Fifty: Defense’s just about patience, huh.

This was the northern edge of town. Right wing unit.

"Alphard, how the hell are we supposed to hold this with so few of us?"

One of the adventurers looked at Alphard with a worried face.

Alphard answered casually.

"Basically, I’ll handle the enemy. You just finish off any Cocatrices I miss."

"Wait—so that’s better than being told to charge out front?"

"Yep. My fighting style’s a little unique."

"Huh."

"Besides, most of the Cocatrices are already being handled by the central unit. Only a trickle makes it this far."

"Hope that’s true…"

"Perfect. Cocatrices are spilling in along the wall."

Alphard leveled his spear.

It was a long cavalry lance. Silver-bright, it looked less like a weapon and more like a work of art.

The Cocatris had gone wild, slamming against the city wall, building up fury with every strike.

Whether they’d just noticed the narrow passage north of town, or were attacking because the adventurers had gathered, the Cocatris were charging at the incomplete section of the wall Alphard and his crew were guarding.

Even now, scattered as they were, a vast army of Cocatris waited beyond the horizon.

Had to get them used to the tactics early.

“Key’s coordination…?”

Alphard muttered to himself.

“Listen! You haven’t taken the petrification antidote. Don’t go forward! Hit only my misses—full force!”

“Yeah, but if we do that, we’ll be too thin, and they’ll slip through.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll crush them all—completely.”

“Ah… yeah.”

The adventurers don’t know Alphard’s strength. Never traveled with him. Never heard the rumors.

Older adventurers seemed to know a bit, but they’re all deployed in the central unit.

So nobody on the right wing’s seen what Alphard can really do.

“Let’s go, Red Flame.”

“Grrr!”

Alphard wasn’t riding a horse. It was a massive two-legged lizard with a reddish-brown hide.

Nearly the strongest land combat creature the army uses.

Only top-tier soldiers in the army can join the lizard riders.

Alphard, once a paladin, had no ties to that unit—but here in this frontier village, he might need one. Bought it himself.

Picked it up right after moving to New Goldendown, then nurtured with a Craft-made legendary stamina potion.

Thanks to Alphard’s grueling daily training, he’d grown into a remarkably imposing physique in just a short time.

Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

The Red Flame roared forward, shaking the ground beneath it.

The cockatris, sensing the quake, charged headlong at Alphard riding the Red Flame, drool flying.

Alphard shot forward at full speed, meeting it head-on.

"Spinning Spine Crash!!!"

He channeled every ounce of the two-legged lizard’s weight and speed into the cavalry lance, adding the lance technique to it—shattering the massive cockatris in one blow.

Splinters. Dust. Gone.

"One! Next!"

Alphard yanked the reins, turning the Red Flame’s course.

His strategy was the exact opposite of Degard’s central force.

A mad plan—two hit-and-run units: Alphard, a lone skirmisher, and the rest of the adventurers, all acting as one. They’d close in on the enemy from both flanks and wipe them out.

Three reasons made it work.

First, the enemy wasn’t too numerous.

Second, Alphard was strong on his own.

Third, the Red Flame was fast and tough enough to keep going.

Flip it around—break any of those conditions, and the line would collapse.

"Not yet a problem. But if more cockatris start spilling from the center..."

That was the worst case—the ones too many to handle, flooding into the town like a landslide.

Alphard gripped his lance tight.

"Count on me, Craft."

◆

"Alright! Everyone, ready!"

A woman’s voice cut through the left flank.

Perched atop the bipedal giant bird was Persia, guard to Kyle and Maina.

Thanks to Craft’s custom stamina potion, the Tebasaki had muscle power that defied belief for a two-legged bird, streaking forward like a yellow lightning bolt.

Originally, bipedal birds were built for speed and long-distance travel, but Persia’s Tebasaki, like the village’s animals, had surpassed even the finest warbirds in strength.

As Persia’s sword flashed, arrows, magic, and sword strikes erupted from the adventurers in unison, felling the cockatrices all at once.

“Good! Now again! Don’t forget that feel! I’ll scatter these cockatrices, bunch them up—then, all at once, fire!”

“““Ooooo!!!”””

Persia’s wing, under her command, was executing a strategy unlike either Degard’s or Alphard’s.

Persia and the Tebasaki, having taken the rare anti-stone elixir, charged straight into the cockatrices, throwing them into chaos—then the adventurers finished them off with every flying weapon they had.

Of course, Persia had slain more cockatrices than anyone else.

Only because she could endlessly use the legendary stamina potion granted by the Craft mark could such a tactic even be possible.

"Can hold for a while... but..."

Persia frowned at the growing number of cockatrices spilling from the center.

"Won’t last long, Craft."

It looked as though all fate now rested on Craft.

Yet the story took an unexpected turn.

◆

"Ed, Wamika—bring tea to the evacuees."

"A—ah, yeah."

"U—uhh..."

The church, one of the largest buildings in Goldendown, had become a battlefield in a different sense.

Azul, the fox-like priest, worked without rest inside the church, which had become a shelter for the evacuees.

He was constantly shuttling refugees through the wide nave, offering tea to calm them, soothing those arguing, never stopping long enough to catch his breath.

Amid all this, he hadn’t noticed anything odd about the four orphaned children who’d come with him from Goldendown—until he spotted them missing. He nearly lost his composure, but then remembered: the rambunctious kids had been hanging around the adventurers from the west, who were now starting to stir up trouble. He’d found them and brought them back.

That was the state of things—so even Azul, despite his usual sharp eyes, hadn’t caught the strange look in the four orphans’ eyes.

“Kai and Saika—go boil some water. Check for any injured people.”

“Y-yes.”

“Understood.”

Before Azul’s orders even finished, she was called away by someone else and ran off.

Four left behind.

Normally they’d have sprung into action the moment Azul spoke. But now, all four stood frozen, faces pale.

“W-what do we do, Ed?”

“What do we do…?”

Ed, the wolf beastman, flinched under Kai’s sharp gaze—the raccoon beastman pressing him hard.

They had a secret now. One they couldn’t tell anyone.

“…If we give it back to the Cocatrices… will they go away?”

“Doubt it.”

Wamika, the cat beastman, flatly shot down Saika, the rabbit beastman. The usual lazy calm was gone.

“Talk to Azu-sister…”

“Not now.”

“Then… what if we take it to the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“If we do that, we’re not the only ones who’ll get kicked out. Azu-sister too.”

“But…”

So what the hell do we do now...

That’s… That’s not something I get, okay?

Right beside them, hidden from view, it was there.

The glittering spoils earned by the Edosai Kaka Imi Adventuring Group after their first great adventure.

The thing Craft’s brother taught me was valuable.

I wasn’t supposed to take it, but curiosity won out.

The cocatrice's egg.

Edosai Kaito Wami Kaiken-dan

Edo · Sakai · Kai · Mikawa ＼(^o^)／