The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1241 "E, Eden?" Sheryl's eyes widened as if hearing news she hadn't even considered. "Don't tell me those bastards found out about the Head of House's seclusion and revealed themselves?" She bit her lips as if thinking the Heavenly Demon had moved first in a cowardly manner. "Eden..." The hollow smile hanging on Roenn's lips melted away like snow. "If traces of those ghosts have really been found, it would be dangerous." He looked back at Karoon with cold eyes as if returning to the days when he earned the alias Killing King. "Y, yes." Chad rubbed his head with the hand holding the documents. "E, Eden bastards aren't waiting for the announced date, they're trying to start a war now! Destroying one of Zieghart's villages is surely their declaration of war!" He gritted his teeth saying the village attacked by Eden's ghosts had fallen too miserably and cruelly. "No. That's not it." When Karoon gently moved his fingers as if playing piano, the documents in Shadow Agents' Leader Chad's hands floated up by themselves and flew into his grasp. "You three may not know, but the Head of House told me about his encounter with the Heavenly Demon before entering seclusion." Karoon slowly closed and opened his eyes, recalling when he had gone to the annex building at Glenn's summons. "The Heavenly Demon said he wouldn't care about ghosts beyond his control and would focus only on the life-and-death duel with the Head of House." He narrowed his eyes thinly while examining the documents Chad had brought. "Birdnew Village completely collapsed, with not a single survivor left in the ruins, only Eden's flag planted there. Witnesses from surrounding areas also saw multiple masked and helmeted suspicious individuals..." Karoon calmly nodded while reading the documents that clearly showed signs of being hastily written. "Based on this content alone, it wouldn't be strange to think Eden is stretching its limbs, but if they really targeted the gap when the Head of House entered seclusion, they would have struck Zieghart directly." He calmly analyzed the current situation even when everyone was excited. Of course, even though he alone knew the circumstances surrounding the promise between the Heavenly Demon and Zieghart, maintaining such composure in a situation like this was not easy. "This should be seen as something Eden's ghosts who escaped the Heavenly Demon's control did on their own, just as the Head of House mentioned." Karoon slowly lowered his finger and tapped the armrest of the throne as if confident in his judgment. "Hmm..." Sheryl, seeing Karoon's calm eyes, let out a short, dry cough as if her excitement had subsided. "That possibility is certainly high." She nodded as if persuaded by Karoon's opinion. "Haha..." Roenn calmed his killing intent and stroked his chin. "Then we should start with an investigation first." He stroked his fingers, saying they should conduct a thorough investigation rather than war preparations, as Karoon suggested. "T, that's right! We'll start the investigation immediately!" Chad bowed while saying he would deploy agents right away. "Wait." Karoon raised his hand toward Chad, who was about to turn and leave. "The Shadow Agents should work with the Black Market and the Four Emperors to determine if there are Eden movements across the entire continent." Unlike what he had said earlier, he narrowed his eyes thinly as if trying to grasp all of Eden's movements. "While it's likely the independent action of some of Eden's ghosts, we shouldn't miss the possibility that the Heavenly Demon broke his promise, so it seems right to investigate everything." Karoon heavily lowered his head, saying they shouldn't miss keeping Eden's main base in check along with the individually moving Eden ghosts. "A, understood! I'll quickly investigate and report back!" Chad said he would follow Karoon's instructions and left the audience chamber. "What?" He swallowed dry saliva while looking back at the closed door of the audience chamber. "That's Karoon Zieghart?" He had been watching Karoon since he was under the previous Shadow Agents' Leader. Since he was the man closest to Zieghart's succession from past to present, he had observed and grasped as much as possible. As a result, he had concluded that Karoon Zieghart was not suitable to be the master of Zieghart. While he could run the Central Martial Palace well enough, he didn't have the qualifications to become the head of this enormous family. So from when Raon Zieghart started showing promise, he had been helping him and preparing to make him head of house, and had been supporting him until now. 'But...' Now he's completely different. It's not just because of the composure he showed today. His eyes, which were good at reading people, reacted intensely. He could even feel kingly qualities nearly comparable to Raon Zieghart. Though he had watched the lives and deaths of countless humans as a member of the Shadow Agents, this was the first time he'd seen someone's temperament change to this degree. 'Moreover, it's not just the qualifications to be head of house...' His martial prowess has also changed rapidly. He himself wasn't a particularly strong martial artist. As the leader of an organization, he had his own level of martial prowess, but compared to other forces, it wouldn't be strange to consider him weak. However, having been educated by the previous Shadow Agents' Leader, he was confident he could read other people's martial prowess better than anyone. Karoon had achieved tremendous growth to the extent that his senses reacted. Karoon seemed to have achieved impossible growth as his mind-body stabilized while taking on the role of head of house that he had yearned for his entire life. 'Eden is also a problem, but if we let our guard down...' Chad gulped down dry saliva while feeling Karoon's presence that reached him even after leaving the Lord's Manor. 'Could Lord Raon's position as head of house really be in danger?' * * * "Hmm..." Sheryl narrowed her gaze thread-thin while looking at Karoon, who was lost in thought. 'I know the saying that position makes the person, but...' To think he would change this much... Before taking on the role of temporary head of house, Karoon had many shortcomings to become head of house. He was mentally shaken, his martial prowess was ambiguous, and he sometimes couldn't make cool-headed judgments. But for nearly two months in the role of head of house, he had transformed into someone worthy of the golden throne. He wasn't shaken by anything, his martial prowess had grown to an unbelievable degree, and he always maintained a cool-headed mentality. Honestly, it seemed like he could fulfill his role even if he became head of house right now. "Hehehe!" Roenn seemed to be having the same thoughts, letting out a hollow laugh while looking at Karoon with proud eyes. 'I thought it was natural for Raon to become head of house, but...' Sheryl clicked her tongue briefly. 'This has gotten a bit complicated.' She and Roenn were the head of house's close associates, so they couldn't support either Raon or Karoon. She had simply grown fond of Raon and was supporting him inwardly, but seeing Karoon show qualities befitting the head of Zieghart made her heart waver a little. Even now, Raon's martial prowess would overwhelm Karoon's, but the qualifications to be head of house couldn't be determined by strength alone. It seemed the current head of house would need much deliberation. 'How will it turn out...' Sheryl and Roenn were having similar thoughts and rolling their eyes when it happened. "The investigation regarding Birdnew Village." Karoon stroked his chin and turned his gaze to Sheryl and Roenn. "Rather than leaving it only to the Shadow Agents, it would be good to have a martial force move together with them." He nodded as if he had already made a decision rather than asking for opinions. "A martial force..." Sheryl tilted her chin as if asking why he would move a martial force. "Looking at how they destroyed Birdnew Village and didn't just disappear but planted a flag, it seems they have a tendency to want to reveal themselves." Karoon briefly stroked his chin while reading the documents again. "The Shadow Agents' operatives are skilled at infiltration and investigation but weak in martial prowess, so I want to attach a martial force to protect them." He lowered his hand while saying they should take such measures. "Huh, that makes sense." Roenn let out a low exclamation as if surprised once again by Karoon's measures. "Then which one will you choose?" He narrowed his gaze as if wanting to see which martial force Karoon would choose. "Light Wind Palace would be good." Karoon mentioned Light Wind Palace's name without the slightest hesitation. "Their numbers aren't many, but they're the strongest martial force in Zieghart right now." He nodded as if sending Light Wind Palace was the right choice. "No, since it's an escort mission, having fewer numbers would actually be better." Karoon tapped his fingers as if he had already decided on Light Wind Palace. "Wouldn't this be a good opportunity for the Central Martial Palace to build achievements? If done well, they might even gain great achievements like Raon." Sheryl slightly lowered her head and voice. "If we think about the Central Martial Palace's future, that would be right. If we catch Eden's executives, we could gain much. But..." Karoon calmly stroked his chin. "Right now I'm sitting on this honorable throne. It's a position where I must think of Zieghart first, not the Central Martial Palace." He looked back at Sheryl with quiet eyes. "Do you still want to test me?" Karoon arrogantly lowered his gaze as if questioning Sheryl's qualifications instead. "...I apologize. The appearance shown by the temporary head of house was so unexpected that I overstepped my bounds." Sheryl knelt on one knee and lowered her head, thinking she had made a mistake. She bit her lips while explaining what mistake she had made. "......" Roenn also bowed as if seeking forgiveness together. "Inform Light Wind Palace." Karoon calmly accepted Sheryl and Roenn's apology and stood up. "Have them depart for Birdnew Village with the Shadow Agents tomorrow." He left those words as his last and rose from the throne. Karoon's back as he headed to the head of house's training ground as planned was too similar to Glenn after gaining enlightenment. * * * "Light Wind Palace assemble!" Burren roughly threw open the door of the fifth training ground and rushed inside. "It's a mission!" He said a mission had come down and headed toward the platform. "A, a mission?" "But the Palace Master isn't here?" "It doesn't seem like a big mission." "Well, there have always been small missions." "We're preparing for war, so we wouldn't take most missions, right?" "Is it serious?" The Light Wind Palace swordsmen gathered in front of the platform while being flustered by the sudden mission. "He probably brought something interesting, right?" Martha clenched her fist as if looking forward to it. "If it's something boring like guard duty, I won't let it slide!" She shuddered as if absolutely hating guard missions. "I, I want to stay here..." Dorian rolled his eyes and swallowed dry saliva. "Ugh, I feel uneasy about something." He sniffled, saying his spine felt strangely chilled. "Ah, seriously!" Krein struck Dorian's back and gritted his teeth. "You should get your act together now! There aren't that many humans in the world stronger than us!" He struck Dorian's back once more, telling him to have confidence in the strength they had worked hard to develop. "He's right." Mark Goetun nodded while agreeing with Krein's words. "War is not far off, so now is the time to have confidence in our swords." He exhaled cold breath, telling them to think they could defeat anyone. "Quiet." When Burren lightly stomped his foot, the Light Wind Palace swordsmen who had been noisy like a marketplace simultaneously closed their mouths and focused their attention on him. "This is a mission that came directly from the Lord's Manor." Burren emphasized the words Lord's Manor and opened the white envelope. "Investigation of Birdnew Village, belonging to Zieghart, destroyed by Eden. We must go to Birdnew Village with the Shadow Agents to find traces of Eden." He calmly mentioned Eden's name as if he had already heard about the mission from Karoon. Whoooosh. The moment Burren mentioned Eden's name, chillingly cold energy spread throughout the fifth training ground, and silver frost covered the yellow earth. "Haah..." Runaan, who had been sleeping while holding her sword in her arms, lifted her darkly sunken eyelids. She parted her gray lips with eyes so cold they made one's breath ache. "Eden..."