The Witcher: Darkness Falls

The wind in mid-December was exceptionally cold, blowing the dead branches around and making them tremble.

Some of the trees here have begun to wither, and their branches are turning yellow and withering.

But most of it is still green, after all, this is still the south of the mainland.

Only in the northern part of the continent will the leaves of trees turn yellow and fall off in autumn, leaving the entire tree bare.

This is the Ebin Province of the Nilfgaard Empire, located in the central region of the Nilfgaard Empire.

Trembling along with the trees were the witchers riding their horses northward.

Since Lyon made a lot of money from Dan Rowan and Grampian, he had enough balance in his bank account and didn't have to do the mission while traveling.

Therefore, he headed north along the official road at a very fast speed, and it took him only more than two months to cross the Aetolia and Mechet regions.

Three days ago he crossed the Vilda River by boat and officially entered the Province of Ebin.

The weather was turning cooler, fast, and he had already felt it in the Mechet area.

So he bought a cotton coat and wore it, which made him look a little bloated.

But even so, it is difficult to resist the cold.

"Huh!" Leon exhaled a breath of white air.

He was now riding on a narrow official road, and there were almost no pedestrians on the road except him.

According to the map of Ebin Province he purchased, the entire southwestern part of the Ebin region was covered by a large area of ​​the Perepruit Swamp.

There were no towns of any kind except a city called Kalsa.

There are only a few scattered villages here, and most of them are concentrated near the Vilda River, where people make a living by fishing.

There are also villages near the swamp, and people make a living by hunting and collecting herbs in the swamp.

There is no decent business activity here.

Most of the population and towns in the Ebin area are concentrated in the northern and eastern regions, especially near Medina, which is a prosperous commercial area.

Lyon estimated that it would take him at least half a month to get there, and he was not going there.

He had to go to Toussaint first to keep an appointment.

According to the nearest route, he would have to head northeast of the Province of Ebin, then enter Metina, head north, and then follow the banks of the Sansretto River all the way into Toussaint.

This is his plan.

But now, he had to get to Karsa before dark, and he didn't want to sleep in the wild at night.

"Stop, Sikori!" Lyon pulled the reins and kept the horse on the side of the road.

He looked around and after making sure that there was no one and no danger, he walked towards an open space, unbuckled his belt and started to pee.

Near the Vilda River, there are more humans gathered there and more ships coming and going. There will be no monsters there, at most some water ghosts.

But this is already the outskirts of the Perepruit Swamp. Especially in winter, when food is scarce, the monsters in the swamp are likely to attack pedestrians and livestock on the road.

Therefore, in winter, you must be extra careful when walking on such roads, and it is best to walk in groups.

Most of the monsters that survived to this day are very afraid of humans, and rarely attack humans unless there is a shortage of food.

Therefore, the more people there are, the safer it is.

Leon also asked around and found out that this road was relatively safe and there were very few cases of monsters attacking people.

But be careful of nearby wolves, they chase prey and occasionally attack passers-by.

"It's so cold!" Leon breathed a sigh of relief.

The further north you go, the colder it gets. He estimated that by the time he entered Metina, it would have snowed and the rivers would have frozen.

After all, the grass on the roadside here was frosted this morning, and now there are ice crystals hanging on the grass in some shady places.

The colder the weather got and the bumpier the horse was, the more often Leon held the baby's hand.

Especially in this cold weather, if he couldn't help it, he really didn't want to take it out.

"Phew! It must be even colder in the north. I need to wear thicker clothes." He thought to himself.

Call——

Just when he was halfway through peeing, he suddenly heard his horse neighing.

Then a human voice was heard.

"Shut up you idiot! Don't you recognize your master? Damn it! Why are you here?"

Leon hurriedly pulled up his trousers, fastened his belt and turned around, and then he saw a scene that surprised him.

He saw a burly old man with a white beard, wearing a brown-gray cotton coat and a dirty cotton hat, pulling the reins.

The old man was holding a wooden cane in his hand, shaking it vigorously, as if trying to force Sikori to follow him.

Call——

Sikori kept shaking his head, trying to pull the reins out of the old man's hands.

It moved so violently that it knocked the old man over.

"Oh!" the old man exclaimed, covering his hat with one hand and grabbing his cane with the other hand, struggling to stand up.

He stood in front of the horse and shouted angrily, "How dare you disobey your master's order! You bad donkey!"

"Old man, this is my horse." Leon walked forward cautiously.

He smoothed the trembling witcher medal on his chest and looked carefully at the old man in front of him.

This is a wizard!

And he is a high-level wizard!

The Demon Hunter Medal didn't tremble as violently when facing Stregobor.

The opponent must be more powerful than Stregobor.

And the most important thing is, where did he come from? He just looked around carefully, and there was no one here!

"Who are you?" The old wizard turned around, looking confused.

Leon frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong with the old wizard in front of him.

"I'm a demon hunter, my name is Leon." Leon replied.

The next moment, he saw the old wizard's eyes become clearer.

"What are witchers? A new species?" the old wizard asked doubtfully.

This time it was Leon's turn to be stunned. The other party had never heard of a witcher?

"Um... Demon Hunter is not a new species. Demon Hunter is an ancient profession. Have you never heard of it?"

"Have I heard of it?" the old wizard asked back, frowning and thinking, as if he was really recalling whether he had heard of the witcher.

Leon was roughly certain that the old wizard in front of him might have Alzheimer's disease, or his brain was damaged during experiments.

"Hmm... I seem to remember, demon hunting... what did you say about demon hunting just now?" the old wizard thought.

"Demon hunter, old man." Leon sighed.

The old wizard's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "Oh! Yes, yes, yes! Demon Hunter! I found a new species, the Demon Hunter!"

Leon sighed, this old wizard did have some mental problems.

"Hahaha, look, it's so strong! Kalman and the others must be very happy!" The old wizard danced with joy, and it was obvious that he was happy about his new discovery.

"You've come at the right time, witcher. Come and help me hold down this stupid donkey! I want to show it the consequences of disobeying its master's orders!" The old wizard was angry at Sicori's non-cooperation.

He waved the cane in his hand, pretending to hit the other person.

Sikori sighed and stood up, apparently irritated by the old wizard.

"Ah!" The old wizard screamed in shock. His face changed color due to Sikori's resistance and he was suddenly at a loss.

Leon quickly stepped forward, stretched out his hand and cast an Axis seal towards Sikori to calm him down.

Leon turned around and saw the old wizard looked frightened.

"Oh! This stupid ass, stupid ass! How dare you resist!" The old wizard cursed, then looked at Leon gratefully and said, "Thank you for saving me, Split Neck Man!"

"Old man, it's a witcher, and this horse is mine, not yours." Leon felt a headache.

The old wizard obviously had some mental problems, and it was difficult to communicate with him.

"Impossible, I rode it here, how did it become yours?

Demon Hunter, even if you saved me, you can't steal my donkey!" The old wizard said dissatisfiedly.

Lyon was glad that the other party had told him his profession correctly, but he still didn't understand what kind of breed Sikori was.

But he was not going to correct her and decided to continue what she said: "Yes, you are riding a donkey, but I am obviously a horse. Look at its ears. The donkey's ears are longer!"

The old wizard walked forward in a daze, looked at Sikori carefully, and then said dejectedly: "Oh! You are right, this is not my donkey!"

Leon breathed a sigh of relief, as the other party finally realized that Sikori had nothing to do with him.

"It's over. My donkey is lost. What should I do? There is no village in front of me and no shop behind me. Wild beasts will kill me!" The old wizard suddenly grabbed Leon's arm nervously and looked at him pitifully. "Help me, can you take me to a safe place?"

Leon felt the strength of the other party's grip on him, and he felt that if he refused, the other party would definitely not let go.

"Okay, I'll give you a ride, just let go first." Leon agreed.

"Oh! Thank you so much! By the way, what's your name?" The old wizard let go of his hand.

Leon jumped onto the horse, bent down and pulled the other person up and said, "My name is Leon."

"Oh! Thank you, Leon! Thank you so much!" The old wizard was very grateful. He sat carefully behind Leon and said, "By the way, can you sit a little forward? The back edge of the saddle is hitting my butt."

Leon moved forward reluctantly.

"Oh! This is much more comfortable, thank you!" the old wizard thanked.

Leon rode Sicori and took the old wizard all the way to Karsa.