52. Child Education Is Adults' Responsibility, Isn't It?
"Azure-sama, may I have a moment of your time?"
"Ryuuko-san? What is it?"
Amid his busy activities in the church, Azure was approached by a green-haired maid recently hired by Craft.
Though Azure tilted his head, he stopped in his tracks.
"Yes. I have matters to attend to with Ed-sama, Saika-sama, Kai-sama, and Wamika-sama."
"Huh? With Ed and the others?"
"Yes."
Even though he wondered what business they could have with orphaned children who were beast folk, he guided them to the children, knowing that Craft's associates wouldn't do anything strange.
"Everyone, it seems Ryuuko-san needs your help. Please cooperate with her."
"Huh?"
"Y-Yes."
"Well then, I'll be back."
Azure left the scene to guide the evacuating residents one by one.
With a dignified posture and elegant demeanor, the maid Ryuuko stood upright, and the children looked up at her with curiosity.
"Um, Sister Ryuuko?"
"Um, what can we help you with...?"
Ryuuko suddenly smiled gently and knelt down to meet the children at eye level.
"We have a favor to ask of you. Would you kindly give us... that cockatrice egg over there?"
"?!?!"
At Ryuuko's words, the four froze like ice.
"Um... that's..."
"Let's take it together... to Master... Craft-sama's place."
"But... but!"
Ed and the others are nearly in tears.
"It's alright. Master is kind. And above all, we need that egg."
"Ah..."
"I'll go with you too."
Ryuuko embraced the four with a gentle smile.
◆
The alchemy room was a battlefield.
No, compared to the adventurers fighting on the front lines now, this was nothing!
Stirring the alchemical cauldron with a force that could break arms, forcibly infusing large amounts of mana, I continued to complete the medicine.
The rapid consumption and replenishment of mana made my brain feel like it was being fried.
But I couldn't stop!
"Alright! It's done! Take it!"
""Yes!!""
The petrification antidote, quickly divided into barrels, was being carried out.
Feeling drained, I almost collapsed for a moment.
"Craft-san!?"
"I-I'm fine. Just a little dizzy."
Legendary potions had no side effects.
In fact, despite drinking large quantities, there were no signs of addiction.
However, continuous usage like this seemed to be taking a toll on the body.
I needed a decisive move, something to turn the situation around!
"Ryuuko, prepare for the next task. Ryuuko?"
I called out Ryuuko's name as usual, but there was no response.
"Ah, she must have gone to check the condition of the walls. But she's taking quite a while for that."
Maybe it wasn't just a simple request to a maid. She was smart, so she might prioritize her safety, but I wasn't too worried.
"I apologize for the wait, Master."
"Oh!"
As they say, speak of the devil. The one who entered the room smoothly was Ryuuko, a familiar and artificial maid.
"How were the walls?"
"No problems. There's no way for the completed walls to be breached by cockatrices."
"I see. That's a bit of good news."
"No, there's another piece of good news."
"What?"
Upon closer inspection, behind Ryuuko were the four beastfolk orphans led by Ed, looking timid.
Did they find and protect them along the way?
"Now, Ed-sama. Have courage."
"Yeah."
Sensing something unusual, I stopped what I was doing and faced them.
Ed handed me something wrapped in cloth. It was slightly larger than Ed's head.
"What's this?"
"Big bro... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Ed, usually energetic and cheeky, handed over the round object while crying.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, I slowly took it in my hands and unwrapped it.
"This is...!"
"No way!?"
The adventurers who were helping with potion-making immediately reacted.
From the current situation, they seemed convinced at a glance.
I forcibly calmed down the sudden surge of excitement.
"Me... I..."
I placed my hand on Kai's head, who was crying, and calmed him down a bit before "appraising" the object.
"I see. It's indeed a cockatrice egg."
"What!?"
"Is that really it!? You guys!"
The adventurers turned pale, no, their faces turned ashen, their voices filled with shock.
"Wait, it's not what you think."
As I tried to calm down the adventurers, I recalled.
What I casually told them.
[There are various kinds of monsters, and many reproduce in ways we don't understand, but there are also monsters that multiply with eggs. Rumor has it that the eggs of basilisks, cockatrices, and hydras are delicious.]
Indeed, I had talked about the danger of fetching monster eggs afterward.
But what would happen if I told such a story to curious and capable little rascals?
What would I have done if I, as an orphan, had heard such a story?
I gritted my teeth so hard they felt like they would break.
It's impossible not to be curious. If anything, I was the one who incited the children.
I had a duty to teach them the dangers more firmly.
"Let's discuss the details later. Can you leave this matter to me?"
"Craft-san..."
"But..."
"Please."
As I bowed my head, the anger from the adventurers subsided.
"Onii-chan, it's my fault..."
"Leave it to me. Leave everything to me."
"...Huh?"
"What we need to do now is to make medicine! Ed and the others, wait a moment! Ryuuko! Prepare the sixth and ninth alchemical potions!"
"Yes."
I overturned the alchemical cauldron and spilled the in-progress potions onto the ground.
"First, let's make an intermediate material using the cockatrice egg! With this!"
"Preparations complete."
Ryuuko had already filled the alchemical cauldron with the necessary ingredients.
I threw the egg into the cauldron and carefully, yet quickly, utilized alchemy.
The cauldron bubbled.
The egg dissolved in an instant, merging with mana. It transformed into a special intermediate material through alchemy.
"Alright...! Next!"
After leaving a portion of the completed alchemical potion and packing the rest into barrels, I stuffed water and other herbs into the cauldron for another round of alchemy.
I immediately appraised the finished potion.
"It's done...! The cockatrice-specialized petrification prevention and removal potion is complete!"
"What!?"
I grabbed the shoulder of the astonished adventurer.
"Listen carefully. This potion, when consumed, serves as a preventive medicine, and when sprinkled, it's a versatile potion specialized for petrification removal for cockatrices. This is the dosage. We can make enough to distribute to everyone immediately. Please distribute them from the central unit!"
"Ah... Alright! Leave it to me!"
With an uplifted expression, the adventurer carried the barrels filled with cockatrice-specialized potion and rushed out of the house.
"Alright! Next! Two more rounds, and we're done for everyone!"
"Yes."
With Ryuuko's help, we quickly completed the cockatrice-specialized potion.
As adventurers came and went, I explained the same thing to them, and they immediately carried them out.
With this, we could prevent the cockatrices from swarming into the town.
However, the threat of stampedes hadn't disappeared yet.
"Damn. If only we could contact the Raidoc's team."
My mutterings caught the attention of Ed and the others.
"What's wrong?"
"Uh, well. Maybe we can contact Raidoc-san and the others if we know where they were."
Saika's words made me almost jump up.
"What did you say!? Where are they? Tell me!"
"Well, um, I once saw Raidock-san and the others building a makeshift base downstream along the river, near the forest..."
"I see. A temporary base for monster hunting!"
It was something adventurers often did. They would set up a base camp and operate from there.
I immediately opened the map and had the children confirm the location.
"This place is..."
It was a dangerous place to travel, despite being away from the cockatrice invasion route.
"...Let's go to the Adventurers Guild."
"Yes."
"Ed and the others, come with me."
"Yeah..."
"Yes..."
"It's okay! Leave everything to me!"
What mattered now was protecting the town. There was nothing else to think about.
"Let's go!"
We rushed straight to the Adventurers Guild.
"Craft-san!? What's wrong!?"
"I'll explain now! Gather the leaders!"
"They're all in the meeting room!"
"Got it!"
Without knocking, I burst into the meeting room, where Kyle, the guildmaster, and the town elders, were gathered.
A large map was laid out in the center, and this area had become a battlefield.
"Craft-oniisama!?"
"Kyle! What's the current situation!?"
"Yes! We just finished distributing the specialized potions and stabilized the front line!"
"I see!"
"However, due to the strain so far, the remaining amount of healing potions is in a pretty bad state."
"We don't have the ingredients to make healing potions."
The herbs needed for healing potions overlapped with those needed for petrification antidotes, and they were all converted into intermediate potions.
But even so, there should have been a considerable amount of healing potions, indicating an unexpectedly fierce battle.
The guildmaster nodded.
"I understand. Let's manage with what we have."
"Please."
"Now, as for the future strategy..."
"I have one idea to break the current situation."
"Huh!?"
"I want to borrow everyone's wisdom. Raidock-san and the others should be around this area on the map. I want you to think of a way to contact them."
"Raidock-san and the others?"
"Yes. Ed and the others happened to find their base camp."
"I see. If it's a base camp, they should be back by evening."
"Considering the distance from here to the base camp, there's a high possibility we'll meet them. Please think of a way to contact them without attracting the attention of the cockatrices."
If we could contact them, their location would become the perfect strategic point. We could attack the cockatrice swarm from the side.
"But, even if we say to contact them, in this situation..."
"Do we have any boats?"
"We still have very few. There are skiffs, but they're not suitable for transportation."
"Right."
Skiffs were essentially floating platforms on water, suitable for simple transportation, but due to their size, their speed was comparable to that of turtles.
The idea of going by the river was out.
"Well... wait a moment. This location!"
"What is it, Kyle? Anything's fine! If you have an idea, tell us!"
"We can go! We can get to the nearby area quickly and safely!"
"What do you mean!?"
I almost jumped up at Kyle's continued words.
"It's the underground passage! The sewer!"
"I see! There's a sewer near this area!"
"Yes! Leafan-san has been designing an escape route from the fortress!"
That's right!
I remembered!
A complex-designed sewer, a secret escape route from the fortress for people like Kyle!
"That's it! Someone, go call Leafan!"
"Understood."
"Huh?"
I meant to ask the adventurers, but for some reason, Ryuuko went to deliver the message.
Well, it should be fine, right?
"I-I'll go with you if that's the case!"
Despite trembling, Ed stepped forward.
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