’d given for her late arrival.

“….”

Ariel bared her teeth. Her eyes, now gleaming with even more vicious malice than before, curved into crescents.

“Kahahaha!”

Rimer finally couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.

“You really are insane!”

He chuckled, saying he’d never seen anyone more unhinged than himself.

“Keep it down. Do you know where we are?”
“Ah, right.”

Rimer nodded awkwardly.

‘Wait, hold on!’

This was far too strange.

He’d been acting like a complete fool all day, and I wanted to demand, ‘Why are you doing this to me!’ but I held back out of fear of Glen.

“That is my intention.”

Heekyuk Je nodded with a smile—though that smile was chilling enough to make one’s hair stand on end.

‘Now is the moment.’

I clenched my fist. I had to ask the question now, while Heekyuk Je’s composure was completely shattered.

“The Dragon’s Helm.”

At those words, Heekyuk Je’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

“There’s talk of someone who encountered one wearing the Dragon’s Helm.”

I continued, meeting Heekyuk Je’s piercing gaze.

“What is your connection to Eden?”

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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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