Chapter 10: Great Boar Hunting
Chapter 10: Great Boar Hunting
It was now October, and Allen had turned seven.
“All right, we’re off.”
“We’re off, mother.”
“Take care, Rodin, Allen.”
Theresia gave Rodin a kiss and Allen a hug. The hug was very tight, almost as if this was a final farewell.
Rodin threw his usual bag—filled with his hunting tools, food, and water—over his shoulder and tied it diagonally across his back. It was larger than normal today as it also contained Allen’s rations. He then picked up his hunting spear.
Both Rodin and Gerda had ended up accepting Allen’s suggested changes to the great boar hunting strategy. Today, they were going to put them into practice. Allen would finally get his chance to see a hunt in person.
When Allen and Rodin stopped by Gerda’s house to pick him up, they found him waiting next to Mathilda—who was holding Lily—and Krena.
“Alleeeeen! I wanna go tooooo!” Krena cried, grabbing Allen’s arm and shaking it vigorously.
“Once you’re a bit older, okay?” Gerda admonished with a troubled look on his face.
“Whaaaaat? Why does Allen get to go, then?” Krena asked, her cheeks puffed in indignation.
“I’m just going along to observe,” Allen replied, calming her down by patting her head.
As he said, Allen was not going to directly participate in today’s hunt. Although his idea had been accepted, the adults did not give him permission to join in. He had spent a whole hour trying to argue his point, but Rodin was resolute and refused to budge.
Eventually, Allen folded and asked if he could at least come along to observe. Rodin still shook his head, but Allen insisted that it was necessary for him to see whether his strategy worked or not in person. In the end, the two struck a compromise with Allen promising to stay a good distance away from the action.
After that, Allen asked when he would actually be able to participate. Rodin’s response was, “When you turn ten.” In this world, children in serf families began helping out at ten, and the age of adulthood was fifteen. Allen, however, thought that there was not much of a difference between seven and ten.
Do I seriously have to wait three more years to join in? I really want that great boar XP, though. I’ve gotta think of something.
For Allen, XP was everything. Since it was now October, he intended on resuming his albaheron hunting. However, he wanted XP from the great boar hunts too. Although officially he would be going along only to observe, he was racking his brain for a way to get in on the action somehow.
Mm, my card distribution is just right.
Allen currently had his cards arranged in what he called Hunting Mode. Even though he would not be able to take part in today’s hunt, he needed this loadout to hunt albaherons. And now that he was seven years old, the restriction on his stats had relaxed somewhat, with the scaling increased from sixty percent to seventy percent. Allen loved looking at the higher numbers so much he would check his grimoire every once in a while.
Name: Allen
Age: 7
Class: Summoner
Level: 2
HP: 45 (65) + 75
MP: 42 (60) + 35
Attack: 16 (24) + 75
Endurance: 16 (24) + 18
Agility: 35 (51) + 28
Intelligence: 49 (70) + 10
Luck: 35 (51) + 35
Skills: Summoning {3}, Creation {3}, Synthesis {3}, Strengthening {3}, Expansion {2}, Deletion, Sword Mastery {3}, Throwing {3}
XP: 600/2,000
Skill LevelsSummoning: 3
Creation: 3
Synthesis: 3
Strengthening: 3
Skill ExperienceCreation: 51,418/100,000
Synthesis: 51,410/100,000
Strengthening: 51,400/100,000
Creatable SummonsInsect: F, G, H
Beast: F, G, H
Bird: F, G
Grass: F
HolderInsect: F x 3, G x 3
Beast: F x 15
Bird: F x 2
Grass: F x 7
After raising Strengthening to Lvl. 3, Allen diligently continued converting his MP into Skill XP every day. At the current pace, he would reach Summoning Lvl. 4 next year. And now, thanks to Strengthening Lvl. 3, Allen’s Summons received +50 to the two stats corresponding with the buffs he received. This made them even more effective in battle.
Soon, Allen’s group passed through the village square and reached the gate to the village, the gathering place this morning for all those who would be participating in today’s great boar hunt. Everyone present was holding spears.
“Oh, there you guys are!” someone shouted, prompting all eyes to turn around. There were whispers along the lines of “He really brought his kid!” but no one voiced their opposition out loud. Rodin had given his permission for Allen to come along as an observer and Gerda had expressed his agreement. The rest of the serfs trusted these two’s judgment.
What’s more, Allen himself had also proved, over the past year, that he possessed incredible strength. Many people had witnessed him drawing water and going out to buy firewood. It was precisely because this world functioned on a leveling system and it was indeed possible for people to display unbelievable power that everyone seemed to have taken this in stride.
“We’ll set off once everyone’s here. We even have two newcomers today. Let’s all get fired up and do this properly!” Rodin shouted to rally the others, prompting an enthusiastic “OHHHHH!” in response. Some even wiped away tears at seeing this leader of theirs returning to action after an entire year away.
Because there were still members of the party who had not yet arrived, the group continued waiting. The two newcomers, both of whom were commoners, were already present. They were among the five who had participated last year. Just like the serfs, they were holding spears and waiting patiently at the gathering point.
There were two ways to increase the number of great boars hunted beyond the ten per year that the group had managed so far. First would be to increase the frequency of the hunts—more hunts would mean more great boars. Second would be to increase the number of hunters to where there could be two hunting parties—this would double the number of great boars hunted. Both methods, however, required the same thing: more hunters.
For now, our task is to demonstrate how we can incorporate these two newcomers into the hunts safely. Then we can think about gathering even more people. That’s why we’re starting with only two this time, then only accepting more at a controlled pace.
When the last person arrived, this time it was Gerda who shouted, “All right, we’re all here. Let’s go!” The rest roared their answer before the entire group started filing out of the village gates.
Seven years after being born as a serf, I finally get to see the outside world.
Deboji, the village chief, had given official permission for Allen to leave the village for this outing, as Rodin and Gerda teaming up together to ask for something gave their request significant weight. He did look somewhat doubtful when the two told him that this was necessary for today’s hunt, but did not press the matter.
Allen could not help but gasp with emotion as the wooden gates opened up, revealing the world beyond. The path connected to the village was clear enough to be a road but was not very well-maintained. This was the same passage the knights had traveled when they visited the village previously.
“Allen, let’s go. It’s this way,” Rodin called out, seeing his son standing still.
As it turned out, the hunting party was not using the road. After leaving the gate, they circled around the walls of the village, heading toward a rather dense forest a ways off in the distance.
The first hunting ground is three hours’ walk away, if I remember correctly.
What with there being newcomers today, the plan was to do the hunt at the site closest to the village. Even so, there was still a bit of a distance to hike. Along the way, Allen reconfirmed with Rodin and Gerda the strategy they were going to employ today.
Halfway through the conversation, one of the newcomers approached the three and said to Rodin, “Sir, I’m going to do my best today!”
Hm? I feel like I’ve seen him before...
“Mm. Well, today should be easier than last year,” Rodin replied. “Don’t wind yourself up too tight.”
Oh, right, he’s the guy who visited our house that one time last year. He’s joining this year too, huh.
Apparently when Rodin had informed Deboji that the hunting party was looking to accept two newcomers and Deboji spread the word, this young man had been one of the first to step forward. He wanted to be of use this time to make up for his previous failure. The other serfs had accepted him with open arms, appreciative of his desire to make things right.
The procession of a total of twenty-three, including the newcomers and Allen, soon reached the forest. They continued making their way in deeper, heading for the hunting grounds.
Still, why is the feudal lord so fixated on making us increase the number we hunt? Considering how he’s been asking about it for several years now, this can’t be just a temporary whim. There must be a larger reason behind it. Hold on. That night, during our dinner at the village chief’s house... Didn’t the knight captain say that the most pressing concern of this fiefdom currently is procuring food?
As he continued trudging forward, Allen racked his brains for reasons why the feudal lord would want more food. Eventually, he came up with three.
Reason 1: The main industry that this fiefdom had been relying on all this time is dying out, leading to the need to be self-sufficient in terms of food.
Reason 2: The feudal lord realized how much money he could make from taxing all the great boar meat and is greedy for more.
Reason 3: There is a shortage of food within the fiefdom or within the kingdom as a whole.
All seem likely, but I’d place my bets on the first or second. Seeing as how there are still traveling merchants bringing fruit to our village to trade, I don’t think we’re running out of food.
Even Allen did not notice it about himself, but his method of thinking about things was starting to change. Being able to step outside the village for the first time in seven years seemed to have pushed him toward considering matters from a larger perspective.
“All right, we’re here!” Rodin shouted, prompting everyone to stop.
This was a rather sizable clearing that had more than enough space for twenty people to hunt in. The group could finally take a breather after walking for hours on end. Everyone retrieved their dried potatoes and waterskins from their luggage.
Gerda asked, “Pekej, got a minute?” prompting a man munching on a potato to come over. The two proceeded to do a final confirmation on details of the day’s hunt—such as where to draw the game from—by drawing it out on the ground. Allen sat together with them to listen in.
The hunters were going to be split into three major teams. Because of this, there was a need for three leaders. Aside from Rodin and Gerda, the third one would be this man, Pekej. And how his team performed would determine the survival of the entire hunting party.
When Pekej said, “We’ll be searching in the north today,” Gerda marked it in their diagram on the ground.
Pekej’s team, Team One, was in charge of drawing a single great boar to this clearing. This was the role that Allen, from his days as a gamer, referred to as “pulling” or “fishing.” The general idea was to attract the desired enemy and draw it toward where one’s allies were lying in wait.
This team had the fewest number of people—including Pekej, there were only three total. With a simple “All right, we’re off,” each of them grabbed a stick and disappeared into the trees. The sticks they were armed with were not spears but something more similar to Allen’s wooden sword. That was the tool they needed to do their “fishing.”
Great boars were scattered throughout this forest, but they were not necessarily always by themselves. Some wandered around alone, but some would be in pairs or trios. There would be no problem if the pullers encountered a great boar by itself. However, if it was a group of three, and they led all three boars to the hunting party, the party would be overrun and everyone could very well die. In such cases, the pullers needed to lead only one toward the hunting grounds while drawing the remaining two in the opposite direction to lose them in the woods. This was why three men were needed to “fish” a single great boar.
The population of great boars in this forest would explode in autumn. As such, it would not take too long to find and pull one to the hunting ground.
Beyond this forest is the White Dragon Mountains, right? I wonder if it’s related somehow. Allen was curious why the boars would increase in number so significantly in autumn, but apparently neither Rodin nor Gerda knew the details. All they knew was that beyond the forest were the White Dragon Mountains, a mountain range where a white dragon resided. Rodin posited that perhaps the great boars normally lived at the foot of these mountains and came to the forest in autumn in search of food.
I can’t see the mountain from here. Is it actually quite far away? I can’t see anything with all these trees in the way.
“IT’S HEEEEERRRE!”
Pekej burst out from the forest, his shout interrupting Allen’s thoughts. The other two pullers were nowhere to be seen. In other words, the team must have encountered a group of three great boars, and the other two were still in the middle of losing their respective boars.
“GUMOOOOHHH!”
CRAAAASH!
The great boar had arrived. Just as it was about to crush Pekej under its hooves, the man ducked behind a large tree. In the brief window when the boar slowed down after colliding with the tree, Pekej dashed through the lines of the hunting party’s main force.
Gerda led the team in charge of this next part. All eleven members of this team—the largest team among the three—were ready and waiting. The giant body of the three-meter-tall great boar came charging in, spraying drool everywhere. It bore not only huge, vicious-looking tusks but also numerous horns on top of its snout.
Damn, that’s a terrifying sight all right. I get why the newcomers freaked out. So this is what a Rank C monster is like.
Allen was watching everything unfold from further back. It was quite a distance, but even he could feel the tremors caused by the monster’s stomping. He found himself somewhat overwhelmed by the scene.
“HERE WE GOOOO! EVERYONE, BRAAAAACE!”
“RAAAAAHHHHH!”
“GUMOOOOHHH!”
The group Gerda led, Team Two, was in charge of surrounding and stopping the great boar. They were equipped with two-meter-long spears—any longer and they might snap with the strain—that had broad spearheads on the end. These had been modified specifically for hunting great boars.
As the boar made contact with the wall of spears, the men roared with vigor and desperately braced themselves. If they lost their footing, they would be impaled with the monster’s fangs and horns. The eleven all gritted their teeth and worked as one to offset the momentum of the charge.
When Team Two managed to lock the great boar’s head down with their spears, Gerda shouted, “All right! It’s stopped! Surround it! Rodin, do your thing!”
“You got it!” Rodin roared in response. “Y’all, let’s go!”
“RAAAAAHHH!”
There were six people in Rodin’s group, Team Three. They split into two smaller groups of three each, each approaching the boar’s flank from opposing sides to deal the killing blow. They were aiming for the creature’s jugular. The great boar’s head was huge and tough, and its back was also protected by very sturdy hide. The best way to kill it, therefore, was to deliver a fatal wound to its throat, which was relatively softer than all the other parts of its body.
This was a very structured hunt, with everyone having well-defined roles. After doing this for ten years, they all knew what they were doing, and their teamwork was perfect.
Everything so far is just as I’d been told. Okay, my idea should work, then. Allen turned to the two newcomers who were on standby next to himself and said, “It’s time. Do it like how my father taught you, please.”
“O-Okay.”
“Off we go.”
This was finally the point when these two would get involved. They gripped their spears and stepped forward to join the mass of hunters struggling against the great beast, taking up position behind Gerda’s team.
“Excuse us, coming in from behind!” they shouted in unison as the both of them thrust their spears over Team Two’s shoulders.
“All right! Don’t accidentally hit us!” Gerda responded over the ruckus.
The strategy that Allen had suggested to Rodin and Gerda this time was very simple. While the serfs used spears that were two meters long, the ones issued to the commoners this time were double that length at four meters. With these in hand, they could attack from behind the team holding the boar.
Team One was in charge of pulling, Team Two was in charge of stopping the great boar and holding it down, and Team Three was in charge of finishing the beast off. All of them were inappropriate for including inexperienced newcomers—worst case, someone would die. And so Allen made the case that newcomers should not be put into any of the existing teams but should just stab from behind Team Two.
Under the furious barrage of stabs, the monster let out one final deafening squeal. Someone had finally managed to pierce its throat, unleashing a huge fountain of blood. The beast’s movements gradually grew sluggish until its body ultimately slumped over, sending a tremor through the ground.
Yes! Everything went perfectly!
Just as Rodin and Gerda stepped forward to confirm the kill, the two commoners whooped loudly.
“AHHH! I OVERCAME A TRIAL!!!”
“TH-THE POWER! IT’S WELLING UP! THANK YOU, GOD!”
Seemingly having leveled up, they cheered loudly about overcoming a Trial of the Gods and stared at the spears they were holding, their hands trembling with emotion.
So just thrusting their spears from the back still gave them enough XP to level up. In fact, since they’re in Normal Mode, I assume they gained several levels from that single kill. Though they probably only perceived it as a single instance of “overcoming a Trial of the Gods.”
Allen summoned his grimoire to check if he had gotten anything. He looked over at the cover, but unfortunately, there was no new entry in the log.
Gah! As I thought, I won’t get any XP just standing here.
Although Allen had expected this, getting the confirmation was still quite a downer. The strategy had gone well, but he himself had gotten nothing out of it. What a pity.
With this, the idea for incorporating newcomers that Allen had come up with was confirmed to be effective and was adopted.
＊ ＊ ＊
Early one morning, several days after the first great boar hunt of the year, Allen headed to the community well closest to his house to draw water. He had set off at the 6 a.m. bell, but there was already a whole line when he arrived.
“Good morning!” Allen greeted in a loud voice. Grabbing everyone’s attention was important.
“Oh! Rodin’s kid! Good morning to you too.”
Allen recognized several faces in line. They were serfs who had been part of the hunt a few days ago.
“You coming again tomorrow, kiddo?”
“Of course! In fact, I want to go every time. Someone, please help convince my father to let me hold a spear!” Allen made a face, trying his best to convey how troubled he felt about Rodin not allowing him to participate in the hunt directly.
“Uh, if we did that, Rodin would make sure we never saw the light of day again.”
Laughter sprang up around the well. Some of the other serfs, however, looked jealous.
“You guys have it good. I want to take part in the hunts too.”
“What’re you saying, man? You’re the one choosing to stay behind with the butchering group. We always welcome more people. I heard we’re getting two more newcomers tomorrow. And Rodin’s kid here is coming along to observe.”
“I’d love to, but my old lady’s got another one in her belly now. It’s too dangerous out there. I can’t risk leaving her all alone.”
The first round of what Allen called the Long Spear Newcomer Induction Plan had gone over as a complete success. Consequently, the hunting party was now looking to accept two more newcomers on top of the two from last time. The idea was to slowly increase the group’s numbers, two at a time, helping them level up along the way.
Although it was safer now thanks to Allen’s strategy, there were still those unable to participate. The very act of facing a great boar in person still, at the end of the day, required one to put their life on the line. Allen had seen the three-meter-tall monster for himself. He knew there was no guarantee that everyone would return home safe and sound.
“Fair enough. Well, we’re doing them once every six days this year, so if you ever feel like it, just let any of us know.”
“You bet I will. I still need to get meat for my missus. Our fields are small, so honestly, it’d be a help just being able to participate in more butcherings.”
Oh? He might do.
Allen turned toward the serf who had only been participating in the butcherings. “Excuse me, mister?”
“I’m not quite old enough to be called ‘mister,’ but, what’s the matter, kiddo?”
“Can I ask you to help me with something?”
This was what Allen was actually aiming for this morning. He asked the man to come to his house at 9 a.m., then filled his buckets and headed back first. When the time came, the man showed up at Allen’s house.
“Oh, good morning again, mister! Thank you for coming!”
“‘Mister’ again... Ahem. I don’t mind coming. What’d you need me for?”
Seeing the man’s eyes wander toward the rack set up above the ditch beside his house, Allen said, “I caught them just now.”
There were two albaherons currently hung up. The sight of blood trickling from their open necks caused the visitor to start a little. Allen turned to lead the way, gesturing for him to follow.
“Th-This is...!”
There were albaheron carcasses stacked up into a whole pile. Ever since it turned October, Allen had resumed his albaheron hunting. He had informed Rodin that he would be focusing on it throughout the entire month before finally helping out with the harvest in November. Rodin agreed readily, as he could actually manage on his own and therefore had no need to rely on Allen’s aid.
Because his afternoons were now dedicated to playing knight, Allen did his hunting in the mornings, catching one to three albaheron every day. Of course, he did the hunting in a fallow field on Rodin’s land—it was a different one from last year, as that one was now growing crops.
Thanks to having perfected his hunting strategy last year, Allen’s catches continued piling up. Now, he had no problem with the hunting process itself, but he did have a new problem—he could not butcher his catches in time. Unprocessed carcasses kept piling higher and higher in his yard.
Allen did consider asking Rodin to help with the butchering. However, Rodin had his work with the fields, and whatever spare time he had, he spent it training the hunting party’s newcomers. All things considered, Rodin was even busier than Allen was.
Currently, of the twelve albaherons that Allen had hunted in the past five days, only five were actually butchered. And so he had come up with the idea to ask someone else to take care of the remaining seven.
“I see. So you want me to butcher these birds.”
“For each one you do, I’ll give you two blocks of meat.”
“Huh? That’s a mighty good deal. You sure about that?”
Allen indicated his confirmation.
For the sake of earning the fifty gold coins that would be needed to free his whole family from serfdom, Allen had visited the butcher in the commercial area of the village the other day to ask how much he would accept meat for. The man had replied that unlike goods bartering, if Allen wanted to sell meat for actual money, he would charge twenty percent as surcharge, or forty percent if the game was not butchered yet. The butcher had to make money from the transaction too, after all.
With this in mind, Allen decided to ask a fellow serf who was in need of meat to do the butchering instead. The reward that he was offering was the same rate as what the butcher would charge to do the butchering—twenty percent. The reason why he did this was because entire albaheron carcasses would be much harder to carry to the commercial area as opposed to neatly packaged blocks of meat.
So, one albaheron nets me six silver coins. Eight if I do the butchering myself, but butchering doesn’t raise my level and hunting does, so it’s more effective to focus solely on hunting and leveling up while outsourcing the butchering to someone else.
Back when Allen was Kenichi, he maintained a single-minded focus on leveling up. Whenever he got his hands on an item, he would immediately exchange it for money. Not once did he stop to try enchanting or upgrading what he picked up. The way he saw things was, if he ever needed anything, he could always just buy it from the players focusing on the crafting aspects of the game.
“Oh, mister. Albaheron liver is really delicious, did you know? For every five albaherons you butcher for me, I’ll let you keep one liver.”
“Are you serious?!”
Organs did not sell well as they would go bad very quickly. Even after securing a portion for his family and the families of Krena, Dogora, and Pelomas, there were still leftovers. Allen’s idea was to reward whoever came and dedicated themselves to the butchering work with a share.
The serf happily accepted the offer. Allen nodded in acknowledgment, then began explaining how he wanted the albaherons to be butchered.
＊ ＊ ＊
Night came and went, and it was now the following day, the day of the second great boar hunt of the year. Because the party had two brand-new newcomers again, they would be using the hunting ground closest to the village, just like last time. This was to avoid the possibility of encountering a great boar inside the forest while making their way toward a deeper hunting ground. The risk was not all that high, as Team One, the pullers, would be going ahead anyways, but there was no need to intentionally increase the chances of danger, no matter how slight.
Soon, the procession reached the clearing, and the pullers were off. The rest remained behind and got into position according to their teams.
The two latest newcomers today looked quite nervous. While they happened to be commoners again, the call for new hunting party members had indeed gone out to the serfs as well, and there were already several names on a wait list. The way the previous newcomers had returned not only unharmed, but proudly boasting about overcoming a Trial of the Gods had proved effective in arousing other villagers’ interest.
Just like last time, Allen was coming along as an observer. Because he would not be contributing directly to the hunt, he was not going to receive a cut of the meat. The four long spear-wielders—the sign of being a newcomer—were going to get half the amount the other hunters would receive. This idea had also been Allen’s. In short, those with the two-meter-long spears would receive ten kilograms of meat, those with the four-meter-long spears would receive five kilograms, and those only doing the butchering would receive three kilograms. This ratio was decided relative to the degree of danger that those in each role would be exposed to.
The newcomers were currently focused on raising their levels. Once they had gone through a few hunts, they would be assigned to the team that, stat-wise, they were most suitable for. Each team required different stat builds according to their duties.
Team One, the pullers, needed high Agility.
Team Two, the surrounders, needed high Endurance.
Team Three, those dealing the final blow, needed Attack.
When Allen first heard of this idea of splitting into three teams, the first thing he thought of was the Appraisal Ceremony. Everyone in the party was likely Talentless, which meant their stats were probably somewhere between Rank C and Rank E. Naturally, the Rank C stats would increase faster than the Rank E ones. The distribution of the ranking of each stat was different from person to person. Based on the thirty-two Statuses that he had seen—his own included—Allen had drawn the conclusion that this distribution was quite random.
Eventually, those with high Agility would be assigned to Team One, those with high Endurance would be assigned to Team Two, and those with high Attack would be assigned to Team Three. Rodin and Gerda also agreed that it was a good idea to let the newcomers overcome several Trials of the Gods first so that it was easier to see what they were good at before “promoting” them to a team.
Around half an hour after the pullers headed off, they came rushing out of the forest at top speed. The fact that they were all together meant they had encountered a great boar that was just by itself.
“THE GREAT BOAR IS COMIIIIIIING!” Pekej yelled.
Oh! Here it comes! Summon: Denka!
While Allen was in the middle of something, everyone else aside from Team One swiftly got into their respective positions. Team Two allowed the three pullers to run through their ranks, then closed their formation. The great boar charged forward, was stopped, then Team Three stepped forward to attack the beast’s neck. Everyone’s movements were perfect, just as they had been last time.
“Newcomers, come on! And don’t stab our backs!”
In response to Gerda’s call, the four newcomers all charged forward and thrust with their long spears. Less than five minutes later, the monster’s jugular had been punctured and blood jetted from its neck. Several more minutes, and it was on its side, dead.
“I got over it! I overcame another Trial!”
“Me too! So this is what it feels like to overcome a Trial of the Gods!”
Both pairs of newcomers had leveled up. What’s more, Allen’s grimoire also gave off a soft glow.
<You have defeated 1 great boar. You have earned 400 XP.>
<Your XP has reached 2,000/2,000. You have reached Lvl. 3. Your HP has increased by 25. Your MP has increased by 40. Your Attack has increased by 14. Your Endurance has increased by 14. Your Agility has increased by 26. Your Intelligence has increased by 40. Your Luck has increased by 26.>
IT WORKED! So that counts as being a part of the fight, huh. I even leveled up from it!
While the hunt was going on, Allen had Summoned an Insect H right underneath one of the great boar’s hoofs in such a way that it had been promptly stomped to death and reduced to bubbles of light.
After much experimenting, Allen had determined that there were two conditions as to where he could call forth his Summons: the location had to be somewhere within fifty meters of himself, and it had to be at a spot that he had direct line of sight to. There was still quite a lot of freedom with this—for example, he could have a bird Summon appear overhead and immediately fly off. However, he could not Summon anything, say, inside a house while standing outside and looking in through a window. In other words, he had to get the location and timing just perfect so he could Summon Denka exactly where the great boar’s foot was going to land.
Hmm, so even when it’s just my Summon taking damage, I still get XP from the kill. The pullers don’t hold spears, and they basically do nothing once they’ve returned to the party, so I assume that being targeted by a monster also counts as being part of a fight?
Allen noted down his observations.
Conditions for Gaining XP from a Fight:
Attack
Be attacked
Be targeted
Although he ultimately was still barred from participating in the hunt itself, Allen had found a way to make following the hunting party worth his while. He smiled with satisfaction as a sense of achievement filled his chest.
＊ ＊ ＊
The year turned, and it was now January 2. Allen and Krena were heading back home from the residential district.
“They gave us so much!”
“They sure did.”
Krena looked happy as she trudged along, her hands filled with leftover food.
This world also had a tradition of celebrating the New Year. Allen had been under the impression that it did not, as his own family never did anything special for the occasion. However, while he was catching a break during a play knight session and chatting with Pelomas, he learned that the commoners had such a tradition. The village chief would invite all the commoners over on New Year’s and host one big feast. Dogora had also participated every year.
Partly meant as a celebration of the success of last year’s great boar hunts, the New Year’s celebration this year was even grander than usual. The Long Spear Newcomer Induction Plan devised by Allen had been a resounding success, and the hunting party successfully met their quota of fifteen great boars. In fact, not only did they succeed, they went above and beyond, taking down eighteen great boars without a single person suffering major injury.
The village chief did invite Rodin and Gerda, whom he saw as the key figures behind this achievement, to the New Year’s celebration. However, the two of them declined his offer, citing their young children who needed constant care. Thus, participation fell to Allen and Krena instead. Since at least the children of the leaders of the hunting party showed up for the celebration, Deboji was spared public humiliation.
“We’re back!” Krena called out right before she reached her house’s front door.
Her younger sister, Lily, toddled out and grabbed her older sister, exclaiming “K’ena!” in welcome. The two looked very close. Krena pinched her cheeks gently as Mash also walked out of the house.
“Welcome back,” Gerda said. Mathilda was right next to him. Additionally...
“Did you have fun at the village chief’s house?”
“Welcome back.”
Rodin, Theresia, and Myulla were also present.
“I’m back, father, mother, Myulla. Mm-hm, I had lots of fun.”
Tonight, both families were spending the night together at Krena’s house. Allen and Krena handed over the meat and fruit they had been carrying. Mathilda and Theresia accepted it all and began preparing for dinner. As these were leftovers from the feast, the food was gourmet compared to the fare that usually graced Allen’s and Krena’s families’ dinner table. Great boar and some of the albaheron Allen caught were also being served.
Soon, the two families’ feast, much humbler than the village chief’s, kicked off. Four adults and six children were a very tight fit in this house, but even so, they all enjoyed themselves immensely.
I really do love sleepovers at Krena’s house.
As everyone ate, Allen regaled them with stories from the feast, such as how Deboji had repeatedly voiced his gratitude toward Rodin and Gerda. Krena, for her part, did not remember much of this, as she had been occupied with eating from start to finish.
Slowly but surely, Gerda started growing listless. Eventually, he asked, “Say, Allen?”
“Yes, Mr. Gerda?”
“The thing behind you...is it what I think it is?”
One of the things that Allen had brought home with him today was a small wooden cask with a capacity of only a few liters. It was currently set down behind where he was sitting. Unlike everything else that he had carried back, he had yet to hand this over.
“Do you mean this barrel? It’s filled with wine, yes.”
Both Rodin and Gerda inadvertently went, “Ohhhhh!” in excited voices.
They took the bait. I knew they liked wine.
Ignoring the response from the adults, however, Allen turned to chat with Krena, evoking two bewildered “huh?!”s. The two men could not understand why Allen had just glossed over the topic. They had fully expected the conversation to develop toward them getting the wine.
Allen turned back, his head tilted in seeming puzzlement. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Uh, Deboji gave that to you, right?” Gerda returned, somewhat haltingly.
“Yes, the village chief gave it to me,” Allen responded, the confusion on his face deepening further.
Unable to hold it in any further, Gerda blurted, “You can’t drink it, though!” Next to him, Rodin nodded several times to show his support for Gerda’s outburst. Theresia and Mathilda turned toward Allen, their attention drawn by the ruckus the men were raising.
“Awww, okay. It’s my wine, but I guess if you beat me in a contest of strength, I’ll give it to you.”
“Huh?!”
“Contest?!”
“If you don’t want to, I don’t mind. I’ll just keep this to myself.”
Silence filled the room. Krena looked around curiously, still shoveling food into her mouth.
Eventually, Gerda adopted a fierce grin and flexed an arm, showing off his biceps. “All right, you’ve got yourself a contest!”
Noticing Allen’s querying look, Rodin replied, “I can’t very well lose in strength to my own son, can I? Count me in.”
“Okay! A contest of strength it is, then. If I beat both of you, then it’ll be my win. Is that fine?”
Slightly taken by surprise at the terms that seemed so advantageous for himself, Gerda stopped for a brief moment, then nodded. “Someone’s confident. Sure, that works.”
After seeing Rodin nod as well, Allen continued, “So, if I lose, then I’ll give this wine to both of you. What do I get if I win?”
A “huh?” fell from both men’s lips at the same time. They had apparently not even considered the possibility of themselves losing.
“Well, I need motivation too!”
“I mean, is there anything that you want?”
“Mmm... How about, if I win, then I get to join this year’s great boar hunts?”
“HUH?!” three voices cried out at once as Theresia joined in.
Rodin and Gerda had finally realized that they had fallen into a trap. Allen had asked Pelomas ahead of time if wine would be served at the feast. Everything that had happened afterward, including this overnight stay, had been a part of Allen’s plan all along.
“You won’t lose, though, right? This is a contest of strength, after all.”
Allen made sure to emphasize the word “strength.” This was not any old contest, but a contest of strength. Rodin and Gerda exchanged looks as if asking each other what to do.
Eventually, it was Rodin who responded, understanding that this was his call to make. “Fine, we accept those conditions. If we win, we get the wine. If you win, you get to join this year’s hunts.”
“Honey?!” The person most shocked at Rodin’s answer was Theresia. She had not expected him to go along with what she thought was sheer madness.
Rodin calmed his wife down by assuring her that he would not lose, then turned to Allen. “Exactly what do you have in mind for this contest?”
“Arm wrestling.”
All the adults echoed the words, “Arm wrestling...?” in a confused tone as Krena alone went, “Arm wrestling!” in recognition. In order to demonstrate what it was to the adults, Allen had explained it to her at Deboji’s house. In fact, they even had an arm wrestling competition with all the kids present.
“Krena and I will show how it’s done. Krena, can you come over here?”
“Sure!”
Allen and Krena picked their way over to the earthen-floored area, then laid down on the ground, facing each other. There wasn’t enough space to do this in the main room right now, with how packed it was. Everyone else looked on curiously as the two kids gripped each other’s hand.
“Now all we need is someone to tell us when to start. Mother, can you shout, ‘Start!’ for us?”
“Huh? St...art?”
Theresia’s drawn-out word was accepted as the signal, prompting Allen and Krena to start pushing with their arms. Although Krena went red in the face from the exertion, Allen still handily pushed the back of her hand to the ground, claiming victory.
“Allen, you’re so strooong! I lost agaaaain!” Krena cried in frustration. She had also lost just now at Deboji’s house, making this two losses in a row.
“And that’s how it’s done,” Allen said, turning to the adults. “You win by pushing your opponent’s hand to the ground. That’s why it’s a contest of strength.”
The rules were simple, and both Rodin and Gerda caught on quickly. They did look extremely astonished, however, to see Krena, a Sword Lord, lose.
She is still only Lvl. 1, after all. Her Attack isn’t actually all that high.
Krena was strong in a fight because of how high her Sword Mastery skill was. The power that she could muster, however, was unremarkable, as she had yet to kill any monsters.
“All right,” Gerda said. “Who do you want to face first?”
“You, of course, Mr. Gerda. Then father is next.”
Thus began the battle, Allen’s wine and right to hunt on the line.
Gerda descended from the main room to the earthen-floored area. Because of how big his body was, his feet protruded a little out the front door. He and Allen clasped hands.
Now, can I actually win this?
By this point, he had caught so many albaherons that he had reached Lvl. 6, and there was not a single person in the village who did not know of him now. So much for not standing out.
Part of his renown also came from his continued attendance at all the boar hunting party’s hunts the past year. Of course, he did not merely watch while twiddling his thumbs—he provided instruction to commoners and serfs alike, and there was new equipment scheduled to be completed by autumn this year that he had designed.
The way Allen saw it, he had only two options to survive: either go full throttle on leveling, even if this made him stick out, or remain a low-level weakling. In this world, Allen was the only person in Hell Mode. His stats would still remain rock-bottom if he only did as much as the next person. No, he would have to work a hundred times harder than everyone else for the appraisal values that Elmea had specially added to his grimoire to even become relevant.
After considering everything, Allen had concluded that the first option was the way to go. One major factor behind this decision had been Rodin’s injury. It had helped Allen understand that he needed strength to protect those closest to him. He did not mind being a little conspicuous, as long as it did not draw unwanted attention from the nobles or the royal family—he was banking on the results of his appraisal to act as a damper on any waves he created.
Allen wanted to seize the right to participate in the great boar hunts by his own hand. For the sake of this day, he had filled all thirty available card slots with Beast F cards. Gerda was somewhat hesitant, but when he saw the resolution in the eyes staring back at him, a serious expression came over his face. Both sides meant business in this contest.
“This all right?” Gerda asked, getting down beside Allen and digging his elbow into the ground.
Allen nodded. “Krena, be our referee.”
“Okay!” Krena placed her hand where Allen’s and Gerda’s were clasped. She had also learned the “proper” way of refereeing at the village chief’s house just now. “Ready...start!”
Both sides grunted “HMPH!” and started pushing with all their might. The muscles on Gerda’s arm seemed at risk of bursting as both contestants’ faces grew redder and redder.
Shock filled Gerda’s face. Rodin simply watched on. Theresia and Mathilda both exclaimed in surprise. The strength that Allen was displaying was far beyond that of a normal seven-year-old. And slowly but surely, he started gaining the upper hand. Before long, Gerda’s hand hit the ground. Allen had won.
“NOOOOO!!! I LOOOSTTT!!!” Gerda howled in frustration. The two women’s faces made it clear they could not believe what they had just witnessed.
Oof, that was really close. Based on this, I’d say Gerda’s Attack stat is between 150 to 200.
Allen flapped his hand about, trying to shake away fatigue in preparation for the next round. Rodin studied him with a severe look on his face, then got up and took off his pale brown jacket, exposing the well-developed muscles that he had gained from swinging his hoe day after day, morning to evening. He was going to go all out.
“I’ll wait for your arm to recover,” Rodin said, indicating that he wanted to face Allen in top condition.
“Th-Thank you, father.”
Several minutes later, Allen had rested enough and was good to go again. He was ready for what would be his fourth match of the day. He and his father both lay down on the bare earth facing each other, dug their elbows into the ground, and clasped hands.
I feel like this is the first time we’ve held hands so firmly before.
Rodin’s hand was rugged and calloused, conveying just how hard he had been working for his family’s sake. Allen’s heart overflowed with appreciation. At the same time, Rodin also looked as though he wanted to say something. It had been years since he had held his son’s hand properly. However, Krena, who saw that the two of them were settled, came forward to place her own hand over theirs.
Allen shot a quick look at his mother and found her earnestly praying for his father’s victory. It was only natural, of course, as Rodin losing meant Allen taking up a spear and fighting in person this autumn. Clearly, Theresia had zero intention of cheering for Allen in this contest.
“Okay, ready? Start!”
Right after the signal, both father and son let out a “HMPH!” and pushed with all they had. Rodin’s face turned red and the veins on his arm bulged.
Shit, he’s this strong? Uh-oh...
Thanks to the +150 boost from his thirty Beast F cards, the total value of Allen’s Attack could now be rounded up to 200, but Rodin’s was apparently much higher than that. Little by little, Allen lost ground, and soon enough, he was thoroughly beaten. He did not even have a chance to make the slightest comeback.
Three voices cheered in unison—two in elation and one in relief. Rodin had defeated Allen, who had beaten both Sword Lord Krena and Gerda. The man pumped his fist in a rare show of childish excitement and basked in the glow of his victory. He was extremely happy about winning, to put it mildly.
Damn, I didn’t stand a chance. His Attack is probably somewhere between 250 and 300, isn’t it?
Allen mentally estimated Rodin’s stats using his own as a benchmark while graciously passing the wine cask over.
“WHOO! WINE!”
“HELL YEAH!”
Rodin and Gerda helped themselves with zero hesitation. They filled each other’s wooden cups to the brim. Rodin exclaimed about how delicious his drink of victory was.
When they went through the Appraisal Ceremony, father’s Attack probably showed up as “C” and Gerda’s as “D,” I’d venture to guess.
Of course, Allen had had every intention of winning. However, there was something else that he wanted to confirm—specifically, just how strong someone in Normal Mode was. The more monsters someone killed, the higher their level would be. Now, exactly how strong does someone who leveled up under Normal Mode become? And thanks to the arm wrestling session just now, Allen had learned that even someone without a Talent would easily raise their Attack above two hundred.
“Gosh, you’re being immature!” Mathilda scolded, seeing how blatantly Rodin and Gerda were celebrating.
“Your father’s just too strong, Allen,” Theresia said in a comforting tone. She had apparently taken his silence as a sign of him feeling dejected, even though he was actually just occupied with analyzing what had just happened. Still, although she was trying to console Allen, she seemed happy with the result.
“That’s right, Allen! I’m strong! And if you can’t beat me, then I can’t let you take part in the hunts!”
In other words, Rodin was telling Allen that he needed to beat Rodin first if he wanted permission to participate. His cheeks were flushed, indicating that he was already slightly intoxicated.
Yes, he said it! I’ll hold him to it. If I manage to raise Summoning to Lvl. 4 by autumn, I might still have a chance! Father, I won’t let you say you don’t remember all this because you were drunk.
“Okay. I won’t ask to participate in the great boar hunts anymore, not until I can beat you, father,” Allen conceded, making a face and adopting a tone that made it seem like he was giving up.
This face-off between father and son had ended with Rodin’s victory.