Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1609 1581. The Era of Contempt
Poor Gerd finally saved his life.

As even Lan En looked at him with awe, Tishaya coughed softly, and then the various pendants on the demon hunters' necks stopped vibrating more and more violently at the same time.

Tishaya pushed the honey-grilled ribs in front of her toward Gede and said, "Enjoy your relaxation, Master Gede. This is a rare vacation."

Never before had Ged felt as amiable as at this moment, that this old-fashioned and serious sorceress, the oldest among mankind, could be so kind.

Without saying a word, Gerd picked up a piece of ribs and stuffed his mouth with it.

At this time, Berengar, who was watching the fun, raised his glass and nudged Eskel next to him with his elbow. With the toughness of an old senior, he forced Eskel to have no choice but to respond first and raise his glass.

Lan En could see that Eskel was not the kind of person who liked to joke around. He had a serious personality, but not rigid.

The old wolf elbowed him and he immediately followed.

Maybe it was also because of the two Valyrian steel swords leaning against the wall at the door?
The advanced Wolf School armor he wore now should have been made with the materials and labor costs he saved up later, but the two Valyrian steel swords were custom-made gifts given to Lan and Berengar by the old witcher when they went to Kaer Morhen together last time.

It's a debt of gratitude.

"Let us drink to the brave and fearless Ged! He ensures our laughter with his loyalty and desperate courage!"

"Respect Gede."

The sorceresses raised their glasses of red wine and talked and laughed, and Cassandra remained generous as always.

However, Lan En stabbed the old witcher when he raised his glass.

"Oh~" he made a meaningful sound, "I thought you were commending him for his loyalty to duty in protecting the factory area."

"What?" Berengar said with a sly smile, "Of course I think so!"

After a few rounds of drinking, the atmosphere began to become familiar and lively.

In fact, the people present were all familiar with each other, except Lan En and Eskel, who had never met each other, which caused the atmosphere to be a bit unharmonious at the beginning.

But the credibility of the Wolf School, as well as the endorsement of Vesemir, Geralt, and that foul-mouthed jerk Lambert, allowed Lan and Eskel to understand each other to some extent from the beginning.

With Lan's coordination, alcohol successfully smoothed the atmosphere between him and Eskel.

The other person wasn't someone with a bad temper who was difficult to get along with.

After a few rounds, the topic at the dinner table naturally turned to the war.

This war, in which the Southern Empire advanced on a large scale into the North, has been the biggest topic of discussion on the entire continent over the past six months.

"You must know the current situation on the battlefield better than I do." Lan En played with the wine glass in his hand, as if he was chatting casually without caring at all. "After all, I just came back, and the news is lagging and blocked."

"We are still in the rear after all." When talking about the war, Berengar's face, which was still joking just now, faded. "If you really want to know first-hand information, why don't you go directly to Foltest? Or your knights?"

"I'll find everything you say, but not now." Lan En leaned back in his chair and frowned. "Now, I want to get some outline of the battlefield from you."

"Hurp, that's the outline." Gerd choked on a large piece of chicken when he was trying to speak. He took a sip of wine to suppress it. "We can eat and drink here now, thanks to the winter truce."

As he spoke, he raised the clean chicken leg bone in his hand.

"Yeah, the truce period." Eskel shrugged.

"Since the battle began half a year ago, the Nilfgaardians have been unstoppable. Their eastern front almost penetrated Aedirn. Their central front crushed the Sodden region and Brugge, and directly entered the borders of Temeria, besieging Maribor."

"There's nothing much to say about the Western Front. It was just a bunch of small coastal countries, and the Nilfgaardians scared them. King Viden, who had been under Foltest's protection, surrendered and submitted to Emperor Emhyr."

King Avir of Verden.

When mentioning this country, Lan En recalled briefly.

That was when he was on his way to find Vesemir and passed through Verden. He and Geralt met by chance at that time, and they worked together to lift the curse that turned a baron into a cormorant.

At that time, Geralt was employed by King Avel and went there to work.

Geralt later reveals that the king paid him to do the work because he wanted to marry the baron's sister, Elisa Freixenet, a girl who had taken care of her brother for two years after he was cursed and turned into a cormorant, and who had naively knitted him a sweater made of nettles, thinking that this would lift the curse.

Come to think of it, she is now Queen of Verdon, right?

I wonder if she is as lucky as Geralt said at the time, 'Evel is getting old and dying, she only needs to endure for a few years and she can become a leisurely and wealthy widow queen.'

But now that war is sweeping the world, even if she really becomes a widow queen, how can she have the chance to enjoy a leisurely and wealthy life?
"I know that these small countries cannot withstand the huge waves caused by Nilfgaard. Even the United Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia cannot withstand it."

Lan took a sip of his glass of Temerian rye vodka.

"But Aedin is one of the four northern nations, and the mutual assistance treaties and agreements they signed with each other, tsk tsk."

The young witcher made a mocking click of his tongue.

No one contradicted him, for the truth was more ironic than the sarcasm that came out of his mouth.

"After Vizimir's death, Redania fell into chaos." Eskel said indifferently, and then looked at Lann uncertainly, "You should know that he was assassinated, right?"

"I know." Lan's answer was brief and to the point, allowing Eskel to continue speaking smoothly.

"Queen Hedwig is regent, but unrest and fear have spread throughout Redania. They are actively hunting down Scoia'tael and Nilfgaardian spies. Dijkstra has taken out his anger on the entire kingdom because of King Vizimir, and now everyone trembles in fear when they see him."

"I can imagine." Lan En raised his eyes and said, "On the night of the Aretuza coup, I didn't treat him well and ruined his plan. Did he cause trouble for you?"

Speaking of that night, the two sorceresses who had not interrupted the conversation simultaneously became heavy-faced.

"He was not yet blinded by rage," Berengar added. "He had the power to cause us trouble, but he did not. In any case, Redania was in chaos and could not spare the strength to support Aedirn."

“As for Foltest,” Margarita, who had always been insensitive to and uninterested in politics and the situation, suddenly spoke up at this point, “Emhyr sent a messenger to Vizima the day the Nilfgaardians crossed the border of Rivia.”

She raised her glass and smiled at Lann. "Our dear Lady Triss Merigold witnessed everything."

"According to her, many members of the Royal Council were absent that day. This is because the Kingdom's Commander-in-Chief was at the front along with most of the commanders, either in the Pontar River Valley, the Mahakam Mountains, or near Maripo."

"The only magic advisor to the royal family who showed up was Triss. Her former colleague Fekater stood on Vigfortz's side on the night of the coup on Thaned Island, and ended up dying. Keira Metz stood firm, but she was too badly injured and hasn't recovered yet."

"Duke Heward and Duke Broniber were arguing fiercely at the meeting, and Archpriest Willemer mediated between them."

"Then." Margarita smiled sarcastically, "Foltest came out of the room where he was having a secret conversation with the messenger and said - I have brought you peace."

"An armistice. Temeria will take the Haji fortress in the Pontar Valley, and the Nilfgaardian Central Army will stop at Sodden."

"But this truce only lasted two weeks. Sixteen days, to be exact."

"Sixteen days later, Demave of Aedirn fled westward to Novigrad for refuge. Nilfgaard's central army marched out from Soden and directly reached the southern border of Temeria. They began preparing to attack Maribor."

In war, one day earlier or later is worth the loss of life. A truce agreement bought sixteen days, and the messenger who brought the agreement was expected to be promoted in Nilfgaard.

"What about Kaedwen?" Lan asked. "Why didn't King Henselt of Kaedwen lend a helping hand to Demave of Aedirn and Meve of Rivia? After all, they have a covenant and are allies."

"If Henselt follows Foltest's example and ignores his signature and seal on the covenant, thinking that the king's promise means nothing, he would be a fool, wouldn't he?"

"Aedirn has fallen, Temeria has compromised, and the Nilfgaardians' next target is him. Doesn't he even understand this? Even if it is rational, Kaedwen should support Aedirn. There is no loyalty and honesty in this world anymore, but rationality should still exist."

Lan En asked expressionlessly at this time.

"Before I left this time, I had already seen the news that Kaedwen had deployed troops on the border of Aedirn. But I thought that even the infamous 'Boar King' would only take advantage of the crisis to blackmail his allies."

"What? The Boar King actually wants to join forces with the enemy to tear his allies apart and eat them?"

"Didn't he think about the fact that after he ate his ally, his body would be heavy and lazy during the digestion period, and the enemy would tear him apart as well?"

"What do you think? Is there still any reason in this world? Or is it just meanness and contempt?"

(End of this chapter)