220 - - The Silver League, again.

"........................What... ...is that right?　What in the world is this ......?"

It is not often that one sees such an astonished look on the face of Sorrugum, the head of the Thunderclap, who is famous for his frown.

In his normal state, Balconia would have been a talker and would have made a lot of light talk.

However, he himself is not in the mood for it.

His mouth, which is always spinning, is still wide open and not a single moan is coming out of it.

The same goes for Chiru, the leader of the Storm Peak Alliance, who was standing behind them.

His eyes, which had always been as sharp as a bird of prey's, were now as round as a chick's.

Towering before the three of them was a huge stone building.

The walls, piled with large stones without any space between them, stretched high above their heads.

There seemed to be even a small tower at the corner that served as a watchtower.

It was without a doubt a well-constructed fortress.

However, it is not only the majesty of the fortress that has the men amazed.

First of all, it was the location.

The fortress stood proudly on the banks of a mysterious swamp, deep in a miasma that only a handful of selected adventurers should have been able to enter.

But that is a small matter compared to the other point.

What is most surprising is the fact that such a building did not exist (・・・・・・・・・) until yesterday.

Like little children separated from their parents, the three fearfully reach out their hands to the stone wall.

They look at each other with lost faces when they feel the unmistakable presence of the cold stone.

The strong men cower speechless, but it seems that even their well-trained instincts have not been silenced.

Suddenly sensing a presence behind them, the three men turned their heads in unison, as if in unison.

The sight of the person in front of them made them lose their voices again.

Emerging from the corner of the wall was a bipedal white beast.

The size of the beast was only up to its navel.　

For some reason, it was wearing a snakeskin cord as a sash.

Hanging at the end of the string was a small square cage.

The strange-looking white beast suddenly began to swing its arms and legs in front of the three of us.

It then turns itself around and begins to spin on the spot.

Finally, it stopped moving and suddenly pulled the skin of its head back.

From inside emerges the face of a child with lovely curly blond hair and purple eyes.

With a look of triumph on his face, the young child says in a high voice: "I am the one who is going to make the world a better place.

"Welcome to the back of Moo!

Then he turns himself around again and disappears around the corner.

The remaining adults followed with panicked looks on their faces.

On the ground floor of the side of the fort not facing the swamp, there was a large stable that could accommodate a carriage.

Horses, freed from the yoke, were drinking water in a relaxed manner.

It is not a common sight here, but the three of us, numb to the situation, walk past it at a quick pace.

On the stone steps leading to the second floor, the child dressed in the skin of the beast from before beckoned to them.

The men nodded to each other, and stepped onto the staircase with determination.

The noisy noise leads them down a passageway to a room at the back of the house.

It was a spacious room.

It was surrounded by stone, but had an open atmosphere.

On one wall there was a fireplace with a red-hot flame burning through an iron screen.

A girl, who was bending down in front of the fireplace and peering inside, noticed Sorrugam and the others and a welcoming look appeared in her eyes.

She turns around and calls out to someone in the back of the room.

"Thor, we have a visitor!

"Oh, you came. I'm sorry I called you.

A middle-aged adventurer approached in response.

He may not look like much, but he is the hero who liberated Bossalia, and all three of us had already confirmed his abilities.

Thor was also the organizer of this meeting of the Silver Alliance.

All three knew from the reports of their subordinates that Thor and his party had come to the swamp about two days before.

They had been crouching on the ground at the site of the fort looking for something, but they had not been able to tell us what they were looking for.

Instead, they asked me to send a message to come here at noon today.

"............What is this place?　How did you ......"

"What is going on here?　Is this all the work of Mr. Thor?

"Hero, please explain quickly!　I don't understand so much, I'm going crazy."

Thor shrugged his shoulders and pointed to a table that had been left alone.

"Well, why don't we have lunch first?"

The table, which consisted only of a wooden plank on a red log as a footstool, was quite cramped when everyone was seated.

The chairs, upon closer inspection, appeared to be simple folding chairs used by adventurers.

Thor scratches the bottom of his chin as he explains, perhaps noticing the stares of the three men.

"We were able to restore the building, but not the contents. We managed to make it up as we went along, so don't expect it to look too good.

Did you put it back?

"............ No way!"

"You did it, Mr. Hero?

Just as Thor opens his mouth, a girl with a plate in her hand appears to interrupt him.

"Here you go, it's baked!

The dishes were lined up one after another, and an unusually delicious smell was wafting through the air.

The reddish meat (steak) was thick and steaming with juices.

The green beans served next to the steak also gave off a colorful and appetizing aroma.

As Chiru was about to swallow with bated breath, Sola's voice rang in his ears again.

"No more than two loaves of bread per person!

At the replies that came out of their mouths, Barconia quickly looked around at the people at the table.

Directly in front of him was Thor, who was silently bringing a cut of meat to his mouth.

Beside him sat a child dressed in the fur of the white beast from earlier, and men of the Midoriwa tribe with the same face were taking care of him.

On the other side, a girl with a blue ribbon is digesting meat with great vigor.

Next to her, a silver-haired ash-eared beauty was sitting, sipping a cup of sake gracefully.

Around the corner, behind the table.

There, a red-haired, fair-haired woman with a white napkin wrapped around her neck was chewing her meat lightly.

A brown-horned man stands behind her, casually pouring wine into an empty cup.

A woman of the Soukin tribe was playing a lyre and making music appropriate for a meal.

The scene resembled that of a high-class restaurant somewhere, and Sorrugam and the others could do nothing but remain silent.

A man from the Chakaku tribe, who was boldly eating meat next to them, spoke to the three of them.

Come on, eat quickly or it will get cold! You don't get to taste dragon's tail meat very often.

"Could this be the lake dragon colony in Bossalia?　I had heard rumors that Mr. Thor had exterminated them."

You know your way around. You're a talker.

You really beat that thing. Then I have a question.

I'll explain all that after dinner. I've eaten, I've eaten.

Prompted, the three of us reached for our knives with a myriad of questions in our minds.

They were engrossed in the concentrated taste of the dish.

Later, Moo and Chiru reach for the third loaf of bread and are scolded in a friendly manner.

After taking a break to pour some after-meal tea down their throats, the explanation about the fortress finally began.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but the short version is that I this place."

"............?"

"It's the magic trick that's rumored to have fixed the city of Bossalia. I've seen you change the location of some things, but is this one of them?　How much else could it be?"

"I thought you could not only heal people!　That's nothing short of amazing, isn't it?"

The three of them express their thoughts verbally, but there is no indication that they doubt Thor's words.

They have already accepted the fact that there is no way to shake the fact that this fortress exists and supports their feet.

This is a good example of how the longer one has been an adventurer, the easier it becomes to accept reality.

Thor was indifferently informed about the specifications of the fortress at that time in the archives of the Adventurers' Bureau.

Based on this information, he spent two days carefully reading the records of this place and recreated it exactly as it was.

The reason for this was to let him know and trust his own power.

Thor went on to ask for the help of the three of them to defeat the witch.

At that moment, the color of the men's eyes changed.

"............ are you serious?"

"Well, that's, I mean, I know it's not right, but if you can restore a fort like this, maybe ...... you can."

"You're a few steps ahead of me. I still want you as my son-in-law!"

"Of course the odds are against us. Will you look at this tree?

Thor pointed to a red log that had been used as a table leg.

There is a good number of them piled up in the back of the room.

They are called "red trees" and grow around the lake in the pool of blood in Bossalia. It is resistant to decay and can be used as a substitute for the buried trees.

From there, they build a foothold and start talking in detail about how to attack the witches.

At first, the heads of the three factions thought the proposal was too absurd, but they were gradually drawn into the story.

By the time Thor finishes his story, the men are half-convinced.

"I'm not asking you to decide right now. I'm not asking you to decide right now, but I'd like you to take it home and discuss it.

"............ ah,ah."

"Mmm-hmmmmmmmmm. Interesting, I see what you mean about decoys.

"Yes, that's right. That is very interesting. Would you be willing to give it a try?"

Thor nodded his head in satisfaction at the favorable attitude of the three.

Then, as if to make sure, he asked them

"Is there anything else you want to ask me?　If you have any questions, get them out now."

The three looked at each other and said similar words in unison.

"............ If you have that much power, shouldn't you be out in front of it already?"

"Yes, losing you seems like a tremendous loss."

"Well, I think my son-in-law should stay in a safe place."

But Thor, shaking his head, replied with a small lift of the edge of his lips.

"It seems I'm the kind of guy who can't stand it."