Chapter 49

The carriage stopped at an open area just before the river.

Several similar carriages could be seen lined up.

At the entrance to the square stood a large, sturdy log cabin, with a fist-sized bell hanging near the door.

When the driver who had gotten off first struck the bell, passengers began to disembark from the carriage one by one.

Tall and the others, who had climbed down from the ceiling seats with their luggage, followed the other passengers into the cabin.

Inside, there was a large wooden counter, and men in green uniforms were working.

A bit further away, there was a wide table where employees in aprons were chatting.

In the back, there was a partition, and on the wall, various tools were lined up.

The room was bright and had a calm atmosphere due to the large windows.

The dozen or so colleagues who had come with them seemed to know each other. They greeted the receptionist lightly, wrote something down, and left.

As Tall and the others approached, the receptionist greeted them with a smile.

"Welcome. Welcome to the Bloodflow River Adventurer Bureau Outpost."

The man with the exaggerated smile had dull short black hair mixed with dark green feathers, belonging to the Emerald Feather race.

He was about the same height as Sora, with not particularly broad shoulders.

His face still had a youthful and adorable look, but he was probably in his late twenties.

"Hello, you must be new. I'm Rishi of the Deep Emerald family, in charge of reception here."

"I'm Tall. Nice to meet you."

After the other three also greeted him, Rishi's eyes quickly moved to confirm the adventurer badges hanging from Tall's neck.

There was one black badge among the red ones, but the receptionist continued the conversation without showing any reaction.

"First, let me explain the schedule. The round-trip carriage runs only once a day, arriving at noon and departing at one o'clock. Please be careful not to miss it. While it rarely gets full, it can be crowded on weekends, so it's safer to make a reservation if you plan to return home."

"During the trip, we passed about three carriages. What were those?"

"Those are material transport carriages. Unfortunately, they don't have enough space for passengers."

From the number of carriages, it was clear that the hunting grounds of the Bloodflow River, which took eight hours round trip, generally encouraged overnight stays.

Tall and the others had already prepared tents and other equipment for this.

With his emerald eyes moving around, Rishi confirmed if there were any questions.

Sora and Yuril were listening seriously, but Mū, who was already getting bored, was climbing up Tall's body to peek over the counter.

"Since we've mentioned materials, let me explain that first. The monster appraisal and part buyback are handled at the disassembly area behind this cabin. If no staff is present, please let us know at the table over there."

Like the main office, it seemed they were short-staffed here.

"The cabin and disassembly area are open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. For emergencies outside these hours, please ring the bell outside."

The receptionist, who had put on a fake smile again, nodded lightly and moved on to the important part.

"I believe you were given a brief explanation before coming here, but let me confirm. The Bloodflow River hunting grounds are currently very crowded with over a hundred adventurers. To avoid unnecessary confusion, each party is assigned a specific area to hunt. Is that clear?"

After confirming that Tall and Yuril had nodded, Rishi continued.

"Specifically, the upstream hunting grounds are prioritized for D-rank and E-rank adventurers who are close to promotion. The large riverbank further down is for gathering, and the downstream area is for new adventurers."

"Is there a penalty for hunting in the wrong area?"

"No, there isn't, but it seems that such issues are resolved through discussions among adventurers."

Implicitly, it was a push for unspoken agreements, which exist everywhere.

Tall frowned slightly at the undertone that suggested not to cause trouble.

"Lastly, if you need any items, have forgotten something, or have damaged weapons or armor, we can lend you what you need. Please feel free to use this service. Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Since they hadn't done anything yet, there was no immediate need for questions.

Tall shook his head, and the young man of the Emerald Feather race smiled contentedly in response.

"Please sign the visitor's log. Would anyone like me to write for them?"

"No, that's fine."

"Can I draw, Tall?"

"Sure, go ahead. Here, write your name here."

"Got it! Leave it to me!"

When the four had finished writing their names, the receptionist spoke again.

"Also, Yuril of the Black Steel rank is allowed to stay for only two days. Please be careful not to miss the noon carriage the day after tomorrow."

"Understood. Thank you for the information."

The beautiful woman smiled brightly, and the man with the fake smile finally showed a flustered expression.

After leaving the log cabin, Tall and the others started walking towards the river.

The path was clearly visible, having been trodden down by many people.

In just a few dozen steps, they reached a more open riverbank.

Reddish-black stones the size of palms were scattered, and a few people in leather armor were picking them up and putting them in bags.

Even as Tall and the others approached, no one looked up.

"Tall, they're picking up stones. Are they collecting them? For Mū's ban?"

"That's hematite collection. The stones here contain red iron, apparently."

"It's the same as our rank, huh?"

"Wow, what a strange-colored river."

Yuril, who had somehow put on her hood, looked at the reddish-black water flowing on the other side of the riverbank and spoke with a lively voice.

She had mentioned before that her skin turned red easily if she was exposed to too much sun.

"That river flows from the Great Hole and returns there. The color is said to be from dissolved red iron or some kind of bodily fluid, but it's unclear."

"Is that so? What an intriguing story. Hehe, if it's monster blood, I wonder whose doing it is."

"Would you clean yourself with it, Tall?"

"No, that water would probably make you sick."

"Right. And it's said to taste terrible, so be careful not to drink it."

While talking, the group started walking downstream along the river.

The riverbank, with its large stones, was painful to walk on in short boots, so Mū was already riding his favorite sled.

The river was over twenty steps wide, and the riverbank was about fifteen steps wide.

Behind it was a slightly raised embankment covered in brown grass.

Strangely, the tents were lined up not on the grassy ground but at the edge of the riverbank.

No one was fighting monsters, as it seemed to be a break time.

As Tall and the others passed by the tents, whispers spread.

"Hey, isn't that the old man who was mud fishing?"

"But he's apparently really strong. Like, during the recent outbreak—"

"Didn't he and another guy take down a group of hobgoblins? That's just a rumor, right? Impossible."

"Maybe. And I heard from a guard that they even found a chief's corpse."

"Then it sounds even more like a lie."

The sharp gazes focused on Tall, as if they didn't believe the rumors.

After the group passed by with calm faces, everyone looked at each other in amazement and asked the same question.

"…Wasn't the kid on the sled just now wearing a red adventurer badge?"