Sweetwater is the only town between the town below the mountain and the valley town. It is also a supply point that must be passed through to get to the Earldom City. The town, as its name suggests, is famous for the mountain springs that flow from beneath the remnants of the Dragonspine Mountains. It is said that the sake brewed from the spring near the town is a specialty sold throughout the kingdom. In the past, the town was full of business travelers, and although it was not as prosperous as the city, the life of the town was also very affluent, with vendors selling along the streets, customers coming to buy, and even tourists yearning for the scenery of the Northland. Now, however, when Cheese and his party stepped into the town, they saw nothing but deathly silence.

At first, the Cheese Priest and the others began to check the main buildings of the town for any living people, but soon they found that there seemed to be nothing in the town, and the uneasiness became stronger in the mage's heart, and he felt as if someone had deliberately disposed of the town before him to cover something, and this was most likely the key to solving the plague. He then advises the team to split up and search the town in hopes of finding clues that haven't been destroyed yet.

"Did you find anything?" Standing in the square in the middle of the town, Cheese asked the team members returning from the search.

"There was nothing, neither a corpse, nor a living person, and I couldn't even find anything like a mouse. "Wild boar" said. Both Mona and "Monkey" also said they had not found the inhabitants of the area.

"It doesn't make sense. Cheese frowned.

"Even if the plague kills everyone here, the corpses should be left behind. Even if a large number of proto-nezumi attack the residents, they will still leave bones. There's never going to be an empty town like this. "The mage wondered what was going on here. He could catch the smell of plague in the air of the town. But the smell is very light, and it is not at all like the phenomenon of a small town in the epicenter of the epidemic.

"These residents didn't disappear all of a sudden. It was more like an orderly evacuation of the town. Just when the group was at a loss, Elsa suddenly said.

When the other four people heard her words, they all showed puzzled expressions, and although they also searched, they did not come to this conclusion. And the proprietress soon began to explain her reasons for this conclusion.

"Food. Both humans and monsters need food, even the livestock that used to be raised in the town. However, there is too little food in this town. Elsa led the members into a private house.

"You see, it's winter, and normally a family will have enough food to eat for two to three days, but in a town like Sweetwater, where the inhabitants are more well-off, there will only be more food reserves. With that, the proprietress opened the cupboard in the room, which was empty, and there was no food in it.

"But you see, there is not any grain in these houses, and this is unreasonable. Moreover, I went to a few taverns and restaurants in the town just now, and even if the people in this town buy and cook all meals because of the convenience of life, this kind of business place must be kept in stock. But there, as it is here, there is nothing. If they fled suddenly, they would not have had time to take all the food with them. This is possible only with a planned evacuation. As the owner of the Dragon's Back Tavern, Elsa's words are not only reasonable but also very convincing. Indeed, the amount of food in the town is pitifully small.

"So, who evacuated the townspeople, like the lord sent an evacuation notice to all of them to Canyone?" Mona guessed.

"But that doesn't make sense, even if the townspeople were reasonable, they wouldn't have been able to evacuate in such an orderly manner in just a few days. This is completely counterintuitive. Unless there is enough time and a good reason to get them to leave willingly. Elsa retorted.

"Is there a lot of regular contact between Yamashita Town and Valley Town?" interrupted Cheese.

"Hmm...... In fact, it is not very frequent, especially in the months after winter, because of the heavy snowfall, merchants will almost always wait until after the beginning of spring to go to the town. After all, we only have all kinds of hides and animal products in our hands. "Monkeys", as hunters, still know more about buying and selling than a few other people.

"Most of the town's food reserves were also completed in the fall. In winter, people in the town rarely go out. The hostess added.

"In other words, Yamashita has lost contact with the county of Sharon since the beginning of winter, until Commander Jon sent a messenger the other day, right?"

......The four remaining residents of the town below the hill looked at each other as they found that this seemed to be the case.

"Well, that is, for at least two months, the entire county has almost no contact with the town, right? Cheese's brow furrowed as he realized that this error in time was likely to have some terrible consequences.

"You mean that the plague came sooner than we had calculated?" Elsa was the first to think of the problem that time would cause.

"It is quite possible that this is the case, and worst of all, I am afraid that this plague will not show itself for a long time in the early stages of infection. Cheese said in a deep voice.

"If that's the case......" The proprietress quickly realized what it meant.

"If this is the case, I am afraid that the plague has spread beyond one county for a long time. And the conditions in this county will be even worse than we expected. The mage said.

The remaining three Frost Guards also realized the seriousness of the situation, and they all gasped.

"Then what should we do?" asked Mona, the warrioress, eagerly.

"Don't worry, even if the plague does spread, we won't have time to warn the others. Cheese let out a sigh of relief, kind of putting the thought aside for a moment.

"Now, it's better to find the residents of Sweetwater Town first, and develop an antidote to the plague as soon as possible. ”

"I think I might know where the people of Sweetwater have gone. "Monkey" Jack suddenly thought of something, he said.

"When I was talking about buying and selling, I suddenly remembered that when I came to the town with my father to sell animal skins, I once heard the people in the town say that there is a big cave in the mountains near the town, and where does a large part of the water in Sweetwater come from. I heard that the entrance is extremely narrow, and the interior is intricate and the space is huge, and it is simply a natural fortress. Some even say they've seen dragons in the depths of the cave!" Jack made an exaggerated gesture.

"You mean, the townsfolk have been evacuated to the cave?" asked Cheese. While this may sound like a good idea, a cave with a narrow entrance is indeed easier to defend than a small town, and the living water in the cave can also prevent the chance of getting sick from drinking contaminated water. But he had a hard time believing that anyone could organize the whole town to escape into the cave where he didn't know if it was safe or not.

"I've heard Grandpa Jon say that the mayor of Sweetwater is a nobleman who loves the people very much, and the wealth and prosperity of Sweetwater are inseparable from this person. If such a popular person leads the way, I don't think a major retreat is impossible. Elsa said.

"Alright then, anyway, this is the few clues we have at the moment, monkey, do you know where the cave is?" Cheese nodded, agreeing with Elsa's opinion.

"I haven't been there, but I know the general directions. Isn't it just that we don't prioritize going to Vale, where we should have a better chance of finding survivors. Jack asked.

Jack's doubts about whether to go to Vale City first or take a detour to find the residents of Sweetwater who may not exist are indeed a very tricky question for the cheese in the race against time, and even the mage himself is not sure to pay attention for a while.

"It's true that there is a high probability of finding survivors in Valley City, but the situation in the town is really weird. I think it's okay to go to that cave first, and if no one else is there, it's not too late to head to Vale. At that moment, Mona spoke. She thinks that with the defense of Valley City, if it has already fallen, then this five-person team will not be of much use. And if Vale can hold on, then it makes more sense to look for the residents of Sweetwater.

The other four thought about it, agreed with the female warrior's point of view, and decided to try their luck in the cave in the mouth of the "monkey" first.

What they didn't know was that at the same time as they set off, the Knights of the Kingdom, led by Leon the Blood Lion, also sent a group of men into the Earldom of Salon. The target of this team is Canyon City.