The Necromancer Who Was Despised

I had the equipment I’d taken from the hunter, and my physical abilities were better than a low-ranking mercenary’s. With my experience from the second playthrough, it wasn’t hard to deal with them.

‘Hmm… I’m fine.’

Not only me, but the goblins were mostly uninjured as well.

If it’s like this, then they’re the real deal.

I gave them a big shock when I first knocked them out, but other than cutting off their claws, there were no major injuries.

‘Their claws will grow back if I leave them alone.’

Even though they were just goblins, I felt secretly proud of myself for cleanly succeeding in my first real battle in a long time.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve done close-quarters combat, but I’m not rusty yet.’

Before I met my master, I worked as a warrior.

That’s why, unlike ordinary mages, I had a body that could fight well in close combat.

Thanks to that, I was able to capture the goblins easily.

‘They were right when they said there were a lot of useful things in that house.’

The house of the dead hunter, Nelson, was my temporary shelter.

The leather cord that I used to tie up the goblins was originally his.

‘It’s mine now, though.’

He really was a generous hunter.

‘It’s pretty good, so I should use it as my temporary shelter.’

I planned to stay inside the territory if I didn’t have any requests. But when I got requests and had to go outside, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to use the hunter’s house as it was.

The reason I didn’t normally live there was simple.

‘Because I have things to do inside the territory.’

If possible, I wanted to ask the slave trader to let me use the hunter’s house temporarily.

In truth, he was a human hunter, but since he was known as just a hunter outside, he must have paid taxes to the lord. It would be rude to just stay there for almost a year, even if it wasn’t for a long time.

‘I can’t just advertise that I killed him.’

Even if it was a dangerous pioneer territory in the borderlands, the hunter was a resident of the lord’s territory.

Even in a world like this, murder is a serious crime on the surface, so it would be annoying if I got caught.

That’s why it’s good to have a strong backer.

The power to commit serious crimes and get away with it as if nothing happened.

Power and connections are also necessary to survive in a world like this.

“Kki-eee! Kki-eeee!”

They’re still being noisy.

‘I should have found a wagon or something.’

Carrying five goblins by myself, even if they are porters, is a difficult and inefficient task.

‘Hmm… I might get a little hurt, but… .’

As long as nothing breaks, it will heal quickly. They are monsters, after all.

As soon as I made up my mind, I chose the goblin that was barking the loudest.

As I approached, the goblin barked even louder.

I went up to the bastard and kicked it hard in the stomach.

Thud!

“Kee-aaah!”

It didn’t pass out in one blow. But it wasn’t strong enough to damage my insides.

But the stomach is a vital point. The goblin screamed in pain and agony.

But I ignored the screams and beat the bastard mercilessly.

As I kicked its stomach and stomped on its head, shoulders, and arms, the goblin curled up its body to stay alive.

Swish!

“Keee-aagh!”

But the violence didn’t stop.

I mercilessly slammed my foot down on its back.

“Kee-eek, kee-aah… .”

The screams gradually weakened.

Before I knew it, the goblins that had been barking around me had shut their mouths and were looking at me with fearful eyes.

But I had no intention of hitting the others.

The one I’m hitting now is an example.

“Kee-ah, kee-ah… .”

As I stopped the violence, the beaten goblin let out a groan of pain.

Even though I had stopped the violence, the other goblins didn’t open their mouths.

‘It’s convenient when you have a little intelligence.’

Even if they don’t understand what I’m saying, they’ve seen what happens when they rebel or get noisy, so they’ll be quiet for a while.

The violence was definitely effective. The bastards didn’t resist as I tied them up one by one.

I led them to the Ovalan estate.

The bastard that got beat up was hit in the legs to avoid it, so it might slow down a bit, but it wasn’t in a situation where it couldn’t walk at all.

It didn’t matter because it wasn’t bad enough to cause any aftereffects.

‘From their perspective… I must look like Nenson or a slave trader.’

I didn’t know.

Monsters are enemies anyway.

And I’m not such a good guy either.

In my previous life, I was the one who got caught by my teacher and said it was my own fault.

‘Honestly… It’s already too late.’

I wasn’t that kind of guy when I was first summoned.

Just an ordinary modern person… . That was the old me.

But after rolling around in this world, I had become a human being that my former self, when I was first summoned, would be astonished to see.

‘Well… In this world, this is rather common.’

Among the mercenaries, I was considered average, and among the black magicians, I was seen as moderate and gentle.

I think my teacher’s influence was significant.

My teacher was also moderate and kind for a black magician.

Of course, that’s compared to other black magicians.

Even as I thought about nonsense, I didn’t take my eyes off the goblins.

They were afraid of me, but they kept trying to escape their territory, rolling their eyes to find a way to run away.

Of course, whenever I noticed their expressions becoming strange, I would give them a ‘warning’, and they would soon give up their lives and follow me as I led them.

“What the heck is this?”

A familiar-looking guard looked at me and the captured goblins alternately, as if he couldn’t believe it.

I had spoken to him politely a while ago, but his attitude changed as soon as I brought the monsters.

‘Well, it’s been a while since I’ve seen him.’

I cleared my mind and answered quickly.

“This is a request from Mr. Kuman.”

Kuman was the name of a slave trader.

“Mr. Kuman’s? Why would he want monsters… Ah.”

It was well known that he was a merchant.

‘Probably everyone knows that his main business is slave trading.’

Apparently, this guard knew very well that Kuman was a slave trader.

“You can contact the inside.”

“Well, I can’t just let monsters in… Hmm… Okay. I’ll contact you right away.”

As soon as he realized that I had made a deal with Kuman, the guard’s tone changed again.

He even spoke more politely than before.

I felt the power of connections indirectly in this way.

Soon after, someone sent by Kuman came.

‘Albert?’

A familiar face. Albert was the most trusted person of Kuman, the slave trader, even though he was a slave in name only.

‘He sent Albert….’

It seemed that I was quite anticipated.

He nodded in slight surprise after checking the five goblins.

“I’ve confirmed it. Please come inside. The master is waiting for you.”

The man spoke to me politely, and the men he brought with him seized the goblins.

“Kyaah!”

The frightened goblins started to struggle again, and I approached them and knocked them out again by hitting them on the back of their heads.

“…Thank you.”

Albert thanked me, and I followed him to Kuman’s office.

“I heard you brought five.”

“I happened to meet a group of five.”

“I know that monster hunters work in teams, but to have such skills on your own….”

“Well, I’ve always worked with a small group.”

“And I heard that their condition is all good. One of them looked badly injured, but they said it was just bruises.”

The guard must have reported everything in detail.

“I paid close attention. It was a chance to show your skills.”

Was he satisfied with my confidence? Kuman said with a smile.

“Hahaha. Yes. I saw your skills, Jimnas. I’ll be counting on you in the future.”

‘I guess he’s going to call me Jimnas.’

It seemed he didn’t care about my past identity.

So instead of correcting him, I just nodded in agreement.

‘It’s just an alias… .’

For now, it didn’t matter.

My real name was more familiar, though.

“Here’s your pay. Seeing as the condition is good, I added a little extra.”

7 silver and 50 copper.

100 copper makes 1 silver, so it was like he gave me 50 copper more per mari.

It seemed my evaluation within Kuman had gone up.

“Are you thinking of forming a team?”

“Hmm… I have thought about it….”

“If you want, I can give you some capable guys….”

He was blatantly trying to steal my know-how.

Of course, I didn’t plan on going along with it.

“Haha. It’s okay. If I really need to, I’ll save up and buy a slave, or hire someone separately.”

“Hmm. I don’t think there’s anyone active around here?”

“Well, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped. I’ll work alone for a while to get a feel for the area.”

“If that’s what you want, I can’t stop you.”

“Oh, and Nenson’s house, can I keep using it? I’d like to use it as temporary lodging whenever I have a request.”

“Nenson’s place? I’ll allow it. I’ll take care of it.”

He solved an annoying problem with a few words.

Even though it was quite far from here, it was still a house used by a hunter. To get my hands on such a place with just a few words?

It would have been absolutely impossible the first time around.

“I’ll try to make contact with the Demon Tower using the goblins you brought. For the time being, there’s no need to capture any more goblins. Orcs are always welcome, though.”

Of course, just storing them was work. Plus, the ones I caught were in such good condition that they barely needed any recovery time.

I nodded with a satisfied smile.

“I’ll do that.”

“Thank you for understanding. That doesn’t mean I won’t buy monster, demon, or beast byproducts, so don’t think you’ll run out of work. I’ll tell Albert to pay special attention to your goods. “

If he paid attention to them, that was fine by me.

As I left Kuman’s mansion, I checked how much money I had.

The money I took from the hunter was about 50 silver. Add to that the 7 silver and 50 copper I just received.

This was more than enough to live on for the time being.

Even if I had to stretch it a bit, it would be about a few million won in Earth money.

A large estate would pay about 50 copper for a day of manual labor, and even then, there wouldn’t be work every day.

‘That’s considered pretty good pay.’

Only a healthy adult man with sound limbs could endure that kind of treatment.

The wealth gap in this world is hellish.

In this world, the unlented lower class can never become upper class, and it’s common for them to live miserable lives and die before they even turn gray.

That’s the reality of this world that I’ve experienced so far.

‘I need to be ruthless.’

Otherwise, even someone as talented as me who’s even regressed could end up falling apart halfway.

It’s definitely not going to be easy.

‘Don’t feel guilty.’