The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 390 Willen
"A new lord? But I've never heard of him before."

A knight rode forward and displayed the sacred certificate proving Triss's identity.

"This is a certificate personally signed by His Majesty... Don't get so close, you fool! If you dare to spit your saliva on this sacred certificate, I'll make you pay in blood!"

"Look down, look here! Do you see the Wang family seal?"

One of the guards looked rather dim-witted and nodded blankly.

"Look...I saw it."

"You see that and you're still not opening the door for us? How much longer do you want our distinguished lady to be kept outside?"

"Yes, I understand."

The guard hurriedly put down his crossbow, picked up a wooden stick with a piece of black cloth tied to it, and turned to wave it towards the city gate behind him.

The city gates of Crow's Nest then slowly opened.

Once the group had crossed the drawbridge and entered the castle, another guard, who was clearly much older, tentatively asked.

"Bard, did you see that clearly? Is that paper really a certificate of authorization signed by His Majesty?"

The soldier called Bard shook his head: "I can't read, how would I know? But that royal seal certainly doesn't look fake."

"With this new lord arriving, what about Baron Veserad?"

"You ask me? How am I supposed to know? Why bother with all that? Anyway, whoever becomes the lord doesn't need to do any work. All we need to do is guard the gate."

In the inner courtyard of Crow's Nest.

Someone had informed Veserad beforehand, so as soon as Lynn and Triss's group entered the inner city, the baron, accompanied by his trusted men, greeted them in the courtyard.

However, their expressions were hardly friendly, and they were carrying weapons.

Just as he had done at the outpost outside the city, the knight produced the warrant.

He read aloud that Foltest had already granted Velen to Triss, and that Baron Veserad and his entire family had been transferred to the outskirts of Vigemar.

After listening to everything, Viserard had no idea what he was thinking.

The knight exchanged a glance with Triss, then took another step forward, offering a warning tinged with goodwill but also with a hint of intimidation.

"Your Excellency, you should think this through carefully. Please don't do anything you'll regret."

After hesitating for a long time, Veserad finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "I am willing to obey His Majesty the King's will."

Viserard knew this meant relegation.

Although the title remained the same, his landholdings shrank from baronies to knighthoods.

Their wealth, power, and status have all declined significantly.

There will be no more possibility of upward social mobility in the future.

But what can be done?
As for resistance?

Don't be ridiculous.

With so few men under his command, he might be able to bully some unruly commoners, but if he were to actually fight the knights sent by the king, he would be courting death.

Besides, they might not necessarily disobey the king's orders for their own sake.

Viserard sighed.

Forget it.

At least they could retain the baronial title and knighthood, which wasn't a bad thing.

Baron Veserad packed his bags and left Crow's Den that very day with his family and confidants.

Baron Veserad did not take everyone from the castle with him; the official in charge of assisting the lord in managing the entire Velen remained in the castle.

Unfortunately, Triss's plan to call them over to inquire about Velen's situation was destined to end in disappointment.

Because apart from the capital city of Gos Velen, they knew almost nothing about the situation in other places. Triss had heard about Velen before, when she was still in the court of Vizima.

She just didn't expect it to be this bad.

"Madam, we have some ideas, may we speak?"

"Please tell me."

After obtaining the sorceress's consent, the officials cautiously expressed their own opinions:

The situation in Velen is not optimistic.

Long ago, Veserad withdrew the guards sent to other places and stopped sending them to patrol the roads.

Therefore, they did not know whether the villagers living in other parts of Velen were alive or dead.

If they had already died from plague, famine, or monster attacks, that would be good;

What I fear most is that they have become slaves to darkness.

Long, long ago, there was a legend about the "Lady of the Woods" in the land of Velen.

It is said that Lady of the Forest can even be traced back to the time when humans first arrived on this continent.

No matter how the regimes change in Velen, only Lady of the Woods will live on forever.

Therefore, the officials advised Triss to follow Veselad's example and focus on managing Raven's Den and Gos Velen, avoiding getting involved in other matters to prevent trouble.

The officials offered their suggestions, only to be met with the sorceress's cold gaze.

"You can leave now. If you chase after Viserard before he goes too far, you can still catch up."

"Miss?"

"My territory has no need for good-for-nothings. Get out of my sight now!"

The officials were startled by Triss's sudden increase in volume and scrambled out of the castle hall.

In the vast hall, only the sorceress, the witcher, and the knights who would henceforth be loyal to the sorceress remained.

Triss sighed, "Now I understand why none of his men advised Veserad when he was hiding in his raven's den. Turns out, his men were just like him."

Lynn asked, "So, what are you planning to do?"

“This is my territory. What ‘Lady of the Woods’? There can only be one ‘Lady’ on this land… Lynn, I need your help. Come with me tomorrow to inspect the territory.”

Although at the beginning, Triss was worried that she might not be able to govern Velen, a notoriously poor and remote place.

After all, as Lynn said, she was skilled in magic, but she had absolutely no idea how to manage a piece of land.

However, after Foltest officially appointed her as the lord of Velen, she still felt a strong desire to govern Velen well.

So early the next morning, the group left Crow's Nest and headed towards the villages scattered throughout the province of Velen.

Our first stop was the village of Midcops.

Lynn had been to this village before, several years ago, when he was invited to Toussaint and met up with the Ranger Knight in this village.

However, as the years passed, the village did not get better; instead, it became more and more dilapidated.

When their group entered the village, the villagers were clearly frightened.

They never imagined they would see the lord's men again in their lifetime.

Everyone thought it was robbers.

The villagers only calmed down when they realized that the newcomers were all wearing gleaming silver armor and did not brandish weapons at them, but instead ordered them to assemble in the open space of the village.

In the open space of the village, the villagers, including the village chief, stood trembling with fear.

The lord's guards hadn't appeared on the roads outside the village for a long time, let alone so many knights. The villagers couldn't figure out what all these important figures were doing in their village.

(End of this chapter)