The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 416 Improvement of the Grass Trial
Ultimately, in what would later be known as the Battle of the Bula River, the Allied forces suffered over two thousand dead, hundreds missing, and over a thousand captured.

Meanwhile, the casualties on Kowell's side were almost negligible.

Besides severely damaging the Humphries Alliance and rendering it unable to organize an army to resist the Kovir army's attack, this battle had an even more important consequence: almost all the nobles, including King Niedamir, died in this battle.

It's not because they were particularly brave or fought to the death.

In fact, when Cowell's infantry surrounded them from all sides and the Allied soldiers fled like stray dogs, many of the nobles of the Humphries Alliance did not flee.

Because nobles generally received preferential treatment during the wars among the northern kingdoms.

Unless it's a fierce battle on the battlefield where both sides are bloodthirsty, most of the time even enemies wouldn't deliberately kill nobles.

Just like it is now.

These nobles from the Humphries Alliance believed that the Kovir army had won.

As the defeated, they have already laid down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. Therefore, the victorious Kovir army should also accept their surrender like gentlemen.

Unfortunately, these nobles of the Humphries Alliance were unaware of Lynn's actions in Marlul and Kreidden.

If they had known, they probably wouldn't have foolishly stayed put and abandoned their weapons.

As Kowell's army drew ever closer, some of the nobles of Humphries finally realized that something seemed amiss.

"Wait! Wait a minute!"

"We surrender! We surrender!"

Seeing the Kovel soldiers charging straight at them without slowing down at all, the nobles gradually showed expressions of fear.

Some nobles, finally realizing something was wrong, took up arms, but it was too late.

A shrill scream sounded.

Kovel's soldiers carried out a brutal massacre of Humphries' nobles, showing no regard for whether they were nobles or not.

Even the few nobles who took up arms and tried to resist were like splashes of water in a torrent, quickly disappearing without a trace.

The massacre ended quickly.

Killing a group of nobles who voluntarily lay down their weapons is not much more difficult than killing a chicken.

In fact, Lynn did not have a habit of torturing prisoners.

If Humphries' soldiers surrender, he will allow them to surrender.

But it's different for nobles.

Because Lynn never intended to capture them alive.

After all, Lynn was planning to divide their land among his soldiers.

If the land still has an original owner, it could cause disputes, which would be bad.

Therefore, we had no choice but to ask the gentleman to die.

……

After King Niedamir and the nobles of Humphors died in battle, the remaining city-states of the Humphors Alliance had no chance of resisting the occupation by the Kovir army.

Thus, the various city-states that had separated during the Bovis split returned to the embrace of Kovir once again.

However, these lands all became the private domain of Grand Duke Lynn Augustus.

Lynn redivided these lands, ensuring that more than half of his soldiers received land.

Of course, most of the land is still in his own hands.

Lynn's nominal fiefdom, the Isparden Dominion, lies to the east of the Humphries League.

But Lynn was not in a hurry to go to his fiefdom at this time.

Instead, he remained in Kangon and began to rule the former lands of the Henvers Union.

Shortly after that, another piece of good news came from Kaer Mohan.

Through the joint research of Tissaia, Mossack, and Agnes, they finally found a way to improve the survival rate of the Grass Trial.

That is, before the Grass Trial, to add another mutation that allows the apprentice's body to transform into a Witcher in advance and lay the foundation. They named it the Mild Mutation.

After repeated testing, they placed the mild mutation a year before the Grass Trial.

And the result was gratifying.

In the simulation experiments conducted by Tissaia using magic, it was discovered that the appearance of mild mutations could increase the survival rate of the Grass Trial by another 20%.

Furthermore, the probability increases by another 10% when a warlock casts a stabilizing spell.

And the probability of obtaining Brockleon's Water can be increased by another 10%.

At this point, the survival rate of the Grass Trial can reach 85%.

Although it wasn't the 100% success rate they had expected, all three of them said that this was the limit.

Unless future magical research achieves explosive innovation and breakthroughs, it will be difficult to make further progress.

Considering that there are less than ten years left until that "future", Lynn decided to launch the improved Grass Trial.

However, since the survival rate of the Grass Trial is not 100%, he will give the orphans he helps two chances to choose.

First, they can choose whether or not to voluntarily become Witcher apprentices;
Secondly, once they have completed all the physical training of the apprentices, they will be informed of the dangers of the Grass Trials.

At this point, they still have one more chance to choose whether or not to accept the grass trial with an 85% survival rate.

If they don't want to, that's fine too.

Even apprenticeship training is enough to train an ordinary person into a soldier.

Lynn could incorporate them into the regular army, and if they distinguished themselves on the battlefield, they would also have opportunities for promotion.

As for those brave souls who are willing to accept the trial of the grass, as long as they survive, they will automatically be granted the title of knight.

Although they still needed to achieve meritorious service to obtain land, at least until then, their salaries were among the highest in the military.

Those who did not survive will also be recorded and remembered forever.

After reporting the successful improvement of the herb trial to Lynn, Mossack also told Lynn about another matter:

The raven brought a message that the Ring of Druids told him that Calanther had requested the Isles to appoint him as a royal advisor to Sintra.

Sintra and the Skellige Islands have always been friendly. Although the deaths of Doni and Paveta have somewhat strained relations, they have maintained their alliance in the face of their common enemy, Nilfgaard.

Moreover, Sintra's current king consort, Esther Tursek, is from the Skellige Islands.

The appointment of Mossak as a royal advisor to Sintra was not solely due to Calanther's invitation; Ister also had his reasons.

As an islander, Ister trusted druids more than warlocks.

But Mossack had been putting things off because his work wasn't finished. Now that his task was complete, there was no reason for him to stay any longer, and he could finally leave with peace of mind.

Therefore, he chose to come to Kangon City to tell Lynn in person the news of the successful trial of improving the grass.

Lynn did not try to persuade Mossack to stay.

He knew that the fact that the other party was willing to come and say goodbye to him in person was already a great show of respect.

It would be impolite to insist on keeping the other person there.

So Lynn paid Mossack a lot of gold.

He knew that druids did not value money and material enjoyment, but gold best represented sincerity.

Immediately afterwards, Lynn presented another generous gift.

That is the shocking secret of Doni, Queen Calanthe's son-in-law, who is actually the current Emperor of Nilfgaard.

"Back then, Emhyr Emris's father was overthrown by a very influential nobleman in the country. This nobleman killed Emhyr's father and turned Emhyr into a hedgehog-like monster."

"After being exiled, Emhyr traveled to the forests of Sintra, where he rescued King Fregner of Sintra and demanded the Law of the Unexpected as payment."

"After that, Emhyr lived in the north and met a sorcerer named Vigforts."

"The latter is an extremely ambitious man. What he wants can only be given by the Emperor of Nilfgaard. Therefore, Vigforts has been secretly helping Emhyr."

"Fifteen years passed in this way. When Queen Calanther held a marriage selection banquet for Princess Paveta of Sintra, Emhyr also went to Sintra because he had asked Rogner for the reward for the Law of the Unexpected, which was Princess Paveta."

"I don't need to go into the details of what happened after that, do I?"

Mossack was utterly shocked.

He had also participated in the marriage selection banquet that year.

Not only did he participate, but he also joined Geralt in stopping Calanthe from harming Emhyr.

Because the old Druids believed that the tradition of the Law of Unexpectedness and the fate that followed were irreversible.

However, in retrospect, even if fate had dealt them a cruel blow afterward, they should have stood on Calanther's side at the time.

Mossack quickly recalled the shipwreck that had claimed Doni and Paveta's lives several years earlier.

"If Doni is Emhyr, and Emhyr is Doni, then that shipwreck..."

Lynn spread his hands.

"Of course, it was deliberately created by Vigforts to get Emhyr out of Calanther's sight and secretly return to Nilfgaard."

"As for Princess Pavita, Emhyr herself believes it was an accident, but you should know the name of Vigforts."

"As a human sorcerer second only to Tissaia, Vigfortz can't even get Dora to come out alone? I don't believe it."

When Lynn revealed the truth to Philippa, she omitted Wiggoffts' name.

It wasn't that Lynn thought Philippa would go to Wiggoffetz to tip her off.

Philippa and Wigfordtz weren't on the same side; he wasn't worried about that, but rather about the other's mind.

At least before the Sannide Incident, Wigford had not yet stepped forward to oppose the northern nations.

He even called on sorcerers to fight for the North during the First Northern War.

If we tell Philippa now and that woman goes to Vigforts, it will be troublesome.

Lynn's information was so extensive that even Mossack was somewhat overwhelmed.

Before Mossack left, Lynn gave him a piece of advice for free:
In recent decades, Nilfgaard has completed the conquest and unification of the entire south. Except for the Duchy of Toussaint, which is like a distant utopia, all the southern kingdoms have been conquered under the iron hooves of the Golden Tower City.

But the Nilfgaardians would never stop their conquests; sooner or later, they would cross the Manada Valley and set foot on the northern lands.

"Did you see anything?"

Having spent so much time in Kyle Morhen, Mossack gradually heard some rumors about Lynn.

For example, Lynn is not only a witcher, but also a prophet.

Because this world has magic and gods, and prophets and prophecies truly exist, Mossack has no choice but to believe.

Lynn nodded in agreement to Mossack's question.

He cleared his throat, gazed into the distance, and spoke slowly.

"I saw the city turn into a sea of ​​fire under the pitch-black night sky. Thick smoke billowed from the streets and alleys, and flames engulfed the houses. There were screams and muffled sounds of sharp weapons piercing bodies everywhere. The corpses were piled higher than mountains, and the blood flowed more than the moat."

"The blue flag with three lions (the coat of arms of Sintra) burned to ashes under the golden sun."

Mossack frowned.

“Between Nilfgaard and Sintra, the towering Amel Mountains stand in the way, and the only passage is through the Manada Valley.”

“Sintra was not originally considered one of the great powers of the north. It was only after Calanthe ascended the throne in 1232 that Sintra gradually became a wealthy and powerful nation.”

"Moreover, when Calanther was only fifteen years old, he defeated Nasser's army in the Battle of Hauchebuz."

"Will Sintra really be defeated by Nilfgaard?"

Mossack had met Queen Calanthe several times.

Although she was a woman, she far surpassed other kings in the north, both in domestic affairs and military matters.

Therefore, Mossack finds it hard to imagine that the scenario Lynn predicted would come to pass.

Looking at Mossack's expression, Lynn knew that the other party didn't believe him.

normal.

Mossack is, after all, a native of this world, and his existence is limited by the times.

Enveloped in dark clouds, one can only see the false prosperity before one's eyes, but not the disaster behind it.

In fact, let alone Mossac, even Queen Calanthe was no different.
To be honest, Lynn had never met Calanther since he came into this world.

But if the real-life Calanther is the same as the one in the original story, then what Lynn just said to Mossack would probably be enough for Calanther to punish.

However, Lynn was not afraid of the lioness of Sintra punishing him. If she had the guts, she could leave Sintra and cross most of the north to fight him.

Lynn didn't want the original story to repeat itself, so he solemnly reminded Mossack again that after going to Sintra, he must suggest that Calanther strengthen the defenses of the Manada Valley border.

If possible, it would be best to build a fortress in the valley.

The Amer Mountains, which traverse Sintra and Nilfgaard, have several narrow paths connecting the north and south, in addition to the Manada Valley.

However, if a large army needs to pass through, especially a supply convoy, then the only way is through the Manada Valley.

Therefore, if Queen Calanthe does as she says and builds a fortress in the Manada Valley, leaving only a few hundred garrison troops will be enough to keep the Nilfgaardians firmly at bay outside the border.

(End of this chapter)