Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 997 979. Toll station on the river

A simple and narrow wooden bridge connects the two sides of the Pontal River.

On a central shoal in the middle of the river, an outpost was built with wooden piles.

This is obviously a civilian passage, and the outpost is a toll station where merchants and vendors who want to cross the river must pay tolls.

After passing this toll station, you will find the territory of Redania, one of the four northern kingdoms.

Therefore, this toll station also collects tariffs part-time.

The river water smells very strong because the flow here is slow, so the dirty sediments are piled nearby.

There is a layer of green algae on the river surface, which is the result of eutrophication of the water body.

But the ‘nutrition’ of nature smells like old feces in the human nasal cavity.

Dead water birds, dead fish, and even dead water ghosts. The corpses of these things floated up and down in the floating waves of green algae.

From time to time, it would hit the pillars of the wooden bridge and make a 'dong' sound.

There was no incident when Geralt and Lan crossed the bridge.

The soldiers stationed at the toll booth behaved like ordinary people, treating the witcher like a leper, as if the cat's eyes would be contagious to him.

But their attitude is much better than that of the villagers.

The emblem of Redania is a red shield with a spreading white eagle wearing a crown and holding a scepter. Therefore, unlike the common blue and white colors in Temeria, the official colors here are red and white.

The soldiers' breastplates and cotton armor were all red and white.

Because the soldiers guarding the toll booth were well-informed and knew that the demon hunters were just passing by and would not stay for a long time and would not work here.

So they just tilted their heads and spit when the witcher passed by, as if to expel bad luck, or blew their noses, and then wiped the cotton armor on their bodies twice randomly with the hand they blew their noses with.

But they only dared to do this when Geralt was passing by first.

After the sound of Carrot's horse's hooves trampling on the wooden bridge, a huge figure that should never appear in common sense walked over the small bridge awkwardly.

A Redanian soldier whose rosacea had developed into a fat nose was checking the bag of money that Geralt threw to him.

It seemed that the phlegm-filled mouth was mumbling some dirty habits.

Geralt had long been accustomed to these scenes, so he sat calmly on his horse and waited for the Redanian soldier in front of him to finish counting the coins in his purse.

"Okay, white-haired guy." Rosacea put the end of the halberd on the ground, held the long pole in his arms, and turned the small money bag upside down in his hand to shake it clean.

"The coins are not trimmed, there are two people and two horses, and no goods are brought, so there is no need to pay trade tax. Well, bah."

As if Geralt's obedient behavior of paying the fees made him a little dissatisfied, he made a roaring sound in his throat, then tilted his head and spit out a mouthful of phlegm, rolling his eyes.

"But you must be going to Novigrad to find work, right? The great priests of the Eternal Fire may forget to collect your business tax, so you have to pay a deposit here first."

"I've been up and down the Pontar River hundreds of times, man."

Geralt on the horse frowned slightly.

"Novigrad is a free city. Even if I have to work there, the taxes I pay have nothing to do with Redania, right?"

"Don't be too greedy. I can give you five more silver coins and buy you a drink. But don't mention any bullshit commercial tax deposit."

If you expect the soldiers at the toll booth to charge honestly and according to the rules, you might as well expect the eternal fire to drive away monsters.

Geralt knew exactly how to deal with these people.

The rosacea in front of him was obviously an old man, and he knew he couldn't fool Geralt, so he curled his lips and prepared to do as he asked.

However, when Rosacea put away the tolls he received and reached out toward Geralt to receive the five silver coins, a huge shadow covered the witcher from behind.

The Qilin, which is two and a half meters tall at the shoulders, is equipped with a magic harness saddle, and Lan En in a cloak is sitting on it.

The height alone is over three and a half meters.

Regardless of whether it is Qilin or Lan En, their bodies are by no means simple and abnormally tall and thin, but have strong and healthy muscles.

In such a state of enlargement at the same proportion, the difference in body size becomes even more terrifying.

It was obvious that Qilin was just strolling around to catch up with Geralt from behind, but the shadow that covered the past was like a slowly approaching darkness.

Lan En drove the unicorn and walked past Geralt. On the road he passed, the Redanian soldiers' throats rolled up and down, their mouths open but speechless.

"Aren't you done yet, Geralt?"

Geralt sat on the carrot and looked down at the rosacea toll collector, while Lan, who was passing by Geralt, looked down at him.

Lan En walked over as if nothing had happened, while Rosacea, who was still extending his hand towards Geralt, froze there, dangling one hand that did not dare to extend or retract it.

The old demon hunter looked clearly at Rosacea standing next to his horse's head, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.

Then he stopped talking about the five silver coins and followed Lan En out of the toll station.

After the two people left, the toll station that fell into silence for a while slowly became noisy again.

The pedestrians blocking the bridge outside were trying to speed up the crossing, while the Redanian soldiers at the toll booth seemed to have just woken up.

"Is that a giant on a horse?"

"What a bullshit giant, this is a civilized place, not a wilderness!"

"But it's not a giant, that size? And walking with a freak witcher?"

The soldiers were arguing, not only out of curiosity, but also to vent the pressure that had accumulated unconsciously under the huge figure just now.

But the old soldier with rosacea seemed to be stunned when he heard the word "freak witcher", obviously remembering something.

It was a legend that had not been circulated for a long time, but had an influence beyond imagination.

The ballad of the bard said that the protagonist of the story was a tall and brave witcher who was beyond ordinary people.

Ignoring the chattering of the rest of the people in the toll station, the rosacea leaned the halberd against the corner of the wall, and then sneaked into the soldiers' lounge of the toll station without disturbing anyone.

Not long after, a pigeon flapped its wings and flew away.

——

The matter of the toll station on the Pontar River was not even taken to heart by Lan En and Geralt for more than ten minutes.

Compared to ordinary people in this magical medieval era, demon hunters have much more knowledge and experience.

Even when Lan was still an ordinary demon hunter, he was already familiar with handling such trivial matters.

Geralt just bounced on the horse and teased the young man.

"I should really go with you more often in the future. Less than 20 times, the customs fees saved are enough for me to complete one mission."

Lan turned around on the back of the unicorn, held the brim of his hood towards Geralt, and made a thank-you gesture after the performance, indicating that he was not polite.

After arriving in Redania, the environment of this place is at least much better than Velen.

Velen is low-lying, so the water of the Pontar River silted up the place into swamps and wetlands, and monsters and miasma were born from it.

But the large area of ​​land where Novigrad is located is the delta where the Pontar River flows into the ocean.

Although it is closer to the ocean, the annoying humidity is not as good as Velen.

Shrubs, trees and grass grow on the loess with suitable humidity.

Less than twenty steps away from the road, you can enter the undeveloped forest.

Lush, deep and dark.

But the two people who were approaching Novigrad along the road, riding horses for a while, raised their eyes at the same time and looked at the front of the road.

"The world is more chaotic." Geralt's voice was as calm as always, "The remnants of that war are still tormenting many people."

Lan lowered his head and did not speak, but patted Qilin's neck slightly, causing this noble and elegant ancient dragon to speed up a little.

In front of the road, a noisy sound came out.

There were men and women laughing happily and cruelly, the donkey pulling the cart screamed in fear, and screams.

Geralt also urged Carrot to follow.

What happened in front of the two demon hunters was obvious.

A cart with a broken axle due to a trap, the cargo on the cart was scattered all over the ground, and the wooden cart was crooked and stuck in the pit.

The donkey pulling the cart screamed and kicked its legs in fear because of the blood, but the harness on its body tied it to the broken cart.

The owner of the donkey cart, or the original owner, was slumped in the mud.

The body of a young man dressed as a waiter was lying in front of him, and the blood flowing from his body made the mud wetter and more smelly.

The people who set up this trap and took possession of the cargo on this cart were a group of obvious deserters.

They wore red and white cotton armor of Redania.

They only wore iron protective gear on gloves, elbows and knees, and a large piece of iron plate was tied to their chests.

But unlike the soldiers at the toll booth, these people looked more dirty and embarrassed, and the armor on their bodies was too old even compared to mass-produced military supplies.

This kind of wear and tear would definitely meet the requirements for changing clothes even under the most stingy quartermaster.

There were six or seven people in total, both men and women, all dressed like this.

When Geralt and Lan arrived near the scene, they saw a leading man pulling a little girl out from behind the owner of the car who was slumped on the mud.

A little girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old, or a handsome boy?

Obviously, these people don't care much about gender.

The leading man had a mouth full of rotten teeth, yellow to black.

As soon as he caught the child, he had a runny nose and smiled and tore the child's clothes.

He kept shouting: It's time for you to see a real man.

His companions around him were making a fuss like watching the fun, and some even started to untie their belts.