: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

"Is Egro Village?" Kratz clapped his hands, "As long as it is in the territory of Great Skellig Island, it will be easy to say."

Lane nodded: "This is the clue I got, so I should be responsible for continuing to follow up. It's just that I need a guide, so you need Kratz to help you."

For everyone, the clues obtained this time were considered a breakthrough.

The only question is whether there were survivors in the attack of the giant bear, and whether the survivors finally returned to their own village.

Isti said, "Then we will continue to divide the troops into two groups. Lanen, you go and search for the clues you have obtained. We will continue to search for the nearby mountains. Since there are giant bears, then the Verka people must have tribes here, and they will definitely leave traces that we can search in depth."

Lanen also said, "I will leave my people to help you. You need people here. My servants and soldiers are familiar with you. Those who respect you are willing to obey your orders. I just need to bring the witch hunters."

House stood behind Lann and immediately saluted Easter.

Easter was worried about Lanen's safety and seemed to want to add something. However, he looked at the four pairs of amber eyes behind Lanen, and thought of the combat effectiveness that Lanen has shown so far, and finally chose to give Lanen the trust.

Seeing that the plan was decided, Kratz reached out and called out to someone in the team.

This man has a typical islander appearance, a beard and strong body, but his temperament is not very rough, but he is very rigorous, which makes Lane think of his old housekeeper Ens for a moment.

Sure enough, Kratz then introduced to Lann: "His name is Guslav, and he used to be my adjutant. After being injured in a battle, he followed the headmaster in my castle to learn some management affairs, and became a member of the housekeeper's group, and soon became second only to my headmaster. But he could not forget his life with a shield and an axe. So I would take him out from time to time, and he would take you to the village of Egro."

The Guslav steward performed the standard northern court etiquette towards Lane: "It is an honor to be your guide, Duke of Lannister."

This serious look made Lann, who had been in Skellig for a while, even a little uncomfortable.

The Duke of Lannister took a deep breath: "I am honored, and I will ask you after that - Mr. Guslav."

...

The village of Aegro is backed by the mountains and facing the sea, and its connection with the outside world is very dull.

If you want to reach this village, you have to climb over the hill and pass through a narrow mountain road where water ghosts even pass from time to time.

Or in a more islander way, that is, the way Guslav took Lann and the others to choose to take a boat.

A small boat carried five witch hunters and the butler sent by Krats to this village where few people were interested. Before they could dock, villagers saw them from afar.

Lanen and the others saw that the villagers suddenly became very excited, shouting at this place from afar, waving their hands continuously.

"What are they talking about?" Gued asked in confusion.

Everyone shook their heads.

Only Kogrim narrowed his eyes and stared at the mouth shapes of those people from afar:

"He is asking us to dock quickly." The Snake Sword Hunter, who has experienced assassins, was able to read the lips. "He is still warning us: Be careful, there are...sirens in the sea?"

After hearing Kogrim's translation, the expressions of the witch hunters changed suddenly.

They knew so much about what would happen if a boat met a siren on the sea.

Siren's IQ is not low. Compared to humans, they prefer attacking ships and can easily tear the vehicles under everyone's feet into pieces.

In particular, the witch hunters are still habitually armed and have a lot of iron armor and steel sheets on them. Except for Lann who can take the armor back to the [Inventory] at any time, others will sink directly into the bottom as soon as they fall into the water.

The Guslav butler, who was born and raised in Great Skellig Island, quickly comforted the witch hunters who had changed their faces: "Don't worry, siren usually only appear far away from people. This is near the sea and will not be attacked."

In theory, this is true, but Lanen and the others looked at the panicked villagers and felt that the anxiety on their faces could not be faked.

Fortunately, the end of the matter was as expected by the Guslav butler, and the Siren did not appear after all, and the group set up a boat to the dock without any danger.

The villagers who were originally on the shore immediately gathered up, as if they were eager to check the situation of these strangers who came to the village rashly. A few villagers ran over here not far away, but they all had harpoons in their hands.

It is one thing for the islanders to be kind, but their defense is also top-notch. The islanders are the kind of people who will ask you if you are on the ground with an axe. If you say everything is fine, then they will pull you; if you take the opportunity to think of any bad thoughts, the axe will fall.

After seeing the five strange pairs of eyes coming off the boat, their hands holding the harpoon tightened.

But then they saw Guslav wearing three ships of shield emblems, so they easily put down the harpoon.

The crowd whispered a few words, and soon an elderly but strong elder came forward and asked, "Mr. Guslav, I didn't expect you to come here in person, but there is still some time before the tax collection?"

The person who spoke was the village chief, who was obviously familiar with Guslav, so he saved a lot of communication time costs.

"I came with Lord Kratz's order this time, and I need to ask you some things." As he said, Guslav let his body go, "This is Lord Lann Lannister Reanlun, Duke of Sintra."

The village chief saluted Lane politely, but his eyes were still looking at Guslav.

The Guslav housekeeper frowned and added: "He is Lord Kratz's cousin."

This time, the village chief showed a dream-awakening expression, saluted Lan En again, and made a gesture of waiting for orders.

To the old man, Lane first showed a friendly smile: "I came from the north of the mainland to visit my cousin. I have been visiting the Great Skellig Island during this period. Some time ago, I heard that there are memorable monuments in the village of Vlhara, so I went to visit..."

Lann did not explicitly say about Swabro and the Wilka Berserker, that these are not things that can be told by anybody who comes here.

But Lanen keenly observed that the old village chief's expression changed suddenly after hearing the name "Frhala".

There is a problem.

Lane continued quietly: "We found a seriously injured young man there, who told me that he was from Egro Village. He also told me that he had several companions who were traveling with him at that time, and maybe he escaped."

Speaking of this, Lane shook his head: "It's a pity that he was seriously injured and he died in a short while, but until the end he still missed his companions, and he didn't know if they were safe to return to the village."

Hearing Lan's words, the village chief did not answer immediately, but instead showed a very embarrassed look and began to look around him: "I don't know why Lord Lannister is interested in what happened in a small village like us..."

Guslav took Lann's words very smoothly: "This happened on the island of Great Skellig. Lord Kratz was very concerned, so he sent me to learn more. Lord Lannister was kind and hoped to fulfill the warriors' last wish."

"So did you guys go to Furhara Village some time ago, and did anyone come back afterwards?"

The village chief's face changed a few times and began to hesitate.

Guslav looked at Lanen's direction with some concern, frowned, and scolded the village chief no longer politely: "If there is, there is, if there is, there is no, say it quickly!"

...

"have."

The affirmative answer came, but it was not said by the village chief, but Lane, who was standing behind the Guslav housekeeper.

His lion's eyes lit up slightly, and everything in the village turned into distorted gray in his eyes.

But in this dark world, there are strands of red pheromone floating, which is the pheromone recorded by the demon hunters in the village of Vlhara.

This shows that someone did return to this village after being attacked by a giant bear.

In addition to Lann, other witch hunters also accurately captured this information. They directly passed by the village chief and villagers and advanced towards the direction guided by the red fog.

But Lanen and the others did not expect that the direction the red fog was guided by the end was not the inside of the village. They passed through Egro Village and arrived at a small wooden house about one hundred meters away.

This wooden house seemed to be excluded by the entire village, standing here alone. Next to the wooden house is a small pier with a broken boat tied with ropes.

Lann knocked heavily at the door twice, and after waiting for more than a dozen breaths, no one responded.

Without patience, he broke into the door.

...

What appeared in front of me was a typical fisherman's hut, with no furniture, only a shabby bed and a fishing net, a homemade fishing rod, simple tableware, and a few shells that were pried open and cleaned.

There was no one, there were messy clothes on the ground, and it seemed that the owner of the house was not very good at cleaning up.

Lann also noticed that although the house was dilapidated, it seemed to have been simply renovated not long ago.

Geralt looked around with his glowing eyes: "The smell is over here. Apparently he cleaned himself in the room and cleaned the blood and the other smells."

"No wine, no blood, no spices or other strong smells. The only thing that tastes a little bigger is seafood, but the village is full of seafood, and we can't just trace it up with the senses."

"No, it's enough. Just make sure that someone is indeed back. Next, someone will give us an answer." Lane said.

He turned his head and looked at the village chief who was forcibly taken over, as well as Guslav, who looked ugly behind the village chief.

"The one who follows Lord Lannister is the master of witch hunting. They know everything! Do you think it is useful to not speak?" Guslav shouted at the village chief, "Who is living here? Why do you hide him from Lord Lannister!"

"Speak quickly!"

The village chief's face turned blue and white, and it changed several times before he finally sighed and spoke.

...

The owner of the house is Bill.

Like most of the sea-to-sea villages on the island, Aegro makes a living by fishing. However, unlike those villages, because Aegro is located in a remote place, it is often invaded by monsters.

There are water ghosts and drowning ghosts. These small monsters are fine. The villagers go out to sea in groups of three or five, and they can barely deal with them with harpoons.

But what really bothers the fishermen is another kind of monster - the Siren, also known as [Hekna].

This monster is considered a close relative of the harp. In addition to being able to soar in the air, it can also dive underwater, which is a fatal threat to any ship.

Therefore, the fishermen in Aegro Village live an extremely poor life.

Or they had to risk their lives to fish near the village, and they would return to the voyage if there was any turbulence or something, and they would gain little in the day;

Or they have to travel through mountains and rivers to a slightly more prosperous place where there are fewer monsters—but not to mention the time spent on the road, there are many fishermen in the prosperous place. Who would be willing to come and grab their catch?

Every generation of village chiefs has a headache about the lives of villagers and the development of the village. If it were not for objective reasons, the village chief even had the idea of ​​moving the village.

Until a person appears.

This person is Bill, the owner of the house where Lann and the others are.

...
To be continued...