A Dual Crest Summoner In Infinite Summoning World

It did not work. Well, at least that's what Auren believed. It could only be confirmed after doing this for at least two or three years. Dante did say they would do that—all of Auren's requests to come along for hunting had been refused, with no room for re-appeal.

There was no change in the obsidian stone. Not even a little. He had to eat the bird once Sable cooked it, and still—nothing.

Auren had bought some low-quality, one-sided used papers and a simple quill with a small half-used ink bottle from Elder Mukishi, listing all the things he wanted to do in his farm project for the months to come.

Now they just had to regularly water and remove weeds. And keep watch for yellowing, rust, or aphids. The main thing he wanted to show the villagers was the crop rotation—if that succeeded, this whole thing would become a success on its own. Along with all the little details about farming he could remember and write down, it should help the farmers increase their yield enough to pay nothing extra out of their pockets for the yearly tax and still have enough food for everyone in the small village.

A week had gone by. Auren had gotten quite used to his fixed schedule by now. Last Sunday, he had missed going with Dante and Hanzo, though, so this Sunday he told Boros he should go alone to the farm, and Auren himself went to the meeting, since Kenzo was going too and he wanted to go together.

Auren had heard the discussion from Dante about some kind of protection against the Thralls and getting some costly healing items for the village by pooling money—it was going strong. Sable and Granny were totally in favor of doing something about it too—their houses near the forest were the most in danger. To avoid constant attacks and the burning of houses, they had to at least do something, however low in effect that might be.

The biggest reason Kenzo liked going to these Sunday meetings was the Dorona they ate after it ended—it had become quite a tradition of theirs. His unique way of using bamboo and getting water to a field, which he and Boros were farming, had caught quite a bit of attention from the villagers. The more social ones even teased him about it. 

Some even said they should do that too for their land, which was far from the river. The cost of manpower for manually doing it and the cost of these bamboo pipes would most likely be the same, and the wooden pipes were a permanent thing with just a one-time cost. One just had to maintain it, which was relatively easy.

The five elders and the villagers first took up the smaller issues, and in the end, Dante put forward the continued discussion from last time.

"We all want to do something about it for a long time, but what can we even do against nature?" Elder Sura said, looking back towards Dante seated on his wooden chair. "Ask your mother—we have raised the question and thought all that we could for years, and nothing has worked."

"The only way to stop both wild animals and wandering Thralls is by making a wall, but despite all our requests, the village of ours is too small and unimportant to have one constructed. We can't gather that much money.." Elder Hanno, the hunter, said. The guy spoke little, but it was always to the point, no matter how harsh it was or how delicate the topic.

One should not have said that in front of a knight sworn to protect the lord's honor he was serving. But Dante ignored the occasional frustrating mishaps with giving just a warning. Any other knight would have jumped at the chance to show the authority and power he or she wielded over the village.

More than being a powerful orange-rank summoner, Auren was impressed by this trait of Dante—he did not try to show who he truly was at all.

Over the years, Dante had indeed punished some villagers and youngsters who did wrong things, breaking the law, but never was it too harsh. The only time he had hanged a man was when two travelers had come to their village and one of them had tried to rape the innkeeper's daughter in the dark of night. The other guy was taken to the lord, but the one who had slapped the girl was hanged by Dante the very next day—at the very entrance of the village to show all the bandits or ruffians running from the law what their fate would be if they thought about doing anything in this village.

Of course, Auren had not seen that himself—the people talked, though, and he knew what had happened that very week, even though his family tried to hide it from him.

"Can't we make a wooden wall ourselves?" one of the young men in his early twenties suggested from the crowd. "Cover it with Daub?"

That would indeed protect it from fire, but that was not the only thing in nature.

"We did once," Elder Olda, the potter, said. "Before we could finish half the building, rain came and washed all of it. The rest was burned after a month."

"What if it's just one thin layer of stone wall outside the wooden wall?" Auren asked suddenly. He had said things before—it wasn't anything new. But never was it on his own—he only spoke when someone asked him something, or to Dante, Hanzo, and Kenzo. "That shouldn't cost as much as a real wall.."

"Still, we would need over ten gold," Elder Tamun replied. He, much like all the people, was also surprised Auren joined the discussion.

"It would take years even if we all saved up a little. Many of us can't even live day to day—expecting that from everyone wouldn't be realistic," Dante said.

The conversation continued with more ideas from others, but as always, nothing was worth considering. Dante stole a glance towards Auren. He was lost in thoughts, though. There were some coatings of chemicals that would make wood both fireproof and waterproof, but he hadn't the slightest idea what even their names were, let alone the methods of production. There was something about limestone, though—not that Auren had seen a single such thing in this village yet.

There was another quicker and much more certain way—but that one depended on how truly they wanted the wall.

Once it all ended and Auren was going back, walking beside Dante as Hanzo had placed Kenzo on his shoulder walking out of earshot from them,

"What if.. I make a very small item with my particles and sell it?"