"There are a few more." He pointed south and west. "Keep going."
The four Newcomers each returned to their posts.
Another Swamp Corpse came from Richard’s south side, and he took care of it with his fourth Silver Needle.
Edmund fought with another newly emerged Swamp Corpse for about five minutes, finally finishing it with his twice-Sanctified Silver Dagger.
Maggie and Theodore worked together to take down the two on the north side.
Theodore got his bearings, and when his flintlock gun fired, a Lead-Silver Bullet actually went right through a Swamp Corpse’s eye socket. The Swamp Corpse collapsed on the spot.
"Yes!" the stable boy shouted excitedly.
"You manage a lucky shot like that once every ten tries," Maggie said, wiping her Hunting Knife on the grass. "The odds aren’t that low."
"...Can’t you say something nice?"
"Highlanders don’t say nice things."
The four Newcomers each finished their practice.
Sarah also prepared to handle their spoils with Captain Field.
As she passed, she glanced at the freckled girl.
"Did your family teach you how to harvest corpse wax?"
"They did." Maggie wiped her Hunting Knife clean and slid it back into its sheath.
"Then you teach them how to harvest it. You process the spoils from the Evil Beings you kill yourselves."
"Mm," Maggie said, walking over to the Swamp Corpse she had just dealt with.
She crouched down and drew a small Silver Needle from the back of her Hunting Knife’s sheath.
"A Swamp Corpse’s corpse wax is hidden beneath the sternum," the girl explained as she worked.
"It’s a small, congealed lump in the pickled flesh. It’s yellowish-white, like lard, but harder."
"What’s it used for?" Richard asked.
"To make Wax Seals for Sealing," Maggie explained. "Normal beeswax degrades after a year, but the corpse wax from a Swamp Corpse can last for more than twenty years."
"What’s the market price?"
"Depends on the quality." Maggie inserted the Silver Needle beneath the Swamp Corpse’s sternum.
"A top-grade piece sells for a shilling. You can probably harvest two or three pieces from a single Swamp Corpse."
Her Silver Needle twisted inside the Swamp Corpse’s body. The tip hooked onto something, and she slowly drew it out.
She pulled out a yellowish-white, congealed mass. It was irregularly shaped, about the size of a thumb pad.
Maggie placed it on a dry blade of grass beside her and proceeded to harvest several more pieces.
Just then, Edmund spoke up.
"Maggie, are you going to harvest mine?"
Maggie glanced at him.
"You’re not going to?"
Edmund said haltingly.
"The rules of my order forbid taking anything more from the remains of the dead."
"Even if they’re Evil Beings?" Theodore asked from the side.
"Yes." The young priest nodded. "In the Church’s logic, Evil Beings are a corruption of a dead person’s soul, but the root of that soul still resides within the deceased."
"Harvesting the corpse wax..." He spoke very slowly. "Is to desecrate them a second time."
Maggie frowned but didn’t comment on whether it was right or wrong.
"Then I’ll harvest it. Everything I get is mine. No objections?"
"Fine." Edmund let out a sigh of relief.
Theodore stood to one side, his face a little pale again.
He watched Maggie thrust the Silver Needle into a second Swamp Corpse’s chest. The sternum broke with a soft "CRACK."
"..." The stable boy swallowed hard.
"Grossed out?" Maggie looked up at him.
"A little."
"A shilling a piece, you know?"
"I’ll do it," Theodore said immediately, changing his tune.
"Didn’t you just say you were grossed out?" Maggie found it a little amusing.
"A shilling a piece." The stable boy gritted his teeth.
"Four pieces is four shillings. My mom cut my allowance in half this month. All I have on me right now is three shillings and six pence."
"I grew up at the stables watching horses get sick, die, and have difficult births." He rolled up his sleeves. "What haven’t I seen?"
"Then come over here and try." Maggie handed him the Silver Needle. "I’ll teach you."
Richard, meanwhile, crouched down next to the Swamp Corpse he had killed, studying the path of the Silver Needle himself.
[Perception] allowed him to feel where the "soft" mass was beneath the corpse’s sternum.
On his very first try, he managed to harvest a piece.
Maggie glanced at him.
"You’ve done this before?"
"No." Richard didn’t even look up. "I learned just by watching you do it twice."
"Oh?" Maggie raised an eyebrow.
They had killed seven Swamp Corpses, but only managed to harvest twenty-two pieces of corpse wax in total.
Not many were of good enough quality to fetch a shilling, so the total value came out to less than two pounds.
Maggie wrapped the corpse wax in a clean piece of oilcloth.
She picked up the oilcloth bundle and weighed it in her hand.
"You, me, and Theodore will split this."
"...You did most of the harvesting." Richard didn’t want to take advantage of her.
"I harvested the most, but my family isn’t hurting for a pound."
"My brother goes on a field assignment once a month and brings back twenty to thirty pounds each time."
"It’s different for you two." She glanced at Richard. "Looking at your shoes and coat, your family isn’t well-off."
Then she glanced at the stable boy. "And your allowance was cut in half."
"So that’s that. The three of us, one-third each.
I’ll divide it up when we get back to the inn. Whether you sell it for cash or keep it for your own use is up to you."
At noon, the six of them had a makeshift meal at the edge of the swamp.
The landlady had prepared bread, bacon, boiled eggs, and a pot of hot ginger tea for them, all packed in wax paper parcels.
During Eating, Captain Field was the first to speak.
"Your trial run ends here. Tomorrow, Sarah and I will come out by ourselves. The four of you don’t need to follow us anymore."
"Why?" The stable boy quickly looked up. He had just earned a few shillings.
"Bringing Newcomers along is too inefficient," Sarah said bluntly. "With the four of you holding us back, the area we can normally clear in a day is cut by at least half."
Captain Field readily agreed:
"The amount of work Sarah and I did this morning was more than twenty times what the four of you did, and that’s not even counting the Salted Coal Walkers we killed, which you couldn’t handle at all."
"Bringing you out yesterday and today was just to let you rookies see what the world behind the Curtain is really like."
"For the remaining few days, Sarah and I will be patrolling on our own."
"Then what will we do?" Edmund asked.
Captain Field glanced at the sky.
"From tomorrow until the ceremony begins, the four of you will follow Mrs. MacNeil."
Sarah added:
"In our line of work, the time actually spent fighting on field assignments is the smallest part."
"The vast majority of your time will be spent on the little things nobody wants to do: preparation, coordination, gathering, registration, pacification, visiting, and verification."
"Mrs. MacNeil’s work over the next few days is a complete lesson in ’standard field procedure’."
"The four of you will learn more by following her than by following us."
Captain Field concluded, "Besides, to be blunt, none of you are on the Hunter’s Direction anyway."
"Having you fight Evil Beings hand-to-hand these past two days was just to build up your courage.
Now that goal has been achieved, it’s time for you precious treasures to go back and stay put."
"Got it?"
"...Got it." The four Newcomers nodded in unison.
Before they boarded the carriage, Captain Field clapped Richard on the shoulder. "Ever thought about switching to the Hunter path?"
"Are you joking, Captain?" Richard was a bit baffled.
"Half-joking." The man smiled, the scars on his face twisting, which was a little frightening.
"Your reactions, judgment, and on-the-spot adjustments—from what I’ve seen, those three things are far better than the average newcomer’s."
The Captain’s tone was serious. "I’d bet that if you walked the Path of Burning Blood, you’d be an old hand in three to five years."
At that moment, Sarah chimed in from the side.
"I agree."
The Female Hunter looked at him. "You’re a quick study. Someone like that will do well in any line of work."
"..." Richard didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
"But..." Captain Field sounded a little regretful.
"Since you’ve already chosen the Scholar’s path, it’s impossible for us to snatch you away from Mr. Hutton."
"If we have the chance to work together again in the future, Sarah and I would be happy to have you along."
"Thank you, Captain and Lady Sarah."
"Nothing to thank us for." Captain Field turned around. "Time to head back."
When they returned to Whitcomb Village, it was already four in the afternoon.
Mrs. MacNeil had prepared hot water and thick blankets.
"People who’ve spent a day in the swamp should soak their feet first."
"People who stay in the swamp for a long time pick up a dampness. Wash with salt water when you get home, and the dampness will be gone."
"Folk wisdom," Mr. Hutton said, sitting by the fireplace. "That basin of salt water actually has a minor purifying effect."
"There’s sense in the old ways."
Large slices of ginger and a generous amount of coarse salt were added to the hot water in the large copper basin.
After soaking his feet, Richard could feel the dampness being forced out bit by bit.
"...So nice," Theodore sighed, sinking into his chair.
After soaking his feet, the stable boy called out before heading back to his room.
"If you’re ever passing through Yorkshire, you can come to my house for Eating."
"My mom’s mutton is more fragrant than the stuff here."
"She stews it for three hours with rosemary, dark beer, and carrots."
"My mouth is watering just thinking about it." Richard nodded. "I’ll definitely come if I have the time."
"It’s a deal."
"Mm."
The stable boy gave a slightly shy smile and turned to head upstairs.
Just then, Maggie came out of her room. After giving Richard his share of the corpse wax, she was holding a small sachet.
"Here." She pressed the sachet into Richard’s hand.
"What’s this?"
"A little trinket from the Highlands. It’s a mix of spices and a few herbs. It keeps insects away if you carry it with you."
"..." Richard squeezed the sachet.
"Don’t get the wrong idea, my mom made it," the girl quickly explained.
"She made several of them for me to give to people my age on this trip. I already gave one to Theodore and the others."
"...Thank you."
"Don’t mention it. It’s not like it’s anything valuable."

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