Breakout and Encirclement

Belk Loren walked step by step along the path leading to the inner city's castle district. Sharp stabs of pain from several small wounds kept jolting his exhausted mind, forcing him to stay awake.

The fog had thinned, but the lingering stench of blood still hung in the air. Suspicious shadows continued to flicker past, and footsteps came from the depths of nearby streets and alleys. Every shadow and every footstep could have belonged to hidden monsters—they might have completed their transformation, or they might still be transforming. Either way, Belk could not take the risk.

That voice still lingered in his mind:

"Become like this... you can survive by eating stones... My lord."

For that reason alone, people could willingly turn themselves into monsters.

At that moment, the young marquis suddenly remembered a line he had once seen in a report:

...Grain had been requisitioned from the above regions six times. Every household had been emptied, even the leaves had been eaten clean. The number of starving people...

It had once been nothing more than a description, a few figures. He had found it shocking, but only shocking.

Now, he had finally seen with his own eyes what that "world" looked like.

Unbelievably, only a city wall and a castle stood between that "world" and his own.

At last, he understood why most of His Highness the Prince's decrees were so difficult to implement. At last, he understood why those noble lords could never be relied upon.

Those who lived in castles could not imagine what the world outside looked like.

Belk raised his head and saw Thorinburg's main gate directly ahead. The drawbridge... had not been raised, and there were no guards in sight.

An indescribable sense of unease suddenly welled up within him, and Belk immediately quickened