When Allen turned three, he finally received permission from Theresia to go outside, with the condition that he stayed near the house. His birthday was October 1 according to the calendar of this world. This was also the day of the village’s Harvest Festival, which was the reason why the dinner table was always especially bountiful on his birthdays. He did not particularly mind—if asked, he would say that it felt as if he was getting to celebrate Christmas and his birthday together at the same time.

Speaking of the Harvest Festival, here in this world, this was not an occasion involving the villagers gathering in the village square and dancing around a bonfire. Rather, it was a day when the village chief went to a religious facility called a “church” to give offerings to the deity of abundant harvest. Naturally, serfs had no part in such a ritual; in fact, Rodin had even gone out on a hunt on the day of Allen’s first birthday.

Over the past three years, Allen had learned quite a lot about being a serf. For example, he now knew that sixty percent of their harvest was supposed to be paid to their village chief, who would then arrange to have it passed along to their domain lord as tax. This frontier village had enjoyed lowered taxes for a certain number of years after its founding, but that period had just expired and they were now taxed in full. However, because tax was percentage-based, the more they harvested, the more they would get to keep for themselves. On the flip side, if someone’s harvest was poor or if they attempted to evade paying the tax, they would be made a slave, a status even lower than serf.

After sixty percent was garnished as tax, however, it was not as if the remaining forty was all for direct consumption. Part of this remainder, together with the meat from the hunts, had to be used to barter for other necessities, such as salt and the cloth used as Allen’s diapers. This world—or at least, this area of this world—had all four seasons. Although it was not as if there would be fierce blizzards during the winter, it would still snow enough to paint the entire landscape white. As such, firewood was crucial for keeping warm. About half of each ten-kilogram block of meat Rodin brought back usually went toward buying firewood.

Commerce among serfs here in this frontier village was largely barter-based. However, it was not as if they never saw money. Allen remembered that when he had broken out into a high fever during February this year, Rodin had pried up one of the floorboards in the nursery, revealing a small stash of coins that he then quickly left the house with. When he’d returned, he had made Allen drink what was likely medicine meant to help lower the fever.

At that time, he must have used the large majority of their savings, as there were only a few copper and iron coins left underneath the floorboard. There were also five pebble-like objects inside the stash that were apparently magic stones dropped by horned rabbits. This incident had been Allen’s first exposure to this world’s currency and magic stones.

Right now, Allen was sitting with his back to the tree that was growing in their garden. Although it was not all that huge, it provided sufficient cover. The fence surrounding their house was quite easy to peek through, and he wanted a way to hide from passing eyes as he focused on analyzing his class.

Well, it looks like that’s all I can learn about Synthesis Lvl. 1 and Creation Lvl. 2.

When he turned three, his max MP had gone up, which allowed him to finally experiment with Synthesis and the next level of Creation. This included finding out the details of the Rank G cards that he now had at his disposal.

To sum up the results of his observations:

Using Creation Lvl. 2 costs 5 MP.

Using Synthesis Lvl. 1 costs 5 MP.

Combining Insect G with Beast G leads to Bird G.

He had noted down everything he had learned inside his grimoire and was largely finished with his analysis. With a Bird G resting on his shoulder, he took a look at his Status.

Name: Allen
Age: 3
Class: Summoner
Level: 1
HP: 12 (40) + 26
MP: 1 (20)
Attack: 3 (10) + 26
Endurance: 3 (10) + 6
Agility: 7 (25) + 10
Intelligence: 9 (30) + 4
Luck: 7 (25)
Skills: Summoning {2}, Creation {2}, Synthesis {1}, Expansion {1}, Deletion
XP: 0/1,000

Skill Levels
Summoning: 2
Creation: 2
Synthesis: 1

Skill Experience
Creation: 4,701/10,000
Synthesis: 20/1,000

Creatable Summons
Insect: G, H
Beast: G, H
Bird: G

Holder
Insect: G x 2, H x 2
Beast: G x 12, H x 2
Bird: G x 2

Hmm, what should I do next? I’ve just confirmed that the amount of MP spent is indeed a one-to-one ratio to the amount of Skill XP gained. In that case, rather than using Creation Lvl. 2 or Synthesis Lvl. 1, it’d probably be a better use of my MP to spam Creation Lvl. 1 and grind toward Creation Lvl. 3. Otherwise, I would have unused leftover MP and that would just be a waste.

Currently, Allen’s max MP was 6. Each cast of Creation Lvl. 1 cost 2 MP, whereas Creation Lvl. 2 and Synthesis Lvl. 1 both cost 5 MP. Clearly, using Creation Lvl. 1 was the most efficient option for converting his MP into Skill XP.

Well, that should do for skill leveling. Next is...

“Hey, Allen,” Allen said toward the bird on his shoulder before mentally giving it an order.

“Yep, I’m Allen!” the bird replied.

Nice! Looks like the Summons suddenly got a lot more useful upon hitting Rank G.

The Statuses of the three new Summons were as follows:

Type: Insect
Rank: G
Name: Hopper
HP: 7
MP: 0
Attack: 6
Endurance: 10
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 7
Luck: 8
Buffs: Endurance 2, Agility 2
Ability: Provoke

Type: Beast
Rank: G
Name: Moley
HP: 10
MP: 0
Attack: 10
Endurance: 6
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 7
Luck: 6
Buffs: HP 2, Attack 2
Ability: Dig

Type: Bird
Rank: G
Name: Chappy
HP: 7
MP: 0
Attack: 5
Endurance: 6
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 10
Luck: 8
Buffs: Agility 2, Intelligence 2
Ability: Voice Mimic

Their stats were still quite low and, just like the Rank H Summons, the Rank G ones also did not listen to orders. However, what caught Allen’s attention were their Abilities.

Bird G was capable of perfectly reproducing Allen’s voice. The degree of mimicry was far beyond what normal parrots could achieve, with the only limitation being that Chappy could not remember anything too long or overly complicated.

Beast G, which had just popped its head out of the ground, was a mole the size of a small dog. Its Ability enabled it to easily dig holes thirty centimeters wide and one meter deep.

Moley would probably be really helpful for digging pitfalls, right?

The usage of a Summon’s Ability seemed more-or-less unrestricted, considering how doing so did not cost MP and had no cooldown. Although Beast G still wouldn’t listen to any other orders, it could be relied on to dig a hole wherever Allen willed it to.

The final new Summon, Insect G, was currently crouched right next to Allen. Its size and appearance both seemed reminiscent of an American bullfrog.

Provoke.

“Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.”

Upon receiving Allen’s command, the frog started jumping erratically and croaking loudly as its normally green skin flashed red and yellow.

The gears in Allen’s head turned as he stared thoughtfully at Insect G. It seemed increasingly clear that the point of his class was not to simply call on powerful Summons and have them fight on his behalf. For example, Insect G could perhaps aggro a monster when it was in the middle of chasing Allen, whereas Beast G seemed to possess the potential for creating large pitfalls. In short, the key to fully drawing out the capability of his class seemed to lie with properly understanding the characteristics of his Summons.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

A bell rang far in the distance, signaling to the whole village that it was now three in the afternoon.

Oh, it’s already that time? Allen thought, picking up the wooden sword on the ground next to him.

＊ ＊ ＊

Eight years after its founding, this frontier village had developed a rough town center near the front gate that included a commercial quarter with stores, an inn, the village chief’s house, and the residences of the commoners of the village. The vast fields where Allen lived were still within the village limits, but considered part of the outskirts. As such, it made sense for the bell that indicated time to be set up near the village entrance where the population density was highest.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Allen’s heartbeat quickened as the thought of the unavoidable upcoming battle soon filled his mind. Roughly ten minutes after the bell fell silent, shearrived. She was both his friend and his rival.

“Allen, let’s play!”

A little girl with shoulder-length pink hair and dazzling blue eyes rushed like a gust of wind through the crude gate that led into Allen’s garden. She was wearing an outfit made of hemp—like what most serfs wore, Allen included—and holding something that seemed strangely incongruent with a little girl: a roughly hewn wooden sword.

Ever since Allen turned three, Krena had been coming over to play every single day. As soon as Gerda heard that Theresia had granted Allen permission to leave the house, he brought Krena over. At that time, Allen felt a sense of foreboding seeing the two wooden swords in the little girl’s hands. And true enough, it turned out that Gerda was nearing his limits handling Krena’s rough-and-tumbling fun. He was so desperate for Allen to become her playmate that he had looked ready to prostrate himself.

Ever since then, Krena started coming over every day at the stroke of the bell. Judging by how fast she arrived, she had likely dashed off literally at the very first peal.

There was a time when I had been quite baffled about how Gerda, with his bodybuilder-like physique, could have trouble dealing with his daughter. Now I totally get it though.

Krena’s father, Gerda, was even more muscular than Rodin—the veins on his arms were practically popping out. Because of these two men, Allen was starting to get the mistaken impression that all serfs were super jacked.

“Good afternoon, Krena. You’re full of energy again, I see. So, what do you want to play today?” Allen asked for confirmation’s sake, even though the answer seemed quite obvious considering what the girl was holding.

“Mmmm!” Krena pouted, expressing indignation that he even had to ask. “Play knight, of course!”

“All right, then. The tree will be in our way here, so let’s go over there.”

“Sure!”

The pout on Krena’s face immediately melted into a beaming smile as the two headed for a wider area. Allen knew full well by now how much the terrain and surroundings could affect a fight.

Eventually, the two children stopped at the most open part of the garden. They each held up a roughly hewn wooden sword—around thirty cm long, or a third of their own heights—at the ready.

“We start! I am Krena the knight! Here I come, Allen!”

“Come at me!”

“Noooo! You have to say it too!”

Krena pouted once again. As long as Allen did not “properly” name himself, the play session would not start. She swung her sword crossly in a little fit.

It’s so freaking embarrassing though! Just what on earth were you teaching her, Gerda?! Why do I have to go all out with playacting at this age?! Though I amonly three years old!

“I am Allen the knight! Let us fight with honor!” cried the thirty-eight-year-old while readjusting his doublehanded grip on his sword.

Having been satisfied with Allen’s proclamation, Krena rushed forward, signaling the start of the fight. Allen parried her swing, but the shock of the impact still ran through his arms. In exchange, he brought his own weapon down with both hands, but she deflected it with ease.

The exchange continued, filling the air with the incessant clacking of wood against wood.

This is strange. There’s definitely something weird about this!

Allen had been on the ropes ever since the start of this fight. The reason why he found this so unbelievable was because he was currently fully buffed from his cards. After suffering defeat after defeat at her hands, he had specifically changed out the collection of cards stored within his grimoire. He had replaced all Rank H cards with Rank G ones and, aside from stocking two Insect G and two Bird G for experimental purposes, filled all the remaining slots with Beast G for the Attack buff. He was now stronger than even a ten-year-old. In fact, Allen suspected that he currently matched a full-grown adult in strength. This was literally him going all out, and yet he was still losing against a three-year-old.

I can’t hit her at all. Should I increase my Agility with Bird G? But if my Attack goes down any further, I won’t be able to properly parry her strikes. Ugh, I don’t have enough stat points to shuffle around!

Currently, Krena was superior in both Attack and Agility. Allen did his best to not get cornered by the innocent devil that he was facing.

“Playing with Allen really is more fun than with papa!” Krena cried as her free hand quivered with excitement. She apparently found Allen, who was the same size as her and fully buffed with his cards, the perfect partner for playing knights.

“Gee, thanks,” Allen replied with a wry smile.

The play session had only just begun. The two continued for a whole hour with a few breaks interspersed within.