Chapter 125: Blood, Honey, and Law of Surprise
Kolgrim told Leo the truth about the death of his friend Vitty and then showed him his corpse. The boy cried bitterly after seeing his friend's body. He asked the witcher to take Vitty's body to the beekeeper for burial but was refused.
Kolgrim had no good feelings for White Orchard, and he was not even interested in proving his innocence. Finding the missing son of the beekeeper was also an explanation for Leo's 'commission', so after that he immediately left.
To prevent Leo from doing something stupid after his departure, he took him to his parents, posing as a possible child-abduction witcher, scaring the peasant couple, followed by a beating for Leo and his confinement.
Kolgrim was gone, and Leo had nowhere else to turn until today he heard his parents talk about the return of Lann's group, which renewed his hope.
He climbed out of the window and mustered up the courage to find Lann, hoping to see the real witcher in his imagination.
[Mission Discovered - Home Sweet Home:
Kolgrim found the beekeeper's son by following the smell of honey, or rather 'part' of the beekeeper's son. At that moment, the one who cared about him the most was actually his playmate, who was also a boy. The kind boy did not want to see the last trace of his companion disappear in the stomach of the beasts, so he could only turn to Count Witcher for help. Witcher, showing your kindness from time to time is not a bad thing, even if it doesn't have a happy ending in the end.]
Seeing the boy crying while telling the story, Lann sighed and regarded it as a task this time. After all, there is experience to be gained, and a mosquito leg is still meat.
Lann reflected on Leo's words and asked: "Kolgrim said that the son of the beekeeper once went to him to ask for three times the price of honey, and then was scolded and ran away, is that right?"
Leo nodded. "His father is very fierce and mean. He always deceives outsiders and sets prices at will. Everyone in the village knows this. He must have forced Vitty to find Mr. Snake Eyes, he was the one who killed Vitty!" The little boy gritted his teeth.
Looking at his appearance, Lann asked: "But still, you want to send Vitty's body back to his family?"
"I can't send him anywhere else, besides his mother loves him very much and has always been kind to us. I think she needs to know what happened..."
Lann nodded. "Okay, I'll accept your 'commission'. But what will you pay me with? Since you're so familiar with witchers, you should know that we expect compensation."
"Even if I am an earl, tradition cannot be changed."
Lann originally just wanted to tease the crying boy, but Leo actually started to think about it in distress.
"But I have given all my property to Mr. Snake Eyes." Leo said hesitantly. "How about I give you something I already have but I don't know? That bard I mentioned too... I think it's called 'Law of Surprise', would that help?"
Seeing Leo's look full of doubts, Lann smiled and said after thinking about it for a moment. "You're smarter than I thought, but I happen to know something you possess but that you don't know you have: your talent. You have a talent that you're not aware of, Leo."
He looked at the confused boy and said: "If you really want to pay with the 'Law of Surprise', then you have to offer your 'talent', or 'you who have this talent'."
"I want to take you as my attendant."
Even a country boy like Leo knows how rare it is to be the earl's attendant. What's more, 'sacrificing yourself for a friend' is so cool in the eyes of boys that Leo even felt a sense of proud in his chest.
Seeing the boy immediately accept, Lann also gathered his assistants. There was no need to summon the cavalry for such a small scene. Three attendants, the child and Lann, a group of five people ran to the vicinity of the Ismena River in the direction pointed by Leo.
The Ismena River runs through the White Orchard area. It can be said to be the river of life in the White Orchard, feeding the nearby villagers.
But this time it gave birth to life that was not very able to coexist harmoniously with humans. When Lann arrived here, he found that five more drowners had appeared, tearing the bodies of their dead companions.
Hearing the horses' hooves, everyone raised their heads, and blood and unpleasant things dripped from their faces.
Lann frowned in disgust. Devouring the same kind is always the most disgusting topic.
"Disgusting monster." Milva acted as Lann's mouthpiece and said what he wanted to say.
"I'm not going to get involved, you take care of them." Lann said, and the three attendants had already taken out their weapons, and when Lann gave the order, they couldn't wait to rush forward.
There wasn't much to say about the battle scene, two of the three attendees carried followers templates and the remaining one was also brave and good at fighting.
If they couldn't even deal with some drowners, Lann thought it was better to let them farm in the White Orchard.
Milva began the attack first, firing two quick and precise arrows that embedded themselves in the heads of two drowners.
House, who launched into the attack, couldn't help but be impressed. Milva's shooting skill was even better than Ace.
The lion-headed long sword named 'Swade' by House shone with brilliant light. With a horizontal movement in the air, he split an oncoming drowner in two. Then he used the thick plate armor to resist the sharp teeth of another drowner, grabbed his chin and pierced his chest with the long sword.
Levin didn't know why House suddenly became so excited, and he could run so fast in such a thick armor.
But this young man from Brokilon Town does not have the character of a warrior. He didn't share House's excitement about facing enemies or his desire to prove his strength like Milva. The fewer enemies, the better for him.
Nimbly dodging the drowners' attacks, Levin killed the last monster with a swing of his sword, ending the battle. He then searched the river bank while alert and soon found everyone's target.
"My Lord Earl, I found the remains of that child's body..."
They even took the time to rebuild the child.
Lann pointed at 'Vitty' and said to Leo: "Take care of your friend yourself."
Leo immediately made a bitter face. But the boy did not refuse.
Everyone rode back to White Orchard again. The rumbling of the horses' hooves attracted the attention of many villagers. They saw a group of people rushing straight towards the beekeeper's family, and they couldn't help whispering.
"Have they found Vitty? This Lord Lannister is really as the rumors say..."
"No, no. I think this Lord might be angry and wants to settle scores with the beekeeper."
"It's hard to say... Wait, is that Leo?"
Arriving at the beekeeper's house, House slammed the door at Lann's signal, and the beekeeper's drunken voice came from inside.
"What damn bastard is this? I don't have any honey anymore. The Lord took all my honey as tax!"
The sweet aroma of honey mixed with the unpleasant smell of alcohol. The beekeeper flung open the door, displaying a ferocious expression that instantly turned rigid.
House sneered. "You've caused such a big disaster, your lord didn't hang you, which is considered merciful."
The beekeeper collapsed to the ground, sweating profusely. "My Lord, please have mercy... By the way, the law, the king has also deprived the knights of the right to hang me, you can't do it either... You can't do it either, right?"
Everyone looked inside, besides the beekeeper, his wife was also on her knees, scared.
She was not thin, but the part of her exposed arms and neck were full of bruises, grab marks and small wounds, there were even glass crystals between the wrinkles of her clothes.
Lann's lion eyes looked at the beekeeper indifferently.
The beekeeper was stared at by those emotionless eyes, and he had no strength to defend himself. He really thought that Lann was here to settle accounts, so he could only lie on the ground and beg for mercy over and over again.
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