Chapter 63
With Cecil's older brother Mihai home for spring break, this was Allen's first day as a gamekeeper. March had arrived, and the monsters were finally becoming active. It was the season when more game could be brought back for meat.
He hunted goblins until around three.
Allen was now looking for monsters to bring back for their meat. The legs of the Big Toad the head chef had requested were tied to a sturdy pole, which Allen would carry over his shoulder. Five Horned Rabbits hung from another pole. He carried the monsters slung from poles.
(So, I've caught Horned Rabbits and a Big Toad. Hawks, there's a ground-running bird monster called a Rampaging Bird. Find as many as you can, preferably nearby.)
Allen instructed his Summons to search for a monster called a Rampaging Bird. Four Bird E Summons soared through the sky. Recently, he'd reduced their number from six to four.
(Oh, already found one?)
One of the Bird E Summons seemed to have found a Rampaging Bird. Allen set off at a run, carrying the monsters he'd already caught on his shoulders.
Before he had gone even one kilometer, he saw a Rampaging Bird walking nearby. It looked like a muscular chicken.
(Hyah!!)
He put his strength behind a throw, hurling an iron ball at the Rampaging Bird's temple. He seemed to kill it instantly; it collapsed without putting up any resistance. Having leveled up, he could now kill most D-rank monsters in a single hit.
(Hmm, maybe it's time to move my hunting grounds farther in.)
He'd killed the Rampaging Bird instantly, and now he cut its throat with his dagger to drain its blood.
If he moved his hunting grounds closer to the White Dragon Mountains, there would apparently be more C-rank monsters. He considered whether changing locations would improve his experience efficiency.
(If Tama gets killed too often, I'll be wasting Magic Stones. And around here, most of the monsters are D-rank.)
He used iron balls to kill prey whose meat he wanted. For monsters like goblins, whose meat he didn't need, he had his Beast E Summons kill them instead. He could summon them within fifty meters, making them more convenient and efficient than iron balls.
(For now, I'll just raise the Enhancement level. Once it goes up, I'll try taking on C-rank monsters.)
Back when he lived in Krena Village, he'd had few opportunities to hunt. As a result, he'd raised Creation, Fusion, and Enhancement evenly. That way, his Summon level rose faster and the blessings he received improved.
Now, however, the benefits of increased stats from leveling up were substantial. He wanted to prioritize raising his Enhancement Skill level and strengthening his Summons.
His Beast E Summons sometimes even lost to goblins. If he went to a hunting ground with C-rank monsters at this point, they'd certainly lose more often than before, consuming E-rank Magic Stones.
Thinking that he would take on C-rank monsters only after getting his Enhancement Skill to level five, he checked on the Rampaging Bird. It seemed to have bled enough. He tied it to a third pole, balanced the poles across his shoulders, and ran for the city.
He passed through the gate carrying a large number of monsters on poles. The gate guards had been surprised at first, but lately they didn't say anything.
He made his way through the noble district toward the mansion. Since the mansion's back gate wasn't very large, he used the main gate whenever he caught game.
(Phew, this should be enough.)
At Cecil's request, he had caught quite a few monsters today. She'd asked him to bring back a lot for her older brother Mihai, who was home for spring break. Cecil loved her brother.
There was a board in the garden set aside for Allen to put the monsters on. The gardener had instructed him to leave them there.
Clang, clang.
As he was putting down the monsters, he heard the clash of swords in the garden.
When he looked, Mihai was sparring with the captain of the knights. Baron Granvelle, the baroness, Tomas, and Cecil were watching, too.
Watching them brought back memories of all the knight games he'd played with Krena. He was so absorbed that he forgot to call for the head chef.
(Whoa! Mihai-san's pretty good, isn't he? Come to think of it, this is the first time I've seen the captain of the knights swing a sword.)
"That's enough, young master Mihai. You have quite a bit of skill."
"Thank you, but I'd like you to stop calling me 'young master' soon."
Laughter broke out around them at that one remark. It was as if everyone was seeing just how much Mihai had grown since his last visit.
Since the match was over, Allen went to tell the head chef that he'd caught monsters. It was already past five, the busiest time of the day. The head chef always told him he wished Allen would get back a little earlier. Allen just replied that he had a goblin-hunting quota to meet, so he'd try to return as soon as possible.
"Hm? Allen, you're back? Wow, you caught a lot!"
Allen looked at Cecil, thinking it felt like ages since she'd last praised him. Everyone here turned their eyes toward him.
"I'm back."
Responding to their gazes, he gave a small bow and started to head inside.
"That's amazing. You caught all these? How about you, Allen-kun?"
(Huh? Me?)
Mihai suggested that he and Allen have a match, too. As Allen hesitated, the captain of the knights handed him his own sword. It seemed he was expected to fight.
(Whoa! The captain of the knights is incredible. A mithril sword—awesome. Wait, a match? My stats are set up for hunting right now. Is that okay?)
He checked his stats just in case.
【Name】 Allen
【Age】 8
【Job】 Summoner
【Level】 20
【Health】 412 (515) +130
【Magic】 30 (780) +200
【Attack】 220 (276) +130
【Durability】 220 (276) +20
【Agility】 415 (519) +60
【Intelligence】 600 (750) +40
【Luck】 415 (519) +200
【Skills】 Summon〈4〉, Creation〈4〉, Fusion〈4〉, Enhancement〈4〉, Expansion〈3〉, Storage, Delete, Swordsmanship〈3〉, Throwing〈3〉
【EXP】 126,470 / 200,000
・Skill Levels
【Summon】 4
【Creation】 4
【Fusion】 4
【Enhancement】 4
・Skill EXP
【Creation】 94,730 / 1,000,000
【Fusion】 96,610 / 1,000,000
【Enhancement】 310,560 / 1,000,000
・Available Summons
【Insect】 E F G H
【Beast】 E F G H
【Bird】 E F G
【Plant】 E F
【Stone】 E
・Holder
【Insect】 F x2, E x1
【Beast】 E x13
【Bird】 E x4
【Plant】 E x20
【Stone】
He moved his dagger out of the way. Since becoming a gamekeeper, he was allowed to carry a sword on hunting days. It would be stranger to put it in Storage, so he carried it with him whenever he went hunting.
He gripped the mithril sword he'd borrowed from the captain of the knights and faced Mihai from a short distance.
As everyone watched,
"Oh my, Mihai might get hurt."
The baroness began to worry. Allen was the one who went out alone and captured C-rank monsters. He might not know how to hold back. The baroness clasped her hands to her chest anxiously.
"Then I'll give the signal."
Without responding to the baroness, the captain of the knights took on the role of referee.
"Take your stances."
Allen and Mihai raised their swords.
"Begin!"
At the signal, Allen closed in on Mihai with his Agility, now over 400. Their swords clashed with a sharp ring.
(Huh? What? He's pretty strong! Wait, what?)
Allen immediately noticed something was off. Mihai's strikes were quite powerful. He was faster, too. Apparently, Mihai wasn't someone Allen could afford to go easy on.
Realizing he couldn't hold back, Allen poured all 370 points of his attack power into both arms and swung his sword down.
(Urgh, he blocked that with one hand?)
Mihai stopped Allen's strike with one hand. The fight continued to go against Allen.
"You needn't worry, my lady."
The captain of the knights spoke to the baroness as she watched the match.
"Hm?"
"Mihai-sama made it through a year in the City of Academies without being expelled. There's no way he'd lose to someone who hasn't even attended the academy."
The captain of the knights declared Mihai the victor.
Allen's sword was knocked from his hands. Mihai's blade came to rest at his throat.
"I yield."
"You're amazing. No wonder you became a footman at such a young age!"
(Whoa! He's insanely strong. I couldn't even put up a fight.)
"No, you were incredible, Mihai-sama. Thank you for sparring with me."
He bowed deeply.
(Right, he said he'd cleared a dungeon. It was an assignment over summer vacation.)
Allen thought about what had made Mihai so strong. He must have leveled up by clearing a dungeon.
(So this is what it looks like when someone with talent levels up properly. And he'd only attended for a year, too. Maybe he'd only leveled up during that summer vacation dungeon assignment.)
He'd heard that students attended the academy for three years. Mihai had only attended for one year, yet he was this strong. He must have leveled up by clearing a dungeon as a summer vacation assignment.
It seemed leveling up a hundred times faster in Normal Mode than in Hell Mode was no joke. Allen couldn't compete with him at all.
Mihai held out his hand to Allen.
"You're Cecil's footman, after all. I entrust my little sister to you."
"Y-yes."
Allen answered Mihai with a handshake. His first match against someone talented who had played on Normal Mode ended in a crushing defeat.