Chapter 42
It was mid-September, with summer about to give way to autumn.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah, Dad."
Rodan called out to him, and Allen answered. Today was a day out, and they were leaving first thing in the morning. A messenger from the village chief had come yesterday to summon them. Allen had thought it was only Rodan, but apparently he was supposed to come, too. They hadn't been told what it was about, only that they should be at the village chief's house at nine the next morning.
They left the house before eight.
As usual, Telesia, Mash, and Myura stayed home. Rodan and Allen were seen off at the entrance.
The two of them made their way along a path through the wheat fields.
Wheat was harvested in September. Rodan's family had been talking about harvesting theirs soon.
"Hey, Rodan. Guess you got called in, too."
Gerda was just leaving his house. It seemed the village chief had summoned him as well.
(Gerda-san, too? Well, I'm the unusual one. The village chief usually calls on Dad and Gerda-san.)
Rodan and Gerda were the representatives of the serfs. If anything came up, the village chief asked them to handle it.
The village chief didn't only ask them to hunt boars. He often had them take care of odd jobs, like mediating when one serf got into a fight with another. Gerda preferred to settle things with his fists, so Rodan was usually the one who mediated.
"Did the chief tell you what it's about, Gerda?"
"Nope. He just told me to come, too."
Gerda hadn't been told why he'd been summoned, either.
(If it's the three of us, is this about the boar hunt? Maybe there's something about the hunts starting next month? If I remember right, last year we were told to kill fifteen, and this year, twenty. Has the plan changed?)
The three of them walked along, thinking.
They'd spent the past three months working hard to gather Magic Stones all over the village.
Allen had talked to the serfs while they drew water, searched for Magic Stones in Krena's yard, and asked Dogora and Peromus, too. He'd patiently asked every shop in the village whether they had any unwanted E-rank Magic Stones, and managed to gather over two hundred. Passion could move people.
He currently had a lineup with extra Plant E cards. He wanted to increase his Magic and reach Summon Level 5 as soon as possible. He needed three million Skill Experience to reach Summon Level 5.
He wasn't sure whether he should go on the boar hunt next month. If he only cared about Experience, he should go. But if he wanted to make even a little money and escape serfdom, he should hunt Alba Herons at home instead.
He was torn between prioritizing Experience and earning money. That was why he still hadn't had a rematch at arm wrestling. He planned to use this meeting as one of the factors in deciding whether to challenge Rodan again.
While he was thinking about this, they arrived at the village chief's house. Once they went inside, they were shown to a room in the back. It seemed to be the chief's room.
"Oh, you're here. I've been waiting."
The portly village chief was in the room. He welcomed them.
"So, Chief, what is this about? And why'd you call Allen, too?"
(Yeah, why am I here? Is this about the protective gear being finished?)
The village chief told them to wait while he had tea brought in. Tea was served, along with sweets.
(Sweets! These are insanely good!!!)
This might have been Allen's first time eating sweets since coming to this other world. He munched on baked treats that seemed to be made from wheat and sugar. Allen had a sweet tooth.
But Rodan and Gerda furrowed their brows. The chief usually served tea, but not baked sweets.
"So? Why'd you call us?"
Rodan questioned the village chief as if interrogating him.
The chief took a sip of tea, then spoke after a brief pause.
"Actually, the lord will be visiting Krena Village next month."
"What?!"
"And he said he'd like to see the boar hunt."
The village chief explained that a messenger from the lord had come yesterday with that request.
"You want us to hunt boars in front of the lord?"
"That's right."
The chief immediately answered Gerda's question. Rodan and Gerda pressed him to confirm it was true. Allen would turn eight next month, but he'd never heard of the lord visiting the village. It might be the first time since the village was founded thirteen years ago.
(What's going on? This is a sudden turn of events!)
"About when next month will he be here?"
"Around the middle of October, I hear. Hmm, yes..."
(Hm?)
Something in Allen's words seemed to have caught the village chief's attention.
"So what do you want us to do?"
"Of course, I want you to make sure the boar hunt goes off without a hitch. The lord will be watching."
The village chief emphasized that failure was not an option.
"Then why'd you call my son, too?"
Rodan understood that the lord was coming, but wondered why Allen needed to be there.
"Well, the messenger said we'd need someone to accompany the lord and show him around."
The village chief looked at Allen as he said this.
"What?!"
"Huh? Me?"
Both Rodan and Gerda were stunned.
"Hey, if you're looking for a kid, isn't your son right there?"
"Well, my son is a bit shy—or rather, he's not suited for that sort of thing. I'd like Allen to be on hand starting with the banquet the night before."
Apparently, this wasn't just about explaining the hunt.
(Hmm, so that's why they brought out the sweets. Trying to win me over with some treats? I'm not going to be bribed by something like this!)
As he thought that, he ate another sweet.
"Mmm."
Rodan seemed unsure whether to agree. It wasn't Allen's decision to make, but his father's. The other party was the lord, and any mistake could spell trouble.
"I've heard about it. Allen came up with that protective gear and the hunting method, didn't he? And he speaks properly. Wouldn't he be perfect for showing the lord around?"
The village chief pressed his point, saying Allen was the right choice to guide the lord during the hunt.
Watching Rodan hesitate, Allen thought:
(I'm not interested in the lord. But...)
Allen had no interest in social status. He'd become a serf because that was the only status available to him when he chose Summoner.
He had no desire whatsoever to escape serfdom and become a noble.
On the contrary, becoming a noble would restrict his freedom and keep him from leveling up, so he'd do everything he could to avoid it. Serving a noble was out of the question.
But being a serf was restrictive in its own way.
(If I stay a serf, I can't leave the village, and I won't be free to level up.)
As things stood, he could only level up by hunting boars and Alba Herons. He'd only gotten as far as testing F-rank Summons, and he still thought those tests were incomplete. He wanted to get out of this situation.
Naturally, he wanted to give his family a somewhat better life, too.
(There were two ways to stop being a serf, if I remember right.)
He remembered what Gerda had told him before about how a serf could become a commoner.
・Pay ten gold coins per person (fifty gold coins for a family of five)
・Have the lord grant you commoner status as a reward
Even after hunting desperately last autumn, they'd only earned about three gold coins. At this rate, it would take more than ten years to become commoners. With their low status and lack of freedom, he had no idea what might happen to his family before then.
(I was torn between joining the boar hunt and focusing on Alba Heron hunting, but now I know what to do.)
"Dad."
"Hm? What is it, Allen?"
Allen spoke to Rodan, who was still wondering whether to let him serve as the guide.
"I'll be the one to show the lord around."
"What?!"
"And I'll tell him how hard everyone works for him during the boar hunt."
He said it with a smile.
(I'll tell the lord how great Dad is and get him to make us commoners.)
The village chief was delighted that Allen had accepted. Rodan was surprised, but didn't object. Neither did Gerda. It seemed they both believed Allen could handle it.
"So, what do we do now?"
Gerda brought up next month's boar hunt, now that the lord was coming.
"Chief, is all the protective gear I asked for finished?"
"Yes, it's all in the shed. Want to go take a look now?"
"All right. We need to discuss how to use the gear and how to hunt, too, so let's go to the shed."
They set about preparing for the boar hunt with enthusiasm.
They began making preparations for next month's boar hunt before the lord's arrival.