Chapter 11: Rank E Summons
Chapter 11: Rank E Summons
Hell yeah! Summoning finally leveled up again!
Spring had given way to summer, and it was now June. Allen basked in a feeling of achievement as he continued washing his family’s laundry in a large tub by stomping on it. Golden lines were glowing at the bottom of the log on the front cover of his grimoire.
<The Skill XP of Strengthening has reached 100,000/100,000. Strengthening has reached Lvl. 4. Summoning has reached Lvl. 4. Expansion has reached Lvl. 3. You have obtained Storage.>
There’s so much information again. But before anything else, let’s look at my Status! I can’t wait to see what’s changed!
Name: Allen
Age: 7
Class: Summoner
Level: 6
HP: 115 (165) + 50
MP: 154 (220) + 100
Attack: 56 (80) + 50
Endurance: 56 (80)
Agility: 108 (155)
Intelligence: 161 (230)
Luck: 108 (155) + 100
Skills: Summoning {4}, Creation {4}, Synthesis {4}, Strengthening {4}, Expansion {3}, Storage, Deletion, Sword Mastery {3}, Throwing {3}
XP: 0/6,000
Skill LevelsSummoning: 4
Creation: 4
Synthesis: 4
Strengthening: 4
Skill ExperienceCreation: 256/1,000,000
Synthesis: 120/1,000,000
Strengthening: 0/1,000,000
Creatable SummonsInsect: E, F, G, H
Beast: E, F, G, H
Bird: E, F, G
Grass: E, F
???: E
HolderInsect:
Beast: F x 10
Bird:
Grass: F x 20
???:
Storage looks like a new skill. Hold on, it doesn’t have levels? It’s not listed under Skill Experience either. Does that mean it can’t be developed?
The first thing that caught Allen’s eye was his brand-new skill. He continued his analysis as he moved onto hanging up the laundry in the yard.
All right, I can check out what Storage does afterward. What’s next? Oh! I really did get access to Rank E Summons from Summoning leveling up! There’s a new “???” which I’ll probably have to figure out the combination for again.
Allen now had a lot more MP than when he first gained access to Rank F Summons. He expected the experimental process to go a lot faster this time.
Gosh, how long has it been since Summoning last leveled up? Whoa, a year and ten months?! That’s Hell Mode for you. And the higher the level, the more it’s gonna take.
Next, Allen checked the pages in his grimoire with card holders.
Nice, now I can store a total of forty cards!
The more cards he held, the more buffs he would receive. And now the number that he could keep on hand had just jumped up from thirty to forty. Rank H cards provided +1 buffs, Rank G provided +2, and Rank F provided +5. Extrapolating off of this, it seemed reasonable to expect Rank E cards to provide even stronger buffs. Allen could foresee these higher ranked Summons and the ten new card slots boosting his Status quite significantly.
Whoo! Would I be able to beat father in arm wrestling now? I’m so glad this level up came before great boar hunting season starts. I gotta find a good time to challenge him again. Would it make for a fun surprise to do it the day before the first hunt of the year?
Allen could not help but do a little jig as he carried another armful of laundry over to the clotheslines for drying.
All right, I think all there’s left to do is figure out Storage and analyze the Rank E Summons. Which should I start with? Well, my MP’s all empty, as it always is after leveling up a skill, so that leaves me with the former.
By this time, Allen had finished hanging up all the laundry, which meant his hands were now free.
Store!
Because he had no idea how to use the new skill, Allen tried chanting internally for it. His grimoire was quite closely linked with his thoughts, so in most cases, he could just mentally will something and the book would respond. And sure enough, the grimoire flipped open, this time to a page that had not been accessible before.
Hm? It’s got a...hole? The heck’s this for?
Smack dab in the middle of the page was a hole thirty centimeters tall and wide. Strangely, it was clearly deeper than the thickness of the book itself. In fact, the bottom was not even visible.
Do I...put things in here?
Allen thought a bit about what to put inside before eventually going with a random twig from the ground. For all he knew, this could be a hyperdimensional pocket that would swallow everything it came into contact with. He slowly and gingerly brought the twig close to the grimoire...and saw its tip going inside with no resistance whatsoever.
Interesting. And if I pull it back out... Yep, there’s the whole twig.
Next, Allen dropped one of his throwing stones into the hole. It disappeared completely from sight.
I’m a bit scared, but let’s try putting my hand inside... Whoa, a list of what’s inside the hole appears directly in my mind!
After this, Allen proceeded to conduct various tests with the Storage page. As always, he then summed up his findings.
10 x Stone
1 x Tree more than a meter tall (Grass F Aroma tree)
20 days of firewood (300 kg)
Water
Does this thing actually have infinite capacity?
The observations that Allen made blew his mind, to put it mildly. As it turned out, he was able to store whatever and however much of it he wanted, as long as it could fit within a thirty-by-thirty-centimeter opening. Throughout all his testing, he never found himself out of capacity and not once did what he put inside disappear to make room.
He was in the middle of putting back all the firewood that he had borrowed, still deep in his thoughts, when Theresia called out from inside the house, “Alleeen, it’s time for lunch!”
“Yes, mother!” Oh wow, it’s already lunchtime. I didn’t notice the time flying. Okay, but seriously, why am I getting this ability now? I must be missing something.
Allen’s findings had left him feeling a vague sense of something being off. Back when he was a gamer, he had learned about carrying capacity and what a large factor it was in the playing experience of a game.
For example, some games had a fixed number of inventory slots, allowing the player to carry only, say, ten or twenty items before having to unload them at a bank or storage facility in order to carry things again. Other games assigned each item a weight and only allowed players to carry items that added up to a certain combined weight value, adjusting this based on player class or level. Conversely, there were also games that simply gave players completely unrestricted inventory from the very start of the game.
What was bothering Allen, in light of all the above scenarios, was that he was receiving this almost god-tier Storage function at such an awkward time. If he had received it back when he turned one year old and first came into his own as a Summoner, then he would have been able to simply accept it. On the other hand, if he never received it at all, he would understand that too. Yet, he had received it when his Summoning reached Lvl. 4, a number that did not carry any immediately understandable significance.
Because Allen had fallen back into his thoughts again, Theresia called him once more. He hurriedly headed inside to help her with preparing the meal. While his hands moved, his mind resumed its speculations.
In games, players received important items right before they needed them. These were all things that, without them, the player would be unable to progress in the game, with some examples being keys, flying carpets, and boats. Games gave out what was needed when it was needed. That was how game developers influenced players to play the way they wanted.
There’s got to be a reason for this. A reason why the Storage function is relevant to me now.
There was no doubt of this in Allen’s mind. After all, the person who gave him this skill was the God of Creation of this world.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day, Allen was once again analyzing his skills while doing the laundry. He was staring at his grimoire, which floated next to him, as he continued stomping away inside the large barrel.
All right, my MP is full. Time to take a look at these Rank E Summons. Insect and Beast are the only two kinds I can Create outright. Might as well start with Insect. Create: Insect E!
Allen attempted to Create a Rank E card the same way he had been Creating all the other cards to date. However, nothing happened. Normally, this was the point where a card would appear before him in a flash of light.
What? Why? Do I not have enough MP? My MP is 233 now, though!
The memory from several years ago of when he did not have sufficient MP to use Creation Lvl. 2 resurfaced in Allen’s mind. However, he was sure he had more than enough MP now. He looked over at the log on his grimoire, sure that the issue this time lay somewhere else.
Sure enough, the explanation was written out clearly in silver text.
<You do not have enough Rank E magic stones to Create an Insect E card.>
“What?!” Allen unconsciously exclaimed out loud. He was so surprised he almost fell out of the bucket. Magic stones?! I need magic stones to Create all the Summons that are Rank E and above?!
Allen remembered the Rank E magic stones stored in the nursery. He quickly slipped inside the house, being careful not to wake Myulla up from her afternoon nap, and pried up the floorboard to reveal the space where the family kept their valuables. Sure enough, right next to a bag full of silver coins—containing 342 silver that he had earned selling the meat from all the albaherons he caught last year—there were several magic stones. Around the size of the tip of his pinky, these had come from horned rabbits. Just like most other magic stones, these looked almost entirely spherical. As an aside, albaheron magic stones were about the size of the first joint of Allen’s thumb, and great boar magic stones were about as big as a ping-pong ball.
Allen returned outside and resumed stomping on the laundry. With the magic stones in his grip, he attempted to activate Creation once again.
Please let it work this time. Create: Insect E!
Again, nothing happened. Allen checked his grimoire in slight exasperation and found the same line about not having enough magic stones.
I have magic sto— Wait, are you telling me...?!
In a flash of insight, Allen opened his grimoire up to the Storage page and threw all his magic stones inside.
This should do it. Third time’s the charm. Create: Insect E!
This time, a card bearing an illustration of an insect finally appeared before his eyes.
Yes! That did the trick! I see, so this is what Storage is for. So, my Rank E Summon is a butterfly.
Allen saw no need to put it off, so he decided to try Summoning it immediately. The card disappeared in a flash of light, and Insect E appeared.
“Wait, what?! You’re way too bi— Return!”
The instant he laid eyes on the gigantic butterfly measuring over a meter tall, Allen immediately Unsummoned it in a fluster. He could tell that it looked like a swallowtail butterfly from the quick glimpse he caught, but that was it.
Damn, so Rank E Summons can be that big? That’s a problem. So, I can’t casually call them out and analyze them in our front yard anymore, what with there always being someone home. Does this mean the higher the rank, the bigger the Summons will get?
With no other choice, Allen decided to leave Insect E alone for now and Create a Beast E card.
Whoa, this is a saber-toothed tiger! We jumped straight from dog to saber-toothed tiger? Talk about a power-up! All right, now that I have an Insect card and a Beast card, I guess it’s time to move onto Synthesizing. Let’s see what we get.
Allen opened up the Synthesis page in his grimoire and found it different from how he remembered it. Previously, the left page of the spread had two impressions for him to put in the cards he was Synthesizing together and the right page had a single impression where the Synthesized card would appear. Now, however, the left page had three impressions. The two at the top were perfect fits for Summoning cards, but the size of the one at the bottom made it clear it was for something else.
Uh-oh, are you telling me that Synthesis needs magic stones too? I already used two of them just now.
A sense of foreboding filled Allen’s heart. However, he still placed the Insect E and Beast E cards into the impressions on the left page and mentally willed the grimoire to Synthesize a Bird E card. The rank was different, but the general process should still have been the same.
However, nothing happened. So he placed a magic stone into the third impression.
Synthesize!
This time, a new card did indeed appear.
All right, that confirms it: I really do need a magic stone each time I Synthesize. Ugh, this sucks. I’m going to need a lot of magic stones, then.
It was now clear that both Creation and Synthesis required magic stones. Bird cards only required one round of Synthesis, but Grass cards required two rounds.
“Alleeen, it’s almost time for lunch!”
“Yes, mother!”
Allen had been so engrossed with his analyzing that he had failed to notice how much time had passed. When he stepped back into his house, he found Theresia waiting in the earthen-floored area. Mash and Myulla were hanging out in the main room further in. The moment Myulla caught sight of Allen, she started babbling happily. She had brown hair and green eyes and, at a year and three months old, had become capable of crawling all around inside the house.
Back when Allen had turned one, Theresia had returned to the fields to help Rodin out during the times of the day when Allen was asleep. Now that Myulla was the same age, Theresia had planned on doing the same thing, but Allen had stopped her, saying that he would do the field work instead.
Nowadays, Allen also helped Theresia out with making lunch. The family’s fare was light, but five portions together was still a good deal of food.
Soon enough, Rodin returned home, loudly declaring, “I’m back!” Allen had been out in the fields with him until around 10 a.m., when he had come back first to do the laundry.
The scene around the dinner table was the same as always. As he dug into his potato, Rodin suddenly said, “With how big our family’s gotten, I’m thinking it might be time to expand our house. You’d want a room of your own, right, Allen?”
Allen looked up in surprise. “Huh? Uh...not really? I’m fine with how things are. We don’t even have money for expansions, father.”
“What are you saying? We have a pretty tidy sum now thanks to you. It’s more than enough to cover the materials we’d need.”
What?! I’m gathering it to buy our freedom! Please don’t use it for something like this!
Allen had earned a total of 342 silver coins last year by selling the meat from all the albaherons he caught. Of course, he had then given all the money to his father. All possessions belonged to Rodin, as he was the family head.
A total of five thousand silver coins would be needed to lift five people from serfdom. That goal was still very far off, and there was no leeway for any splurging. However, Allen had yet to tell his family this goal of his.
“We really should save it for now. Just in case something happens and we really need money, like someone getting badly hurt again or Myulla getting sick. I really don’t mind sleeping in the nursery with Mash and Myulla.”
“Are you sure?”
Apparently, Rodin was not going to press the issue. He probably thought Allen might change his mind once he grew a bit older.
“Speaking of expansions, father, I heard that the village moat is done?”
“The moat? Oh, yeah, it’s done. You helped out too, didn’t you?”
I knew it. Gah, that’s a problem.
This village was encircled by a wall made of wooden logs. However, there were gaps in between, and every once in a while, weak monsters like horned rabbits would slip through. Although they were of the lowest rank, they could still pose a threat to young children. In order to prevent the monsters from entering, the villagers—more specifically, the serfs—had started digging a moat outside the wall starting a few years back. They only could work on it between January and March during the few months with no farm work. This year even Allen and Rodin had chipped in. And now, the moat was complete. In other words, the horned rabbits with their Rank E magic stones would no longer be wandering into the village.
Would Krena’s place happen to have magic stones?
Allen racked his brains for alternate ways to gather magic stones.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Seriously?” Allen muttered to himself from the middle of his family’s fallow field. After trying for three whole days, he had just discovered his final Rank E Summon. Part of what had made the process take so long was running around gathering all the magic stones he could.
Magic stones could only be found inside the bodies of monsters. According to Pelomas, it was usually close to their hearts. Unlike Allen, he was well-read and was knowledgeable in a wide variety of subjects. According to him, magic stones were often used as a power source for magic tools. An example of a magic tool would be the street lights in the feudal lord’s city.
However, there were no magic tools in this village, which meant there was absolutely zero demand for magic stones. Rank D and Rank C magic stones would be delivered to the feudal lord’s town, of course, but Rank E magic stones were basically treated as trash. It was valued below even one copper coin. Because of this, when the villagers caught horned rabbits, some would simply throw the magic stones out. Gerda belonged to this group—he would haphazardly throw his Rank E magic stones into his front yard. Allen had been able to spot a few and pick them up.
As it turned out, the magic stones in the front yard of Allen’s and Krena’s houses were still insufficient for Allen to Create and Synthesize all the Rank E Summons. It was only after he asked around at the well while drawing in the morning that he finally gathered the number he needed. Because the perceived value of the magic stones was so low, those who had helped Allen out with butchering albaherons last year very readily agreed to share.
Allen had now come to hide in his family’s fallow plot because there was something that he absolutely had to confirm. The problem was that the Summon currently before him towered above the verdant grass all around and was entirely visible to anyone who might cast a glance in his direction. However, his mind was so overwhelmed at the moment that this fact did not occur to him.
“So this...this was the developers’ intention,” he murmured, touching his Summon.
Game elements are carefully and particularly crafted for specific purposes. For example, the developers might want players to use certain builds for respective classes or want them to adopt specific roles in party battles; the way they designed the game would hint at this. The Swordsman class might be given higher Attack and Endurance, making it more viable for fighting up close and drawing the monsters’ attention.
There were those who would intentionally go against these suggestions and play directly opposite to how the developers intended. This was called “memebuilding.” A player could select the Mage class but rely on a mace to deal physical damage. When comparing normal and meme builds it was blatantly obvious which was more viable. Following along with the developer’s intent was crucial to performing well in any game.
If this was a normal game, then it would have walkthrough sites and online forums. However, this was a proper flesh-and-blood world, not a game. Allen had to figure everything out on his own.
For the past seven years, the same question had continued to rattle around in his brain: What is a Summoner? It was his class, but how was he supposed to play it? What was his fighting style supposed to be? What should he do to better align himself with the intentions of the gods and make the most of his class?
It had been clear pretty early on that simply calling forth Summons and making them fight on his behalf was not everything there was to it—the Rank F and H Summons’ Abilities were just too varied. So, what was it then? However, now that he had seen what his Rank E Summons could do, Allen believed he may have begun to see a faint outline of the gods’ designs. He was getting closer to the truth. And the truth shocked him.
The following were the details of the Rank E Summons:
Status of Insect E (Butterfly)Type: Insect
Rank: E
Name: Ageha
HP: 25
MP: 0
Attack: 20
Endurance: 50
Agility: 50
Intelligence: 24
Luck: 28
Buffs: Endurance 10, Agility 10
Ability: Scale Powder
Status of Beast E (Saber-toothed Tiger)Type: Beast
Rank: E
Name: Tama
HP: 50
MP: 0
Attack: 50
Endurance: 20
Agility: 35
Intelligence: 28
Luck: 21
Buffs: HP 10, Attack 10
Ability: Claw
Status of Bird E (Hawk)Type: Bird
Rank: E
Name: Hawkins
HP: 23
MP: 0
Attack: 22
Endurance: 24
Agility: 50
Intelligence: 50
Luck: 27
Buffs: Agility 10, Intelligence 10
Ability: Hawk Eye
Status of Grass E (Edamame)Type: Grass
Rank: E
Name: Mametaro
HP: 21
MP: 50
Attack: 20
Endurance: 22
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 13
Luck: 50
Buffs: MP 10, Luck 10
Ability: Leaf of Life
Status of Stone E (Dirt Wall)Type: Stone
Rank: E
Name: Wally
HP: 50
MP: 20
Attack: 33
Endurance: 50
Agility: 20
Intelligence: 23
Luck: 28
Buffs: HP 10, Endurance 10
Ability: Harden
Allen was so startled that his mind went blank for a short while. When he returned to his senses, he quickly reverted Stone E to card form. Then he took a closer look at the page on his grimoire where the Statuses of all his new Summons were listed out.
If I’m reading this right...there is a specific role that’s being assigned to each type of Summon, right?
Without ado, Allen applied himself to sorting through his observations and writing them all down.
Insect Type (Abilities: Provoke, Suction, Scale Powder)
Provoke robs enemies of their ability to think straight, and Suction lowers enemies’ Attack. Based on this, it seems likely that the Insect type is specialized for casting debuffs. Judging by its name, Scale Powder probably inflicts a status debuff on enemies like confusion, paralysis, or sleep.
Beast Type (Abilities: Dig, Chomp, Claw)
Possessing high HP and Attack, this is the only type properly specced for attacking. This type will be the main source of damage when fighting against monsters. Will probably only ever be using the highest-ranked Summon from this type.
Bird Type (Abilities: Voice Mimic, Transmission, Hawk Eye)
Voice Mimic is capable of mimicking other people’s voices and using them to say anything. Should be useful when infiltrating enemy camps. Transmission makes it possible to convey information to someone faraway. Hawk Eye is likely for scouting. Based on all this, the Bird type seems specialized for intelligence and information gathering.
Grass Type (Abilities: Aroma, Leaf of Life)
This type is specialized for recovery. Leaf of Life is, based on the name, likely something that helps restore HP. It seems likely future additions to this type will be offering recovery in other areas.
Stone Type (Abilities: Harden)
The Stone E Summon seems perfect for ducking behind in order to evade incoming attacks. This is likely a type specialized for defense and tanking.
Although Allen had not yet started experimenting with the Rank E Summons, there was a lot that he could glean from just the names of their Abilities. It was becoming clear how each type of Summon had its own role. This was further substantiated by how the Summons had the two stats most relevant to their respective roles bumped up higher than all the rest.
So, a Summoner is someone who is able to handle all roles in a fight, be it attacking, defending, debuffing, healing, and scouting. I imagine later additions will continue expanding the range of what I can do.
In other words, the single class of Summoner was equipped to fulfill the roles of multiple classes. Just to list a few, it had means to attack like a Swordsman, heal like a Cleric, and scout like a Thief. Unlocking other kinds of Summons would probably enable Allen to do even more things in the future that he currently could not.
Allen took this to be the intention of the developers, or the gods, behind the Summoner class. He opened up his grimoire and turned to stare at the Storage page. It was connected to a hyperdimensional pocket that was, in all likelihood, completely infinite in volume and could store anything and everything that fit through its thirty-by-thirty-centimeter entrance.
I am going to need so many magic stones going forward.
Allen had also written down in his notes how many magic stones he would need for each type of Summon.
Insect: 1
Beast: 1
Bird: 3
Grass: 5
Stone: 9
According to this pattern, the types that show up later on down the road would require even greater numbers of magic stones. Even now, if Allen intended on filling all forty slots in his holder with Stone E, he would need a total of 360 magic stones.
So, the reason why I was given the Storage skill was so I wouldn’t have to walk around constantly lugging tens to hundreds of magic stones all the time. After all, the physical size of the magic stones also goes up with rank.
As Allen continued mulling over his epiphany, a scene unfolded within his mind. He saw himself in his ultimate form as a Summoner. Surrounding him was an endless horde of Summons, an invincible army capable of dealing with any situation and triumphing over all who stood in its way. The Summons would take care of everything. All enemies would be ground to dust before the might of this legendary host.
“An invincible army, huh. So this is the power of a Summoner, the class that surpasses even Demon Lord.”
Allen was so overwhelmed he ended up blurting his thoughts out loud. Now, he was even more motivated to take his class as far as it could go. Allen...had just had a glimpse of the gods’ will.
＊ ＊ ＊
It was now mid-September. Soon, summer would be giving way to autumn.
“You ready to go?”
“Yes, father.”
Today, Rodin and Allen were heading out first thing in the morning. Yesterday, Deboji had sent a messenger. To Rodin’s surprise, the village chief wanted to see both him and Allen this time. The reason for the summons was not provided.
As always, Theresia, Mash, and Myulla were staying home. They saw Rodin and Allen off at the front door.
“Yo, Rodin. I knew it—you got called too.”
Along the way, the father and son bumped into Gerda, who fell into step with them.
Well, it’s not surprising. Father and Gerda are the two who usually get summoned by the village chief—in fact, I’m the odd one out here.
It was not uncommon for the village chief to call for Rodin and Gerda, as they were the de facto leaders of the serfs in the village. The great boar hunts were not the only reason Deboji would summon them—he would also ask them to take care of a large variety of minor miscellaneous affairs, such as mediating disputes between serfs. That said, it was mostly Rodin who took care of such intervention requests, as Gerda would resort to using his fists too quickly.
“Did you hear what he wants us for this time, Gerda?”
“Nah, I was only told to come.”
I mean, if it’s all three of us, then it’s very likely going to be about the great boar hunts. Does Deboji have something to say now, with the hunts starting up next month? He already told us to hunt fifteen last year and twenty this year. Has something changed?
During the past three months, Allen had done everything he could to gather magic stones. He called out to the other serfs while drawing water, got on his hands and knees in Krena’s garden to poke between the weeds, reached out to Dogora and Pelomas, and even hit up every store in the commercial area to ask if they had magic stones they did not need. Thanks to his backbreaking efforts, he ultimately managed to obtain more than two hundred stones.
Now there were quite a lot of Grass E cards in his storage. The reason he chose to go with Grass E was for the MP boost it provided. The more MP he had, the faster he could reach Summoning Lvl. 5, which would require a total of 3,000,000 Skill XP.
He was currently debating internally whether to join the great boar hunts next month. If he was to focus on accruing XP, then he should go. However, if he was to focus on earning money to free his family from serfdom, then staying home to hunt albaherons was the smarter choice by far. In short, he was now torn on what he should be prioritizing: XP or money. Because of this, he had yet to challenge Rodin again in arm wrestling. And in fact, he expected the outcome of today’s talk to be a factor in helping him make a decision.
Allen remained absorbed in his thoughts the entire way as the group of three made their way to the village chief’s house. When they stepped inside, they found themselves immediately escorted to Deboji’s room, where he welcomed them with outstretched arms.
“There you guys are. I’ve been waiting.”
“So, why’d you summon us? And why’d you want Allen too?”
Oh wow, father’s starting with the big question. I like it. Seriously, do I even need to be here? Is it that the equipment I requested is complete and he wants me to explain how they’re meant to be used?
“Now, now, there’s no hurry,” Deboji replied before gesturing for his servants to lay tea and snacks on the table.
What?! These are actual confectionaries! It’s my first time seeing any in this world. And they’re... Oh my god, they’re so gooood!
The cookies, made from wheat and sugar, disappeared into Allen’s mouth at an alarming rate. He had a huge sweet tooth.
In contrast, Rodin and Gerda simply frowned, showing no intention of reaching toward the plate. Deboji had never served them tea before when they visited, much less snacks.
“So? What’d you call us for?” Rodin asked again, his voice even more colored with wariness than before.
After taking another sip of tea and sighing softly, Deboji said, “The feudal lord is coming to Krena Village next month.” Ignoring the confounded “What?!” from all three members of his audience, he then continued, “And he wants to see a great boar hunting session in person. Even I learned of this only yesterday. A messenger just arrived.”
“You mean, we have to bring down a great boar while His Lordship is watching?” Gerda asked in a tone of disbelief.
Without missing a beat, Deboji replied, “That’s exactly right.”
Both Rodin and Gerda looked completely taken back. Allen would be turning eight next month, but not once had he ever heard talk of the feudal lord coming to their village. In fact, this might be the very first time since the village’s founding thirteen years ago.
What’s this? Talk about a sudden development, Allen thought before asking out loud, “Around when in October would he be coming?”
“I was told the middle of the month,” Deboji answered before murmuring softly, “I knew it.”
Allen noticed the strange reaction, but before he could say anything, Rodin asked, “And? What do you want us to do?”
“Just make sure the hunt goes off without a hitch. His Lordship will be watching, after all.”
“We always do our best to make the hunts go off without a hitch. Okay, so the feudal lord is coming. How does that involve my boy?”
“The messenger also said that someone would be needed to accompany His Lordship and serve as his guide.”
“What?!” both Rodin and Gerda exclaimed in unison when they saw Deboji turn to face Allen.
Allen pointed at himself. “Uh...me?”
“Mr. Deboji, if it has to be a kid, you’ve got one of your own too!”
“My son is a bit of a late bloomer, I guess you could say. Or more like, he’s not very suited for this kind of thing. Allen would have to serve His Lordship at the dinner feast the night before the hunt as well. Do you think he’d be up to it?”
Ah, so it’s not just explaining what’s happening during the hunt. Wait, is that why Deboji laid out snacks? Hmph, I’m not cheap enough to be bought off with something like this!
In spite of his thoughts, Allen threw another piece of cookie into his mouth.
Rodin groaned loudly as he thought hard about it. Of course, the right to answer did not lie with Allen, but with his father. After all, this was the feudal lord they were talking about. If Allen messed anything up in the presence of the feudal lord, it was Rodin who would have to take responsibility.
“I heard that it was Allen who devised both the new equipment and your current hunting method,” Deboji pointed out, pressing his point. “He speaks clearly and has a sharp mind. He’s perfect for the role.”
Allen stared at Rodin as his own thoughts rattled around inside his head. He had no interest whatsoever in status—beyond that of his family living free and comfortably, that was. Back when he was Kenichi and creating his character for this world, he had seen that the Summoner class was restricted to being born as a serf, and this had not made him hesitate in the slightest.
Even now, he felt no desire at all to climb his way up into nobility after obtaining commoner citizenship. Rather, he would do everything in his power to avoid any situation that could potentially saddle him with a noble status, as he could only imagine it being a shackle that would prevent him from dedicating himself to leveling up. Serving the country was absolutely out of the question.
That said, being a serf came with rather severe limitations.
As long as I’m a serf, I wouldn’t be able to go outside the village. That means I can’t level up freely.
The only time in the year when Allen could earn levels was during the brief window in autumn when he could hunt both great boars and albaherons. His Rank E Summons remained largely unanalyzed, and there was much about even his Rank F Summons that he had not been able to explore yet. He very desperately wanted to do something to improve his current situation.
At the same time, he also felt driven to raise his family’s living conditions.
If I remember right, there are two ways of escaping being a serf, right? According to what Gerda said, the first is to buy your way out, with the price being ten gold coins per person, and the second is for the feudal lord to grant you commoner status as a reward for some contribution or achievement.
Last autumn, Allen had done everything he could to earn money, and yet he had only gathered a little over three gold coins. At this rate, it would take him over ten years to free his entire family. There was no telling what could happen to them within such a long period of time, especially with how little freedom of movement they had and how low their social status was.
I’d been trying to decide between joining the boar hunts and staying home to hunt albaherons, but now the answer is as clear as day.
“Father.”
“Hm? What’s the matter, Allen?”
“Please let me be the feudal lord’s guide.”
“What?!”
“I’ve got to tell him how hard you and everyone else in the hunting party are working!” Allen beamed brightly. If I can convince the feudal lord of the enormity of what father’s done so far, he just might make him a commoner.
Deboji’s face lit up. “Ohhh! You’re interested, boy?!”
Rodin looked surprised but did not express his opposition. Neither did Gerda. By now, they both had faith that Allen actually could accomplish what he said he could do.
“So, what’re we gonna do now?” Gerda asked, moving the conversation along.
“Mr. Deboji, is the equipment I asked for done yet?”
“Mm-hm, they’re in my warehouse. You want to see them now?”
“Yes, please. I want to go over how they’re meant to be used and how it would affect the way the hunts go.”
Allen had decided to dedicate himself to the great boar hunts. With the feudal lord coming soon next month, it was time to kick things up a notch.