The Witch Hunter System

Blackmoon Region

Along the upper streams that run through the vast crescent-shaped valley, several heads popped out of the cold water before they met with the misty morning light that had only just started to shine over the region.

Having spent a fair bit of time in the underground cavern, the escort group had nearly forgotten an entire night had gone by.

"It seems like the area is clear," Captain Rhys confirmed before quickly adding, "However, everyone should keep their guards up. The Dark Hellhounds could be hiding nearby."

Vaan nodded with approval.

They had to keep this bit of vigilance if they didn't want to lose their lives carelessly.

Although the Dark Hellhounds don't usually come out during the day, it would be strange if they gave up so quickly and the group killed many of their kind.

After everyone got out of the water and made it to land, Captain Rhys and the young warriors scanned the vicinity.

"Captain, the Dark Hellhounds are all gone. Should we retrieve our wagons?" a young warrior asked after confirming no Dark Hellhound in the area.

Even Vaan's Magic Vision failed to pick up any cluster of mana.

However, that bothered him.

According to the Beast Encyclopedia, the Dark Hellhounds were vengeful and protective of their kind.

One night of waiting shouldn't have been enough to make them give up their pursuit.

Despite that, it didn't change the fact that there was no Dark Hellhounds in the area. They had either retreated to their mountain caves or died off somewhere.

Vaan was more inclined to believe in the latter, which concerned him.

"Our wagons had a lot of goods on them. If the Dark Hellhounds are gone, I would naturally want to retrieve them. However, we have to see what Lady Linette has to say," Captain Rhys shifted the focus to Linetta.

"What do you think, Vaan?" Linetta turned to Vaan instead.

"Personally, I believe we should continue to leave as soon as possible to avoid any unexpected variables. After all, we are in the wild by ourselves," Vaan stated.

"However, it is also true that you can now kill a Rank 3 Dark Hellhound with your present preparations. Thus, it's entirely up to you whether we continue the journey as is or return to the wage, my Lady."

"I see," Linetta uttered.

Although Vaan recommended moving on, he was also curious about the wagons. Linetta pondered after seeing that.

Shortly after, she made her decision.

"We only moved a bit upstream to avoid being pincered in our original location. But seeing as there are no Dark Hellhounds around, and the abandoned wagons aren't that far from here, we'll head back to retrieve them," Linetta stated.

"I am grateful for your consideration, my Lady," Captain Rhys expressed before giving Vaan a slightly forced smile.

Vaan smiled back slightly but had no comment.

A short while later, the escort group reached the location where they abandoned the wagons. However, they only found one of the two wagons.

Furthermore, there were quite a few more Dark Hellhound bodies in the area than they remembered. Even so, their memories weren't very vivid to begin with due to everything happening quickly at the time.

Vaan scouted the area on his own and found traces of other battles, including bloodstains from humans, severed limbs, and even several lumps of earth where bodies may have been buried.

"F*ck! Someone stole our wagon," a young warrior expressed his discontent with the present situation.

"No sh*t, Captain Obvious," another one replied sarcastically.

They could all see that someone or some group had taken their wagon. However, the question is why they only took one and not both of the wagons.

"That so strange… If I see two wagons of goods lying around, I wouldn't just take one," Captain Rhys raised his doubt with a pondering look.

"Maybe the other party was being considerate of us?" a young warrior speculated.

"Or the other party had a small group. One wagon was probably the limit they could take without inconveniencing their travel," Vaan added.

"That's plausible," Captain Rhys nodded and said, "The wagons have our Steelguard Escort Group's crest. We were bound to catch up to them if they were greedy enough to take both wagons."

"Nevertheless, you guys got our wagon, even if it's only one of them. Let us continue on your journey," Vaan urged.

"Who knows, maybe we will catch up to the thieves if we are quick enough," Vaan nonchalantly added with a shrug shortly after.

After hearing that, Captain Rhys and the young warriors solemnly nodded.

The escort group quickly loaded all the Dark Hellhound carcasses their wagon could carry before continuing on their way.

"What's wrong, Vaan?" Linetta noticed Vaan's deep pondering look while riding on the Earth Salamander together with Lilias.

"We killed a few Rank 2 Dark Hellhounds, but only Rank 1 Dark Hellhounds were left behind. We can assume that the other party took all Rank 2 Dark Hellhound carcasses," Vaan mentioned.

"The Rank 2 Dark Hellhound's value is more than five times that of a Rank 1 Dark Hellhound. It makes sense for them to take the more valuable goods, right?" Linetta thought.

However, Vaan shook his head, seeing she had completely missed the point.

"The wagons weren't left very far from the stream, and there were far more carcasses from Rank 1 Dark Hellhounds lying around," Vaan mentioned.

"This could also mean that the other party's wagon is full of Rank 2 Dark Hellhound carcasses. Considering the other party sustained several casualties, there's even a high chance that they killed the Rank 3 Dark Hellhound."

"However, a party that can kill a Rank 3 Dark Hellhound, regardless of their losses, is no ordinary party," Vaan calmly stated.

After Linetta and Lillias heard Vaan's speculation, they contemplated with serious expressions.

"Sister, do you think this party was a group of commissioned assassins?" Lillias wondered. She could not help but suspect again that their aunty commissioned assassins to kill them.

"I'm not so sure…" Linetta replied with a frown.