[You've crushed an ant to death and gained 0.5 EXP!]
Roy's eyes narrowed in satisfaction.
It was exactly as he knew.
He could gain EXP from literally everything as long as it was a living and breathing creature.
Whether it was a poor little ant or a chicken didn't matter; he would get EXP from helping them ascend… to the afterlife.
He earned half the experience he would gain from reaping a bee's life by killing an ant.
'Killing ants give me less EXP than killing bees, but it's far less risky. Honeybees don't only attack invaders threatening to harm their nest but also those who seriously disturb them outside their nest. I can get away with killing one, but if I hunted down several more, there's no saying how many of them will come to sting me to death. I don't risk the chance of poking the hornet's nest by slaying ants in my way. So it's better to kill them than bees.'
He saw not too many ants crawling on the tree he was approaching at a snail's pace.
He covered his hand with a piece of clothes before reaching it.
Then he placed his hand on the tree and acted like he was tired and out of breath to keep his real intentions a secret from prying eyes.
[You've squashed two ants to a paste with your palm.]
[+1 EXP Gained!]
When he was inspired to become a hunter, Roy had watched thousands of videos in which a person or voice explained the weak points of monsters and their strength through actions and words, respectively.
However, not a single piece of that knowledge was helpful to him at this moment.
Rather, it was his common sense that allowed him to easily increase his experience points to a total of 2.5.
'I am short of 7.5 Experience points to level up. I need to help 15 ants reach the afterlife to gain that much. Alright, let's get to work!!!'
He was all fired up and ready.
After taking seven steps, he saw a family of ants picking up leaves and taking them to their colony.
'I mustn't let them get away! Ants die for my sake. Your sacrifice will be remembered!'
He intentionally speed up, earning an immediate warning from his capable and attentive maid.
"My lord, please slow down or you will fall!"
…
Since the day had just began, There were a lot of servants in the garden.
They were watering the trees and the flowers, caring for them immensely.
Crystal clear drop of water hung on the leaves and slid down the trunk of many trees and the outer shell of flower pots.
Not a single servant considered it important to greet Roy as if he was not their lord but a bystander.
Roy expected such an attitude for them, but he couldn't treat them as thin air even though he wanted to a lot.
It will be weird if they caught him Killing ants.
Thus, he put up a show for them.
…
"My lord, please slow down or you will fall!"
He didn't take heed of her warning.
And so... He fell down.
"Argh!"
He cried out, loud enough for the eyes of many to turn towards it.
Not a single person moved to help him.
They stared at him like he was a monkey in the zoo
Some servants laughed at his miserable state
Others snickered, calling him a stupid trash in their heart.
Although he was a little fool, he was still a noble.
They dared not curse him out loud as that would be like signing their death.
"My lord, are you alright?"
Amelia was stricken with horror when she saw him fall. Sadly she was too slow to save him from falling knees first on the ground. But she did immediately came up to him and helped him stand up, bypassing the empire's rule of a slave always standing 3 steps behind their master.
"I'm fine."
Roy showed her a smile and patted her head to ease her worry.
Internally, he was hissing.
He had bruised his knees.
He didn't except his body to be so week that a stunt he had fakes to fool the masses would wreck him in return.
"Are you sure?"
Amelia asked about his health again in worry.
"I wouldn't lie to you."
Roy gave her a reassuring smile before moving to the training ground as if he was immune to the stinging pain surging from his knees.
'Everything's going as I planned.'
Two sharp rays of light flashes in his eyes that he narrowed out of habit but it went unnoticed by everyone present.
…
[You intentionally made it seem like you tripped on your foot and fell down to the ground like a sore loser to your maid and the servants in the garden to hide from them the fact that you murdered a huge family of ants in cold blood by crushing them with your body weight so that they wouldn't think or spread rumors of you becoming a crazy young man who likes Killing ants and bees.]
[You get +8.5 EXP.]
[You have acquired the skill, Perception, for being thoughtful of your circumstances and vigilant to the ones backstabbing you.]
An unexpected surprise!
