The God of Assassination Becomes the Strongest Healer (1)
Save people through healing? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
It was nonsense too absurd to believe as reality, yet far too vivid to dismiss as a dream.
—You don't need to worry too much about being given such a grand mission. I'm not heartless enough to just throw you out there naked and tell you to 'figure it out yourself.' First benefit of the Reincarnation Package: I'll preserve all the experience and knowledge you have. Of course, you'll have to train your body from scratch, but you're a guy who's been through so many brawls that you've grown thick skin. If you're reborn with just your memories, you probably won't get yourself beaten up just anywhere, right?
The longer Gwanghwi spoke, the thicker the laughter in its voice grew.
—Second benefit of the Reincarnation Package: I plan to prepare the optimal environment for you to learn the healing arts. Well, it's not something I need to explain at length; once you get down there and open your eyes, you'll know right away. The name of the family you'll be born into is one you've probably heard of before.
Whirrr.
The vibrations grew clearer and closer. Was a door really opening to drop me off somewhere?
—But you'd best remember. None of these perks come free. I've paid you an advance in the form of a second chance, and you must prove that you are someone worthy of receiving it.
Healing? Salvation? An advance? Proof?
—You don't understand right now? Haha, then just remember this one thing. Calamity will be upon us before long. I'm looking forward to seeing how you prove yourself in the midst of that calamity, so do your best.
No, what the hell are you talking about right now?
—If you meet my expectations, I've also prepared ample 'arrangements' to make things proceed a bit more smoothly. Now, that's enough explanation.
I repeated opening and closing my eyes with all my might, but still, nothing entered my vision.
—This is all I can do for you. Now go. From here on out, it's up to you.
A vibration sharper than the white light piercing my eyelids coiled around my entire body.
'Wh... what?'
And after that, nothing could be heard.
The only thing I could do was be swept away by an unbelievably powerful current, carried off somewhere.
—Tsk, although I couldn't say it, I am incredibly grateful that to care for the pitiful ones I failed to watch over due to my own inadequacy, you stained your own hands with blood.
While being swept along by the current, the traces of Gwanghwi's soliloquy burrowed between my eardrums. But it remained merely a tremor, unable to resolve into meaning.
—In this life, please be a little happy, damn it. If anyone's earned the right, it's you, who whittled away your own life to build a tower of blood.
Leaving behind Gwanghwi's incomprehensible soliloquy, I fell tumbling down.
* * *
"Waaah! Waaah!"
"Oh! Finally!"
The corridor outside the delivery room, which had been shrouded in heavy silence.
At the baby's cry bursting forth after the long wait, the man sprang up from his seat and looked toward the door.
"Congratulations, Family Head! It's a very healthy young master!"
"Oh... ooh!"
Moments later, witnessing the baby brought out in the midwife's hands, tears of emotion streamed down the man's face.
"My son, my son...."
The large-bodied man trembled so violently that his great frame seemed irrelevant as he nuzzled his cheek against the baby's.
"What about Melissa? How is Melissa's condition?"
"You needn't worry. The Lady is also very healthy. The maids are currently tidying her garments, so you'll be able to see her shortly."
"Thank you. You've all worked very hard."
Soon after, word came that the mother had stabilized, and the man, cradling the baby in his arms, went to her.
"My dear, truly, truly, you've had a hard time. I am endlessly grateful to you."
"You mustn't forget what you just said, alright? Promise me you'll spend your whole life being grateful to me and loving only me."
"Haha, of course. When have I ever not?"
Relieved by his wife's playful appearance as she tugged on his bushy beard, the man burst into laughter with tear-filled eyes, and his wife tugged harder on his beard as she spoke.
"Oh my, don't just stand there like that, bend down a little. Let me see our pretty baby's face too. Are you planning to let our newborn prince see only your fierce face?"
"Ah, right! Sorry, sorry. I wasn't thinking."
The man quickly lowered his head to bring the baby's face to his wife's eye level.
"Isn't he adorable. Oh my! These black eyes and hair look exactly like you."
"Where, where. Hehe! These cute little lips and pert nose are spitting images of you."
"Liar! How can a newborn's nose be pert?"
"Hehe, is that so? But what can I do? That's how it looks in my eyes."
As they exchanged warm conversation brimming with tenderness, the woman caressing the baby's cheek said in a surprised voice.
"Oh my! Dear, look at our prince. He's opened his eyes wide and is looking all around? They say it usually takes babies time to open their eyes. How remarkable."
"Really? Hehe! The way this little guy is already opening his eyes so wide and bright, he'll grow up to be as smart as you."
"What are you talking about? Looking at our prince not even crying, he'll definitely grow up to be a brave manly man like you."
The couple felt happiness once more at the sight of the baby rolling its dark eyes around. But they didn't know.
'Wait, what! Why am I in this state?'
The reason the couple's baby was looking around with wide eyes was completely different from what they expected.
'Did I really, really get reborn? And 100 years later at that. Wait, is that emblem Claudius?'
The emblem of a golden shield enveloped by eight wings, carved into the ceiling of the delivery room.
The baby's pupils grew even larger, for it knew all too well what that emblem meant.
[Second benefit of the Reincarnation Package: I plan to prepare the optimal environment for you to learn the healing arts.]
The boast it had heard just moments ago.
And its current situation, which matched that boast perfectly.
Something so dreamlike that it couldn't be accepted.
But now, there was no choice but to acknowledge it.
That it had been born as a descendant of 'Claudius,' the continent's foremost renowned medical family, having leaped across 100 years.
'Does this make any sense?'
It wanted to shout. But its cute little lips wouldn't move as desired.
"Waaah!"
Only an unusually vigorous cry echoed throughout the delivery room once more. And beyond the baby's cries, the joyful voices of the parents rang out.
"Hehe! Look at this little one's loud cry! Such a pretty face with the voice of a future general!"
—Hmm... For the son of a mountain-bandit-like 'Tiberi,' he's reasonably cute.
Layered over the laughter burst out by the middle-aged man overcome with joy—namely, the person presumed to be my father—a deep yet gentle voice was heard.
—Little one of Claudius, newly born. Be happy no matter what. Well, life isn't that easy, but.
Before I knew it, my eyes turned toward where the voice came from—that is, above my father's shoulder.
—What? This little one. Surely he can't see me or something, can he?
The 'blue flame' burning above my father's shoulder expressed its doubt in that same gentle voice.
"Abwa...."
One interesting thing was that, among the people present, I seemed to be the only one aware of that blue flame's existence.
I wanted to tell the flame spouting such arrogant nonsense, 'I don't know who you are, but I know that much too,' but all that burst from my tiny mouth was the babbling of a newborn.
—Nah, there's no way. The only one who could sense me was that fellow, the first Family Head. There's no way a newborn little one could have such good sensitivity.
Dismissing my protest as mere babbling, the flame vanished in an instant.
"Feigan, I'm thinking of naming the baby Feigan. It's taken from the constellation that guards the night sky and guides lost people. What do you think?"
"Feigan, that's a truly wonderful name. I like it too. My baby, become a splendid person like the star that watches over people in the dark night."
Neither my father nor my mother could detect the flame's existence, but the two of them, with expressions so happy that they couldn't care less about such 'trivial perceptual impairments,' took turns rubbing their cheeks against mine.
Smooch.
Unable to overcome the welling happiness, the woman—no, my mother—planted a kiss on the cheek of me, that is, 'Feigan Claudius.'
"Waaah!"
With an even louder cry, I once again announced that the 'Former God of Assassination' had been reincarnated into Claudius.
* * *
Five Years Later.
Tick-tock.
"...Is it morning?"
As always, the day begins with pressing the winding key of the alarm clock by my bedside.
Just in case, I always set the time, but never once have I woken up with the clock's help.
It's not that I'm dissatisfied with the accuracy of the wind-up clock, but there's no reason for me, who possesses a biological clock hundreds of times more accurate than some winding mechanism, to bother relying on clock hands.
Click.
"Up!"
After winding it, I step onto a chair and open the window.
Sea breeze pours in the moment the lock opens.
A refreshing wind blending the scent of waves and the energy of the forest.
I daresay I know of no more effective stimulant than this.
Gulp, gulp.
I coolly chug the medicinal water in a cup enchanted with cooling magic. At a glance it would look like ordinary water, but I know.
That this single cup of cold water contains the very essence of the outstanding medical arts Claudius has achieved.
"Hyah!"
As I began warm-ups, stretching my arms and legs left and right, it felt as though my internal organs, thoroughly soaked in the healthful medicinal water, were all waking up at once.
'Wake up – ventilate – cup of cold water – morning exercise.' Ever since I got my own bedroom, away from my mother and the nursemaids, a year ago, I have performed this series of steps without missing a single day.
"Hup!"
Arms and legs bending in ways that would look somewhat precarious to adults.
If the nursemaids saw this, they'd cry, "Oh my! Young Master! It's dangerous!" and pick me up immediately.
This was exactly why I did these warm-ups so early in the morning.
These movements—doing a handstand on one hand or bending backward while supporting myself on one leg—would look nothing short of dangerous to uninformed nursemaids.
"Nursemaid! There's nothing to worry about. I've been doing these warm-ups for decades already. My arms and legs have gotten much shorter, so it's a bit awkward, but I won't fall."
Even if I said that, it would only make the nursemaid's face turn even paler.
Since gaining understanding was impossible anyway, it was best to quietly get it over with during a hidden hour when no one was watching.
"Whew...."
Moving my limbs at such demanding angles brought out a slight sweat, but I felt no pain.
I, that is 'Feigan Claudius,' was a child who had just turned five in this world, and a child's body was naturally supremely flexible.
My master, who had taught me the art of assassination, used to say this often.
[What a pity. You possess all the qualities to become a fine assassin, but flexibility is one area where I see regret. Had you received my teachings before your body stiffened, you would have attained a level of flexibility incomparable to now, and your future training would have been much easier.]
No matter how hard one trains, one cannot match the innate flexibility of a child.
In this sense, being born with all my memories of physical training was an incomparable blessing.
Thanks to the light warm-ups every morning, I was able to bring this body called Feigan Claudius to its 'optimal state.'
Gulp, gulp.
After training, I cool my heated body with a cup of cold medicinal water.
And lying facing the direction the wind blew, I quietly close my eyes.
Rustle, rustle.
When I close my eyes, I see things invisible when they are open.
The texture of the wind brushing my skin, the warmth of the sun gradually rising higher, and even the faint flow of mana permeating through it all.
Pfft.
When I lie around so comfortably like this, memories of time spent with my master come to mind. Yes, for instance, when I first received my master's unique mana breathing technique.
[Well, you've probably heard of the mana training methods that knights and mages learn, right? So? Do I look like someone who learned a mana training method?]
[That I have? Why do you think so? Aha! Because I couldn't have shown such irrational movements without learning mana. A simple but reasonable deduction. Yes, well observed. As you saw, I am indeed a mana user. But if you asked the same question to some accomplished mage or knight, they would say I'm not a mana user.]
[Why? I don't have something called a 'ring' that every mana user is supposed to possess. 'One must have a mana ring to use mana'—that's what they think. But even if they looked with washed eyes, they wouldn't feel a ring in me, so they would say I'm not a mana user.]
After finishing the story up to here, my master burst into loud laughter.
A laughter so loud it made the cabin resound.
Come to think of it, my master was someone who laughed far too much for a former assassin.
And soon, after ceasing that laughter, my master spoke in the most confident voice in the world.
[Rings are unnecessary. The mana you need is etched into your blood and muscles. That is the essence of the unique breathing technique I shall teach you. Remember it well.]