Chapter 61

After getting everything ready, Thor and the others were once again swaying in the carriage heading to the Bloodflow River. The weather was supposed to be clear until the weekend, so they were seated on the roof again.

It had not been a full week yet, so unfortunately, Yuril was not with them. As a result, Moe's pillow was taken care of by Sora.

They had become quite close recently, and it was becoming natural for the two to be together. However, perhaps because Sora's thighs were too firm and bouncy, the child had been mumbling incoherent sleep talk for a while.

The carriage passed through the brown plains where the wind was howling and arrived at the destination without any issues.

After completing the registration at the outpost, Thor and the others did not head straight to the riverbank but went to the square where the carriage was parked. They had noticed during their previous return trip that there seemed to be a store selling daily necessities.

Approaching the area where there was a crowd, they found a tent under which goods were piled up. There were barrels of beer as big as they could carry, plates with bread, salted meat, and blocks of cheese. There were also blood-stopping ointments, flint, and hemp ropes, among other consumables. It was like a small general store, but there were no vegetables that would not last long.

"Yuril mentioned this last time, but the prices aren't too high."

"Yeah, just a little markup. It's really helpful."

The amount of cargo they could bring into the carriage was limited, so being able to buy various items at the destination without worrying about the price was very convenient. Thor and the others bought a bundle of charcoal and a barrel of beer and started walking downstream as they had done before.

Moe, seemingly pleased with her new leather shoes, led the way, happily stomping on the ground. They reached the deserted riverbank in less than an hour, unloaded their belongings, and stretched a bit.

"Alright, let's get ready."

"Okay, Moe, it's a rock-stacking contest."

"M, I'll take you on, Sora-nee!"

This time, they only had one tent for the three of them. However, to prepare for the rain, they doubled the tent and dug a shallow ditch around it to prevent water from entering. They also set up a tent for an outdoor toilet on the other side of the embankment.

Sora and the others were building a makeshift stone stove by stacking rocks. They immediately lit the charcoal and were grilling sausages on a flat iron pot while toasting bread on skewers. The smell of sizzling oil wafted through the air, and the child, unable to wait, was drooling and tapping Sora's thigh.

Warm, slightly softened black bread, grilled sausages, and herbal tea boiled on a heat plate. The menu was not much different from before, but the taste was significantly enhanced just by heating it. As Thor and the others enjoyed their meal, a figure approached from downstream.

By the time they finished eating, the three rough-looking brothers, Rorolf, with their unkempt beards, had arrived. It seemed that thanks to their companion Tari's wind magic, <Wind Perception>, they could immediately tell when someone set up a tent at the riverbank.

"You came as promised. It's supposed to rain tomorrow at noon, so I'm counting on you, Thor."

"Here, Dyalgo said to give you this. And I'll leave this here too."

"Huh? Yuril isn't here today? Why? Did she get dumped?"

In return for the dried blood-blowing fish and three empty barrels, Thor handed over some souvenirs he had bought in town.

"Here, you said you needed more arrow feathers. And I brought some salt too."

"Oh, that's a big help. Thanks a lot."

The three brothers nodded happily at the salt pot for drying fish and the sharp-tipped tail feathers they had received from Sisan. They seemed reluctant to leave the half-built bridge and only returned to the town of Dadan about once every two weeks.

"And here, it's going to rain, right?"

The three brothers took the soap fragments and left with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

After that, the three of them went hunting for red poison frogs. Without Yuril, Thor had to dodge and take them down. He was hit by poison a few times and had his wounds regenerated persistently, but he managed to handle it with the <Restoration> spell, a sharpened iron sword, and a blue-striped mantle that was resistant to poison. Dealing with the blood-blowing fish was not particularly dangerous, as Sora and the others had become accustomed to it.

There was no way to kill the fish, so the current strategy was to distract them. If they went to the wider riverbank downstream, they could entrust the task to the twin sisters of the Green Feather Clan, but since not many monsters appeared there, the two parties would end up with a shortage of prey.

On the first day, they managed to catch twenty-four red poison frogs by the time it got dim. While Thor was disposing of the dead frogs by throwing their bodies into the river, Sora prepared dinner. Moe was sliding down the embankment on a sled, laughing loudly.

As it got dark, they turned on the magic stone lamp they had bought, making the area brighter. There were two types of magic stone lamps: one that consumed a lot of magic stones but produced a lot of light, and another that produced less light but lasted longer. The former was used in dungeons, and the latter for street lamps. This time, they bought the dungeon type, which cost twenty silver coins.

The reward for stopping the recent large-scale monster outbreak had been given entirely to Yuril as a thank you and an advance on rent. The money they had earned in the goblin cave was almost gone after buying the tent and the magic stone lamp, leaving only about one gold coin. Thor still had some leeway, but he felt a bit anxious about the future. However, he intended to use the money to push himself forward.

"Here, it's ready."

"Thank you. It smells great."

"Moe, I'm so hungry, I can eat a lot!"

"Here, please enjoy."

Sora had prepared a stew with large pieces of dried fish and round potatoes in a deep bowl. She had secretly cooked it over a charcoal fire during the breaks in the battle, making sure it didn't burn.

The flavors had thoroughly soaked in, and each bite brought out the rich taste of the ingredients. The pot was quickly emptied. Moe, who was reluctant to let go, was trying to scrape the bottom of the pot with a piece of torn bread to get every last drop.

"It was delicious, thank you."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Thor."

The girl clenched her small fist and quietly savored her joy. It seemed that the effort of asking the owner of the sea pot shop to put only the broth in a leather bag had paid off.

After dinner, they cleaned up, removed their equipment, rinsed their teeth, and crawled into the tent. Thor was in the middle, with Sora on his left and Moe on his right. The tent was small, so they had to be close together, but the child, exhausted from playing, fell asleep almost immediately. The remaining two looked at each other from a distance where their breaths could almost touch and smiled silently.

Sora, shifting slightly, skillfully used Thor's arm as a pillow and leaned against his shoulder. Her silky black hair swayed, and a sweet scent filled the tent. With her ear pressed against Thor's side, Sora whispered in a half-asleep voice.

"…This is calming."

"Maybe it's because you can hear my heartbeat."

Thor quietly answered, recalling the times he had tried to hear the heartbeat of the girl who was in a state of <Stasis>. That night, enveloped in the soft sensation, Thor slept soundly without any dreams until morning.