61 - the second river

Thor and his friends, ready to go, were once again being rocked by the coach bound for the Bleeding River.

The weather is supposed to clear up by the end of the week, so the seats are again on the ceiling.

Unfortunately, Yuril is not with them since it has been less than a week.

Because of this, Sola has been assigned to play the role of Mu's pillow.

They have become quite close recently, and it is becoming commonplace for them to be in close contact with each other.

However, Sola's thighs are too firm and bouncy for the child's liking, and she has been mumbling in her sleep.

The carriage arrived at its destination without incident through the wind-swept brown plains.

After filling out the form at the office, Thor and his friends headed for the square where the carriage was parked, instead of going immediately to the riverbank.

On their way back to the hotel, they noticed that there seemed to be a shop selling daily necessities.

As they approached a corner where there was a good number of people, they found a pile of goods under a tent.

Barley wine barrels big enough to hold, plates of bread, salted meat, and cheese.

There was also a blood ointment, a flintlock, a hemp rope, and various other consumables.

It's a bit like a general store, but they don't seem to have any vegetables that don't last long.

"As Yuril said the other day, it's not too expensive, is it?"　

"Yes, just a little bit more. That's a big help.

Since the amount of luggage allowed in the wagon is fixed, it is very nice to be able to buy things locally without worrying about the price.

After purchasing a bundle of charcoal and a barrel of barley wine, Thor and his friends started walking downstream as before.

Moe, who was happy with the comfort of his new leather shoes, stomped happily on the ground as the three of them walked downstream.

After less than an hour, they arrived at an uninhabited riverbank, dropped their luggage, and stretched lightly.

"Well, let's get ready."

"Yes, Moo-chan, let's have a stone-pounding race!"

"I'll take you up on that, Sora-neechan!"

This time there are three of us, so we have only one tent.

However, in case it rains, we double up the tent and lightly dig ditches around it to prevent water from getting in.

Next, we put up a tent for an outdoor toilet on the other side of the bank.

Sora and the others piled up stones to make a makeshift stone stove.

They quickly lighted the coals and started roasting sausages and bread on skewers in a flat iron pan.

The smell of splashing oil wafted through the air, and a child, unable to wait to see what was to come, slapped Sola on the thigh, drooling.

The black bread was warmed and softened a little, and there were grilled sausages and herb tea boiling on the heating board.

The menu has not changed much from the previous one, but the taste has changed dramatically just by heating the food.

While Thor and his friends were enjoying their meal, a figure approached from downstream.

Just as they were finishing their meal, the three Rorolf brothers with bushy stubble came in.

Apparently, they knew immediately when someone had set up a tent on the riverbank with their fellow Tali's wind magic technique, .

"You came as promised. It's supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon, so do me a favor, old man Thor.

"Here's some food for you if you like. It's from Dialgo. I'll leave this here for you.

"Huh?　No Euril today?　Why?　Did you get dumped?"

In return for the three empty barrels and the dried blood-spattered fish, Thor also gives them a souvenir he got in town.

Here, take this. You said you were short of arrow feathers. I also brought you some salt."

"Oh, that's great. I'm sorry."

Rorolf and the others nodded happily at the jar of salt for drying fish and the pointed beak tail feathers that Sisan and the others had given them.

They returned to the city of Dadan only once every two weeks or so, as they did not want to leave the bridge unattended for too long.

"And this too. It's going to rain, isn't it?"

After being handed a piece of soap, the three men chuckled uncomfortably and left.

After that, the three of them hunt for the red poison frog.

In the absence of Yuril, Thor has no choice but to defeat the frogs by dodging and avoiding them.

They were exposed to poisonous liquid several times and were persistently regenerating their wounds, but with , an iron sword with improved sharpness, and a cloak with blue stripes that is resistant to poison, they were able to get through the fight without any problems.

There were no dangerous moments against the blood-spewing fish either, perhaps because Sora and the others had become accustomed to them.

As for the fish, there is no way to defeat them, so the only way to deal with them is to distract them.

If we went downstream to the wide riverbank, the Suiba twins could take care of the fish, but since there were not so many monsters there, two parties would be short of prey.

On the first day, we managed to kill twenty-four blood-poisoned frogs by nightfall.

While Thor throws the dead frogs into the river with their tongues cut out, Thora prepares dinner.

Moo sledges down the bank several times, and is loudly excited.

As the sun is setting, we turn on the magic stone lamps that we bought with our own money to brighten the place up.

There are two types of magic stone lamps: one that consumes the magic stone heavily but gives off a lot of light, and the other that is not very bright but lasts for a long time.

The former is used in dungeons, while the latter is used in streets.

The one I purchased this time was for dungeons, and cost 20 silver coins.

The reward money for stopping the outbreak the other day was given to Yuril in full, as a token of appreciation for his efforts and as an advance payment for the rent.

The money I earned at the kobolds' cave was used to buy a tent and a magic stone lamp, leaving me with only about one gold coin left.

There was still room, but Thor was a little uncertain about what would happen next.

However, by daring to use this situation, he aimed to give them a push.

"Yes, it's done!

"Thank you. This smells great."

"Moo, I'm so hungry, I could eat a lot!"

"Here you go, enjoy your meal."

Sola poured a deep dish of stew with large dried fish meat and round potatoes floating in it.

The stew had been secretly simmered over a distant fire, which had been built over a charcoal fire between battles, so that it would not burn.　

It was soaked with flavor, and with each bite, the ingredients fell apart and the delicious taste overflowed.

In no time at all, the pot was empty.

Moe, who was sorry to see it go, rubbed a piece of bread against the bottom of the pot, trying his best to eat every last drop.

"That was delicious, Gosso-san!"

"I'm glad you're pleased, Thor."

Clenching her fists, the girl secretly bit into her joy.

It was worth the trouble of asking the owner of the sea pot restaurant to bring only the broth in a leather bag.

After the meal, we cleaned up, removed our gear, rinsed our teeth lightly, and hid in the tent.

Thor is in the middle, Sora is on the left, and Mu is on the right.

The tent is so small that they have no choice but to snuggle up together, but perhaps because they have played too much, the children instantly start to fall asleep.

The remaining two looked at each other with their eyes almost breathtakingly close, and laughed inaudibly.

Sola shifted a little and dexterously leaned over Thor's shoulder, using his arm as a pillow.

Her light black hair swished and the sweet scent of her hair permeated the tent.

With her ear resting against Thor's side, Thora whispered in a half-asleep voice, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

"...... this makes me calm."

"Maybe it's because I can hear my heartbeat."

As he answered quietly, Thor recalled the many times he had checked to see if he could hear a heartbeat coming from the girl in .

That day, still wrapped in the soft touch, Thor slept dreamlessly until morning.