Regressing as the Reincarnated Bastard of the Sword Clan

Translator: FenrirTL

Editor: Doodle, Eyes

=================
Chapter 145: Spirits of the Sacred Mausoleum (5)

Spirits guided Theo to a place deep within the mausoleum, in a location that could only be found by venturing far inside.

A hidden path lay beyond 299 coffins—an obscured passage that seemed impossible to notice without checking carefully.

At the end of it was a very small cavern.

A faint ray of light filtered through a narrow opening in the ceiling, illuminating a stone tomb.

Instead of a headstone, a single red tulip stood there, solitary and swaying gently.

“There’s another grave here?”

-Oh, you noticed right away?

-That’s right, that’s right. There were originally 300 of us.

-But we weren’t able to leave a headstone for just this one.

The spirits circled endlessly around the stone tomb.

It didn’t take Theo long to realize that this tomb was the reason why the spirits had remained in the mortal world.

“May I ask who is buried here?”

-None of us.

-No one is buried here. You could call this a cenotaph.

“A cenotaph?”

-Yes. It’s for our leader, our patriarch, our lord… and Ragnar’s former Chosen.

Chosen.

At that word, Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

-■■■! This tomb belongs to that one…!

In that instant, the face of the spirit who had spoken the name twisted in frustration.

-Damn it! The name won’t come out again? This is driving me crazy. At this rate, I’ll forget it completely!

-I’ve been getting hazy on it too lately. I can barely remember what his face looked like.

-That’s just because you’re senile.

-What did you say, punk?

The bickering among the spirits, a scene that seemed to erupt whenever boredom struck, no longer bothered Theo much.

“I see. This individual must have approached the secrets of the world so closely that my current is not enough to hear their true name.”

-Most likely. I don’t know much . But from what I’ve heard, their entanglement with the was so profound that even leaving a trace of their existence here was barely possible.

Theo considered Lodbrok’s channeling.

『That one’s words are true.』

‘What kind of connection could they have had with the …?’

『One so clandestine that even Ragnar retains almost no records of it. You can think of him as one of the few Chosen who approached the very origins of the secret.』

‘…He must have been an extraordinary individual.’

『Forgive me for not being able to share more details. As a Chosen, and as my companion, you will eventually uncover these secrets on your own if you continue to dig deeper.』

‘I understand.’

Lodbrok’s voice now carried a tinge of sadness.

『To think that even the tomb of my former companion, who couldn’t leave behind any remains, existed here… I truly had no idea. Perhaps I am unworthy of being his companion after all.』

Theo sensed that it wasn’t the right moment to speak to Lodbrok, so he remained silent for a while.

‘A being cursed by the and robbed of his name…’

A name is the very definition of existence.

It is how people remember a being that lives in this world, and if recorded, it spreads far and wide, amplifying their presence.

Sometimes, a name is revered and enshrined in the pantheon of gods.

But to have that name erased?

That signifies the obliteration of existence itself.

For a swordsman of Ragnar, who harbors an ambition to leave their name engraved in history, there could be no greater dishonor.

Ragnar remembers the 299 members of the Resolution Squad who faced the beyond the Great Wall.

However, Ragnar does not remember the being who led them.

Not even though he was their leader, their patriarch.

It is likely for this reason that the members of the Resolution Squad linger as spirits.

‘The reason they remain in this world despite having no lingering attachments… it’s because they refuse to lose the existence of their leader.’

But they are no longer among the living; they belong to the dead.

What they cling to will inevitably reach an end someday.

Even so, this persistence could be seen as a form of desperate struggle.

“Then, do you ancestors wish to find the remains of your former patriarch and build them a proper grave?”

-Huh? Is that how this conversation is going?

-Hahaha! I suppose it could be interpreted that way. Well, that wouldn’t be so bad, either.

-What’s there to regret if a swordsman doesn’t have a grave? Our fate is to face death on the battlefield at any moment. As long as our spirit and will remain, as long as someone remembers us, that place is our grave.

-Exactly! That’s it!

Their point was that as long as they remembered their leader, the lack of a grave didn’t matter.

“Then…?”

-We wish to see our leader’s Sword Legacy restored.

A completely unexpected statement.

Theo’s eyes widened in surprise.

The 299 spirits were all smiling.

-Didn’t we already say? A grave can be anywhere someone remembers our spirit and will.

-We already have a grave. Even if fewer people visit it now, there’s a caretaker for it, just like that.

-But once we’re gone?

-There’ll be no one. That’s right, no one! That’s why a ‘grave’ is necessary—a place for someone to remember our leader.

“That’s what the ‘Sword Legacy’ is for.”

-Exactly!

-If the leader’s secret art remains in this world, it means there will always be someone honoring them, and the grave will continue to exist.

-Of course, it’s not like the leader didn’t leave any descendants behind.

-But since most of the techniques were lost, they’re only half-inheritors at best. It’s hard to call them true successors.

Theo suddenly had a realization.

“Are the insights you shared with me perhaps fragments of that Sword Legacy?”

The detective spirit nodded.

-That’s right. The leader’s Sword Legacy was forged by refining Ragnar’s sword techniques, so we figured if you worked on your sword the same way, you might reconstruct it.

-We don’t actually know the leader’s Sword Legacy. We ‘forgot’ it.

-But the realizations we gained from seeing it and the glimpses of its mysteries have each left us with fragments.

“If I piece together those fragmented pieces and fill in the gaps with my own swordsmanship…”

-That’s exactly what the leader’s Sword Legacy is.

-Of course, it’ll differ somewhat from the leader’s true Sword Legacy. But wouldn’t that be better for you? Rather than learning a technique identical to theirs, inheriting a legacy that has been adapted along the same lines would suit you more.

Theo nodded, inwardly impressed.

It sounded simple in words, but he could imagine how remarkable their abilities must have been to make this possible.

Moreover, this was an opportunity for him.

An ancient Sword Legacy.

If it was a legacy from one of the few Chosen recognized by Lodbrok, its value would be immense.

‘Even from just a glimpse, I’ve already advanced in my level.’

Theo’s desire to reconstruct the legacy burned even brighter.

‘But I don’t know how much time it will take. I can’t afford to stay here indefinitely. Isn’t there some way I can expedite this process?’

Without the belongings of the former Chosen, Hatchling Synchronization wouldn’t work.

Then, an idea struck Theo: his encounter with the spirits might be closely tied to a quest.

One potential solution came to mind.

“I might know a way to reconstruct the Sword Legacy more quickly. Would you be willing to give it a try?”

-What?

-You have a method for that?

Looking at the spirits’ curious gazes fixed on him, Theo opened his mouth.

* * *

“Huh? Where did Theo go all of a sudden?”

“Right? He was just here a moment ago.”

“Ray, do you know anything?”

Shake shake—

Ray shook her head at Selperd and Arin’s questions.

She had also been focusing on her breathing technique for a moment, so she hadn’t been paying attention to anything else.

Selperd, worried that something might have happened, was about to move to search for Theo when Cassandra stirred, catching his attention.

Cassandra slowly raised her upper body, blinking her eyes as she looked around.

“This place…?”

“Are you feeling okay, Cassandra?”

Arin, concerned, turned to look at her. Cassandra stared blankly at her for a moment without answering.

Though clearly unable to see ahead, her unfocused pupils seemed to gaze at her.

“Cassandra?”

“You must be Arin Negatives, renowned for your Whirlwind Sword.”

“What…?”

Arin felt a strong sense of dissonance.

It was not Cassandra’s usual tone.

It was as though an adult had possessed Cassandra’s small body.

“You are Selperd Gardner, the illegitimate child of the Gardner family, nicknamed the White-Haired Mad Swordsman. You seem to be doing well ‘here.’”

“…You.”

“And this one must be Ray Ragnar, the daughter of the Lady of the Water Lily Palace. You possess the frost attribute, but your heart is warm—thanks to Theo, of course.”

“Who are you?”

Selperd drew his sword and aimed it at Cassandra’s throat.

Even with the cold steel against her skin, Cassandra showed no sign of alarm and gently pushed the blade aside with her hand.

“If you ask who I am, I will answer, ‘Cassandra.’”

“What!”

“But if you ask whether I am the young Cassandra…”

A faint smile formed on Cassandra’s lips.

“I would have no choice but to say no.”

What could she mean by this?

She was Cassandra, yet she wasn’t the young Cassandra?

Selperd thought that the mysterious entity occupying Cassandra’s body was playing a cruel trick.

“No, this is certainly no trick. It’s only natural that you’d find it difficult to understand my words. If I were in your position, I’d react the same way.”

‘She’s reading my thoughts…?’

“Rather than reading your thoughts, I’d prefer you think of it as ‘seeing’ them.”

“…!”

A shiver ran down Selperd’s spine.

The being occupying Cassandra was not only predicting their actions but also piercing straight through to their innermost thoughts.

An utterly impossible situation.

Selperd was about to say something when Cassandra’s gaze suddenly shifted to the side.

“If you doubt that I am Cassandra, Lord Theo will vouch for me.”

The group turned their heads to follow her line of sight.

Theo was walking toward them.

“…I think you can all lower your guard for now.”

“Theo.”

“I’ll vouch for her. The Cassandra standing here is indeed Cassandra.”

Theo looked at Cassandra.

Without answering, Cassandra simply smiled.

“All right… If you say so, then it must be true.”

In the end, Selperd took a step back.

He already had a hunch that Cassandra possessed extraordinary abilities.

He decided to accept this as one of them.

“It’s a huge relief that everything ended without trouble. So, you need me for something, right?”

Cassandra’s gaze shifted toward Theo.

By now, no one present felt like Cassandra was blind anymore.

‘This just got more complicated. Is something like this trance state even possible?’

Meanwhile, Theo narrowed his eyes, understanding the situation Cassandra was experiencing.

He already knew that whenever Cassandra used her , she exhibited strange behaviors as though she were possessed.

She had been exactly like this when reading Lezé’s future.

The only difference now seemed to be her composed demeanor.

It was almost as if a future Cassandra had borrowed the abilities of her foresight and possessed her younger self…

“Will you help me?”

“Yes. Where should I go?”

Cassandra slowly stood up and followed behind Theo.

Once the area grew quiet again—

“Whew…!”

“What in the world just happened?”

Selperd and Arin finally took deep breaths to calm themselves.

“Hey, hey, did you see that?”

“You’re not the only one with eyes, you know.”

“What was that? What just happened?”

When Cassandra first opened her eyes and reacted in such an uncharacteristically mature way, it had already left them bewildered.

But just as startling was the dramatic shift in Theo’s demeanor.

‘I couldn’t… read him at all.’

Since Theo had gained Mysteries during his time in the Autonomous Territory of the Floating Archipelago, Selperd had known that Theo’s abilities now surpassed theirs.

Still, the gap hadn’t been so significant that it couldn’t be measured.

But now, it was as if nothing was visible at all.

It was like staring at a mountain on the horizon whose exact height was impossible to determine.

Now, all they could think was that Theo was “high”—but how high, they couldn’t even guess.

After arriving here, Theo had requested a brief moment of solitude, and in that time, had he perhaps gained some form of enlightenment?

But could enlightenment alone explain such sudden and massive growth?

Their minds swirled with countless questions and thoughts.

‘Especially his eyes. I couldn’t even fathom their depth.’

The vivid crimson hue of Theo’s eyes was so intense it felt like they should now be called deep scarlet rather than bright red.

But one thing was now certain.

Even if they claimed Theo had already risen to the ranks of , it wouldn’t feel like an exaggeration.

Advanced Swordsman.

Or perhaps even the beginning of the Dragon Gate Swordsman level.

And he was only sixteen years old.

“If I want to even slightly be treated as a senior, I really need to train harder…”

As Selperd and Arin sighed deeply, practically sinking into the ground in despair, Ray fixed her gaze on the hidden passage where Theo and Cassandra had disappeared.

At that moment—

“Hey, where did everyone go?”

Ode, who had gone to check the situation outside, returned and tilted her head curiously.

The group weakly pointed toward the direction of the hidden passage where Theo and Cassandra had vanished.

“What? They went that way?”

At that moment, Ode’s eyes darkened deeply.

It was as though all emotion had drained away.

* * *

“The ‘real’ Cassandra… she’s okay, right?”

“Lord Theo, it seems you know exactly who I am.”

“I wasn’t sure a moment ago, but now I understand.”

A faint smile appeared on the young Cassandra’s lips as they walked leisurely.

“You’re the Sorceress Empress, aren’t you?”