Observation (2)

Two Great Boars came charging into the clearing between the trees. The two members of the bait team ran desperately toward their companions in the boar-hunting party.

"What?! Raybrand! Two boars are coming!"

The commander of the knights hurriedly ordered Raybrand, the deputy commander, who was lining up the knights below the rise, to take them down. He wanted to protect the lord and the boar hunters.

The deputy commander shouted an order and was just about to charge when—

"My apologies, Commander."

"Huh? What is it at a time like this?!"

Just as he had during their earlier conversation, Allen calmly addressed the commander of the knights.

"The hunt is still underway. Would you mind holding the knights back?"

"What?!"

The lord, who had been listening as well, was surprised.

"As I explained yesterday, I'm showing Your Lordship a hunt that will convince you we've met the target. The hunt isn't over yet."

What?! As Allen said that, the two boars were already right there. The knights wouldn't make it in time.

Just then—

"Two of them! Get fired up, everyone!"

"Yeahhhhhhhhhhh!"

The participants all rallied at once. There was no fear or hesitation among them. They answered Rodan's encouragement with an even louder cheer than before. They moved forward a little and formed up in front of the boar they'd just finished off.

The two members of the bait team came running toward them. They sprinted between the two large shields.

Almost immediately afterward, each of the two boars slammed into one of the large shields.

Unlike before, two people had to stop each boar's charge. The horns on the Great Boars' snouts dented the shields at once.

The two shields were pushed back a step at a time. They dented deeply, but didn't break. Both boars' charges came to a halt.

"We stopped them! Split into two groups and surround them!"

At Gerda's shout, the encirclement team split into two groups. The long-spear team split in two as well, stabbing from behind the encirclement team. There were forty participants, so even with the encirclement team split in half, they had plenty of people.

Rodan and the others in the finishing team sprang into action, too. They split into four groups, aimed for the vital points on the two boars' necks from either side, and thrust their spears forward.

(Good. The timing for bringing out the second and third boars after taking down the first was perfect. I'm glad we practiced.)

Allen had wondered about the village's boar hunts. Why did they only hunt one boar at a time? The basic rule of bait hunting was to take down every enemy that showed up. Leaving any behind was out of the question.

But when he'd observed the boar hunt, he saw them lure out only one boar. If there were two or more, they would guide all but one away from the formation.

They only hunted one because they could only manage one. If they could hunt two, they would. They couldn't, so they hunted only one. Allen understood that much.

Then his thoughts moved on to the next question.

Why could they only hunt one? The problem wasn't their level or their weapons. And it wasn't the number of people, either.

Allen, a former gamer, concluded that the problem was their armor. The serfs didn't wear armor capable of withstanding a Great Boar's attacks. Their hemp cloth couldn't protect them at all. Even Rodan, who'd been on the hunts for over ten years, would be left gravely injured by a single hit.

One might think they could just get better armor, but their reward was cuts of meat, which were used to feed their families. They couldn't afford armor. And steel shields sturdy enough to stop a charging boar would cost far more than the dagger Allen had once checked the price of at the weapons shop.

Their equipment never improved. Only their spears changed.

A two-meter spear was very short for a spear. It was made short so it wouldn't break against a boar's charge. But if it was too short, its wielder would be struck by the boar's horns or tusks. It was just the right length to avoid those while still being hard to break.

They'd continued hunting with that equipment for over ten years.

The basic principle of hunting was to upgrade your equipment as you hunted, allowing you to hunt more efficiently.

At Allen's suggestion, the serfs had taken up shields and donned armor. Their equipment had improved enough to let them hunt two boars at the same time.

Allen watched, relieved that the plan was working. They'd only tried hunting two boars at once twice before. This was their third attempt.

(I wish they'd come a little later. We could've practiced more.)

The lord had arrived in mid-October, right at the start of the hunting season. They hadn't had many chances to practice before this.

"Oh! It looks like they've finished them off!"

Fresh blood spurted from the neck of the second boar. They must have struck a vital point. Before long, blood spurted from the third one as well.

"We took down three. I'm glad it went well."

"Still, that was magnificent. To take down three at once! Only seventeen more to go."

Since they'd killed three, the commander of the knights said that at this rate, they could take down the remaining seventeen as well.

"No. Those three bring our total for this year to ten."

"What?!"

Once they'd learned the lord was coming, they'd already gone out to hunt boars several times. This was their fourth hunt.

"So we should be able to reach our target of twenty as soon as next month."

The lord watched the boar hunters celebrating their three kills. His features were stern, with sharply slanted eyes, but his expression seemed gentle somehow.

"I see. In that case, I can safely leave the boar hunt to everyone in the village."

The lord had said he'd leave it to them. That meant the knights wouldn't intervene, and they wouldn't bring in serfs from elsewhere.

"Thank you. I do have two requests, though. I hope you'll hear me out for the sake of future hunts as well."

"Hmm? Requests? Is there something else? That was a fine hunt, wasn't it?"

A look of confusion appeared on the commander of the knights' face. There had been nothing to worry about in that hunt.

"First, some of the participants still don't have proper equipment. And we'd like two more large shields, if possible."

"Hmm."

Allen explained. Aside from the armor, having three large shields would eventually let them hunt three boars at once. The fourth shield would be a spare. They'd only tested the shields' durability over four hunts so far, so he wanted a replacement on hand in case one broke.

"I see. You want to improve the equipment for next year's hunts and beyond."

"Yes. My other request concerns a problem. If we don't address it, the hunts may no longer be sustainable."

Allen had one lingering concern about the boar hunts, and the more successful they became, the greater it would grow. It would affect his family, too, so he wanted to explain it here and make sure everyone understood.

"Go on."

The lord urged Allen to explain the problem with the boar hunts.

"Yes, Your Lordship. If things continue this way, people will lose their motivation to hunt. We may even end up with fewer participants."

"Hmm?"

Since the lord didn't seem to understand, Allen continued.

"First, we're going to run short on one thing in particular: alcohol."

"Alcohol?"

They didn't see where this was going, so they repeated the word.

Allen continued. If they kept hunting, he explained, the value of boar meat in the village would soon plummet.

They'd only hunted ten boars before, but now they could take down twenty or even thirty. The meat supply wasn't that high yet, but eventually the village would have more than it could use. Then the value of boar meat would fall.

They'd have to trade even more boar meat than before for salt and firewood.

"I see. So you want alcohol to give them a reason to keep going."

The commander of the knights showed that he understood.

"Of course, it would motivate them, but exchanging meat for alcohol would also help preserve the meat's value."

Boar meat would be exchanged for alcohol, which would be consumed. That would make the meat disappear from the village. A liquor merchant wouldn't trade salt or firewood for meat in a village overflowing with it. They'd take the meat to a neighboring village or the lord's city, where it was scarce.

"I see. That would keep the meat's value steady, while the alcohol itself would motivate the participants."

The commander of the knights was impressed.

"Exactly. It doesn't have to be alcohol, either. Anything consumable, like fruit, would work."

This was also a way to keep the value of Alba Heron meat from falling in case Allen's family didn't become commoners as a reward this time. It would keep the serfs motivated to hunt, too—a win-win.

"Hmm. That's a good idea. I can't give you an answer right away, but it's worth considering."

"Thank you."

"So Rodan was the one who came up with that, then?"

The lord asked Allen, confirming it before Allen could say anything.

"Yes. My father, Rodan, told me about it."

The lord said, "I see," then fell silent. Silence settled over them.

"What would you like to do?"

The commander of the knights asked whether they would head back to the village now that the hunt was over.

"Yes. Allen, thank you for guiding us. When you return to the village, tell Rodan and Gerda to come to the village chief's house."

"Yes, sir!"

(Oh? Are we getting a reward? I hope we get to become commoners.)

And so the boar hunt, watched by the lord, ended in great success.