7 - Let's walk together.

A sparse crowd filled the reasonably large lobby.

The ceiling is high, but the lack of pillars makes it easy to see through the room.

The first thing that catches one's eye upon entering is a large wooden board that covers the entire front wall.

Painted in black, it was filled from one end to the other with detailed messages written in white ink.

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"Wow, what's this?"

"This is a contact board for fellow adventurers. You can post requests and party information on it."

"Wow, that's interesting. Aren't you going to write?"

"I don't have anything to write about."

Without moving his head, Thor looked to his left.

There were tables and chairs lined up along the wall, and several colleagues were sitting and chatting.

He noticed a few troublesome-looking people in the group and felt disgusted.

Sure enough, a voice came up.

"Hey, look. Isn't that thing too cute?"

"Oh, I like it a lot."

You want to go?"

"Mochi!　Let's hope he's a magician."

"If she's that cute, I don't care either way."

The ratio of male and female adventurers to those who are awarded the martial and magical skill trees is not so different, so there are a fair number of female adventurers.

However, the physical and muscular strength requirements of the profession mean that there are inevitably more men in the workforce.

This naturally leads to a few female adventurers causing a ruckus among them.

They are not satisfied with the many pretty girls back in town.

I guess they feel superior to others by being in the same party.

The most troublesome among them are those who threaten to pull them out of other parties or forcefully recruit new adventurers.

They try to get women just for the sake of decoration, as if it were a mark of victory.

Thor had heard rumors that some female adventurers had been taken to hunting grounds that were not suitable for their level, and that some of them had ended up in serious trouble.

Two dark-skinned redheads and a dark-haired one stand up.

They appeared to be in their twenties or so. They carried no weapons.

The three men who had spotted Thora approached her with light steps, paying no attention to Thor who stood by their side.

One of the red-heads suddenly speeds up and tries to force his way between Sola, who is looking intently at the blackboard, and Thor, who is standing behind him.

"Hey, what are you writing - heh-heh-heh!"

Naturally, Thor, who had already spotted the move, quickly closed the gap between the two.

At the same time, he kicked off the heel of the man's left foot with a casual look on his face.

The man is knocked off his feet before he hits the ground, and he falls down with a loud and silly cry.

Immediately, the two men behind him rush to him.

"What are you doing, falling down all of a sudden? Are you sober yet?"

"Hey, old man. What are you looking at?

The two men's breath was faintly laced with the smell of alcohol.

They must have had too much to drink and were sobering up in the lobby today.

Thor casually touched the dark-haired man's arm lightly as he tried to push him away.

Conveniently, he had drunk until he was drunk last night.

I'll him to his most sober state.

The man's eyes go wide and he falls to his knees.

The other redhead, who rolls his eyes and is distracted by the state of his friends, gently reaches out his hand to imbibe as well.

The man, who instantly paled, crouched down and hastily clamped his mouth shut.

Finally, the man, still crouched on the floor and frowning, is helped up and left to do the same as his companions.

When the three men suddenly changed color and sat down, Sola looked up and called out to them in surprise.

"What's wrong?　Um, are you all right?"

"Well, he's probably drunk. Leave him alone."

"Oh, yeah. Drinking too much is bad for you.

The three of us are slumped down in the middle of the room, and the people around us begin to notice and make a bit of a commotion.

The security guard, who usually leaves most disputes unattended, thought he could not overlook them and approached them with a blatant frown on his face.

"Hey, hey, you can't just sit here!

As soon as the black-suited security guard called out to him, one of the men could not hold back and regurgitated the contents of his stomach.

A sound of anguished voices and watery noises echoed through the room, and a stale smell spread through the room.

"d*mn it, you guys, who do you think is going to clean up!"

"What the hell are they doing? They're so stupid it's funny."

"This is the worst place to throw up. You're really not supposed to do that.

I guess I'll be banned for a while."

It seems that many people disliked the three of them, but there were few voices of sympathy.

As the crowd began to gather, Thor and Sora quietly backed away and headed for the reception counter.

The right side of the lobby was separated by a counter, behind which we could see staff members in green uniforms hurriedly going about their work.

In front of the counter, couches were lined up, and several people were sitting on them, looking bored and waiting to be called.

"The registration desk is ......, I think it's this way.

With Sola in tow, Thor approached the window at the far end of the counter.

His memory was rather hazy, as he rarely stopped by the counter except to renew his adventurer's card.

When he looked in, he saw the woman who had just helped him yesterday.

When she notices Thor, she blinks and her expression changes to one of surprise.

"Oh, hello. It's unusual to see you here.

"Oh, I'm just chaperoning a friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Sora. I'm here to be an adventurer!

The receptionist, Enna, bowed politely to the girl who suddenly spoke up.

After a pause, she remembered that it had been a long time since she had heard Thor's voice.

Hello, you are a new adventurer? Thank you for your application.

"It's not that big of a deal, but it's nice to meet you."

Stifling a smile at Sola's somewhat offbeat response, Enna took a moment to look at the expression on the man standing next to the girl.

Although he is ridiculed by low-ranked adventurers as a mud scavenger, Thor's reputation is reasonably high among some of the staff members.

He has been an adventurer for almost twenty-five years without a break, despite the fact that his skills are not really suited for actual combat.

His mental strength and his physical ability to avoid fatal injuries are his notable strengths.

However, it is also true that Thor has never made any close friends, and has always remained at the lowest G rank.

And then, out of the blue, he shows up accompanied by a beautiful young woman.

The receptionist was understandably suspicious that it was some kind of a scam.

"May I assume that you are here today to introduce me to Mr. Thor?

"Yes, I'm with Thor-chan."

"Excuse me, may I ask what kind of relationship you two have?"

Well, we are (will be) husband and wife.

"We're from the same village, so he came to me for help. That's all."

When Enna gave her a searching look, the girl gave her a big smile with no evil intentions.

She looked at Thor and shook her head with an indescribable expression on her face.

She may be a little strange, but she doesn't look like the kind of girl who can fool people.

In fact, the equipment he is wearing makes Thor look more like a deceiver.

Judging that he looks alright, the receptionist holds out a piece of paper.

"Please fill out this form first. Would you like me to fill it out for you?"

"A substitute?"

"I mean, do you want me to write it for you?"

"Oh, no problem. I can write it myself.

The only information required is name, age, and place of birth.

Sola, who had written her name and the name of her village, tilted her head at the age column.

"Well, I will be forty-two years old this year, won't I?　Hey, Thor-chan."

"It's too much trouble, just make it seventeen."

"Thank you. Next, would you please touch this one?

The receptionist, who had brilliantly ignored Toll and his friends' funny exchange, now placed a crystal ball on the counter that was large enough to support with both hands.

"Heh, what's this?"

"This is a tool to examine your skills. It will not cause any pain, so please don't worry.

It is said that the invention of this magical stone tool, called a "soul-measuring instrument," was the first time that the existence of the skill tree was revealed.

Until then, there was no way to determine the skills possessed by a person except by receiving revelations in temples, and it was impossible to select a skill and cultivate it.

The adventurer's tag is a miniaturized version of this soul-measuring device with reduced functions.

Thor, stretching his neck from behind, peeks into the crystal ball and sees the tree of Sola's skills reflected in it.

It was exactly the same as the one he had checked when he held her hand on the way here, but the clarity was clearly different and blurred.

It seems that Thor's "time-line perception" is special after all.

Moreover, Thor was beginning to realize that there was more (・・・・・・・・) to it than that.

"Yes, I have confirmed it. A white trunk is quite unusual. And the magic technique of ......, I have never seen this before.

"Hmm, I see. I was the only one in the village who had it.

May I ask what kind of skills you have?

"Um, eh, and the attack bounces back."

"That's ...... great. Any kind of thing?"

I couldn't do anything too fast."

The receptionist watches the girl's face with interest as she beams with pride.

Like Thor, Sora is a unique holder.

The details of her skills are as follows.

--Reverse the target's attack or effect.

Level 1 / Usable number of times: 5 times in an hour / Activation: Instant / Effect: 50% / Range: Perception

Although it is level 1, it is clear from the numbers that it is a very useful skill.

Recalling at a low level, Thor shook his head.

At the same time, he recalls how the girl had dared to protect Thor with her own body in order to make sure that he would catch the too-fast attack.

"Now, please wait there for a moment while I issue you an adventurer's card.

"Yes, I'll be waiting!"

Sitting on the couch, Sola takes a deep breath and relaxes her shoulders.

The girl looked up at Thor, who folded his arms, and smiled with a look of accomplishment on her face.

"Mmmm, now I'm an adventurer just like you, Thor-chan!

"Hey, Sola. Hey, Sola. Are you sure you liked it?　If there's anything else you want to do, I can help you."

With the image of the girl with blood reddening her neck flashing in his mind, Thor gives his final confirmation.

The girl gives him a carefree smile.　

"Yes, I'm very satisfied. I'm so happy to be able to walk with you again, Thor.

Sola, with a slight blush on her cheeks, asked the opposite question.

What is your dream, Thor?　Come on, let's hear it from your sister. I'll give you all the help I can!"

Thor was at a loss for words at the unexpected response and the nostalgic sound of "sister.

After scratching his chin for a while, he began to mumble.

"Me or ......, I want to go far away."

"Far away?"

"Yeah, I've been walking around in circles in the same place for a long time."

For Thor, the hunting grounds were the kobold forest just outside the city.

For Thor, tomorrow would be the same as today.

For twenty-five years, his life had been nothing but repeating the same thing over and over again.　

Now, that is about to change drastically thanks to the that he has cultivated and the existence of Sora.

The day has come when I can finally stop the endless footsteps I have been on.

The younger adventurers who have moved on have told me about many places.

A river as red as blood.

A wilderness with a headwind.

Forts where orcs roamed and swamps where demonic fires raged.

Despite their venomous words of never wanting to go back, their faces were filled with a variety of emotions.

The spirit to continue to challenge unbeatable difficulties, the pride of having defeated a powerful enemy, and the deep joy of coming back alive with their friends.

All of these were things Thor had never experienced before.

A place he had only been told about, a place with a view that his imagination could not contain.

"I want to go there. You're right ......, I want to have an adventure."

"Yes, come with me!　Tall girl."

Thor's gaze is met head-on by Sola's dark eyes.

They looked at each other for a moment and nodded as if in unison.

It was the moment when the adventurer, who had been alone for so long, finally found a companion (party).