Chapter 47: Cautious Water Wraith
They confirmed that they would continue with the commission, and after having a simple meal in the tavern, the group rested briefly.
Once the sun’s intensity had lessened somewhat, they set off toward the riverbank to search for clues.
The afternoon sunlight glanced off the river surface, causing the rippling water to shimmer with a warm yellow glow, and a gentle breeze rustled the multicolored aquatic plants along the shore.
Upon first arriving at the riverbank, the group gazed at the breathtaking scene in silence for a long time, momentarily forgetting the purpose of their mission.
“Is this the spot the tavern keeper mentioned where the fight took place?”
Gauss bent down and noticed a few patches of dried dark brown blood on the river stones, waving over the others.
According to what the tavern’s chubby owner Harvey had said, several sailors had battled a water wraith here.
“It should be here.”
Levin and the others came over.
“There’s the scent of blood mixed with an awful fishy stench.”
Meiva sniffed and, after a brief twitch at the corner of her eye, resumed her usual expressionless face.
That fleeting change in expression was nonetheless caught by Gauss, who couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
Only recently did he learn that the Rogue Apprentice Meiva had mastered the skill “Perception.”
The skill allowed one to detect hidden enemies, clues, traps, and other traces through sight, hearing, or other senses.
Especially given her partial elven bloodline, her senses were naturally more acute, so activating Perception was more effective for her than for other apprentices.
If anyone in the party besides Gauss was most likely and fastest to earn a new profession, it would probably be Meiva.
Of course, Perception not only helped the party find clues but also heightened sensory input, which explained why Meiva unconsciously furrowed her brow.
The fishy odor clearly came from their target, the water wraith.
Gauss recalled the information he had about water wraiths.
Water wraiths were a fairly common monster type in this world.
Their bodies were gaunt and humanoid in form, with sunken eye sockets, long limbs, protruding joints, a hunched posture, gray‑green skin covered with a slimy layer of decaying mucus.
Because of their human‑like appearance, folklore often claimed they were drowned human spirits.
They mainly lived around rivers, lakes, swamps, and other watery areas, relying on the water environment to hunt.
They weren’t picky eaters—they’d eat anything: animal carcasses, rotten flesh, human garbage, sludge, decaying leaves, fruit pulp, and so on.
Sometimes they would also attack humans near the water, such as fishermen, washerwomen, and anglers.
By mimicking human voices to lure victims, once a target came close to the bank, they would drag the victim into the water, drown them, then gut and devour them.
Water wraiths seldom acted alone, but neither did they gather into huge numbers. Normally they moved in groups of 10–15, and this time seeing more than 20 indicated a comparatively large water wraith group.
“Wonder where they hid?” An impatient Doyle picked up a pebble and threw it heavily into the water.
The pebble splashed up a large spurt, but quickly disappeared into the rushing current.
Ordinary water wraiths, though excellent swimmers, could not live entirely underwater.
They needed to surface occasionally to breathe.
Moreover, rather than hide deep in the water, they preferred to lurk in shallows like mudflats, swamps, or muddy riverbanks unless absolutely necessary.
But now… where had the water wraiths gone?
“If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to wait until after sunset. Water wraiths are more active then.”
Since they had accepted the commission against water wraiths, the team had prepared mentally for encountering exactly this kind of situation.
If the wraiths truly submerged and intended to stay underwater, with their underwater mobility, most low‑rank adventurers would be helpless against them.
Fortunately, they weren’t very intelligent, so the group could use other tactics to lure them out of hiding.
“These carcasses shouldn’t go to waste.”
Levin pulled out two rot‑infested gray rabbit corpses that exuded a foul odor. “Later, we’ll set up bait.”
Unwilling to alert the creatures prematurely, the group chose to leave for the time being.
In a moment, several hours passed.
When they returned, they carefully hid after setting up their trap.
At another part of the riverbank, they had prepared bait and other arrangements.
The two long‑dead gray rabbit corpses, now full of maggots, had been treated with a scent catalyst, and the stench was overwhelming.
Such a strong putrid odor was precisely the water wraiths’ favorite.
Having completed all their preparations, the group hid silently, waiting.
The setting sun slanted westward and finally sank completely beyond the horizon.
Night gradually deepened, but fortunately, the riverbank remained fairly open, and the moonlight was still enough to illuminate the river shore.
Just when the group, having waited a long time, thought they would gain nothing tonight and were about to pack up and head back to rest—
The sound of splashing, churning water began to approach from afar.
Under the clear moonlight, gray-black figures pushed aside the reeds along the shallow riverbank, their blackened toes stepping on the stones as they crawled ashore.
A dozen or so dark, slimy figures silently emerged from the water, sending chills down one’s spine.
The leading water wraith cautiously scanned the surroundings, and only after confirming there were no other creatures did it lead the others away from the water—but they didn’t stray too far from the river’s edge.
“They're actually this cautious?” Levin frowned.
The reaction of this group of water wraiths didn’t seem to match the tavern keeper Harvey’s description, nor did it align with his own impression of such creatures.
They looked more like beings on alert for some hidden predator, fearful and tense.
However, since the trap had already been laid and the target water wraiths had appeared as expected, Levin could only suppress his doubts and focus on the imminent battle.
“Da-da-da!”
After a long hesitation, the water wraiths began to emit hoarse, low hissing sounds, and finally, unable to resist, they moved toward the bait trap the party had set earlier.
The specially treated enhanced rotting corpses were, for this group of water wraiths, like a delicacy placed before someone starving for a day or two—irresistibly tempting.
The group watched as the water wraiths drew nearer, yet still refrained from taking action.
Gauss silently counted the numbers in his mind.
Being only a few away from triggering the next stage of the reward, he naturally paid the closest attention to the count.
Seventeen water wraiths.
That seemed fewer than expected?
The mission briefing mentioned over twenty water wraiths.
Even if two had been killed by the sailors, shouldn’t there still be about twenty?
Where did the missing ones go?
Were they hiding elsewhere and hadn’t joined the main group, or did something else happen?
Just as humans face unknown dangers in the wild, monsters too could encounter all kinds of threats.
These could come from uncontrollable accidents—such as falling to their deaths, being swept away by a rapid current or whirlpool, or even the rare chance of being struck by lightning—or they could be attacked by larger beasts or other monsters.