67 - change

Midnight.

Two shadows slip noiselessly out of one of the tents, which are tired from all the commotion.

The shadows crossed the bank and began to walk silently through the sucking grass meadow.

When they have advanced some distance, they suddenly stop, and one of the shadows activates the magic technique of .

After confirming that no one was following them, the twins nodded to each other without speaking, and this time, they called for the wind with their .

Pushed by the wind at their backs, Tapa and Tali ran along the starlit bank and arrived at their destination in a flash.

As they approached the lighted log cabin, Tali shook the lowered bell quietly so that it would not ring.

A swaying, soundless vibration of the air is produced.

It was a signal that only a species with wings on its head could understand.

After a few moments of waiting, a small sound was heard as the door was unlocked.

The twins push their way in, and after confirming that they are the only ones inside, they walk up to the reception desk.

They threw a piece of blue shard in their hands at the person who had invited them in.

"......What's going on, Rishi?"

"...... Why are you doing this?"

The piece of magic crystal had been found by the twins at the riverbank after the daytime commotion, and they had secretly picked it up.

The youngest son, who is in charge of the office, exhales a little and replies to his brothers' question, who assume that he is the one who invited the evil spirit of the red water.

"Oh, it's a rare item, isn't it? I'm afraid we can't buy it just for this..."

"Don't play ....... We are always watching that riverbank."

"...... you're the only one who can put this down without anyone noticing."

At the penetrating glances of Tapa and Tali, Rishi deliberately shrugged his shoulders.

Then, without a trace of apology, he readily admits to the crime.

This was pretty expensive," he said. I was expecting a lot, but you didn't get anything?

"...... you've changed."

"...... to kill people with impunity."

"No, no, it's just a warning. Well, it may result in a sad incident, but if you die fighting, it's all the more worth it for an adventurer.

The twins look into their brother's eyes and are convinced that he means what he says.

At the same time, they felt a deep sadness at the dangerous glint in his eyes.

They nodded to each other and said goodbye to their blood relatives.

"......I will not cooperate with you any longer."

"...... the next time something like that happens, I'll take you to the court temple."

"Are you sure?　Even if you defy me, the patriarch."

"...... have already abandoned the name of the Fukasui family."

"...... do as you please. We're just Tapa and Tali now."

The twins turned on their heels, pulled the door open without a sound, and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

When they were completely gone, Rishi slammed his fist down hard on the counter, still holding the piece of rain crystal.

Rishi is a former red-iron (E rank) adventurer.

He came to this border town several years ago, following in the footsteps of his talented older brothers.

But what awaited the hopeful boy was the sad fact that he had reached his limits.

The only magic skill Rishi was given was a branch of Kazagakure, which hides his appearance and makes him undetectable to monsters.

However, the boy was quick-witted and took on the role of scout and surprise attacker to lead the party.

But that is until he comes to this river of blood.

While his friends were gradually gaining strength through battles with dangerous monsters, Rishi's Wind Spirit Tree showed no signs of change at all.

Each time she prayed for a new branch, but there was no sign of any other branch skills sprouting, and soon the single lower branch reached its limit at the seventh level.

This also marked the end of Rishi's adventure.

An adventurer who can only hide himself is useless no matter how he tries.

The boy retired from adventuring with deep disappointment after being told this by his trusted comrades.

Fortunately, Rishi's good-natured personality made for a favorable beginning to his career with the Adventurers' Bureau.

The young man from the Midoriwa tribe, who had been promoted at a good rate, eventually took up a position at the hunting lodge on the Bloody River where he had been betrayed.

There, Rishi was told that his former comrades who had left this river and gone on to the next had simply disappeared.

Rishi felt an endless sense of emptiness at the end of a young man who had rushed ahead with his talent.

He was also angered by the ease with which he had thrown away what he had wanted so much.

As he watched over and over again the young adventurers who came to the river and graduated in a hurry, Rishi came to a conclusion.

The more talented a person is, the more he is addicted to it, and the more he hates the steady accumulation of his talents.

And they end up relying on their half-bred skills, and end up losing their lives in reckless acts.

Rishi, awakened to a new way of thinking, decides to correct those who waste their talents.

The method was to control and limit the hunting grounds, forcing people to become proficient not only in the skill tree but also in combat to a certain degree before they could leave this bloody river.

At first, there were many complaints and countless protests, but with his natural eloquence, he gradually spread his way of doing things.

Eventually, word began to spread that the mortality rate of adventurers who had graduated from the program had dropped significantly, and this approach was accepted by the adventurers.

The rules of the hunting grounds established by Rishi became half-openly known, and were passed on to the next group of adventurers.

The young man who had failed halfway down the road breathed a deep sigh of contentment at the sight of the stable and flowing river.

After a few years, however, the way of doing things gradually began to change in a different direction.

Someone began to secretly pay for a better hunting spot, and this became the norm.

Eventually, preferential treatment within factions and lobbying of staff members became the rules for getting better hunting grounds.

However, as long as the results are good, no one can blame them for their actions.

And Rishi, too, comes to believe that the money he earns through intermediaries is a reward for his efforts.

When his brothers heard the rumors and tried to warn him, he told them that the money was needed to keep the price of daily necessities low.　

In reality, the money was subsidized by the Adventurers Bureau.

And of course, there were those who were not comfortable with such an approach.

Those who did not belong to any of the larger factions, or those who did not have all five members of their party.

These unworthy adventurers were discarded and pushed downstream to less desirable hunting grounds.

But even the useless ones can do something when they are in numbers.

Rishi, not wanting any trouble, decides to send a watchman to the blowhole.

The two brothers, who were talented but still remained in the red iron class because of their inability to socialize, were sent to the blowhole.

Tapa and Tali decided to stay at the bottom of the river and devote themselves to their beloved brother.

They secretly inform their younger brother of the situation, and from there the Rishi try to move the best and most talented people who are not rebellious to the upper reaches of the river to avoid collusion.

The older brothers believed that the younger brother's ideas were correct and continued to cooperate with him.

Thus, the hunting grounds of the Bloodshed River were transformed from their original ideals into a different form.

It is quite difficult to get to the other side of the river by boat.

There is no material that can protect the bottom of the boat from the powerful blood spatter of the fish.

Even if steel piers were built, they would rust and decay in no time due to the blood-red water.

Likewise, the stones would easily crumble into red.

The red water of this river firmly rejects the presence of others.

Therefore, the only way to build a bridge is to pile up the river's soil.

But when it rains, the river slime will dissolve it cleanly.

Rishi could only smile and watch the adventurers as they tried in vain to cross to the other side of the river.

That is, until an eccentric adventurer called a mud fisherman comes to the river.

Gritting his teeth tightly, Rishi stared downstream in the direction of the riverbank.

The great training ground for adventurers that he had built was about to be destroyed by a man he knew nothing about.

It was an unforgivable act for a man who had nothing.

"d*mn, if it comes to this ............"

The next day, a notice was posted on the bulletin board of the log cabin.

It announced that the release date of the rampaging river horses scheduled for this week had been postponed.