183: About how my common sense was just way off from everyone else's

The fire crackled, flames leaping up, the sizzle of meat on the iron plate, the smell of it cooking—straight to our stomachs.

"Please wait just a moment."

Lyuco, the maid, was flipping the armored bear with practiced ease.

"I wanted to get in on the action too, you know. Raidock-san~"

Jitarou glanced sideways at Camille and Marilyn, grinning sheepishly.

Guess he wanted to impress the two of them. Poor armored bear herd—finished off in one blast from Raidock’s big move.

Seeing that, Jurara, who’d been frozen stiff, finally rebooted.

"I… even *I* can’t believe how overpowered he’s gotten!"

"Totally. Those guys were acting weird, no doubt."

"…No, Craft, you’re not exactly innocent either."

"Just imagining things."

"…"

They don’t believe me. Sad.

Don’t want to be lumped in with that crooked-armed bastard.

“Master, it’s done. Go ahead and eat, everyone.”

“Yesss! Thanks for the feast!”

“A bit of a kick to it, but it’s delicious.”

“Please, everyone from the frontier village—help yourselves!”

“Sure, that’s kind of you…”

“There’s plenty, so don’t you worry about manners.”

“Eat something this stinky and the monsters’ll swarm!”

“We’re here, so we’re safe.”

“Is bear meat really this good?”

“Prep takes a little work. If you didn’t know, you’d just toss it out.”

“Who the hell is this woman who knows that?”

“A little work? That was more than a little.”

“Pffft! I remember that much—I’ll cook it for you, Craft-sama!”

“Watch your tone!”

So yeah, we started up a barbecue party with the remaining pioneers, not just us, and while we were at it, packs of monsters kept showing up, drawn by the smell.

Of course, none of them stood a chance—evaporated in a flash by Eva’s magic, shredded to bits by Camille’s clones, or pierced straight through the forehead by Jitarou and Solar’s arrows before they could even get close. No real problem there.

"...You guys are getting too strong."

The same line as before slipped out from Jurara.

I ignored it, staring at the pile of corpses.

"At this rate, getting any work done is a miracle."

"I’ll admit it—I’m pathetic. Got any ideas?"

"Sure, I’d say yes. But how the hell do we even start?"

Evana, one step back from the men still chewing meat, tilted her head as she already started on dessert.

"All those monsters that came in—came from outside the marsh, from deep in the forest, right?"

"Yeah. After we killed the Hydra’s master, most of the marsh creatures fled. Only a few Hydras remained."

"Then why not just wall off the whole marsh?"

"Sure, we’re doing that too. But it’s too damn big. It’s the size of a small fief. Leifan says it’d take at least a few years to finish. And that’s only if the monsters don’t interfere."

"Wait… building a wall to keep monsters out, and the monsters are getting in the way?"

"If we had more of us lizards, we could push harder."

We can just guard the outskirts of the settlement for now. But once farming starts, the whole swamp’ll be rice fields. Can’t guard all of that.

Ugh, groaning as we do.

Raidock waved his fork casually. The grilled meat stuck on it wobbled.

“Then just lure ‘em in with smells. Clean sweep.”

“Idiot. That’s exactly why the size of the swamp’s the problem. Gathering monsters from nearby won’t—”

My movement froze mid-motion.

Wait. If we’re using smells to lure ‘em in… could cover a wide area. Set up around the swamp’s edge…

No. Still no good. That’s the whole issue—the swamp’s too big. Gotta set up dozens of spots. Even with a bunch of lizardmen, we can’t handle the monsters. Not even if we hired a whole army of adventurers.

…We can lure the monsters. Right now it’s just grilled meat, but I bet we could brew a potion that stinks even worse.

Hmm?

If one person can’t figure it out, just pool everyone’s brains.

Use the smell to gather them, then have adventurers or lizardmen patrol the area—should be easy enough to clear them out.

Raidock-sama. That’s… impossible. The marshes are too vast. We could patrol, sure, but patrolling while fighting monsters of that strength? Not realistic.

Evah gently shuts down Raidock’s brute-force idea.

Right. We could patrol. That part’s doable.

The problem’s the aftermath. Once we’ve gathered them all, wiping them out’ll be a nightmare. The more we gather, the more lizardmen we’ll need to send in—full force, all at once.

And we’d need that at dozens of spots. Not possible.

How about traps?

Jitarou says it, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

"Guess we could just set up stuff like bear traps, the kind hunters use."

"Jitarou. If you've got any traps that work on armored bears like the ones we saw earlier, let us know."

"Sorry, but that’s just not doable!"

"Exactly."

Evie gives it the cold shoulder, but something clicks in my head—like the final piece of a puzzle snapping into place.

What is it?

My gut’s screaming this could work.

But I can’t quite grasp the answer. Like a tiny bone stuck in my throat—annoying, impossible to dislodge.

Think. I’m an alchemist!

Evie said monsters come from outside.

Raidock said we could lure them in with scent.

Jitarou said we could catch them with traps.

"Craft?"

At that moment, I didn’t hear a thing around me. Just lost in thought, pacing back and forth.

And without realizing it, I’d ended up near two of the settlers, a little distance away.

They were in the middle of tossing a monster’s corpse into a deep hole.

If we don’t bury it quick, the corpse’s gonna rot and stink up the place.

Villager B answers Villager A.

Ugh. That corpse I ditched a few days ago’s stinkin’ something fierce.

Ugh. Gotta be careful not to fall in here—of all places.

Ah. Fall down, you’re dead. Socially dead. Won’t be rid of the stink for days, I bet.

Click.

I thought I heard the sound of every piece clicking into place inside my head.

Oh god! I can do it! I can actually do it—thanks to you guys!

I shout and throw myself at the two pioneers.

“What?! What the hell? I don’t have that kind of taste!”

"Uwah! Even if you're my life-saving hero, that’s still too much!"

"Are you kidding me?! I don't have that kind of taste either! But thanks to you guys, I finally see the way forward! I appreciate it!"

Leaving the two stunned, I turned to my comrades.

"Alright, everyone, things are about to get busy."

They all grinned back at me.

...Would’ve been cool if he’d cut it there, but Jitarou just stared, dumbfounded.

"Craft. You think it’s cool hiding something important and dragging it out like that? That’s so old-school. So, what’s the plan?"

"Hey!"

What’s wrong with a little flair? Just a bit of style!

Why the hell did I suddenly feel embarrassed about flipping my cloak like that?!

"We’re making a trap! A trap that kills monsters in one shot—en masse!"

Now it was Jitarou’s turn to gape.

"Seriously? Can you even do that?"

"Can’t I? Help me out!"

"Got it!"

Ugh... this tension’s killing me!

My sleep schedule’s completely messed up...orz