.｡.:✧ Chapter 4 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“I am the mansion’s servant. Follow me. My employer wants to meet you.”

“Thank you.”

“I merely relayed the message.”

“If things go well, I’ll buy you a drink.”

“Hoh. That’s good news. I’ll pray for your success.”

Since I planned to operate in this territory for a while, it wouldn’t hurt to build connections.

Following the servant into the building, I saw the luxurious interior.

‘This was the underground, wasn’t it?’

It was the place where I had stayed.

I had spent more than a year confined there, and the number of times I had gone outside could be counted on one hand.

That’s why I didn’t know the name or face of the mercenary I had just met.

The only faces I knew would be down in that underground.

The reason I had spent more than a year underground was simple.

It was there that I learned to speak and read.

‘I was selected as a high-grade slave.’

In Korea, on Earth, I was of average height, but in this world, most people were short unless they were wealthy.

With my exotic and fairly good-looking face, along with clean skin that had never experienced hardship, I was selected as a high-grade slave and got the opportunity to learn the language and writing.

‘In the end, this place collapsed before I could even be sold.’

Thanks to that, I briefly got a taste of something resembling freedom.

However, it didn’t last long.

“Master, you have a guest.”

“Let him in.”

“Please go in.”

Nodding at the servant’s words, I dismissed my old thoughts.

Opening the door and entering, I saw a luxurious interior.

It seemed to be an office.

“Welcome. So, you want to work with me?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your name?”

“It’s Jimnis.”

“Jimnis… Jimnis. That’s a familiar name.”

Of course, it was. The fact that the hunter had an identity tag meant that the person had been sold here.

‘It seems he remembers the name, at least.’

He didn’t recognize me.

It was either someone who had been sold in the past or someone who had been sold before I learned the language.

“Due to unavoidable circumstances, I lost my identity in the past. Please understand.”

“You lost your identity?”

“Ahaha. It’s related to my specialty being fixed as monster capture.”

“…Tsk. Did you mess with someone with backing?”

“Yes. Well, it was resolved nicely. Thanks to that, I lost everything I had, including my identity.”

“I heard Nenson was ambushed… He was unlucky. He was quite a useful hunter.”

“Instead, I’m here, aren’t I? If you trust me, I’ll be more useful than him.”

Monster capture, depending on the individual, could be traded at a higher price than humans.

‘Not for most, though.’

Still, monster capture had value beyond mere money.

The main customers who purchased live monsters were magicians, who primarily used them for experiments, and the demand was always there as they were treated almost like consumables.

“Monster capture…”

“You won’t always be dealing with human slaves, right? It could be an opportunity to establish connections with magicians.”

“Indeed, the number of monster hunters is very small.”

Monster capture, in crude terms, had poor cost-effectiveness.

If you caught orcs, you could make money, but the rewards weren’t great compared to the difficulty.

‘With that skill level, it would be more profitable to capture humans.’

Nevertheless, slave traders put in effort to secure dedicated monster hunters, either by offering bonuses or by raising them directly.

This was the same for general merchants, not just slave traders.

The reason was simple.

‘Because the place that purchases those monsters is the Magic Tower.’

There was nothing more profitable than connections with the Magic Tower.

Starting from artifacts, potions, magic scrolls, and various magical items, to truly expensive high-grade slaves and non-human slaves, the help of the Magic Tower was essential for restraining them.

In other words, to play in the big leagues, it was essential to get on good terms with the Magic Tower, and that’s why slave traders needed monster hunters even if it wasn’t profitable.

Therefore, even if I might not make as much money as Nenson, in the long run, I was a talent they had to secure.

“So, how skilled are you?”

“It’s limited, but I can handle up to orcs.”

“You can capture orcs?”

A surprised expression appeared on the slave trader’s face.

“Of course, it’s limited. Only for stragglers, and more than two is difficult. However, you’ll need to provide me with a capture cage.”

For goblins, it might be possible, but for orcs, a specialized cage was necessary.

‘They’re incredibly tough fellows.’

“Even that is impressive. You have the right to be confident.”

In fact, even if they were stragglers, they were adult orcs.

An adult orc was an opponent that even a mid-level mercenary couldn’t be confident of winning against in a 1-on-1 fight.

Naturally, it was hard to kill them, let alone capture them, so the difficulty was bound to be even higher.

‘But I can do it.’

My combat power was at the level of facing a mid-level mercenary 1-on-1, but it was a bit different for monsters.

‘Because I have magic.’

I didn’t care if the monsters discovered my black magic or not, and since it was hunting, I had plenty of time to prepare.

Erasing the traces of black magic wasn’t a difficult task for me, so utilizing magic wasn’t particularly challenging.

“Of course, it’s difficult to face them head-on, but hunting is a bit different.”

“Right. That’s true. You must have been quite a capable hunter. No wonder you survived until now.”

He seemed to think that my ability was the reason I was able to touch someone with backing and still remain alive.

‘I’m grateful for the misunderstanding.’

Thanks to that, his suspicions had significantly diminished.

“Good. However, I have no intention of retracting my words about wanting to see your skills. Prove your words. Since you were confident about orcs, I want at least three goblins or equivalent magical beasts. Is that possible?”

“Of course.”

“As for the cost… it will vary depending on the condition of the monsters, but if you bring goblins, I’ll give you 1 silver each.”

‘That’s better than I expected.’

Of course, when I handed them over to the trader, it would be 1 silver, but when the trader sold them to the Magic Tower, he would receive around 5 silver.

But amusingly, even selling them like this, the slave trader didn’t make any profit.

In fact, there were cases where they suffered losses because the Magic Tower only purchased healthy and well-managed individuals.

Capturing monsters was already difficult, but on top of that, they had to treat the wounded ones, feed them, provide them with a place to sleep to make them healthy, assign people to manage them so they wouldn’t be dangerous, and even transport them to the location of the Magic Tower.

Considering all of this, goblins were almost a loss.

To make a profit, they needed at least orcs, but someone with the skills to capture orcs would make much more profit doing other jobs.

‘But since I said I can capture orcs, it’s no wonder his eyes are rolling back.’

Merchants who could supply orcs also received preferential treatment from the Magic Tower.

That’s probably why he was offering a higher price for goblins.

Although he couldn’t fully trust me yet, he had indirectly determined that I wasn’t just all talk, so he was betting a bit more.

‘I’m grateful for that.’

“You’re offering a higher price than I expected.”

“If you succeed, we’ll have a long-term relationship.”

“Thank you for your generous offer.”

It wasn’t difficult to strike a deal with the slave trader. There was still a test remaining, but honestly, it wasn’t a challenging task.

‘For now, it’s a success.’

After meeting with the slave trader and leaving the mansion, I felt a sense of satisfaction at the thought of success.

A safe area to operate in the early stages.

If I had the slave trader, who had a certain level of influence in the territory, as my backing, I would be safe throughout my activities in the territory.

‘Honestly, I don’t hold much of a grudge against this person.’

Although he did buy me, he couldn’t even sell me properly.

He was also the one who gave me the opportunity to learn the language and writing.

‘I can’t say I don’t have any resentment at all, but…’

Honestly, I had gained more from him.

Compared to Nenson, it was much less, and since I would have to pay the price later anyway, I didn’t have any particular thoughts.

‘About 1 year left?’

It would be roughly that long. One of the two triggers that would lead to the slave trader’s complete ruin.

‘The monster wave.’

To be precise, not only the slave trader but the entire territory would be ruined.

I had no intention of stopping that monster wave.

‘In the first place, I can’t even stop it.’

With my current abilities, I couldn’t stop the monster wave.

‘It was on a scale where an entire territory would be annihilated…’

After the monster wave, the number of survivors was extremely few. To be precise, it was questionable whether there would be any survivors other than me.

‘It was a miracle.’

Honestly, it was a miracle that I survived.

You could say I was just lucky.

To be frank, there were some opportunities for others to survive as well.

Especially the slave trader.

He was a man who had long known the dangers of a frontier territory and had built a secret passage.

‘In the end, he failed due to a slave rebellion.’

That was the second reason the slave trader was completely ruined. To be precise, rather than being ruined, he died in the slave rebellion.

If the slave trader had survived, I would have been sold as a slave, so his death was beneficial for me.

As a result, thanks to that rebellion, I reaped all the benefits and minimized the losses.

‘Until the monster wave occurs, I’ll cultivate my strength and…’

I’ll make the completely collapsed territory my dungeon.

To be precise, I didn’t really need people.

I did plan to secretly recruit a few, but the number was never going to be large.

I had no intention of becoming a lord.

‘In the first place, I can’t even be recognized as a lord.’

What I wanted was a space where no one knew of my existence, where I could train without being mindful of anyone’s gaze, and the time to train until I reached a certain level.

To be precise…

‘4th Class. With that level, the mercenary guild will acknowledge and protect me.’

If I could reach that point, I would be able to operate relatively freely in the six kingdoms, excluding the Holy Empire and the two kingdoms under its rule.

‘It won’t take long.’

I had already walked this path before. And if I didn’t have to be mindful of anyone…

‘1 year? That should be enough.’

A total of 2 years. That was the time I needed to confidently step out into the world.

Therefore…

“Goblins… It will be over quickly.”

I had to pass the test perfectly.

Muttering softly, I left the territory.

“Kieek!”

The goblins I had captured continued to scream.

“Noisy.”

However, no matter how much they screamed, it had no impact on my emotions.

‘Still, I guess it’s because they’re monsters.’

They woke up earlier than I expected. If they had woken up a bit sooner, I might have had to fight them again.

The goblins had all their claws cut off and their limbs completely restrained. Even as they screamed, all they could do was squirm.

Five goblins were captured in such a manner.

The request was for a minimum of three, so three would have been sufficient, but since I happened to catch five, I captured them all.

‘There wasn’t much danger anyway.’

I didn’t use any black magic at all.

It was an achievement accomplished solely with my physical abilities and the equipment I had taken from the hunter.

Ignoring the loudly barking goblins, I examined various parts of my body.

‘No particularly injured areas.’

I was in my second life, so there was no way I could be injured by mere goblins.

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