SSS-Rank Hunter Reborn: Private Tutor to the Count's Bastard Son

Swords circling around him.

Seeing this, Ferda frowned.

"Living Armor?"

Monsters where evil spirits had possessed warriors' equipment.

Creatures he'd often seen when working as a hunter. So at first, he thought they were Living Armor or Weapons. But they weren't.

"I don't sense any demonic energy."

From monsters or magical beasts, you can feel an aura quite different from humans. On Earth, they called it demonic energy.

But he couldn't sense even a bit of demonic energy from the four swords.

<I speak to the intruder.>

Then the voice came again.

<I warn you for the last time.>

The momentum was much stronger than before, and the swords had come closer too.

They're not giving me any time to think.

Ferda sighed.

<Leave this place immediately.>

Listening to the emotionless voice, he surveyed the surroundings with cold eyes.

There were four swords surrounding him.

The number of armor pieces, helmets, and shields was the same.

Then he noticed something strange.

'Why are the shields at the very back?'

Common sense dictated that shields should be with the swords or ahead of them. Since shields are used to block enemy attacks.

But they're at the very rear?

And they look incredibly sturdy too?

'In cases like this...'

Based on long experience, he had a hunch.

Shall I test it out?

<If not, there is only death...>

Using the parrot-like repeated voice as a signal.

Whoosh—

He kicked off the ground.

Ferda reached the shield's location by running up the wall in an instant.

He grabbed the shield, slammed it down, then flipped it over. What was there was a wickedly glittering blue orb.

It was a mana stone.

Crack!

His fist was faster than expected.

Was it because of the strike infused with mana?

The mana stone shattered disappointingly easily. Then something amazing happened.

One of the four swords dropped to the floor with a thud.

The armor and helmet followed, rolling on the ground.

"Bingo."

So that was the main body after all. Ferda grinned.

Now that he knew how to take them down, the scouting phase was a waste of time. Ferda immediately turned and aimed for the next shield.

But once combat began, the thing didn't just let itself be beaten easily.

<Hostility detected from intruder.>

<Eliminate the enemy.>

Sharp strikes flew from all directions.

There were some rather close calls, but it wasn't dangerous enough to worry about. He didn't even break a sweat.

Thud—

The last remaining sword fell to the floor.

The battle ended in an instant. But Ferda looked somewhat displeased.

"My magic power really is lacking."

Just this little fighting and half his magic power was gone. In his prime, this wouldn't even have been a warm-up.

Realizing anew how weak his body was, he sighed.

"Not just Silvan, but I need to increase my magic power too."

I can't eat Death Herb, so I'll have to find another way.

With that resolution, Ferda turned around. The obstacles were gone now. Since the basement was lit up, he could leisurely search for the 'Eyes of the Moon.'

"Let's see."

In the novel, it was said to be hanging around the neck of some old statue.

So he just needed to find the statue first.

With that thought, he looked around the basement, but he had to stop walking before long.

"What is this?"

He found statues. Over twenty of them.

To make matters worse, every statue had a necklace. And unfortunately, they all looked identical.

He sighed automatically.

"Phew, can't be helped."

He had no choice but to check them one by one.

Of course, there was the option of taking them all. But if the real one wasn't among these, that would be an even bigger problem.

So Ferda immediately sent his magic power into the nearest necklace.

=====

[Notification]: (1) magic power consumed.

-Searching target's information.

=====

If it had been a character from "The Savior", they would've been stamping their feet here.

But Ferda was an exception.

Because he had the Yggdrasil System.

"It really is convenient."

An appraisal system that any hunter with the system could use.

Just by sending in a tiny amount of magic power, the Yggdrasil System would analyze the information automatically. Just like right now.

=====

[Name]: Old Believer's Emblem

[Grade]: -

[Type]: Necklace

-Estimated to have been made several decades ago.

=====

"This one's a dud."

He turned away without regret.

He checked the next necklace. Dud. This one too. That one as well.

As the number of necklaces to check decreased, Ferda gradually felt more anxious.

From the vague anxiety of 'What if it's not here?' to the regret of 'Should I have gone to the underground market after all?'

But the anxious time didn't last long.

=====

[Name]: Sealed Eyes of the Moon

[Grade]: Legend

[Type]: Necklace

-An item made so long ago it's impossible to estimate. Contains enormous divine power. However, due to being sealed, some abilities are stopped. Currently, only the function of suppressing unholy power remains.

=====

Because he found the genuine article with just one left to go.

"Great."

A smile naturally formed on his lips.

With this, he could avoid pursuit from the Holy Kingdom.

"Then the next step is..."

There was one more place he needed to visit to perform a more perfect awakening ritual.

Having achieved his goal, Ferda immediately left the basement while thinking of his next destination.

***

The basement with its torches extinguished.

A single ray of light shone into the darkness-filled place.

Thud thud—

Then came the sound of footsteps descending the stairs.

More than one or two people had found the basement. A group of about ten. Among them, the elderly man at the front opened his mouth.

"Saint. You must be very tired, so perhaps you should rest a bit more..."

Rampton, the chief priest of Resoya Temple.

He looked at the young man beside him with a worried expression. But the young man smiled as if to say he was fine.

"I'll rest after checking the sanctuary."

"Haha, you don't need to worry."

Rampton laughed confidently.

"No one else knows about this place except me."

That there was a basement under Resoya Temple.

And that this basement was called a sanctuary.

In the temple, only Rampton knew all of this.

But before long, Rampton realized he'd made a careless remark.

"...!"

As soon as light illuminated the basement, the first things visible were swords and armor pieces rolling on the floor.

"Wh-what is this..."

An unexpected scene.

A bewildered light formed in Rampton's eyes. The paladins following behind were equally flustered.

On the other hand, the young man called Saint flipped over a shield rolling on the floor without any change in expression.

The shield's mana stone was shattered beyond recognition.

'Destroyed in one blow.'

A bold strike without a moment's hesitation.

The Saint narrowed his eyes.

'All four Moon Guardians at once.'

The Holy Kingdom's golems that protected the sanctuary, the Moon Guardians.

Each one possessed combat power equivalent to a beginner Expert. Of course, once their power source, the mana stone, was destroyed, they became lumps of scrap metal like now.

The Saint raised his head and looked around.

'No traces of battle either.'

Four whole Guardians.

If battle had taken place, there should have been some traces left.

At the very least, shouldn't there be scratches on the walls or floor?

But the surroundings were clean. There weren't even any footprints left by the attacker.

Here the Saint made another guess.

'What if no battle took place at all?'

What if someone who knew the situation well had neutralized the Guardians without fighting?

That guess seemed more plausible.

"Priest Rampton."

"Y-yes!"

"Earlier you said no one knew about this place except you, right?"

"Th-that's what I said, but..."

Rampton was sweating profusely.

Something about the atmosphere felt wrong. Sensing this, Rampton tried to make excuses hastily. But the Saint's words were faster.

"Excuse me, but please cooperate with the investigation."

"I-it wasn't me!"

With strong denial.

Rampton shouted as if wronged.

"Haven't I been with you the whole time, Saint!"

Ever since the Saint came here.

Rampton had never left his side. But the Saint remained silent.

"Take the priest to the prayer room."

"Yes!"

"S-Saint! Saint!"

Even while being dragged away by the paladins, Rampton endlessly claimed his innocence.

After a while, the basement became quiet again. Only the Saint and the knight captain assisting him remained.

"Saint."

Then the captain, who had been silently keeping his mouth shut, spoke.

"Do you really think it was the priest's doing?"

"It could be. Or it might not be."

An irresponsible answer.

No, it would be more accurate to say he wasn't interested.

The Saint, who had returned with an expressionless face, moved his steps again. Before long, he reached the area full of statues.

"Among all these emblems..."

The Saint carefully observed the emblems hanging around the statues' necks, then finally stopped in front of one statue.

The nineteenth statue. Only that place was missing its necklace.

"Just took the holy relic."

The holy relic was gone.

At those words, the captain's face hardened.

"Could it be the priest's doing?"

"Well. Or there might be accomplices."

As mentioned earlier, Rampton had been with him the whole time.

At that muttering, the captain answered with a stiff face.

"I'll issue a wanted notice immediately."

"It's fine. No need for that."

"Pardon?"

"We can find them when we return to the homeland anyway."

Holy relics contain enormous amounts of divine power.

So if they returned to the Holy Kingdom and detected the holy relic's unique divine power, finding its location would be easy.

Provided the holy relic's divine power didn't run out.

"And this is an opportunity."

What kind of opportunity when a holy relic disappeared?

When the captain made a puzzled expression, the Saint continued his answer.

"An opportunity to plant our flag in the kingdom."

A holy relic had disappeared from a place beyond the Holy Kingdom's influence. So it was justified for the Holy Kingdom to enter the kingdom and investigate the holy relic.

Right after hearing this.

The captain's eyes went wide.

"Don't tell me what you're aiming for, Saint, is..."

"Let's go back. We need to report this news to His Holiness."

The Saint patted the captain's shoulder and grinned.

It was a smile as cold as a snake's.