NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 42: The Message
It is now the middle of September. It’s almost time for autumn.
“Are you ready to go?” Rodan calls out to me.
“Yes Father.”
It’s a day of going out this morning. Yesterday we received a message from the village mayor and we were summoned. I thought it was just Rodan, but he asked me to come along as well. We didn’t know what he wanted. All he said was we should be at his house tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock.
We leave the house before eight o’clock.
As usual, Theresia, Mash and Muras were at home. Rodan and Allen were seen off at the door.
The two of us walked along the path of the wheat field.
The wheat is usually harvested in September and Rodan was talking about harvest too.
“Hey Rodan. Were you invited too?”
Gerda was just coming out of his home too. It seems that Gerda was also summoned by the village mayor.
(Well, it’s just that I’m the odd one, but it seems like the village mayor basically calls out to my father and Gerda most of the time.)
Rodan and Gerda are leaders of the serfs. If any problem arises, the village mayor makes a request to these two.
Boar hunting is not the only request the village mayor makes to them. They are often asked to do various chores, such as settling a fight between two serfs. Gerda tries to talk with his fists, so it is Rodan’s role to settle the fights by talking and giving a proper solution.
“Gerda, do you know what this is about?”
“No, I was just told to come along.” Gerda replied.
Gerda didn’t know what kind of business he was called in for either.
(They called three of us so maybe it’s about Boar hunt. Last year’s command said that we had to kill 15 boars last year and 20 this year. Is the command going to change?)
The three of us talk as we walk.
For the past three months, I’ve been working hard to collect magic stones all over the village.
I asked the farmers at the water pump station, looked for magic stones in the yard of Kurena’s house, and also asked Dogora and Peromus about it. I also asked the shopkeepers if they had any E ranked magic stones but they didn’t. So I patiently kept on asking around the village and collected more than 200 magic stones. Passion moves people.
Now, I’m using a lot of E-rank Grass. The reason for this is to increase the amount of mana and to reach Summon Level 5 as soon as possible. I need 3 million skill exp to reach Summon Level 5.
I’m not sure if I should go boar hunting again next month. If it’s just for the experience, then I should go. However, if I want to earn some money and escape from being a serf, I should stay home and hunt Albaherons.
I’m wondering whether I should prioritize earning experience or money. That’s why I haven’t had a rematch of the arm-wrestling yet. I’m thinking of using this call as one of the reasons to decide whether to have a rematch or not.
While I was thinking about this, we arrived at the mayor’s house. When I entered the house, I was shown to a room in the back. It seemed to be the village mayor’s room.
“Oh, you’re here. I’ve been waiting for you.”
The fat village mayor was in the room. He welcomed us.
“So, mayor, will you tell us what’s going on? You asked for Allen too.”
(Yes, do you need me too?)
Then a maid entered with tea and sweets.
(Sweets, it’s so good!)
This may be the first time I’ve had sweets since I arrived in this world.
Allen took a bite of the baked sweet, which seemed to be made of wheat and sugar. Allen has a sweet tooth.
But Rodan and Gerda’s eyebrows rose because they usually get tea, but never baked sweets.
“So? Why did you call us?” Rodan asked the mayor.
Then, after drinking the tea and taking a breath, the village mayor said.
“The Lord is coming to the Kurena village next month.”
“What?”
“And he wants to see the boar hunting.” The mayor added.
The mayor said that the Lord’s messenger came yesterday and told him about it.
“Do you mean you want us to hunt boars in front of the Lord?”
“Yes.”
The village mayor answered Gerda’s question immediately.
Rodan and Gerda both asked again if this was true. Allen will turn eight next month, but he has never heard of the Lord coming to the village. This may be the first time in the 13 years since the village was founded.
(Why? So suddenly?)
“When is he coming next month?”
“Around the middle of October… maybe.”
“So, what do you want me to do?” Rodan asked.
“Of course, I want you to do a good job of hunting the boar without fail. We will be in front of our Lord.”
The village mayor reminded him that failure was not an option.
“So why did you invite my son too?”
Rodan wondered why he needed to invite me to this meeting.
“I was told by the messenger that the Lord needed someone to accompany him and show him around.”
The village mayor turned to Allen.
“”What?!””
“What? Me?”
Rodan and Gerda were both surprised.
“Come on, if you want a child, you have your own son.” Gerda said to the mayor.
“No, my son is not very good with people. I’m hoping Allen can handle it from dinner the night before.”
Apparently, it’s not just about explaining the hunt.
(Mmm, that’s what the sweets were for, huh. I can’t believe you’re trying to lure me with sweets, I’m not going to be bribed like this!)
With that in mind, I ate one more sweet.
“Hmmm.”
Rodan seemed to be struggling with whether or not to agree. It was not Allen who needed to answer, but his father, Rodan. The other party is the Lord, so if something happens, it’s a big problem.
“I’ve heard that Allen proposed the current strategy used in Boar Hunting and he speaks well too. Isn’t he the perfect guide?”
The village mayor continued. He said that Allen would be a good guide for the hunt.
Allen thought as he looked at the troubled Rodan.
Allen is not interested in status. He became a serf because that was the only way to become a Summoner.
But a serf is still a serf, and that’s inconvenient.
(If I remain a serf, I won’t be able to go out and raise my level.)
The only time I can level up in a year is when I’m hunting Boars and Albaherons. I can only summon up to E-rank now. And that will be my limit without higher quality magic stones. I want to get rid of this situation.
Naturally, I want to give my family a better life too.
As I recall, there are two ways to get rid of being a serf.
I remembered what Gerda had told me before about how to break free from serfdom and become a commoner.
‘Pay 10 gold coins per person (50 gold coins for a family of 5) and the Lord will make you a commoner as a reward.’
Last fall, even though I hunted Albaherons desperately, I only earned about three gold coins. At this rate, it would take me more than 10 years to become a commoner. With such a low status, I don’t even know what will happen to my family before then.
(I wasn’t sure if I should join the hunt for Boars or concentrate on the hunt for Albaheron, but now I know what I have to do.)
“Father”
“Hmm?”
I called out to Rodan, who was wondering what to do.
“I’ll be the Lord’s guide.”
“What?”
“And I’ll show him how hard you all have been working for him by hunting boars.” Allen said with a smile.
(Let’s tell the Lord how good you are and get him to make you a commoner.)
”Oh, you’ll take it!” The village mayor is delighted.
Rodan was surprised, but didn’t object. Gerda remained silent too. He seems to think that Allen can do it.
“So, what are we going to do now?”
Gerda talked about the Boar hunt next month, when the Lord would be coming.
“Mayor, what about the armor we asked for?” Rodan asked.
“Yes, it’s all in the barn. Do you want to go take a look now?”
“Yes. We need to discuss how to use the armor and how to hunt with it, so let’s go to the garden.”
We followed the village mayor to the garden outside.
They started to prepare for the boar hunt that will happen in front of the Lord next month.