g3cKpunTop

You need to approach the garrison; it was mentioned at the beginning of the game, and it's marked on the map. Then, they will clear the area.
I even checked again with a Warrior, and everything is normal.

I approach the lower garrison, and they talk about the wastelands, saying that scouts have gone missing there, but the peasants remain in place...

Maybe you have some mods installed?Try reinstalling the map from the link. It seems no one else who played has complained about the peasants.

Another option is to immediately run to the garrison at the start of the map and then check if the peasants have disappeared.