28 - pressing situation

Thor quickly checks the corpse of the boar, which has been violently gutted and has expired.

He quickly the fallen tree and tries to squeeze it between the gaps, which seems to work better than expected.

When the legs are lifted off the ground in the overturned state, it is surprisingly difficult for a quadruped, in this case a six-legged animal, to stand up.

The shoulders and neck of the giant beasts that I examined up close were covered with hard black knobs.

The appearance of the animal reminds me of this scaled armor, so I am sure that it is an armored boar.

The problem was its size and the presence of extra legs extending from the middle of its body.

As Thor's brow furrows, a voice calls out to him.

"......Oh, that ...... that ........."

I turned around and saw a young man standing there, his leather armor still torn at the shoulder.

He still seemed confused, unable to comprehend what had happened.

He tried to say something, but his words failed to come out and he stammered.

Thor nodded lightly and handed him the circular shield he had removed from the boar's tusks.

The shield had a big hole drilled in it, but the boy was relieved for some reason and finally relaxed his shoulders a little.

"...... Thank you very much for your help."　

"Don't worry about it. We were originally going to hunt this guy today."

The boy smiles awkwardly at Thor's nonchalant response.

There is no need to help a dying colleague, even if he is the target of a hunt.

Facing the man who saved his life, the boy felt his neck turn red as he recalled his previous rude attitude.

At the same time, questions about the impossible phenomenon that had happened to them began to bubble up.

"Oh, um, um, it's ......, isn't it ......?"

Thor silently put his index finger to his mouth as the boy choked up again with a rush of emotions.

The boy, who was surprised by this unexpected gesture, let out a deep breath and smiled naturally this time.

Thor nodded lightly again and pointed at the body of the boar he had been examining.

"Look here, you see a lot of legs?"

"Yes. This is no ordinary armored boar.

This is what is called a gregarious fauna. I've seen this before.

Monsters whose territory has been narrowed due to overabundance or external factors cause a phenomenon called phase mutation.

This causes the monsters to change into a special form called the gregarious phase, which is said to make them more vicious.

"Is that ......?"

"Actually, I just saw a cave with kobolds. It's on the verge of overflowing."

"What!"

"I'm sorry, can you give me a hand?"

"Hey, everyone, gather around!"

At the boy's call, the other members of the group, who had been stunned by the boy's words, begin to gather in numbers.

The three men's faces changed color as they heard the explanation.

"Really?　Something's pretty bad, isn't it?"

"Not quite, Rickal. Very much, very much."

"This isn't the time to be talking about anything else. What do you want me to do?　Sisan."

"I think it's best if I follow Mr. Toll's instructions."

The four of them stared at him in unison, and Thor took over the conversation.

"First of all, let's get out of here right away. The armored boars are close to our territory.

"Oh, you're leaving the boar behind?"

"Tor-chan, don't you eat meat?"

The two men who had been doing the meat dance around the boar make disappointed noises.

"We can come back for it later, let's hurry up!"

"Yes, sir. Come on, Moo-chan.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see!"

Thor and the others reached the forest road, where they split up.

The logging sites in this forest are located one to the northeast and one to the southeast, inside the circular forest road.

When the kobolds' caves appear in the back of the forest, even the ordinary goblins become active and come out of their territory.

This would then risk pushing them to the logging area, and the dispersal to three different locations was a countermeasure.

The group of four headed south, while Thor and the others headed north.

After walking along the forest road for about 30 minutes, the sound of axes pounding on trees could be heard.

After another ten minutes, they finally reach an open area.

Logs were piled up here and there in the open space that also served as a lumberyard, and men with scythe and skinning sickles in their hands were walking around.

Thor sees an acquaintance in one of them and approaches him to talk to him.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Hey, it's been a long time. What's going on?　　

"The cave of the little ogre has appeared. And it's in a very dangerous state.

"What!"

The man, his dark-skinned face turning blue, hurriedly runs to the site supervisor.

A whistle is blown sharply, and immediately the men around him stop their work and gather around.

Moe claps his hands, his eyes shining.

"The cave is out!　We'll retreat immediately. And there might be an outbreak. And get ready to warn the town!

At the urging of the man in charge of organizing the event, the men in hachimaki rushed to get ready.

They gather freshly peeled tree bark, pile it up, and light it on fire.

When the fire was burning, large quantities of leaves and raw wood were thrown into the fire.

The man in charge throws red powder into the smoky fire.

The red smoke is instantly mixed in, and the bonfire turns into a roar.

After signaling the town, the lumberjacks leave the logging camp in small groups, making sure everyone is present.

Thor and the others take up the role of protectors.

As they walk along the forest road, they see red smoke rising behind the trees.

It seems that the news of the four had arrived safely.

An hour later, the group reaches a position where they can see a stone wall through a gap in the trees.　

Thor exhaled in secret when he saw no sign of a battle.

"Yes!　The wall is coming into view."

"One more breath. Don't let up!"

Behind the men who are shouting to each other, Thor's face grows grim.

Normally, red flags would be draped on the flanking towers of the stone walls during a vigil.

I don't see them.

I had heard that half of the guard had been sent out as advance troops on an expedition to Bossalia, and it seems that this has taken its toll on them.

Thor stopped when he saw the outer gate crowded with returning adventurers and lumberjacks.

"What's wrong?　Thor-chan."

"Tor-chan, can't you walk anymore?　Well, I guess we'll just have to do it.

"Well, that's not going to work, Moo-chan."

Sora, who had been taking turns pulling the sled with Thor, protests against Moe's attempts to add more people to the crew.

Thor approached them and spoke quietly to them, touching their shoulders.

"I'm going to go finish up some unfinished business. You guys go back first and stay with the landlord.

"............Yeah, okay. So we just protect the landlord?"

"On the contrary, on the contrary. He's a hundred times stronger than you. Try to stay as close to him as possible."

Thor sees Sola nodding and bends down to look at Mu.

"Tor, I'm going out for a bit now, can you be a good boy and wait for me?"

"Can't Moe come with us?"

"I'll be back as soon as I finish my work. In the meantime, take care of Sora for me.

At Thor's words, the child's expression remained unchanged and she gave a small sigh.

Tugging lightly on the child's cheek, Thor thrust out a clenched fist.

"Well, I'll see you later."

Moe reluctantly nodded and tapped his small fist against Thor's hand.

Thora watched Thor's back as he headed north through the trees, and as he turned to go to the gate, he noticed a familiar face approaching.

It is Carles, the gate guard.

He is carrying several thin spears under his arm.

"Hey, Thora, where's the old man?"

"Thor-chan said she was going to go to work."

Where the hell are you wandering off to at the critical moment? Hey, you see that red smoke?　I'm having trouble deciding if that's real or not. Shit!　What are you doing, shorty?

Carles, his sled smashed against the other shin, questions Moe's sudden lawlessness.

"You're a psycho!　Stay away from Sola-ne-chan!"

"He'll be fine, Moe. And it's really dangerous. There were goblins coming out of the cave.

No, that's not true. The kobolds' cave was just sealed up ten days ago. Even if there's a new outbreak, it shouldn't overflow until it's been there for a month.

But there is no way that veteran Thor could have been mistaken.

Carles immediately sensed that something unexpected was afoot.

"This is not good. The men from the logging camp to the south have not returned yet. Should we hurry and pick them up?

This is where Sisan and his group of four were headed.

There was red smoke, so something might have happened on the way here.

Sola couldn't help but raise one hand and one voice.

"I'll help you, too!"