130.1. A True Friend Helps When You’re In Trouble, Isn’t It?

Jitaro, Shururu, and I were heading towards the Lizardman village, chatting loudly along the way.

Apparently, some goblins and orcs appeared along the way, but before I could even notice, Jitaro shot them down with his bow, stripped their magic stones, and left nothing but corpses behind.

…Jitaro really is an excellent hunter.

As it became difficult to continue on horseback, our destination came into view.

The Lizardman village we arrived at was in a marshland where we had a fierce battle with a Hydra.

Several wooden stakes were driven into the ground, with wooden houses lined up on top of them.

They prioritized housing for all the Lizardmen who had abandoned their homeland and migrated here, so the buildings were simple.

Several Lizardmen flew toward us, probably because the guard noticed our arrival.

“Craft, thanks for coming!”

The one who greeted us with open arms was Shururu’s brother, Jurara.

Unlike Shururu, who looked mostly human, Jurara’s appearance was almost entirely reptilian.

Even so, he had a human-like skeletal structure and walked on two legs.

His well-developed muscles peeked out from beneath his clothes, confirming that he was a warrior.

“Jurara. Have you been well?”

“Yeah! Look at this! Our village!”

He spoke proudly, but there weren’t any impressive buildings, only simple ones made of thin branches.

“Since there isn’t a proper road through the marshland yet, the Production Guild hasn’t been able to deliver large amounts of building materials. I feel bad about that…”

I thought we were called here for something related to this, but was I wrong?

Jurara looked a bit puzzled. (Probably.)

“What are you talking about? Ah, right. Humans and Dwarves live in stone houses. But we find it most comfortable to live in well-ventilated houses above the marshland. The defense fences and walls are a different issue, though.”

“So, the problem is about the wall around the village?”

“No, that’s not it. We’ll deal with that eventually; there’s no rush.”

“What? Then what’s the problem that came up?”

As I tilted my head, Jurara crossed his thick arms.

“It’ll be faster if you see it for yourself. Come with me.”

With Jurara leading the way, and a few Lizardmen accompanying us, we moved on.

◆

The place we arrived at was the edge of the marshland’s outskirts.

Several carts were stopped there, most of them stuck in the mud, unable to move.

The carts were loaded with a large amount of building materials.

“You didn’t call us just because the carts got stuck… right?”

Lizardmen are stronger than humans.

Especially many of the warriors who participated in the Hydra hunt had undergone harsh training, drinking stamina potions until they coughed up blood, and were as strong as adventurers from the Golden Dawn. There’s no way they would call us just because of some carts.

“We plan to build a human village around here.”

“Ah, a village for the farmers who will cultivate the marshland into rice fields.”

“That’s right. But as you can see, the ground is unstable…”

Looking closely, stakes and boards had been driven into the ground around us, and attempts at stone foundations had been made.

However, most of them were tilted or had collapsed.

“The buildings in the Lizardman village were fine, right?”

“We’ll help as much as we can with our construction methods, but they couldn’t be applied to human buildings.”

It seems they had already tried various things.

Jurara crossed his arms and furrowed his brow… I think.

“According to Kyle-sama’s plan, a human village will be built around here, and the reclamation will begin from here. We Lizardmen will be responsible for the defense. We surveyed the area, and this is the most stable land in the marshland. If we can’t build the village, the reclamation will stall. Craft, would you help us?”

If the village isn’t built, the reclamation won’t start. It’s no wonder Jurara is anxious.

“Of course… I want to say, but I have no idea how to solve this. Maybe I should have brought Leafan.”

However, Leafan is too busy with his work as the head of the Production Guild. There’s no way I could have brought him.

“I don’t mind helping, but where should we start? Jitaro, do you have any ideas?”

“Of course I do!”

Huh? I only asked because you seemed bored, but you actually do?

“If the ground is soft, just make it hard! Like with the alchemized hard stone we use in the Golden Dawn, right? Just pour that in!”

He spoke proudly, but that’s impossible.

“Unfortunately, that’s not going to work.”

“No good?”

“Alchemized hard stone is made by mixing alchemical ingredients, volcanic ash, and water, but the amount of water is crucial. The hard stone takes time to dry, and if it absorbs water during that time, it becomes brittle.”

“But this isn’t exactly a marsh, is it?”

“The ground here is soft enough that stones sink within days. It probably contains a lot of moisture.”

“Is that so…”

Jitaro exaggeratedly hung his head, but the idea itself might not be bad.

The reason the ground is soft is because of moisture, so…

“Oh.”

I clapped my hands.

“Did you think of something?”

“Yeah. Let’s try a little experiment!”

I gave the Lizardmen some instructions and started setting up for a simple test.

“Then I’ll be in charge of healing Craft-sama!”

What’s this “healing” business!

I have a bad feeling about this!

Somebody stop her!

Did someone hear my silent plea? Jurara stood in front of Shururu with a stern expression.

Nice! Scold her just like that!

“Shururu! Mind your language! Craft-dono is a hero!”

“Even at a time like this…? Okay. I’ll be in charge of healing Craft-sama!”

“Good.”

Jurara nodded in satisfaction as Shururu corrected herself.

“Not ‘Good’! Stop her!”

I assigned some random tasks to Shururu while preparing the necessary alchemical ingredients.