The Necromancer Who Was Despised

I was confined there for over a year, and I could count on one hand the number of times I went outside.

That’s why I didn’t know the name or face of the mercenary I had just met.

The only faces I knew were all down there in that basement.

The reason I spent over a year in that basement was simple.

I learned how to speak and write there.

‘I was chosen as a high-class slave.’

In Korea, I was of average height, but in this world, most people were short unless they were wealthy.

In addition, I was chosen as a high-class slave because of my exotic and fairly decent-looking face and my clean skin, which had never suffered any hardship, and I was able to seize the opportunity to learn how to speak and write.

‘But this place collapsed before I could be sold.’

Thanks to that, I was able to hold something like freedom in my hands, if only for a short while.

That didn’t last long either.

“Master, the guest is here.”

“Let him in.”

“You may enter.”

I nodded at the servant’s words and dismissed my old thoughts.

I opened the door and entered, and I saw a splendid interior.

It seemed to be an office.

“Nice to meet you. So, you want to work with me?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“Jimnis.”

“Jimnis… Jimnis. That’s a familiar name.”

Of course. The fact that a hunter has a status plate means that he was sold here.

‘It seems he remembers names.’

He doesn’t know me.

He’s either someone who was sold before or someone who was left behind, but who was sold before I learned how to speak.

“I lost my previous status due to unavoidable circumstances. “I ask for your understanding.”

“You lost your status?”

“Hahaha. It has something to do with my specialty being fixed as monster capture.”

“… tsk. Did you mess with someone you shouldn’t have?”

“Yes. Well, I managed to sort it out somewhat. Thanks to that, I’ve lost everything I have, including my status.”

“I heard Nenson was defeated in turn… How unfortunate for him. He was quite the capable hunter, you see.”

“But now you have me instead. If you trust me, I’ll be of more use to you than he was.”

Monster hunting can, depending on the individual, fetch a higher price than humans.

‘Most of the time, that is.’

Even so, monster hunting was worth more than just money.

The main clientele who purchased live monsters were wizards, who mainly used them for experimentation and treated them almost like disposables, so there was always demand.

“Monster hunting, you say…”

“Surely you don’t only deal in human slaves? This could be your opportunity to establish ties with wizards.”

“It’s true that monster hunters are quite rare.”

In vulgar terms, monster hunting doesn’t have a good cost-to-profit ratio.

Catching something like an orc could make you money, but the reward wasn’t that good compared to the difficulty.

‘With those skills, humans would make you more money.’

Nevertheless, slave traders try to secure monster hunters, either by offering bonuses or by nurturing their own.

The same goes for ordinary merchants, not just slave traders.

The reason was simple.

‘Because the place that buys those monsters is the Magic Tower.’

Nothing was as profitable as having connections with the Magic Tower.

Not only artifacts, but potions, magic scrolls, and many other magical items, and in order to secure really expensive luxury slaves or demi-human slaves, the assistance of the Magic Tower was essential.

In other words, in order to play with the big boys, becoming friendly with the Magic Tower was essential, and that’s why slave traders absolutely needed monster hunters, even if they weren’t profitable.

Therefore, although I might not make as much money as Nenson, in the long term, I was a talent he absolutely had to hire.

“Alright, what are your capabilities?”

“They’re limited, but I can handle orcs.”

“You can capture orcs?”

A look of surprise crossed the slave trader’s face.

“Of course, they’re limited. Only stragglers, and I can’t handle more than two at a time. You’ll need to provide me with a capture cage though.”

Goblins might be okay, but you need a special cage for orcs.

‘They’re just that tough.’

“That’s impressive, even so. You’ve got guts.”

In truth, even a straggler is an adult orc.

An adult orc is an opponent that not even an intermediate mercenary could be confident of defeating one-on-one.

Of course, killing one would be difficult, but capturing one would be even harder.

‘But I can do it.’

My combat prowess may only be at the level of an intermediate mercenary one-on-one, but it’s a bit different with monsters.

‘Because I have magic.’

The monsters wouldn’t know whether I was using black magic or not, and since this is a hunt, I have plenty of time to prepare.

Erasing traces of black magic is no difficult task for me, so utilizing magic wouldn’t be too hard.

“Of course, it’s hard to do head-on, but hunting is a bit different.”

“Yes, that’s true. You must be quite the capable hunter. Well, that’s why you’re still alive, I suppose.”

It seemed he thought that I’d only been able to stay alive after provoking a human with connections because of my abilities.

‘If you misunderstand me, that’s fine with me.’

It seemed to ease his suspicion considerably.

“Very well. But I have no intention of withdrawing my request to see your skills. Prove your words to me. Since you were confident about orcs, I’d like to see at least three goblins, or equivalent monsters. Is that possible? “

“Of course.”

“The price… will vary depending on the condition of the monster, but if you bring me goblins, I’ll give you 1 silver.”

‘That’s better than I thought?’

Of course, when I hand them over to the merchant, it’ll only be 1 silver, but when the merchant hands them over to the Magic Tower, they’ll get about 5 silver.

But funnily enough, even selling them like this, there’s no profit for the slave merchant.

In fact, there were times when they made a loss, because the Magic Tower only bought healthy and well-managed ones.

Not only is it hard to catch monsters, but they have to heal, feed, house, and manage them so they’re healthy, and on top of that, they have to transport them to the Magic Tower.

Considering all that, goblins are actually a loss.

To make a profit, they’d need to be orcs, but anyone capable of capturing orcs would be much better off doing other things.

‘But if I can catch orcs, their eyes will pop out.’

Merchants who could supply orcs were given preferential treatment by the Magic Tower.

That’s probably why they’re offering a higher price for goblins.

They still don’t trust me completely, but they’ve indirectly realized that I’m not just some guy who talks big, so they’re betting a little more.

‘That’s fine with me.’

“You’re offering more than I expected.”

“If you succeed, we’ll be building a long-term relationship.”

“Thank you for considering me.”

It wasn’t difficult to join hands with the slave merchant. There’s still the test, but honestly, it’s not going to be hard.

‘For now, it’s a success.’

As I left the mansion after meeting with the slave merchant, I felt satisfied that I had succeeded.

A safe zone to operate in the early stages.

If I had a slave merchant with significant influence in the territory as my backer, I would be safe for as long as I operated in the territory.

‘To be honest, I don’t have much resentment towards this guy.’

He tricked me, but he also didn’t manage to sell me off properly.

He also gave me the opportunity to learn to speak and write.

‘I can’t say I don’t have any, but…’

Honestly, I gained more than I lost.

If I think about it, it’s much less than Nenson, and I’ll end up paying for it later anyway, so I don’t think much of it.

‘About a year left?’

That’s about right. One of the two incidents that caused the slave merchant to go bankrupt.

‘Monster Wave.’

To be exact, not only the slave merchant, but the territory itself is destroyed.

I had no intention of stopping such a Monster Wave.

‘In the first place, I can’t stop it.’

With my current abilities, I couldn’t stop a Monster Wave.

‘It was on a scale where an entire territory would be wiped out…’

After the Monster Wave, very few people survived. To be exact, I wondered if anyone else than me had survived.

‘It was a miracle.’

Honestly, it’s a miracle that I survived.

I guess I was just lucky.

To be honest, there were others who had a chance to survive as well.

Especially the slave trader.

He had already known about the dangers of the border territory and had built a secret passage.

‘But it ultimately failed due to the slave rebellion.’

That was the second reason why the slave trader ended up dying. Well, more accurately, he was killed in the slave rebellion.

If the slave trader had survived, I would have been sold as a slave, so his death was a benefit to me.

As a result, I managed to minimize the damage and maximize the benefits from that rebellion.

‘Until the monster wave, I will build up my strength…’

I will turn the completely ruined territory into my dungeon.

To be exact, I didn’t really need people.

I planned to secretly recruit a few, but the number would never be large.

I had no intention of becoming a lord.

‘I wouldn’t be recognized as a lord in the first place.’

What I wanted was a space where no one knew of my existence, where I could train without having to look at anyone’s body, and time to train until I reached a certain level.

To be exact.

‘4th class. At that level, the mercenary guild will acknowledge and protect me.’

If that happens, I will be able to operate relatively freely in the six kingdoms, excluding the Holy Empire and its two subordinate kingdoms.

‘It won’t take long.’

It’s a path I’ve already walked. If I don’t have to look at anyone’s body color…

‘A year? That should be enough.’

A total of two years. That was the time I needed to confidently go out into the world.

So.

“A goblin… This will be over quickly.”

I have to pass the test perfectly.

I muttered softly and stepped out of the territory.

“Kiiieek!”

The goblin restrained by me continued to cry out.

“How noisy.”

But no matter how much it cried, it had no effect on my emotions.

‘Still, is this what a monster is like?’

I woke up earlier than I thought. If I had woken up a little earlier, I would have had to fight again.

The goblin’s fingernails had all been cut off and its limbs were completely restrained. It could only thrash about while screaming.

There were five goblins captured like that.

The request was for at least three, so three would have been enough, but since there were five, I just captured them all.

‘It wasn’t that dangerous.’

I didn’t use black magic at all.

This was a feat accomplished solely with my physical abilities and the equipment I had taken from the hunters.

I ignored the goblins clamoring noisily and examined my body all over.

‘No injuries.’

As this was my second playthrough, I wouldn’t get injured by something like goblins.

They may be goblins, but you shouldn’t underestimate them.

No matter how low-ranked, they are still monsters, even if they are treated as the lowest of the low. They’re more dangerous than most beasts.

‘If they were alone, even a low-ranking mercenary could somehow deal with them… ‘

The problem is that they move in groups.

Furthermore, their claws are poisonous, and even low-ranking mercenaries can sometimes lose to goblins if they don’t have enough resistance.

They’re fairly cunning, so as soon as they realize their opponent has been poisoned, they start stalling to give the poison time to spread throughout the body. That’s why you need to wear good armor and be careful not to get injured in the first place.