Reward (2)

Allen slowly opened his eyes. "Where...?"

'Is this...the mansion? Hm? Is this one of the guest rooms? Huh? What happened to me? What happened to the murdergalsh?!'

The sight of the murdergalsh's eerie grin flashed into Allen's mind, causing him to suddenly sit upright in bed. His memories were still jumbled.

He looked down and found himself wearing his usual sleepwear instead of his uniform. Someone must have helped him change.

"You've awakened," Sebas said from the bedside. He had apparently been keeping vigil.

"Y-Yes, sir... Um, what happened to me?"

"...How much do you remember?" the butler asked slowly, picking up on Allen's confusion.

This question seemed to help jog the boy's memories. He had been chased by the murdergalsh for three days and nights. He had somehow managed to finally lose it and then turned back toward Granvelle City.

"I don't remember anything after figuring out the direction home and setting out."

"Well, you collapsed in front of the north gate. A guard carried you back here. Two days ago, that is."

"I...see..."

"I will now go and summon Zenof. When he arrives, you will go see Master and report on what happened with the murdergalsh. Any questions?"

"None, sir. Completely understood."

"Mm. There is still time, so continue resting for now."

"Thank you, sir."

After the butler left the guest room, Allen fell back asleep, fully enjoying the fluffy bed normally reserved for VIP guests.

When he woke up again, he found a tray loaded with food at his bedside. Just as he finished wolfing it down, savoring every morsel, the Knight Captain arrived at the mansion.

Another servant came into the room to tell Allen to head to the conference room on the third floor.

'The conference room, huh? I've never been before. It's this way, right?'

Despite having worked in this mansion for over a year, Allen had yet to enter the Baron's bedroom, study, or conference room.

When Allen reached the third floor, he found Zenof waiting for him outside the conference room.

"How are you feeling, Allen?"

"Well rested and fully recovered, Sir."

"Glad to hear it. The guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild is inside at the moment. We will wait here until he finishes his business."

"Understood, Sir."

'Is it regarding the murdergalsh? I remember the Baron talking about an emergency quest or something. But boy, this sure turned into a big deal.'

Allen recalled everything that had happened after he left the north gate.

Due to his game of tag with the murdergalsh, he had gotten a very good grasp on the strength of a Rank B monster. He now knew beyond a doubt that at his current level and Summoning level, Rank C was the limit of what he could defeat.

He then recalled the adventurers and knights who had simply looked on as the carriage was being assaulted. They had probably also really wanted to help but were painfully aware of their own limitations. Allen now understood the conflict that had been going on inside their minds all too well.

There were almost no adventurers or knights possessing a Talent who could go toe-to-toe against a Rank B monster. In the first place, the overwhelming majority of adventurers were Talentless.

From what Raven had said, there was likely only one adventurer in the entire Granvelle realm who could put up a fight against a Rank B monster: the leader of the top-ranked party, Silver Fang of the Gale.

And right now, the man touted as the strongest in the realm, stronger than even the party leader of Silver Fang of the Gale, was currently standing right beside Allen.

Allen had never seen him in an actual fight before, but all sources had assured him of Zenof's overwhelming strength. In fact, he had even earned an alias: War Demon Zenof. This was why the Baron had asked about him first thing when he received news of the murdergalsh.

According to word on the street, the knight captain's Talent was Sword Master. Allen had never heard of it before, but he suspected that it was the two-star class between the one-star Swordsman and three-star Sword Lord.

Just as Allen was occupied with thinking about the knight captain, Sebas emerged from the conference room with a brawny bald man. This was the guildmaster of the Adventurer's Guild branch in Granvelle City. He had stayed for dinner at the mansion several times on days when Allen had been on serving duty.

"All right, I'm leaving. Goddammit."

'Hm? He seems kind of irked about something. Is it about the emergency quest?'

Allen and the guildmaster's eyes met, so Allen bowed and said, "Good day, sir."

The man's eyes widened slightly. "Alle—"

"Even if you have business with our staff," Sebas interrupted, "I'm afraid he is currently unavailable as he needs to report to the Baron."

"Tch, nah, I got no business. Just wanted to say, well done making it back alive, kid."

The boy was surprised the guildmaster knew his name, but before he could continue, Sebas cut in and escorted the guildmaster out of the mansion.

It seemed he had been about to say something but instead ended with giving Allen's head a few pats while passing by.

'Huh? What was that for? It seemed like Sebas had been trying to prevent him from talking to me. Why's that?'

After seeing the guildmaster off, Sebas returned to the third floor and entered the conference room together with Zenof and Allen.

Allen was gestured toward the seat directly across from the Baron's on the other side of the aged, circular table in the middle of the room.

"Are you well enough to be up and moving? I am glad to see you returned to us without any major injuries."

"Yes, my lord, I am well. I apologize for all the trouble I have caused."

"Hm? You have nothing to apologize for. That said, I do want to hear all the details of what happened between you and the murdergalsh. This might affect the response that I take, so be as detailed as you can."

Allen nodded his head in acknowledgment, then recounted his experience.

He told of how the murdergalsh had already gotten quite close when he finally arrived at the south gate and how he found the carriage under attack.

He had then thrown iron balls at the monster in order to save the mother and child in the carriage and attract the monster's attention. Then he drew the beast toward the White Dragon Mountains so that it would no longer attack the city.

The Baron listened to Allen with a frown. Every once in a while, he turned to look at Zenof as if seeking confirmation of the credibility in what Allen was saying. Every time, the Knight Captain simply nodded.

"The murdergalsh was extremely persistent. I lost it multiple times, but it still continued coming after me."

"And that is why you could not return for three days, yes? I had received reports of a boy wearing the Granvelle servant uniform leading the murdergalsh away from the city. I had assumed you were dead and eaten."

Many knights and adventurers had witnessed what Allen had done near the south gate. Naturally, word had reached the Baron's ears.

"Yes, my lord. Unfortunately, my memory is somewhat fuzzy, but I believe I finally lost the monster quite far away."

Because he had no way to prove anything without also revealing his abilities as a Summoner, Allen was a bit vague regarding where and how he had lost the murdergalsh.

The truth, however, was that he had gone all the way to the foot of the White Dragon Mountains. Along the way, he had encountered monsters like white deer and armored ants that he had purposely tried to set on the murdergalsh. However, this had proved pointless, as the murdergalsh easily trampled them and went right back to chasing Allen.

"I see. I now have the full picture. First of all, I will say this: do not worry about being penalized for being absent from your duties as manservant and server during this ordeal. After all, you were doing your best to save my citizens. Rather, you will be rewarded."

"R-Really?" That took Allen a bit off guard. 'I'm getting a reward? It feels like ages since the mention of the last one.'

"This is the reward."

Two small bags were placed on the table. They made a clinking sound, which got Allen piqued.

'Are they filled with coins?! Hold on...but why two bags?'

"This is ten gold from me in reward for your efforts in this incident. According to reports, the emergency quest has been called off, meaning that the situation is over. The number of casualties among the citizens, adventurers, and knights have been kept to a minimum."

The Baron had chosen the words "kept to a minimum" because, sadly, there had indeed been casualties.

"Thank you, my lord." Allen bowed. 'Damn, ten gold. He's being really generous.'

Allen had been at this mansion for a little over a year by now, and there was one thing that he had learned: this family, despite being nobility, was very poor. Back when he first arrived, he had found their diet even more meager than what he had eaten as a serf.

In hindsight, Allen realized that the reason the Baron had rewarded Rodin and the hunters of Krena Village with commoner status was most likely because he could not afford to give them anything tangible. After all, making serfs commoners did not cost anything.

A royal envoy had visited the Granvelle mansion twice in the past year. Both times, the topic was on raising the head tax in the fiefdom. The envoy had insisted that there was room for a raise—perhaps not making it as high as it was in the neighboring Carnel realm, but there was room nonetheless. On the other hand, Baron Granvelle had firmly said no both times, unwilling to further burden his people.

Unfortunately, the low head tax he had set meant that his income through tax was not enough to pay the amount that the national treasury expected from his realm.

Consequently, he was paying for the difference out of his own pocket. This was why, despite being nobles, his family lived very frugally. Allen, for one, thought their poverty an honorable one.

The Baron continued, interrupting Allen's thoughts. "Now, this other bag... It also contains ten gold, making this a total of twenty gold. This is from the family of those who were in the carriage you saved."

"The carriage, sir?"

As it turned out, the passengers in the carriage had been the wife and daughter of the owner of a high-class inn located on one of the city's main avenues. The man had left this amount at the Baron's mansion to express his gratitude.

'Woohoo! That mithril sword I was eyeing is finally within reach!'

Allen had been considering buying a steel sword for five gold, but thanks to this sudden windfall, he could now afford a mithril sword. He wanted to immediately rush to a weapons store as soon as this audience was over, but as it turned out there were a lot more things that needed to be delved into.

In the end, the shops were all closed by the time Allen was finally dismissed.