Forty-one: Kids grow up in the blink of an eye, huh?

One day, Jitarou came by the house.

"Craft-san, wanna go hunting together?"

"Hunting?"

That was back when the new generation skilled in alchemical hardening rock had grown up, and time had opened up a bit.

Why hunting?

"Actually, heard there’s a herd of big boars deep in the woods. The hunter who spotted ‘em had other business, so he handed the lead to me."

"Ah. Boars. But why me?"

I’d lose money, wouldn’t I?

"No, no—seems there’s quite a few of ‘em. Thought you could haul ‘em out. Ah! Of course, profit’s split fifty-fifty!"

"Ah. That’s the deal. Well, I guess I could stretch my legs once in a while."

"Sweet! Thanks a bunch!"

Food prices are skyrocketing in this town right now. Meat’s especially bad—demand’s way outpacing supply, and it’s gotten ridiculously expensive. Hunting—(I’d forgotten about it)—Jitarou’s the obvious one to go after.

Incidentally, prices are higher than in other towns, but incomes are rising even faster, so it’s basically fine.

Goldendown’s booming—like, seriously booming.

Besides, Goldendown Settlement was now so large it easily outgrew the size of a village, so it was mostly called a town these days.

So, do boars travel in groups or not?

They’re polygamous, so every now and then you get these herds with a bunch of females dragged along. That’s how strong the males are, I guess.

Ah, I see....Yeah, let's take the orphans with us.

"Children, you mean?"

Yeah, Ed’s got swordplay, Cyka’s archery. Kai and Wamika finally learned magic. Might as well test them in real combat.

That’s great. With me and Craft around, we’re safe.

"Yeah? Good, I’ll tell Azur about the situation… no, wait, Jitarou’ll pass it on for me."

Got it!!

Jitarou jumps out energetically.

Azul wasn’t actually serious about Raidock, and anyway Raidock already had Solar as his lover. Jitarou had been down in the dumps once, but now he’s cheerful and serving Azul again.

Still, Azul seems like a devout follower, if anything...

You’d probably take it that way if I said it was a donation to the church, Jitarou.

Doesn’t matter much, but Jitarou and Leifan. And Azul and the kids—they haven’t cut back on their stamina potions. I didn’t tell Jitarou, but every day, I’ve been sneaking them into his food, just right.

So they’re growing way faster than anyone else in the village. But they don’t even notice.

Just as we’re all set and waiting, Jitarou shows up—bringing not just the four kids, but a few unfamiliar adults too.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Those people there?”

“Actually, they’re new hunters from the hunting guild. Got asked to help them settle in. Just asked me to show ’em around the woods a bit.”

“Ah. Fine by me. They’re not total amateurs, are they?”

Their clothes and gear look standard for hunters—well-worn, all of them.

“Yep. No problem.”

“Name’s Craft. Nice to meet you.”

You must be Craft. Nice to meet you.

That's right. Here, take this.

I hand out the undiluted legendary stamina potion to everyone.

"Wait—is this the legendary ultimate stamina potion they say is impossible to get now?"

"Whether it's ultimate or not, I don't know. But it definitely works better than anything you can buy at the shop right now."

The stamina potions sold cheaply to villagers right now are diluted with a special solution to weaken their effect. Weakened? Still, they're stronger than the ones circulating across the kingdom, and the duration's been tuned to last a full day.

Given the original herb quantity, it's already bordering on a mystery why it works so well. Probably thanks to the alchemical cauldron or the sigil. No point overthinking it.

As for the Healing Potions and Cure Potions, their effects aren’t weakened. Instead, their price is set quite high. If a registered human gets hurt, they can get one free at the church—(in reality, there’s an offering, but that’s just a formality).

Mana Potions are sold only to the Adventurer’s Guild, and their effects are slightly diluted. Unfortunately, the guild branch leader who worked hard in the original settlement couldn’t relocate, so a new guildmaster has been sent instead.

“Is it really okay to accept something so valuable?”

“I think Jitarou and I can handle it, but if things go bad, protect the kids for me.”

“Understood. Then we’ll take it with gratitude.”

Just a precaution.

After making sure everyone had taken theirs, we stepped deeper into the forest.

◆

"Guess the frontier woods really are deep."

"Yeah. Jitarou, give us a hand making this easier to walk through."

"Got it."

Jitarou, who'd been leading, swung his hard mithril machete to clear the underbrush, then started chopping down thicker branches too.

"Hey, look at that—just snapping those thick limbs like twigs."

"Damn right. The blade's sharp, but the strength behind it? Wild."

The hunters murmured quietly.

Not quite at Jitarou’s level, but if you lived in that town, you’d be doing the same before long.

"...Huh? Wait a sec..."

"What is it, Jitarou?"

"Likely got an oak settlement just ahead."

"Again? No matter how many we thin out, they just keep popping up."

"Wait—this is bad. We should turn back—"

The hunters were about to say something, but I’d just come up with a plan, so I passed the talk off to the kids and didn’t listen to the hunters at all.

“Perfect. You guys wanna try knocking one down?”

“Huh!? Seriously, bro!?”

“Wait— wasn’t this supposed to be boar hunting!?”

“Scary monsters….”

“Hmm, sounds fun.”

Ed, Saika, Kai, and Wamika all gave wildly different replies.

“You’re fine right now. Ed, you’ll handle the front line properly, right?”

“Got it! I can do it!”

“Alright, settled.”

“Wait— what!? You’re seriously gonna let kids fight!?”

“Hey. If it gets bad, I’ll step in.”

I pulled out the gear I’d been storing in space and handed it to everyone.

Ed took up sword and shield, Saika nocked an arrow.

Kai and Wamika each gripped a staff.

"...Feels kinda weirdly well-equipped, huh?"

"Course it does. Everything's made of hard mithril. Even the clothes are woven from alchemically reinforced thread—stronger than regular armor."

The hunters stared, speechless.

Sure, it was lavish gear for a kid, but I gave it to them just to keep them safe. If they're aiming to be adventurers, it's gear they can actually use.

"Alright, time to boost it up—"

Wamika cast a soft, dreamy enhancement spell on Kai and Saika. Probably got priest or enchantment talent written all over her.

"Good, Kai, you take the first shot with magic."

"Eh, me?"

"Who else?"

"O-oh, yeah..."

Following Jitarou's lead, they moved to a vantage point overlooking the orc pack. A small settlement—about half a dozen orcs.

"Wait, not many, are they?"

"Wait! No way, Craft! These are orcs! Even goblins are too much for a kid like that!"

"It's fine. Come on, Kai. Just try it."

"Uuu... I'll do my best..."

Holding up the staff I'd given him—Leifan's special, packed with luxury mana stones—Kai chanted.

"Ice Spike!"

Yeah, yeah. Good choice in the woods, Kai.

One of the orcs, caught off guard, got a spike the thickness of an adult's arm driven straight through. More than enough to finish it.

Would be nice if Kai had a magic-user crest, though.

"Wha—? A kid like that using an attack spell!?"

"And it's got real power, too!"

Well, I drink mana potions every day, train hundreds of times more than a normal person, and if I can't pull this off, I'm sunk.

By the way, I only teach him once a week. The rest of the days are homework.

"Wind Slash Break!!"

Next up was Zaid, letting loose an arrow. Not much magic talent, so he’d been getting private lessons from Solar all week. Thanks to the legendary stamina potion, he’d trained hundreds of times more than an average kid—enough to pull off powerful techniques already.

Another oak fell.

"Alright! Leave the rest to me!"

Of course, it was Ed who leapt forward.

"Great Arm, Great Strike! Falling Leaves Flash!"

Ed wasn’t much good with magic either, but he’d been gifted with swordsmanship, so he’d been taking lessons from Raidock. Truth was, it wasn’t just Raidock—adventurers had been having fun teaching the kids too. Feels like the whole adventurer’s guild was raising the orphans together.

Of course, what he unleashed was nothing more than a basic sword technique—something a novice adventurer barely learns to do.

The skill, delivered with the lithe grace of a beastman, outclassed even seasoned adventurers.

"Wha—? No way!"

"No crest, yet he’s pulling off sword techniques?!?"

"Ugh, no way!?"

Yeah, I get it. They’re stunned.

They’d been helping with animal butchery at the orphanage, no mental scars, just kids clearing out orcs like it was nothing.

"Hmm. A bit too careless with the situation."

"Yeah, that’s true."

Jitarou nods as I mutter.

He fires his bow mid-response, and an orc hiding behind the children drops with a thud. The orc’s head’s blown clean off by the arrow’s force.

"Ah—?!"

"Sorry, Ed! My watch was sloppy!"

"Damn it. I was too focused on fighting. My bad."

"Knowing that’s enough. Watch yourself next time."

"Got it. I’ll be careful."

"Yes, Craft-sama."

Good good. Just take the magic stones. You can keep them as pocket money.

Once we get back to town, have Jitarou arrange to sell them through the hunting guild.

"Wait... really!?"

"Yeah."

"Sweet!"

The kids grin as they plunge their knives into the oak's chest.

A heartwarming sight.

"I... terrifying... Goldendown's terrifying..."

At least say something reassuring.

Leifan "Craft-kun, you really went all out, huh..."