Confession

It was now mid-December, roughly a month after Allen had started dedicating his one day off each week to hunting.

One day, after finishing work hours, Allen visited a weapons shop around the chiming of the 9 pm bell.

"Here ya go," the owner said, handing over iron spheres the size of baseballs. "Still haven't the faintest idea what you plan on doing with those, but whaddya think?"

"Oh, these are perfect! Thank you very much! Sixty silver for all three, right?"

The owner nodded and accepted the money that Allen was holding out.

'These feel great in the hand. Now I finally have replacements for my throwing stones.'

After exiting the store, Allen put the iron spheres away inside Storage and returned to the mansion.

***

Today was Allen's fourth day off. Thanks to spending all his off time so far on hunting, he was now Lvl. 12. The stat increase was great, but it had come with a new problem. Namely, stones broke whenever he threw them.

Because he no longer had any chance to use Insect G's Provoke, he replaced most of them with Beast E instead, which buffed his Attack even higher. All the throwing stones that Allen had brought along from Krena Village had been shattered in attacks against goblins.

As replacements, Allen had ordered iron balls from a weapons shop.

According to the owner, it was not all that much trouble, as it was simply a matter of changing the shape of a lump of iron originally meant for making a weapon anyway. Because of this, he was willing to part with one ball for twenty silvers. Allen had ordered three.

'The list of things I need to buy just keeps growing. Armor is a given, but I also want a fire-starting magic tool, and I want to eventually have ten iron balls in total. Of course, I really also ought to get a better weapon. But that's at the lowest priority, since I mainly fight with my Summons.' Allen reviewed the shopping list that he had written down in his grimoire.

The fire-starting magic tool cost three gold. There was a huge range of prices when it came to armor, but the higher-end ones naturally cost several gold. The same was true for weapons.

'I really feel like a game character who's arrived at the starting town and is gathering his first set of equipment!'

Despite being in need of money, Allen's heart still beat quickly in excitement. He recalled the emotions he had felt from visiting a new town inside a game and anticipating the new equipment available.

'Hunt monsters, earn XP, use money to improve my equipment. Now this is the old-school playing style. Though the money I'm using is from my salary and not from selling drops.'

Servants at House Granvelle received their salaries at the end of each month. Allen's monthly salary was fifty silver. A hundred silver equaled one gold, which meant his annual salary was six gold. Servants of House Granvelle were exempted from the head tax.

The monthly salary for each rank in the household's servant hierarchy was as follows: the top rank, which the butler belonged to, received five gold; the second rank, which the head chef belonged to, received two gold; the lowest rank, which Allen belonged to, received one gold.

The reason Allen was receiving only half the amount that was normal for his standing was because he was under twelve years of age. Rickel had been the one to tell Allen all of this; as head manservant, he received one gold and fifty silver each month.

'If I could register goblin-killing quests with the Adventurer's Guild, I would earn more. Oh well, it's not like I need money so badly it'd kill me. And most importantly, the Guild building is too far away anyway.'

In every one of the fights so far, his Summons tanked all the attacks, and Allen had yet to get hurt even once. Because of this, armor was not very high on his list of priorities either. He was content with waiting for his money to slowly accrue.

Once again, Allen got back late that night. He was about to head back to his own room when he bumped into Rickel.

"Hi, Mr. Rickel. Good night."

"Ah, there you are. I know it's late, but Sebas is calling for you."

"What?"

Allen could not remember doing anything that would merit being called for, but ignoring the summons was not an option. After thanking Rickel for conveying the message, he headed to the butler's room.

***

Knock, knock.

"Excuse me. It's Allen."

"Mm, come in."

Despite it being quite late at night, the butler was still willing to talk. When Allen entered the room, Sebas gestured toward one of the sofas.

"I heard you wanted to see me, sir."

"Indeed."

A long silence then ensued. Allen patiently waited for Sebas to broach the topic.

"Allen. Your work in the mansion is beyond reproach. I've heard from the other servants that you are diligent and conscientious." When Sebas finally started speaking, it seemed like he was carefully choosing his words.

"Thank you very much, sir."

"However, work is not the only thing that matters. What you do in your off time is also important. You must remain constantly self-aware of your identity as a member of House Granvelle."

'What's this? Am I getting scolded for something?'

"Of course, sir."

Sebas looked straight into Allen's eyes. "What are you doing on your days off?"

"I'm sorry, sir?"

On his days off, Allen would head out before the sun rose. In a great hurry too. And when he returned, it was invariably after 9 pm. With this having continued for a full month, it was only natural his behavior would lead to questions.

Just as Allen was considering whether to tell the truth or not, Sebas said, "I'm not letting you out of this room until you answer my question."

'I see. Well, I don't have a choice, then.'

Allen was hunting around Granvelle City, and while he did his best to avoid people, there were still times he passed by adventurers. It was only a matter of time before word of a black-haired child hunting in the area spread. Not that he had any intention of stopping what he was doing.

"I've been hunting monsters," Allen replied truthfully.

"You've been hunting monsters?"

"Yes, sir. On my days off, from morning to night, I've been hunting monsters outside the city."

The butler's eyes widened in surprise. He felt as if he was looking at the very concept of absurdity given the form of an eight-year-old boy.

"Is that why you asked Rickel about the White Dragon Mountains and the Adventurer's Guild?"

'He reported me?' Allen felt resentful toward Rickel for a split second but then thought better of it. If the butler asked Rickel about the possibly suspicious behavior of one of his charges, it was only natural for him to share what he knew.

"Yes it is, sir."

"So that is why you asked for full days off... Why do you hunt?"

"Because I am Boar Hunter Rodin's son. I want to grow up into an upstanding person like my father one day."

To Allen's own surprise, the words flowed naturally from his mouth. He realized that he believed what he had said.

'I see, so I really am the son of Rodin, the man who wanted to become a hunter. I just happen to also really love hunting. I guess we really are father and son.'

Allen was satisfied with the answer that he had just found within himself.

Despite being far apart, he and his father had a common bond in hunting. It was a very deep connection, as far as bonds went, as this was their shared purpose in life, their raison d'être. Allen even suspected that him being born to Rodin had been an intentional arrangement on the part of the gods.

"Hunting on my off days is what I live for."

"What you live for, huh? So it's that important to you. Hmm...I suppose you really are Rodin's son after all."

Understanding dawned on Sebas's face. Surely, Allen had been greatly influenced by his father while growing up. The son of the village's champion now declared hunting his reason to exist. Back when he had said he would quit being a manservant if he did not get full days off, his eyes had been lit by the same glint of resolve.

"I see. Well, having a raison d'être is a good thing, as long as it doesn't cause other people trouble like Dudley's does."

'Dudley? That's...the head chef, right? Ah, I do remember him and Sebas locking horns every once in a while.'

The head chef loved cooking above all else. By and large that was a good thing. However, he would go over budget buying ingredients to experiment with dishes. He showed no qualms about standing up to Sebas despite being one tier lower on the hierarchy, likely due to them being close in age. During his time at the mansion, Allen had already happened upon the butler and head chef shouting at each other multiple times, the former repeatedly upbraiding the latter for not staying within budget, and the latter insisting on raising the quality of the food being served.

"Yes, sir. I'll be careful not to trouble anyone else."

"If I can be entirely frank with you, Allen, I want your work in this mansion to become what you live for. Just like it did for me."

"Y-Yes, sir."

'Well that's gonna be difficult. After being reincarnated and all, I don't want to live out my years in someone else's service.'

Allen's half-hearted answer and stiff smile caused Sebas to sigh and shrug his shoulders.

"Well then... What have you been doing with the horned rabbits you bring back?"

"I'm sorry, sir?"

Apparently Sebas was under the misconception that Allen had been hunting horned rabbits close to the city walls. The thought that Allen was hunting goblins hours away had not even crossed his mind.

"There's no need to hide it. You've been selling them to a butcher's for some pocket money, yes?"

'Ahhh, so that's what he really wanted to know. Should I correct... Nah, let's play along.'

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Mm, it's not a very good look for a member of House Granvelle to be earning pocket money on the side. There's no telling what rumors might be generated from this."

"I'm sorry, sir," Allen repeated, doing his best to seem apologetic. The truth was that he only harvested the magic stones and left the rest in the forest. He did not want to waste the time it would take him to drop by the butcher's after hunting, after all. Currently, XP was much more valuable to him than money was.

"But that said, we can hardly let the meat go to waste. As such, bring the horned rabbits back. We will pay you for them, separate from your monthly salary."

"Really?!" Allen exclaimed. 'Talk about a nice surprise!'

The meat that he had been discarding now had value.

"You're that happy about it?...I'm making it clear now, but we won't be paying you all that much. One silver for each horned rabbit is all we'll give."

This was still more than enough.

In this way, Allen's hunting was—partially—exposed to Sebas, the butler.