可能是因为这次的任务充满了未知，也可能是因为巨额的赏金，黑色幽灵的成员们天还没完全亮就已经聚集在了旅店一层。

The morning air was a little damp and cold, and the outside seemed darker than usual, and the deserted tavern was only sparsely populated.

"I don't know why, but I always feel a little uneasy. Perhaps sensing a chill, Ace rubbed her exposed arm with her hand.

"Don't say these unlucky words, I feel in a good mood, and when I get twenty gold coins, I can go anywhere in the world by airship. Felder tore off a large loaf of bread and put it in his mouth and munched on it.

Thinking of the giant spider swarm outside the city, the wolves that should have appeared in the forest, the mysterious black cloak, and the mysterious disappearance of Mina this time pointed to the clue to the Endless Forest, not to mention that finding a person in the Endless Forest is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack. Vane shook his head secretly and stopped thinking about it, and stood up to go.

Soon the group came to the junction where they had gone to Valen Manor yesterday, and the place where Viscount Germain had said that Mina's necklace had been found was somewhere east of here.

The clouds in the sky were thick, and not a single ray of sunlight shone down, as if it was covered with layers of gray cloth.

The crowd walked through the meadow, and all they heard was the sound of clothes rubbing against the weeds. From time to time, insects are disturbed and jump away from the grass.

In the distance, the Endless Forest was cloudy, and the forest formed a layered black shadow, like the fangs of an ancient demon standing up between heaven and earth. In this moment, Vane suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness, the power of nature contrasting with the insignificance and ignorance of human beings.

As the team continued to move forward, the weeds and shrubs and other plants became thicker and sharper as they approached the edge of the forest, cutting through their clothes and skin if they were not careful. Felder had to clear the way in front, followed by Vane with a small compass in his left hand, followed by Elena and Eth, and Simpson walking at the end of the line with several packages large and small.

Suddenly, the team stopped, and Felder made a gesture to stop moving forward, and Vane lowered his head and crashed into him.

"What's the situation?" Vane asked.

Felder motioned for everyone to remain silent, and he gripped the hilt of his sword and quietly walked forward. As we got closer, the half-human-tall weeds in front of us shook more and more obviously. Felder tensed, slowing his movements so that he didn't make a sound, while slowly brushing away the grass.

"Hulala......" Several large black birds burst out of the grass and let out a sharp call at the same time. The sudden sound and the huge black shadow flashing in front of him frightened Felder into taking a step back, and he drew his sword with a "swish".

"What's the matter, it turned out to be a few vultures. Felder breathed a sigh of relief, grumbled, and then brushed the grass in front of him with his sword, but the next sight almost made him vomit his breakfast.

On the ground was a four-hoofed animal that had begun to decay, its mane that looked like that of a horse, its belly had been dissected, its incomplete internal organs were scattered on the ground, and some tiny white bugs were wriggling in its musculature and semi-congealed blood.

The air was filled with an unbearable rancid smell. The others gathered around curiously, and after just one glance, Elena was already retching.

"I ...... Let's go. Ise covered her nose and mouth with her hands, holding back from throwing herself up.

The crowd bypassed the carcass of the horses and continued on their way.

"It's like a Beseca common pony, bred and domesticated, low in stature, docile and endurant, favored by dwarves, and there are plenty of them in the Thorsen region. But how could you die here......" Vane said as he walked.

"Shall we not mention the horse, and we will not have to eat for a while!" interrupted Elena, unceremoniously.

"We seem to have entered the Everfree Forest...... " Ace muttered.

The line stopped, and everyone began to take a closer look around. Before you know it, the surrounding trees have changed from a few trees to patches of trees, and the low trees have become large trees that need to be looked up to see the top. The brightness around it has also decreased a lot, but this change is gradual, and the eyes have adapted to the darker environment.

Vane looked up into the sky, and through the gaps in the layers of leaves, he could see that the clouds were still hanging overhead.

"It's going to rain, so let's find a place to shelter from it. Vane said as he continued to walk east with his small compass.

It was getting darker and darker, and the cold wind was blowing. Simpson distributed the clothes in his bags and draped them over his body, and everyone quickened their pace.

"Wow, that's a big tree. Ace suddenly shouted.

Vane followed her line of sight. Sure enough, not far from the front right, there was a large circular clearing, and there were no plants on it, except for a huge tree standing in the middle.

The trunk of the tree was thick and low, but it propped up a canopy about the size of an open space, and it looked like a strange large green mushroom. When everyone walked under the tree, they realized how large the tree was, the trunk was wider than the five of them standing in a row, and there were countless twisted and intricate vines wrapped around it, and if you looked closely, those "vines" turned out to be its roots.

"Let's just take a rest here, such a big tree can also take a little shelter from the rain. Elena found a tendrel thicker than her thigh, beat the dust, sat down, and took out her food and ate it.

After a while, the sound of rattling rain came, and the trees outside the clearing were drenched at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the branches were swaying back and forth by the wind. However, the strange thing is that the clearing where they are located is not only not wet, but not even a trace of wind, as if it does not belong to this world.

Although everyone was strange, they didn't think too much about it, and each found a place to lie down and rest, and slowly fell asleep in the sound of rain.

It didn't take long for Vane to feel a little cool, he opened his eyes and saw that the raindrops were falling rapidly in the air, and quickly sat up, finding that he was already half-wet, and the huge canopy was gone. No, it's not gone, it's not far to his right.

The others also looked at each other strangely, their eyes full of doubts.

"It's strange, are we falling asleep and rolling over here?" said Felder, muttering to himself, toward the bottom of the tree.

At that moment, accompanied by the crunch of wood, a deep voice sounded: "Stupid human...... The forest has been corroded, if you don't want to die, get out of here......"

The crowd was so frightened by the sound that they took a few steps back and looked around.

"Senior, we are here looking for someone, an eight-year-old little human girl. Vane said loudly to the tree.

The others were looking at Vane with strange eyes, not knowing who he was talking to.

"There are no human beings here...... Hurry up and get out. The crunch of wood and the muffled voice sounded again.

At this time, a few people realized that as the voice came, the lines on the trunk of the giant tree were constantly changing, like a mouth speaking.