Year 7442, Month 1, Day 18
After eating breakfast Mill and the two squires have to return to the capital with enough time to make it for the end of the break so they start preparing to leave.
The two squires put away the armor they were wearing when they arrived into a large saddlebag and equipped the rubber protectors above their armor the same as Mill.
I"m sure they can"t get that much speed with a full adult and a bag that big but I"m sure since it"s a large war horse it"ll be fine. Mill tied the rolled up water
bed to the rear of her saddle. Three knights with pitch black protectors certainly does give off a fearless impression.
Before Mill finally gets on her horse she looks at the faces of all of the family and hugs Zett and Becky. And then quickly gets on the horse and gives a signal to
the squires to depart while trotting off. There was a contrast between the squires who were waving with a smile and Mill who was making a stiff expression. Three
knights cross through Bakkudo village going south on three war horses. Even though it"s mid-winter the sight of three figured in black armor on horses in the middle
of a pastoral scenery of fields reminds me that this is Orth. That dignified appearance in the lead is my older sister, I can"t believe it.
Year 7442, Month 1, Day 25
Just a few days ago, my level went up one again and became 10. In another 20 days I"ll turn 14 years old. Accompanying the increase in age I should become even
stronger. And more than that the fact that I"ve become able to use magic while running and fighting should have raised my fighting power even more. Now I"m putting
more time towards trying to use magic while doing other actions.
It was only a training period of around 10 days but once you awaken to it the more you keep practicing the success rate clearly increases. Thinking this might be
some kind of special ability I tried identifying myself but there was nothing particularly different. I"m sure it"s not like there"s no people who use the bow while
riding a horse and I guess it"s something like being able to juggle while riding a unicycle. Even though that"s the case it took me four years of training to do so
it should be a considerably difficult technique.
In the first place, you can cut the amount of time required to concentrate for magic, no, sorcery in half just by practicing activating it 10 times or so. As long
as you can get a knack for it then the amount of time it takes to improve from there being short makes sense. And I"m sure that completing this "using magic while
doing something" technique is something about only I would do. I doubt anyone has enough MP to use even just the simplest magic while running around for several
hours a day. If you fail at activating the magic experience you earn is zero so it"s almost as if I"ve wasted 100,000s of MP for the sake of training.
I"m sure this technique will be a huge weapon for me.
Year 7442, Month 2, Day 14
I turned 14 years old. If you mention 14 years old in Orth then it"s the same kind of treatment right around the time someone graduates from high school in my past
life. In a village like Bakkudo before it introduced livestock for use in farming it"s an age where you"d be left a full field. Since we"ve started to switch to
livestock farming it"s become a bit more systematic so I haven"t seen a single person taking care of an entire field them self but you can basically say they"re all
grown up.
In front of my parents when I used magic while running, swinging the sword, and doing practice matches with Farne they both opened their eyes wide in surprise. I
tell them I"ve already explained to both Mill and Farne the training method (just keep running while using magic), and putting aside Mill when I told them that Farne
had already started they comprehended it. They"re probably remembering how I"ve been running through the village around noon these past few years. It seems they just
thought I was running to train my body. It"s not particularly a mistake and in the first place the method to use magic was just additionally so you could say they
were correct.
During dinner that night Hegard asked me with a strangely formal mood.
"Al, what do you plan to do in the future? What do you want to do?"
What is it? Suddenly?
"Eh? In the...future?.. there"s something I want to do become."
Wait, it"s embarra.s.sing having everyone focus on me.
"Hm? What is it? Are you going to become a knight? If it"s you then I"m sure you could enter the first knight group through Mill and even if they turn you down on
the entrance exam I"m sure we could push you into the Webdos knight group...or do you plan to start a business? Right now we have a bit of savings so we can support
you on that I"m sure."
And then Sharl added to that.
"That"s right, it feels like a bit of a waste for you to become a squire just like that. Even if you become a merchant I"m sure you"d succeed and even as a knight
I"m sure you"d get a pretty good place but it"s a bit lonely that all three of our children become knights."
I don"t know if it"s because she"s my mother or because she"s lonely Mill left but Sharl doesn"t want me to go far away it seems.
"Wait just a minute, father, mother. Isn"t Al saying there"s something he wants to be? It"s not good to keep continuing the conversation without listening to what Al
says. Al, honestly speaking, it"s thanks to you that Bakkudo was able to become wealthy. Just like father just said we have a decent amount of savings as well. Since
rubber was originally something that you found in the first place."
It seems Farne is throwing me some help. Just like that Farne continues.
"That"s why normally you"d become a squire of the household but there"s a lot of options. Whether it be a knight or a merchant they require a reasonable amount of
funds. I don"t particularly mean it in a way to offend father and mother but if it hadn"t been for rubber Bakkudo would probably still be the same as it was when we
were kids now. And when I entered the Webdos knight group putting aside a sword, armor would have been a huge expense and I think that would have been a huge burden
for the house. Right, Shani, don"t you think so?"
Shani was a bit surprised suddenly having the conversation turned to her but she quickly replied.
"I guess so.. Putting aside splint mail when you enter the Webdos knight group it"s normal to have at least scale mail or chain mail."
"That"s right. Without rubber we wouldn"t have had the income from rubber and we would have just had expenses like that. Since rubber is durable it was excellent
for armor so we didn"t just not need to take on such expenses but we were able to gain a large income through rubber products. It"s easy to forget but it"s directly
protecting the squires who dispatch during times of war as well. No matter what anyone says the one who found the rubber that made Bakkudo village what it is now was
you. That"s why you don"t need to worry about anything and just do what you want to do. If you want to try cultivating a new village somewhere then I"ll offer as
much support for that as you need."
After hearing Farne"s words Shani says.
"Aren"t you saying your thinking as well? You can"t say anything to father-in-law or mother-in-law right?"
"N..No, I just wanted to say that he could choose that sort of path as well.."
"It"s already fine. Al, sorry about that. What do you want to do?"
Hegard took over a conversation that was about to become barren and asked me.
"..I..I want to leave the country and see things. See a variety of places, listen to things, see what kind of countries there are... And.."
All attention gathers on me again as I start talking.
"And someday..I...No, I...even if it"s small. I want my own country."
After slightly opening her eyes Sharl looked at me with a slight smile.
Shani looks at me with an unexpected face.
Farne makes a serious face after making a slightly lonely expression.
Zett is zealously trying to scoop up his oatmeal with a spoon.
Becky is reaching over and taking the fried meat from Zett"s place and putting it into her mouth.
And Hegard says after properly listening to my words.
"I had a feeling it would come to this one day..I thought you would say something similar one day and leave the house. It"s fine if you leave the house, you"re the
second son after all. But, are you serious about the words you said just now?"
"Yeah, of course I"m serious, father. I, for my own sake, want my own country. Even this Rombert was just made 500 years ago by his majesty George Rombert the first.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});In that case I"ll aim to become Alan Greed the first. I don"t know when or where it"ll be but I"m going to make my own country."
I firmly look at father"s eyes while responding.
"I see.. You decided for yourself. Even if it"s a seemingly impossible dream I won"t say anything. And, when do you plan to leave? I"m sure you"ve already thought of
a time right?"
"Yeah, about that but I was thinking in the spring. The weather is good especially since I want to wander around and see things for the time being. And before I
leave I need to make sure that everything is taken care of in regards to rubber production and some other stuff I need to take care of as well."
My way of speaking has gotten a bit strange but at first it"s something like this.
"I see. Understood. Around the spring huh, that"s fine. Alan, I give you permission to leave the house. Until then make sure you finish up all the things you need to
finish. Alright, everyone, that"s the end of this conversation."
Hegard didn"t sympathize with my dream but he understood and gave me permission. That"s plenty.
Year 7442, Month 2, Day 30
Since the instruction of rubber production doesn"t need me at all already it"s basically the same as nothing. The things that I have to take care of are making some
things you could call prototypes for the improvement of infrastructure and one more, this time kill that Horned Bear one versus one.
Right now I"ve come to the watering place that beasts and monsters in the northern mountain area use. It"s the fourth day since I started camping here. I setup a
camp a bit of distance from the watering place, placed up a hammock, then 1 m or so above the hammock I tie a rubber cloth using rope and fix it in place. By doing
this I can make a makeshift tent. My food and belongings are all in the same type of bag made from rubber and hanging from the hammock so they shouldn"t get wet.
During the day I distance myself from the tent and observe the water place, then I only return to the tent at night to rest but it"s a considerably exhausting
lifestyle. Since I never know when it will appear I"m restraining from using random magic to train so I have mana when needed and it"s only obvious I can"t do sword
training or running.
In order to erase the smell I rubbed as much mud as possible all over my body and the time I"ve spent observing the watering place considerably painful. Once again
today I"m rubbing cold mud all over my body and just as I was thinking, now then, time to start a boring job, the Horned Bear appeared.
It"s finally come huh? When I identify it from a distance after all it"s that Horned Bear. It"s sluggishly heading towards the watering place. I"m not the only one
always, always being surprise attacked. This time I"ll take the first move. If possible I"d like to finish things with a single hit so I"ll use "Ice Javelin Missile"
here, the sorcery that killed your father.
I calmly knead mana in and make a spear that"s like a telephone pole, in order to accelerate it I quickly move it behind me. A bit more, just a bit more and it"ll
enter range where I can guide it. Just 50 m, 40 m... I glare at the Horned Bear that"s coming from the left on the other side of the watering place while looking for
the timing. The moment it enters the range I"ll fire it. If it"s that distance then it should be plenty to kill it in a single hit. If it"s the power of a telephone
pole like this then it might pierce through. I lick my lips while smiling feeling like a death G.o.d. Ah, I licked some of the mud I put on my lips. Ugh, it"s dirty.
After getting to about 10 m from entering my 200 m range it turned around. If I fire it now then I"m sure it can make the remaining 10 m with inertia. It"s a good
condition to accelerate when it"s not looking in this direction as well. Alright, here I go. Begin acceleration.
I maintain the ice 200 m behind me and start pouring mana into the telephone pole in order to guide it. Simultaneously I start accelerating it. It should probably
arrive there in about 3 seconds. Covering the 400 m distance centered on me in 3 seconds. It"s final speed should be about 500-600 Km I think? I make small
adjustments to avoid trees that are in the way while accelerating the "Ice Javelin Missile".
It has this much weight and the end is sharp. I"ll make sure it pierces through!! I fire off the crystallization of my mana and maximum concentration at the opponent
that"s put me in hot water countless times until now. The telephone pole flies out of my guidance range and right as it was about to look away from the water place
it skewers it through the tip of its shoulder.
While it didn"t completely pierce through the end of the telephone pole is inside of it. Even though it was just a bit more to making it all the way through. Well
it"s fine, I stand up to examine my prey and slowly walk towards it. When I identify it the condition has gone past death to Horned Bear"s Corpse. It seems it went
past instant death. I hit with a telephone pole with enough momentum to penetrate that large body. No matter how much it"s endurance value is I"m sure the HP went
straight to the minus values so it"s only obvious.
Hahahahaa. I did it. I finally did it. I take the strap of the bayonet I was carrying on my shoulder off and triumphantly swing it around while walking towards it
to the point where I feel like humming. For the time being if I take the guts of it out and cut off a bit of that stomach meat there will be some delicious bear meat
tonight. I"m sure Zett and Becky will be delighted. Ah, I also need to collect the magic stone.
For the past few days I"ve just been chewing on bacon with lots of salt and pepper so I"m excited about finally being able to eat to my heart"s content of juicy
meat. I"m looking forward to it. Ah, that"s right, it"s better to use my knife for disa.s.sembling it not my bayonet. No wait, since it"s a bear that big it"ll be
difficult to cut without starting with a sword. Ah, if I give up on the rubber bag I left at my hammock I can probably bring back even more meat. It should be fine
if I come back for the hammock later. It"s still early morning after all, there"s plenty of time to make a round trip today. I can bring someone else next time as
well.
Once I got to about 50 m from the Horned Bear"s corpse I noticed something was by its side. I get surprised and stand on guard with my sword. Since it"s the same
color of fur I didn"t notice it. Also, it was hidden by the identify window that I had left out. It"s a cub. A cub that"s not even 1 m is cuddling close to the
Horned Bear. I guess it"s this guys child. The cub sticks to the mother bear as if I"m not even worth looking at. I can"t even tell if it"s already stopped suckling
yet but kyrrr it cries out.
Ah, you turned around because this was here huh? Since this one was around you hadn"t appeared in a while?
In any case, if there"s a cub then there should be a father bear as well. In the past I killed them in a pair. I eliminate the identify window and lower my posture
while scanning the area. After observing for a bit I didn"t see any large animals in particular. Though I find it surprising that the father isn"t nearby but there"s
no way I could figure out the reason just by thinking about it.
I return my sight and the cub is still by the mother bears corpse. Even though it doesn"t seem to realize it"s mother is dead it"s still crying out kyrru, kyrruu. At
first sight it might seem pitiful and at the same time cute but this is a Horned Bear. Even identify is showing it as a Horned Bear. Even if I let it go I feel like
it might just die but it doesn"t change the fact that it"s a monster. No, it might just be a beast but a normal beast wouldn"t have a special skill like Roar.
I carefully approached within 10 m from it but the cub still isn"t paying any attention here. While facing a small b.u.t.t about the same size as me it seems to be
trying to say something to the mother bear who isn"t reacting. I just killed your mother. It"s pitiful but it can"t be helped. Depending on the circ.u.mstances I could
have ended up like this several years ago. And I have no intention of letting you go because of pity.
I can"t let you who might attack Zett or Becky when you grow up go free. With my sword hanging from my right hand I face my left hand at the cub. And I shoot
electricity from my hand as it shines blue. After crying out with a Gyan, the cub collapses. After identifying it again and confirming it"s dead I approach the cub
and start disa.s.sembling it. And the mother, I disa.s.semble it as well.
I take out the guts, cut the stomach meat off and put that into a rubber bag. And I look for the magic stone from around the meat where the telephone pole pierced
through. The cub"s magic stone was still black-ish. Without combining the two magic stones I gently put them in my pocket.