The continent under everyone's feet is actually not as big as people think. The so-called "South" and "North" are actually just divisions of the land that have been explored by the existing society.

To the east of the Northern Kingdoms and the Nilfgaard Empire, there is a long mountain range called the "Blue Mountains" that clearly separates them from the other half of the continent like a dividing line. If an adventurer spends more than a month and is lucky enough to cross the Blue Mountains, he will have the opportunity to come into contact with a completely unfamiliar country - Zerekan.

Zerekan, also known as Zerekania, is a country that is very unfamiliar to people in the north and south, but has a bit of legend. It is said that there is a desert climate like a steamer, and poisonous insects as big as cows can be seen everywhere on the road; but there is also an extremely prosperous human civilization and advanced alchemy technology.

Zerekan can produce the most expensive spices and the strongest longbows - the bows of Milva and Lann are made from Zerekan; [Dragon Dream] and [Demon Dust] were also spread to the North through Zerekan's merchants; Zerekan is also most famous for its female mercenaries, who wear clothes made of lion hair and have tattoos on their faces, and are unmatched on the battlefield and in bed.

As far as Lann knew, a group of demon hunters had left the sect and drifted to the north following Anahad, the founder of the Bear Sect, during the period of the sect's split; when a conflict broke out between Ivar Evil Eye, the founder of the Snake Sect, and Anahad, they left the Bear Sect and followed the Snake Sect to the south; and finally, because their ideas did not match those of Ivar Evil Eye, they left the Snake Sect and crossed the mountains and the Blue Mountains to Zerekan.

They also founded a school called the Manticore School.

Facing Lan's question, Saskia recalled for a moment and nodded immediately, "The demon hunters of the Manticore School are also a story my father once told me, but they seem to have fallen into decline now. I haven't seen them since I can remember."

"But calling them 'demon hunters' doesn't seem quite appropriate, because they have transformed into mercenaries. It is said that they were responsible for providing protection for caravans crossing the desert in the beginning. Later, they were valued by Queen Zerekan and were recruited as royal guards, specializing in providing protection for royal caravans and envoys."

These words made Kolgrim and Geralt raise their eyebrows. It sounded like this group of witchers was the best one.

"But it seems that about a hundred years ago, they accepted the task of escorting Prince Zerekan to the marriage alliance and sent out 90% of the school's demon hunters. However, when they passed through the Flame Mountains, they encountered a fire elemental that was more than 20 meters tall, and the entire army was wiped out."

Kolgrim and Geralt showed incredible eyes. What does it mean that a fire element is more than 20 meters long? It can destroy a small country!

"Later, the Manticores who failed in their mission were neglected by the royal family. In addition, Zerekan began to open up safer sea trade routes, so they could no longer survive in Zerekan. It is said that they are now gathering in the west and starting to hunt demons for a living again." Saskia finished her recollection and nodded confidently, "My father gave me a special test on this part, so it can't be wrong."

Kolgrim and Geralt looked at each other and sighed. The decline of the witchers seemed to be destined. The Griffin School, which had a high status, and the Manticore School, which was the royal guard, eventually came to this end. This made the two witchers sigh.

Lan thought for a moment and asked Saskia, "In addition to hoping to build a harmonious multi-racial country, I am also committed to reviving the Demon Hunter Order. If possible, Saskia, can you help me contact my friends in Zerekan or other acquaintances so that I can get in touch with the Manticore School?"

"No problem! I've always felt that the philosophy of demon hunters is very great - drawing swords for those who can't fight is even more chivalrous than the knights of the North!" Saskia nodded excitedly, "It's just that it seems that many demon hunters have deviated from their path, but with you, Lan, leading them, we can definitely restore that noble cause!"

Kolgrim muttered something like "We have to charge money. The only noble thing is a griffin." Then he was pulled by Geralt and fell silent.

Saskia herself had been taught magic, and had a unique way to contact friends far away in Zerekan, and even believers of dragons. However, the journey was long, and it was unknown when the news could be passed on and back.

But it's always good to have hope, and this is the first time that Lann and his friends have been able to reach out to Zerekan. Lann even hoped that Saskia could contact her golden dragon father, but was rejected.

"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't contact my father myself." Saskia spread her hands. "He was willing to stay in Zerekan for decades to raise and teach me, which was already the limit. Now I don't know where he has gone. In order to keep quiet, he didn't leave me any way to contact him."

I see, it was Jin Long, the father who yearned for freedom. He was indeed the ruthless man who could spend a night in the big bathtub with Geralt and the other three.

Lann no longer pressed the issue.

…

Afterwards, Saskia chatted a lot with everyone, fully satisfying the demon hunters' curiosity about the dragon race.

Until the moon reached the top of the mountain, everything was quiet and this house was the only one with lights on in the entire town of Ferenc.

Lann sat aside with a bottle of Mahakam ale, sipping it like wine, quietly watching his confidants chatting and discussing. His strange behavior soon caught Geralt's attention.

"What are you waiting for?" White Wolf's intuition was exceptionally sharp.

Just at this moment, footsteps were heard outside the house, and Lan En chuckled: "I've been waiting for it."

There was a knock on the door, followed by the voice of the Cintra guard: "Your Excellency the Duke, Patriarch Vawřínek Ferencz is here to visit."

"Please invite him in. This is the Ferenz clan, and he is the master." Lane said loudly.

Having said that, Wawrzynek, the host, walked in tiptoe, without any of the demeanor he had when they first met.

It's understandable that anyone would become restrained after seeing Lann standing on the shoulders of the ice giant.

"Lord Lannister." Wafzynek bowed slightly to Lann.

"Wavřínek, have you guys finished handling the matter?" Although Chief Ferencz was very reserved, Lann was still the same as when they first met. "I'm very sorry for what you went through during the day. It was a tragic accident that no one could accept."

"It's a blessing that you showed up to help, Lord Lannister, otherwise I can't imagine what would have happened." Vavrzynek said sincerely, "When I knew that humans came to Mahakam for help, I swore that unless I had grass growing in my ass, I would never give them any help - but now it seems that I can't save my ass."

Vawzynek made a joke, which made him feel a little more at ease, and Lane also gave a polite smile.

When he saw Patriarch Wawrzynek looking at the witchers and servants in the room in a veiled manner, he said openly:

"Given how busy you are now, your late-night visit must be to discuss something important." Lann waved his hand, "And no matter what we do next, the people in this room will be involved. I trust them as I trust the sword in my hand, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"Well, I believe you, Duke of Lanster."

Wawrzynek nodded and said in a deep voice: "I believe you have guessed my request. This may be dangerous, but I still have to say it-"

"I want you to help me slay the dragon. I want you to kill Keltulis."

…

Not surprisingly, during the day, Vavřínek looked at Lann and the ice giant with far too much passion, and he made no secret of his hostility towards the dragon.

"Several centuries ago, we dwarves fought a war with Kelturis. The place where it now nests was once the territory of our Ferenz clan, so our clan sent the most warriors in that battle."

Vavrzynek clenched his hands. "Of all the clans, we have paid the most. But when Kertulis was about to die, Brovar Hogg stopped us. He stubbornly signed an agreement with the red dragon, asking it to clear out the monsters so that Mahakam could free up more dwarven labor to mine. In exchange, we, who are closest to the red dragon, will still be the ones to provide for the red dragon."

“We, Ferenczi! We have lost our territory, our warriors, and will eventually have to worship this red dragon and lose our dignity, Ferenczi!” Vavrzynek gritted his teeth. “Broval said that this is the best option for Mahakam, and asked us to sacrifice for the clan… He is the chief elder, but I am also the patriarch and elder of the Ferenczi clan!”

"Now that Kelturis has lost his mind, I no longer have the patience to wait for Broval's solution." Vavrnek pleaded with Lann sincerely, "I know you are here to ask for help, Duke Lannister, and now we are doing the same thing. You have an ice giant. If you help us kill Kelturis, the Ferenz clan is willing to send half of its people to support Cintra!"

Familiar lines, and half of the people again. I don't know if the dwarf clan has any particularity about this quantifier, "half" is the greatest sincerity.

However, the Fuchs clan had given up half of its people because they were shrinking resources, and abandoning half of their people could just help the clan tide over the difficulties; as for the Ferenz clan's half of its people, they were the number they used to feed the red dragon, and without the red dragon they could be freed up to support Cintra.

Everyone in the room looked at Saskia, intentionally or unintentionally, which made Vavrzynek feel strange. However, Xiao Longnu's expression did not change, as she had an appointment with Lan.

Lane tapped the table with the knuckles of his index finger, looking thoughtful. Under Wawrzynek's nervous gaze, after a few "knock knock knock" sounds, he finally gave an answer.

"I sympathize with the plight of the Ferenz clan, and I am disgusted by the atrocities committed by the red dragon Kelturis."

"It's just that before taking action, there are some things I still want to clarify. Intelligence is always the most important thing for a battle." Lann stared into Wafzynek's eyes, "For example - why did Kerturis suddenly become so violent and start attacking the Ferenz clan regardless of hundreds of years of agreement?"

"Chief Wafzhinek, you didn't happen to know that the red dragon was pregnant and laid eggs some time ago, so you poisoned it and secretly smashed its eggs?"

Vawřínek was visibly panicking.

…

Needless to say, Lann knew this because the same thing happened in the original history.

At that time, Nilfgaard invaded the north, and the entire kingdoms of Lyria and Rivia fell. Queen Meivi retreated to Aedirn to seek help, but was kicked around and given a lead ring of friendship by King Demave. She came to Mahakam to ask for help from the dwarves.

Queen Mivi, who was traveling in the mountains, happened to see the red dragon ravaging the Ferenczi clan. After sending a few soldiers to drive away the red dragon, she accepted Wawrzynek's request to hunt the red dragon. However, she learned that the red dragon's rage was caused by the Ferenczi clan's sneak attack.

At that time, the red dragon was pregnant and laying eggs, and the Ferencz clan was worried that the birth of the baby dragon would increase the burden of supporting the clan. It happened that their hundreds of years of hatred for the red dragon had not been eliminated at all, and at this time it was like ignited gunpowder. So they secretly poisoned the food offered to the red dragon, and then sent warriors to smash the dragon eggs when the red dragon had abdominal cramps.

Unfortunately, they underestimated Kelturis and the dose of poison was not enough. As a result, the red dragon, who had lost his beloved son, angrily killed all the dwarves who entered the lair and brought his anger to the Ferenz clan.

…

To be fair, Lann had no problem with the Ferenczi clan's behavior. His territory was occupied by the cuckoos and magpies, and after a lot of young people died, he had to support the enemy for hundreds of years. Lann asked himself if he was in such a situation, he would definitely seize every possible opportunity to kill the enemy.

The only problem with the Ferencz clan was that they did not assess the strength of both sides accurately enough, and acted rashly driven by hatred, which led to big problems in the end, causing the tragic deaths of many innocent clansmen, and also implicated the reinforcements who were kind enough to help them.

But now Lann had to consider more. After all, this behavior of "smashing dragon eggs in front of the dragon mother" was too intolerable for Saskia. The little dragon girl, who had been calm before, could no longer hold back her expression after hearing Lann's words.

With a "crack", the corner of the table was crushed by Saskia.

Kolgrim was also very surprised by Lann's words: "The red dragon is actually a female?"

Lann glanced at the gritting-teeth Saskia and the confused-looking Kolgrim, shook his head and said nothing.

Vavrzynek smiled bitterly and asked incredulously: "How did you come up with these?"

Lann shook his head. "Otherwise, I really can't figure out why a female dragon that has been at peace with Mahakam for hundreds of years would suddenly go crazy."

Vavrzynek suddenly felt a little cold, and when he looked up, he met Saskia's angry eyes. The feeling of being stared at by a top predator made him shiver involuntarily, and he hurriedly explained to Lan:

"Lord Lannister is not wrong... That was actually our original plan, but there is a small problem now - we only observed that the red dragon might be pregnant, but it has not had time to lay eggs yet."

The feeling of being targeted by a predator suddenly dissipated, and Vavrinek felt as relieved as if a huge stone in his heart had been lifted away.