Quite the impatient guy.
The knight got straight to the point. Along with a cold warning.
"...Unless you want to die right here."
The sword in its sheath was drawn with quick speed.
It wasn't just the knight. The five men surrounding them also drew their gleaming blades.
To a third party, it might look like a life-or-death crisis, but that wasn't the case at all.
Ferda's face was full of composure.
'That guy, what was his name? Max?'
He was such an insignificant character that he couldn't even remember.
Anyway, let's say Max. That guy was a knight serving 'Shane Arcdute,' the eldest son of Count Arcdute. He'd arranged this meeting on his master's orders.
To recruit Ferda.
To cut to the chase, the Ferda in the novel follows Max's commands.
It wasn't a bad choice.
'That's how he'd stay alive.'
But the problem was that his collusion with the eldest son Shane would be discovered later.
Because of that, in the novel it takes quite a long time for the protagonist to open his heart.
This also contributes significantly to him taking a sword and dying in place of the protagonist later.
As a result, the Ferda in the novel died because he'd buttoned his shirt wrong from the start.
"So what's your answer?"
Max pressed him.
Ferda looked up and met his gaze.
Just thinking about this already meant he'd made his decision.
"So what do I get?"
"What?"
"I asked what you can give me if I come under your command."
Maybe because he'd heard something he never expected?
Max looked dumbfounded.
But that was only for a moment.
"Ha! That's not funny. A beggar who doesn't know his place..."
The corners of his mouth twisted.
A smile full of anger and mockery.
"Fine. Let's hear it then. What do you want?"
Acting like he'd listen when he had no intention of granting anything.
Ferda burst into laughter. Then after thinking for a moment, he said with a serious face:
"One million gold."
"What?"
"Show me that much sincerity and I'll think about it positively."
Max made a stupid expression.
Soon realizing he'd been played, his face gradually turned red.
"You bastard! If dying is your wish, I'll grant it!"
Max charged forward quickly.
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him, swinging a sword wrapped in magical power.
It would be stupid to just stand there and take a hit when you know an attack is coming.
Unless you're an idiot or lack skill.
Of course, Ferda was neither stupid nor lacking in skill.
Whoosh—
Max's sword cut through empty air.
Just as he was repositioning himself to launch another attack!
'Let's test this out.'
Ferda grinned.
Then he put his middle finger against his thumb. Then, toward Max who was making a puzzled expression, he flicked his finger.
Thwack!
Along with a sound that shouldn't come from a finger.
Max stopped dead in his tracks. Then slowly fell backward.
Thud—
With a hole drilled through his forehead.
'Oh, this works?'
A smile formed on his lips. This way he wouldn't need to get blood on his hands.
Meanwhile, the men who witnessed this scene widened their eyes.
"S-Sir Maxion!"
Ah, so it wasn't Max.
Having such a trivial thought, he flicked his finger again.
Thwack! Thwack!
The men fell one after another. In exactly the same way as Max—no, Maxion.
Maybe he was terrified seeing his companions die without even being able to scream?
"A-aaahhh!"
The one remaining man just ran away.
Those were the man's last words.
Thwack!
Maxion and the big spenders all became corpses side by side.
It was a futile end. Looking at the holes in their foreheads, Ferda caught his breath.
"Whew, the magical power consumption really is heavy."
There's something called a magic bullet.
A trick where you gather up the maximum magical power your finger can handle, form it into a ball, then fire it.
A-rank and higher hunters often use it, mainly to quickly deal with intermediate and lower monsters, or sometimes for performance purposes.
'Well, this isn't a skill.'
It's literally just a trick.
A technique anyone A-rank or higher can use. So it seemed he could use it in this world without any restrictions.
'Even though the magical power consumption is heavy, it'd be better to handle things with this for now.'
This world doesn't have the technique called magic bullets.
At least not as far as he knew.
In other words, if he dealt with enemies using magic bullets, he wouldn't get caught.
Ferda smiled faintly.
"So how do I clean this up?"
Five corpses lying on the ground.
Ferda scratched his head with a clearly annoyed expression.
While doing so, the sewer came into his view. Maybe because it had been closed off long ago, the area around the entrance was full of unidentifiable moss and vines.
Discovering this, a smile formed on his lips.
It looked just right for hiding a few corpses.
***
Two days later.
Early dawn when the sun hadn't yet risen. Rough breathing could be heard from inside the inn room.
"Huff, huff!"
A man doing push-ups.
Despite his trembling, shaky arms, the man didn't stop.
How much time had passed like this?
When the sweat dripping from his body had formed puddles.
The man finally stopped his actions.
"Ugh, what terrible stamina."
Ferda let out a deep sigh.
When his rough breathing returned to normal, he collapsed on the floor.
While blankly staring at the ceiling, Ferda suddenly muttered.
"Status window."
With those short words, a semi-transparent rectangular window appeared before his eyes.
=====
[Name]: Ferda Inosid
[Strength]: 43/85 [Stamina]: 58/115
[Agility]: 31/72 [magical power]: 68/88
[Charm]: 10/51 [Luck]: 25/25
[Abilities]
-Yggdrasil System (Lv. MAX)
=====
Who would've thought he'd see this again? It felt strangely nostalgic.
But that was only for a moment—soon his face darkened.
"...The more I look at these stats, the more I can only sigh."
His ability scores were terrible.
Even a rookie who'd just started as a hunter wouldn't be this bad. Plus, the magical power he'd used two days ago still hadn't recovered.
"The maximum is C-rank or higher, but just how roughly did he treat his body?"
All stats except luck were less than half—truly dismal physical abilities.
Ferda scratched his head vigorously.
"At least the good news is..."
That his experience as an SSS-rank hunter remained.
And that he could use the 'Yggdrasil System' again.
Those were the two things.
Of course, he didn't know why.
"I'll think about it gradually later."
What he needed to do right now was change the fate of 'Ferda' from the original novel.
He had to stay alive first to save the protagonist and get the novel to its conclusion.
"Time to start getting ready."
Today was the day he'd meet the protagonist of The Savior.
He needed to make the best impression possible, so Ferda headed to the bathroom.
He cleanly shaved his scruffy beard and took a cold shower. He lathered up and washed and washed again. This much wasn't nearly enough to get rid of the sewer stench that had soaked deep into his body.
Two hours later.
The shabby homeless man had completely disappeared.
"Now this looks decent."
An appearance of someone in their late twenties.
Eyes as black as the night sky and navy blue hair neatly tied back.
Ferda looked in the mirror and grinned.