Bear School Astartes-Chapter 573 - 575. The lives of refugees

According to Dandelion, their refugee life had quite a dramatic flair.

It was uncertain if the famous poet had made his own embellishments, but seeing Ged and Geralt’s tacit expressions, even if there were adaptations, it couldn’t have been by much. It seemed plausible.

To find Ciri, two Demon Hunters and a poet set out directly for Sintra City.

Luckily, they didn’t reach Sintra City before it was surrounded by the Niflgaard people, so they didn’t get trapped in that brutal hell.

It was said that the outer city of Sintra was blasted open by the Warlocks from the south on the first day, and only the Royal Palace held on for four days under the protection of powerful magic.

During those four days, the outer city of Sintra was slaughtered repeatedly.

After all, the army besieging the Royal Palace needed some entertainment to boost morale, didn’t they?

Eventually, even the Inner City was breached.

If it hadn’t been for Geralt being tortured with self-blame to the point of madness, stubbornly wandering outside the city for many days, they might not have encountered Ciri.

On the night when the Inner City was breached, they encountered the once-grand but now disheveled and dirty little princess during their usual wanderings.

She was so scared that she developed mental trauma, and even now, she dreams every night of a Niflgaard Knight with a winged helmet chasing after her in a sea of flames.

Geralt embraced this little girl he had let go of many times before as if he had found a treasure.

Then came the challenge of trying to extricate themselves from the quagmire of war.

But this reversal against disaster was exceedingly difficult.

The slightest careless noise risked discovery by scouts unleashed by the army, followed by ’elimination.’

They also had to carefully plan their direction, as civilians and refugees in wartime had no way of knowing the movements of the army.

If they happened to be on a path that was a conflict point of the Niflgaard people or some army, they would become a fly caught in the grinder... with no one knowing when they died there.

Just a worthless splatter of meat.

The Demon Hunters’ superhuman senses and physical abilities were indeed very useful, but even with Ged and Geralt taking turns keeping watch day and night, they still encountered the unexpected.

They found themselves in a swamp difficult to exit quickly, initially planning to rest in this terrain that the army avoided.

However, early the next morning, everyone hazily heard the sounds of battle.

At that time, scouts of the Niflgaard people were chasing a refugee group into the swamp and had already begun fighting.

It was too late to leave, and if the Niflgaard scouts fired a signal arrow, the swamp would be surrounded faster than they could escape.

They had no choice but to join the refugee group in the fight.

The two Demon Hunters, fierce and unmatched, rushed and finally killed the crossbowman before the signal arrow was fired.

Somehow, they even completely annihilated the Niflgaard scouts.

This marked the beginning of their bond.

The refugees gazed at the two Demon Hunters as if they were heroes from a saga!

At this point, the leader of the refugee group, the former Royal Steward Hacksaw, also stepped forward.

Both Ged and Geralt had interacted with him before, and they concurrently worried that Hacksaw might reveal Ciri’s identity.

As the only heir of the Sintra Royal Family, revealing this title would essentially prevent escape from Sintra.

The Niflgaard people would likely send out a legitimate army to capture them.

But Hacksaw didn’t become the Royal Steward for nothing.

In an instant exchange of glances and expressions, they reached an agreement.

"We will act with the refugee group, assisting each other to strive for more people to escape this war-torn mire."

When Dandelion spoke of Hacksaw, his expression was much more favorable than Geralt’s.

It seemed the poet had a good impression of him.

"This is actually a win-win. The refugee group isn’t just counting on us to fight; Hacksaw’s Knight son leads quite a few Sintra soldiers. Honestly, they are more formidable than the few of us; when trouble arises, they are always the first to charge."

"Not stronger than ’us,’ stronger than ’me and Geralt.’ Ged retorted from behind, "No one counts you as combat power, Dandelion."

The poet carelessly waved back in response.

"Anyway, we do some work for the refugee group, and they provide us with great convenience. At least you two haven’t stayed up every night on alert or eaten half-cooked food, and even your armor gets maintenance once a week, right? That’s the meaning of mutual assistance."

Later, with the Demon Hunters’ senses, the refugee group avoided many dangers ahead of time, even counterattacking the Niflgaard people and roaming bandits several times—and successfully! 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

They acquired equipment, morale stabilized further, and as they advanced towards the border, more displaced refugees joined them.

Some even admired them for defeating small groups of the Niflgaard people and came specifically to join them, including Sintra youths.

The men of this country inherently had explosive temperaments.

Farmers with ruined fields, lumberjacks, miners, traveling merchants, fleeing craftsmen from the city... there were all kinds of people. Humanity’s innate gregarious nature led them to form groups for combat strength and a sense of security, hoping to survive.

"That’s precisely what worries me... the group is growing larger."

Geralt spoke with a cold face.

Snowballing, of course, is thrilling and exciting, but this is a war-torn region! Niflgaard has absolute dominance over Sintra!

The larger the snowball grows, the more likely the Niflgaard people are to notice this small group!

"I’ll say it outright."

Geralt spoke with his hoarse, weathered voice.

"Hacksaw and his Knight son have shown no intention of stopping the intake of refugees. I suspect they might not actually want to leave this quagmire or have other intentions. You know, Lann... war isn’t just a quagmire for the doomed."

Diving deeper into war, this is also a feast for seizing power and wealth!

A feast exclusively for the ruthless, decisive, and brave!

Lann nodded to indicate understanding.

"Hacksaw looks at Ciri all wrong; I suspect he’ll eventually raise Ciri’s Royal heritage as a banner to gain more influence and legitimate claims for himself."

Ciri sat in front of Dandelion, with a confused look, clearly not understanding the intricacies here.

On the other hand, Dandelion clearly disagreed with Geralt.

"Come on, you’re just becoming paranoid because you’re too worried about Ciri. Admit it, White Wolf."

The poet nonchalantly chuckled.

"We’ve all had dealings with Hacksaw, and he doesn’t have any ambition. He knows his own limits, understands his capacity, and knows how to stomach his fill. Such wise people are rare these days."

"I’ve seen too many ambitious nobles and Generals; Hacksaw’s nothing like them."

"In my view, he also watched Ciri grow up, and in such chaotic times, it’s natural to keep an eye out."

"As for not stopping the intake? If a snowball could pause as people wish, casually, it wouldn’t be called snowballing. Right now, he’s just being roasted by circumstances."

Regardless of whose perspective was closer to objective truth, in any case... the temporary refugee group’s base camp had been reached.