From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 275 Saskia's Confusion
"It's been hundreds of years since something like this happened in Mahakam, and I haven't been in such a bad mood for hundreds of years. So I'll just say the last time—"

"lay down your weapon!"

As if a drumstick was hitting their eardrums, all the Ziegling dwarves couldn't help but retreat a few steps.Facing the orders of the Great Elder and Barclay's scowling face, the Ziglin dwarves no longer had the courage to raise their weapons.

They turned their heads together and looked at their patriarch helplessly, eager to hear the order they were expecting.

"We, we..." Patriarch Ziglin's eyes were red, and he stared at Barclay and Lane, the voice in his throat seemed to be squeezed out of his stomach.

It is no longer possible to kill the enemies of the feud, and it is even possible to get involved with one's own clan.In this way, Patriarch Ziglin still refused to give up. He couldn't accept that the accumulation of the clan for several centuries would be wiped out, and he would become a solitary miner, or become a bereaved dog and be driven out of his homeland.

"We can, we can..."

With a "bang", Patriarch Zigrin's head suddenly tilted, and his body fell heavily into the snow.

Gabo slowly retracted the handle of the axe, and sighed as he watched the unconscious patriarch.

Behind Gabo, a hidden passage appeared in the formation of the dwarven warriors of the Ziegling clan. These Ziegrin warriors moved out of their way so spontaneously that Gabo approached the patriarch as if he had entered no one's land.

"We lay down our weapons," Gabor said.

Afterwards, the sound of steel falling to the ground continued to resound.

……

Lane and his party stayed in Davor for another two days, waiting for the arrival of Carbon Mountain's army to take over the conflict between Chiglin and Fuchs.

On behalf of the Great Elder, Barclay expressed his gratitude to Lan for discovering Ziglin's plot in time and preventing the conflict from aggravating to the point of no return.But thanking is of no use, Lane knew that this traditional and cunning old dwarf would not make any more concessions on support.

On the contrary, Colonel Barclay himself expressed his strong affection for Lane, and also expressed his admiration for this Sintra army, which only had a few dozen people but dared to intervene in the battlefield of thousands of people.This is an unexpected gain for Lan En. If this dwarf with high military literacy and reputation will lead the volunteer army to the north as in history, it will be convenient for the future to have a good relationship with him.

Barclay also invited Lane and his party to return to Carbon Mountain, but Lane declined after careful consideration.

Although something like this happened between Fuchs and Ziglin, their promise to help the Ferenc clan to be a lobbyist is still there.If there is a chance to get more support, Lan will always try - after all, they are Mahakam heavy infantry.

Besides, Lann also wanted to meet the red dragon Kelturis in Mahakam.

Saskia, who has been with Lann's team, also has this idea. She has been very excited since she knew that the team might go to the Ferenc clan.The reason why she chose to rest temporarily in Mahakam was also because there were red dragons here.

However, after the conflict between Chieglin and Fuchs, Saskia's mood has been very low.

"Lannister...Duke?" On the way, Saskia, who hesitated to speak several times, finally couldn't suppress her desire, and walked quickly to Lann's side.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Lan En chuckled: "Your question is basically written on your face, and I have been waiting for you to ask it all the way."

Saskia lowered her head, secretly reflecting on her shortcomings of writing all her thoughts on her face, and felt that she was really inexperienced and inexperienced.

But she quickly remembered her purpose: "I don't understand, Duke Lannister. Why did the conflict between Fuchs and Zeigling intensify to such an extent?"

"Mahakan is the spiritual hometown of the dwarves, and it is also the home of the dwarves to resist outside invasion. They should be united here. Don't they know how much damage their actions will cause to Mahakam?"

Lan glanced at Saskia: "Why do you care so much?"

Saskia's eyes showed confusion: "My father has been looking for a country where all races live in peace and equality, and I also hope that I can find such a country. I have always thought that only by reconciling the conflicts between races Yes, but now it seems that there will be horrific tragedies even within the race, I don't understand..."

Lan thought for a while and asked, "You're from Zerikhan, right? Hasn't such a thing happened there? And you've been in the north for so long, don't tell me you haven't seen any conflicts erupting within the race. .”

"I know about the Nilfgaardian invasion, as well as the various conflicts between countries in the northern border—those scales are much larger than here." Saskia whispered, "However, I always thought that only human beings are special... "

"Since you are talking about racial equality, why are human beings special? Human beings are so 'special' now only because of their large population. Do you believe it or not, as long as a race has the number and dominance of human beings, it can also be for the benefit of the people? Start the battle?"

"Elves won't." Saskia retorted seriously.

The race of elves is indeed a strange thing. After they ruled the mainland, they began to sing and dance almost to the extreme.In the early days of the rise of human beings, they retreated again and again, expecting that human beings would be content with harvesting the territory in front of them; but everyone knows that humans have replaced elves as rulers, and elves have no one in mainstream society. An official country or even a city-level gathering place.

Lane sneered: "Don't forget that elves are also outsiders from another world. Before the arrival of elves, dwarves and gnomes lived here. Guess how elves obtained under such circumstances, and To consolidate your rule?"

It can only be said that the long-term peace has paralyzed the elves, and this is just the Ain Sidi elves in this world today.You must know that there is still an Ain El elf in another world, and their actions will be even more bloody, definitely beyond the imagination of the girl in front of her.

Saskia fell silent again.For the first time, she seems to have started to think about these issues practically. Her views have always been too idealized, and it is only now that she has discovered those sharp points.

"Why is this happening, Lord Lannister?"

Lane thought for a while, and replied: "If it is an elderly guy, he may answer you 'where there are people, there is struggle', and this 'people' includes all races. It is really powerful to say this , There is a feeling of seeing through the world and even transcending one's own biological level."

"But what we want is not this kind of detachment. We can't let it go after saying something that sounds powerful. After all, we have to do things down-to-earth." Lane sighed, "In fact, I haven't reached the level where I can The height to answer this question is not the kind of knowledge that can be obtained from books. I still need to find the answer to this question and come up with a solution to it from within my own rule."

"But the reason why I came to you is because I heard that there are multiple races living in harmony in Sintra. You seem to have achieved this?"

"That's right, but the situation in Sintra is special." Lane nodded, "Sintra has the current atmosphere because everyone is fighting side by side; at the same time, Sintra has also abandoned malicious slander among various races." The rumors created a clean public opinion environment; and the most important..."

Lan pointed to himself: "...There is also me, a person who allows all this to happen, and I will not be restricted by my own racial stance...at least it is too restrictive. Only when these elements are complete can we be able to The rudiments of a country where multiple races live in peace have been established."

"And the reason why I did all this was not driven by idealism: I just needed the power to rebuild the country at the beginning; and those races needed a clean and peaceful land. This allows us to some extent for the same Fight for one goal, so you can live in peace."

Saskia lowered her head, thoughtful: "So such a country can only be established in such a way from scratch, without thinking about changing the status quo of people in a certain area, right?"

Lane nodded: "It is much easier to re-establish a concept than to reverse the existing solid concept."

Sakiya found something wrong: "In this case, maybe the first generation of Sintra can live in harmony, but what about later? Especially the lifespan of human beings is short, such a change will not make Sintra a few generations later Is it turbulent?"

"I can't find a way to maintain this kind of kingdom other than having an emperor who is strong enough and long enough to live forever."

Saskia seemed to be at a dead end, but this kind of speech made Lann laugh.

"I think it is very irresponsible to tie a country's thousands of years of inheritance to one person. It's just..."

……

The topic these two people were talking about seemed a bit too profound, and Geralt looked at Saskia in surprise.

This girl hadn't been in the team for a long time, and Geralt didn't know much about her yet.It's hard to imagine that such a seemingly socially awkward girl is thinking about such lofty ideals all day long.Lane also seemed to be extra patient with Saskia.

Even if Geralt had a good sense of politics, this kind of topic was beyond his level to participate in.He even felt that it was impolite to listen for a while.

Lightly knocking on the horse's belly, Geralt moved slightly away from the two of them, and after scanning his gaze, Geralt saw a few extra dwarves in the team.

Among them was Petrit, who was the messenger arranged by the Fuchs clan for Lane and his party.

In addition, there is Gabo.

He was full of preoccupations, and walked in the middle of the queue with his head down, no longer the boldness he had when we first met.But it's understandable when you think about it, no one can still be sunny and cheerful after such a big thing happened just now.

"Thinking about what?" Geralt asked as he stepped forward.He and Yarpan's team are friends who have known each other for many years, and they have a good impression of Ziglin Aiwu and Udi. After entering Mahakam, he also likes Gabo's character.Although what happened before, Geralt knew that it was not Gabor's fault.

Gabo looked up at Geralt, guilt appeared in his eyes again.Some dwarves cared more about glory than human knights, and Gabor was one of them, which was why he felt extra guilty about concealing the behavior of Lane and his party before.

"I... wondered what Cintra would be like. After all, that's where the Ziegling boys will live."

……

The Ziegling clan—or a part of the Ziegling clan—will move to Cintra later, which is another huge gain for Lane in this event.

Great Elder Brovar Hogg’s punishment for the Chiglins is: “All the Chiglins who participated in this operation will be sent to the mines for 500 years of hard labor as miners; those who don’t do hard labor will be expelled from Mahakam, and they will be banned for the rest of their lives.” And set foot on the land of the mountains."

So which dwarves are going to mine in the end, and which dwarves are going to be expelled from Mahakam for "not doing hard work"?

Lann didn't know who was serving the labor, but the dwarves who were going to be expelled from Mahakam had already been determined: Gabo, the dwarves led by Gabo were young and strong, plus those who were unwilling to do anything to Geralt before. The dwarf warriors who were squeezed to the back of the team and finally made way for Gabo to attack the patriarch.

This list was definitely not chosen by Lane, and there is no tacit understanding that cannot be said.

These dwarves were expelled from Mahakam by normal procedures, which was in line with the tradition. Even now, all the dwarves except Gabo were detained in Carbon Mountain to await trial. Lann just knew the result earlier.

As to why these dwarves who were expelled from Mahakam ended up returning to Cintra, that is another matter.

At this moment, hearing Gabo worry about his future life, Geralt, who was not good at words, began to comfort others.

"Believe me, witchers are even less popular than dwarves in the North, but even so, I like Cintra." Geralt raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "And Yarpen should have told you more than once Having said that about his life in Sintra, what worries do you have?"

"As for Ran..." Geralt shook his head when Gabo looked worriedly at the lion in the team. "Believe me, he has no problem with you. As long as you lead the clan's warriors to Follow the command on the battlefield, and you can definitely get what you want."

"Perhaps you will be able to build a brand new and more powerful Zigrein in Sintra."

……

The long journey passed away quietly in their respective conversations.

Soon, the atmosphere of civilization appeared in the distance of the road again, and there was smoke from cooking houses floating on the snow layer.

What appeared in front of me was another obvious dwarf-style building. Every house seemed to grow out of the mountain wall and the ground, and most of the houses were integrated with nature.

"This is the 'Witch's Lair', the town where the Ferenc clan lives." Gabor braced himself to perform his duties as a guide, "I know the name is weird, but this is the Ferenc clan destroying a group of harpies They feel that this name can engrave their glory."

"I know that you must be thinking why it is not called the 'Banshee's Lair', but this is their own territory after all, and no one has ever asked the reason why they chose this name from the mouth of the Ferenc patriarch." Petrit took Gabor's words and shrugged.

The two dwarves looked at each other and turned their heads at the same time.

"What I care about now is not the name of this town, but those people..."

Geralt pointed to the edge of the town, where a group of dwarves in different clothes were gathering, looking forward to the wind and snow.

"Are they... welcoming us?"

Lan shook his head: "We didn't send any news of our coming to the Ferenc clan before. And..."

"And I don't think people who welcome foreign guests will have such worried expressions."

Dozens of dwarves were gathered at the edge of the Ferenc clan town named [Witch's Lair].Their eyes looked hopeful and apprehensive, and each carried a basket full of dry sausages, fluffy wraps and bubbling cans of beer.

(End of this chapter)