Chapter 305: The arrival of the Keville Free Corps.
Eight huge transport ships sailed on the sea, covered with dust.
They all looked old and not very fast. Fortunately, each one was replaced with the strongest sail, and the strong wind faced the direction of the ship without any bias, providing them with the most sufficient power.
On the flagship in the middle of the fleet, a middle-aged man wearing a sealskin jacket stood there with his arms spread out. There was a wooden stick strangely rooted in the deck standing in front of him, and he was muttering something.
With the spell, the wind got stronger.
"We're almost there." On the ship in the pilot position of the fleet, a bald man in armor glanced at the Druid who almost no one dared to approach, and then looked at the coastline that was getting closer and closer.
"Ahead is the mouth of the Yaruga River. One day after entering... No, it may only take half a day to reach Sintra." "
Finally we are almost there." There was a sigh of relief around the bald officer.
The speaker was a man with a dirty beard, also wearing armor. But like the bald man, his armor looked poorly maintained, like the kind of mercenary who was on the road all year round.
"The damn Redanians actually carried us on a cargo ship transporting cattle and sheep, and treated us like livestock to the front line to die for people from other countries!" The bearded
men were all dissatisfied with the treatment they received.
"Come on, no matter how uncomfortable it is, it's better than being in prison, Lorenzo Mora." A clear, yet rough voice came over. The speaker was also wearing an officer's armor, but she was actually a female officer. "I have never been on such a fast ship - ha, a druid's magic ship!" "Julia is right." The last one was wearing an officer's armor
. The man in armor agreed, "No matter what, it's better than being in prison."
These four people are the [Freedom Corps] officers who came all the way from Covir to Sintra to support them. The people under their feet and behind them The transport ship carried three thousand [Freedom Corps] soldiers.
All four of them were political prisoners who were on the wrong side during the Coville coup. After being released to support Sintra, they were all symbolically restored to their previous military ranks before being imprisoned. They were all colonels.
But everyone knows that their military ranks are only useful in this [Freedom Corps] composed entirely of criminals. They can no longer return to their hometown of Kevir. What kind of life they can have in the future depends on what they can get in Sintra. Treated.
The bald man who spoke at the beginning was named Adam Pangrat, and the four of them were led by him.
"Yes, yes, anything is better than going to jail." The bearded man who has been complaining is called Lorenzo Mora, "But let me tell you, we were all people with status before, and we were all decent people. Are you really Are you willing to be sent to a strange place to fight other people's wars?" "
I can guarantee that if we come here with our current status, we will definitely become cannon fodder." The bearded Lorenzo lowered his voice, "If you ask me, we are not as good as we are now. Turn around, with the command of three thousand mercenary legions, we can definitely become one of the most powerful mercenaries in the north. Then we will sell these eight large ships as start-up capital..." "That's not enough to pay these three thousand people, they
will They dispersed in a hurry, and I would be thankful to be able to leave a few hundred people in the end." Julia Abutmak, the only female officer, retorted, "And I have gone to military academies for so many years and fought for so many years, not just for the end. Go be a stinky mercenary."
"Julia is right." The last officer agreed again, his name was Juan Gutierrez.
"Ha, otherwise what are we pursuing, honor?" The bearded Lorenzo smiled sarcastically, "Don't forget that we have lost our identity and been abandoned by the family. Being able to retain the command of the mercenary group is a gift. Okay? You have easily gained freedom, are you going to waste it on other people's battlefields?" "
But this is our chance, isn't it?" Female officer Julia said solemnly, "I learned about Cintra's words before I came here. We are now Lannister, the knight in the poem. If we help him win the war of restoration, we may be able to get a new life here; if we reward according to merit, we may even be able to obtain a knighthood..."
" Poems are for children, and never place your hopes on the mercy of rulers, because rulers have no mercy!" The bearded Lorenzo shook his head.
"But I think Julia is right." Juan continued to echo Julia, "Lannister should be different. We can hear his story even in the cell..." The three of them argued endlessly
. , finally turned their attention to Adam, the leader of the mercenary group.
The bald man pondered for a moment while facing the sea breeze.
"We cannot ignore Lorenzo's concerns, but what Julia said is not unreasonable." Team leader Adam pondered for a moment, "War is our opportunity, and so is Cintra." "Cintra has been destroyed by
Nefer Gad is defeated, otherwise we wouldn't have to go all the way to Kovir for help. Our mercenary group might become a decisive force in the past, and this can be an opportunity for us." "Lorenzo can stay vigilant
. , look at the attitude of the people of Cintra towards us. If things go wrong, we can withdraw the corps from the battlefield of Cintra at any time..."
This is a quite sober analysis, but it doesn't seem to be very popular with my subordinates, Julie Ya hesitated to speak.
Lorenzo didn't have any scruples and started chattering: "Adam, a corps cannot execute two plans at the same time. If you ask me, we still..." "
Enemy attack!"
The dull horn sound suddenly interrupted their discussion, and the sad sound The shout caught everyone's attention.
The four officers looked around in panic, but did not see any enemies nearby. Instead, hoarse shouts came from the sky.
Huge wings spread in the sky, and the figures looked like graceful women with wings and claws.
"Harpy." The four officers frowned in unison.
Kevir is near the mountains, and there are many harpies' nests there. This kind of monster also lives in the offshore sea, so it is not surprising to appear here.
"But are there too many monsters encountered along the way? What wave is this? The water ghosts, banshees and other monsters I have encountered in the past few decades are not as many as this one." Julia was a little surprised. Complaining, but there was not much panic in the words.
"Is there a war between us humans, and these monsters are at war with something?"
No one paid attention to Julia's whims, and everyone began to prepare in an orderly manner.
These banshees probably regard these transport ships as ordinary merchant ships, but there are three thousand soldiers here, which is definitely not something that these dozens of monsters can deal with.
"Blow the trumpet and let the archers prepare. There are a lot of these monsters, and a lot of arrows will be wasted..." The
officer's words were interrupted again. The trumpet sounded as scheduled, but it was not a war preparation trumpet like the commander's order. But another warning signal.
"Woo--"
Everyone looked around again, and this time they found the enemy on the sea.
Three small boats painted with black paint were heading here riding the wind and waves. The boats were small and thin, with sharp bows. Each boat was expected to be able to carry only a few dozen people.
It is also because of this that their speed is extremely fast, and their speed against the wind is not inferior to their own speed with the blessing of druid magic.
The faces of the four officers changed greatly. They recognized the shapes of these ships and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Pirates of Skellige?!"
They couldn't help but be surprised. The three ships in front of them were all standard warships. If it is really a Skellig warship, then the three thousand mercenaries carried by the transport ship behind it really cannot give any sense of security on the sea.
The record of "three hundred Skellige pirates repelling two thousand Nilfgaardians" is a required case study in major military academies.
However, there was a sudden strong wind next to the four officers, and a fiery portal opened, and the druid who was casting magic on the flagship stepped out of it.
There was no tension on his face, but a smile on his face: "I'm from Skellig, have you forgotten? That's one of our own." The four
officers relaxed after hearing this. The northerners of the mainland were very concerned about the Skellige pirates. It is really a reflexive vigilance. For the Kovir people who have not had much contact with Nilfgaard, the people of the Islands have a more evil reputation.
It seemed that they felt that the smaller lone warships were easier to deal with than these transport ships. At this moment, all the harpies in the sky changed their targets and approached the warships.
They flew lower and lower until they began to dive and launch sneak attacks on the sailors above the deck.
This is a wrong decision.
Just when the officers of the Free Mercenary Group were about to ask the Druid if they needed help, they suddenly saw a vague figure suddenly appear on the deck. He jumped up alone to face these flying monsters.
He did not draw his sword, but every time he raised his hand, a magical shock wave would erupt, and then multiple harpies would fall from the sky as if they were struggling.
If they land on the deck, they will be hit immediately; if they fall into the water, the harpy is not a female siren after all, and their wings soaked in water will temporarily lose the ability to fly, and then they will be pierced by the sailor's harpoon. .
In just a few breaths, half of the harpies died instantly. The remaining monsters immediately dispersed, but the figure then took out an exquisite hand crossbow from behind and continued to hunt monsters with skillful skills.
"咻", "咻", he loaded the crossbow skillfully, maintaining an extremely fast shooting frequency.
Sharp screams continued to ring around the warship, stinging the eardrums of everyone in the Freedom Corps.
In the end, there were only three or four sporadic harpies in the sky, flapping their wings and escaping. The four officers of the Free Corps were stunned by the warship's skilled hunting skills.
If a normal army wanted to drive and hunt a harpy of this size head-on without any damage, it would require at least a hundred-man archery team. But there was only one person and a dozen sailors on the warship.
"Are all Skellige people like this?" Julia murmured to herself.
The druid smiled and said nothing.
The warship quickly approached the transport ship at the feet of the officers. This distance allowed everyone to see two flags hanging on the other side's observation deck, namely the indigo dragon's head flag of the Tursek family of the archipelago and the blue three lions flag of Sintra.
Under the exchange of flags, the warship docked. Two men came on deck.
The appearance of one of the men took everyone's breath away. That was the man who had hunted most of the harpies before. He has a typical islander hairstyle, wears iron-studded leather armor, and has two muscular arms exposed. He has a necklace of a roaring bear head on his chest, and carries two swords on his back.
He has a bear-like body, bear-like temperament, and undoubtedly bear-like strength. He is the kind of man who can be seen as a "warrior" at a glance.
The only pity is the other person's amber eyes.
"Ged." The druid opened his arms with a smile and hugged the man roughly like a warrior. "I didn't expect that Duke Lannister would send you to pick me up. Will we work together after that?" Still the same
sentence , no one among the islanders disliked Gede after being exposed to him. The druid's enthusiastic look made the officers of the Free Mercenary Group feel confused again.
This is a druid, and that is a demon hunter.
At this time, another person on the deck spoke.
"Good morning everyone, this is Ged, the captain of our 'Sea Guerrilla Force', and I am Bill, the adjutant of this guerrilla force. We are here to meet you under the order of Duke Lannister - the Duke has been waiting for a long time. ."
Captain Adam looked at the sailor who was speaking. He has a well-proportioned figure, neither tall nor thin, with dark skin and a regular sailor figure. Perhaps the only thing worthy of praise is his fairly regular facial features.
Compared with the bear-like man next to him, this adjutant was not even a bit inferior, and he didn't look like he was very capable of fighting.
However, as an adjutant, he is probably responsible for functions such as navigator, or he may simply be sent by his superiors to supervise the demon hunters.
"Then please lead the way. We have been looking forward to meeting the Duke for a long time."
...
Cintra, the city lord's residence, study.
Lann looked at the four officers of the Freedom Corps in front of him and recalled them carefully in his mind.
Originally, there were not many people who had significant roles in history. One was their leader Adam, and the other was the female officer Julia nicknamed "Little Beautiful Cat".
The leader of the regiment, Adam, was nicknamed "Farewell" because of his bravery in combat and precise command; and "Little Beautiful Cat" Julia was famous for her outstanding appearance at first, and later for commanding the Free Corps and dwarves on the battlefield. The volunteers together blocked the Nilfgaardian heavy cavalry and became famous.
As a foreign mercenary group, due to their outstanding merits, they finally participated in the celebration ceremony after the victory in the north, and received no less cheers than the kings. They were a strong support force.
"Thank you very much for giving us our freedom, Duke Lannister." Captain Adam saluted first, "We are grateful." "
It was His Majesty Istrad Thyssen who gave you your freedom." Lann shook his head, "And I am the price of your freedom. Only after passing this level can you truly have freedom."
Lann said it very straightforwardly, without the politeness and etiquette of dealing with those kings. These professional officers seemed to accept this, and they seemed to feel relieved after hearing this.
"You will fight for me on my land, and I will not treat you badly. I know that you come as a mercenary group, so I will give you appropriate compensation; after the battle, the money can be given to You who have just escaped from prison can make a living as travel expenses, or you can find your own place in Sintra with your merits." "
Cintra welcomes all friends who share the same goals with us."
"But..."
Lann then spoke up. One turn. He knew that the Freedom Corps, a group composed of various political prisoners and war criminals, would not be honest and would say ugly things first, otherwise who knows what trouble would happen later.
However, before Lan En could say anything, there was a sudden noise outside the window, which was disturbing and annoying.
"Your Majesty the Duke."
There was an announcement immediately outside the door, and after receiving permission, House pushed the door open and entered.
He glared at the officer of the Freedom Corps whose expression changed slightly and seemed to realize something. He lowered his head to Lan and reported,
"Sir, the Kevir mercenaries are fighting with our people."
(End of chapter)