"Turmoil?"
Batom sat on a thick tree stump—possibly an elm or beech, both common in the Golan-Elsen area. His feet were planted on the intertwined roots, and he couldn't help but sneeze. The seasoned mercenary rubbed his nose, then looked up in disbelief.
This was an abandoned logging site on the outskirts of Brags. Sparse tree stumps dotted the outskirts of the forest, but most of the lumber came from upstream along the Yu Song River, where people processed the logs that had drifted down. The corner of a lumber mill was hidden behind a nearby pine forest; from this direction, only a part of the building was visible.
The time was nearing the first moonrise, the initial tide of magic power. It was the phase called 'Sleep of All Things' by the Matatania people—during which travel mages could only cast cards of 'blue,' 'black,' 'grey,' 'green,' and 'white.' They usually set up defenses and lay counterattack traps during this period.
