The next day, all of Morgaya City felt different from the day before.
People packed the gates and walls, the watch posts and lookout towers. A murderous resolve shone in the eyes of the fully armed knights, an edge seemingly forged from the sweat shed in daily training and the blood spilled in past battles. Once it surfaced, it meant the bloody battlefield would soon return.
From that day onward, every knight in the city went on alert. Their usual laughter and banter vanished without a trace, leaving only an oppressive atmosphere as gloomy as the gray sky above.
Ma Linya and the others, who had originally gone out with a group to gather winter medicinal herbs, had all returned. Upon hearing the news, all they could do was quickly prepare commonly used elemental tablets and blood-clotting agents, then distribute them to as many knights as possible.
This was also the busiest time for them as recruited healers. Once work began, they could even lose track of time.
Ma Linya and the others worked for an entire day before finally producing enough tablets and blood-clotting agents for seven thousand people. That did not include the blood-clotting agents needed for the warhorses. They could have kept working, but Yetos sent someone with orders not to prepare those and to save the remaining herbs for later needs.
Zeng Mu helped out that day, sitting beneath the stove and feeding the fire with wood all day, serving as a cook's helper.
Perhaps the prolonged exposure to charcoal smoke had blackened his face and reddened his eyes. Even under such tense circumstances, Ma Linya could not help laughing when she entered the room and saw him.
"This isn't funny," he said.
"Sorry," she said, waving a hand. "I didn't mean to laugh, but you