Everyone suddenly fell silent.
Listening carefully... there did seem to be a faint sound, like someone blowing bubbles in water.
"It sounds like it's in the water..."—the last place anyone wanted to think about.
Walking through this muddy terrain shrouded in fog was already unpleasant enough. The ground underfoot was always wet and clammy, sometimes with a slight itch, but you couldn't just take off your boots to check, so you had to endure and keep moving.
"Over there!" Jonathan pointed toward where the sound came from, and everyone readied their weapons.
Sean, of course, had a flintlock in hand, prepared for anything. But in his field of vision, no danger alerts appeared—not even a sense of being watched or stared at. If there were a threat, it should have been eyeing them by now.
"Maybe it's not dangerous. I'll go check it out." Sean volunteered, stepping to the front.
"Wait—"
Before the word was out,
Sean was already ahead of the group.
The fog was thick, and everyone stayed close for fear of getting lost, yet Sean alone had suddenly dashed forward. Through the mist, they saw him stop.
Jonathan thought, *This is bad*, and hurried after him. "Master Sean, what's wrong?"
Sean stood at the very front...
"I've been wondering why there are no animals to be seen in this wetland. Even when it's not flooded, the woods should have some creatures. Turns out they're all here..."
Everyone followed his gaze.
Ahead, a thick, foul stench permeated the air. In the middle of the muddy water, a massive pile of dead animals was heaped together. They looked like they'd been dead for a long time—their waterlogged flesh had decayed and fallen apart, releasing a pungent odor. Even the bones were black, crawling with maggots.
The sound they'd heard earlier was just the bubbles rising from the rotting animals submerged in the water... and the stench was overwhelming.
These were the most common animal carcasses found in the woods, but why were they all dumped here?
"How can there be so many!" Raster frowned.
No one could feel good seeing such a scene. Suppressing the urge to vomit, Sean waved at the group, signaling them to leave this place quickly.
Jonathan couldn't help but glance back at the pool of animal carcasses. It stood like a tombstone or a warning sign...
Wasn't there a saying?
When entering a dangerous area, someone might pile animal bones as a warning to those who come later. This heap, though not yet fully skeletal, was close enough.
"Why are these things placed here?"
The group exchanged glances, none daring to speak, but a hint of [Panic!] lingered in their hearts...
This was a bad omen for the journey ahead, weighing heavily on the team's morale.
The mercenary squad had taken this job for money, not to throw their lives away. If it was too dangerous, they'd have to consider whether to continue.
"Two possibilities..."
Sean's sudden interjection drew everyone's attention.
"What possibilities, Master Sean?"
"Before the mercenaries set out, a force of thousands of Black Feather Knights and wizards passed through here. They might not have taken this exact path, but with so many people, they had to find food locally. Those animal carcasses could be where the army disposed of their hunted game."
That explanation was somewhat acceptable.
"And the other?" Jonathan asked.
"The other is that this wetland harbors a more ferocious beast, and that spot is where it discards its food. But so far, I haven't sensed any other beasts around."
"Or it could be a well-hidden magical beast!" Feng from the team said.
"Not a magical beast either."
"How can you be so sure?"
"And how can you be so sure?" Sean countered.
Feng, another melee fighter in the team, had seemed a bit off since the day they formed the group. Everyone else started with [Friendly] toward Sean, but Feng was [Neutral]. Still, they managed to cooperate normally.
Sometimes low affinity didn't mean hostility—at least until the relationship broke down, both sides could still get along in a certain way...
There was no need for everyone to be overly friendly. Most relationships only needed to reach a point where they could talk and exchange a few lighthearted jokes. Afterward, they'd just ignore each other anyway.
"Feng, Master Sean is a professional. We all trust him," said Raster, the only woman in the team.
Indeed, after Sean said there was no danger around, the group's [Nervous!] mood eased considerably. Though [Caution!] remained, it was far better than panic.
Sean kept a close watch on everything around him until the team safely left the waterlogged woods.
But his boots were uncomfortably wet...
Itchy, but he couldn't just take them off to scratch, so he had to keep walking.
The fog grew even thicker!
Sean guessed the water in the woods was from the recent rains. As for the animal carcasses, he couldn't think of a better explanation. If there really were no beasts in the woods, it had to be the work of the Black Feather Knights.
After leaving the woods, the team members were in low spirits. Sean checked the sky.
[Daytime: Cloudy, 3:21:40]
They'd been walking for over two hours. It would be dark soon, and the sky was already noticeably dimming.
"Let's find a place to set up camp. We'll stop here for today," Sean said.
He stared at the sky, puzzled.
It was foggy, with no view above the mist. His vision indicated "Cloudy," not "Fog" or "Haze." Could it be that the fog had nothing to do with the weather itself?
Just then, Alphonse noticed something in the distance.
"Look over there—are those people passing by?"
Everyone peered through the fog. From another patch of woods, a few groups seemed to emerge.
"Probably other mercenary squads. Let's catch up to them. It's late, and it's best not to camp alone in the wild," Jonathan suggested.
In dangerous places, mercenaries tended to stick together—but only at night. During the day, they went their separate ways... This was something Sean never understood. Even in daylight, wouldn't sticking together help if they faced a threat?
It wasn't that bad, was it? No sense of cooperation at all.
Seeing that the team agreed, Jonathan naturally took the lead to talk to the other squad's captain.