Chapter 1184 1166. Arrival
“This conclusion is not entirely true, right?”
?Lann said with his arms crossed behind Sakia, and the bald knight turned around and looked at him with a frown.
“Your Excellency, most non-human races also condemn the activities of the Scoia’tael and do not want to have anything to do with them. Most of them just want to maintain a stable life, and they have paid a serious price for this.”
“There was a half-elf as the mayor of a town not far from Vizima. He often called for peaceful coexistence and cooperation between the two races, and he eventually died in an assassin’s assassination.”
“The assassin who shot that arrow was undoubtedly one of his harmless neighbors. A halfling or a dwarf.” The bald knight sneered.
"I tell you, none of them are loyal. Don''t tell me about the loyalty of the inhuman races! They are all our enemies, but some of them are better at pretending!"
As if out of concern for the warriors on the barge who had been chartered by Duke Seeward, the bald knight turned around and spoke seriously to the frowning Sakia and Lan behind her.
He spread his hands, trying to increase his credibility with his actions.
“Dwarves and halflings have been living with us in human society for centuries, in a way that’s almost harmonious. But look at it now!”
“The elves just picked their heads, and then they all picked up their weapons with a roar and ran into the forest!”
"I would say that it was foolish to ignore the free elves and dryads in order to maintain social stability! They should not be allowed to retain the mountains and forests!"
“‘Drive humanity back into the sea’! Listen! If they want war, give them war! Let’s see who survives to the end!”
?Sakia''s lips murmured a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but then she sighed. Anyway, what she said in the end was definitely not what she wanted to say at the beginning.
“It would be unwise to pursue elves in forests and valleys, your lord.”
?Sakia said.
"And I would not recommend hunting down dwarves and halflings with elves in these places."
??The bald knight nodded in agreement: "This is to the point."
“You are all excellent mercenaries and warriors, and obviously very experienced. Chasing them through the bushes and trees is pointless and ineffective.”
"The best way is to cut off their supply lines and isolate them. Arrest the inhuman races who help the Scoia''tael so that they lose the basis for fighting guerrilla warfare. What is this called? Yes! Draw money from the bottom of the cauldron! We must arrest them in cities and villages. "
"The question is." Lan interrupted calmly, "How do you judge who is the inhuman race that helps the Scoia''tael?"
“Then catch them all! No one will be left behind!”
"Ha!" Lan En''s calm laughter was almost seamlessly followed by the bald knight''s response, as if he had already known that the other party would say this.
"I understand, I seem to have heard this argument somewhere. Pinch the scruff of every non-human race and throw them into quarries and mines, including innocent people, including the old, weak, women and children, right? "
"This sounds similar to Bloody Falga''s policy. It''s just that Falga targets those who oppose her, regardless of human or non-human race. At this point, you seem to be better than her. But in justice Sexually, she is better than you."
??The bald knight angrily slammed the leather gloves he was holding on his hands.
“Okay, don’t think I didn’t hear you sarcastic. But what else can you do?”
"You are a soldier. You should be paying attention to the recent war atmosphere, right? The armistice agreement between Nilfgaard and us is as fragile as an eggshell! Is it possible that when the Southern Empire comes again, our rear will still have to face such a situation? Rampant Scoia''tael?"
"And it goes without saying that you should know that as the war progresses, both we and Nilfgaard will become weaker and weaker. When those ''loyal neighbors'' you talk about see our weakness, there will be How many join the Scoia''tael?"
“The Nilfgaardians are just pointing at them to bleed our backs!”
?Suddenly there was a burst of cheers outside the house, and the wooden door of the sentry box was knocked.
??The sergeant who got on the boat to ask for someone stuck his head in, looked around first, and then continued: "The waterway has barely been cleared, and it should be enough for the barge to pass through. Do you want them to drive the boat, sir?"
?The bald knight sighed and waved his hands.
“They are the manpower that the Duke is urgently looking for. They cannot be wasted here cleaning up the river. Let them go and we will do the rest slowly.”
Finally, Sakia and Lan En turned around and walked out of the house. The bald knight in the blue coat said coldly.
“I hope you will arrive smoothly and not be killed by the insidious elven arrows. I can only wish you this, gentlemen and ladies.”
—
The barge re-weighed anchor and slowed down.
??The captain, who was casually holding a piece of dried fish in his mouth, was now looking attentively at the wreckage of wooden boats that occasionally protruded from the water around him.
?This temporarily cleared waterway is really not spacious, barely enough for a barge of his size to pass.
?Sakia and Lan were still standing at the bow, looking at the wreckage falling behind from both sides of the bow.
On the wreckage protruding from the water, there are occasionally remains of human or non-human body parts and blood stains.
The flesh also attracts fish and shrimps of all sizes in the river.
“Tragic and complicated”
?Sakia held her hand on the railing, frowned and murmured.
She was not shocked by the wreckage of the battle on the river in front of her. She was used to seeing these things. What really shocked her was the seemingly ordinary conversation just now.
Lan En stood quietly by the railing, his palms gently tracing the hair on the back of the flannel ball as he squatted on the railing.
?He said nothing, but Saskia seemed to want to express her desire to talk to him because she had discussed books with him before and participated in the conversation together.
??The female warrior with a red and white cotton rope headband on her head turned her head and looked at the witcher''s delicate profile, which showed only the corners of his mouth and chin under the hood.
“Is this world always so complicated?”
? Lan En did not respond to Saskia''s question first, but instead turned to look at her strangely.
“Look at the way you speak, as if you are seeing the world for the first time?”
"No!" Sakia immediately instinctively denied it, but then seemed to think that this categorical denial was too suspicious, so he calmed down to make up for it.
In Lan En''s opinion, her behavior was quite strange and awkward.
“I just, I just haven’t understood something as profound as racial issues in such a deep way, you know? I used to just wield a sword without using my brain, but now I’m reading books and debating with people.”
??The witcher chuckled softly.
“Unfortunately, the book you are reading has been carefully ‘edited’ by the author. It simply and brainlessly attributes the lack of racial problems in Nilfgaard to their so-called ‘unity under the flag of the sun’.”
“But today, you put yourself in the shoes of a site that was attacked by Scoia’tael and both sides left casualties, so the complex but real situation comes to mind.”
?Sakia sighed and regained her calmness and melancholy. She scratched her dark golden hair in distress and ecstasy.
“I originally thought that racial peace could only be achieved with slight concessions from the stronger races, that is, humans. But what about now?”
“What should we do if non-human races are not satisfied after receiving concessions? Can humans continue to make concessions? What if our hatred cannot be suppressed?”
“Non-human races have indeed suffered unfair treatment, but what if they in turn implicate innocent people? Many humans did not oppress them.”
“Humanity also has its own problems. The Nilfgaard Empire in the south is about to move. How can we tolerate instability in the rear at this time?”
Sagia was talking to himself, but as he spoke, he got a headache and sighed.
But when she was covering her head in distress, she turned around and saw the person next to her leaning against the railing with her hands folded, tilting her head to look at her.
Even though he is wearing a hood and cloak, he can still feel the interested emotion of the other party.
She suddenly became a little angry.
"Look at the way you are so at ease." She said in a sinister tone, "It seems like you have the same profound insights as when you taught me what a ''credible book'' was yesterday, right?"
“It’s hard to say what my opinion is.” Lan En shook his head, “But I think you are very powerful.”
"Um?"
?Sakia frowned in confusion.
“First of all, you want to change the status quo by doing something. What surprises me is that you have no idea of ??giving up after experiencing setbacks.”
“Secondly, you realize and acknowledge the complexity of real problems. You even start to use your brain to try to understand and solve this complexity.”
??The witcher raised his hands from his cloak and counted his fingers one by one.
“You really look like a big shot now, Saskia.”
"But the ''big shot'' now only thinks you are teasing her." Her dark golden hair fell between her neck, and Sakia frowned dissatisfied.
"Or" he looked at the other party with blue eyes under the dark blond hair, "do you really have any opinions on this matter?"
Inexplicable, although Sakia has not even seen the real face and body of the person in front of him through the magic cloak, and has not even told each other his name.
But she always felt that when faced with this complex racial issue, this person did not seem to be as clueless as she was.
? Lan En didn’t say anything after that. He just looked in the direction of the bow of the ship with Flannel Ball.
??The terrain on both sides of the Pontal River gradually rose, and the plains turned into mountains. The soil turns into rock.
?The Pontal Valley, located between the Kestri Mountains and the Mahakam Mountains, is a long and narrow area that even a barge would take a whole day to cross.
But fortunately, the meeting point established by Duke Seeward was outside the river valley.
More than an hour later than the expected dinner time, the barge arrived smoothly.
(End of this chapter)