Bear School Astartes

"Who killed him?"

Lann asked with a frown.

"No one saw it, who can know?" Taler said with hands on his hips.

His pity for the young courier ended there, as death wasn’t so new, and he was accustomed to harsh and dirty intelligence matters.

"Perhaps it was highwaymen or bandits who tried to stop him but failed, and shot an arrow at his back as he left."

"Or maybe it was the Squirrel Faction hiding in the woods by the roadside, targeting human passersby. It’s possible, the arrow doesn’t have any identifiable features."

Lann was silent for a moment, shaking his head.

"Indeed a shame... the world is truly chaotic."

"Who can disagree?" Taler echoed, "After the war, we should have recovered, but things have been tangled up for two years, and who knows when it’ll be sorted out. Now it seems trouble is brewing again in the Ponta River Valley."

The Ember Knights rode out of the village of Dark Water.

There wasn’t much entertainment at this time, so the village children, upon seeing such a lively and spirited group of knights, ran alongside their warhorses.

Lincoln sped up a bit to free the team from the children’s entanglement.

"Sir."

The Ember Knights carrying supplies approached Lann, with Lincoln leading the shout.

The sound of hooves drew near, and he glanced down at Taler standing beside Qilin.

This head of intelligence from Temeria probably came to say hello, and seemingly wanted to inquire why Lann didn’t linger at Dark Water this time.

But with the renowned Ember Knights accompanying, and the young leading knight appearing quite vigilant, he naturally showed some discretion.

"May everything go as smoothly as stepping in dog poop, Sir."

Taler retreated a few steps under Lincoln’s gaze, a natural smile on his face.

Seated on Qilin’s back, Lann subtly nodded to him, already accustomed to Taler’s foul language.

"And good luck to you, Taler."

After speaking, the group continued their journey, heading east.

-----------------

Another period of travel, the spring rain was good for farmers and fields but only drew complaints from travelers.

Fortunately, Lann and his company were far better off than the caravans and guards mired in the mud, proving sturdier.

Along the way, Lann taught the Iwami Style to ten Honored Swordsmen beside him.

The knowledge of this swordsmanship wasn’t complicated or difficult; Iwami Yixin, with singular focus and relentless hacking, combined with his talent, laid its foundation.

It could be said the foundation of this sword technique is quite... suitable for novices and brutes.

Otherwise, given Iwami Country’s average education level, it’s debatable how many among his followers learning the sword could recognize words or distinguish left from right.

Yet, regardless of strength, all the followers could perform a few tricks with the Iwami Style, attesting to its simple entry level.

Although the Honored Swordsmen still had many techniques to practice and needed to ingrave these techniques into their bodies as habits.

The knowledge and key points of these techniques were already in the minds of the Honored Swordsmen.

Lann granted them permission to teach this swordsmanship to others when they returned to the Knight Order.

Lincoln recorded this command in his large, portable notebook.

But as Lann peered over it, he felt like the boy was writing a novel.

He solemnly referred to this task as ’Sword Giving.’

And after listing their names, besides the Knight Order title of Honored Swordsmen, he also added the title of Sword Giver.

"You’re being too pretentious..." Lann remarked, looking at the young knight buried in his writing, "Won’t this cause confusion in the Knight Order’s titles, ranks, and duties?"

Yet, at this moment, Lincoln embraced the Ember Knight Order’s spirit. While respecting Lann, he showed much autonomy and initiative.

"No, it represents the diversification of our Knight Order! It’s normal for the same member to have different titles and ranks in various fields."

Lincoln insisted adamantly.

Then followed a string of ’The Knight Order should be like this!’, ’Where’s the Knight Order culture from!’, ’It’s an essential aspect to appreciate!’ and other incomprehensible phrases.

Lann raised an eyebrow without saying much, but privately, he instructed Rong Buqiu to give Lincoln a hard time tonight.

Elu Cat was excited, immediately performing a cat punch routine on Qilin’s back with its fluffy body.

"Leave it to me, boss!"

The days of camping and rushing along quickly passed.

At the average speed of the Ember Knights and Qilin, they rode for a little over a week from Dark Water, reaching the range of Elrand.

The road in the forest was no different from before, as it bordered the Ponta River, carrying a gloomy dampness.

Coupled with the overcast sky, it only made one’s mood more unpleasant.

From time to time, sounds of something swiftly moving and rustling branches and leaves emerged from the woods on both sides of the road.

It was unclear if they were ordinary beasts or some kind of creatures.

In any case, neither the Embers Knights nor Lann paid much attention to it.

Occasionally, they passed a directional signpost, with emblems showing that this was no longer ordinary Temerian territory.

Different from the Temerian White Lily pattern, although Elrand is a vassal kingdom, it still retains its characteristics on the shield emblem.

It was a small shield emblem with a yellow background and red patterns, adorned with Temerian White Lily on the edge of a larger shield emblem.

In heraldry, it symbolizes the vassalage and protection relationship between Temeria and Elrand.

"I’ve never been to the Elrand Duchy, sir." The knights passed by quickly as Lincoln withdrew his gaze from the signpost and spoke to Lann ahead. "But judging by the signs, Elrand City should be just ahead."

"I haven’t been here either," Lann replied without looking back.

"So, should we meet Duke Seward first?"

Lincoln pondered using the usual noble interactions.

"In principle, you are here at the invitation of King Veltrest of Temeria to help. We are part of the Sintra Knight Order residing in Temeria."

"Coming to the duke’s territory, we should at least meet and greet him to give him a heads-up."

"Besides, he’s most involved in the matter this time, isn’t he?"

The position of the Ponta River Valley is too important.

If Temeria and Yaden don’t figure this out promptly and deal with it, it’s inevitable that Redania and Codwin will take interest in this place.

The Ponta River Valley has always been a critical location contested by the Northern Four Countries; if you two countries can’t safeguard it, then who is to blame?

Though when facing the overwhelming Niflgaard Empire, the Northern Four Countries at least united against it.

But once the Niflgaard Legion withdraws, it wouldn’t be surprising if they turned on each other the next moment.

However, after pondering for a while, Lann shook his head.

"I’ve never met Duke Seward, but I’ve heard of him," Lann added, "from Geralt’s mouth."

"Geralt the Master?" Lincoln was slightly surprised at first and then asked, "What is this person’s reputation according to the master?"

"Not good, Lincoln. Not good at all," Lann said, not knowing if he was being sarcastic or contemplative.

"At the time, Geralt had just completed the mission involving the Vampire Demon Bird that made him famous, but he had his throat cut open while facing the Vampire Demon Bird barehanded and went to Elrand City to heal."

"As a result, despite being properly treated and injured, the guest received unreasonable eviction from a knight under the duke."

"The knights declared Demon Hunters as sources of disaster, trouble carriers, disgusting mutants, who shouldn’t stay a minute longer and should immediately be kicked out of the city, ideally out of the duchy."

"Fortunately, the admirable person who hosted Geralt did not stand by and let her guest receive such unreasonable treatment. Only then did Geralt manage to recover his wounds before leaving."

"Yet even then, when Geralt left the city, he was blocked by knights and forced into an utterly unfair duel."

Lincoln’s face was calm, as these events happened many years ago, and he once fought alongside Geralt two years earlier.

The Demon Hunter Master, of course, has overcome that hurdle.

"It seems Duke Seward is a discriminator," Lincoln concluded.

"Even though it can’t be ruled out that his knights acted on their own, it’s certain that he has no amicable face towards Demon Hunters and non-human races."

"But there is one more question, sir. That is..."

"After the appearance of someone like you, will he still or can he still maintain a discriminatory attitude?"

"That’s hard to say; the changes in people are difficult to predict," Lann said solemnly, "But we still need to know what has happened in this region recently. The information provided by Veltrest is, after all, too vague."

Lincoln nodded: "So, we need to find a strong, well-informed figure locally whom we can trust... Do we know such a person?"

"Perhaps... there’s one?" Lann said uncertainly, "Also introduced by Geralt, the person who hosted him in Elrand. But I don’t know her myself."

The ’thundering’ sounds of hooves began to slow as they neared the city.

The forest was left behind, and in front of them were freshly plowed neat fields, with people working in the fields, peddlers going back and forth, and animals making noises.

"Who is that?"

"Nanik," Lann spoke a name, and draped himself in a cloak with a hood.

The shadow of the hood obscured his face and hair.

"The Meretelli Temple of Elrand is the most well-known under the name of this goddess. Nanik is the head priestess of this temple."

"Though I haven’t met her, she is at least someone without discrimination, right?"