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

East of the Count's castle.

Past the garden where bright flowers give off the scent of spring, there's a large mansion. It's where Count Arcdute's second wife, 'Rianne Neyshard,' resides.

And right now.

A commotion was taking place here.

Crash!

Along with the sound of a plate breaking, bread and stew rolled across the floor.

Soon came a hysterical shout.

"I don't need this crap, so get out right now!"

The owner of the voice was Casher Arcdute.

But somehow, his condition didn't look very good. Setting aside his disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes, his face was quite haggard.

Was she worried about such a Casher?

The maid who had brought the food said tearfully.

"B-but young master..."

But no answer came back.

Bang—!

The door slammed shut roughly.

Left alone, Casher suddenly let out a scream.

"Aaaahhh!"

Nothing in the room was intact.

The bed, table, chairs, even the sofa. Everything was broken.

They all looked like Casher's handiwork.

Thump thump—!

Finally, Casher punched the wall with his fists.

Though he got bruised, he didn't care.

"That damn bastard...!"

Casher's eyes gleamed white.

It was obvious who the 'damn bastard' referred to.

The one who had given Casher his first humiliation in life.

Ferda Inosid.

Grind!

If he could, he wanted to break his limbs and swing his sword until he begged for his life.

Along with that arrogant dark-skinned bastard!

But he couldn't.

Because just thinking about Ferda made his hands and feet tremble uncontrollably.

"Ugh, uugh..."

The trembling became more intense as he recalled that time.

Trembling eyes.

Gradually, the emotion of fear settled in.

As if he didn't want to admit this, Casher kept spitting out curses.

"...Damn it, damn it."

With his voice gradually losing strength, Casher bit his teeth tightly.

Meanwhile, there was someone listening to his rampage from relatively close by.

The next room. Someone residing in a room as large and splendid as Casher's room.

The owner of the mansion, Rianne Neyshard.

"Sigh, poor thing."

Long, flowing golden hair.

Eyes exactly like Casher's.

Rianne sighed while listening to the sounds coming from beyond the wall.

It was a son who was always overconfident. He actually had talent in swordsmanship, so it couldn't be helped.

But that son suddenly shut himself in his room one day and rarely came out.

She knew the reason well.

Strong anger settled in Rianne's eyes.

"...A mere tutor."

She'd heard he was injured during sparring. But that probably wasn't the reality.

He must have used some cowardly trick.

Otherwise, there was no way he could beat Casher.

And Casher was probably frustrated by his first taste of defeat.

Rianne predicted this.

Grip—

Her teeth pressed hard against her lips.

The moment she heard this news.

She wanted to eliminate that arrogant tutor immediately. She wanted to select the strongest among her subordinate knights and cut off his head under the pretense of a duel.

But she couldn't put her thoughts into action.

'Of all things...'

Because she'd heard that Ferda was 'directly' hired by Count Arcdute.

That meant Ferda's every move might be reported to the Count. If she carelessly laid a hand on such a person, this side might suffer.

Count Arcdute was a scary man.

'But...'

Her only child had become like this.

As a mother, she absolutely couldn't just sit still.

At that moment, Rianne thought of one clever plan.

"Wait just a little, my son."

To quietly dispose of him in a way that would never be discovered.

So cleanly that no one would know who killed him or how.

If she did it that way, there would be no consequences.

And Rianne knew one such method.

"This mother will solve everything for you."

Along with that dark-skinned bastard you hate so much.

Rianne's lips twisted.

***

Alaf, an alchemist residing in Mullen.

His luck today was particularly good.

He'd won money at the gambling table where he usually only lost. Moreover, an experiment that had been stagnating succeeded, and he even had a client visit after a long time. It was a flaw that they looked somewhat suspicious, wearing a black robe.

But what did that matter? They were a customer who would pay money.

Alaf was inflated with sweet dreams.

But as soon as the client revealed their identity, his sweet dreams shattered completely.

"Alaf Torman. 35 years old. Residing at 13 Terter 2nd Street."

A man sitting in a chair, speaking in an emotionless voice.

After a moment, he raised his head and looked at Alaf.

"You work as an alchemist, but your real identity is a necromancer."

A piercing gaze.

Alaf couldn't offer any resistance and bowed his head. That made sense since the person before him was a knight of the Count Arcdute household.

Moreover, he was a practitioner at intermediate Expert level or above.

Even if he resisted, his head would fly off in a few seconds.

"...Finally, your main field is 'curses.' Is there anything wrong in what I've said so far?"

Alaf shook his head vigorously.

It seemed he already knew everything when he came. If he tried to deceive him for no reason, it was obvious he wouldn't even break even.

"Then let's return to the main point. I have a commission."

"A c-commission, you say..."

"I need a curse that can kill people."

It was an unusual commission.

A commission he would never accept normally.

But the opponent was too bad.

So he couldn't refuse or accept, and while he was conflicted.

"The targets are these two."

The knight held out a notebook.

It was written like this:

<Silvan Arcdute>

<Ferda Inosid>

The moment he saw the list, his mind snapped to attention.

'A-Arcdute?'

Having the surname Arcdute meant inheriting his blood.

To curse and kill such a person? It was beyond Alaf's capabilities.

Alaf was famous for being as timid as a mouse.

So he tried to refuse. No matter how scary the knight before him was, refusing was right. He'd seen too many bad outcomes from getting involved in fights between nobles.

But the knight's actions were faster.

Swish—

The knight who drew his sword in an instant.

As if predicting what Alaf would say, he said this:

"From the moment you saw the list, your right to refuse disappeared."

"I-I am..."

"You'd better answer carefully. It might become your last words."

He felt the sensation of a sharp blade.

Alaf froze in place. Rolling his eyeballs around, he soon nodded.

Only then was the blade that had been pressuring him withdrawn.

With a pale face, Alaf stammered on.

"To curse someone to death requires a lot of preparation. From the target's hair to various materials..."

Before his words could even finish.

Thud—

The knight threw a pouch.

When he opened it, there was one strand each of silver hair and navy blue hair. Looking at how the lengths were different, they were probably obtained by having a servant who tidied the bedrooms do it.

"All materials are prepared. You just need to cast the curse."

The moment he heard those words.

Alaf squeezed his eyes shut.

Because he realized his last chance to escape had disappeared.

"The reward is forty gold coins."

At the knight's following words, his eyes went wide.

It was generous compensation for casting a curse. The materials were even all prepared. Alaf literally just had to cast the curse.

But it was still too early to be surprised.

"Forty gold coins per person. If you succeed with both, I'll give you a total of one hundred coins."

"...!"

One hundred gold coins was enough money to change his fortune. Enough money to get a modest house on the outskirts of the city. Greed instantly settled in Alaf's eyes.

Right. This is an opportunity.

If he couldn't refuse anyway, let him succeed spectacularly and prove his value.

If he showed his usefulness, his lifeline might become a bit longer.

Alaf decided to accept the commission.

***

Ferda stayed in his lodging all day today.

It was to organize his inventory.

Because there were quite a lot of items besides the main purpose, the 'Dragon Lord's Heart.'

The organization that started in the morning finally ended in the afternoon.

In the process, there was one thing that caught his eye.

"This is..."

A thick book with a black cover.

It was a skill book.

=====

*[Name]: [Understanding Curses]

*[Grade]: A-rank

*[Pages]: 0/350

*[Effect]: Upon completion, gain a random [Curse Skill].

=====

"I can't believe I had something like this."

He couldn't even remember since when he'd had it. He'd never learned necromancy.

Also, he wasn't normally the type to organize well, so it was even more so.

But thanks to that, he'd obtained something useful.

"Perfect timing."

It would be just right to use when teaching Silvan.

After chuckling, Ferda turned his head to look at the clock.

The current time was exactly 6 PM. He had an appointment today.

"Shall I get going?"

He was supposed to have dinner with Silvan.

Exactly four days after awakening necromancy, Silvan had finally come to his senses. But since he wasn't fully recovered yet, lessons were postponed for a while.

After picking up the skill book, he left his lodging.

Creak—

Past the garden and around the left corner, the mansion appeared immediately.

In case Silvan was waiting, he was hurrying his steps when.

Stop—

Ferda stopped in place.

His gaze turned toward the backyard of his lodging.

"Huh?"

It was dark so he couldn't see well, but something seemed to be moving.

There couldn't be wild animals inside the mansion, so it must be a person.

Ferda narrowed his eyes and stared at that place.

After a moment, he saw someone.

A man crouching down, burying something in the backyard.

"I don't recognize that face..."

At a glance, he was dressed like a gardener.

But as far as he knew, gardeners didn't come here. There was no need to maintain it. If there had been a gardener, they would have cut down the vines clinging all over the mansion walls first.

More than that, what was he burying now?

As puzzlement settled in Ferda's eyes.

Pat pat—

The man got up and dusted himself off.

After looking around several times, he soon disappeared mysteriously.

As soon as he disappeared.

Ferda turned and headed to where he had been.

"Let me see what he buried."

He could immediately figure out where he'd buried it.

Only one spot had different colored soil.

After breaking off a tree branch, he immediately dug up the ground.

Some time later, Ferda grimaced.

"...What is this?"

What came out when he dug up the ground.

It was a doll with lots of nails stuck in it.