Falsifying history is good business

Chapter 96 I Might as Well Go to Toussaint

The secret that was well hidden in the original book and known only to a very few people was suddenly exposed to Dandelion; the poet's mood was like the campfire in front of him, swaying and flickering in the mountain breeze, with light and dark uncertain.

"What on earth do you want to do?" The most famous bard in the north huddled in the wind, holding his lute, feeling like crying but unable to do so. Unfortunately, the writer he faced had no sympathy at all.

Lin You held the dark wood magic wand in his hand, gently poked the flames with the tip of the wand, and "commanded" the flames to change into various shapes; the poet's heart also rose and fell with the rhythm of the flames.

“The mountain road is not easy to travel. It will take us two days to cross the Amer Mountains. In addition to traveling, you will compile the stories you know about Emhyr and the stories I have told you. When we cross the mountains and enter the province of Nathar, you will sing in every town, tavern, and even in the fields we pass through.”

With every word the boy spoke, the poet's face became paler, until it finally turned into a dead gray, devoid of any blood or life.

"It would be better if I were taken to Toussaint by the witcher..."

"It would be better for us to stay in Toussaint..."

"It would have been better if I had stayed in Guleta and married that pregnant peasant girl..."

"It would have been better if I had married a female classmate from Niubao and continued to teach at the school... What were the names of those female classmates?"

"No, it should be said that I should not have gone to school in Niubao..."

"It would be better if I had not met Miss Steyer, had not fallen in love, had not been exposed to poetry, and had not become a bard..."

In just one minute, Dandelion reflected on the mistakes he had made in half his life; if he had the chance to go back in time and avoid meeting Lin You, he felt that he would definitely be willing to pay any price.

"Would you please reconsider? Even...even if you change the place and let me sing in the Northern Kingdom?" Mr. Poet said bitterly, "If I do that kind of thing in Nilfgaard, I will be thrown into death row in three days at most...no, two days."

"I am responsible for the safety issues, and you are responsible for the performance effect. I guarantee that you can perform safely, and you must ensure that these secrets have spread to every city and town in the empire when we step into the Golden Tower City."

Lin You was firm in his attitude; even if it was too early to talk about some of these secrets, and even if some ideas might not yet take shape in Emperor Emhyr's mind, it would not prevent the writer from shouting things out first.

The exposed secrets are bound to change the thoughts and actions of the people involved, and thus greatly change the plot of the story under the influence of the butterfly effect; this is exactly the effect the writer hopes to achieve, just as a greeting to "fate" in advance.

"Two days, isn't that a bit too tight..." Dandelion knew he had no ability to refuse, but he still made a desperate struggle.

Lin You's face turned serious: "Do you think I want you to write a masterpiece that will be passed down through the ages? What you need to do now is to extract the most eye-catching things in the story, and then sing it out with the most exaggerated and most easily spread words.

How could a teenage princess be abducted by a thirty-year-old middle-aged man; how could a monster covered in spikes make love with a woman and make her pregnant; what kind of thinking would a father have in mind when marrying his own daughter?
Pornography, novelty, and rebellion against ethics... Don't people like these vulgar things? As long as we find the right excitement point, we can arouse the dark side of people's hearts; when the time comes, no matter whether they are nobles or peasants, they will take the initiative to help us spread these "secrets."

The underage boys were talking at length around the campfire, while the adults were listening in amazement; the only one who could still react was Gaunter O'Dimm, who sincerely commented: "Your understanding of human nature is no less than that of the devil."

Lin You squinted his eyes: "Is this a mockery?"

"Why should I laugh at myself?" Master Mirror said, showing his sincerity towards his peers. "Please believe that this is my admiration from the bottom of my heart."

"Hehe..." This was the response from the writer. No one knew that on this night with a chilly mountain wind, a plan targeting the emperor, Nilfgaard, and even the entire world was proposed and quickly executed as if it were a child's play.

When the emperor's secret first appeared in a mountain village tavern, the dull farmers and hunters had no idea of ​​the seriousness of the matter. They even drunkenly followed the beat of the lute and sang along with the poet with a northern accent.

As the secret was sung on the banks of the Nasser, merchants with a little more insight began to whisper and took care to memorize the appearance of the poet and his companions.

When the secret spread like wildfire throughout the province of Nasser, local imperial officials finally reacted and angrily sent out sheriffs, spies and even garrison cavalry to search for the man.

But when the officials found that the search operations were either fruitless or unsuccessful, they almost went crazy; and various reports flew into the City of Golden Tower like snowflakes.

Many people have begun to speculate which one would be known to the emperor earlier: the report he submitted himself, or the "rumors" that are getting more and more intense?
Everyone awaited the outcome of the incident with trepidation—especially the expected wrath from the emperor.

At this time, the instigator had already reached the Yelena River along the waterway; after crossing the river, he left the territory of the Nasir Province and entered the territory of Metina, a vassal kingdom of Nilfgaard.

Lin You and his party were on a sloop that could only accommodate five or six people. Ms. Milva was still at the helm, the writer was sitting half leaning against the mast; Master Mirror was sitting alone at the bow, and a little further back was the poet holding a lute, playing and singing.

The boat was moving downstream, and more than 20 feet away on the port side was a passenger and cargo ship full of merchants. This distance certainly couldn't cut off the singing of the bard, so Dandelion was asked to face the merchant ship and "work overtime."

The two boats sailed side by side on the river for more than half an hour, and the poet sang for more than half an hour, just enough to finish the long poem from beginning to end.

When the long poem reached the middle part, the people on the merchant ship began to whisper to each other, but Lin You and his companions did not take it seriously. They deliberately slowed down their pace across the province of Nasir in the past few days in order to give the poet enough time to perform; they had seen similar scenes more than once.

But this time, things are different.

As the poet's piano music stopped, several figures suddenly stood up on the merchant ship; before Lin You could see clearly, the female archer reacted first, threw away the rudder, picked up the hunting bow at her feet with lightning speed, put an arrow on it and shot.

The bowstring sounded, and the sharp arrow was like a meteor chasing the moon. A figure on the opposite side fell down, and the crossbow in his hand flew out of the side of the boat and fell into the calm river surface.

The incident happened suddenly, and even with Milva's agility, he only had time to shoot one arrow, but the opposite side had three crossbows aimed at this side.

Lin You waved his magic wand and cast "Universal Protection" to protect both the female archer and the poet; as for the Mirror Master, no one needed to worry about him.

The crossbow arrow hit the magic shield and was shattered by the magic power.

At this moment, there was a loud "bang" close to the side of the merchant ship, and then a piece of shiny metal debris spread along with the smoke.

The short distance of less than ten meters between the two ships could not block the poet's singing, nor could it stop the debris and smoke from drifting over here.

Dandelion, who had been friends with the demon hunter for a long time, was the first to recognize the explosive and shouted, "Demonite bomb!"

　The third update in the early morning

　　
　
(End of this chapter)