Chapter 4

After an hour of lending a shoulder to the old man, at last, the village came into sight. According to the conversation we had along the way, the old man seemed to have come to gather food. The villagers had hunted all the monsters near the village, apparently, and now they had to go far away to get food. What a mess! That explains why they decided to leave the village.

”Here’s the village… By the way, have you been here before, Leo?”

”No, this is my first time. I’m looking forward to seeing the place.”

”Oh, I see. So you were on your way to this development village. I heard that valuable alchemical materials can be found around here. I remember that alchemists have visited here several times before.”

From the way he looks into the distance and says so as if he remembers, it seems that the alchemist visited here a long time ago. If there were so few visitors, it seems that the precious alchemical materials are not so important.

As we passed through the wooden fence, we came to a man who looked like a dwarf with a beard. He is taller than most dwarves, so he looks like a human being, not a dwarf. But still, they look alike. Is he a child between a dwarf and a human?

”You’re back early. And who is this brother, by the way?”

He asked while stroking his full beard. From the tone of his voice, he did not sound very welcoming.

That’s not surprising. From what I’ve heard along the way, the village is running out of food. They probably don’t want to waste any more food. The usual hospitality is to offer drinking and singing to the visitors after a long time. But it seems that it is not expected. It’s a pity.

”This is the alchemist who saved me from being attacked by a black bear. He came to this area to gather materials.”

”Black bear? Hey, is that story true?”

The bearded man shakes my shoulder and the old man wobble. The old man looked like he was unsteady on his feet, which made the bearded man startled. Normally, he would not be unsteady on his feet like this.

”You’d better keep it that low. You’ll collapse from anemia.

”What do you mean? You don’t look like you’re hurt… but is that blood on your clothes yours?”

”Yes. If he hadn’t given me the healing potion++, I might not have survived.”

”Healing potion++? May I ask you to tell me more about this?”

”Of course.”

It seems that he has finally realized that the great alchemist is in front of him. His language had changed to be more polite. Now, we were taken to the largest hut in the village.

”I am the village chief.”

It seemed that this bearded dwarf-like man was the village chief. It seems that the chief himself is patrolling this village.

”I am a travel alchemist. I came here to collect materials.”

It’s a lie, of course, but it will be a fact if it’s not exposed. It is Kabirumba’s idea so that there will be no prying eyes. To prove that there really was a black bear, I put the trophy “black bear pelt” in front of the village chief.

He must have immediately recognized what it was. Immediately his eyes widened.

”This is definitely a black bear pelt… if it’s here, did you kill it?”

”Of course I have. Black bear is not my enemy.”

The chief gulps and swallows hard. Did he get it? There is someone stronger than him right in front of him. Anyway, together with the old man, I told him what had happened. The chief was pale when he heard that black bears were living within an hour’s drive from this development village. Apparently, the chief is not a strong fighter.

It’s no wonder. After all, this old man, who had gone out to hunt outside, has some fighting strength. And now this old strongman has come back beaten to a pulp. Therefore, it is no wonder that the chief thought, “This village is finished”.

”Thank you very much for saving our precious villager. How can I thank you? This village will be closed soon. Until then, please take your time.”

The village chief regretfully announces the end of the village. It seems that the black bear has completely broken his heart. When the chief tells this to the villagers, the village becomes a bit noisy.

There were no thanks for saving the villagers. Instead, I was allowed to stay in a spare room in the chief’s house.

”It’s not what I expected.”

”What are you talking about? You should be thankful that you can stay in a house with a roof over your head.”

”I should have never left home if I had to do this.”

”If you stay in there, you’ll get sick from lack of nutrition.”

Kabirumba shakes its head from side to side as if to say, “Really, I have to do something quickly to this guy+. Well, that hurt my feelings a little. But there’s no point in dwelling on it. I have to do what I can here. Even a caterpillar could do more than just brood.

”What are we going to do now, Kabirumba?”

”What, you’re just going to leave it to me? Oh, that’s right. If it’s left to Leo-sama, we won’t be able to move forward. Instead, we’ll end up going backwards. It’s no use crying over spilled milk. Yup, that’s a fact.”

Really, the fungus Kabirumba is terrible. But I have no good ideas too. So, let’s leave it to Kabirumba. After all, the top people can learn from their subordinates.

”They said there are alchemical materials around here, right? Let’s look for them first. If there are usable materials, you can make new alchemical items from them. When you have completed your products to some extent, let’s go to the next town.”

”It takes about three days from here to the next town, right? Do we have enough food?

”On foot, yes, but we’re going by air, aren’t we? If so, we can get there within the day.”

”That’s good news. But why should we come to this village in the first place?”

Oh, Kabirumba’s eyes are getting all squinty.

”Didn’t I tell you that first? And who was it that decided to come here to practice meeting people?”

I gently averted my eyes. It was so natural that Kabirumba must have missed it. Even the Demon King can make mistakes.