The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 418 Laying Out Isparden
Meanwhile, news of the Thyssen family's return to Cowell finally reached the backward and isolated Isparden Dominion.

Along with the news of Istrad's return to power came the news that a Witcher who had distinguished himself in the war to reclaim the throne had been made Grand Duke of Isparden.

The nobles of Isparden were used to pocketing all the taxes collected from their territories, and none of them wanted another Grand Duke to take a share of their money.

So the nobles hastily assembled the armed forces within their territories, cobbling together a force of 20,000 men, and marched in a mighty procession toward the Kestrel Pass.

Insert image – Kestroff gap (circled in red)
The nobles of Isparden were not naive enough to believe that they could defeat Istrad, who had won the war to reclaim the throne.

They mainly expressed one attitude:

Cowell is too far from Isparden.

There are also Targos and Humphries in between.

Isparden is essentially an enclave.

The Thyssen family simply could not effectively govern Isparden.

If that's the case, why not just let the Ispardens rule Isparden? As long as the Kovirs don't force themselves on Isparden and act as its masters, Isparden is still willing to verbally acknowledge the Kovirs as its overlord.

Of course, the nobles of Isparden knew that Istrad would never easily admit to such blatant divisive rhetoric.

Therefore, the true test still lies on the battlefield.

Only by making the Kovirs realize the determination and awareness of the Ispardens can it be possible to get Istrad to make concessions.

then……

Their allied forces endured months of cold winds at the Kestrel Pass.

They waited and waited, but Kowell's punitive army never arrived.

After sending spies into the Humphries Alliance to inquire, they learned that the Koville Army was not, as they had assumed, asking the Humphries Alliance for passage.

Instead, they directly destroyed the Humphries League.

This sent a chill down the spines of the nobles of Isparden.

It should be noted that the city-states that made up the Humphries League were originally part of Cowell.

Now that Humphries Union has been destroyed, what does that mean?
Isparden borders the Humphries Alliance, so won't they be next?

Realizing this, the nobles quickly conscripted another 10,000 farmers.

Including the previous army, the total number has reached 30,000.

Even with the precedent of the Humphries Alliance, there were still quite a few nobles in Isparden who harbored wishful thinking.

They anticipated that the conquered Humphriesian confederation would inevitably rebel incessantly.

Moreover, with such a long supply line, it's uncertain whether Kowell's army can keep up with the demand.

As long as they hold firm, there will definitely be a way.

So the noble coalition of Isparden then endured two more months of northwest winds blowing through the Rohan Pass.

then……

Kowell's army still hasn't arrived.

The spies sent to the former Humphries Alliance reported back:
After conquering the Humphries League, the Cowells wiped out all the former nobles.

Those unclaimed lands were all replaced by the original Koviel soldiers.

Most of the troops were still stationed in Kangon, the capital of the Duchy of Humphries, but a small number of soldiers were allowed to return to their newly acquired lands to rest.

At the same time, the newly appointed Grand Duke of Witcher also promulgated many policies that benefited the people.

In particular, it liberated farmers and urban artisans from heavy taxes.

They were originally required to hand over 60-70% of their income to the nobles.

No matter how hard you try, you end up with very little.

But things are different now.

Since that Grand Duke took office, he has adjusted the tax system to four public taxes and six private taxes.

That is, as long as 40% is handed over to the nobles, 60% can be kept for oneself.

The implementation of this policy attracted many immigrants to the Duchy of Humphries.

It is said that some people on the eastern border of the Margraviate of Targary have crossed the border to the Duchy of Humphries.

Even in the Kingdom of Redania, some farmers, suffering under heavy taxes and in dire straits, were willing to risk being caught and flee north.

However, a benevolent lord can sometimes be mistaken for a weak one.

But the Grand Duke proved with swift and decisive action that he was not a weak nobleman.

Anyone who secretly opposed him was executed on his own.

The perpetrators were also taken to high-risk locations such as mines for forced labor.

Although the duke gave the common people more space to live than before, he also required the people under his rule to be honest and law-abiding citizens.

Its harshness towards criminals even surpassed that of the so-called "Just King" of Vizmir.

……

Since the Kowell army was not planning to attack Isparden anytime soon, the nobles began a new round of discussions about their next course of action.

During the military council, some suggested that while the Cowell army was still establishing a firm foothold in Humphries, they should launch a direct attack on the Humphries region.

Anyway, they happen to have 30,000 troops at hand right now, so they don't need to spend time assembling them.

The opposing army had just disbanded a portion of its forces, giving them a numerical advantage.

This proposal received support from some people.

But some people oppose it.

Opponents argue that their army, though numbering 30,000, is ineffective.

However, more than half of them were conscripted peasant soldiers, and their equipment and training were severely inadequate.

In particular, the farmers they had conscripted had been in the area for several months, and their morale was low, they longed to return home, and their fighting capacity was questionable.

If we were to launch a forced attack on the Humphries region, the farmers might retreat if things went slightly wrong, which would then affect the morale of the entire army and the course of the war.

During the military council, the nobles argued back and forth like middle-aged women at a market, with no one able to convince the others.

However, they did reach a consensus on one point.

That means this army must be disbanded.

Don't underestimate these 30,000 troops just because they aren't very strong fighters; they can eat a lot.

Even if soldiers only eat two meals a day and are provided with the bare minimum of sustenance, the amount of food they consume is still terrifying.

Since Kowell's army disbanded part of its troops in a short period of time, it means that they have no intention of attacking Isparden for the time being.

Then their 30,000-strong noble coalition will no longer need to waste time here.

Of course, they couldn't completely disband the army either.

Otherwise, even if the remaining Kowell troops attacked directly, they would be finished.

So, despite the arguments and disputes, the nobles eventually came up with a solution that was barely acceptable to everyone:

Five nobles were left at the Kaisdra Pass, each contributing a thousand soldiers to garrison the pass.

After a period of time, they would be rotated to other nobles.

This ensures that every nobleman receives a share in rotation, so that no one is disadvantaged or treated unfairly.

The Kovir army numbered only three thousand, leaving five thousand soldiers behind. Even five thousand pigs wouldn't be enough for the Kovirs to break through their lines in an instant.

Thus, most of the noble coalition forces withdrew and returned to their respective territories.

Only five nobles remained to guard the Kaisdra Pass.

As mentioned before, the Kingdom of Cordwin needs to import many things from Koviel, and Koviel's caravans must pass through Isparden to reach Cordwin.

This is certainly beneficial to Isparden as well.

They could reap considerable profits simply by levying tolls on passing caravans.

When the Thyssen family returned to Corviel, and especially after Istrald bestowed the title of Grand Duke of Isparden upon a witcher, some Isparden nobles believed that Corviel caravans should be prohibited from passing through the Kestrir Pass.

After all, they themselves had once been part of Kovier and knew that Kovier's caravans also acted as spies.

However, this proposal was rejected by another group of nobles.

The reason is actually very simple.

If the Kövier caravan is prohibited from entering Isparden, then the nobles in the territories that the Kövier caravan used to pass through will no longer be able to collect tolls, which is equivalent to losing a large sum of money for no reason.

People become stubborn and blind when their own interests are involved.

While not everyone is like that, the nobles of Isparden certainly do not have the foresight to abandon their own interests.

Therefore, the proposal was abandoned.

On this day, another caravan from Kovir entered the Kestrul Pass.

As usual, the stationed soldiers conducted a thorough inspection of the caravan.

Apart from a bald, burly man in the caravan, there was nothing suspicious about it.

The caravan's explanation for hiring this burly man was that the world was in turmoil, so they had specifically hired a bodyguard like him.

That's a valid point. It's been like this all along—more peaceful days than wartime.

The people are already grateful enough to have lived in peace for several decades.

Even in years without war, bandits and robbers are never lacking.

Caravans like the Cowell Caravan, laden with goods, were highly sought after by bandits and robbers.

Therefore, it's not unreasonable for the Kowell caravan to hire a few guards who look like they're not to be approached.

Especially when the caravan leader tactfully took out a few gold coins and slipped them into the hands of the soldiers in charge of the inspection, the soldiers had even less reason to make things difficult for the caravan.

However, what they didn't know was that when the caravan left the gap and went out of sight of the soldiers stationed there, the burly man parted ways with the caravan.

This burly man was none other than Letso.

The soldiers hadn't realized Letho was a witcher because Triss had given him a disguise amulet.

This disguise amulet is far less effective than the deception amulet that Fringilla gave Lynn. It can only disguise the original color of hair and eyes, unlike the deception amulet which can directly change a person's appearance.

However, for Letso now, it's enough.

Letso found a suitable place nearby as a temporary hiding place.

He stayed in his hiding place until nightfall before leaving and heading towards the garrison at the Kestrel Pass, disappearing into the vast darkness.

There was a natural barrier at the Kestrel Pass.

This pass was built a long time ago.

And when Niedamir, the later king of Kangon, unified and established the Humphries League, the nobles of Isparden further fortified this pass.

The nobles of Isparden were worried that King Niedamir would use his victory to attack Isparden.

Although Niedamir did not attack Isparden until the fall of the Humphries League.

But the nobles at the time were unaware of this.

Later, when they confronted Kowell's army, the 30,000 troops were stationed in this pass.

On this day, one of the five nobles stationed at the pass, a noble with a full beard, returned to his room and unexpectedly found a letter on his bed.

The bearded nobleman did not pick up the letter.

Instead, he alertly and quickly left the room, shouting for the guards.

Next, the guards entered the nobleman's room and conducted a thorough search.

After confirming that there were no suspicious persons hiding in the room, the guards withdrew from the room and left guards at the door and in the corridor outside the room.

Only then did the bearded nobleman pick up the letter and begin to read it.

The letter contained few words and its content was very simple.

The letter writer, Lynn Augustus, promised the bearded nobleman in the name of the Grand Duke that if the bearded nobleman was willing to swear allegiance to him, Lynn would recognize the legitimacy of the bearded nobleman's current titles and territories and guarantee that they would not be taken away.

But the bearded nobleman simply crumpled the letter into a ball and then disdainfully threw it on the ground.

"Daydreaming!"

The bearded nobleman was unsure whether Lynn was genuinely willing to protect his interests in writing the letter, or if it was merely a false promise.

But he doesn't care.

Because he had already decided to resist Cowell to the very end.

The bearded nobleman originally intended to burn the paper ball.

But then, as if he had just thought of something, he unfolded the paper ball again, smoothed out the wrinkles, folded it into a small piece, and put it away.

That night, the bearded nobleman summoned the other four nobles and showed them the letter he had received during the day.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'm not the only one who received the letter; you all received it too, right?"

The other four nobles looked at each other in bewilderment.

Then, they each took out the letters they had received.

"Please feel free to share your thoughts."

The other four nobles exchanged glances again.

But no one answered.

That's natural.

Other people aren't idiots.

Even if they privately felt that if Lynn could truly protect their interests, then swearing allegiance to Lynn wouldn't be a bad idea, but who would be the one to take the lead?

The hot-tempered, bearded nobleman snorted coldly.

"Since no one is going to say anything, then let me share my thoughts."

“I think this is a complete scam. Don’t forget that the Grand Duke slaughtered all the nobles of Humphries. Do you really think he would allow us to keep our titles and lands as he says in the letter? Think about it carefully.”

The other four nobles seemed to be persuaded by the bearded nobleman and nodded in agreement.

The meeting ended quickly.

The nobles dispersed and returned to their rooms.

However, after returning to his room, one of the nobles summoned several trusted confidants.

They were instructed to take a mountain path unknown to outsiders, bypassing the Kestrel Pass, and head towards the Duchy of Humphries.

(End of this chapter)