The sun drifted slowly across the sky.
Hours passed.
The five adventurers continued through the wilderness, rarely stopping for long.
Whenever they came across the remains of another magical beast—
they paused briefly.
Lindor carefully harvested each corpse.
The magic crystals had already been removed from every beast.
But the hides.
The claws.
The fangs.
The bones.
Those still remained.
One by one, he packed them away into his spatial storage.
The knight had long since stopped complaining.
Every corpse they found served as yet another reminder.
Whatever they were following—
was far beyond an ordinary traveler.
Every few hours—
they rested.
If they passed near a village or a small frontier town—
they replenished their food and water before immediately setting out once more.
Strangely—
their journey remained peaceful.
Not because the forest lacked danger.
Quite the opposite.
It was because every dangerous creature that should have crossed their path...
was already dead.
Their unseen quarry had unknowingly cleared the road ahead for them.
Nearly a full day after Draven and Aldric had passed through the region—
the group emerged into another clearing.
Everyone stopped.
The ground was littered with bodies.
Hell Goblins.
Dozens of them.
Twisted corpses lay scattered across the battlefield.
Broken weapons were strewn everywhere.
Black blood had long since dried beneath the afternoon sun.
The archer slowly lowered her bow.
"...Hell Goblins."
Her voice had become noticeably quieter.
"C-rank monsters..."
She swallowed.
"...And an entire tribe was wiped out."
Her eyes swept across the carnage.
"If we'd stumbled into them ourselves..."
She forced a weak laugh.
"...There isn't a chance any of us would've survived."
The knight nodded grimly.
"Yeah."
He scratched the back of his neck.
"...This is getting way too dangerous."
"We're getting farther and farther into territory we shouldn't even be entering."
Nearby—
Lindor was already moving among the corpses.
Storage runes flashed briefly as one body after another disappeared into his spatial storage.
He let out a quiet sigh.
"...I agree."
He looked around the battlefield.
"We've already earned far more than we expected from these remains alone."
"C-rank materials aren't easy to come by."
He stored another corpse.
"Even if we turned back now..."
"...this expedition would still be considered a complete success."
A few meters away—
Zeph remained crouched low to the ground.
His nose twitched repeatedly.
He inhaled once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Finally—
he frowned.
"...That's strange."
The others turned toward him.
The knight spoke first.
"What?"
Zeph pointed deeper into the forest.
"...The trail."
"The scent of magical beasts..."
"...doesn't continue."
Silence.
The archer blinked.
"What do you mean?"
Zeph slowly rose to his feet.
"There aren't any more fresh blood trails left behind by magical creatures."
He sniffed the air once more.
"...And the scent of blood..."
"...has almost completely faded."
The knight frowned.
"...So what's that supposed to mean?"
Zeph folded his arms.
"It means..."
"...our target is much farther ahead now."
Lindor adjusted his glasses thoughtfully.
"And if the trail of magical beasts has ended..."
He looked toward the endless forest stretching before them.
"...then they most likely stopped hunting here."
A brief pause followed.
"They've finished gathering whatever they needed."
The towering lizardman nodded slowly.
"Which means..."
"...they no longer have any reason to slow their pace."
His yellow eyes remained fixed on the distant horizon.
"If that's true..."
"...then from this point onward..."
"...they'll be traveling directly toward their destination."
Silence settled over the group.
The realization weighed heavily on everyone.
Until now—
they had been following someone who frequently stopped to hunt.
To collect magic crystals.
Those repeated stops had allowed them to slowly close the distance.
But if those stops had ended...
The knight released a long breath.
"...We're not catching them anymore."
Lindor nodded.
"No."
He secured the last of the harvested materials.
"...From here on..."
"...the distance between us will only continue to grow."
No one argued.
Because deep down—
they all knew he was right.
The forest fell silent once more.
The remains of the Hell Goblins lay scattered across the clearing.
After several moments—
the towering lizardman turned toward Zeph.
"...Which direction?"
Zeph looked up.
"The trail."
"Which way does it continue?"
The kobold didn't hesitate.
"...East."
Silence.
The archer folded her arms.
"So..."
"...the Dark One is heading east."
Lindor suddenly frowned.
"...East..."
He adjusted his glasses.
A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"...Now that I think about it..."
Everyone turned toward him.
He continued slowly.
"Although we've stopped at different places along the way..."
"...we've been traveling east this entire time."
Zeph blinked.
Then nodded.
"...You're right."
"I didn't even notice."
The lizardman crouched down.
He reached into one of his pouches and produced a small triangular device.
A faint pulse of mana flowed into the artifact.
**BZZZT.**
A blue hologram unfolded above it.
A detailed map floated in the air.
Mountain ranges.
Kingdom borders.
Major cities.
Trade routes.
The others gathered around it.
The lizardman pointed toward a glowing marker.
"This..."
"...is our current location."
His finger shifted westward.
Another point illuminated.
"And this..."
"...is Blue Feather."
A thin blue line connected the two points.
It was almost perfectly straight.
The group stared silently.
The lizardman traced the line with one claw.
"We've been moving almost directly east this entire time."
His claw continued farther across the map.
Past the forests.
Past the frontier.
"...If this direction doesn't change..."
"...we'll eventually leave the Land of Rainmoor."
His claw finally stopped at the neighboring territory.
"The Land of Greywater."
The knight crossed his arms.
"So..."
"...that's where he's going."
"Greywater."
The archer nodded excitedly.
"And now we know."
A grin spread across her face.
"If we get this information out before anyone else figures it out..."
"...we can sell it."
"People would pay a fortune for news like this."
Lindor remained focused on the map.
"...Greywater..."
He spoke almost absentmindedly.
"A territory bordering the eastern frontier."
"Ruled by Count Perlen."
The lizardman gave a single nod.
"Exactly."
Then—
his claw continued moving east.
Crossing another border.
Stopping upon a much larger kingdom.
"And beyond Greywater..."
"...lies the Kingdom of Eirundor."
The knight frowned.
His gaze shifted from the map...
to the lizardman.
"...Wait."
His eyes widened slightly.
"...Are you saying..."
The lizardman slowly nodded.
"I don't think Greywater is his true destination."
Silence settled over the group once again.
His claw rested firmly upon Eirundor.
"If he simply wanted to reach Greywater..."
"...there would've been far easier routes."
"But instead..."
"...he chose the most direct path east."
Lindor's eyes narrowed.
"...Straight toward Eirundor."
The archer's excitement gradually faded.
"...If that's true..."
"...then the information we're selling isn't just that the Dark One is heading toward Greywater."
Zeph's ears twitched.
"...It's that he's most likely crossing into Eirundor."
No one spoke for several long moments.
Then the knight let out a low whistle.
"...That..."
"...is worth a lot more than a rumor confined to a single country."
The lizardman deactivated the artifact.
The blue hologram flickered before vanishing completely.
"...Exactly."
He looked toward the eastern horizon.
"Which means..."
"...we've already found what we came for."
"We don't need to catch him."
"We only need to be the first to sell the information about where he's headed."
The others exchanged glances.
One by one—
they nodded.
Their objective had changed.
They were no longer chasing the Dark One.
They were now racing everyone else to be the first to sell the truth about his destination.