The Silent Tracker
Raon bit his lip. The instant Rimer uttered the word “kill,” a storm of killing intent swept through his entire body.
Goooo!
Yet that killing intent held no meaning for him, who had lived his entire life as an assassin. He pushed it back by resonating his four rings of fire, forcing the pressure to recede.
“Oh ho!”
Rimer’s eyes flew wide. The fact that he had withstood the killing intent left his mouth hanging open in astonishment.
“This isn’t a sprout anymore… you’re already a bud?”
He let out a dry chuckle and tapped the sword sheath with his fingertips, clearly debating whether to draw or not.
‘I can’t win.’
If this were assassination, he could kill the man. But with his current strength, defeating Rimer was impossible. Still, Raon had one thing he could rely on.
Swoosh.
Raon drew his sword first.
“Draw your sword and fight.”
He lifted the sunken momentum and leveled the silver blade at Rimer.
“If I draw this, you die?”
“The weak always die. That is the natural order.”
“Hah, what kind of spirit is that of a child?”
Rimer clapped, marveling. His hand had already left the sword sheath entirely.
“Your spirit tells me you’ve lost the will to fight. It would be a shame to kill you here.”
“Warriors do not choose the place of their death.”
“Wow, you’re insane. Are you a kid? Are you reading from a proverb book?”
“….”
“Well, that’s not the only reason.”
Rimer’s gaze drifted past Raon, toward the tree above them.
“Even if I retrieve the medicine, it means nothing if I die.”
He gave a small nod toward the tree and stepped back abruptly.
‘As expected.’
Raon clicked his tongue. Behind him, all the coaches were hiding their bodies.
Rimer’s location had not been detected, but given his personality, he was undoubtedly nearby.
Rimer had stepped back because he sensed both Rimer and the coaches’ presences.
“If you truly belonged to the South-North Alliance, this would have been entertaining. What’s your name?”
“…”
Raon said nothing and closed his eyes. Old memories surfaced when Rimer asked.
In his previous life, as an assassin, he had rarely heard such words from enemies. Even if he did, he could not have answered.
He had always kept his mouth shut, fled, or rushed in to kill.
An enemy. A continent-shaking powerhouse asking his name made his heart tremble.
“Name… not telling…”
“My name is Raon. Raon Zieghart.”
Raon slowly opened his eyes and declared his name with perfect composure.
“Raon, huh. I look forward to your name echoing across Terukan Mountain and the Rable River.”
He smiled faintly and descended the mountain without another word. He had kept his senses open, just in case, but the man truly vanished.
“Sigh.”
Raon exhaled and sheathed his sword.
‘It went well.’
Despite his ugly appearance, Rimer possessed a surprisingly manly personality.
He had stepped back knowing he could not win from raw strength, yet he had still built rapport. It matched what he had heard from the Robert family.
‘Good I didn’t fight.’
Rimer was strong. If he had clashed with Rimer, victory might have been possible, but several coaches would have died. It was fortunate the fight ended without bloodshed.
Raon tucked the medicine into his pocket and placed the stronghold master’s head inside a thick cloth. For the record, he had to bring the master’s head himself.
“Then let’s go back.”
He smiled while glancing up at the tree.
***
Rimer had known the bandits’ location the moment the children began their search.
By removing the trap of dense forest and towering mountains, one could immediately discern where the bandits had hidden.
That was his story, built from years of experience. The trainees were different.
As expected, the trainees moved toward the mountain and forest first.
Burren and Marta were no exception. The two chose their respective directions—mountain and forest—and began searching like wild boars.
It was so obvious that no one was surprised.
Yet Raon and Runaan stood motionless on the path.
They waited until the other trainees had set their directions and begun moving before they finally stepped forward.
Their destination was neither forest nor mountain, but the rolling hills.
Those guys?
They deliberately chose a hideout that could not be seen from the forest beside the hills. How had they known the way?
It had to be Raon.
Raon’s exceptional judgment had led him to believe the bandits might be hiding in the hills.
The bandits, like those who lived in the mountains, had erased almost all traces. The level was so thorough that even the coaches could not find them. Raon and Runaan should not have been able to detect their scent.
But Raon circled the forest above the hill and entered as if he had discovered something.
He found human traces one by one and slowly advanced toward the direction where the bandits were hiding.
What kind of person is that?
Rimer’s mouth fell open. On his first mission, a child was acting like a seasoned tracker, following the bandits’ traces. It was unbelievable.
He was not simply walking. He lowered his posture, stepped only on the balls of his feet, and made not a single sound.
He even removed the traps?
Raon and Runaan dismantled the traps the bandits had set and finally reached the hideout.
There, a hostage they themselves had not known about was being held.
What should they do?
Rimer moved near the tree where the hostage was. If Raon or Runaan failed, he would strike immediately.
But he did not need to move.
Raon used Runaan as bait to divert the gazes of the bandits on guard, then swiftly severed the neck of the bandit holding the hostage.
Gulp.
The sharp, decisive strike sent chills racing through Rimer. He silenced the sound with his hand and handled the bandit in front with perfect precision.
After that, he saved one bandit and gathered information. Truly the work of a professional.
Yet there was one mistake. Or rather, one fortunate coincidence.
Because the bandit leader had detected the silent flute.
Raon did not panic in that moment of crisis. He immediately devised a new plan and hid Runaan and the child.
After luring the bandit leader and the bandits into complacency, he rushed in and rescued the second hostage in a single breath.
From then on, it became a battle.
Rimer wiggled his fingers, watching Raon take the front and Runaan the rear.
He wanted to step in during the dangerous moments but had no chance.
Runaan laid frost across the ground, Raon drew his sword, and the bandits could not swing their weapons properly before falling.
The bandit leader, who had put on a show, fled after throwing his subordinates away, thinking he could not defeat Raon.
I have to catch him.
While protecting two hostages and dealing with the bandits, time was insufficient to capture the leader as well.
He could not let the leader escape, so Rimer moved toward the direction the man had fled.
Hostage? No, that one is also a bandit.
The leader was carrying a female bandit like a hostage while descending the hill.
If caught…
Just as he prepared to stealthily kill the Snow Flower bandit leader so she could not resist, a sound of footsteps running from behind reached his ears.
It was Raon.
The man charged forward like a lion toward the direction of the bandit leader.
The leader pretended to be surprised and threw the female bandit. Raon slowed down and caught her.
This…
Rimer frowned. That woman was a snake sorcerer. He had to save Raon before the snake could bite him.
But.
At the exact moment the snake emerged, Raon’s right hand moved.
Boom!
Without the slightest hesitation, as if he had known, he pierced the snake and the woman’s hearts with his sword.
“Wow.”
Rimer let out an involuntary exclamation. He had not panicked even once, and he had killed the snake. This was an action that could not be performed unless one already knew the outcome.
What kind of monster is this?
It was no longer mere admiration; his mind had gone blank.
For decades he had roamed battlefields and witnessed countless talents, but this was the first monster he had ever seen.
After cutting the Snow Flower bandit leader’s neck, he took the medicine he had been carrying.
Yes. Good work.
He held back the urge to clap. When he glanced aside, the other coaches were equally dumbfounded, sticking out their tongues.
Just as he thought it was over, a young, handsome man with overwhelming aura appeared.
A yellow hood and an aura that crushed everything. A warrior from the South-North Alliance.
As expected, he had ties to the South-North Alliance.
Why were the Snow Flower bandits hiding? They had been waiting for the South-North Alliance warrior.
The South-North Alliance warrior introduced himself as Lector.
I know that name.
A young genius swordsman who had become a stronghold master after ten years of infiltration into the South-North Alliance.
Raon did not back down in front of Lector. He said to draw his sword if he wanted to fight and drew his own.
That guy.
It was not because he did not know Lector’s strength. It was a vow as a Zieghart warrior not to yield.
Lector was amazed by Raon’s spirit despite his own surprise.
And he himself stepped back.
Of course, he had known that his own and the coaches were hiding and had stepped back, but among the reasons was goodwill toward Raon.
“I am Raon. Raon Zieghart.”
Ah.
Seeing Raon’s back, who received recognition even from someone far stronger than himself and boldly declared his name, a chill ran down Rimer’s spine.
The scene of meeting Glenn for the first time long ago replayed in his mind like a deja vu.
Rimer clenched his fist tightly.
King.
Still young and weak, but finally a sprout of a new king had appeared.
***
Raon returned to where Runaan and the children were. The coaches who had rushed over after hearing the silent flute had already suppressed the remaining bandits.
“You’re back.”
“You did a great job.”
“What’s your real identity?”
The coaches looked at them with a mixture of admiration, surprise, and shock, sticking out their tongues.
“Raon.”
Runaan approached, hugging the two children. The children wearing robes had swollen eyes from crying so much.
“Runaan. You really did well.”
It was not just words. Thanks to her stepping in at the right moment, the children had been rescued without injury.
“Yeah.”
Runaan nodded vigorously. Watching her gently stroke the children’s heads, she seemed pleased.
“Um…”
Raon reached out to pat the two children’s heads but stopped when he saw blood on his hand.
“It’s okay now.”
He gently held the children’s shoulders and offered a faint smile. He wanted to say more, but the words would not come.
“Uwaaaang!”
The boy hugged his younger sister tightly and burst into tears. The tears he had held back as the older brother finally spilled over.
“You all go down now.”
The coaches pointed toward the base below the hill, digging at the ground.
“What about you, coaches?”
“We’ll finish cleaning up here and head back. Leave the rest to us. You worked really hard.”
The coaches raised their thumbs.
“Understood.”
Raon nodded, took Runaan and the children, and left the forest filled with the stench of bandits.
-How do you not know how to comfort those little guys? When I was in the Demon Realm, a great famine struck. I felt sorry for the young demons suffering from hunger and opened the door of winter…
‘Uncle. It’s okay.’
-There, killing such bandits took so long. It’s embarrassing that I’m attached to you. You’re not using the power you have properly.
‘How should I use it?’
-Idiot. First strike. First strike. First strike. You have to explode the condensed power from the first strike like an explosion.
‘Explode?’
-Yes. Human mana circuits have mysterious parts, so even if I move by amplifying mana, it’s fine…
Raon began scratching at Lars to extract a more efficient mana circulation method. As expected, Lars generously gave.
***
When Raon returned to the base carrying Runaan and the children, loud voices were coming from the center.
“The mountain is correct. They are definitely hiding up there.”
“You’re talking nonsense. The mountain is as obvious as your hairstyle. It’s stupid to think bandits always hide in mountains. They’re definitely hiding in the dense forest on the west.”
“Your method is too impulsive. Relying on intuition without using proper poison detection and tracking is dangerous.”
“My intuition is superior to yours, so shut up. Tomorrow is definitely the west forest.”
Burren and Marta were arguing whether bandits were in the direction they had confirmed.
“Sigh, they’re at it again.”
“Those two really fight the moment they meet.”
“But where is the right place?”
The trainees stared at the growling pair, completely at a loss.
“Hmm!”
Runaan cleared her throat, and all eyes turned toward Raon, Runaan, and the children.
“What are those children?”
“You told us to find bandits, but you found runaway kids?”
Burren and Marta looked at the two children with furrowed brows.
“Well. Who could they be?”
Raon placed the cloth bag containing the bandit leader’s head and smiled.