Chapter 45: Hunt 2

Two Great Boars came running into this open space from the forest. The two members of the Bait team ran desperately, heading as fast as they could to their Boar hunting partners.

”Hey! Raybrand! There are two Boars coming your way!”

The Knight Commander hurriedly instructs the Vice-Commander, Raybrand, who is in formation under the high platform, to take them down. This is to protect the Lord and the participants of the Boar hunt.

The Deputy-Knight Commander shouted loudly while he was about to charge.

“Sorry, Knight Commander.”

“No? What is this at a time like this?”

He spoke to the Knight Commander in the same matter-of-fact manner as in the previous conversation.

“We are still in the middle of the hunt, sir. Could you please withdraw the Knights?”

“What?”

The Lord who was listening in was also surprised.

“As I told you yesterday. You are seeing a hunt that will give you the satisfaction of defeating the Boar. The hunt is still in progress.”

““What?””

 As soon as I said that, the two Boars appeared in our sight. The Knights will not make it in time.

That’s when it happened.

“We will kill this beast. You guys, brace yourselves.” Rodan shouted.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh! ”

The participants were all fired up at once. There was no fear or hesitation. They responded to Rodan’s encouragement with more shouting than ever before. They move forward a bit and set up a position in front of the Boar.

The two members of the Bait team were coming at them, running as fast as they could between the two large shields.

Then, almost without any time difference, two Boars crashed into each shield.

The horn at the tip of the Great Boar’s nose penetrated the large shield at once.

The two large shields retreat one step after another. The shield was heavily dented, but didn’t break. The two Boars’ charges stopped.

“We’ve stopped them! Split into two groups and surround them!”

With Gerda’s voice, the Encircling team split into two groups. There are 40 of them, and even if the Encircling team is cut in half, there are still enough of them to take on one Boar each.

(Okay, the timing of the second and third Boar after the first was perfect. Good thing they’ve been practicing.)

Allen had a question about the Boar hunting in the village. He wondered why they only hunted one. The basic principle of fishing and hunting is to hunt all the enemies that come out. There is no need to leave any behind.

However, when he observed the Boar hunting as fishing where only one enemy is caught at a time, it was a waste. But if there were two or more, the fishing method would have failed with insufficient participants.

They only hunt one because they can’t take on more than one Boar at once. If they could hunt two they would’ve. He understood that. From there, his thoughts went to the next level.

“Why is it that they can only hunt one of them at a time?”

The result of Allen’s analysis, a former gamer, was armor. The serfs were not equipped with armor that could withstand the Great Boar’s attacks. Even Rodan, who had been hunting for more than ten years, was mortally wounded by a single blow from the Boar.

So why don’t they get some armor? It is because the reward is a lump of meat which is consumed by the whole family. They can’t afford to buy armor. Of course, a large shield of steel that would stop the Boar’s attack would cost more than the dagger that Allen had checked in the weapons shop earlier.

The equipment they used to hunt had not been updated, only the spear had changed.

At two meters, the spear was very short for a spear. It was made short so that it would not be broken by the raging Boar. However, if it was too short, the horns and fangs would destroy it first. 

I have been using such equipment for more than 10 years in games.

The basic principle of hunting is to update your equipment as you hunt, and to hunt more efficiently.

With Allen’s idea in mind, the serfs were wearing shields and armor. Allen was relieved to see that his plan was working.

(If you’d come a little later, they could have practiced more.)

The Lord arrived in mid-October, just after the hunting season began. We hadn’t been able to practice many times until then.

“Oh! Looks like they’ve injured one.”

Fresh blood spurts out from the neck of the second body. It seems that they were able to stab the vital point. Not long after, fresh blood spurts out from the third one as well.

“I’m glad you guys were able to kill three of them at once, Seventeen more to go. That’s good.” The mayor said to the participants.

The Knight Commander said that since we had defeated three of them, we would be able to defeat 17 more at this rate.

“No, we’ve already killed 10 this year.”

“”Huh!””

Knowing that the Lord was coming, we had already gone out several times to hunt for Boar. This is our fourth hunt.

“So we should be able to reach our goal of twenty Boars next month.”

The Lord gazed at the Boar hunters, who were happy to kill three of them on the same day. He has a kind expression on his face, though he has a hard look in his eyes.

“Oh, I see. So I can leave the Boar hunting to the people of the village with no worries.”

The Lord said he would leave it to us. That means no Knights will intervene and no serfs will be brought in.

“Thank you, my Lord. But I have two requests. I would appreciate it if you would listen to me for the sake of future hunts.”

“Hmm? A wish? What more do you want?” The Lord replied.

A question mark appeared on the Knight Commander’s face. It was a hunt without any worries.

“For one thing, some of the participants are not yet equipped. And it would be easier to fight with two more large shields if possible.” Allen continued.

“Hmm…”

“We can use three shields at a time. And the fourth shield will be a spare one. We’ve only tested its durability in four hunts. So we don’t know how durable they are. We want a backup in case any of them gets destroyed.”

“I see, you want to improve your equipment for next year’s hunts.” The Lord replied.

“Yes and the other thing becomes a concern. If we don’t get rid of this concern, the hunt may not be possible at all.”

Allen had one concern about the Boar hunt. It would also affect his family.

“Tell me.”

The Lord encourages him to say his concern regarding Boar hunting.

“Yes, my Lord. If we don’t do something about it, the motivation to go hunting will be lost. There is a danger that the number of participants will decrease as well.”

“Hmm?”

He didn’t understand right away, so I continued talking.

“First of all, what we lack is alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

Allen kept talking.

“If we continue to hunt at this rate, the value of Boar meat in the village will drop down soon.”

“We’ll be able to hunt 20 or 30 Boars instead of only 10 so far. The supply of meat is not that great at the moment, but it will eventually become saturated. And the value of Boar meat will decline.”

We will need more Boar meat than before to trade salt and firewood.

“I see what you mean. That’s why you want alcohol as motivation.” 

The Knight Commander understood.

“Of course, it’s to motivate them, but having them trade meat for liquor keeps the value of the meat unchanged.”

“Boar meat turns into alcohol that disappears when drunk. Boar meat will disappear from the village. The liquor store will not go to the trouble of exchanging it for salt or firewood in this village. They will take it to the next village or the capital where meat is scarce.” Allen explained.

“I see, it keeps the value of the meat constant, and the alcohol motivates those who participate in it.”

The Knight Commander was impressed.

“Yes, that’s right. It doesn’t have to be alcohol, but anything that can be consumed, such as fruit would be fine.”

This was also to keep the value of Albaheron’s meat from dropping if he didn’t become a commoner with the reward this time. It will also keep the serfs motivated to hunt, so it is like hitting two targets from one arrow.

“Hmm, that’s a good idea. I can’t give you an immediate answer, but it’s something to consider.” The Lord replied.

“Thank you, my Lord.”

“Isn’t that what Rodan said?”

The Lord checked with Allen. Allen replied immediately.

“Yes, my father Rodan told me.”

The Lord was silent, saying, “I see.” A silence ensues.

“What are we going to do now?”

The Knight Commander asked Allen if they were going back to the village now that the Boar hunt is over.

“Allen. Thank you for guiding me. Tell Rodan and Gerda to come to the Mayor’s house when they return to the village.”

“Yes, I will!”

(Oh? You’re going to give me a reward? Promotion to being a commoner is good.)

And so the Boar hunt ended with great success.