45 - a man who pays his debts

The size of the dungeon is said to be determined by the distance from the "coma pit.

The closer it is, the deeper and larger it is, and the farther away, the shallower and smaller.

And of course, the smaller and shallower the dungeon is, the more frequently it occurs and the more likely it is to be filled with miasma due to its capacity.

This is why it is easy to cause monster outbreaks.

The cave of kobolds, which is located within three hours from the border town, is overflowing with monsters after about a month of neglect.

Therefore, it was required to attack the cave within a month.

Specifically, up to three F-ranked parties were allowed to take on the challenge, and each party was given a deadline of ten days.

If all of them failed, a request for conquest would be issued to a higher-ranked party.

What is important here is that this kobold's cave is not only a troublesome disaster for the border town, but also serves as a simple mine that springs up once a month.

However, unlike ordinary mines, it does not require much labor to dig tunnels, and there is no pollution of the surrounding area by waste.

Moreover, there is no need to bury the mined materials after they have been extracted, and they disappear on their own.

Moreover, the grade of the ore is quite high, although the quality is not so high, so there is enough ore to be used in the border town.

Therefore, until a certain amount of ore is obtained, the owner of the labyrinth must not be defeated, which is a strange contradiction.

The Adventurers Bureau sends adventurers to temporarily remove danger from the dungeon and create an environment conducive to ore mining.

The blacksmiths' cooperative, which buys the mining rights from the bureau, hires miners to procure materials for its own use.

Incidentally, lumberjacks are also dispatched from the woodworkers' cooperative that purchased the logging rights from the Bureau.

Unlike the forest, however, in the case of the kobolds' caves, which disappear and reappear on a daily basis, mining rights are traded on a daily basis.

In other words, if the miners take a long time to conquer the dungeon and the work of the miners does not progress well, the Adventurers Bureau makes a profit from it.

For this reason, the parties that challenge the cave of the kobolds are preferentially assigned to the first half of the group, starting with those who seem to lack experience and ability.

The latter half of the group has made some progress in map making and mining, and the difficulty level has decreased significantly.

In other words, although priority is given to those who have discovered the site, the reason why Thor's party was able to take on the challenge so easily was due to such circumstances.

If you fail to conquer the cave, the priority of the right to challenge the cave of kobolds in the following month will be lowered.

It is said that the party was considered to be a little more powerful, but the promotion of Thor and his party could have been postponed for more than a month.

In this respect, the Adventurers Bureau is a formidable opponent.

It is highly likely that Thor and his team would have failed to win the competition if the normal ten-day limit had been imposed by the three challenge groups.

The reason for the fifteen-day limit is that only two teams challenged this month.

"Well, today is the last day, are we on track?　Mr. Sober Hero."

"Did you come all the way out here to see me off?"

"Yes, of course. Because we're good opponents.

"We have not yet done enough to be called your enemies, but your spirit is very admirable, my lady."

"Are you making fun of me?　You are, aren't you?"

A red-haired woman with her hands on her hips and her chest out, and a young man of the brown-horned tribe following behind her.

It is not clear by what means the two parties were able to narrow down the challenge to two, but it seems that the negotiations between these two noisy individuals, who met at the Adventurers' Bureau the other day, were definitely responsible for the narrowing down of the challenge party.

Although he should have thanked them, Thor silently scratched the bottom of his chin, as he felt that they might get angry with him.

"Hello, Bettina!

"How are you?　Sora. Oh, you look good in that suit."

"Heh heh, is that so?"

"Yes, it's a very nice piece. Will you introduce me to your store next time?　Also, you can call me Betty."

"Yes, shall we go together, Mr. Betti?"

Sola and the others already knew each other since they had visited us once before under the guise of a hostile situation inspection.

"Mu seems to be doing well. He's still a little boy, but..."

"Tei!"

"Ouch. Why does he always hit me?"

Moo doesn't get along with his rivals!

"That's a fine spirit you have, Master Moocher. I will reward you with a piece of candy.

"Godin is a good man!　You can make him a part of Moe's crew."

"This is a fascinating story, but I am a servant of the young lady."

Moo receives a candy ball from a young man and rolls it around in his mouth, while Sola chats happily with a red-haired lady.

They seem to be relaxing from the strain of facing the master of the labyrinth.

Inwardly thanking the duo, Thor heads for the cave for one last search.

The chief miner informed him that they had already mined the required amount.

He was deeply grateful for the considerable savings that had been achieved in half a month.

"Well, I'm off."

"I'm off!"

"Masu!"

Take care!"

"Hang in there, old man!"

"I'm sure you'll be fine, but don't push yourself too hard, Mr. Toll."

"Well, I don't think there's any way you can lose here, but good luck."

"You are very kind to say so, but if Thor-sama wins, we are sure to lose.

"Well, then, just challenge them to a new game!"

Thor and his team move forward in the darkness, being watched over by a variety of voices.

First, they quickly and easily conquer the first layer they are accustomed to.

After restoring their magic power and the number of times they can use magic, they descend to the second level.

We spend another hour here, killing all the hobgoblins.

After recovering again, we head for the southeast passage.

After slowly descending, we came to a slightly larger plaza.

This room seems to be the only one on the third floor.

Because of the pale luminescence of the moss on the walls and ceiling, I could see into every corner of the room without turning on the magic stone lamp.

The ground is flat, and there are no obvious holes or protrusions.

At the far end of the plaza is a towering monster - the hobgoblin chief.

As before, he is clutching a bone club, clad in the fur of an armored boar.

Thor's body trembles slightly when he sees the black hole behind it.

The ground has vanished, as if it had been cut out in a circle.

Instead, it was filled with something blacker than darkness.

Raising his eyebrows at the horrifying presence drifting in, Thor is convinced that it is a miasma hole.

At the same time, he understands that the pit that produces the miasma is not compatible with the living.

"Shall we begin? Moe, please."

"Rai!"

The child, who had been scurrying around, activates the at Thor's call.

Without a pause, he also summons a small purple serpent, .

In the past fifteen days, Mu's skill points have exceeded 1,000, so he is now able to learn them all at the same time.

"Don't be too eager, Sora!"

"Oh, my God!　I was so ready to do it."

Thor pulled out his sword and slung it after a small smile at the sight of the girl's slightly puffed out cheeks.

He says nothing more and walks away.

The hobgoblin chief waiting for them is about two heads taller than Thor.

The difference in reach would be similar.

From his physique, it is clear that he weighs more than Thor.

The weight of a blow should be considered more than double.

Thick walls of muscle and hard boar pelts.

Their durability may exceed that of iron armor.

The only thing that Thor seems to have over the boar is his quickness and the sharpness of his blows.

But that was enough.

The monster slowly flinched as if it had noticed the approaching intruder.

Its eyeballs glanced over to catch sight of Thor.

But Thor does not show any sign of concern, and does not slow his steps.

He steps into the gap without hesitation.

With a roar, the club is swung down.

If it hits, it will pop like a balloon full of blood.

Maximum speed.

Thor closes the distance in an instant and half-steps to his feet, bringing the club into his own.

He raises his iron sword, held in both hands, and sharply strikes the wrist that holds the Hobgoblin Chief's club.

Just as he stops moving slightly, Thor's blade flashes across the sky.

Taking advantage of the recoil from the blow to the wrist, he slashes up at the jaw from below.

He instantly turns his wrist and changes the trajectory of his sword's tip to a thrust.

Thor feels the tip of the blade bite into his neck, and immediately kicks the ground, sending him backward.

A beat later, the club passes by the spot where Thor was standing with tremendous force.

It was the same maneuver as before, but with a different result.

Green blood was quietly flowing from the hobgoblin chief's jaw, neck, and side where he had been cut on the way down.

"...... now you owe me a debt."

Thor, who had successfully landed three consecutive blows, muttered a few words.

He did not seem to understand the meaning of the words, but seemed to have taken them as a provocation.

The monster bared its teeth and shook its face, and the blood that had been dripping down its body surface suddenly stopped.

Flesh has risen up, sealing the wound.

If the conditions had been the same as before, I could have used the hole in the outer wall to smash the masonry into its head.

But there is nothing here that could be used.

Thor had no chance unless he could somehow inflict a fatal blow.

"Hang in there, Tor-chan!

At Moe's sudden cheer, Thor glanced behind him.

The young child was waving his hands in the air, cheering for Thor.

Beside him, Sola, clutching her staff stubbornly, looks at him with a serious gaze.

Thor accepts at his back the feelings of his friends who have followed him through this grueling half month of hunting without a single complaint.

Then, the hobgoblin chief, who does not read the situation, suddenly slams his club down on him.

His blue-striped cloak flutters and wraps around him in a killing blow.

The cloak, which would normally have been easily torn to shreds, withstood the club without a hitch.

A purple electric current runs through the touched area and clings to the monster's arm.

The hobgoblin chief let out a strange cry from the back of his throat at the unexpected pain.

The blue-striped serpent's leather cloak is resistant to corrosion, but not to blows.

The only reason it did not break was because Thor it to a state where it was on the verge of breaking.

When exposed to Hobgoblin Shaman's , the armor rots away and its defensive performance drops considerably.

By , Sora is able to maintain the armor in a sturdy state for only two minutes.

This is what Thor repeated.

Over and over again.

Each time the Hobgoblin Shaman fires a "rotten bullet", Thor catches it with his cloak, which has been "restored" to its original state of improved performance, and has it by Thora.

The next time, the effect is repeated and again.

The rate of increase is reasonable if it is done only once, but it is done dozens of times.

Thor's cloak was now stronger than even dragon skin for two minutes.

And the same thing had been done with the other piece of equipment.

Step into the gap.

The hobgoblin chief swings his club down.

Thor's sword catches it.

So far, so good.

The next moment, as if slicing through butter, the monster's hand is easily cut off and sent flying through the air.

At the same time, the monster's jaw is slashed from just below to the top of its head, followed by a blade running horizontally across the base of its neck.

The thick neck fell to the ground in a heap, and a breath later, green blood spurted out violently.

Thor quickly backs away from it and sheathes his steel sword, which has been well-honed to a sharpness.

A cracking sound echoed through the plaza.