Reincarnation of a Hunter

 “Woah!” 

The knights and soldiers cheered when they saw the golem I had created.

 

The earthen golem was about seven to eight meters tall.

 

It would be destroyed with a single swing of the sword by Anton, the leader of the bandits, but its apparent strength was enough to inspire the troops.

 “Golem, go to the ground before the village gate.” Thud, thud, thud— 

My instructions to the golem are an attempt to clear the trap in front of the main gate.

 

Sending the golem alone would destroy it before it could reach the gate, so I decided to charge with it.

 “Everyone, charge!” “Yeah!” 

At my shout, the golems leap forward.

 

Golem runs in the lead, followed by myself, Axel, Martin, and Raul as the point of the charge.

 

The bandits seemed taken aback by the sudden onslaught, but they soon began to prepare for defense at the gate.

 

They left the villagers, who had become useless as hostages, lying on the ground.

 

As I ran, I instructed Raul,

“Save the villagers on the wooden fence!” “Yes!” 

Except for Raul, who had gone off separately, the group arrived at the front gate.

 

And the dirt golem returned to the ground in the trap in front of the gate.

 Crumble— 

The golem collapsed, filling the trap.

 

Anton’s voice came through,

“What the heck! I didn’t know there was a mage!” 

He burst through the front door with two of his men, swords drawn. To stop us from destroying the gate.

 

Anton’s two henchmen are Sword User level.

 “Come on, boys!” “Here we go!” 

I shouted, pretending to run toward Anton in front of me, then suddenly turned sideways.

 “Martin, Axel, hold on as long as you can!” 

As soon as I finished speaking, I was able to cut the head off of one of Anton’s men in a flash.

 “Ack…” 

There was a gurgle of blood from his throat.

 

The bandits who had looked down on me were incredibly startled. No wonder, a young lord had destroyed a knight’s power with a single blow.

 

Well, even though my skill and experience from my previous life are comparable to that of an advanced Sword User, it doesn’t mean anything. I was confident that I could turn them into corpses in an instant.

 

Anton looked at his falling men and shouted in anger.

 “Lord Eric, I will tear you to pieces with my hands!” 

Without answering, I ran for the front gate. I’d have to break it down before letting the squad in.

 

I hope Martin and Axel have a good hold on Anton.

 

As soon as I reached the entrance to the village, I put my hand on the gate.

 “Golem Form.” Clank, clank, clan— 

The large gate, made of solid wood, turned into a Wood Golem

 

And sure enough, it was gone, leaving the way clear for my troops.

 

Using the wooden fence next to it, I created another Wood Golem. Immediately, I gave the golems an order.

 “Golems, kill those bandits!” Thud, thud, thud— 

The following squad burst through the door and cheered loudly.

 “Hail, my lord!” “Charge! Charge!” 

The two Wood Golems charged at the bandits with full force.

 Swoosh! 

They swung their long arms, sending a dozen bandits flying.

 

The knights, who were like human tanks, joined the battle, and they raged like tigers.

 

Seeing this, the bandits began to panic.

 “Argh! Monsters! Run!” “They’ve brought a wizard! We’re all going to be turned into frogs!” “Oh, God, help!” 

Wood Golem’s combat power was that of a lowly knight, but his visual impact must have been very powerful. 

 

They were quickly disrupted and began to scatter. The battle was surprisingly easy to win.

 

And yet…

 Slam— 

Martin flew down next to me and smashed into the ground. He scrambled to his feet and then collapsed again, dizzy.

 

I looked at him in disbelief and asked,

“What are you doing, are you getting beaten?” “No, I’m going again!” 

Martin scrambled to his feet and ran back, with his sword in both hands.

 

He looked back to see Axel and Anton clashing swords.

 “Oh no, we have to help them. Someone could get killed or hurt.” 

Grabbing the Soul Reaper, I ran after Martin, saying,

“Martin, raise Anton’s arm with a shot and get back!” “What? What are you going to do?” “Finish him off!” 

Martin yelled, charging at Anton,

“Kid, here we go again?” 

Anton parried Martin’s sword with ease. He doesn’t seem to care if his men are killed or not.

 

He’s a knight, after all, so he doesn’t care what a bunch of ragtag bandits do.

 

As Martin had forewarned earlier, a series of top strikes forced Anton to raise his sword.

 

That’s when I jumped out from behind him.

 

Anton saw me and chuckled,

“Tsk, sneaky one.” 

As I swing the Reaper sideways in a low stance, he brings the tip of his sword down to defend.

 

It’s a simple deflection, but my Soul Reaper has already been shortened.

 “What?” 

He quickly tried to reverse the blade, but the force was too much for him to block.

 

The Reaper struck Anton in the stomach.

 

In a split second it wasn’t immediately cut by the Auror, I infused the Reaper with mana, lengthening it. 

 

At the same time, I concentrated all my mana into the blade and took a full swing.

 Swoosh! “Ack!” 

A long slash across its stomach.

 

Thanks to the auror, his intestines were spared, but with his wound, it would be hard for him to continue fighting.

 

Anton looked at me and yelled,

“What the hell! Where did that monster come from?” “Never let your guard down, Sir Anton, Knight of Dijon.” “What? How did you happen to know that?” 

It was easy to guess that he was a knight, but knowing where he came from seemed to shock him.

 “What are you talking about? Axel! Martin! Stay behind!” 

No sense in not winning after making the offense.

 

When Axel and Martin attacked again, Anton had enough and shouted with blood pouring out.

 “You fools, come to me fair and square, one by one!” 

I shouted back in disbelief,

“What, says the guy who took my innocent people hostage, wants to be fair and square?” 

Enraged, I charged at him with my sword again.

 Thwack! 

Anton’s head was crushed.

 Thud— 

Anton, who had been turned into a corpse in an instant, fell to the ground.

 

Raul, standing behind him, held a hammer that glowed a deep blue.

 “…” 

Axel and Martin, who had worked hard to block Anton. By the looks on their faces, they wanted to slit his throat at the end.

 

Raul, on the other hand, laughed out loud, squared his shoulders, and said,

“Haha, my lord, I have captured the enemy!” “…er. Well done.” 

Speechless, I tapped Axel and Martin on the shoulder and headed into the village.

  

The battle ended with only minor casualties.

 

Most bandits have lost the will to fight, as two 10-meter Wood Golems have been set up.

 

However, the enraged troops did not take the bandits’ surrender lightly. They saw many of the villagers had suffered at their hands.

 

More than half the bandits were killed, and only those who pleaded for their lives were spared.

 “Move quickly before I slit your throats!” 

The knights found more of them hiding in the village and led them out. The captured bandits counted more than fifty.

 “My lord, please spare me.” “Do you think I’ll let you live after what you did?” 

I stopped the knight who was about to cut down a captured bandit.

 “Enough. We need to cremate the dead ones, so stop killing them.” “Yes, my lord.” 

Anger at the wrong people burns easily. With some conciliation, I stopped my men from killing the bandits.

 

Leading the surviving bandits to gather the corpses outside the village. 

 

The bodies of those killed in battle are mutilated and decompose quickly, so it’s best to collect and burn them quickly.

 

Calling Axel, the Knight Commander, I gave him other instructions.

 “Tell the soldiers to help the villagers fix the damage, and remove the traps. Leave the food and goods of the bandits in this village.” “What about the loot to be distributed to the troops?” “Recover the weapons and gold, then replace them.” “Yes, my lord.” 

The expedition narrowly escaped with a deficit.

 

The damage to the town of Hobion was great, and there was more than enough loot to comfort them. 

 

They were fortunate to have plenty of livestock to pull the bandits’ wagons. The cattle and horses were also useful for farming, so they were returned to the village.

 

Looking away from the soldiers cleaning up after the battle, I studied the village of Hobion.

 

Thinking that the taxes would have breathed some life into the village since I became lord, I found it in worse shape than I expected.

 

The people had poor nutrition, and the children were skinny.

 

It’s better than a slum, but it’s a very different image from the pioneer village of Comansville.

 

‘This must be what most of the villages in the territory look like. I’ll have to step up my game.’

 

Once they have the budget, it’s up to them to help or not.

 

A quick round of clearing out and taking care of the estate’s needs.

 

Once things were organized, I left Axel to clean up the mess and prepared to leave.

 “Martin, come with me to Comansville.” “Why are you going there all of a sudden?” “I can only make two golems, and the one in Comansville must have fallen because I made another in here, so I need to go and make a new one.” “Aha, we’d better get going, the goblins might show up.” 

Martin and I mounted our horses and spurred off. There’s no rest for the weary in the boreal forest.

  

After the hostage incident in Hobion, the bandits were successfully exterminated each time. 

 

The bandits have heard the rumors and their numbers have been greatly reduced.

 

All that remains are the bandits in the farthest reaches of the territory.

 

Operating on the border with Rhône-Alpes, they grew in power by extorting tolls from merchants traveling through. 

 

Those without money were often assaulted and even dragged alive and forced into labor.

 

In response, a council of chiefs was called to wipe out the bandits.

 “Their camp is like a fortress, with wooden fences and a deep moat, and it’s uphill, making a mounted charge difficult,”

said the knight.

 

This was the report from Axel, who had just returned from a patrol.

 

His words caused the leading men of the knights in confused. If they couldn’t break through with a horse charge, the knights would have to lead the way. 

 

Or I could use my golems to blast a path through, as I did during the operation to reclaim the village of Hobion.

 

But the opponent’s strength was overwhelming.

 “Rumor has it that there are three Sword Expert Intermediates among the bandits.” “It won’t be as easy as last time, I don’t think we can afford to build that golem thing.” “It’s too risky. If the lord is attacked, there’s no way to protect him.” 

The knights began to worry.

 

With Sir Pierre in retirement, our knights’ power certainly stands much higher. 

 

But if we have to fight to the death with that power, I would say definitely not.

 

The loss of even one expert knight would be devastating. It takes a lot of time and capital to raise one well-educated, loyal knight.

 

The knights are agonizing. It’s a meeting and no one speaks.

 

That’s when I coughed in frustration,

“Ahem, I think we’re all mistaken about something. Are we at war, do we need to capture enemy territory, or do we have hostages to rescue?” “No, but I’m not sure what you mean…” “There’s a story about Alibaba and the Forty Bandits, where he drugged a bunch of bandits with alcohol.” 

Hearing my words, Martin, a knight of honor and a man of upright morals, frowned at my words and spoke up.

 “Isn’t that a very cowardly and dirty way to do it, where did you read that story?” “Fairy tales.” “…” “Anyway, all you need to do is capture it. We’ll put paralyzing poison in the liquor, and then we’ll load the booze on a freighter and haul them away.” 

Then a knight chimed in,

“They’re cautious, that’s why they haven’t been caught yet, and if we try to poison them, we’ll only end up sacrificing a bunch of innocent soldiers.” 

He was right.

 “In that case, I’ll have to do it myself.” 

Knights rose like a swarm of bees.

 “No, no, I’d rather go!” “My lord, take care of yourself for the sake of the estate!” 

I calmed them down with a wave of my hand.

 “Don’t overreact, everyone. We’ll just jump if we have to.” 

The knights don’t know what that means, but they seem to get it. They quieted down again.

 

They’d seen my skill during the battle, so they knew I could do it.

 “Let’s give it a shot, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out.” 

I went ahead and ended the meeting. It’s a must to finish the job quickly so we have time to move on.

 

There was no time to mope around here.