Chapter 29
Snow drifted slowly down from the sky. December had arrived. There were no more Alba Herons in the sky. They had all finished migrating.
Since then, Allen had continued hunting Alba Herons, killing sixteen of them. He butchered them all, and just the other day they were taxed along with the potatoes.
The villagers collected the taxes, though that didn't mean the Village Chief did it himself. As Allen had discussed with the Village Chief, he handed over only the magic stones, feathers, and down. Word of his catch seemed to have spread, and people looked surprised that he'd really caught so many.
Around 150 kilograms of meat was currently being made into jerky in the yard. The meat from the first hunts had dried nicely.
"Allen, are you ready?"
"Yes, Gerda-san."
Today, they were going to the village's residential district to buy supplies. They needed firewood and salt.
They needed plenty of firewood for the cold winter. Normally, they got some boar meat in October, sold part of it, and bought firewood, so they usually had a decent supply. But with Rodan badly injured, they hadn't been able to buy any for the past two months. The Allen family was about to run out.
They were in the same situation with salt and were about to run out of that, too. Woodcutters gathered firewood from around the village, so it was always available for sale. Salt, on the other hand, was brought in from elsewhere by peddlers. Sometimes the peddlers didn't come for several months, causing the price of salt to soar. They needed to keep a reasonable stock on hand.
Today, Gerda was going to teach Allen how to shop. They didn't have anything like a cart, so they would have to carry their purchases on their backs using wooden-frame carriers. Allen was carrying around ten one-kilogram chunks of Alba Heron meat. They would sell it to buy firewood and salt.
Telesia waved as Allen set off with Gerda. Rodan stood beside her.
A month and a half had passed since Rodan was badly injured, and he had recovered considerably. He could stand and walk now, but the shopping trip would take about two hours on foot. He still hadn't recovered enough to carry the load, especially on the way back, so Allen was going instead. Rodan no longer told Allen not to go when he said he was going shopping. Instead, Rodan had Gerda go with him.
News of Allen's confession had reached Gerda, too, but Gerda's manner toward Allen hadn't changed much. Gerda had apparently already felt that Allen was no ordinary child, so the news seemed to have been accepted without much fuss.
"Have the commoners gone boar hunting since then?"
Since Gerda had helped his parents with all sorts of things, including teaching them farm work, Allen spoke to him more politely than he did to his parents.
"Huh? Why are you asking all of a sudden?"
"I was wondering what happened after that."
It was an hour's walk to the village center, so they chatted as they went. Gerda was easygoing and blunt, and told Allen whatever he wanted to know.
"Well, the commoners haven't come since then. The Village Chief hasn't said anything, either. Looks like it'll just be us serfs going this year."
"I see."
"Yeah."
(Hmm, looks like they got scared and won't join the boar hunt anymore.)
"The commoners aren't coming? What's the difference between serfs and commoners? How can a serf become a commoner?"
That was what Allen had actually wanted to ask.
"Huh? Why are you asking all of a sudden? Ask Rodan."
"But wouldn't it be awkward to ask my parents about something like that?"
It was like asking his parents how to stop being serfs and become commoners. Asking his serf parents might upset them. He wanted to know how to get his family out of serfdom, but he had no one else to ask.
"Good grief," Gerda muttered as he explained while walking.
The difference between serfs and commoners was how they were taxed. Serfs had to pay sixty percent of everything they harvested, whether it was magical beasts or crops. Commoners didn't pay that sixty-percent tax, but instead had to pay a head tax. It was three gold coins for an adult and one gold coin for a child. Commoners had to pay it every year.
(I see. That means a head tax applies to the four of us: my parents, Mash, and me. We'd have to pay eight gold coins every year. And another head tax will be added when the baby is born next year.)
"I see. Is there a way to become a commoner?"
"I think you have to pay ten gold coins. I've heard the lord sometimes makes people commoners as a reward, but I don't know if that's true."
(Hmm. If it costs ten gold coins regardless of whether you're an adult or a child, then it would cost Rodan's family fifty gold coins.)
"Thank you. Please don't tell them Allen asked you about this."
"I won't say anything."
Gerda rubbed Allen's head vigorously.
Before long, they reached a section of the village lined with several shops. It was the village's commercial district.
"We'll start with salt. You know this already, but we'll get the firewood last. It's heavy."
"Yes."
They entered through a Western-style swinging door. Salt and spices were kept behind the counter. They must have been expensive, since they weren't displayed out front.
"I'll trade meat for salt."
There was no bargaining; Gerda simply stated what he wanted. The shopkeeper curtly told him to show the meat and how much he had.
Gerda wasn't just there to show Allen around; he was shopping, too. He said it was Great Boar meat and set it on the counter. The shopkeeper used something like a scale to weigh it.
"Twelve scoops."
"That works."
Allen watched, thinking how curt the conversation was. Gerda handed the shopkeeper a small wooden box. The shopkeeper took it and scooped salt from a jar into the box twelve times with a wooden spoon about the size of a tablespoon. Allen watched alongside Gerda.
"Here, check it."
Gerda gently shook the salt in the box and checked its contents. Then he used his little finger to taste a little of it.
"Looks good."
He closed the lid, tied the box shut with string, and tucked it inside his clothes.
Once Gerda was done, Allen traded his meat in the same way.
"This is Alba Heron meat."
Allen set five chunks of Alba Heron meat, about five kilograms in all, on the counter. The shopkeeper reacted a little to the unfamiliar meat, but silently began weighing it. Allen waited, wondering if he might refuse to take it.
"Ten scoops."
"Huh? Is it cheaper than boar meat?"
"Huh? It's the same."
Apparently, the price was the same because Allen had brought less meat than Gerda. Allen said that was fine and handed over a wooden box. He checked the salt just as Gerda had, tied it shut with string, and fastened it to his sash since it wouldn't fit inside his clothes.
Next, they headed to the greengrocer. They mainly bought fruit here. Serfs generally bartered wheat, beans, potatoes, and other staples among themselves. But none of the serfs grew fruit. Apparently, merchants brought it in from some other town or village.
Gerda traded a chunk of jerky for four Mormo fruits. Allen did the same, trading a chunk of Alba Heron meat for four Mormo fruits. The woman running the shop was quite friendly. Allen idly wondered if the salt shopkeeper's curt attitude was because he sold salt.
(Hmm? Are C-rank boar meat and D-rank Alba Heron meat worth the same?)
He'd thought higher-ranked beasts would have more valuable meat, and brought extra Alba Heron meat in case the shopkeeper undervalued it. But it seemed to be worth the same.
Allen had never seen any pigs or chickens in the village. He guessed they probably didn't raise livestock. The only animals he saw were the horses pulling carts. As he wondered whether meat was valuable simply because it was meat, they arrived at the last shop, the firewood store.
He made sure to record the shops' locations, the shopkeepers' attitudes, the ten scoops of salt, and the four Mormo fruits in his Grimoire. He would be going alone next time. The cold season would last another three months. They needed to buy enough firewood for all three months, but he couldn't carry home several days' worth in one trip.
The firewood shop consisted of a person standing in front of a warehouse. From the entrance, Allen could see a huge amount of firewood piled up inside.
After Gerda traded his boar meat, Allen handed over one chunk of meat and received four bundles of firewood. Each bundle weighed about fifteen kilograms and was enough for one day. It wouldn't last a full day if they kept the fire burning constantly, so they needed to conserve it as much as possible during daylight.
Allen tied four bundles of firewood, each a meter long, to the wooden-frame carrier he'd brought with him. The firewood seller was curt, but even he seemed worried. Allen heard him call, "Hey, hey!" The four bundles weighed sixty kilograms altogether.
Without paying him any mind, Allen finished tying them on, hoisted the load onto his back, and headed home with Gerda, where his family was. That was how Allen learned to shop in the village.