The Witcher: Make Witcher Great Again

Chapter 425 Intelligence has once again taken over the high ground.

At the governor's mansion, Lynn gave his officers instructions for the next step: the army should advance to the north bank of the Elena River, which borders Nilfgaard, and then build fortifications along the river to guard against an attack by the Nilfgaardian army.

At the same time, the Syndicate was dispersed and scattered throughout the countryside to prevent Nilfgaardian spies from causing sabotage.

As for the Witchers, three hundred were sent to the north bank of the Elena River to assist the army in defense, one hundred were sent to cooperate with the Syndicate, and the remaining one hundred were sent north to block the Northern Alliance and prevent the Northern Alliance from advancing south in the name of the Nassars.

These hundred witchers could not possibly stop tens of thousands of Northern Allied troops, but if the enemy ignored the obstruction and forced their way in, these hundred witchers could still give them a hard time by waging guerrilla warfare.

Finally, recruit a group of people from the Nasser people to form a militia to fight crime and protect the villages outside the city.

Lynn was initially worried that Nilfgaard would send more troops to retake Nasser.

After all, Nasser's independence would have a very bad impact on other provinces, and the empire still has at least 200,000 standing troops.

If it were me, I would do anything to take back Naser.

However, the land of Nilfgaard across the Elena River remained completely still, neither sending food from the rear to the front nor assembling an army.

I wonder what Emhyr is thinking.

But regardless of what the other side was thinking, Lynn was naturally happy to see this happen.

He wished Nilfgaard would hesitate as much as possible.

……

A few days later, Lynn met with the elected representatives of the Nasser people at the governor's mansion.

These elected representatives, men and women, young and old, first expressed their gratitude to Lynn, who politely declined.

However, he also knew that this was not the purpose for these people to come to the Presidential Palace.

Sure enough, amidst the mutual flattery, a sharp voice broke the silence.

"Your Highness Augustus, how long will your army remain in Nasser, and when will they return to Kovir?"

Except for Lynn, everyone's smiles vanished.

Their eyes were all focused on the person who had just spoken.

"Russell, what are you doing? How can you be so disrespectful to His Highness the Grand Duke?"

"I was merely asking His Highness a question with humility and respect. How could that be considered impolite? His Highness's army is a righteous force; surely they are not as brutal as the Nilfgaardian army?"

Russell smiled, seemingly certain that Lynn wouldn't do anything to him.

The other elected officials' gazes shifted back and forth between Russell and Lynn, but they lingered more on Lynn.

They were all observing, watching what Lynn would do.

"Have you forgotten that the south bank of the Elena River is still under Nilfgaardian control? Metina, Gisso, Ebin, and Mechte are still Nilfgaard's most loyal provinces, and the Nilfgaardians can return at any time if they wish. If my army withdraws, who will protect Nasser... or is this your purpose?"

"So, according to His Highness the Duke, does he intend to be like the Nilfgaards, occupying Nasser and refusing to leave?"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the other elected officials changed.

Some people quickly pulled him back to stop talking, while the rest surrounded Lynn, repeatedly telling him that it was just his personal opinion and did not represent all of them, and that they felt only gratitude towards Corwell's army.

Lynn then nodded.

After discussing a few more matters, the elected representatives left the Governor's House.

When Lynn was the only one left in the meeting room, a syndicate member walked in with a document.

"Sir, we have investigated that elected representative named Russell. His wife, children, and parents are all in Atolia, and he himself also has assets in Atolia."

(Note: Etoria is a province of the Kingdom of Nilfgaard. The people of Etoria, Aiden, Gimeria, and Vicvaro are called the people of the old province. Their status is lower than that of the people of the capital city of the Golden Tower, but higher than that of the people of the new province of Nasser, Metina, Giso, Aibing, and Mechte, which were conquered later.)
Lynn frowned.

"Isn't he a complete Nilfgaardian lackey? How could anyone elect him as a representative of the people?"

The syndicate member replied.

"Russell's personal file is top secret in Nilfgaard. Even few people in Nilfgaard know about it. If the Nilfgaardian army hadn't retreated so quickly and our people hadn't prioritized preserving the database when they took over Les Lane, this top-secret file might have been destroyed or taken away by the Nilfgaardians."

"Although Russell was acting on the instructions of the Nilfgaardians, they did not require him to serve the Empire directly like the other Nassars. Instead, they wanted Russell to play the role of speaking up for the Nassars and resolving their demands."

Lynn understood immediately.

This is similar to the time when the Korean Peninsula was occupied by Japan. Koreans were forced to work in high-risk jobs such as mining. To prevent these Korean miners from rebelling, the Japanese would buy off those Koreans they could use and cultivate them into opinion leaders among the Koreans.

Then, the Japanese could learn from the pawns they cultivated which Koreans were the least likely to be bribed and eliminate them.

Russell is a character similar to that.

Despite his seemingly confident pronouncements and advocacy for Nasser's independence, he actually desired Nasser's independence more than anyone else.

Otherwise, he would be of no use.

"Sir, we must give him to..."

The syndicate member made a throat-slitting gesture.

Lynn shook her head.

"Just spread the information that his family and assets are in Atoria 'inadvertently'."

"Yes, I understand."

After the syndicate member left the room, Lynn was in the conference room to meet with the second group of guests.

They are Marshal Visekid of the Kingdom of Sintra, General Leonard Odo of the United Kingdom of Lyria and Livia, and Lord Lugo the "Madman" of the Skellige Islands.

They came representing their respective lords.

Tens of thousands of Black-Clad Army soldiers were defeated outside the Manada Valley fortress. Although the Northern Alliance also paid a heavy price, it was still a cause for celebration that the Nilfgaardians' northward advance was thwarted.

That is, assuming that Archduke Augustus doesn't suddenly appear out of nowhere.

The Nilfgaardians suffered a crushing defeat and withdrew from Nasser, retreating all the way to the south bank of the Elena River.

This inevitably led the lioness of Sintra to have some thoughts.

After all, neither Lyria nor Skellige borders Nasser, and if Sintra were to bring Nasser under its rule, it wouldn't be considered an exclave.

However, someone beat Sintra to it.

The Three Lions flag was blocked by a black and gold double-headed eagle flag.

The people of Sintra recognize this flag.

Grand Duke Augustus was the overlord of Humphries and Isparden, and his territory was larger than that of Sintra, but Sintra surpassed the former in both agriculture and commerce.

Moreover, compared to the former, Cintra was closer to Nasser, and there would be less resistance to ruling it. But Calanther had heard about what Grand Duke Augustus's troops had done in Nasser.

To be more precise, without Archduke Augustus's troops, even if their northern allied forces could defend the Manada Valley fortress, it wouldn't have been as easy as it is now to force the Nilfgaardians to retreat.

Furthermore, Calanther was unwilling to offend Kowell easily, so he suggested that each of the three countries that formed the Northern Alliance send a representative to Les Lane to test the attitude of Grand Duke Augustus.

Visekid was surprised to find that the legendary Witcher Grand Duke was actually younger than he had anticipated.

However, Visekid quickly composed himself.

Remembering the mission the Queen had given her, Visekid gave a cold snort.

"Your Highness, I wonder if you are comfortable staying at the Governor's Mansion in Nasser? I didn't expect that the Kovier people only know how to remain unmoved when their allies are fighting, and only seize the fruits of victory when the enemy is defeated."

Leonard and Lugo were both taken aback.

Although they both knew that Sintra coveted Nasser's territory and would certainly be unhappy with Lynn's occupation of Nasser, neither of them expected that Visekid would say it so directly.

Does Calanther think that Lynn's power is caught between Nilfgaard and Cintra, so he has to bow down to Cintra?
Could Calanther really make peace with Nilfgaard for Nasser's sake?
Just as the two were about to say something to ease the tension, Lynn's tone became even harsher than Visekid's.

"If I hadn't foreseen Sintra's future and advised Mossak to Queen Calanther, the sun flag would be flying over Sintra now."

Lynn laughed dismissively, his tone as contemptuous as if the person standing in front of him was not a nobleman at all.

"As for you—my dear Marshal Visekid, you are probably now a prisoner of the Nilfgaardians."

Marshal Sintra's knuckles clenched the scabbard so tightly that it rattled, and the polished metal choker rose and fell with his heavy breathing.

Seeing that things were not going well, Leonard stepped forward silently and stood between the two, while Lugo's hand was placed on Visekid's shoulder armor.

"Marshal Visekid's remarks were undignified, and His Highness the Grand Duke's words were also somewhat inappropriate. The threat from the south has not been completely eliminated, and we should not provoke a new conflict."

Lynn glanced at Leonard.

“Talking about decorum to a tyrant is like spraying perfume on a ghoul.” His gaze slowly shifted to Vesekid. “Go back and tell Her Majesty Calanther that every inch of Naser belongs to Kovir, and Her Majesty has two choices:”

"When the Kuroshio Current spreads northward again, should we build another dike? Or should we risk damage to our reputation and offend Kowell while facing the glory of the Japanese flag?"

Visekid's face flushed red, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he held back.

Then he turned and left.

Leonard watched Vesekid leave, neither following nor trying to stop him.

Instead, he sighed and said to Lynn, "Alas, Your Highness, I have no intention of criticizing you, but I believe that even from your perspective, it would be beneficial to be on good terms with Sintra."

Lynn stroked the heraldic ring on his finger and said, "I agree with you, General Leonard, but only if Queen Calanther abandons her covetousness for Nasser."

In the original storyline, the Nilfgaardian army defeated the royal army and breached the city of Cintra before the local nobles could arrive to defend the king. Calanther did not abandon his people and soldiers to flee, but instead died for his country, which is worthy of respect.

However, Calanthe was never one to be trifled with. In the original story, because Calanthe's granddaughter Ciri became Geralt's unexpected son, Calanthe once wanted to send Moxsaac to kill Geralt.

Although the decision was ultimately reversed, this incident reveals that Calanthe was not as capable as Queen Meve, another female ruler.

In fact, from a purely interest-driven perspective, if Nilfgaard were allowed to conquer Cintra as in the original storyline, and then wait for the Battle of Thorden to break out and halt the Nilfgaardian offensive, they could then order the Syndicate, who were lurking in Nasser, to cause trouble.

Once Nasser becomes independent, the Nilfgaardians will no longer be able to maintain their rule over Sintra.

If we move fast enough, both Sel and Sintra can become Lynn's territory.

Furthermore, given the Nilfgaardians' history of burning, killing, and looting in Sintra, Lynn's rule in Sintra would not face significant resistance as long as he raised the banner of opposition against Nilfgaard.

But Lynn didn't do that, not because of Calanther, but simply because he couldn't bear to see Sintra devastated, with gallows and burning corpses everywhere.

As for Calanther...

Although the meeting with Vesekid ended badly, Vesekid would not exaggerate or fan the flames, but would report the facts to Calanther.

Therefore, the choice is in Calanther's hands.

If Calanther's ambition is so great that he's willing to fight Kowell to seize Nasser...

Lynn also had a backup plan.

If you infiltrate the Manada Valley fortress, assassinate Calanthe, and then disguise it as the work of a Nilfgaardian assassin, the Sintra army will retreat.

With his current strength, it wouldn't be difficult for him to achieve this.

But Lynn still hoped that Calanther could make the right choice.

"General Leonard, as Queen Mivi's most trusted deputy, have you also come for the land of Nasser?"

"Queen Mivi has no interest in any lands outside of Leria and Livia, if that's what you're asking about."

"A wise judgment. In order to deal with the threat from the South, the North should unite. General Leonard, when you leave Rhys Lane, don't forget to take a few carts of grain with you. This is my way of showing my respect to Queen Meve."

Leonard lowered his head and then left the conference room.

Lynn then turned his gaze to the last person left behind.

"Lugo".

"Lynn."

The two hugged each other.

"I never expected you to become such a big shot. No wonder you weren't interested in the Drummond family's invitation back then."

"I never expected that you would be the representative of the Skellige Islands."

“Originally it was someone else’s turn, but I volunteered to take on this responsibility. Before you make your move, let me state one thing: the Skellige Islands have no envy of Nasser. They would love for another friendly or vassal state to the north to the south of Sintra to help Sintra resist Nilfgaard.”

Lynn seemed thoughtful: "King Bran is actually so open-minded?"

Lugo laughed, "Do you think the Skelliges are only good at cracking skulls with axes? There are several families on the islands, and it takes a lot of wisdom to govern these seven families and prevent them from fighting each other. Hmm, what kind of look is that?"

"No, it's nothing."

Lynn suppressed her wistful gaze.

In the original storyline, Lord Lugo was at odds with the Kwait family, to which Kratz belonged, and was also disliked by other families.

If Kratz's children become kings of the archipelago, Lugo might even choose to ally with the Nilfgaardians and become a traitor rather than accept the leadership of the Quetzalcoatl family, due to old grudges.

However, in the current timeline, because Lynn joined Lugo's adventure, the evil spirits of Resident Evil didn't damage his mind.

This led to Lugo's brilliant intelligence regaining its dominance.

(End of this chapter)