"Drink up! Drink up!"
Atop a mountain that was easy to defend but hard to attack, a group of men with various attires and fierce demeanors eagerly drank wine and devoured meat.
This was a band of mountain bandits in a stronghold often seen on the borderlands between two countries, evidently celebrating something.
"Hahaha! That so-called head of the South Cloud Escort Agency, daring to be arrogant and spout nonsense in front of our Black Hill Stronghold, not knowing how to spell 'death'. Now both the people and the goods are gone!"
The bandits of Black Hill Stronghold were all in high spirits, simply because they had recently plundered an escort team, reaping huge rewards—every one of them had received a bounty from the owner of the cottage.
"What is... that?"
One of the bandits, burping from the alcohol, shook his head and suddenly looked up into the sky with a startled expression.