85: Surprisingly, the boy’s got a sharp edge to him.

The historic meeting with the Lizardfolk had ended. They gathered as usual, ready to talk with Kyle.

There’d been some light teasing with Maina and Persia, but as soon as Kyle sat down, the mood shifted instantly. Everyone snapped into seriousness.

"Craft brother, you’ve had a tough week."

Kyle sipped the tea the maid had brewed, speaking casually, like he was chatting about the weather.

"You were the one who had it rough. Reports from everywhere else got pushed aside, didn’t they?"

"Couldn’t have handled that alone. I’m truly relieved His Majesty accepted it."

"Yeah, really glad that worked out."

The moment the conversation turned to the Lizardfolk, every face hardened with focus.

"Maybe the timing worked out well. His Majesty’s finally turning away from years of human prejudice against non-humans, openly declaring war on the demons and expansion of the realm."

"Ah, I see. So if we’re able to make contact with the lizardfolk just now—right when the king’s shifting his stance—that’d be a big win for His Majesty, wouldn’t it?"

"Yes. Exactly."

Still, damn, how’d Orthros’s old man get the king’s approval so fast? Must be a real heavyweight.

"So what happens to the lizardfolk now?"

"Yes. As we discussed beforehand, we’ll be supporting them as pioneers in the wetlands we found near the old Goldendown."

So they’re really going ahead with the development, just like planned.

"Then it’s gonna be a full-scale operation, gathering adventurers."

"Yes. Clearing out the hydra that live across that vast wetland. Sounds like a massive job."

The one I’m most worried about comes to mind.

“Is Zaid gonna be okay?”

“True, Zaid’s village is closer to the wetlands, but that’s just from the feeling of adventurers raised on stamina potions. In terms of the frontier zone, it’s still far away.”

“True. A Goldendown adventurer could make it in a day. But for regular soldiers? Three days… no, longer than that.”

Raidock’s not even a reference point. If we used him as a standard, we’d be talking days, not just a few hours.

“For safety, we’ll stop by Zaid’s village first to get permission from Zaid-sama, then head to the wetlands.”

“What if he refuses?”

“We’ll switch to the backup plan.”

“This great river running through Goldendown. We’ll build a settlement along its banks.”

Yeah. I had the civil servant ask Julara about their living habits. They say wetlands are better than marshes, and marshes better than swamps.

Right. We’d prefer to secure wetlands if we can, but this frontier’s tangled in politics.

No choice but to leave it to Kyle. So I’ll just do what I can.

"Anyway, whether it’s one or the other, we’ve gotta push through."

"Yes!"

I don’t know how Zaid’ll react, but personally, I think rejection’s likely.

Kyle seems to think he’ll be fine just showing up in person—no letters, no messengers—but…

If it’s no good, it’s no good. I’ll just help make the best village possible for the lizardfolk.

Living in a village poisoned by giant venom frogs, never knowing when they’ll strike again? That’s better than nothing.

"Anyway, here’s a souvenir for Kyle."

I pull three ingots from my spatial storage and lay them on the table.

This past week, I haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise with the lizardfolk residents.

Kyle shifts his gaze to the ingots, stopping on one of them.

“This… I know this is mithril, but what about the other two?”

I glance quickly at Leifan, and she begins explaining.

“Yes. This one is mithril. At this size, it’d take the ore from several barrels. Quality’s top-tier.”

Kyle nods, but swallows hard.

He’s stunned by the value, but sorry— the real shock’s coming.

“This heavier one here is adamantite.”

“This is it!”

Kyle’s eyes bulge. He pokes the adamantite ingot with a finger.

You can handle gems with a bit more force—adamantite or mithril, neither scratches easy, so go ahead and be rough with it, Kyle.

"Uh, Leifan-san... This ingot is so huge. It must be worth a fortune, right?"

"Yes. Mithril’s ore prices have gone up, but finished goods are actually dropping a little. Still, adamantite’s super rare—only found in tiny amounts—so it’s extremely valuable. And this much, refined into an ingot... well..."

Kyle swallowed hard again.

Yeah. Just this much is already insane value.

But, Kyle. There’s more.

"This last ingot... is orichalcum."

Kyle blinked, looking up.

Seems he’s still not catching on.

"Ori...?"

"Yes. The legendary metal. Orichalcum."

“…W-what?! This… this massive lump… is all orichalcum?! Really?!”

“Yes. No mistake.”

Yeah. I mean, it’s gotta be shocking.

Legendary metal. Usually found deep in dungeons, rare as hell. Most of the time it’s just a tiny bit in some crafted item. That’s the norm.

Now it’s just… a solid block. Hard to believe, right?

“T-this… this is something incredible…”

“Not just that.”

“Huh?”

I take over from Leifan.

“Turns out, orichalcum’s actually an alloy of mithril and adamantite.”

“…Huh?”

It’s been a mystery for ages. People searched for its ore, but never found anything. Of course not.

The possibility of an alloy had of course been explored, but even master smiths with famed heraldry couldn’t unlock the knowledge.

Yeah, alchemy’s required for alloys, and forging demands expert craftsmanship. Plus, the materials—mithril and adamantite? Nobody’d even thought of that.

I relay the shockingly obvious truth I learned from Kyle’s twilight alchemist’s sigil.

“With these ingots of mithril and adamantite… you can add orichalcum.”

“…!”

Speechless.

Kyle couldn’t find words. Just opened and closed his mouth like a fish.

“…You’re something else, Craft brother.”

“Thanks to Raidock and the three Caspar sisters.”

I wave a hand lightly.

“Anyway, I’d like to decide what to do with these.”

Kyle slowly closes his eyes. Stays like that, silent for a long time.

By the time the tea went cold, Kyle finally opened his eyes.

"...We’ll present the found orichalcum to Father... the Marquis."

"Is that so."

"Should be able to handle the presentation to the King just fine."

I wasn’t exactly crushed—given how much we found, there probably wouldn’t be any left for us anyway.

But knowing how it’s made... I really wanted Leifan to craft it.

Leifan seemed to have picked up some processing knowledge just from touching the orichalcum—probably wanted to try all kinds of modifications.

Looking at Leifan, he still looked just a tiny bit disappointed.

Especially since orichalcum hid some damn incredible properties. Just imagining what kind of gear we could’ve made with that... yeah. Still a damn shame.

But with this much orichalcum, it’s bound to become a point of contention. Kyle’s decision makes sense.

Just as I was starting to lose hope, Kyle smirked and went on.

“But as for mithril and adamantite? I’m claiming them as part of Goldendown’s treasure. Craft, brother, I’ve got a question—know of any top-tier uses for these two rare metals?”

That smirk from earlier vanished like a dream. Kyle just tilted his head and smiled faintly.

“Huh… hahahaha! I’ve got it! The absolute best use!”

“Good. Then I’ll leave the rest to you, Craft brother?”

“Yeah! Leave it to me!”

And so, mithril and adamantite ingots ended up in my hands.

Leifan’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

It’s gonna be fine! There’s plenty more for Leifan to do too!

So, later on, I made all sorts of things from orichalcum... but that story’ll have to wait for another time.

Heh, just you wait and see!

◆

A month passed from that day.

A month where I and Leifan were obsessed with orichalcum, while Kyle was working with adventurers, pushing forward the campaign to wipe out monsters in the swamps.

We sent scouts out again and again, even had the lizardmen warriors go back and forth, checking whether the land was suitable for the village.

Seems like those swamps are perfect for the lizardmen. They practically begged to live there.

In the end, we agreed to turn half the vast swamp into farmland. The rest would be their village, with the lizardmen responsible for maintaining the farmland and defending it.

He could’ve talked to Zaid as much as he wanted during that time, but Kyle seemed set on waiting until everything was ready before he spoke.

He’d already shown the swampland wasn’t just a pipe dream—now he was going to propose joint farming development.

Hope it goes well.

Just as the swamp-clearing squad finished their coordination drills, a piece of orichalcum gear finally came together. Time to finally set out.

I hold up the orichalcum item I gave to the others, pointing it at the sun.

The reflected sunlight turns it into a full-fledged artifact.

I made it on a whim, but… is this, like, national treasure level?

Sorry, Your Majesty, Orthros Dad.

Oops. I just made this (・・).

But it’s too useful to put down!

I glance around again.

Veteran adventurers who’d fought in the Dragon War. Lizardmen warriors. New adventurers whose strength had just been recognized. Of course, the three sisters, Casper, were included.

A contingent of soldiers, personally assigned to Kyle, followed Alphard.

Persia was staying behind this time.

Incidentally, Leifan was participating too.

From her point of view, there was no way she could stay behind—she was going to wipe out those monsters from that swamp.

Old Goldendown Village, now Zaid Village, was built on the ruins of the village she’d once lived in. That very village had been destroyed by the stampede from that swamp.

The sight of warriors lined up in formation was awe-inspiring.

Kyle stepped forward and cleared his throat.

“Then, Swamp Purge Squad! Let’s move out!”

“““OOOOOOOOOOO!!!”””

And so, a new chapter of conquest began.

Eleven days until the manga serialization!