The party ran through the forest trying to escape the camp. But unlike before, there was no cleared path, making running properly almost impossible. Anastacia did well thanks to her small size and lack of gear to carry, so she led the group with King fairly close behind her. Gilbert found himself falling behind quickly, as his large build and the extra gear he carried made running between the trees while trying to look where he was stepping slow and cumbersome. He also was looking after Emilia, who was having a similarly bad time trying to keep up with the necromancer and simulacrum. Whoever it was that designed the uniform, didn’t have this in mind. The cloak got caught in bushes multiple times and the heavy armor jiggled around uncomfortably when jumping over roots and fallen trees.

“What do you think Anna did?” Gilbert asked as he stopped to look behind them while Emilia tried to sort out her cloak.

“I didn’t see a fire, so she probably pissed off someone she shouldn’t have.” The priestess guessed. “Are they even chasing us?”

Gilbert peered into the thick forest behind them and couldn’t see any movement. “Don’t think so, they would have caught up by now.”

Knowing that they weren’t really in a hurry, Emilia took off her backpack and cloak. She rolled the pure white cloth into a bundle and carried it like that for the rest of the way to the road. They found the exhausted necromancer lying by the side of the road, and her simulacrum, who was trying to cool her down by fanning with his hands. Gilbert threw her a spare water canteen he had prepared because he knew Anastacia would empty hers in no time by drinking more than she actually needed to.

She opened the canteen with haste and took a sip. “Eww… It’s warm and gross.”

“Yeah, that’s what happens in this weather.” Gilbert shrugged. “Why don’t you pick up frost magic if it bothers you that much? Kabana would probably help if you apologize properly.”

While Gilbert disciplined Anastacia about wasting water, Emilia rolled her cloak open and threw it on. Without it, the light breeze was enough to cool her noticeably; but by experience, she knew that letting the sun heat up her armor was far worse than the extra layer of cloth. And at least there was a cool lake waiting for them at the next campsite. “Can we get going?” She said as she hurried the party along.

They only had to walk for a few kilometers before the road started to curve around a vast swampland and then away from their destination. Luckily, they’d only have to go through a short patch of it and not the whole thing. But it still meant having to slog in knee-deep water for a little over three kilometers. Which was something Anastacia wasn’t too eager to try.

“We’re lucky, the water is pretty low right now.” Gilbert pointed out and kneeled next to the water. “There are a few things we need to prepare ourselves. First of all, Anna, put your boots back on. You have no idea what’s in that water. Secondly, Emilia, take off your cloak again, the smell will never come off if you soak it in the water. Both of you pick up a stick so you can feel the waters in front of you, though if you just follow in my footsteps it should be fine. Was there something else?...”

The party prepared according to Gilbert’s instructions. Anastacia considered using her new spear to feel the bottom, but decided against it when she peered into the murky water. There was actually very little room to walk between the trees that grew from the muck and blocked most of the sunlight from reaching the water. In fact, Anastacia could probably move from tree to tree and remain more or less dry, but the problem with that approach was that messing up just once meant plunging into the swamp underneath, which was no doubt worse than just walking in it.

Gilbert noticed that the necromancer was deep in thought and wondered if something was wrong. “What’s up? No one is going to carry you, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He joked.

“There are skeletons under the water. Are you sure this is safe?” Anastacia asked, she had concentrated on the surroundings to make sure there weren’t any alligators or snakes hiding in the water, but instead had discovered a dozen or so dead creatures.

The old adventurer smiled comfortingly and tapped her shoulder. “Aye, those are probably deer or something like that. They tend to panic if they get stuck and that only makes it worse. There’s nothing to worry about if you stay calm and vigilant.” He explained and stepped into the water. After a few steps he asked for King to step in. He wasn’t quite as confident that the simulacrum wouldn’t sink in too deep thanks to his considerable weight.

“Wait!” Anastacia stopped them and pointed her hand towards the water. She pulled up one of the skeletons nearby and detached one of its ribs. “Take this and never let go. If you sink, I’ll pull you up.” She said and dropped it on the ground in front of King.

“Can I have one?” Emilia asked half-jokingly.

“Honestly, I’m not sure I can help you. If I give you a bone and try to pull you up from it, it’ll just rip your fingers off and I can just lift you up using your own body… maybe.” Anastacia explained. “You might also come apart if I do that.”

“Never mind that then! Let’s go!” The priestess said and stepped in. She immediately regretted not taking her greaves off too. They would need a thorough cleaning afterwards.

King grabbed the rib from the ground and carefully lowered his feet into the water. He sank deeper than Gilbert and Emilia, but stopped when the water was a few centimeters above his knees.

Anastacia stared into the water once more, she could imagine a million different scenarios of some kind of water creature pulling her under as soon as her feet touched the water. The first four attempts of taking a deep breath and stepping in yielded no successes. Only after King held on to her hands tightly was Anastacia able to step into the disgusting mess that was the swamp. She kept holding on to the simulacrum even after they started their long slog through the swamp.

Their progress was slow but constant. Gilbert did his best to navigate between the trees without getting turned around, and they managed to stay on route relatively well. The entire time they were in the water, Anastacia focused on her surroundings, just in case. But all she ever found was frogs and somewhat oversized leeches.

“We’re about halfway through now.” Gilbert said and took a sip of water. “The smell is pretty incredible, and our feet disturbing the gunk at the bottom only makes it worse. Oh! That reminds me. Do not start a fire here. The gas in the air is flammable and even a spark could create a massive explosion. There was this one time a few young adventurers accepted a quest for exploring a ruin in the middle of a swamp just like this. Apparently one of them had a pipe lit when they walked in and the whole place exploded. This rule goes double for you, Anna.” He laughed.

There was no response.

“Anna?” He said again and turned around. Emilia was right behind him but neither Anastacia nor King was anywhere to be seen. “Where did they go?”

“What are you talking about, they’re right behind...” Emilia turned around too. She had just heard Anastacia repeating ‘ew’ over and over again. “They were right there, less than a minute ago!”