Eight huge transport ships were sailing on the sea, covered in dust.

They all looked quite old and were not very fast, but fortunately, they were all equipped with the strongest sails, and the strong winds were blowing in the direction of the boats, providing them with the most adequate power.

On the flagship in the middle of the fleet, a middle-aged man in a sealskin jacket stood with his arms outstretched, a wooden stick strangely rooted in the deck in front of him, and he was muttering something.

As the spell was chanted, the wind grew stronger.

"We're almost there." On the transport ship at the pilot position of the fleet, a bald man in armor glanced at the druid who almost no one dared to approach, and then looked at the coastline that was getting closer and closer.

"The Yaruga River's estuary is just ahead. It will take another day... no, maybe only half a day to reach Sintra."

"We're finally there." A sigh of relief was heard beside the bald officer.

The man who spoke was a man with a dirty beard, also wearing armor. But like the bald man, his armor looked poorly maintained, like the kind of armor worn by mercenaries who travel all year round.

"The damn Redanians actually used cargo ships to transport us, treating us like livestock and dragging us to the front lines to send us to die for other countries!"

The bearded men were all indignant and dissatisfied with the treatment they received.

"Come on, no matter how uncomfortable it is, it's better than being in prison, Lorenzo Mora." A clear, yet rough and steady voice came over. The person who spoke was also wearing officer's armor, but it was actually a female officer. "I have never been on such a fast ship - ha, a druid's magic ship!"

"Julia is right." The last man in officer's armor echoed, "No matter what, it's better than being in prison."

These four people were the officers of the Free Corps who had come all the way from Kovir to Cintra for support. The transport ships under them and behind them were carrying 3,000 Free Corps soldiers.

All four of them were political prisoners who had stood on the wrong side during the Kovir coup. After being released to support Cintra, they were symbolically restored to their pre-imprisonment military ranks, all of them colonels.

But everyone knows that their military ranks are only useful in the [Free Corps] composed entirely of criminals. They can no longer return to their hometown of Kovir, and their future life depends entirely on the treatment they can get in Cintra.

The bald man who spoke first was called Adam Pangratt, and he was the leader of the four.

"Yes, yes, anything is better than going to jail." The bearded man who had been complaining was called Lorenzo Mora. "But I'm telling you, everyone, we were all people of status and respectability before. Are you really willing to be sent to a strange place to fight someone else's war?"

"I can guarantee that we will become cannon fodder if we come here with our current identities." The bearded Lorenzo lowered his voice, "I think we should turn around now. With the command of 3,000 mercenaries, we can definitely become one of the most powerful mercenaries in the North. Then we can sell these eight large ships as start-up capital..."

"That's not enough to pay these 3,000 people. They will scatter in a hurry, and we'll be thankful if there are only a few hundred left." Julia Abatemark, the only female officer, retorted, "Besides, I went to military school for so many years and fought in so many wars, not to become a stinky mercenary in the end."

"Julia is right." The last officer responded again. His name was Juan Gutierrez.

"Ha, what else are we pursuing, honor?" The bearded Lorenzo laughed sarcastically, "Don't forget that we have lost our identity and been abandoned by our family. It is a blessing for us to be able to retain the command of the mercenary group. We have finally gained our freedom, do you plan to waste it on someone else's battlefield?"

"But this is our chance, isn't it?" The female officer Julia said in a deep voice, "I learned before I came here that the person in charge of Cintra is now Lannister, the knight in the poem. If we help him win the war of restoration, we may be able to have a new life here; if we are rewarded for our merits, we may even be able to obtain a title..."

"Poetry is for children, and never pin your hopes on the kindness of rulers, because rulers have no mercy!" Bearded Lorenzo shook his head.

"But I think Julia is right." Juan continued to respond to Julia, "Lannister should be different. We can hear his story even in the cell..."

The three of them argued endlessly, and finally turned their attention to Adam, the leader of the mercenary group.

The bald man pondered for a moment facing the sea breeze.

"We cannot ignore Lorenzo's concerns, but what Julia said is not without reason." Captain Adam pondered for a moment, "War is our opportunity, and so is Cintra."

"Cintra has been destroyed by Nilfgaard, otherwise there would be no need to travel thousands of miles to Kovir for help. Our mercenary group may become an important force in the past, which can be our opportunity."

"Lorenzo can stay alert and see how the people of Cintra treat us. If the situation is not right, we can withdraw our army from the battlefield of Cintra at any time..."

This was a fairly sober analysis, but it didn't seem to suit her subordinates' wishes, so Julia hesitated to speak.

Lorenzo had no scruples and began to chatter: "Adam, a corps cannot implement two plans at the same time. In my opinion, we should..."

"Enemy attack!"

The dull sound of a horn suddenly interrupted their discussion, and a shrill shout attracted everyone's attention.

The four officers looked around in panic, but saw no enemies nearby. Instead, they heard hoarse shouts from the sky.

With huge wings spread in the sky, the figures looked like slim women with wings and claws.

"Harpy." The four officers frowned in unison.

There are many harpy nests in the mountains of Kovir. This monster also lives near the sea, so it is not surprising to see it here.

"But aren't there too many monsters we encounter along the way? Is this the nth wave? The water ghosts, banshees and other monsters I encountered in the past few decades were not as many as this time." Julia complained a little, but there was not much fear in her words.

"Is there a war among us humans? Are these monsters also at war with something else?"

No one paid attention to Julia's strange idea, and everyone began to prepare in an orderly manner.

These banshees probably mistook these transport ships for ordinary merchant ships. However, there are a full three thousand soldiers here, which is definitely not something that these dozens of monsters can deal with.

"Blow the horn and tell the archers to prepare. There are a lot of monsters here, and we will waste a lot of arrows..."

The officer's words were interrupted again, and the horn sounded as expected, but it was not a battle preparation horn as ordered by the commander, but another alert horn.

“Woo——”

Everyone looked around again and this time they found the enemy on the sea.

Three small black-painted boats were coming towards this side against the wind and waves. The boats were small and thin with pointed bows, and each boat was estimated to be able to carry only a few dozen people.

That is why their speed is so fast that even when going against the wind, their speed is not inferior to that of their own side with the help of druid magic.

The four officers' faces changed drastically. They recognized the shapes of these ships and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Pirates from Skellige?!"

They couldn't help but be surprised. The three ships in front of them were all standard warships. If they were really Skellige warships, then the mercenaries carried by the three thousand transport ships behind them would not be able to feel safe on the sea.

The battle record of "Three hundred Skellige pirates repelling two thousand Nilfgaardians" is a compulsory case study in major military academies.

However, a sudden strong wind blew around the four officers, a fiery red portal opened, and the druid who was casting magic on the flagship stepped out.

There was no tension on his face. Instead, he smiled and said, "I am from Skellige. Have you forgotten? We are one of our own."

The four officers relaxed after hearing this. The northerners of the continent were naturally wary of the Skellige pirates. For the Kovirs who had little contact with Nilfgaard, the islanders were more notorious.

As if they felt that the smaller lone warships were easier to deal with than these transport ships, the harpies in the sky now shifted their targets and approached the warships.

They flew lower and lower until they began to dive and launch sneak attacks on the sailors on the deck.

This is a wrong decision.

Just as the officers of the Free Mercenaries were about to ask the Druid if they needed help, they suddenly saw a vague figure appear on the deck. He jumped up alone to face these flying monsters.

He did not draw his sword, but every time he raised his hand, a magical shock wave would erupt, and then multiple harpies would fall from the sky as if struggling.

If they were on the deck, they would be killed immediately; if they fell into the water, the harpies were not sirens after all, and their wet wings would make them temporarily lose the ability to fly, and then they would be pierced by the sailors' harpoons.

In just a few breaths, half of the harpies were killed. The remaining monsters immediately scattered, but the figure immediately took out a delicate crossbow from his back and continued to hunt monsters with skillful techniques.

"Swish", "Swish", he loaded the crossbow skillfully, maintaining a very fast shooting frequency.

Sharp screams continued to sound around the warship, stinging the eardrums of everyone in the Freedom Legion.

In the end, only three or four harpies flapped their wings and fled in the sky. The four officers of the Free Corps were stunned by the warship's skilled hunting skills.

For a normal army to drive away or kill a harpy of this size without any damage, it would need at least a hundred-man archer team. But there was only one person and a dozen sailors on that warship.

“Are all Skelligers like this?” Julia muttered to herself.

The druid smiled and said nothing.

The warship quickly approached the transport ship under the officers' feet. This distance allowed everyone to see two flags hanging on the other side's observation tower, namely the indigo dragon head flag of the Tursek family of the archipelago and the blue three lions flag of Sintra.

After a round of flag signal exchanges, the warships came abreast, and two men boarded the deck.

The appearance of one of the men made everyone hold their breath. He was the man who had hunted most of the harpies before. He had a typical islander hairstyle, wore iron-studded leather armor, two muscular arms exposed, a necklace with a roaring bear head on his chest, and two swords on his back.

He has a bear-like physique, a bear-like temperament, and undoubtedly a bear-like strength. He is the kind of man who can be seen as a "warrior" at first glance.

The only pity is the other person's amber eyes.

"Ged." The druid smiled and opened his arms, hugging the man roughly like a warrior. "I didn't expect that Lord Lannister would send you to pick me up. Do we work together from now on?"

Again, after meeting him, no islander disliked Gede. The druid's enthusiasm made the officers of the Free Mercenary Corps feel doubtful again.

This is a druid, and that is a demon hunter.

At this time, another person who came onto the deck spoke.

"Good morning, everyone. This is Ged, the captain of our 'Sea Guerrillas', and I am Bill, the adjutant of this guerrilla group. We are here to pick you up on the orders of the Duke of Lannister - the Duke has been waiting for a long time."

Captain Adam looked at the sailor who was speaking. He was well-proportioned, neither tall nor thin, with dark skin, a standard sailor's body shape, and the only thing worth praising was perhaps his fairly regular facial features.

Compared with the bear-like man next to him, this adjutant is not even close to being a good fighter.

However, as an adjutant, he was probably in charge of functions such as navigator, or he might have been sent by his superiors to supervise the witchers.

"Then please lead the way. We have been looking forward to meeting the Duke for a long time."

…

Cintra, the city lord's mansion, study.

Lann looked at the four officers of the Freedom Corps in front of him, recalling them carefully in his mind.

Originally, there were not many people who had important roles in history. One was their regiment commander Adam, and the other was the female officer Julia, nicknamed "Little Beautiful Cat".

Captain Adam was given the title of "Farewell" because of his bravery in combat and precise command; and "Little Beautiful Cat" Julia was first famous for her outstanding appearance, and later became famous for commanding the Free Legion and the Dwarf Volunteer Army on the battlefield to block the Nilfgaardian heavy cavalry.

As a foreign mercenary group, they were able to participate in the celebration ceremony after the victory of the North because of their outstanding achievements. They received cheers no less than those from the kings and were a strong support.

"Thank you very much for giving us freedom, Lord Lannister." Captain Adam saluted first, "We are grateful."

"It was His Majesty Istrad Tissen who gave you freedom." Lann shook his head, "And I am the price of your freedom. Only after passing this level can you truly have freedom."

Lann spoke very straightforwardly, without the courtesy and etiquette that one would use when dealing with kings. These professional officers seemed to buy into his words and seemed to feel relieved after hearing his words.

"You will fight for me on my land, and I will not treat you unfairly. I know you are here as a mercenary group, so I will give you a suitable reward; after the battle, this money can be used as travel expenses for you who have just escaped from prison to find another way to make a living, or you can find your own place in Cintra with your merits."

“Sintra welcomes all like-minded friends.”

"but……"

Lann then changed the subject. He knew that the Freedom Corps, a group of political prisoners and war criminals, would not behave themselves, so he had to speak out the ugly words in advance, otherwise who knew if there would be any trouble later.

However, before Lann could say anything, there was a sudden noise outside the window, which was disturbing and annoying.

"Your Excellency the Duke."

There was an immediate announcement from outside the door, and after getting permission, House pushed the door open and walked in.

He glared at the Free Corps officer whose expression changed slightly and seemed to realize something, and reported to Lann with his head down:

"Sir, the Kovir mercenaries are fighting with our people."