The Reincarnated Assassin Is a Genius Swordsman

Chapter 1550 "Light Wind Palace Master." Warring Steel Leader Trevin came to see Buren, who had become the Light Wind Palace Master, and bowed his head. "I want to leave the Light Wind Palace." He declared that he would leave the Light Wind Palace without even a common greeting. "Leaving the Light Wind Palace, is it…." Buren, unfazed by Trevin's sudden declaration, narrowed his eyes. "The reason?" He nodded his chin, as if telling him to give a proper reason. "Because I saw Sword God Raon Zieghart." Trevin said there was only one reason and struck his chest with his fist. "Raon Zieghart, is it…." Buren slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. He let out a low breath, as if he understood the meaning behind Trevin's words. "In this war, seeing Lord Raon made me realize what a true swordsman truly is." Trevin lowered his hand to the sword at his waist. "I'm certain I'll never even come close to his level. But even knowing that, I want to try to challenge it—the domain of Raon Zieghart, the Sword God and Head of House Zieghart!" He nodded gravely, saying he wanted to make himself and the Warring Steel Division the strongest in Zieghart, just like Raon and the Light Wind division. "The Light Wind Palace is already the strongest." Buren narrowed his eyes as he looked at Warring Steel Leader Krein, who was bowing his head. "Even if the former Head of House is gone, the Light Wind Palace is the strongest military force not just in Zieghart, but on the entire continent. Wouldn't it be fine to just stay as you are?" He asked the question even though he already knew what Trevin's answer would be. "Because it wasn't achieved with my own hands." Trevin shook his head firmly. "Palace Master, you built the strongest Light Wind Palace together with the Sword God, so you have the right to say that. But I and the Warring Steel Division only dipped a single foot into that great achievement." He clenched his fist tightly, as if he and the Warring Steel Division had achieved nothing of their own. "I don't want just a footbath of glory—I want a full bath in it. And I want it under our own name!" Warring Steel Leader Trevin knelt on one knee, saying he wanted to achieve a feat as a swordsman that belonged to them alone. "Please, I'm asking you!" He drew his sword and performed a sword salute, asking for a chance for himself and the Warring Steel Division. "Hmm…." Buren let out a low groan as he looked into Trevin's eyes. They weren't the eyes of a swordsman who had been through every hardship—they shone like those of a boy chasing a dream. "Understood." Buren nodded as he met Trevin's burning gaze. "Do as you wish. However…." He raised a single finger toward Trevin, who was openly showing his joy. "If you don't bring back definite results, I'll swallow up the Warring Steel Division by force." Buren's eyes flashed with a cold light, as if to say he wouldn't just let him go for free. "Of course! I'll turn the Warring Steel Division into the Warring Steel Palace and stand shoulder to shoulder with the Light Wind Palace! Ah, but 'Warring Steel Palace' sounds a bit odd as a name. Anyway, I'll do my best!" Trevin struck his chest with his fist once again, declaring that he would grow the Warring Steel Division to the point where even the Light Wind Palace couldn't touch it. "Then, I'll be off!" He bowed his head, saying he wanted to quickly share the news with his subordinates, and left Buren's tent. "Haah…." Once Trevin left, Buren leaned back against his worn-out chair, tilting his head all the way back. As if his body were quite stiff, he held the stretch in his waist and neck for a long while before pushing himself up. 'I do understand.' Buren clicked his tongue as he looked at the spot where Trevin had knelt. 'Because I would have done the same in his place.' Trevin and the Warring Steel Division belonged to the Light Wind Palace, but they had never fully become one with the swordsmen who had originally belonged to it. No, it was impossible for them to. The Light Wind division had been formed by those who had followed Rimmer at the Fifth Training Ground as both teacher and leader, so a wall between the two groups was unavoidable. 'But if that were the only reason, I wouldn't have let him go.' If Trevin had wanted to leave the Light Wind Palace simply because he couldn't fully become one with it, Buren would never have accepted it. But that reason hadn't particularly mattered to him. 'If it's because he saw Raon Zieghart, then there's nothing to be done about it.' Trevin had said he wanted to leave the Light Wind Palace out of a longing to become like Raon. With eyes like those of a boy chasing a dream, Buren had no choice but to let him go. 'I've lost a good talent.' Buren let out a low sigh. Though not quite on the level of himself, Martha, or Runaan, Trevin had still been one of Zieghart's prodigies, and someone who always brought a bright energy with him, so his absence seemed like it would be keenly felt. 'No, it's not really a loss.' Buren clicked his tongue. 'Because he's not leaving Zieghart.' Trevin was only leaving the Light Wind Palace to become independent; he wasn't leaving Zieghart, so from Zieghart's perspective as a whole, it wasn't a loss of strength at all. 'Unlike Trevin….' Buren frowned and looked up at the sky. 'Those two have vanished entirely.' Blade Queen Siera and Warlord Yuber. The peak figures of the previous generation who had followed Raon as their lord had vanished like the wind after the war. 'And Mark Goetun hasn't come back yet either.' Mark Goetun, the blade wielder who had thrown himself into Zieghart's service following Raon, also hadn't returned to Zieghart after the war ended. 'Does it mean that now that Raon has ascended, there's no longer any need for them to stay here?' Buren let out a heavy breath and pressed a hand to his forehead. 'No, maybe it means they simply can't serve someone like me as their lord.' It was something he had no choice but to admit. They had thrown themselves into Zieghart's service following Raon, a talent unmatched in all of history, and now that genius was gone and an ordinary man like himself had become their lord—of course they wouldn't want to follow him. Seeing the Warring Steel Division's departure today only made the gap between himself and Raon feel even greater. "Haah, I suppose I'll need to report on the Warring Steel Division's separation too." Buren squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again as he looked at the documents piled on his desk. "There's far too much to do." Thanks to Karoon Zieghart and the family's Transcendents swinging their swords day and night, most of the curse that the Demonic Dragon of Destruction had left on this land had disappeared. But now they were calling in renowned workers from across the continent to proceed with the main building's construction, while also creating a new personnel system and regulations for the family, so even having two bodies wouldn't have been enough. "Still, it has to be done." Buren sighed and was just pulling out a blank sheet of paper when— "Come on, come on, move quickly!" "We need to get all the materials ready by tonight! Only then can we start construction first thing tomorrow!" "So we're finally starting construction on our own Void Sword division building!" The Void Sword division's swordsmen could be seen carrying materials in excited voices. As if they genuinely looked up to Void Sword Division Leader Serena walking ahead of them, they kept smiling even as they worked hard. "Our Vanguard Sword Squad will be first!" "We can't lose to the Void Sword division!" "If our headquarters gets built slower than the Void Sword division's, we're all dead!" With Leader of the Vanguard Sword Squad Latein at the front, the squad's swordsmen dashed off at full speed carrying construction materials, as if determined not to lose to the Void Sword division. The two forces scattered off in their own directions, smiling as though engaged in a friendly competition. 'I'm stronger than them, but….' Buren watched the scene and ran a hand back through his hair. 'It's not martial prowess—it's the gap in caliber as a leader that feels so much greater.' As far as he knew, there wasn't a single defector from either the Void Sword division or the Vanguard Sword Squad. Watching the Void Sword Division Leader and the Leader of the Vanguard Sword Squad encourage their subordinates and raise their morale even amid such chaotic circumstances, he could feel the immense wall that stood between them and himself. 'And it's not as if I've even been keeping up my own training properly, either.' Buren chewed on his lip as he stared at the sword leaning against his desk. 'It's been over a week since I last held my sword, after all.' Between giving instructions to the workers, handling paperwork, and reorganizing personnel and regulations, an entire week had already passed since he'd last drawn his sword. Perhaps because it was the longest he'd gone without holding a sword since becoming a swordsman, his hands and shoulders even felt an itching sensation. 'If it were that guy Raon….' Buren looked at the night sky shining through the gap in the tent and pictured the face he missed most right now. 'He'd have knocked out all these chores in no time even while training, and gone off to help other people. No, he might have already finished the main building by now….' Raon was the kind of guy who always carved out a path where there was none. If he had been the Head of House or the Light Wind Palace Master, the main building would already be more than half built by now. Compared to that, he found himself, unable to accomplish anything, so pathetic that a hollow laugh escaped him. 'Have I ended up becoming nothing but talk again, after all?' Buren clenched his hand, resting on the desk, into a fist. 'I said I wouldn't give up on catching up to Raon, and here I am muttering weak words again.' After reaching the realm of Transcendence in the last war, he had vowed never to give up on catching up to Raon. The smell of the Six-Headed Scourge's blood, which he had cut down with his Sword Domain, still seemed to linger even now, yet the thought that he had already forgotten the promise he'd made to himself made him feel so pathetic he could hardly stand it. 'What I wanted to catch up to Raon in wasn't just martial prowess.' Buren clenched his trembling hand into a fist. 'The trust a leader shows. I wanted to have that kind of faith—that no matter what hardship came, I could overcome it as long as I was with this person.' Whenever he was with Raon, he was never afraid no matter what danger lay ahead. Because looking at his back always gave him complete trust that they could win. In contrast, he himself now had nothing. He had neither absolute martial prowess like Raon's, nor the complete trust of the swordsmen, nor any track record as a leader. 'If Raon were here right now….' Buren closed his eyes and thought of Raon's figure. [From the very beginning.] He recalled the words Raon had left him after becoming Head of House, back when he himself had temporarily become the Light Wind Palace Master. [No one does their role perfectly from the start. It might look to you like I've always done well as the Light Wind Palace Master, but….] Raon had shaken his head firmly, as if to say that was absolutely not the case. [In the beginning, I got cursed out plenty too. Don't you remember Martha saying I was frustrating, and Runaan sighing? I even got called in directly by the Head of House and scolded.] Hearing his words, Buren really did remember that time. Raon, too, had struggled at first, worrying that he could never fill Rimmer's shoes, and had been called in here and there to be scolded. [People always only see what they want to see.] Raon had drawn a faint smile, as if remembering the past through Buren. [Picture the future you want to become. That wish will shape you into the person you want to be.] With those as his final words, Raon had patted his shoulder and headed off to war. He had seemed both gentle and firm, as though he truly believed in him. "That's right!" Buren clenched his fist and twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile. "My wish is to surpass you. Raon! I'll catch up to you no matter what it takes!" He was vowing to surpass Raon and slamming his fist down on the desk when— "Kekeke!" "To catch up to Lord Raon—why is he talking to himself so loudly…." "Q-quiet! We'll get caught!" "But it's hilarious!" The sound of people laughing came from behind the tent. "N-no way…." Buren frowned and pulled back the tent flap at the rear of the tent. "Uh…?" "We've been caught!" "I-I told you we'd get caught!" "So what if we get caught!" Runaan, Krein, Dorian, and Martha were hiding there, hunched over like little rats. "W-why are all of you here…." Buren's chin trembled as he looked at the four of them. His whole face turned red as an apple, as if embarrassed that his muttering had been overheard. "W-we wanted to relax together for once, so we brought some drinks and food." Krein lifted up the drinks and food he'd brought, watching Buren's reaction warily. "M-Lady Martha and Lady Runaan were resting too, so I brought them along with me!" Dorian nodded quickly, saying he'd brought Martha and Runaan along since they were also taking a break. "But…." Martha snickered, her face flushed. "I had no idea you'd be doing something like that. Are you into acting now too?" She clutched her stomach and burst out laughing, saying it was too funny for words. "My wish is…." Runaan stood there blankly and raised her fist. "…to surpass you." She shook her fist in the air, as if imitating Buren. "Ahahahahaha!" Martha couldn't hold it in and burst into a fit of laughter at the sight. "Guhhh…." Buren, on the other hand, turned so red it wouldn't have been strange if he'd burst at any moment. "That's not how it goes!" Krein jumped up at once. "My wish is to surpass you. Raon! I'll catch up to you no matter what it takes!" He copied not just Buren's tone but his expression down to the last detail, as if he wouldn't regret dying on the spot for it. "Khhff!" "Eheheheheh!" "Hoo…." Dorian, Martha, and Runaan all burst into uncontrollable laughter at the sight of Krein imitating Buren right down to his eyebrows. "Haaah…." Buren said nothing, simply nodding quietly, and drew his sword with a hand radiating cold air. "I'll kill every single one of you." Buren muttered that he couldn't let the Light Wind Palace Master's disgrace become public knowledge, and brought his sharpened sword down in a strike. "T-that's for real! Everyone, run!" Dorian read the sincerity in Buren's heart and fled, screaming. "Come on, a guy's allowed to talk to himself! Why are you making such a fuss!" Krein shook his head wildly, protesting that it made no sense to try to kill him just for overhearing his muttering. "You idiot! You're the one who mocked him!" Dorian smacked Krein's head for causing this whole mess and dragged him away. "Even him getting angry is funny!" "Yeah…." ... Martha and Runaan, finding it even funnier that Buren was angry, snickered without bothering to run. "Fine then. If you're begging to be killed, I'll oblige…." Buren, seemingly even angrier at Martha and Runaan's laughter, let out a chillingly sharp breath and raised his sword. "Sword Domain…." As he unleashed the Sword Domain, the tent symbolizing the Light Wind Palace was torn apart on the spot. "I-is that real? Did he actually open the Sword Domain?" "Uh…?" Martha and Runaan, too, widened their eyes, genuinely startled that Buren had actually opened the Sword Domain. "Disappear!" Buren shouted that he would kill every single witness and struck down with the Sword Domain technique. KABOOOOOOM! * * * "What a commotion!" "W-where is that?" "Looks like it's coming from the Light Wind Palace?" "The Light Wind Palace hasn't changed one bit, even with Lord Raon gone." "Of course not. It's the place where Zieghart's biggest troublemakers are all gathered. Though they're just as strong as they are troublesome, too." "I thought it had been quiet for a while, but here we go again." "Feels like the Light Wind Palace has finally returned to Zieghart!" Zieghart's swordsmen, seeing the Light Wind Palace's usual uproar, laughed once as if truly feeling that the war was over, then scattered off to their own places. * * * Once the swordsmen who'd been watching the Light Wind Palace had scattered, a beautiful woman with a bright laugh but a fierce air, and a man whose warm eyes contrasted with his cold expression, walked up and looked at the Light Wind Palace, where the commotion was still unfolding. "Well?" Blade Queen Siera clicked her tongue as she looked at the Light Wind Palace. "Doesn't it seem like there's no need to worry?" She shrugged at the man, as if asking whether he still intended to go to the Light Wind Palace even now. "No, I guess there's no need to go." Warlord Yuber nodded, picking up on Siera's words. "Because, contrary to my worries, a good wind is blowing through the Light Wind Palace." He wore a faint smile as he watched the Light Wind Palace's swordsmen gathering around Buren. "I'm looking forward to seeing how the Light Wind Palace changes, following its new king."