"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 regarded 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..."
“他们以小队行动。数量足有一百，有时甚至更多。他们称之为‘突击队’，借用自侏儒语。对付他们最好的办法就是切断他们的补给线，孤立他们，让饥饿迫使他们投降。逮捕协助松鼠党的非人种族，釜底抽薪。那些来自城镇、村庄和农场……”
“但是你们对付的是松鼠党，也只是松鼠党而已。”年轻的行商突然打断他的话，“问题在于，我们不知道哪些非人种族在帮助他们。因此仇恨所有的非人种族是不对的！”
年轻行商似乎念念不忘在白果园看到的英勇骑士和跟随他的矮人队伍，以及那些矮人像是杀一只猪一样屠宰了羊角魔的情景。直到此刻都还在为他们辩护。
海狸帽士官的脸色阴沉了下来，看着眼前的年轻行商不知道在想什么。
而一边有喝了大酒的士兵已经迷迷糊糊了，听了年轻行商的话之后放声大喊：“没办法分辨，那就全抓起来！捏住每个非人种族的后颈皮，把他们丢下矿井、丢进采石场。所有人，包括无辜者，包括妇孺！”
“这是为了保护人类，除此之外别无他法！”身边有士兵声嘶力竭地大喊，“所有帮助非人种族的也都应该被清算。像是那个辛特拉的兰尼斯特，我听说他变成了猎魔人，他也应该……”
海狸帽士官突然大叫一声，一脚把声嘶力竭的士兵踹了出去。
所有的士兵顿时噤若寒蝉，不敢再说话了。
只有那名年轻的行商自顾自地，仿佛获得了胜利一般：“照我看，松鼠党都是因为你们科德温人的过错才产生的。是你们，还有其他贵族与骑士搞出来的。你们压迫非人种族，不允许他们用自己的方式过活，现在你们付出代价了。而我们一直在这条路上运货，却吞食了你们的苦果……”
他沉浸在了自己的世界里看不出周围的变化，而打圆场的商人却突然狠狠捂住了年轻商人的嘴巴。
他面色惊恐地看着身边缓缓围上来的士兵们。不知道是因为醉酒还是因为愤怒，大兵们此刻都是面色通红。
海狸帽士官狠狠地握拳拍在自己的剑柄上：“在科德温的地盘侮辱科德温，我可不能够当做没听见。你作为一名商人实在是太不聪明了……”
“砰咔”一声，商人回头，猛然看见自己的推车被人掀翻在地，里面的酒水什么的一股脑都洒了出来。
“你们……你们要做什么？我们是泰莫利亚和亚甸的商人，这里可不是你们的科德温！”
年轻的行商终于害怕起来，一下子就忘了自己刚刚所坚持的东西，惶恐地连连后退。
“我们在的地方就是科德温。”海狸帽士官咬着牙说道。
科德温的士兵围了上来，他们没有拔剑，似乎想要先用拳脚把眼前的人教训一番。他们对于这种事情已经驾轻就熟了。
然而正当他们想要处决掉这两个行商的时候，刚刚打完拳赛倒在地上的一个士兵却突然感觉到地面传来了一阵震动。
在场的都是军人，自然认得这种动静。这是大队骑兵靠近的时候才能够发出的声响。
“呜——”军营门口的岗哨突然传来沉闷而悠长的号角声。
而与之相呼应的，外面的大路上也传来了同样的号角声响，表示自己不是敌人。
“呜——”
不管来的是不是敌人，科德温的士兵都不能再像现在一样散漫了，他们很快板正了自己的着装。
最先映入众人眼帘的是在狂风中飞舞的辛特拉三狮旗帜。等到旗杆缓缓上升暴露在众人眼前之后，这支队伍的构成也一览无余。
这是一支不过五十人左右的骑兵队伍，但是他们的气势却雄厚惊人，显然都是战场精锐。
领头的是一名金发骑士，气势逼人，胸前的狮子纹章在阳光下的照射下似乎在对着烈日昂首咆哮。
他身后是两名男侍从和一名女侍从，再之后是四名穿着奇特盔甲、身背双剑的战士。
再之后，才是整齐的穿着制式银灰色铠甲的辛特拉骑兵。
特莉丝此刻已经不在队伍里面了，结束完诺维格瑞的行程，她再没有陪伴兰恩一起来哈吉要塞。
一是因为她的“魔法授课”已经结束，需要回到辛特拉和艾瑞图萨去处理事务；二是因为这次哈吉要塞的其他国王都因为不信任术士而没有带自己的王室顾问出席，单单兰恩一个人带上特莉丝这名女术士也不合适。
而特莉丝在离开的同时，也带上了兰恩从伊佛瑞克庄园获得的【看门人的铲子】，这种带着吸血效果的装备附魔简直是闻所未闻，她决定回去跟莫斯萨克他们好好研究一下，试试看能不能复刻出来。
除此之外，还有一名从欧菲尔王国远道而来精通“注魔”工艺的王室法师与特莉丝同行，准备将技术传授给莫斯萨克。兰恩相信等他回到辛特拉的时候，一定能有大丰收。
现在兰恩的队伍构成，就是自己一人、三名系统加持的【随从】、四名蛇派猎魔人，再加上四十余名辛特拉骑兵。
远远望向庞塔尔谷内的其他国家，从他们飘摇的旗帜之中就能够看出来他们所带的士兵都远远超过兰恩的队伍构成。
因为是国王亲自出巡，已经到的三大国——泰莫利亚、亚甸、科德温——都各自携带了一千人左右的士兵，多为骑士、王室卫队、国家的精锐兵团构成。
而庞塔尔谷位置在四国交界，他们在最靠近山谷的边缘处也各自陈兵。但凡情况有变，就组织大军杀出保护国王——这可能就是尼弗迦德最想看到的局面了。
在科德温门口的岗哨和兰恩队伍互相用军号通信之后，哈吉要塞方向很快也传出了响亮的号角声。
很快，就有科德温、泰莫利亚、亚甸，三方各自一名接待者从要塞的方向骑马奔过来，带领他们前往自己的驻地。
他们中有穿着高级军官铠甲的，也有养尊处优像是王室管家的。
这是一种平衡，虽然哈吉要塞名义上归亚甸管辖，但是实际上里面却有诸多文章。如今国王齐聚于此，一时间居然找不出“代表”来派出管家。
所以干脆与会的国家一起组成“主人家”的管家团，来负责与会主君们在哈吉要塞的生活事宜，兰恩他们之后也要出一个人进去这个组织。
科德温的高级军官在经过自己营地的时候显然闻到了酒味，他狠狠地瞪了那名士官一眼，而那两名行商也趁着这个机会偷偷溜走了。
兰恩一行人在离岗哨还有两百步左右的距离就放慢了速度，缓步前进，在大门处迎上了管家团。
豪斯当先拍马出列，高喊道：“在你们面前的是——亡者归来、辛特拉的雄狮、湖中仙女的狮鹫骑士、布洛奇隆的领主，兰恩·兰尼斯特·雷安伦伯爵！”
三名军官非常配合地下马朝着兰恩致意，哪怕他们中有人的贵族头衔跟兰恩差不了多少，这个时候也要在外交场合表现出足够的敬意。
毕竟眼前的人在不久后要和自己的国王在一张桌子上面议事，不尊重他，就是不尊重自己的国王。
兰恩则打量着眼前的三人。
科德温的军官带着海狸皮的帽子，穿着褐色的披风，身着褐色和土黄色的棉衣，胸前刻画着一头人立而起的独角兽，气势轩昂。
泰莫利亚的军官穿着镶钉甲，里面缝着铁板，甲胄里面是蓝色的衬衣，带着兜帽，还有着蓝白条纹的围巾。
亚甸派出来的不是军官，而是一名王室管家，穿着考究的丝绸衣服。但是他被笼罩的衣服下面肌肉纹起，显然平时也有担负护卫的职责。
这三人的打扮让兰恩不由地想起后世南北大战中出场的各国王牌部队。虽然这个时间点他们大多还没有正式成立甚至有的还没有番号，但是也隐隐有了一点雏形了。
“兰尼斯特伯爵，一路辛苦。不知道旅途是否顺利？”
两名军官都板着脸，最后还是亚甸的王室管家先一步出来朝着兰恩行礼。
“尚可，只是这附近的治安似乎不是很好，遇到了不少的水鬼、食尸鬼之类的。”
兰恩摇了摇头，颇为奇怪：“你们聚集在这里做了什么？照理来说这些怪物应该会远离这种大军驻扎之地。”
却没想到王室管家听闻之后也是苦笑连连：“连您身后的几位猎魔人阁下都不知道的事情，我们就更不清楚了。最近周围的怪物不知道为什么变得格外多，也格外狂躁。一开始甚至差点让士兵们生出误会开始斗殴了。”
路上的时候，兰恩发现庞塔尔谷的怪物远比外面的多，虽然不至于说随处可见，但是一周的时间里面他们杀的怪物比之前两个月加起来还要多。
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!"