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

The plaza inside the castle.

This place, paved with pure white marble, was ironically a place with few people despite being called a plaza. It was mainly used only for departure ceremonies or special events.

Just like today.

Clank—

Numerous knights and soldiers were lined up in the plaza. Their faces were full of fatigue, but their eyes flashed fiercely. Meanwhile, the iron gate leading to the main castle opened in the distance.

Soon a man appeared.

A man with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.

It was Count Arcdute.

"Shane Arcdute pays his respects to the Count."

"Burke Logwood pays his respects to the Count."

Shane and Burke, who were at the front, knelt down. All the forces in the plaza bowed their heads. Watching this quietly, the Count turned his gaze to Burke.

"Report."

"Yes! The total subjugation force..."

Burke recited the achievements of the subjugation force in a calm tone. After finishing his report including the numbers of casualties and deaths, he added one more thing.

"...And as for other matters, Young Master Shane achieved the feat of reaching the intermediate Expert level."

"Oho."

The Count slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

At the same time, Shane bit his lips tightly. His face hardened with tension. Shortly after, the Count chuckled and continued.

"That was unexpected. Well, good work."

An answer that could hardly be called praise.

But Shane trembled all over. Then he shouted with a moved face.

"Yes! I will work even harder in the future!"

The Count was stingy with praise. Among them, he had almost never praised his children. Even Casher hadn't heard a single phrase of "good work" since he was eight years old.

As Shane bowed his head to hide his flushed face.

"By the way, what's that thing you left behind?"

The Count's gaze turned to the wagons. Over ten wagons. Dark-colored cloth was covering what was on top. It was eye-catching at first glance.

Burke immediately bowed his head.

"It's the leader we subjugated in the Forest of Demon Beasts."

Along with his answer, Burke gestured. The waiting forces pulled the cloth, revealing what was on the wagons.

"Wh-what is that..."

"Good heavens."

Exclamations of surprise and admiration erupted from here and there.

What was on the wagons was a dead beast with its tongue hanging out. It had dark red hide and bright red fur. What was unusual was that the beast was incredibly huge. Not for nothing were ten wagons hitched together.

"Hmm, a Hell Hound?"

"Yes. It's Lord class."

"What about the remnants?"

"We subjugated every last one without exception."

Satisfied with the answer, the Count smiled. Soon turning around, he called Ayl, the head butler who was nearby.

"Ayl."

"Yes, Count."

"We'll hold a banquet for two days to comfort the subjugation force's hard work. Make sure the warriors who fought bravely get their fill of alcohol and meat."

"I will do as you command."

With that answer, the Count returned to the main castle.

Those near the plaza glanced at the Hell Hound's corpse with faces mixed half with curiosity and half with fear.

And among them were Ferda and Silvan.

'It's definitely huge.'

Hell Hounds were monsters he'd often seen when he was a hunter. Mid-level monsters that a B-rank hunter could easily handle alone. But he didn't remember seeing one that size.

'But still...'

Ferda's gaze turned to Silvan.

He was bothered by the Count praising Shane. But Silvan surprisingly showed no reaction. He just looked at the Hell Hound's corpse with sparkling eyes.

<Huh? There's something interesting.>

That's when Prang suddenly muttered. Then he immediately spoke to Ferda.

<Do you see that? What's in that wolf's arms.>

Something in its arms?

Ferda reflexively narrowed his eyes. Looking closely, it did seem like the Hell Hound was embracing something. Something that looked vaguely like a chunk of meat. After a while, Ferda realized what it was.

"That's..."

It was a Hell Hound pup.

Of course, it was small compared to the Hell Hound, but it was about the size of a decent hunting dog. A creature covered in stab wounds all over its body, lying dead. The way it died with its eyes wide open looked incredibly resentful.

<Interesting, right? For a monster, it has hero-grade dignity.>

As he was nodding at Prang's following words.

"What?"

He asked back in surprise.

It has hero-grade dignity? That thing?

<Yeah, it looks like it died meaninglessly because it hadn't awakened its dignity yet. If it had grown properly, it would have been worthy of being called a Demon Beast King. That would have been a disaster for humans though.>

Prang chattered away.

Listening to that explanation, Ferda fell into brief contemplation.

It was because of a thought that suddenly flashed through his mind.

'What if I revived it with Resurrection of the Dead?'

Though it was a pup, it was a monster with hero-grade dignity. If he revived it as an undead, wouldn't it become quite useful fighting power? While thinking that.

"...So the wolf pup Hardy mentioned was that guy."

Silvan suddenly muttered something.

Then he immediately raised his head to look at Ferda.

"You know what? If we revived that thing, wouldn't it be useful?"

Silvan pointed at the Hell Hound pup.

The one Prang had called having 'hero-grade dignity.'

Ferda inwardly exclaimed in admiration at his keen eye. Then he reached out to ruffle Silvan's hair.

"To think our thoughts would align like this. You really are my student."

"Hehe."

Silvan grinned.

But that was brief, as Silvan soon furrowed his brow.

"But how do we steal that thing?"

The Hell Hound's corpse was a trophy brought to celebrate successful subjugation. They'd probably hang it in the plaza for about three days. Then it wouldn't be easy to secretly steal it.

That's what Silvan thought.

Then Ferda shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about that."

Because he had the amazing ability called 'inventory.'

Secretly stealing it would be no problem at all. A smile formed on his lips.

***

That night, a grand banquet was held.

Sumptuous food and numerous barrels of alcohol filled the plaza. And the Hell Hound's corpse, which had drawn everyone's attention, was displayed with its head and body dismantled.

"Wow, it really is huge seeing it from here."

"How on earth did you manage to kill this thing?"

New recruits who had just received their knighthood looked at the Hell Hound's corpse with amazed eyes. Then a knight who had participated in the subjugation force spoke up.

"The captain's contribution was huge. As you can see, the hide was very tough, so it was hard to even scratch it with ordinary swords."

The knight, quite drunk on alcohol, soon began telling tales of his exploits. The recruits became absorbed in the senior knight's story with sparkling eyes.

As the night deepened, more people became intoxicated.

And then, someone slipped in without a trace.

It was Ferda. He had somehow arrived right in front of the Hell Hound. Thanks to stealing armor from a knight who was dead drunk and asleep. He had also used the presence-erasing skill [Hide Walker].

While looking around the torso area, his target soon came into view.

'Fortunately, they didn't touch this.'

The Hell Hound pup with hero-grade dignity.

While the mother had become a spectacle for humans with her neck and body separated, only the pup was intact. Probably because they were worried that removing this guy might damage the main body. It was hugging the pup that tightly.

'Don't worry anymore.'

He reached out and patted the Hell Hound.

'Your child will become a hunting dog protecting my student.'

And a hunting dog for a mythical-grade necromancer at that. That would be much better than being dismantled and sold as materials. Ferda firmly grasped the pup's scruff. It wasn't very stiff yet, so it seemed like it hadn't been dead long.

But because the mother was stiff, if he pulled it out like this, the pup's body would be damaged. After pondering for a moment, Ferda drew the dagger from his waist.

'Excuse me for a moment.'

When magic power was infused into Arcane's dagger, extremely acidic poison would form. Using this, he lightly cut the mother's body. Before long, Ferda succeeded in putting the pup's corpse into his inventory.

Now he just had to get out of here.

Just as he was about to turn around!

Wobble—

Suddenly the Hell Hound's corpse slowly began to tilt.

"Wh-what?"

"Get back!"

Those in the plaza moved in startled surprise.

Crash—!

Soon the massive torso struck the plaza. Billowing clouds of dust rose up. Though it probably wasn't the case, it seemed like it was telling him to hurry up and escape while he had the chance.

So he quickly hid himself in the dust.

"Damn! Who the hell secured it?"

"Hurry up and set it back up!"

Leaving the chaotic plaza behind, Ferda mysteriously disappeared.

***

A while later, arriving at the closed underground waterway, he took the pup's corpse out of his inventory.

'If I took it out where Silvan was...'

A barrage of questions would definitely pour out.

Carrying the corpse, he walked through the dark passage. Before long, he arrived at his destination. At the same time, a familiar voice was heard.

"Wow, you really brought it?"

Silvan's eyes sparkled like stars.

"How on earth did you bring it? There were tons of people there."

"There are ways. More importantly, let's get started quickly."

When an answer is difficult, it's best to change the subject. Fortunately, Silvan quickly lost interest too.

Shortly after, Silvan closed his eyes and drew up his magic power. And just like he had done with the mouse before, he began injecting nether mana into the pup's corpse.

But this time was a bit different from then.

"Huh, what?"

A light of confusion appeared in Silvan's eyes.

"It seems like magic power is being consumed too quickly..."

Well, of course. It was a monster with hero-grade dignity. It would be embarrassing to compare it to a mere mouse. It would obviously suck up magic power tremendously.

He had prepared something knowing this would happen.

"Drink this."

A magic power potion.

It was the potion left over from what he'd drunk in the Arcane Swamp. Silvan didn't even ask what it was and immediately downed the potion.

Then his eyes went wide.

"...!"

His face was clearly surprised.

He understood. Ferda had made the same expression when he first drank a magic power potion. So he patted his back to comfort Silvan.

"It doesn't taste good, but the effect will be amazing."

Actually, Silvan's magic power was rapidly recovering.

But then, an unexpected answer came.

"No, it's really delicious."

"...Really?"

"Yeah, the refreshing and savory taste is excellent."

Oh, well, it's good that it tastes good.

Ferda laughed awkwardly. Meanwhile, the magic power consumption stopped.

"It's done."

Silvan quietly closed his eyes.

Now he just had to raise it up. But this wasn't easy either. As time passed, beads of sweat formed on Silvan's forehead.

After struggling for a while!

Twitch—

The creature's foot moved.

***

The first thing he saw after being born was the pitch-black night sky.

When his other siblings were suckling at their mother's milk, he alone looked up at the sky. He was hungry but could endure it. The scenery of the night sky that had colored the world black captivated his gaze enough to forget his hunger.

His mother was the ruler of the forest. An existence standing at the pinnacle of countless demons. All his siblings praised their mother's power, but he didn't. This forest was too narrow. Compared to that vast night sky. So he made a resolution. Someday when he gained strength, he would leave the forest and expand his territory even further.

One day, strange creatures invaded the forest. Creatures without tough hide or sharp claws. Those who should clearly be weaklings killed his kind in droves. And those creatures finally thrust a sword into his mother's body.

His dying mother embraced him. And whispered. That those were a race called humans. At that moment, anger he had never felt before surged up.

This land, this forest was his territory. A place he would someday conquer. Not a place for weaklings to covet freely. He tried to pounce with his claws extended. But he couldn't. Before he could, metal was embedded in his body.

'Perfect for presenting to the lord.'

Along with a human voice, his eyes gradually closed. He could smell the blood of his mother and siblings from that creature. The moment he smelled it, his teeth automatically ground together.

He would hate them. He would hate you who annihilated his kind. He would hate all those who set foot on this land. Someday when he was reborn, he would make all humans submit.

With endless hatred as his last memory, it ended there.

That's what should have happened. But it wasn't.

'Huh?'

His eyes snapped open.

The first thing he saw was a pitch-black ceiling. The pain he had felt all over his body was no longer there. While captured by a bewildered feeling, someone's voice was heard from above his head.

[My king.]

[A new vassal seems to have awakened.]

He saw something whitish.

A creature wearing armor like humans and a creature covered in sharp thorns. They looked as lowly as chestnuts, but at a glance they seemed stronger than his dead mother.

More than that, who were they talking to? A king?

"Phew, it finally moved."

A voice heard from nearby.

It was an unfamiliar voice, but strangely familiar. Thinking it was a voice that made his heart settle peacefully, he turned his head.

'...!'

The night sky he had seen when he first opened his eyes to this world. Something broader and more powerful than that was there. Without knowing it, his whole body trembled.

"But what should we name it?"

The stranger opened his mouth again.

At the same time, the whitish things circling around answered.

[Frisky would be good.]

[How about Puppy?]

[Since it has lots of fur, Fluffy looks good too.]

...Should he bite them to death?

Calling those things names. He bared his teeth and growled low.

That's when a voice was heard.

"Hound."

With a bright smile, he spoke to him.

"From now on, you're Hound. How about it? Do you like it?"

At those words, he quietly looked at him.

At first, he had no idea what to call him.

A mighty one? A ruler? None of them fit. But after being called by name by him, he finally realized. What he should call him.

So he cleared his throat and bowed his head before him. Then he respectfully answered.

[If that is what my master desires.]

On the day he returned from beyond death, he had a master for the first time.