Deep in the forest, the footsteps crunched over the snow as the Lord's guards, clutching their iron weapons, struggled to advance.
The leading Iron Guard Captain Henry suddenly stumbled.
He looked down and realized he had stepped on a corpse covered by the snow.
The corpse's face had been gnawed beyond recognition by wild animals, appearing to be a woman clutching the remains of a child.
"It's truly disgusting!"
With a look of disdain, Iron Guard Captain Henry kicked the corpse aside. Every winter, runaway serfs trying to escape the winter tax appeared all over the Southern Territory.
The Lord kindly sheltered these wretches and only collected a small land tax each season, yet they tried to escape every day, utterly unreasonable!
The wind and snow grew stronger.
The journey was filled with the frozen bodies of those who died of exposure.
Henry instinctively tightened his fur coat, cursing, "This damned snowstorm! Why did it have to fall today?!"
