The unnamed merchant of Rosrok had advised staying away from any flags depicting Black Dogs. It was perhaps a valid word of caution for any merchants. However, the mercenaries in question were only relatively famous in the region of Ruhr, which meant that they were nothing for Eugene to worry about.

What would he do if he chanced upon the flags in the distance during his journey? He probably wouldn’t go out of his way to avoid them. It wasn’t that he wanted to ignore the merchant’s advice, but he also couldn’t be bothered to avoid a group he did not fear.

“Hmm.”

Indeed, it just so happened that Eugene came across the flags of the Black Dog Mercenaries. However, the flag of the Black Dogs was cemented in the snow instead of flapping in the wind. It wasn’t just their flag, either. Debris from their carts and sleds was laden across the snow, and even frozen bodies were buried in the snow.

Eugene observed the scattered corpses and identified bodies of snow wolves, reindeer, horses, and other domesticated animals that would have pulled the carts and sleds, as well as the mercenaries themselves.

“It wasn’t a monster attack,” Cyan remarked after observing the mess from Eugene’s side.

A week had already passed since they departed from Rosrok, and Cyan was standing barefoot on the snowfield as if this was the most natural thing to do. That wasn’t all, either. A fierce snowstorm was raging on even at this moment, but the flurries never touched his body. He was manipulating fine mana that was almost invisible to the eye with extreme precision to push the snow away.

“They slaughtered them as if it were a joke,” Ciel commented.

She was more accustomed to inspecting such events compared to Cyan since the Black Lion Knights performed many different tasks for the Lionheart family, which included examining and handling corpses as basic fundamental knowledge.

“It looks like it was done by… a single person. Of course, there could have been more, but for this incident, only a single person was responsible for slaughtering the mercenaries here,” Ciel continued with her analysis after pondering for a moment. She didn’t appear unaffected. Nevertheless, Ciel continued to closely examine the bodies for wounds and other hints.

Eugene...