The scouts' first reaction was that they'd been deceived. They turned back to study the tracks over and over, but there really was only that one trail, and it disappeared halfway through.
With no other choice, they could only force themselves onward, hoping to find fresh footprints.
Yet even after searching several kilometers ahead, they failed to find the slightest trace. Left with no alternative, they returned in frustration.
After traveling dozens of kilometers, Suika finally arrived at a small mountain village.
Originally, she had not planned to enter any inhabited place before reaching Victoria, but she discovered that the box of seasonings in her pack had somehow gone missing.
She could hunt for food in the wild, and she could drink the liquor from her Ibuki Gourd for water.
But without seasonings... she could not imagine how she was supposed to eat anything.
So she could only enter the village and prepare to buy some.
As an ordinary person without any signs of being Infected, she had assumed she would be able to buy things. But when the villagers realized she could not speak the Leithanien language, they became wary and refused her request to buy spices.
Suika was helpless about that.
After all, the time from her appearance in Lungmen to her expulsion had been too short. Learning the written languages of various countries, along with spoken Common Tongue, Victorian, and Columbian, was already an extraordinary feat.
Combined with the Ursus language she had learned from Alina in Ursus, she could be considered a little genius proficient in languages.
Yet even though people here could understand Common Tongue, her inability to speak the Leithanien language still made them wary and led to rejection.
After trying several households without success, and sensing the atmosphere becoming tense, Suika had no