Dick took the yellowed letter and slowly unfolded the scroll with his sharp-jointed fingers.
His eyes wandered over the strong handwriting, and the two-winged eagle seal glowed with a deep blue luster under the candlelight.
Dick of Rivia:
When I picked up the pen to write this letter, my heart was filled with guilt and heaviness.
As the Queen, I offer my deepest apologies to you and Witcher Order.
I never thought that Brownie, the adopted son of my younger brother James, would collude with my imperial warlock Ruiwen to secretly attack you Witcher Order.
This is because of my lack of discipline, even though I allowed the people around me to commit such an unforgivable crime.
As a queen, I am supposed to protect the justice and peace of the kingdom, but now my relatives and ministers are allowed to do such things because of my negligence. I am willing to bear all responsibilities.
I know very well that no amount of apology can make up for the harm Witcher Order has suffered.
But at this moment, I have to ask you for help.
Soon after, the barbaric army of the Misty Mountains Manslayer is about to attack Northern Kingdoms.
Wherever they go, lives will be destroyed, and the entire kingdom will fall into endless darkness and fear.
At this critical moment, I know that only by uniting the power of Witcher Order can we bring hope to Northern Kingdoms.
Dick, I still remember the scene when we met in the past.
At that time, I deeply admired your bravery and wisdom.
I implore you, because of our past interactions and your responsibility to this land, to lend a helping hand again.
I promise you that when this crisis is over, I will thoroughly investigate the matter, severely punish the murderer, and give Witcher Order a fair explanation.
Meve.
The edge of the letter paper wrinkled in Dick's palm.
He recalled that a few months ago outside Odinburg city, he looked up at the heroic figure of the tall horse for the first time.
The impression left by the Queen can be said to be very good in my mind.
Dick has also repeatedly thought about the truth about whether Witcher Order was instigated by the Queen in the past two days.
In the end, he came to the conclusion that this possibility was almost non-existent.
Although the Queen also belongs to the nobility, she will not cut off her foundation because of this.
Witcher Order is rooted in Northern Kingdoms. For the queen, the benefits far outweigh the harm. And if she really wants to deal with the Order, she might gather a large number of knights to do it together instead of just letting Brownie bring so many cavalry.
"Dick-sama?"
The long silence on the other side made West feel uneasy. He clenched the intertwined fingers of his hands under the table.
"His Majesty has received a secret raven message from Prince James on his way back. The prince claimed that he had no knowledge of Brownie's crazy behavior..."
"Because he is his illegitimate son, he chose to cover it up." Dick's ruthless words revealed the royal family's secrets.
West hesitated upon hearing this.
"You know, after the disaster at Kaer Morhen a few days ago, after thousands of monsters fought for their lives against nearly a hundred demon hunters, I was the only one standing in the mountain of corpses.
"The fate of the demon hunter brothers was pretty good, at least they left their corpses behind;
"But the warlocks were all torn into pieces by monsters, and I couldn't even collect their bodies.
"You just want to let that damn royal bastard go free with just one sentence?
"How could Witcher Order's fighting spirit agree? How could I agree?"
West's face became paler and paler. He tried to argue, but was unable to speak.
"Dick," Barbara put away her confident smile, and the finger knots under her silk gloves turned slightly white. She did not expect that the young man in front of her would be merciless to the Falcon Family, and therefore, all her past negotiation skills became ineffective.
"What do you think we should do?" she asked bluntly.
"I need three promises." Dick put the sheepskin scroll close to the candle and watched the flames lingering dangerously in front of the Queen's seal,
"First, in addition to rebuilding the manpower and materials of Kaer Morhen, Northern Kingdoms must announce it throughout the territory to overturn the demon hunter's slandered evil deeds. If the demon hunter makes mistakes in the world in the future, only the cult can judge him;
Second, Prince James needs to make a blood oath in front of his ancestral grave not to do anything that infringes on the interests of Witcher Order;
Third..."
He slowly moved the scroll upwards, and the semi-transparent pages blocked the spread of candlelight. The two people opposite fell into silent darkness.
"I want Brownie's head as a deposit."
"Gulu."
West swallowed hard and looked at the female companion next to her as if asking for help.
"I can make the first two promises on behalf of the queen," the sorceress sighed, "But no matter how unbearable Brownie is, she is still of royal blood. I can make up for it..."
"There is no need to compensate. We each take a step back. The sect will provide timely support, but the first two requirements must also be met." He responded simply without hesitation.
Barbara stared at Dick for a long time, and then said, "Okay, I will report this matter to Her Majesty the Queen when the time comes."
"That means you have promised the queen to fight against Manslayer's barbarian army?" West said after a pause.
"I agree, but you also know that the members of the cult are withering now, so it is enough for me to go alone."
"You agreed? No, yourself? Dick, are you kidding?"
Although West felt that things changed a bit too quickly, and the young man in front of him let Brownie off so easily, the things the Queen told him finally went smoothly.
"No matter how powerful you are, you can't defeat hundreds of Misty Mountains Berserker. Besides, there are also Misty Mountains shamans in the Manslayer army. Although they are not strong, they are no different from the sorcerer apprentices!
"In most cases, only extraordinary people can deal with extraordinary people. When the numbers are unequal, the balance can only be broken by crushing strength. Although you are powerful, it seems that you still can't do it now."
"It's not strong enough, right?
"Then what do you think we should do?" Dick slowly placed the scroll on the wooden table, and the warm candlelight once again filled the hall.
"Can I discuss this matter with Ms. Barbara?"
"Do you need me to go out?"
"No need." Barbara waved his hand.
West and Barbara did not shy away from it and started discussing loudly.
After a while, West spoke:
"Dick, let's do this. Except for the four little demon hunters of Witcher Order, the rest of the demon hunters will work with us to defend against the enemy."
"Including those thirteen or fourteen-year-old children?" Dick raised his eyebrows.
"They all have two or three years of commissioning experience outside. They are no longer children, they are mature demon hunters."
"Well, I also have a suggestion?"
"You said."
"Except for me, plus Geralt, it's just the two of us. Don't look at me with such suspicion. Both of us are Swordsmanship masters. We can fight one against a hundred. With the cooperation of the army, we may not lose to the Misty Mountains army."
"Two? Although you two are both Swordsmanship masters, there are too few of them. How about this, plus Vesemir? The power of three Swordsmanship masters is already very powerful." West suggested again.
"Okay." Dick accepted it without hesitation.
"You said yes?" West raised his eyebrows, and three wrinkles of doubt appeared on his forehead.
"Yes, I agree."
Barbara on the side turned his face and smiled softly,
"That's it. After a while, the three Swordsmanship masters Dick, Geralt and Vesemir will go to Ravenstern City with us;
This is already a good result. After all, Witcher Order now that the disaster has just passed, we still need to take more precautions, and trust is built bit by bit, isn't it? Dick?"
"A pleasure to work with."