Chapter 58
It was now late December. Since the hunt where he’d rescued Raven, Allen had gone hunting once more and managed to get his hands on 100 E-rank Magic Stones. He’d told Raven he could leave them at the inn’s front desk, but Raven had gone out of his way to wait for Allen to come by.
Whether the monsters he summoned had wills of their own made a huge difference. Thanks to that, Allen’s days continued as before, working as a footman while thinking about how to live and grow as a Summoner.
(Well, I guess I can leave things as they are for now. If you asked me whether it’s better for Summons to have wills or not, obviously it’s better for them to have wills. They can do more that way.)
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
"What is it? Lost in thought?"
The head chef spoke to Allen in the servants’ dining hall. Lately, he’d been talking to Allen more often. Allen had been standing in line with his head bowed, lost in thought, and it seemed to have caught the head chef’s attention.
"Oh, no."
"Here, this is extra. Make sure you eat it."
The head chef, who was about as old as the butler, dropped a slightly larger chunk of meat into Allen’s bowl of soup.
"Oh, thank you very much."
"Hey! Why does Allen get extra? I want some meat, too!"
"Hey, Rikkerel. You haven’t done anything. Allen’s already caught ten Horned Rabbits for us!"
The head footman, Rikkerel, lamented, "That’s not fair..."
Allen had caught ten Horned Rabbits over two hunts. He’d decided to catch five per hunt. Since he was supposed to hunt from morning until night, he figured five was about right. He’d gotten 100 Magic Stones from Raven and the others, but he still wanted more E-rank Magic Stones.
When Allen brought back five, the butler hadn’t expected him to catch so many. Monsters weren’t densely packed in this world. Horned Rabbits were solitary, so even after searching all day, three was the most you could find. Catching two was considered good.
The head chef happily butchered the ten Horned Rabbits, each about the size of a medium-sized dog. Thanks to that, he’d started talking to Allen more often. Allen even got extra meat. His meals of soup with bread and vegetable scraps, plus a tiny bit of meat, had improved somewhat.
"Mihai-sama will be coming back next spring."
(Hm? Mihai-sama? Wasn’t he the eldest son, the one attending the city of academies?)
• Eldest son: Mihai
• Second son: Tomas
• Eldest daughter: Cecil
Allen listened to the head chef while holding his serving tray.
"Yes."
"So, I’ve asked him to bring back some honey from the royal capital as a souvenir. Have you ever tried it? It’s incredibly sweet."
"No, I haven’t. I’d love to try some."
"Right? When spring comes, Big Toads start appearing. If you catch one for me, I’ll secretly share some honey with you."
"Oh! Really? Then I’ll do my best to catch one."
(I want to try that honey. Still, Big Toads, huh? They only appear in spring. Do they hibernate like frogs?)
"Hey! What are you saying to Allen? That’s a D-rank monster! Allen, don’t take him seriously!"
Rikkerel reacted beside him. They were speaking loudly, so there was nothing secret about it. The other servants were listening, wondering what all the commotion was about.
After eating, Allen’s morning began as usual with tidying Cecil’s room. Once he finished cleaning, he moved on to the laundry. He didn’t need to stay right beside Cecil all the time. He quietly went about cleaning and doing odd jobs around the mansion.
While Allen was cleaning, the knight commander entered the mansion.
"Welcome, sir."
"Mm."
Allen greeted the knight commander. He didn’t live at the mansion. As the head of the knights, he often came by to see Baron Granvelle on official business.
Allen had asked Rikkerel about the knights’ duties. When he asked whether they were at war with a neighboring country, Rikkerel said they weren’t.
Apparently, Granvelle territory didn’t border any other countries in the first place.
The knights’ main duties were suppressing bandit groups and hunting monsters. They also hired adventurers to deal with both, but the knights handled matters needed to maintain order in the territory, as well as jobs adventurers wouldn’t take on. Rikkerel told him everything.
The knight commander often came to the mansion to receive orders from the baron or report on subjugations.
After finishing his afternoon duties, Allen served dinner. The knight commander was dining with them today. The commander and vice commander sometimes joined them for dinner like this.
"The servants have certainly gotten used to things around here."
"Thank you, sir."
The knight commander praised him.
"As expected of Rodan’s son. I assume you’ve heard, but Krena Village successfully completed its quota of twenty Boar subjugations, didn’t it?"
"It seems so, sir."
Krena Village had completed its goal of hunting twenty Boars this year by the end of November. They’d pushed themselves, going out to hunt three times before the lord arrived. Allen remembered Rodan saying that after that, they would only go out once every ten days. It seemed they had met their quota with time to spare.
"But if they hunted that many Boars, why isn’t any showing up?"
Cecil’s brother, Tomas, sulked. He said they used to serve Boar meat every winter.
(Hm? Now that he mentions it, they haven’t served much. I thought the Boars caught back in October would’ve been brought to the city by now.)
The Boars caught in October should have been processed and delivered by December. Several tons of meat should have been transported, but Allen had served dinner many times and had hardly seen any of it.
The baron told Tomas not to make unreasonable demands, and Tomas looked dejected. The baron was fairly strict with his children.
(If the king wants it, does that mean the Boar meat is being sent to the royal capital? On one of those enormous magic airships?)
As Allen wondered where the Boar meat was going, Tomas spoke to the knight commander.
"Zenov, are you going to catch a Deer for us this year?"
Tomas asked with hopeful eyes. The knight commander, Zenov, looked at Baron Granvelle, who shook his head.
"I apologize, young master Tomas."
"Aww..."
Tomas was clearly pouting.
"Tomas, that’s enough! The knights aren’t there for you to use like that!"
Baron Granvelle finally lost his temper at Tomas’s demands. Tomas shrank back in fear, so the baron’s wife interjected.
"Tomas understands, don’t you, Tomas? Still, with neither Boar nor Deer available, our New Year’s celebration will be rather modest this year."
She seemed to be referring to the New Year’s party held at the mansion.
"Well, yes. I suppose we’ll have to make do with a modest main course this year."
Apparently, they held a grand New Year’s party every year. Both the baron and the butler seemed disappointed. Sighs escaped them.
Baron Granvelle’s wife looked disappointed. Tomas watched his mother sadly, then spoke to Allen, who was serving dinner.
"Hey, Allen."
"Yes, what is it, young master Tomas?"
"You’re really good at hunting, right? Catch a Deer for us."
"A Deer? Do you mean a White Deer?"
Allen had started catching Horned Rabbits. In this other world, where there weren’t many ways to have fun, food made up a very large part of life’s pleasures.
Even the baron’s household couldn’t afford to be too extravagant. Thanks to Allen, their dinners had become more lavish than before over the past few days.
This black-haired, black-eyed boy was unusual enough to attract attention, and becoming a footman at only eight years old had drawn even more. On top of that, he’d recently been catching lots of Horned Rabbits. Everyone in the mansion, servants included, now knew that his father was Rodan, the Boar hunter—a village hero who had earned his commoner status through his skill.
They saw Allen as the son of a hunting hero, showing off his own talent by catching Horned Rabbits left and right. The head chef had started asking him to catch monsters, and now Tomas was doing the same.
"That’s right! Catch one for us!"
He asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
White Deer were monsters that appeared in winter. Since Boars yielded more meat, they hunted Boars as long as they were around. Allen remembered that the serfs in Krena Village hunted White Deer after the Boar hunts were over.
(A White Deer, huh? I think it’s a C-rank monster, the same as a Great Boar. I’ve leveled up, so maybe I should try hunting one and see how strong it is.)
Tomas smiled at him without a care in the world. He didn’t doubt Allen for a moment.
"Understood. I’ll catch a White Deer for you."
Everyone had heard their conversation. Yet no one stopped Allen, even though it was an unreasonable request.