123 - - the master of a storm

"It's so big!"

"It's huge!"

The frankness of the girl and the child's open mouths made the guide's beard-covered cheeks lift wide.

Most of the people I have brought with me so far lose color and speech at this point.

After that, when we returned to the big rock, they didn't speak a word, and the next morning they turned away and started getting ready to go home.

No wonder.

An ordinary person would never think of confronting a raging natural phenomenon.

However, this party, which was too different from the others, was much more fearless than I had expected.

Beside Garudo, who is inwardly patting his chest, a fair-looking woman leans forward with her long ears twitching.

"That's a giant spirit, isn't it? Wind ...... and sand. Is it a giant of storm sand?"

"...... is right. You know your stuff."

"It's quite common in my country too, in winter. Over there, though, it's the snow and dirt giants of the frozen earth.

I don't sense any pretense here, either.

Rather, there is only a glint of curiosity in their gray eyes.

The young woman's words were so unruffled that Garudo felt as if he were talking to a veteran with more than ten years of experience, and he shook his head hurriedly.

Next to Yuril, who was peering into the hollow with curiosity, Thor was calmly trying to measure the size of the giant.

"At a rough glance, it's about five times my size. I'm pretty sure my sword will only reach below my knees at the most."

There are only two tornadoes that look like legs, but there are no joints.

The whirlpools of white sand rising into the sky merged at the top to form the thickness of a human-like torso.　

Two thick wind masses sprouted from it and moved freely in the air, ignoring gravity.

Thor is told that he is a giant, but he immediately notices something strange.

"...... It doesn't have a head?"

"Yes, the head is a sign of intelligence, which Doba, the god of dirt, would not allow."

Doba, the male god said to crave a soulless world, is the creator of evil spirits and immortals who obey him.

These soulless monsters are characterized by the fact that they only repeat what they are commanded to do.

"So the theory is that the nucleus of the Titan's spirit moves around the area that corresponds to the heart."

"You really know your stuff. Maybe I don't need to explain myself.

No, no, I'd love to hear about it.

What's the biggest problem?

"Of course, that d*mned sand and stone."

The bottom of the hollow where the giants roam is completely obscured by a cloud of pure white sand.

Perhaps it is difficult to see a few steps ahead.

And then there is a hard sound that has been reaching my ears, mixed with the wind.

It is as if the stones that have been ejected by the gust of wind are echoing against the few remaining boulders.

"Well, first of all, it's hard to get close to it. Here they come."

At the same time as Garoud's words, the giant's arms begin to move slowly upward.

The monster's back curls up rapidly, and the lifted arms slam into the ground, shaking the air.

Immediately, a violent gust of wind hits Thor and the others at a distance.

The lightest mu, unable to evacuate in time, is blown away and rolls around.

After a few spins on the sand, the child gets up with a start and starts laughing happily with his face covered in sand.

Thor and the other children, following his lead, broke into a smile.

After a few moments of friendly atmosphere, Moe suddenly returns to a straight face and declares, "I'm going to go to the beach.

"I can't believe they did this to Mu. ....... We're going to have to take him down!"

"You're going to do it, kid. But he's a little too dangerous for a child. Will you stay here quietly?"

"No, this time, we definitely need Moe."

"Are you serious?　...... hmmm, it's like a pawn in the game."

"I don't understand the metaphor, but it's definitely a key point. So, is there anything else you need to know?"

At these words, which almost confirmed his acceptance, Garudo clenched the hand holding his shield.

Staring into the hollow, the guide tells the details of the monster.

The body of the sand giant is composed of wind and sand, so wielding a mere weapon is of little use.

Even if you get close to the giant, you cannot see its feet because of the dust, and it is a dangerous area where you will be constantly hit by the heavy blows of stone pellets.

Furthermore, the swinging of the wind arm would generate a wide gust of wind that would easily blow them away.

"So it's hard to get close enough to do something about it."

"First of all, we don't know exactly where they are. The stones are full of holes if you don't have a shield. I'd get hit and blown up while I was hanging around."

"You've tried so many times, how could you have survived all this time?"

And he never comes out of the hollow. We'll be safe once we get out of here.

"Well, how about we take it from here?"

"It's that wind. Bows and arrows won't get through. So...

I guess that means it's my turn.

Staring at the feet of the roaming giants, Yuril continues to speak.

"If we set a trap, the question is how to make people step on it. ...... Are those remnants of rocky mountains?"

In the dust swirling on the ground, white chunks of rock peek out in places.

When asked, Garudo replied with a bitter look on his face.

"Yeah, it was higher three years ago, but it's all been scraped away.

"That's great. But after three years of neglect, the spirit nucleus must have grown quite large."

"I'm sure it is. Well, if you do manage to defeat them, you can take all of that with you. Is that all right with you?

At the other end of Garudo's words was Saralisa, who had been completely silent up to that point.

Without taking his eyes off the giant, Kanashi quietly replied.

"As long as you don't get in the way of me avenging my sister's enemies, you can do as you please. ......"

"Yes. You can keep all the money, but if anything happens to me, I'll take care of it."

"I don't know how far we can go, but let's drink to it."

Thor, who had already come up with some strategy, shook his head at Garudo's suggestion.

In the case of spirit monsters, they disappear after they are defeated, so the only proof of defeat is a magic stone.

If you submit them as proof, they will be compulsorily bought at a low price, so it is basic to keep quiet even if you are lucky enough to defeat them.

However, since magic stones are also materials for monsters, private sales of them are forbidden.

Since they can only be exchanged or transferred, they are difficult to exchange for cash.

For this reason, most of them are only offered to temples or processed into ritual articles with a large amount of offerings.

However, with giants, the story is different.

Depending on the length and size of time since the occurrence, a large amount of magic stones are attached around the nucleus of the spirit of the humanoid monster.

The purity of the stones is quite high, which means that a large income can be expected.

The men grinned at each other and shook hands firmly.

"So, when do we start?"

The sun will be setting in a couple of hours. We definitely want to avoid that time of day, so how about tomorrow before noon?"

"Okay. Then let's call it a day.

"Tor-chan, I'm hungry!"

A child with a cute cooing belly jumps on Thor's back.

He slides off without grabbing his leather armor and rubs his head against Thor's thigh in annoyance.

"Yeah, Saralisa told me. I hear you have a charcoal grill."

"Umm, we didn't have time to prepare the meat this time, so we don't have much to offer.

"I've got plenty of meat for you."

"Isn't rock lizard meat so tough that it wouldn't taste good if you just roasted it?"

Maybe you don't know... The most delicious thing you've ever tasted. Once you try it, you'll be addicted for sure.

"Oh, please tell me about it!"

All right, follow me, girl!

Meat! Meat!

Meat, meat!

The dinner that night consisted of char-grilled rock lizard tongues and eyeballs.

The girl, the child, and the old man with the beard got along well with each other and had an ugly fight with each other.

It was a peaceful and joyful scene that one would not expect to see the next day before the showdown with the giant of the sand storm.