Bai Town had started as a post station. Its position as a transport hub for the major Safe Zone fortresses had gradually turned that little station village into a town.
Towns near Safe Zones and military fortresses tended to attract all sorts: merchants, Hunting Mages, Military Mages, Magic Association members, students out gaining experience, and members of prominent families...
Of course, wanted criminals and people from the Judgment Hall might be mixed in too!
Bai Town was not usually guarded too strictly. It could even be seen as a Black Market beyond the control of any one faction. Whether Hunting Mages brought back treasures from the wild or soldiers had things to sell on their own account, most came here to trade. But now...
"What's going on? They're checking everyone one by one?"
Tang Yue stood in the long line to enter Bai Town. Looking at the sea of heads ahead of her, she spoke in confusion.
"Young lady, you haven't heard? A Plague Disease has been spreading badly lately. Quite a few people in Bai Town have already been quarantined. Now everyone entering has to be checked to make sure they aren't carrying it."
Beside her, a dark-skinned, hunter-looking man explained with a smile.
"Oh, so that's why..."
Tang Yue patted her ample chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
They were fleeing with the Totem Black Snake in defiance of Councilor Zhu Meng, but whether that was even a crime was open to interpretation. Surely it had not reached the point where checkpoints would be set up at every major transport hub.
Besides, Bai Town belonged to no faction. Unless the Judgment Hall sent its own people to guard the entrance, it had no grounds to make the townspeople help with its Threat Elimination Strategy.
It turned out