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

Late at night.

The tightly locked castle gate slowly opened. Alter, who belonged to the knight order, watched those outside the gate with a somewhat tense face.

The first thing he saw was a knight order wearing silver armor. Each one was skilled at intermediate Sword Expert level or above. Next, a man receiving ironclad protection from the holy knights caught his eye.

A young man with a neat appearance wearing holy robes.

It was the Saint himself. Though he couldn't properly handle even a single sword, strangely enough, he felt imposing pressure just from looking at him. But it would be rude to just keep staring. Realizing this, Alter bowed his head slightly.

"Welcome to Count Arcdute's castle."

"Thank you for the warm reception."

The man at the front received the greeting on their behalf.

It was Dersel, the knight captain leading the holy knights.

"We've prepared your accommodations in advance. Shall I guide you to your quarters immediately?"

"Before that, we'd like to see the Count who permitted our visit first. The Saint says he wants to convey his gratitude."

"Ah, the Count is..."

Alter trailed off.

At this hour, he would be meeting with Serneck's messenger. He hesitated briefly at that fact, but his deliberation wasn't very long.

"Please wait a moment. I'll be back shortly."

A messenger from the southern frontier forest and the Saint's party from the Holy Kingdom. It was obvious without asking who was the more important guest. Shortly after, when Alter disappeared, the Saint, who had been smiling brightly, completely wiped away his smile.

"Dersel."

"Yes, Saint."

When a respectful answer came back, the Saint immediately covered his nose. Then, frowning, he clicked his tongue low.

"There's been a rotten smell since earlier."

"I smelled something similar too. Shall we release the hounds?"

"How many did we bring?"

"Three from each knight order, nine in total."

At Dersel's answer, the Saint fell into brief contemplation.

After a while, he opened his mouth again.

"Have four investigate above ground, and five look into underground."

"Underground?"

"Yes, it's stronger underground."

"Understood."

Dersel immediately bowed his head.

About ten minutes later, Alter, who had disappeared, returned.

"Thank you for waiting. The Count has given permission."

Was it because he devoted all his attention to the Saint's party?

Alter didn't know. That taking advantage of the darkness, nine holy knights had secretly disappeared.

***

At that time.

Ferda, Silvan, and Irona found the underground waterway. The moment they received a report that the Saint's party was in the vicinity, Ferda had suggested they exit through here.

As they went down the stairs, a stench wafted up. It was enough to make one retch involuntarily. He tried to maintain his composure but it was too much. Irona asked in a sharp voice.

"What is this place for? What's that smell..."

"Pretty bad, right? But you can't be surprised already."

Silvan smiled awkwardly. He pointed to the end of the stairs. It was the door leading to the entrance of the closed underground waterway.

"We haven't even reached the entrance yet. It's worse inside."

His brow automatically furrowed at Silvan's words.

Shortly after, Irona opened her mouth as if suddenly remembering something.

"But are you okay? I remember you had a weak stomach when you were young."

"Mm, it was a bit tough for me at first too, but after coming here a few times, I got used to it."

"A few times? That means you've been here often?"

"Of course. I have classes here every day."

Silvan spoke proudly. But to Irona, it didn't sound admirable at all. She only heard that he always had classes in a place that reeked with such a foul stench that it numbed the sense of smell.

Grr!

She bit her lips tightly and glared at Ferda.

The hostility in her eyes could be felt from here. Lest there be any misunderstanding, Ferda quickly answered about the reason.

"The environment isn't good, but it's a good place to practice necromancy. There's no place that overflows with nether mana like this."

"Even so, how could you in a place like this..."

Just as Irona's voice was turning sharp.

Suddenly flames erupted from the floor.

[Irona! It's an enemy.]

It was Salaman, a high-level fire spirit.

He flicked his thin tongue and glared beyond the darkness. Where Salaman's gaze reached was near the entrance of the closed underground waterway. At the sudden warning, Irona hurriedly pointed her spear forward.

Step by step— Clatter!

Shortly after, something walked from the entrance area.

A wolf with a build as large as a bull. And an old chest. As the two approached closer, a cold aura could be felt. The terrible aura that only the dead could emit—death energy.

That's when Silvan rushed forward. There was no time to stop him. But there was no need to chase after him. Silvan stroked the wolf's head very familiarly, just like he had with the spirits earlier.

"Hound, were you waiting quietly?"

[Yes, I was waiting, my master.]

The giant wolf lay diagonally on the floor and showed his belly. His tail swayed like reeds at Silvan's touch. The old chest also kept clattering to welcome Silvan. Irona froze at the scene beyond common sense.

"It's a hunting dog my student raises. The thing next to it is a mimic."

Ferda explained casually. At that answer, Irona finally came to her senses.

"What on earth happened in half a year..."

Leaving behind the dazedly muttering Irona, Hound and the mimic quickly prostrated themselves on the floor. It was a posture of complete submission.

[It's your first time coming at night. Did something happen?]

"Ah, well..."

Silvan explained the reason for their visit. Ferda filled in the gaps where needed. After a while, Hound bowed his head as if understanding the whole story.

[So, someone hostile to my master has come.]

A clear summary.

When Silvan nodded, Hound suddenly bared his teeth.

[To dare set foot in my master's territory. I'll tear them all apart without missing a single one. So please rest assured and...]

"You absolutely can't do that this time."

That's when Ferda cut off Hound's words.

If one gets hurt, a hundred come running. That's what holy knights are like. Ferda knew how persistent and vicious holy knights could be. So unless he wanted to draw the Holy Kingdom's attention, he shouldn't touch the holy knights.

But Hound had no intention of following his words.

[Don't give me orders, human. I only follow my master's words...]

"Hound. Listen to Ferda."

[Tell me quickly. What should I do?]

He almost laughed at the rapid change of attitude.

Would anyone other than the master feel miserable living like this? But that was brief, as Ferda's eyes turned cold.

"Right now, the Holy Kingdom's dogs have entered this place."

With a serious voice, information about the Holy Kingdom mentioned in the novel flowed out smoothly.

"The Holy Kingdom's greatest earthly mission could be said to be two things. Planting the Holy Kingdom's flag across the entire continent. And eradicating all unholy things that stand opposite to holy things."

The spirits said Silvan was the king of all unholy things. Then naturally he'd become an enemy of the Holy Kingdom. Meanwhile, at Ferda's explanation, Hound snorted as if it was nothing.

[Hmph! We can just fight them. With the power my master possesses, it's more than enough...]

"Of course, we could probably beat the guys who came here right now. But if the Holy Kingdom confirms Silvan's existence because of that? Then something irreversible will happen."

The Holy Kingdom would try to erase Silvan by any means necessary. Just like in every season of the original. A tiresome chase would begin, and the more that happened, the more Silvan's growth would be delayed.

So now he had to be cautious.

"You can't leave even the slightest trace. Erase all traces of what we've done and go into hiding. Until the Holy Kingdom's dogs leave this land."

Ferda explained what Hound needed to do.

No answer came back. So he added more reasons.

"Silvan is still growing. Someday when Silvan is fully grown, the Holy Kingdom will come to fear him. So even though it's frustrating now..."

[I understand. I'll follow your words.]

Before Ferda's persuasion was even finished, Hound said quietly. He continued with a prickly answer as if still displeased.

[I don't like that choice, but my master told me to follow your words. Then I'll just follow. My master's words are absolute to me.]

Was Hound's attitude admirable?

Silvan grinned and stroked his head.

"Good boy. Our Hound."

Needless to say, his tail wagged even more at the affectionate touch. Meanwhile, Ferda seemed to suddenly remember something and added.

"Oh, there's one more thing I'd like to ask."

[Say anything. I'm in a good mood now, so I'll listen.]

To think one touch would make him this generous.

Ferda chuckled. Then he talked about the request he'd just thought of. Silvan also perked up his ears to listen. But then, three spirits appeared through the ceiling.

[My king.]

[Sacred power is approaching nearby.]

[It seems you should quickly take shelter.]

From their urgent tone, it seemed they'd come to warn them.

Silvan nodded as if he understood. He conveyed the spirits' report to Ferda and Irona. Shortly after, when preparations to move again were finished, Silvan looked back at Hound and the mimic.

"Then I'm counting on you."

[Yes, leave this place to us.]

With their respectful answer, the three headed toward where the exit of the underground waterway was. When they completely disappeared, Hound's eyes flashed sharply. Needless to say about the mimic.

The two immediately began the work of erasing traces as Ferda had requested.

***

Some time later.

There were visitors to the underground waterway. Five men of various ages. They were the Holy Kingdom's hounds who had come to investigate underground following Dersel's instructions.

One peculiar thing was that all their faces were expressionless. Even in the middle of the nose-piercing stench.

"Nether mana has been detected."

That's when one man opened his mouth.

Then the other four turned their heads in unison.

"The reading?"

"34."

"Above average?"

"I'd say it's close to average."

A dry conversation took place.

Since they didn't discover any other particular abnormalities, they moved their steps again. But before long, they had to stop. The middle of the passage was blocked.

"It collapsed relatively recently."

The man examining the wall debris muttered.

Soon his eyes cooled.

"...Or someone just collapsed it."

As soon as those words ended, divine power surged around them. The divine power swept through the underground waterway's passages, ceiling, and walls before evaporating and disappearing.

"Nothing special was detected."

"Nothing unusual except for the somewhat high nether mana readings."

They explored the surroundings several more times after that, but there were no particular gains. If they cleared the debris blocking the passage, they could go beyond it.

But they didn't do that.

Tap tap—

"This was collapsed from the inside."

The man tapping the debris muttered. If it had been collapsed from outside after passing through here, it wouldn't have piled up like this. The others also nodded as if agreeing with his words.

"If there are any unholy things, they're probably still inside the Count's castle."

"We need to report to the captain. Let's go back."

The five hounds retraced their steps. But there was something they didn't realize. That the 'real hunting dog' was monitoring their every move from beneath the rotten water of the underground waterway.

[Are they leaving already?]

Hound clicked his tongue as if disappointed.

Meanwhile, he suddenly remembered what Ferda had said.

'If the Holy Kingdom's dogs try to force their way beyond the debris, then devour every last one of them without leaving any behind. Cleanly, without leaving a single trace.'

Both telling him to collapse the wall from inside, and to annihilate them all if worst came to worst—everything was Ferda's request.

[Tsk, it would have been good if they'd just come in a little more.]

After clicking his tongue low, Hound and the mimic sank back into the water.

They planned to stay here until their master returned. When the rippling water waves calmed down, the underground waterway was once again covered in darkness.

***

Meanwhile, Ferda's group had safely escaped outside. The three wore robes they'd prepared in advance and rushed to the south gate under cover of darkness. Then, when they produced the permit they'd received from the Count, the tightly closed gate opened wide.

"When you return, just show this pass."

The knight handed over a special pass and three horses.

Taking a step back, he shouted toward Ferda with a serious face.

"Then we wish you good fortune. Everyone, salute Sir Inosid!"

Clang—!

All those guarding the gate struck their shields with swords and spears.

In the original, Ferda was quite moved seeing this scene. Enough to bring tears to his eyes.

But all of that was pre-arranged by Count Arcdute. To boost Ferda's morale so he could return to the Count's territory. Knowing it was all an act, Ferda easily ignored it.

"Aren't you going to acknowledge their greeting?"

"Since it's not a salute from the heart anyway."

"Huh? How do you know that?"

"After a long mercenary life, you get a feel for it."

After giving a rough excuse, Ferda mounted his horse.

"Let's hurry. We need to get away from those Holy Kingdom guys quickly."

Silvan and Irona mounted their horses without complaint.

Near midnight. The three departed from Count Arcdute's castle.