I'm not a Witcher anymore.

Chapter 141 The Flaming Rose Knights

After learning all the information, Zieg did not delay.

What the Ophir caravan lost were not ordinary goods, but gifts that King Nebres of Ophir had given to Radovid V.

Sieg didn't care whether the bald king would be furious; he only cared about taking this opportunity to get in touch with Ophir.

So that afternoon, he left Novigrad with his men.

Yes, this time, he didn't set off alone.

Following behind him were Clegane and the thirty-odd former Sintra soldiers.

After the remnants of the Lionheart Company swore allegiance to Sieg, Sieg replaced their equipment.

Each person wore a chainmail shirt, with a breastplate over it. This was not heavy enough to hinder long marches, and it could also protect against fatal blows from ordinary swords and crossbow bolts.

Their weapons were halberds, maces, daggers, and crossbows.

The halberd is used to control distance, the mace is used to break armor, the dagger is used to finish off enemies at close range, and the crossbow is convenient for taking the initiative in narrow terrain and night battles.

After they changed into their gear, their entire demeanor changed.

Silence, order, and obedience.

Without Sieg saying anything more, these people naturally knew when to keep their distance, when to guard the flanks, and when to protect Sieg's position.

By the time the group arrived at the site of the attack on the Ophir caravan, it was already getting dark.

It was located near the main road from Novigrad to Tritog. There were several messy ruts by the roadside, and hoofprints could still be seen on the ground.

The scene was littered with trampled boxes and planks, broken ropes, and a few pieces of colorful cloth scattered in the grass.

The fabric was brightly colored and had a different texture from the coarse cloth commonly found in the north; it was clearly not something that ordinary caravans would use.

Zig crouched down and reached out to touch one of the tire tracks that had deviated from the main road.

After stealing the goods, the group did not continue on the main road, but instead pushed the truck into the nearby wilderness.

He stood up and glanced into the distance.

"Over here."

More than thirty Sintra soldiers immediately followed.

They followed the trail and continued their pursuit.

About half an hour later, an abandoned house came into view.

It was a stone house that had been abandoned for a long time.

Half of the roof had collapsed, withered vines covered the walls, the window frames were crooked, and the yard was overgrown with weeds, making it look as if it had been half swallowed up by the wilderness.

Zig stopped in his tracks.

Clegane also raised his hand, signaling all the soldiers behind him to stop.

It's too quiet.

Zieg reached into the quiver on his back, drew an arrow, and nocked it onto his yew longbow.

He moved very quickly.

Before Clegane could even ask a question, he had already released the bowstring.

Whoosh!

The arrow shot out through the air.

A muffled groan came from the tree, and a dark figure fell from the branches and crashed heavily to the ground.

The second arrow, and then the third arrow, were fired in quick succession.

Two more screams rang out.

The two sentries hiding in the tree fell down, without even having time to pull the trigger on their crossbows.

Several Sintra soldiers immediately surrounded them, carrying halberds.

A moment later, one of them turned around and said, "Sir, they're all dead."

Sieg stepped forward, protected by Clegane and others.

Without exception, all three sentries were killed instantly by arrows piercing their throats or eye sockets.

One of the soldiers used his halberd to pry open the cloak covering a corpse, revealing the robe it was wearing underneath.

It was a somewhat dirty red robe, and on the chest was embroidered a very conspicuous emblem—a rose burning in flames.

"The Knights of the Flaming Rose—" Clegane stared at the image, his brow furrowing deeply. He spat on the ground. "A bunch of degenerate scum."

Zieg looked at the burning rose with a complicated expression.

The Flaming Rose Knights have an extremely long and tumultuous history.

At their peak, this military organization, driven by fanatical faith, even possessed its own independent fiefdom, with Grand Master Jaques wielding immense power and influence.

But the expansion of power eventually led to madness, and Jaques launched the famous Vizima Rebellion in the Temurian capital.

After the rebellion was suppressed, the Knights, having lost their Grand Master, were stripped of their fiefdoms and expelled from the country like stray dogs.

Later, the upright and noble knight—Siegfried of Denesler (son of Ecke of Denesler)

After he succeeded as Grand Master, the reputation of the Knights improved somewhat.

Unfortunately, their good fortune didn't last long. In the brutal political game, they were used as the cheapest cannon fodder by King Radovid V of Redania and ruthlessly thrown into the meat grinder on the front lines against Nilfgaard.

After Siegfried's death, the Knights, having lost their leader, completely disintegrated.

One faction, driven by extreme fear of Radovid, completely submitted and became witch hunters who harmed innocent people; while the other faction utterly abandoned the eight virtues of knighthood, wandered the wilderness, and became depraved knights who burned, killed, looted, and committed all sorts of evil.

The group that ambushed the Ophir caravan was clearly the latter.

"Sir, we found this in the house."

A soldier searching the house reported to his superior.

Zieg entered the room and saw that the soldiers had already lifted a tattered carpet on the floor, revealing a rusty iron door.

The door was unlocked, and a soldier was trying to pry it open.

"Get out of the way."

The soldier immediately stepped aside.

Sieg drew Langrisser from his waist and sliced ​​the iron gate open with ease, seemingly with no more effort than cutting a piece of tofu.

Crigan and the others were shocked.

Below was a dark stone staircase, and a damp, musty smell, mixed with the stench of sweat and some kind of pungent medicine, rose up from the ground.

Clearly, this is the lair of the Fallen Knights.

"My lord, let me lead my men down to clean up these scum." Clegane put down his halberd and drew his mace from his waist.

The opponent was a heavily armored knight. In this narrow underground space, longswords and halberds were not effective, so blunt weapons were the best way to break in.

"Don't rush."

Silvery-white dust gathered in his palm, condensing into "Sequence Cat" potions.

Clegane and others had already sworn allegiance to him, forming his first truly independent force in Novigrad. Sieg didn't need to hide anything from these people as he did from outsiders.

Rather, appropriately demonstrating such methods would be more effective in solidifying the soldiers' respect and loyalty.

During this time, he was waiting for news in the "Spear Cave | Tavern," and he wasn't doing nothing.

With the dividends from Dudu, Zig purchased a large quantity of alchemical materials in Novigrad and reconstituted a batch of "Prologue:

"Cat" and "Prelude: Maripo Forest".

In addition, he also added a lot of alchemical bombs.

He prepared quite a few of them, including "North Wind Bomb", "Dancing Star", "Foaming Wind" and "Dragon's Dream".

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