From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 220 The Situation of Skellige

The man in front of him came with a so-called "secret".

And one secret is the whereabouts of the man carrying the blueprint of the steel sword that House is concerned about, and the other secret is the so-called "information that everyone in Sintra wants to know".

Exactly what House wanted.

But House knows better: there is no such thing as a free lunch.

This is the truth that House learned from his words and deeds around Lan En.He forgot, however, that he was in Skellige now.

The sword attendant said seriously: "What do I need to pay, sailor?"

The sailor gestured to the table: "If it's a friend, a glass of wine or a piece of steak is enough."

"What if I want to know the man's trace and also want to know that little secret?"

"If it's a friend, a glass of wine and a steak."

House was stunned, and he seemed to hear the sound of waves and sea breeze outside the tavern.

So he laughed: "I want to be your friend."

Satisfied, the sailor pulled out the ale and the high-heaped steak. He seemed to be very hungry, and he seemed to have lost a lot of money because of playing cards.

"One by one, sailor. Tell me about the bear-like man first."

"I thought you would care about my 'little secret' first." The sailor stuffed the steak into his mouth and said vaguely: "That bear-like man should go to Little Skellige, Mr. East and where the House of King Bran is."

House nodded. This is good news. His group will also go to Little Skellige Island in the future.

"I hope your news is accurate. Then let me tell you about your 'little secret'. I want to know what news is so important to us Sintra people?"

"You are from Sintra, aren't you?" The sailor drank the ale. Seeing that House and the others didn't care, he pulled another glass of wine with a smile, "Are you here to ask for help to deal with Nilfgaard? Don't deny it, Everyone in the Skellige knows."

"so what?"

"Mr. East's desire to regain the throne has already caused a lot of trouble. There are many supporters of him, but there are also many opponents." The sailor said carelessly, "and the one who opposes him the most is King Bran. wife—Queen Bierna!"

House frowned, he didn't expect to hear such news.

"No offense, but I still want to ask—how did you know this kind of news, and you just traded it for steak and wine?"

"Ha, this is Skellige, not your inland." The sailor shook his head triumphantly, "Just this news...everyone in Skellige knows!"

……

"Everyone in Skellige knows that there is absolutely no chance of winning against a behemoth like Nilfgaard." The man said, "What's more, King Bran wants to abdicate to Easter and abandon everything to deal with Nilfgaard." De, can you accept this?"

The man who spoke was tall, muscular, bald, and had a beard.This pair is very in line with the islanders' aesthetics for "men".

But he was wearing a bearskin cloak, a wolf leather tanned shirt, a sealskin belt, and a thick oak staff in his hand—showing his druid status.

Although the druid lineage has always been a bit of a combination of magic and martial arts, this man's "martial arts" taste is a bit too strong, and he can even give people "bloody", "tough", and even "bloody" from the sight of him. Killing" feeling.

"Can you accept this?"

Druid repeated his last question.When he said these words, he raised his head, revealing three parallel lines of animal blood and painted battle patterns painted with Dan mineral paint on his face.

In front of him was a woman, slim and slender, forming a stark contrast with this druid like a beast and a beautiful woman.

The woman seemed to be aroused by the druid's rough aura, and almost wanted to back away.But then she remembered her identity again, forced herself to straighten her back, but her eyes shifted involuntarily.

"No, I can't take it."

Birna Bran took a deep breath, suppressed the discomfort and turned her gaze back to the druid: "I can't accept it, I can't accept my husband losing the throne, and I can't accept my son losing him The life you deserve."

[The most unacceptable thing for you is that you lose your rights. 】Druid made up for the queen in his heart, and sneered involuntarily.

But the expression on his face became sincere and confident: "That's great, Your Majesty. This is the first time you have expressed your heart to me so directly after talking to you for so long. It seems that the people of Sintra really give It puts a lot of pressure on you."

"Say it straight, Artis, what is your plan." Queen Bierna raised her chin and said haughtily, "Since you want to ask me for help, you should not ask me questions, but Help me solve the problem."

"If you satisfy me, I will give the Svalblo sect a place to live. Maybe it's a mountain, maybe it's a small island—it all depends on your next performance."

【What I want is not as simple as an island or a mountain. 】Druid Yatis sneered again in his heart, scoffing at the conditions given by the queen.

However, his body and expression still showed a strong ability to confuse, showing a touch of excitement just right: "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty."

"According to the information you gave me, three days later, His Majesty the King will hold a banquet in Little Skellige to entertain the people of Sintra, and at the same time call the seven families of the archipelago. I will let my Vilka wear the clothes of Sintra Armor, to assassinate the lords who participated in the banquet, to stir up conflicts among them."

"Ha, your Vilka Berserker? Even Lugo, the lunatic, would not believe such a low-level planting."

"Of course it won't be a berserker, Your Majesty, you can tell it's a Skellige at a glance. I will pick out ordinary Vilka warriors to complete this mission, but I will pick out the few with the most delicate skin and tender flesh , looks most like a mainlander.”

"Heh, here comes the question again: How can ordinary Velcas sneak into the banquet and complete the assassination mission?"

"Your Majesty's help is naturally needed to sneak into the banquet, I believe that is not worth mentioning to you." Attis whispered, "As for the assassination mission...they don't need to complete it, they just need to show up, draw their swords, Then just die."

The queen nodded with satisfaction: "Sounds very good, they are very qualified fighters. But I thought you would be more cautious, after all, I heard that there are not many Vilka people."

Attis lowered his head, showing a pious expression: "Everything...for my god Svalblo!"
-
In order to welcome the gathering of the seven Skellige families, Lane and his party moved to Little Skellige Island.

The island is governed by the Tursek family, where East and Bran belong.Originally, according to the close relationship, Lane and his party should have landed here through the portal, and the Tursek family would entertain them.

If Mossak came to open the portal, it should be so.

However, the fact is that Lane and his party first landed on the Great Skellige Island ruled by the Clayt family-because it was Yennefer who opened the portal.

Why did Yennefer do this?

"Geralt, where is Yennefer?"

East arranged for Lan a room and a living room that was many times larger than before, and Lan was resting here with the demon hunters and close attendants at the moment.

Colgrim and Cohen exchanged the usage of the seal and sword oil, the attendants stood guard meticulously, and Alice also floated out of the scimitar attached to her and stayed aside to draw.

Geralt leaned against the window, facing the sea breeze expressionlessly, and glanced at Lane after hearing his question.

"I'm probably talking to Kratz. You should know better than me about some political issues between witches and lords."

What White Wolf said was serious, but Lan knew it was not the case.

If I remember correctly, there was a relationship between Yennefer and Kratz.In the process of the white wolf looking for a woman in later generations, Ye Naifa fled in a hurry from the coercion and custody of the sorceress assembly house, and the shelter of the teleportation location was the Great Skellig Island where Kratz was located, and then staged a wave that made the former Boyfriend helps to discover boyfriend's good show.

As for the sorceress, Yennefer is now over 90 years old, and some romantic past events are relatively normal; anyway, there are many flowers and plants that the white wolf has messed with.

Although Geralt and Yennefer have achieved a certain sense of "fate connection" through various bizarre experiences, there are still many twists and turns in it, which is not enough for outsiders.

However, since Yennefer was invited by Ran and others to return to Kaer Morhen with Geralt, their relationship has stabilized a lot now.Geralt could even say that this was the most peaceful time he had ever spent with Yennefer.

"Geralt." Lane suddenly said melancholy, "Do you feel that the relationship between you and Yennefer has become much more harmonious and beautiful since having Ciri?"

White Wolf pretended to be absent-mindedly looking at the scenery, his eyes suddenly froze: "What are you implying?"

……

During the conversation, the door of the room opened.

The ones who came in without knocking on the door or notification could only be Yennefer and Shiri who were talking about just now.

Yennefer walked up to the white wolf, folded her hands on her chest, looked at Geralt unnaturally with straight eyes, and turned her face to one side.

Ciri hugged Lann's arm without hesitation, and began to sway and tell where he went and what he did today.

Seeing the white wolf's hesitant expression, Lan smiled, and asked Ciri:

"I remember you went out alone in the morning. Why did you meet Yennefer on the road? What did you do?"

From the corner of Lan's vision, he saw the white wolf's ears prick up as expected.

"Oh, I'm playing with Halma, and Caris is here too!" Ciri didn't notice the changes in the adults around him at all, "Ye Naifa didn't know what he was talking about with Kratz, but they didn't seem to be very happy. .Because when she saw me, she said something like 'Heiri, you must be tired from playing', and forced me to come back."

When Ciri said this, she glared at Yennefer angrily: "Halma and I haven't seen each other for a long time, I'm not tired!"

Although the voice was very soft, Lane, who had keen senses, heard Geralt let out a long breath of relief.

Immediately afterwards, Geralt began to look at Lan the way Lan had looked at him just now.

……

"Halma." Lan repeated what Ciri said.

"Yes, Halma." Ciri nodded, "And Caris, we used to play together when we were young, and you rarely came..."

Ciri and Kratz's sons and daughters are also very close because of the close family relationship.And if it is really necessary to choose one of the two that is "closer" to her, Ciri has a better relationship with Halma than Caris, who is also a girl.

All this is because of a childhood farce: Halma's skating speed was the best in Skellige when she was a teenager, and even adults couldn't beat him—until Ciri appeared.

During the skating competition where they competed against each other, Halma broke a limb and left a long scar on her face in her haste.After being taught a lesson by the elders, Ciri stayed by the bedridden Halma's side, reading poems to the seriously injured boy, chatting, and resolving his boredom.

Ye Naifa also seemed to know this story, and she jokingly recounted the ending of the story: "It is said that Halma announced with Kratz immediately after her injury that she was engaged to Ciri, and Kratz did give him a gift. a bride—a brand new whip."

The female sorceress sighed and shook her head: "Poor child, he was just able to walk after recovering from a serious injury, but he was beaten into a bedridden right away."

When Xili talked about this matter, he was open and generous, but he was a little distressed: "I didn't expect Halma to think about that, how could I agree to his marriage proposal..."

As she spoke, her hand holding Lann's arm shook again, and she blinked her big eyes at the pair of dark golden lion pupils.

At this moment, Lan En suddenly felt a twinge on his back.

When he turned around, he saw the demon hunters at the round table talking about the previous topic without changing their expressions, and the attendants kept their eyes on each other and carried their weapons to fulfill their duties.

But Lann, who was keen, could clearly tell that the communication between the demon hunters was completely inconsistent, and the posture of the attendants holding their weapons was so awkward that one couldn't help but want to help them adjust.

Apparently they weren't doing what they were doing until they took a breath.

And in the middle of the table, there was a wine glass shaking and almost fell down. Obviously, someone made a big move and touched it just now.

……

Lane chuckled with a "huh".

He didn't care much about the affairs between Ciri and Halma.

Being young and ignorant is one aspect, and if you want to talk about "childhood sweethearts", the real "childhood sweethearts" between yourself and Ciri are the ones who grew up.

Halma was just Ciri's occasional playmate on vacation.In other words -- Lane's Ome over Halma.

And if you dig deeper, Lan En is still the most domineering "green plum from heaven"!
Shaking his head, Lan pushed out the messy thoughts in his head, and was about to yell at the attendants to adjust their posture, when there was a knock on the door suddenly.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Enter."

The door opened, and two young men with reddish-brown hair walked in, a man and a woman.

"Halma, Caris!" Ciri exclaimed in surprise, "Are you here to find me?"

……

The demon hunters who were chatting suddenly paused, and the expressions on the faces of the attendants who were dutifully standing guard became more serious.

Halma smiled like a sea breeze on her typically rugged islander face.He was around Lane's age, but had already begun to grow a beard.

Lan En suddenly took a step to the left to block his sight, thought for a while, and asked:
"Halma, I remember that in terms of seniority, I'm your... cousin, right?"

The bearded young man froze suddenly.

"It seems so...why did you mention this all of a sudden?"

"It's okay, it's just that I haven't been back for a long time, and I want to sort out our relationship." Lan En said with a satisfied smile, "Do you have anything to do?"

This time Halma didn't speak again, but Caris who was on the side stepped forward.

Caris's hair color is very similar to Triss's, but the red is not so bright, and the deep and deep brown occupies the main tone of her hair.

Although she is a woman, she still has a strong islander temperament.She is neatly dressed, wearing a thin cotton padded jacket that wraps her body that is usually diligent in exercising. This outfit can get off the boat or go up the mountain at any time without hindering her movement in the slightest.

In addition, she is also wearing a bearskin waistcoat and a bearskin belt. It is said that the bearskin decoration on King Bran's body is taken from the same bear, and this bear was hunted by King Bran with Caris and his guards. .

Unlike Halma who came straight to Ciri, when Caris entered the house, the focus of her sight was Lann.

correct.When playing as a child, if Ciri was closer to Halma, then Caris was closer to Lan.

"Sorry, Ciri, we have a 'mission' here, but we're not looking for you." Caris smiled, "We're looking for Lan."

……

At the junction of the sea and the mountains beside the castle, a cliff stands.

Between the changes of light and shadow in the morning sun, the outline of the cliff is illuminated by soft colors, and even the stones are reflected with silver waves.

Artists or scholars should be full of joy when they see this place.Accompanied by the cool sea breeze, the melodious singing of gulls, and the stirring shadows of trees, this place should be a good place for seclusion.

However, it is not a hermit or a scholar who really enjoys such a view and such a scene.

It is a simple tomb.

A lonely, sad grave.

A lonelier, sadder man stood before this tomb.

He didn't speak for a long time, and finally spoke out when he heard footsteps behind him.

"I'm sorry... I scribbled to bury Calanthe here. I know that Sintra has a royal cemetery." Easter said, "But the Tursek family has no cemetery, and we islanders... very few need a grave."

The Skelliges are either buried in the sea or buried in the mountains; there are also some real warriors who, when they realize that their death is approaching, choose to go alone into the forest with a dagger to hunt the giant bear, and let glory put an end to their lives.

Hearing East's words, Lan stopped when he was three steps away from East, with his arms folded on his waist.

"I know what's here... My aunt mentioned it before, she likes the scenery here the most." Lan En sighed, "It's been more than a year now, but this is the first time for me to pay homage to my aunt... I really shouldn't .”

The sad aura on Easter's body disappeared at a certain moment. He has been sad for too long, enough is enough.

"Don't be too harsh on yourself, Lane, what you do outside is what can really comfort my love."

Lann bowed his head in silence, mourning for his elders.

After a few breaths, he raised his gaze: "Caris said you are waiting for me here."

"That's right." East nodded, "On the one hand, it's to bring you to meet my love. After Cintra recovers, you can move her back and let her sleep with her ancestors."

"On the other hand, people from the other five major families will come over tomorrow. Do you have any ideas? Do you need me to introduce them to you?"

Lann let out a long breath: "If possible, this would be the best."

(End of this chapter)