After the servants went down, I examined the herbs again.

I had hoped they would be there, and sure enough, they were.

Now I could do everything I had done in the game Rac.

Not just skills, but I could even create the Level System.

If only I could get to Taiki Island.

But it was so far from here.

My physical condition, as well as my young age, were both issues. The most pressing problem right now was that our house had no money.

"Donnie, how are the house's finances?"

"Not good. The head maid said it'll be tough to survive this winter. We only have thirty people, after all."

"It's hard to make it even without counting the residents?"

"Yes. The imperial family seized the family head's assets, remember?"

"So how many soldiers do we have?"

"We have eleven soldiers. As for knights, only Russell."

The big men I saw on the first day here were the soldiers.

They all looked so large and well-equipped that I thought they were knights.

Men who didn't betray the marquis and came along with him.

Can twelve men stop giants?

If the wall of ice was broken through, it probably wasn't due to just one giant.

Yet in this situation, we had no defensive measures at all.

"Are there any people like blacksmiths or herbalists in the village?"

"All the people who used to be in the shop followed the previous lord. There's a smithy and a drapery, but there's nothing inside."

"Our house had a blacksmith, didn't it?"

"Not just any blacksmith, but a dwarf blacksmith. He forged magic gear. The family head dismissed him."

"He didn't leave on his own accord, then?"

"Of course not. Our family head was such a respected man."

My confused mind seemed to clear up.

I wondered where to find craftsmen, but it turned out I just had to call back those who had been here originally.

It's not like we'd be living in this cramped village forever, anyway.

"Donnie. We have to bring those people back. We can treat them better than before. The most necessary jobs are blacksmith, herbalist, and miner. If we don't have a miner, we'll have to find a skilled one."

"Why do you suddenly need those people?"

"Because we need them in order to rise again."

"You can put out a call to the west territory. A lot of members of our house live there as commoners. My friend is one, too."

"And one more thing."

As I spoke, I looked at Donnie.

Apparently, not just anyone could be an attendant to a noble child. They must pick sharp and quick-witted ones for the job.

"Don't tell Father, elder sister, or elder brother about what I'm doing. You can definitely tell that I've changed a lot since coming back from the dead, right?"

"Of course. I'm still so shocked inside."

"So this is just between you and me. The more gradually we get used to this, the easier it'll be for me and for my family. Right now, I can't pay them, but by the time they gather, our finances will have improved."

"All right."

Donnie's face showed that he had no idea how the finances would improve.

Everyone whispered and kept silent, but those in the know all knew. Hader's house wouldn't last the winter.

About forty-five days remained until the harsh winter came.

I had to finish preparing everything in that time.

Even if I couldn't do anything about the troops, I was sure I could make sure we weren't short on funds.

There was a famous gold mine in the north here.

The one the American guild had taken over.

This time, we would take it.

"Let's head down now."

"Yes."

I felt refreshed, now that I had things roughly organized.

Military power would take a while, so first I'd make money, then use it to establish a foundation.

In the meantime, I intended to systematically organize everything I knew in the form of a bestiary.

The only obstacle was that all this had to be done by a thirteen-year-old kid.

It would be great if I had someone trustworthy, discreet, and who could even persuade the marquis for me.

///

Three more days passed.

I stayed shut in my room all day, working on my own bestiary.

Paper books were rare here, so I wrote on dried parchment, but the information was so vast that it seemed endless.

I first jotted down whatever came to mind, but because it was all a jumble, I discarded everything and rewrote it systematically.

Manufacture.Combat.Monsters.Special products.Resources.

I classified everything into major categories, and then subdivided them.

For example, within the manufacturing category, I divided things into materials and methods, and subdivided those.

Potion materials.Skill materials.Level materials.

The natural locations of each.

Later, when I ran out of parchment, I even wrote in the books Roger owned that he didn't need anymore.

Anyway, I'd have to compile everything properly later, so it was important just to keep things organized for now.

On the fourth day, it happened.

After finishing organizing what I considered most important.

I felt like I had written down everything, but I was clearly missing something.

Unable to remember what it was, I'd spent a sleepless night and was still sitting blankly on my bed before breakfast.

What could I have missed?

Things I knew, information collected through guilds.

Incidents and events from other guilds or other continents.

Except for minor materials and monsters, I thought I'd recorded everything, but I was clearly missing something.

Once again, I went out with Donnie to the wall to get some fresh air.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?"

"Hmm. Nothing really."

"Did you not sleep again last night?"

"I just couldn't fall asleep."

Donnie could read and write, but didn't know what I was writing.

He could tell I was up to something secret, so he just kept his mouth shut.

Even when my elder sister Rozie came by, he acted dumb.

After watching my face, Donnie spoke again.

"But we got some bad news."

"What is it?"

"Uh... The Syren family is sending someone next spring. They said they'd deliver a personal letter from His Imperial Majesty."

"Why is the Syren family delivering that?"

"It's obvious. There's another purpose."

The Grand Duke Syren.

Though the Emperor sent the Hader marquis to this place, it seemed the Syren family was behind it.

Apparently, the Hader and Syren houses had been rivals for a long time, and now were bitter enemies.

Not even the siblings Ross or Rozie knew how things got this bad. Nor did the knight Russell.

"Maybe Art, the young master, will come."

"Art? The Syren family's second son?"

"Yes. He really hated us."

"He'd come all this way just because he hates us? He's not just anyone, and he knows what we think of the Syren family, doesn't he?"

"Well, that's true."

I understood what Donnie meant.

The Syren family sending someone to us meant—they might be intent on wiping out our house.

"Art Syren can't come. We can't defeat the grand duke's knights, but he might end up dead. If he dies and we survive, we just have to abandon the fortress and leave."

"We can't kill Young Master Art."

"Why not?"

"He achieved the [Sword of Light] title at the age of sixteen. I feel like you don't remember this, but the Sword of Light refers to a transcendent knight who can infuse a sword with powerful magic power."

"Is that really impressive?"

"Of course! There are only eight knights in the Empire who have achieved the Sword of Light. Our family head was one of them."

I didn't know exactly what the Sword of Light was.

Maybe something like the aura blade? If there are only eight in the whole Empire, their power must be extraordinary.

"Is it normal for children of great houses to achieve that?"

"No. It's the first time in imperial history."

"The first time?"

"Actually, our family head only managed to achieve that level after years of difficulty. Lately, it seems he's lost that strength, though."

"He lost his strength?"

"I heard His Imperial Majesty took his strength away as punishment. I used to feel immense power from the family head, but now, nothing. Lately, he seems weaker every day, and that's sad to see."

These last few days, the marquis looked sickly.

He didn't seem to have any specific illness.

Maybe it was the stress.

"In any case, it's impossible at age sixteen, right?"

"At least as far as I know. Even in the grand duke's family in the Empire, it's hard to achieve such great magic power at a young age. All the Sword of Light knights except for Young Master Art are old veterans."

Reaching that level at sixteen.

No ordinary training could achieve that. That meant either his family supported him, or he had some great opportunity.

"How does Donnie know all this?"

"Lord Ross told me. When he was training at the imperial sword academy, Young Master Art was a student too. He said everyone was shocked when Art suddenly became so strong."

"Overnight?"

"Yes. In just one day."

Something like that happened in the game Rac, too.

Even our guildmaster suddenly became insanely powerful one day. Actually, that was why he founded the guild and became its leader.

There were other famous people around the world like our guildmaster. It was always the same—they suddenly became strong, and since no one talked about it, nobody knew their secret. But one day, the guildmaster...

"...!"

A bolt of lightning struck my mind.

What had I missed? That was it!

I had forgotten because it happened so long ago!

A power of which only six were found across the whole continent.

Art Syren had consumed one of them.

The demon's essence.

"Donnie! Get ready to travel right now!"

I threw out the words and ran down from the wall.

"With your condition, where are you going?"

"Just go for now!"

The guildmaster supposedly ate the [Essence of Rage] by chance on a hunt. Now that I think of it, our party was up here in the north at the time.

It was when we started hunting trolls at the guildmaster's request!

If that's true, then beyond the wall—

the Essence of Rage is out there!

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=How will you hunt, though?【「(°ヘ°)?】

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