Chapter 75

While dragging the remains of the monster in mid-air, Thor skillfully landed on the stone hill and slowly exhaled.

However, most of the frozen red water evil spirit's body slid down the slope of the raised earth hill and disappeared into the river.

Praying that the spirit core was in the remaining part, Thor checked his condition and exhaled again.

Fortunately, it only went up to his wrists, but his left arm was completely frozen along with the red water.

The magic crystal stone could not release its power unless held in hand and focused on.

However, as a trade-off, if it was a fire crystal stone, his arm would burn along with it, and if it was an electric crystal stone, he would surely be electrocuted.

Moreover, after a few uses, it would crack and the expensive magic crystal stone would become useless.

It was a method of use permitted only to Thor, who could restore his arm and the stone.

Thinking that he could chip away the ice with a disassembly knife, he tried to pull his hand out, and it came out easily.

However, he left the borrowed staff and leather gloves in the ice.

Moreover, his left wrist was completely numb, and he couldn't move a single finger.

Since there was no pain, he put it off for now and hurried down the stone hill to the riverbank.

The girl, who had been sitting by the water's edge, leaning on her staff, seemed to have some spare energy despite using magic techniques consecutively.

Since she had been practicing two types of magic techniques intensively on this riverbank, her magic power had grown considerably.

"You did well, Sora."

"Ah, Thor, welcome back. That was so cool!"

Her voice was more drawn out than usual, perhaps due to a slight lack of magic power.

After Thor extended his hand and cast <Restoration> on her five minutes ago, Sora finally returned to her normal speaking manner.

"How was it? The <Fix> just now was pretty good, right?"

"Yeah, no complaints. No, it was better than that."

With Thor's praise, Sora hugged him with a full smile, pressing her forehead and nose against his chest and relaxing her shoulders in relief.

The three brothers and Dyalgo, who had been watching the situation, also relaxed and spoke up.

"Thanks, Thor!"

"Yeah, seriously amazing. I'm jealous, but there's no other way to describe it."

"You really took him down quickly. Who the hell are you, Thor?"

"Thank you, Thor."

The four of them were shouting, but they seemed to be putting on a brave front.

It was understandable that they were doing so, given that the bridge's legs, which were almost complete, had collapsed by half.

"This much, we can still manage."

"The first time we were eaten by a river slime, it was like this."

"Actually, if it's only this level—"

Just as Thor was about to share some good news, multiple voices were heard from the embankment.

Looking over, familiar faces were waving and running towards them.

"It's been a while, Sora. How have you been...? You're quite lively even in the daytime."

"Betty, why are you here?"

"Wow, another beautiful lady, bro!"

"Her strong personality is really cool!"

"Calm down, you guys! Let's start with introductions. Nice to meet you, miss. I'm the eldest, Roluf."

"Huh? Who? What?"

Betty, who was about to interrogate Thor and Sora, who were hugging, was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the rough men.

"G-Gordan, do something!"

"Understood, miss. Uh!"

The young man of the tea-horned race, who was accompanying her, stopped moving upon noticing Dyalgo, another tea-horned race member.

Dyalgo also widened his eyes under his bangs.

After a moment of staring at each other, they suddenly approached and started bumping their horns together.

The red-haired maiden, seeing the strange sight of the bulky men sticking together, let out another flustered voice.

"What are you doing!"

"Excuse me, miss. This is a greeting from our hometown."

The two shield bearers, for some reason, nodded at each other and shook hands firmly.

Amidst the chaotic scene, another voice rang out.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Do whatever you want with me, cooked or raw."

The last to appear were Tapa and Tari.

And another person, bound with his hands behind his back and a cloth stuffed in his mouth.

It was Rishi, who was supposed to have hidden and fled.

It seemed that the twins had not been seen until now because they were chasing the fleeing younger brother.

The youngest, who had been caught, was hanging his head, drenched in rain.

"We were helped by these two."

"We are grateful for their cooperation."

Rishi, who had hidden and fled using the wind magic, could not escape from Tari's wind, which could detect any moving object.

<Wind Perception>, a lower branch skill of the wind spirit tree, like <Wind Concealment>, could detect small winds and grasp the terrain and moving objects.

However, Rishi, being a brother, was well aware of its effects.

He had tried to read the wind with the green feathers in his hair and hide, but then he ran into Betty and Gordan, who had somehow come downstream.

With the help of the red-haired adventurer, who quickly found Rishi's location, they easily captured the younger brother.

Realizing he was surrounded, Rishi raised his head and accepted the situation.

However, the moment his eyes fell on the collapsing stone hill, they regained their fierce glow.

Noticing this, Thor removed the cloth from his mouth, allowing him to speak.

"Heh, it looks like you've done quite a bit of damage. I feel much better."

"You bastard, I'll kill you!"

"No, no, you shouldn't treat your benefactor like that. All your hard work is thanks to me. If it's broken, you can just work harder, right? That effort will make you even stronger."

"Stop it, that's enough."

"Why? Didn't you work hard like that? For twenty-five years, being called a mud digger?"

"…I had hope. That's why I could endure."

Glancing at Sora, Thor continued speaking.

"But you're just giving a false hope. That's the wrong way."

Having said that, Thor suddenly stood up and crossed the stone hill again to the place that had collapsed.

He squatted down, touched the ground, and gathered his magic power.

In the next moment, the stone hill, which was supposed to be lost, had returned to its original height.

"Th-That's... impossible..."

Rishi, who had destroyed the bridge, opened his eyes wide in shock.

With a hoarse voice, the man slumped, defeated.