"Okay, that's enough." Lann nodded with satisfaction. "I can go into the forest alone, but I hope you will stay outside the forest and be accompanied by our soldiers before I come out."
Hearing this, the dryads behind her became alarmed. "Ellie, you can't do it!"
Lann continued to speak: "I can be more generous, let her, her, her..."
He stretched out his hand and pointed at a few dryads who had not drawn their bows and made attacking gestures just now. "I can let them accompany you so that you will not be alone."
Ellie frowned. "What are you planning? Human."
'I will take you as a prisoner to ensure my safety.' Lann thought to himself, but if you want to say this kind of words, you must embellish it.
Lann said: "I said before that I would negotiate an equal agreement with you and let my people live peacefully with you. I was serious about it."
"I hope this can be a good start. I will enter the forest alone to look for the princess, bring her back safely to prove my trust. And you will have the opportunity to live with humans and feel our sincerity."
This passage was not something Lann came up with on the spur of the moment.
In fact, as early as when Lann knew that his territory was Brokilon, he had been thinking about this land that played an important role in The Witcher Series.
The shadow of the destruction of the nation of Cintra has always been hanging over his heart, and he has been looking for his own way out.
Perhaps if he strengthened his power and gathered an armed force before the fall of Cintra, he would have the power to maintain a resistance afterwards and would not become a homeless dog after the destruction of Cintra.
But at first, this idea was not so relevant, he knew that in less than a year he would not be able to sufficiently strengthen his territory, he knew that he would lose everything when Cintra fell.
Moreover, the resources that a border town can provide are too few. Not to mention supporting an army, with a population of a thousand people, even maintaining their own self-defense force is a big problem.
When the time comes when Lann, a male heir to the Elder Blood and a member of the royal family of Cintra, is here, it's hard to say who will provide shelter to whom. It's better to be a wandering knight who is safer and can at least hide.
Hence, Brokilon town was not originally in Lann's future plans. He was more inclined to defect to Geralt's wolf school of witchers with Ciri, or simply to hug Mousesack's lap.
If you really can't become a witcher, you can find a safe place to survive for five, ten or twenty years, plus with the few functions displayed by the system when that time passes it is enough to be strong enough. In the end, even if he can't return to Cintra, at least he will be able to come and go as freely as possible around the world.
So, Brokilon town's value to him right now was only to collect taxes, add some economic power, and send his subordinates to search for information, collect the magical artifacts he hoped to find. Nothing else.
In this sense, the financial support of the town of Brokilon for him is not as useful as the properties of the Lannister family or the rewards that Queen Calanthe could give him.
But now, perhaps due to fate, after Lann came to Brokilon town for a field trip today, he felt that he had seen another possibility. Perhaps the greatest resource that the town of Brokilon can provide is not at all the original value of this territory, but rather its special geographical location, which is near the territory of the dryads.
The dryads are elite archers per capita. They have rare healing abilities on the mainland, and they also possess the water of Brokilon, which is most likely a Source of magic power.
And because the dryads are all women and cannot give birth alone, they rely on human men for reproduction, this established a basis for collaboration, despite the contradictions between them.
The dryads are not absolutely exclusive. After Nilfgaard invades, the Dryad Queen will also provide protection to the Scoia'tael, which is composed of elves, dwarves and other demihuman races. In the future, Milva, a human will be one of the few non-dryads tolerated in the Brokilon forest. It is said that Queen Eithne herself would be very fond of him. She would later join Geralt's company in the witcher's search for Ciri.
The relationship between dryads and humans is very complicated, not just a simple 'enmity'. Dryads will reproduce with the help of men of other races, usually elves, and in other cases humans. These men will be driven out of the forest after leaving their children, and some of them will be reluctant to leave.
This is part of the reason why the towns near Brokilon did not have a truly large-scale conflict with the dryads. No one among humans knows how many of these dryads have their own daughters.
It's just that Lann is not yet qualified to utilize the resources of these dryads. At this time, the identity with which he discussed cooperation was very uneven. In the capital, he was the fencing champion, nephew of the queen, a new star of the royal family, but in front of the Queen of the Dryads, he was just a lord of a small town.
The title of earl was a title posthumously awarded to his father by the queen. The title he gave to Lann was closer to that of a palace noble. He was not the kind of old noble who had been fighting for generations, and he had little real power in his hands.
When he came to look for Ciri this time, the power of the whole country of Cintra was invisibly blessing Lann, giving him the basis for a brief conversation with the Dryad Queen.
If all else failed, Lann could give in a little, provide seeds to the dryads and offer them some descendants of the Elder Blood. It would be a mutual benefit.
It's just that no matter what Lann's plan is, the first priority now is to find Ciri.
If something unexpected happens to Ciri, what he said to scare the dryad will definitely come true. Queen Calanthe is truly reckless when she goes crazy.
Even if Queen Calanthe fails to destroy Brokilon in the end, Lann will come back to avenge Ciri when he becomes invincible with the system.
From this perspective, Lann was not yet a qualified Earl. And he didn't want to be that kind of person.
Returning to the topic, after hearing Lann's request, which was approaching a hostage exchange, the dryads side had an intense discussion.
In the end, Ellie thought for a moment and made a decision, then nodded and said: "Okay."
She turned around and summoned a dryad and said to Lann: "This is Dunkar. She can speak Common Language and will be your guide to help you find your princess."
Lann looked over and recognized that this was one of the more sensible dryads from before.
Compared with Ellie, Dunkar's dress is more 'natural'. She wears a flower crown on her head, bracelets and anklets made of grass and branches, and a short skirt made of bark and leaves. But her upper body was barely covered, and the only thing that could cover her chest was her hair.
The matter has been decided, and for now this is the best outcome acceptable to both parties. If it drags on any longer, who knows what unexpected situations will happen.
Lann gave brief instructions to his soldiers and, on horseback, led Dunkar into the true depths of Brokilon Forest.
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