The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1545 (Side Story) Karoon's decision was quick, and his actions were even quicker. The moment Karoon decided to return to the family, he summoned all the Zieghart swordsmen remaining at the Holy Sword Alliance's sacred grounds and ordered them to prepare to return. "Ahem." Rector approached Karoon, who was personally inspecting the personnel and supplies, and gave a short cough. "Isn't this too fast?" He looked at Karoon's subdued eyes and cautiously opened his mouth. "The war is over, but aren't there still many who haven't been able to accept the farewell?" Rector let out a low sigh as he looked at the swordsmen struggling not only with Raon's ascension but with the deaths of their comrades. He seemed to be weighing many thoughts as he offered his advice while also gauging Karoon's reaction. "That's right. As you say, the swordsmen still need time." Contrary to Rector's expectations, Karoon calmly accepted his advice. "However, right now Zieghart has only its people—our base has been completely destroyed." Karoon closed his eyes heavily, as if thinking of the Zieghart main building destroyed by the Demonic Dragon of Destruction, then opened them again. "We can't rely on the Holy Sword Alliance's help forever, so I think it's better to move quickly and assess the situation." He seemed to be considering whether to rebuild Zieghart on the same site or establish the main building in another location. "Hmm…." Rector let out a low groan upon hearing Karoon's words. "That's certainly true." He himself had hoped the swordsmen would rest here precisely because Zieghart had fallen, but Karoon, conversely, believed that because Zieghart had fallen, they needed to move quickly to set the next plan in motion. It was a difference in thinking, but in this matter, the choice of Karoon, who had become the head of House Zieghart, seemed to be the right one. "Thank you for your consideration all this time." Karoon, having already composed his emotions, bowed his head to Rector with a solemn gaze. "Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance." He slowly raised his eyes, addressing Rector once again as the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance. "Don't call me by that title." Rector looked up at the sky and sighed. "I have no intention of taking back a position I've already handed over. The previous one felt the same way." He waved his hand firmly, saying he had no intention of becoming the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance again, just like Darkan. "That position will go to that one." Rector raised a finger and pointed at Lawrence, who was standing there blankly. "Huh…?" Lawrence blinked the eyes he had been hiding behind his long white hair. "M-me? Has that old man lost his mind?! Why are you pulling this crap on me when you have a well-raised disciple right there!" He shook his head vigorously, saying he had no intention whatsoever of becoming the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance. "Mustan is still weak. Right now, you're the one who best suits that position." Rector snorted, showing no intention of indulging Lawrence's complaints. "Master is right. I still fall far short." Mustan looked at Rector and Lawrence with calm eyes. "Moreover, since the previous Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance was Lord Raon, I can't possibly accept it." Unlike when he had first met Raon, he nodded calmly, seeming to clearly know his own place now. "Do you think I could fill Raon's empty place? Besides, I'm not even a swordsman!" Lawrence ground his teeth, asking how someone who doesn't even wield a sword could become the master of the Holy Sword Alliance. "Ahem! Everyone has at least one blade in their heart." Rector smiled brightly, saying it was fine since he carried a sword in his heart. "This old geezer, seriously!" Lawrence screamed for him to stop talking nonsense. "Everyone carries a sword in their heart, so everyone is a swordsman?" Karoon let out a short exclamation of admiration toward Lawrence. "Well said, Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance." He extended his hand for a handshake, as if he were impressed not by Rector, but by Lawrence. "T-that's not something I said! That old geezer said it!" Lawrence shook his head wildly, looking utterly dumbfounded. "And! I told you, I'm not the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance!" He ground his teeth, telling them not to treat him as the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance. "Then let's meet again next time, Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance." As if trying to carry on the mood Rector had set, Karoon forcibly grabbed Lawrence's hand and shook it, saying that next time they should properly meet as the head of House Zieghart and the Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance. "You con artists… kehck!" Unable to shake off Karoon's grip, far stronger than his own, Lawrence was forced into the handshake and ended up thrown straight to the ground. "Thank you." Rector nodded, thanking Karoon for playing along. "It's best to fill an empty position quickly." Karoon calmly lowered his hand, as if he knew the Holy Sword Alliance wasn't so different from Zieghart. "Then we'll be on our way now." He turned his back, delivering his words of farewell as a promise to meet again. The Zieghart swordsmen had not forgotten Raon, but as if also accepting their new head of house, they moved to follow Karoon without delay. Before stepping outside the Holy Sword Alliance's barrier, Karoon stopped walking. As if recalling something, he gazed up at the sky for a moment, then turned to look back again. "Zieghart, fall in line." At Karoon's low but forceful command, the Zieghart swordsmen turned around and faced those remaining at the Holy Sword Alliance. "Salute to the comrades who shared a night of life and death with us to open the dawn!" Karoon drew his sword from his waist first and set it upside down. A sword salute. He was the first to perform a gesture of respect he would never give to anyone who wasn't Zieghart. Thwack! Even as they shed tears of longing for Raon, the Zieghart swordsmen drew their swords and paid the highest respect to those who had fought alongside them at the risk of their lives. "Well then." As if he had finished all he needed to do, Karoon sheathed his sword with elegance and left the Holy Sword Alliance just like that. The Zieghart swordsmen, too, followed Karoon toward Zieghart without looking back again. "Heh." Rector, watching the scene unfold, let out a small exclamation. "The one who's changed the most after meeting Raon is none other than…." He let out a soft breath of amusement, thinking of the expression Karoon had worn when they first met and the smile he had just seen moments ago. "It might just be that fellow." * * * "…." Karoon looked at the ground where only gray ash remained. Zieghart's castle walls and gate. He clenched his back teeth, recalling the walls that had guarded the family with a lofty yet imposing presence. "Let's go." Karoon forcibly suppressed the many emotions welling up in his chest and stepped over the gray ash that had once been the castle walls, entering what remained of the family estate. No, it could no longer even be called an estate. There was nothing left to see. "Even looking at it again, it's absurd." Balder frowned as he looked around. "Everything is gone." He let out a hollow laugh, saying every place that let one recognize this as Zieghart had vanished. "I know…." Alice scratched her head, recalling the main building that had once soared as if piercing the sky. "For the first time, it doesn't feel like coming home." She too shut her eyes tightly, saying she couldn't feel the Zieghart she had lived in since childhood. "The annex building too…." Sylvia bit her lip lightly, looking toward where the annex building used to be. "There's nothing left at all." She stood at the spot where the annex building used to be faintly visible and let out a heavy sigh. "Father is gone, and my nephew too. It feels like our whole family has disappeared…." It was just as Balder, oblivious, was about to blurt out the words everyone else had been holding back. "A family…." Karoon spoke without turning to look at Balder. "It's not a place, but people. As long as even a single Zieghart swordsman remains, Zieghart will not disappear." He shook his head firmly, saying that even though Raon and Glenn had ascended and even though Zieghart's main building had melted away, the family would not disappear. "Every single swordsman standing here is Zieghart." Karoon kept walking toward the main building, saying words he would never have said back in his old self. "Oh? You've gotten a bit like Raon!" "Brother! Have you become the nephew?" Alice and Balder let out exclamations, as if they had caught a glimpse of Raon's shadow in Karoon. "Father…?" Burren too seemed to feel something similar, clicking his tongue as he looked at Karoon's back. "……." Karoon paused his steps for a moment and gazed up at the achingly blue northern sky. "If I can resemble him, it wouldn't be a bad thing to resemble him. There's no martial artist like him anywhere." He spoke in a voice low enough only for those right behind him to hear, then started walking again. "Wow…." "I-is that really brother?" Alice and Balder, excited by Karoon's change, bounced along right on his heels. "Karoon! You really did like Raon more! Then call him nephew like I do!" "Ah! Brother only ever called the nephew 'head of house,' didn't he? What a shame! The word 'nephew' has such a nice ring to it!" Alice and Balder burst out laughing, teasing Karoon for never once having called Raon "nephew." "Right. If you call him nephew, Raon smiles brightly at you!" "That expression was just so lovely! It made me happier than seeing my own child!" The two of them raised their voices, as if determined to properly tease Karoon. "Quiet." It was just as Karoon crooked his finger at the two of them, telling them to stop talking nonsense and follow properly.