A few days passed, but the expected encounter did not happen.
Adalatte River is not only calmer than other rivers in the northern part of the mainland, it is not even as calm as Drowner.
But such calmness could not erase the worry in the demon hunter's heart.
Ser Royce and the men who obeyed him also felt that it was like the calm and depressing calm before the storm.
The only ones who were happy were Tyrion and his caravan guards, as well as the bard who stared at the river and the forests on both sides of the river, trying to compose a non-existent poem about the battle on the river.
Although Adalatte River belongs to both Kingdom of Kerack and Kingdom of Cidaris, the merchant ships of Cidaris can hardly be seen on the river.
It's no wonder that Cidaris's caravan either passed from the land, directly from the northern forest of Brokilon, to the Velen province of Temeria.
Or they can go by sea.
Naturally, there is no need to compete with Kerack for the navigation rights of the Adalatte River.
After all, the birthplace of the Adalatte River is the northern forest of Brokilon where no one survives.
When the barge finally stopped, nearly a week had passed since they set off from City of Kerack.
Ser Royce first took his people off the ship and occupied favorable terrain on land.
After confirming that there was no danger, Golden Lion Caravan slowly disembarked.
Since the purpose of this trip was not to do business, the caravan did not carry any goods, but only supplies necessary for survival in the wild.
In addition, considering the inconvenience of using a carriage in the forest, Golden Lion Caravan chose to use packhorses to carry the supplies needed by the team.
After everyone else got off the boat, Lynn, Triss and Marillion, who were nervous but also curious, finally set foot on land.
"Ser Royce, then we will return to City of Kerack. I wish you all the best."
After the captain waved goodbye to Ser Royce, the barge returned in the direction it came from.
Ser Royce starts assigning tasks.
He divided the 10 soldiers he brought with him into two teams.
He himself rode a tall horse and walked at the front of the team with two followers specially brought to take care of the horses and four soldiers as the pioneers.
The remaining 6 soldiers walked at the back.
In this way, Tyrion and his five caravan guards and one cook can be protected in the middle.
In addition, Lynn, Triss, and bard Marillion, together with Tyrion's caravan, accepted the protection of the soldiers.
After the arrangements were completed, Ser Royce looked at Lynn: "Witcher, do you have anything to add?"
There is nothing wrong with Ser Royce's arrangement.
It is also common practice to place supply convoys and non-combatants at the center of the team.
Lynn nodded. "I have no objection, that's it."
The team walked in the dark forest, and the twisted and growing trees looked like desperate arms reaching for the sky.
The sunlight was completely blocked by the dense forest.
The musty smell comes from the forest, where the mud is constantly churning with rotten bubbles. Those silted swamps are like traps waiting for prey to fall into them. Just looking at them makes one's scalp numb.
No one in the team spoke.
Even Marillion, who had been talking about his poems non-stop on the boat, now shut up.
It can even be seen that the poet regretted why he wanted to join this journey.
The atmosphere was silent and depressing.
Suddenly, Lynn, who was walking in the middle of the team, lowered his voice and shouted.
"Stop!"
The entire queue was not long, so even though the demon hunter's voice was not loud, Ser Royce and others walking in front heard it.
He asked the soldiers in front to stop and rode his horse to Lynn in the middle of the team.
"Witcher, what's wrong?"
Not only Ser Royce, but also Tyrion and his caravan guards also looked at Lynn in confusion.
Lynn made a gesture to signal everyone to be quiet. "Did you hear that?"
When everyone heard the words, they quickly listened.
But they heard nothing.
"The forest is very quiet, there is no sound."
"Me too."
"Master Witcher, could you have heard wrongly?"
Everyone else spoke in a low voice.
The demon hunter said to them, "It's okay if you haven't heard it. Don't you think it's weird that there is such a huge forest without even the sound of insects and birds?"
It was then that everyone realized something was unusual.
Indeed.
Even an aristocratic garden carefully tended by a gardener will still have the sound of insects and birds chirping.
And they have been in this forest for so long, but they haven't heard a sound at all.
It was a little too eerily quiet.
With a soft "pop" sound, the witcher bit off the cork of the high-grade potion and poured a bottle of Superior Thunderbolt Potion into his mouth.
Then Superior Blizzard Potion, Superior Petri's Philter, Superior Tawny Owl Potion.
The "Mutation Enhancement" feat reduces the potion's toxicity.
In the past, Lynn could only drink up to three bottles of magic potion. Now after taking four bottles of high-level magic potion, there is still room left.
However, the side effects of the potion also appeared clearly on his face, making his face look ugly.
Everyone around him subconsciously took a few steps back and stayed away from the demon hunter.
Lynn didn't care about their little actions, he just said in a low voice.
"Get ready, they're coming soon"
"Array!"
Ser Royce roared loudly.
10 soldiers quickly ran over, formed a circle, and thrust their shields into the soft soil.
Tyrion and his 1 cook and 5 caravan guards hurriedly took down the crossbow and crossbow bolts from the packages carried by the horses.
Although they are not as sophisticated as Ser Royce's men, they have still received some weapons training.
It is still possible to support the soldiers of Ser Royce as auxiliary soldiers.
"Please, for the sake of goddess Melitele, please give me a crossbow."
The bard Marillion looked sad.
But no one paid attention to him.
A drag bottle with no strength is better than a drag bottle with a crossbow in hand.
Look at this guy shaking like a quail.
If you give him a weapon, you have to worry about not only the front but also the back.
The air in the forest seemed dull and oppressive.
Everyone was so nervous that their palms were sweating and their hearts were beating wildly.
Horrible things don't make people feel frightened only when they appear before their eyes. When they know that something terrible is about to happen, but it doesn't happen, the depression will also make people breathless.
Fortunately, this long and painful wait did not last too long.
Finally, after waiting for a while, everyone heard the sound of something moving quickly through the woods, rubbing against leaves and branches.