The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 48

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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 48

The Zigheart family was primarily a house of swordsmen, yet due to various necessities, they operated an independent Magic Tower.

The mages of the Magic Tower received decent treatment, but because they were not the main force, they were often looked down upon by the swordsmen.

Jake, a 5th Circle mage belonging to the Magic Tower, shared this frustration.

The salary, free time, and research funds were all top-tier for a workplace, but being disrespected by the swordsmen and knowing he wasn’t part of the family’s main line was suffocating.

For the first time, he had been invited to the Central Martial Hall, where Karun Zigheart—one of the true pillars of Zigheart—resided.

*Gulp.*

Jake swallowed hard and lifted his head. Karun Zigheart was gazing down at him with an overwhelming aura that made his throat tremble involuntarily.

‘Why on earth did he summon me?’

The gap between Karun’s position and his own was like heaven and earth, and they had virtually no connection. He couldn’t fathom why Karun had called for him.

“I hear you’re being dispatched next week to support practical training at the 5th Training Ground.”
“Ah, yes! That’s correct.”

Jake bowed his head, his voice trembling. Under the orders of Bervin, the deputy tower master, he was scheduled to be dispatched to the 5th Training Ground to support practical training.

“I called you here because there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“A request…?”

Karun was one of the true powers behind Zigheart. If he granted this request, it would surely prove invaluable to his future.

“P-please, speak, sir.”

Jake bowed his head, his words faltering slightly.

“So for this practical training, you’re summoning orcs to face the trainees?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can those orcs be strengthened?”
“The head instructor of the 5th Training Ground has already been asked to do so. Apparently, the trainees’ combat prowess is so exceptional that ordinary orcs won’t provide adequate training.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m asking if you can strengthen them to the point where they cannot be defeated.”
‘Cannot be defeated?’

Jake swallowed hard.

‘Is there a specific trainee he’s targeting?’

It seemed Karun intended to kill or seriously injure one of the trainees from the 5th Training Ground.

“It’s possible! If you tell me which trainee you’re targeting—”
“Targeting? Your words are strange, Jake.”

Karun’s cold voice resonated sharply through the vast Central Martial Hall.

“Ah, I-I apologize. My mana sometimes becomes unstable, so I need to be careful. Which trainee would you like me to focus on?”
“Hmm, Raon.”

Karun nodded slowly, as if pleased with his own words.

“Raon Zigheart….”

Jake’s eyes gleamed. Raon had defeated Burren, Karun’s own son. Now Jake understood Karun’s intention.

‘He’s targeting Raon.’

Recently, Raon had defeated the Third Prince of the Owen Kingdom and earned the reputation of being the strongest among the trainees. There was no doubt—Karun’s target was Raon Zigheart.

“Even in training, practical exercises often result in injuries. Very rarely, there can even be permanent damage.”
“That’s true. I’ve witnessed it several times myself.”
“So I’ve procured a suitable monster for the occasion.”

Karun snapped his fingers, and a butler on the right dragged forward an orc standing over two meters tall.

Gulp.

Jake swallowed hard. Having dealt with countless orcs, he could discern the truth. The orc before him appeared ordinary, yet it had ascended to an extraordinary tier.

“It’s an orc brought from the Dolan Mountain Range.”
“The Dolan Mountain Range….”

The Dolan Mountain Range was a treacherous land teeming with formidable monsters. An orc that had survived there possessed a fundamentally different caliber of strength than ordinary orcs.

“I trust you’ll send out this orc and ensure that boy faces no misfortune.”

Karun Zigheart’s lips curled upward. Though he spoke of ensuring care, his true meaning was to use the orc to inflict permanent injury.

“And should the orc cause any problems, dispose of it immediately so no questions arise. If you conclude this matter well, I shall recommend you as Deputy Tower Master of the Magic Tower in the future.”
“Y-yes, thank you!”
“Then go.”
“Yes! I shall obey without question.”

Jake bowed so deeply his nose nearly touched the ground. He stored the Dolan Mountain Range orc using Saving Monster magic, then departed from Karun’s chamber.

“No one saw him on the way here?”

Karun turned his gaze toward the butler who had brought the orc.

“We entered through the inner passage, so no one knows that mage came here.”
“You’re perceptive. If you handle this matter well, I’ll advance your position.”
“Will you promote me to Deputy Tower Master?”
“How could that be? I’ll simply make him so desperate for your favor that he’d tear out his own liver and gallbladder.”
“Understood.”

The butler smiled broadly. He bowed and exited through the door.

“Raon Zigheart….”

Karun murmured the name softly to himself.

That boy had defeated his own son Burren, crushed Martha, and even brought the Third Prince—Owen’s future—to his knees.

From his position as head of the Central Intelligence Agency and commander of the Jeonmadae, it was hardly a remarkable matter, yet that boy’s movements had begun to irritate him.

Most troubling was that the Family Head—his father—had begun directing his gaze toward Raon, bit by bit.

He wouldn’t become a threat to my position as family head, but it’s best to eliminate annoyances before they grow.

‘It would be wise to dispose of him before he becomes any larger.’

That was how I had grown in this place, and the method I had learned on this cold, unforgiving land.

*

*

*

After finishing my night training at the Training Ground, I returned to the Annex Building. As I passed quietly through the corridor at the late hour, Sylvia’s door suddenly burst open.

“Raon!”

The moment the door slammed against the wall, Sylvia burst out with her eyes blazing crimson.

“Ugh!”
“You see your mother and say ‘ugh’? ‘Ugh, ugh’?”
“No, that’s not…”
“Didn’t you promise to take a stroll through the Garden with me today? Didn’t you?”
“Ah!”

My mouth fell open.

‘I forgot.’

I had been so absorbed in training because of what happened yesterday that I had completely forgotten.

“You forgot! You actually forgot!”
“It’s not like that—”
“It’s not? This is the first time I’ve seen your face awake in three days!”

Sylvia strode forward and raised her hand.

“Uh, Mother?”

I furrowed my brow and stepped back.

“Why did I suggest we take a walk together?”
“Hm?”
“Training is important, but rest is equally vital. Rest is part of training itself.”

Sylvia smiled gently and began stroking my hair.

“You’re training every day at the Training Ground, so take some time to relax here. Even just half a day.”
“Ah, yes.”

I lowered my head deeply.

‘I never know what to do when I’m in front of this person.’

It wasn’t that I disliked Sylvia, Helen, or the attendants.
If I truly hated them, I would have fled long ago.
I was deliberately keeping my distance because I was afraid of how my affection for those I’ve known since birth was steadily growing.

“You’re not injured anywhere?”
“You ask that every time I visit.”
“Of course I do! My son’s dream is to become a swordmaster!”

Without waiting for my answer, she examined my face and body carefully. Even when I insisted I was fine, she ignored me and only released me after her inspection was complete.

“I told you I’m not injured. Then I’ll head—”
“Not yet.”

Sylvia shook her head and pulled me into a tight embrace.

“You smell like sweat.”

Since I’d come straight from training without washing, my condition was far from presentable, yet Sylvia didn’t let go.

“It’s not noticeable at all, so don’t worry.”
“Mm…”
“It’s been so long since I’ve held my son. I can feel how much you’ve grown.”

Sylvia held me for a long while before finally releasing me. Her eyes sparkled like stars, radiant with joy.

“Have you eaten?”
“Of course I have.”
“You worked hard training. Go rest now.”

Sylvia murmured about how she’d sleep soundly after holding her son for the first time in so long, then disappeared into her room.

As I shook my head and turned to head back to my room, my eyes met Helen’s at the end of the corridor.

“Young master. I’ll have water ready for you, so wash up and rest.”

She smiled brightly before vanishing like a ghost to the side. Laughter echoed in her fading footsteps.

“Sigh….”

Whenever I came to this place, neither my abilities nor my emotions remained under my control. Yet since I didn’t dislike it, there was nothing to say but that it was ambiguous.

I entered my room, feeling more exhausted than I had from training.

“Ah, I’m tired….”

As I sat in a chair resting for a moment, I heard a knock, and shortly after, the door opened.

“Young master. I’ve prepared your bath.”

I thought it was Helen, but Judith’s head poked through the doorway.

“Understood.”
“I have something to tell you.”

As I nodded and started to rise, Judith closed the door and entered the room.

“It concerns the Central Intelligence Agency.”
“The Central Intelligence Agency?”

The Central Intelligence Agency was Karun Zigheart’s castle and the place that had sent Judith here.

“Speak.”

I settled back into my seat, my crimson eyes gleaming.

“Yes.”

Judith knelt before me and bowed her head. It was like watching a subject pay homage to their king.

“The Central Intelligence Agency has issued orders to monitor your every move once you return to the Annex Building and report everything back to them.”
“So they’re plotting something.”
“It appears so.”
“…A practical test.”

I repeated the word Rimer had mentioned to me earlier today.

“If it’s a practical test….”
“Instructor Rimer mentioned next week would be when the practical training begins. It seems they’re trying to interfere with that training.”
“Ah!”

Judith’s head snapped up suddenly.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve heard that when trainees undergo practical tests, they sometimes duel against monsters.”
“I’ve heard that too.”

I recalled how Dorian had screamed at the end of today’s training that he would soon be dueling monsters.

“Then they could be tampering with the monsters themselves, or manipulating the mage who controls them, or perhaps….”

I closed my eyes and continued speaking.

“They could be doing both.”

*

*

*

The following Monday.
Jake arrived at the 5th Training Ground an hour earlier than the scheduled time.

‘I have to do this right.’

To succeed in this cursed land, one must know how to climb the right rope.

Until now, even rotten, crumbling ropes never snapped, but what descended this time wasn’t merely a sturdy rope—it was a ladder that could reach the very heavens.

For the sake of my future, I must inflict grave wounds upon Raon by any means necessary. Only then could I catch the eye of Karun Zigheart.

‘There’s no need to worry about what comes after.’

Raon Zigheart had virtually no backing, while Karun was a man who might become the next family head. It was already clear whom I should serve.

“Hah….”

Jake steadied his breathing and opened the door to the 5th Training Ground. Beyond the thin veil of sand dust, he could see trainees practicing with their swords.

Since training hadn’t officially begun, he walked to the outer edge of the training ground and observed the trainees.

‘That one must be Burren, and beside him is Martha.’

Jake identified the key trainees he shouldn’t provoke based on the descriptions he’d heard beforehand.

‘That one is Lunan, the youngest of the Slion Family, and….’

Finally, his gaze fell upon a golden-haired boy on the right side of the training ground, bringing his sword down in a sweeping arc.

‘Is that Raon? Remarkably handsome, almost absurdly so.’

The way he pivoted his feet and thrust his blade was like a living masterpiece.

‘I’m sorry, but I have no choice. I won’t kill you, though.’

Jake bit his lip as the faintest whisper of killing intent rose within him—a subtle aura so shallow that even swordsmen with keen senses or wild beasts could scarcely perceive it.

But.
One person reacted.

Raon’s eyes, which had been wholly focused on his blade, turned toward Jake.

“Tch!”

Jake gasped in terror, his back slamming against the wall as he collapsed to the ground. The moment he glimpsed Raon’s crimson eyes, his heart seized in his chest.

“Ugh….”

Stripped bare before a predator, he couldn’t move a single finger.

‘W-what is that monster….’

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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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