Violet then went alone to find the caravan leader Avery, who was hastily preparing to continue the journey, and explained her purpose.

“What? You’re saying we shouldn’t proceed for now? Why, Miss Dawn… you understand that for merchants, time is money, right? If we waste too much time, everyone’s losses will keep increasing. Even if I agreed, the passengers wouldn’t accept such an unreasonable request.”

Not surprised by Avery’s firm refusal, the white fox girl, who had already seen through his thoughts, shook her head helplessly.

“Of course, I understand that Mr. Avery has plenty of reasons to keep moving and that you don’t plan to stop to rescue Mr. Pierre. It’s dangerous here, so you all want to leave as soon as possible… But the current situation is that if we continue to move without understanding why we were attacked, the losses will really increase. I’m not talking about money, but human lives.”

Hearing the girl’s statement, Avery immediately frowned deeply.

“Miss Dawn… what exactly do you mean by that?”

As if hinting at something, Violet slightly turned her head. The silver-blue eyes beneath her mask glanced at the depths of the forest beyond the path, accompanied by a light, mysterious chuckle, and said only,

“I am also very curious about what exactly is happening here, which is why I’m willing to offer some help to the caravan. Of course, it’s natural and reasonable for Mr. Avery not to believe me. I’m just making a suggestion. You could consider this as alarmist, but it doesn’t matter to me.”

After observing the girl’s cute yet elusive little fox mask for a moment, the young caravan leader glanced at her companions, who seemed to be examining the traces left by the attack, and asked tentatively, “So, Miss Dawn, how long do we need to stop? And how do you plan to solve this problem?”

“To solve the problem, we need to find the troublemaker directly. We’re ready to set off anytime since we’re idle, but I can’t give a precise answer on when we’ll be done.”

“Only… this…”

Taking a deep breath, as if he had made a decision, Avery shook his head silently.

“I’m sorry, but with just that response, I can’t stop the caravan based on one person’s words. Besides, the 【Holy Spirit Trail】 is a mysterious place that only those with devout faith in the Goddess can traverse. As I mentioned before, Pierre was punished because he harbored thoughts of desecration. We are different from him.”

“Oh? It seems Mr. Avery has great confidence in everyone in the caravan.”

Not wanting to drag things out, the girl nodded to show she understood after receiving a clear refusal. As she turned to leave, she threw out a hint-laden remark.

“Then we shall wait and see. If you ever change your mind, Mr. Avery, you can come find us. Of course, I, too, hope everyone can safely and smoothly get out of the forest.”

Soon after, Violet and her companions returned to the carriage, and the caravan resumed its journey after a brief period of chaos.

After all these events, Theresa naturally had no interest in playing chess anymore. Seeking a sense of security, she immediately sat next to the priestess upon returning and gently tugged at her miko robe’s sleeve.

“Miss Dawn, you seem very sure that something else will happen. Have you discovered something?”

Casually flipping through a book she had taken out again, the white fox girl nodded affirmatively.

“I’ve made some progress. However, the incident happened so suddenly that I didn’t pay much attention to the outside situation. Since the caravan leader insists on moving forward, we might as well use this opportunity to keep observing. I assure you, Pierre’s situation is no coincidence.”

“Pierre’s situation? Do you mean his encounter with the attack or…?”

Smiling, Violet didn’t directly answer Leila’s thoughtful question, leaving it ambiguous.

“Who knows? We don’t have enough cases yet to determine the motives and methods behind the attack. Perhaps, as Avery said, the fat man was punished by the Holy Spirit for his blasphemous thoughts, or maybe there really is some ghost or spirit lurking here. In any case, we’ll just keep watching. It’ll take at least another three to four hours to leave this path.”

Having said this much, all they could do was wait. Everyone found something to pass the time but paid much closer attention to the outside than before.

And, as if to confirm Violet’ prediction, less than ten minutes after the caravan set off again, another sudden, piercing wail came from outside!

“Ahhhhh!!!! Let go of me! No! No!! Goddess, Holy Spirit! Spare meeeeee!!!!!”

“Oh, so that’s how it is. What an interesting method…”

As the screams and dragging sounds echoed once more, the white fox girl, who had been sitting with her eyes closed as if in deep thought, slowly opened her eyes and made eye contact with her pet in front of her.

“Did you sense it, Xiao Guang?”

“Yes, Master. They’ve started hunting, using the same method as last time.”

Also alarmed by the commotion, Rene quickly lifted the curtain, cautiously peeking outside before swiftly retreating back into the carriage, her face showing curiosity.

“Uh, should we not go out and take a look? It seems like it’s a mess out there again.”

In response, Violet, the one in charge, simply shook her head gently.

“No need. We are just passersby and are not responsible for the lives of these merchants and travelers. That responsibility belongs to the caravan leader, Avery. I’ve already made myself clear. Since he can still remain calm, we’ll just wait and observe more of the situation. This will give us more assurance if we need to take action later.”

After waiting quietly for about another quarter of an hour, the caravan, which had paused a second time due to the unexpected incident, calmed down once more and set off again. This time, however, Violet could clearly feel the speed of their movement had increased.

It seemed that the string of unexpected incidents had caused Avery, the merchant leader, and everyone else to feel a sense of panic, wanting to escape the mysterious path as quickly as possible.

However, the unknown entity did not appear to intend to let this group of merchants and travelers leave easily. Only five minutes had passed when another scream erupted.

“Ah!!!! Let go! Let go of me! What kind of thing is this! I prayed so devoutly! Why ahhhhhhh!!!!!!”

The screams, accompanied by intense dragging and friction sounds, made it clear that another victim had appeared.

“Prayed so devoutly… Tsk tsk, so that means the usual prayers weren’t really that sincere, right?”

As if suddenly understanding something, Leila looked up in surprise at the white fox girl, who was chuckling softly.

“Do you mean that the entity is actually hunting members of the caravan based on the sincerity of their faith? But if that’s the case, why haven’t we been attacked despite not having any faith or prayers?”

Violet shook her head, still remaining noncommittal.

“I’m just casually making a comment based on what I heard, there’s no deep meaning behind it. As for why we haven’t been attacked despite not having faith or prayers, there could be many possibilities.”

“Perhaps the entity just happened to catch a few people with suspicious behavior, or it might indeed be screening the sincerity of their faith. However, it can only distinguish between ‘true’ and ‘false,’ and will not react to ‘none.’”

At this point, the white fox girl smiled again and casually added, “Of course, it’s also possible that the entity noticed we’re stronger and harder to provoke, so it intentionally avoided us.”