Bear School Astartes

”Uh, although I don’t want to spoil the mood, but...”

Dandelion, standing nearby, also looked grim, but still spoke up as a reminder.

”He’s got half of his ribs shattered, and your Demon Hunter’s magic potions won’t...”

”That’s right, which is why I won’t use the Demon Hunter’s magic potions to save him... you will save him.”

Lann handed over the supporting Stuart to Ged.

Ged took over, asking skeptically, ”Hand him over to us?”

Once he asked, he immediately realized, and his face turned sullen.

”You want us to leave? After everything we’ve been through together?”

”Precisely.” Lann acted as if he didn’t see their clearly not pleased expressions. ”Look at this smoke column, everyone.”

This Ring Mountain, which had buried an entire fully-staffed Niflgaard regiment within it, looked like a massive furnace.

Dry vegetation had caught fire, and a gigantic smoke column at least a kilometer wide was rising into the sky.

”It’s a big commotion, and the Niflgaard people recently won a battle nearby, so they have ample troops. They are bound to come here to investigate.”

”Are you afraid of them?” Ciri’s voice sounded just like she was saying, ’Someone who just slaughtered a brown bear is afraid of dogs.’

”I’m not afraid, but it’s not over yet.”

Lann looked down at the stubborn little girl.

”Hacksaw’s relics, that war diary needs to be delivered to the north. Although everything here can’t be faked, at the end of the day, as long as the evidence is within Niflgaard’s controlled area, whatever they say goes.”

Lann gestured towards the Ring Mountain behind him.

Even such massive ’evidence’, if they want to eliminate it, it wouldn’t actually be difficult.

”Moreover, I also learned some things from Duke Adal, who mobilized this division-level force...”

”Their primary target for capture, aside from the Demon Hunter, was also a little girl with ash-grey hair.”

Geralt’s cat-like eyes suddenly widened, and then the fluctuation in his emotions was well concealed by his deadpan face.

In his moment of distraction, he realized Lann had been watching his eyes, clearly hinting at something.

”Even though Duke Adal is a high-ranking noble of the Empire, he also does not know what kind of identity the so-called ’ash-grey-haired little girl’ actually has, only her appearance features.”

”It seems...” Geralt worked hard to maintain the calm on his face, but the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth still betrayed his mood.

”It seems the big shot who gave the order doesn’t really want anyone to know whom they are looking for?”

”Not some ’big shot’, but the Emperor of Niflgaard.”

Lann nonchalantly uttered the name of the most powerful person in the world.

”The Darcy Clan is already a significantly prominent noble clan in Niflgaard, only Enshir Enriss, the Emperor’s orders would qualify to grab their attention. Making them assemble such a division-level army.”

Geralt pursed his lips, then said, ”We should leave now, Ciri.”

”What?” The little girl turned around, looking at her guardian in disbelief. ”You want me to leave? After everything that’s happened now? I am...”

Before Ciri could finish her words, Geralt and Lann both placed their hands on her, stopping her from revealing her identity.

Although Hacksaw’s letter bid farewell to Ciri.

But Lann had checked that letter, and there were no signs of it being opened, nor did they read it aloud while looking at it.

So to many, Ciri was still just a lucky little girl brought along by the Demon Hunter during the chaos of war.

”Although I don’t understand why the Emperor of Niflgaard’s orders are so ambiguous, I think speaking rashly might not offer any advantage. If identity is a kind of leverage, then it should be revealed at the right time.”

Under Lann’s persuasion and Geralt’s protective insistence, Ciri eventually conceded gloomily.

The group departed swiftly from this extraordinary Ring Mountain.

Soon after their departure, the sound of many hoofbeats echoed from the distance.

Heavy armor, horse armor, standardized horseshoes... steel was ravaging the ground.

Finally, a unit of three ten-man Niflgaard cavalry squads arrived outside the Ring Mountain.

Having just engaged in a battle against the Northern Kingdom forces, the reconnaissance units of the Niflgaard Army in this area were notably at a higher standard than in other areas.

As they got close, the cavalry squad leader slowed the horse’s pace, encouraging the steed to a steady gait conducive to observation and relaxation. The team behind followed suit, starting to observe their surroundings.

They were temporarily dispatched from a nearby garrison to check the situation.

From the moment the order was given, to the temporary assembly, equipping their gear, departure, and arrival, the whole process took no more than over an hour.

This was quite normal for a cavalry unit which had been resting in the military camp.

The expressions of the group remained relaxed until now.

After all, mountain fires during the dry winter were not uncommon.

And recently, the only things that could threaten their legion, the Northern barbarians, had just been defeated, or rather, slaughtered. Now, finding anything that could threaten them on this land was likely difficult.

The reason the army camp sent them out to take a look was largely due to this smoke column being too big, too conspicuous.

Many resting soldiers in the camp had seen it, along with those recovering from injuries.

The injured soldiers were those who had narrowly escaped death from the harsh battlefield, nervous and fragile, often crying out for no reason.

The officers in the camp feared that this conspicuous and massive smoke column would provoke the soldiers, leading to commotion, or even to more serious incidents.

This cavalry squad only needed to find the cause and provide a reasonable, non-frightening explanation.

The cavalry approached from the side of the Ring Mountain, thus they had not seen the sole entrance to this small mountain.

”Records: Large-scale forest fire at Mountain No. 13... damn, it’s hot even from outside!”

The squad leader shouted without turning his head, and a designated recorder jotted down the observations from this reconnaissance as required.

”At first, I thought it was a bit odd for a fire to grow so big in an hour. But Mountain No. 13... tsk tsk, this terrain is practically a natural furnace.”

”The burning efficiency is undeniable.” The officer following the squad leader, while writing, recited aloud for the commander to verify.

”Next, we still need to determine the cause of the fire, whether it involved any nearby units, and if there is a risk of the fire spreading.”

”One step at a time.”

The squad leader casually ordered, and his old companion horse trotted along at a leisurely pace, mirroring his mood.

After a short walk along the perimeter of the Ring Mountain, the officer behind the squad leader suddenly noticed that the commander seemed... a bit tense?

Continuing forward a few steps, the scene seen by the commander also appeared before the following troops.

Amidst the towering smoke, the blocked entrance of the Ring Mountain was starkly visible!