Bad News for the School of the Wolf

Demon hunters do not pay taxes to any country on their demon hunting income.

This was clearly stated in the treaty signed between Witcher Conclave and the northern countries when the Demon Hunter was first created.

Preferential treatment for heroes, pity for orphans, or really just pity and guilt from the heart...

No one knows now what the mentality of the people in power at that time was when they signed their long and noble full names on that piece of parchment.

But since they don't pay taxes to any country, it actually creates a de facto consensus that witchers have no nationality.

This is also the premise of School of the Wolf's neutrality creed.

Otherwise, a force that is still paying taxes to the country where it is located will inevitably be subject to constraints from all aspects of local forces, and there is no way it can be neutral.

But in fact...

How can a person not belong?

When you have fought for a country for more than ten, decades, or hundreds of years, using your own blood and scars to create a safe environment for countless people on this land, you have heard their recognition, praise and admiration, and then their children's, and their children's children...

This kind of worship and praise even lasted for tens or hundreds of years.

If you walk in any village or street in this country and see ordinary but peaceful people living a peaceful life, you can always recognize a certain familiarity between their eyebrows. Do you often say a few words in your heart...

"I saved your grandfather!"

"I saved your mother!"

"I hugged you when you were little!"

"Damn it! It was you, that brat, who peed on my sword at that time..."

So many memories that are almost gathered together into a river, isn't that belonging?

Like Coën for School of the Griffin.

Although School of the Griffin does not adhere to neutrality as straightforwardly as School of the Wolf, they are also in fact unwilling to intervene in the confrontation between human forces.

But Coën volunteered to join Battle of Brenna in Second Northern War to fight for Northern Kingdoms, and then, as Ciri had foreseen, he was pierced by a double-edged sickle and died in the war.

Shani, who was serving in the field hospital, shed tears and buried him with his own hands.

A hundred years later, demon hunters will be ostracized like that, and there are still demon hunters who will die for the northern countries, not to mention the current School of the Wolf.

Or...

When a country becomes so safe that even your existence is dispensable because of you.

Will you feel a little proud amidst the helplessness and desolation?

Kedwen's transformation from common people to the traditional unruly people of demon hunters has only begun to take shape in the past ten years or so.

But Vesemir has lived and fought in Kedwen for tens or hundreds of years, and has gained recognition and admiration for tens or hundreds of years.

Therefore, Ailin can understand the complex emotions in Vesemir's heart, the sadness of his rebellious beloved being destroyed by him, the joy of settling old debts, and the confusion of not knowing how to explain to the school...

Of course, he really cannot empathize with Vesemir.

Hearing that Kedwen seemed to have destroyed the country, after eliminating worries about the subsequent consequences of the destruction of the country, he felt relieved that his great revenge had been avenged.

After all, the ugly face of the Glutton "Haxor" is really disgusting. Everyone who hears the story of his ungrateful betrayal with Soyer will find it difficult to have a good impression of Kedwen.

What's more, in the story of the previous life, King Henselt of Kedwen a hundred years later was also a disgusting character.

Let's not talk about the extremely radical policies towards non-human races.

During the Second Northern War period, he took advantage of the fact that his ally Ard was at war with the Nilfgaard people on the southern border, and annexing the Ard area was akin to theft.

Kedwen's Mansfeld Earl shook hands with the enemy's Nilfgaardian Empire Imperial Force Marshal Menno Kuhorn on the Devinn River to confirm the partition of Ard. This handshake was also described as "infamous".

It is difficult to describe this abstract character in detail as despicable, greedy and short-sighted.

It can only be said that he is worthy of being the heir of "The Glutton" Haxor.

Combining the two, as well as the encounter during the Ban Ade competition, Ailin really has no good impression of Kedwen as a country.

Of course...

Ailin glanced at the sun and frowned, Vesemir unable to recover from the complex emotions of Kedwen destroying the country.

Those who should be comforted should still be comforted.

He pondered for a while and said, "Vesemir, everything has not been settled yet, and even if Ad Kalai is breached, Kedwen will not necessarily be destroyed..."

"No," Vesemir shook his head, "If Ad Kalai is really breached by Ard, then everything has been settled."

"You may not know it just after you come down the mountain. The entire Kedwen is a huge valley wrapped by the three mountains of Kaer, Feilong and Blue Mountain..."

"The only natural barrier between Kedwen and Ard is Pontar River."

"Ard's army has crossed the river. Kedwen will be in danger, but they can still struggle, but if they hit Ad Kalai..."

Vesemir saw Ailin's eyes were a little dazed, so he walked directly outside Wooden Hut, jumped into the room, and took out the atlas...

"Brush~brush~"

The yellow parchment turned.

After a while, Vesemir unfolded a huge map on the table.

In the middle of the map, the words "Kedwen" are lightly written with neat strokes.

In fact, it's not just Kedwen, Temeria, Ard, Redania, Lyria, Xidaris...

Every country is in an atlas with a map of the kingdoms.

But Kedwen is the one with the most annotations.

After spreading it out, it was densely marked with various terrains, mountains, rivers, cities and villages. In many places, skulls were used to indicate dangerous areas. In important places, such as cities and mountainous areas where monsters gathered, there were also brushstrokes marked with inverted triangles.

The inverted triangle means that there is also a map of the specific terrain, and the map will be inserted immediately after the kingdom map.

All the maps belonging to Kedwen account for almost half of the entire atlas.

And no matter what mark it is, it was created by the demon hunter School of the Wolf, who even risked his life to test it out.

"Look here," Vesemir pointed at Ad Kale, "Surrounding Ad Kale is a large plain. There is no terrain that can build a defense line. To the north is cold, desolate terrain. There are only some small villages, or even large areas, not even villages..."

"So the king and nobles have only two directions to retreat..."

"Ban Ade and Ovin?" Ailin said.

"Yes, Ben Ad and Ovin," Vesemir nodded solemnly, "And based on the relationship between the king and the wizards, and the situation of Ben Ad, there is actually only one direction."

His index finger pointed westward, passed through the Buina River, and focused on Ovin.

"This is Kedwen's only remaining city and fortress with a capacity of 10,000 people."

Ailin looked at Ovin on the map and stopped talking.

Kedwen The only two remaining big cities, Ovin and Ban Ade, are separated from each other. Although Kedwen's new king, Rado, will most likely not ask for help from wizards, but not being able and being unable are two different things.

Vesemir still has a lot of feelings for Kedwen. They have not been treated harshly, and even Ben Ad, who directly caused the death of the previous king, does not even have a great mage who sympathizes with Kedwen?

But now...

As long as Ard blocks it, and sets up a ritual to shield space transmission on Ovin.

Even if the great mages of Ban Ade really loved Kedwen more than School of the Wolf and dared to test Conclave of Sorcerers's taboos with their lives, they would be helpless.

And Ovin...

Ailin's eyes wandered around the sketchy sketch of the city wall on the map.

"Ovin is backed by the Kaer Trolde Mountains, so it is easy to defend but difficult to attack," Vesemir shook his head, "But there is no other city around Ovin that can be an angle to each other. How long can it be defended by itself?"

"Rado may be able to hold on in that fortress for a period of time with the remaining soldiers and defeated generals, but when Ard conquers other places..."

He sighed softly and said no more.

Ailin searched carefully along the map drawn by Vesemir. It was almost dark, but he could not find even a way out for Kedwen's new king Rado on the map.

Damn it, the more I look at it, the more Kedwen looks like it will be subjugated.

But that's right, compared to the country in his previous life, Kedwen was not big and had almost no depth. Ad Kalai was still in the center of the vast land of Kedwen.

Ard's army has defeated its henchmen, and the country must indeed perish.

"But in the civil war in the northern countries, Conclave of Sorcerers has made it clear that master-level destructive spells are not allowed to be used. Even as the country where the Wizard Academy is located, it should not rely entirely on the power of magic."

"Besides, with destructive spells at the novice and veteran levels, to be honest, with regard to the chanting time and mana consumption, a low-to-intermediate wizard on the battlefield is not as efficient as an archer who is not very good at aiming."

"How could it be that it was pushed directly to the capital in the heart of the country?"

"What's even more ridiculous is that the royal capital was actually breached before even the local Ben Ad had time to receive the news..."

Ailin really doesn't understand why Kedwen's army is such a rotten fish, so that Ard can achieve such an amazing record.

It's no wonder that the kings of the northern countries can't spare their energy to pay attention to Senne, Rissberg Civil Conglomerate and Hen Gedimidis.

Wild Hunt Whether he comes or not, whether Ben Ade dies or escapes is still a matter of chance, and it may not really affect them, at least it will be a long time later.

But after Ard annexes Kedwen, it will become a behemoth dominating the east.

That would really affect the interests of the northern countries and kings...

Wait!

The interests of the kings of the northern kingdoms...

Ailin stared and thought for a moment, then looked up at Vesemir: "Kedwen will not die, Vesemir!"

"Why?" Vesemir pursed his lips, "Did you see Kedwen's vitality on the map?"

"Kedwen's life is not on the map." Ailin shook his head.

"Huh?" Vesemir narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"Shua~shua~"

Ailin picked up the map book on the windowsill, pointed directly at the Northern Continent map on the cover of the map book and said:

"If Ard conquers Kedwen, it will occupy nearly half of the land of the Northern Continent, but only two borders will come into contact with potential hostile forces..."

"And the Lyria on the southern border is weak and conservative. It is impossible to provoke Ard. It will even be annexed by Ard as soon as possible after Ard digests Kedwen."

"Although the western border has Temeria and Redania, the junction of the three parties is in the Pontar River Valley. In other words, once Ard annexes Kedwen, it only needs to hold on to the Pontar River Valley."

"Will Temeria, Redania, and even Northern Continent's other countries allow such a country to exist?"

Thinking like this, Ailin himself was shocked by his own words.

After Ard annexed Kedwen, it has almost no weaknesses on the defense line. Ard itself is a major grain-producing country, and Demavend II is still very young...

To put it all together, Ard is simply the capital of the empire.

As long as they gain a firm foothold, they might not have to wait for Nilfgaard a hundred years later. Ard can sweep across the entire Northern Continent, and then go directly south.

So...

Nilfgaardian Empire is orthodox in Ard?

Vesemir was stunned for a while after hearing what Ailin said. He frowned and took the atlas, looked at it intently for a moment, and said hesitantly:

"But... but this is a war between Ard and Kedwen. How can the northern countries intervene?"

"Then I don't know," Ailin sighed, "But do you think they will just sit back and watch?"

Vesemir fell silent.

After a while, he seemed to realize the true meaning of Ailin's words. Knowing that Ailin was comforting him when he saw that he was uncomfortable, he sighed and said, "I'm sorry, I actually don't like Kedwen. I'm even disgusted now, but..."

"I know." Ailin smiled gently.

Just like a dog that has been carefully fed for many years, one day it suddenly changes its temper and bites you.

When you first bite it, of course you will forgive it, and you will even take it to see a doctor and find various reasons to convince yourself for it.

Only the second or third time, until it is discovered that there is no cure, can one be completely disappointed.

But even then, it's hard to be ruthless enough to kill it.

And now Vesemir was between the second and third bites when he suddenly discovered that this pet that he had kept for many years and suddenly misbehaved was about to die because of him.

Of course it will be uncomfortable.

"Actually, from another perspective, Vesemir," Ailin continued after seeing Vesemir's mood stabilized, "Although this matter is related to us, in fact it is not very related."

"The reason why the situation has developed to this point is the calculation of Haxor and the wizards against School of the Wolf. We have always been forced to accept the challenge..."

"Ard launched the war because of the feud he and Kedwen had accumulated over the years..."

"The most direct reason why we conquered Greater Griffin is that Senne sent Vilgefortz, and used Shapeshifting Sealing Charm to turn Ernie and Klar into jade statues, in a hurry to break the curse..."

"As for Wild Hunt..."

"I understand." Vesemir suddenly interrupted Ailin and smiled kindly, "Don't worry, Kedwen and I don't have such a deep relationship yet, but the same cannot be said for other demon hunters in the school..."

"Especially the chief, he..."

Vesemir paused and shook his head. "Forget it, let's not talk about it. What do you think the kings will do?"

"I don't know."

Ailin looked down at the easternmost part of the map, where the tower was painted.

"But I guess..."

"That may not be good news for us School of the Wolf..."