Chapter 32
The new year had begun, and it was now early September. Allen would turn seven next month.
Under the blazing sunlight, Allen was in the yard of Krena's house.
"I'm your opponent this time, Allen."
"All right, come on, Dogora."
Dogora called out to Allen and charged at him, gripping what was more like a club than a wooden sword.
"Damn it, why can't I hit you?"
"I've told you over and over. Predict my movements."
"I know!"
What they were doing was playing knights. In early December of last year, Dogora had picked a fight with Allen. Allen had won and told him he'd be back in two days.
When Allen returned to buy supplies two days later, Dogora was waiting for him, fired up for a rematch. Perhaps the round stick, like an oversized pestle, had been hard to handle, because he'd upgraded his weapon.
Naturally, Allen had the advantage in both stats and Swordsmanship Skill level, and he won handily. This time, Dogora was the one who said he'd be back in two days. Allen went to the commercial district at the same time two days later, and Dogora was waiting there. Allen beat him again.
This went on for nearly a month, until December ended.
Since Allen had been coming to buy supplies every other day, they had built up a good stock of both firewood and salt.
When Allen said he wouldn't be coming to buy supplies so often from January onward, Dogora had said, "What, are you running away?"
Allen consulted Krena. He told her that there was someone who wanted to play knights with them. When he asked if Dogora could join in, she immediately said, "Sure!"
When Allen told Dogora that they would be playing at Krena's house from then on, Dogora immediately replied, "Got it!"
They hadn't picked Allen's house as the meeting place because Krena's house was closer to the residential district. He wanted to choose somewhere everyone could gather without having to travel too far. After that, Dogora came to Krena's house nearly every day.
"Take that! Knight Peromus! Is that all you've got?"
"Ugh... Yaaah!"
At the edge of his vision, Allen saw Krena playing knights with Peromus, the Village Chief's son. Peromus and Dogora were friends. Dogora had sat at the same table as the Knight Commander during the banquet with the knights because he knew Peromus.
Peromus was going to be a merchant when he grew up, so he seemed quite reluctant to play knights. Allen couldn't help feeling that Dogora had practically dragged him along.
Even so, Peromus came with Dogora every two or three days. It seemed the Village Chief was getting involved, too. Since Krena was a Sword Saint who was expected to serve the royal family in the future, the Village Chief sent Peromus off with a firm, "Go have fun playing together." It seemed there was no escaping it.
There was one more person who joined in their games of knights.
It was Mash, who had turned three the previous December. Telesia had given him permission to go outside. He was allowed to leave the yard as long as Allen went with him. Ever since the games moved to Krena's house, Mash had come along almost every day.
That made five of them here: Allen, Krena, Mash, Dogora, and Peromus.
"All right, Mash. Let's go."
"Okay, big bro!"
Mash's weapon was quite long. It wasn't a sword; it was modeled after a spear. At first, Allen had made him an ordinary wooden sword, about thirty centimeters long to suit Mash's size.
But Mash had said, "I want to use big brother's sword!" It was that familiar little-brother thing of wanting whatever his older brother had. So Allen made him a sword twice as long as the one he'd made for Mash.
Then Mash's movements changed. It wasn't a huge difference. It might have been a fluke, or Allen's imagination. After all, it was a game of knights with a three-year-old. But Allen didn't miss the change in his movements.
Mash was better suited to a long weapon—a spear. So Allen changed his weapon to one shaped like a spear.
Mash was three years younger than Allen.
"Yah!"
"That's good, Mash."
(So this is talent. I can't wait for his Appraisal Ceremony in two years.)
Mash thrust at him with sharp movements. Maybe his Spear Skill level was rising, because his movements kept getting better. Allen was looking forward to Mash's Appraisal Ceremony when he turned five. He believed they would find a talent suited to Mash.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
"Aw, what? We're done already?"
"Dogora, let's go home."
The three o'clock bell rang. Dogora and Peromus always went home when they heard it. They came to play when the noon bell rang, so their games of knights lasted about two hours. They said, "See you later," to Allen and Krena.
After the two boys left, Allen and Mash played knights a little longer before heading home, too. At first, Mash had been exhausted by the time they left Krena's house and would ask Allen to carry him on his back. Lately, he seemed able to walk home by himself. Allen was happy to see his little brother growing up.
"We're home!"
"Welcome home, Allen, Mash."
Telesia called back from the earthen-floored entryway. She had started preparing dinner, with Allen's baby sister, who had been born in February, on her back. Since it was hard for her to manage alone, Allen began helping with dinner.
Telesia had safely given birth to a girl. She was their third child.
The arrangement between the couple was that Rodan would name any boy, while Telesia would name any girl. Now that they had a daughter, Telesia had finally gotten the chance to choose a name.
She named her Myura.
She named her after the medicinal Mülleraze flower that had saved Rodan's life. It seemed she'd decided long ago that this would be the name if she ever had a girl. Myura was given her name on the day she was born.
Allen thought Telesia had a better sense of names. Allen and Mash had both been named after magical beasts.
Allen's namesake, the Alba Heron, flew north when autumn came. But Allen had never heard of the magical beast Mash was named after. It was a beast he'd never had the chance to learn about before.
He'd heard about it from Rodan while they were shopping.
Apparently, one reason salt and fruit sometimes stopped coming to the village was a magical beast called Murdergarsh.
Murdergarsh traveled alone, with no fixed territory or den, always on the move. From what Allen had heard, it looked like a gigantic wolf. It was supposedly about twice the size of a Great Boar, though Rodan had never seen one himself.
Sometimes, Murdergarsh appeared on the roads connecting towns and villages and settled there. When that happened, merchants and travelers stopped going to nearby villages and towns. It was a B-rank magical beast, not something that could be easily defeated.
Sometimes it stayed for more than a month, bringing trade to a halt. When that happened, they requested that the knights be sent to hunt it.
It hadn't happened in this village, but Rodan had a vivid memory of one such request being made in the neighboring village where he'd been born. The Murdergarsh had left before the hunting party arrived, though, so they hadn't been able to hunt it.
It sounded like a real nuisance of a magical beast. When Allen heard about it, he thought it wasn't exactly the sort of beast anyone would love.
Watching Mash roll around in the living room, Allen hoped that, unlike Murdergarsh, his little brother would grow up surrounded by everyone's love.
"I'm home."
Rodan was now completely recovered. He'd returned to farming in the spring. These days, he had resumed fetching water in the mornings and worked in the fields all day.
Allen had also been working in the fields since early spring, learning from Rodan. But he only worked for a few hours in the morning. When Allen tried to spend the whole day doing farm work, Gerda had told him that children should be playing outside. Allen still remembered how much his shoulders had hurt when Gerda grabbed them.
His days were very busy: chores and farm work in the morning, then playing knights in the afternoon.
The family gathered around the hearth for dinner. Myura had only just begun eating a little solid food. She drooled as she ate. Mash seemed hungry after all that exercise, too, and was stuffing himself with steamed potatoes.
"You're home late today."
Telesia spoke to Rodan.
Rodan had come home a little late. Telesia worried whenever he was late, so he tried not to stay out too long.
"Yeah, the Village Chief called me in for a bit."
With a troubled expression, Rodan began telling them about being summoned by the Village Chief.