Provocation

Three days had passed since they started digging up potatoes. It was nearly the end of October.

"I'm going out for a bit this afternoon."

"Oh? Is that so? Don't stay out too late."

"Yeah, I'll be back before evening."

They'd finished harvesting all the potatoes, and now a huge pile sat in the yard. They would sort them by size and pay the Village Chief sixty percent of the harvest, excluding the seed potatoes. The harvest took up quite a bit of space in the yard.

Taxes were collected several times a year, at set times, by people who came in horse-drawn wagons. The next collection wouldn't be until early December, so they had until then to sort the potatoes.

Sorting potatoes had been added to his morning chores. He was becoming more of a farmer by the day.

Gerda had also told him what needed to be done after the potatoes were sorted. They would have to remove any stalks and roots still in the fields, or they would get in the way when they planted new crops in the spring. They also had to check that the narrow irrigation channels hadn't been filled in and make sure they were of an even depth. He would be responsible for maintaining the channels bordering the fields assigned to Rodan.

(I'll work on that whenever I have a spare moment. Still, at last, I've finished preparing my cards.)

Three days had passed since Rodan woke up after being injured.

Three days ago

・11 Beast F cards

・2 Insect F cards

・2 Bird F cards

・15 Plant F cards

Current

・16 Beast F cards

・3 Insect G cards

・2 Insect F cards

・2 Bird F cards

・7 Plant F cards

(I've finished adjusting my cards, and Enhancement Level 2 is done, too.)

He'd reduced his Plant cards and added more Beast F cards to build up his strength and make farm work easier. Once he'd finished arranging his cards, he kept spending Magic to raise Enhancement to Level 2. He'd also gotten a general idea of what Enhancement Level 2 did.

Enhancement Level 2

・Magic cost: 10

・Effect: Increases two blessed stats by 20

(So now it's confirmed that Skills other than Create don't have their Magic cost change when they level up. Synthesis stays at 5, and Enhancement stays at 10.)

When Enhancement went from Level 1 to Level 2, the stat increase for Summons rose from +10 to +20. He'd Enhanced every card in his holder to Level 2.

From now on, he planned to raise Enhancement to Level 3 first, then earn Skill experience evenly across Create, Synthesis, and Enhancement until all three Skills reached Level 4.

He was sorting potatoes that morning when it was time for lunch. Rodan still couldn't leave the bedroom, but he was gradually getting better. Perhaps the tree he'd grown beside his parents' bedroom with Plant F was helping him recover, too.

After lunch, Allen went back out into the yard. Rodan and Telesia were both home now, so Mash was calm and didn't seem lonely.

Among the various baskets, large and small, he picked one of a suitable size and carried it over to the tree. He casually dropped ten stones into it. He'd thrown each of them countless times, and their edges had worn smooth until they were about the size of baseballs. He tucked a wooden sword into his sash.

He took the basket outside and headed along the path between the fields toward the fallow land Gerda had told him about.

When he reached it, he found weeds taller than he was growing thickly across the land. No one had tended it, and the overgrown weeds had dried up and withered. He pushed his way inside, the dry stalks rustling around him.

He set the basket down wherever was convenient and pushed his way through the weeds.

(First, I need to get a feel for what this fallow field is like.)

The weeds, which had grown taller than him, made it hard to tell how large the fallow field was. To get an idea of its size, he walked back and forth, pushing through them.

(This must be about the center.)

Once he had a general idea where the center of the fallow field was, Allen began trampling the weeds there. He kept crushing them underfoot, working in silence as the dry stalks snapped beneath him.

A circular clearing about ten meters in diameter began to take shape, like a crop circle from back when they were popular.

(That should do it.)

He casually stepped out from the ten-meter circle into the surrounding weeds, took stones from the basket at random, and placed them on the ground. Then he gripped his wooden sword.

(Summon Pyonta.)

An Insect G Summon appeared in the middle of the crop-circle-like clearing. It was a frog about the size of a bullfrog.

(All right, taunt it.)

'Ribbit, ribbit.'

The Insect G Pyonta flashed red, blue, and yellow as it hopped around. Allen held his breath among the weeds and watched.

Ten minutes passed.

(Hmm, this isn't going as well as I'd hoped.)

Allen looked up at the sky, still holding his wooden sword. Birds of all sizes flew here and there overhead.

(There are birds in the sky, but maybe there aren't enough of them. Or maybe the taunt doesn't reach that high.)

Winter was coming, and they absolutely needed firewood to get through it. Until now, Rodan had sold Great Boar meat every year and bought firewood so they could stay warm through the winter. His little brother was at home, too. Allen was only six, and he wasn't especially resistant to the cold himself.

They'd received ten kilograms of meat for every boar they'd caught, and they'd caught ten of them. About half the money had gone toward firewood, which they bought in the village.

But Rodan wouldn't be able to go boar hunting this winter. They had the meat from the one hunt when Rodan had managed to kill a boar despite his serious injuries, the small amount of food the Village Chief had left as a get-well gift, and the presents from the fellow serfs who looked up to him. Even so, compared with a hundred kilograms of Great Boar meat, it didn't seem like enough to buy sufficient firewood.

To protect the new life growing inside Telesia and the rest of his family, Allen was trying to catch birds.

(Leaving aside magic beasts like Alba Herons, even a common bird that looks like a red-crowned crane should have around two kilograms of edible meat. I'd thought catching fifty or so would be easy enough.)

Magic beast birds like Alba Herons were flying north to migrate. He had no intention of catching magic beasts. Large birds resembling red-crowned cranes also flew around this time of year. He'd chosen them as his target and was setting a trap, using Insect G Pyonta to lure them in with its taunt.

As he lay low, thinking it over, an hour passed.

(One isn't enough. Good thing I made three cards, just in case.)

He summoned a second Insect G. It hopped around in the same spot as the first one, taunting the birds.

Another hour passed.

(Damn, even two Pyontas aren't enough? Actually, they might be flying too high to lure down. I don't even know how far the taunt reaches.)

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

The bell rang to announce three o'clock.

(It's already three. I told Krena I couldn't play today. I haven't seen her in days.)

Ever since Rodan was seriously injured, Allen hadn't played knights with Krena. He'd been turning her down because he had work to do around the house. Krena had looked a little lonely for a moment, but she'd said she understood. She hadn't come to Allen's house in the past two days.

(All right, I'll add one more and make it three. That'll use up all the cards.)

'Ribbit, ribbit.'

'Ribbit, ribbit.'

'Ribbit, ribbit.'

The three Insect G Pyontas hopped around separately in the circular clearing they'd made in the fallow field. Allen noticed that each one was flashing a different color: red, blue, and yellow.

He stood by with his wooden sword gripped tightly, but nothing happened.

(Hmm, did I count my chickens before they hatched? No, it's too soon to give up. Maybe I'll make some more Insect G cards and try again tomorrow.)

Just then...

Something plunged down from the sky in a flash. It appeared right in front of Allen, who'd let his guard down as he was about to give up. Huge, hooked talons attacked one of the Insect Gs. It turned into a glowing bubble and vanished.

'Gyaaaaaaaas!!!'

The creature landed in the middle of the clearing, spread its wings—which spanned four meters—as if to threaten him, and let out a loud cry.

An Alba Heron had swooped down from the sky.