45: You know, a relaxed daily life is pretty damn happy

Major revision to chapter 45. Chapter 46 and 47 deleted.

Details in the afterword.

"Craft brother, good morning! Delivery for you!"

"Morning, Ed."

That day, as I was eating a late breakfast, Ed and the other orphans showed up.

Guess it's because I’m their tutor— they’ve all grown fond of me.

"Where’s school?"

"Today’s a holiday!"

"Ah."

Right now, in the frontier town, morning school was mandatory. Five days a week. Kids got free lunch, and parents who actually sent their kids to school got extra frontier subsidies. So all the kids living in Goldendown were going to school now.

Also, since they’d been working hard to get rid of beastman prejudice early on, there’d been no trouble at all.

Four beastman orphans each held a full armload of plants.

"Delivery?"

"Yeah. Herbs grown in the church's garden! Azu sister said she used fertilizer from her brother and they turned out huge, so she’s sharing."

Kai thrust a basket full of harvested medicinal herbs forward.

"Thanks for all this. I’ll dry them later. You all eaten breakfast yet?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, then eat up."

"Really?!"

"But Azu sister might’ve already made it."

"Then go get Azu too."

"Yay! I’ll bring her right away!"

Ed didn’t wait for my reply—he bolted off.

A moment later, Azu was dragged in. Since moving into Golden Dawn, her fox fur had grown thick and lustrous, turning her into a dazzling beauty.

"Good morning, Craft."

"Hey, morning. Ryuuko, handle this."

"Understood, Master."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No problem at all. I'm making decent coin already."

"Then I'll take you up on that."

"Yesss!?"

The kids went wild.

Just as the food arrived—perfect timing—they dove in, shoveling it down like they'd never eaten before.

"Damn, that's good!"

"Eggs are amazing!"

"Hey, brother. I heard monster eggs are super tasty. Is that true?"

Ed looked up from slurping his soft-boiled egg.

"Monsters come in all shapes and sizes. Some you can't even figure out how they breed. But yeah—some lay eggs. Rumor has it, basilisk, cockatrice, hydra eggs? Real tasty."

"Wait—seriously!? Brother, bring some next time!"

"No way!"

I said it flat-out.

"Huh? Why not?"

It’s not just basilisks. Most monsters go berserk if you steal their eggs. Even if you get away with it, they’ll chase you to hell and back.

“Serious?”

“Yeah. No need to touch monster eggs. I’ll tell you the details later.”

Still, that’s why they’re so expensive. Plenty of idiots try to grab them.

If the kids are becoming adventurers, I’ll teach them when the time comes.

“Ryuko’s egg dishes are tasty, right?”

“Yeah!”

“Delicious.”

“Then that’s all you need to know.”

“Got it! Seconds, please!”

“Hey! Ed!”

“Haha, it’s fine. Ryuko.”

“Yes. Just finished cooking.”

“Damn, you’re good at this…”

Ryuko’s timing is perfect. Every dish ready exactly when needed. That’s what you get from studying the world’s greatest maid.

Don’t know the details, but the thing I got from Professor Javir was some kind of fake personality crystal made with help from a legendary maid—had that legendary maid vibe down pat, no shame there.

I kinda wanna see the maid who inspired this one.

Sorry, Ed is...

Yeah, alright. Once you're done eating, help me hang up those herbs we picked earlier.

“Huh…”

No way! Craft, you’re definitely helping me with this!

Got it.

Letting the kids help dry the herbs, I passed a lazy morning.

I’m always up studying till late, so mornings just never go right.

A adventurer? Total failure.

Not that I was thinking about my days as an adventurer or anything, but I headed over to the Adventurer’s Guild to pick up some supplies.

To check if any of the materials the adventurers brought back were valuable.

"Hello there, Craft."

"Hey, Mice. Still as busy as ever, huh?"

I greet Mice, the cat-beastman recently hired as a guild staff member at the Adventurer’s Guild.

In this Goldendown village, there’s no beastman discrimination.

Thanks to Leifan, and also Kyle’s efforts.

In line with that, the Adventurer’s Guild had started some bold reforms—like hiring beastmen as guild members.

I’d had a chat with the guildmaster. Seems like it’s serving as a test case for rolling out across the whole nation.

"Yes, yes. Rumors’ve spread—adventurers keep showing up, one after another, setting up base here."

"Good thing. Easier for us to gather materials this way."

"Here’s what we’ve got today—some rare stuff."

"Let me see..."

I sat on the counter next to them, taking my time to inspect the materials.

Rare herbs that used to be hard to gather were slowly piling up.

But the quality varied, so each one needed to be checked individually.

"Alright, I’ll take just the good ones."

"Let me throw in a little extra—tell me the quality of the rest, yeah?"

"Sure thing. The ones I’m taking are 'average' quality, and the rest are 'low-grade.' Sorry, but I’ll just buy the 'high-grade' ones."

Even though there were plenty of other rare materials stacked up, I only bought a few teeth and claws, and a handful of herbs.

Other alchemists might not know this, but in my case, using higher-quality ingredients in alchemy pots means you end up with more output—and better quality, too.

I tried talking to Professor Javir once, but all he came up with was guesses. So I just decided to accept it as is.

"Really helps. The materials here in town are all weird. Can’t use鉴定 magic on most of them."

"Wait a sec. I can use鉴定 magic, but I don’t have the official鉴定 certification. Just ask Leifan."

Leifan’s the one with the鉴定 license.

Should’ve had to go through some tedious national exam and training, right?

"Official request means it’ll cost a bit..."

"Wait—doesn’t that kinda suck?"

"Relax. I tell everyone I had Craft check it. They’re fine buying it after that."

"Hey—what the hell do you think I am?!"

"Ah, you really don’t get it, do you? Seriously, you’re fine."

"Alright, if there’s no problem, then whatever."

Ah, so if you’re selling without鉴定, you’re stuck sending it to either the Trade Guild or the Production Guild. That’s why unverified goods get低价 hammered, huh?

So I’m just gonna throw my name out there—“Hey, it’s me, Kyle”—and sell it without a proper鉴定, right? Just check with the buyer first.

“Make sure you explain it clearly to the buyer.”

“Of course.”

Then there’s nothing more to say.

I came all the way to the Adventurer’s Guild—might as well see if anyone I know’s around.

I head to the back training yard. Weirdly, the orphans who were working with me earlier are now doing real training with actual adventurers.

“Hey, Craft.”

“Hey, not bad, Raidock. Why’re Ed and the others doing real sparring with adventurers?”

Exactly what it sounds like.

Ed the wolf-beast, Sika the rabbit-beast, Kai the red panda-beast, and finally Wamika the cat-beast—four of them were going at it like a seasoned adventuring party, putting on a flashy, full-contact sparring show.

Raidock, standing beside me, spoke before I could.

“Ah—was gonna ask this earlier. You’re giving the same stamina potion to those four and Jitarou, right? And the fox priest?”

“Yeah. I also asked them to keep an eye on how much difference it makes compared to regular humans.”

We hadn’t told them at first. But now we’re explaining it properly and making sure they drink it.

Leifan shot me a look.

“Think you’re doing it for the best, but doesn’t it kinda feel like human experimentation?”

“Huh!?”

I hurriedly apologized to everyone, then went back and asked if they’d keep drinking the “legend” potion. They all agreed without hesitation.

I really am lucky to have such good comrades!

“…Well, that’s the result.”

“……”

Raidock pointed with his thumb. There, a group of children were desperately clinging to a veteran adventurer party.

Both parties were drenched in sweat, faces set in grim determination. Breathing hard.

“Huh? Both parties look exhausted?”

“Yeah. Today’s training was stamina potion-free.”

“Wait—so those guys haven’t had any potion since morning?”

“Yeah. I told them not to. They shouldn’t have any, right?”

My stamina potions let you keep moving almost indefinitely. Sure, you’ll breathe heavy and sweat if you’re fighting, but you shouldn’t be visibly worn out like that. So they really didn’t take any.

“Wait—what’s the rank of the adventurers Ed’s team is fighting?”

“Two of them were C-rank, the other two D-rank, I think?”

“Wait—what?! They’re actually going head-to-head with a full C-rank party?! Those guys?!”

“Yeah. I mean, we did push it a bit, messing with the kids’ training like that.”

“True. Now it’s normal, but a kid with no crest using sword skills? That’s not exactly everyday.”

“Not unheard of, though. I’ve heard it happens sometimes in noble knight families. Kids of famous adventurers, for example.”

“So it’s not completely unheard of, huh.”

Don’t get the wrong idea, Craft. Those guys’ve been training since they were born. I’m telling you straight—no way they’re that strong at the same age as Ed and the others.

Hmm. In the woods, the competition’s just too weak.

We only ever let the kids play against Oak-level opponents when we go picnicking with Jitarou and the little ones—safety first, you know.

“That’s right. Craft, you’ve been letting them hunt monsters sometimes, haven’t you?”

“Technically, I’m just helping Jitarou with his hunts.”

“Step into these woods, and monster hunting’s unavoidable.”

“Yeah, fair enough. But the areas near town are pretty cleaned up, right?”

“Sort of. Half true, half not.”

“What’s that mean?”

I wanted to see Kai’s training too, but Raidock’s story seems more important.

As you know, there are quite a few adventurers gathered at the current Goldendown Adventurer’s Guild.

Yeah.

Most of their work is escorting caravans, maintaining town security, or hunting monsters nearby. Especially monster hunting—there are far more requests here than in other towns, and it pays well too.

Yeah. Kyle’s been putting in the effort.

Kyle flat-out said you need plenty of rewards to attract top-tier adventurers, and he’s been funneling a significant chunk of the town’s budget straight into the Adventurer’s Guild.

Thanks to that, the guild now takes on jobs like maintaining town security—work they usually wouldn’t touch.

So why aren’t the monsters decreasing?

They are decreasing. The cause is different. First off, this frontier settlement is just way too big.

Ah, right. The scale’s been off lately, but this town’s size is genuinely unprecedented. Even calling the surrounding area “the town” is an understatement—its sprawl is ridiculous.

The granaries are so far out they vanish beyond the horizon. If you count that whole stretch as “town,” then yeah, the surrounding land’s gotta be massive. No ordinary size.

“Another thing—no matter how many we kill, monsters keep pouring out from the forest depths. Should we just burn the whole thing down?”

“No way.”

Trees are precious. Vital resources. We’re cutting them down fast enough, sure—but for some reason, the forests here grow back quicker than you’d think. Before you know it, they’re back to normal.

Apparently, you’re only safe if you uproot them completely, clear the land for good. Just chopping them down? No. They’re back to normal before you even notice.

There’s plenty of flat land and fertile fields out there—no need to go to such extremes.

“Burn a little of it? The forest’s vast, though.”

“Can’t predict what’ll happen.”

“True enough.”

“But still… are there really that many monsters emerging?”

“Yeah. It’s too big. Though, that’s also why it’s full of rare materials.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

It’s a forest where you can harvest rare herbs and mushrooms not found in general trade. Not exactly something you’d want to burn down.

Then again, setting the whole thing ablaze? With how big it is? Impossible, really.

“Raidock! You’re here! Just give me a moment!”

“Huh?”

The one who ran over was Cyneus Gashur, the guildmaster of the Golden Dune Adventurers’ Guild.

Incidentally, Zaid’s younger brother stayed on as guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild that became Zaid’s Frontier Village. Might’ve gotten some special treatment within the guild, who knows.

Cyneus was usually calm—nothing like the typical guildmaster image—but that’s why he was sharp, and excellent at his job.

And Cyneus was shouting. Something was definitely wrong.

“Ah, Craft-san’s here too. You mind listening in?”

“Something about the town, then?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

We hurried toward the guildmaster’s room.

After chapter forty-five, I completely reworked the story. So chapter forty-five got a major overhaul.

And in line with that, I deleted chapters forty-six and forty-seven altogether.

There was never a Marbolo to begin with!

For now, just forget the previous stuff—empty your head and read it fresh, okay? (´▽｀)

Thanks in advance.

Also, my personal life’s been a mess lately, so I can’t promise regular updates.

Sorry about that.

But I’ve got things on track for October, so please bear with me a little longer.

Thanks again.