58 - a difficult situation

On the third day, Thor and his crew, having killed twelve frogs and two fish in the morning, packed up their gear and left.

Thor took the folded tent and three frogs, and Sora was in charge of the two fish.

The rest of the frogs could not be carried, so they were discarded.

Moe is on his favorite sled and Yuril is borrowing Sola's walking stick.

Apparently there is no shame in a long cane. A feeling that Thor does not understand.

They head upstream, avoiding the banks of the heavily fatigued sucking grass and passing along the riverbanks as much as possible.

On the way, he crosses several riverbanks, and at one of them he comes across several adventurers who are just getting ready to leave.

A sudden thought occurred to Thor, and he approached and called out to them.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but may I have a word?"

"Yeah, what can I do for you?"

Approached by a middle-aged man with a child and two women in tow, the adventurer stops in his tracks with a wary look on his face.

"Are you pulling out of here now?"

"Yes, but what about it?"

"Then can we use it afterwards?"

The man glanced at Thor's luggage and deliberately lifted his shoulders.

He then put his hands on his hips and answered in a troublesome manner.

"No, I can't, I have another appointment."

"You have an appointment? Where do you want me to make it?"

"Where is ....... Oh, you just got here. Well, if you'll lend me the ladies over there for a minute--"

The man choked on his words, perhaps noticing the black adventurer's tag around Yuril's neck.

The man, perhaps not wanting to get involved with a party that included a C-rank adventurer, forcefully cut the conversation short.

"......I'm busy. Come on, just go."

Thor waved the adventurer away and walked away with a slight bow of his head in place of a bow.

It seems that Rorolf and the others were not lying.

Thor and the others arrived at the large quarry before noon, and leaving a weary Ulir in front of the hut, they headed first for the dismantling site where they could buy the materials.

As they went around to the back side of the dismantling yard, they could smell the fishy smell.

There were several white tents lined up in the back and a few wooden poles in front of them.

Ropes were stretched over the long stakes, and the flesh and skin of some kind was swaying in the wind.

In the foreground, long tables and barrels were placed here and there, and several men were in the process of cutting open the corpse of a huge beast.

One of the employees, perhaps noticing Thor and the others, comes up to them, wiping his hands on his apron.

"Welcome, are you here to buy something?"

As he asks, a man in an apron leads us to an empty table and asks us to take our bags down.

Thor lifts up a dead red poison frog with its hind legs tied with rope, and the staff member hurries to bring an empty barrel.

Released from the weight of the two blood-spewing fish, Thora stretches lightly and stretches her chest out.

Growing up in the countryside, carrying this much baggage for a whole day was not a hardship for him.

The girl who was looking around with interest notices a pile of familiar creatures on the table, and her voice cracks up.

Wow, there are so many crabs!　And you're so big!"

"What's that?　Could it be a beetle?　Sora-ne-chan."

"They're called crabs. They live in the stream, and they can chop you up with a pair of scissors. Moo-chan's hair gets chopped off, too.

Moo rolled his eyes a little and laughed as Sola ruffled his head.

"Thor, can you eat that?"

"Can you eat it?　Is it good?"

They are very tasty when boiled. Please try it when you come back to town.

"Crabs are a bit expensive. ....... Don't those come downstream?"

Uh, yes, yes. They occur in a somewhat limited number of hunting grounds.

It seems that the talk of an upstream-only market was not a mistake.

Perhaps noticing the disapproving looks on the girls' faces, the official casually changes the subject.

"Thank you for bringing in fewer frogs. Oh, we also have the assessment of the kills, would you like to settle the bill with us?

The reddish-black tongue from the leather bag and the dorsal fins, which had been tied together with twine, were also laid out on the table, and the eyes of the staff member widened slightly.

He seemed surprised to see a surprisingly large number of fish.

The man who had quickly finished the bill wrote the numbers on a sheet of paper and asked Thor to sign it.

He held out the completed form and pointed to a log cabin.

"Please take this paper to the receptionist, and they will exchange it for cash. Please be careful not to make the paper dirty or it will be invalid.

"Thank you. Thank you very much.

When Thor and the others returned, Yuril, who had been leaning against the fence in front of the hut, lightly bade them goodbye.

With his hood off, his tightly braided silver hair shines faintly in the sunlight.

Her icy beauty, which does not easily attract people, seemed to soften as soon as she turned her attention to Thor and the others.

Thor's eyes are involuntarily drawn to the beautiful flower-like expression that unexpectedly appears from beneath the snow.

However, Yuril did not seem to be bothered by it and spoke to him in a clear voice.

"It seems you are selling something over there. May I go take a look?"

As I was told, I could hear the voices of callers and the hustle and bustle of the crowd echoing from a corner of the square lined with carriages.

Apparently, they were selling goods brought from the city.

Perhaps it was because it was just before noon, but the smell of delicious food was wafting through the air.

Yes, please come in. Oh, please buy something to snack on.

"Yes, I understand. Would you like to join us, Mr. Sora?

"Dinner?　Then, let's go to Moore's!

"Yes, I will, I will, I will."

After seeing the three men off, Thor pushed open the wooden door and stepped into the sub-branch office.

Standing at the counter was the Midoriwa man from the other day.

He instantly recognized Thor's face and formed a smile with only his lips.

"Hello, how are you?

"I'd like to ask you to redeem this for cash."

I hand him the papers I got at the demolition site. Rishi, in his green uniform, looks them over quickly and then looks up.

"How did you like this bloody river hunting ground?　Master Thor."

"I wouldn't say it's a very pleasant place."

"Yes, it's a place where monsters spring up, so it's far from fun."

Rishi deliberately shifts the meaning of Thor's words.

"By the way, I've heard a lot of rumors, are they true?"

"Well, gentlemen, since you are bored, there are a lot of rumors. Now, which ones are you talking about?"

"Reservations for hunting grounds, that kind of thing. You know, the kind where if you pay a lot of money, you get to go somewhere nice."

Oh, yes, that's it, sir. Yes, if you wish, I can be your intermediary.

"So I want to move upstream, how much does it cost?"

"Yes, ......."

Rishi's price-gouging gaze quickly falls on Thor's belongings.

The edges of his lips lifted even more as he noticed the blue-striped serpent's cloak, which was a very expensive item.

"Yes, in today's market, that's about three gold coins a week.

Considering that the average adventurers' bureau employee earns about five gold coins a year, this is quite a bargain.

Perhaps noticing Thor's snide expression, Rishi withdraws his smile.

Then he switches to a fake smile again and lays the coins on the counter.

The result of three days of work: four silver coins, a large copper coin, and a medium copper coin.

It was barely enough for a one-way carriage ride.

Thank you very much. We look forward to seeing you again.

Thor pushed open the door and walked out, receiving the white words on his back.