129: You might wanna be popular, but when you're a predator, you hesitate.

Arriving in Zaid's former frontier village—now Leifan Town.

When Zaid ruled it, all there was were wooden fences. Now, solid alchemically hardened stone walls guard the town.

Not as tall as the Golden Dune, but definitely enough to stop a typical hydra.

The reason it's called Leifan Town? No dramatic backstory. No tears. No tragedy. It's just that Zaid's name couldn't be used, so they had to come up with a new one on the spot.

The whole naming meeting was ruined by King Van himself showing up. That’s how Leifan’s luck ran out.

They’d sold it to me like this: since the settlement was originally founded by gnomes, naming a village after Leifan, their bloodline, would be a nice way to show the kingdom didn’t discriminate against half-breeds.

Makes sense. But honestly? The fun of it totally outweighs the logic. I’d bet on that.

I was fine with Leifan’s name being used for the founding hero. Didn’t go out of my way to back him, though.

The town used to just be a rest stop—only inns in sight. Now the trade guilds have arrived, and it’s packed with people.

Why? Because a proper road now runs between Leifan Town and Golden Dune. Most of Golden Dune’s goods can be bought right here.

Leifan Town and Golden Dune are far apart.

To a kingdom merchant, Leifan Town was already a long way off. Not just any trip.

You’d have to push through even more hopeless distance to reach Golden Dune from here.

But now, since the goods that used to be impossible to get without going all the way to Golden Dune could be found in Leifan Town, a lot of merchants started doing their buying right here in the village.

Thanks to that, the village’s already grown big enough to call a town—almost a little Golden Dune.

“Whoa! Looks like another building popped up! I just came here last time, y’know!”

Jitarou squinted down from his pony at the town.

“Leifan Town finished a facility that can consistently produce alchemical hardening stone.”

With alchemical reagents on hand, Leifan Town could now make alchemical hardening stone efficiently. And since volcanic ash is easy to source from the kingdom, they’re probably producing it at the lowest cost in the whole realm.

Thanks to that, sturdy buildings could be made cheaply, so hardened rock structures were sprouting up everywhere.

Scanning the town, you saw carts moving back and forth, voices haggling and calling out, alive with commerce.

Hard to believe this was a dangerous frontier outpost.

…Then again, Golden Dune lies even deeper in uncharted territory.

"Alright, let's grab a room."

"Got it!"

I thought it’d be easy—hundreds of inns scattered everywhere, so we’d find one right away.

Turns out I was wrong.

Every single one was full.

We checked a few places. All full. Start getting nervous.

Lucky break—we asked the production guild, and they managed to squeeze us in a couple of emergency rooms.

Right when I heard that, Shururu’s eyes flashed with something dangerous.

You know that look. The hunter’s gaze, locking onto prey.

"Craft-sama... hehe... hehehehe..."

"Wait, hold on—"

The pressure creeping toward me was exactly like a reptile closing in on a tiny frog.

"Relax. I won't let you regret it!"

I’ll do it!

Shit! The exit—!

The feeling of being shoved deeper and deeper into the hotel room.

If he grabs me, it’s over!

But inch by inch, the distance shrinks. I’m shifting, stepping back, step by step.

Thud.

The door finally hits my back.

Shururu grins, sharp and wild.

"Ah, just do whatever."

Clearly bored, Jitarou yawns and walks into the next room.

That’s when it hits me.

"Alright, Shururu. Go in first."

"! Yes!"

I open the door behind me, guide Shururu inside with a hand—then he steps in, beaming from ear to ear.

The instant Shururu’s whole body was fully inside the room, I slammed the door shut and activated the magic circle I’d been weaving in secret.

“Block! Ice!”

I used ice magic to freeze the room’s door solid in an instant.

“W-wait!? Craft-sama!?”

“This ice won’t melt until morning! Try forcing it open and the door’ll shatter! If you damage the hotel’s property, I’m leaving!”

“N-no way! Melt it! This ice is in the way!”

“Not a scratch on the property or the door! Not even a dent!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeh!?”

I gave Shururu one last hard glare, then stepped through the door into the next room.

“Huh? Why’re we going this way?”

“Seriously, why’s it so weird that guys and girls get separate rooms…? It’s the obvious choice!”

There are two twin rooms. Just split them by gender like normal!

Under the pressure of Shurl’s presence, I couldn’t even think about that for a while.

I’m scared of the lizardfolk’s courtship. Yes.

For a bit, I thought I heard my name called from somewhere, but it was probably just my imagination. Yeah.

I put in earplugs and fell fast asleep.

◆

“Jito—oo—oo—oo—”

Morning came. I checked that the ice had melted, then opened the door. Shurl shot me a look like he was about to complain.

“Don’t say it with your mouth.”

“Jito—oo—oo—! Jito—oo—oo—oo—!”

“I’m happy you feel that way, but you gotta wait until you find someone important! That’s how it works!”

“Different culture, y’know!”

“It’s a delicate matter!”

Can I really accept the lizardfolk’s culture?

No, Shurl’s the closest thing to a human around here, so it probably won’t be much of a problem… right?

“Craft-sama, I can guess what you’re thinking, so I’ll say it now—only a damn strong male can get this worked up, so don’t go thinking it’s easy!”

The way he looked at me—like he’d read my mind—was sharp enough to pierce right through.

I was about to retort, even if it was Raidock, but then I swallowed the words. Couldn’t let him push me any further.

Besides, I wasn’t in the mood to hear what he was feeling right now. But that didn’t mean I’d jump into something with another guy just because of that.

For fuck’s sake, I’ve got enough on my plate already—can’t even think about that kind of thing yet!

I shook my head hard, shoving the thought away.

“Enough! Forget that—let’s head to the marshlands!”

“Eh? Can’t we stay one more night…?”

“The village construction comes first!”

“Shouldn’t we just leave it to the new village chief?”

The new village chief, Julara, is Shururu’s brother.

You really wanna dump all the trouble on him?

“We asked for help because we hit a wall, didn’t we?!”

“Just let him sweat a little, that’s all.”

Shururu turns away with a guilty look.

Not the time to bring up personal feelings, even if he’s clearly trying to make things hard on his strict older brother.

“Then, Shururu, you head back to Goldendoon by yourself? I’ve got work to do.”

“Eh!? I’ll come with you!”

“Then just follow along without making a fuss!”

“Hai!”

Shururu gives a dumb, hollow reply, already bracing for a lecture from Jurara.

Jitarou comes up beside me, grinning.

“Never seen a troublemaker like this before, huh!”

“You’re not exactly clean yourself.”

And so, the three of us finally start moving our horses toward the swamp, toward the lizardfolk village.

...Yeah. Already exhausted before we even arrive.

The print edition of "Fire the Adventurer, Alchemy ④" is coming out on June 30th!

We’d be so grateful if you could pre-order it!

Thank you so much!