Chapter 42: One After Another

After that, Vilyric found the busy merchant caravan leader Afuri, who was preparing to continue their journey, and explained her purpose.

“What? Are you saying you don’t recommend moving forward for now? Why, Miss Xī… you do understand the saying that time is money for merchants, right? If we waste too much time, everyone’s losses will keep increasing. Even if I agree, the passengers borrowing rides won’t accept such unreasonable demands.”

Vilyric, the White Fox Girl, was not surprised by Afuri’s stern refusal. She shook her head helplessly, having already seen through his thoughts.

“I completely understand, Mr. Afuri, that you have ample reasons to continue. I also understand your choice not to stop and rescue Mr. Pierre; it’s dangerous here, so you all want to leave quickly… But the situation now is that if we continue to act recklessly without figuring out the reason behind the attack, the losses will genuinely escalate. I’m not just talking about money, but lives.”

Listening to the girl’s statement, Afuri immediately furrowed his brows deeply.

“Miss Xī… what exactly do you mean by that?”

As if hinting at something, Vilyric tilted her head slightly, her silver-blue eyes gliding over the shadows beyond the path, accompanied by a light, mysterious laugh as she spoke.

“I’m quite curious about what’s going on, which is why I’m willing to offer some help to the caravan. Of course, it’s normal and reasonable for you not to believe me, and I’m merely trying to persuade you with a tentative attitude. Or, you can consider this as scare tactics; I honestly don’t mind.”

Watching the girl’s adorable yet elusive little fox mask for a moment, the young caravan leader glanced at a few of her companions in the distance, seemingly observing the remnants of the attack, and asked tentatively.

“Then may I ask, Miss Xī, how long do you think everyone needs to stop waiting? How do you plan to solve the problem?”

“To solve the problem, we naturally have to find the troublemakers directly. Since we have time to kill, we can set off whenever, but regarding when we’ll be finished… I can’t provide a precise answer at the moment.”

“Is it just… like that…?”

Taking a deep breath, as if making a decision, Afuri shook his head silently.

“It’s unfortunate, but if that’s all the answer you have, I can’t halt our journey based on someone’s few words. Besides, the Holy Spirit Path is a mysterious place that only those with genuine faith in the Goddess can pass through. As I said before, Pierre was punished for his blasphemous thoughts, and we are different from him.”

“Oh? It seems Mr. Afuri has immense confidence in everyone in the caravan ~”

Without focusing too much on the details, the girl nodded to indicate she understood. As she turned to leave, she threw out a hinting remark.

“Then let’s wait and see. If you change your mind at some point, Mr. Afuri can come find us again. Of course, I, like you, hope everyone can leave the forest safely and smoothly.”

Not long after, Vilyric and the others returned to the carriage, and the caravan set off again after a brief chaos.

Having gone through this series of events, Tilysha naturally had no desire to continue playing chess. Seeking comfort, she immediately sat next to the Priestess, gently tugging at her witch’s skirt sleeve.

“Miss Xī, you seem quite certain that something else will happen next. Have you discovered something?”

The White Fox Miss, already lost in her reading, nodded in affirmation.

“Let’s say I’ve made some progress. But since it was so sudden before, I didn’t pay particular attention to the outside situation. Now that the caravan leader insists on moving forward, it’s a perfect opportunity to continue observing. Watch, Pierre’s situation surely won’t be just a coincidence.”

“Pierre’s situation? Are you talking about his attack, or…?”

With a light laugh, Vilyric simply smiled enigmatically, not directly answering Leila’s pondered question.

“Who knows? Right now, we don’t have enough cases to determine the attacker’s motives and methods. Perhaps, as Afuri said, the fat guy was punished by the Holy Spirit for his blasphemy. Or maybe there really is some lurking ghost or monster here. All in all, we’ll just have to see. It will take at least three to four hours to leave this path.”

With that said, there was nothing to do but wait, and everyone occupied themselves with various activities to pass the time. Their attention, compared to before, was notably focused on the noises outside the carriage.

Just as if to prove Vilyric’s prediction, hardly ten minutes after the caravan resumed, a piercing wail suddenly echoed from outside!

“Ahhh!!!!! Let me go! No! No!! Goddess! Holy Spirit! Spare me!!!!”

“Ah, is that how it is? Quite an interesting method…”

As the screams and dragging sounds filled the air, the White Fox Miss, who had been deep in thought with her eyes closed, slowly opened them, making eye contact with her pet in front of her.

“Did you sense that, Xiao Guang?”

“Yes, Master, they have begun their hunt. Just like last time.”

Renee, also startled by the commotion, hurriedly pulled aside the carriage curtain, peeking outside cautiously before quickly retreating back in, her face displaying curiosity.

“Uh, shouldn’t we go take a look? It seems like a mess out there again.”

To this, Vilyric, the spokesperson, simply shook her head lightly.

“There’s no need. We’re just passersby; we don’t have any obligation to be responsible for the lives of these merchants and travelers. That responsibility lies with caravan leader Afuri. I’ve made my position clear; since he can remain calm, we should wait and observe more. If we need to take action later, we can do so with more certainty.”

Quietly waiting, about a quarter of an hour later, the caravan that had paused due to the unexpected event once again calmed down and resumed its journey. But this time, Vilyric could distinctly feel the speed of movement picking up.

It seemed that the coincidental incident had caused Afuri and everyone else to feel some panic, wanting to escape the mysterious path as quickly as possible.

However, that unidentified presence didn’t seem to intend to let this random group of merchants off so easily. Just five minutes later.

“Ah!!!! Let go! Let go of me! What the hell is this! I prayed so earnestly! Why??!”

With screams accompanied by vigorous dragging and friction sounds, it was clear another victim had appeared.

“So you prayed so earnestly… tsk tsk, does that mean your usual prayers aren’t that sincere?”

As if realizing something suddenly, Leila looked up, surprised, glancing at the White Fox Girl who let out a soft laugh.

“Are you implying that they are genuinely killing members of the caravan based on the authenticity of their faith? But if that’s the case, why are we…?”

Vilyric shook her head, not directly answering.

“I merely made a casual remark based on what I heard; there’s no deeper meaning. As for why we haven’t been attacked despite lacking faith, there could be many possibilities.”

“Perhaps the attackers just happened to catch a few suspicious fellows, or they could indeed be sifting through the authenticity of faith. But they can only distinguish between ‘true’ and ‘false’; they wouldn’t react to the ‘void’.”

At this moment, the White Fox Miss smiled again, casually adding.

“Of course, it’s also possible they sensed that we could fight well and aren’t worth the trouble, so they’re intentionally avoiding us.”

   

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