184 - - white threat

The morning of the third day at the encampment.

Thor slowly lifts his eyelids against the unaccustomed chill.

It is still dim inside the tent.

It seems to be a predawn chill.

As he awakens, Thor notices that only the right side of his body is unusually warm.

A comfortable weight makes him turn his head to look at the soft, golden curls.

Moo, who was using the side of his body as a pillow, was breathing a healthy sleep.

Beside him, Sora, dressed in her underclothes, is sleeping with her right arm snugly wrapped around Thor's right arm.

As I gazed at the sleeping face of this quiet girl, who was so contrary to her usual energetic appearance, she gave a small shiver and hugged me tightly.

Her arms are wrapped around me, feeling soft and moist.

Sola rubbed her nose against Thor's right shoulder, and her mouth relaxed slightly in relief at the smell.

The reason for the warmth only on the right side is now clear, but a new question arises.

Even though the elevated area is quite spacious, there is a limit to the number of tents that can be put up.

Moreover, only large young men, including Sorrugam, the leader of the group, were using the tents.　

Therefore, Thor and his group, consisting of one adult male, two small women and a child, were only allowed to rent one tent.

This means that there must be one more person in this tent resting.　

However, all that could be felt from the left side of the tent was a cool air.

I turned my head to see Yuril sleeping, thinking that he had already woken up.

He turned his back to me, but even through his nightgown, I could clearly see his slim body.

Unlike Sola and Mu, we can hardly feel their body heat.

Even the silk undergarment that touches his left arm feels smooth to the touch.

Thor gazed at the back of the figure, wondering if this was the cause of the cold air.

Her thin, straight, silver hair seemed to be about to spill out and spread on the floor.

Long ears sticking out from behind the hair.

The tips of his pointed ears twitched as he gazed at the gray underside of his ears, which he did not usually have a chance to see.

Yuril turns over as he does.

The other ear, which had been under his face, stood up immediately.

At the same time, his well-defined good looks were close at hand.

As Thor gazes at the length of the eyelashes extending from the downcast eyes, his eyelids quiver a few times and then suddenly lift up.

The gray pupils of the pupils rapidly narrowed in focus.

They looked at each other intently at a close distance, and then Yuril, with a troubled expression on his face, whispered to me.

"I can't believe I'm silently watching someone sleeping. ......"

Thor looked at the silver-haired beauty, who shook the tips of her small ears, and mouthed an apology and an excuse.

"I'm sorry. ...... It's just that it's so rare to see you sleeping."

"No, you can't do that. It's my prerogative."

In the past, Euril would have been a bit of a stickler about the bedding of a man and a woman, but in the past few months as an adventurer, he has come to tolerate it more and more.

He has had to make some concessions to me since I have been living in my tent more and more, but judging from his soft words now, I think he may have already accepted me as a family member.

They look at each other quietly, but suddenly Sora shakes and yawns widely.

Then, clinging to Thor, she uttered a sleepy voice.

My back feels soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cold!

"I'm cold after all, aren't I?"

"Yes, it is. That's why I was so comfortable this morning, I must have overslept."

Thor and Yuril looked at each other again, then got up and lifted the fabric of the tent's doorway.

The cold air rushed in.

They turned their gazes toward the doorway, not caring.

However, the black, gloomy landscape that was supposed to unfold there was completely absent from their vision.

Instead, they saw a landscape covered in an endless white haze.

Thor and his friends hurriedly get ready and go out of the tent.

Moo was sleeping well, so they covered his stomach with a boar pelt to keep him warm.

The three of them stand on the edge of the hill and look out at the fog spreading out below them.

"Wow, it's all white. I can't see anything.

"This is awesome ......."

"Yes, it's magnificent."

The fog seems to be staying above the ground.

It does not reach the higher ground, allowing us to see far into the distance.

The sky is cloudy as usual, but morning light is still falling all around.

Thor and the others watched with bated breath the fantastic sight of the white mist that covered the vast swamp, glistening faintly in the air.

"Hey, Thor. If you looked at the clouds from above, would they look like this?"　

"Yeah, maybe."

As I was enjoying the sight of the endlessly billowing fog, the fabric of the tent behind me suddenly bulged out.

At the same time, a young voice echoes.

"Mwah!　Torchan, where are you?

"Oh, you're awake."

Back in his tent, Moe jumped on him.

He mumbles angrily as he presses his head against Thor's stomach muscles.

"Where have you been?　You can't leave Moe!"

"Don't worry. Don't worry. It's foggy today, and you're not going anywhere.

"Well, why?　Oh no!"

This is a natural phenomenon unique to this swamp.

It seems to occur about once every three days, and when it does, you're grounded.

After finishing his breakfast of cold hard bread and warm herbal tea, Thor decided to check the effect of the fog.

The members of the Thunder and Howl Clan, who were already awake, were preparing for something.

"Good morning!　Did you sleep well?"

"Good morning. I woke up cold."

"That's a swamp thing!"

As I approached, the second-in-command woman greeted me cheerfully.

It seemed that yesterday's hunt had brought us together quite well.

Instead, the other young men look nervous at the arrival of Sora and Yuril.

At a glance, it seems that they had begun training to get used to the fog.

One of them stands in front of the stairs holding a rope, and the other one descends into the fog with the rope tied around his waist.

The second-in-command, who was keeping time with an hourglass, gave a signal, the rope was pulled, and the group members came up the stairs.

Sola rolls her eyes at the sight of the young men, who in a short time have taken on the appearance of dead men.

Thor and the others are immediately allowed to experience it.

A few steps down the stairs, they were hit by a biting cold air.

The still air penetrated into their lungs, constricted their chests, and made it difficult to breathe.

Toward the rope's signal to return, Thor tried to put his foot on the stairs and lifted his eyebrows involuntarily, as if he were losing strength.

He had lost a lot of strength without realizing it.

Sola and Yuril were equally surprised by the experience.

Solulgam was reluctant to go down the stairs, but Moo went down the stairs with great energy, and after a few seconds he got bored and came back without waiting for our signal.

This fog is scary. I was surprised to find that I had lost my strength before I knew it."

"Yes, and you've lost a lot of your magic."

"I see. If we are not on high ground, there is a possibility that we will die a slow and debilitating death during the night.

It is said that the fog disappears in about 30 minutes when it is short, but it can stay for almost half a day when it is long.

In the endurance training, the young men were limp after about ten minutes.

Sorrugum was fine for thirty minutes.

Thor wanders around the high ground with nothing to do.

The serpent, the fruit of yesterday's battle, had been stripped of its skin and laid neatly on the railing.

It is said that they also use their fangs as arrowheads.

As I looked at the snake, I noticed that only the belly of the snake was covered with silver scales.

The tail also had silver and blue stripes.

Thor nodded silently as he finally understood the meaning of the blue stripes.

This monster looked to be more than the length of three adults, but it was too heavy to carry many of them as it was.

So he had skinned them and brought them here.

However, Yuril and the others, perhaps having their own feelings about them, cut off a chunk of meat and brought it back home.

It is said that the meat has a strong smell as it is, so it is now being cured by wrapping it with herbs.

In the end, the noxious fog did not clear until after noon, making for a boring day.

Moo was in a good mood with Thor's lap all to himself, though.

Sora and Yuril also seemed to have learned a lot, and talked at length with their second-in-command.

Dinner was herb sauteed snake meat.

The meat seemed to have been slowly roasted on a heating board, and moist juices overflowed from the meat when it was chewed.

The meat looked like a bird, but it was as pale as the white meat of a fish, and had a strange texture, as if the flavor of the meat gradually increased as it was eaten.

Considering the time and effort involved, it is somewhat understandable why the meat is thrown away on the spot.

But it is certainly dozens of times better than the dry chicken stew.

The young people, cheering with joy, are engrossed in the food prepared by Yuril and Sora.

Moe was in a silent mode, concentrating only on chewing.

He must have learned his lesson from the Thunderclap's traditional food.

Only Sorrugam was in a bitter mood as he kept on eating the snake meat.

The third day in the swamp came to an end with almost no results.