Qingshan Fort is not a very large city, in terms of scale, it is like a walled Turbidity Town, not to mention the royal capital or the city fortress of Molten Iron, even compared to the Iron Fort and the valley. But such a small town, because of the attack of the rat people, also gathered a considerable number of residents, most of them from the villages of the Black Mountain Territory, and were sent here to live here before the defense line of Turbidity Town collapsed.

The streets of the city are littered with low, coarse cloth tents, as well as the surrounding filth. Although the stench under the baron's tower was unbearable, the smell in other parts of the city was not much better. This may be the reason why Jack is so disgusted here, and the Wolfwalker's keen sense of smell is now like a curse.

"I don't understand, they just watched their lord hang somewhere? Jack shrugged his nose as he looked at the chair hanging in the air from the tower in the distance and the baron above. Not only him, but many of the residents who had come out of their homes also found out about it, and they kept their distance from the tower, talking in small groups and whispering about it.

"There's a very strange phenomenon. Cheese, who had changed his robes, walked out onto the balcony to check if he still smelled, and responded to his companion's doubts, "Those nobles, especially the lords who rule the land. They always think that their people should be loyal to them for granted, obedient to them, and ruined for their sake. You see, the lord's authority and wealth actually come from his people and not from himself, and if a land has only a lord and no inhabitants, then that lord is nothing, is that very esoteric truth?"

"It's true, it's just that many noble lords deliberately forget this, and they prefer to believe that everything they have comes from blood. The networm sat in her chair and gently wiped the dagger, and there was a lot of resentment in her words. As a mercenary, she inevitably had to deal with many nobles, not all of whom were as easy-going as Lothar.

"Blue Bloods? Colante played with her hair in boredom, and although there was no record of the arrogant aristocracy in the books, her mother and grandmother liked to tell her these anecdotes. Of course, maybe only a witch would think this is funny.

"How they don't matter to us. Once Marcus has settled the guy, we're going to move on north. Cheese shook his head, he didn't care about the contradictions between nobles and commoners. For the mage, these things are just affairs in the human realm, and he does not belong to any country.

"Shall we just walk away like this?" the door opened, and Elsa and Mona walked in. The proprietress didn't hear the conversation between the people in the room, her brows furrowed under her red hair, and the expression on her face was very unpleasant. "The city is suffering more terrible than a cowardly lord, and we have just seen a few strangers being chased and beaten by their original inhabitants while we were tidying up the wagons. ”

Cheese knocked on the handrail on the balcony with some impatience, "It's just now." The city can't support so many people, and now there is enough food, but the conflict between the local residents and the refugees because of the living space has emerged. After a while, when the granary bottoms out, the conflict between the two sides will not be as simple as a few people. ”

"Then we can't go, you see what the problem is, can't you do something to save them?" Elsa walked over to Cheese, she wasn't a soldier or a mercenary, so she couldn't control the sadness that overflowed her heart when she saw the pain on their faces.

The mage didn't speak, but Jack on the side said, "We can't save them, at least not here." ”

"What do you mean?" the proprietress asked, knowing that her companion was not a man who would not be saved, but she still needed a clear reason.

"This is now the case in the cities of the whole kingdom, where a large number of refugees are homeless and the living spaces of the cities are overcrowded. It won't be long before food scarcity begins, and with that comes diseases that breed in a messy environment, and people who can move begin to unabashedly rob others of their resources. Eventually, order will be lost. The inside of the walls will become a place even more terrible than the wilderness full of nezumi, hell on earth. Interestingly, more people choose to die here than to get out of the walls to find a way to live, simply because they think their own kind is better to deal with than the nezumi. Cheese spoke of the end of the city in a cold tone, his gaze sweeping the streets outside, and the sunlight could not reflect any brilliance in those eyes.

"We can't stop this from happening, and in fact Marcus can't. Because the lack of resources is the lack of grain, there will be no sudden increase in grains in the barn without grain. All the activities we are doing here are only delaying the occurrence of conflicts, not the root causes of solving problems. The mage turned his head and looked at Elsa, "That's why we're going to the valley to find a way to solve the problem." Only by letting the nezumi disappear from the wilderness can people get out of the city walls and have hope of living. And this, the sooner the better. ”

The red-haired lady wanted to say something, and she understood that Cheese's words had a point, but it was too cruel. But before Elsa could speak, Lothar strode in. By the time the Count of Montenegro realized the strange atmosphere in the room, it was already too late.

"Am I disturbing something?" he whispered to the networm sitting by the door, only to get a grimace in response.

"I see. Elsa lowered her head, said to Cheese and turned to leave the room. Colandy and Mona, two people with whom she had a good relationship, followed out of fear.

"You let her down. The mercenary said leisurely as the footsteps walked away, and she knew very well why the proprietress had such a reaction.

"Hah..."Jack took a deep breath and walked back to the room and sat down with a few random hands grabbing his hair a few times. His expression was a little depressed, the problem raised by Elsa was actually clear to everyone, but it was helpless because he clearly saw the problem but was unable to solve it.

"Is there really no way? You know, even if we solve the problem of the rat people, many people will die. The wolfwalker looked up at the gray back on the balcony.

Cheese was silent for a moment before he spoke slowly, "Magic is not a panacea, I told you about this the first day we met. Then he muttered to himself in a lower voice, "Even if magic can be all-powerful, I'm not." ”

The oppressive atmosphere spread through the room, and it was Lothar who broke the dead silence with her mouth. As the earl who carried the entire Montenegro family alone, he was actually the one with the most experience among these people. "Marcus's side has been resolved. The fat dead man took control of the city with the baron's approval, and he doesn't need our help. So I thought, maybe we should..."

Cheese nodded, pulling up the hood from his robes, "Jack, go talk to them, let's go." Go to the valley. ”