The refugee group's secret escape journey began.

They cannot be discovered, so even in the bitter cold of winter, they must advance through the woods, which are difficult to walk and dangerous, and cannot take the main road.

Everyone's mouths were panting, but because there was not much heat in their bodies, the white mist they spit out was also thin and pitiful.

The physical effort required to walk in the woods is more than twice as high as that of walking on a large road.

Because people have to constantly carry out irregular leg lifts and speed changes, the calf, ankle and ball muscles cannot be relaxed at all times, so that the grip must be kept at a high level.

Walking is an activity, while walking in the mountains and forests is a sport.

And for these refugees, they have been weak for a long time.

After Haxel took control of all the caravans and supplies in the refugee group, the food was actually quite abundant.

But this group of refugees has been struggling in the quagmire of war for weeks, physically and mentally devastated.

Even if there is enough food and a safe and warm environment, it is estimated that it will take a year and a half to recover.

What they need most now is a rest.

But now it is an emergency escape in the war zone, and the ambient temperature in the winter, outside the woods, may appear at any time, and then start a massacre of the troops in black.

This kind of day-and-night, fearful fright, alone is enough for a strong man to turn into a quail in a matter of days.

A large part of the refugee group is made up of Sintra people with their families.

On more than one occasion, Lan En had seen men and women in the prime of life who were withered, smiling and smiling to take care of their old and young families.

The sense of responsibility and simple morality of taking care of their families make them consciously or unconsciously bear more psychological and physical pressure.

Without the responsibility and obsession of 'taking care of their families', Lan En wondered if those of them who had already been boiled dry would fall in the next second.

So even though Hackso had greatly relaxed the ration of food after that night, there were still people who fell on the edge of the roots of the trees that were still covered with snow, and often this fell and there was no possibility of getting up again.

Lenn had seen the corpses of humans killed by daytime or nighttime spirits in Willen.

They describe it as withering, as if it had been drained of its spirits and died of exhaustion.

These refugees who fell on the road looked like they had died at the hands of the demons.

And even the most ferocious demon spirit, can he kill twenty people in a month?

But war, even if it is a small wave outside the battlefield, is still harvesting human lives steadily and cruelly in this refugee group.

The three witchers walked at the back of the refugee group, disposing of the bodies of the dead.

so as not to become a trace of the UNHCR being traced.

At first, the three of them could still talk for a while. But the more they came later, the more silent they became.

Lan had just disposed of a woman's corpse, and all she had left was a linen shirt, but there were no signs of a fight. This shows that she did not freeze to death because her clothes were snatched away by others, but that her clothes were taken away after her death.

Her hands, which had been slack by death, were stuffed into a shovely, crude straw figure with clumsy features drawn with charcoal.

The brushstrokes are very childish, and this is not a curse paraphernalia, it looks more like a child's toy.

It's like a gift for a child when he says goodbye to his mother.

Lan En thought to himself.

"How long have we been in the forest, Geralt?"

Suddenly, Lan En lowered his head and asked the seniors around him who were also busy with work.

He could have gotten a millisecond-accurate timeline with the bio-intelligent brain in his head, but he asked anyway.

It's like deliberately finding something to say because of the atmosphere of resistance to this dead silence.

"It's been four days."

Geralt also lost his mind for a moment before answering Lane.

"You've got a lot of experience and insight, Geralt. Are you used to the current situation? I mean, do you lose the fluctuation in your heart because you see too much? ”

"I know what you're trying to ask, you want to ask us guys who have lived longer than the average human being to ignore them because we're used to seeing suffering, and there's not a single fluctuation in our hearts, but no, Lanne."

"It's also rare for me to be so close to war, and it's not an exaggeration. I've lived a long life, and I'm almost 100 years old now. But I also live cautiously, I never enter the war zone in a stalemate of war, and only take on the task of hunting monsters after the war is over. So, I'm in the same mood as you right now. Shit. ”

Then, including Gede, who had been silent, the three fell silent again.

——

And in the fork in the road inn where four good hands were killed at the beginning, a group of characters also came at this time.

This time, there were five people, and they calmly walked into the hotel that was open again.

Duckley Silifan was the head of the group, to be precise, of all the members of the special forces now scattered in Sintra.

Ah, the thought of this identity and the power behind it makes Duckley take a deep breath.

Such a wonderful thing as status can make people feel happy, and even the smell of the pit can become refreshing.

He had been a rogue, a thug, a murderer, and a smuggler who had spent most of his time in the Nilfgaard Empire.

Generally speaking, it is true that this kind of person wants to go to the gallows, but if he has the ability, and some big people need this ability, of course, it can be an exception.

The first time he was noticed was the [Grey Wood] Stephen Skalen.

The big man was the royal coroner of Nilfgaard and an intelligence assistant to the great Emperor Nhil.

This was all thanks to his friendship with the Imperial Intelligence Director, Vatil de Lidaux, which led to a rapid career rise to become an important agent of the Emperor's staff.

And Duckley originally only thought that being able to be favored by [Gray Forest Bird] was already the biggest opportunity in his life.

But what he didn't expect was that he had summoned him nearly half a year ago, and it was the person who promoted [Gray Forest Bird] standing in front of him!

Vatir took a fancy to his ability and connections as a broker to bring together all sorts of vicious and vicious characters.

And with the will of the emperor, he funded him to form an experimental army.

The purpose is to allow them to take advantage of the agility and small goals of the elites on the battlefield to eliminate certain enemies in a targeted manner.

And on this battlefield in Sintra, he was specially instructed to eliminate the witchers.

He knew very well why there was such an order. Because that Lan of Sintra did a lot of things a few years ago.

There is [Sintra's] in the name, of course, you must guard against it.

However, he didn't quite understand whether it was really necessary to value a mere witcher so much.

Although the story is mysterious, Duckley believes that there should be no one in this world who can survive surrounded by dozens of swordsmen.

That guy probably relied on the terrain to break through each of them, so he had a good record.

Therefore, when he received the appointment, Duckley had a grim expression on his face, although the task was dangerous and heavy, but he would not give up for the sake of the empire.

But in his heart, he wasn't really nervous. Even in order to make himself a commander a little longer, he also thought: When he really met Lan En in Sintra, should he let him go?

Thank you for the 100 points of the book friend 20201226082107273 and Baccarata Kameow!

Thank you for the 500 tips from Little Flashfox!

(End of chapter)