After a well-deserved night of rest in which they were not whipped by the wind or the beasts, they both get up ready to go in search of the man's corpse together with Merinda, but for some reason she does not appear even when it is late noon.

"She said not to go into her room."

"I'd rather take the risk." Lyaria opens the door with a sour expression on her face.

They find a dark room lit slightly by beams of light coming through holes in the ceiling. A fetid and acid smell hits their nose at the same time that they both notice the body hanging from one of the ceiling beams attached by a rope around the neck.

It was at that moment that Ezer understood how right Lyaria had been.

The sky was completely gray, but at least it wasn't snowing and the wind was nil. However, anyone who wasn't used to it would find this weather depressing.

"We should bury them behind his house." Ezer suggests as he holds a wooden shovel in his hands.

"I'll get the hot water."

The process of pouring boiling water into the ground and digging once softened was slow and tedious, made worse by the fact that they had to make two graves. When they finally finished, dusk was giving way to night and it was clear that they would have to wait until the next day to continue their journey. But fate does not smile on them or, rather, the old man who led the village does not.

"You are not welcome in our village, please leave." He had a curved back, cracked lips, and missing teeth that made it difficult to understand what he was saying.

"Please, just for one night. We will stay one night in that house, please.” Lyaria plead to which the old man responds in the same way.

“Go away.” The answer didn't change no matter how much they offered the old man in return.

That night was again a cold one.

“The next town can be called as one, we will hopefully arrive at noon thanks to the distance we traveled today. We will have to be careful, there may be people who still remember the bounty on your head.”

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"How far is it to the port?" Ezer chews on a piece of meat, sitting near the campfire.

“After that town... little more than a day's walk, if I'm not mistaken there is a small village in between and an inn for those who go on foot.”

"Doesn't the water in the harbor usually freeze?" This and more the fact that there were practically no beaches in this region made it difficult to have one.

“No, it does not do it. At least not often, it is found on the edge of the Inmerlan domain, far enough south that it does not do so unless a particularly harsh winter occurs.”

Ezer can't help but blame himself for his lack of knowledge, allowing him to understand how much he really didn't know and the harsh reality of the North.

“I feel sorry for father a little, trying to develop the domain in this state... I wouldn't even know how to start. It wasn't like that in the past, at least not in the family record books.” It is not the first time that he wonders how it got to such a point.

“Let's rest, another walk awaits us tomorrow.”

Lyaira falls asleep instantly while Ezer makes the first lookout.

It's not long before Ezer thinks he hears something in the wind. However, several minutes pass before he hears a strange sound again and decides to investigate it without straying too far from Lyaria. He wasn't alarmed since the same thing happened countless times during his journey, it wasn't uncommon for the mind to play games with the senses, especially if you were tired and struggling not to fall asleep.

Although this time it was different, his steps stop and then run with speed when he distinguishes an unmistakable word... Help.

The bare trees hindered the passage as well as the snow, the absence of the moon made it almost impossible to advance without a source of light. Ezer laments that he didn't bring a torch as the cold air cuts across his cheeks.

The cries and voices, now closer, made it clear that it was a woman and a man, but Ezer has no more information than that and does not know what he is facing. However, it is not long before he makes out a light nearby coming from a torch being held by a man dressed in heavy clothing and equipment that made it clear he was a soldier or mercenary.

Although what was most striking was the half-naked woman bathed in blood at his feet. As Ezer approached through the darkness as fast as he could, the wind carried part of their conversation to him.

“Let me go! Let me go!” The woman was dragging herself with her forearms trying to get away from the man who seemed titanic from her point of view.

"You promised to pay us! We had the right to demand compensation and all we got was... this!” The man speaks with hate looking at his blood-stained hands. "If only we had known from the beginning…" The mercenary drops the torch and draws his sword, then almost instantly swings its blade downward.

The woman's face fills with despair and fear, the steel blade seems to slowly approach her with no chance of avoiding it. But something impossible happens before her eyes, a second sword stands in the way of her certain death creating a small spark in the crash.

Ezer has no choice but to intervene, even if he wishes he could understand the situation a little better first. His opponent was strong, experienced and well equipped, that was obvious, but he had no choice but to clash swords against him.