Northwestern border of the Holy Mania Empire, Colin Castle.
Built as a fortress to resist invasions from the northern Beastmen, this military stronghold had always been an important pass in the western part of the Empire, bordering the snowy mountains to the north and the Vimur River to the west. It once housed an army of nearly a hundred thousand, all of them elite soldiers of the Empire.
However, the Empire's internal strife over the past few decades gradually drained its national strength, making it impossible to maintain such a fortress in the harsh western region.
Moreover, as relations between humans and Beastmen gradually eased in recent years, the Empire's higher-ups had less interest in maintaining the garrison at Colin Castle, leading to its gradual neglect.
Now, the garrison of this military stronghold was reduced to less than five thousand, mostly old, weak, and ailing soldiers, and the city itself had become a trade point for merchants and Beastmen—
