Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 997 979. Toll station on the river

A simple and narrow wooden bridge connects the two sides of the Pontal River.

On a central shoal in the middle of the river, an outpost was built with wooden piles.

This is obviously a civilian passage, and the outpost is a toll station where merchants and vendors who want to cross the river must pay tolls.

After passing this toll station, you will find the territory of Redania, one of the four northern kingdoms.

Therefore, this toll station also collects customs duties part-time.

The river water smells very strong because the flow here is slow, so the dirty sediments are piled nearby.

There is a layer of green algae on the river surface, which is the result of eutrophication of the water body.

But the 'nutrition' of nature smells like old feces in the human nasal cavity.

Dead water birds, dead fish, and even dead water ghosts. The carcasses of these things floated up and down in the floating waves of green algae.

From time to time, it would hit the pillars of the wooden bridge and make a 'dong' sound.

There was no incident when Geralt and Lan crossed the bridge.

The soldiers stationed at the toll booth behaved like ordinary people, treating the witcher like a leper, as if the cat's eyes would be contagious to him.

But their attitude is much better than that of the villagers.

The emblem of Redania is a red shield with a spreading white eagle wearing a crown and holding a scepter. Therefore, unlike the common blue and white colors in Temeria, the official colors here are red and white.

The soldiers' breastplates and cotton armor were all red and white.

Because the soldiers guarding the toll booth were well-informed and knew that the demon hunters were just passing by and would not stay for a long time, nor would they work here.

So they just tilted their heads and spat when the witcher passed by, as if to expel bad luck, or blew their noses, and then wiped their cotton armor randomly twice with the hand they blew their noses with.

But they dared to do this when Geralt was passing by first.

After the sound of Carrot's horse's hooves trampling on the wooden bridge, a huge figure that should never appear in common sense walked over the small bridge awkwardly.

A Redanian soldier whose rosacea had developed into a fat nose was checking the bag of money that Geralt had thrown at him.

It seemed that the phlegm-filled mouth was mumbling some dirty habits.

Geralt had long been accustomed to these scenes, so he sat calmly on his horse and waited for the Redanian soldier in front of him to finish counting the coins in his purse.

"Okay, white-haired man." Rosacea put the end of the halberd on the ground, held the long pole in his arms, and turned the small money bag upside down in his hand to shake it clean.

"The coins are not trimmed, there are two people and two horses, and no goods are brought, so there is no need to pay trade tax. Well, bah."

As if Geralt's obedient behavior of paying the fee made him a little dissatisfied, he made a roaring sound in his throat, then tilted his head and spit out a mouthful of phlegm, rolling his eyes.

"But you must be going to Novigrad to find work, right? The great priests of the Eternal Fire may forget to collect your business tax, so you have to pay a deposit here first."

"I've been up and down the Pontar River hundreds of times, man."

Geralt on the horse frowned slightly.

"Novigrad is a free city. Even if I have to work there, the taxes I pay have nothing to do with Redania, right?"

"Don't be too greedy. I can give you five more silver coins and buy you a drink. But don't mention any bullshit commercial tax deposit."

If you expect the soldiers at the toll booth to charge honestly and according to the rules, you might as well expect the eternal fire to drive away monsters.

Geralt knew exactly how to deal with these people.

The rosacea in front of him was obviously an old man, and he knew he couldn't fool Geralt, so he curled his lips and prepared to do as he asked.

However, when Rosacea put away the tolls he received and reached out toward Geralt to receive the five silver coins, a huge shadow covered the witcher from behind.

The Qilin, which is two and a half meters tall at the shoulders, is equipped with a magic harness saddle, and Lan En in a cloak is sitting on it.

The height alone is over three and a half meters.

Regardless of whether it is Qilin or Lan En, their bodies are by no means simple and abnormally tall and thin, but have strong and healthy muscles.

In such a state of enlargement at the same proportion, the difference in body size becomes even more terrifying.

It was obvious that Qilin was just strolling around to catch up with Geralt from behind, but the shadow that covered the past was like a slowly approaching darkness.

Lan En drove the unicorn and walked past Geralt. On the road he passed, the Redanian soldiers' throats rolled up and down, their mouths open but speechless.

"Aren't you done yet, Geralt?"

Geralt sat on the carrot and looked down at the rosacea toll collector, while Lan, who was passing by Geralt, looked down at him.

Lan En walked over as if nothing had happened, while Rosacea, who was still extending his hand towards Geralt, froze there, dangling one hand that neither dared to extend nor to withdraw.

The old demon hunter looked clearly at the rosacea standing next to his horse's head, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.

Then he stopped talking about the five silver coins and followed Lan En out of the toll station.

After the two people left, the toll station that fell into silence for a while slowly became noisy again.

The pedestrians blocking the bridge outside were trying to speed up the crossing, while the Redanian soldiers at the toll booth seemed to have just woken up. "Is that a giant on a horse?"

"Shit giant, this is a civilized place, not a wilderness!"

"But not a giant, that size? Still walking with a freak witcher?"

The soldiers were noisy, not only out of curiosity, but also to vent the pressure they had unconsciously accumulated under the huge figure just now.

But the veteran with rosacea seemed to be stunned for a moment when he heard the word 'freak witcher', obviously thinking of something.

It is a legend that has been around for a short time, but has an influence beyond imagination.

The bard's ballad said that the protagonist of the story is a tall and brave demon hunter who is extraordinary.

Ignoring the chattering of the other people in the toll booth, Rosacea leaned his halberd against the corner, and then sneaked into the soldiers' lounge of the toll booth without alerting anyone.

Soon after, a dove flapped its wings and flew into the distance.
-
Lan En and Geralt didn't even pay attention to the toll station on the Pontar River for more than ten minutes.

Compared to ordinary people in this magical medieval world, demon hunters have much more extraordinary knowledge and experience.

Even when Lan En was an ordinary demon hunter, he was already able to handle such trivial matters with ease.

Geralt just bounced on his horse and teased the young man.

"I should really go with you more often in the future. Less than twenty times, the customs clearance fee I save is enough for one mission."

Lan En turned around on Qilin's back, held the brim of his hood towards Geralt, and made a bow gesture of thanks after a performance, signaling that he was welcome.

After arriving in Redania, the environment of this place is at least much better than that of Velen.

Velen is low-lying, so the water from the Pontal River silted it up into swamps and wetlands, from which monsters and miasmas were born.

But the large piece of land where Novigrad is located is the delta where the Pontar River flows into the ocean.

Although it is closer to the ocean, the annoying humidity is not as bad as Willen.

Shrubs, trees and grass grow on the loess with suitable humidity.

Less than twenty steps away from the road, you enter untouched forest.

Lush, deep and dark.

But as they approached Novigrad along the road, after riding horses for a while, they raised their eyes at the same time and looked ahead at the road.

"The world has become more chaotic." Geralt's voice was as calm as ever, "The remnants of that war are still tormenting many people today."

Lan En lowered his head and did not speak. He just patted Qilin's neck, causing the noble and elegant ancient dragon to speed up his pace a little.

In front of the road, a noisy sound came out.

In the sound were the happy and cruel laughter of men and women, the frightened neighing of the donkey pulling the cart, and the screams.

Geralt also urged Carrot to follow.

What happened before the eyes of the two witchers was obvious.

A wooden cart had its axle broken due to being caught in a trap. The goods on the cart were scattered all over the floor, and the wooden cart was crookedly stuck in the pit.

The donkey pulling the cart screamed and kicked its legs in fear at the sight of blood, but the harness tied it to the broken cart.

The owner or original owner of the donkey cart was sitting paralyzed in the mud.

The body of a young man dressed as a waiter lay in front of him, and the blood flowing from his body made the muddy ground even wetter and smellier.

The people who set up this trap and took possession of the car's cargo were a group of obvious deserters.

They wore Redania's red and white cotton armor.

He only wears iron protective gear on his gloves, elbows, and knees, and his chest is simply a large iron plate tied to his body.

But unlike the soldiers at the toll booth, these people looked more dirty and embarrassed, and the armor they wore seemed too old even compared to mass-produced military supplies.

This kind of wear and tear will definitely meet the requirements for replacement even under the stingiest quartermaster.

There were six or seven people in total, both men and women, all dressed in this way.

When Geralt and Lan arrived near the scene, they happened to see a leading man pulling a little girl out from behind the car owner who was slumped on the dirt.

A little girl about thirteen or fourteen years old, or a handsome boy?

Apparently, these people don't care much about gender.

The leading man's mouth was full of rotten teeth, which were so yellow that they turned black.

As soon as he caught the child, his nose was running and he tore the child's clothes with a smile.

He kept shouting: It's time for you to meet a real man.

His companions around him were making noises as if they were watching the fun, and some even started to untie their belts.

(End of this chapter)