75 - once again

Thor exhaled slowly as he landed dexterously on the stone pile, pulling the remains of the monster through the air.

However, most of the frozen body of the evil spirit of red water slides down the slope of the raised mound of earth and disappears into the surface of the river.　

Praying that the remaining part of the body contains the spirit nucleus, Thor checks his situation and exhales once more.

Fortunately, he was only up to his wrist, but his left arm was completely frozen with red water.

The magic crystal stone can only be released by holding it in one's hand and praying.

But at the cost of burning the arm if it is a flame crystal stone, or electrocuting the arm if it is an electric crystal stone.

In addition, the expensive magic crystal stone will crack after a few times and will never be used again.

This was a use permitted only to Thor, who could restore arms and stones to their original state.

Thinking that he could shave the ice with a dismantling knife, he pulled it off, and his hand slipped off easily.

He left his borrowed walking stick and leather gloves in the ice, though.

Moreover, I had no feeling at all at the end of my left wrist, and could not move a single finger.

Thor hurried along the stone mountain to the riverbank.

The girl who was sitting by the water's edge, hanging on to her staff, looked surprisingly relaxed in spite of her continuous use of magic techniques.

It seems that her magical power has grown a lot since she has been using two different kinds of magic tricks here on the riverbank.　

"You've worked hard, Sora.

"Ah, Thor, welcome back. You were so cool!"

The pause is longer than usual, perhaps due to the lack of magic power.

Thor, who held out his hand to her, her to five minutes ago, and Sola finally returned to her normal way of speaking.

"How's it going?　Did that look pretty good?"

"Yeah, no complaints. No, it couldn't have been better.

At Thor's praise, Sola hugged his chest with a big smile on her face.

She relaxed her shoulders as if she was relieved while her forehead and the tip of her nose were attached to the breast plate.

Then the three brothers and Dialgo, who had been watching over the situation, relaxed and spoke to her.

"Thank God you're here, Brother Thor!

"Yeah, seriously, that's awesome. I'm sorry, but there's no other way to say it.

"You really took them down in a snap. Who the hell is this brother Thor ......?"

"Thank you very much, Mr. Thor."

The four of them were making a lot of noise, but they seemed to be quite energetic in some respects.

It is no wonder that the nearly completed bridge legs have collapsed nearly halfway down.

"This much, we can still do it!"

"The first time I was eaten by river slime, it was like this."

"That's the thing, though, if it's that bad..."

Just as Thor was about to announce the good news, he heard multiple voices coming from the bank.

When he turned his eyes, a familiar face came running toward him waving his hand.

It's been a while, Sora. How have you been? ....... You've been very active in the daytime, haven't you?

"Mr. Betti, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, you're looking good again, brother!"

"You've got a very good attitude, you know that?

"Calm down, guys!　Let me start by introducing myself. Nice to meet you, young lady. I'm Rorolf, the eldest.

"What?　Who?　What?"

Bettina was about to question Thor and Thora, who were hugging each other, when she was suddenly surrounded by a group of disgusting men and sounded upset.

"Godin, Godin, do something!

"Yes, ma'am. Mwah!"

The young man from the Brown Horn tribe who was accompanying him noticed Dialgo, also from the Brown Horn tribe, and stopped moving.

Diargo's eyes, under his bangs, were wide.

They stared at each other for a moment, then suddenly moved closer and started to bump their horns against each other.

The red-haired maiden again sounds upset at the strange sight of the solid, overweight men clinging to each other.

What are you doing?

"Excuse me, miss. This is a hometown greeting."

The two separated shieldmen nodded to each other and shook hands firmly.

In the midst of this confusion, a new voice echoed.

"...... sorry to keep you waiting."

"...... boil it, bake it, do whatever you want with it."

The last two to appear were Tapa and Tali.

Another man was tied behind his back with a piece of cloth shoved into his mouth.

It was Rishi, who had supposedly run away to hide himself.

The twins had not been seen until now because they had been chasing their brother who had run away.

The youngest child, caught in the rain, nods his head.

"...... you two there, you saved me."

"...... cooperation, thank you."

Rishi, who had escaped by hiding in the winds of magic, would not miss the winds that Tari woke up, as long as they were moving.

Like , , a skill of the lower branches of the Wind Spirit Tree, is a magic technique that releases small winds to grasp the terrain and moving objects.

But Rishi, his brother, was well aware of its effectiveness.

He was trying to read the winds with the green feathers on his head and hide himself from them.

Then Bettina and Godin, who had somehow arrived downstream, met them.

With the help of the red-headed adventurer, who had located Rishi in an instant, they easily succeeded in capturing his brother.

Realizing that he is surrounded by many people, Rishi looks up and takes in the situation.

However, as soon as his eyes caught sight of the crumbling pile of stones, they lit up.

Noticing this, Thor removes the cloth that was shoved into his mouth so he can speak.

"Well, it looks like you were able to destroy it pretty well. I feel much better now.

You son of a b*tc*, I'll kill you!

"No, no, you don't behave like that towards a benefactor. I owe you all my life's work. And if you are broken, why don't you try again?　It's that effort that makes you better."

Don't go any further."

"Why?　You've worked hard like that, haven't you?　For twenty-five years, I've been called a mud fisherman."

"...... because I had hope. That's what made it bearable."

After glancing at Sora, Thor continues speaking.

"But you are just forcing yourself to have a false sense of hope. Such an approach is wrong.

When he is finished, Thor stands up abruptly and walks across the stone mountain again to the place where it has collapsed.

Then he crouches down, touching his hands to gather magical power.

The next moment, the stone mountain, which should have been lost, regains its original height.

"Oh, no. ............"　

Rishi's eyes widen at the fact that the bridge he had destroyed has been rebuilt.

Letting out a muffled voice, the man nods dejectedly.