Chapter 52

The man with purple eyes introduced himself as Rorolf.

He was a Red Iron-class warrior, twenty-six years old, and his specialty was wielding two one-handed axes.

As the eldest of three brothers, he was a responsible and reliable man.

The second son was named Niniras.

He was also a Red Iron-class warrior, two years younger. He favored a thick, heavy two-handed axe.

He had a straightforward personality but could be counted on when it mattered.

The third son was Gugtaf.

Another Red Iron-class warrior, he was also two years younger. His pride and joy was a two-handed spear.

Unlike his less considerate brothers, he was a thoughtful man.

The reason Thor and the others knew so much about these men’s personal information was that they had casually joined the tea break.

All the information about their personalities came directly from the men themselves.

“So?”

“Huh? What’s what?”

“No, why are you here?”

While drinking from their cups, Thor asked the three men, who wouldn’t take their eyes off Sora and Yuril, in a somewhat exasperated tone.

Sora and Yuril had offered to give up their chairs, but the men insisted on sitting on the riverbank, apparently not out of politeness but because they could see the women better from a lower position.

All three were significantly taller than Thor, towering over him, and were quite massive.

They had amber hair and deep purple eyes that slanted downward.

The two older brothers had chiseled, rugged faces, while the youngest had a slender, more refined appearance.

However, all three exuded an aura of unpopularity.

They hadn’t taken a bath in days, and their patchy beards and body odor only added to the impression.

“What do you mean...? Hey?”

“What was it again? Looking at beautiful women makes everything else seem trivial.”

“Come on, bro. Weren’t we supposed to check something out?”

“Ah, right. You’re new here, right? I thought you might need some advice. You know, neighborly advice.”

The eldest brother, who had been staring at his favorite cup, hastily explained, as if to avoid Muu’s intense gaze.

“Have you been here long?”

“Almost two years. Every day, just the river. I’m sick of it.”

“You said you were neighbors, but I didn’t see you on the way here.”

“Yeah, we’re a bit downstream. The riverbank is wider and better there.”

“Do you get more game there?”

At Thor’s question, the three men exchanged glances and chuckled dryly.

“Ha, it’s the same downstream. There are only frogs and fish.”

“...Why don’t you go upstream?”

Given their apparent dissatisfaction with their current hunting grounds, there must have been a good reason they hadn’t moved. With almost two years of experience, they should be close to promotion to White Hard class. Thor asked if they met the conditions to hunt upstream, and Rorolf dramatically shrugged.

“It’s not that we don’t want to go, it’s that we can’t... We don’t have the money.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that. To hunt upstream, you need to pay a ridiculous fee.”

“Can you explain that in more detail?”

The three men nodded vigorously and explained, filling in each other’s gaps.

First, downstream only had monsters like Red Poison Frogs and Blood Spitting Fish, which didn’t yield much in terms of rewards.

When it rained, even worse monsters appeared.

However, upstream had monsters like Rampaging Hippos and Red Shell Crabs, which provided valuable materials and skill points.

There was a natural dam made of driftwood and rocks a bit upstream from the outpost, where the current slowed down, preventing hippos and crabs from reaching downstream.

Even if they did appear, they were usually hunted upstream and didn’t drift down.

This made it almost impossible for adventurers in the downstream hunting grounds to meet the multiple Rampaging Hippo kills required for D-rank promotion.

To address this, there were designated release days.

On these days, a few Rampaging Hippos were driven downstream, and a special battle was allowed on a designated riverbank.

Winning several of these battles would earn a party recognition as being close to promotion, allowing them to hunt upstream.

Parties that were bad at these battles could pay a substantial amount of money to get permission to hunt upstream.

However, the reward for killing a Red Poison Frog was only fifty copper coins.

The toxic skin could also be sold for fifty copper coins, but it was troublesome to handle and the bags used to carry it often had to be discarded.

Blood Spitting Fish, which were worth three large copper coins including their materials, were difficult to kill without ranged weapons.

Earning money downstream was a tough challenge.

“So that’s how it is.”

“Yeah, we’re good at close combat, but we can’t react fast enough to ranged attacks.”

“Besides, the battles are too brutal for our liking.”

The burly men, who didn’t seem to match their tough appearance, hung their heads dejectedly.

Yuril, perhaps concerned, spoke up.

“Oh dear. Would you like a refill of tea?”

“Thank you!”

“This is really delicious.”

“I’ll have some too! Being around beautiful women makes my throat dry.”

“Oh, you’re so smooth.”

The youngest brother, who started making flattering remarks, was promptly smacked on the back of the head by his brothers.

Muu, who had been watching with wide eyes, also came over and tapped him.

Thor, seeing the three men perk up instantly, asked the crucial question.

“So, just to confirm, the people in charge are—”

“Yeah, the outpost guys.”

“Figures.”

Recalling the suspicious smile of the receptionist, Thor shook his head.

It was clear that adventurers couldn’t manage the hunting grounds on such a scale.

“Hey, are the people at the Adventurer’s Bureau doing something wrong?”

“Well, not exactly wrong, but without someone in charge, it could turn into a bloodbath. They also mentioned something about on-site disposal rights or something complicated like that.”

“But taking money...”

“Yeah! We don’t agree with that either.”

“But if we complain to the main bureau, they don’t listen at all.”

“They’re probably bribing the security department with the money they earn.”

Thor’s statement left the three men silent again.

A child, bored with the conversation, started nibbling on Thor’s collarbone, prompting him to continue.

“So?”

“Huh? What’s what?”

“No, have you been putting up with this all this time?”

“Well, what can we do? But don’t underestimate us.”

“Yeah, once we finish that, they’ll all be crying.”

“Bro, that’s still too early!”

“Oops, right. Forget I said that. In exchange, can you teach us a little trick?”

The three brothers smiled, showing their teeth. They were still suspicious, but somehow likable.

“Do you have trouble with fish getting in the way when you try to hit frogs?”

“Oops, sorry!”

“Yes, they keep escaping.”

“There’s a simple solution, miss.”

“Really? Wait, how about pulling them more to this side?”

Sora, not wanting to rely on them immediately, presented her own idea.

Moving away from the riverbank would make it harder for the fish to spot them, and water projectiles would be less likely to reach them.

The frogs would also have a harder time escaping.

“Unfortunately, that won’t work. Those frogs don’t stray far from the river.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I give up.”

“Why don’t you try it my way? It’s so simple, you’ll be surprised.”

The trio smiled warmly again as they said this.