Chapter 6: Fighting a Murdergalsh

“If you say anything rude to my tutor, I’m going to make you pay!”

“I will not. Don’t worry, milady.”

It was now early November, and Allen was currently with Cecil in the second-floor reception room, waiting for the magic tutor’s arrival. Allen was present for once—as opposed to having this time to himself elsewhere like he usually did during Cecil’s lessons—because of something that had occurred at the end of October.

That day, Cecil had called him to her room. He thought he would be sent on an errand again, but instead she had said, “Allen, you’ve done a good job being my personal manservant for a year. Tell me if there’s anything you want.” She had probably wanted to feel good about giving something to someone and therefore used the pretext of it being a present to Allen for his one year of service.

Despite not quite understanding the noteworthiness of “first anniversary as a manservant,” Allen still thought seriously about what to ask for. Just as he was about to ask for some of the snacks that she usually ate, an idea popped into his head: he wanted a lesson with her magic tutor. Not just staying in the room and sitting in on one of Cecil’s lessons, but one-on-one with the tutor himself.

Multiple tutors came to the Granvelle mansion each week, each teaching Cecil a different subject. This included history, mathematics, language, and of course, magic. The reason for the magic lessons was likely due to Cecil being a Wizardess.

Allen had half expected his request to be turned down, but Cecil simply went, “What? That’s all you want?” and readily agreed.

Then a few weeks passed, and today was the day Allen would get his magic lesson. After lunchtime, an elderly man wearing a robe and carrying a staff arrived at the mansion. Allen had met him multiple times before. This was Cecil’s magic tutor.

“So, you are my student today?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you very much for your time.”

During her last lesson, Cecil had told the tutor, “Please teach Allen next time.” He had accepted and promised to prepare for it. The bag he carried in the hand not holding his staff was much bulkier than usual, indicating that he had indeed spent both time and effort for Allen’s sake.

The tutor took the seat across from Allen’s and Cecil’s in the middle of the reception room.

“Your name is Allen, yes?” the old man asked while pulling his hood back. He had a white mustache and beard and plenty of wrinkles to show for his nearly seventy years of age. “I heard this is a one-off lesson, so I’ve prepared some things ahead of time. But before we start, is there anything you want to ask?”

While waiting for Allen’s reply, the tutor took out several thick books and a crystal ball from his bag, lining them up on the table. Everything together should have been quite heavy, indicating that despite his age, this old man was actually quite strong.

Oh? I can ask anything I want? Then let’s start with the thing I wanted to ask most.

Allen decided to take advantage of this opportunity to ask the question that he had originally intended on posing at the end of the lesson.

“Professor, what are the conditions for using magic?”

The man stroked his beard. “There is but one condition: Talent.”

“Such as Mage and Wizard?”

“That is so. There are others, such as Archwizard, Sage, and Great Sage. It does not matter which one specifically, but one must have a Talent related to magic to use magic.”

“Don’t those with Talents like Cleric and Saintess also use magic?”

“Hm, I see you are rather knowledgeable. Cleric and Saintess use Healing Magic, whereas the Mage and Wizard you previously mentioned use Attack Magic.”

“Is there no Support Magic?”

“Oh? You really are knowledgeable. However, Support Magic is limited to only Sage and Great Sage. Well, there are various other Talents that can use other kinds of magic, but the bottom line is, the condition is still Talent.”

The tutor looked at Allen curiously because of how specific and well-informed his questions had been. Cecil also watched him in astonishment from her seat next to his.

Ah, I’ve dug too deep. It’d seem unnatural if I let slip how much I already know.

While taking notes in his grimoire, Allen said, “I see. Thank you for answering my questions. May I ask another one?”

“Of course.”

“What is the process for using magic?”

The tutor picked up one of the thick books on the table. “You need to memorize the contents of books like this one. This specific one is for beginners and is the one that Lady Cecil is currently learning from.”

Allen accepted the well-worn tome and casually flipped through the pages. “I...have no idea what is written here.” It’s not in Japanese. I don’t recognize this system of writing.

Every page was packed chock-full of symbols that presumably held meaning. It bore no resemblance to Japanese or any other language that Allen remembered from Earth. The complicated geometric patterns did not seem to share any commonality even with each other.

“Well, to use magic, one would have to memorize these symbols. Each one corresponds to a different spell.”

All of this?! Wow, I kinda feel bad for Cecil now.

“Is there anything else other than remembering all these?”

“Simply remembering is not enough; we need to truly memorize every detail of these symbols so well that we can draw them inside our heads. Activating a spell requires recalling its symbol and expending MP.”

“Conversely, does this mean you can use whatever spell you want as long as you memorize its symbol?”

“Unfortunately, it is not so easy.”

There was a certain progression to using magic. For beginner spells, it was true that one simply had to memorize the relevant symbol to use the spell. However, there were far more spells that could not be cast until after casting other spells many times over and overcoming multiple Trials of the Gods.

Ah, in other words, use earlier spells a bunch of times to level the skill up, and the thing with overcoming Trials of the Gods probably refers to raising max MP.

“By the way, do you have any way to confirm whether I can use magic or not?”

“Huh?! But you’re Talentless, Allen! Weren’t you listening? You can’t use magic if you don’t have the Talent for it!”

Cecil sounded indignant at Allen for asking something with such an obvious answer. Everyone’s general understanding was that Allen did not have a Talent.

“It’s fine, Lady Cecil. I did bring a crystal ball just in case. Allen, this crystal ball is able to determine whether someone can use magic or not.”

As it turned out, “Can I use magic?” was a very common question from those who demonstrated an interest in the subject. The tutor explained that the crystal ball he had brought along performed a function akin to a simplified form of Appraisal. It was specialized for sensing whether someone had a Talent related to magic or not.

“Thank you, sir!”

Whoa, just the description of the item alone is getting me hyped up! Now I can know once and for all whether the Summoner class can use magic or not!

The crystal ball, which measured around ten centimeters in diameter, looked like a smaller version of the one Allen had seen during his Appraisal Ceremony. The tutor placed it in front of Allen and said, “Put your hands on top.”

“Yes, sir!” Allen replied eagerly, promptly doing as he was told.

However, nothing happened. Allen kept his hands on the crystal ball for a while longer, but the transparent sphere showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Mm, as you can see, Allen, you are not able to use magic.”

“Seriously?” But that means...

The nightmarish possibility that Allen had been doing his best to ignore so far now took on a tinge of reality. He looked so shocked that Cecil said gently, as if speaking to a younger sibling, “Allen, give it up. You don’t have the Talent for it, so you can’t use magic.”

Allen started. “By the way, what happens if you put your hands on this crystal, milady?”

“What?! How dare you question the professor!” Cecil roared, strangling Allen by the collar for asking a question that blatantly cast doubt on his explanation of the crystal ball. The two raised such a commotion that the tutor had to intervene.

“Now, now, Lady Cecil. It is fine. And since we are at it, would you like to give it a try? I’m sure it would satisfy Allen’s curiosity as well.”

Yes, please show me! I promise to accept the results for what they are. Ugh, I feel sick.

Despite being strangled and shaken, Allen used his eyes to beg Cecil to touch the crystal ball. Upon being placated by the tutor, she sighed, let Allen go, and turned to place her hands on the sphere on the table. When she did so, it shone with a bright yellow light that was warm like sunlight.

The tutor nodded with satisfaction. “Yellow is the color for Wizard and Wizardess.”

It actually lit up...

Allen stared at the light in a stunned daze. Ever since he had been told he would get his time with the magic tutor, he had spent hours and hours thinking of questions to ask, but all of those questions had now vacated his head. He had previously hoped to see a display of magic as well, but he now had much bigger worries.

I’m screwed. This confirms that Summoner is just a joke class.

Currently, Allen’s stats as a Summoner were: HP (Rank A), MP (Rank S), Attack (Rank C), Endurance (Rank C), Agility (Rank A), Intelligence (Rank S), and Luck (Rank A). How much a stat would grow from each level-up varied according to ranking, with “S” being the most and “E” the least. Allen’s Intelligence was “S.”

Why is my Intelligence at Rank S even though I can’t use magic?! And because of that, my Attack and Endurance have been brought down to Rank C!

Allen’s assumption was that his other stats had been made low to balance out his high Intelligence. However, he could not use magic and his Summons did not benefit in any particular way from him having high Intelligence. As it stood, the only benefit was being better at remembering things. This stat was useless to him, especially when it came at the expense of the others. Him having to fight with a sword with this Status was as inefficient and preposterous as a mage character dual-wielding swords.

In other words, my class is a joke. Are my stats intentionally nerfed to balance out the buffs I get from my Summons? Why was my class built this way?!

Several possible reasons for the crystal ball not lighting up came to mind.

• The endless complaints that he’d sent to the gods during the six months after his Appraisal Ceremony had angered them, causing them to change Summoner to a joke class.
• The crystal ball was faulty.
• Whether someone could use magic or not was actually based on their level or skill level.
• There was an incredible secret behind why his Intelligence was Rank S.

W-Was it really because I complained too much? Oh Lord Elmea, how could you?!

Allen was left staring off into the distance in a daze. The lesson with the magic tutor that he had received as a reward for his first anniversary as a manservant thus ended quietly and without any hubbub.

＊ ＊ ＊

One month had passed since Allen’s magic lesson, making it now December. The first snow of the year had fallen the other day, with it soon being time for the snow clouds to truly gather in force.

Allen was on serving duty today, and it was now lunch. There were times when members of the baron’s family did not show up for breakfast or lunch, but everyone was present today, with the sole exception of Mihai, who was still living at Academy City.

“Thomas, you shouldn’t eat so much.”

When the second son reached out to the bread basket in the middle of the table and brought several slices back to his own plate, his mother admonished him.

Ever since Allen became a huntsman last December, he had gone out hunting two days every week with only a very small number of exceptions. Now that it was winter, the only edible monsters readily available were horned rabbits. Even so, Allen still brought back around a hundred kilograms of meat per week. The baron family’s fare had been the picture perfect illustration of thrifty living a year ago; now, even the lowliest servant in the household was enjoying a remarkably improved diet.

A new problem that had cropped up—if it could be called that—due to this change was Thomas developing a huge appetite. At the very least, the baroness considered this a problem, and she had gone down to the kitchen multiple times to ask Dudley to make less food for Thomas. Because of this, however, Thomas had started eating more bread during meals, and this was what had led to the earlier exchange. Although he did apologize, he made no move to return the slices of bread to the basket.

I mean, he’s eleven. He’s going through a growth spurt—all boys eat like that at that age. He has sword practice in the afternoons, so I doubt there’s any worry of him getting too chubby.

Allen actually felt a little sorry for the dispirited Thomas. The family had hired a sword instructor who had started giving Thomas lessons this year. The glimpses of them together in the garden that Allen caught every once in a while caused him to wonder if learning the sword was simply a part of the duties of being a noble, regardless of Talent.

“By the way, Allen, when will you be catching another white deer?” Thomas asked, interrupting Allen’s thoughts.

“I am waiting for the snow to pile a little higher first, young master.”

“I’m looking forward to it!”

After this exchange, lunch returned to normal. At least, for a short while.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The city bell began sounding incessantly, the sound reaching the mansion and showing no signs of letting up. Noon had been rung in just now, so there was no way this was the 3 p.m. bell.

“What is going on?!” Baron Granvelle roared, leaping to his feet, as the baroness and Thomas looked around anxiously. Everyone else who heard the bell shared their sentiments.

“I shall go confirm,” Sebas said, leaving the baron’s side and heading out of the dining hall.

Everyone else, including Allen, remained where they were, waiting for the butler’s return. He came back around fifteen minutes later with a knight.

“There you are. So, what’s happening?!” the baron demanded.

“Master, a murdergalsh is approaching the city,” the butler replied. The knight at his side, who was very out of breath, nodded vigorously.

Did he say murdergalsh?!

Allen recognized the name—it was the name of the monster that his younger brother, Mash, had been named after. He had been told that it was a Rank B monster that looked like a huge wolf.

“What?! Why did we not receive word of this sooner?! When will it arrive?!”

The knight got down on one knee before replying. To sum up what he said, a squad on patrol had first spotted the murdergalsh. It had been heading straight for Granvelle City, so the knights had attempted to attract its attention to draw it away elsewhere. However, despite multiple casualties, they had been unsuccessful. At this rate, the monster would reach the city’s south gate at around 3 p.m. There were less than two hours left.

“What are your orders, Master?” Sebas asked.

“Where’s Zenof? Is he not back yet?”

“Master, both the knight captain and vice-captain are currently out on a monster-slaying expedition. They will not be back until the day after.”

The baron knew full well that Zenof was not here, but he simply could not help but ask.

“In that case, issue an emergency quest with the Adventurer’s Guild. Most monsters are dormant at this time of the year, so there should be many adventurers in town. We can only hope Silver Fang of the Gale is here too.”

Ah, that’s the name of the only Rank A adventurer party based in Granvelle City, if I remember right.

A group of adventurers operating together was called a party. Raven, Rita, and Milci were in a party together, with Raven being the leader. According to what Allen had heard from him, the large majority of adventurers in Granvelle City were Rank C or lower, with there being only a handful of Rank B parties and a single Rank A one.

From December to when the snows melted in March, most adventurers would just hunker down behind city walls. Only those who were truly struggling to make ends meet would go outside during this time. Allen was pretty much the only person who continued to hunt with no regard for the weather.

“Understood, Master. What shall we do with the gate?”

Sebas had been asking Baron Granvelle for instructions on things one after the other while Allen had been occupied with recalling what Raven had told him about adventurers.

“Are you asking if we would close them?! How can we do that when there might be those heading to our city who do not yet know about the murdergalsh’s approach?!”

“However, would that not also allow the monster to enter?”

“The gate must be kept open! Order the knights and adventurers to head for the south gate immediately and chase the monster away!”

“As you wish, Master.”

Having received all the orders he needed, the butler hurried out of the dining hall with the knight. They now had to pass word on to the relevant chains of command.

This...is my job, isn’t it?

Allen, who had stayed quiet until the butler was done, now approached the baron. “My lord, may I have permission to join the fight?”

“What?”

Allen had sounded so matter-of-fact that the baron was entirely taken aback. Cecil immediately flared up.

“Huh?! What’re you saying?! You heard them! It’s a murdergalsh! Of course you can’t join in!”

“Milady.”

“Wh-What?!”

“Your father, Baron Granvelle, instated me as a huntsman. I consider it part of my duties to join this fight.”

“Huh?!”

Cecil looked very surprised, but it was true that one of the duties of a huntsman was to save citizens of the realm who were being attacked by monsters outside a settlement. Allen had done so multiple times already over the past year. Aside from culling monsters and bringing meat back, he had also headed over whenever Hawkins spotted anyone who was in trouble. If today had been one of Allen’s hunting days, he would have already rushed out by now. It was because today was not a hunting day that he was asking the baron for express permission.

Cecil had fallen silent, so Allen turned back to the baron, pleading with his eyes.

“I...see,” the baron managed in a voice lower and heavier than usual. He had realized that Allen’s argument was logical and irrefutable. “If you are fulfilling the duties that I assigned you, then I have no reason to stop you.”

It looked like Cecil wanted to say something, but she swallowed her words back down.

“Thank you, my lord. I shall head over immediately. Due to the urgency of the situation, I will do so in my current attire.”

“Mm, prioritize evacuating the people rather than fighting the murdergalsh.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The moment Allen stepped out of the dining hall, he took off at a dash.

There’s no time. The city is in a panic right now, and it’d probably be hard to run through the crowds. I should leave from the north gate and circle around to the south gate.

The Granvelle mansion was located in the northern part of the city. It was a much shorter distance simply taking the large avenue that ran in a straight line down the middle of the city. However, Allen was worried that the city would be in a state of mayhem at the moment, especially in the center and south areas. As such, he determined that it would be faster to take the long way around.

Please, MP, recover quickly.

This situation had been entirely unexpected. On days when he did not plan on going hunting, Allen would convert all his MP into Skill XP. The last time he did this was three hours ago, meaning his tank was completely empty right now.

Allen passed through the north gate in his black servant uniform, then picked up the pace even more while running southward. Slightly over two hours later, he finally reached the south gate, finding it choked with a whole line of people desperately trying to get in. Adventurers and knights were protectively stationed around the overflowing crowds.

A huge figure over five meters tall towered a slight distance away. There was something in its hands; when Allen took a better look, he realized it was a horse that had already lost half of its body. The monster was in the middle of eating the rest of it, chewing loudly.

That’s a murdergalsh?!

Allen had heard the murdergalsh described as a large wolf, but what he was seeing could hardly be called such. At the end of front legs that looked like human arms, it had large fingers that also looked especially humanlike. Worst of all, its face was a revolting cross between human and canine. Between its two hind legs was a slowly swishing tail; the lower half of its body was the only part that looked like a wolf.

Right beside where the murdergalsh was eating the horse was a carriage with broken wheels that had fallen over. A trail of mangled horse and human corpses stretched into the distance from the direction that the murdergalsh had presumably come from, painting a literal road of blood. One only had to take a single look at this sight to understand why the word “murder” was part of this monster’s name.

“Young man! What’re you doing over there?! Hurry up and get inside the city!”

One of the knights had noticed Allen standing still and called out to him, but Allen ignored him and continued observing the murdergalsh. In all likelihood, the horse that the monster was currently eating had been the one pulling the carriage, and the dead man on the ground a slight distance away had served as its coachman. Suddenly, Allen noticed silhouettes moving within the carriage. There were people still inside.

That moment, the murdergalsh reached out with its free hand and tore off the canopy covering the carriage, revealing a mother and daughter trembling in each other’s arms, too frightened to even scream. The monster’s face twisted into an eerie smirk, its humanlike features making it look all the more terrifying. The blood that stained its teeth dripped down from its fangs, forming small puddles below.

Drip, drop, drip, drop.

The knights and adventurers stayed in their positions, bracing themselves to protect the merchants and travelers trying to get inside the city. They watched the scene with bated breath, but made no move to save the mother and daughter. However, Allen saw no need to follow what they were doing. He took out an iron ball from Storage, not caring who saw him do so.

The murdergalsh reached out toward the mother and daughter. It did so slowly as if purposely trying to evoke as much terror as possible from its prey.

Drop dead, you piece of shit!

That instant, Allen threw his iron ball with as much strength as he could muster. The projectile flew straight and true, squashing one of the monster’s eyeballs.

“AAAAAAAAUUUUUHHHHHHH!” the monster shrieked in a hair-raising cry.

“Hey, you want a piece of me? I’m right here! I’m gonna kill you!”

Allen had managed to destroy one of its eyes. He threw a second iron ball, but the murdergalsh, which was now aware of Allen’s existence, easily swatted it away with its front limb. He heard voices shouting things like, “What’re you doing, boy?!” and “Hurry, run away!” behind his back, but he paid them no mind, dashing off to position himself on the opposite side of the monster from the carriage and city with the White Dragon Mountains at his back. When he turned around briefly to provoke the monster again—“What’s wrong, you stupid mutt? You scared of me? What a coward!”—he saw adventurers, knights, and travelers all looking his way with unease in their eyes.

Allen threw another iron ball, but the murdergalsh easily deflected that one too. Although it had lost one eye, it clearly remained more than capable of protecting itself from taking any further damage from Allen’s iron balls. Even so, the boy was about to throw another one, simply for the sake of drawing the monster’s attention. But just then, the monster, which had only turned its head toward Allen’s direction so far, slowly stood up on its hind legs, reaching almost seven meters in height.

“AAAAAUUUHHHHHHHHH!”

It howled, then threw away the half-eaten horse, sending it flying through the air in an arc before slamming into the ground with a loud crash. The monster then got down on all fours and turned to face Allen.

“Come at me!”

In response to Allen’s goading, the murdergalsh started off at a trot, quickly accelerating into a full-speed charge.

All right, I succeeded in making it target me instead of the passengers of the carriage.

Allen shouted loudly at the knights and adventurers, “I’m going to draw the murdergalsh toward the White Dragon Mountains!” before turning and running off at full speed. He called out his grimoire to check his MP and found it still at zero.

Still?! It should be back anytime now!

The distance between Allen and the murdergalsh gradually shrunk as the two continued racing on.

“Holy cra—!”

Soon enough, the monster had caught up, despite Allen’s Agility being over 600. It took a swing with one of its front arms. Allen barely managed to dodge the attack, but doing so caused him to lose his balance and fall over. After rolling several times on the ground, he quickly got back up and whirled around to regain a visual on the monster, fully expecting a follow-up attack. However, it simply stared down at him with a smirk, showing no indication of attacking. Apparently it had enjoyed the sight of Allen falling. The way it no longer seemed bothered about losing an eye only added to its eeriness.

Ah, this is what games are referring to when monsters skip their turn and the text says, “The monster smirks at you.”

Allen had, in his past life as Kenichi, played computer games with turn-based combat systems where the player’s and the game monster’s sides took turns attacking each other. Sometimes, however, the monsters did nothing during their turn—instead, there was only a pop-up that read something like, “The monster smirks at you.” Back then, Kenichi only counted it as a lucky break and did not give it any further thought. Now that a monster was actually doing it to him in real life, he finally understood why it happened. In the murdergalsh’s single remaining eye, Allen was nothing more than a toy.

Well, I’ll still count this as a lucky break ’cause my MP just came back!

Allen cast a quick glance at his grimoire and confirmed that the MP field in his Status was no longer zero.

I need more Agility. The two types of cards that buff Agility are Bird, which also buffs Intelligence, and Insect, which also buffs Endurance. Okay, Agility and Endurance are exactly what I need right now.

While slowly backing up, Allen did his best to act like he was in despair so as to make the murdergalsh lower its guard. He even shivered and pulled a look of absolute terror.

“AAAAUUUHHHHH!”

The murdergalsh’s human-dog face twisted into a look of ecstasy and delight.

Talk about having a shit personality. I can never tell Mash about this. Father, you have the worst naming sense ever!

This monster had been the inspiration for “Mash,” the name of Allen’s younger brother. Now that he knew its personality, however, he realized that it was not exactly the best thing to name a child after. He dearly wished that if Theresia had another child, it would be a girl so that she would be the one to decide on a name.

Allen kept up the act of being frightened as he quickly used his grimoire to change up the distribution of the cards he had in stock. Because the necessary magic stones were already inside Storage, he simply had to will the process and the book would take care of the rest by itself. All twenty of the Grass E cards that he had been keeping to raise his max MP were now changed to Insect E instead. The grimoire’s pages flipped furiously as cards were Deleted and Created in quick succession. While he was at it, Allen converted the Beast E and Beast F cards he had relied on for Attack to Insect E too. In the end, that left him with four Bird E cards and thirty-six Insect E cards.

The reason Allen had basically gone full Agility was because the murdergalsh had clearly been faster than him just now. He had yet to find out just how strong it was, but he had no interest in finding out by letting himself get caught.

Allen backed off a little more. Seeing that the monster was not going to immediately pounce, he turned tail and dashed off. A loud boom sounded at his back, followed by the pounding of footfalls. Allen attempted to determine his relative distance to the monster through the sound and pushed himself to maintain his lead.

This isn’t enough. I’ve got to go farther away.

Drawing the murdergalsh away from Granvelle City was a given, but considering this opportunity, Allen wanted to attempt killing it outright. Currently, he was only several hundred meters away from the collapsed carriage. The figures of the knights and adventurers in the distance were no more than mere specks by now, but he wanted to gain more distance so that he could freely use his Summons to fight.

The deadly game of tag continued until the hunter and prey reached an area sparsely populated with trees almost two kilometers away from Granvelle City. This was far enough that they were entirely beyond the sight of everyone in the city.

All right. Ageha, use your Ability!

Allen called out three Insect Es behind himself without stopping. As the murdergalsh was a Rank B monster, three Insect Es were needed in order for their Ability, Scale Powder, to be effective.

Yellow powder fell on the murdergalsh’s head. It stopped in its tracks, so Allen also stopped running and turned around, hopeful.

“AAAAAUUUHHHH!”

With a cry, the beast swung its front arm and swept away all three Insect Es in one blow, reducing them to glowing bubbles that faded into the air.

What?! It didn’t work?! Does it have resistances? Or did I just get unlucky?

The debuffs cast through the Abilities of the Insect cards were not a hundred percent guaranteed to work. After trying only once, there was no way to tell whether Scale Powder only happened to fail this time or it simply would not work, period.

Crap, it’s after me again.

With the Insect E Summons gone, the game of tag resumed. Allen Created more Insect Es to replace the ones he had just lost and continued running in desperation.

Three long, long hours later, Allen was hiding behind a tree. The murdergalsh was nowhere in sight.

Ugh, I finally lost it. But man, Scale Powder just isn’t working on it at all. None of the other Insect card debuffs work either, for that matter.

Allen took out his mantle from Storage and draped it over his manservant uniform. During the chase just now, he had attempted to use the Abilities of Insects G, F, and E on the murdergalsh, but none of them had proved effective. Because of this, he had given up the idea of killing the monster and was focusing entirely on escaping. This was not an opponent that he could stand up to without the support of debuffs.

All right, let’s head back to Granvelle City. Dammit, I ended up using a lot of magic stones.

Just as Allen was regretting the significant decrease in his stock of Rank E magic stones...

Crack. Snap.

The tree that Allen was leaning against shook, and a beastly stench filled his nose.

“What?!”

Allen whirled around in surprise to look behind the tree. What he found was the smirking face of the murdergalsh. It deftly used its humanlike hands to pull the tree out as if plucking a mere weed. This served as the signal for the game of tag to resume once more.

＊ ＊ ＊

Three days had passed since the murdergalsh appeared near Granvelle City.

One of the guards at the north gate spotted Allen returning. His black manservant uniform was all muddy, and he was huddled in his mantle.

“Hey there, lad!”

Oh, I’m finally back.

“Good—”

Upon reaching the gate with tottering steps, Allen collapsed in the middle of giving his usual greeting. He had lost consciousness as if a switch had been turned off.

“Huh? Lad, a-are you okay?!”

The guard rushed over in surprise and found the boy already fast asleep.

This was how Allen’s first encounter with the murdergalsh came to an end.

＊ ＊ ＊

Allen slowly opened his eyes. “Where...?”

Is this...the mansion? Hm? Is this one of the guest rooms? Huh? What happened to me? What happened to the murdergalsh?!

The sight of the murdergalsh’s eerie grin flashed into Allen’s mind, causing him to suddenly sit upright in bed. His memories were still jumbled. He looked down and found himself wearing his usual sleepwear instead of his uniform. Someone must have helped him change.

“You’ve awakened,” Sebas said from the bedside. He had apparently been keeping vigil.

“Y-Yes, sir. Um, what happened to me?”

“How much do you remember?” the butler asked slowly, picking up on Allen’s confusion.

This question seemed to help jog the boy’s memories. He had been chased by the murdergalsh for three days and nights. He had somehow managed to finally lose it and then turned back toward Granvelle City.

“I don’t remember anything after figuring out the direction home and setting out.”

“Well, you collapsed in front of the north gate. A guard carried you back here. Two days ago, that is.”

“I...see...”

“I will now go and summon Zenof. When he arrives, you will go see Master and report on what happened with the murdergalsh. Any questions?”

“None, sir. Completely understood.”

“Mm. There is still time, so continue resting for now.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After the butler left the guest room, Allen fell back asleep, fully enjoying the fluffy bed normally reserved for VIP guests. When he woke up again, he found a tray loaded with food at his bedside. Just as he finished wolfing it down, savoring every morsel, the knight captain arrived at the mansion. Another servant came into the room to tell Allen to head to the conference room on the third floor.

The conference room, huh? I’ve never been before. It’s this way, right?

Despite having worked in this mansion for over a year, Allen had yet to enter the baron’s bedroom, study, or conference room.

When Allen reached the third floor, he found Zenof waiting for him outside the conference room.

“How are you feeling, Allen?”

“Well rested and fully recovered, Sir.”

“Glad to hear it. The guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild is inside at the moment. We will wait here until he finishes his business.”

“Understood, Sir.”

Is it regarding the murdergalsh? I remember the baron talking about an emergency quest or something. But boy, this sure turned into a big deal.

Allen recalled everything that had happened after he left the north gate. Due to his game of tag with the murdergalsh, he had gotten a very good grasp on the strength of a Rank B monster. He now knew beyond a doubt that at his current level and Summoning level, Rank C was the limit of what he could defeat.

He then recalled the adventurers and knights who had simply looked on as the carriage was being assaulted. They had probably also really wanted to help but were painfully aware of their own limitations. Allen now understood the conflict that had been going on inside their minds all too well.

There were almost no adventurers or knights possessing a Talent who could go toe-to-toe against a Rank B monster. In the first place, the overwhelming majority of adventurers were Talentless. From what Raven had said, there was likely only one adventurer in the entire Granvelle realm who could put up a fight against a Rank B monster: the leader of the top-ranked party, Silver Fang of the Gale.

And right now, the man touted as the strongest in the realm, stronger than even the party leader of Silver Fang of the Gale, was currently standing right beside Allen. Allen had never seen him in an actual fight before, but all sources had assured him of Zenof’s overwhelming strength. In fact, he had even earned an alias: War Demon Zenof. This was why the baron had asked about him first thing when he received news of the murdergalsh.

According to word on the street, the knight captain’s Talent was Sword Master. Allen had never heard of it before, but he suspected that it was the two-star class between the one-star Swordsman and three-star Sword Lord.

Just as Allen was occupied with thinking about the knight captain, Sebas emerged from the conference room with a brawny bald man. This was the guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild branch in Granvelle City. He had stayed for dinner at the mansion several times on days when Allen had been on serving duty.

“All right, I’m leaving. Goddammit.”

Hm? He seems kind of irked about something. Is it about the emergency quest?

Allen and the guildmaster’s eyes met, so Allen bowed and said, “Good day, sir.”

The man’s eyes widened slightly. “Alle—”

“Even if you have business with our staff,” Sebas interrupted, “I’m afraid he is currently unavailable as he needs to report to the baron.”

“Tch, nah, I got no business. Just wanted to say, well done making it back alive, kid.”

The boy was surprised the guildmaster knew his name, but before he could continue, Sebas cut in and escorted the guildmaster out of the mansion. It seemed he had been about to say something but instead ended with giving Allen’s head a few pats while passing by.

Huh? What was that for? It seemed like Sebas had been trying to prevent him from talking to me. Why’s that?

After seeing the guildmaster off, Sebas returned to the third floor and entered the conference room together with Zenof and Allen. Allen was gestured toward the seat directly across from the baron’s on the other side of the aged, circular table in the middle of the room.

“Are you well enough to be up and moving? I am glad to see you returned to us without any major injuries.”

“Yes, my lord, I am well. I apologize for all the trouble I have caused.”

“Hm? You have nothing to apologize for. That said, I do want to hear all the details of what happened between you and the murdergalsh. This might affect the response that I take, so be as detailed as you can.”

Allen nodded his head in acknowledgment, then recounted his experience. He told of how the murdergalsh had already gotten quite close when he finally arrived at the south gate and how he found the carriage under attack. He had then thrown iron balls at the monster in order to save the mother and child in the carriage and attract the monster’s attention. Then he drew the beast toward the White Dragon Mountains so that it would no longer attack the city.

The baron listened to Allen with a frown. Every once in a while, he turned to look at Zenof as if seeking confirmation of the credibility in what Allen was saying. Every time, the knight captain simply nodded.

“The murdergalsh was extremely persistent. I lost it multiple times, but it still continued coming after me.”

“And that is why you could not return for three days, yes? I had received reports of a boy wearing the Granvelle servant uniform leading the murdergalsh away from the city. I had assumed you were dead and eaten.”

Many knights and adventurers had witnessed what Allen had done near the south gate. Naturally, word had reached the baron’s ears.

“Yes, my lord. Unfortunately, my memory is somewhat fuzzy, but I believe I finally lost the monster quite far away.”

Because he had no way to prove anything without also revealing his abilities as a Summoner, Allen was a bit vague regarding where and how he had lost the murdergalsh. The truth, however, was that he had gone all the way to the foot of the White Dragon Mountains. Along the way, he had encountered monsters like white deer and armored ants that he had purposely tried to set on the murdergalsh. However, this had proved pointless, as the murdergalsh easily trampled them and went right back to chasing Allen.

“I see. I now have the full picture. First of all, I will say this: do not worry about being penalized for being absent from your duties as manservant and server during this ordeal. After all, you were doing your best to save my citizens. Rather, you will be rewarded.”

“R-Really?!” I’m getting a reward! It feels like ages since the mention of the last one!

“This is the reward.”

Two small bags were placed on the table. They made a clinking sound, which got Allen’s hopes up even higher.

Are they filled with coins?! Hold on...but why two bags?

“This is ten gold from me in reward for your efforts in this incident. According to reports, the emergency quest has been called off, meaning that the situation is over. The number of casualties among the citizens, adventurers, and knights have been kept to a minimum.”

The baron had chosen the words “kept to a minimum” because, sadly, there had indeed been casualties.

“Thank you, my lord.” Damn, ten gold. He’s being really generous.

Allen had been at this mansion for a little over a year by now, and there was one thing that he had learned: this family, despite being nobility, was very poor. Back when he first arrived, he had found their diet even more meager than what he had eaten as a serf. In hindsight, Allen realized that the reason the baron had rewarded Rodin and the hunters of Krena Village with commoner status was most likely because he could not afford to give them anything tangible. After all, making serfs commoners did not cost anything.

A royal envoy had visited the Granvelle mansion twice in the past year. Both times, the topic was on raising the head tax in the fiefdom. The envoy had insisted that there was room for a raise—perhaps not making it as high as it was in the neighboring Carnel realm, but there was room nonetheless. On the other hand, Baron Granvelle had firmly said no both times, unwilling to further burden his people. Unfortunately, the low head tax he had set meant that his income through tax was not enough to pay the amount that the national treasury expected from his realm. Consequently, he was paying for the difference out of his own pocket. This was why, despite being nobles, his family lived very frugally. Allen, for one, thought their poverty an honorable one.

The baron continued, interrupting Allen’s thoughts. “Now, this other bag. It also contains ten gold, making this a total of twenty gold. This is from the family of those who were in the carriage you saved.”

“The carriage, sir?”

As it turned out, the passengers in the carriage had been the wife and daughter of the owner of a high-class inn located on one of the city’s main avenues. The man had left this amount at the baron’s mansion to express his gratitude.

Woohoo! That mithril sword I was eyeing is finally within reach!

Allen had been considering buying a steel sword for five gold, but thanks to this sudden windfall, he could now afford a mithril sword. He wanted to immediately rush to a weapons store as soon as this audience was over, but it turned out there were a lot more things that needed to be delved into. In the end, the shops were all closed by the time Allen was finally dismissed.