Chapter 28: The Reason

"Bang!"

A one-handed hammer, gleaming with a metallic luster, slammed down violently.

Accompanied by the dull, heavy thud of hard metal colliding with flesh, the green long snake—which just a moment ago had been coiled up with its head raised in a warning posture—instantly became nothing more than a twitching, writhing lump of meat.

"Are there really this many snakes in this forest?"

Larry, a stout man dressed in tight-fitting short gear, shook the blood droplets off the hammerhead with a look of disgust and complained.

Several hours had passed since Xia Nan joined the squad.

The complex environment of the Misty Forest, filled with dense shrubs and tall grass, made their journey difficult; while not impossible to walk through, it was arduous and rapidly depleted their stamina.

Facing potential ambushes at any moment, Xia Nan and the others could not afford to exhaust all their energy on travel; they needed to maintain a certain level of combat readiness.

Consequently, they had found a relatively safe spot to set up a temporary camp to rest and recover.

Xia Nan sat in a corner of the camp, leaning against a tree trunk.

His iron-gray decapitation longsword lay diagonally beside him, within easy reach.

With a piece of gauze dampened with water, he was wiping the leather armor on his body.

Although he hadn't been injured during the recent deathmatch with the duo, the enemy's blood had splattered all over him.

It wasn't that he was a germaphobe.

It was simply that the smell of blood easily attracts danger, and the sticky sensation on his skin was uncomfortable.

Since he had some downtime, he took the opportunity to clean up.

"Xia Nan, do you usually encounter this many snakes when you're on missions?"

Tossing the long snake, which had been hammered into a pulp, into the nearby bushes, Larry asked casually.

Having become members of the squad, the group had naturally exchanged names.

Xia Nan glanced up, forcibly suppressing the urge to rush over and gouge out the snake's gallbladder.

He thought back to his own journey here, feeling a sense of confusion in his heart.

"The variety of snakes encountered along the way does seem a bit excessive."

"Back when I was with the 'Stinking Fish and Rotten Shrimp' squad, I didn't see this many snakes in the forest."

He thought this to himself but didn't say much.

After all, this was only his second mission, and he wasn't much more familiar with the Misty Forest than Larry was. He simply said

"Perhaps this area is unique? As you know, the Misty Forest is filled with strange things everywhere; you never know what you might run into."

"Oh? Strange?" The ambiguous description piqued Larry's interest. "The rare kind of magical beast? Or giant man-eating plants?"

"I heard from my cousin that in these 'large mana accumulation points,' there are even legendary ancient fortresses and dungeons!"

As the discussion turned to something interesting, Larry's voice rose slightly. The blonde girl beside him also pricked up her ears, seemingly eager to hear the stories of this new adventurer.

But undoubtedly, the topic had already exceeded the scope of Xia Nan's knowledge.

Not knowing how to respond, he curled his lip and said helplessly

"I'm just a newcomer. I don't know much about the things you're mentioning."

"A newcomer!? You didn't act like a rookie just now!"

"Why don't you ask Wood? His experience is clearly much more extensive than mine," Xia Nan said, awkwardly shifting the subject.

Upon hearing this, Larry first shrank his head back and glanced around suspiciously. Remembering that the other man had already left the camp to scout ahead, he leaned in and lowered his voice.

"Him? Aside from Heian, he looks at everyone like they're a corpse. Who would dare ask him anything?"

"He can't squeeze out a single word in half a day. No matter what you ask, he just gives you a cold stare. If it weren't for..."

"Ahem."

Heian let out two deliberate coughs, interrupting Larry's speech.

His expression was somewhat helpless.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. Wood is very competent."

Xia Nan actually agreed with this.

While he could feel the guard's wariness toward him, it didn't stop him from recognizing the man's professionalism.

His mind was still preoccupied with that wooden plaque. He hadn't had the chance during the trek, so seeing the man speak up, he followed up by asking about its origin.

"This?" Larry took the initiative to answer. "I bought this last month while out scavenging. At the time..."

According to the fat man, the plaque was originally found in the Misty Forest by some adventurer. They had thought a plaque with such an exotic style would fetch a good price, but unexpectedly, not a single shop in Valley Town was willing to take it.

It could only be sold at a low price to the owner of "Griffin General Store" in Neum, and was eventually discovered and bought by Larry.

"I originally wanted to hire that adventurer to lead the way, but he refused stubbornly. In the end, I only managed to buy the location where the plaque was found from him for a few gold coins."

"Only you? Why didn't you bring any guards?"

Xia Nan spotted the loophole and frowned.

Even if a wealthy young master went on a trip to the countryside, they would at least bring a few personal bodyguards.

Judging by his attire and mannerisms, Larry didn't look like someone short on money.

Under these circumstances, he hadn't brought a single personal guard?

Xia Nan couldn't understand it.

If it were him, he might not even step onto the field personally. Since they were on the outskirts of the Misty Forest, he would just spend some money to hire dozens of professionals; it would be safer and greatly increase the chances of a discovery.

To this, Larry only scratched the back of his head with a silly grin.

"My dad always dislikes... bank accounts... are all spies... secretly..."

As he mumbled incoherently, his gaze subconsciously flickered toward the blonde girl resting nearby.

"Tsk."

Xia Nan curled his lip and shook his head, his curiosity extinguished.

Since things had reached this point, both he and Larry had to live with the consequences of their own choices.

"Then what is so special about this piece of wood that made you run all the way here from Neum?"

For Xia Nan, the reason for the plaque's attraction needed no further explanation.

But what about these natives of this world?

They weren't archaeologists; it wouldn't be worth risking their lives to enter the monster-infested Misty Forest for a plaque of unknown origin.

Larry fell silent.

Heian, however, let out a silent sigh and explained

"I am leading the team." He looked up, his silver-gray eyes—unique to half-elves—gazing at Xia Nan.

"I cannot say much in detail, but I suspect this wooden plaque... is related to the disappearance of a relative of mine."

Hearing this, Xia Nan couldn't help but frown.

Just as he was about to speak, a sudden rustling sound came from the tall grass beside the camp.

He stood up instantly, instinctively grabbing his decapitation longsword, prepared for combat.

Immediately after, the figure of Wood, clad in black leather armor, appeared before them.

His gaze swept across everyone's faces before finally settling on the half-elf, Heian

"Young Master, I found something."

(End of Chapter)