With a thud, the forktail's head fell to the ground.
After taking a deep breath, Lann looked around the battlefield.
The three witchers from the Viper School were finishing off the wounded forktail. There was no reason for them to have any trouble, as the creature was completely poisoned. Letho was preparing to stab his sword into the monster's spine.
In another corner, the ghoul battlefield looked like a party for Black Wind, who was running around at will. The knights had already begun to clean up the area.
Seeing Lann walking away, two Cintra soldiers rushed forward. They skillfully drew their knives and, after handling the forktail's corpse for a moment, extracted a lump of blue-green mutagenic material, which they placed in an alchemical ceramic vessel.
With a leader who was fond of killing monsters and gathering materials, his soldiers were well trained in gathering materials.
With the battle over, Lann finally had time to observe the group that had requested help.
It was easy to identify who they were. The knights fighting wore cloaks with embroidered coats of arms.
The coat of arms was rather peculiar, divided into two halves. On the left side there was a Lyrian eagle flying under a yellow sky, and on the right, a red rhombus on a white background.
It seemed as if two emblems had been forcibly merged together.
It was the heraldry of the confederation of kingdoms of Lyria and Rivia.
Seeing Lann approaching, Queen Meve, protected by her knights, ordered her soldiers to stand back, allowing him to come closer to speak face to face.
As Lann approached, Queen Meve watched him curiously. She had heard of the 'Lion of Cintra', but now, after seeing him defeat the Forktail, she understood that the truth was greater than the rumors.
"I've always heard of the fame of the Lion of Cintra." Meve said in admiration. "But today I have seen that reality far exceeds the stories."
Afterwards, she looked sadly at her soldiers, many of whom had fallen in battle.
The Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia was on the front line of defense against Nilfgaard on the northern border. Queen Meve had brought only a small group of soldiers, not expecting any major problems in a supposedly safe area. However, the journey to Hagge Castle had been much more dangerous than anticipated.
Lann bowed his head slightly in respect. "I hope I arrived in time and that the queen did not suffer any setbacks."
Meve returned the gesture with equal deference. "Thank you for your help. If it weren't for you, I would have lost even more soldiers."
Just then, the sound of a war horn was heard coming from Hagge Castle, causing Meve to grit her teeth in frustration.
Queen Meve soon regained her composure. She watched the witchers collect the corpses of the monsters and then looked into Lann's lion eyes.
"I suddenly admire your foresight. Are the people behind you witchers?" Queen Meve said: "Their skills are amazing. Now I really hope that there are a few witchers in my territory."
Lann smiled slightly, saying nothing. With a graceful gesture, he put his shining runeblade back into its sheath.
After confirming Lann's identity, the knights under Queen Meve's command recognized that the sword he carried was the treasure that many knights dreamed of possessing. Their gazes did not move away from the Lady of the Lake's sword until the golden runes on its blade were completely hidden under the scabbard.
The reinforcements of the castle rolled in but stopped awkwardly in front of everyone. There was no need for support here.
Lann glanced back and saw that his warriors had almost finished clearing the battlefield. Then, with a polite gesture, he invited Queen Meve: "Your Majesty must be frightened. Why don't you go back to the castle to rest first?"
Queen Meve also smiled slightly: "Let's go together, Lannister."
The army of the Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia, dejected and disorganized, along with the troops of Cintra, triumphant and laden with loot, and the reinforcements that had just arrived, retreated from the battlefield towards Hagge Castle, raising clouds of dust in their wake.
The bodies of the forktails were carried away, while the corpses of the ghouls were left behind. Their dismembered limbs lay amongst the blood that slowly seeped into the ground, and a breeze raised the nauseating stench of death.
After a while, crows began to gather in the sky.
Suddenly, the trees on both sides of the road began to shake, and several pairs of eyes from the thicket watched the group's movement intently before disappearing again.
Those who possessed those eyes had been there for a long time, unnoticed, until they decided to retreat, making only a slight noise.
The leader of this group was a figure wrapped in a black cloak and brown leather armor. His face was covered in colorful war paint, impossible to recognize, but his pointed ears revealed his true identity: an elf.
After moving through the forest for a while, they came to a small camp. To maintain secrecy, they had not lit a fire, but the atmosphere between the tents was tense.
The races here are more diverse. In addition to elves, there are dwarves, halflings and gnomes, with a total number of more than a hundred people.
None of them were human.
However, there was one thing they all had in common: they wore ornaments made of squirrel fur.
Seeing the elven leader return, several of his race rushed to meet him, speaking quickly in their language, eager to know if the plan had gone well.
The elf shook his head and muttered a few words, fragments of which could only be heard on the wind: "Failure... Meve... Henselt... Witchers!"
...
In the North it used to be said: "Whoever controls the Pontar Valley, controls the entire North."
This phrase reflects the strategic importance of the Pontar Valley. Hagge Castle is the only military fortress in that valley and the largest military stronghold in all the Northern Kingdoms.
Throughout its long history, Redania, Temeria, Aedirn, and Kaedwen have all had control of the castle at different times, only to lose it again over time.
Until it became the no-man's land it is today.
Although the furniture inside the castle is not the most comfortable, for witchers it represents a rare peace.
One of the castle's large halls had been converted into a makeshift living room, with a bed, a desk, and a dining table.
Lann sat at the desk, writing something, while the witchers drank and chatted at the table. Servants and soldiers stood guard outside.
In one corner of the room, the fire in the fireplace burned warmly.
Besides them, there was a slender, ethereal figure. Sitting in front of an easel, she painted delicately, tracing lines and mixing colors.
It was about Iris.
In front of Lann is the [Griffin School Contact Notes], and it is time for him to contact his mentor after a long time.
Lann recounted everything that had happened during his travels, as well as telling him about the forktail materials he had obtained and the need for his guidance in handling and processing them, as well as the request for help with a portal so that his troops could return more easily.
After adding a series of heartfelt greetings, he signed his name.
Lann let out a long breath and moved his stiff neck.
"Lann, you have been sitting there for a long time. How about having a drink together?"
At the dining table, Kolgrim shouted at Lann.
Lann went over to take the wine glass. "I'm writing a letter."
"Letter?" Serrit was stunned. "Do you nobles write letters directly on books?"
Lan chuckled and shook his head, shaking his contact notes in front of them, and took them back to the [Inventory] with a flip of his hand.
"This is the unique communication technique of the Griffin School, a magical prop. The content I wrote in this book can be presented in another book thousands of miles away."
Lann did not feel the need to hide this information from his fellow Viper School members, as he did with Adda.
Letho commented in a surprised tone: "I expected nothing less from the Griffin School..."
Since they were with Lann, they had grown accustomed to the little surprises of the Griffin School.
"What about you? What were you talking about just now?" Lann drank the wine in the glass.
He had been so focused on what he was writing to Jerome that he had barely heard the witchers' conversation.
"About those soldiers in Kaedwen." Auckes shook his head, looking very indignant.
As expert hunters, the witchers of the Viper School were especially sensitive to the gazes of others.
Ever since they entered the Pontar Valley, the Kaedwen soldiers had been staring at them with open hostility and contempt along the way. After their group rescued Queen Meve and the Kaedwen soldiers arrived late, that hostility only increased.
During the journey, Lann had heard many people speak ill of Kaedwen and its king Henselt. Although he had not yet met him, the stories seemed to fit with what he had heard.
Kaedwen was the largest kingdom in the north, and the second largest on the continent, behind only Nilfgaard.
However, such a vast territory did not give birth to a sufficiently civilized country. Kaedwen had a cold and ruthless climate, with a large number of vast primeval forests distributed throughout the kingdom, and the Kaedwens were also known for their barbarity and vulgarity.
And their king, Henselt, was famous for his greed and temper, as well as being a notorious enemy of non-human races. He had invested large sums of money and resources to form squads dedicated to hunting non-humans, being one of the main culprits of fueling racial conflicts on the continent.
Many rumors said that the Scoia'tael, who were now attacking humans, had been secretly funded by the Emperor of Nilfgaard. While this theory was not unfounded, if the Scoia'tael had so quickly assembled a group of assassins who hated humans, King Henselt had a lot to do with it.
Nilfgaard had managed to invade the north so easily thanks to kings like him.
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