Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 146 - 9 Abandoned City_2

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The unnamed small town outside the Shining Forest looks like a very old city with at least a few hundred years of history. Judging from the scale of the ruins, the city is not large, with only three to four hundred buildings, even smaller than Karatomir. It’s more of a small town than a city. The shadow of time has deeply etched its mark on the structures of the small town. A large number of houses have collapsed and eroded. Many still bear the traces of fire, with less than ten structures remaining intact.

"What’s this city called?" Lina looks around. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"I don’t know, nobody does anymore." Dora shakes her head: "This city was probably destroyed by war. Sometimes, under the collapsed buildings, you can find the bodies of the inhabitants who died back then. However, any records about the city have long been lost. So, the city’s name, when it perished, why-it all can only come down to guesses."

"The ambience here really unsettles me." Lina’s eyebrows knitted tightly, her expression full of sorrow: "The air is filled with malice and despair everywhere. Perhaps you’re right, Dora. This place might indeed be haunted."

"Of course it’s true. Many people have seen it." Since entering the town, Dora has been glued to Catherine’s side, refusing to leave even an inch no matter how much Catherine tried to push her away. Catherine, having no choice, eventually just accepted Dora’s clinging onto her arm.

"Let’s split into two teams and explore either side of the town," Catherine proposed. "I’ll pair up with this dimwit while the three of you form another. We’ll divide and explore different sections, focusing on the intact buildings. If there are undamaged rooms in the ruined buildings, inspect those too. Check if there are signs of thieves camped out. If you encounter any living beings, whether thief or not, alert the other team by striking the Resonance Crystal as your first order of business. Do not initiate combat on your own."

"Hold on." Pannis, who had been observing every building’s entrance thoughtfully since entering the city, raised his hand, interrupting Catherine: "Hold off on the splitting up for now. There’s definitely something wrong here. I can smell a lot of corpses, and no way it’s coming from those that have been dead for centuries."

"Lead the way." Catherine prompted: "Roughly how many bodies are we talking about?"

"A lot, at least over fifty." Pannis grimaced: "Also, I think you’re confusing me with some animals again."

"That’s just your imagination. Now lead the way." Catherine stared off into the sky, "Seems that I was right. Even if those bands of thieves aren’t here, they must be related to this place in some way."

Guided by Pannis, the five of them navigated through the abandoned roads toward the center of the city. The city was not large. Even as they kept guard, they reached the city center after less than thirty minutes. Though they were still several buildings away, they could smell the nauseating stench of the corpses.

"This is a bit excessive." Lina covered her nose, afraid to breathe: "Definitely more than fifty corpses. We can’t go any further. We’ll get poisoned. Vivian."

"Understood." Vivian promptly pulled out ten potions: "Breath Retention Potion. Stops your breath for five minutes. Two for each person. I reckon ten minutes should be enough."

Although the girls had been through long periods of adventure and saw corpses of all sorts, they were only normal people after all and never encountered an environment teeming with highly decomposed bodies. They breathed a sigh of relief only after drinking the potion.

"Finally, we survived. Let’s hurry up." Catherine spoke with her lips pursed; otherwise, she’d keep having the illusion of swallowing the foul smell of the corpses.

Enduring the stench, they walked for a few more minutes and finally arrived at the Central Square. In the approximate fifty-square-meter area at the center of the square, countless corpses were piled up in layers. A rough estimate indicates at least four to five hundred corpses. The corpses had decomposed so much that they had started to disintegrate and dissolve. Many corpses fused together, and the dark-colored corpse water flowed all over the place, solidifying layer upon layer. From the similar state of decay of the corpses, it seemed that they had all died at the same time.

"Wait here, I’ll go check it out." Pannis looked around, put on a thin pair of gloves, and began to examine the corpse pile, periodically pulling out a dagger to cut a few places as he went. The more he examined, the more puzzled his expression became. Only when the second Breath Retention Potion was about to wear off did he hurriedly return to the girls’ side. Everybody fled back the way they came as fast as they could without saying a word.

"Should be fine now here." After running for a while, Catherine stretched out and took a testing breath. The repugnant smell still wafted from all sides, but it was much more bearable than when they were near the Central Square: "It should be fine now. Keep walking and tell me what you found."

"Judging by their physiques, these people were all professionals. But their skills weren’t advanced. Most were of Iron Rank, apart from a few who were Bronze. There were even some Silver ones. Though I couldn’t check all the bodies, proportionally, there should be no more than five Silver Rank bodies." Pannis reported: "Based on their clothes, they seemed to be similar to bandits—there’s a high chance they were part of the thieves Dora mentioned."

"So, can we now confirm that the thieves are connected to this place?" Catherine asked.

"Basically, yes. But I found something strange." Pannis said, perplexed: "None of the bodies had any lethal wounds. Moreover, their facial expressions varied. There weren’t just expressions of pain and fear, many of the corpse’s faces were happy or even blissful."

"How long have these people been dead?" Lina absent-mindedly flipped through the pages of a book in her hand.

"Judging by the decomposition, it should be about thirty days." Pannis estimated, answering definitively.

"Then, the mere existence of these corpses is strange." Lina continued to flip through her book unconsciously: "In the season of magical beast invasions, the accumulation of such a significant number of corpses should have attracted nearby magical beasts to come and feed. Yet, the corpses remain untouched."

"Yes, that doesn’t make sense." Vivian nodded: "Unless, there’s something here that frightens the magical beasts, making them afraid to come close."

"Ghost." The girls immediately thought of the same answer: "So, this place may truly be haunted."

"Hey, I’ve been saying that the rumor is true, and many people have seen it. Why wouldn’t you believe me?" Dora complained in frustration: "Well, now you’ve seen the corpses. Let’s leave quickly."

"No." Pannis, deep in thought, looked at a building: "Let’s investigate a bit more. We’ll stay here tonight. This is crucial."