179 - - one's last destination

The wagon moves soundlessly through the brown field.

We follow the tracks of the wheels on the damp ground as if tracing them.

All around us is an endless expanse of nothing but a series of gentle undulations.

The black dots in the distance, which are rarely seen, seem to be not forests, but thorny bushes in the wasteland.

Other than that, there is really nothing, so naturally there is nothing that looks like a road.

The only signpost is the mark left by someone's carriage.

Sitting on the platform, Thor felt the warm wind on his skin and looked up at the lightly overcast sky.

There was no sign of rain.

However, the sticky air was filled with the feeling that it might start to rain at any moment.

Thinking of something, Thor let out a quiet voice.

"...... is it about time?"

A bearded man holding the reins next to him picked up on the unspoken comment.

"Yeah, we're almost there. I can see it."

At the familiar words, Thor turned his face back to the front and stared into the distance.

Far beyond the vast plain.

It is still too far away to see clearly, but even from here the unusual atmosphere is easily recognizable.

The entire surface that occupied the tip of his field of vision had been painted black before he knew it.

A thick, murky haze covers the area around the blackened area, making it impossible to see beyond it.

Even from this distance, I could feel the scent of rotting water mixed with the wind.

The ruts of the wagon are stretching out ahead.

This was the next destination of Thor and his friends, a mysterious swamp of miasma.

"This looks like a terrible place..."

The name of the man on the dais who commented as if he were talking about something else was Garudo.

He is a veteran shieldman who has served as a guide in the wilderness of the Ruined Wind for a long time, and was supposed to retire from this dangerous job soon.

However, he has lost sight of the right time to retire due to the shortage of adventurers, which has been aggravated by the miraculous recovery of the neighboring border town of Bossalia.

This time, he sends Thor and his friends back to the swamp, but they are planning to return the next day and head for the next town.

He has too many memories of his late wife in the wilderness of the Ruined Wind to be interested in becoming an adventurer in the area around Dadan.

Thor nodded to his friend, who looked happily at the black swamp ahead of him.

It took six hours to pass southeastward through the forest of kobolds to the wilderness of the Breaking Wind.

From there, he turned northeast for three hours through barren lands where even the sucking grass had disappeared.

The vast marshland that exists almost directly east of the border town of Dadan is swirling with a terrible miasma.

The reason for this is that in the center of the marshland, a ghastly labyrinth lies open.

The origin of the fixed dungeon, called the abandoned underground prison, is said to come from the remnants of the architecture of the Central Kingdom in the old days.

It is said that it is very difficult to reach the dungeon.

There are no proper paths in the swampy area, which is covered with muddy mud everywhere.

There are only narrow paths where one's feet do not sink to the knees, and temporary passageways made of wooden planks.

Even more troublesome is the presence of the noxious fog that gives the swamp its name.

At first glance, it appears to be just a white fog, but it contains a great deal of miasma, and just being in it causes a gradual loss of physical and magical strength and weakness.

Even the most seasoned adventurers will surely have a hard time in this place, as the miasma is so thick that recovery is not easy, and the miasma occurs frequently.

"I heard that kids around here are taught that if they misbehave, they will be taken to the swamp. They say that the wicked witches who live in the swamps come to kidnap them."

"Did Rudel tell you that?　Don't scare them too much."

Garudo's five-year-old daughter seems quiet and reserved, perhaps because she used to be sickly.

Holding the reins, her strong-looking father shook his head in annoyance.

"No way. If you say so, she wets the bed every night."

"They say you shouldn't let them drink too much water before bed."

"I try to be careful, but he doesn't like his scales to get dry. ......"

Perhaps it was the image of his mother's daughter, with her fine blue scales, that reminded him of her, and his cheeks, covered with Garudo's beard, lifted naturally.

He glanced at the man next to him and continued his story with an admiring look on his face.　

"Well, she's the cutest thing, that's all part of it. On that note, your place looks safe.

Garudo has a point.

There is a gap between Thor, who is sitting on the driver's stand, and the cargo bed.

Sleeping peacefully in the narrow space was a lovely purple-eyed child with curly hair.

She is lying on her side, snuggled up against Thor's back in a strange position, letting out a cooing, carefree snort.

He was stuffed tightly into the bed, but Moo looked so relieved in his sleep.

"Why are you sleeping in there?"

"Lately, he likes to stay in small places. He gets into them easily."

"Yeah, we often hide under the bed or in the wardrobe too."

The two men looked at each other and quietly relaxed their mouths.

The trouble with swamps is that, like children, monsters hide in the mud.

They are not such a pretty sight and are notorious for their viciousness, not showing themselves easily, but never missing an opportunity.

There are also many difficult obstacles that are not easy to overcome, such as monsters that are ineffective with ordinary weapons.

While the conversation between the two men is interrupted, the carriage continues on its lighthearted way, and gradually a distinct smell of decay begins to mingle in the air.

At the same time, the sky begins to change and black clouds begin to spread overhead.

Perhaps sensing a disturbing presence, the horse's snorting becomes more and more agitated.

As he gazed at the approaching blackness, Thor let out a breath as he thought of the trouble that awaited him ahead.

The Yakashi Swamp is a poor environment, difficult to navigate and full of nasty monsters, but the most problematic part is resting.

It is difficult to rest calmly because of the mud everywhere.

So our ancestors made the utmost effort to build three campsites.

They built the foundations of the campsites by carrying rot-resistant timbers back and forth many times.

And now there are three groups hunting in the swamp.

When the fourth group, Thor's group, joins the group, problems will naturally arise.

If we don't do something about it, we won't be able to concentrate on our hunting.　

Looking at the silver adventurer's card swinging on Thor's chest, Garudo spoke up as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"So, how did it go with the Silver League?"

With that comment, Thor recalled the recent meeting and exhaled deeply again with a wry smile on his face.