201 - - Oni no Oka (The Oni no Oka)

East side of the city of Bossaria.

Beyond the outer gate was an endless rolling landscape.

Here and there a series of hills like a gentle wave rose gently and faded away into the edge of the field of view.

Some of the hills were covered with dark wasteland thorn bushes, which added variety to the otherwise monotonous landscape.

As far as the eye can see, the area is more than twice the size of the Ko-oni Forest.

The almost unobstructed view allowed one to see far into the distance.

Perhaps this is why the gate guards were not outside, but inside the walls, or more precisely, in a room built inside the outer walls.

In the case of Dadaan, the forest is so close to the gate that the visibility is poor and it is necessary to stand guard outside.

However, in this town, even in the event of an outbreak, the crowd of monsters can be seen from a considerable distance, so there is no need to stand guard out front.

However, if we had let our guard down, we would have been attacked from beneath the ground.

As they passed through the outer gate, the gate guard glanced at Thor and the others and looked surprised, then hurriedly saluted with a fist on his shoulder.

It seems that the face of the hero who liberated this city is surprisingly well known.

Thor steps outside and lightly feels around his feet.

Compared to the stony riverbed and the wilderness that hides the hard ground beneath the sand, it seems moderately soft and easy to walk on.

"...... looks like it would be good for farmland."

"Yeah, yeah, it's going to be a nice field..."

Thor's unintentional mutterings are echoed by Sola in a bouncy voice.

She seems to be imagining a field of wheat covering the entire surface of the land.

But this will not be possible unless the miasma is eliminated from this place.

Currently, this hilly area is nothing more than a wide open space, as there are no resources available like the forest of kobolds in Dadan.

This is one of the reasons why it is difficult for people to gather in Bossaria.

However, the seemingly empty hills of Inuki are not completely devoid of resources.

"Well, let's get going. Sisan, take the lead.

"Yes, I'm on it!　Come on, guys, let's go!"

We already discussed the details yesterday.

Today's objective was to find the correct entrance to a dungeon somewhere in these hills.

The labyrinth, called the Inukinushi's Tunnel, is a small dungeon, usually only three layers high.

It is said to be quite rich in mineral resources, such as iron and copper, because of its name.

This is the only resource that can be extracted from this hill, as I mentioned earlier.

However, such a useful dungeon seems to have expanded in various ways during the long period of its neglect.

The depth of the dungeon has increased, but what is more troublesome is the fact that false entrances and levels have been created.

When you enter, you find yourself at a dead end or outside again, and you can't get to the main goal, the level where the supposedly noxious gas holes are located.

There are currently five dummy levels that have been explored by other F-rank adventurers.

The recovery of ore has already been completed in those dummies.

However, Sisan and his team have been asked to take over the job because the city might be in danger again if the main body is left unattended for too long.

However, the area deep in the hills is much larger than expected, and there are also troublesome problems regarding the cave.

So Thor and the others were urgently called upon to help.

Thor turned his attention to the five who had taken the lead.

Their faces, looking ahead, showed no signs of hesitation or fear.

His back was not strained too much, yet he maintained a moderate level of tension.

Only one person, Ecclesia, still looks a bit uncertain.

The other four are walking with a much stronger gait than they did a few months ago.

It is not only the attitude that has changed.

Their equipment had also changed considerably.

Sissan's shoulder and chest armor is made of red iron, while his worn-out round shield is still the same.

His weapon had also been changed to a heavy iron club with a large hook on the end.

The other boys also carried new weapons and wore dull blue leather armor.

The girls in the rear guard also carried the same reddish driftwood staff as Sora's, but unfortunately it did not seem to have a magic stone on it yet.

Sisang and the others, now looking more dependable than ever, silently continue their way over the hill.

Moe, with his insect cage at his waist, followed behind them in a good mood.

The sledges are off today, as Sisang is in the mood for walking.

The child sometimes activates the , which gives buoyancy to the leather shoes of the Thunderbirds, and they glide along.

Thor and the others look at each other and smile, as if they, too, are in a different state of health.

"Ah, there's something here, Tor-chan!"

Moe suddenly turned around and pointed to the empty ground ahead.

It seems that he had not missed the electric search, as he had been told to do.

At the sound of his voice, Sisan stopped and turned his head toward Thor.

"What should we do?"

"Yes. I want to see it with my own eyes. Will you fight me once?"

"Yes!"

The hillside has a reasonably good view, but Thor and the others have not seen any monsters in their line of sight since a few minutes ago.

This was actually due to the fact that the monsters were skillfully hiding themselves to suit their environment.

Sisan, shield at the ready, steps forward, armor creaking.

As he approaches the spot pointed out by Moe, a long, thin object pops out from under the ground.

It was about as thick as Thor's second arm.

At first glance it looks like a brown snake, but the monster boldly challenges Enjirushi.

It seems to be unable to penetrate through the round shield at all, though it is trying hard to raise its fangs.

Sora, seeing the monster, expresses his frank opinion.

"Wow, it's a big worm!"

Just as the girl said, a large worm broke through the ground and appeared.

The only difference was the numerous sharp fangs peeking out from its mouth.

The monster and the shieldman were easily pitted against each other, but it was the giant worm that made the first move.

The long antennae extending from its head twitched, and then it slammed down on Sisan's face with a mighty slap.

The boy easily parried the attack with his hooked club, which would have easily caused lacerations on a normal human being.

He dexterously hooks his antennae and bends downwards to pull.

The large worm was dragged to the ground, unable to overcome the difference in weight.

Sisang's foot immediately stomps on the base of the antennae, blocking the monster's movement.

Now it is time for the hooked club to come into play.

The sound of pounding flesh continues for a few moments, and then the worm's body stops wriggling.

"So this is the fang worm!"

"I see you've got a pretty color inside.

"Can you eat this?"

While the approaching Thor and his friends peer at the monster carcass with great interest, Sisang, who has finished his work, nonchalantly cuts off the tips of the antennae.

Fang worms are, as the name suggests, large worms with fangs.

They hide under the ground, and when approached, they bite with their fangs or strike and entangle themselves with their antennae, the only one extending from the head.

Its epidermis is elastic and somewhat difficult to attack.

However, since they are basically unable to move immediately from the place where they appear, the first blow is almost the end of them.

In other words, they are like horned moles in a forest of kobolds.

Its pink flesh is tender, but it is also similar in that it is pale and has little flavor.

The same is true for the single skill point that they can earn.

We are told that this monster appears frequently, so we take only the antennae part of the proof of defeat and leave the meat behind.

After proceeding for a while, Moo reacted again.

"Hey, what is that?

At the tip of the child's round finger was a black mass.

It looked a little like a wasteland thorn bush, but much smaller.

"Oh, that's a screaming weed. Let's get rid of it.

Hink, the archer, squeezed his bowstring as he answered.

The arrow flew through the air in an instant and pierced the center of the black mass.

As I got closer, I saw that the new monster looked like a plant.

The petals of the flower resembled a human face, and beneath the petals were several swollen black clusters.

Hink's arrows pierced and split the flowers and stems.

This monster, called a screamer, is a kind of plant that has the habit of popping its tassels when approached.

That's all there is to it, but the problem is that its tassels emit a loud noise.

If you carelessly listen to it at close range, it is said to seriously affect your hearing.

But if you attack from a distance like this, you are really up against nothing.

Sisang quickly digs up a long root, cuts it off, and puts it in a leather bag.

The parts of the tree that proved to be the killer are also edible, he said.

"Sounds interesting. Now let's go to Mu's!"

The child, who had been watching the scene with excitement, suddenly shouted and produced a small purple lightning in his hand.

Then, without a sign of hesitation, he unexpectedly threw it diagonally forward.

The purple serpent flew in an arc and fell behind the thorny bushes in the wasteland.

No one had noticed, but it seemed that the screaming grass was lurking there as well.

As everyone looked on in amazement, a tremendous sound echoed through the air.

The distance between the two places was enough to cause them to frown.

Sisang, however, became panicked and hurried to warn everyone.

"Watch out!　They're gathering!"

At the same time as the voice was uttered, a group of beasts in armor appeared from behind a hill.