Hell Mode: Volume 1, page 29
“If you don’t place a piece here, I’m gonna turn over all the pieces in this row.”
“Ugh...”
The number of Krena’s pieces steadily decreased as Allen started taking the corners. He wasn’t aiming for an overwhelming victory, however, so he continued to give Krena hints as the game went on. Nevertheless, she still struggled.
As I’d feared, she’s having a hard time. She does seem like the type who moves on intuition and feel, after all.
Allen did notice that when playing knight, Krena seemed to attack and shift position without really thinking about it. He had to use his head to come up with strategies and test things out, but she seemed to instinctively figure out how to deal with everything he threw at her.
Conversely, this talent did not translate well to the playing board. The two of them had been playing for over thirty minutes by now, but no matter what she did, Krena could not beat Allen.
The potato Theresia had prepared for Krena lay untouched next to her. Normally, she would have immediately said thanks and dug in with relish, but the only thing on her mind right now was figuring out how to win. She brought her face close to the board, her brows furrowed with thought.
Rodin, who had been watching the whole time, commented wryly, “Yeah, she’s not gonna win.”
What?! Why’d you have to go and say it?! It’s not like you can beat me either!
Allen had also played against Rodin and Theresia before, but he had won handily almost every time. Even so, there was no need to actually put such things into words. Tears started welling up at the corner of Krena’s eyes. She was so frustrated that she even started to sniffle a little.
Oh, all right. I’ll think up a game more based on chance for next time. For today, I’ll go easy on you, Krena.
“H-Here!” Krena finally gained a corner and joyfully flipped a whole row of pieces.
“Aw, I lost,” Allen conceded.
“YAY!” Krena grabbed her potato and took a huge bite out of it, basking in the afterglow of victory.
“Wanna play one more round?”
“Sure!”
Playtime continued for quite a while longer in Allen’s house as rain continued to pour outside.
Pelomas the Merchant’s Ambitions
“I’m home,” Pelomas announced as he came tottering in with unsteady steps.
Deboji, who happened to be nearby as Pelomas headed to the kitchen to grab water, responded, “Oh? Welcome back.”
“Thank you, father.”
“So, how’s it going? You getting along well with the Sword Lord?”
“It’s all right.”
“What? It’s only ‘all right’? You know you can invite her to our house anytime, right? Just like for New Year’s.”
“I know, father.”
Every day since the Appraisal Ceremony that revealed the birth of a Sword Lord in his village, Deboji had told his son to get along with her. Her future was very likely to be bright and distinguished, if Sword Lord Dverg’s serf-to-noble tale was anything to go by. Forging a relationship with Krena now could lead to opportunities in the future. It was with such ulterior motives in mind that Pelomas had reluctantly accepted the invitation from his friend, Dogora, to join the play knight sessions at Krena’s house.
Honestly, Pelomas thought Krena’s movements during the play sessions were entirely superhuman. He could tell despite knowing nothing about the sword. Allen, who had been playing with her for several years before Dogora had joined in, was equally monstrous.
The group’s members were, from strongest to weakest, Krena, Allen, Dogora, Pelomas, then Mash, with a huge gulf between Allen and Dogora. Pelomas was not particularly interested in closing that gulf, having never been particularly athletic in the first place. He mainly spent these sessions sparring with Mash.
“Also—”
“I know, I know, father. You don’t have to tell me again. But come to think of it, I’m going to the royal capital, not the Academy. We might not even meet again in the future.”
“That’s a fair point. But that’s all the more reason to get close to her now.”
As Pelomas was a Merchant by Talent, he would be studying at a commercial school run by the Merchant’s Guild located in the kingdom’s capital rather than go to Academy City with Krena. Just like the Academy, this commercial school was a three-year program for children aged twelve to fifteen. After graduating, alumni were expected to apprentice at stores, eventually becoming full-time employees or going independent. Pelomas had heard of this career path from his father after learning of his Talent at his Appraisal Ceremony, and this was the direction in life he was striving toward. This did mean, however, that his life would take a very different turn from Krena’s a few years down the line.
“Who knows? You might open a store in the capital one day, and you can’t have too many connections with nobles when you do. I won’t go so far as to tell you to marry Krena, but you should treasure the relationships you have.”
“O-Okay...”
Pelomas could not imagine Krena getting married to anyone. If she really had to, maybe Allen would be a good match.
＊ ＊ ＊
After finishing dinner, Pelomas returned to his room. He pulled back his floor carpet, lifted a loose floorboard, and took out a few sheets of parchment, spreading them out on his table.
“I really am lucky. I still can’t believe everything I have here. Heh heh heh...”
He was looking at design sketches and instructions for Reversi and dice games that Allen had come up with.
“Allen’s such a mystery. Where does he even get these ideas from?” Pelomas muttered to himself, the corners of his mouth naturally lifting into a grin.
During a recent play knight session, it had started pouring without warning. As there was no way they could continue, all the children had ducked inside Krena’s house, where it turned out she had multiple strange games stored away. When asked, she revealed that everything had been made by Allen.
Pelomas had never heard of any of them in Granvelle City nor the royal capital, but decided to try playing them anyway. To his shock, he found them quite fun and their designs extremely well-polished. The uncomplicated rules made it easy for anyone to join in, and the game pieces themselves were very simple to make.
“These are games that only exist in this villa— no, only in Krena’s house. Allen really is amazing for coming up with things like these.”
Pelomas had been able to tell right away how lucrative these ideas were. On the parchment before him were his notes for products that he wanted to create and sell once he grew old enough to start his own business.
Earlier that day, he had heard of a game involving cards made from wooden plaques. He was now writing all the details down before he forgot them, relying on the feeble light of a single candle.
The great ambitions of Pelomas the Merchant had only just begun.
Krena and Chores
It was now nearing the end of autumn, just when the temperature was starting to get nippy. After Rodin got hurt, Allen had started helping out with chores around the house.
I’ve finished harvesting all the potatoes, but there are still a lot of things to do.
In addition to the usual chores, such as drawing water from the well in the morning, doing the laundry, and helping Theresia cook meals, Allen also had to sort out the harvested potatoes. On top of all that—though this was not technically a chore—the albaherons he caught also needed to be bled and butchered. He had left his mother Theresia to nurse Rodin, who was still largely bedridden, and take care of young Mash.
This morning, Allen had, as usual, drawn water and hunted a few albaherons. He was now washing his family’s laundry. There was quite a lot of it, what with there being four people.
All right, this should be enough. I’ll have to butcher the albaherons next.
Allen pulled all the laundry from the large bucket he washed it in and hung it up on a clothesline in the yard, moving with practiced, flowing motions like a gamer completing his daily quests. By now, the carcasses on the bleeding rack had already finished draining and were ready to be processed.
＊ ＊ ＊
In the afternoon, Krena came to Allen’s house as she always did.
“Alleeeen! Let’s play! Huh? Where’s Allen?”
“Oh hi, Krena dear. Allen is out in the yard.”
Krena thanked Theresia and ducked back out of the house. She looked around and found Allen among the piles of potatoes.
“Oh, hey there. Please give me a few more minutes.”
“What are you doing, Allen?”
“I’m separating out the seed potatoes and the potatoes we’re giving the village chief.”
Sixty percent of the harvest had to be yielded to the village chief as tax. Allen was currently picking through potatoes roughly the size of Japanese sweet potatoes and placing them into the various baskets laid out in front of him.
Krena, who already knew that Allen was helping his family out, sat down next to him and placed her wooden sword on the ground. “Allen, what should I do?”
“Aw, you’ll help? Thank you. Then can you help me pick out the seed potatoes? Find the ones around this size and fill this basket with them.”
Apparently Krena was willing to forgo playing knight today. She meekly did what Allen asked.
“Allen is always helpful. Papa and mama said so.”
“Hm? Well, I do the things I do because this is my family.”
A while after sharing what Gerda and Mathilda had said, Krena finished filling up her basket.
“Allen, it’s full.”
“Thank you. Can you bring your basket over there?”
“Sure!”
Krena got up and lifted the basket.
“Wait, it’s heavy, right? Are you okay?” Allen asked in alarm as he saw her walk off with wobbly steps.
“I-I’m okay,” Krena called back. However, although she had talent with the sword, her strength was only equal to other children her age. What’s more, the basket obscured her view.
“Wait, you’re heading into the laun—”
“WAHHH!”
Krena forcefully crashed into the support for the clothesline, bringing everything down. The laundry, which was still wet, became covered with dirt as the potatoes scattered all over. The sight of the chaos spread before her eyes left Krena at her wits’ end.
Allen rushed over, checking her for injuries. “You okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
“I’m sorry, Allen. I wanted to help, but I only made a big mess.” The usually bright and cheerful Krena seemed on the verge of tears.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Allen said, giving her head a few pats.
“A-Allen...?”
“Can you gather the potatoes and put them back into the basket? I’ll get the laundry-washing bucket out.”
“O-Okay...”
Allen proceeded to gather the dirtied laundry as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Krena gathered the potatoes, sniffling a little.
When the preparations for washing the laundry again were ready, Allen beckoned Krena to join him in the bucket. “Krena, take off your shoes and come in. But be careful, the water’s a little cold.”
Krena kicked off her sandals and accepted Allen’s outstretched arm. “Wah!” she exclaimed in wonder at the experience of stepping into a water-filled laundry bucket.
“We do this. See? We stomp on the clothes.”
“Like this?”
“That’s right! You’re doing great, Krena.”
The two kids began stomping the dirt off the laundry, soon forgetting the chill of the water.
“Allen really is amazing.”
“What do you mean?”
“’Cuz you can do everything!”
“Oh, that’s not true. Thank you for helping me today. Let’s play knight tomorrow!”
“Sure!”
Krena flashed Allen the biggest smile she had that day as she energetically tread on the clothes in the bucket with him.
Chasing a Horned Rabbit
On a certain day near the end of summer, after finishing his morning chores, Allen was now playing knight with Krena. Their wooden swords clashed again and again in loud clacks as Mash watched on from inside the house.
Today, as always, Allen was on the losing end. With Krena’s Sword Mastery improving a hundred times faster than his own, he always struggled to seize the initiative in these matches. He kept coming up with new strategies, but it never took long for Krena to find a way to cope.
“An opening!”
“Whoa!”
Allen’s sword was knocked out of his hands. It flew into the corner of the yard, spinning several times in mid-air.
“Sir Allen! Will you continue?!” Krena asked, beaming with an ear-to-ear grin as if celebrating her very first victory—even though she basically won every time.
“I surrender, Sir Krena,” Allen replied wryly, lifting both hands in a sign of submission. “I’m gonna pick my sword back up.”
“Okay!”
When Allen approached the overgrown grass in the corner of his yard, however, he heard a rustling sound.
“Hm?”
Something was in the grass.
Sniffle. Sniffle.
“Allen? What’s wrong?”
“There’s something here, Krena!”
It turned out to be a rabbit as big as a medium-sized dog with a horn on its forehead. As soon as it noticed Allen’s approach, it charged at him. Thankfully, as he had his cards arranged in preparation for playing knight with Krena, he managed to evade the attack.
“Are you okay, Allen?”
“I-I’m fi— Krena, watch out! The horned rabbit is heading for you!”
The warning from Allen prompted Krena to instinctively lift her wooden sword up in readiness for battle.
“Come! I am Sir Krena!”
However, the rabbit that was rushing toward Krena seemed to falter in the face of the pressure that Krena was emanating and instead took a sharp right, bounding out of the yard.
“It’s getting away. Krena, let’s catch it!”
Horned rabbits were known for being delicious. Neither Allen nor Krena had caught one before, and since this one had appeared to them, they decided to give chase. Allen grabbed his wooden sword and rushed out with Krena. However, the beast was fast, and it soon dove into the fallow field on Allen’s family’s land where the grass grew taller than even Allen and Krena themselves.
“Krena, let’s split up. If you see it, give me a shout!”
“Okay!”
The two children followed the rabbit into the grass, wooden swords in hand. But then thirty minutes passed with nothing to show for it. For all they knew, the monster might have left the fallow field as soon as they themselves went in.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Before they knew it, it was now time for Krena to head home.
“It’s a pity, but I guess it got away. If we see it again, let’s catch it then!”
“Okay!”
The best outcome would be if they had caught the horned rabbit, but the two children were not all that down about their failure. Krena said goodbye to Allen and then energetically ran home.
“Welcome back, Krena.”
“Daa!”
“Mama, Lily, I’m back.”
When she returned home, Krena was greeted by her mother Mathilda and Lily, her baby sister. It would be a while yet before Lily could speak, but now that she could totter around on her own, she always glued herself to Krena.
Krena was playing with Lily for a while before a large, bear-like man lumbered into the house and said in a loud voice, “I’m back!”
“Welcome back, hun,” Mathilda replied. “You seem happy. What happened?”
The man was none other than Gerda, Krena’s father. Because Lily was still young and required Mathilda’s constant attention, he tended to the family’s fields by himself.
“Look at...this! It’s been a while since I caught one!” Gerda crowed proudly, suddenly thrusting forward what he had been holding behind his back this whole time. It turned out to be a horned rabbit carcass.
“WOW! Papa’s so amazing!”
“Waaaahhhh!”
“Aw, hun, you’ve gone and made Lily cry!”
“OW!!!”
Krena looked super impressed seeing her father with a horned rabbit, the exact same creature she herself had failed to catch earlier. However, because he had been hiding it behind his back and had shown it very suddenly, Lily had gotten so surprised she burst into tears. His thoughtless gesture earned Gerda a punch to the face that sent him flying out the front door.
“But honestly, this is a great help, especially with the great boar hunts still a ways off,” Mathilda conceded.
“Well, there you go.”
Unlike the autumn, when meat would be much more accessible thanks to the hunts going on, this horned rabbit was a rare and much-needed source of protein for the two growing children.
Krena chimed in. “Allen will be happy too!” Apparently, sharing this windfall with her friend was a given in her mind.
“Mm, that’s right, they did share with us last time.”
Normally, horned rabbits could only be found outside the village in the wild. Only every once in a while would one manage to slip through the surrounding wall and get inside, so horned rabbit meat was considered a rare treat. Last time, Rodin had caught one and shared it with Gerda and his family.
“Good girl,” Gerda said as he rubbed Krena’s head gently. He was praising her for being willing to share her precious food with a friend.
“Mm-hm, I am a good girl!”
“Well, it looks like tomorrow night is gonna be a sleepover. Since Lily is still little, how ’bout we call Allen’s family over here.”
“YAAAY!!!”
Mathilda smiled warmly at the exchange between father and daughter.
The Resolve of a Butcher
“I’m back.”
