"Thanks, everyone!" Theo's voice was gruff, filled with the relief of surviving a disaster. "I'm Theo, and these are some of my companions. Damn, I didn't expect there to be so many more frogmen in this area than a few days ago. We almost got ourselves killed here."
Healy nodded politely. "Helping each other is only right. I'm Healy, and we came from Rose Town."
"Rose Town? No wonder I haven't seen you before." Theo looked over Healy and the teammates behind her, his gaze lingering on He Xi and Hughes. "Your group looks pretty impressive. Especially this mage here—he's incredible!"
He gave He Xi a thumbs-up, then awkwardly glanced at the wreckage covering the ground. "Er... As agreed, we'll split the spoils fifty-fifty. We'll get to cleaning up now."
Hom spoke up from the side. "Theo, what brought you so deep in here? Didn't you say most adventurers are operating near the trade route?"
As Theo gestured for his teammates to cut off the frogmen's fins, he sighed helplessly. "Don't remind me!
"There are more and more people around the trade route now! Adventurers from all over have rushed here too."
"Whenever the slightest thing happens, several parties pounce on it like cats smelling blood. They nearly started fighting among themselves over a few scattered frogmen!"
He spat on the ground. "Damn it, rather than scheme against people over there, we might as well come this way. It's a little more dangerous, but at least we can get some actual gains."
"But I've still run into quite a few adventurers around the shallows these past two days. Looks like a lot of people are starting to come this way, just like us."
"I just didn't expect to run into so many at once here. Judging by the looks of