From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 221 Mother's Kindness and Son's Filial Piety at the Banquet
Lane looked at himself in the mirror.

Obviously he was going to attend a banquet, but at the moment he was wearing simple leather armor, a white robe, a blue waist protector and a deerskin belt, and a black bear fur vest over his shoulders.

There are no longer two swords on his back, but only a long dagger with a lion's head as a handle tied around his waist.

This is a very awkward outfit, and it doesn't match the knight outfit of Lann fighting on horseback, and it doesn't match the fighting style of the Griffin School of Demon Hunters.

But this is indeed a dress to be prepared for a banquet.

The Skelligs don't like fancy silks, and they dress for a party as if they were going to war.For them, a banquet is a place to enjoy meat, wine, and even fists. Indulging themselves is the first priority, and they laugh at those sissy clothes that are too awkward to make big movements after wearing them.

But later, the islanders who had too much martial virtue discovered that it seemed too easy to make a big fuss to go to a banquet with an ax and iron armor. The fools on alcohol didn't know where they would let their weapons fly in the next second.

So they made a compromise: only wearing leather armor, daggers, and adding some decorations according to their preferences.In this way, if they go crazy, the guards on the side can hold them down in time.

This kind of banquet style is far from that of the mainland, but Sintra has Mossak, the old Skellygdruid, as an advisor, and the caring old butler Ens has already made preparations for Lane to avoid being rude.

Milva helped Lan adjust his collar, and walked out of the room contentedly, taking his beloved longbow and preparing to follow as a guard.

Afterwards, Ciri ran in stomping, and after looking at Lann, he helped him straighten the collar that was messed up by Milva.

"Why don't you even know how to wear your own clothes now? Is it the same when you are fighting outside?"

Lan En sighed and avoided the topic: "Let's go, don't keep the lords waiting for too long."

……

The banquet has already started, and the entrance of Lan En and his party has attracted a lot of attention, but everyone is watching coldly and has not taken the initiative to talk to them.

In other words, they were waiting for King Bran to take the initiative to introduce this famous young man who wanted more from him.

Knowing that in Skellige, the etiquette templates he had learned before would no longer be used, Lan showed his truest side, no longer wearing a decent smile that might arouse the disgust of the islanders, but a slightly expressionless smile. Squinting the lion pupils, he scanned the banquet scene.

He is looking for his purpose.

In addition to the seven major families, many vassals, heirs, and warriors they admired attended the banquet. Therefore, the entire banquet scene did not look like the living room of the royal family, but rather like a well-dressed place. Neat cafeteria.

Almost no one was sitting, and everyone walked and ran wantonly, choosing their favorite seafood, bread, and wine on the dining tables that could be seen everywhere, and laughing wantonly from time to time.

Lan even saw that the place where the table was originally placed was cleared aside by a few men, and a circle of people started a fist-to-body boxing match. The reason was just doubts about a certain hunting.

"House."

Lan En read softly, and the sword attendant strode forward in response.

"Where is the lord you told me about before, the lord who may have taken in the demon hunter."

"My lord, he is..."

The sword attendant followed Lan En to scan the crowd, and was about to answer the oath master's question when a familiar laugh interrupted their communication.

"Lan!"

Standing behind him, King Bran clapped his right hand on Lan En's shoulder when he turned his head, as if treating his real nephew affectionately.

House bowed his head to salute the king, and then left sideways at Lane's gesture.

King Bran was accompanied by a graceful lady and a gentle young man.After seeing Lan En, a friendly smile appeared on the young man's face.

"This is my wife and my son. They were not in the castle a few days ago, so I couldn't introduce them to you."

Lann saluted King Bran's wife, Birna Bran, as a junior.

The queen was the only one present who could give Lan "the sense of aristocratic familiarity".She was wearing a long black dress inlaid with broken diamonds. Pearl chains were sewn on the skirt and draped over her chest. Her long hair was meticulously braided into whips and tied into a bun behind her head. Gard's perfume smell.

She strictly abides by her demeanor, making it difficult to find faults. The skirt fluctuates regularly and neatly like ocean waves as she walks.

Facing Lane's greeting, a decent but distant smile appeared on her face.

"Long time no see, Lane, Ciri."

Lan didn't have any impression of her, and Ciri greeted her with the same etiquette as Bierna.

……

As for the other young man—Svanrigi Ann Tursek, he was much more straightforward. He warmly stepped forward to embrace Lane, and he humorously performed chivalry etiquette to Ciri, making the little girl giggle .

"You need to get closer, Svanrigi, just like the pair of Kratz's sons and daughters. The future belongs to you young people. Only when you unite can you defeat a powerful enemy."

Before the son could answer his father's teaching, Queen Bierna suddenly said: "As long as we are still on the island and at sea, we Skellige have no enemies."

King Bran frowned unobtrusively, looked at his embarrassed son and shook his head.

He strode forward, away from his wife, and closer to Lan.

With his left arm around the shoulder of the blond lion-eyed Duke and his right hand on the little princess' head, King Bran slowly led them to the banquet.

"I just saw that you seemed to be chatting with the attendants, did I disturb you?"

"No, in fact I may still need your help."

Lann raised his jaw slightly. With his height, he was still half a head shorter than King Bran.

"I'm looking for Lord Torgil. My attendant has received news that a warrior I really want to befriend is now working for him. I want to use him to make a bridge and get to know that warrior."

"The one who can be praised by you Lann must be a real warrior!"

King Bran laughed and searched the crowd for a while, pointing to a middle-aged man with white beard and hair.The man's beard was very long, tied together with two knots, and he was watching the boxing match in a corner of the hall, and he was one of the people who cheered the most.

"That's Thorgil, nicknamed 'Blood Red', he was a very brave sea warrior when he was young." Branco said, "In terms of relationship, he is also a member of our Tursek family, he is my elder , but it’s separated now. If you want to get to know each other, I can introduce you.”

"That would be great." Lann showed a sincere smile.

……

His eyes followed the direction of King Bran, but he no longer looked at the blood-red Torgil he was looking for, but noticed the two boxers who were being watched.

That was more of a beating than a boxing.A boxer who is obviously taller and stronger than his opponent is throwing punches one after another at this moment, while his opponent is constantly retreating. Even if he is blocked, he will definitely be injured under such a heavy punch.

In fact, his opponent was almost unable to lift his arms, but Lane suspected that the big man was holding back.

From the shouts of the onlookers, it can be heard that this warrior who obviously suppressed his opponent seems to have defeated several challengers in a row.

Lane couldn't see his face because the boxer's back was turned to him.

He was about to go forward to make friends, but King Bran's arm on his shoulders began to exert force, turning his body in one direction abruptly.

"With me here, Thorgil can get to know him anytime."

"But people from the other five major families have already arrived. It's rare to have the opportunity to gather them all at once like today. I think it's better for you to greet them first."

Lan En thought about it, and felt that this sentence made sense, and things should be prioritized.

"East should have introduced them to you, about their respective characteristics and positions?"

Lane nodded.

……

Skellige has six islands and seven families.

Currently the most powerful is naturally the Tursek family with the current king and the former king.Their territory is Little Skellige, which has the most beautiful scenery, the most delicious food, and the leading shipwright in the archipelago.

The second is Clayte, where Kratz belongs, which is also a family where kings often appear.They and another family divided Great Skellige, the largest island in the archipelago, with the most prosperous port and the most densely populated.

These two families basically accounted for half of Skellige's power, and they were also Lane's most solid backing in the archipelago.

After that is the Haimei family, the current patriarch is Dona Ann Xinda, a respectable old man.Their domain was the Isle of Indalsfair, the birthplace of the cult of Freya, goddess of fertility, love, beauty, and harvest.

The rest of the family forces are basically the same.

The patriarch of the Drummond family, nicknamed "Madman", named Lugo, occupies the southern part of Great Skellige.

The lord of the Brokval family is called Udarek.The fief is Spekrugge Island, which is covered with snow all the year round and has a famous tournament arena.

The patriarch of the Dimen family is called Hogg Blackhand and occupies Faroe Island.Hogg Blackhand's force is superb, but his territory is the most desolate and primitive island.

There is also the Todaloch family, whose patriarch is the Todalohe family, whose territory is Udvik Island, which used to be the second largest island after Great Skellige, until the ice giant appeared here—that is, Yi The end that Sturt wants to attack.

The above is what East and Lane taught, and also combined with some information Lane obtained in his previous life.

It's very complicated, there are many names of people and places, so you don't need to remember them deliberately, anyway, I will introduce them slowly later.

……

After hearing Lan's answer, King Bran nodded with satisfaction, "I know it's complicated. Although the Skellige Islands are small, the intricate relationship will not be simpler than that of your northern border; I heard that your noble genealogy and The results in heraldry are all good, and I will explain them to you one by one later."

"I'll tell you briefly first, and then I'll take you to meet them."

"Dona Ann Xinda of Haimei, you can tell from his name that he is our relative, but their family is a devout follower of Goddess Freya. If you want to get his support, apart from blood , depends on faith."

"Harold has a good relationship with us, no problem; Hogg Blackhand needs you to pay a certain price; Udarek is talkative, but at least he can communicate; the only thing I can't guess is Lugo, he is Same as his nickname..."

"Your Majesty, are you okay, I seem to hear you talking about me?" A voice intervened between King Bran and Rann, "Mind me joining the conversation between you? I can't wait to get to know this famous man Ah, the 'Lion'!"

It was only then that King Bran's words reached Lan's ears: "He's just like his nickname...a 'crazy'."

……

Hearing King Bran's words, instead of being angry, the lunatic Lugo smiled as if he was being praised, just because his enemy gave him this nickname.

Seeing the slightly displeased look in King Bran's eyes, he saluted his king, doing his duty as a courtier.

And after this ceremony, the short-lived "courier" aura on him disappeared immediately, and he turned into a sailor, or even a pirate.

"The lion of Cintra, right?" Lugo quickly locked his eyes on Lann beside King Bran, "I heard that you want my fleet, my sailors, and my support? No question!"

He touched the dagger at his waist, and his eyes flashed with excitement: "Fight with me, the famous 'Lion'! If you win, you can gain my respect and friendship, no matter how many people I dispatch , How the spoils are delivered, all depends on your performance in the duel."

"It's a pity that axes are not allowed at the banquet, only sissy things like daggers-but we can have a boxing match first, just as a warm-up."

Oh open?

Colgrim, who was not far away, looked towards Luka the lunatic after hearing about it, his snake pupils flashing dangerously.

Lan En, on the other hand, fell into deep thought with a serious expression on his face.

I didn't expect that the first lord to communicate would be the lunatic Lugo, and the way of communication was so sudden and absurd.

As a patriarch, it seems absurd to tie the fate of the family to such a child's play duel, but it seems very reasonable to happen to the crazy Lugo.

The Drummond family led by the madman Lugo has an annoying tradition-pretentious but not very capable.It is said that they originally lived on Udvik Island, but later moved to the richer island of Great Skellige, and took root in the south, starting a century-long land conflict with the Clayt family where Kratz belonged.

In Lugo's generation, he has insisted that Kratz stole their family's territory, and the entire Great Skellige should belong to the Drummond family.It wasn't until after a boxing match that excited his opponents that he had to swallow his anger due to the double weakness of personal strength and family power.

Lan Enhe is willing to have a fist-to-flesh free fight with this guy.It would be best if the other party could keep his promise, but if he couldn't, he would take it as an outburst of anger for his cousin Kratz.

King Bran looked at Lan, and the lion-like young man gave him a confident look.

"Of course, Lugo. A duel of warriors is always exciting." King Bran nodded and agreed to Lugo's application for a duel.

"But not now. How about waiting for the banquet to start? This kind of battle should be used to bring a climax to an event, and it should be surrounded by crowds of onlookers and cheers!"

Crazy Lugo cracked the corner of his mouth: "Follow your will, Your Majesty."

For King Bran, no matter how rebellious the lord is, he has basic respect, after all, this is the king they elected.

This kind of respect is also limited to the king, and it is very few for those around him.

After throwing a provocative look at Lann, the lunatic Lugo licked his lips and left with excitement on his face.

Lan was even more excited than he was.

King Bran himself was the focus of everyone's attention. The ministers should have stepped forward to greet each other, but they saw that the king seemed to be teaching the juniors, so they politely left room for them.

There is also the meaning of observing the people of Sintra.

And after seeing the lunatic Lugo approached to talk, interested people began to ask each other what happened.

Those who are familiar with the nature of the lunatic Lugo can guess exactly what happened just now by seeing the way he communicated with Lann.

They all showed different expectations.

King Bran hugged Lan En and walked to the innermost position facing the gate of the banquet hall, took a pair of silver cups and a knife, and tapped it lightly twice.

"Ding, ding--"

The master of the banquet was calling the attention of the crowd, and the king was about to speak.

Now everyone's eyes are cast over.

"First of all, thank you for coming to my banquet today. I hope that the wine and dishes of our Little Skellige Island can meet your taste."

Immediately, the bold islanders cheered in unison:
"Extremely delicious, extremely enjoyable, thank you Your Majesty!"

The smile on the king's face was even more satisfied.

"The archipelago has no secrets, and I believe that you can guess why I invited you here. But no matter what the final result is, I hope this will not damage the unity of the archipelago, and I don't want any damage to our glory. things."

"Now, let's start today's banquet with a glass of fine wine."

King Bran raised the horn cup in his hand above his head, and uttered a battle cry that belonged to the Skellige: "Renarug!"

The atmosphere of relaxation and freedom suddenly disappeared, and then became more and more enthusiastic.

Everyone raised their wine glasses and beat their chests hard: "Rena Luge! Reina Luge! Reina Luge!"

He raised his head and drank the fine wine, and King Bran hugged Lan En, not shying away from intimacy: "Next, I want to officially introduce a person to you, a warrior whom you have heard of for a long time..."

……

When all eyes were on King Bran and Lann, only one person was looking around uneasily, out of tune with everyone.

That person was Queen Birna Bran.

Her son looked adoringly at his father and Lann beside him; while she carefully looked at the Cintra guards who entered the arena with Lann.

There is a rumor in the folks of Skellige who doesn't know how to avoid words: "The heroic king, the vain queen, and the cowardly prince."

Her husband is indeed a hero, and Bierna married him because of that; but Bierna doesn't admit that she is vain, she just thinks that Skellige is impolite; she doesn't think her son is cowardly, he just listens to her own words. ,This is good.

Son just needs a chance and being king would be nice.Therefore, Bierna is committed to abolishing Skellige's king election system and implementing the succession system.

But now her husband is actually going to voluntarily give up the throne, which is unacceptable to her.

So the cause of all this, the people of Cintra, must go away.If necessary, the "Knight of the Sea" East Tursek will also disappear.

Which one will be the assassin arranged by the fallen druid Yatis?If you want to act, the best time is now when everyone's attention is attracted by the king, right?

Or do we have to wait until everyone is drunk?

Queen Bierna crossed her chest with her left hand and held a glass of Toussaint's Eastern Wine in her right hand. She leisurely pulled her son closer to her guards—who knows if the disturbing fallen druid would If there are any thoughts that should not be there, the safety of myself and my son is the most important thing.

【Who is the one? 】The queen thought to herself, 【That guard in plate armor?A woman with a longbow?Or was it one of the group of guards behind them? 】

While thinking, Bierna suddenly noticed something was wrong.

None of these Sintras wore helmets.

There are only so many of them, and they must be familiar with each other. Even if they are fully armed, they may be able to distinguish the enemy from the subtle habitual movements, let alone the current state of being naked?
So assassins are definitely not among the Cintra people.

Bierna suddenly felt the bloody taste of the bright red wine in her mouth, and a chill suddenly rushed from her tailbone to the top of her head, spreading to every hair tip.

There are people with helmets in the hall—that is, the guards of the Tursek family.

Facts have proved that now is indeed the best time for the assassin to act, because everyone's attention is on King Bran.

……

"Roar!!"

A deafening beast roar interrupted King Bran's introduction, and completely pulled out Bierna's energy.

It was the roar of an animal that every Skellige was extremely familiar with, and it was the top predator that even established exploration teams had to avoid.

Skellige bear.

"Roar!!"

The guard behind him suddenly roared towards him, followed by a panicked and short scream.

A strong fishy smell enveloped Bierna.It was the same color as the fine wine in her glass, but the thicker and viscous liquid suddenly splashed all over her body.

She lowered her head tremblingly, only to see the blood go over her lambskin high heels and soak the hem of her velvet skirt.

A black figure who was many times bigger than her rushed towards her, but she was disturbed by her complicated thoughts and stood still.

"Mother!"

A young and determined voice came into Bierna's ears, and then she felt a strong force, and she was hugged by a pair of familiar arms and flew away.

That was her and King Bran's son, and she tried her best to break the original intention of King Skellige's election system, her pride - Svanrigi Ann Tursek.

But then Bierna felt that the direction of her flight in mid-air suddenly changed, and a more irresistible force acted on her.

That was the strength of the giant bear's slap on his son.

(End of this chapter)