The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

Suburbs of Cintra, in the Mountains. 

  

Lush trees stand tall, and the slightly rugged hills wind. This is obviously not an easy road to walk.  

  

Under a certain deep slope, a dozen men dressed as bandits were nesting here, chatting incessantly.  

  

“Axe, are you sure there will be fat sheep passing by on this road today?”  

  

"Of course." The man nicknamed Axe replied impatiently. "I stayed in the bar for seven days before I heard the news."  

  

“If no one comes, be careful the boss cuts off your ears.”  

  

Axe became anxious upon hearing it. He stood up menacingly and wanted to shout, but then forcefully suppressed him: "Pox-brained fool! If you talk nonsense again, be careful that I knock out your teeth..." 

  

A voice interrupted: "Shut up! You idiots who all deserve the plague, shut up!"  

  

The commotion quieted down for a while. These rough guys were restless, and someone started talking again.  

  

"Scarface, isn't it too risky to choose this place? I'm really worried about attracting the city guards of Cintra. If you ask me, it's better for us to hunt near the town..." 

  

“If you do a good job here, we can buy half of the village when we go back.” Scarface said gruffly.  

  

"And we have a boss. Even if the city guards come, they won't be able to catch us."  

  

In the distance, the noise of wheels on the road could be heard, and a group of merchants could be seen walking slowly from afar. The weight of the load caused the wheels to sink deep into the mud, which also caused the eyes of the bandits lurking beside them to shine. 

  

"There are many people, let's keep an eye on it. Go and call people Axe and call them all! After this, we will have enough for the rest of our lives. Praise Cintra!"  

  

... 

  

Just when all the merchants were tired, a large number of stones and arrows suddenly fell from the dirt slopes on both sides of the road. 

  

This wave of ambush only made the merchants retreat and bleed, and some unfortunate people were seriously injured and fell unconscious on the spot. 

  

Fortunately, they are just a group of bandits and cannot obtain a large number of crossbows. Otherwise, with this wave of attacks the number of merchants could have been reduced by half. 

  

Seeing that the ambush was effective, the bandits immediately rushed down with a roar. The merchants, who had no will fight in the first place, immediately dispersed, carrying small pieces of jewelry, dragging their seriously injured companions onto their horses and escaping in a hurry.  

  

The bandits excitedly surrounded the cart. Some of them were red-eyed when they saw the merchants carrying jewels and wanted to chase after them. However, the leader of the group, Scarface, pushed the bandit aside with a backhanded shield 

  

"You brainless idiots! How can you find time to deal with those merchants? It's enough to bring these goods!" 

  

On the other side, a bandit slashed open the sack on top of the cart, and a strong smell of spices suddenly spilled out from inside.  

  

The companions who were nearby laughed satisfied. Then, several people skillfully hitched their horses to the cart and rushed like the wind down the road to a remote area, leaving a few companions on foot to cover their tracks along the way. 

  

When all the merchants who were ambushed ran back in panic, more than ten knights and merchants in robes had been waiting here for a long time. The knights had several hunting dogs at their side. 

  

Finally, they were safe. Several businessmen with poor psychological quality fell off their horses as soon as their bodies relaxed. The head merchant quickly got off his horse and greeted the robed merchant and the captain of the Knights. 

  

“Sir, Boss, the matter is done.”  

  

With that said, the merchant carefully took out a special cloth bag from his arms, which contained the same spices as those on the cart and handed it to the knight captain respectfully.  

  

The knight captain took it unceremoniously, put the bag in front of the noses of the hounds aside, and let them sniff them one by one. He turned to his deputy and ordered:  

  

"The plan is successful; you should go back and report to Lord Lannister immediately." Then he shouted at the remaining knights: "Let's go!"  

  

More than ten mounted scouts drove away in the wind and dust. At this time, the merchant said to the robed merchant with a sad look on his face:  

  

"Boss, we lost four more guys this time, all of them were good guys..." 

  

The several seriously injured people who were brought back on horseback were so bloody that their saddles were soaked with blood, and they had long since lost their breath. The robed merchant nodded expressionlessly:  

  

“I know. I just hope that these damn bandits can be wiped out in one fell swoop this time...”  

  

“Then I’ll have a way to double my money back!”  

  

... 

  

Outskirts of Cintra, deep in the dense forest.  

  

Several patched tents were scattered around a campfire that was still warm. Bones, fur fragments, bloody pieces of cloth and other debris were scattered around the campfire.  

  

More than ten carts were drawn by horses and arrived at the camp. The bandits no longer had any scruples here and were completely free.  

  

In the tent that occupies the best terrain in the camp, a figure carrying two swords slowly walked out. His face looked as unkempt as the surrounding bandits, but the equipment on his body was extremely well-maintained. At first glance, he looked different from the surrounding bandits. In the middle of this place, it even gives the feeling of being a little out of place. 

  

The intimidation from the leader silenced the dancing demons for a moment.  

  

Scarface took a handful of spices from the bag that had been opened at the beginning and ran towards him. 

  

“Good harvest?”  

  

"Of course! Look, Boss!" As he spoke, Scarface handed his hand forward as if offering a treasure. The dirty hands, mixed with mud, blood and all kinds of ineffable things, seemed to have been impregnated with the aroma. 

  

The leader tilted his head, and immediately five or six people rushed onto the truck and chopped each sack with machetes. Food and spices gushed out along the edge of the knife-like spring water, making the onlookers' eyes shine with golden light. 

  

“I didn’t expect... I didn’t expect that I could gain such a big harvest this time.” Scarface looked at the small handful of spices in his hand and threw them behind his head.  

  

The bandit leader's breathing became heavier. These are spices that are almost equivalent to gold. These alone can be worth all the previous harvests. 

  

"You came back with a car, have you cleaned it from top to bottom?" 

  

"Don't worry, look." Scarface signaled to the shutdown team that he appeared in the jungle. "We are in Cintra. We must be careful and thorough." 

 

"One can never be too cautious. Cintra is too close." The bandit leader said rudely. "Let the brothers pack their things and prepare to evacuate. I will take a few people to prepare the boat. After such a big move, it's time to change places." 

  

"Haha, boss, don’t worry, even if someone comes after us, can they still defeat our thirty-odd brothers? There is no group of bandits as large as ours in this area." 

  

... 

  

On the other side, the outskirts of Cintra.  

  

The cavalry captain and his men rested against a tree out of boredom.  

  

In order to prevent the sound of horse hooves from being detected by the enemy, the scouts who were sent out dismounted and turned into infantry, and then returned in a hurry. A scout stepped forward and whispered something to the cavalry captain.  

  

“Have you finally arrived?” The cavalry captain curled his lips. “It’s so slow.”