The Divine Hunter

"Master Witcher, Miss Warlock, and children, welcome."

The team by the bonfire expanded several times in an instant, and one of the leaders of the team, the dwarf Yarpan Zigrin, sat in the center and introduced his men one by one.

"From left to right are Yannick Blass, Xavier Moran, Pauly Dalberg, and his blood brother Regan Dalberg, and finally the stupid looking stammer is Bernie. That master seems to be an old acquaintance with him?"

The dwarves are short and strong, with bushy beards, wearing thick cotton wool jackets, like a cube carved out of a mold, and they all carry crossbows on their backs and carry dark battle axes or warhammers, which are easy to get at if you don't look carefully. confused.

According to Roy's observation, their fighting attributes are far superior to ordinary people, especially their strength and physique, which are only slightly inferior to the new-born witchers.

But the weapon ability and combat experience are much stronger!

In addition to the dwarves, there are more than thirty fully armed human soldiers sitting by another bonfire, and it seems that they do not want to come over.

"More than four years ago." Roy nodded, with a gratified smile on his mouth, "Me, Reagan and Bernie defeated an ancient deer head spirit in Mahakan! We drank and took a bath together, Brother Reagan. He also taught me how to shoot crossbow!"

Roy took out a palm-sized, gray notebook from his arms, with a line of words written on the cover of the book - "Gift to Roy by Regan Dahlberg."

Reagan took it in his hand, and the calloused big hand gently rubbed it again, and he couldn't help but feel relieved. The experience and experience of this decades are still well preserved.

"Roy, you've changed so much. I was able to reach your chin at the time, but now it's only your waist. But Bernie and I have never understood, why did you and Master Lesso leave without saying goodbye before the dinner party?"

"We're not used to situations that are too lively." Roy and Leto exchanged glances, it seems that these two guys didn't know the trap set by Broval Hogg at that time, so he wouldn't break it, "We Quietly leave the Smirk Pass."

"Okay," Bernie said with regret. "After you left, the elders will... credit me, Reagan, Dulu, De... Deve for eradicating the deer head."

"Women become... zealous... crazy. Treat us like heroes."

"We didn't want to get married and have kids at such a young age, tied to a tree, so Bernie and I left Mahakam and went to Kodwen to join my brother Paulie," Regan explained proudly.

Next to him is his older brother, Pauly, who looks exactly like him, with a longer, oily black beard.

"Following the boss Alpanzigrin to eat and drink spicy food, has been mixed until now."

"Man, if you can't get along anymore, you might as well come to our side. If nothing else, there is enough wine!"

Reagan patted Roy on the shoulder boldly.

Coral beside the witcher chuckled, baking his hands wet with dew on the bushes, and the children looked at the dwarf with sparkling eyes filled with curiosity, the first time they were so close to the ancient race. chat.

Knight Grim rubbed the slashing sword on his knees, his eyes wandered, and he began to choose a challenge object again.

"Roy... long time no see! We must... drink a few boxes... If you don't get drunk, you won't go home!"

Bernie blushed and rubbed his hands,

"Cough cough... How many boxes of wine are there for you to drink now?" Paulie Dalberg suddenly snorted to interrupt his reverie, "The wine must be reserved for the brothers on the front line!"

Bernie turned his body sideways in a sullen mood, and aimed his big butt at Pauly.

"Speaking of which. The six of you," Geralt said thoughtfully, his eyes slowly swept across the dwarf's face. "There were also six dragon hunters at the time, and all the members of the dwarf dragon hunting team are all together."

"You made a mistake, Bernie took the place of Lucas Tocco," Yarpan took a sip of Mahakam and handed the bottle to Bernie, who grinned while holding the bottle He calmed down, "Lucas went back to Mahakam to live in seclusion after he got married. Although Bernie's mind is a little slower, he is an honest and hard-working child."

"What do you mean by hunting dragons?" The witcher apprentices caught a key word and looked at Geralt expectantly. Even the girl raised her ears. Dragons are legendary creatures.

"Haha, Geralt, although that incident ended in failure, losing to a golden dragon is not a shameful thing. There is no need to hide it from this group of apprentices, right?" Yaerpan patted his beer belly and laughed. Winking at Carl, he explained generously, "Many years ago, we hunted a pregnant female green dragon in Camgonn, along with Klingfield the Marauder, the sorceress Yennefer of Wengerburg, Animal protectionist mage Doregare, bard Dandelion..."

"At that time, the poisonous sheep trap prepared by the cobbler made the female dragon completely lose its fighting power. Just when we were about to succeed and use a special fishing net to catch the green dragon, a friend of Geralt's companion suddenly started."

"From a human to a golden dragon the size of a hill, with scales comparable to steel, and fangs and claws no less than divine weapons, he beat our team to pieces, killed many of us, and then brought green dragons and cubs with them. Go away."

Even after more than ten years, the dwarves still have lingering fears.

Although the battle failed and they fled, they formed a "battle friendship" with the witchers.

"Golden dragon, change into human form? I remember an old song that a golden dragon can transform into..." Aiden muttered,

"Anything," Geralt nodded, "including human beings. In short, that golden dragon Velentretames, that is, Lord Three Jackdaws, taught all those who participated in the war at that time a good lesson."

Roy suddenly gave the white wolf a teasing look, and saw that the other party's back was numb.

Roy is very clear.

The Golden Dragon changed to Three Jackdaws, Borch and Geralt sat and talked all night at the Sleeping Dragon Hotel, talking about speculation, and even invited him and his two female Zerikan guards to a mandarin duck bath.

Know that Zerekhan women don't just gallop on the battlefield.

Also good at galloping elsewhere.

That night, in the crowded tub, the shabby witcher Geralt had an unprecedented enjoyment.

The next day, he was still entangled with the old lover Yennefer in the dragon hunting team.

...

The apprentices couldn't help but look forward to it, imagining the scene of a fierce battle with a green dragon and a golden dragon at that time.

But the witchers couldn't help but look at Roy. The dragon named Mirmenir that this guy defeated in another world seemed to be even more terrifying, possessing a magical power called dragon roar.

"Children, young apprentices," Yarpan stroked his beard, joking at the children who were addicted to illusions and whose eyes were shining, "The golden dragon is the king of the dragons, and can kill a whole room of people with a single breath. You are all newcomers, don’t be too ambitious, start hunting with water ghosts first? Haha!”

The faces of the apprentices turned dark, and they once again fell into the days when they were dominated by the fishy smell and annoying screams.

"Take a sip and wake up!" Yarpan threw the jug to Carl carelessly.

The wine splashed into the flames, and the aroma of the wine permeated the night.

Carl took a sip, grimaced, and handed the bottle to the other friends.

The witcher did not restrict the apprentice to drink, after all, he had tasted the herbal decoction that was a hundred times more poisonous.

Don't drink too much.

"Speaking of which, Geralt, how are you and that lady?" Brother Regan Dahlberg winked at Geralt with some gossip. "Has your relationship been restored?"

The white wolf's face froze, and he was worried about Yennefer who was accompanying Ciri and Elene in Skelliger, worried that the man named Kratz started to make some crooked ideas again, but he still nodded, "Well... Soon, much better than before."

"Then congratulations in advance, don't forget to invite us to a wedding wine on the day of your business." Yarpan laughed exaggeratedly and jokingly.

"Dude, the matter of Jinlong and Yennefer is over, should I introduce the friends over there?" Geralt looked at the man who was standing hesitantly by the carriage, but did not sit with the dwarf, and turned his attention. topic.

"The real steward of our team, Commissioner Wilfried Wink," said the dwarf, raising his voice sternly, "for the King of Kaedwen, and the King of Henselt of Ard Calais."

Commissioner Wenk was taller than Letho, almost twice as tall as the dwarves, dressed as simple and simple as a horse-riding messenger, and nodded stiffly in the face of the piercing eyes of these unexpected visitors.

Obviously he didn't like this group of visitors very much, but he couldn't stand their crowd.

Roy raised his eyebrows, but not at Wink.

Somewhere in the dwarf's words, he disagreed.

Henselt was hardly a gentleman.

Short-tempered and quite nasty attitude towards non-humans.

And in the future, during the Second Northern War, the king actually reached an agreement with Nilfgaard, the great enemy of the entire north, to cooperate internally and externally, and embezzled the northern area of ​​the ally Aedirn Kingdom. His shortsightedness and shamelessness are outrageous.

In addition, Roy is well aware that the current action of the team led by the loyal Yarpan is also a design by Henselt with ulterior motives.

...

"So, you are escorting the goods on the orders of the king?" Lambert blurted out, looking at the fully loaded carriage,

"That's right, but they're all common stuff, salted fish..." Yarpan said nonchalantly, "Food, tools, harness, all sorts of odds and ends for military supplies."

"You must know..." Yarpan sighed, "The squirrel party is very violent, and the soldiers all over the country are short of food and clothing, waiting for material assistance. As a member of the Kaedwen Kingdom, we naturally have to go out A little force."

Dwarves of the ancient races, working for Kaldwin against the Squirrel Party of the ancient races?

Is this a traitor to the race?

At this moment, the witchers fell silent, their eyes turned.

"Guys, friends, don't make such an expression. I know that in addition to elves, there are also dwarves in the squirrel party. In order to pursue freedom and resist discrimination, they hid in the bushes, and suddenly jumped out and pierced people's hearts with an arrow. "Yalpan showed a disgusted look on his face, shook his head and smiled, "But there are differences between dwarves and dwarves."

"It took us more than a hundred years to reconcile with our human neighbors. Many of my people have established blacksmith shops, liquor stores, the great Zion Vanilli Bank, Vivaldi Bank... all over the world and prospered."

"It has proven that different races can coexist peacefully. My five brothers and I left Mahakam to serve King Henselt in Kaldwin to strengthen that bond."

Hearing this, Roy couldn't help but think of another dwarf, Dennis Kramer, who served for the Grand Duke of Siward in the Duchy of Elland.

A clear thought came to mind.

Mahakam's ruler, Blovar Hogg, was a neutral

The six Yarpan people, Dennis Kramer, all belong to the Northern Humanity faction.

The dwarves of the Squirrel Party belong to the other extreme, hating the Northern Human faction.

"But that group of forest bandits amplifies their hatred without limit, slaughtering all human beings mercilessly, regardless of whether they have discriminated against them or not, whether they are kind or vicious. This..." Yarpan shook his head and took a sip of spirits. Say out loud, "Their brutality will destroy the great situation that was so hard to build."

"I will not allow the efforts of the past 100 years to be in vain and return to a situation where the ancient races and humans are incompatible! So we stand up and prove that there are still rational non-human races!"

A trace of approval appeared on Commissioner Wenck's gloomy face beside the carriage, and he nodded lightly.

Roy sighed inwardly, as the squirrel party intensified the murder and arson in the north, the discrimination and hatred of the non-human/ancient races in the northern kingdom would also sharply deepen.

When it comes to this sensitive topic, there is a brief silence by the campfire.

All that was heard was the gurgling, burping, and farting of the dwarves swallowing their drink, and the crackling of the night wind over the campfire.

"Okay, I've finished my statement. Master witcher, where did you go on this long journey?" Yarpan asked, "You must know that in the past two years, your reputation has spread throughout the North. "

"The Squirrel Party hates you to the core, and the Humans have made a big difference to you."

"The description in "The Story of Nuocheng" is very similar. Fifteen witchers, wielding swords as bright as moonlight, breathing flames, and now..." The dwarves' eyes passed over the team, more than 20 pairs of vertical pupils,

"Tsk tsk, the number has doubled. This growth rate is faster than that of elves and dwarves!"

"Cough, cough... Your Excellency Yarpan, this analogy is not appropriate," Vesemir smiled, "Our number is less than one thousandth of the non-human race, no matter how we develop, it will not affect the overall situation. ."

"But your martial arts are very strong." Reagan said in admiration, "Anyway, where are you going with such a large group of people?"

"South, Ellander, let the flowers in this group of greenhouses be tempered and learn about the customs of different countries." Roy threw charcoal at the bonfire and explained, "The next ten days will reach Lexilla. There is no fork in the road in front of the river, why don't we go together? As you said, the Squirrel Party is rampant, and the road is not smooth. Let's take care of each other."

According to Roy's memory, in this trip, Yarpan and other dwarves will encounter great danger and sacrifice.

Since there are Geralt's old acquaintances, Bernie and Reagan, he can't just sit back and ignore it, he must take care of it!

From the bottom of his heart, he quite liked these sloppy, greedy, alcoholic, but loyal dwarves.

His silver-gray pupils, his calm face, and his gentle tone all carry a charming charm.

Yarpan almost nodded.

"Sorry," he glanced at Commissioner Wenke next to him, "I said it doesn't matter. If the convoy doesn't arrive on time, the quartermaster will be responsible."

"Have you seen the sturdy little bodies of these children, they have been trained by us for a long time! They have been on the road for half a month, and there has never been any accident! I guarantee that their feet are in no way inferior to healthy adults. It won't delay your progress." Serrit immediately understood what Roy meant and persuaded in a low voice, "Besides, as we all know, we have already turned against the Squirrel Party. It won't hurt you."

"Cough cough," Geralt's eyes slowly swept across the dwarves, "Going all the way, if you are free, you can give pointers to this group of children and teach them some adventure experiences."

Immediately, Vicky, Renee, Oreo, Conrad and a group of children clasped their hands on their chests and cast adoring and pleading eyes at the dwarves.

"hiss-"

The six dwarves who are good teachers seem to have drank a glass of peerless wine.

Alpan stroked the long beard on his chest, took a deep breath, and exchanged glances with the five brothers beside him, "Alas, we are just soft-hearted, and we can't see the eyes of women and children."

"I'll discuss it with Your Excellency Wenke later."

"Then everyone, it's getting late, how about an early rest today? Bernie, who are you staring at with your eyes wide open? Want to catch up with Roy? No way! You have to recharge your batteries tonight, and we'll talk on the road tomorrow!"

Roy glanced at the sky, the Dragon constellation was clearly visible, and the Milky Way outlined a bright ribbon in the night sky.

...

The night was dark.

Wagons and bullock carts form a huge circle around the campfire.

A cloth divides the space in half.

The girls and the sorceress lived in the tent on the left, and the boys slept on the right.

As for the witchers, they slept scattered outside the caravan, in different corners, on trees, boulders, haystacks, and branches, after they thoughtfully sprinkled a circle of expelling dung.

The vertical pupils are sometimes closed, and sometimes they cast a dim light towards the caravan under protection.

"Why do you have to go on the road with them?" asked the white wolf, who was lying on the cushion of a branch, covered with a cloak and wrapped his hands around the back of his head.

"If you know your friend is about to be in danger..." Roy asked back, staring at the twinkling stars in the sky, and the dwarf Bernie, who was on guard with a human soldier by another bonfire. "Will you help them?"

"You mean Alpan and the others..." Geralt said with a straight face.

"This escort trip is unusual, in short, everyone must pay attention to safety."

"Go to bed early, man."

After speaking, Roy sat cross-legged.

The mind sinks into the meditative world.

Try again the power learned from the fire troll summoned by Wygfortes.

...