At the same time, footsteps suddenly echoed outside the empty underground church.
Before long, a tall man wearing a white mask, with the character "Merchant" written on it, walked in.
He was one of the leaders of the Wandering Merchants organization. Not long ago, at their stronghold outside the Garden Maze, he had detected an energy fluctuation from the underground church and decided to come investigate.
When the white-masked man entered the underground church and saw how empty it was, his brows beneath the mask lifted slightly.
His fingers lightly brushed a pole resting against the wall, staining his fingertips with a layer of oily residue that still retained some warmth. From the scent drifting off the pole and the extinguished bonfire beside it, he could tell that someone had recently used it to prop up roasted meat.
Yet now... not a single living person remained.
"How could this be? The Hero Squad's logistics staff are usually here. I-I..." At that moment, a hooded man in the Wandering Merchants organization's black uniform behind the white-masked man spoke in astonishment.
"Do you still think there's nothing unusual here?" The white-masked man's soft, drifting voice entered the hooded man's ears.
Previously, although the hooded man had outwardly agreed with the white-masked man that something might be wrong here, deep down he still felt they were making a mountain out of a molehill. After all, the energy fluctuation they had detected had been extremely, extremely faint.
"Are the Hero Squad's people... all dead?"
The white-masked man chuckled. "You didn't answer my question directly. So deep down, you still think there's nothing wrong here?"
The hooded man gave an awkward laugh. "You misunderstand, sir. Of course I trust your judgment."
A snort came from beneath the mask. "You failed to learn your mentor's discernment.