204 - - cave-hunting

"As usual, I have no idea what you guys are doing.

Riccal, one of the younger members of the group who had finished the battle first, muttered in disgust at the way Thor and the others were fighting.

A sword suddenly vanished, then appeared in a different place, then something was thrown, and the Kobolds all fell down spewing blood.

On the other hand, Moo just jumped on the spot with his legs glowing pale, and Sora just lifted his wand with a strained look on his face.

Sisang, who was also staring intently, nods gravely in reply to the red-haired boy's reasonable words.

"Yes. ...... but I do know one thing for sure."

"Oh, really?"

"I knew you were something else, Thor."

Hinck, who was recovering the right ear of the defeated Kobold and the magic stone, blurted out to the shieldman boy who was saying this with a serious face.

"Really, you're the same as ever when Thor is involved, aren't you?

"You're a little too longing, Sisang."

"But, Thor, I think you are a really great person."

Alethea interrupts the conversation in an annoyed tone, while Ecclesia, next to her, frankly agrees with Sissan.

For the girl born in Bossaria, Thor and his friends were not only heroes who saved the city, but also changed their lives.

Sissan's eyes light up at the unexpected arrival of his allies, and he grabs the red-haired girl's hand and shakes it vigorously up and down.

"Only Eckria understands how I feel!"

"Oh my God, you scared me!"

With a flustered look on her face, Alethea pulls her hand away from Ecclesia's, but Ecclesia's face turns red and she slumps down.

Hinck shrugged his shoulders and continued to speak, as if to clear the air.

"I understand your infatuation a little, but if you don't do what you have to do for now, you'll lose the affection of Thor, who is the most important person in the world.

"That's right. Come on, Sissan, give me your arm. You were over-exerting yourself. You twisted it a little.

"Well, I've got three more shots at the magic!"

I'm fine. The sword sawge is all done.

After each battle, the younger members of the group checked their physical condition, the amount of magic power they had, and their equipment, and called out to each other.

This was also something that Thor told them to do.

The young archer, who is secretly developing into an excellent sub-leader, let out a sigh of disappointment as he watched his friends' enthusiasm.

After that, we proceeded for two hours, killing the monsters we encountered without incident.

Finally, the young group and Thor and the others reach the depths of the Inukinushi hills.

The ground is rising quite steeply at this point, and the visibility is getting worse.

The sun is just overhead, and the group decides to take a lunch break after climbing one of the rough and thornless hills.

We burn some monster repelling incense and quickly unpack our gear to get ready for the day.

Today's lunch is a hamburger bun with minced tusk worm meat.

The bread is reheated on a heating board and topped with reheated meat, leafy vegetables, and a rich mung bean mash sauce.

The dish is completed by placing another slice of bread on top.

Moo and Sora immediately took a bite and were in a panic when the sauce spurted out from the opposite side of their mouths.

Thor also enjoys his meal while taking in the beautiful view.

The sun shines down on the hilltop, lightly searing the skin, probably due to the approaching summer season.

However, since there is nothing to block the sun's rays, a cool breeze is blowing through, which is quite pleasant.

The hood of his jacket is shaken off, and Yuril follows the wind with his eyes, muttering to himself about the landscape that spreads out ahead of him.

"Oh, it's rare to see a red grove, isn't it?"

Hovering far beyond the hills are what appear to be clusters of reddish-brown trees.

Sola, who was chewing a piece of bread next to me, rolled her eyes and said something in return.

"Nggh...phew..." she said. It looks like it's been burned by some kind of fire.

"That's the next hunting ground, I believe."

It should have been for adventurers of the red scale class (E rank).

There are also some troublesome monsters there, and they seem to be struggling in various ways.

As Thor ponders over this still-unseen scene, Moe, who has just finished eating a piece of bread with minced meat sandwiched in between, tugs at his sleeve.

"Hey, To-chan, do you have any apples?"

"Oh, snack already. Can you eat it properly?"

"No, it's Kurosuke's dinner."

When Thor handed him a small apple, the child bristled with delight.

Moe, who was making a crunching sound, did not seem to be questioning his actions at all.

He bites down to the core and finally remembers his purpose.

"Shit!　This was Kurosuke's dinner."

He hurriedly lowers the insect cage from his waist, gently opens the lid, and places the apple core inside.

As an insect born in a tropical climate, the cage did not seem to mind being shaken a little.

The beetle moved slowly, straddled the bait, and began to suck the sweet juice.

Peering into the scene, Moo let out a fascinated voice.

"Ha, it's so black and shiny!"

"I see. Good for you."

"Yes!"

After lunch, it was time to search for the entrance and exit of the dungeon.

Sola, looking around from the top of the hill, spots a black shadow a short distance away.

It is large enough for Sisan and the others to enter if they bend their backs, and it seems to be quite deep.

"That was easy!"

"It's not that simple, Sora."

"I've been getting nothing but disappointments. Moo, this way, this way.

Nodding at Alethea's words, Riccar calls out to the child.

"What?

"Hey, check out the monsters in there."

Moo is not that easy.

"Please. I'll show you how to play with the rhinoceros beetle later.

"Thanks a lot!"

Moo accepts the offer, and shows off his little purple snake.

"There's a big one!"

"One. What do you want to do, Mr. Thor?

Can I see it?

"Yes, sir. Hink, please.

At Sisang's direction, the archer boy quickly nocked an arrow and released it into the depths of the cave without even focusing on a target.

After repeating this movement three times, a low roar can be heard from the depths of the cave.

A large blue-furred beast emerges from the darkness.

Its body resembled that of a bear, but its face was long and thin, somewhat reminiscent of a dog.

Waving its arms covered in dirt, the monster attacked Hinck, who was shooting arrows at it.

Sisang's shield catches its long claws.

The sound of iron hitting iron echoes through the air, but the boy's body is undaunted.

When the monster stops moving, Riccar thrusts his sword at its flank.

At the same time, Hinck, who has kept his distance, fires an arrow at the angry eyeball.

But it seems that the monsters in the backcountry are not so easy to deal with.

With a slight twist of his head, the arrow strikes a hard skull and is deflected.

Riccar's sword also slips through the supple fur, leaving only a light puncture wound.

The monster lets out a muffled cry as the wound quickly regenerates.

Riccal dodges a swiped toe with a single stroke of his sword.

Now Sisan steps forward and strikes with his hooked club.

But this too is shallow.

The blue fur covering his large body is slippery, and most of his attacks are not even half as effective as they could be.

The long, sharp claws that are wielded with such force are so powerful that they can carve claw marks into iron shields at an early stage.

The name of this ferocious monster is the angry badger.

Its strength is comparable to that of the armored boars of the Ogre Forest, and it was similarly considered a target for F-rank promotion.

In Bossalia, however, it is called the blue-skinned class, after the color of its fur, rather than the bronze class.

Naturally, it is difficult to defeat it without the cooperation of a five-member party.

However, just as the armored boar, which gives the impression of being too ferocious at first sight, has a weakness such as its lack of maneuverability, this monster has the same drawback.

In fact, if they are too blinded by their anger, they will just swing their arms around in the dark.

But that does not mean that if you approach it carelessly, you will fall prey to its claws, but Sisan and his team, who have defeated it many times, have not been careless in this area.

"Red fruits of the flame tree!

From further behind Sisang and the others, who had somehow managed to keep a good distance from them, a cheerful prayer was spun out.

A red fireball arcs through the air, and when it hits the head of the badger, it turns into a red flame and burns it to a crisp.

The monster rolls to the ground with a dull scream.

Riccar and Hinck continue to fire blades and arrows at the dumb cave bear, which has blocked its own movement.

And when he gets back up, they repeatedly move away from him again.

The monster, after being burned in the face for a long time, cowered as if it had run out of strength.

Sisan and the others retrieve only the tail, which is a proven kill site, and the claws, which are highly prized.

Unfortunately, the pelts and meat are left behind, as they are too time-consuming.

"I see, it was a cave bear's den..."

"Yeah, yeah. "A misstep."

These angry cave bears were the main reason why we were having a hard time finding the entrance to the dungeon.

At first glance, it is hard to distinguish between a monster den and a labyrinth.

The only way to find out is to actually go in and check it out.

But that would take a long time, and we would be in danger of facing the cave bear we saw earlier in the narrow cave.

It would be nice if we could lure them out by shooting arrows at them, but it often does not work out that way.

This is where Moo comes in.

Since there are basically only one cave bear per hole, it is easy to identify them by .

The group then finds four more cave bear dens, and finally finds a hole that looks like the one they are looking for.

"Hmmm, it smells so bad!　But there are some big ones.

"Does that mean there are cave bears here, too?"

"I don't know. There's a lot of them over here, over here!

After entering the cave, Moo pointed to a small hole in the side wall.

It seemed to branch off into a hole leading to the back and a smaller hole on the side.

The smaller hole was almost a vertical hole, and the bottom was covered by darkness and could not be seen through.

The child was peering into the hole with a fearful look, but the strings must have been loosened because he had taken it off and looked at it many times.

The cage slipped out of the waistband and disappeared into the hole as if it had been sucked in.

"Kurosuke!

With a loud cry, Moo jumped into the hole, chasing after the beetle without hesitation.