Sixty: Gotta teach 'em plain and clear, no hiding anything

Postscript with announcement

Special commemorative edition

"Welcome to Goldendown. I'm Kyle Gandar Bairoroad. You must be tired from such a long journey."

In the garden of Kyle's estate, I stood lined up with Kyle and the others.

A few months after the cocatrice incident, a special delegation had arrived in the village of Goldendown.

A group riding horses, they'd come from the capital of the Maugaria Kingdom—a survey team.

From the delegation, a smiling middle-aged man stepped forward and bowed.

"No, no. True, the road was long, but with the route so well-maintained, it's not so bad. I'm the head of the delegation, Deputy Minister of the newly established Frontier Development Ministry—Mog Mode. Please, make my acquaintance."

"Yes, Minister Mode."

"Hehe, no need for titles. I’d be happy just to be called by name."

"Then I’ll call you Minister Mode. Feel free to do the same with me."

"Likewise, I’ll take you up on that. Kyle-sama."

A cheerful handshake between Kyle and Deputy Minister Mode.

Still… Frontier Development Ministry?

So the kingdom’s finally putting real effort into expansion, huh. But even with nobles, he stays calm—typical city bureaucrat. Is Mode a noble too?

"But… are you sure we don’t need a proper welcome ceremony?"

Kyle asks, eyes flickering with concern. Mode answers with a gentle smile.

"Yes. I’d prefer to see the town as it normally is."

"If I’m rude in any way, I’ll apologize. I’m still young after all."

"No, no, not at all."

Kyle noticed then the gaze of the knights accompanying the inspection party. Their eyes were fixed on the two guards behind him.

"Those two behind me are Alphard and Persia, my guards."

The two introduced gave a silent nod.

The knights were clearly looking at their gear.

Alphard and Persia each carried two swords—one a renowned blade from their family, the other a masterpiece forged from dragon-infused hard mithril, pride of Leifan. The auras they gave off were different. These were knights assigned as guards by the kingdom. That much was obvious at a glance.

Mog, feeling the knights’ stares, stepped in to change the subject.

"Could it be that the fine swords you two carry are the ones mentioned in the marquis’s report—made from hardened mithril?"

"Yes. But these are something special."

"Oh?"

"By mixing dragon materials into the hardened mithril, we’ve forged weapons of superior quality."

"That’s impressive. Sounds like the work of the famed Twilight Alchemist."

"Yes. Craft... a collaboration between the alchemist and Leifan, a master blacksmith."

"Hmm-hmm."

Smiling faintly, Mog’s eyes sharpened.

From the inspection party, a woman in her late thirties stepped forward, robed in the style of a sorcerer.

"Nice to meet you, Kyle. I’m Elra Ruira, a court alchemist. I was a student of Jabir Haljan. I’d be honored to meet this Craft fellow you mentioned...!"

"This is you, Elra. Quite the intrusion, isn’t it?"

Morg chuckled, shaking his head as Elra stepped forward without thinking.

Elra’s gaze was fixed on me. Only I wore the robes of a mage, after all.

"Forgive me, Kyle-sama."

"No, no. Not at all. May I call you Elra-sama?"

"Yes. An honor."

"Settle down, Elra."

"Y-yes."

"Don’t worry about it. Brother... you’re curious about Craft, the alchemist, aren’t you?"

"Yes! Lately, Master Jabir’s papers have been published one after another—every single one a joint study with Craft, the alchemist."

Oh!

So Master Jabir really did publish papers with Craft as a collaborator!

I figured the master was too great to even list my name as a mere collaborator.

Still, Master Jabir’s amazing, isn’t he?

"Lord Elra is quite the scholar, isn’t she? Of course, I’ll introduce you properly later."

"That’s wonderful!"

Elra’s eyes burned with intensity as she muttered, “Isn’t that Craft?”—but Kyle seemed to have put it off for now, since there was still something else to do.

Introducing him here would just mean getting drowned in Elra’s endless questions.

Morg, the captain, wiped sweat from his brow.

"Good heavens… please forgive Elra’s rudeness."

"No problem at all. First, I’ll show you to my estate. Settle your things, rest a bit, then I’ll give you a tour of the town."

"That would be most kind."

And so, the royal inspection party would end up touring Goldendown…

◆

"S-such an immense amount of alchemical hardrock. Those vertical walls… those upright homes… all made of alchemical hardrock, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks to Craft alchemists, every major building in Goldendown’s been made from alchemical hardrock. People joke that even the houses look like castle walls."

Kyle spoke casually, but the inspection party wasn’t relaxed.

They’d already passed through the massive gate, glanced at the towering walls flanking the road, and seen countless structures before reaching Kyle’s estate.

On either side of the main street stood traditional-style buildings—kept that way for aesthetic reasons.

All the rest used alchemical hardrock, mostly multi-storied.

Just a quick glance around was enough to make the frontier marquis’s own fortress look shabby in comparison.

And the city walls? Plenty of open ground still inside. Prioritizing planned construction.

Can handle more people whenever they come.

Still, once the third wall’s finished, that problem’ll be solved.

Morg sighed.

“Even in the capital, they’ve started using alchemical-hardened stone in certain buildings. Once you try it, you realize just how insanely practical it is. Right now, they’re scrambling to mass-produce it. Especially the strength—absolutely superb. It’s the best material for city walls.”

“So they’re already making it in the capital?”

“Yes. Thanks to the joint paper by Lord Jabir and Craft. The capital’s alchemists are all mobilized.”

Huh?

The paper was supposed to include modified recipes and spells so even regular alchemists could make the seal, right? So why would they need so many people?

Jabir himself was churning out tons of it, wasn’t he?

Like she’d read my mind, Court Alchemist Elra muttered.

"Seriously. Master Jabir doesn’t realize just how good his craft is. There aren’t many alchemists who can churn out magic formulas requiring such precision... not even close."

Right... even that was tough, huh?

Man, Master Jabir’s amazing!

The escort knights of the inspection party gazed at the city walls and streets.

The walls, built from alchemically hardened stone, were double-layered—already turning the fortress into an impregnable stronghold.

Of course, the town’s main district was squeezed between the first and second walls.

The third wall, currently under construction, was slated to cover an area several times larger than the capital. Once completed, that space would be filled in, and the city would become the kingdom’s largest metropolis.

"We’ve had a few monster raids, so we’ve shifted priorities and focused on finishing the walls. As a result, the planned site for the fortress is still just bare ground, nothing more."

The site for the fortress planned behind Kyle’s estate was already half-finished, its foundation laid with alchemical hardstone—wide enough to swallow the royal palace in the capital whole.

Morg wiped a cold sweat from his brow.

“If every part of the fortress built here is made of alchemical hardstone… what kind of monstrous fortress will we end up with? Just imagining it… well, you know, the excitement, I guess.”

His expression didn’t show much excitement. But maybe that was just how he always looked.

Then again, maybe I should try harder to make him actually *feel* the excitement!

From the empty lot where the fortress was to be built, a voice echoed.

At one end of the vast stretch of land, rows of soldiers stood in formation.

“This is my new army. Thankfully, quite a few adventurers have joined up.”

“Oh? Adventurers chasing freedom signing up for a disciplined military?”

"Yes. Each of them’s got plenty of combat experience—real help."

Standing before a hundred or so soldiers, directing the formation, was a man who radiated the look of a seasoned warrior, two-handed axes slung across his back.

Beside him stood a beastman, also a towering, muscular figure.

The knight captain stepped forward, almost instinctively.

"Does Kyle’s army recruit beastmen?"

"Yes."

The kingdom had been pushing to abolish beastman discrimination, under pressure from the church, but progress was slow. Seeing that this town had beastmen in high-ranking military positions, the knight captain’s expression twisted into something uneasy.

"The commander-in-chief is Degard Bismark, a former adventurer with experience as a mercenary. The tiger beastman beside him, Tygar Gaidar, was also part of the same party and performed exceptionally well during monster attacks."

"Hmm."

Under the watchful eyes of the inspection party—especially the knights—the training continued.

Degard, the commander, shouted.

"Alright! Next up—monster combat drill! Attack the targets made of alchemical hardstone!"

"**"Yes!!!"**"

The archers moved in perfect unison, firing in unison.

Oddly, the arrows pierced the alchemical hardstone—harder than regular rock.

"Wait... that’s..."

"The arrowheads are coated with sharpness oil."

"You use that even in training?"

"Looks like it. I don’t know much about military affairs, so I leave everything to Degard."

“Hmph…”

Mogu frowned, muttering under his breath as he watched the precious sharpening oil being used even in training.

“Spearmen!”

At Degard’s command, the spearmen stepped forward in formation, driving their lances into the targets.

The targets—made of alchemically hardened rock—scraped and chipped under the relentless strikes.

“Infantry!”

Now the spearmen fell back, and infantry surged forward in their place.

Dozens of squads charged the targets, but led by former adventurers, the soldiers all unleashed their sword techniques in unison.

“Rumble Impact Slash!”

“Blizzard Slash!”

“Force Strike!”

“Cross Slash!”

“Godspeed Counter Slash!”

“Flash of One Light!”

The air filled with flying techniques—knights and Mogu alike screamed in shock.

“Wait—this is supposed to be the training of a frontier army?! This isn’t some knightly squadron with heraldry, is it?!”

“H-hey… is this really infantry training?”

Another knight suddenly noticed something else.

“Look! Only a few of them are even carrying combat sigils!”

“W-what?! No sigils at all, and they’re all throwing sword techniques?! This isn’t sane at all—!”

Even without the alchemical hardening stone’s power, the soldiers without sigils were still boosting their attack strength by unleashing technique after technique.

The knights stood frozen, eyes wide.

Then Alchemist Elra leaned forward, excitement crackling in her voice.

“Could it be… those soldiers are using the legendary stamina potion, aren’t they?!”

"Yes. We temporarily halted sales altogether, but we’ve resumed selling legendary-grade stamina potions again. The military receives them directly, so everyone in the ranks should be using them."

"Legendary-grade... daily use. That’s the one from Javir’s paper, right? The one about 'training studies using stamina potions without side effects'?"

"Sorry. I’m not really familiar with that paper..."

Kyle admits it honestly.

No problem. Honestly, I don’t fully grasp what a paper even is.

"Ah, my apologies! In short, the idea is that if people can train without feeling tired, they might achieve strength dozens of times greater than normal!"

"Right. Based on experience, I’d say that’s solid."

Kyle replies with a calm smile. But the inspection team, watching him, can’t help but feel a chill.

"...I want to go home..."

A tiny voice, barely audible, reached the knights.

"Then, we'll show you to the academy next."

The inspection team seized on Kyle's suggestion like they were fleeing.

Of course.

Even at the academy, they'd be shaken to their core.

Huh?

I'd hold back for Kyle, wouldn't I?

Book release confirmed!

Available January 30th from M Novels!

One reason I haven't updated lately (^_^;)

Personal issues and book production nearly killed me.

The book version's been heavily revised!

And yes—brand new content too!

Stay tuned!!