From Witcher to Lord of the Empire.

Chapter 370 Willen-Bitter Cold Land
"Duke Lannister." Foltest raised his chin, "Do you have any advice for coming here today?"

His Majesty the King showed his profile, which was handsome enough to be printed on coins and collected by others: "Or, is there anything else you need to personally tell me about the upcoming 'Cintra Conference'?"

Temeria, capital Vizima, royal palace.

Rann came again and sat face to face with King Foltest.

At this time, the gesture and tone of the king's words almost made Lann laugh.

Fortunately, he didn't really laugh and quickly adjusted his posture.

"If there is any offense to 'Your Majesty' in the wording of my messenger, I will apologize to him here in advance, and I will give him a severe punishment when I return." Lan stood up from the chair and bowed slightly, "And Xin soon The Terra Conference also needs your Majesty’s help.”

"Oh? How can I help Lord Lannister?"

Lann chuckled and said: "Although I have achieved some 'insignificant' results on the road against Nilfgaard, Cintra has just returned to the country after all, and its foundation is far less than that of Temeria with a long history."

"Although the countries in the north reluctantly gave me some respect and agreed to keep the appointment. But when we really talk about the matter, we still need a king with enough prestige to be recognized by everyone - such as you."

King Foltest snorted coldly, but his expression softened: "You want me to support you? In front of so many kings in the north, support your proposal that I haven't seen yet?"

Lann patted his head: "It was my negligence that I did not sort out the issues for you in advance. I will sort them out and send them to you formally later."

Foltest nodded haughtily and waved his hand.

The cupbearer standing behind him skillfully filled the wine glass in front of the king.

"Pour some for him too."

So Lan also got a glass of the finest ginkgo wine.

"Once the issues are sorted out, there is no need to go through official channels. Anyway, you have warlocks, just ask them to send it to me through the portal." Fuertesti shook his head.

"Just be happy."

"There's no need to punish the messenger, I won't be so intolerant of others."

"He wants to thank you for your kindness."

"Then let's talk." The king waved his hand and signaled the cupbearer to go out and close the door.Suddenly only the King of Temeria and the Duke of Lannister were left in the room.

As a side note, these two people, one young and one middle-aged, are considered to be the two most handsome people in the North.

"What are you doing here in such a hurry? Do you want to see Yada?"

Lann's movements paused slightly: "If she is willing to exchange feelings, then I will have no objection."

Foltest's face, which had just softened, became stiff again.

"I came here today both for my own personal matters and for Temeria's official matters." Lan said truthfully without being arrogant.

"I mentioned to Your Majesty before that there are three monsters pretending to be gods in the Willen area. I wonder what the situation is now?"

Hearing this, Foltest's face darkened even further.

……

Lan soon learned what happened.

To put it simply: Although Lann has provided information to Foltest for almost two months, the three witches in the forest are still alive.

Velen was a very uncomfortable place for the king.

From a macro perspective, it is strategically located on the coast, in the commercial center of Thanede Island and Goth Velen, and is an important stopping point on the Novigrad trade route.

It has all the foundations to become a prosperous city.

But after the on-site inspection, everyone would shake their heads and sigh at Willen.

Because nearly one-third of the place here is swamp, one-third is forest, and the remaining one-third area that is barely habitable is filled with countless water ghosts, ghouls, swamp witches, The tomb witch and even the little mist demon.

This kind of terrain restricts the departure of large numbers of organized troops, allowing only small groups of guerrillas to pass; but after small groups of armies actually encounter such endless monsters, the casualty rate will rise at a frightening speed.

No commander would allow his soldiers to die at the hands of monsters. In their eyes, this is the most meaningless sacrifice.

……

Keira was called over by Foltest and gave a brief report to Lan.

"After a period of time, we found that letting the regular army go to Willen was not worth the gain. So now the Blue Guards have taken over the task."

Lan rubbed his head with a headache: "You didn't understand the situation... A remnant of that level can burst out with unimaginable power in the territory that he has managed for hundreds of years, and he can only use an army to encircle and suppress it; Lan Although the Yi Tiewei are special forces who are good at jungle warfare, they are still a bit unsatisfactory."

"Keira, as a magic consultant, you should understand this situation very well, right?"

Keira Metz turned her back to Foltest and curled her lips towards Lan.

Fuertestai's expression became even stiffer, he turned his head and snorted coldly.

He didn't say anything, but he seemed to say everything.

"These messes of inhuman monsters should be dealt with by your demon hunters. My soldiers are not trained to deal with them."

Foltest snorted again: "Geralt is under your command now, right? You can issue them a commission to clear out the Temerian monsters, and I will give them a suitable price."

Lann shook his head helplessly: "They are all busy now... It doesn't matter, I'll go there myself. I also want you to give me a token so that I can take over the command of the Blue Guards."

Foltest frowned when he heard this: "I mean to let your demon hunter go. With your status, there is no need to do such a thing yourself."

"It doesn't matter, I'm happy to do it." Lan En had a smile on his face, but his eyes were slightly cold for a moment, "And strictly speaking... there is still a bit of a personal vendetta between me and the three old witches. The ones inside..."

King Foltest stared at Lan for a while, then shook his head.

Since Lan insisted, he naturally had no reason to continue persuading.

Then he ordered Keira to serve as a guide to take Lan to Willen for handover, and at the same time assist Lan in his subsequent actions.

Lann is incompetent.

Vizima and Velen are separated by half a kingdom, and Keira's ability still requires the help of the apex teleportation array to complete the crossing.

Lann followed her as she walked into the palace of Vizima, thinking about the information about the Velen region, guessing the troubles the Blue Guards might encounter there, and the solutions he could come up with.

Suddenly, Keira in front of her suddenly stopped.Lan En almost bumped into him without checking, and his nose was instantly filled with the smell of cinnamon and cardamom.

"What's going on?" Lann frowned.

Keira didn't answer him, just shrugged and pointed forward.

At the end of the marble-carved corridor, a woman with fiery red hair stood there.

Her belly was bulging high and she looked like she had difficulty moving.But even so, the fiery temperament in her body seemed to be burning. "Ha! Lann Lannister Leanne!" Princess Yada waved away the maid who was cautiously trying to come over to help her.

"I caught you!"
-
The fiery red portal opened in mid-air, and Keira Metz walked out of it with her neck raised.

The movement of the portal immediately alerted the nearby guards, and the commander of the blue-clad iron guard, Roche, hurried over quickly.

"Metz?" His tone was not friendly, "What are you doing here? Does your Majesty have any new orders?"

The relationship between the sorceress and the special forces commander didn't seem to be good, and Keira didn't bother to make any expressions with him.

The next second, bright emerald light spots shined around Keira.

Roche first narrowed his eyelids slightly because of the stimulation of the light, and then his eyes widened:

"Lord Lannister? Why are you here?"

His expression became visibly intense.

Lann did not answer immediately.His mind was blocked for two seconds, as if he was recollecting something.

Then he adjusted his expression and showed Foltest's token to Roche with a smile: "This operation in the Wellen area was proposed by King Foltest and I. Now I heard that there are some difficulties. , so come and take a look.”

"How can I bother you with such a thing..."

"Now that I'm here, don't talk about this anymore." Lann waved his hand, "There's no need to worry about your king being dissatisfied with the efficiency of your work, but I can't wait any longer."

"Please tell me about the mission first."

……

After the army was blocked in Willen, Roche received the order and came here as soon as possible.

After the setback of the advance force, Roche understood that if they wanted to fulfill the king's instructions, they must need a local guide to deal with the unique geography of Velen.

As a result, they immediately experienced the sturdy folk customs here.

Velen is the poorest province in Temeria. Except for Gos Velen and Thanede Island, there are no decent towns anywhere else, and there are ruined villages everywhere.

Due to the basic failure to collect taxes and the long-term lack of management in the Willen area, villagers in some remote areas of Willen basically do not trust the official troops.

"In their hearts, the so-called [Lady in the Forest] has even surpassed His Majesty the King." Roche frowned fiercely, "Altars and symbols of evil gods can be seen almost everywhere in some remote villages, even if they don't have enough to eat There will be no shortage of sacrifices to the evil gods.”

"And in some villages that neither have enough to eat nor can squeeze out tributes—Duke Lannister, can you believe it—some people even cut off their own ears to sacrifice to the evil god!"

These words made Keira couldn't help but frown.

Lan nodded: "I can believe it."

"Yes, you must have heard about it a long time ago, so you told His Majesty the news." Roche took a deep breath, "Thank you for letting us know that there is still such a cult here."

"The first time I saw him, I was shocked. Even the goddess Meriteri and the Cleve sect don't have such enthusiastic believers."

With that said, Roche led Lan and Keira into his tent.

There was a huge map spread out on a conference table, and he circled several important locations on it: "These are the villages we found where the most serious sacrifices to evil gods were made."

Keira showed a ridiculous expression: "Since you have determined the location, why haven't you interrogated the whereabouts of the witch in the forest so far?"

Special forces and witchers don't operate in the same way.When hunting monsters, a demon hunter has to spend a lot of time communicating and looking for clues, trying every possible way to get words out of the mouths of the client and related parties, and even using the [Axi Sigil] to hypnotize them when necessary.

But Roche and the other soldiers who came from the capital were different. They used law enforcement powers.If a villager knows something and fails to report it, they can even arrest the villager directly.

Not even proof is needed.

Don't underestimate the ferocity of the Blue Guards. Their former enemies were the Scoia'tael who had a bloody hatred for mankind, and what they faced was a racial conflict.

However, after hearing Kayla's words, Roche's face showed an expression of suppressed anger.

"Things should not have progressed like this."

"But the lord here, Baron Veserad, stopped us!"

"He said that the villagers here are his subjects and his private property, so he sternly ordered us not to mistreat them!"

……

Lann was impressed by this Baron Veserad.

Because he fits most people's stereotype of the wormy aristocracy.

In peacetime, Baron Wesselad controlled most of the Velen region and governed the area in a mess, never wanting to change the status quo.

Originally, after the invasion of Nilfgaard in history, Veserad also immediately left the territory he was supposed to protect with jewelry, gold and silver, took his family in a boat and ran to a high tower on an island, asking Willen Complete indifference to the suffering of the people continued to have fun.

He even sponsored a warlock who studied plague and disease, used local people in Wellen to conduct plague experiments, and ordered the warlock to poison farmers who came to beg for food, resulting in the death of a large number of civilians.

When the truth was finally exposed, he was killed by his angry subjects.The baron's noble body became food for rats.

Now Roche is encountering difficulties from Baron Wesselard in the Willen area. Although it is unexpected, it is also reasonable.

For this kind of hereditary baron, unless it is a major crime such as treason and insulting the royal family, even Foltest himself has no right to directly punish the other party.

Even if a crime is committed, conclusive evidence is needed to silence the mouths of a large number of other hereditary nobles in the kingdom.Otherwise, even Fuertesti himself would not be able to bear the turmoil caused.

So let alone an officer like Roche who didn't even have a title.He is a close minister, but he is far from being a nobleman, and there is nothing he can do about Veserad's title of baron.

……

"Ha, he usually doesn't care about his subjects, cannot collect taxes, and allows them to sacrifice to the evil god." Keira showed a sarcastic smile, "But now you are following His Majesty's order to help Willen deal with the evil god, and he is here to stop it. is you?"

Roche's expression became even more aggrieved after hearing Keira's words.

Lan crossed his arms and moved his fingers little by little on his upper arms.

He probably understood the situation.

This is indeed difficult to do - for Roche.

What if it was Duke Lannister?
Before they could continue their discussion, a greasy, noisy voice came from outside:

"Vernon Roche, take your people and get out of my territory!"

"I heard that you brought a sorceress? Those weirdos who play with magic should be hanged together with the dirty monsters!"

Then there were sounds of conflict outside, which seemed to be the blue-clad iron guards and the local guards.

(End of this chapter)