From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 198 Talks in the Northern Territory: Who will be the enemy in the future, and who will be the friend in the future

I don't know when it began to rain heavily outside the fortress.

Rain beat against the panes, causing Lan to look up.He thought he heard the strange, husky hoarse calls of ravens and crows, but it was only the sound of wind and rain.

The conference hall of the fortress was simply tidied up, and a conference table was placed in the middle that was suitable for everyone to keep a distance, but could communicate clearly with each other.

But the posture of the participants is as if the conference table is redundant.

Lan looked at everyone quietly, most of them he had already met.

Foltest, the ruler of Temeria, leaned against the window away from the conference table, showing his handsome and noble silhouette in front of everyone.

Queen Meeve of Leiria and Livia fiddled with the huge ruby ​​on the necklace sullenly, her beautiful and full lips twisted from time to time.

Only Vizmir II, the lord of Redania, sat obediently on a chair, leaning his elbows on the table, as if thinking.

Everyone was silent.

Lan turned his head again, looking at the remaining two kings whom he had not met yet.

Directly across from Rann's table sat King Henselt of Kaedwen with his bandit beard.His movements were the same as his own, and his penetrating small eyes watched the other participants in this meeting with scrutiny.

King Demawi of Aedirn lay in an armchair, put a wine glass on his stomach, and seemed to be judging the material of the wine glass intently.

Everyone was silent.

After a long time, King Henselt, who was still the most savage in temperament, said dissatisfiedly: "I tried my best to gather everyone here, but they didn't say a word. What does this mean? Now that everyone has come , then everyone must have their own needs, so in my opinion..."

He suddenly stretched out his finger with a huge gemstone ring towards Lan, his small eyes narrowed like a thief: "You, kid who has never met. You have been staring at everyone since the beginning, you must be someone with ideas .You start and talk about your thoughts!"

Henselt's voice attracted the attention of all the kings and queens, as if they finally woke up these monarchs who were silent in their respective worlds.

Lane raised an eyebrow.

Looking at this group of leaders with high positions and powerful troops, Lan En showed a embarrassed expression after sorting out his words.

"First of all, please allow me to pay tribute to you, Your Majesty Henselt——Your reputation has spread widely, and only when you see the real person today will you know that hearing a hundred times is worth seeing once."

Lan stood up and bowed slightly to Henselt, who was directly opposite, followed by left and right.

"Your Majesties present here are all British Lords guarding one side, big men who can change the situation in the northern border with just one thought, and I—"

Lan pointed to himself: "It's just an earl, not even a young adult. It's my honor to be in the same conference room and sit at the same table with you. Don't say anything, I even I don’t even know why Your Majesty invited me here, and why this meeting is held..."

"So." Lann showed a humble smile, "It's not that I'm evading, but that I really don't have any ideas—or, in other words, I'm here to listen to your Majesty's ideas and learn."

After finishing speaking, Lann bowed slightly to the present His Majesty again, sat back on the chair, and maintained a polite smile throughout the whole process.

Henselt's expression became as if he had eaten a fly.

Folterstadt, who had been admiring the rainy scene outside the window while turning himself into a beautiful scene, finally pulled himself out of the background. He snorted coldly, as if he was extremely dissatisfied with Lane:
"You are more talkative than Calanthe."

"Okay, Henselt, Folterstadt." Vizmir II shook his head in a thinking posture, "Don't embarrass the young man. He shouldn't have spoken at the beginning of the meeting. The whole meeting can The number of times he can speak is also limited. Let him be silent when he is fit to speak."

The smile on Lane's face turned into a grateful smile.

"So let me start." Vizmir II said, "There is no need to say much about the purpose of this meeting, and there are no other things that are enough to bring everyone here; and since everyone is here, then No matter what the position or appeal is, it must be to solve the problem and discuss something.”

"We gather here today with only one problem - and that is Nilfgaard!"

Vizmir II spoke slowly.

Lann and Miwei paid close attention to his words, Fultesty turned his head back with a light snort, and King Demavi of Aedirn sipped the fine wine in his glass.

And Hunside of Kaedwen laughed disdainfully: "We have shown the Nilfgaardians the consequences of provoking us on Mount Solden. Don't threaten us with the Nilfgaardians, Vizmir, don't spreading sensationalist rhetoric."

"We beat them to pieces at Soden. We not only defeated their army, but their morale. It is said that Emperor Emhyr disapproved of the massive invasion at the time, and that it was factions that were against him that attacked Cintra. I don't know if that's true—I just know that if they win, Emhyr will just applaud and reward them."

"But after the Battle of Soden, he suddenly became a party against sending troops. Everything that happened before turned into an act of disobedience by his marshals. Then the heads fell to the ground, and blood flowed from the guillotine."

Henselt raised his head: "That is to say, now that there is civil strife in Nilfgaard, and the most important military officer in the army is almost dead, who else can Emhyr send to continue to invade the northern border? Sergeant?"

Vesemir II was not annoyed at being interrupted by the barbarian, he still spoke in a leisurely manner: "But you are still here, Henselt, right? So you must have something to ask for, and this appeal makes Gao Gao You are willing to move your ass all the way to this war fortress - unless you have run so far just to laugh at us for a few words. Are you ashamed to say it? Or do you have to use a child - that is, Lannis Te——did you dare to open your mouth?"

King Demawi of Aedirn sat up from his couch, and he seemed pleased to see Henselt being reprimanded.

And so it is.Aedirn is a large agricultural country in the north, famous for its rich land and developed industrial cities, so it has additionally aroused the jealousy of neighboring Kaedwen.Since Demawi took the throne, dozens of small and medium-scale wars have broken out with Henselt.

Even outside the Haji Fortress, there might still be fighters from the two countries staring at each other, and they would draw their swords if they disagreed.

After hearing Henselt's one-sided evaluation of Nilfgaard, Demawi retorted unceremoniously: "If you really believe the rumors of civil strife in Nilfgaard, it would be too stupid. I'd even be ashamed - because I've stood up to you so stupid for so many years."

"After the death of the old field marshal of Nilfgaard, the army will be led by young and promising officers. They have been trained under Emhyr for a long time, and they have waited many years for this opportunity-the very old men Marshals blocked their path to promotion and military power."

"And as far as I know, those old marshals who died also obeyed Emhyr's orders. So this is not a civil strife, but a purge. Now that Nilfgaard's cohesion is stronger, I even suspect that the failure of Mount Sodden is also in the process." In his plan."

"They now value turnaround tactics, long-distance cavalry raids, infantry high-speed marches and landing operations. They use concentrated attack tactics to smash the enemy's offensive. They will also use the latest siege technology without relying on uncertainty. Too much magic. We must not underestimate them. I even suspect that they intend to cross the Yaruga River and launch a real thunder offensive."

Queen Mi Wei's hand holding the ruby ​​necklace tightened, these words touched her spirit.For beyond the Yaruga River was her United Kingdom of Leiria and Livia.

"Ha, are you talking about military affairs with me? Demawi!" Henselt stood up suddenly, "You have never asked for cheap in our battles so far!"

"Crossing the Yaruga River? Don't be joking. If you can't control the mouth and banks of the river, and your flanks are threatened, then after crossing the Yaruga River, Emhyr won't be able to ensure the safety of the army's supply line. How can you march in such a hurry? How about a cavalry raid? When their famous cavalry starves most of the horses, we can replay the battle of Sodden! Hell, I hope they cross the river!"

Hearing this, Queen Mi Wei finally couldn't bear it and joined the discussion.

"What if, say, the Nilfgaardians don't cross the Yaruga and just sit around and wait?" She didn't say much, just asked a question: "Let's think about it: who is better off? They, or Us? Who can wait, and who can't?"

The eyes of Vizmir II, Mi Wei, and Demavi all focused on Henselt.

Demawi sneered: "Yes, yes. Emhyr has unified the south, but the north is not monolithic. As long as the front line is tied, there may be riots at any time. I bet - Henselt will definitely Will make a move."

Facing this kind of accusation, Henselt didn't feel annoyed at all, but shrugged his shoulders and showed a malicious smile: "Since you have said so, it seems that if I don't do it, I will be slandered by you in vain. "

Seeing that the two feuding kings began to confront each other, Vizmir II had no choice but to speak out again: "As usual, Mivi doesn't talk much, but every sentence hits the nail on the head. Emhyr has a lot of time, but we don't. All he had to do was loosen a pebble from the top of the mountain and wait for the landslide."

He first praised Queen Meewe, and then turned to Henselt: "And this is what bothers you, right? You are also one of the people who are troubled by civil strife. If you really want to solve this problem, Then don't talk angry words and disrupt the meeting."

Henselt sneered again, his small thief-like eyes were almost narrowed, and then the expression on his face finally became serious.

As for whether what was said before was a disguise or true feelings, the other kings present really couldn't guess this.

"I'm here today for one purpose," said Henselt, "Squirrel Party!"

"They haunt Kaedwen in droves, and I caught a few for interrogation. I believe Emhyr is behind them."

"Some of you may think that Scoia'tael is just a Kaedwen affair now, but once it involves Nilfgaard... hehe, it will be very different. There are free elves in the Valley of Flowers, Maha Kan also has dwarves and gnomes, Brokilon has dryads, and Novigrad has an exceptionally large number of non-human races. This will be a grand civil war!"

Vizmir II asked: "So Henselt, your opinion is to eliminate the non-human races in the northern border first, and then talk about dealing with Nilfgaard?"

"Completely correct."

Fully adhering to Kaedwen's long-standing national policy.If it is said that human beings' prejudice against demon hunters comes from the cat school, then the hatred of the non-human races in the north mainly comes from Kaedwen.

Folterstadt, who had been staying out of the matter, finally stopped showing his noble profile and joined the discussion.

The king of Temeria said: "We can't let you do whatever you want. Mahakam is the territory of Temeria, and the dwarves are my subjects."

"Can you command them to fight for you?"

Folterstadt replied nonchalantly, "At least they pay taxes, a lot of them."

Lan finally said a word: "Blokiron's dryads are not enemies, they and Sintra are friends now—and as far as I know, there has never been a dryad among Scoia'tael."

"Of course, I don't deny that the Scoia'tael is indeed a serious problem. No one can tolerate being stabbed in the back by one of their own people when they are unanimously speaking. And if the Scoia'tael continues to make trouble like this, it will only make the non-human race that was originally friendly to humans Become an enemy. This is a loss to all Your Majesties here."

"I would be happy to help His Majesty Henselt eliminate the Scoia'tael." Lane said, "It's just that when facing the disaster of inhuman race, we have to distinguish clearly: who is our enemy and who is our friend. Friends are To win over, only the enemy is to strike."

Demavi glanced at Lane, as if surprised that this young man could really speak out his insights.

However, as long as it is a topic of tit-for-tat with Henselt, King Demawi seems to have an endless stream of enthusiasm for participation.

"The Scoia'tael is your problem, Henselt. But when it comes to war, he's just one of Nilfgaard's ways of harassing our rear lines. You want us to deal with the Scoia'tael and leave the frontal Nilfgaard alone. Germany's enemy is tantamount to letting us chase after the end. And Nilfgaard's method is not just as simple as the Scoia'tael."

Demawi stood up, looked around, and paused for a while especially on the faces of Vizmir II and Folterstadt.

"As Vizmir said, Nilfgaard is only responsible for pushing a stone from the mountain, and the Scoia'tael is just a stone in the landslide. There are other crises in front of us."

"Wizmir, Folterstadt, your country has frequent trade with the south. I believe that something similar to mine must have occurred in your territory."

"There are rumors that in the villages and towns in the Nilfgaardian occupation area, farmers and craftsmen live better, they are freer, richer, and the merchant guild enjoys more privileges..."

The kings of Redania and Temeria, who had many port trading cities, nodded slightly. They had heard such rumors for a long time.

"Our market is about to be overwhelmed by the goods produced by Nilfgaard. I heard that in Lower Soden, their currency has completely replaced the currency in circulation in the north. If we stand idly by, we will only be able to squeeze in the corner of the north Die slowly. Because—listen to this—the Nilfgaardians will stop us from going south, but we must grow and expand, or our children and grandchildren will soon have nowhere to go!"

Everyone present was silent.Vizmir of Redania sighed heavily, picked up a goblet on the table, and took a long gulp.

In this long silence, the rain kept beating on the window lattice, and the howling wind shook the window sash from time to time.

"Niflgaard's methods are far more than that." Fultesty said, "In my territory, a group of pastors, missionaries, fortune-tellers and mystics have recently appeared out of nowhere, all preaching The end of the world is coming. The theme of their latest preaching is: A savior will come from the South. South! Across the Yaruga River!"

"White Flame," murmured Demavey, "White Frost will come, and after that White Light. Then the world will be reborn by White Flame and the White Queen... I've heard that too. The falsification of the prophecies of Islinne Aip Avignon. I ordered the arrest of the priest who spread these prophecies in the Vengerburg fair, and his interrogator asked him politely and in detail: How much did Emhyr pay him? Gold...but the priest just babbled about White Flame and the White Queen...until the last moment of their lives."

"Be careful, Demavi." Vizmir frowned. "Don't make them martyrs. That's what Emhyr wants. You can take all the Nilfgaardians if you want, but don't Touching priests is too unpredictable. They are still respected and have considerable influence over the populace. We cannot have riots in our towns, nor can we declare war on the peasants under our control."

"Damn!" Henselt slapped the table, "Don't do this, don't take that risk, don't do this, don't do that... Are we here to discuss what can't be done? We should first determine what should be done! "

"I've been saying this from the beginning." Wizmir stood up, "I propose action."

"What action?"

"what can we do?"

Silence fell again.The wind howled, and the windows swayed on the castle walls.

No one wanted to say this, so everyone first turned their attention to Lan En.Then it came to Queen Mi Wei again.

"You all see what I do?"

"We are admiring your beauty, Mi Wei." Henselt muttered while drinking the wine in his glass.

"Agreed." Wizmir echoed, "Mi Wei, we all know that there is no problem that you can't solve. You have a female intuition, and you are a wise—"

"Stop complimenting me." Queen Leiria clasped her fingers on her knees.

"Let me sum it up: Henselt's appeal is to eliminate the Scoia'tael in the territory, while Demavi, Wizmir, and Folterstadt are bothered by rumors and economic trade in the territory, but the reason—— It's all Nilfgaard's fault."

"And I also have a request. My United Kingdom is now confronting Nilfgaard. I very much hope to get out of this situation."

"We have too many demands, and too many things we want to do. If we reorganize them, I want you to recall such a thing: When did the situation become what it is now?"

These words turned everyone's attention back to Lann.

"After the fall of Cintra."

Lane knew that now was his time to speak.

"Everyone has spoken out their appeals, only you have been silent." Fuerte Sitai sneered, "Although we can know your purpose without guessing, I still want to hear from you—you How do you want to persuade us to support you?"

Lan took a deep breath and looked at Vizmir II who was sitting upright, Henselt with an unhappy face, Folterstadt with teasing eyes, and Mi Wei with a concerned expression.

"Your Majesties all have their own troubles, and they all hope to be resolved. But these complicated problems actually have only one source——Niflgaard."

"But even if I'm not an ordinary monarch like you, I know the truth that if you let your majesty go down to deal with Nilfgaard in person - no matter what form - it will definitely cause losses. I just experienced Mount Soden The soldiers who have not fought for a long time also urgently need to recuperate and recover their morale."

Lane said: "We, Sintra, are different. Sintra is born to be Nilfgaard's staunchest opponent. Originally, we were the gateway to the northern border, but now we are willing to be the pioneers of the northern border, bringing Nilfgaard The Germans go back south!"

"But Brokilon is the only one left in Sintra now. Although you and the dryad seem to have a good relationship, those green-skinned women will not leave the forest to fight for you."

"We have other help, and we have full confidence in the recovery of Sintra." Lane replied, "I naturally hope to get your support in terms of military strength, just like the Battle of Sodden Mountain, to form a Northern Territory Coalition forces. But if nothing can be done, I hope to get financial, technical, and equipment support. Or your majesty can involve Nilfgaard on other fronts, so that they have no time to do it in the face of Sintra's counterattack. to deal with it."

"At the very least, we must issue a joint statement or call to make the fight against Nilfgaard the common aspiration of all the people in the northern border!"

Vizmir II supported in time: "Everyone. We need Sintra, a free, independent and strong country. It can become a steel gate and act as a barrier in the north of Nilfgaard, rather than a land where Nilfgaardian cavalry Galloping scorched earth!"

Henselt frowned: "Is it possible to rebuild that kind of Sintra? Calanthe is gone."

"The female lion is gone, but now there is a male lion." Mi Wei also spoke out in support, "Don't test the young man anymore, he has already proven himself on the battlefield."

Both Vizmir II and Queen Mivi clearly supported Lan, and King Aedir also agreed to resist Nilfgaard. Half of the people in the room had already sided with Lan.

Henselt stroked his beard, wondering what he was thinking.

And at this time, Fultesty finally returned to his seat from the window, and inserted the words coldly:

"Lannister, can you answer my two questions: Who will rule Cintra in the future? And where is the missing Princess Ciriella?"

(End of this chapter)