The words of their superior were orders, and the soldiers knew this very well. It was difficult for people to control themselves when they were agitated. However, the soldiers had gone through strict training to obey the orders of their superior. From this point alone, these soldiers could be considered as competent soldiers.
Due to the strenuous exercise and the intense battle, the soldiers' stamina was severely depleted. All the soldiers were panting heavily, including Daugen.
Noda had been helping the soldiers to maintain the frontline, so his stamina consumption was not that severe. His gaze swept across the yellow smoke that was gradually drifting into the distance. Noda sheathed his short sword and quickly ordered the soldiers to clean up the battlefield.
Although the monsters seemed weak, there were still soldiers who were injured when they were attacked by multiple monsters. Thanks to the expensive armor, the monsters did not cause any lacerations to the soldiers during the biting process. The thick and strong plate armor saved many of the soldiers.
There were five or six soldiers whose arms and legs were dislocated and broken. This was the result of being pulled down and having their limbs torn apart. Fortunately, no vital parts were injured. After emergency treatment, other than two soldiers who were unable to walk due to leg injuries, the entire team was still in good condition.
This situation made Noda heave a sigh of relief. In this desolate place, being seriously injured often meant death. The current situation was already considered lucky. However, this strange creature still made him very puzzled.
Daugen held his war hammer and rested for a while. He looked around and said, "There are no people here. Is it related to those things just now?"
"How would I know?" Noda habitually teased, but then he replied with a slightly serious tone, "Why would they hide in the fog?
That's strange. Could it be that the entire town was … eaten by them? "
He thought of this possibility, but he kept denying it in his heart. It was too strange. Even if they killed people, there should be traces of blood on the ground, right?
Without saying a word, Noda let the team rest in a seemingly larger inn. The fire in the stove warmed the soldiers up a lot. The supplies on the sleigh were taken down and warmed and distributed. The injured soldiers were smeared with medicine. Everything returned to normal.
The inn had three floors, and the rooms were almost enough for everyone. But Noda still let the soldiers collectively sleep on the ground floor. This way, if anything happened, they could gather and deal with it immediately. There were soldiers on duty on the roof of the third floor who were constantly observing the surroundings. After arranging these things, Noda went into stealth mode and carefully searched for clues in the town.
※ ※ ※
The sky was getting dark. Noda walked back and forth in the cold wind, going back and forth from one house to another. After careful observation, he found that the bolts of the houses that were open seemed to be damaged.
In the beginning, Norda had only been paying attention to what was going on inside the house, so he did not notice this detail. However, after he carefully compared it, he realized that almost 90% of the doors in the entire town had been forcibly broken. In other words, the people inside had not done it willingly.
Would that disgusting monster break the door?
Noda carefully examined the bolts and the outside of the door, but did not find any traces of impact or any forceful tearing. The damage to the bolts was the most critical small part, and there were no traces if one did not look carefully.
This situation made him increasingly feel that things were not as simple as he thought.
When it was dark, Noda rushed back to the inn. Daugen and a few soldiers were chopping a few wooden tables and chairs into firewood. There was a lot of firewood piled up next to them.
"How do we chop firewood?
Is there no firewood in the inn's storeroom? "
Noda took off his leather gloves and asked as he warmed his hands by the stove.
"No, the storeroom is empty. There's no food or firewood." Daugen easily chopped firewood with one hand. The sturdy tables and chairs were neatly chopped by him. From this, it could be seen that his mastery of strength and angle had reached the pinnacle. "I've also looked in a few nearby houses. There's nothing, but these wooden furniture can be used as a substitute for firewood."
Noda frowned and felt that something was wrong.
Why was there no food and firewood?
In this icy and snowy environment, every household should have enough food and firewood. Why did this happen?
Daugen chopped another piece of wood. He bent down to pick up the chair leg next to his feet and said, "This is really strange. Bless Rollier. What's wrong with the people in this town?"
The cold wind blew past the window, bringing with it a series of whistling sounds. However, Noda felt increasingly uneasy in his heart.
"Did you see anything unusual outside?"
Daugen took out a pipe from his pocket, stuffed tobacco leaves into it, and lit it up. He took a few puffs.
"The things in town don't seem to be the work of those monsters."
Noda looked out the window again and swallowed. He suddenly reached out and took the pipe from Daugen's mouth. He took a puff and immediately choked on the spicy tobacco leaves and coughed.
"I thought you don't smoke this thing?"
Daugen patted Noda's back with his fan-like hand to calm him down. "Bless you, Rollier. Did something happen to you?"
Daugen felt that there was something wrong with Noda today. His usually lazy eyes were very anxious, and he kept glancing out the window. This was not the habit of the Noda he knew.
After coughing for a long time, Noda straightened his back. He suddenly pulled out a short sword and held it in his hand. It seemed that doing so would give him some sense of security.
"No, no …" Noda looked around. At this time, the soldiers in the house also noticed that something was wrong. They stopped what they were doing and looked at the elf captain. They did not know what was going on.
"Thump, thump …"
Noda's heart suddenly beat very fast. Even Daugen, who was standing next to him, could hear it clearly.
He looked even more anxious. After looking out the window again, it seemed that he could not stand it anymore. He suddenly grabbed Daugen and walked out. At the same time, he shouted at the soldiers in the house, "Go get the sentries down. Let's get out of here immediately!
Quick! "
He took the lead and kicked open the closed door. The snow outside the door reflected the moonlight, but there was nothing except for the bone-chilling wind.
The soldiers did not know why he was doing this. After a slight hesitation, they immediately chose to believe in their superior. The soldiers in the house began to quickly and orderly retreat outside. They did not care about the food and the other things. A few wounded soldiers who could not move were carried outside on makeshift stretchers. But before they could stand still, Noda dragged Daugen out of the town. He did not care about the supplies and the clothes that were not packed in time.
"Run!
Run! "
He ran as if he was possessed. After leaving the town for a few hundred meters, Noda slowly stopped. Daugen and the soldiers looked at each other. They looked at Noda who stood alone in the wilderness and did not know what to say.
Noda panted heavily. He turned around and looked at the quiet town. The palpitation in his heart was slightly relieved.
The sudden strong premonition made Noda uncontrollably act like this. After pausing for a few seconds, Noda waved his hand and made a tactical gesture.
"Take cover and wait for orders!"
The silent order was immediately carried out by the soldiers. Although there was ice cold snow on the ground, the soldiers did not hesitate to lie down on the ground. Even Daugen did the same.
"What's going on?"
Daugen pointed in the direction of the town and asked with his eyes.
At this moment, the moonlight was still bright. The reflection on the snow-white ground allowed them to clearly see the town hundreds of meters away.
Noda shook his head and did not explain. He just pressed his palms down and signaled for them to be quiet.
Time passed quietly. The cold ground eroded the soldiers' bodies that had just warmed up. Not long after, they began to shiver uncontrollably. The wounded seemed to be in pain. Some of them did not put on warm fur cloaks in time. At this moment, their lips were a little blue from the cold.
Suddenly, Noda, who was also lying low, raised his hand and signaled for "Level Two Combat Readiness". At the same time, Daugen also felt that something was wrong. He moved the war hammer in his hand closer to him and gripped it tightly.
Suddenly, countless figures appeared in the distant town under the moonlight.
This strange scene caused Noda's hair to stand on end – he could clearly see that those figures were all humans!
They were wearing thick leather clothes. There were tall, short, fat, thin, old, and young. They looked no different from ordinary people. But when he looked carefully, Noda saw something strange!
These people were staggering as they walked. They looked like they were drunk. But one or two of them was fine, but if all of them were like this, it would be too strange.
Where did these figures come from?
Noda narrowed his eyes and saw the figures climbing out of the cellars.
There were cellars for storing things in every house. Dao Gen didn't look for these tightly shut cellars when he was searching just now, because the food that was usually needed would be stored on the first floor. Most of the things stored in the cellars were frozen meat or rarely used materials.