Aren Sheard, knight of Count Arcdute's household.
His daily routine was rather monotonous.
Sword training in the morning, sparring with colleagues in the afternoon.
Sometimes when monster subjugation season came, he'd go out on hunts with them.
Sundays were just resting in the barracks or going out for walks.
But recently, he'd been given a mission.
It was a secret order from Shane Arcdute, whom he served as lord.
'Watch what Ferda Inosid does.'
The content of the order was simple.
Monitor the man who recently became the third prince's tutor.
He didn't give a reason, but there was something he could guess.
'They said Maxion went missing.'
Maxion Alto.
Shane Arcdute's knight and Aren's junior knight.
A skilled fighter who had recently reached intermediate Expert level. A knight with such outstanding talent that he'd surpass Aren in just a few years.
He was incomparable to Ferda Inosid.
'At most, beginner Expert level.'
That was the extent of Ferda's skill as Aren saw it.
So when Maxion first went missing, he thought it had nothing to do with Ferda. The gap between beginner and intermediate Expert was quite large.
But he couldn't object to his lord's orders.
From the day the secret mission was given, he'd steadily monitored Ferda. From morning to evening, until before midnight. And his conclusion was 'not much different from what I expected.'
'That man isn't it.'
He had nothing to do with Maxion's disappearance. That was Aren's judgment.
On the sixth day of surveillance, he was planning to report just that.
But coincidentally, on that dawn, trouble broke out.
Ferda headed outside the castle secretly. Naturally without an exit permit.
Feeling something suspicious, Aren immediately followed Ferda's trail.
After quite some time passed.
The place Ferda arrived at was ruins in the northern part of the city.
Ferda entering one of the abandoned houses lining the street. Watching this, Aren muttered with a puzzled expression.
"Why did he come to a place like this?"
He looked around wondering if there was something hidden, but nothing came up. Aren, who had been wandering around, decided to enter the abandoned house where Ferda had disappeared.
But Ferda wasn't there.
Instead, there was a large hole in the floor.
A hole big enough for one person to enter.
"Is there something down there?"
Aren's eyes glinted coldly.
After a moment, Aren threw himself toward the hole with a determined face.
***
The hole was quite deep.
Since he'd expected this, Aren embedded his hands and feet into the walls and landed safely on the ground. Then he crawled little by little following the passage Ferda would have taken.
Some time later.
A splendid scene entered Aren's vision.
"This is..."
His eyes trembled faintly.
The first thought that came to mind upon seeing the scene before him.
"I'd heard rumors about an underground market, but..."
There had been such rumors before. That there was a huge underground market beneath the city. A lawless zone where all items not handled in the open were traded.
At the time, he'd thought it was just an urban legend.
But actually seeing it left him speechless. Aren, standing there blankly, soon realized his own mistake.
"I should have sent a messenger bird before coming."
At least leaving some kind of mark would have been good.
He regretted it, but it was already too late.
Now Aren was given two choices.
Retreat from here and inform the Count's household of the underground market's existence.
Follow Ferda's trail a bit more and find out his purpose.
His deliberation wasn't long. Aren immediately moved.
'Robe, and mask.'
All the customers here wore robes and masks.
Ferda also seemed to have stolen from someone, wearing a ridiculous rabbit mask.
But Aren didn't need to do that. He wasn't here to buy things.
Soon after, Ferda entered a shop.
'Warmth of the Dead?'
A shop with a strange name. What was he trying to buy?
Aren looked around the shop. Then something decent caught his eye. A ventilation duct connected to the shop's ceiling. If he entered through there, he'd be able to eavesdrop on the conversation inside the shop.
Ten seconds was enough to put his thoughts into action.
Clang—
A foul smell wafted up. Aren frowned and crawled forward little by little. Finally reaching the center of the shop, he could hear Ferda's voice.
'He's not alone.'
He was having a conversation with someone.
Probably the shop owner. Aren focused his hearing as much as possible. Soon the conversation content began to be heard clearly.
'Death Herb. Dullahan. Trade...?'
Disturbing words popped out.
The more the conversation continued, the more Aren's face hardened.
'I need to inform my lord.'
He didn't know what they were trying to do. But it smelled dangerous.
This was the intuition of someone who had lived as a knight for many years.
"Will you accept the proposal?"
"...If what you say is true."
"Deal made. Wait just a moment."
Just then, the conversation in the shop finished.
Aren pulled back to escape from this place. But at that moment!
Crack!
"...!"
Something suddenly shot up from below. It was a sharp dagger.
The blade flew accurately toward Aren's neck.
With instinctive senses, he twisted his body to barely avoid the attack, then immediately crouched down.
Crash! Thud!
Then the ceiling collapsed.
Aren, who had fallen into the shop, drew his sword without hesitation.
Since he'd been caught, there was no choice. He had to deal with this as quickly as possible and retreat.
Just as he was making that resolution!
"Eat this."
Crash!
Ferda suddenly threw a reagent.
With the sound of glass breaking, black smoke surged up.
That's when Ferda covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve. Seeing this, Aren's brow furrowed.
'Could it be poison?!'
It was a reasonable assumption.
The smoke filled the shop in an instant. Aren hastily covered his nose and mouth just like Ferda had done.
But this was a mistake.
Thud! Thwack!
Something struck below his knees. No, it penetrated through. Like arrows.
At the following pain, Aren's face crumpled. Then he soon lost balance and staggered.
The hunter hidden in the smoke didn't miss this opportunity.
Slash!
"Gah!"
With a single scream, a dagger pierced Aren's neck.
A dagger filled with plenty of mana. He struggled, but it was just futile resistance.
Eventually, Aren let his body go limp like a dead fish.
Ferda, who retrieved his dagger, waved his arm to drive away the smoke. He spoke to the old man who had frozen solid.
"The promised material."
A cold statement.
The old man was shocked as if he'd been doused with ice water.
Then his trembling lips moved.
"Wh-what kind of deed is this..."
"He just died, so it can't get any fresher than this."
"You call that something to say right now!"
The excited old man raised his voice.
A person had died before his eyes. Of course, it wasn't the first time he'd seen someone die. There's no necromancer who'd faint from shock just because someone died.
What surprised the old man was that Aren was truly an intermediate Expert and Ferda's skill in killing such a skilled person in the blink of an eye.
"Whooo."
The old man took a deep breath and composed himself.
Eventually, he carefully approached Aren. But soon after, the old man was shocked to discover something.
He was so surprised he even fell on his bottom.
"Co-Count's knight?!"
The old man's eyes widened like lanterns.
It was because he saw the uniform Aren was wearing. It had Count Arcdute's crest along with a silver insignia.
"What have you done! Co-Count! A great noble's knight..."
As soon as he confirmed Aren's identity, the old man screamed as if in panic. He seemed to be in shock.
Ferda looked at the old man as if he were pathetic.
"Do Dullahans wear clothes?"
"Wh-what?"
"The head will go inside the helmet anyway. We can burn the uniform and other things. There's no worry about getting caught."
An indifferent tone as if talking about someone else's business.
The old man trembled all over. But his mind became clear.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Right, as long as they didn't get caught.
Only the old man and Ferda knew that Aren was the Count's knight.
"...Since it's already done, there's no choice."
His decision was quick.
With a dry sigh, the old man accepted reality.
Then he looked at Ferda and firmly drew a line.
"However, I only received materials. I know nothing about this person's identity."
"An unidentified corpse. Do whatever you want."
Ferda grinned.
With that response as a signal, the deal was concluded.
The old man took out dried Death Herbs from a drawer and stacked them neatly.
"One hundred twenty Death Herb roots. Take them quickly."
Looking at it all together, it was quite a quantity.
Ferda stuffed the Death Herbs into the sack he'd brought. Since he was going to grind them into powder anyway, he didn't care if the products got damaged.
"By the way..."
That's when the old man spoke.
A voice that was half interest and half concern flowed out.
"Seeing that you're buying such a quantity of Death Herbs, there must be someone nearby trying to become a necromancer?"
"Weren't we supposed to not ask about each other's personal information?"
"I'm not trying to dig into it. I'm trying to give advice."
"Advice?"
When Ferda asked curiously, the old man nodded.
"If you're going to perform the ritual, do it within three days. Or do it after a week."
"Reason?"
"A group from the Holy Kingdom who finished their pilgrimage will pass through here soon."
"..."
"I don't care what happens to you, but it would be troublesome if it affects me too."
At the old man's following words, Ferda narrowed his eyes.
This kind of story wasn't in the novel.
But his suspicion soon subsided.
'Maybe it wasn't necessary to describe it.'
Silvan walking the path of a necromancer began from after the middle part started. Throughout all cycles, there had never been a cycle where he tried to become a necromancer this early.
"Got it. I'll keep that in mind."
With that short answer, Ferda disappeared.
Left alone, the old man sighed looking at his shop.
"Sigh, what a complete mess."
When would he clean all this up? He naturally sighed.
But that was only for a moment. Seeing Aren's corpse, the old man raised the corners of his mouth.
"Today's luck is good."
Eyes shining with greed.
The old man smiled with satisfaction.