94 - North, Day Two

After taking a rest, Thor and his team continued to walk through the wilderness lined with pinnacles in the afternoon.

Finally, as dusk began to fall, they exited the Thousand Edge Field.

The rocks were an obstacle, but at the same time they seemed to serve as a shelter from the wind.

The wind, which had been subsiding, suddenly increased its force and began to blow against us.

Squinting to see a large rocky hill a short distance away, Thor called out to his companions behind him.

"We're almost there, can you make it?"　

"Yes, I'm fine."

"I'm fine!"

"Unyamnya mnya ......, there's nothing here,...... To-chan."

Moo, who did his best to find the rock beetles, is curled up and cowering on the transport sled.

I guess it was hard for a child to go without a nap.

I look at Saralisa, who is in the last row, and she nods at me without saying a word.

Thor takes the lead as if he is protecting the others from the wind.

Behind a large rock, there were still traces of someone's use on the ground, as if it was a common place for encampment.

Thor hurriedly unpacked his gear and set up his tent in the same spot.

In this wilderness, the sun heats the ground evenly during the day due to the lack of cloud cover.

The dry air and the constant winds, however, do not make the temperature feel very high.

The problem is at night.

The heat that should have accumulated during the daytime quickly escapes if there is no moisture to store it and slowly dissipate it.

This is why it becomes impossibly cold at nightfall.　

Before the sun had completely set, Thor had finished pitching his tent, which was covered with a double layer of boar fur rugs, and let out a sigh of relief.

It has already been more than a month since he left the imp forest, and he seems to have gotten used to living in a tent.

"Moo-chan, the food is ready!"　

"Ugh, I'm so sleepy. But I'm hungry. ......"

"Here, I think I could drink some soup. Mmmm..."

The child, still half asleep, is given a bowl of spicy-sour mushroom soup that Sola has brought from the city.

The stimulating taste woke him up a little, and he opened his mouth wide with his eyes closed.

"Sora, you too ......."

"I can't help it now. Yes, yes."

Moo put a thin slice of smoked rock lizard meat in his mouth and smiled faintly as he munched on it.

Sora, perhaps moved by the adorable expression on his face, involuntarily moved her face closer to his and kissed him on the cheek.

As they pressed their soft cheeks against each other, the child let out a small cry.

"Onee......chan,su......ki!"

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too."

Moe, who had fallen asleep, was gently carried to the tent.

Since he was still holding onto the sleeve of the girl's robe, Sola also sleeps with him that night.

The other tent is shared by Yuril and Saralisa.

With the warmer child in the middle, Thor and his friends slept soundly until morning.

The next morning, Thor wakes up to hear a commotion outside and quietly rouses himself.

When he emerged from the empty tent, it was still dimly lit.

With his sword belt slung around his waist, Thor headed in the direction of the voices.

Making noise at the edge of the rocky hill were Moo and Sora, who had apparently woken up early.

They were looking happily in the direction where the light was coming from.

"What are you looking at?"

"Ah, good morning, Thor."

"Tor, look!　It's beautiful!"

As they approached, Thor stood behind them and peered over the boulders.

It was just as the sun was beginning to rise in the direction of the true east.

The dazzling golden sunlight turned the bluish earth a pale red.

At the same time, the cloudless sky quickly regains its usual pale blue color.

Thor gulps unknowingly at the transformation of the landscape, as if it is being born anew from this moment onward.

A small gasp of breath spreads white.

But the breath quietly melts away in front of the heated morning sun.

It was only for a few dozen seconds.

The dawn's first act, which I had watched unintentionally, was over before I realized it.

The area had returned to its former bleak appearance.

No, it was more than that.

What spread out beyond the rock beetle colony was truly an empty wilderness.

The flat wilderness stretched on and on as far as the eye could see.

There was not a single projection in sight that might provide shelter from the wind as before.

Thor let out another small breath and shrugged his shoulders at the happy girl and child.

After breakfast, the group walks out into the rough and dry field.

The wind had increased in strength, and they felt considerable resistance just to go a little further.

Thor, with his pack on his back, leads the way as a wind shelter, pulling a transport sled.

To conserve Mu's energy, the plan for today is to carry him from the beginning.

Sora and Yuril follow behind him with their walking sticks, and Saralisa is the last to follow.

Except for one child who sang a strange song, everyone walked silently with their feet in front of them.

We have been walking for about an hour, but there is no change at all in the scenery.

Another hour is spent moving forward, but the same thing happens.

Just when we were getting somewhat bored with the unchanged view, a sharp voice suddenly echoed from behind us.

I hear something approaching.

It was Yuril's voice.

Thor hurriedly looked around and saw something out of the corner of his eye.

From a distance, it looked like a round sphere.

Thor shifts slightly and points at the mysterious entity approaching on the wind.

"Do you know what that is?"

"Hm?　Oh, Moo-chan, you've fallen asleep!　Thor-chan."

"I think I'm going to roll a round one. ....... I've heard that in the wilderness, a chunk of dead grass can look like that."

Thor almost nodded his head at Yuril's words as he shook the tips of his ears, but on second thought, there was no grass growing there in the first place.

He untied his sled, pulled out his sword, and hurriedly readied himself.

In the meantime, the spherical object quickly closed the distance between us.

Thor's eyes catch the spherical object as it comes within a dozen or so paces of him.

What rolled down with great force was a white mass of rock as tall as a child.