The Lazy Swordmaster Chapter 14:

'Is this the first time in this life?'

Riley thought to himself as he surveyed the area .
He had done it countless times before in his previous life, but this was the first time in this life .
Using the sword, that is .

'I wonder how much I can do . '

Riley's fingers twitched around the wooden sword .
As if checking all of his fingers, he moved them all one by one until he was satisfied and tucked his chin in .
The air was so thick with killing intent that it could explode at any moment .

" . . . Kill him . "

Orelly who had been looking blankly at Riley opened her mouth .
Her shoulders were still shaking from the shock caused by the aura Riley was putting out .
Whether the shock led to hatred or fear was unknown .

"I said kill him!"

She bellowed .
She had ordered her subordinates to kill Riley who was standing in front of them .
Although she was banished from the mansion, she was still the daughter of their master, and so they quickly moved to follow her orders .
Their first course of action was throwing their daggers .

"Wait, sto-!"

Tes who remembered the Mental Message incident before the attack tried to shout, but it was already too late .
Ten or so knives were thrown, and the fight had begun .

'Ah . . . '

The thoughts of his past came as he watched the daggers fly toward him .
Riley bit his lip silently as he was reminiscent of his previous life .
They weren’t the most pleasant memories .

'It's bringing me back . '

In his past life,he had once lost his loved ones to assassins .
It was because of the belief that a hero saving the world should avoid taking lives .
Thinking of them as people with families rather than criminals, he had shown mercy and let the assassins he had himself captured go free .
And then . . . tragedy struck .
What came after was a betrayal of his trust, and the lifeless bodies of those dear to him .

'This situation . . . '

In the darkness . . .
The knives which had been thrown all around him by the hooded men, and the situation he was in now . . .
It reminded him of all the incidents that occurred because he was too soft back then .

'Well, I can't repeat the same mistake . '

Riley slowly moved forward .
He quickly spun his eyes around, counting the number of knives and analysing the angles at which they were flying in, then twisted his torso by moving his shoulder in a diagonal angle .

"What is he up to?"

Everyone’s eyes were focused on him as, instead of reflecting the knives back with his wooden blade, he held it pointed down onto the ground .

"Huh?"

It seemed as though Riley, who was standing so defenselessly, would quickly turn into a pincushion with countless daggers in him .
But . . .
Not a single knife managed to pierce him .
All of the daggers had unfathomably managed to miss by a hair’s breadth .

'What?'

Because so many daggers were thrown at once, it appeared as if some had indeed succeeded in scratching the clothes he was wearing . . . but the important fact was that not a single dagger managed to hit him .

"You guys remember now, that it was self defense . "

Riley spoke .
It was them who attacked first .
Although he never had the intention to let any of them live from the beginning, but . . . he wanted to have an excuse for possible feelings of guilt that may come afterwards .

"Don't go around spreading rumours in **** . "

With his strength focused on his toes, he kicked off the ground he was standing on .
Riley disappeared and a small hole was made upon where he previously stood .

" . . . ?!"

Then Riley, who had vanished, appeared in an instant in front of the hooded man that was closest to him .
The hooded man made eye contact with the black-haired boy, felt chills going up his spine .

'Huh?'

. . . And when he was about to shudder . . .

'Why . . . is my sight . . . ?'

Within the cold night . . .
The hooded man who wanted to tremble perhaps from the killing intent realised that he could not move his body .
Then, his vision simply moved up into the air .
The world spun .

" . . . "

Thud

When the hooded man's sight fell onto the ground, his consciousness was no longer there .
His head was rolling on the ground, with his eyes devoid of life .

"What? What just happened . . . "

Nobody had noticed his movements .
In an instant, one of the assassins had lost their head to the boy .
Not with a sharp metal sword, but to a training sword normally used against a dummy .
They weren't sure what had happened but they knew that there was clear disparity in skill .

'This is hopeless!'

The sight they had just witnessed was so shocking, that all of the hooded men thought the same thing .
So, the desire to escape . . . flooded their minds .
Their eyes were filled with fear as they lost all will to fight .

'Wait, my body . . . '

The ability to flee from one’s current location;it is without a doubt one of the most important skills an assassin should have .
Another emotion began to well up in their eyes as they prioritised their survival .
Confusion .
Their bodies simply did not move .

'What's up with my body?'

Is God messing with time?
While some of the assassins who were rooted began to think that . . .
Riley continued to move alone .

'I can’t move!'

The hooded men couldn't even twitch their fingers or toes .
Helpless . . .
That was the word that would best describe them now .

'This . . . this can't possibly be happening . '

Amidst the hooded men who were frozen like statues, Riley jumped from one person to the next, mercilessly swinging about his wooden sword .
With every slash, another head landed upon the ground .
They were unbelievable for strikes coming from a mere wooden sword .

"I'm not really into this kind of thing . . . and I'd rather not show any mercy for you guys, okay?"

Riley spoke as he recollected about his mistakes in the past .

"Don't take this too hard . "

One by one, the assassins fell .
Riley spoke quietly to himself as he watched them fall with a frown .

"Sorry, but I won't live like my past anymore . "

‘I will avoid tragedies born from leaving any trouble behind . ’

Riley had told himself that phrase again and again .
He was no longer the hero with the holy blade, and didn't need any of the responsibilities that came with it .

"Leaving any 'seeds' behind will just end up as nuisance . "

I will do what I want .
Rest as much as I want .
This is my life .
In this life, that will be my path .
Such had Riley decided upon .

"So that nothing annoying will happen . "

But . . .
There was one exception .

"So that I will never lose those who are dear to me . "

If it had been the past .
If it had been . . .
Then he would have shackled himself to a path with the least number of deaths for other people .
As the chosen hero, he could not take the weight of lives lightly .
But he lived as 'Riley' in this world .
So . . .
"So let me . . . "

Riley continued as he wished to lie on his soft bed at home .

" . . . Let me live an easy life . "

Riley swung his sword once more .

'How, just how?'

Tes was staring with bloodshot eyes, shocked from Riley's ability to defeat all of the assassins effortlessly .
Thankfully, although his hands and feet were paralysed like his subordinates, he could still move his eyes .

'How can he not have any hesitation in killing someone? Is that really . . . someone who’s never fought with a sword for 19 years?'

Riley's blade didn't contain a single speck of hesitation .
It was hard to believe even after seeing it with both eyes .

'I don’t . . . believe it . . . '

Tes may not have known it, but this was not the first time . . . Riley had cut another person .
If you included his 'past' . . .
In fact, if you were to compare between the two, the number of assassins he was cutting through like butter now was drastically lower than to back then .

---

"Young Master! Hah . . . where did you run off to?"

After the storm that was Lady Orelly's banishment, the Iphelleta mansion had gotten rowdy once more .
Riley who was having idle chit chat in Iris' room until now had suddenly disappeared .

'Did the assassins really kidnap Young Master? Was it to use him as hostage?'

There was no way he would be playing 'hide and seek' at this point in time .
Ian was speculating that Orelly who was driven into a corner had taken Riley away to plot a scheme .
Then he crossed his head .
He did not want to consider the worst case scenario .
As Ian bit his lips, searching every nook and cranny of the mansion, a voice came from behind .
It was the maid Sera, who had been defending Iris' bedroom together with him .

"Ian-nim!"
"Sera . "
"Have you found Young Master?"
"I . . . have not . "

Ian who had replied looked at Sera intently .
Ian's eyes were asking 'Have you found him?'
A shadow appeared on Sera's face as she read Ian's eyes .

"Neither have I . "
"Damn it . "
"He's not here . No matter where we look . Maybe Young Master is already . . . no longer in the mansion . . . "
" . . . "

It had happened even though they were on alert .
Ian's face crumbled at the fact that he lost Young Master even though he had been right next to him .
It was the same for Sera .
She could not hide the guilt and helplessness for being unable to defend Riley on her face .

"Now is not the time to be glum . "
"Ian-nim?"

Ian turned his body and began to walk .
If he couldn’t be found in the mansion, then there was no choice .
They will look outside the mansion .

"Ian-nim! Wait! What are you planning to do outside the mansion? They were assassins! They are the elite assassins who managed to make the Tes Trade Guild which was nameless . . . into the famous guild everyone knows, in just 30 years! Assassins of such skill . . . would never leave any evidence behind of kidnapping! And it is night time . If you were to go out without preparation . . . "
"Then . . . "

Sera's voice which was gaining volume was cut short .
It was because Ian turned his raging face at her .

"Are we supposed to wait with thumbs up our asses?!"

Ian roared at her .
Sera's shoulders flinched at the old man whose face resembled that of a demon .

" . . . "
"Kuk . . . I apologise . That, was unlike me . "

‘I cannot be the only one who is mad . ’

Ian apologised for his slip of the tongue .
His fist had been shaking for a long time .

"No . I understand . "

Just like Ian .
Sera who had been biting her lip, angry at the fact that she could not do anything, realised something and called Ian with both her eyes wide .

"Wait . . . Ian-nim . "
" . . . ?"

Ian looked at Sera with a question mark above his head .
What went through her mind was how the kitchen looked .

"There was something . . . which bothered me in the kitchen . "
"Something that bothered you?"
"I overlooked it before, but, the crate filled with corn . . . was open . Only that box, nothing else . "
"Just the corn crate?"

Ian's brows twisted .
Corn?
Why corn?

"What about it?"
"Oh yes, Ian-nim was not here . "

Just before, Riley had talked about 'corn' in Iris' bedroom .

'It's something like a snack . . . You make it with some butter and corn . '

He had said those nonchalant words which did not suit the serious situation .

"I guess it's a woman's intuition? We should search there again!"

Reporting all that had happened before, Sera began to urge Ian to search the kitchen once more .

"Maybe we might find some evidence for Young Master's disappeara- . . . "
"What is this?"
" . . . ?!"
" . . . ?!"

Both Ian and Sera flinched .

"Riley disappeared?"

Behind them . . . stood Count Stein and his two sons .