Day Off (1)

I got up a little after five in the morning, about thirty minutes earlier than usual, and hurriedly changed clothes. I wasn't wearing my footman's uniform. These clothes had been provided for me, too, but they were for everyday wear.

Without even stopping by the first floor, I left through the back gate, relying on the streetlights, and headed for one of the city gates.

I ran as fast as I could.

"Hey, kid! What's the hurry? This gate isn't open yet."

"Okay, I'll wait."

I reached one of the gates leading out of the city. The guards told me it wasn't open yet.

This was one of the four gates in Granvelle City. It was mainly used by members of House Granvelle and residents of the noble quarter. I'd already asked Rikkerel, the head footman, about how things worked around here. He told me everything—even things I hadn't asked about.

This gate didn't open until six. A bell rang at six, too. In Krena Village, the bell rang four times: at nine, noon, three, and six. Granvelle City had two additional rings, at six in the morning and nine at night, for a total of six. I supposed that was city life: an early start and a late finish.

(While I'm waiting, I'd better check everything one more time.)

I took out my grimoire and checked what I had in Storage.

• 1 dagger

• 3 wooden swords

• 30 pieces of firewood

• 3 ropes

• 5 pieces of meat

• 2 waterskins

• 10 stones

• 93 silver coins

• 2 copper coins

• 3 E-rank Magic Stones

During my last half-day off, I'd stocked up on food and other supplies I needed for activities outside the city.

I checked my Summon cards, too.

• 3 Insect G cards

• 1 Insect E card

• 10 Beast E cards

• 6 Bird E cards

• 20 Grass E cards

I had twenty Bird E Summon cards, so I'd switched them over to cards I could use for hunting. As a result, my supply of E-rank Magic Stones had gone from a little over ten to just three. I was running low.

The butler had told me that footmen weren't allowed to carry weapons, so I couldn't walk around with the dagger Dogora had given me. He said it would be allowed if I became an attendant. He wouldn't confiscate it, but told me not to carry it around.

So I'd been keeping it in Storage, along with the wooden swords.

(Well, I can't start a fire without flint and steel. I did put some firewood in Storage for heating, just in case. If I find I'm missing anything today, I can pick it up while I'm shopping.)

I figured that if there was anything I needed, I could buy it when I went out to run errands for Cecil.

Dong.

Dong.

The great bell rang, signaling six o'clock.

"All right, the gate's open. Do you have a pass?"

"Here you go."

I showed him the House Granvelle crest I'd kept in my pocket. Sebastian had given it to me soon after I became a footman and had stressed that I must never lose it.

"I-I apologize. You're with House Granvelle?"

"No need to apologize."

It was a crest for the household staff. With it, I could pass freely through all the city gates.

I went through the huge gate set into the outer wall protecting the city.

"Wow... I'm outside."

My voice caught for a moment. I couldn't tell whether I should breathe in or out. It was the sight I'd dreamed of for eight years. Freedom stretched out before me.

I stepped outside as if drawn forward. I thought I heard one of the guards behind me calling, "Careful there, young master!"

There was nothing but grassland for more than a kilometer outside the city, but beyond that, trees appeared here and there, sparsely spaced. It wasn't quite a grove or forest, but they seemed to grow at regular intervals. As a result, I couldn't see the horizon. It was much the same as around Krena Village.

I looked at the crest. Its design showed three trees. Apparently, the rich natural landscape was a symbol of Baron Granvelle's domain.

(All right, I'll start by looking for a D-rank monster or so. If it's about as strong as an Alba Heron, I should be able to beat it.)

I'd gathered information at the Adventurers' Guild. They'd said monsters got stronger the closer you got to the White Dragon Mountains.

As the name suggested, the White Dragon Mountains were a long range, with one peak after another stretching into the distance.

Krena Village lay southwest of Granvelle City. If you kept going southwest from there, you'd reach the White Dragon Mountains.

I was told that if you went west from Granvelle City, you'd reach them that way, too. It was about a seven-day walk to the foothills.

Since I couldn't look at a map, I'd asked Rikkerel, the head footman who always seemed to know everything.

(If I run into some dangerous high-rank monster, I can use Pyonta as a decoy and make a run for it.)

The special ability of my Insect G Summon, Taunt, put monsters into an enraged state. I figured I could use it to make my escape.

I set off running. Time was precious, so I hurried about ten kilometers away from the city.

(This should do. Before I start hunting monsters, I should test my Summons. Hawk, come out.)

I still hadn't finished testing my E-rank Summons. I'd do that before I started hunting. My Bird E Summon appeared.

A huge hawk appeared, its wingspan stretching more than two meters from tip to tip.

(Come here.)

'Pii!'

The Bird E Summon landed on the ground, gave a single cry, and walked over to me.

(It follows orders. Is that because its Intelligence is high? Walk around in a circle.)

The Bird E Summon had an Intelligence of 50, but after being enhanced, its Intelligence was 150.

At my command, it began slowly walking in a circle on the ground.

A Summon that had never obeyed me before was now following my orders. I was overjoyed, but I also started analyzing why it was obeying me.

(Hmm, so an Intelligence of 150 is enough to follow instructions. It understood 'walk in a circle.' I never taught it any words, though. Let's see... Walk about a meter to the right.)

The Bird E Summon walked about a meter to the right.

(Great. So it already understands what words mean. That's a huge help. Now, let's try this with another Summon. Tama, come out, too.)

Now I knew that it understood the meaning of words. I wanted to see whether the same was true of my other Summons.

'Grrrrrr.'

A Beast E Summon in the shape of a saber-toothed tiger appeared. It was 1.2 meters tall and two meters long. Now that it was E-rank, it looked much more like a proper Summon—strong and imposing.

(Tama, come on over here.)

The Beast E Summon started rolling around in the grass. It looked like it was having a wonderful time, with grass sticking to its back.

(Hmm, I can't give commands to Tama, whose Intelligence is 28. So the deciding factor isn't the Summon's rank, but its Intelligence.)

I'd finished testing Intelligence.

(All right, I'll keep testing while I hunt. There are things I can't check without monsters around. First, let's find some monsters. Hawk, use Hawk Eye to search for them.)

I instructed the Bird E Summon to use its special ability, Hawk Eye, to search for monsters.

'Pii!'

I stayed where I was and waited. During my tests, the sun had already climbed quite high in the sky.

About fifteen minutes passed. The Bird E Summon hadn't returned.

(As I thought, the encounter rate in this world is way too low.)

Back when I was Kenichi, games had a setting called the encounter rate. It meant the chance of running into an enemy while moving. It was common to encounter an enemy within a minute of walking outside a town.

There didn't seem to be many monsters in this other world. More than an hour had passed since I left Granvelle City, and I still hadn't encountered a single one.

(I sometimes had to wait more than an hour for an Alba Heron to fly overhead, too. This is inefficient. Leveling time is precious. I'd better send out more.)

I summoned all five of my other Bird E Summons and gave them the same instruction. They each cried once and flew off in different directions.

(Good, good. This should help me find monsters faster. Oh, and I'd better equip my dagger. I'll put the crest in Storage so I don't lose it.)

I took the dagger out of Storage and tucked it into my belt.

'Pii!'

Before I had to wait long, one of the Bird E Summons returned. It swooped down from the sky and landed on a nearby tree branch, as if telling me to follow.

(Is it over there, beyond the tree it landed on?)

It was the barest communication with my Summon, but I drew my dagger and headed that way.

I walked about a hundred meters.

I walked about three hundred meters.

I walked about five hundred meters.

(Ugh, could it be there isn't anything there? I see. I have to give it more specific instructions, or I won't know how far away the monster is.)

Three more Bird E Summons were circling overhead, signaling that they'd found something.

(I should tell them to find monsters within, say, a kilometer. It'd be too far if they found one ten kilometers away. I have no idea how far away they are.)

As I considered various ways to improve my instructions to the Bird E Summons, a figure appeared right in front of me.

It stood about a head taller than me, now over 120 centimeters tall.

(Huh? Is that a monster?)

'Gugyagyagya!'

A 150-centimeter-tall monster with green skin and a loincloth appeared.

(Is this a goblin?)

I locked eyes with the green-skinned monster—a goblin.

'Gugyagyagya!'

'Gugyagyagya!'

'Gugyagyagya!'

'Gugyagyagya!'

Five goblins had appeared in front of me.