White Deer (1)
It is New Year’s in three days. Since today was a day off, Allen left the mansion in the morning as the snow was falling. He borrowed a pair of boots made of woven straw.
“Oh, you’re going out again today? Do you have boots? The snow is deep in some places, so be careful.”
“I borrowed the boots from the gardener. I thought I might need it today.”
The gatekeeper asked me and I answered.
A large shovel was strapped to Allen’s back with a rope. The rope used to tie the shovel was also borrowed from the stable.
I said, “I’ll be careful,” and walked out of the gate.
It took more than ten minutes to walk through the snow. I left the city and kept on walking until I came to a sparsely forested area.
(Well, what should I do? Maybe I should just hunt Goblins in the morning. No, it’s going to take a long time, so I’ll just concentrate on hunting Deer today. Come on out, Eagles.)
Six Eagles appeared in the sky.
(There is a large deer beast called White Deer. It has white fur and has two horns over two meters long, so it is instantly recognizable. It can be up to 10 km away, so find one as close to me as possible.)
The Eagles dispersed and began their search.
(Okay, let’s get started. Mogusuke, come out. Dig a hole.)
Four G-rank Moles appeared in front of me. I instructed them to use their special skill to dig a hole in the snowy ground. The snow was shoveled away, and the four of them gradually created one big hole.
After finding out that the summoned beasts have emotions, I added a few things to Eagles’ instructions.
I instructed them to look for the magical beast. However, if it is an emergency and the adventurer needs help, come to me immediately. Stop at a tree and chirp three times in a row if it is an emergency so that I can easily tell if it is an emergency.
Allen travels quite a distance around the city, several kilometers in a day’s hunt. And after that much travel, he’s bound to come across some dead or near-dead adventurers. There is no such thing as a safe adventure.
(I have to communicate well.)
Summoned beasts have their own emotion. And that’s why they sometimes go against instructions. They were not complete dummies.
( Will a summon that has an emotion also vanish after 30 consecutive days?)
When I was in Kurena’s Village, I checked the summoning time of summons and it was 30 days. That’s 30 days regardless of their rank, which means they can be active for a month without needing to eat. It can move on its own accord. The possibilities are endless.
While I was thinking about this, three Eagles came back.
(Okay, is there any prey within a kilometer?)
They don’t come down. I gradually increased the distance and asked the question, and at five kilometers, one of them came down.
(Five kilometers, huh. That’s a good distance.)
If the summon is more than 50 meters away, it can’t be instructed. Like G-rank Mole for example, it is not very intelligent, so it stops digging holes when it is more than 50 meters away from me. I have to instruct it to activate its special skill even when it’s by my side at all times. It is still in the process of digging a hole. I’m waiting for the hole to be completed while using a shovel to compact the excavated soil in one place.
It took a long time because the hole was dug quite deep.
As soon as the hole was completed, I headed for the White Deer. Thanks to my straw boots, I could make good progress walking on the snow.
As soon as I had traveled the expected five kilometers, I saw a magical beast eating a horned rabbit. It was a little shorter than the Great Boar at shoulder and height, but if you included its neck and head, it was about 3.5 meters tall. It had horns that were at least two meters long on each side, extending from its head horizontally to the ground.
(Oh! Ohh!)
It was the White Deer that we had caught in Kurena Village. I remember that it was so rare that it was hard to find, and that we have only caught about one, probably because the population of it was very small.
I summon the G-rank Insect behind a tree.
(Okay, provoke it.)
Since my opponent is a C-rank magical beast, I summon four of them, one more than I did with Albaheron, a D-rank magical beast.
The G-rank Frogs that appeared out of nowhere jumped a little distance and performed their special skill, Provocation.
“Bururun!”
White Deer noticed the Frogs and rushed forward through the snow without a care. I retracted them just as they were about to be crushed.
The Frogs instantly disappeared and turned into a card. I summoned them again a bit farther than the Deer and instructed them to use Provocation again. The White Deer continued chasing the Frogs. Repeating this over and over again, I led the Deer to the hole that I had dug earlier. I was wearing a rather noticeable shade in the silvery-white world but thanks to the Deer’s angry state, it didn’t seem to notice me sneaking around behind the trees.
Finally, I led it to the end of the line, the hole.
The four Frogs jumped up and down with a provocative bounce.
“Bururun!”
White Deer jumped straight at them and tried to eat them. However, it didn’t seem to notice the pit that I had hidden in the snow. It fell at once.
(Hmm, I wonder if Provocation lowers intelligence as well. It was pretty easy.)
I pondered this as I looked at White Deer, who was stuck in the pit.
It hurriedly tried to get up to the surface, but it was impossible. The hole was ten meters deep. However, White Deer did not fall to the bottom of the pit. The width of the hole is a little more than two meters. The Deer’s horns were longer than the width of the hole, so the horns got caught and prevented her from falling to the bottom of the pit.
It was as if White Deer was sticking out of the ground with just its face.
Before the pit collapses, Allen runs toward White Deer and grabs its neck. White Deer tried desperately to shake him off, but all of its legs were in the air and it was unable to exert any strength.
Allen, still holding on to its neck, puts all his strength into one hand and thrusts the dagger into the Deer’s neck. A different cry from the furious one it had just made filled the surrounding area, but Allen stabbed again and again until he pierced a vital blood vessel in the neck. He had cut the artery in the Deer’s neck. As soon as he pulled out the dagger, the fresh blood that spurted out went over the edge of the hole and colored the silvery-white world in red.
After a while, the White Deer stopped moving.
Allen opened his Grimoire and confirmed that a log was being shown on the cover.
“You have defeated one White Deer. You have acquired 2500 experience points.”
(Really?)
After confirming that he had defeated it, Allen dragged it up to the ground with all his strength. He continued to pull it to a large tree. He tied three ropes tightly to each of its hind legs and threw it over the branch of the tree. As he pulled the rope hanging down with all his strength, the White Deer hung upside down in the air.
Blood dripped from the veins in its neck.
(I’ll have to drain the blood. Still, it’s pretty heavy, hopefully, this will lighten it up a bit. Well, let’s get this over with.)
(But then again, experience efficiency is so bad. Just 2500 experience after a whole day of hunting.)
Allen, who has a quota of 100 Goblins, earns over 20,000 experience in one day off. Today, I had to dig a deep hole, lure the Deer, drain its blood and clean up after my hunt. It’s going to be difficult to go hunting from now on. It took me a whole day to hunt just one White Deer.
(The meat alone weighs 500 kilograms, and at one Silver per kilogram, that’s five gold coins. I’ll have to thank the Butler later.)
Since I didn’t gain any experience, I think it’s not worth it if I don’t at least get paid for it. There are many things I want to buy. I haven’t bought any new weapons or armor since I came to this town.
After hours of bloodletting, it was already past 4 pm. The blood seems to have drained off quite a bit. I slowly lowered White Deer to the ground.
I tied White Deer’s legs to its body so that they don’t get in my way when I carry them. The shovel was also in the way, so I tied it too.
I changed my summons from G-rank Frogs to E-rank Tigers to increase the Strength as much as possible. Then I put all my strength into carrying White Deer on my back.
(Oh man, it’s really heavy. I’m going to have a backache. Let’s go back to town.)
Now that the hunt for White Deer was safely over, Allen was going to carry it back to the mansion.
