Chapter 46
They had successfully taken down three Great Boars right before the lord's eyes. The lord was now convinced they could kill twenty. It seemed his concerns had been dispelled.
Along with the twenty knights who had accompanied them, they carried the slain Great Boars back to the village.
The villagers called out that they had taken down three more. Everyone pitched in to begin butchering them. They made it back to the village before three, but people were saying it would take until sunset to finish.
Meanwhile, Rodan, Gerda, and Allen were summoned to the village chief's house.
The lord told Rodan and Gerda that they had shown the strength of the village. They were relieved. There would be no need to bring in more villagers to meet the boar-hunting quota, so no serfs would be driven out.
Rodan said he was truly glad. He wasn't worried about himself; no one would take his fields away. He had the standing and responsibilities to ensure that. What he had worried about was his fellow serfs who couldn't go on the boar hunts.
When they arrived at the village chief's house, they were told that the lord was already waiting in the hall.
There was no need for a bath. They were told they could keep wearing their hemp rags, soiled with sweat and boar blood, and to head straight to the hall.
The village chief was waiting at the door. The four of them entered the hall with the chief, who had yet to go inside, leading the way.
The tables had already been cleared away. The lord was seated at the far end, with his daughter Cecil beside him. The butler, the commander of the knights, and the deputy commander stood at either end of the hall.
They lined up near the center of the hall and knelt.
Once they had knelt, the lord spoke.
“First, Village Chief. The development of your village has been truly remarkable. Fifteen years have passed since the order to develop the territory was issued. Many domains have failed at development, yet you have managed to make this village prosper. Your skill is admirable, and I am truly grateful.”
“I-I hardly deserve such praise.”
The lord repeated what he had said at dinner the previous evening. The village owed its success to its chief. First, he praised the man who led it. The kneeling village chief bowed his head even lower.
“And you, Rodan and Gerda.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I watched the boar hunt closely. It was a splendid hunt, beyond words. As your lord, I would like to express my gratitude. Thank you.”
The lord offered his heartfelt thanks to the serfs. His gaze was as stern as ever, but his voice was very gentle.
Rodan and Gerda bowed their heads in response to the lord's praise.
“With such heroes in my domain, I have done nothing for them. Would I not be failing in my duty as a lord if I did not reward them?”
(Whoa, here comes the reward! I don't need money or anything! Make me a commoner! A commoner!!!)
Allen kept his head down, waiting for the lord to announce their reward.
“Rodan, and you as well, Gerda. You, your wives, and your children shall become commoners. Now that you are commoners, you must fulfill your duties.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
Rodan and Gerda bowed their heads once more and thanked him.
(Yeeeeeees! I'm a commoner now! What do I do? Starting tomorrow, I can hunt outside the village! All right, I'm going to hunt White Dragons in the White Dragon Mountains!)
He desperately tried to keep himself from drooling. For eight years, he had dreamed of hunting magical beasts outside the village. He couldn't stop grinning.
After that, the lord said that not only Allen and Rodan, but also any serfs who had hunted boars for over ten years, along with their wives and children, would become commoners. If an unmarried person married a serf, that spouse would become a commoner as well. The lord knew there were serfs who had hunted boars for over ten years. This reward would recognize them all.
“Village Chief, make sure everyone understands the choice: become a commoner, or remain a serf. Commoners have duties of their own.”
Unlike serfs, commoners had to pay a poll tax. The more wives and children a commoner had, the more poll tax their family would owe each year. The village chief was to let each person choose whether to live as a commoner or a serf.
“Now I can fulfill my duties as a noble.”
Meeting the royal command to hunt twenty boars was a duty of any noble governing a domain. The lord said he could now return to the domain capital with peace of mind.
The lord had given out the rewards. Just as the exchange in the hall seemed about to end, the butler spoke up.
“My lord.”
“What is it, Sebastian?”
The lord looked at the butler, who had spoken just as their exchange about the rewards was ending, as if to ask what was the matter.
“My lord, there is one message from His Majesty the King that remains. It concerns how the boar hunt began.”
“Hm? Oh! That's right. Sorry, Sebastian.”
(Hm? How the boar hunt began?)
As the butler closed his eyes and gave a slight bow, the others looked at him as if to ask what this was about.
The lord spoke again.
“I'm sorry, but this isn't quite a royal command. His Majesty the King did ask me something, though. Rodan. No, Rodan of the Boar Hunt.”
“Y-Yes, my lord.”
Rodan looked as if he had no idea what this was about.
“Actually, His Majesty the King asked me why you decided to hunt boars.”
The order to develop the territory had been issued across the entire kingdom. While nobles who held territory struggled with the task, this domain had not only succeeded in establishing a new village, but had also begun hunting boars and delivering their meat. The lord had been praised for this as a fine example for the rest of the kingdom.
The king had asked how it all began so other domains could learn from it. At the time, the lord hadn't known how the boar hunt had started and couldn't answer. The king had told him to find out before his next visit to the capital.
“Y-You mean what prompted us to start hunting boars?”
Rodan's face clouded. After the lord's question, he said nothing more. Silence settled over the hall.
“Hm? What's the matter?”
The lord thought it was something to be proud of. He couldn't understand why Rodan wasn't speaking. Just as he was about to ask why he was silent—
“My lord.”
Gerda spoke up.
“Hm?”
“I don't think Rodan can talk about how the boar hunt began. May I tell you instead?”
(How the boar hunt began? Come to think of it, I heard something about that during the sleepover years ago. In the end, I never got to hear the story.)
He remembered the sleepover after the Appraisal Ceremony, years ago.
Rodan's face clouded even further, but he didn't seem to stop Gerda. The lord said he didn't mind, so Gerda began to speak.
“The first time I set foot in this place, which was to become a settlement, was at the start of spring. We developed the village alongside a hundred serfs. I believe it was thirteen years ago.”
Establishing a village meant founding one where there was nothing. It took a great deal of time. Winter brought snow, making development difficult, so starting in spring, once the snow had melted, gave them the longest time to work.
The lord's envoy had chosen the site. It was beside a wood, about two days' walk from the village they'd come from. Though it was near the wood, it wasn't a plain. Trees grew sparsely across the land, so they had to cut them down and remove the roots.
“I see.”
Gerda continued, using awkward formal speech. Rodan listened with his eyes closed, seeming reluctant to hear the story.
“By the time we had desperately cleared away the trees, autumn had come. And then...”
That was when the incident happened. A hundred serfs had been clearing the land beside the wood. They had never left their previous village, and even commoners might not have known what to expect. This place was a long way from where they'd come from.
“The wheat and potatoes we'd set aside to get through the winter were ravaged by boars.”
It was their first autumn there. They hadn't known that Great Boars would descend on the wood in droves when autumn came. They had put up a fence to protect themselves from magical beasts, but the creatures' enormous bodies, weighing over a ton, had smashed through it with ease. Gerda explained that the boars had eaten nearly half the food they'd needed to survive the winter.