The village hall was bigger than Black Mountain Village's. When the round table meeting there wrapped up, it was close to midnight. Rowan and the Skull Mercenary Group had put out their torches and were resting around a campfire they'd lit.
Since torches were precious, they had no choice but to gather firewood from the area and light a campfire.
"Krrrrng."
Everyone was trying to sleep. Shield-bulk Keireon was snoring.
Kaiya was perched on a tree branch, and the wolf Dono would open his eyes slightly whenever the prisoners moved even a little, then close them again. That alone was enough to keep anyone from trying to escape.
There was another reason too. Rather than being scared, they were genuinely gripped by the feeling they could die. The mercenaries had shown merciless skill with their hands, and watching the mercenary group's preliminary preparations that looked like they were getting ready for battle, no one dreamed of escaping.
