From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 276

"They definitely didn't come to welcome us." Petrit said categorically, "Even if the First Elder came, they wouldn't be treated like this. But I probably know what they are here for. If you count the time..."

Geralt lowered his head and interrupted Gabo in a low voice: "If we go back to Sintra, maybe we can see such a scene."

"I'm looking forward to it..." Gabo lowered his head and said weakly, "But Petrit has already guessed why these brothers and sisters gathered here."

"Today is the day when children who travel abroad go home. Their children, or brothers and sisters should come back today. They hope that those children will feel the taste of home for the first time. After all..."

Gabo, who once traveled abroad and returned to his hometown, sighed, his voice was even more tired: "The outside world is not a 'home'."

After the dwarves reach adulthood at the age of 55, they will have the opportunity to leave Mahakam for the first time since their birth, but if they do not return within the specified time, they will be ordered not to return to Mahakam in this life.

Generally speaking, at this time in previous years, dwarves who couldn't stand human society would cry and pounce on their parents, but this year...

"It's not right." Petrit frowned and counted the dwarves who were looking forward to it, "The number of children of the Ferenc clan should have grown up last year, but now everyone is still waiting outside... none of those children return?"

Lane also frowned. The dwarf's town was small and the buildings were low, so it was almost unobstructed.However, he didn't see those people who could be seen out of the crowd at a glance.

In order to speed up the efficiency of cleaning up the monsters in Mahakam, Lann's troops were divided into three groups.In charge of Clan Ferenzi were Kolgrim and Milva, with a troop of Cintra cavalry.But at this moment, there is no "elder man" among the dwarves in the "witch's lair".

The approach of Lan and his party quickly attracted the attention of the Ferenc clan.The eyes of the parents who waited for their children's return lit up, then dimmed, and then suddenly became eager.

More dwarves ran to the houses in the center of town, shouting.

"Patriarch, there are humans coming again, and their team is still following Petrit and Gabo, Ziglin and Fuchs at the same time!"

A bald dwarf in a padded jacket quickly ran out of the stone house.His age can be seen from his gray beard, obviously this is also an old dwarf who is hundreds of years old.

But his spirit was still as vigorous as a furnace, and he shouted all the way:
"Gabo! Petrit! I almost thought that the snow in Mahakam had melted, but I could see you all appearing in the same team at the same time!"

Gabo lowered his head in a low mood again, but Petrit quickly stepped forward and greeted Ferenc's patriarch politely.Then he began to introduce the identities of Lan En and his party, as well as the purpose of his party.

Patriarch Ferenzi's complexion soon turned bright. He looked at Lann with the eyes of a rare animal, and quickly stepped forward and held out his right hand high.

"Ha, Duke Lannister of Cintra, I've heard of you. But I never thought that anyone besides me could gain the friendship of Ziglin and Fuchs at the same time, and even gather them in the same team .You have to tell me exactly what happened later!"

"I'm Wavřenek Ferencz, the patriarch here!"

This time, not only Gabo, but even Petrit lowered his head slightly.

Lane bent slightly with a socially etiquette smile and shook hands with Wavgenek Ferenc, and introduced himself: "I am Lane from Sintra, Lane Lannister Rayanne. Believe in the Chief Fuzinek already knows the purpose of our coming here."

"Please forgive me for being eager." Lan apologized slightly, "But if nothing went wrong, I should have sent a team here in advance to help clean up the monsters. But now I haven't seen them."

"I know, you're talking about the team led by the snake-eyed witcher and the girl with the longbow." When he was talking about this, Wavzhinek glanced at Geralt behind Lane. Wolves also have similar vertical amber eyes.

"They're not here now, they went out to help. Speaking of which, it has something to do with them."

Wavzhinek said, pointing to the dwarves on the edge of the town.When Lan En and his party first arrived, those parents seemed to gather around faintly, eager to try.Seeing the sign of the patriarch at this moment, after discussing with each other, they sent a representative to step forward.

This is a female dwarf, a mother.Wearing a thick cotton skirt and thick cotton trousers, the whole person looks like a cotton ball.Not only that, but she also had a long beard - a characteristic of dwarves, both men and women have beards.

Geralt was well-informed, Lann had strong expression management, and the others had experienced a lot during this period, so no one showed any strangeness to the female dwarf's appearance.

However, although the appearance of the female dwarf is very different from that of humans, her mother's heart will not change.

"You are Mr. Lannister... No, Lord Lannister." The dwarf's address is not so clear, but this female dwarf forced her address and language organization to conform to the etiquette of human society, "Mr. Colgrim and Ms. Milva often mention you to us."

"We have a request..."

While listening to the words of the dwarf mother, Lann understood the cause and effect.

……

According to the situation in previous years, the dwarves who traveled abroad should have returned home one after another a week ago, but this year, there is still no one.

Reminiscent of the monsters that rioted in Mahakam recently, all the parents were frightened, worried that the wanderers returning home would be attacked halfway.They asked the patriarch Wavzinek, but the strength of the Ferenc clan was already so tight that they had to turn to Carbon Mountain for help. If they were to deploy more people, they might lose several mines.

Just at this time, Colgrim and Milva led the team.

The people of Sintra understood the purpose of their trip, and they were happy to cooperate with this kind of action that could not only clear the monsters but also obtain the Ferenc dwarves, so they set off after a brief rest.

This was about five days ago.

……

"But they haven't come back until today..." When talking about this, the dwarf mother wiped the corners of her eyes, "I don't know what happened..."

Lane's face turned serious.

Patriarch Wavzinek also showed a guilty look at this time: "I'm sorry, Duke Lannister, no one would have thought that things would develop to such an extent that the Ferenc clan really couldn't find any manpower."

Geralt galloped two steps forward to Lann, and asked in a low voice, "Lan, will you..."

The white wolf's expression was also indescribably serious at the moment.

However, Lan took a deep breath and shook his head: "No, there is Colgrim in the team. He is a demon hunter who can go north alone to collect the school's equipment blueprint. Even if he encounters an opponent that is difficult to defeat, he will You can also run away."

Acting according to one's ability, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is a compulsory course for every demon hunter.Not to mention a death fight, even the possibility of being injured would be avoided by the demon hunter as much as possible.Geralt once said without psychological pressure in front of Lann, "Facing a dozen water ghosts, I turned around and ran away".

Lan trusted Colgrim.

and--

Lan En slightly stimulated the chaotic energy in his body, activated the [Teleportation] skill preparation, and a symbol that only he could see appeared in his sight.

Colgrim and Milwako were both marked with [Teleportation] by Lane, and now these marks representing their existence are still moving frequently, it doesn't look like an accident—at least it looks like a big accident .

But the group of them is indeed a little far away from Lann at the moment.

Lane also looked at Milva's follower panel, [Health] is still on the health line, which is the level of loss in normal battles.Being able to maintain such a blood line after running around in the wild for five days can even be said to be all going well.

Because of this, Lann can be said to be the only one present with a relaxed expression.

Facing Geralt who was puzzled, Lan thought for a while and explained: "Haven't you all been cast by [Teleportation] before, and I can roughly sense your location through that. And Milva is mine' As a member of the Lion Pride, I can sense her physical condition, and it doesn't look like she is in danger."

Geralt showed a surprised expression, receiving a little shock from the ancient blood.

Since the situation was not critical, Lan En did not directly activate the [Teleportation] skill; but the team had been out for so long and hadn't returned, and he was a little worried, so he immediately decided not to enter the "witch's lair", but to change the way to meet with When your own team converges, you can also clear the monsters along the way.

If Colgrim and the others didn't meet those dwarves who should return home, they could still find the dwarves along the way and brush up the favor of the Ferenc clan.

Faced with Lan's decision, those dwarf parents who were looking forward to it immediately shed tears of excitement.

"Thank you, Mr. Lannister... No, it's Lord Lannister!"

The system prompt sounds at this moment:

[Discovery mission - the place where you can't go back:

According to the dwarf tradition of "travelling", all the wanderers who went out should return home early, but this year the parents who were looking forward to it did not see any figure.The team you originally sent to collect the monsters stepped forward to take over the commission, but it seems that they encountered trouble and could not solve it in time.Perhaps you can help the dwarves survive and find the children who have returned to Mahakam. 】

Side missions that have not appeared for a long time are also updated at this moment.There was no movement in the system when I was in the Fuchs clan before, probably because the actions at that time were all counted in the task of [cleaning up], which failed to provide unexpected gains.

……

Just when Lan En was forming the team, Herilera suddenly came to Lan En's side.

Having experienced so much with Sintra's team, Lan's bravery has surpassed Geralt's position in Layla's heart unconsciously, and now she can clearly feel that Layla's eyes are twinkling with admiration when she looks at Lane little star.

But this Captain Aden was taciturn, and she was considered the only outsider to this team, so she had no communication with Lann.But now she suddenly had an idea, so she seized the opportunity to step forward and whisper to Chonghui:

"Duke Lannister, when we Aden and Queen Mivi were stationed at the foot of Mount Mahakam, we heard that there were Scoia'tael nearby. Is it possible..."

Colgrim is proficient in dealing with monsters in the wild, and even if he can't beat him, he can retreat completely.But if it is ambushed by a non-human race, it is another matter. Intelligent life will always know how to deal with its own kind better than monsters.

Lan felt the positions of the marked Kolgrim and Milva again, and pondered for a moment.

"We can't rule out this possibility. If we do encounter Scoia'tael, we will need Captain Leila's professional advice."

"Just call me Layla!" The female captain of the Aedian Special Forces readily agreed.

After a brief exchange, Lan didn't stay any longer.After the rest of the team was over, and they received a lot of supplies from the earnest dwarf parents, they left immediately.

With Milva in the target team, Lane is equivalent to opening a positioning system.With a general goal in hand, Gabo and Petrit, two dwarves who are extremely familiar with the surrounding environment, quickly discovered the traces of human habitation at the speed of everyone.

……

"Bonfire." Geralt's amber vertical pupils lit up slightly, searching for traces that could be left here.

"It's Kolgrim, that's right, as well as Milva and the soldiers." Geralt nodded, "Besides, there are many strange pheromones, which should be dwarves, and the number is about fifty. They should have found them. The children who returned home."

Lan En looked in the direction he came from: "But this place is very close to the "Witch's Lair". Even if the dwarves can only walk because we are riding horses, it will not exceed a day's journey."

Lan felt Milwa's position: "But they didn't go back to their home, which is close at hand. Instead, they went far away. Why?"

Lane had a lot of speculation, but Milva was very close to them.You'll know when we meet, instead of wasting time here, it's better to hurry up.

The team continued to set off in the direction Lann perceived, and the rare sound of horseshoes echoed in the valley, causing echoes.

Suddenly, Geralt, who was at the back of the line, shrank his pupils.He pulled the rein violently, his left hand reflexively shot a [Yax Seal] to the left, and shouted at the same time:

"Enemy attack!"

A huge worm broke out from under the snow and mud, it turned out to be a [Qiqimo Engineer].

These mutated insects are responsible for hunting in the group just like worker ants.It can be regarded as cunning, it knows to attack the end of the team in the face of a large army.It's a pity that it chose the experienced Geralt, and it was hit immediately.

Qi Qimo's sapper, who was in a pounce posture, was hypnotized, and his whole body stiffened into a log in mid-air, drew a straight arc, and then hit the ground again.

Immediately afterwards, a handful of cone-shaped flames enveloped the Qiqimo engineer, instantly igniting its chitin carapace, and the pain woke it up from hypnosis, but unfortunately it lost the strength to attack again.

Geralt turned his left hand, and more [Kikimo Sappers] broke through the ground.The worms did not act alone, but unfortunately they were not many in number, only six or seven at a rough count. They were definitely not the opponents of this cavalry team with two demon hunters in command and rich experience in fighting demons.

Lan didn't even need to shoot, Geralt's sign combined with the cavalry's bow and arrow killed all these insects.

Since there was no time for an on-site autopsy on the way, Lan En collected all the corpses of these strange insects into the 【Inventory】with a wave of his hand.Everyone else is used to it, only the newcomers are a little surprised.

Petrit suddenly became emotional, but it wasn't because of Lan's sudden ability.

"If it was normal, there would definitely not be so many monsters around the Ferenc Clan—in fact, the Ferenc Clan is responsible for supporting other clans every year during the 'cleaning', and there are few monsters like this year that not only can't solve their own problems , and need to ask Carbon Mountain for help.”

"I guess—because of dragons?"

Petri nodded.

This topic immediately caught the attention of Saskia in the team: "Then is there something wrong with this year's dragon?"

Petri nodded, then shook his head again.He said: "The residence of the Ferenz clan is very close to the red dragon. [Witch's Lair] Climb up the hill in the north to the red dragon's lair. Ferenz has been in charge of offering sacrifices to that dragon, so that the red dragon and While the dwarves keep the peace, they also hire the red dragon to eliminate monsters and do 'sports'."

(End of this chapter)