Chapter 9: Promise with Mihai

It was Allen’s first day off in October. After hearing the knight captain’s report the other day, Allen was now in the foothills of the White Dragon Mountains. Specifically, near the upper edge of the foothills. A few days’ walk from there, the angle of the mountain slope suddenly turned steep and the scenery became barren and desolate. Goblin and orc villages filled the forest here, and just a bit further up, armored ants bored directly into the mountain, forever expanding their massive nests.

Today, Allen was going to take on his first goblin village. The chivalric order had planned on assaulting this particular one several days later, so he was here to get ahead of them and grab all the XP before they could. For the immediate future, he would be focusing solely on goblin villages.

Goblin villages were led by goblin kings. They were Rank C monsters, so he did not expect to have any trouble dealing with them. On the other hand, orc villages were led by orc kings, which were Rank B. The memory of the chase-of-death with the murdergalsh was still fresh in Allen’s mind, so he knew it was still too early for him to take on orc villages. They could wait until after he had wiped out all the goblin villages and gained all the XP they had to offer.

The armored ant nests would be quite the challenge too. Allen had been told that each nest was home to at least a thousand armored ants, as well as a queen armored ant which was, again, Rank B. Only after every last ant in a nest was killed could it be repurposed for other means. This translated to fighting a thousand ants on their home turf, a feat naturally considered even more dangerous than attacking an orc village. However, there was good reason to go after these nests: there was a possibility that the armored ants had exposed mithril veins while creating their passages. In other words, if the ants were gone, what used to be a terrifying monster nest would become a mine with pre-dug shafts possibly leading to already-exposed mithril ore. In fact, two of the four existent mithril mines used to be armored ant nests.

Allen had found the goblin village that he was currently standing in front of using Bird Es. Even now, several of them were circling about in the sky, providing him a detailed bird’s-eye view.

All right, it’s time to wipe out every last one of them.

The goblin village was surrounded by a crude fence with a single gate. Manning the gate were two guards.

GO, TEDDYS!

Four Beast Ds burst out from cover and charged at the gate. Of course, they had already been Strengthened and buffed with Splash. The two guards were already dead by the time they noticed their assailants. Rank D monsters were hardly a threat to Allen’s Summons anymore.

One of the goblins that noticed the attack clambered up a watchtower and started ringing the bell, raising a cacophonous ruckus that served as the background track to four giant bears bursting into the village.

Goblins flooded out of houses made from wooden frames and ragged drapes, but the Teddys made short work of them by using Crush over and over. Some of the goblins smartly took up bows, climbing the walls and watchtowers to make long-range attacks now that it was clear they were disadvantaged in close-quarters combat. However, multiple Insect Ds were already laying in wait, and Spider Silk proved extremely effective against mere goblins.

I want to be able to launch long-range attacks too. None of my current Summons are specced for it, though. Ranged attacks and Area of Effects attacks—that’s what I want.

Allen was thankful for getting a Summon type that could cast buffs, but there was truly no beating ranged and AoE attacks when it came to hunting efficiency. He cast a jealous glance at the bows in the hands of the goblins that had been thoroughly trussed up in white strands, then followed his Summons into the village. He stopped right inside the gateway to watch the pitched battle from a safe distance.

There are, what, about two to three hundred goblins in here, I’d estimate. With these numbers, I guess there’s bound to be stragglers.

This was Allen’s very first attempt at assaulting a goblin village. He was trying to do this with the Summons Squad alone, but it was clear now that they were not enough. His aim was to annihilate every last resident of this settlement, but at this rate, almost half of the goblins were going to get away. A lot more Summons were going to be needed to attack a village, so he was going to have to control them in person.

All right, let’s do this quick. Teddys, come out.

Six more Beast Ds appeared, joining the four already in the thick of battle. As the goblins fell by the dozens, a few started retreating toward the back of the village. At that moment, however, ten more Beast Ds burst into the village from the rear. Allen had positioned them there ahead of time and told them to come in as soon as the village bell started ringing. The goblins now found themselves in a pincer attack. This was the greatest emergency that had ever befallen the village. A desperate note could be clearly heard in the incessant ringing of the bell.

After a certain number of goblins had died, one with a significantly larger build appeared. Normal goblins were about a meter and a half tall, but this one was over two meters tall and was extremely jacked. It held a giant battle-ax in one hand.

Oh, there’s the goblin king.

The monster pushed through its kin, approaching Allen.

“ROOOAAAR!”

However, a Sucker immediately attached itself to the goblin king and activated its Ability. A Beast D also turned around, launching ferocious swipes with its vicious claws. Before long, the goblin king was on the ground.

As I’d thought. We’re making short work of them.

The sight of the Beast Ds’ furious assault assured Allen of his victory. The goblin king was only as strong as a Rank C monster, and Allen had already killed thousands of them by now, which meant it was no threat at all. The goblin king finally let go of its weapon and breathed its last.

<You have defeated 1 goblin king. You have earned 4,200 XP.>

After killing off the goblin king, Allen’s forces proceeded to wipe out the remaining goblins, herding them into one area and gradually tightening the encirclement. Before long, a Beast D tore off the very last monster’s head with its jaws.

Good, all done. Are there any left inside the buildings? You and you, come with me. Everyone else, gather all the corpses in the middle of the village.

Allen gave out orders, then walked into one of the goblin houses. He wrinkled his nose at the stench while rifling through the structure.

I’d half expected to find goblin children quivering in fear, but all of them seem to have already come charging out like rabid dogs just now.

Allen had been unsure what he would have done had he found frightened immature goblins in the houses. When the battle actually broke out, however, the young and elderly goblins had rushed out too, every bit as feral as the adults. Before he had time to think about it, his Summons had killed all of them in the same way. Apparently all goblins that laid eyes on a human would instinctively fly into a murderous rage.

When Allen walked into the next house, his thoughts were interrupted by a truly repulsive discovery: the bodies of several dead humans. He had no idea where they had been abducted from, but almost all of them had been reduced to bleached skeletons. Not a single survivor remained.

As I’d thought, I really must exterminate them.

Goblins were a precious source of XP. It would not have been strange at all for Allen’s gamer self from his previous life to think it a waste to wipe them all out. However, if he acted on that thought and left these villages alone, the human casualties would only rise. Allen renewed his resolve to destroy every last village while instructing his Summons to gather the human remains in the center of the village too. Then he got to work harvesting the magic stones from all the goblins. The task took him almost two full hours. He needed the Rank D magic stones to create precious Crops of Magic. Naturally, he did not forget to extract the goblin king’s Rank C magic stone as well.

Teddys, gather the materials from the houses.

Obediently, the Beast Ds shuffled over with heavy steps, dragging along wood, rags, and everything else. Allen instructed them to throw everything on top of the pile of goblin carcasses. When they finished, he took out a lit torch from Storage—they remained lit even inside—and used it to set the construction materials on fire. After all, he did not want the knights who would be arriving later on to catch any infectious diseases from the corpses. Soon, the fire grew in size, turning the whole pile into a giant bonfire.

Now, what should I do with the human remains? I could cremate and bury them, but maybe the chivalric order has a different way of doing things. I guess I’ll just line them up nicely for the knights to take care of.

Allen decided to let things be so as to not cause undue trouble.

Well, then. I now know that I can handle goblin villages just fine, so let’s get serious about it. I still have orc villages to tackle afterward.

Thus began Allen’s campaign to exterminate all the goblin villages at the foothills of the White Dragon Mountains.

＊ ＊ ＊

The year turned, and it was now March. Allen checked his equipment one last time. In his hand was his beloved mithril sword, which had not suffered a single scratch ever since he bought it over a year ago following his encounter with a murdergalsh. Because it would get in the way, he was not wearing his mantle—his usual manservant uniform was the most appropriate outfit for his upcoming battle.

Allen looked into the eyes of his opponent, Mihai. For some reason, the atmosphere around the older boy seemed somewhat different from previous years.

After spending three full years at the Academy, Mihai had successfully graduated. Naturally, Cecil, who adored her eldest brother, was overjoyed to hear the news. However, as soon as he returned via magic ship, the first thing he did was summon Allen.

“I want you to fight me in earnest,” he said, his usual smile absent from his face.

“Very well, milord. I shall fight you in earnest,” Allen replied.

He had no idea what the reason for this fight was, but the two were currently facing each other in the garden of the Granvelle mansion. In a marked contrast from the matches of the previous two years, Mihai seemed to be emanating some incredible and great resolve.

Allen called out his grimoire to check his Status one last time. When he had turned ten the previous October, the modifier to his stats had disappeared completely, making the numbers much easier to read.

---

Name: Allen
Age: 10
Class: Summoner
Level: 34
HP: 865 + 400
MP: 1,340
Attack: 472 + 400
Endurance: 472 + 600
Agility: 883 + 600
Intelligence: 1,350
Luck: 883

Skills: Summoning {5}, Creation {5}, Synthesis {5}, Strengthening {5}, Expansion {4}, Storage, Sharing, Deletion, Sword Mastery {3}, Throwing {3}

XP: 1,490,410/7,000,000

Skill Levels
Summoning: 5
Creation: 5
Synthesis: 5
Strengthening: 5

Skill Experience
Creation: 1,256/10,000,000
Synthesis: 1,820/10,000,000
Strengthening: 2,455,180/10,000,000

Creatable Summons
Insect: D, E, F, G, H
Beast: D, E, F, G, H
Bird: D, E, F, G
Grass: D, E, F
Stone: D, E
Fish: D

Holder
Insect: D x 30
Beast: D x 20
Bird:
Grass:
Stone:
Fish:

---

Whereas Allen’s aim the last two duels had been to gauge the growth of someone in Normal Mode, this time he was actually trying to win. As such, he had altered the distribution of his cards accordingly, getting rid of all the Grass cards and even disbanding the Summons Squad to dedicate every last stat point to this fight.

“Thank you, Allen.”

“I’m sorry, milord?”

Allen was taken by surprise at Mihai’s abrupt expression of gratitude, but at the same time, he also picked up on how serious his opponent was about this fight. He nodded in acknowledgment, prompting Mihai to draw his sword and assume a stance.

From his position between the two, Captain Zenof, who was serving as referee, asked, “Master Mihai, Allen. Are you both ready?”

Both nodded. As always, the baron’s direct family was in full attendance. They held their breath, waiting for the start of the duel.

“Ready... FIGHT!”

That instant, Allen, whose Agility had finally surpassed 1,400, rushed forward, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. He intended on ending everything with this first blow. Surprise flitted across Mihai’s face, but he still managed to react in time.

Gah, he parried it. No, I’ve still got this—judging from his movements, my Agility is higher!

However, although Allen was convinced that he was faster, he found Mihai calmly dealing with all his attacks, looking unperturbed as if he had already covered them in class. What was more, he soon realized that he was losing out to Mihai in strength. Every time the two swords clashed, it was Allen who was beaten back. Even so, Allen pressed on.

In sharp contrast to his family members’ astonishment, the baron watched with a thoughtful expression.

He’s...matching me somehow. Is he predicting my movements or something? Is my Sword Mastery skill too low?

Mihai was parrying all of Allen’s attacks with what looked like textbook movements. Even though Allen was faster, he found himself slowly losing the initiative. He felt like he was being shown indirectly that all he had going for him was speed and that his maneuvers were far too simplistic. Perhaps it was because of a difference in Sword Mastery level; perhaps it was something else. In any case, it was not long before Allen once again found Mihai’s sword at his throat. He stopped, breathing heavily.

“Match over!” Captain Zenof announced. It was Mihai’s victory.

Ugh, I lost. I know I was faster, but I couldn’t get past his guard. Does he have higher-leveled Sword Mastery boosting his accuracy? Should I have gone with more Agility? Hmm, but the difference between our Attack was way too large—he was pushing me back with pretty much every blow.

“You really are incredible, Allen,” Mihai said, interrupting Allen’s thoughts. He was quite out of breath too. “I’m glad you are Cecil’s personal manservant.”

“Thank you, milord.” Huh? No handshake this time?

At the end of the previous two fights, Mihai had approached Allen to ask for a handshake. This time, however, he was apparently forgoing the gesture.

Everyone then headed back inside. Soon, it was dinnertime. Allen was on serving duty today.

Suddenly, the baroness, who had been left dumbstruck after the match earlier in the day, said appreciatively, “I had no idea you could fight that well, Allen.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Allen replied. “However, I am still greatly lacking in comparison to Master Mihai.”

“Oh, I know!” Cecil clapped her hands, a barely suppressed grin on her face that looked like a combination of both delight at her beloved brother’s return and pride at the fighting prowess displayed by her personal attendant. “How about asking Mihai to give you sword lessons tomorrow?”

“If Master Mihai has the time and so wishes, it would be my honor to receive his instruction,” Allen responded, bowing in Mihai’s direction.

However, Mihai, who had lowered his gaze at the word “tomorrow” from Cecil, looked up and said, “I haven’t told you yet, Cecil, but...”

“What is it, Mihai?”

“I have royal service for the next three years.”

“What?” Cecil froze in shock. She had been under the impression that Mihai was back for good.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier.”

“But...! When will you be leaving?”

“Tomorrow.”

Cecil was so shocked now that even words failed her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll write you letters.”

Nothing Mihai said was registering in Cecil’s head anymore.

Royal service? This somehow reminds me of what Viscount Carnel said that time.

The lord of the neighboring fiefdom had dropped by before, seemingly to rub in Baron Granvelle’s face the fact that his daughter had been pronounced Talentless. Allen had deduced from this that there was likely a troublesome form of mandated service tied to graduating from the Academy. And sure enough, after working so hard to graduate, Mihai now had to leave home for three years to fulfill this so-called royal service.

While Allen was eating breakfast the next morning, Sebas came into the servants’ dining hall and informed everyone that Mihai would be leaving at 9 a.m. and that they were to see him off. Allen normally headed upstairs at 8 a.m. to get Cecil’s things in order, so he had to hurry to finish everything in time.

While cleaning her room, Allen shot a look at Cecil, who had already finished getting changed. She was clearly still feeling depressed. Three years was quite a long time. What was more, as Mihai had explained last night, royal service did not come with long breaks like the Academy’s spring break, so Cecil’s contact with him would truly be reduced to mere letters.

In the blink of an eye, 9 a.m. arrived. There was a carriage already parked in front of the mansion’s entrance, and the front gate was thrown wide open. All the servants had gathered at the entrance hall a bit earlier and were now standing in two rows on either side of the carpet that stretched from the main staircase to the door. As the newest member of the manservants, and therefore the one at the bottom of the hierarchy, Allen’s position was at the very end, right next to the door.

Heavy clanking sounded as Mihai emerged at the top of the staircase and began his descent. He was wearing a full suit of armor and had a sword at his waist. The other members of the baron’s family followed behind him.

Is he going to show up to the royal family’s service in that armor?

When the family reached ground level, Mihai reached over to Cecil, who had been looking down the entire time, and gave her head a few gentle pats.

“I’ll be waiting for you to come home, Mihai.”

“Mm. I’ll see you again, Cecil.”

After exchanging his final goodbyes, Mihai started walking toward the door.

Farew— Huh?

Instead of making for the carriage outside, to Allen’s surprise, Mihai headed straight for him. Allen watched his approach in bewilderment. Then, without any prior warning, the older boy who was a head taller enveloped him in a hug.

What is this...?

“Allen, I leave Cecil in your hands. Protect her,” said Mihai.

Despite being completely mystified, Allen managed to reply with, “Y-Yes, milord.”

Mihai let go and walked several steps away to stand in the doorway before he turned around. With the carriage at his back, he declared, “I shall now go and fulfill my duty on behalf of House Granvelle.”

After leaving behind those words, he boarded the carriage as everyone saw him off.

Huh? Was he shaking?

Allen could not tell for sure through the armor, but he thought he sensed the other boy quivering during the hug.

In this way, Mihai once again left the mansion, setting off to fulfill his royal service.

＊ ＊ ＊

Two months had passed since Mihai’s departure and it was now May. Allen was currently at the foothills of the White Dragon Mountains.

In the seven months that had passed since he had first attacked one last October, he had managed to completely eradicate all goblin villages along the length of the mountain chain in the area within the Granvelle fiefdom. That had come to a count of fifty-two villages—with there being around two hundred goblins at each, that was a sum of roughly ten thousand goblins. The chivalric order had assaulted a few settlements, but the ones that Allen had taken down made up more than eighty percent of the overall total.

As there were no more goblin villages, Allen was going to attack his very first orc village today. The goblin kings that had led the villages were only Rank C, so he had been able to kill them quite handily. The orc kings that led their villages, however, were Rank B. Today was also going to be Allen’s very first attempt at killing a Rank B monster.

According to the feed from a Bird E using Hawk Eye, the chivalric order was still quite far behind. Their great numbers made it hard for them to move swiftly. They would likely arrive at this village tomorrow, so Allen wanted to finish everything within the day.

His plan was to go with a pincer attack, the same strategy that he had used against the goblin villages. That meant placing five Beast Ds and one Insect D on standby at the back of the village. Allen would attack from the front gate, and then have those on standby charge in ten minutes later.

All right, let’s begin. Come out, Teddys, Spidey, Belly, and Brons.

Six Beast Ds, one Insect D, one Fish D, and two Stone Ds appeared. One thing that Allen was doing differently today was introducing the Stone Summons. Just as the goblins did, he expected the orcs to throw spears and shoot arrows. However, the same tactic being used by orcs was much more of a threat than when used by goblins. The longer the battle went, the more chances there were for a projectile attack to reach Allen.

This was why he now had two Stone D Summons taking up defensive positions in front of himself. Just how useful would these bronze statues carrying two-meter-tall shields be? Today was, among everything else, also a test drive for them. Allen was never one to let an opportunity for analyzing his Summons go to waste.

Without ado, Fish D used its Ability, Splash, on the entire group. Although Allen had called out all his Summons in an area that was a blind spot from the village’s gate, there were so many of them that the sentries on the walls might spot them regardless. Allen decided to launch his attack before he lost the element of surprise.

Here goes—the first orc village assault!

The plan leaped into motion. Just like in the goblin villages, there were two orcs standing guard at the gate. When the Summons all burst from cover, roaring fiercely and shaking the ground with their pounding, shock ran through the orcs on the walls and in the watchtowers. The village bell started ringing cacophonously, signaling an emergency.

The Beast Ds at the very front Crushed the two gate guards to death. These giant bears, after being Strengthened, could more than hold their own against orcs one-on-one.

As I expected, the orcs’re shooting a lot of arrows at me.

The two Stone Ds held their shields high up, protecting Allen from the projectiles. However, there was no such cover for the Beast Ds, which were gradually being turned into pincushions. Currently, Allen had no way of checking the Summons’ HP. If he did not pay careful enough attention, his Summons would suddenly disappear on him, dissipating into bubbles of light.

Not being able to see how much HP my Summons have left really is inconvenient, since it’s pretty sudden when they die on me in the middle of hunts. Hmm, maybe I should add more Spideys. Come on out.

In order to lessen the amount of damage the Beast Ds were taking, Allen Summoned two more Insect Ds. Naturally, he was keeping a record in his grimoire of the adjustments he was making to serve as reference for future attacks.

Three giant spiders clambered over the watchtowers and walls, spitting Spider Silk everywhere. When the Teddys finally burst through the gate, a crowd of roughly two hundred orcs came into sight.

Nice, nice, all the XP’s been gathered. I’ll be helping myself, then!

Allen pressed forward in high spirits—but soon realized that the sheer number of orcs was making it hard to make as much headway as he wanted. So, as the Beast Ds continued wading through by spamming Crush, the Summons that had been positioned at the far side of the village as reinforcements charged in. The new force of Beast Ds and Insect D caught the orcs in the back by surprise.

Around thirty minutes later, just as the number of remaining orcs had dwindled to around half, Allen—who had his eye on the battle line—noticed a burst of light several ranks behind.

Hm? That’s... It’s fire! Brons, use Defend!

The next instant, several red flames appeared high above, then quickly turned into fireballs and flew directly at Allen. He promptly ducked behind the two Stone Ds’ shields and ordered them to activate their Ability.

BOOOOOOMM!

That was magic! Are my Summons...okay, they’re still fine. Wait, there are more incoming!

There were several orcs wearing fluttering clothes and holding staves standing deep within the group. More fireballs appeared in midair, mercilessly raining down on Allen’s forces.

Damn, there are ones that can use magic too? This is my first time encountering monsters that can use magic. Ah, the Summons on the other side have all been wiped out. Gotta keep sending out more.

As the precise number of Summons out in the field was the key to Allen’s way of fighting, he was keeping a constant eye on his Status to monitor the quantity of each card he had. Whenever a number went down, he immediately Created a replacement, Strengthened it, then Summoned it out. The pages of the floating grimoire flipped at a dizzying speed.

In this case, I should probably get more Brons out. But first of all, you! Die!

In the midst of everything else he was doing, Allen took out an iron ball from Storage and threw it at one of the magic-using orcs with all his strength. It pulverized the monster’s face.

Awesome, that’s one down. I’ll increase my own defense while making it a priority to kill the ones that can use magic. Huh, where’d they go?

The moment they saw their fellow get killed, the other magic-using orcs had shifted position so that Allen could no longer see them from behind Stone D.

Shit, they hid. They’re smart enough to hide! Hawkins, show me where they are!

This whole time, Allen had been Sharing the vision of several Hawkins that were circling the village from up in the sky. Thanks to them, he knew exactly where the magic-using orcs were. However, the Stone Ds blocking his line of sight to them meant that he could not throw iron balls at them, and they were standing too deep within the orc forces for Beast Ds to get at them easily.

As the fireballs aimed at Allen had been deflected by the Stone Ds’ shields, everything in his vicinity was now on fire. Both the village’s walls and towers were eventually engulfed by flames, turning the scene into one of hellish pandemonium.

Okay, my strategy’s completely fallen apart. So now I can only brute force this using sheer numbers. I know I can’t lose, but still...just you all wait and see!

The surprise appearance of the magic-using orcs had made Allen lose his initiative. The cleverness of the orcs that could use spells had also been something he did not see coming. However, after two and a half years of hunting, he now had over twenty thousand Rank D magic stones in Storage. In other words, he could actually Create twenty thousand Summons. Although it would drag on for a while, his victory was only a matter of time. He decided to focus on killing the orcs in front of him one at a time, ensuring that he himself remained protected from the magic attacks in the meanwhile.

The dogged fighting continued. After the death of a few dozen more orcs, one that looked markedly different from the others burst out from even further back than the magic-using orcs. It quickly made its way toward Allen, unceremoniously shoving aside all the orcs in its way.

Aaand there’s the orc king.

This monster was clearly on a whole other dimension than the others. Not only was it twice as large, it was also wearing armor and holding a gigantic halberd. It gradually picked up momentum as it charged forward.

“GUMOOOOOHHHHH!”

With a deafening cry, it swung its weapon and instantly reduced two Beast Ds to bubbles of light. Allen hurried to Summon more, but he was having trouble matching the orc king’s speed. The thirty Teddys that he had called out in expectation of a protracted fight started going down one by one.

Should I retreat?

Just as Allen was about to give the command to pull back, more fireballs came hailing down. The Stone Ds blocked them with their shields, only to also disappear into bubbles of light.

Shit, the Brons are gone too!

The barrage of fireballs continued. Nearby Beast Ds threw themselves in front of Allen to shield him with their bodies, but the shockwaves from the explosions still managed to blow Allen off his feet.

Owww! Okay, yeah, I really do need to retreat. Before the situation gets any worse.

However, the moment Allen picked himself back up, bruised all over, a familiar voice spoke behind him.

“Hm, looks like you need a hand.”

“Huh?”

Allen whirled around and found Captain Zenof standing there, distinctive beard and all.

“A scout reported seeing fire going up, so I came to investigate. What’s going on here?”

The countless scars on the man’s arms and face seemed all the more eye-catching as he drew the sword on his waist and slowly walked past Allen.

It’s Zenof. I thought he’d come here tomorrow. Did he run over?

“I...thought I would try cleaning up an orc village.”

Allen chose to be honest. More than a hundred orc corpses lay on the ground, leaving little doubt as to what he was doing. He reverted all his Summons so the knight captain would not mistake them for monsters. For a split second, he considered leaving a Stone D just in case, but the sight of the man approaching the orcs as if he was on a stroll assured him that even such measures were now superfluous.

He totally got an eyeful of my Summons.

There was no doubt in Allen’s mind that the knight captain had gotten a clear look at his Summons fighting. He wondered if he was going to be interrogated about them later.

“Gumoh?” The orc king sized up its new opponent warily.

“I see, an orc king. I’ll take care of it. In the meantime, you take care of the chaff, Vice-Captain Leibrand.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Huh?! Vice-Captain Leibrand is here too?!

Just as Zenof did, Leibrand also walked past Allen, weapon—in his case, a spear—in hand.

Seemingly infuriated by Zenof’s undaunted attitude, the orc king swung its halberd with all its strength, roaring, “GUMOOOOHHHHHH!”

This was a four-meter-tall monster brandishing a five-meter-long weapon in its rage. Even so, the knight captain managed to beat it back with his sword, even making it look easy. The impact from the blow was so great it blasted the giant monster off its feet for a brief moment. The orc king returned an attack so fierce Allen flinched instinctively, kicking off the start of a furious exchange between the knight captain and the monster.

At the same time, the vice-captain advanced on the normal orcs with his spear over his shoulder, not a hint of trepidation on his face. The magic-using orcs reacted first, shooting three fireballs into the air.

“I see, magic,” Leibrand murmured before his figure suddenly turned blurry and became enveloped in a shimmering haze. The next instant, he thrust his spear at the monsters faster than the eye could see. The shockwave generated from the point bored a huge hole in the abdomen of five or six orcs in a row. Blood exploded after a beat and the victims crumpled to the ground, dead. One of them was a magic-user. Apparently Leibrand was prioritizing them.

One of the fireballs lost momentum and dissipated, but the other two continued flying toward the vice-captain from different directions.

“Hmph!”

Leibrand sliced the two fireballs apart with a single swing, causing them to break apart and similarly dissolve harmlessly. During this whole exchange, he was still walking toward the orcs, his face as cool as a cucumber.

The orcs drew back in fear for a brief moment at the sight of the vice-captain dealing with the magic attacks so easily, but the next instant, they all surged forward. In response, the knight also picked up his pace, quickly shifting into a full-speed charge himself. When the two sides clashed, he sliced and diced the monsters every which way, making short work of them.

At the same time, the fight between the captain and orc king was also coming to an end. The former slashed down with his sword, bisecting both the halberd held up in defense and his opponent, armor and all. The orc king was clearly no match for the captain. After mere minutes, the two knights had finished off every last orc within the village walls.

They’re freaking strong! I guess that’s the “fiefdom’s most powerful man” for you. And turns out the vice-captain can really hold his own too.

Allen recalled hearing from Raven about how everyone familiar with the knight captain’s fighting style called him “War Demon Zenof.” Similarly, it was hard to imagine the vice-captain being the same man who had been thoroughly beaten up by Krena in her youth. Mihai had previously told Allen that Leibrand was strong, and now he saw the truth in that statement for himself.

The haze thing that Leibrand used, was it an Extra Skill? So other classes have Extra Skills too, not just Sword Lord. Speaking of which, Zenof didn’t use his at all.

As Allen started analyzing what he had seen, Zenof approached. “My men will arrive slightly after sunset today. Let’s finish taking care of all of this then.”

Surprisingly, he was not questioning why Allen was here. Zenof, Leibrand, and Allen worked together to gather all the orc corpses into the middle of the village. There was no need to purposely show off his Summons, so Allen pulled his weight using only his own strength. Just as he had done for the goblin villages, they were going to cremate the remains.

“Captain, I want half the magic stones,” Allen said.

“Hm? Well, that’s fair. Very well.”

Allen had already killed around half of the orcs by the time Zenof and Leibrand arrived, so he made sure to properly request what he deserved. The truth was that he wanted the Rank B magic stone too, but he let it go, as it was the captain who had killed it. The three quickly dug out the magic stones from the mountain of corpses. During the process, Allen caught Zenof looking over as if he wanted to ask about the Summons, but he never did.

According to Zenof, they would have to fully burn this place to the ground afterward to prevent other orcs from moving in and using it as a settlement again. The human remains were fine being gathered in one place; the chivalric order would bring them back in case any surviving kin wanted them.

While the three of them were in the middle of moving the human remains, the rest of the knights arrived on the scene. They had pushed their schedule forward in order to catch up with their captain.

It’s about time for me to head back, or I won’t make curfew.

Allen looked up to confirm the position of the sun. Considering the distance between this location and Granvelle City, he would not be able to arrive back at the mansion within the day if he did not head off soon. When he announced that he would be returning, however, Zenof said, “Camp out with us tonight. I’ll explain things to His Lordship afterward.” Naturally, Allen had no choice in the matter.

Because the orc village stank terribly, the knights moved off a certain distance away to make camp. From what Allen could see with a Bird E, there were about a hundred knights on this expedition. This was probably a reasonable number for taking on orc villages. Honestly speaking, he thought the knight captain could probably take on an entire village all by himself, but the others probably all had their own roles to play. There were some things that required numbers rather than individual strength.

With practiced movements, the knights soon had the camp all set up.

“Allen. Come eat over here.” Zenof called out to Allen, who had been watching from a corner so as to not get in anyone’s way.

“Yes, Sir,” Allen replied, obediently approaching the fire. He was handed the drumstick of a wild bird and urged to dig in.

“So, all the destroyed goblin villages that we found were your doing.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You understand my need for up-to-date intel as the knight captain, yes? So I have to ask: how many goblin villages are left up ahead?”

“None, I believe. I destroyed fifty-two of them in total.”

There may be ones that’ve just sprung up, but I can at least say for certain that there aren’t any left in the foothills of the White Dragon Mountains.

Allen had scoured the area meticulously for goblin villages using Bird E and thoroughly razed every last one to the ground.

Zenof’s brows drew together in a thoughtful frown. “You’re just as—no, beyond what I’d heard.”

“I’m sorry, Sir? What did you hear?”

The knight captain began recounting all of Allen’s feats to date, prompting the boy to set his drumstick down and listen closely. At six years of age, he had brought down his first albaheron, then went on to hunt more than fifty of them over the next two years; this matched perfectly with the years Krena Village had exported a large number of albaheron feathers to Granvelle City. Then, at age seven, he had started advising the village’s hunting party. As a result, the number of great boars they were able to take down per year doubled from ten to twenty.

How does he know all that? I mean, he probably asked around in Krena Village. But still, that’s a lot of detail.

As figurative question marks appeared over Allen’s head, Zenof continued.

Right after Allen started working at the Granvelle mansion, strange occurrences began cropping up in the area between Granvelle City and the White Dragon Mountains. Goblin corpses bearing slashes like claw marks turned up in large numbers, every last one with its magic stone carved out. The numbers kept climbing and climbing, with the final total, according to reports, exceeding even one thousand.

One year later, reports came in of the same thing happening, this time to orcs. Starting last year, armored ants were added to the list of monsters suffering the same fate. Crucially, the days such discoveries were reported overlapped perfectly with Allen’s days off and the days he went out as a huntsman. Most recently, almost every goblin village that the chivalric order had advanced on had already been wiped out and burned to the ground.

Damn, he’s basically got a perfect account of everything I’ve been up to. It makes sense when I think about it, though. I did leave all those monsters’ corpses just lying around after I took their magic stones. It’s not like I went to the trouble of burying them either. Of course Zenof would hear of this, being the knight captain and all.

In light of everything that he had learned, the knight captain had come to doubt the reading from Allen’s Appraisal Ceremony. There was no way he had low stats and no Talent. His three matches with Mihai—which Zenof had witnessed in person—had been more than enough to indicate that something was amiss.

So Zenof summoned the clergymen who had handled Allen’s Appraisal Ceremony to gain a more detailed account of what had happened at the time. All of them firmly insisted that Allen had no Talent. But this raised another question.

This group of clergymen traveled throughout the kingdom every year, starting from the royal capital and stopping at various fiefdoms and villages on a specific route. The number of children that they had Appraised throughout the years was beyond counting, and yet, they somehow still remembered this one boy from so many years ago.

When the knight captain had queried the clergymen, they thought it strange as well and started to reexamine their memories more thoroughly. This process ended up helping them recall the occasion in greater detail. The crystal used in the ceremony was supposed to glow in different ways depending on the child’s Talent, but it had glowed so brightly for Allen that everyone present had to shut their eyes. Add in Allen’s rare black hair and eyes, and little wonder the incident had remained vivid in their minds. The clergymen had nodded at each other’s contributions to the conversation as if comparing answers while reconstructing the situation piece by piece.

Thanks to this, the memory of the head clergyman who had headed the ceremony was jogged and he was able to recall the reading on the pitch-black metallic plate. He retracted what he had said earlier about Allen not having a Talent, explaining that there had indeed been characters on the display, but that they had been illegible. This, combined with the low stat values, was what had led him to conclude it must have been some sort of error and to declare the boy Talentless.

“And it is thanks to that Talent that you’ve been able to kill so many monsters, yes?”

“Uh...yes, Sir.”

“Mm.”

The knight captain was now sure that Allen knew that he had a Talent despite having been declared Talentless and had kept quiet about it all this time.

He’s caught on. Is he going to ask me about my class? Not that I intend on telling him anything.

Allen had every intention of glossing things over if pressed for details, but the knight captain never did ask him in the end. The two continued eating their meal while staring into the fire.

After a long silence, just as Allen looked up to peer at Zenof’s face, the man said abruptly, “His Lordship already knows everything.”

It was nearing the three-year mark of Allen’s time at the Granvelle mansion, but as it turned out, the baron had already known about him for quite a long time. In other words, he had allowed Allen free rein with full awareness of the boy’s doings. Making him a huntsman so soon after he entered service had, aside from the demands from other servants and whatnot, been a conscious decision to go along with what Allen wanted.

“Why...would he go so far for me?” Allen asked, taken aback.

“Well...I’m sure you’re curious, but it’s not my place to say. His Lordship might share his thoughts with you directly one day. Lend him an ear then.”

“Lend him an ear”? That’s a weird way of putting it. It almost sounds like he might ask me, a mere manservant, for something.

Zenof requested that Allen report to him on matters like his next targets and current progress whenever the captain visited the mansion in the future, then fell silent again. This, of course, made sense from his position. He and his men had gone to the trouble of making thorough preparations to fight a whole village of goblins only to arrive on-site and find it already razed to the ground and all the goblins dead. Understandably, finding all their effort wasted would negatively affect the troop’s morale, especially when it happened so many times. After having been allowed to do as he pleased for so long, there was no way for Allen to refuse this request. So he agreed, after which Zenof nodded and grew silent once more. In the very end, he never did ask for details about the Summons or the way Allen usually spent his days.

＊ ＊ ＊

After dinner was over, a knight came over to the fire where Zenof and Allen were warming themselves to report that preparations for the bath were complete. By bath, he was referring to a simple process of using a bucket of hot water for wiping off sweat and grime. The knight captain immediately stood up and took off his armor right there.

Remembering that he had yet to thank the man for saving his life, Allen offered to wipe his back. He gasped when he saw the fifty-some-year-old’s bare back—it was marred with countless scars, as befitted a veteran soldier of decades. Although the captain had plenty of scars on his arms and face, Allen had not imagined that it would be the same under his armor as well.

Allen then knelt down to wipe Zenof’s back, wondering just how many life-and-death battles he had lived through. But when he got close enough to take a better look, he gasped once more. Many of the scars had been wounds so deep that large swathes of skin had been removed, revealing the muscle below. From the looks of things, all of them had likely been near-fatal.

“Mm? What’s the matter?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Sir. I will begin wiping now. Um, by the way...” These old wounds...are painful even to look at.

“Yes?”

“I have recovery items that can probably heal you. Would you like me to use them?”

“I’m good.”

“I have plenty of them, though.”

“No, there’s no need. Leave it.”

“Y-Yes, Sir.”

Allen had been thinking of using a Leaf of Life, but to his surprise, Zenof turned his offer down. The man apparently wanted to keep his scars. Allen fell silent and resumed wiping.

Still, today’s hunt was an utter failure. There’s not much I can do when the orcs group up like they did today. Slowly pushing in is just a war of attrition, the worst strategy possible. And me entering the gate was a huge mistake too.

While diligently wiping the back before his eyes, Allen reflected on how today went.

Suddenly, the knight captain asked, “Do you find hunting fun?” almost as if he had read Allen’s mind.

“Yes, Sir. It’s incredibly fun.”

“I see.”

Silence returned between the two. There was a hint of sadness in Zenof’s face, but Allen could not see it from his angle.

The next day, Allen finally returned to the mansion. After explaining what had happened to Sebas, he was let off without a reprimand. All Sebas said was, “I’m glad you’re back home safe.” This reaction was all that Allen needed to realize he really had been allowed to hunt as much as he wanted. The reason still remained a mystery, though.

＊ ＊ ＊

Two weeks passed, and it was now the end of May.

“GUUMOOOHHHHHHH!!!”

The orc king roared at the top of its lungs, then fell to the ground, bleeding profusely.

<You have defeated 1 orc king. You have earned 25,000 XP.>

Hmm, is this really the best way of doing this? I ended up using 120 Rank D magic stones. But before anything else, hooray for getting my first Rank B magic stone!

After much trial and error, Allen had finally succeeded in clearing an orc village all by himself.

The first attempt had taught him that slowly pushing in from the front gate was a bad idea, as it gave the orcs time to set up formations and drag things into a war of attrition, gradually wearing each side out. Based on this lesson, he had changed up his tactics.

First, he arranged forty Beast Ds into four groups of ten each and made them attack the orc village from all four directions at the same time. If each Beast D could kill two orcs using the element of surprise, that was eighty orcs down before they could even react. Suddenly lowering their numbers so drastically proved an effective way to prevent them from forming up.

Then he used Sharing to remotely control four Beast Ds to target the magic-using orcs. Just in case, he had also instructed the other Summons to prioritize killing the magic-users should the opportunity present itself.

The rest was simple, no matter how many Summons went down and no matter if an orc king came out or not. In short, he just continued calling out as many Summons as needed to overwhelm the enemy through sheer numbers. With Allen himself taking up position somewhere out of harm’s way, victory was simply a matter of time.

Just now, Allen had just proved the efficacy of this new strategy.

I did end up using quite a few magic stones, but now I know I do have the ability and resources to win. I may have failed in my blind playthrough, but now I got this.

In Allen’s previous life, playing a game without any prior knowledge was called “doing a blind playthrough.” Failure was a very common element in these playthroughs. What was most important as a gamer was the ability to learn from past mistakes to pull off a better run next time.

All right, now that I’m able to clear an orc village alone, it’s time to shift focus to improving efficiency.

Thus began Allen’s campaign to exterminate all the orc villages at the foothills of the White Dragon Mountains.