The newcomers were all walking on foot with various levels of injuries on their bodies. No one seemed unharmed, and some of them were practically half-naked and bleeding from all the damage.
With bleeding meant mobs, and there was an endless stream of mobs coming at them. Even if they recovered a bit or used potions, the bit of blood would attract monsters, which in turn would injure them further. It was a vicious cycle.
The fortunate part was that they were not weak, and most of them were at least toughened level, which was why they were still alive, considering everything.
However, they had been dragging their feet for quite some time, separated from their companions by a beast mob that ended up being larger than they thought.
"Damn, where are we?" one of the men mumbled as he looked out. He looked at their leader, Evo, who was cursing while leading the way. His large sword was out and ready to deal with monsters that came in his way.
"That monster mob had too many toughened monsters!" Vara, one of the merchants and their employer, yelled, annoyed that he had to walk so much. "Did someone fail to do their research?!"
"Mobs like that are rare but not abnormal," another one of the mercenaries, Clen, said with his low voice. "There were probably adventurers who went near the Western dungeons and ran away, luring stronger monsters and mobs with them."
He was relatively calmer than the others, but because of the large scar on his face, he looked terrifying. It shut the merchant up from complaining too much.
"Yeah, I heard that a fortified level monster from the West dungeon led a huge mob not long ago. It cut some supplies to the west. But I heard teams had been sent to subjugate it even before we left."
The merchants frowned. "I thought that was just a scare tactic to get people to buy things."
It wasn’t the first time businesses and Lords took advantage of fear to sell out lower-quality weapons and equipment for a high price.
Anyway, they obviously missed a lot of things, ultimately causing a number of losses on their end.
News could travel quickly enough with the right tools, but generally, the transference of information did take time because said tools were very expensive. Not to mention, those who might know the latest news might not have it.
An event that was happening in the danger zone travelled especially slowly, with an update only sent out when the parties involved had returned to civilization—assuming they survived, that was.
"So you heard about it? Then this is your fault!" Vara said, looking at the mercenaries. Even if it was not confirmed, it was a concern that should’ve been said in advance!
(That said, even if the mercenaries did mention it, the merchants would’ve dismissed it regardless, but they needed someone to blame.)
The mercenaries did not like their tone. "What did you say?!"
Clen saw the increasing tensions among the injured men and stepped forward with an annoyed expression on his scarred face. "Calm down. We can’t afford to fight right now! How much mana do you have, huh!?"
"We lost so many of our goods!" one of the merchants said, and the others nodded.
"We are left with a few bags and that thing," Vara said, pointing at the scantily clad woman with hairy ears and a long, slightly fluffy tail. She was limping, a bit more injured than the rest of them.
Her petal-shaped eyes were reddish with tears, ears drooping, and looking around as if waiting, hoping for a change that was not happening.
It could’ve attracted some men, but they were in too much pain and in the middle of danger to feel horny right now.
Their caravan took a shortcut from the Southern beastkin sector to the human area in the West and Northwest, which had to happen because many of their goods—special crops from the Northwest—could only last for so long even with some preservation tools.
Not to mention, slavery was kind of taboo and some territories along the way (if they took the safe route) could get a bit...uptight.
Of course, the mercenaries asked for twice their pay in exchange to getting them faster to their destination, which the merchant group paid for.
Sadly, they encountered a monster mob they could not handle—damned mercenaries—and ended up being separated, losing a lot of their goods in the process.
They lost their maps, their food, and many teammates. They were, to be frank, at the end of the rope, and it would not take long before they started killing each other.
They were also famished, and all they had were fruits and tasteless meat. However, they could not stop for too long because their injuries would never stop attracting monsters to them.
So every time they put something on their stomach, their energies would be flushed out by the fight that would come right after.
Even if they were just awakened monsters, if they came in droves and gave them little time to rest, they could still be taken down!
It was exhausting. Worse, they didn’t know where they were!
The best way was to get farther from the danger zone, to the edge of level 1 and level 0, at least! Even if there were monsters, at least they’d be much more manageable.
But how would they get there in time? Their stamina was already dangerously low!
Fortunately, they soon found the main road and they all heaved a breath of relief. It was not completely safe, but encountering carriages and therefore, assistance, was more likely here than anywhere else.
However, after walking along it for a while, they had yet to encounter anyone. "Is this normal?"
"It was probably because of the news of the mobs," Clen said. "It should recover some activity soon, but we..."
More time passed, and all they encountered were monsters, not fellow humans. They felt more nervous and angry, and they were becoming nervous wrecks.
"What are we going to do?"
They were feeling more hopeless as time passed, worse when the weaker ones (mostly the merchants’ party) stats had decreased to the single digits!
Clen, who was now leading the party, stopped at some point.
"What is it?" Evo asked, and Clen pointed at a wooden plank with writings. "What is that?"
It was a signage and they gathered around to read its contents.
They could read it, but understanding and believing were quite different things.
"Inn this way? 3 kilometers away?"
Huh? What kind of trap is this?