Grete answered without a moment's hesitation. "That's right. Once we charged into the mist, we couldn't find the enemy. We withdrew because we were worried about an ambush."
Hearing this, he sank into thought. Hannes, standing beside him, sensed that he seemed to have discovered something and asked, "Allen, did you find something?"
When the legion commander asked, he answered honestly. "I think the problem lies with that mist. It might not even be mist, but something like smoke. You can tell from how the soldiers began having slight difficulty breathing shortly after entering it."
The others also realized how strange the mist was after hearing his assessment. The old priest could not help asking, "What should we do next, then? Should we go in and investigate?"
An investigation was necessary, of course, but he still needed to make some preparations to ensure their safety.
"How about this? Tomorrow, prepare some cloths, wet them, and cover your mouths and noses to keep from breathing in the mist. I'll cast an Ice Shield on each of you when the time comes. That should keep the mist away."
They spent the evening resting up. The next day, once everything was ready, they entered the valley.
As they entered, he immediately cast an Ice Shield on each of them. Once they were in the mist, the shields did indeed keep the white haze out. After observing it up close, he discovered that it was smoke rather than mist, just as he had suspected.
It consisted of some extremely fine white substance, though he did not yet know what that substance was. He carefully collected some of the smoke-like material in a bottle.
As they slowly ventured deeper, they found that it was even quieter here than outside. There were no signs of animal