Fifty-five: Victory’s no fun if it doesn’t come with joy, right?

“Good work, Craft-sama.”

“Just did my job.”

“You’re still the same as always.”

Kyle’s smile nudged me. I sat down on the chair. Maina hesitated for a second, then climbed onto my lap. Still pouting, though.

“How’s the situation?”

“Smooth. No intrusions into the town thanks to everyone’s hard work. No casualties at all.”

“That’s good.”

Honestly, death was what I’d been worried about.

Death can’t be healed. Not yet.

As long as no one dies, I’m confident I can heal them with any potion—Healing Potion, Cure Potion, Stone-Removal Elixir, doesn’t matter.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“So everyone’s been treated already?”

“Yes. Everyone’s either active or resting up nicely.”

"Nobody hates festivals, so everyone’s probably forcing themselves to stay awake right now."

"Could be."

Looking out the window with Kyle, we saw adventurers singing drunkenly, others stuffing themselves with food, and a few snoring loudly, half-dead from booze.

A few spotted us and waved. When we waved back, they shouted Kyle’s (and my) names.

Cut it out. Stop saying my name.

"Anyway, about what comes next—collect all the Cocatris crystals. Gather only the decent-quality materials from the corpses, and burn the rest. Brother’s making that combustion alchemy potion, right?"

"Yeah. Just firewood’d take forever and no telling how long it’d take. With the potion, we’ll burn it all down in a few days."

Understood. As usual, please route the necessary expenses through the production guild.

"Yeah."

"Then, finally, about Ed-san, Sika-san, Kai-san, and Wamika-san..."

I snapped my head up at those words.

"Kyle! About this matter—I’m asking you! I was the one who set them off! So I’ll take all the punishment—!"

"Whoa! Calm down, Craft-sama!?!"

"No! I know full well the crime I’ve committed against this town. Still, I won’t let the children—!"

"Wait! Please, calm down..."

Just as I was about to speak further, the door swung open, and the familiar blue-haired adventurer, Raidock, stepped inside.

"That’s right. Calm down, Craft."

"Raidock?"

"Lord Kyle, the interviews with the children are complete."

"Thank you, Raidock-san."

"The children... Ed!?"

Behind Raidock, the rambunctious foursome—Ed first—crept into the room. No trace of their usual energy.

Must’ve been Raidock questioning them all this time.

“Raidock! I’ve got stuff to say, but first, listen to me!”

“Calm down, Craft. First, you listen to me.”

Raidock waved me off with a light flick of his hand, then sat down.

“This idiot Craft’s been misunderstanding things. Let’s get to the point.”

“Yes. Please.”

“The conclusion, including the Guild Master’s, is that Ed’s group’s eggs and this Stampite incident aren’t connected.”

It took me a second for that to sink in.

“…Huh?”

Kyle, on the other hand, nodded with quiet satisfaction.

“Just as I thought.”

"Yeah, fundamentally, those guys grabbed the eggs ages ago. Honestly, trying to connect it all feels a stretch."

"...Yeah? That’s how it is?"

Come to think of it, I hadn’t even checked when the kids got their hands on the eggs.

"Yeah. Heard it from Craft a few days after he told me—already gone and taken them."

Raidock nodded at me.

"Experience tells me this—parents whose eggs get stolen tend to go extra savage chasing after you. But I’ve never heard of that causing stampedes. If it were that easy, humanity’d’ve been wiped out ages ago."

"True enough."

Not touching eggs is basic adventurer wisdom. But poachers never stop. If every time they did, we’d be in real trouble.

"The guildmaster's conclusion remains the same—stampede's cause is still a mystery. But there's a chance the black plant we found this time is involved, so we've decided to investigate."

"We'll cooperate when that time comes."

"Count on it."

While I was talking with Raidock, Kyle turned his gaze toward Ed and the others.

"Ed, you're sure about the date, right?"

"A-ah, yeah. After hearing Craft's story, I just couldn't hold back..."

"Understood."

Kyle nodded slowly, watching Ed on the verge of tears.

"The guildmaster reached the same conclusion. So this is now the official adventurer guild stance. Honestly, we're the ones who should be apologizing. We got cocky, trained these guys up, and forgot the important stuff."

"There was no town rule against taking eggs, anyway."

"Kyle... Raidock..."

Yeah. Both of you.

"Uh, uh, Kyle-sama, what’re we gonna do now?"

"That’s right. It’d be odd to punish you, really. But failing to heed Craft’s warnings—that’s something we need to mark clearly."

"Kyle!?"

I tried to stop him, but he just grinned, one eye shut, so I swallowed my words and stayed silent.

"Four of you—clean the town before school starts. Can you do that?"

"Y-yeah! We’ll do it! Just don’t kick us out of town!"

"Understood. Cleaning’s important, but don’t forget your studies."

"Y-yeah! Y-yeah!"

"Good job, Kyle!"

"Y-yeah! If it keeps me from bothering Azu-nee, I’ll do anything!"

"Yes. Do your best."

"Y-yeah!"

Phew. Really, really good.

From now on, I’ve gotta make sure they learn what’s right and what’s wrong.

"So, I’ve got a request for you too, Craft-sama."

"What?"

"Could you please join the school’s classes once a week as a teacher?"

"Wait, that—"

"Yes. I’d like to shift the time we’ve been spending on private tutoring to teaching at the school instead."

"……I see. I suppose it was a bit too focused on just a few people."

"Yes. This incident made it clearer than ever how important it is for children to learn the right things early on. Will you help out?"

"Of course. Honestly, I’ve felt responsible for this mess from the start."

"It wasn’t your direct fault this time, but this is a frontier settlement. Something like this could easily spark a bigger problem next time. I’m counting on you."

"Got it. Leave it to me."

I figure we can talk it over with the teachers, but I’ll teach the kids everything I know about surviving. Not that I’m much of an adult myself, but that’s the duty, right?

“Now then, since the punishment’s decided, next up is the reward.”

I frowned at Kyle’s words.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Thanks to the eggs they provided this time, we got zero deaths. So rewarding them for their contribution is only natural, isn’t it?”

“Ah, right! That makes sense!”

“Wait, but we—”

“Ed, just listen to Kyle for now.”

“Ah, yeah.”

Kyle’s always got some odd idea brewing.

“Then, here’s my idea for your reward—your names.”

“Names?”

The four of them blinked, utterly confused.

“Yes. You all don’t have surnames, right?”

“Ah, yeah. We’re orphans.”

"I'm thinking of giving the four of you... surnames, myself."

"Wha—!?"

"Everyone, you'll be siblings like this. Still okay with that?"

The four of them stared, eyes wide, then suddenly grinned at each other.

"Seriously!? Kyle-sama!?"

"Yeah. Is a name enough as reward?"

"Ah! Of course! Everyone, right?!"

"Yep! Perfect! Ed and brother-sister’s a bit weird, but—"

"Wait, what’s weird about it!?"

"I'm happy! Please, I really want this!"

"Woo! Everyone’s siblings~"

"Then it's settled."

Watching the four of them bouncing with joy, Kyle pulled four sheets of paper from the drawer.

"My approved family registry. Once you all write your names, it’ll be official."

Kyle’s always one step ahead, huh. Always been planning this from the start.

I couldn’t help but smile.

If word gets out about this, the kids’ll probably lose most of their advantage—but there’s still a chance some’ll keep it.

So we’re gonna shut it down fast, with a punishment that cleans the slate and a reward that comes with no coin.

……Is Kyle actually a genius at strategy or what?

“Uh… Ed Kendall?”

“I’m Sika Kendall!”

“I’m Kai Kendall!”

“I’m Wamika Kendall~”

“I came up with the last name. If you don’t like it, I’ll change it.”

“No! I’m happy! Kendall! Looks cool!”

“Yeah! For us beastfolk, a surname’s like a dream!”

“Truly… truly thank you, Kyle-sama!”

“Hehe~”

Genuinely, deeply happy.

Sure, beastfolk with surnames are normal enough—but for orphans like these? That kind of thing was nearly impossible.

"Then it's settled. Right. Since we're at it, let's amend the town's bylaws to assign formal surnames to any residents without one."

Raidock's expression brightened with genuine interest.

"Huh. So anyone who settles in Goldendown gets a surname, huh?"

"Yes. I think it'll become necessary soon."

"Sounds good, doesn't it? Plenty of adventurers without surnames out there. And more people will want to settle here."

Hearing that, a chill ran down my spine.

He's thinking about household registration!

Names alone can overlap, but with surnames, the chances of duplication drop sharply.

Back in the day, surnames were a privilege only for nobles and wealthy merchants. Now, even the kingdom encourages everyone to have one.

It’s standard for anyone with a decent education to apply and get a surname, but country folk or those without basic knowledge usually can’t manage it.

It’s not expensive, but there’s still a fee.

And if you’re a beastman or an alien, the barrier’s even higher.

Trying to give surnames to every resident all at once because of this incident? That’s an outrageous scheme.

If they were handing out middle names instead, nobles’d be less than thrilled.

Huh? Middle names?

Kyle’s full name comes to mind.

Kyle Gandar Bairoroad.

Middle name’s Gandar.

And the surname given to the kids this time? Kendar…

Ah. Clever twist.

Kyle winks at me again.

Kyle… scary kid!

Gandar… Gah-dam!! (No, wait—)