"We followed the paw prints all the way to the Blackwater River, and then we found that the beasts had not crossed the river, they had turned a corner by the river and continued to flee towards the forest. Many of the beasts saw only blood, but no corpses, and were probably dragged into their lairs by the beastmen or those werewolves. ”

In early winter, the temperature has dropped to unbearable levels. After Walter and Lawrence had rested, Rod called the two back up. He wanted to know what was going on outside the castle, which, while looking very strong and reliable, was more confident in the situation and hard power than the walls and towers. A lord without intelligence is a wolf who has lost his sense of smell, and even a strong castle is a scum when it encounters a large-scale siege weapon. Rhodes' will was to be more prepared before the enemy arrived. Of course, many small-town residents don't think so.

"Are there a lot of corpses? I mean alien beasts and normal animals. ”

Rod sat in his exclusive chair and asked earnestly.

"Multi-...... More than in previous years. Moreover, it can be seen that many prey are not killed by ranged weapons, but are directly hacked to death, bitten to death. ”

Lawrence the Ranger replied. There was a hint of uneasiness in his gray eyes, obviously, without the lord's analysis, he could already judge for himself the horror of this strange beast tide. In the human way of hunting, the prey is shot from a distance with a spear or bow and arrow, and the prey is injured and runs, bleeding too much and dying. At this time, the hunter went up again and bore the prey. However, this is clearly not the case with these beastmen and werewolves. They go straight up, suppressing their prey with their speed and strength. This is something that normal humans can't do. And the more such corpses, the more the proof of the beastmen.

Rhodes shares the same concerns. The news in recent days was not good news, so he prepared early, ordering people to sell more ore reserves in the castle, and buy more bows and arrows and javelins, so that when the time came for the beastmen to besiege the city, they could use long-range weapons to force them back.

The castle is the strongest defense line for the people, but the scale of the castle guarded by Rhodes is not large, and the Black Hammer Fort is located in the barren northern wasteland, and the food reserve is naturally not too much, so once the evil moon comes, when the beastmen and werewolves attack in a big way, there are naturally not many refugees that can be taken in. That's why many people leave the town long before winter arrives.

There is a deep pit mine near Blackhammer Castle, which is the only reason to attract civilians here. As a lord, Rhodes pays everyone a salary and remuneration that is not low, which is why Blackhammer Fort still has hundreds of residents today.

"Beastmen, werewolves...... By the way, Muros, is there any news of the merchant ship that was sent to the empire in the fall?"

The two subordinates reported word by word, and Rhodes probably knew the situation and asked about another matter. This is what the butler Muros does.

This is an old man in his fifties, and according to his memory, Rod knows that this housekeeper has been working with his family for most of his life, so many things can probably be left to him with confidence.

"Not yet, it is estimated that they will not be able to come back in a short time, the coastline is blocked by the Norscans, and it is good that they don't go ashore to plunder. I didn't even receive a letter, and I guess Captain John was hiding in the Empire's harbor and didn't dare to come out. ”

Muros, the faithful butler, replied.

Rhodes was a little disappointed, but he couldn't blame himself for that. Blackhammer Fort is a poor and remote area, and the only source of income in the territory is the mine, and a year's excavation deducts the wages of the workers, and it only accumulates in the fall, and it is not a small expense to buy firearms for the Empire.

In fact, there is still room for development in Blackhammer Castle, and Rhodes knows that although the climate here is cold, there are large plains around the town that can be cultivated, and the soil is still fertile, and it is still possible to harvest once a year. In addition, the Black Forest has a large number of logs, which are a source of development. However, because of the special geographical environment here, located in the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Kislev, it is full of old forces left behind by Chaos, and the castle cannot accommodate too many civilians, resulting in a large number of civilians every winter, and they will be relocated to the big towns in the south to escape the attacks of beasts and werewolves.

The population was too mobile and there were no permanent residents, so the economy could never be upgraded to a higher level, and the poor lord of Rhodes would never be able to hire more soldiers. It's a vicious circle.

On the other hand, if the towns can be defended and the civilians can be protected, then many industries can be developed. To this end, Rhodes sent people to the empire to buy firearms, trying to make civilians feel more secure through advanced weapons.

But piracy was rampant, and the road was walking on thin ice. As for going south to plead for the support of the noble forces of the kingdom, not to mention it, to deal with the beastmen, firearms and magic are the key, a normal duel, one beastman can easily deal with five human adults, but with firearms, hiding in the castle, a human soldier can kill more than a dozen beastmen...... Similarly, a wizard can deal with a dozen or twenty beasts and werewolves.

There is no shortage of wizards in Kislev, but the Ice Queen is a pit of the beast, and she continues the centuries-old tradition of the kingdom, where all ice wizards must be uniformly trained and studied in the capital. Everywhere you go, you have to get the approval of the headmaster of the Academy of Magic. Blackhammer Castle, the Land of Projectiles, the Queen would never have sent her wizards here. Otherwise, a high remuneration Rhodes is also acceptable.

Just when a few people were worried about these things, the hurried footsteps of the guards sounded outside the door.

"Werewolf...... We've caught the werewolf. Adult ......"

The guard's words were choppy because of the excitement, but the unexpected news made everyone immediately get up from their stools. Like Rod, Lawrence the Ranger and Walter the Cavalry wanted to see what it was like to capture a werewolf alive.

......

The cage in which the werewolves are held is an iron cart. In the small town square, hundreds of civilians gathered to observe. They rarely saw werewolf captives, and they all stood by the prisoner cart and watched carefully. There was curiosity in his eyes, and there was fear in his eyes.

According to the guards, the werewolf was not caught directly, they first set a trap, used a whole sheep as bait, then caught him with a fishing net, and then wounded him with poisoned arrows. When the guards talked about the whole process, Rod couldn't help but feel a little big. It takes so much effort to catch a clumsy werewolf, and it takes several people to work together to catch it. If this were to be done on the battlefield, wouldn't these human soldiers be just an appetizer for werewolves......