Old Wood's shabby tavern had recently closed down.
They said it had run out of liquor, which was perfectly normal. Not only was there no liquor left in town, there was no food to buy either. There was naturally no point in keeping an empty tavern open.
Yet something strange was happening. People had been coming and going from the tavern lately—it had long since stopped doing business, and it did not even offer leaf-infused water anymore.
But those who came out seemed drunk, their faces flushed red, so excited they looked ready to skip down the street, constantly muttering something under their breath.
They were truly mad.
Compared to the tavern closing, the other matter was a small one.
Several traveling merchants had arrived in town. They carried no goods—which was normal. Any merchant who made it this far would have had their wares robbed long ago.
They had no choice but to stay in town.
The merchants' leader was a short man. He was warm and friendly, and many of the town's residents had taken a liking to him. Hmm, thinking about it carefully, perhaps too many of them had.
Although Winter Wolf's knights had arrived, life still had to go on. The townspeople pinched every penny, staying indoors and praying for the soldiers to leave as soon as possible.
Their prayers seemed to have worked. Recently, more and more of the cavalrymen had been riding out.
It had started two days ago, when several cavalrymen left in separate groups and never returned.
The townspeople rarely went out now. Only those traveling merchants occasionally left town. According to them, the cavalrymen sent out to scout had apparently been killed, their bodies piled by the roadside and frightening quite a few passersby.
Winter Wolf's cavalrymen were naturally enraged and