"Hey, have you heard about what happened in Cintra?"
"Yes. I heard that they are now ruled by an earl, who seems to be a Lannister, known as the 'Lion of Cintra'?"
"I've heard of his name, too. He used to be the most sought-after knight in the North, but later there were rumors that he was assassinated by the Nilfgaardians."
"But he miraculously came back to life in the end. I've been listening to his poems in pubs so many times that my ears are almost callused!"
"That was so long ago!" said a soldier. "Do you all know that Cintra has also been invited to participate in the talks at Haji Fortress..."
"You got hit in the head by a Scoia'tael arrow?" A soldier nearby punched him hard. "Everyone knows this! What do you think we are here for? Did you drink too much to make your head go haywire?"
The beaten soldier staggered and fell to the ground, then threw the wine glass in his hand to the ground in a rage and started to wrestle with the people around him. The onlookers immediately surrounded them, cheering and betting on the winner as if they were organizing a small boxing match.
This place is the Pontar Valley. It is the intersection of the four kingdoms of Temeria, Redania, Kaedwen and Aedirn. It is one of the most important military zones in the north.
The conflicts of interest between the above-mentioned countries have led to conflicts here more than once. Countless battles have been witnessed by the trees and stones here, and blood has often accompanied conflicts and mixed with the water of the Ponta River.
The causes of each conflict are different: the ancient struggle between elves and humans, the conflicting interests between nobles and merchants, and the occasional peasant uprisings.
The most recent war broke out about forty years ago. Temeria and Aedirn left a large number of corpses here, and eventually drew a border. In name, Pontar Valley was under the jurisdiction of Aedirn.
Today, these have become historical embellishments of Ponte Valley.
Pontar Valley is destined to witness more history, such as now - the first gathering of the four northern kingdoms, plus the Northern Talks attended by the United Kingdoms of Cintra, Leiria and Rivia.
This is an unprecedented event.
At this time, half of the participating countries had already arrived at Haji Fortress. Merchants from the four countries on the border also heard the news and set up countless temporary shops nearby to sell wine, meat, even anesthetic powder and other things and services to the soldiers gathered here to make them comfortable.
In peacetime, the soldiers had nowhere to vent their energy and thus squandered large sums of money. In wartime, they could follow them like vultures to clean up the battlefields twice or three times. "Follow the army and you can make a lot of money," this was the consensus among businessmen.
A non-commissioned officer wearing a beaver hat took a glass of wine from the merchant next to him and drank it while watching his subordinates who were holding a "boxing match".
"Has anything interesting happened here recently?"
Pontar Valley is now home to a multinational army. To prevent conflict, each country's army is stationed in a strictly divided and isolated area. Instead, merchants from various countries can roam around, and the news they bring is the best food for the soldiers.
"Nothing major has happened recently. The kings are very careful, and the people under them are very nervous." The merchant said attentively, "But there has been a lot of news about the 'Lion of Cintra' that the two gentlemen just discussed."
"Oh?" The sergeant in the beaver hat showed an interested look.
"He has many nicknames now. For example, 'Friend of the Dryad', 'Griffin Rider of the Lady of the Lake', 'Fair Lannister', 'Brave Lannister', 'Lion in Flame', etc. These are either during his struggle with Nilfgaard or on his way to Hajgar Fortress."
"Oh?" The beaver hat sergeant stroked his chin, "So many nicknames?"
"That's right. I heard that Mahakam has been making new Gwent cards for him recently."
"Mahakan?" The beaver hat officer's eyes suddenly changed, becoming indignant and ferocious. "Damn dwarf!"
The merchant who was telling the story was stunned, wondering why the soldier who had been so kind just now had become so violent.
The beaver hat officer looked at the confused merchant and slammed the wine glass in his hand. "Don't you know? The dwarves have become the enemy of mankind, a group of evil thieves who deserve the plague! As a merchant, I believe you must have heard of the Scoia'tael!"
"I know, I know." The merchant said nonchalantly. He saw the yellow unicorn painted on the coat of the beaver hat sergeant and didn't agree with it. "But please forgive me, sir. The Scoia'tael has nothing to do with me."
"It has nothing to do with you? Damn rat, how could you say such things?"
A soldier next to the beaver cap sergeant suddenly jumped up and yelled:
"The first Scoia'tael showed up after the Nilfgaardians invaded the North. These damned inhumans are taking advantage of our misfortunes. We fought in the south and bled on Sodden Hill while they fought guerrilla warfare in our rear. They thought the Nilfgaardians could defeat us, so they preached that human rule was over and it was time to restore the old order. 'Drive the Men back to the sea!' was their rallying cry, and their excuse for murder, arson, and pillage!"
The merchant pursed his lips. "Sir, but as far as I know, most non-human races also condemn the Scoia'tael and don't want to have anything to do with them. Most of them are very loyal, and sometimes even pay a high price for their loyalty."
The soldiers present suddenly stopped talking and stared at the merchant. He seemed very young, only in his early twenties, or even less than 20. It took a lot of courage to dare to do business alone at this age.
"Merchant, what country are you from?"
"Temeria, sir."
"Ha!" The beaver hat officer laughed. "I remember that you defeated Mahakam, so the dwarves are now nominally subjects of your king, right?"
"Yes, sir." The merchant said, "And I have seen the Lion of Cintra and his dwarf companions with my own eyes. They were in the White Orchard. They had a large number of knives and swords at the time, but they spared the beekeeper who offended him, and did not vent their anger on any civilians. The dwarves around such a great man are definitely not evil people, so I think your evaluation of the dwarves is biased..."
The beaver hat sergeant stood up with a gloomy face: "I thought people like you who make a living would have more flexible brains. Now it seems that you are not much different from those who work hard..."
The sergeant wanted to teach the merchant a lesson.
Seeing that a conflict was about to occur, other businessmen who were supposed to be with the group immediately came over to smooth things over.
"Alas, alas, sir, why bother with this young man? He was so enchanted after meeting Lord Lannister that he even said he didn't want to be a merchant anymore. He said he wanted to go to Cintra to have a son and have him become a knight."
The surrounding soldiers burst into laughter at this remark, and the businessman who was trying to smooth things over laughed the loudest: "Listen, listen, is this something a person with a good brain would say?"
Seeing that the soldiers were more relaxed, the businessman who was trying to smooth things over immediately turned around and scolded his young partner, while also speaking to the other soldiers around him:
"Look at my head. It was broken by a dwarf. The Scoia'tael are worse than bandits! Bandits want money, but the Scoia'tael only want to see humans bleed. Not everyone has gold, but we all have blood flowing in our veins!"
"The woodcutter who was shot by an arrow in the open field, the tarragon who was chopped to pieces in the beech forest, the farmer who ran away from the burned village, did they harm the non-human race? They lived next to each other and worked together yesterday, but today they suddenly had an arrow in their backs... And me? I have never hurt an elf, dwarf or other non-human race in my life, but you see, my head was chopped off by a dwarf's scimitar."
At this point, the businessman pointed to the bandage on his head and bowed deeply to the soldiers who had calmed down. "If it weren't for the brave soldiers like you who saved me, I would have been sleeping in the ground..."
"Well said!" some soldiers cheered.
Apparently, what the businessman said made the soldiers very happy, and the sergeant in the beaver hat seemed to have forgotten his previous unhappiness.
The soldiers came forward to buy wine from the merchant who was chopped by the dwarf and then rescued by his own people. The sergeant in the beaver hat looked him up and down.
"Where are you from?"
"Aedin, sir."
The beaver-hatted sergeant nodded. "Take good care of your Temerian fellow. He's too unintelligent for your business."
The businessman quickly agreed with a smile.
After drinking another glass of wine, the beaver hat officer seemed a little drunk and shouted to the young merchant from Temeria:
"Let me tell you, young man. It is we soldiers who are protecting you! Humans used to be too indulgent towards non-human races. We regard them as humans and our compatriots, but they stabbed us in the back. And the ones who support them are the guys living around us - elves, half-elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings. They harbor the Scoia'tael, send them food, and provide them with manpower..."
"They move in small groups. There are as many as a hundred of them, sometimes more. They call them 'commandos', a borrowed word from the gnome language. The best way to deal with them is to cut off their supply lines, isolate them, and starve them into submission. Capture the non-humans who aid the Scoia'tael, and cut off their supply. Those from the towns, villages, and farms..."
"But you are dealing with the Scoia'tael, and only the Scoia'tael." The young merchant suddenly interrupted him, "The problem is that we don't know which non-human races are helping them. So it's wrong to hate all non-human races!"
The young merchant seemed to be obsessed with the heroic knight and the dwarf team he saw in the White Orchard, and the scene where the dwarves slaughtered the goat-horned demon like killing a pig. He was still defending them until now.
The beaver hat sergeant's face darkened, and he looked at the young merchant in front of him, wondering what he was thinking.
On the other side, a drunk soldier was already dazed. After hearing what the young merchant said, he shouted, "If we can't tell them apart, then arrest them all! Grab the scruff of the neck of each non-human race and throw them into the mines and quarries. Everyone, including innocent people, including women and children!"
"This is to protect humans, there is no other way!" A soldier beside him shouted at the top of his lungs, "Anyone who helps non-human races should also be liquidated. Like that Lannister from Cintra, I heard that he became a demon hunter, he should also..."
The sergeant in the beaver hat suddenly yelled and kicked the soldier who was shouting at the top of his lungs out.
All the soldiers suddenly fell silent and dared not speak anymore.
Only the young merchant was thinking to himself, as if he had won a victory: "In my opinion, the Scoia'tael was created because of you, the Kaedweni. It was you, and other nobles and knights. You oppressed the non-human races and did not allow them to live in their own way. Now you pay the price. And we have been transporting goods on this road, but we have suffered the consequences..."
He was so immersed in his own world that he could not notice the changes around him, but the businessman who was trying to smooth things over suddenly covered the young businessman's mouth.
He looked at the soldiers who were slowly surrounding him with a look of horror. Whether it was because of drunkenness or anger, the faces of the soldiers were all red.
The beaver-hatted sergeant slammed his fist on the hilt of his sword. "I cannot ignore the insult to Kaedwen on Kaedwen's territory. You are too stupid to be a businessman..."
With a "bang", the businessman turned around and suddenly saw that his cart had been overturned to the ground, and the wine and other things inside had spilled out.
"You...what are you going to do? We are merchants from Temeria and Aedirn. This is not your Kaedwen!"
The young merchant finally became frightened and forgot what he had just insisted on. He retreated in panic.
"We are in Kaedwen," the beaver-hatted sergeant said through gritted teeth.
The Kaedweni soldiers surrounded them, but they did not draw their swords, as if they wanted to teach the people in front of them a lesson with their fists and feet. They were already familiar with this kind of thing.
However, just as they were about to execute the two merchants, a soldier who had just finished a boxing match and fell to the ground suddenly felt a vibration from the ground.
The people present were all soldiers, so they naturally recognized this kind of noise. This was the sound that could only be made when a large group of cavalry approached.
"Woo--" A dull and long horn sounded suddenly from the sentry post at the entrance of the military camp.
In response, the same horn sounded from the road outside, indicating that they were not enemies.
“Woo——”
Regardless of whether the ones coming were enemies or not, the Kaedwen soldiers could no longer be as lax as they were now, and they quickly straightened their attire.
The first thing that caught everyone's eyes was the three lions of Sintra flag fluttering in the wind. When the flagpole slowly rose up and was exposed to everyone, the composition of the team became clear.
This is a cavalry team of only about fifty people, but their momentum is incredibly strong and they are obviously the elite on the battlefield.
Leading the group was a blond knight with an imposing manner. The lion emblem on his chest seemed to be roaring at the scorching sun under the sunlight.
Behind him were two male attendants and a female attendant, and then four warriors wearing strange armor and carrying double swords.
After that, came the Cintra cavalry, neatly dressed in standard silver-grey armor.
Triss was no longer in the team at this moment. After finishing the trip to Novigrad, she did not accompany Lan to Haji Fortress again.
Firstly, her "magic lessons" had ended and she needed to return to Cintra and Aretusa to handle affairs; secondly, the other kings of Haji Fortress did not bring their royal advisers with them because they did not trust sorcerers, and it was not appropriate for Lann to bring Triss, the sorceress, alone.
When Triss left, she also took the [Gatekeeper's Shovel] that Lann had obtained from Everec Manor. This kind of equipment enchantment with a blood-sucking effect was simply unheard of. She decided to go back and study it carefully with Mossak and the others to see if it could be replicated.
In addition, a royal wizard who was proficient in the "magic infusion" process came from the Kingdom of Ophir and accompanied Triss, ready to teach the technology to Mossak. Lan believed that when he returned to Cintra, he would have a great harvest.
Lann's team now consists of himself, three system-enhanced [Followers], four snake-faction demon hunters, and more than forty Cintra cavalry.
Looking at other countries in Pontar Valley from afar, it can be seen from their fluttering flags that the number of soldiers they bring far exceeds that of Lann's team.
Because it was the king himself who was making the tour, the three major nations that had already arrived - Temeria, Aedirn, and Kaedwen - each brought with them a thousand or so soldiers, mostly knights, royal guards, and the country's elite regiments.
The Pontar Valley is located at the junction of the four countries, and they have also deployed their troops at the edge of the valley. Whenever the situation changes, they will organize a large army to fight and protect the king - this may be the situation that Nilfgaard wants to see the most.
After the sentry at the gate of Kaedwen and the Lann team communicated with each other using bugles, loud bugle calls were soon heard from the direction of Haji Fortress.
Soon, a host from each of Kaedwen, Temeria, and Aedirn rode over from the direction of the fortress and led them to their respective bases.
Some of them were wearing armor of senior officers, while others were pampered like royal butlers.
This is a kind of balance. Although Haji Fortress is nominally under the jurisdiction of Aedirn, in fact, there are many things going on. Now that the kings have gathered here, they can't find a "representative" to send a steward.
Therefore, the participating countries simply formed a "host" steward group to be responsible for the living affairs of the participating lords in the Haji Fortress. Lann and his group would also have to send one person to join this organization later.
The senior officer of Kaedwen apparently smelled the alcohol when he passed by his camp. He glared at the non-commissioned officer, and the two merchants took the opportunity to sneak away.
When Lann and his party were about two hundred steps away from the sentry post, they slowed down, walked slowly forward, and met the butlers at the gate.
Howes was the first to step out of the line, shouting, "In front of you is—the Return of the Dead, the Lion of Cintra, the Griffin Knight of the Lady of the Lake, the Lord of Brokilon, Lord Lann Lannister Rhaanlon!"
The three officers cooperated very well and dismounted to salute Lann. Even though some of them had noble titles not much different from Lann's, they still had to show enough respect in a diplomatic occasion.
After all, the person in front of him will be discussing matters with his king at the same table soon. Disrespecting him is disrespecting his king.
Lan En looked at the three people in front of him.
The officers of Kaedwen wore beaver fur hats, brown cloaks, and brown and khaki cotton coats. On their chests was a carving of a standing unicorn, and they looked majestic.
Temerian officers wore studded mail with iron plates sewn into it, a blue shirt under the mail, a hood, and a blue and white striped scarf.
The one sent by Aedirn was not an officer, but a royal butler, dressed in fine silk clothes. However, his muscles were bulging under the clothes, and it was obvious that he also had the duty of guarding.
The attire of these three people reminded Lan En of the ace troops of various countries that appeared in the later North-South War. Although most of them had not been formally established at this point in time and some did not even have a number, they had already taken shape.
"Lord Lannister, you have had a long journey. I wonder if your journey was smooth?"
Both officers had stern faces, and finally it was Aedirn's royal steward who came out first and saluted Lann.
"It's OK, but the security around here doesn't seem to be very good. I encountered a lot of water ghosts, ghouls and the like."
Lann shook his head, quite puzzled: "What are you doing here? Logically speaking, these monsters should stay away from such a large army stationed there."
Unexpectedly, the royal butler smiled bitterly after hearing this: "Even the demon hunters behind you don't know, so we have no idea. Recently, the monsters around us have become so numerous and violent that the soldiers almost misunderstood and started a fight."
On the way, Lann discovered that there were far more monsters in Pontar Valley than outside. Although they were not everywhere, they killed more monsters in a week than in the previous two months combined.
Moreover, the number of monsters had also increased from a few to a large group of more than ten. Although there was no loss for Lan En and his men, this number of monsters was a disaster for a small village. Lan En saved many civilians when he passed by, and received a lot of gratitude.
This process really allowed the snake-faction demon hunters to experience the joy of the griffin for a while.
Lann originally speculated that it might be because of the geographical location of Pontar Valley at the junction of four countries, which led to the situation where there was no love from the father and mother and no soldiers to take over the law and order here, which led to the monsters proliferating.
But now it seems that this is not the case, because even the area around the military bases are frequently harassed by monsters, which obviously is not a simple public security issue.
"Now you don't have to be troubled by monsters anymore." The royal steward of Aedirn said, "This is now the safest place in the North."
Lan nodded noncommittally.
Unlike the four northern kingdoms, Cintra could deploy its troops here without restraint, but Lann only had a few dozen cavalrymen with him. However, Cintra's garrison was arranged to be closer to the Haji Fortress, which saved a lot of time.
But before they could reach the castle, they heard a dull horn suddenly sounded from beyond the end of the road.
From the sound, it seems... a troop is calling for help using a bugle call?
Lan turned around and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see two black spots circling low in the sky, dropping smaller black spots from time to time.
The demon hunter's keen vision can see that the small black dots left behind by the big black dots are in the shape of humans!
Watching this scene, one could even faintly hear the hoarse and ugly roars of wild beasts echoing in the air, followed by the screams of humans that gradually faded away in the air, and then stopped abruptly.
At the same time, Lann heard the royal steward of Aedirn behind him exclaim: "According to the itinerary, the only person who has just arrived in Pontar Valley at this time, besides Earl Lannister, is Queen Mevy!"
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