Chapter 2: Hunting around Granvelle City

Allen woke up right after 5 a.m., thirty minutes earlier than usual. He quickly put on his casual clothes and then ran out the back door of the mansion to the city gates, relying solely on the illumination from the streetlights.

“What’s the matter, lad? It’s not time to open this gate yet,” the guard told Allen.

“Mm, I know. I’ll wait.”

This gate was mainly used by members of Baron Granvelle’s household as well as those living in the nobles’ residential area. Allen had already learned from Rickel beforehand that it opened at the 6 a.m. bell. Back in Krena Village, the bell had only rung at 9 a.m., 12 noon, 3 p.m., and 6 p.m.; however, here in Granvelle City, 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. were also added to the schedule for a total of six rings every day. As expected of the big city—the mornings were early and the nights late.

While I wait, let’s do one final check.

Allen got out his grimoire and confirmed what he had put inside its Storage.

• Short sword x 1
• Wooden sword x 3
• Stick of firewood x 30
• Rope x 3
• Jerky x 5
• Waterskin x 2
• Throwing stone x 10
• Silver coin x 93
• Copper coin x 2
• Rank E magic stone x 3

During his previous day off, Allen had gone out to town and bought everything that he thought he would need traveling outside the city. He had also adjusted the distribution of the cards in the holders.

• Insect G x 3
• Insect E x 1
• Beast E x 10
• Bird E x 6
• Grass E x 20

Before he had kept twenty Bird E cards, but he had swapped most of them out to adopt a build more suitable for hunting. Consequently, his stock of Rank E magic stones had decreased from more than ten to only three. It was pretty much all tapped out.

Allen had also been informed by Sebas that as a manservant, he was forbidden from carrying weapons on his person. This applied to the short sword that he had received from Dogora as a parting gift. Therefore, the weapon was now inside Storage alongside a few wooden swords.

Wait, I have firewood, the kind for warming rooms, but no flint to light it with. Oh well, I can always buy it while out on another errand. Cecil sent Allen to buy things for her quite often. He could easily drop by a general store along the way.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The large city bell pealed loudly, indicating that it was now six o’clock. The gate guard called out to Allen. “Hey lad, gate’s open. You got your pass with you?”

Allen retrieved a badge bearing the crest of House Granvelle’s servants from his trouser pocket. This gave him access to all of the city gates.

“M-My apologies. I did not realize you were in His Lordship’s service.”

“No worries,” Allen responded before stepping through. He immediately found his breath taken away and murmured with emotion, “I’m finally outside!”

Allen had dreamed of the view currently spread out before his eyes for eight years. He walked forward as if mesmerized. A part of him heard the gate guard say, “Lad, stay safe,” but he was too occupied to pay any mind.

A nearly bare grassland stretched out for about a kilometer from the gate, beyond which was a sparse forest that obscured the horizon. The trees seemed planted at regular intervals, indicating unnatural growth. It had been the same around Krena Village.

After walking for a while, Allen took his crest back out for a better look. The symbol was made of three trees, likely in reference to the wealth of untouched nature in the fiefdom.

Well then, Rank D monsters seem like a good place to start. I don’t think I’ll lose to something on par with an albaheron.

Allen had already learned at the Adventurer’s Guild that the strength of the monsters in this area was proportional to proximity to the White Dragon Mountains. The mountain range lay beyond Krena Village to the southwest of Granvelle City and stretched north to south into the far distance. The base of the mountains was a seven days’ walk from the city. Everything that Allen knew about the geography of the vicinity had come from Rickel, since he himself did not have access to the mansion’s study where maps of the fiefdom were presumably located.

If I have the misfortune of bumping into a high-ranked monster, I can just aggro it with Hopper and run away.

When used, Insect G’s Ability, Provoke, would cause monsters to become enraged. Allen intended to use it as a way to get unwanted monsters off his back.

Because his time was limited, Allen started to run. He stopped only after traversing around ten kilometers.

This should be far enough. Before I start hunting, I want to have a better look at the Bird E Summon. Come on out, Hawkins.

A giant hawk with a wingspan of two meters suddenly appeared in midair.

Come here.

“Pii!”

The Bird E landed and made its way over with stalking steps.

Hold on, it’s doing what I told it to even though I never trained it. Is this because of its high Intelligence? Spin around once, please.

Sure enough, the creature slowly turned around in a circle. Allen was delighted to have a Summon that could finally understand orders, but the first order of business was to analyze why. The first possible answer that came to mind was Intelligence. Whereas Bird E only started with 50 Intelligence, Strengthening Lvl. 4 buffed the stat by a hundred, bringing it to 150 in total.

Hm, I’ll tentatively take this to mean Summons can understand instructions once they reach 150 in Intelligence. Next: walk one meter to the right.

Hawkins obediently walked one meter to the right.

Nice, so it already understands words. Saves me the trouble. Let’s try this with other Summons. Tama, come on out.

A saber-toothed cat appeared, towering at a bit more than a meter tall and two meters in length. Now that Allen was getting to the third tier of unlockable Summons, they were starting to look quite intimidating.

Here, Tama. Come.

The large beast started rolling about on the ground, rubbing its back against the soft green grass and purring with contentment.

Hm, so I can’t give instructions to Tama, who’s the same rank but only has 28 Intelligence. In other words, the deciding factor really is the Intelligence stat, not the rank of the Summon.

Because he was done confirming the factor behind the Summons’ ability to comprehend words and instructions, Allen reverted Tama back to card form.

The other tests I want to do all need an opponent, so we might as well get started. Hawkins, use Hawk Eye and find me a target.

“Pii!”

Then Allen remained in place, waiting and enduring the heat of the sun that had climbed quite high by now. However, even after waiting fifteen minutes, Hawkins showed no sign of returning.

Gah, the encounter rate in this world is way too low.

The term “encounter rate” referred to the probability of encountering a monster while moving around in a game. In many of the games that Allen had played as Kenichi, the player character only had to walk for less than a minute after leaving town to bump into a monster. In contrast, despite currently being more than an hour away from Granvelle City, Allen had yet to see battle. Apparently monsters were not all that common in this world.

I’ve also waited more than an hour for an albaheron to fly overhead. This is just way too inefficient. I’ve got to make the most out of the limited time I have for hunting. You know what? I’ll send out the rest of the Bird E Summons that I stocked.

Allen gave the five Summons that appeared the same instruction he had the first. They cried out in unison, then took off in a burst of fluttering.

Okay, that should make it faster to find monsters to kill. Oh right, gotta take my short sword out. And in exchange, I’ll put the crest inside Storage so that I don’t accidentally drop it.

“Pii!”

This time, a Bird E came back right away. It descended and landed on a nearby tree as if saying, “This way.”

That direction, then?

Allen drew his weapon and cautiously proceeded in the direction indicated. He walked one hundred meters...three hundred meters...five hundred meters...and yet there was still no monster to be seen.

Ugh, is there actually a monster up ahead? I’m going to have to use more precise questions to figure out exactly how far away the target is.

Three other Hawkins were circling overhead, indicating that they had also found monsters.

Thinking about it, I should probably also limit the search radius I want. If it turns out what I’m now heading toward is ten kilometers away, not only is it too far away, I would be continuing on blind for the entire distance.

Just as Allen pondered how to use Hawkins in a smarter way, he noticed a humanoid figure looming ahead.

Hm? Is that a monster?

“Gugagaga.”

It turned out to be a monster about 150 centimeters tall with green skin. It had a cloth wrapped around its waist.

That’s gotta be a goblin, right?

“Gugagaga.”

Allen stopped and faced off against the goblin, who turned out to have four more companions. They all had muscular bodies and were holding swords or clubs. They cackled loudly, as if they thought lunch in the form of an eight-year-old boy had just dropped into their laps.

Crap, I lost the element of surprise.

One of the basics of fighting was to get a preemptive strike in. Allen would have preferred starting off the fight by first taking a few pot shots from behind cover, but he had let his guard down and barged right in instead.

“Gugagaga!” one of the goblins screamed, after which all of them charged forward, weapons held aloft.

Tamas, come out!

“Grrrrr!”

Allen could freely call out as many Summons as he wanted at the same time without any concern for MP costs. With that, five Strengthened saber-toothed cats surrounded Allen in a defensive formation.

“Guga?”

The goblins faltered in their steps, surprised by the sudden appearance of the Summons.

“Grrrr!”

That moment, five more Tamas appeared behind the group of goblins. Allen was capable of calling forth his Summons anywhere within fifty meters that he had direct line of sight to. Now the monsters were surrounded. Attacking an enemy from behind was the most basic, and the most effective, method of attack. Allen ordered all the sabertooths to use their Ability, Claw. The goblins flew into a mindless panic, clearly not very intelligent. When they turned around to face the assailants behind them, the ones protecting Allen surged forward in attack. Two goblins fell immediately.

Before the others die... Ageha, come on out and use your Ability!

A giant butterfly with a meter wingspan appeared. It flapped its wings toward the goblins, covering them with a yellowish powder. Two of the remaining three monsters fell asleep on their feet so quickly it was as if they had lost consciousness.

Allen took out a rock from Storage and threw it at the face of one of the sleeping goblins with his full strength. However, no line appeared on his grimoire, indicating that it was still alive.

That wasn’t enough to finish it off, huh?

One of the Beast Es dealt the finishing blow to the monster with a crushed-in face.

<You have defeated 1 goblin. You have earned 200 XP.>

I see, so one goblin gives me 200 XP. There’s five of them here, which means a total of 1,000 XP! Yahoo!

Allen could not help but do a little jig inside his mind after calculating how much XP he would gain from this fight. He earned 100 XP from one albaheron and 400 XP from one great boar. Thanks to the adoption of his suggestions, the hunting party at Krena Village had become capable of hunting three great boars each trip, which added up to a total of 1,200 XP.

Efficiency’s always important to consider when grinding. Goblins have better hourly rates, plain and simple.

Back when Allen was Kenichi, he had always thought of earning XP within games in terms of “hourly rates.” Great boars were, including the time needed to reach and return from the hunting grounds, worth 1,200 XP for six hours. In sharp contrast, he had just earned 1,000 XP before two hours had even passed. That made the hourly rate for great boars 200 and for goblins 500. It was blatantly obvious which was more efficient.

The Hawkins circling above told Allen his next target was already lined up.

Good, good. Let’s grab the magic stones in these goblins and then move on. But hm, so Scale Powder causes the Sleep debuff. Just one Ageha was enough to have an effect. This supports my hypothesis.

From what he had observed, Allen had realized there was a certain rule to the debuffs cast by the Insect cards. He wanted to confirm it through today’s battles.

For now, he approached the dead goblins and used his short sword to cut into their chests, taking out their magic stones. It was honestly quite a gross task, but magic stones were precious. This was especially true for Allen as a Summoner—magic stones could very likely determine his survival someday. As such, just leaving them untouched was not an option. Soon, Allen’s stock of magic stones had gone up by five.

During that time, multiple Tamas kept a vigilant lookout around Allen just in case there were other goblins nearby. Getting attacked from behind was a very real danger when soloing.

All right, that’s the harvesting done. Hawkins, I want more goblins! Those who saw a group of five or more just now, come on down. Has to be within three kilometers, though. The rest of you, go back out there and keep looking with Hawk Eye.

Promptly, four of the hawks flew off. Two descended, seemingly having found something that matched Allen’s criteria. They indicated the direction, then Allen took off.

After this, Allen completely lost himself in goblin hunting. Time passed in a flash, and before he knew it, the sun had started to go down.

Nice! Thanks to killing eighty goblins and five horned rabbits in total, my level’s gone up by two! Days off are the best!

A single goblin gave 200 XP and a horned rabbit gave 10. All together, Allen had earned 16,050 XP today alone. He was now Lvl. 9.

As a result of his testing today, he had also figured out a rule behind the Insect Summons. When he wanted the Insect Gs to use their Ability on albaherons, a monster three ranks higher at D, he needed three of them to work together. Conversely, a single Insect E had been able to affect a group of goblins, Rank D monsters. From this, he derived the following postulates:

• One Summon is sufficient to affect a monster one rank higher with an Ability
• Two Summons are needed to affect a monster two ranks higher with an Ability
• An additional Summon is needed to affect a monster each successive rank higher with an Ability
• The probability of successfully debuffing a monster is not 100% (unaffected by the number of Summons)
• A single Summon is capable of debuffing several monsters at once

The debuff from Scale Powder turned out to be Sleep. It was roughly eighty percent effective against goblins, which was a very high number. Admittedly, this might be a number specific to only goblins, so more testing was needed.

Unfortunately, Allen’s side did not exactly get through the day unscathed. The goblins, buff as they were, had proved surprisingly effective at killing the saber-toothed tigers. The Strengthening skill had given the Beast E Summons more HP and Attack, which meant they were still quite low on Agility and Endurance. It certainly did not help matters that their rank was lower than the goblins’.

Allen started off every fight using Insect E, but there were times when he got unlucky and Scale Powder still left more goblins standing than not. When that happened, the Tamas would end up taking more attacks. In order to offset his losses, Allen searched out horned rabbits every now and then for their Rank E magic stones.

Another thing that Allen learned today was that he could not create Rank E Summons using the Rank D magic stones harvested from goblins. When Creating and Synthesizing new Summons, he needed magic stones of the exact same rank.

All right, next group! Where are you, my little goblins?

Groups of goblins were the perfect targets, as they meant more XP in one place with less searching. Allen continued seeking them out, feeling like he had become a goblin hunter. However, all six of his hawks suddenly circled once in the air and then descended.

Hm? What’s wrong? Are you tired? I can still go on, though.

Allen recalled when, as Kenichi, he had gone hunting with a party in an online game for eight hours straight until a member yelled, “I’m tired already!”

The birds, which were now standing in a row on the ground, all shook their heads. Apparently the reason for their behavior was not fatigue. With a start, Allen suddenly realized his surroundings had gotten rather dim. It would not be long before the sun set completely.

Wait, is it because you guys can’t see in the dark?

Six nods confirmed Allen’s guess.

“Oh my god, you guys really are hawks! So you can’t scout at night. Uh-oh, I’m in trouble, then.”

It was at this moment that Allen finally realized that he had completely lost his sense of direction after all the twists and turns he took chasing goblins. He had no idea where he currently was nor what direction Granvelle City was.

I’d planned on having Hawkins direct me back home, but it looks like I’ll have to figure it out myself.

Thankfully, there was still a little bit of sun, which gave Allen a general idea of direction. He then dashed as fast as he could through the darkening forest. Several hours later, he successfully returned to the city gate. By now, it was pitch black outside.

“Oh, there you are, lad! Congrats on making it back in one piece.”

“Th-Thank you, sir.”

It was the same guard who had been standing at the gate since morning.

Guards sure have it tough, having to be on their feet all day long, Allen thought while producing his crest. But okay, that was a really close shave. I’m going to have to wrap things up earlier in the day next time.

Thus Allen’s first full day off ended with a little bit of introspection.

＊ ＊ ＊

It was now mid-December, roughly a month after Allen had started dedicating his one day off each week to hunting. The arrangement made him think back to his elementary school days, when his parents only allowed him to game on Sundays. A rather nonsensical rule, now that he thought about it, but that was neither here nor there.

One day, after finishing work hours, Allen visited a weapons shop around the chiming of the 9 p.m. bell.

“Here ya go,” the owner said, handing over iron spheres the size of baseballs. “Still haven’t the faintest idea what you plan on doing with those, but whaddya think?”

“Oh, these are perfect! Thank you very much! Sixty silver for all three, right?”

The owner nodded and accepted the money that Allen was holding out.

These feel great in the hand. Now I finally have replacements for my throwing stones.

After exiting the store, Allen put the iron spheres away inside Storage and returned to the mansion.

＊ ＊ ＊

Today was Allen’s fourth day off. Thanks to spending all his off time so far on hunting, he was now Lvl. 12. The stat increase was great, but it had come with a new problem. Namely, stones broke whenever he threw them. Because he no longer had any chance to use Insect G’s Provoke, he replaced most of them with Beast E instead, which buffed his Attack even higher. All the throwing stones that Allen had brought along from Krena Village had been shattered in attacks against goblins.

As replacements, Allen had ordered iron balls from a weapons shop. According to the owner, it was not all that much trouble, as it was simply a matter of changing the shape of a lump of iron originally meant for making a weapon anyway. Because of this, he was willing to part with one ball for twenty silvers. Allen had ordered three.

The list of things I need to buy just keeps growing. Armor is a given, but I also want a fire-starting magic tool, and I want to eventually have ten iron balls in total. Of course, I really also ought to get a better weapon. But that’s at the lowest priority, since I mainly fight with my Summons.

Allen reviewed the shopping list that he had written down in his grimoire. The fire-starting magic tool cost three gold. There was a huge range of prices when it came to armor, but the higher-end ones naturally cost several gold. The same was true for weapons.

I really feel like a game character who’s arrived at the starting town and is gathering his first set of equipment!

Despite being in need of money, Allen’s heart still beat quickly in excitement. He recalled the emotions he had felt from visiting a new town inside a game and anticipating the new equipment available.

Hunt monsters, earn XP, use money to improve my equipment. Now this is the old-school playing style. Though the money I’m using is from my salary and not from selling drops.

Servants at House Granvelle received their salaries at the end of each month. Allen’s monthly salary was fifty silver. A hundred silver equaled one gold, which meant his annual salary was six gold. Servants of House Granvelle were exempted from the head tax.

The monthly salary for each rank in the household’s servant hierarchy was as follows: the top rank, which the butler belonged to, received five gold; the second rank, which the head chef belonged to, received two gold; the lowest rank, which Allen belonged to, received one gold. The reason Allen was receiving only half the amount that was normal for his standing was because he was under twelve years of age. Rickel had been the one to tell Allen all of this; as head manservant, he received one gold and fifty silver each month.

If I could register goblin-killing quests with the Adventurer’s Guild, I would earn more. Oh well, it’s not like I need money so badly it’d kill me. And most importantly, the Guild building is too far away anyway.

In every one of the fights so far, his Summons tanked all the attacks, and Allen had yet to get hurt even once. Because of this, armor was not very high on his list of priorities either. He was content with waiting for his money to slowly accrue.

Once again, Allen got back late that night. He was about to head back to his own room when he bumped into Rickel.

“Hi, Mr. Rickel. Good night.”

“Ah, there you are. I know it’s late, but Sebas is calling for you.”

“What?”

Allen could not remember doing anything that would merit being called for, but ignoring the summons was not an option. After thanking Rickel for conveying the message, he headed to the butler’s room.

Knock, knock.

“Excuse me. It’s Allen.”

“Mm, come in.”

Despite it being quite late at night, the butler was still willing to talk. When Allen entered the room, Sebas gestured toward one of the sofas.

“I heard you wanted to see me, sir.”

“Indeed.”

A long silence then ensued. Allen patiently waited for Sebas to broach the topic.

“Allen. Your work in the mansion is beyond reproach. I’ve heard from the other servants that you are diligent and conscientious.”

When Sebas finally started speaking, it seemed like he was carefully choosing his words.

“Thank you very much, sir.”

“However, work is not the only thing that matters. What you do in your off time is also important. You must remain constantly self-aware of your identity as a member of House Granvelle.”

What’s this? Am I getting scolded for something?

“Of course, sir.”

Sebas looked straight into Allen’s eyes. “What are you doing on your days off?”

“I’m sorry, sir?”

On his days off, Allen would head out before the sun rose. In a great hurry too. And when he returned, it was invariably after 9 p.m. With this having continued for a full month, it was only natural his behavior would lead to questions.

Just as Allen was considering whether to tell the truth or not, Sebas said, “I’m not letting you out of this room until you answer my question.”

I see. Well, I don’t have a choice, then.

Allen was hunting around Granvelle City, and while he did his best to avoid people, there were still times he passed by adventurers. It was only a matter of time before word of a black-haired child hunting in the area spread. Not that he had any intention of stopping what he was doing.

“I’ve been hunting monsters,” Allen replied truthfully.

“You’ve been hunting monsters?”

“Yes, sir. On my days off, from morning to night, I’ve been hunting monsters outside the city.”

The butler’s eyes widened in surprise. He felt as if he was looking at the very concept of absurdity given the form of an eight-year-old boy.

“Is that why you asked Rickel about the White Dragon Mountains and the Adventurer’s Guild?”

He reported me?

Allen felt resentful toward Rickel for a split second but then thought better of it. If the butler asked Rickel about the possibly suspicious behavior of one of his charges, it was only natural for him to share what he knew.

“Yes it is, sir.”

“So that is why you asked for full days off. Why do you hunt?”

“Because I am Boar Hunter Rodin’s son. I want to grow up into an upstanding person like my father one day.”

To Allen’s own surprise, the words flowed naturally from his mouth. He realized he believed what he had said.

I see, so I really am the son of Rodin, the man who wanted to become a hunter. I just happen to also really love hunting. I guess we really are father and son.

Allen was satisfied with the answer that he had just found within himself. Despite being far apart, he and his father had a common bond in hunting. It was a very deep connection, as far as bonds went, as this was their shared purpose in life, their raison d’être. Allen even suspected that him being born to Rodin had been an intentional arrangement on the part of the gods.

“Hunting on my off days is what I live for.”

“What you live for, huh? So it’s that important to you. Hmm...I suppose you really are Rodin’s son after all.”

Understanding dawned on Sebas’s face. Surely, Allen had been greatly influenced by his father while growing up. The son of the village’s champion now declared hunting his reason to exist. Back when he had said he would quit being a manservant if he did not get full days off, his eyes had been lit by the same glint of resolve.

“I see. Well, having a raison d’être is a good thing, as long as it doesn’t cause other people trouble like Dudley’s does.”

Dudley? That’s...the head chef, right? Ah, I do remember him and Sebas locking horns every once in a while.

The head chef loved cooking above all else. By and large that was a good thing. However, he would go over budget buying ingredients to experiment with dishes. He showed no qualms about standing up to Sebas despite being one tier lower on the hierarchy, likely due to them being close in age. During his time at the mansion, Allen had already happened upon the butler and head chef shouting at each other multiple times, the former repeatedly upbraiding the latter for not staying within budget, and the latter insisting on raising the quality of the food being served.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be careful not to trouble anyone else.”

“If I can be entirely frank with you, Allen, I want your work in this mansion to become what you live for. Just like it did for me.”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

Well that’s gonna be difficult. After being reincarnated and all, I don’t want to live out my years in someone else’s service.

Allen’s half-hearted answer and stiff smile caused Sebas to sigh and shrug his shoulders.

“Well then... What have you been doing with the horned rabbits you bring back?”

“I’m sorry, sir?”

Apparently Sebas was under the misconception that Allen had been hunting horned rabbits close to the city walls. The thought that Allen was hunting goblins hours away had not even crossed his mind.

“There’s no need to hide it. You’ve been selling them to a butcher’s for some pocket money, yes?”

Ahhh, so that’s what he really wanted to know. Should I correct... Nah, let’s play along.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Mm, it’s not a very good look for a member of House Granvelle to be earning pocket money on the side. There’s no telling what rumors might be generated from this.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” Allen repeated, doing his best to seem apologetic. The truth was that he only harvested the magic stones and left the rest in the forest. He did not want to waste the time it would take him to drop by the butcher’s after hunting, after all. Currently, XP was much more valuable to him than money was.

“But that said, we can hardly let the meat go to waste. As such, bring the horned rabbits back. We will pay you for them, separate from your monthly salary.”

“Really?!” Talk about a nice surprise!

The meat that he had been discarding now had value.

“You’re that happy about it? I’m making it clear now, but we won’t be paying you all that much. One silver for each horned rabbit is all we’ll give.”

This was still more than enough. In this way, Allen’s hunting was—partially—exposed to Sebas the butler.

＊ ＊ ＊

The first off day since Allen’s confession to Sebas rolled around. Just as before, he left the mansion first thing in the morning and ran to the city gate, where the usual guard was standing sentry. Allen was impressed with how the man could keep at it this early and in such cold weather.

“You heading out again today, lad?”

“Yes, sir.”

The two exchanged light banter while waiting for the 6 a.m. bell. Last time, the guard had told Allen he did not need to show his crest anymore. Because of that, it was now inside his Storage. Apparently the check was not as strict as it was when using train or plane tickets in his previous life.

The gate soon opened at the usual time, and Allen took off. The first snowfall had come, and the year was almost over. The casual wear that he had been issued was not very thick, but because he was moving about so vigorously, he did not really feel the cold.

The city receded farther and farther into the distance.

All right, this should be far enough. Come on out, Hawkins.

Six Bird E Summons appeared at the same time several dozen meters in the air. After Allen instructed them to go look for goblins, they scattered in various directions.

Allen had tried hunting other monsters but ultimately concluded that goblins gave the highest hourly rate. Only goblin groups gave more than 1,000 XP for each encounter. There were other Rank D monsters that gave more XP per monster than goblins did, but they wandered in much smaller groups. Goblins also appeared much more frequently than other monsters did, which definitely helped make it much more efficient hunting them.

Today, let’s aim to kill a hundred goblins and a few horned rabbits for their magic stones and meat. Bringing five back should be enough, I think?

While waiting for his Summons to return, Allen decided on his quota for the day. The rate of encounter with monsters was not all that high. If he did not have Hawkins constantly scouting from the sky, he might only have three encounters a day. Hawk Eye was proving helpful in improving Allen’s hunting efficiency.

Before long, one Hawkins returned, and the day of hunting kicked off.

Three hours later, Allen stopped to eat his lunch of steamed potatoes and molmo. Because he was running around all day long, it was important to give his body the energy it needed. The molmo fruit also served to replenish his liquids, making it a very efficient food. Of course, it did not hurt that it was delicious too.

Just as Allen was biting into a molmo, one Hawkins landed on the branch of the tree beside him.

“Welcome back. Wait a bit. I’m almost done eating.”

“PII!”

Hm? What’s this?

The bird’s behavior seemed somehow different from usual. A quick look upward revealed three other Hawkins circling overhead. That meant they had found targets for Allen to hunt, but they were not coming down, almost as if yielding priority to the one that had landed.

Huh?

“PIIII!” The Hawkins on the tree cried out again, louder this time, and with a noticeable tone of urgency.

“Did something happen?”

Allen put his half-eaten potato into Storage and stood up. Immediately, Hawkins spread its wings and slowly flew off. When it looked down and confirmed that Allen was indeed following along, it then started flying faster and faster.

Where’s it hurrying to?

Of the Summons, Bird cards had high Agility as a base stat. After being Strengthened, Hawkins’s speed was nothing to scoff at. Thankfully, Allen was capable of keeping up thanks to the buffs he received from the cards.

We’ve gone quite far. Where’s it taking me?

Fifteen minutes of running later, Allen’s ears picked up faint shouts coming from up ahead.

“Run away, Milci! I’ll hold them back!”

“What are you saying, Rita?! I can’t leave you and Raven behind!”

“Milci and Rita, you should both go! It’s too late for me!”

Hm? Are they in battle? Wait, “Raven”?

When Allen got closer, he spotted the three adventurers he had met before in the Adventurer’s Guild. The man with the sword who had answered all of Allen’s questions, Raven, was clearly wounded. The woman with the staff was supporting him, while the dagger-wielding girl was standing protectively in front of the other two.

Although two goblins lay dead on the ground, there were still four currently concentrating their attacks on the dagger girl, whose name was apparently Rita. One of her arms seemed to be out of commission, merely dangling and dripping blood. Despite this, she was putting up a good fight with her one good hand, desperately standing her ground. The goblins inched closer slowly, their faces warped in sneers.

When he got within twenty meters, Allen took out an iron ball from his Storage and threw it with all his strength.

Here goes the first pitch.

Squish!

“Guga?”

The iron ball showed no sign of shattering even after completely caving in one of the goblins’ faces. The monster crumpled to the ground.

“Looks like you need some help, Ms. Rita!”

“Huh? Who’re you?”

Wha— Don’t turn around! You’re still in a fight!

Another iron ball made contact with a goblin’s face. This one, however, remained on its feet, albeit very shakily. Apparently the iron ball alone was not quite enough to guarantee a one-hit kill every time.

“The ones that took my attack are still alive. Don’t let your guard down!”

“O-Okay...”

Rita looked taken aback by the sudden arrival of reinforcements, but there was no time to let her compose herself. Allen threw his last ball. Unfortunately, the goblins were now aware of him and had their guards up. The goblin he was targeting managed to raise an arm in time to block the projectile. The impact clearly broke the arm, but the monster still had more than enough vitality to pose a threat. It shifted its club to its other arm.

There are two goblins left who can still attack. Guess I have no choice but to get personal.

Allen had zero intention of showing his Summons to other people, so he drew the short sword on his waist and charged out in front of Rita. He had already reverted all Hawkins to card form when he had first heard the group’s shouts.

“I’ll take on the unhurt one! You take the one with one arm!”

“O-Okay...”

Allen’s chosen opponent rushed toward him, brandishing a rusty, beat-up longsword. When Allen hunted albaherons, he had started the fights by draining their power using Insect F Summons. This time, that option was not available to him, leaving this a purely physical fight without the use of any abilities on either side.

Because Allen did not want to unnecessarily wear down the edge of his short sword, he opted to dodge all of the goblin’s wide swings. As he had already reached Lvl. 12, after adding in the buffs he received from his cards, his Attack and Agility were both above 300. He closed in on his opponent in the blink of an eye, slashed at its throat, then backed off to avoid the jet of blood. The monster crumpled to the ground, dead.

Hm, that was easy. So I’m already strong enough to effortlessly handle Rank D monsters.

The reason Allen never fought in person up until now was because he did not want to get his valuable outfit, which had been issued to him, dirty with blood spurts.

When Allen turned around to aid Rita, he found her delivering the killing blow to her opponent. She was capable enough of winning the fight, though she did apparently suffer a few more shallow wounds in the process. The two then went over and finished off the two goblins who had taken iron balls to their faces.

“Raven!”

“Ugh...”

Allen took a closer look at the man and confirmed that he was indeed the same person he had bumped into at the Adventurer’s Guild. Rita and Milci called his name in desperation, but all he could do was let out a weak rattle. He was clearly on the verge of death.

This lady called Milci looks like the party healer. Does the fact that she can’t do anything mean she ran out of MP? There’s no other choice; it’s time to test out a Leaf of Life.

When Allen approached, the two women became slightly wary. He was a black-haired boy clearly under the age of ten who had appeared out of the blue to make short work of an enemy they were struggling so much against. Allen did not fault them for their caution.

“Excuse me, I have an herb. Would you like me to use it?”

“Really?!” the two women cried out in unison, their expressions instantly brightening up.

“We’ll pay however much you want! Please save Raven!”

Allen pretended to reach behind and pulled out a Leaf of Life from Storage.

I never expected the first test subject to be someone so close to dying. Hm, this probably looks different from every other commonly used herb out there, so I should probably cover it with my hand.

The name of the item hinted at its ability to restore HP, but Allen had yet to test it out. Because he had no idea how to actually use the wide, flat, perilla-like leaf, he reached out with it clenched in his fist and attempted to press it directly against the wound on Raven’s abdomen.

The two women worriedly looked between Raven’s blank face and Allen’s actions. They were so desperate they were grasping at straws for any scrap of hope.

Please don’t look at me with so much expectation in your eyes. I have no idea how much this can heal him. In the first place, I don’t even know for sure that it’s an HP recovery item.

When the Leaf of Life made contact, it shone brightly and then disappeared like bubbles. Right after that, Raven’s wound, which had been deep enough to reach even his organs, closed back up gradually right before their eyes. Soon enough, the only sign there had been a wound was all the sticky blood left around the area.

Raven regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes, his mind completely clear. He gingerly touched his stomach, then looked down at it.

“Really?” he murmured in bewilderment, realizing that he had made a full recovery.

“RAVEN!” his two companions cried, cheering with relief.

“Wh-What happened...?” The man failed to understand how he was still alive. He asked Milci if she had healed him, but she shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re fine. Ms. Rita, was it? Here, I’ll heal your arm too,” Allen said before pressing another Leaf of Life against her dangling arm. Of course, he made sure to hold it in a way that it was not visible.

As all three adventurers looked on, time seemed to rewind for the arm. Before long, it was back to being as good as new. Some of the bones inside had been broken, but Rita had no problem lifting it up. She clenched and opened her hand multiple times in marvel.

Suddenly, all three started and shouted in unison, “Flower of Muellerze!”

As Raven and Rita wondered why Allen had used such a precious herb for their sake, the boy said, “Well, it looks like you’re both fine now. What about you, Ms. Milci? Are you hurt?”

Although she did not have any obvious external wounds, Allen did have one last Leaf of Life, so he offered it just in case.

“N-No, I’m fine!” Milci replied, thrusting out both hands in a fluster and shaking them vigorously to demonstrate how healthy she was.

“I’m glad to hear it. Can you guys get back on your own? Granvelle City’s that way.”

Because he always hunted until the last available minute, Allen was now very practiced at deriving the direction to Granvelle City based on the location of the sun.

“Huh? Uhhh, yeeeaaah. We’re good. If I’m not injured, I can easily take care of goblins,” Raven responded.

When Raven stood up, he realized that he was unarmed. The group had probably been attacked quite a distance away, which was when he had lost his sword and gotten hurt. So he walked over and picked up one of the rusty swords dropped by a goblin.

“Well, then my work here is done,” Allen said, turning to leave. “You guys take care.”

“No, wait!” Raven protested before stopping himself. Now that he was no longer on the verge of death, he finally had the composure to take a good look at Allen. “Huh? Aren’t you the kid I met at the Guild?”

“Yes, I am. Why?” Allen replied curtly, an annoyed look on his face. If you can get back by yourselves, then do it already. I really want to get back to hunting.

This whole incident had cost Allen about an hour of time. This was his precious day off. He was itching to get going.

“Please let us thank you.”

“Your gratitude is enough, thanks.”

However, Raven stopped him once again. From Raven’s point of view, Allen had saved his party from certain death and even used two Flowers of Muellerze on them, an item that cost several gold per pop. It would eat at his conscience to not return that favor in some way.

I still have sixty goblins to go for my quota for the day. Let me go already!

Of course, Raven had no idea what Allen was thinking. “Can’t we thank you in some way?” he asked one more time.

Seeing how persistent Raven was, Allen gave it some thought, then said, “In that case... Mr. Raven, right? You’re an adventurer?”

Raven spread his arms. “I am, as you can see. Why?”

“I’m in a hurry today. But when we meet again next time, tell me a lot more about adventurers.”

“Sure.”

Raven waited for Allen to continue.

Why does he look like he— Bro, that’s all. I’m done. What else do you want me to say? Ah, I do have one thing.

“Also, don’t tell anyone about me.”

“Of course. I won’t tell anyone.”

Milci and Rita also nodded. Then Raven waited once again for Allen to continue.

“Nothing else really comes to mi— Oh, right, can I have all these goblins’ magic stones? Oh! Speaking of magic stones!”

Finally, something substantial came to Allen’s mind. Once, when he visited a magic tool shop in Granvelle City to check out items that he might need while adventuring, he had also asked the store owner if he had Rank E magic stones for sale. The owner replied that he only bought them and was not selling any. Now, the idea to have Raven and his group gather some came to Allen’s mind.

“What? Did you think of something?”

“So, I’m gathering Rank E magic stones.”

“Okay.”

“So, if you really want to thank me, let me have these goblins’ magic stones, then also get me a hundred Rank E ones.”

“A-Are you sure that’s all you want?”

“Of course. Are you based in Granvelle City?”

“Yep, we’re staying long-term at an inn in the city.”

“I see. Where is it? I’ll drop by to pick the magic stones up in person. Please leave them with reception and tell them to expect someone named Allen to come for them. How long would it take you?”

According to Raven, they could gather that number in a week. Although he still seemed somewhat unconvinced that this was enough as a reward, he finally backed down.

Allen wasted no time in cutting out the magic stones from the goblins’ bodies. “Well, I won’t see you off. I hope you get back to town safely.”

“Thank you for everything once again.”

“Thank you.”

“Thanks!”

Then Allen took off into the forest, not even sparing a single backward glance. He stopped only after having gotten quite far away.

I lost so much time from that. But, well, I did gain a hundred Rank E magic stones in exchange, so I guess I can consider it a wash. Hm, what should I do now? Should I get back to hunting, or should I sit down to go over what I just learned?

Allen decided on the latter.

First, this Leaf of Life. Now I know for sure it recovers HP. I honestly never thought this would be how I’d end up testing it.

He stared closely at the last remaining piece in his hand. By all appearances, it looked like a perilla leaf from his previous world. He now knew that it could be used by pressing directly against a wound.

There are two kinds of recovery items. This is most likely the fixed amount kind.

Different games had different names for HP, but in all of them, the game character would be considered dead when that specific number reached zero. Items that could be used to replenish health were called recovery items, and these fell into two large classifications.

• Ones that healed by percentage of max HP
• Ones that healed a fixed amount of HP

For the former, if a character had maximum 1,000 HP and used an item that replenished 30% health, that would work out to a recovery of 300 HP. For the latter, if the item healed a flat value of 500, then it would just heal 500 HP regardless of the character’s max HP value.

In light of this, the way Rodin and Raven each recovered made for an interesting contrast. After using a Flower of Muellerze, it had taken Rodin another full month before he could walk again. On the other hand, after using a Leaf of Life, Raven had become fully conscious, had no trouble standing up, and had even gone to pick up a goblin’s sword.

The obvious conclusion to draw is that the former is percentage-based and the latter is a fixed number.

If Leaf of Life was percentage-based, then it would be 100%. That was far too good to be true, especially considering it was an item generated from a mere Rank E Summon. Raven’s max HP was probably still low, which was why one Leaf of Life had brought him back to perfect health.

Well, that’s enough about Leaf of Life. Next thing to check is the log on my grimoire.

<You have defeated 1 goblin. You have earned 160 XP.>

<You have defeated 1 goblin. You have earned 160 XP.>

<You have defeated 1 goblin. You have earned 160 XP.>

The last three lines were from the goblins that Allen had killed as a joint effort.

This amount of XP is only 80% of what I normally get when I fight alone. The people present during the fight were me and three other adventurers, but only Rita and I actually fought. But if I got 80% because of that... Hmm, that means XP distribution is not divided by the number of fighters. It’s probably more along the lines of receiving 80% when fighting as part of a group.

Some games required players to hunt together in large groups. In such situations, if XP was divided equally among all participants, each person would get a very limited amount and it would not be worth it. Instead, those games set it up so that participants gained a marked down percentage of the maximum XP givable by the target—for example, sixty or eighty percent—unrelated to the actual number of people fighting.

The great boars gave me 400 XP. If that was 80%, then it means one great boar gives 500 XP in total. But there’s no way a Rank C monster gives only 2.5 times what a goblin does. It would make more sense for it to give something along the lines of 1,000 XP.

Based on what he had experienced firsthand and learned about combat in this world, Allen deduced what he thought were two rules about XP distribution from fighting in a group.

• Fighting as a group of 2 to 4: Each person gains 80%
• Fighting as a group of 20 to 40: Each person gains 40%

Yep, I think that’s more like it.

Allen made sure to make proper notes in his grimoire about what he had just figured out regarding Leaf of Life and XP distribution.

Now, the most important thing. Hawkins, come on out.

A Bird E appeared. As they were now in an open area, Allen would have normally Summoned it up in the air. This time, however, he purposely Summoned it on the ground, right in front of him.

“Why did you disobey my orders?”

The bird hung its head as if to convey how sorry it felt.

“What were my orders? ‘Find me a group of five or more goblins within three kilometers that I can reach in a straight line without bumping into adventurers.’ Right?”

The bird hung its head even lower.

“Is it because you wanted to save those adventurers?”

The bird bobbed its head once. The sight left Allen struggling quite a while for a response.

“In other words, you...have an ego. You’re self-aware.”

The bird tilted its head, puzzled either by the concept, the terms, or both.

“I see, so you’re not intelligent enough for that kind of thinking. But, hm... So the Summons possess consciousness.”

Up until now, Allen had thought of his Summons as mechanical existences that only moved as he told them to, rather like androids or computer programs. However, that was apparently not the case. Hawkins had chosen to prioritize its own will above a direct instruction from Allen and instead led him toward a group of adventurers who were about to die. In other words, Summons were sentient and could think for themselves.

So, these are the Summons created by the gods above.

If it was really the God of Creation who had created humans and this world, then it was probably a piece of cake for him to create Summons with egos.

When Allen reached forward to rub Hawkins’s head to offset his strict tone from earlier, the bird’s expression immediately turned into one of delight.

“All right, I’ll change up the instruction next time onward. Make sure to follow them, okay?”

“Pii!” Hawkins cried loudly and spread its wings, a gesture that Allen interpreted as “Okay!”