76 - after the rain

Rishi, who was in charge of the Bleeding River office, was caught and other staff members were held accountable for deliberately causing a herd of rampaging river horses to run out of control.

Later, in the courtroom, other crimes such as embezzlement and bribery came to light one after another, proving that criminal activities had been going on for many years at the sub-branch.

As a result, almost all of the employees were imprisoned, except for a few people in the purchasing office who were not involved.

In addition, several members of the security department, who were auditors, were arrested on the charge of receiving profits.

This caused quite a commotion in the Adventurers Bureau, and they were forced to take responsibility for appointments and replenish their staff.

The Bloodshed River office was closed for three days, but the following week it was reopened with new personnel.

The old hunting ground system was found to be effective and was left in place to a certain extent.

Specifically, the reservation system for the downstream hunting grounds was retained.

However, long-term exclusivity will not be allowed, and the hunting areas will be replaced on a weekly basis.

The upstream hunting areas are to be allocated by lot drawing to make the allocation as fair as possible.

Furthermore, the Adventurers' Bureau has publicly stated that the staff of the field office will be transferred within two years at the most, and it seems that they are determined to thoroughly prevent a recurrence of such a situation.

The release of rampaging river horses to the quarry fields is also continuing.

However, the area is not as crowded as it used to be, and there are more adventurers looking for the red iron sand kicked up from the riverbed after the monsters have been defeated.

A week has passed since the commotion, and the hunting grounds on the Bloodstream River are beginning to calm down.

In the meantime, Thor and his men were diligently piling up the stone piles high.

Thanks to the skill points earned from the rain in between, Moo and Sora's lower branch skills have grown up to level 3.

With the iron sand they had collected, Thor, Sora, and Moo had completed their red-iron breastplates.

The weight of Moo, however, was reduced by making it much thinner.

There was talk of making a red-iron sword, but since it could not match the maximum sharpness of the cast-iron sword we are using now, only the knife has been redesigned.

There was also a piece of red driftwood that had turned red in the driftwood, which was given to Sora so that he could graduate from the young tree staff.

The frozen spirit nucleus from an extra-large red water evil spirit was also successfully recovered, and two types of rain crystal stones, large and small, were now available.

Since my next hunting ground is in the wilderness, I have kept them on hand to replenish my water supply.

For now, Moo likes the small one and uses it as a plaything to spray water.

I have a good amount of equipment and have developed my skills to a certain extent.

We are ready to move on to the next stage.

And today, in clear weather, we finally have a view of the stone mountains stretching all the way to the other side of the river.

It may not look like much, but it is a magnificent bridge if only for its function.

This bridge must be quite inconvenient for the Adventurers' Bureau, which continues to operate on a reservation system.

However, no warning or recommendation was given, and the construction of the bridge was tacitly approved.

Probably because there are only a few people who can use the bridge, and they have already investigated that it will be difficult to maintain the bridge once Thor graduates from this hunting ground.

The men looked at the bridge that had finally been built without saying a word.

Thor taps him on the shoulder, and Roloff finally takes his eyes off the stone pile.

"Shall we get going?"

Roloff's face looked as if he had just woken up from a dream, and he nodded with a quiet smile on his face.

Diargo and the three brothers took the lead.

Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"I'm off!"

"I remember when we first came here, brother."

"Ah, at last, boys!"

The twins Tapa and Tali stay behind, this time as guards on the bridge.

"...... have a good hunt."

"...... enjoy to the fullest."

Then came Thor and his friends.

"Come on, Tor-chan, I'll carry you on my back."

"Moo can go by himself, but if that's what To-chan wants to do, I don't see why not."

"Mr. Yuril, please watch your step! It's very slippery."

Yes. Oh, it's a nice breeze.

The duo of Bettina and Godin see the four off.

They had risen to the rank of "E" in no time at all, but they had been visiting this riverbank frequently.

Their purpose was not to visit the bridge, but to see Thor and his friends.

We are going to hunt river horses by lottery, so wait for us! We'll catch up with you soon.

"Master Moe, take care."

Waving goodbye to the four people, the two parties start walking along the empty bank.

On the way, perhaps startled by the figures advancing on the other side of the bank, one after another voices begin to shout.

Thor and his party head leisurely upstream, receiving envious glances from the other party.