Chapter 56: Gotta Add Money
As the fighting within the camp concluded, the battle outside the camp also came to an end.
None of Jadd's men managed to escape.
Most were shot dead by crossbow bolts.
Only a few were taken prisoner.
The guard captain took some men to escort the prisoners to the other side for interrogation.
After a while, the guard captain and his men returned.
Their bodies were still stained with blood.
From the mouths of the prisoners, the group obtained very valuable information:
As Istrad and the others had previously guessed, the mastermind behind the attack was indeed King Rad of Poviss.
King Rad had hired Jadd's mercenary group, along with his own soldiers, to try to ambush Istrad and his party.
After the attack failed, Jadd led his men back to this temporary camp.
And sent a person to the place where King Rad's men were stationed.
In other words, as long as they stayed here and waited, catching the person Jadd sent out, there was a high probability of obtaining the enemy's next ambush plan.
So, the group began to make arrangements.
First, they extinguished the fire in the camp to prevent black smoke from being discovered.
Then they dragged away the bodies of the mercenaries outside the forest.
Finally, everyone hid in the forest and lay in ambush.
During the waiting period, Lynn found Istrad.
"Sir, the ones who attacked us weren't ordinary bandits, were they? They seemed to have come specifically for this caravan."
As an "unknowing" outsider, it was normal for him to raise questions at this time. It would have been abnormal not to.
After all, he knew Istrad's true identity, but Istrad didn't know that he knew.
Sure enough, after Lynn raised the question, Istrad breathed a sigh of relief.
Obviously, in his opinion, Lynn should have asked this question long ago.
"Master Lynn, you are right, they were indeed after me."
"But I didn't intentionally hide it at the time. There were really reasons why I couldn't be frank. I can assure you that once we arrive in Tretogor City, I will tell you everything."
...
Rocky rode his horse, on his way back to the camp.
When he set off, he only took a piece of cold, hard black bread. Not only did it not fill his stomach, but it almost broke his teeth.
After conveying the boss's meaning to King Rad's men, he wanted to beg for some food, but was kicked out.
In the eyes of King Rad's men, Jadd's gang, nominally mercenaries, were no different from robbers and bandits in reality.
The high and mighty knight lord, condescending to cooperate with these guys they usually looked down on, was already reluctant enough.
And they dared to ask them for food?
Wasn't that asking for a beating!
Therefore, Rocky had to set off again with a tired body.
After spending several hours on horseback, Rocky was hungry, thirsty, and exhausted.
But fortunately, he finally made it through.
The small forest where his companions' temporary camp was located appeared in his sight.
Thinking that the destination was right in front of him, Rocky couldn't help but cheer up.
But soon he realized that something was wrong.
Where were the sentries outside the forest?
The entire forest was eerily quiet, but this was impossible.
With so many people in the camp, even if they tried to be quiet, it wouldn't be this deathly silent.
Just as the thought "not good" popped into his mind, a crossbow bolt shot out from the forest, hitting the eye of the horse he was riding right between the eyes.
The crossbow bolt shot into the horse's eye and went straight into its brain.
The poor nag didn't even let out a whimper before falling to the side.
The rider didn't have time to react and was crushed underneath the fallen nag.
A series of footsteps sounded from all around.
A large group of people surrounded him.
But obviously they weren't his companions.
"I advise you not to move, friend."
...
In the camp, the guard captain walked towards Istrad.
"My lord, please take a look."
Istrad took the parchment handed over by the guard captain, looked at it carefully, and then handed it to Lynn.
"Witcher Master."
Lynn was not polite and took it.
The content of this parchment was a hand-drawn map of the Duchy of Tretogor.
Many clear marks were made on it.
After he finished reading it, he handed it to Geralt next to him.
"My lord, Witcher Master," the guard captain stood with his hands behind his back, head held high, "According to that man's confession, King Rad's men agreed to Jadd's request for more money."
"The marks on this map are the rendezvous point agreed upon by King Rad's men and Jadd, and the place where they will ambush us again."
"King Rad's men don't know what happened here. If we go directly to the rendezvous point, we might still be able to catch them off guard."
Istrad was silent. After a long while, he asked.
"Witcher Masters, I would like to hear your opinions."
Geralt thought for a moment and said, "The enemy doesn't know that their plan has fallen into our hands. This is our advantage. We can completely avoid them according to this map."
Lynn also agreed: "I think so too. There are enough horses in Jadd's camp for our use."
The guard captain was taken aback: "What about King Rad's men?"
Lynn said, "Forget about them. Our most important thing now is not to kill them, but to safely reach Tretogor City."
The previous attack on Jadd's camp was to obtain the needed horses and the enemy's plan.
Now that the horses had been obtained and the enemy's plan was known.
There was no need for another fight.
Of course, there was actually an even more important reason.
That was that the alchemy bombs Lynn and Geralt had used earlier were almost completely used up.
Without the effect of alchemy bombs to frighten the enemy, going into a head-on fight would definitely be fine for Lynn and Geralt, but Istrad's subordinates might suffer casualties.
There was no need for that.
Istrad nodded.
"The two masters think the same as me. Guard Captain, go tell the others that we are going back to the inn now."
...
On the way back to the inn, Istrad suddenly came to Lynn's side and asked in a low voice.
"Master Lynn, forgive my boldness, but there is a question that has been on my mind for a long time."
Lynn looked at Istrad in confusion: "Sir, please speak your mind."
"Would a witcher mind becoming a vassal of a king?"
Lynn knew it.
In fact, as early as when he was still in Eddsberg, when he recognized Istrad's true identity and plotted against him, wasn't the other party also plotting against him?
It was a mutual attraction.