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TWL Chapter 208: The Price of Speaking Out
🕑 Added 2024-09-03 03:29:12 +0000 UTCThe sergeant threw his glass to the ground with force. “Don’t you know? The dwarves have become enemies of humanity, a bunch of damned bandits! As a merchant, I can’t believe you haven’t heard of the Scoia’tael!”
"I know, I know." The merchant replied indifferently, observing the yellow jacket with the unicorn emblem and the beaver cap that the sergeant was wearing. "But forgive me, sir. The Scoia'tael has nothing to do with me."
"Nothing to do with you? Damn rat, how can you say these things?"
A soldier next to the beaver hat officer suddenly jumped up and shouted: "After the Nilfgaardians invaded the North, the first batch of Scoia'tael began to appear. These damned non-human races are simply adding insult to injury. We fought in the south and bled on Sodden Hill, while they fought guerrilla warfare in our rear. They thought the Nilfgaardians could defeat us, so they preached that human rule was over and it was time to restore the old order. 'Drive the humans back to the sea! ' is their battle cry and their excuse for murder, arson and looting!"
The merchant pursed his lips. "Sir, but as far as I know, most non-human races also condemn the Scoia'tael and don't want to have anything to do with them. Most of them are very loyal, and sometimes even pay a high price for their loyalty. "
The soldiers present suddenly stopped talking and stared at the merchant dimly. He seemed very young, looking only in his early twenties, or even less than twenty. It takes courage to dare to do business alone at this age.
"Merchant, where are you from?"
"Temeria, sir."
"Ha!" The beaver hat sergeant laughed. "I remember you defeated Mahakam, so the dwarves are now nominally subjects of your king, right?"
"Yes, sir." The merchant said: "and I saw the lion of Cintra and his dwarf companions with my own eyes. They were in the White Orchard. They had a large number of blades and swords at the time, but they spared the beekeeper who offended him, and did not vent their anger on any civilians. The dwarves around such a great man are definitely not evil, so I think your evaluation of the dwarves is biased..."
The beaver hat sergeant stood up with a gloomy face. "I thought that people like you, who make a living from trade, would have a more agile mind. But it seems that you are not very different from those peasants..."
The sergeant seemed ready to teach the merchant a lesson.
Seeing that the situation could escalate, other merchants, probably his colleagues, came forward to mediate.
"Come, sir, why bother with a young man like this? Ever since he met Lord Lannister, he seems to have lost his mind. He even says he wants to go live in Cintra and have a son, so he can become a knight too!"
This made the soldiers around laugh. The businessman who was trying to smooth things over laughed the loudest. "Listen! Who in their right mind would say something like that?"
Seeing that the officers and soldiers were more relaxed, the businessman who was trying to smooth things over immediately turned around and scolded his young partner, while also telling the other soldiers around him: "Look at my head, it was broken by a dwarf. The Scoia'tael is more hateful than the robbers! The robbers want money, but the Scoia'tael only wants to see humans bleed. Not everyone has gold, but we all have blood flowing in our veins!"
"The woodcutters who fall in the clearing, the tar-workers torn to pieces in the beech forest, the peasants fleeing from burning villages - did they harm any non-human race? Yesterday they were working side by side, and today, suddenly, an arrow pierces their backs... And me? I have never in my life harmed an elf, a dwarf, or any other non-human race. But look, my head was wounded by a dwarven scimitar."
At this point, the merchant who was trying to smooth things over pointed to the bandage on his head and bowed deeply to the soldiers who had calmed down. "If it weren't for brave soldiers like you, I'd be sleeping underground by now..."
"Well said!" Some soldiers cheered.
Obviously, what the merchant said made the soldiers very happy, and the beaver hat sergeant seemed to have forgotten his unhappiness just now.
The soldiers came to buy wine from the merchant who had been attacked by a dwarf and then rescued by his companions. Meanwhile, the sergeant with the beaver hat examined him from top to bottom.
"Where are you from?"
"Aedirn, sir."
The beaver hat sergeant nodded. “Take good care of your Temerian companion; compared to you, he is not very intelligent.”
The merchant forced a smile and nodded quickly.
After drinking another glass of wine, the beaver hat sergeant seemed a little drunk and shouted to the young Temeria merchant: "Let me tell you, young man. It is us soldiers who are protecting you! Humans used to be too indulgent of non-human races. We regarded them as humans and our compatriots, but they stabbed us in the back. And the ones who support them are the guys living around us - elves, half-elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings. They harbor the Scoia'tael, send them food, and replenish their manpower..."
"They act in small teams. There are as many as a hundred, sometimes even more. The best way to deal with them is to cut off their supply lines, isolate them, and let hunger force them to surrender. Arrest the non-human races that assist the Scoia'tael and cut off the source of their support. Those from towns, villages and farms..."
"But you are dealing with the Scoia'tael, and only the Scoia'tael." The young merchant suddenly interrupted him. "The problem is that we don't know which non-human races are helping them. So it's wrong to hate all non-human races!"
The young merchant still defended his cause with fervor.
The sergeant in the beaver hat's expression darkened as he looked at the young merchant, not revealing what he was thinking.
One of the soldiers, visibly drunk, shouted after hearing the young merchant: "If there is no way to distinguish, then arrest them all! Grab the back of the neck of each non-human race and throw them into the mine and the quarry. Everyone, including innocent people, including women and children!"
"This is to protect humans, there is no other way!" A soldier next to him shouted at the top of his lungs. "All those who help non-human races should also be liquidated. Like that Lannister from Cintra, I heard that he became a witcher, he should also..."
Suddenly, the sergeant in the beaver hat let out a scream and kicked the soldier who had been screaming at the top of his lungs, sending him to the ground.
All the soldiers were immediately silent and dared not speak anymore.
The young merchant, feeling victorious, continued: "In my opinion, the Scoia'tael was created because of you Kaedwen people. It was you, other nobles and knights who created it. You oppressed the non-human races and did not allow them to live in their own way. Now you pay the price. We have been transporting goods on this road, but we have suffered the consequences..."
He was immersed in his own world and could not see the changes around him, and the merchant who was trying to smooth things over suddenly covered the young merchant's mouth fiercely.
The merchant looked terrified at the slowly approaching soldiers. It was unclear whether it was from alcohol or anger, but the soldiers' faces were now flushed red.
The beaver hat sergeant clenched his fist and slapped his sword handle fiercely. “I cannot ignore an insult to Kaedwen on Kaedwenian soil. As a merchant, you have proven to be incredibly stupid…”
With a loud bang, the merchant turned around to see his cart overturned, spilling all the wine and other goods.
“What… what are you doing? We are merchants from Temeria and Aedirn, this is not your territory!”
The young merchant finally felt afraid, immediately forgetting everything he had defended moments before, and backed away in terror.
"Wherever we are is Kaedwen territory." The sergeant said, gritting his teeth.
The Kaedwen soldiers surrounded the merchants. They did not draw their swords, but instead seemed to want to teach them a lesson by beating them. Obviously, this was not the first time they had done so.
However, just as they were about to attack the two merchants, one of the soldiers, who had been lying on the ground after a fist fight, suddenly felt a vibration in the ground.
All the people presents were soldiers, so they naturally recognized this kind of movement. This was the sound that could only be made when a large group of cavalry approached.
"Woo~" A long, deep horn blast rang out from the camp gate.
And in response, another horn sounded from the outer road, indicating that they were not enemies.
"Woo~"
No matter whether they were enemies or not, the Kaedwen soldiers could not afford to continue acting negligently. They quickly adjusted their uniforms.
