Chapter 56

Keith arrived at the village of Regias.

Mio's food stall and Fina's market stand seemed to be doing as well as usual.

No, the market stand was even busier than usual.

Mio and Ren-Ren were handling the food stall, while Fina and Reina were dividing the work at the market stand to serve the customers.

He exchanged a nod as a greeting.

He bought dinner from the food stall and went to a table behind it to eat.

The menu was yakisoba and soup, which he had eaten before.

Since lunch had been quite heavy, he was full in no time.

"Welcome, Keith."

"Hello. Fina's stand seems to be doing really well, doesn't it?"

"It's a happy problem, I suppose. We've put out good equipment for the tournament, so it's doing well."

Indeed.

More than half of the customers browsing the market stand were players.

Moreover, many of them were archers.

They were probably after the bows and arrows made by Reina.

"Do you have something to sell today?"

"Here it is."

He laid out his catch on the table.

The stinger's needle and carapace, the silver chicken's wings, the striped raccoon's skin, the bloodroot burdock, the silver chicken's egg, and the obsidian.

Five wild horse skins and three wild horse meats.

And the wild horse meat from a rampaging horse, the main prize, the cordovan.

"What's this? It's so beautiful."

Fina also looked surprised at the cordovan.

It was a high-quality leather material, even he knew that.

The color was a deep brown, and its surface was like a mirror.

It would be good for shoes, boots, bags, wallets, and belts.

"Are you going to make some equipment with the leather?"

"I'd like to, but you already have orders, right?"

"Are you planning to make something with the cordovan?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll put it on hold. What about the other skins?"

"I'll sell them. Just put the cordovan on hold."

Fina seemed to be thinking.

She was apparently doing some calculations.

She was also very interested in the wild horse skins.

"Saki is at the workshop today. Two more people from our guild are helping, but there's no time to spare."

"Fina?"

"I can't say anything without seeing the items. I think the tanning for your order is progressing."

"Then should I get new equipment from another source?"

That's a problem.

I can't think of a good idea.

"I can't think of anything right away."

"Me neither. Should I send a message to the guild?"

"Of course."

"I'd like to bring it to the workshop, but this cordovan would stand out too much."

"You're right."

"Then I'll keep this for now. Mio!"

Fina called Mio when there were fewer customers.

"Hey again!"

"Hello. It's already evening, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Oh! More meat! And more burdock, too!"

As expected, she was interested in the ingredients.

She was particularly impressed by the wild horse meat.

"Wild horse? Where did you find it?"

"Along the road."

"Was it strong?"

"It was incomparably stronger than a stray horse."

"Hmm."

"There might be strong individuals like rabbits in the grassland."

"I hope this meat is stable."

Don't be ridiculous.

I don't want to fight them repeatedly.

At this point, I'd like to limit it to one a day.

No, like the Horned Rabbit, I don't think they can be encountered intentionally.

"Then I'll settle the bill."

"Please do."

Mio was muttering something, but I'll ignore it.

What's there to worry about?

Horse sashimi is the only choice.

The amount of money from selling the items was quite a lot.

It seems the wild horse skins were the most valuable.

Yeah.

I'll continue to target stray horses in the future.

Time flies.

It was already 6:30 PM.

I left the village of Regias early.

It was getting dark.

It was also time to switch the summoned monsters.

After returning to my master's house, I switched the summoned monsters.

I kept Obsidian active.

I returned Crescent and Helix and summoned Wolf and Kogi.

My MP bar was reduced, but I still had nearly 30% left.

I should be able to hunt without much risk in the area around my master's house.

I secured my vision with night vision.

There was nothing new to do.

I attacked the silver king's nest in the trees.

I continued to hunt by calling more evil ants.

I repeated this process.

When I jumped down from the tree after stealing the silver king's eggs, I received a notification.

【Your Jump skill has leveled up due to your previous actions!】

Jump, huh.

It's a support skill I obtained a long time ago.

I had forgotten about it.

Hmm, how did I get this skill again?

Right.

I obtained it from a rare ingredient from a monster I fought with my master.

I had completely forgotten about it.

Well, that's fine.

I'll continue hunting.

I fought the evil ants with a rod for the first time in a while.

It was still difficult to fight with.

Twisting their heads with my bare hands was easy, but today I had a specific goal.

To give Kogi some combat experience.

And to get used to fighting with a rod myself.

What weapon to bring to the tournament.

It's not a bad choice to prepare weapons with different ranges.

For close combat, range is also important.

I'm currently considering using a rod as my main weapon.

If possible, I'd like to engage in striking battles and even close-range throws and joint locks.

I'm not sure about the tonfa, and I want to keep the hidden claws as a hidden ace.

I don't know what kind of fighting style my opponent will have.

That's the biggest challenge.

As Sun Tzu said,

"Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster."

It's a famous quote, but the continuation is also important.

"If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat."

This means that even if you don't know your opponent, if you know yourself, the battle is even.

Even if you can't know your opponent, you can know yourself.

And the next part is this.

"If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will be in peril in every battle."

This means that if you don't know yourself, let alone your opponent, you will surely lose.

Of course, that makes sense.

But what if we trace the deeper meaning?

Knowing the enemy.

Knowing yourself.

Which is more difficult?

It's a profound saying.

If read straightforwardly, it can be a warning to be aware of yourself.

But is that all?

How many people don't try to know themselves?

It seems to mock them.

In any case, I think the significance of this saying is reduced if you only remember the first part.

Oops, I went off on a tangent.

I didn't want to participate in the tournament, but if I'm going to do it, I want it to be meaningful.

Even if I can't know my opponent, I need to assess what I can do.

Actually, that's all I can do.

That includes facing my own weaknesses.

I need to be prepared for the unpleasant feelings that come with it.

No one wants to feel bad.

That's why it takes courage to give opinions that people don't like or that hurt their ears.

It's the same when you ask yourself.

I know my weaknesses.

But it's too late for that now.

I have to make do with the cards I have.

No, I'm still going off on a tangent.

I need to focus on hunting.

I continued to hunt evil ants while thinking.

No, I need to take it seriously, Keith.

【Your Evasion skill has leveled up due to your recent victory!】

【You have learned the Evasion technique, Swive Back!】

【You have learned the Evasion technique, Side Step!】

It seems my Evasion skill has leveled up.

Actually, I wanted my Guard skill to level up first, but Evasion leveled up first.

No, I was trying to use the rod to guard, but I might be unconsciously using Evasion.

I need to persevere.

I faced the evil ants again.

I let them call more of their kind and then reduced their numbers.

I had Kogi, who was still at a low level, but he was handling about three at a time without any problems.

I continued hunting for about ten minutes.

When the stopwatch on my watch showed ten minutes and the alarm went off, I finished hunting.

How was that?

【Your summoned monster, Kogi, has leveled up due to your recent victory!】

【Please add one point to any of your stats.】

Yeah.

I'm happy, but it doesn't feel quite right.

The stat that had already increased was Strength.

I chose Dexterity for the stat increase.

Summoned Monster Kogi, Oni Level 1 → Level 2 (↑1)

Dexterity 17 (↑1)

Agility 13

Intelligence 9

Strength 17 (↑1)

Vitality 17

Spirit 11

Skills

Bow, Hand Axe, Small Shield, Guard, Evasion, Stealth

This should be fine.

There's still a long way to go.

It will take time to balance the numbers.

It was past 9:00 PM.

Maybe hunting evil ants isn't very effective?

No, Evasion is growing, so it should be possible.

It was past 10:00 PM.

I was getting tired of hunting evil ants when I received a notification.

Was this my goal?

【Your summoned monster, Wolf, has leveled up due to your recent victory!】

【Please add one point to any of your stats.】

Hmm.

So that's how it is.

Of course, I shouldn't be dissatisfied, but I can't help feeling uneasy.

The stat that had already increased was Vitality.

I chose Spirit for the stat increase.

Wolf, Wolf Level 5 → Level 6 (↑1)

Dexterity 11

Agility 25

Intelligence 12

Strength 12

Vitality 18 (↑1)

Spirit 11 (↑1)

Skills

Bite, Sprint, Intimidate, Keen Hearing, Danger Sense, Tracking

This is getting close to my ideal.

As the oldest summoned monster, the numbers look good.

The Guard skill didn't level up today.

I could have persisted a bit more, but I wanted to read the tournament rules before logging out.

I'll head back to my master's house.

While skimming through the tournament rules in the second-floor room, I remembered.

When I was a child, I was warned not to use the techniques I was taught.

I recalled that time.

Here, there is no such taboo.

Indeed, even if I kill a character, they just come back to life.

If I can't get a submission with painful techniques, will I hesitate to use killing techniques?

No, I've already killed player killers in self-defense.

What do I have to fear now?

Was I planning to let techniques that can kill people rot without using them?

I can't know that.

Nothing seems to be sinking in as I read the rules.

I can't do this.

I'll reorganize my spell list.

After finishing that task, I finally logged out.

Main Character: Keith

Race: Human, Male, Race Level 7

Class: Summoner (Summoner) Level 6

Bonus Points Remaining: 3

Set Skills:

Staff Level 6, Striking Level 4, Kicking Level 4, Joint Locks Level 4, Throws Level 3

Evasion Level 4 (↑1), Guard Level 3, Summoning Magic Level 7

Light Magic Level 3, Wind Magic Level 4, Earth Magic Level 4, Water Magic Level 4

Fire Magic Level 3, Dark Magic Level 3, Ice Magic Level 1, Lightning Magic Level 1

Wood Magic Level 1

Alchemy Level 4, Pharmacist Level 3, Glassworking Level 3, Carpentry Level 3

Coordination Level 6, Appraisal Level 5, Identification Level 6, Insight Level 1, Cold Resistance Level 3

Grapple Level 5, Horsemanship Level 5, Precision Operation Level 6, Jump Level 2 (↑1)

Heat Resistance Level 3, Climbing Level 3, Dual Wielding Level 2, Mental Fortitude Level 2

Rapid Incantation Level 1

Equipment:

Kay's Rod x2, Snow Leopard Hidden Claws x3, Wild Rabbit Chest Armor + Series

Snow Ape Arm Guards, Wild Horse Boots +, Snow Ape Leather Helmet, Backpack

Item Box x2

Items:

Skinning Knife, Carpentry Tools

Titles:

Apprentice of the Old Summoner, Proof of the Forest Guardian, Seeker of Moderation

Spell List

Summoned Monsters:

Wolf, Wolf Level 5 → Level 6 (↑1)

Dexterity 11

Agility 25

Intelligence 12

Strength 12

Vitality 18 (↑1)

Spirit 11 (↑1)

Skills:

Bite, Sprint, Intimidate, Keen Hearing, Danger Sense, Tracking

Crescent, Horse Level 4, Resting

Helix, Hawk Level 4, Resting

Obsidian, Owl Level 4

Jean, Bat Level 4, Resting

Jerrick, Wood Golem Level 3, Resting

Kogi, Oni Level 1 → Level 2 (↑1)

Dexterity 17 (↑1)

Agility 13

Intelligence 9

Strength 17 (↑1)

Vitality 17

Spirit 11

Skills:

Bow, Hand Axe, Small Shield, Guard, Evasion, Stealth