"That's the Dark Swamp over there." Jumping off the horse, Aya formed her left hand into a canopy shape and looked out at the cloudy sky ahead.

"Yeah, we finally made it. By the way... Aya, you can't ride a horse?" Eterras also held the reins of Aya's horse, looking at it with a strange expression.

This horse was a good one. Eterras had spent a lot of money buying it, but now its legs were trembling as if it could drop dead at any moment.

If Eterras hadn't carefully confirmed it earlier, he would have suspected that the owner had tricked him.

Aya's expression froze. Of course she couldn't ride a horse. As a Dragon, Aya's flying speed was much faster than riding a horse. There was no need to ride such a lowly creature.

But because she couldn't casually expose her identity, Aya chose to come along with these two.

She initially thought riding a horse wouldn't be difficult, but Aya's horse turned out to be particularly fierce. From the moment Aya got on its back, it had been trying its best to throw her off for half an hour.

Finally, Aya couldn't take it anymore and released her draconic power, making the horse obedient. But it seemed to have caused some psychological trauma to the horse, in addition to Aya's poor riding skills. She almost killed this rare and valuable horse along the way.

But they finally arrived.

Located on the southwestern border of the continent, adjacent to the ocean, the Dark Swamp was the most popular paradise for adventurers after the Frost Forest in the north. And because it was difficult to obtain a pass to the Elf territory in the north, the Dark Swamp was even more popular.

Adventure, for young people in their prime, was an attractive word. But only those who have truly experienced it would understand that it represented not only relentless battles and the fruits of victory, but also bloodshed and malice.

And when Aya stepped onto this land for the first time, she deeply felt its unfriendliness—

"Ah ah ah! My money pouch is gone, you bastard!"

In the adventurer's town outside the swamp, Aya exploded with anger as she felt the empty side of her belt. She had temporarily given all her remaining gold coins to Liecho, so she specifically withdrew five hundred gold coins from Justice before coming out—although not a lot, it was more than enough for a ten-day adventure.

But all her remaining property was stolen within ten minutes of entering the town?! It was truly shameful for the mighty Golden Dragon to have her belongings stolen by human thieves!

"That's why I hate crowded places..." Aya's face was full of dissatisfaction, angrily clenching her fist, "If I see that thief, I will definitely give him a good beating!"

"Well, well, calm down. It's quite common for first-timers to have their money stolen in places like this." Eterras reassured her, though his smile revealed guilt, as he had failed to remind his teammates before entering the town.

"Were you guys also stolen from on your first time here?" Aya suddenly turned her head and stared at Eterras and his gun-wielding younger brother, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Well, uh, that time we were with a senior who warned us, so..." Eterras tried to shift his gaze elsewhere.

Aya's expression became even more resentful.

...

The location of the adventurer's town was just an empty space far from the Dark Swamp fifteen years ago, but as the swamp expanded, the original gathering place was abandoned, and people built this new town on the new border.

Most of the buildings in the town have a history of no more than ten years and are mostly simple wooden and stone structures, with only one or two floors. The tallest one is a bell tower near the marsh edge used for observation and warning... It is more like a temporary camp, but still bustling due to the large number of adventurers coming and going.

"By the way, why are we wandering around here? Why don't we just go in?" Aya complained as she walked on the bustling streets, being bumped into by a few passing pedestrians.

"Some things needed for entering the marsh must be bought here first, such as medicines to resist the miasma. Although Chi can resist it, if it keeps consuming, it will be difficult to deal with unexpected situations." Ino explained as they walked. Suddenly, Ino's eyes lit up and she walked to a small stall ahead, waving at Astrid who had already walked there. "Sis! They have Mingyu stones here!"

"Mingyu stones?" Aya was unfamiliar with this term. Could it be some special gemstone? Due to Dragon's fondness for jewelry, she immediately became curious and went to see the stone that Ino was holding.

A pile of irregular shaped fragments, varying in size, didn't look like anything valuable. Rather than stones, they felt more like solidified wax in terms of texture. They were relatively soft to touch, and it seemed possible to leave a mark on them with a fingernail.

"Finally found them... Hmm, there's quite a few. Should be enough. How much for all of them?" Astrid picked up one and examined its quality, seemingly satisfied.

"If you buy all of them, it's twenty Milanía gold coins." The vendor put down a steel sword he was polishing and lifted his head, looking a bit tired. When he saw Astrid and Aya, his eyes brightened a bit.

"So expensive?" Aya was shocked and stuck out her tongue. This small pile of stuff that looked no different from wax pieces was almost as expensive as a low-grade enchanted sword—although it was the lowest grade.

Ino and Astrid also seemed surprised. "Isn't this price a bit high? Last time we came, it was at most ten gold coins."

"Hmph, I patiently explained because of the pretty little girl." The vendor crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair. "You don't need Mingyu stones if you don't enter the deep marsh. If I guess right, you're here for the mission to hunt the witch, right?"

"Yes... Hmph, so that's why?" Astrid grumbled unhappily. "No wonder I couldn't find them no matter how long I searched. They were all snatched up by those guys."

"What did your sister buy anyway?" Aya asked in a low voice.

"It's a special ore produced nearby. When ignited, it emits a flame of light. Although it's the lowest grade, it's enough to dispel the dark mist lurking in the deep marsh."

"Why is there such a thing as dark mist?"

Different from the naturally formed miasma, dark mist is a very peculiar thing with strong toxicity and corrosiveness. Dark creatures often appear with it, and it is a common thing in Devildom, but this is the human world. Just a casual appearance of a dark creature can attract the crusade of holy knights or even the cathedral, not to mention such a large scale of dark mist.

"It is said that in the ancient god war, the goddess killed the demon lord in the sky above this place, and the demon god's body fell and contaminated this land... That's what the church says, but I don't believe it." Ino spread her hands.

"If there is dark mist, shouldn't the church take care of it?"

"It seems that for a period of time, they declared this place a sacred area and sent a large number of holy knights and Theurges to purify it, but they fled shortly after and never came back."

Could it be true that there's something strange? Aya was a little panicked.

After replenishing everything that was missing, the three officially entered the dark swamp.

It had to be admitted that there was a reason for its name. As soon as they stepped into the range enveloped by toxic gas, the surrounding light immediately dimmed, visibly, at a speed visible to the naked eye. At the same time, the pungent smell in the air gradually became stronger, making Aya feel uncomfortable.

"Take one, place it under your tongue. It's good for resisting the toxic gas and the effects can last for about a day." Etras took out a freshly-bought glass bottle from her storage ring and handed a pill to Aya.

The small pill was light green and had a slightly sour taste when eaten. Other than that... it was crispy? Like eating hard candy.

However, the effect was still quite good. The refreshing aroma dispersed the sticky odor in the nasal cavity, and Aya felt much more refreshed overall.

"By the way, how should we go about finding the witch next?" Ino also took a pill, casually propping her long spear and asking.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

The scariest thing is when the air suddenly becomes quiet.

"Wait... You guys didn't gather any intelligence? Even if you don't know the exact location, shouldn't you at least know the general direction?" Aya suddenly had a bad feeling.

"I've never liked doing those kinds of things. Ino, didn't I tell you to gather intelligence?" Etras widened her eyes.

"Well... I'm a future S-rank adventurer. How could I possibly do something like collecting intelligence myself? It's too much of a waste of my talents... Dealing with the witch is what I should be thinking about." Ino coughed twice, feigning composure.

Very well, then with your intelligence, I'm sure you can guess that it won't be just me who will be beating you up next, right?