Chapter 204: Faceless Rumors
As the carriage neared the entrance gate, the chaotic scene came into focus—two dozen people crowded around, their voices raised in a cacophony of anger, hurling incoherent insults at the guards. The relentless rain had soaked them through, their clothes clinging to their bodies as they stood in the storm. Water dripped from their hair and ran down their faces, mixing with the mud beneath their feet, yet their fury remained undeterred.
"Let us in, you sniveling bastards!"
"I was just at work in the fields, and now I'm just trying to get in! I live there!"
"We can't stay out here!"
The crowd was panicked, which made sense considering it was already past midday, though the storm made it hard to tell the sun's position.
"They're not letting the locals in. That's odd," I said.
"You from here?" the old man asked.
Unlike him, I wasn't ready to unload my life story to a stranger. "No, I'm from a nearby village."
Admitting that might make me seem strange, given there were usually no villages near these large settlements. Most people worked the fields and returned behind the safety of the walls in the evening.