Reincarnation of a Hunter Chapter 1.2 - The Bastard of Westphalia (1)

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The campground was on the second day of our departure.

 

While sleeping in my tent, I was awakened by a loud rumbling in my stomach.

 

— Growl!

 

‘Oh no, I must have eaten something wrong at the dinner, I must hurry.’

 

Holding my stomach, I quickly got out of the tent and found a pit with all the waste from the campsite.

 

I hastily pulled down my pants and sat down on it.

 

‘Ugh. I’m grossed out. I’ve never had an upset stomach in my life, and this smells funny.’

 

Heading back to camp, sick to his stomach for the first time in his life.

 

“Don’t let your guard down just because they’re dead.”

 

“Aye, sir.”

 

I heard a suspicious conversation up ahead. I instinctively sensed danger and quickly climbed a tree to hide.

 

Looking down through the branches, I saw that the camp had been attacked, and the knights, squires, soldiers, and slaves were all gone.

 

“Is Hans dead?”

 

No. Was it a raid at all? How could they kill them all without making a sound?

 

Then I heard the thugs talking.

 

“Boss, the numbers don’t add up, there’s only one.”

 

“That’s impossible, they said they all ate it before. It’s the strongest poison that can kill even an ogre. Count again.”

 

“I counted twice.”

 

“Tsk, kill the slave who unwrapped the poison, that makes 35.”

 

Apparently, the gang had the slaves release the poison, and everyone who ate dinner was poisoned and died.

 

‘I ate a lot too, why am I still alive?’

 

I must have eaten more than twice as much as everyone else, but I didn’t feel sick, except for an upset stomach.

 

With that, I considered myself lucky.

 

I was lucky to be alive at a time when auror-wielding knights were dead, and I had no special abilities. Likewise, couldn’t think of anything else.

 

Furthermore, I hid in a tree and watched the assailants.

 

‘The ones in robes are mages, the rest are trained soldiers. Let’s see what they’re doing before we decide what to do.’

 

The thugs began to load the corpses into the wagons they had brought with them. Descended from the tree and followed, keeping a steady distance.

 

A normal walking pace was enough to keep up with a moving wagon at night.

 

Soon we came upon a living tree.

 

The wooden fence around the hut was not high enough, so I stepped onto higher ground, peeked out, and peered inside.

 

A procession of wagons drawn by hordes of thugs entered the hut.

 

Torches were everywhere, so I could see what they were doing.

 

A large six magic circles spell had been drawn on the floor, and the men had placed the bodies within it.

 

“Boss, let us begin the ritual.”

 

“What kind of ritual is that, just chanting magic spells?”

 

“…All right, let’s get started.”

 

Six wizards in black robes stood at the top of the observatory, chanting something.

 

‘Spells? What are they going to do?’

 

Soon the circle of magic glowed brightly.

 

And a wizard shouted

 

“Wake up!”

 

— Urgh… argh…. 

 

The corpses wake up one by one.

  

Zombies?

 

‘Warlocks, I wonder where they came from.’

 

Black magic wasn’t exactly banned across the land, but warlocks were rare in the Empire at this point.

 

The Sun Cult hunted them down and burned them at the stake. The warlock snapped his fingers, and the zombies began walking toward the camp.

 

As I watched, I couldn’t believe it.

 

“Why bother?” I thought.

 

Three things didn’t make sense.

 

First, zombies don’t have a virus. They’re not contagious and they’re slow. Any able-bodied adult could take out a zombie.

 

Second, why a bunch of tax collectors? If they chose Siegen or a neighboring town, they could have made hundreds or thousands of zombies.

 

Third, leaving the tax collectors’ horses and wagons alone. They didn’t steal anything, they even brought their wagons to carry the dead.

 

‘In the end, they didn’t do any damage to the town, they just turned the tax collector’s men into zombies, and they’re doing it under the pretext of something.’

 

The question was, what could it be? I do have an idea, but I’m just a lord’s clerk with no official position.

 

The lord was the one to judge. I hurried back to camp and selected the three sturdiest horses I could find.

 

 “Yahh!”

 

First, I must report to the lord’s castle.

 

The castle came into view. The soldiers on the ramparts were bustling about as I rode swiftly away.

 

They must be getting ready to open the gates, for I was now like a messenger.

 

Arriving at the east gate, I quickly stopped my horse and exclaimed.

 

“I am Eric, son of the Lord of Westphalia, and I have urgent business to report to the lord, so let me in!”

 

“Master Eric, oh dear, wait a moment. Open gate, open gate!”

 

The superior soldier recognized my face and immediately ordered the door to be unlocked.

 

— Clank

 

The side gate next to the east gate, barely big enough for a horse to pass through, quickly opened.

 

“Thank you, sir. It’s a busy time, so I’ll report to the lord first.”

 

“Go ahead…”

 

“Come on!”

 

Eric turned on his spurs without waiting for an answer.