48: No matter how tough things get, you can't just give up.

Since October 8, 2018, we've made major changes to chapters 45 through 47.

If you feel the story isn't connecting properly due to bookmarks or other reasons, please start reading from chapter 45.

Thank you very much m(__)m

I’ll leave command to Kyle and the head of the Cyanos Guild. I’m going straight home—full speed.

On the way, the Adventurer’s Guild sent a few lower-ranked adventurers as liaison officers, since they’d need to participate directly in the battle against the Cocatrices.

“Wait! Huh? Fast!”

“Hold on, Craft-san!”

“Idiot! Go ahead! I know the way home!”

“Got it! Hurry up! I’ll unlock the door!”

“Yes!”

“Wait… Craft-san’s an alchemist, right!? How are you moving that fast!?”

“People who’ve lived in the frontier village for years are all crazy like that!”

Probably just a rookie adventurer, fresh to Goldendown.

Pulling ahead with no regard.

Weak as hell, even though you're not on the Black Dragon!

I left the adventurers behind and burst into the alchemy chamber.

"Welcome back, Master."

Lyuuko smoothly stepped out as a maid.

"Lyuuko! Help me!"

"Yes. Everything’s ready."

All the materials needed to complete the anti-stone potion were neatly laid out—exactly what I’d been gathering.

Must’ve been Lyuuko who prepared them.

The anti-stone potion requires rare materials in large quantities—impossible to mass-produce. If I hadn’t had the mark of the Twilight Alchemist, I couldn’t have made even a decent amount.

Right now, I’m forcing some ingredients to substitute for others. It’s taking forever just to make it at all.

Basically, it’s a whole chain of alchemy—making an alchemical reagent to create the reagent that makes the anti-petrification drug. Need to go through all these steps. No shortcuts.

“Damn it… if I had that one thing (..), I could make both the cure and the prevention at once!”

A fleeting thought of a material that’ll never be obtainable.

If I had that, I could skip every single step and fix everything in one go!

“Huff… huff… s-sorry I’m late! Can I help with anything!?”

“Perfect! Help me transfer this alchemical reagent into the barrel!”

“Yes!”

We’re moving the intermediate alchemical reagent into the barrel, with the adventurer and Ryuuko helping.

Hey, adventurer! You’re weaker than Ryuuko? That’s pathetic!

Once the alchemical cauldron was empty, we moved straight into making the next concoction. Mix these two alchemical reagents, then transmute them into another.

Each time we made one, it drained me clean of mana.

Normally, I’d switch to something else here, but today I’m just guzzling precious mana potions without hesitation.

Letting the mana recovery potion do the work, I kept churning out intermediate materials, one after another.

I glanced over—our helping adventurers were drenched in sweat, completely wiped out.

"Shit. Drink this!"

"This… is it? Could this be the legendary stamina potion with the Craft mark!?"

"Shut up and drink it!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"O-oh my god! What is this!? I’m not tired at all!"

"Amazing!"

I’d forgotten all about Ryuuko just helping along normally.

Adventurers going wild. As long as their hands keep moving, that’s all that matters.

With their help, we finally finished the first batch of anti-stone potion.

About a barrel’s worth, I’d say.

“Good! Split it in half—get it to the right and left wings right away!”

“Understood!”

They quickly loaded the potion into barrels and dashed off without a glance back.

I didn’t even watch them go. I just paused, already turning toward the next batch.

I thought I heard shouting from outside.

I dashed out and looked toward the noise—west side of the incomplete stretch of the city wall, from the central force.

“They already made it to the town!?!”

From the watchtower, I’d figured it’d take hours. But the Cocatrice invasion was moving faster than I’d thought.

“Even the completed sections aren’t that tall yet—can they really hold them back?”

“Master. If you don’t mind, shall I go check the wall’s condition?”

“What?”

The wall’s definitely a concern. If those get breached, our whole defense strategy collapses.

But Ryuuko’s a maid. Can she even tell?

“Leave it to me.”

Ryuuko says it sharp and clear.

Then I’ll trust her.

“Got it. Go check the wall’s condition. But don’t you dare get involved in the fighting!? And if you can, look in on the central unit too.”

“Understood.”

Ryuuko gives a light bow. I turn on my heel and head straight back to the alchemy chamber. This is my battlefield!

With the remaining adventurers helping, I start brewing the petrification antidote.

It’s just a patch-up solution—but we’ve got no choice.

I go wild with alchemy.

If… if only I had that material… I could whip up the needed amount in a flash!

“Damn it… if only I had a cocatrice egg (……)…”

I felt like Ryuuko looked up when I muttered that.

◆

This was the unfinished western wall.

The central stronghold, packed with adventurers.

Degard Bismack, barely up to C-rank, was staring at the horizon.

With most of the B-rank veterans absent, he’d been put in charge—by default, since he’d been a mercenary before. A big job.

“How many people actually took the preventive medicine?”

“About a hundred.”

Tigarl Gaidar, Degard’s partner and a tiger-beastman, answered the gruff man. They’d both been in the same mercenary company, but after it was wiped out, they’d both become adventurers.

“About half.”

“Honestly, a hundred strong adventurers is no small force.”

Tigarl, too, stared at the horizon.

It was a horde of cockatrices, crashing forward like a mad tidal wave.

Cockatrices.

The closest you could get to describing them was some monstrous chicken with a vicious face.

They ranged from horse-sized to several times that—wildly inconsistent in size, these creatures were.

Sure, their beak attacks were powerful, given their size, but what made them truly troublesome was their ability.

Stone breath.

Even seasoned adventurers could withstand it somewhat, but there were limits.

If you took in too much of that breath, no matter how strong you were, you’d turn to stone eventually.

And fighting while avoiding that breath? That alone was a massive handicap.

Now imagine thousands—no, tens of thousands—of these abominations charging at you. Not even funny.

Even handing out stoneproof potions to just a hundred adventurers who’ve survived dragon fights would be pure luck.

“Listen! Don’t you dare stick your head out front! Use the unfinished parts of the wall against them! Kill only the ones who’ve gotten inside!”

“““Ooooh!!”””

The central force answers in unison, fired up.

Deagard breathes a quiet sigh of relief inside. At least these guys have some teamwork from past dragon battles.

If they were just a bunch of self-important, scattered adventurers, that very number would be their downfall.

“Anyone who didn’t get the preventive potion—cover the rear! Carry out the wounded, douse them with Healing Potion! When your hands are free, throw whatever you can—anything long-range!”

“““Ooooh!!”””

The amount of stone-reversal potion given to the central force is tiny. Most of it’s been handed out to the left and right flanks.

The central force of Degard must keep the number of adventurers turned to stone as low as possible.

There are skilled alchemists who can reverse it later, but the more people petrified, the more the fighting strength drops.

"Damn it. If Raidock were here..."

Raidock, a B-rank adventurer even Degard acknowledges. Not just skilled in combat, but every member of his party is sharp.

Not just Raidock. The few other B-rank adventurers are all off-duty, scattered across the town.

The cockatrices incident made surrounding monsters more active. They’ve all gone out to hunt them down. Nobody expected the cockatrices to strike the town this fast.

But crying about it won’t help.

I wanted to repay even a little of the debt I owed to Kyle Gandar von Bairoroad—the frontier lord who’d welcomed adventurers, favored them, even accepted the non-humans in his frontier settlement.

More than anything, the Golden Dawn frontier was already their second home. A place of peace.

What hesitation could there be in defending my own house?

“Hmph. Chicken monsters. I’ll turn every last one into meat scraps.”

“Hah! No need to worry about tonight’s skewers!”

“They’re not even edible, you know!”

Unfortunately, cockatrice meat was poisonous.

The hardened veterans Degard and Tigal laughed at each other, their confidence easing the tension among the other adventurers.

Watching them with pale, strained faces was a shadow.

“Ah! You’re here! Go back to the church right now!”

“Azu-nee!”

A fox-like beastman named Azule, the head of the orphanage and a church priest, finally found the children he’d been searching for, breathless and panting.

The four orphans from the Edosai Kaka Iwami Adventurers’ Guild turned at the sound of Azule’s voice.

Sorry I kept you waiting! Took longer than expected, I know!

Still haven’t finished setting up my personal life environment (´Д｀)

But I’m pushing forward bit by bit—keep reading!

Don’t abandon me!!

As mentioned in the preface, we’ve made major changes to episodes 45 through 47 starting October 8th.

Some hated old man has vanished!

If you get that reference, you’re good.

If not, please reread from episode 45!

Some of you might be getting notifications from this episode due to bookmarks.

Sorry for the trouble, m(__)m