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Chapter 31 – Dogora
At the apothecary, Allen had heard about the day that Rodan got injured. He saw the depth of Rodan and Gerda’s friendship, but decided that he should keep it to himself.
(Is that a weapons shop next door?)
He left the apothecary and entered the weapons shop next door.
“Excuse me.”
“……”
Apparently, it was a no-reply kind of store. In the back, there was a shopkeeper with a face that he’d seen somewhere before.
(Hm? Isn’t that the dad of the kid who has the Axeman talent?)
It was the father of the Axeman child who had sat at their table during the banquet. He was the owner of the weapon shop, and while a boy in rags entered his store, his arms were crossed. He seemed to recognize Allen, and was staring at him.
He didn’t kick him out, so Allen looked around.
(I thought this was a weapon shop, but it’s actually a hardware store. There are also pots and pans and knives.)
It was a small village that had just graduated from being a frontier village. Allen was sure that the village needed a lot of different things, not just weapons. Even rural convenience stores had vegetables and things.
(There’s no big rush, but I do want to graduate from wooden swords.)
Allen had entered the store because he wanted to upgrade the weapon he used to hunt Albaheron. Sometimes, his wooden sword would break. He had a spare, but if it broke during the battle, he didn’t have time to get the spare, and he would have to hold down the Albaheron’s neck with his arm.
“How much for this dagger?”
“…… 50 silver.”
He’s rough, but he answered.
Almost everyone in the village knew that the black-haired child was Rodan’s son.
The weapon shopkeeper also knew that Rodan managed the serfs. Since the early days of the village, Rodan had been instrumental in its development, and in the Boar hunts. He and Gerda were the leaders of the serfs, and had a certain presence in the village. Since the village was 70% serfs, he was kind of a big deal.
Normally, if a raggidy 6-year-old boy asked how much a weapon was, the shopkeep would just mock him. But, because of Rodan’s influence, the shopkeep answered the question.
(I see, 50 silver for the cheapest dagger. So that’s 5 Albaheron.)
“By the way, how much would an iron rod the size of this wooden sword cost?”
“Eh, about 20 silver.”
Allen usually had a wooden sword with him.
(That’s a pretty good price.)
Even an iron rod without a blade cost 2 Albaheron.
If possible, Allen wanted to buy it and improve his equipment loadout. However, it wasn’t smart to buy stuff just so he felt cooler. As much as possible, he wanted to use the Albaheron meat for his family.
He gave the idea up, and left the weapons shop.
(Well then, should I buy firewood and go home? I’ve almost completed my market research.)
He went to the firewood store from two days ago.
“Oh, you’re the boy from before. More firewood today?”
“Yes please. I’d like to exchange this meat for it.”
It seems that he had made quite the impression; the owner of the firewood shop recognized him. He traded for 120 pounds of firewood, which was 4 days worth, and strapped it to his back.
When Allen left the shop, the shopkeep made a remark, clearly impressed. Carrying firewood that was many times his own weight, Allen headed home. It was just before 10 in the morning, and he attracted a lot of stares.
He didn’t pay them any mind, and continued on his way. At the end of the road, he saw a familiar potato-faced boy, Dogora.
“Ah! So it really was you! Wha’cha doing here, Blackhair!?”
He had probably heard from his dad, who owned the weapon shop. Allen wondered if Dogora would make up an excuse to bother him – something like, “this is my territory.”
“Hm? I just came to get some firewood.”
Having said that, Allen tried to walk around Dogora, who was blocking his way. Allen noticed that he had gotten caught up in something, but he didn’t really want to deal with it.
“Oi! Don’t ignore me! Are you a man or what!?!”
Dogora didn’t like the way Allen treated him. With his palm, he pushed him in the chest.
“Huh? What do you want?”
“I’m not letting you pass until you bow down to me.”
Dogora wanted Allen to be his henchman. Seeing Allen resist, he grinned, like he was already convinced of his victory.
Hearing that, Allen remained expressionless and placed his backpack to the side, so he wouldn’t block the road.
In his previous life, when he was Kenichi, Allen was a gamer. A hardcore gamer. When he played MMOs and other online games, the forums would often have rumors that he was a full-time gamer, even though he actually had a 9-to-5.
“Full-time gamer” was a title given only to those who have devoted their lives to gaming. Normally, an office worker couldn’t achieve such a title.
His strategy was simple: level up, get better equipment, and defeat stronger enemies to become stronger. Only buy and pick up items that’ll make you stronger. Ignore all the nonsensical limited-time events.
Naturally, he didn’t do any PvP. It didn’t give any EXP and didn’t help him get any stronger. Kenichi only fought monsters and mobs, not other players.
However, he got famous enough that people would talk about him online. With that came a celebrity tax.
When he went hunting, sometimes, he would get attacked by player killers (PKers), people who specialized in attacking other players. They did this because they liked griefing, or because they wanted to steal other players’ equips.
In any case, he beat all of them. Whether they were middle school students, housewives, or catfishers, he beat them mercilessly. Frankly, because it was an online game, there was no way of knowing the gender or age of your opponents. He was always equipped with PK prevention equipment, and beat his challengers without fail.
“Oh, you’ll be my henchman?”
When he saw Allen put down his backpack, Dogora asked..
“No, of course not.”
With that, Allen pulled out a wooden sword from his belt. He gripped it with both hands, raising its tip to chest height.
“Wha!?”
Dogora was unarmed. He didn’t expect Allen to pull out a sword.
“What’s wrong? Come and get me.”
“C-coward!!”
“Would you still be saying that on a real battlefield? Mr. Axeman knight?”
Because he had played pretend knights everyday for the past 3 years, he spoke with a knight-like tone. It came out automatically. He blamed Kurena.
“Guh!?”
“I’ll wait, so bring whatever weapon you can find, Mr. Axeman knight Dogora.”
“Hah!? Don’t you run away!!”
Dogora sped away. Then, he sped back. He had something big in his hand.
Maybe he got it from the weapon store. He was holding something that looked like a big wooden mortar.
Dogora had a triumphant face.
“What’s the matter? You’re not gonna attack?”
“Urgh- UWOOOOOOO!!!”
Dogora was provoked into a fit of rage. The game of pretend knights began. Dogora swung the big stick with a force, and Allen received the blow carefully with his wooden sword.
Quite a few people were watching Allen and Dogora play knights, but they didn’t say anything.
(An Axeman, huh? In a game I used to play they were called Axe Warriors. Well then, we’re playing knights now, so what should I do?)
He had started the fight without really thinking. He realized that this wasn’t a game, so he decided that he wouldn’t turn it into a bloodbath. He began to wonder how to end it, while he continued receiving the blows from Dogora’s big round stick.
“Hah hah~ What’s the matter!? You too chicken to attack!?”
Dogora provoked Allen, who had only been defending. With ease, Allen matched the force of his wooden sword to that of Dogora’s big stick.
It was December, which meant that there weren’t any Albaherons to hunt, and that the farm work was almost done. So, Allen didn’t need as much power. Also, Rodan was recovering pretty well.
Therefore, he had swapped some of his Beast F cards to Grass F. It increased his max MP so that he’d gain skill EXP faster. Even so, he was many times stronger than Dogora, and most of the adults in the area.
“Guha!”
Even though he had blocked with his big stick, Dogora was blow away by Allen’s attack. Dogora tried to get up, muttering “dangit”, but Allen thrust his wooden sword at the tip of his nose.
“You want to keep going?”
“Guh!”
He was overwhelmed. Dogora was out of breath, wheezing, and couldn’t stand up. Allen picked up his backpack from the side of the road and put it on.
“Oi, Axeman knight Dogora.”
“W-what is it?”
“I’ll come shopping again in two days.”
“Wha!?”
After saying that to Dogora, who couldn’t stand, Allen headed home.
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Thanks for reading! 🙂
JATranslations 
Ok why is 2 groups are working on this novel you kinda throwing me off here
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