Chapter 32: The Swamp of Death Part 2

When camping, stew was always the choice.

Simple, warming, and hearty.

It was like the comfort food of another world.

– Clatter!

I threw various ingredients into a large pot. Up to this point, there wasn't much difference from a typical stew.

Just like how most stews have a similar taste, there wasn't much to expect from them.

But I had a secret weapon.

Just as a delicious soup restaurant needs tasty kimchi,

A delicious stew requires flavorful spices.

I added aged tomatoes, olives, bay leaves, and dried mustard seeds to the pot.

"Wow~, that smells delicious!"

El swallowed her saliva and stirred the pot eagerly with a ladle.

Just like El said, as time passed, a truly appetizing aroma wafted from the pot.

"Wow~, that smells delicious!"

"..."

And it seemed that a certain bear had caught wind of the aroma.

"Theo, your stews have always been delicious. A cut above the garbage those other mercenaries make that tastes like pig slop."

"Hey, don't touch that."

"I still haven't forgotten the taste of that Imperial-style buffalo stew you made."

"Hey, hey."

"El, may I have a bowl, please?"

Jamil extended his bowl towards El with a shameless smile. El looked at me with a confused look on her face and I shook my head.

"No way. His 'one bowl' is on another level."

"I'll honestly have just one bowl."

"Honesty or not, as the head of a mercenary group, you should have access to decent meals. Why come here and make a fuss?"

"Theo, you know as well as I do, there's no such thing as a mercenary who can cook properly. It's a stroke of luck if they know how to scrape mold off jerky."

Jamil snatched the ladle from El with a sly grin and heaped his bowl full of stew.

"One bowl, you said?"

"It is just one bowl, isn't it?"

What a shameless guy.

Jamil smiled shamelessly, sat down, and picked up a spoon. I sighed deeply and ladled stew onto El's plate and mine. Haah, El who also had a hearty appetite had her portion diminished because of him…

"Master, here's some roasted bread."

"Thank you. Have some yourself."

With the addition of slightly roasted bread, a satisfying meal was complete.

We began our meal around the campfire. While we enjoyed the stew, Ayla crunched on the hind leg of a sand bull nearby.

In this quiet part of the swamp, the sounds of the crackling fire, the bubbling stew, clinking bowls and spoons, and the murmured conversations of mercenaries and wizards softly filled the air.

I watched Jamil and El chat about recent training exercises as I slowly savored my stew.

Despite its ominous name, a peaceful moment was unfolding in the Swamp of Death

If only our journey to the center could proceed this smoothly, there would be nothing more to wish for.

***

How could this happen…!

Pavel could not contain his astonishment when he saw the ash tree emitting a soft blue light.

A month ago, when he had come for a preliminary investigation, these ash trees did not exist.

But at this very moment when the plan was about to be put into action, such a thing happened!

The blue light emitted by the ash tree was a sacred light that had the power of blessing or purification.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it…"

Pavel bit his lip and began to follow the ash trees at a safe distance while keeping them in his sight.

"It's okay. Calm down, Pavel. Just summon a troll, no, two trolls at the right moment and sweep them away."

From what he had observed, the ash trees seemed only to purify their surroundings without any other effects.

Pavel calmed himself by recalling the trolls he had buried in the swamp of death two months ago.

The trolls who were submerged in the swamp for two months and imbued with its powerful poisons and demonic energy would prove to be a formidable challenge even for the wizards of the western magic tower.

"I'll wait for them to fall asleep."

Pavel kept watch from the top of a thorny bush not too far from the campsite.

"..…!"

And then he spotted "him".

That's the one!

The damned druid who deserves to be cursed, the druid who even if he was torn to pieces it wouldn't be enough.

At long last, Pavel could comprehend why those ugly ash trees had taken root in the beautiful swamp of death.

I will definitely kill you this time.

In the darkness, Pavel gritted his teeth as he glared at the damned druid.

Two won't do. I'll awaken all five trolls and crush them thoroughly.

He clenched his teeth with a grinding noise and drew his dagger.

-Swish.

-Drip, drip, drip…

As he deeply slashed his already scarred palm with the dagger, thick, sticky blood slowly oozed out and dropped into the swamp.

-Rumble…

Then a faint vibration spread throughout the entire swamp of death.

The trolls that were controlled by the Black Worm and buried deep within the swamp of death awoke upon sensing the scent of Pavel's blood, their master.

"Yes, rise, you filthy worms. Rise, now…"

With a sinister chuckle, Pavel looked down upon the swamp where ripples were starting to form.

"Kekeke…!"

***

"Hmm?"

Jamil who said he would only eat one bowl was already on his third serving of stew when he suddenly looked up and scanned the surroundings.

It was known that when this beast-like fellow acted this way, it usually meant something unusual was afoot.

But even when I surveyed our surroundings, I found nothing but the quiet darkness lurking with no sign of anything amiss.

"What's the matter?"

Jamil tilted his head in confusion and placed his palm on the ground.

"Just now, I felt some sort of vibration."

"Vibration?"

I followed Jamil and placed my palms on the ground.

But I felt nothing.

"El, didn't you feel it?"

Jamil asked but El only shook her head in response.

Even Ayla, our most sensitive shadow wolf, was too engrossed in gnawing on the leg bone of a sand bull without making any reaction.

"Was it just my imagination perhaps?"

Jamil muttered something under his breath and went back to eating his stew, but I put down my bowl and stood up.

I was prompted by the thought that even the smallest anomaly should be reported to the wizards in advance.

"Jamil, help clean up after you're done eating."

"Does that mean I can finish it?"

"Sure, go ahead. Anyway, I need to speak with the wizards. El, just in case, don't get ready for bed yet."

Jamil and El nodded in agreement. I whistled softly to call Ayla and then set off toward the wizards' tent together.

"Sir Theodore?"

Fortunately, the wizards had just finished their meal.

"I've come to discuss something important."

"Please, go ahead."

"I think it's best we strengthen our watch tonight."

At my words, the leader of the wizards Jacob showed a hint of displeasure.

"Sir Theodore, today is only the first day, and we are barely at the edge of the swamp of death. Considering the long journey ahead, it would be wiser to conserve our strength and rest…"

Jacob had a point.

Just like he said, it was indeed our first day here and we were still at the edge of the swamp of death.

It wasn't unreasonable to assume that most dangers had been eliminated as we advanced to this point.

But why do I have such a bad feeling?

Wizards were a group obsessed with logic.

Unless I presented a sound argument, they were likely to dismiss my opinion out of hand.

"I have a connection with the purification ash trees."

That was a stretch of the truth.

Well, it was half true.

I am a druid who can manipulate plants, communicate with them, and sense their presence.

However, I am not always connected with them.

Of course, with advanced skills, one can achieve unity with nature…

But that was still a far-off dream.

Besides, connecting my mind with the ash trees now while they're absorbing the vast poisons and demonic energy of the swamp would likely blow my mind apart.

Anyway, I continued with my lies of pretending to sense the purification ash trees and adopted a grave and mystical tone.

"I feel something."

A mix of skepticism and awe flickered across the faces of the wizards including Jacob.

"It feels to me like a warning from the purification ash trees."

".…."

"If you choose not to believe, there's nothing I can do."

I smiled wryly while observing the wizards.

They soon began to murmur among themselves.

It seemed they found it difficult to outright dismiss the words of such a pivotal figure in the party.

Especially after I talked about the purification ash trees.

"Hmm… Very well. We'll increase the watch."

"That's a relief."

I bowed my head in thanks with my hands clasped as if in prayer and then exited the tent.

It might have been an excess of caution that might delay us but it was better to be safe than sorry.

After all, Jamil was the only one who had previously felt that attack with me. It wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

I have only planted purification ash trees today and didn't engage in direct combat at all, so I found myself with a good deal of energy left. It seemed best to put El and Ayla to sleep and take up the watch myself.

"I hope this is just needless worry though…"

But somehow, I didn't have a good feeling.

I hurried back to my tent.

***

-Shoooooo…

The usually silent swamp of death was filled with an out-of-place sound that was akin to a waterfall.

Splash… Splash…

And the slow quenching steps through the sticky swamp added to that an eerie rhythm.

Creak! Thud!

The sound of rotting trees snapping and falling mixed with the scampering of small monsters fleeing.

This is why I hate trolls. They're far too noisy.

Pavel looked down at the five trolls with an annoyed look on his face.

The five trolls controlled by the Black Worms had been submerged in the swamp of death for over two months. As a result, their bodies were rotting away, with the rotten flesh regenerating in a grotesque manner which led to bizarre mutations.

– Kuuuuuuuuh…

– Grrrrrrrrr…

The rotten muddy water of the swamp of death was flowing out of the trolls' every orifice—their eyes, noses, and mouths.

It was all thanks to the Black Worms that such aberrant trolls could be controlled.

With the impossibility of smuggling Black Opium from Niram, the value of Black Worms had skyrocketed.

In such circumstances, receiving five high-grade Black Worms capable of controlling troll-level monsters indicated that the organization had high expectations for Pavel.

I cannot afford to fail this time.

Last time, the plan to smuggle Black Opium went to waste because of that damned druid, so Pavel had to succeed this time.

Because If I fail right now…

A shiver ran down his spine. Should he fail this mission as well, he might very well become a subject in the ongoing experiments of implanting Black Worms into humans.

"There will be no more failures."

Pavel gazed at the flickering lights of the campsite with a sinister look in his eyes.

"March."