The Divine Hunter Chapter 7: Refugee team

"Geralt, do you still remember what the golden dragon said about us in Mount Kestrel?"

"You mean Three Jackdaws? Of course, he said we were a match made in heaven."

"We are destined to belong to each other," Yennefer pressed her smooth and pretty face against his chest, her hair as black as a raven swaying gently, making his neck itch, "but we will not have a 'result', because creation Our guys didn't think things through very well, and there was something missing between us, something that could sustain the relationship for a long time. So we had to separate to avoid hurting each other in the future."

Geralt felt an inexplicable feeling of sourness and fear in his heart. What is this?

They all survived the death crisis and the intervention of a third party, but failed at this step.

No "result"? Yes, although the lives of demon hunters and sorceresses are long, they are destined to have no "result".

"Go to Cintra, Geralt, and don't give up on your destiny..."

"Bring that child back, the age of contempt is coming, she will be in danger, she needs you!"

"The law of accident is unbreakable."

Geralt was suddenly shocked and enlightened.

Although there is no "result" between the witcher and the sorceress.

But he has the daughter of destiny!

"Don't leave now, focus on the present, and enjoy the last Cinco de Mayo night." Yennefer's voice was as sweet as sugar, and her passionate lips fell on him like raindrops.

It ended with a deep kiss.

Let White Wolf be ecstatic!

However, she used too much force and bit his lip, causing the skin to break and sting!

Hmm——

The sky was already dark, and a faint white light filtered through the gaps in the forest, covering a dusty demon hunter on the branches of a huge oak tree.

His waist-length snow-white hair is spread over his shoulders. He is wearing a black leather jacket stained with blood and mud, and has a leather scabbard tied across his shoulders.

Geralt opened his heavy eyes, his pupils bloodshot.

This long, sweet and sad dream made him dizzy, but the strange pain in his mouth urged him to quickly regain his senses. He casually slapped the iron gauntlet inlaid with silver studs, and a fat little thing chirped strangely. Climbed down the tree along his body.

"Bah! Bah!"

The witcher jumped down from the oak tree and touched his lips. His fingertips were **** and he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Perhaps he was too tired during this period and he relaxed his vigilance. A mouse approached him and... Got a kiss!

Oakes and Lambert will definitely laugh to death if you tell me!

"Old man, you are quite calm, and you didn't even know to remind me!" Geralt walked towards the black mare Rocky tied under a tree not far away, patted her neck and felt her breath. The heat makes me feel a little calmer.

He looked around. The shallow woods were covered with alder bushes and nettles... He could also see some small earth mounds scattered further away. They were three newly buried by the witcher last night. Highwayman.

It has been a month since I entered Soden.

He set out from Brugg, traveled from west to east, crossed the Trava River and the Aina River, searched the central area of ​​Soden, and walked around the place where corpses were piled up like a **** on earth. During this period, he encountered refugee groups, bandits and robbers blocking the road... evil spirits and ghouls breeding in the piles of corpses.

But they all made it through unscathed thanks to the large amount of alchemical supplies supported by the Demon Hunter Brotherhood.

Unfortunately, no information about Xili was found. The people he met either didn't know anything about him, or wanted his money and food, or even worse, wanted his life.

After only one month of running around, he was exhausted physically and mentally, and it was rare for him to have continuous dreams.

But he must find Ciri! This time, he won't let go!

Whether it is out of emotion or the so-called fate!

For myself, and also for Ye, who has been away for a long time.

He looked to the south. The vast, steamy river loomed behind him. This was the Yaruga River that divided the north from the south.

Through the past we will go to Rivendell Valley, and to the north we will enter Mayena.

How deep is the bond of the law of accident? Can following my feeling really lead me to Xili?

He took out a crown and threw it in his hand.

When it was facing up, the white wolf smiled and led the mare Rocky towards the north.

Roy once told Mayena that there was a Druid Circle.

Maybe they will know something.

Perhaps the person with whom he is related by blood is also there.

The dark cat's pupils shrank, and the white wolf felt inexplicably nervous and expectant.

……

The other side.

On the sixth day after five days of searching in Soden, which was thousands of miles away, Roy stood at the edge of the forest in the drizzle, on a road sparsely dotted with dead bodies, and stopped moving forward.

There was a slight noise from the other end, and then, a colorful and motley team walked towards him with heavy steps, their tattered shoes causing mud and water to splash everywhere.

This is a refugee team composed of fifteen or six people, but what is shocking is that almost all of them are women and children with haggard faces and thin faces.

They were wearing tattered clothes with nothing to cover their bodies. Each of them was carrying packages and luggage, shivering in the light rain and cold wind as they walked.

In front of the team, the only two young men who seemed to be the backbone of the team had a rusty iron sword on their waist, wore crude fur armor, and carried an elm bow and quiver on their backs. They looked around with alert eyes. There was someone beside them. The mule was loaded with goods, and a large iron pot and several iron boxes were exposed from the surprisingly large saddlebag.

The man with a scar on his face noticed the demon hunters standing silently on the roadside and immediately waved his hand to stop the team.

"Good morning! Who are you, Your Excellency?" He pressed the hilt of the sword at his waist with one hand, put his other hand on his hips, and shouted from about ten meters away, "Why are you guarding the exit of the forest?"

"My name is Oakes..." Roy smiled as gently as possible, "A mercenary who plans to go to Soden to find relatives. I just came from Carcano."

The man observed the witcher's slender figure and the plain hilt of the sword protruding from his shoulders, and hesitated.

But the lazily yawning beagle at his feet softened the man's expression slightly.

An inhumane robber would not raise a puppy in this blood-soaked land that is useless except for cuteness and is a waste of food.

"My name is Frick, and this is my brother Bawe... As for the group of people behind him, they are all refugees who escaped from Willow Leaf Village. As you can see, they are all women and children. They said that there were originally A dozen people, but a week ago, the Nilfgaardians captured them, killed most of the men, and scattered the remaining women on horseback. My brother and I happened to meet this group of people in the forest, and now we are together Together."

"You two, you are very brave. You are not afraid of encountering Nilfgaardians or bandits again with such a group of people who have no fighting ability." Roy's eyes slowly swept across the two men and the group of cold winds. The women and children in the middle reminded, "You know, after the war, demons and ghosts will appear. They are more vicious than the vultures in the sky. Even if a person dies, his bones will be picked out and his marrow will be sucked out."

When the people in the team heard the words of the witcher, they all shrank their shoulders. The child hid behind his mother. Only pairs of curious eyes were revealed from behind the dirty sarong, looking at this handsome young man. .

He exuded something unusual and his voice was charming and reassuring.

Inexplicably, people feel trust and closeness to him.

The cute little puppy at his feet that often runs in circles makes people uncontrollably disarming.

The scar-faced man sighed helplessly,

"Damn war! But there is no way, we can't leave them alone. This place is far away from the direction of the Yaruga River, and the Nilfgaardians dare not go deep. As for bandits and monsters, they won't be everywhere. Yes, if you encounter it, then just leave everything to fate, if you really can’t survive,”

He glanced at the rotting corpse beside the birch tree,

"Then just die!"

There was silence for a moment beside the woods.

"Sorry, I'm too pessimistic, just take what I just said as fart! Who are the Oaks brothers looking for?"

Roy raised his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose.

"The man with white hair and the little girl with emerald eyes, parting..."

"I have never seen them, but I advise you not to go to the center of Soden. There is only blood, fire, and corpses there. It will be at least another month before the coalition forces can clear the dangers on the road."

"Nilfgaard has been repulsed, but is still stationed in the south like a mangy dog. Who knows if they will suddenly go crazy and cross the Yaruga River to attack a second time."

"Nowadays, as long as there is still breath left, you will flee to the north, or plan to do so. According to me, the person you are looking for must also be in the north."

Roy nodded. This idea coincided with his. It had been a month since Geralt entered Soden. He should have searched the central area of ​​Soden, but no news came back.

As for the four great masters.

There were fewer battles along the way than I expected.

He became increasingly uncertain whether the other party would take a trip into Soden's troubled waters.

In contrast, finding Geralt and bringing Ciri back is the top priority!

"Where are you going to take them? Do you have a goal?"

"First go to the refugee camp in Mayena Fortress. There are rumors that the doctors there are treating the refugees for free. Some women in the team are not feeling well, so they will stay there for a while first, and then probably go to Maribo. , or settle further north!"

"If you are willing, we can walk together and take care of each other. Of course, the premise is that you don't mind walking slower, women and children may slow down your pace."

Roy hesitated for a while.

The heterochromatic pupils under the sunglasses glanced at the thin figures in the team and nodded.

……

The refugee team, 90% made up of women and children, continued to move forward on the soft and muddy ground.

The road leading to the north is covered with carabine, myrtle, and boxwood. The sky shows no sign of clearing up and the rain is falling. The atmosphere in the team is equally gloomy and negative. The women talk little and the roadside The bloated and rotting corpses that appeared from time to time did not move them too much.

After being on the run for so long, they have become numb to death. Only the chirping children under their knees can inject some life into their empty eyes.

In a somewhat depressing atmosphere, Roy quickly asked about the origins of the two brothers.

Frick and Bawe are twin brothers, eighteen years old, short and stocky, with similar faces. Their noses are like downward-curved beaks. They have not been washed for many days and have a strong smell. He has messy brown hair, sharp gray eyes, an astonishingly big mouth, and his hands and feet are covered with a thick layer of calluses.

The main difference is that my brother has an index finger-shaped scar on the left side of his face.

Before the war broke out, they originally made a living by hunting in the forest area of ​​Upper Soden. On the day Nilfgaard invaded the motherland, the two of them were working in the forest and happened to hide in a stone cave to escape.

But they also witnessed the huge Nilfgaardian army passing by not far away, wreaking havoc in their homes.

They understood that Upper Soden was completely finished.

So he left the forest area where he grew up, stole a boat and crossed the Yaruga River to hide in Lower Soden.

After the great victory in the north at the Battle of Sodden Mountain, the two brothers relied on their martial arts and archery skills honed from childhood hunting to attack lone Nilfgaardian soldiers everywhere and sent several invaders to hell.

It can also be regarded as a different kind of revenge.

In Roy's opinion, they are indeed stronger than ordinary people, with physical dexterity and amazing endurance.

"I never thought that in such a messy world, there would be two such warm-hearted good people."

Roy said sincerely, especially after he met that perverted old man not long ago.

As he spoke, the witcher glanced expressionlessly at the children behind him with runny noses and dirty faces.

His eyes seemed to penetrate people's hearts.

The children, who were malnourished and as thin as chickens, were glanced at. They involuntarily stood upright with their backs straightened, stayed in place, and obediently put down the beagle that was about to lose its fur.

Little Hei whined and howled, limping away to Roy's feet and trembling, then he was picked up and stuffed into his hood.

The sleeping Golfin tabby cat was left unprepared and ravaged by the children of its unscrupulous owner.

Countless dirty little hands swamped it.

"Actually, the Oakes brothers have misunderstood." The slightly cheerful and talkative brother Bawe patted the mule's warm fur back, grinning with yellowed teeth, his smile was bright and sincere, "We didn't either at the beginning. I never thought about taking so many people away."

"Can you understand, we have lived in the forest area for more than ten years, and we can't see a woman on weekdays! At first, we only met Eugenie from Willow Leaf Village, and she promised to take only She escaped from Soden and married Frick! Who knew that she met her distant cousin not far away, and the cousin called several other relatives... and then five became ten, and more and more! ”

"They are all widows whose husbands have died and are hiding with their children. Our dead father said, shouldn't men protect women? We can only bite the bullet and take this 'women's army' out. ”

Roy's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but look at the two of them with admiration.

Tie your head on your belt in order to get a wife.

"Are you sure she will marry you?"

"Of course, Eugenie is a good woman. If you don't believe it, just take a look...count the fifth woman from us," Frick's face glowed with excitement.

Roy followed his gaze and looked at a slim blonde girl. Her clothes were simple but her face could not be concealed. But the important point was that she was holding a swaddled baby in her arms, and a fat and white baby was crying inside.

Eugenie noticed Frick's eyes, smiled gently at him, and nodded gently. Two small dimples appeared on her face, exuding the temperament of a good wife and mother.

"I have asked clearly a long time ago. Her husband was a soldier of Soden. He died in the first wave of Nilfgaard's attacks. She became an out-and-out widow. Marry her, and also I can pick up a son for free. I have checked that big fat boy and he is in good health. He will definitely survive this ordeal and grow into a great boy!" Frick said with pride, happy for this cheap son. Encouraged, my steps were a little brisk.

"Ahem, cough... A hunter who grew up in the mountains and forests, his vision is indeed unique and his heart is very broad!" Roy reluctantly complimented, "Now, Bavi, have you fallen in love with any widow?"

"I have always had my heart set on something." Bawe used a smooth and sharp knife to sharpen the wood carving of a little girl with braided hair, while looking around warily, "When I was a child, our family and the family next door Another hunter arranged a baby marriage, and their daughter was promised to me."

"Oh, which girl has such an honor?"

"Her name is Maria Balin. Unfortunately, not long after we got engaged, her father fell ill and passed away. Later, her stepfather beat and scolded her frequently, and she couldn't bear it and ran away to the north." Bawe said solemnly Said, "After I leave Soden this time, I plan to wait for Frick to get married and settle down, and then go find her to get married! This is a token of love she gave me when I was a child."

"Maria Balin? Are you sure?"

Roy's pupils froze.

Isn't that woman the female archer he once let go outside the Broklon Forest.

On the same day, he got two finished products of the sealing technique for Coral. With this, Coral successfully persuaded the queen of Kairak and received a large resignation compensation.

"Man, I think you should go to the territory between Kairak and Brok Leon..." Roy said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "As the daughter of a hunter, she might get close to that primitive Live in the forest! But be careful, the tree spirits inside are cruel to humans!"

"I think so too!"

Bawi nodded and squeezed the wooden sculpture tightly.

……

The rest of the journey was a near miss.

Roy asked all the refugees in the team and found no clues about Geralt or Ciri, but his relationship with the two brothers quickly became warm.

As the only three men in the team, they work together.

Frick was responsible for comforting the women and children in the team and maintaining basic order. He would stop every half a day, find a dry and safe place, set up a stove, take out the iron pot in the saddle bag and boil some hot water for the women and children. Keep out the cold.

The younger brother Bavi wandered around, searching in the bushes, sometimes running out of everyone's sight, and then from a considerable distance, he used funny and effective movements like a sloth to indicate that everything was normal and normal ahead. It is because of his rich field experience and cautious attitude that the team was able to save the day several times.

From time to time he would bring back a handful of berries, raspberries, or strange-looking but quite delicious plant tubers, and give them to the five or six children in the team to make them happy.

Roy also has other responsibilities. ~IndoMTL.com~ The women and children in the team have been away from home for more than a week. They have been frightened and slept in the open. Several of them have colds and coughs.

Among them is Eugenie, whom Frick is interested in.

If these minor problems are not treated, and if they are unlucky, they may deteriorate into pneumonia by the time they get to Mayena, which will not be easily cured by then.

Roy quietly mixed some cold-repelling and cough-relieving herbs, such as licorice and perilla grass, into their food - he often took Xiao Hei and Golfen into the woods or nearby The wilderness.

When I came back when I was a child or two, I could always hunt down a rabbit, roe deer and other small animals, and cook a pot of broth for everyone.

The Bawi brothers admired this very much. Most of the animals were hunted down by the refugees crossing the border like evil ghosts.

The two brothers also tried hunting along the way, but unfortunately their harvest was extremely limited.

Of course no one knows about witcher senses.

……

Witchers have always valued fair dealings, and what they pay for must be rewarded.

Roy could only tell himself repeatedly, this is the way, this is the way.

Go to Mayena, the Druid's Circle, maybe Geralt is there, go join him.

In fact, every time he saw the bright and sincere smiles of the Bawi brothers, he couldn't help but want to help them.

The world is already so cruel, it is always better to be more kind and sincere.

……

The team had a smooth journey. With the herbal medicine that Roy secretly administered, the cough symptoms of the woman and child were also alleviated, and there were more smiles on their faces.

The number of corpses on the roadside is decreasing rapidly, and the beagles and dolphins have become immune to the caresses of children.

Arrived at this place, the team has begun to move away from Soden.

Everything is going in the right direction.

But on the fifth day, the team encountered an unexpected situation and stopped.