9 - How to Walk in the Little Devil's Forest No. 2

"Oh, I just cracked something!"

Sola, who had been scrabbling hard at the monster, which looked like nothing more than brown mud stuck in a tree, raised her voice at the feel of the knife.

Thor, who had been waiting beside her, immediately catches the dripping fluid with a thin shell.

Thora gazed happily at the sight of the liquid smoothly settling into the shell.

"That's how you collect them. That's interesting."

"Really?　I've earned the nickname "mud fisherman" thanks to this one."

"It looks like a mud puddle. But I'm more of a mud sweeper than a mud pusher. And thanks to Tall, the trees are clean.

"If you put it that way, everything we do around here is like cleaning."

Sola gives me a knife, which has been deformed considerably, and puts a cork in a filled shell and puts it in a bag on my back.

Thor puts the knife back in its sheath, which is instantly restored to its original state, and looks at his waistband.

There, in addition to the horned mole, hung the monster he had just killed.

The name of this bird, almost the same size as the horned mole, is the pointed beak.

It has a nasty habit of pecking at tree trunks with its thin, sharp beak.

When approached, it darts about in small steps and attacks at high speed, aiming for the eyes and throat, and it is a formidable foe with a very high evasion rate.

However, it is a good thing that, like the horned mole, it is easy to escape from the tree trunks, since it will not chase you as far as you move away from the tree it occupies.

"Hmmm, cleaning all ......?"

Thora tilted her head, not understanding the meaning of Thor's words and his gaze.

Thor was about to answer, but then he turned his eyes to the sky through the trees.

The sun was shining brightly, slightly past its zenith.

"Let's continue over lunch, shall we?"　

The girl's eyes light up at this declaration.

They had been walking for nearly three hours since they left the city, and their stomachs were feeling good and empty.

Sitting down with Thor on an old stump, Thora puts her walking stick on the stump, takes off her hood, and lets out a deep breath.

She then took off her gloves as well, and patted them on her face.

She wants to take off her shoes as well, but she is holding back because she is in front of Thor.

He is wearing a breastplate and a robe over his thick woolen clothes.

Even though we are in the shade of the trees, it is still hot in this mid-spring season.

But Sola, who grew up in the countryside, was more than aware of what would happen to her if she bared her bare skin in such a place.

Here, here's your share.

"Thank you, Thor."

Thor handed me a leaf packet containing a chunk of dried meat, a few cookies, and a slice of cheese.

Sola unwrapped the package and shouted happily.

"Oh, meat!　Bon appétit!"

The girl bites into the reddish-brown meat with joy, but her face turns delicate as she chews on it.

After forcibly tearing off the dried meat, Sola hurriedly reached for a cookie and threw it into her mouth.

She takes a couple of bites, then rolls her eyes and jumps into her leather-bagged water bottle.

After forcibly pouring down all the water, Sora finally took a breath and let out a sigh.

"Huh, too salty!"

"You're sweating. It's too salty."

"I didn't think even the cookies were salty. ....... Ha, cheese too?"

It tastes normal.

As he answers, Thor puts a piece of dried meat and a piece of cheese, which he has peeled thinly with a knife, on a cookie and brings it to his mouth.

"Oh, that looks delicious!"

Here."

Sola accepts the knife offered to him and does the same as he sees fit.

"Mm-hmm. This is easy to eat. It's still a little salty. You should have told me first!

"Because you ate it before I could teach you. So, as I was saying, have you noticed anything on your walk up here?"

"Well... Well, I guess I was surprised that it was easier to walk than I thought it would be."

"Why do you think that is?"

"There is a good path and good visibility ......, come to think of it, there were no downed trees and the vines and underbrush have been trimmed. Also, the undergrowth is thick, so it must get a lot of sun."

Thor watches as the girl twirls her index finger and raises one point after another, the edges of her lips lifting slightly.

"Yes, this forest is very well maintained.

"Yes, you've seen a lot."

The kobold forest just outside the town is a place that has been cleared for tree trimming.

Over time, safe paths have been built, trees have been lined up, and dangerous beasts have been driven out.

Today, the forest is known as a source of high quality timber, with a forest road that runs around the middle of the forest and three logging sites.

After hearing Thor's explanation, Sora turned around and looked at the hole in the tree made by the forest slime.

Then, he suddenly claps his hands with a snap.

"I see. So it's cleaning."

Or more accurately, extermination."

Horned moles damage roots, sharp beaks puncture trunks, and forest slime melts trunks and kills branches.

These three monsters that appeared around the forest paths were the natural enemies of trees.　

The first job of a new adventurer is to hunt them by walking around.

By the way, how many skill points do you think you've earned so far?

"I killed three of them, so I guess that's three points."

"Unfortunately, it's only one point. We killed the mole and the bird together, so no points.

"Ew!"

Skill points are divided by the number of people involved in the battle, but decimal points are rounded down.

Even if two people kill a three-point monster, they will receive only one point.

However, if the monster is a group, the total is divided by the number of people involved.

If two people kill a group of two 3-point monsters, the total number of points is six, so each person gets three points.

Also, the training points of monsters are usually in multiples of five, which is the reason why the maximum number of people in a party is often five.

"Well, that's a harsh story.

Three fish in three hours, walking around all day and making single digits is all I can do.

It would take more than two hundred days to raise your skill to level 2, even if you continue to exterminate them without a break.

And that is without any help from anyone.

Sola was still deeply impressed by Thor's perseverance and what he had accomplished.

"Thor-chan is still too cool. ......"

"Let's get back to the story. Now you know that the forest roads we've been going around aren't very efficient for a two-person team."

"Yes, I understand very well..."

So I think I'll go a little further in."

"Oh, you're going ahead!"

They had planned to spend a few more days touring the forest roads, but Thor decided to accelerate his plans because Sola was even better than he had expected.

In any adventure, it is of course important to be cautious, but it is also important to take advantage of every opportunity.

Besides, Thor could not practice using in the middle of a battle, since it would be over soon against moles and birds.

The development of the kobold forest is progressing only up to the middle of the forest.

Beyond that, the depths of the forest are dark and densely populated even during the daytime, and the monsters that appear there are completely different.

It is also a hunting ground for adventurers in a party.

"Do you have any water left?"

I have half!

"Have you finished urinating?"

I just did.

"How are you doing?"

"Yes, perfect!"

Sola's eyes were not overwhelmed as she answered in good humor.

In fact, she is in such good spirits that it is hard to believe that it is her first day.

"Well then, after I've rested for about 30 minutes to get my magic back to full strength, I'll go to see the people for whom this forest is named.