The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman - Chapter 654

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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 654

“Confess the wrongs you committed at the Annex Building and seek forgiveness.”

I stepped aside to allow the Vice-Leader to meet the eyes of Sylvia and the maidservants. After all, his cruelty had been directed at them, not at me.

-Is that all you wish for?

Wrath exhaled in disbelief, unable to comprehend.

-There are so many other things! Why settle for mere apologies!
‘Just wait and see.’

I tapped Wrath’s head gently to soothe his complaints, then turned my attention back to the Vice-Leader.

The Vice-Leader, like Wrath, seemed to think the wish was lighter than expected, and he smacked his lips briefly.
However, ashamed to reveal the wrongs he had committed, he clutched at his severed wrist and dragged out the moment.

“Mmm….”

Perhaps drawn by the weight of everyone’s gaze, Sylvia stirred and opened her eyes with a soft groan.

“Hah.”

The Vice-Leader, having made his decision, exhaled a heavy breath and nodded.

“I fabricated a report of witnessing illegal activity and forcibly inspected and tormented the Annex Building, which was entirely innocent.”
“And why did you do that?”

I tilted my chin with a cold gaze.

“To check you. I thought if I could seize the Annex Building as a weakness, I could hold your leash.”

The Vice-Leader, realizing he could hide nothing further, laid bare both his actions and his thoughts truthfully.

“I apologize. It was all my fault.”

He knelt before Sylvia and the maidservants, bowing his head in submission.

“Ugh….”
“It’s alright.”

The maidservants wept with trembling lips, while Sylvia gently patted their backs with her weakened hands.

“Ahem….”

The Vice-Leader cleared his throat and averted his gaze. As he lifted his severed wrist and began descending from the Sparring Arena, Raon seized his ankle and dragged him back.

“What, what is this!”

The Vice-Leader’s eyes widened in confusion at Raon’s actions.

“I’ve confessed my wrongdoing and apologized, haven’t I!”
“I told you to confess your wrongs and seek forgiveness.”
“What’s the difference between—”
“An apology is something you give, but forgiveness is something they grant.”

Raon pointed his finger toward Sylvia and the maidservants.

“Ah….”

The Vice-Leader’s trembling eyes finally turned toward Sylvia as understanding dawned. Yet it was not only he. Every gaze in the Grand Training Grounds converged upon her.
It wasn’t just him. Every person in the Grand Training Grounds had their eyes fixed on Sylvia.

“The Annex Building is…”

Sylvia bit her lip as she made eye contact in turn with Raon, the Vice-Leader, and Glen Zigheart standing on the Platform.

“I will not accept your apology.”

She shook her head slowly, saying she wouldn’t forgive him.

“Had you tormented only me, I would have forgiven you readily. I would have asked Raon to let the matter pass quietly from the start. But you laid hands upon my children.”
“If you had only tormented me, I would have forgiven you without hesitation. I would have asked Raon to let it go quietly. But you touched my children.”

Sylvia furrowed her brow deeply as she looked at the maids.

“They tormented me relentlessly—preventing me from eating and sleeping—by exploiting their reluctance to harm you. If I accept a mere apology and let this end, the same suffering will happen again. I will not accept your apology, so that such things never occur again.”

She clenched her feeble fists, declaring that today would not be the end of this.

“I see.”

I gazed at Sylvia and offered a faint smile.

‘You chose well.’

The Sylvia of old would have despised conflict and accepted the Vice-Leader’s apology to end this quickly.

But today, she had broken free from her shell. With the resolve to protect the Annex Building and her attendants, she declared she would not accept the Vice-Leader’s apology. It meant not only her body had grown stronger, but her spirit as well.

-That’s our mother for you!
‘Stop it. She’s not your mother!’

I brushed aside Wrath as he rushed toward Sylvia and turned my gaze to the Vice-Leader.

“Since that is the case, you must now speak another wish.”
“W-what are you saying now!”

The Vice-Leader shook his head as if the words made no sense.

“This isn’t right!”

He looked toward the Announcer as if seeking help.

“No. Lord Raon is correct.”

The Announcer shook his head with a cold tone.

“You clearly instructed Lord Raon to receive forgiveness. Lady Sylvia refused the Vice-Leader’s apology. Therefore, the wish has not yet been fulfilled.”

He lowered his hand with an icy voice.

“Fine. Speak another wish.”

The Vice-Leader bit his lip, reluctantly asking him to state another wish.

“Reconstruct the Annex Building and the Garden. Use your own wealth, not the Elder Council’s funds, to cover all expenses.”
“Sigh…”

The Vice-Leader exhaled a breath of relief, as if the demand he’d anticipated had finally come, and nodded.

“Understood. The amount would be…?”
“Ten thousand gold coins.”
“What…?”

When I stated ten thousand gold coins, the Vice-Leader’s eyes bulged as though they might burst from their sockets.

“W-what nonsense is this!”

The Vice-Leader bared his teeth in protest.

“Why would such a modest Annex Building require construction costs equivalent to the Main Mansion itself! Stop spouting lies!”
“Because I planted seeds of the Haerryeong Flower in the Garden of the Annex Building that you destroyed.”
“That’s a lie! The Haerryeong Flower is a legendary elixir! There’s no way you’d plant its seeds in a mere garden…”
“See for yourself.”

I showed the remaining petal of the Haerryeong Flower to the Vice-Leader, whose lips trembled as he muttered.

“Gasp!”
“A transparent leaf… as if made of water…”
“It’s real! It’s truly the Haerryeong Flower!”

The spectators cried out in astonishment upon witnessing the translucent petals that captured the sunlight.

“Ah…”

The Vice-Leader’s lips trembled as he seemed to lose all words upon seeing the actual petal of the Haerryeong Flower.

“Moreover, I buried a Dragon Heart behind the Annex Building to construct a small Magic Tower, and that was destroyed as well.”
“This is a lie! A Dragon Heart?! I never saw anything like that!”
“That’s not true.”

Aris rose from her chair and shook her head.

“The Dragon Heart that came from Kaibar’s body. I gave it to Raon.”
“Ugh….”

The Vice-Leader’s pupils began to tremble violently.

‘He took the bait perfectly.’

Raon watched the convulsing Vice-Leader and lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile.

‘There’s no way he can avoid falling for it.’

With the Haeryeong Flower’s petals right before his eyes and Aris—who had captured Kaibhar alongside him—claiming to have handed over the Dragon Heart, the Vice-Leader couldn’t help but believe it, even if it seemed illogical.

Especially since few people knew that Sylvia’s dantian had been crafted from a Dragon Heart, so his deception was inevitable.

“A Haeryeong Flower seed and a Dragon Heart….”
“Ten thousand gold coins wouldn’t be strange….”
“Actually, wouldn’t that be too little? There are places that would pay that price just for Kaibhar’s Dragon Heart alone.”
“If the Haeryeong Flower blooms properly, it would be worth that much too.”

The spectators shook their heads, murmuring that ten thousand gold coins seemed almost too cheap.

“Hic….”

Valdemar wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes.

“Why are you suddenly crying?”

Aris blinked, bewildered. Everyone on the Platform turned to look at Valdemar with confused expressions.

“Because I fell for it too….”
“Fell for it?”
“Because of that bastard, the Jinmu Hall’s budget…hic!”

Valdemar stopped mid-sentence, his eyes reddened as he pressed his lips firmly shut.
Looking at his furrowed brow, it seemed he had endured quite a difficult time.

Crunch.

The Vice-Leader clenched his teeth. Despite the absurdity of the situation, the irrefutable evidence left him at a loss.

“With both witnesses and evidence present, there’s no way around it.”

The Announcer, visibly flustered, exhaled slowly and nodded.

“Ten thousand gold coins should cover it approximately.”
“Wait, wait! Even if it’s me, I don’t have ten thousand gold coins! There’s no way I could!”

The Vice-Leader trembled as he insisted that even combining his own wealth with the Elder Council’s annual budget wouldn’t yield ten thousand gold coins.

“So you’re saying you can’t pay?”

Raon looked at the Vice-Leader and curled his lips in a mocking smile.

“It’s not that I can’t pay—even if I liquidate everything I own, I can’t scrape together five thousand gold coins!”
“Then we’ll confiscate your entire fortune and move on to the next wish.”
“N-next wish?”

The Vice-Leader shook his head as if he didn’t understand.

“I said it from the beginning, didn’t I? The victor of this duel receives everything I promised. That means you can state not just one wish, but two.”
“That’s… that’s absurd!”

The Vice-Leader waved his hand in absolute refusal.

“Hmm…”

The Announcer also looked up at the Platform, as if this decision couldn’t be made lightly.

Glen Zigheart nodded briefly and raised one finger.

“The Head of House has approved it. However, he says you may state only one additional wish.”

The Announcer understood Glen’s meaning and raised one finger as well.

“H-Head of House!”

The Vice-Leader cried out toward the Platform, but Glen said nothing. He merely gazed down at the Sparring Arena with hollow eyes.

“Just one more? Very well. Then I shall speak of one additional matter.”

I clicked my tongue and nodded.

“Kiluwan. From this moment forward, your affiliation—and that of all those under your command—shall be transferred from the Elder Council to servants of the Annex Building.”
“…What?”

The Vice-Leader gazed up at me and swallowed hard.

“That’s… that’s absurd! Such a thing could never come to pass!”

He shook his head vehemently in refusal.

“The Vice-Leader and his warriors becoming servants of the Annex Building?”
“Can that even happen? Is such a wish truly possible?”
“But he did stipulate ‘anything’ as the condition.”
“That’s true. It was his wish from the start….”
“Still, isn’t it too much for the Vice-Leader to become a servant?”
“That is for the one making the wish to decide.”

The spectators raised their voices in debate over whether the Vice-Leader could truly become a servant.

“You tell me! Does this even make sense?!”
“Hmm….”

The Announcer shook his head under the Vice-Leader’s pressure. He looked back up toward the Platform, seemingly unable to make such a decision on his own.

“What were the conditions of the duel?”

Glen Zigheart gave a brief nod, then straightened his back against the golden Jade Throne.

“The victor may demand any wish of their choosing, which the loser must fulfill.”

The Announcer recited the original agreement between Raon and the Vice-Leader.

“Any wish….”

Glen Zigheart repeated the word ‘wish’ and slowly closed his eyes, then opened them once more.

“Even if the Vice-Leader were guilty, demoting him to a servant would be impossible. However….”

His crimson eyes turned toward the Vice-Leader, carrying an imposing pressure that transcended all rank.

“I have accepted the conditions of this duel by being here. If the victor’s wishes must be granted without exception, then stripping the Vice-Leader of his position and reducing him to a servant is unavoidable.”
“M-Master of the House!”

The Vice-Leader coughed blood, his voice trembling with rage.

“How can this be! Even as Master of the House, you cannot interfere with the Elder Council’s personnel decisions!”
“This is not about deciding the Elder Council’s personnel.”

Glen shook his head calmly as he regarded the Vice-Leader.

“I am merely stating the result of the duel you yourself acknowledged. Is that not so, Chairwoman of the Elder Council?”
“Indeed, you speak the truth.”

From behind Glen, a middle-aged noblewoman emerged, her eyes crinkling with an elegant smile.
She held a fan before her nose and mouth, as if grace itself had been woven into her very presence.

“If the conditions of the duel were set by mutual agreement, the Elder Council cannot intervene.”

As the noblewoman closed her fan, an aura of both benevolence and allure harmonized perfectly, releasing an elegant fragrance.

“What?”

I trembled as I gazed upon the noblewoman.

‘The Chairwoman of the Elder Council…?’

The middle-aged woman whom Glen had addressed as Chairwoman of the Elder Council was Siran, the Master of the Owhwa Unit, who had been crafting my uniforms since my days in the Gwangpung Unit.
I had known she was affiliated with the Elder Council, but I had no idea she had become its Chairwoman.

“It seems much has transpired during my absence.”
“C-Chairwoman….”

As Siran smiled gently, the Vice-Leader’s jaw trembled violently.

“I-I was told it would take a year, so why is it happening so quickly…?”
“Someone handled various matters quite well, so it came about a bit sooner.”

She glanced in my direction before fanning herself lightly. Now that I thought about it, the Vice-Leader must have seized the opportunity while the Head of House was away to make his move on the Annex Building.

“We can discuss my story slowly later, Vice-Leader.”

Siran smiled faintly and raised her hand.

“Using the Elder Council’s power was fine, and using the Vice-Leader’s authority was fine too. However…”

A chilling glint flashed through her eyes, which curved like a crescent moon.

“If you were going to do it, you should have done it properly. Despite wielding such tremendous power, you’ve accomplished nothing of substance.”

Siran seemed to be reproaching the Vice-Leader not for his misdeeds, but for his failure to properly achieve what he had set out to do.

“W-Wait, Head of House! Please!”
“This will be the last time you call me Vice-Leader.”

Siran waved her hand with a bright smile.

“The Elder Council acknowledges the results of today’s combat and accepts the conditions of the victor, the Gwangpung Corps Commander.”

With those words, she stepped back.

“Head of House! After doing this to me…!”

I approached the Vice-Leader and struck the back of his head with my palm.

“Ugh!”

With a sound like a walnut cracking, the Vice-Leader’s face slammed into the ground. Blood streamed from his nose.

“How dare a mere servant speak to the Head of House in such a manner.”

I grabbed Kiluwan by the scruff of his neck, hauled him up, and forced him to bow before the Head of the Elder Council.

“I apologize. I haven’t finished educating him yet.”
“It’s fine.”

Siran chuckled softly and shook her head.

“Ugh….”

The Vice-Leader released a strangled groan, his lips trembling as he bit down hard.

“What… what is this?”
“I don’t know….”
“My mind can’t keep up with what’s happening.”
“That’s always been the case whenever the Gwangpung Corps Master appears….”

The spectators, unable to adapt to the sudden shift in circumstances, could only exhale in bewilderment.

“Yeeeeeeees!”

Rimer threw both arms up in the air and let out a triumphant cry.

“I’m rich! This time, no one’s taking it away from me….”

CRACK!

Before he could finish his words, lightning descended and engulfed the Gambling House itself. Everyone knew where the lightning had come from, so no one bothered to look in that direction.

“Sigh….”

I shook my head slowly and looked down into the Vice-Leader’s eyes.

“Who are you?”
“….”
“I’ll ask again. Who are you?”
“Ugh….”

The Vice-Leader’s hands trembled before he lowered his head completely.

“A servant… of the Annex Building…”
“A servant?”
“…yes, sir.”
“I see.”

Raon chuckled softly and placed his hand upon the Vice-Leader’s abdomen.

A crackling sound erupted.

The flames of Manhwagong, the chill of Glacia, and his own wrath—he layered them all to seal the Vice-Leader’s dantian itself.
As long as I did not permit it, he would never be able to draw upon his aura again.

“Kugh!”

The Vice-Leader collapsed, vomiting black blood. I wiggled my finger at him as his trembling eyes gazed upward.

“Welcome to the Annex Building.”

Raon looked down upon the Vice-Leader with a sinister smile.

-More like hell than the Annex Building…

Wrath shook his head, remarking that he never thought he’d feel pity for that bastard.

*

*

*

The next day.

Raon stood before the Annex Building alongside Kiluwan and the warriors of the Sub-Lord’s Residence.
Thanks to Pedrick’s treatment, his wrist had been restored, but with his dantian sealed, his complexion remained ashen.

“Do you see it?”
“What do you mean… sir?”

Thanks to an all-night education, Kiluwan now spoke with formal respect and deference.

“The Garden and residence that you destroyed.”

I pointed toward the Garden, which lay overturned as though it had been bombarded, and the Annex Building, whose outer sections had collapsed entirely.

“W-we… it wasn’t this bad when we were here…”

Crisson, his jaw wrapped tightly in bandages, trembled as he spoke.

“Then are you saying I destroyed it?”
“N-no, that’s not it!”

As I clicked my tongue coldly, Kiluwan shook his head rapidly.

-You’re the one who destroyed it!

Wrath let out a sharp cry.

-You smashed everything to pieces last night!
‘Quiet.’

I dismissed Wrath’s accurate words and gestured with my chin toward Kiluwan and the swordsmen who had served in the Sub-Lord’s Residence.

“From now on, fix all of it.”
“Uh… uh…”
“By ourselves?”
“Then who else would?”

As I furrowed my brow, Kiluwan and the swordsmen, who had been about to protest, lowered their heads.

“That one will provide the materials and tools.”

I raised my finger to point at Dorian, who stood to the right.

“Come this way! No, hurry!”

Dorian growled as he pulled shovels and pickaxes from his spatial pouch.

“I’ll be watching to see that you all work properly.”

This time, I pointed to Helen and the maidservants on the opposite side.

“Ugh….”
“Mmm….”

The warriors from the Sub-Lord’s Residence trembled as they gripped their shovels, bewildered at being watched by Helen and the maidservants—the very people they had tormented.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

I bowed my head to Dogyae, who was sprawled across his chair in a near-recumbent position.

“Ah, don’t worry and go on.”

Dogyae waved his hand dismissively, telling me to trust him with the task.

“Kuh, what a delicious expression. I’d love to keep ordering this appetizer.”

He savored Kiluwan’s contorted face, using his teeth to pop open a bottle and gulping it down in one go.

I chuckled and left the Annex Building. However, rather than departing entirely, I climbed atop a tree to observe Kiluwan and the warriors.

Kiluwan’s dantian was completely sealed, and with watchers present, he began digging up the Garden’s earth under the maidservants’ direction. His expression was twisted as if he wished for death, yet his hands moved with frantic haste.
His face was contorted beyond recognition, but his hands worked with desperate speed.

Watching Kiluwan and the warriors wielding their shovels, I curled my lips upward.

‘How fitting.’

Seeing them suffer the very treatment they had inflicted, my frustration finally began to ease.

-Your frustration eases? Your warped nature is something even the True Demon King cannot tolerate!

Wrath shook his head, saying my personality was something even the Demon Lords would tire of.

‘That’s not quite right…’

Just as I was shaking my head in denial, a cat from somewhere approached Kiluwan, who was digging.

“Get away!”

Kiluwan waved his hand, saying the cat was getting in the way of his digging, but the feline clung to him affectionately, its tail held high.

“Hmm….”

Perhaps because Kiluwan had been pestered by people since yesterday, he smacked his lips briefly upon seeing the cat’s playful antics.

When he stopped digging and bent down, the cat sprang up and raked its sharp claws across his face wildly, then bit down hard on his wrist.

“Kyaaaah!”

Kiluwan thrashed his hands about desperately, but with his aura blocked and his body injured, the cat easily evaded his attacks before leaping back.

“Damn this wretched cat!”
“Hold on!”

As Kiluwan tried to grab the cat, Helen approached and blocked his path.

“Stop fooling around and come here!”

Helen quickly tended to Kiluwan’s wounds, then sent him back to work. I couldn’t tell if she was being kind or cruel.

“Ugh….”

Kiluwan ground his teeth before heading back into the Garden to resume digging.
Cold sweat dripped down his face, the bite wound throbbing with sharp pain.

“What in the world is going on?”

I exhaled softly, observing the peculiar situation.

‘Is that not a cat, but Sable?’
-Sable?
‘It looks similar to a cat, but there’s a far more vicious and powerful beast out there.’
-That Sable or whatever seems to be heading this way?
‘No, surely not.’

As I shook my head, Wrath’s words seemed to ring true—the creature really did appear to be approaching in my direction. I held my breath and remained perfectly still, trying not to be noticed.

‘It’s gone… huh?’

I thought Sable had disappeared into the thicket on the opposite side, but suddenly I felt his presence from below.

“Didn’t I do well!”

I raised my hand to block his sharply raised claws, but Sable leaped onto the tree above with a grin.

-Screech!
“Ugh!”

The Grand Master and the Demon King tumbled from the tree.

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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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