Chapter 90: Night Raid

"Dorregaray?" Geralt had never heard this name.

Dandelion chuckled and said, "Yes, Master Dorregaray, a very interesting man."

"He advocates for the balance of all things, believing humans should not interfere with any creatures in the natural world, even if they are drowners, ghouls, or nekkers; they are all within the scope of his protection."

"An extreme endangered species protector; he should appear in my poems as a villain in the story. Truly interesting, haha."

Geralt was momentarily speechless. Truly, the forest is large and contains all sorts of birds. Needless to say, as a witcher whose profession is hunting monsters, he was certainly one of the professions this mage hated most.

He glanced at the mage who was still chattering away outside the king's tent and hurriedly pulled Dandelion into Yennefer's tent, lest they be caught by this fellow and get entangled, which would inevitably lead to another round of sharp-tongued bickering—too much trouble.

However, one cannot help but marvel at the status of mages and sorcerers nowadays; even when facing kings and nobles, they show no fear. With the most powerful Brotherhood of Sorcerers on the Northern Continent backing them, even the kings of various countries and the lords of fiefdoms must give them some face; it is impossible to treat them like commoners and arbitrarily frame them with a crime to put them on trial.

The two drank in the tent the whole time. Halfway through, Yennefer returned and chased the two slightly tipsy men out of her tent.

They were about to set off soon, and the sorceress had to pack her luggage; as a lady, she had quite a lot of luggage.

Geralt did not mind this. He and Dandelion went together, arms around each other's shoulders, to the haystacks in the stable to continue drinking. This was a quiet place where no one would disturb them, and even if it smelled of horse manure, it felt more comfortable to him than those hostile or contemptuous gazes.

Although King Niedamir was only the king of the small country of Caingorn, his airs were not small. After preparing to set off, just packing the supplies for the encampment took over an hour, filling up a full twelve wagons.

Counting the accompanying dragon-hunting team members, soldiers, and the members of the Holopole scout team scouting the road ahead, it added up to about one hundred and fifty people.

The group formed a massive procession, marching grandly into the Great Kestrel Mountains. Guided by local scouts, they climbed from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, traveling for about six or seven hours until the sun set before finding an open space to set up camp and rest.

And they had covered about one-third of the distance to their destination, the green dragon's lair.

Setting aside the various encounters along the way, by the early hours of the next day, a figure dressed in black, almost completely blending into the night, quietly slipped into Yennefer's tent.

The person who arrived was the witcher Wayne.

He had originally intended to look for Geralt in the tent, but he did not find the famous White Wolf Geralt; instead, he only saw a large, white-furred dog lying by the wooden pillar in the center of the tent, seemingly taking a nap.

This large dog seemed quite alert. Wayne had only just pulled back the tent curtain when it reacted, immediately standing up from the ground, its eyes fixed on Wayne at the entrance, as if it were about to bark and pounce at any moment.

In order not to let the big white dog wake the people around.

Wayne didn't even think; he instantly pushed an Axii Sign over. The big white dog's eyes rolled back immediately, and it fell into a stupor.

And just as he was considering whether to knock the dog unconscious, he didn't expect that the big white dog's will was very firm; it suddenly recovered from the stupor, opened its mouth, and said in Geralt's voice:

"Don't move, Wayne, it's me."

Wayne's brain went blank for a moment. He looked at the big white dog on the ground in shock, then looked at the sorceress sleeping not far away, who seemed to be sleeping quite soundly, and thought, what kind of play is this? You guys really know how to have fun.

Geralt was also a bit embarrassed at this time. If he could, he really didn't want to show such an ugly state in front of a good brother, but for Wayne to come to him dressed like this, there must be something important to discuss, and he couldn't help but reveal himself.

"Let's go out and talk. Don't wake Yennefer up; her temper is not good."

Fortunately, Wayne's ability to accept things was strong enough. Looking at the big white dog talking to him, he only froze for a few seconds before reacting, moving aside from the curtain to let Geralt crawl out first. It was the early hours of the morning, and except for a few night-watch guards who were still dozing off, everyone was fast asleep.

Under the cover of the night, the man and the dog arrived at a hidden spot a few hundred meters away from the camp and began to talk in low voices, telling each other the intelligence they had gathered.

Wayne did not hide anything, telling Geralt the situation regarding Borch, the green dragon, and the dragonlings in detail, and then told him about Borch's request and his own thoughts as well.

He believed that if it were Geralt, this witcher who was full of justice and very principled would not oppose what he was about to do.

The big white dog sat on the ground, its expression frowning like a human's, and then asked: "In other words, your current goal is to drive those ordinary people away, and it would be best to drive King Niedamir and his soldiers away as well."

"Leaving only those guys who are bent on dragon-slaying, and letting them have a fair duel with Borch on the mountaintop?"

Wayne nodded. In his view, those soldiers and the citizens of Holopole were all victims coerced by those in power.

Even if the dragon-slaying were successful, they wouldn't gain any benefits, and if a battle with the dragon occurred, they would be the first to sacrifice. This group of people were just a bunch of poor wretches; there was no need to fight them to the death.

After thinking for a moment, Geralt nodded and said: "Fine, I will cooperate with your actions."

"However, you must remember, it is best not to expose your identity as a witcher, and do not let the golden dragon cause unnecessary casualties."

"After finishing the matter, it is best to let Borch and his family leave here quickly. The more the news of the dragon spreads, the more it will surely attract more greedy hunters and countless mercenaries who are crazy for wealth."

"Don't worry, I will."

Wayne waved goodbye to Geralt, then quickly walked into the darkness and vanished without a trace.

Geralt looked at Wayne's departing back, a helpless expression appearing on his dog face. He sighed, moved his four legs, and quickly ran back into Yennefer's tent.

Tonight was destined to be restless. He had to guard Yennefer's side and protect his goddess.

Half an hour later, the entire camp suddenly fell into chaos. Some night-watch guards ran around the camp, shouting in terror: "Fire! Come and put out the fire, come and put out the fire!"

"Our supplies have been burned! The stables are on fire too, and many horses have been killed!"

"Traitors, there must be traitors! We've been ambushed; it must be someone trying to stop us from going up the mountain."

When Geralt and Yennefer, who had been released from the magic, walked out of the tent, what they saw was a scene of chaos. Some people were busy putting out the fire, some were chasing after the fleeing horses, and some soldiers were scrambling to put on their gear and guard outside Niedamir's tent, fearing that an assassin might suddenly rush out to assassinate their king.

In such a chaotic scene, the young king did not dare to appear easily. Only the fat steward Gyllenstiern, who was covered in fat and dressed in disarray, was still struggling to maintain order in the camp.

Unfortunately, they were currently on the mountainside, and the nearby water sources were severely insufficient; there was simply not enough water to put out the fire. And since it was night, they were in the deep mountains and old forests, and no one dared to run around, because such people would very likely become food for beasts and monsters.

By the time the sun rose and they scrambled to extinguish the fire, more than half of the entire camp had been burned down, especially the food, horses, and wagons—the supplies used for the journey had already been lost in the darkness.

For the dragon-hunting team that had been high-spirited and arrogant just yesterday, it was simply a huge blow.

(End of chapter)