The Delan City Ruins was a city that had been abandoned by Humans for nearly 100 years.
Although refugees occasionally visited, the merchant caravans and Adventurers who benefited from the shade of the broken walls and abandoned houses… clearly wouldn’t bother repairing these ancient ruins.
So, it remained as broken and desolate as a ruin should.
The difference between the city walls and the city gates was merely the size and neatness of the hole people passed through.
It was now nearing dusk.
The sky looked as if it had been splashed with orange-red oil paint.
As the sun dipped toward the west, countless planets became faintly visible in the sky.
Crackle! Gurgle…
The sound of burning firewood and boiling water echoed within the ancient city.
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!!”
Everyone laughed, clinking their wooden mugs together, uncaring as the ale spilled over the rims and onto the dusty ground.
“We’ll be back in Gilliris tomorrow. Finally, we can stop being so jumpy!”
“Yeah… once we sell these goods, we’ll be living large for a while.”
“Say, aren’t you going to think about saving money to marry a woman and live a quiet life?”
“Heh, that’s too much trouble. I still prefer the women at Juan House. They know how to serve a man and won’t pester you to take responsibility.”
Amidst a burst of laughter, the conversation gradually drifted… heading toward more colorful topics, discussing which woman was the best in those places and where they should go after this trip.
During this idle chatter, the merchants failed to notice another group of people and horses entering from the side of the broken city wall.
Sniff, sniff…
The leader of this “caravan” sniffed the air. Then, his brows furrowed slightly.
“There are people.”
Ordinarily, this was a common occurrence. At this time… with one day’s journey left to Gilliris, it wasn’t strange for a caravan to settle here.
But now, the leader of the caravan that had just entered the ruined city, as well as the other members following him… their eyes subconsciously darkened.
*Step, step, step…*
As this large-scale Shanghui entered the ruined city without much concealment, the members of the original caravan inside also noticed them.
However… they weren’t within the Kingdom’s borders, so everyone still observed these peers quite warily.
They were returning from outside, while these people… appeared to be the ones who had left Gilliris today. It was unclear what their destination was.
“Hey! Brothers!”
Although they maintained a certain level of alertness, the merchants, who had been drinking and were naturally talkative, still held up their mugs to greet them.
However, the newcomers remained relatively silent. Faced with the warm advances of their peers, they seemed somewhat indifferent.
“What’s wrong with these guys?” Biller, the Guard Team Leader, looked at Kaman, the leader.
Generally speaking, those who had just left the city and encountered peers returning from outside the Kingdom would be eager to ask questions—about the weather outside, and the situation with the Divine Kin and the Outlanders.
After all, running this route had never been peaceful.
One might never know if a Divine Kin or Outlander group had changed their Chieftain; if the new leader didn’t follow the old rules, the entire caravan would be finished.
But now, these people not only asked nothing but also maintained a cold attitude.
“Leader?” Biller received no response from Kaman and looked at him in confusion.
“These guys… are a bit off.” Kaman was a dark-skinned, 50-year-old man.
The slight stubble on his sideburns and face had already turned gray, and his weathered eyes held a trace of contemplation.
“Didn’t I just say that — ” Biller started to speak but saw Kaman shake his head slightly.
“It’s not the kind of strangeness you mean. There are many caravans that don’t like interacting with peers; it all depends on the leader’s preference. But…”
Kaman watched the group as they silently set up camp in front of them, seemingly having a faint feeling of surrounding them.
“Their eyes don’t look like those of merchants.”
Merchants relied on kind smiles and effective promotion to sell goods, not cold gazes and a chilling attitude.
Regardless, Kaman felt that… if he were a customer and a merchant had that kind of look… he would absolutely never step forward to buy anything or discuss any business.
“Biller…” The more Kaman thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
Just as he was about to tell Biller to pack up so they could brave the dangers of the rocky desert and return to Gilliris overnight…
He realized that while he was thinking, Biller was no longer beside him.
Instead, Biller had run to the front of the camp and was talking to an unfamiliar man.
That was…
Kaman frowned as he looked over. He saw a man who was smiling quite honestly, holding a leg of a Desert Wild Boar.
He seemed to be from that suspicious Shanghui.
‘Are they giving them food and then asking about the conditions of the road ahead? Right… that was the normal procedure. But his previous feeling…’
As Kaman pondered, he suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye… several other men from that Shanghui had split into different directions and were slowly closing in on their position.
The twenty or so people on his side were all distracted by that succulent wild boar leg and the talking man.
‘What… do they want to do?!’
Kaman’s sixth sense was constantly warning him that things weren’t that simple!
But at that moment, the man who was just making small talk with Biller suddenly attacked!
He was actually gripping a dagger hidden beneath the wild boar leg. With a flash of cold light, he lunged toward Biller’s chest!
“Biller! Watch out!!”
The moment Kaman shouted, Biller, the Guard Team Leader, instinctively dodged!
Although he wasn’t as vigilant as Kaman, he had also noticed the other party’s somewhat abnormal behavior.
At this point, he certainly wouldn’t trust them wholeheartedly.
However, he hadn’t expected these people to suddenly attack with knives!
Thud!
Although he avoided a fatal blow to his chest, Biller’s left shoulder was stabbed!
“You guys!”
*Clang, clang, clang!!*
In the next second, several cold blades were unsheathed. Before the caravan members could even react, several people on the outer edge were struck down!
These guys had intended to attack them from the very beginning!
Biller kicked the man in front of him—the one who had dropped the boar leg and was trying to attack again with a bizarrely shaped dagger—sending him reeling back several steps!
Biller used the momentum to roll on the ground. Gritting his teeth, he clutched his wound.
A second later, several guards carrying Longswords surrounded him!
“Team Leader!”
“Damn it! You bastards ambushed me…” He cursed venomously, then looked at the guards beside him. “Why are you surrounding me?! I’m fine! Go protect the others!”
Although he said that… Biller could already tell. These people in front of them weren’t merchants at all.
Their strikes were ruthless, but their combat skills weren’t very high.
At such close range, if they had been real assassins, he might have actually died.
‘Are these guys… Bandits in disguise? Did they get some kind of news? Do they want to plunder our harvest from this trip?’