Iron Tree City was nearing the end of the year. The bitterly cold wind cut through the streets, and all the passing pedestrians wore thick clothing.
By the docks outside Iron Tree City, a massive trestle bridge spanned the freezing canal.
The bridge had originally been for merchants and travelers boarding and disembarking from ships, but now it was tightly guarded by a group of mysterious knights clad in black cloaks.
Each of them was tall and imposing, covered head to toe in armor. From the emblems on their iron armor, it was easy to tell that they all belonged to the Iron Birch Family.
The merchants, travelers, and pedestrians who had originally been bustling about, hurrying to catch the last ship out, wisely detoured when they saw those steel-like knights.
Just from such a display, everyone could tell that some important figure of high status from the Iron Birch Family must have arrived.
It was the end of the year. The less trouble, the better; it was best not to invite unnecessary problems.
The man standing amid the many knights was the acting governor of the Vela Three Provinces—the current Duke Iron Birch, Alex.
He too wore a heavy bearskin cloak and stood steadily on the trestle bridge, gazing at the churning canal before him and the ships constantly passing through it.
After standing on the bridge for a while, a cold wind swept past. Even though Alex had wrapped himself up tightly, he still felt a chill seep in.
He could not help muttering under his breath, his exhaled breath instantly turning into rising white mist. "The canal is about to freeze over completely. What the hell is Victor coming here for at a time like this?"
Just then, a series of rumbling sounds came from the distant