The Subjugation Settlement! The Road Ahead!

Have we arrived? Or did something unexpected happen?

The witcher immediately pricked up his ears, growing tense.

It was not only the carriage he was in that had stopped.

Ahead, behind, left, and right, the sounds of wooden wheels grinding through mud and plodding horses stamping the ground all gradually ceased.

What followed were questions and shouts in thick rural dialects. They sounded somewhat like Arlanders, yet were far rougher and more savage.

"Gods above, what happened up ahead? Why are all the carriages blocked here?"

"Bandits? We fled from the Amell Mines. Several bosses in the mines were killed by bandits..."

"Probably not bandits. The Old Road has knights patrolling for the lords. Could it be those Ghouls that wandered over from Arland again?"

Ghouls from Arland... The witcher frowned as he caught the key phrase. Had they scattered after the Evil God's descent?

Ghouls were no great trouble for witchers. Even ordinary witchers could handle them as long as they were prepared. But to ordinary people, armed merchant caravans, and local lords, they were a significant threat.

These cunning monsters were not particularly intelligent, but they knew how to seek advantages and avoid danger.

They fled when there were many people, attacked when there were few, broke into graveyards at night to dig up newly buried corpses that had not been cremated, and even slipped through poorly shut doors and windows into village homes...

Though the School of the Wolf had never compiled exact statistics, humans killed by Ghoul claws surely ranked among the highest casualties caused by all monsters across the Northern Continent.

I wonder if the Temple of Melitele has found the ritualist who arranged the Summoning Ritual? he thought. If not, there may be considerable trouble ahead...

The crowd buzzed with noise.

He heard