The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 409 A Hymn of Loyalty
It's not that we necessarily want to exterminate them all, but those fleeing nobles represent a lot of money.

Since they have taken the initiative to invade the Principality of Targos, they can be spared, but at least they should be made to pay a ransom to atone for their crimes.

There will be many places where we need money in the future; capturing one more noble will mean one more ransom.

Why not?
And so it wasn't until a day later that the demon hunters, laden with their spoils, returned to the Restoration Army's camp.

The battlefield where the battle had taken place had been cleaned up, but a faint smell of blood still lingered in the air.

When Lynn and the others returned to the camp, they were immediately brought before Istrad.

In front of a group of nobles, Istrad knighted every witcher and made Lynn an earl.

In front of all the nobles, he promised Lynn that once he returned to Corviel and Bovis and was crowned king, Lynn would have the right to choose his fiefdom first.

Seeing Lynn's somewhat surprised expression and the demon hunters' shocked faces, Istrad smiled.

A so-called oath of allegiance only has binding force if sufficient rewards are given.

This applies to both sincere people and despicable people.

The nobles present did not show any jealousy or hostility towards Istrad for bestowing titles upon a group of commoners.

Instead, almost everyone was just envious with goodwill.

It must be said that the atmosphere among the nobles under Istrad was truly wonderful, so wonderful that they hardly seemed like natives of this world.

After the investiture ceremony, the army advanced forward, reaching the border and recovering the previously occupied territory.

With the army on this side of the border, Istrad, after some deliberation, decided not to lead his troops across the border but instead returned to Targo.

In Talgo, Lady Benedict hosted a celebratory banquet.

At the victory celebration banquet, Mrs. Benedict made a surprising move:

She awarded Lynn a Thistle Medal.

The Order of the Thistle is the highest rank in the Targos's honor system, and only a very small number of nobles can receive it.

This was clearly done at Istrad's request.

On the surface, it doesn't seem to bring any tangible benefits.

But of course, there are also benefits.

That was to increase Lynn's prestige and the legitimacy and authority of his earldom.

As she personally pinned the medal on Lynn, Lady Benedict suggested in a low voice that it was time to consider the design of the family name and coat of arms.

……

They rested for two months in the Principality of Targos.

Lynn took the opportunity to release the captured Humphrey nobles and made a hefty ransom.

Two months later, the Cowell Restoration Army, having rested and regrouped, set off again, advancing towards Cowell and Povis.

This time, however, the morale of the entire Kowell Restoration Army was high due to their victory over the Humphries Alliance.

In contrast, King Ryder and King Edie were in a terrible mood.

They didn't expect that Redania would remain completely still.

Even more alarming, after the Humphries Alliance was defeated, Istrad's Koviel Restoration Army suffered almost no casualties.

This was completely different from what King Ryder had envisioned.

But since the Restoration Army had already advanced towards Cowell and Povis, he had no other choice.

They had no choice but to summon their vassals and prepare to fight back.

The two armies eventually met at the border.

During the two-month rest period, the Koville Restoration Army recruited many more soldiers and hired several mercenary groups, bringing its strength to 15,000.

The combined forces of Kowell and Povis on the opposite side, however, numbered far greater, totaling forty thousand. This force, more than double that of the enemy, gave King Ryder and King Idi considerable confidence and assurance.

After all, no matter what, it's 40,000 against 15,000, so the advantage is on my side.

'Since neither the Humphries Alliance nor Redania can be relied upon, I'll take matters into my own hands.'

King Ryder thought so.

On the day of the decisive battle, a thick fog obscured the vision of both armies.

The thick fog didn't completely dissipate until 11 a.m.

The moment he saw the enemy forces clearly, King Ryder couldn't wait any longer and ordered his entire army to press forward and launch a general offensive.

When your strength far surpasses that of your opponent, you no longer need any skills; you can just attack directly.

Just like now, the 40,000-strong army is spread out in a line, and both flanks have far surpassed the enemy's formation.

As long as the nobles lead their troops forward, the encirclement will be completed naturally.

Whether it was a war in the era of cold weapons or a war in the Napoleonic era, once the enemy's army was completely surrounded, victory could basically be declared.

This is the common sense that one plus one equals two.

However, to the surprise of King Ryder and King Idi, their own left-wing noble army, which had been moving towards the flank of the Restoration Army, changed direction after leaving the center and charged towards the center again.

The noble army on the right wing even left the battlefield.

This resulted in King Idi and King Ride's armies being caught in a fierce battle, attacked from both sides.

"What are they doing? Have they gone mad?"

King Edi was in a fit of impotent rage.

But no one could answer his question.

King Ryder's face was so dark it looked like it could drip water.

After the fall of the Thyssen family and their escape from Cowell and Bovis, a group of nobles who had previously been loyal to the Thyssen family immediately switched sides and rushed to pledge allegiance to King Ryder and King Idi.

King Ryder was certainly no fool.

These nobles can abandon the Thyssen family now, and they can also abandon him when the Thyssen family returns.

Therefore, King Ryder did not exterminate the die-hard nobles of the Thyssen family, but merely reduced their territories and transferred all the territories of those who surrendered and those who remained loyal to the Thyssen family to other families.

Ultimately, it will become a situation where we are intertwined and mutually restraining.

For this expedition, he did not bring any of the loyal nobles, but only the nobles who had surrendered.

However, to prevent a rebellion by the loyal nobles, he imprisoned their wives and sons in Lang Essette, the winter capital of Cowell.

To his surprise, the nobles who had surrendered would collectively defect at the last minute.

At that moment, a terrifying thought arose in King Ryder's mind:

Whether they're the surrender faction or the loyalists, could those guys be putting on an act together?

But whether it was an act or not, King Ryder and King Idi's armies were clearly losing ground when they were surrounded from both sides, and defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Left with no other choice, King Ryder and King Edie abandoned their army and fled towards Lang Essette.

The two kings, accompanied by only a few dozen attendants, traveled day and night like stray dogs, and finally arrived in Lang Essette after several days.

However, what chilled the two kings to the bone was that they finally learned what the right-wing noble coalition that had broken away from the battlefield had been doing.

Their aim was to seize Lang Essette ahead of schedule and protect the wives and children of the loyal nobles.

Sure enough, these surrenderers and loyalists were just putting on a show for them.

(End of this chapter)