Ludwig could only stare in surprise. The reaction was the opposite of what his instincts expected: no lowered heads, no grim silence, no heavy respect, the way warriors usually treated the name of a fallen comrade.
Instead, the announcement hit the settlement like a spark tossed into dry hay. Mugs rose higher. Voices grew louder. Laughter thickened. People leaned in to clap shoulders and slam tables, as if death had been a toast rather than a wound.
Where he expected things to change from joy to mourning, everyone became ten times more jubilant. They drank like there was no tomorrow, and they ate as if they had starved forever. Meat juice ran down chins. Grease shone on tusks. Someone started pounding a rhythm on the side of a barrel with the bottom of a mug, and the bonfire's orange light flickered across faces that looked too relieved to be normal.
