Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1634 1606. Punishment
In the city of Vergen, humans put themselves in others' shoes and inferred the methods of the mixed-race rebels in Aedirn based on the daily performance of the Scoia'tael on their side. Therefore, they would rather die on the spot than fall into the hands of the enemy alive.

But outside the city of Vergen, the rebels were completely at a loss.

"Whose army is in Vergen?"

Between the dense vegetation and the shallows of the Pontar River Valley, a clearing was cleared in the woods, which was the temporary command post of the rebels.

Sakia still looked like the heroic female warrior, and she slammed her gloved fist on the table angrily.

"This is totally different from what we know!"

Her black and gold hair was tied up with a red and white hairband, and she glanced around with a sharp gaze.

Among the shadowy figures illuminated by the dim candlelight, the one-eyed elf Iorveth stepped forward and gave an answer.

I don’t know if it’s because he saw his dreams and goals being realized with his own eyes, but this elf, who seemed depressed and desperate when he last met Lan En, now looks a little neurotic and weak.

The feeling at this moment is strong and steady.

Compared to humans, elves usually appear slimmer at the same weight, but Iorveth now has a lot of muscles all over his body, and can be called a strong elf.

"Boom."

A shield was thrown onto the table by Iorveth.

"Anyway, he's not from Kaedwen." The elf said in a deep voice, "I've never seen the emblem on this shield in Kaedwen. Does anyone here recognize it?"

This sudden siege has been going on for a day, but we still don’t know the identity of the enemy. It’s no wonder that Sachia is angry.

"A blue rose on a yellow background," someone in the group of figures said, "that's the emblem of Nathar in the south. It's a province of the Black Dog. Apart from Cintra, it's the most northern province."

"you sure?"

Iorveth turned his single eye behind him to confirm with the figure who had spoken.

"I was in the battle of Sodden Hill and I captured some of their people. That's what they said themselves."

"Why didn't you report during the day?"

"I was at the frontline during the day! You want me, a commander, to retreat? Who will be held responsible if the battle line collapses?!"

"Then can't you send someone back to tell us?"

"What's the point of saying it? Aren't you still going to fight anyway?"

"Bang! Alright!" Sachia punched the table again, and this time the table was cracked directly by her punch. The loud noise stopped the quarrel.

The people around her seemed used to it. They quickly brought over a table from somewhere and picked up the maps, shields and other things that had fallen on the ground.

Everyone was used to the powerful performance of the Dragon Slaying Saint before them, but they still immediately became serious.

Sachia looked at the person who had just spoken: "Whether the information is useful or not is up to the people in the rear to decide, but you can't not report it! Five lashes, do you agree to it, Yarpen Zigrin?"

"If you want to beat me, I have nothing to say. It was indeed my fault."

A short and sturdy figure stood out from the crowd. He was the dwarf who had briefly lived with Sachia during the incident in the Pontar Valley.

He handed the dwarf stone crossbow on his back to the man beside him and walked to a nearby place to facilitate the execution.

The sound of five crisp whips lashing the dwarf's thick flesh not far away did not affect the discussion here.

"Now we have to see what to do." Saskia said, leaning on the table, "We have gained a lot during this winter truce. We have rescued more humans, dwarves, and elves. At the same time, we have also intercepted a lot of supplies from the Nilfgaardians and Kaedwenians."

"But now, small-scale frictions and conflicts are becoming more frequent! It is obvious to the naked eye that the truce period is about to end! We must find a foothold! Otherwise, if we don't have a stable rear, we can forget about expanding our scale!"

The dwarf's stature made Yarpan's mouth twitch. He hastily wrapped a bandage around his neck and sat back down.

"This is Upper Aedirn, a place that was supposed to be shamelessly occupied by the Kaedwen. Vergen is special, as most of the people there are dwarves. But why is it that when the fight started today, we suddenly discovered that they were all Nilfgaardians and their vassal armies?"

Sachia summarized the situation and thought to himself, "What does this mean?"

"It means that the friendship between the Nilfgaardians and the Kaedwenis that once held a 'handshake' is about to end."

There were sneers and voices of approval from the crowd.

Kaedwen took advantage of the Nilfgaardians' march northwards and set foot on the land of Aedirn when the war was at its most intense half a year ago. He shook hands, smiled, and greeted the Nilfgaardians on this land.

Even according to the alliance between the four northern countries, they should actually wield weapons.

But just like the peace agreement between Nilfgaard and Temeria was only effective for sixteen days, everyone knew that the "friendship" between Kaedwen and Nilfgaard would eventually fall apart.

Sakia knew this, of course, but she was still a little surprised.

"We have reached Vergen so soon? The information we had before was..."

It is normal for the battle lines to be intertwined, and the ceasefire period does not mean that everyone will not send out a single soldier.

Small-scale frictions occur all the time at a low frequency.

But this was also the first time that Sakia realized that the Nilfgaardians had pushed the battle line so far forward.

She was just the leader of a peasant uprising army, but no one had given her a detailed introduction to the current situation of the war. She had only heard a little bit of information from others, and added her own personal experience to her speculation.

"No matter what, we must take Vergen!" Sakia came back to his senses from his thoughts and said decisively, "Originally it was said that the Kaedweni occupied it, but if we collude with the dwarves in the city, we will probably be able to take it down without much effort."

"But now the people in Vergen are Nilfgaardians, so the dwarves in that city probably can't have any influence anymore."

Kaedwen and Nilfgaard must have different ways of dealing with Vergen. This is why Sakia was slightly confused when he found out that the enemy was not the Kaedwen people he expected and had in the intelligence.

Although the Kaedwen are notorious for discriminating against non-human races, they are at least a bit pragmatic and recognize the role of dwarves in handicrafts and finance. They also cooperate when necessary.

Even if they occupied the dwarf city of Vergen, they would not break up with the dwarves.

But apart from the Scoia'tael, there is no news of any cooperation between Nilfgaard and non-human races. To be honest, the Nilfgaardians have not come into contact with non-human races for almost 200 years, and they probably have forgotten how to get along with them.

If they captured Vergen, the best outcome for the dwarves in the city would be imprisonment.
In short, the rebels no longer have any hope against the dwarves inside the city of Vergen.

"We can only fight hard."

"That's a city built by dwarves. If nothing else, it must be thick and hard."

There was a buzz of discussion.

But this time Sachia did not use his authority to suppress it, because the discussion now fell within the scope of military tactics.

However, as the discussion progressed, some discordant voices eventually emerged.

"Why don't we change direction and go to Taolavin, which is not far away? I asked about that place a few days ago, and it is indeed in the hands of the Kaedwen people. It has not been lost."

Amid the buzzing sound, these words were keenly heard by Sakia and some others.

"But there aren't any non-human races there, right?"

"So what if humans? They will help us resist!"

All the discussions seemed to be led away by this initial proposal.

People are discussing that the pressure starting with Tao La Wen will definitely be much lighter than that of Fu Jian.

The casualties will certainly be much smaller.

Ultimately, these discussions unsurprisingly led to the last sentence.

"We came to seize Vergen because it is a city with a large population of dwarves. We want to use it as a base to reassure the elves and dwarves in our team. But we can't just bite off such a hard bone to reassure them! This doesn't make sense!"

As soon as these words, which were faintly filled with complaints and accusations, were spoken, the people around him hadn't reacted yet, when suddenly!
Among the originally shadowy crowd, more than a dozen tall figures suddenly stood up.

They were tall, but this was undoubtedly due to the magic cloak.

The mere action of them standing up made them feel as if several small mountains suddenly appeared in the crowd.

But as for the magic cloak, people who have never seen it may find it novel, but people who have been to the battlefield basically know what it is.

Logically, there shouldn't be such a big reaction.

But this group of people silenced many people just by standing up, and it was not just the oppressive feeling brought by the magic cloak.

The temporary command post fell silent, which now made the sounds from the outer camps known.

The sounds of chopping wood to make a fire, whispering, and footsteps came from a distance.

After the scene was quiet for a moment, one of the cloaked men spoke in a cold and rational voice.

"You just said that this is 'taking on a tough job for nothing'? Captain of Team Seven, Zeller?"

The person whose name was called, the speaker just now, stood up with a gloomy face. He was a plain-looking human wearing a black headscarf.

Amid the crackling sound of torches, the cloaked man who spoke slowly walked up to him.

"Yes, that's what I said."

"I see." The tall and oppressive cloaked man nodded calmly, "This shows that you have resentment in your heart."

"Who wouldn't have resentment?" Having said that, Zeller didn't have any more room to beat around the bush. He gritted his teeth and simply nodded, "Our team lost five lives under that city wall today! Two of them had their shoulders broken by rocks. I don't know if they can make it through tonight!"

"We're not running away from the fight! We just think there's no need to endure unnecessary suffering!"

"But it is necessary!" The cloaked man's stern voice suddenly increased and he looked around.

Obviously, his next words were not meant for just one person.

"We are not going to hide anything. Let's just say it. The reason we seized Vergen is to reassure the elves, dwarves, and gnomes in our team."

"You all know how our team was assembled. Without these elves and dwarves, we wouldn't have been able to withstand the initial suppression of Aedirn."

"Of course, we have all developed some skills now, and some elves and dwarves do show signs of being complacent, but I am here. Can you point out one example, just one, where I did not punish them after I discovered it?"

Iorveth interjected, "You have fairly punished every elf, dwarf, and human who made a mistake."

Sachia added decisively: "We can all testify to this."

Although the people in the crowd were resentful, they nodded without hesitation.

"In order to continue to maintain the integrity and combat effectiveness of our team, we must find a base that will make them feel at ease."

As he spoke, the hood, which was cast into a dark shadow by the magic, looked down at Zeller.

"Just like when we rescued humans before, the elves and dwarves didn't say 'this is not our business' and retreat to the back."

"On today's battlefield, this was undoubtedly a mistake caused by intelligence and expectations. But tell me, did any elves or dwarves retreat or shrink from the battle? You are a mixed group, tell me."

"No."

Zeller gritted his teeth but responded simply.

So, the hooded man made a cold conclusion: "Then, I will punish you for the crime of disrupting unity. Do you have any objection?"

Zeller gritted his teeth, and the corners of his mouth twitched, but after a flicker in his eyes, he suddenly raised his head and said, "I ask that you carry out the punishment."

"I agreed."

"Then I will accept the punishment without hesitation."

(End of this chapter)