Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Chapter 12: The Judgement Ceremony (1)

5 and a half years had passed since Allen had come to this world. It was mid April, in spring. Theresia and Rodan were feeling restless.

Rodan just got water from the well today and hadn’t gone out to the fields.

“Make sure to not be rude to the priest, alright?”

“Yup, mama.”

He had said the same thing more than ten times since yesterday by now. Theresia wiped off the dust from Allen’s clothes.

“Theresia, Allen is a clever boy. He wouldn’t do that. We’ll be back.”

And so, he headed towards the center of the village with Rodan. As Theresia had to look after Mash, only Rodan and Allen were going.

Today’s the Judgement Ceremony day for Allen.

(Both my parents are quite hyped up about this)

He recalled all the things he had been told these past few days.

The judgement ceremony is a ceremony held to appraise the latent talent in a person. Everyone has to go through it, from royalty to serfs, when they turn 5 years old. It seems this was decided by law. If a talent is discovered, one can even go on to become an officer.

(It does seem like one of the few ways a serf can escape being a serf)

Spring has yet again come around and they have started planting the wheat seeds. Fields which were cleaned off of weed, fields which had vegetables being planted on them and fields with weeds as tall as Allen — there were many different variations. As they walked through these diverse fields, Allen heard a familiar voice.

“Alleeen!!”

A blue-eyed little girl with braided pink hair called out to him. She seems to be waving as hard as she can after noticing Allen. Although they meet pretty much every day, he thought it was kind of rare to see her without a bokken.

“Yo, Kurena. You’re going to the ceremony as well?”

“Yupp, I will be appraised as a swordsman! And then I’ll become a knight!!”

Kurena answered with a grin. Muscular Gelda was also beside her. They were also going to the ceremony. It seems the ceremony is held once a year throughout April. They don’t go to the trouble of holding it every time a serf turns 5.

While listening to Kurena’s dream which he heard yesterday and the day before that as well, they went through the fields into the area which had houses lined up. The village population kept growing even after Allen was born and it’s turnout to be quite a proper village. Although he hadn’t come to the residential area many times after that one time when he came to see the dissection of a magical beast, he could clearly spot the changes.

The time was just before 9 o’clock. Although it was almost the appointed time, there were quite a lot of people gathered in front of the building thought to be the church.

(Uwah, there’s really a difference between commoners and serfs. Or rather, are commoners also getting appraised together?)

There were close to about 100 people gathered here. And among them, what Allen noticed was the dirt on the clothes. Although they were all wearing hemp cloth, the light brown dirt stands out on serfs’ clothes. This is because they are always working at the field and they don’t have soap to wash the clothes, only water. Serfs who had spots of dirt here and there on their clothes and commoners who did not. There are commoners who also work in the field probably but the difference may be a soap or something similar.

The bell rang informing everyone that it was 9 o’clock. The door opened and a crowd of priest-like people started coming out. They looked completely different from the commoners. They were wearing clothing which didn’t join in the middle — it was one cloth from top to bottom. They instructed us to enter the church.

(This would be my first time inside the church)

He entered the church with Rodan. Although it looked like two stories from outside, it’s actually just 1 floor with a really high ceiling. And upon entering was just a vast open space. There were no seats. At the end of this space was an engraving of a pure white male god like those in Greek mythology. There were also numerous other male and female god statues.

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(These are the Gods of this world, eh? Is the one holding a rice-plant-like-thing the God of harvest? The one with the weapon looks to be the God of war)

The one at the center looked 20 something years old. His hair was long enough to cover his back and he had toned muscles. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t wearing anything on his upper body. There wasn’t anything like a wing attached either.

Allen recalled that time he received a notification from this world’s God when he turned 1. They made no contact ever since.

There were a few priests inside the church and they asked us to sit at the back. Once everyone was seated, the most elderly priest who was standing in front of that pure white male god’s statue started talking.

“I thank you all very much for coming all the way here for the Judgement Ceremony today.”

Seeing the commoners lower their heads, the serfs assumed it’s etiquette to do so and did the same. It seems the commoners come here periodically. Allen also went with the flow and lowered his head. And so the elderly priest continued talking.

“The God of creation Herme-sama gives everyone a chance equally. Those of you who have been born as a serf might not know this but heroes can also be born as serfs.”

It became noisy inside the church. ‘What is this about a serf being a hero?’ is what they are all probably thinking. There were many in this hall who have come here for the first time, even as a parent of 5 year olds. And as such, it was their first time hearing about serfs becoming heroes.

The village was opened up 10 years ago. And at the start, all they did was desperately build houses and set up fields. The first 2~3 years had a bad harvest and the situation wasn’t proper to have kids. However, in the 4th and 5th year, the crops slowly started to bear fruit.

And along with it, more families started to take a baby. Rodan and Theresia are also one among those families. Allen was born in a period of baby-boom in the village. And there were about 30 children gathered here who were born around the same period.

“The Saint Krasys-sama is of common birth. And the master swordsman Dobelk-sama who is currently playing an active role for the country was born as a serf.”

The priest’s voice reverberated throughout the noisy hall. They were all whispering about if that is actually true or not.

(Ah, I see)

And among all of them, Allen was probably the only one who came to an understanding. He recalled that time right before reincarnating, 5 years ago. Certainly, the hero and master swordsman are born from lower ranks in this world. They are never born out of high class families and royalties. The harder the occupation and the stronger they get in the future, the lower their birth rank would be. And that just so happens to be commoner or serf.

(So the setting comes right into play here, eh? And this is why they appraise everyone, including the serfs, to see if they have any outstanding talent hiding among them)

After that, the priest simply explained about the ceremony. The crystal used for the appraisal was enshrined in front of the elderly priest. Once you put your hand on top of it, the appraisal results appear on the life-sized jet-black board beside the priest.

“This crystal displays the talents and abilities of the person who has his hand on it.”

(Hmm, hmmm, so the crystal’s color doesn’t change and neither does it glow — just the results are shown on the board as letters, eh? So it gets shown to the public. I mean, considering this crowd, I doubt one would be able to hide it either way)

Putting such analysis aside, the ceremony continued.

“First, Deboji’s child, Peromus, put your hand on the crystal.”

The elderly priest gave out instructions looking at a parchment like paper. It seems to be a register for the 30 kids here. Peromus, who was brought here by the village mayor, went up front and stood in front of the crystal.

After the mayor instructed him to put his hands on the crystal, he did exactly that. The crystal lit up slightly and that light seemed to transfer to the pure black board beside it. Letters started appearing on the metal board.

(Buhh?! That’s completely the grimoire!! Does the grimoire have the same functions as a judgement ceremony board?)

“Ohh! You have the talent of a merchant. Congratulations.”

«Name» Peromus

«Strength» C

«Mana» D

«Offense» D

«Stamina» C

«Agility» D

«Knowledge» B

«Luck» B

«Talent» Merchant

There was a row showing the talent on the board. As it displayed ‘merchant’, the people there started to cheer for him delightfully. The mayor Deboji embraced Peromus. And Peromus looked happy, although a bit suffocated from the hug.

(Oh? So any talent is worth celebrating? And the abilities are displayed as ranks, eh?)

Allen opened up his grimoire and proceeded to make a memo of Peromus’ results. A commoner’s kid was called up next. Same as before, once your name is called, you go up to the crystal with your parents and put your hand on the crystal.

And the results are shown on the metal board.

The parent and child were disappointed. ‘None’ was displayed beside talent. However, as if the church’s judgement is absolute, they didn’t complain or whine and came back down.

(Hoho, so it’s not like everyone has a talent, eh?)

And so the appraisals continued. The status of the kids after Peromus went down from C to E and the talent row kept showing ‘none’. It seems the commoners are called earlier as none of the serfs were called yet. Also, it looks like you’re free to leave once your appraisal is over. And so, there were people who left after their appraisal and those who stayed to see the appraisal of the rest.

“I-I did it, papa, axe wielder, I am an axe wielder!!”

The 7th kid was appraised to have a knack for being an axe user. The parent and child hugged each other in joy.

«Name» Dogora

«Strength» B

«Mana» D

«Offense» A

«Stamina» B

«Agility» C

«Knowledge» D

«Luck» C

«Talent» Axe Wielder

(Ooh! That’s the first time an A appeared on the status. Or rather, it seems like it’s hard to get even B if you don’t have a talent?)

While making memos of it all, he analysed the axe wielder’s occupation characteristics.

Seems like that was the last commoner as a serf-like kid was called next. Same as commoner, there were many serfs who didn’t have a talent.

There was a kid among the serfs who had a talent for being a priest. The kid and his parent were told to talk to the priest later on.

(It’s taking a while, huh? Well, I don’t really mind as I can analyse their talents)

Allen and Kurena were left till the end.

“Well then, Gelda’s child, Kurena, put your hand on the crystal.”

“Yes!!”

Kurena went up to the crystal with Gelda. She put both her hands on the crystal with a big smile on her face. As we were basically the last bunch, most of the people had left. There were a few parent and child groups remaining who were observing.

And just as Kurena put her hand on the crystal, an unprecedented amount of light came out of the crystal. Just as the light settled down, the results were shown on the board.

“”””Wh-what?!!””””

Everyone left in the hall was taken aback by all the light. Gelda also expressed his surprise.

“Wha?! I-it can’t be, there it is…”

The elderly priest said, trembling all over.

“Wha?! Eh? Priest-sama, what is the result?!”

Gelda couldn’t read the letters shown on the board. There aren’t many who can read anything other than their family’s names among the serfs. He couldn’t understand anything other than her daughter Kurena’s name.

“I-it’s master swordsman… Kurena’s talent is master swordsman!”

«Name» Kurena

«Strength» S

«Mana» C

«Offense» S

«Stamina» A

«Agility» A

«Knowledge» C

«Luck» B

«Talent» Master Swordsman

“M-master swordsman!!”

“A master swordsman is born!!”

The church got noisy at once. Everyone looked at the black board and then at Kurena.

“Eh? It’s not ‘knight’?”

Kurena, who couldn’t yet grasp the situation, looked disappointed.

On the jet black board, ranks which the 30 kids up till now couldn’t even come close to were displayed.