White Deer

Three days later, it was New Year's Day.

It was another one of his days off, so Allen once again left the mansion early in the day, paying no mind to the snow accumulating on the ground. He was wearing straw-woven boots that he had borrowed the day before.

"You still going out today, lad? Be careful—the snow can get pretty thick some places. Hm? What's with that?"

Allen, who had a large shovel tied to his back with rope, answered, "I thought I might need it today, so I borrowed it from the gardener."

The shovel head was wider than thirty centimeters, so it did not fit inside Storage. The two ropes Allen used to secure it to his back had also been borrowed, this time from the stables. He had picked out seven thick and long ropes—the remaining five had gone into Storage.

***

After promising the guard to be careful, Allen passed through the gate and took off. Dozens of minutes of running through the snow later, he arrived at a spot with trees growing sparsely all around.

'Should I hunt goblins in the morning?Hmm...on second thought, hunting the white deer will probably take some time. I should dedicate the entire day to hunting it, just in case. Come on out, Hawkins.'

Six Bird E Summons appeared overhead.

'I want you to look for a large deerlike monster with white fur. It's called a white deer. It has antlers longer than two meters on its head, so you should be able to spot it easily. You may go ten kilometers away max, but the closer, the better.'

The hawks scattered in all directions.

'All right, time for me to get to work too. Moleys, come on out and Dig for me.'

Four Beast G Summons in the form of moles appeared. In response to Allen's order, they worked together to push the snow back and dig one large hole.

Ever since learning the Summons had self-awareness, Allen had started making an effort to be much more precise when giving Hawkins instructions.

Just now, in addition to the command to look for white deer, he had also told them to prioritize any adventurers in need of help they might find. He had even decided on signs with them, such as landing on a nearby tree branch and crying three times to signify an emergency.

'Communication is always key when working with others.'

The Summons had a will. In other words, they could very well refuse certain instructions.

'But seriously, Summons that are self-aware and can stay out for thirty days without rest, huh? That's pretty nuts if you think about it objectively.'

Back when he had been living in Krena Village, Allen had figured out that regardless of rank, all his Summons could remain Summoned for thirty days straight. They could continue functioning at top performance the entire time, not needing sleep or food. And now, he knew that they could move about of their own will. The realm of possibility now had been blown wide open.

When Allen came back from his thoughts, he realized three Hawkins had returned.

'Okay, is anyone's target within one kilometer?'

None of the birds came down.

'Two kilometers? Three kilometers? Four kilometers? Five kilometers?'

Only when Allen reached five kilometers did one of the Bird E Summons react and slowly descend.

'Well, five kilometers isn't too bad.'

Because Moleys did not have very high Intelligence, they would stop listening to instructions once Allen got more than fifty meters away. In other words, he had to stay here to continue commanding them to use their Ability.

Because of this, he decided to prioritize finishing the hole first. He waited patiently, occasionally using his shovel to gather the displaced dirt into one pile.

It ended up taking quite a bit of time to get the hole as deep as he wanted. During that time, he sent out Hawkins periodically to keep an eye on the target. Thankfully, it did not stray too far beyond the five kilometer mark.

As soon as the hole was finished, Allen obscured it with snow, then set off in the direction of the closest white deer. Thanks to his straw boots, he made good progress even while running on snow. Under the guidance of Hawkins, he soon came upon a monster that was busy feeding on horned rabbit carcasses.

'Oh! There it is.'

The white deer was slightly smaller than a great boar, but after adding in its neck and head, it still measured roughly three and a half meters in length.

Its antlers, which grew out parallel to the ground, were at least two meters long. This was a monster that Allen had seen before back at Krena Village.

However, because its white fur served as effective camouflage and this species was not very populous, the village only managed to capture one per winter month, if any at all.

Because the target was Rank C, Allen had prepared four Insect G Summons. He Summoned all of them while hiding behind a tree himself.

'Hoppers, use Provoke.'

The four frogs obediently started leaping up and down a distance away from the white deer, rapidly flashing various colors.

"NEEIIIGHHHHH!"

The instant the monster noticed the Summons, it promptly charged toward them, plowing through the snow. The Provoke had worked. The split second before they got trampled, Allen reverted the Hoppers into card form and then re-Summoned them a slight distance away, having them use Provoke again right off the bat. By repeating this process, he steadily lured the monster toward the hole he had prepared.

Along the way, Allen found himself impressed by how effective Provoke was. Although he was moving from tree to tree, his black outfit was still conspicuous here in this world of white. Even so, the white deer was so blinded by rage that it did not glance at Allen even for a split second.

Eventually, hunter and prey both reached the place of reckoning. One last time, Allen repositioned the Hoppers and had them use Provoke.

"NEEIIIGHHHHH!"

The white deer continued rushing straight ahead. Then all of a sudden, it disappeared from Allen's sight.

'Hmm, does Intelligence go down when Provoked? To be honest, my pitfall was actually pretty obvious.'

Allen looked down into the pit that the white deer had fallen into. It was ten meters deep and two meters wide, but because the deer's antlers were four meters across, the beast ended up being suspended in midair. Its head was the only thing left visible above ground level.

Before the monster managed to collapse the hole with its struggling, Allen drew his short sword and clambered onto its neck from behind. It bellowed loudly and desperately tried to throw him off, but because its feet were not touching ground, it could not muster any significant strength.

Allen gripped his weapon tightly, then reached around and drove it straight into the beast's neck. He repeated this until blood jetted out, indicating that he had pierced the jugular. The inside of the hole gradually filled with blood, painting a vivid mark of red in stark contrast with the whiteness of the world around them. When the white deer finally stopped moving, Allen called out his grimoire and looked at the log on its front cover.

<You have defeated 1 white deer. You have earned 2,500 XP.>

Allen dispelled the grimoire and used all his strength to lift his prey back onto the ground. He then dragged it over to a large tree nearby, tied three ropes to each of its hind legs, threw the other ends of the ropes over a firm branch, and hoisted the beast up so that it was now hanging upside down. Gravity did the rest, causing blood to flow profusely from the open wound.

'I've gotta drain every last bit of blood to make it that much lighter for when I lug it home. Well then, while that's going, I should get started with cleaning up.'

All the displaced dirt from the ten-meter-deep hole went back in, filling it back up.

'But damn the XP sure is crap.'

Normally, Allen aimed to kill a hundred goblins each time he came out here, amounting to over 20,000 XP. In contrast, by the time the white deer was fully bled, it would already be time to head back. In short, he had spent the entire day and only had 2,500 XP to show for it.

'But on the flip side, this one monster alone probably has more than five hundred kilograms of meat. Considering that meat is generally priced at one silver per kilo, that's five gold in total. I'm gonna make sure I get my due from Sebas.'

It would have to be quite a tidy sum to make the day worth his while in exchange for all the XP he could have earned instead. He still had to buy a new weapon and armor, among many other things.

It was already past 4 pm by the time the beast was fully drained. Allen slowly lowered the huge carcass back to the ground, then tied its legs flat against its torso so that they would not get in the way on the walk back. He also tied the bulky shovel in together with it for convenience's sake.

During the wait, Allen had replaced all his Insect G cards with Beast E cards, bringing his Attack to over 300. He shouldered the white deer carcass and stood up with a heave.

'Uh-oh, this is actually pretty heavy. I hope I don't throw out my back.

'Okay, time to head back to Granvelle City.'

Although the monster had already lost all its blood, it still weighed more than eight hundred kilos. Because of Allen's short stature, the deer's hind legs still ended up dragging in the snow. Its long neck drooped over his shoulder, similarly dragging its long antlers on the ground. However, he paid all of this no mind, forging ahead through the snow using sheer strength.

'Oof, I sure hope I manage to get back before the sun sets.'