The Necromancer Who Was Despised

“I heard you were a monster hunter.”

“Even if my past wasn’t so good, the contributions you’ve made to the Ovalon family and territory are real. That’s why I don’t dislike you. Even this matter with the dwarves, if it hadn’t been for your achievements, it would have been difficult to receive their cooperation. Even if we had received their cooperation, we would have had to pay a great price.”

“Just like now. If you do, then you’ll be able to become a part of our territory.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He seemed to like my attitude and lightly patted my shoulder.

After he left, I rubbed the shoulder he had patted.

‘Ouch. It’s bruised.’

It looked like nothing more than a casual gesture, but since it was done with mana, it had a power that believed its appearance.

It wasn’t a serious injury, and he hadn’t intended to harm me, so this much could be considered truly gentlemanly.

I covered my shoulder and thanked Kayla, who had finished setting up the tent, as if nothing had happened.

Honestly, this kind of thing was really a minor matter to me, so it wasn’t long before I stopped paying attention to it.

Rest, night watch, continuous travel.

The simple cycle repeated itself over four days, and throughout that time, Kayla and I showed ourselves to be dedicated to the mission.

Satisfied with my attitude, we were able to naturally blend into the group under Rainbank’s protection and were able to establish a certain level of camaraderie with the squires and servants.

Since Banis was originally well-disposed towards me, I had to keep my distance from him.

Perhaps my attitude seemed sensible, as Rainbank showed me an even more favorable attitude.

Thanks to riding the horses, we were able to cover a distance that would have taken a week in four days, and we were able to rest until Banis and Rainbank stopped by the Siglen Earl’s residence to pick up the dwarf.

The dwarf we saw was—

He was half-hanging with his eyes covered and his limbs bound by chains.

He was loaded into the back of the servants’ carriage like baggage.

The treatment of the dwarf slave was so bad that it could be considered garbage, even though dwarf slaves were rare and valuable.

Well, the treatment of different races in the human kingdom was not very good in the first place.

Discrimination and contempt were at the bottom of the barrel, and subtle rejection was the norm.

However, if their abilities, especially their martial prowess, were outstanding or if their appearance suited human tastes, it could be considered a little better.

Of course, this is on the premise that they are not slaves.

If they were slaves, both their martial prowess and beautiful appearance would only be targets of greed.

‘The treatment in the Holy Empire and its two subordinate kingdoms is even more severe.’

They are basically elitist, and they discriminate even against humans who are not of the same clan, and they treat different races almost like monsters.

It’s funny, but compared to the Holy Empire, that kind of treatment could be considered good.

‘The first time I saw it, I was terrified.’

Now it’s a common sight, so I don’t think much of it.

Of course, I think it’s pathetic.

There’s no way they can be efficient in their work when they’re treated like that.

Of course, if you think about it that way, the slave status itself is a perfect condition to lose hope, but I think it would be more efficient than being treated like that.

“My Lord, unfortunately, it seems that we will not be able to stay in the territory today.”

“If that is Sir Rainbank’s judgment, then so be it. As I said, the completion of the mission is the most important law.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

Banis was not a fool who couldn’t tell the difference between heaven and earth, so he listened to Rainbank, who wanted to move as quickly as possible.

So as soon as we took over the dwarf, we immediately set off on our return journey without any time to rest.

My opinion was a little different, but I didn’t say anything.

‘No matter what, wouldn’t it be suspicious if a group of this size just turned around and left the territory after only one day?’

I wasn’t the one in charge, and I was confident that I would survive no matter what happened, so I just decided to keep it to myself, but I couldn’t help but wonder.

Contrary to my concerns, there was no ambush or anything on the first day.

Since the dwarf had come under our protection, we moved with our guard up, and as the second day continued peacefully, the atmosphere began to relax a little.

Even Rainbank, who could be considered the de facto leader, was so satisfied with the peaceful state of affairs that he seemed to turn a blind eye to things loosening up a bit.

‘It should have been the other way around.’

He said that he did it to test me on the way there, but on the way back, we should have been more vigilant since we had the dwarf in our hands, but it didn’t look good to be relieved and let our guard down as we approached the territory and got halfway there.

However, ironically, it was not a bad situation for me.

Thanks to Rainbank loosening up a bit, I was able to move around a little more freely.

Since I had been recognized as part of the group on the way to the Siglen Earl’s residence, I had even less restrictions on my movement.

“Master, no, Sir Rainbank’s heroic tale? “I’m curious about that?”

“Yes. He seems to be an extraordinary swordsman, but I haven’t had the chance to hear any heroic tales about him since I haven’t been in the territory for very long.”

“Hmm. Sir Rainbank’s skill is not ordinary. He has always been at the forefront of the village’s development.”

After dinner, I took a short break and chatted with Likinli, who was Lord Langbank’s adjutant.

There was another adjutant named Cabas, but he was currently patrolling the perimeter, so Likinli was the only one I could talk to.

I hesitated to ask Lord Langbank directly because he had a bit of an authoritative air about him, and I was reluctant to approach him first.

“I could hear stories from other sources, but wouldn’t it be better to hear it from Lord Likinli, who was actually there?”

“Well, that’s true.”

In contrast, Likinli had initially disliked me, but as Lord Langbank acknowledged and accepted me, he began to treat me a little differently, with a slightly more amiable attitude.

That’s why this kind of casual conversation was possible.

“Ahem. If Sir Jimnis, the Honorary Knight, wishes to know, then I shall tell you. Hmm… Let’s see. His greatest achievement was when he pioneered the second village. Lord Langbank was fighting a horde of Giant Ents at the time…”

From what I heard from Likinli and from observing Lord Langbank throughout our journey, I could roughly estimate his strength. I thought that he was quite capable for a knight in the borderlands.

‘He can use Aura, and his sensory amplification is decent. He also has a lot of experience since he’s always at the forefront of pioneering. Hmm… I wonder why someone like him is in the borderlands.’

However, I heard that the purity of his Aura itself is not very high.

Knights who can use Aura are classified as Experts, and their ranks are distinguished based on the purity and perfection of their Aura.

Lord Langbank is considered to be at the lower level, with both low purity and perfection.

Aura is not an absolute indicator of combat power, but it does have a significant impact.

However, he is also a good commander and leads by example, so the mercenaries hired by Baron Owaran respect him sincerely. So, his worth cannot be judged solely on his rank.

Of course, since these stories were told to me by his adjutant, Likinli, there may be some exaggeration or embellishment, but most of it is probably true.

‘He’s someone who can be trusted by a lord.’

I was also able to learn a little bit about his fighting style through the eyes of others. He said to be a calm and composed fighter who doesn’t rush and adapts to his opponents.

Even though I was openly gathering information, I was welcomed even more by them.

My desire to know more about Lord Langbank seemed like the enthusiasm of a fan who wanted to know every little bit of information about a knight they admired.

Of course, I didn’t feel that way at all. I intended to make it seem that way, but of course, it was just an act to avoid suspicion.

As I gathered information about the only achieved knight in Owaran and my goals, something happened.

“…Master. We are being pursued.”

Kayla was the first to notice the anomaly.

“Pursued?”

“Yes. Not just one or two.”

I glanced in the direction Kayla was pointing.

But I couldn’t see anything.

I couldn’t use magic to amplify my senses here, so I had no choice but to give up on checking it out myself.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. At least thirty. They are all on horseback. However, they are not pursuing us very quickly.”

There was no hint of playfulness in her eyes.

Then again, she has never joked with me before.

The funny thing was that even though we were focusing on the flanks, the pursuers Kayla mentioned were following us from behind.

There was also a difference in our levels, and it seemed that our slightly relaxed state had affected us.

I left Kayla in charge of the perimeter and moved naturally to Lord Langbank’s side.

“I have spotted a suspicious group. They are suspected to be pursuers.”

“…Pursuers?”

He turned his gaze in the direction I had been watching, but I shook my head and corrected him.

“They are behind us.”

“Rear?”

Langbank’s gaze turned to the rear, and soon his brows furrowed as he felt a faint flow of mana.

“…Indeed. Not one or two. How did you find out?”

“Thanks to my slave.”

“I see. A slave’s merit is the master’s merit. I will not forget this merit for now. First, let’s return to our seats.”

The pursuers were not moving in a hurry.

Therefore, there was still some Chinese people, and Langbank seemed not to want to let them know that we had noticed their presence.

“Tsk. If we could just go for another day or so…”

As we turned around, I could hear Langbank clicking his tongue softly.

‘They must be aiming for now, when we are most likely to let our guard down.’

Of course, Langbank would know this fact as well. From what I had investigated, he was a knight with a lot of experience.

However, it seemed that there was nothing he could do about the annoyance.

Soon, the presence of the pursuers became known to the entire group, and a subtle tension enveloped us.

“Kayla.”

“Are they all combatants?”

“What about their equipment level?”

“Their equipment varies, but they are at the level of regular soldiers. Besides, their horses seem to be much better than ours.”

‘If their horses are better than ours… this is going to be troublesome.’

Being slower meant that even if we ran away, there was a high chance of being caught.

‘It can’t be helped.’

The horses we were riding were pack horses, so they were not suitable for battle and could not help but be slow.

At this rate, it seemed that we would not be able to avoid a battle, but the difference in numbers was too great.

Even assuming that there were no mana users on the other side, we would be at a disadvantage.

‘They are not goblins.’

They were intelligent, well-equipped, and could move as a group, so it meant that they were capable of some degree of group combat.

Each of them was riding a horse, so it was an insult to compare them to goblins.

Besides, I couldn’t use dark magic because I couldn’t let my identity be discovered.

‘Kayla lacks mobility… and even if you look at the combatants on this side, there’s only one knight, two priests, me, and Kayla…’

Although the quality of each individual soldier was high and we could not be underestimated, we also had things to protect.

Not just one, but two.

‘The dwarf and… Banis.’

They were our obvious weaknesses.

‘If I were to…’

I would throw some of them as bait and run away as far as possible.

Langbank’s horse was a proper warhorse, so there was a chance that he could run away with Banis and the dwarf.

The rest of us would likely die.

However, it soon became clear that even that was impossible.

‘…They’ve got us.’

Another group appeared in front of us.

‘What a joke. The information must have leaked out at the last dinner.’

If not, this situation wouldn’t make sense.

We’re not exactly slowpokes either.

Yet they managed to get ahead of us and block our path?

It’d be impossible unless they knew about this beforehand.

Above all, they didn’t have a single horse.

It makes no sense that they’re ahead of us despite being slower than us.

Furthermore… the terrain is exquisite.

‘They’ve occupied the high ground.’

It’s not that high, but it’s a hilly terrain. We have no choice but to look up at them.

On top of that, there were rocks scattered everywhere, so the path was narrow.

It was the perfect terrain to nullify the advantage of having horses.

“Halt.”

After stopping the party, Rainbank stepped forward and spoke.

“Who are you people?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking? Bandits, that’s who.”

Kukukuku.

The men around Rainbank burst into laughter as if mocking him.

“You dare to block the path of nobles? Do you all wish to die?”

“Oh dear, you’re nobles, are you? But what a shame. If you all die here, who will know you’re nobles?”

“Master! There are pursuers behind us…!”

Rickenly pointed behind him, calling Rainbank ‘Master’ in his urgency.

“…Dammit, they’re working together.”

“Kukuku. Of course! You may be a knight, but you’re not completely incompetent. I see you’ve noticed the pursuers.”

“There’s… no room for negotiation, is there?”

“Perhaps there is. If you hand over the dwarf quietly, we might let you go?”

Kukukukak!