"This village is way too vulnerable. Even the Youth Association, most of them are just tied up with work or business. You can't even call it a militia. When it came time for the watchtower, there was nobody to man it, so you had to do it."
"Well, I made some good money from it."
A whole silver coin—what you could earn working a normal month. Of course, they didn't work twelve or ten hours like in modern times. Eight hours max. Except for serfs, the value of other citizens' labor was pretty substantial.
That's probably why people who wanted to make big money became mercenaries. For those with no background, the best way to make money was to live by the sword. That's why Rowan was jumping into that line of work too.
When it came to retirement, John, or Rowan as he was now, thought about it way more deeply than people in this world. That's just how modern people thought.
"I'm worried. Things can't stay like this."
Rakson had come to this peaceful village where he could wield complete authority. Now that goblins had shown up, chances were high that monsters would appear again. There was a huge difference between a village that had never seen monsters and one where goblins had shown up.
'Not like we can just up and move somewhere else though.'
He'd spent quite a bit of money on the mansion. He was living pretty luxuriously too. There wasn't a single economic activity in the village that Rakson's hand didn't touch. Leaving a place like this would be a huge risk for him.
"I'm thinking of holding a hunting competition."
After being so scared of the goblins, this came out of nowhere.
"Wouldn't it be better to build a palisade to stop the goblins?"
"We can do that slowly. Otherwise, we'll blow through money on wages. I'm planning to have the Youth Association contribute labor gradually to build it."
Rowan asked another question.
"What does this hunting competition have to do with me...?"
Rakson grinned, wrinkles covering his face.
"Why wouldn't it? You need someone to drum up excitement, right? You're young, but hunter Geric's already getting all worked up. Says he catches a wolf a day now? The rumors are spreading like crazy. Heh heh."
Rowan cursed the crow Kaiya. That bird had created a snowball effect that reached all the way to Rakson. His hunting skills were already common knowledge, so he changed the subject.
"Why a hunting competition specifically? Why not other training or something?"
Rakson cut some meat and put it in his mouth. Chewing away, he scooped up sauce with a spoon and took a sip. He washed down his greasy mouth with wine.
"Asking questions like that, you're definitely thirteen. The only monster you've encountered was goblins, right?"
"Yes."
"And you finished them off with the mercenaries..."
Rakson clicked his tongue. Most soldiers in their first real combat can't properly kill even one goblin. They just stay in the back or act passively, barely managing to protect their comrades.
Stabbing a living creature isn't something you can just do easily. That's why citadel guards who rarely see real combat go hunting for wolves or deer every week and travel around every month looking for fights.
Real combat was the ultimate standard for determining soldiers' fighting ability.
"The village people aren't as skilled as you. Honestly, I thought you'd piss yourself in front of the mercenaries and come back to the village clutching your pants."
"Come on, that's going a bit far..."
Rakson waved his hand dismissively.
"When you face a goblin, you don't really think about fighting it. Even though they're small, those things hop around like crazy and scream really loud."
What if a super agile monkey was jumping around left and right with a stone knife or stone spear in hand, screaming and hopping around? Most people wouldn't even dare to try hitting it. They're just too fast, and while you're flailing around, you get eaten alive.
"Plus, goblins come at you in numbers. From all sides, it's no joke. And when a goblin gets close? You'd normally be scared shitless."
A growling medium-sized dog. When a mastiff comes at you with intent, showing its teeth, most people's minds go blank. And if it jumps at you? Defense over offense.
Rowan thought about the mercenary who got a goblin clinging to his face. Small build, but just one goblin jumping onto his face was enough to knock him backward.
'What if that were me?'
It'd be terrifying. Not just the thought that you might die, but the idea that you'd get seriously hurt would dominate everything.
"Goblins don't know fear. But the villagers, just getting hurt, would terrify them. If a few goblins jump in, not caring if their arms get cut off or they get stabbed, people would literally scatter in panic."
It'd spread like when five wasps suddenly came buzzing through the window during class.
'Still though.'
"Couldn't we just give them three-meter poles?"
"Keep them at a distance with poles to stop goblins? The light ones only weigh twenty-five kilograms. They'll run right up those poles. They can even scurry up flat surfaces fast like cockroaches. Even trained spearmen struggle to stop goblins."
Rowan was shocked. Twenty-five kilograms? No wonder they could jump off walls in the abandoned mine. With grip strength stronger than their body weight, it made sense.
The average woman's grip strength is about thirty kilograms. A body weight of twenty-five kilograms was pretty shocking. And it meant that spears could actually be a weakness against goblins.
"So how do you normally catch goblins?"
"You need a palisade. Actually, more important than the palisade is a moat. Even if it's just filled with stagnant water. Though you'd need to build an outer wall for that..."
As Rakson started getting into complicated details, Rowan steered things back.
"So the palisade and moat are important? And then stab at them with spears from above?"
"Slings more than spears. If everyone in the village used arrows, we couldn't afford how expensive that'd be. We need to prepare step by step..."
Rowan was impressed at how far ahead Rakson was thinking.
'Is this why experience matters?'
After thinking like this for decades, his judgments came way faster than others.
"Ah! Anyway, why are you holding a hunting competition?"
"What's with that tone? That's pretty rude."
As Rakson started getting angry, Rowan quickly backpedaled.
"Well... I just don't get it."
"It's simple. If people know how to shoot, stopping goblins becomes easier. And it's not just goblins, right? We can handle other monsters too. For that, we need archery skills."
"Isn't it dangerous though?"
"With all the village men stomping around the forest, would it really be dangerous? Wild animals or monsters, they'll run away. There aren't even any medium-sized monsters in this area, so it's no problem."
Rakson answered immediately. He was that confident. Seemed like he'd put quite a bit of thought into this beforehand. Made sense—he'd waited a month to tell Rowan about it. Basically, everything was already decided.
Rowan showed promise but was still a greenhorn, and telling him meant everything was already set in stone. Same thing with the watchtower job.
Rowan was the perfect underling. And Rowan knew it well. Being young meant you could get slapped around with nowhere to complain. Hell, this world didn't even have a word for "child," just "greenhorn."
An incomplete adult. That's what a child, a greenhorn, was.
Didn't matter if a few greenhorns died. That's how you became an adult. You could easily figure that out just looking at Rowan's family, where four kids were born and two died from disease.
"Do I just hunt?"
Rakson shook his head.
"You'll be working with hunter Geric. You two will chase off or hunt wolves, making sure there are no wolves around during the hunting competition."
"What's the prize?"
"Three silver coins."
Rowan's eyes widened. Rakson flicked a single silver coin. That meant he should be satisfied with one. Obviously, he wouldn't be getting any more money after this.
"If a young kid brings back a wolf, it'll create even more buzz. And just chasing off the wolves will naturally make the villagers safer."
Two birds with one stone. The reason he was explaining this so plainly was that Rakson had already decided Rowan was on his side.
Rowan nodded. Not bad at all.
Raising Black Mountain Village's combat ability was good news for him too. He'd leave this village someday. Rowan had lived here for thirteen boring years, but at the same time, he'd lived as a member of this village.
He'd had some pretty fun times even while doing odd jobs.
Someday coming back in glory with his nose in the air wouldn't be bad. And when nostalgia hit and he returned, it shouldn't be ruins.
'I can steal some of hunter Geric's hunting techniques too.'
He desperately wanted that know-how. This was a world cut off from information. Even small bits of information were precious, and there'd been times when he felt like investing resources to dig something up wouldn't yield anything.
'This situation helps me a lot.'
Even without being taught directly, he'd have to pick things up by watching, but so what? Considering he hadn't had any opportunity before, working alongside hunter Geric was a good thing.
The days he'd spend with hunter Geric, rare as hen's teeth, were increasing.
"Sure, I'll do it. When does the hunting competition start?"
"In a month. Take your time to practice properly before then."
It was a long time. But Rowan wasn't worried since he had plenty to do.
After they finished talking, Rakson started the lesson. Rowan was able to learn another secret technique. Rakson completely trusted Rowan, bestowing favors to control him, and Rowan played along.
It was a give-and-take that started from the watchtower job.
"Today's secret technique is called Stier Hupen, which means the bull's charge."
"Huh? What?"
Rowan listened carefully to the pronunciation several times. Stier Hupen. The bull's charge.
"Why do all the secret techniques have such weird names?"
"Because the moment you get it wrong, it shows you stole the technique."
Rowan nodded at Rakson's words.
"I served in the Tangled Vine Forest for quite a while. That place was hell, a terrible place where even knights died."
"Did you get this one there too?"
Rakson nodded.
"It was a secret technique manual from some nameless mercenary. From an already fallen house. The author of the manual was Merung HallGreen."
Rakson took his stance. He drew a longsword instead of a shortsword. Then he assumed a high guard. His arms rose above his head, the sword angled downward, looking ready to thrust at any moment.
"Like a bull's horns, right?"
"Yes."
Rowan answered with intense focus.
"This is the basic stance, good for thrusting and keeping distance. You thrust a few times, then use the secret technique."
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Since you're thrusting downward, you're vulnerable below, but aiming at the opponent's head and neck makes it hard for them to go low. Because it's close to the face, it strangely feels like your head might get stabbed.
"Only use this with weapons with longsword reach or greater. Obviously, if the enemy has a longer reach than you, you can't use this technique. The important thing is to aim at the opponent's face."
Rowan nodded.
"The technique starts by thrusting at the opponent's neck. Whether you succeed or not, the opponent will have to rush in. Because they'll think it's their last chance. Then, as you thrust at them, pull the sword up and move your hands to middle guard, turning it into a standard middle stance."
The sword was thrust into the dummy's shoulder. As Rakson stepped forward and shifted his hands, naturally, the sword moved upward into middle guard. It was smooth. But there was a catch.
"Since you've thrust, logically the opponent would swing first."
"You can block it since you're already in the middle guard."
Rowan frowned. That way, you couldn't get the opponent's neck. Rakson cleared up that concern.
"And you keep moving forward. Following through, you strike the chin or Adam's apple with the pommel—that's the end of the technique. Finish with a follow-up slash. If they get hit in the jaw or Adam's apple with the blunt pommel, they'll stiffen up."
Only then did Rowan go "Aha!" and slap his knee. It was an excellent technique. Good for incapacitating opponents too.
The unfortunate part was that you needed at least a longsword, so at Rowan's current age, he couldn't use it.
'If you don't know it, you're bound to get hit.'
A clean combo with no wasted movement.
"That's the end of today's lesson. Practice it well for the next month."
"Yes, sir!"
Rowan answered enthusiastically. The atmosphere was playful. Rakson put Rowan through the wringer, but he took it all as training.