Chapter 335: The Dwarf Princess in Need of Rescue

"Who are you?" The demon hunter looked up from the bloody belly of the monster that had been cut open.

Two warriors, a man and a woman, their bodies covered in sticky blood, stood in front of the giant zombie's head with wide eyes, and a hint of respect that was difficult to discern was revealed on their dirty faces.

Behind them, Vesemir was talking to a fat merchant, and the driver nervously straightened the carriage line.

The other witchers were harvesting materials, the mercenaries were supporting each other, some were collecting the bodies of their companions, and some were standing next to the young witcher.

I don't know whether they are interested in their methods or curious about which parts of this hideous and smelly monster are worth harvesting.

"We are the Free Anglin Mercenaries from Temeria. I am the leader Ryan, and this is Dana..."

"Hello, Ryan, Dana," Ailin was a little curious, "How did you recognize me?"

"Ser Arryn..."

"Just call me Aelin..." the witcher interrupted.

He was still not used to other people addressing him by his title.

Of course, Sir Arryn sounds better than the childish "Blue Death", but it would be better if we could just call him Master Arryn.

It’s a pity that perhaps because of his age, after he was promoted to Master Demon Hunter, he was rarely heard being called that.

He couldn't just let people call him like that, after all, it was not very decent.

After being interrupted, Ryan looked at Dana and said, "Ai... Ailin... Master?"

Very on the right track... The demon hunter nodded with satisfaction.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief: "Master Ailin, half a month ago, a bard in the tavern of Temeria was singing about your deeds of wearing the May Day crown, destroying the group of goblins attacking the city, and saving Elland..."

"...The cat's blue pupils opened and closed, and the god of death came upon his call..." Dana at the side spoke in a low and gentle tone, "...The fourteen-year-old young knight of Elland named his beloved silver-white long sword Elsa..."

Dana hummed beautifully.

But when Arlin heard the lyrics clearly, he couldn't help but glance at Vesemir with a strange look on his face.

Although the witcher master has not mentioned the new sword since he got it, Elsa is not Erin's sword after all, and he did not name Elsa.

His beloved sword became famous in the hands of other demon hunters.

Gee...

The witcher shook his head inwardly.

of course.

This didn't matter to Ayling.

The songs of the bards in the Demon Hunter World are very short, basically two repeated or progressive sections. Dana finished humming the main section in less than half a minute.

"Master Ailin," Ryan put his right fist on his chest and bowed solemnly, "Thank you for saving me... and saving Free Anglin..."

“That’s not necessary.” Arlin took a half step back and raised his chin towards Vesemir. “The owner of the caravan will pay the witcher.”

"It's different," the burly middle-aged man with a beard shook his head, "I, Ryan, and Free Anglin owe you a life..."

"And me, Dana!" The woman with two dried tear marks on her face glanced at Ryan and said solemnly.

then.

The two of them bowed and saluted again promptly, then turned and walked towards the convoy.

The demon hunter stood there in a daze for a moment, let out a laugh, and continued to process the material of the giant ghoul.

……

Many people from both the convoy and the mercenary group died in this old battlefield.

But in the wild, the situation is still ominous. In the old battlefield where corpse-eating creatures are entrenched, neither side has thought of taking the corpses back.

Cut down trees, build fires, lay out bodies...

In order to leave this sad place as soon as possible, the boss of the caravan also paid two hundred orens and asked a group of demon hunters to use magic signs to heat the fire.

"This is the fate of mercenaries. Either die on the battlefield or die somewhere else." Ryan, the leader of the mercenary group, stood beside Ailin, his eyes reflecting the blazing flames under the gloomy sky.

"Death under the incandescent flames is already a good ending."

Necrophagous creatures often follow the scent and dig up graves of corpses buried in the wild.

So Ryan was right.

After being burned to death by flames, one or two pieces of the remains could be taken away by their comrades and relatives as a memorial. This was indeed a good ending for these mercenaries who made a living on the battlefield and in the wilderness.

After all, if it weren't for Arlin and his group of demon hunters who happened to pass by.

Most likely, this group of mercenaries will be wiped out, rot on the old battlefield, and become food for corpse-eating creatures.

They may even become food for the next generation of scavenger creatures that they breed in still unknown ways, or they may transform into ghosts out of resentment and then harm more humans.

It is difficult for the soul to rest in peace and return to the country of faith in God.

This is something that is even more difficult for most people in the demon hunter world to accept.

"By the way," Ailin whispered, "Looking at how skilled you guys are in dealing with the ghouls, you don't seem like an inexperienced new mercenary group. Why did you come to this old battlefield?"

"You should know that places like this are most likely to have ghouls, right?"

"Of course I know..." Ryan sighed softly, "Although we are not monster hunter professionals like you, we have traveled all over the country and naturally know where to go and where to avoid...but..."

Ryan's eyes subconsciously looked in one direction.
The witcher followed his gaze and saw two little girls, who were held by a fat middle-aged businessman who should be their father. They were looking at the burning and jumping flames, and were surprisingly quiet.

"Sally... the little girl on the left. When the convoy stopped to rest, the cat she was holding suddenly ran out, and she immediately chased it into the woods..."

"And just like all stupid fables, our men caught up with the girl in the woods, but it attracted monsters..."

"The convoy was led by a cunning monster and fled here in a panic."

"Heavy casualties."

Looking at the distorted shadows in the flames, Ryan paused and said, "But it's also our fault."

"Children and pets are the most likely to cause unexpected events during travel."

"I wasn't prepared..."

"Ryan..." Dana reached out and squeezed his hand.

Ryan's expression suddenly became a little unnatural. He dodged, but Dana seemed to hold her hand tighter and he couldn't pull his hand out.

Maybe because Ailin was there, Ryan just tried to pull his hand out, but failed and gave up.

Seeing Ailin's eyes resting on the two girls, he looked over with pity:
"Sally also learned a lesson..."

Ryan paused: "A very profound lesson..."

"Sally's mother, Mrs. Liz, was dragged away by the zombies in order to save them - Sally and Doya..." Dana sighed.

Before he finished speaking, Ailin suddenly remembered the female scream he heard in the grove.

I finally understand why those two little girls are so quiet beyond their age.

"That's really... really..."

……

After the simple cremation, the convoy continued on its journey.

The demon hunter accepted the generous reward from the fat merchant and followed the caravan.

Their target was also the smuggler's trail, but their final destination was not Vergen, but Rustburg in Lyria and Rivia after passing through Aedirn.

As for why the fat businessman would bring his family through this war-torn area?

The merchant said nothing, and Vesemir asked no further questions.

Everyone has secrets. We are just traveling together for a short distance, there is no need to know so much.

of course.

the most important is……

That’s enough money.

"Bang~"

Under the young witcher's covetous gaze, Alyn took the bag of money thrown to him by Vesemir.

"Wow~"

The crisp sound of coins colliding.

“One thousand eight hundred orens, half for you and half for me.” Vesemir pulled the reins closer.

Sure, nearly another thousand orens have arrived.

This was the income level of top demon hunter masters before the Wolf School declined and monsters became as rare as in novels and games.

It's not like the witchers of Geralt's generation, who worked so hard and ended up with a few coins, but even then they would be subjected to all kinds of harsh discounts, which would probably lead to a series of actions such as being driven away and cursed by the villagers.

Even "selling daughters" for a hundred florins.

From this perspective, the timing of Ailin's travel to the Witcher world was actually pretty good.

At least the witcher master will not be short of money. After spending lavishly, he can still fund the school to support a large group of apprentices in Kaer Morhen.

"Okay, okay, I'll give you some when we get to Vergen."

The witcher, who had been stared at pitifully by the young witcher for a long time, smiled helplessly.

"Long live the leader!"

The young demon hunter cheered immediately.

In fact, these young demon hunters who have just come down from the mountain are all apprentices who are learning from their mentors during the traveling period. It doesn’t matter whether they share the money or not.

But of course he couldn't be so harsh.

"Da da da~"

Riding a horse along the long convoy, I listened to the young demon hunters discussing how to spend the money. Even the boss himself had not yet decided on a fixed salary.

Arryn suddenly noticed that Vesemir's eyebrows were slightly frowned, and he looked at the desolate wilderness behind him from time to time.

"I'm worried about the pursuers from Ban Ade."

This is a certainty rather than a question.

Vesemir was looking back when he heard Arryn's words, and then he was stunned for a moment and nodded.

"Don't worry. We've been traveling for six consecutive days since we left Ban Ader. How could those pampered wizards catch up with us so quickly?" Arlin comforted him.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Vesemir's words.

He agreed that the wizard named Sonny should have recognized them by now and would have thought of some way to plot against them.

But he would not overestimate his importance in the wizard's heart.

From Vera and Ianna's education, especially when Ianna talked about the water divination and fire divination rituals, it was mentioned that there were several ways for warlocks to search for traces.

Judging from the traces left by the witchers, the wizards could either set an ambush on the spot or follow their tracks and catch up on horseback. There was almost no third possibility.

I rode on horseback for five days without sleep, and my hips were covered with blood marks...

Not to mention whether those wizards have such great willpower, their bodies have not been physically strengthened, so how can they be as strong as the demon hunters who have been transformed by decoction.

The explosive power in close combat is rapid but it does not mean it will last long.

Besides, after passing this smuggler's trail, it is the territory of Aedirn. What we should really worry about at that time may be the lone wizard.

Ailin felt that the truly dangerous time would be on the return journey, and perhaps he should consider taking a detour then.

I don’t know why Vesemir is so persistent, and what happened between him and the wizard named Sonny in the past.

"Uh~"

Vesemir hesitated, then nodded.

"Instead of worrying about the spoiled wizards catching up behind us, we should worry about Vergen ahead," Arin smiled. "There's a 'Dwarf Princess' trapped by a large army there, waiting for our rescue."

"You kid!"

Vesemir cursed with a laugh.

"But you are right to remind me..."

"I'd better go and warn the caravan, just in case there really is a remnant of Kaedweni near Vergen..."

The words have not yet fallen.

The witcher master pulled the reins and moved to the front of the convoy.

"Da da da~"

The rapid sound of horse hooves gradually merged into the sound of the carriage crushing stones.

Ailin looked at the merchant with a haggard face and red eyes, leaned his head out of the carriage, forced a smile and spoke to Vesemir.

After a few words, he called over Ryan, the leader of the Free Anglin Mercenary Group, with a look of doubt.

"Fujian, Fujian..." Ailin muttered to himself for a few words and looked back in the direction they came from.

The tip of my nose still seems to be able to smell a faint burnt odor, but the old battlefield where many people were buried has been covered by sparse woods, overgrown bushes and gray rocks.

The demon hunter's eyes were dark and uncertain, and no one knew what he was thinking.

……

"Rumble~"

It was the summer flood season, and the surging Pontar River was left behind by the convoy.

There was no third-rate plot where just after crossing the border between Kaedwen and Aedirn, a powerful enemy with thousands of troops blocked the way forward.

The convoy did not stop for a moment. Only a few ignorant water ghosts appeared along the way. The witchers did not even have time to take action before they were quickly dealt with by the mercenaries of Free Anglin.

This mercenary group is indeed quite something. After observing them along the way, Ailin gradually had some ideas in his mind, but they are not yet mature.

After crossing the Pontar River, the caravan soon arrived at the fork in the road where Arryn and Vesemir killed the attacking White Widow and captured Thomas Moreau and Maccao two months ago.

After arriving at this familiar place, Vesemir, who had been nervous all the way, was obviously much more relaxed.

Ailin didn't laugh at the witcher master, because he also felt relieved.

Mainly in the territory of Kaedwen, there is always a strong sense of crisis that one will be surrounded and attacked by the army if there is a disagreement.

Under this sense of crisis, the strength of the pursuer wizard is actually secondary.

When you reach the fork in the road, you don’t have to go far to reach the fortified city that the dwarves had carved out of the mountains.

However, it was getting dark, and Fu Jian’s current situation was still unclear.

After the rich businessman discussed with Vesemir and Ryan, they settled down here.

"Erni, Klar, you stay here to protect the caravan..."

After returning, Vesemir gave the young witcher some instructions and then looked at Arryn.

"Let's go and see if our Holden 'Princess' really needs a knight to rescue her!"

(End of this chapter)