The Witcher: Astartes Of The Bear School

Chapter 60: The Head Eater

A sharp, ear-piercing horn blared through the coastal night of Velen. In any violent place in the world, alarm sounds are set to be the most explosive and ear-splitting. Generally, the alarm's shrillness is meant to make the listener feel, 'You better do something damn quick, or you're going to die right here.'

The horn in this camp was no different. The crescent-shaped camp immediately became noisy, with curses and shoves coming from all directions. Within five minutes, lights began to flicker on in the tents housing armed personnel.

Lan thought that even a kindergarten emergency drill would have been more efficient than this group's response. But considering this was an ancient, distrustful crime syndicate, the reaction time was somewhat reasonable.

However, this response time was already quite troublesome for Lan. He was just a novice assassin who didn't know how to [Stealth] or [Assassination]. A witcher, infiltrating the camp, assassinating guards, avoiding exposure, rescuing hostages... each task was already quite demanding for him. How long had he been a witcher?

Damn it! Plans change faster than you can make them. Lan had originally planned to silently eliminate at least a third of the guard force, making whatever came next much easier.

The conversation with Margarita was to gather intelligence, and it only took a minute and a half. And now the alarm was sounded?!

There must be a powerful mage in this camp.

Lan immediately sheathed his dagger and placed his hand on the hilt of his steel sword. With his back against the wooden cage, he nervously scanned the direction of the camp.

Like a cornered beast.

The large tent in the center of the camp began to buzz with someone shouting loudly. Lan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm. As long as he remained calm, Mentos could ensure his thinking speed.

Looking around, those emerging from the tents didn't seem to be converging on him. There was only one intruder in the camp. If he had been discovered, a group would have come to hack him down with swords.

Was the horn not because of me?

Confident that he wasn't the source of the problem, Lan began to focus on the shouting in the camp center.

The night's sea breeze was strong, and the waves were loud, but with the witcher's extraordinary senses and Mentos's noise filtering, Lan managed to catch the gist.

"Good news, folks! A chance to get rich... the buyer's ship is anchored offshore. Work hard tonight! Transport the goods!"

With the enhanced vision from the [Cat] potion and Mentos's vision correction, Lan could barely make out the figure of the man shouting in the distance. He had a typical Cossack hairstyle. Shaved on the sides, with a long strip of hair on top, oily and disheveled to one side. Short and stocky, less than 170 centimeters tall, but with a muscular build weighing at least ninety kilograms. A full, powerful belly stretched his fur jacket, and two black hunting dogs sat beside him.

The Head Eater. It must be him.

The magic just now... was it a magical communication?

Because his subordinates lacked discipline and arrived sporadically, the Head Eater had to repeat his words many times to be heard by all.

During this time, Lan didn't dare to linger and began to sprint while scanning all the wooden cages. his leather gloves tightly gripped the sword's hilt, the pressure so great it made a creaking sound.

Lan clenched his teeth.

Even if he encountered a powerful sorceress, he was prepared to "trim the edges" of her magical shield with his sword! He was taking White with him today! He had promised Ms. Donna.

The sound of his footsteps didn't matter anymore. The scum in the camp were cheering at the prospect of getting rich. And the poor souls in the cages, terrified and tormented, thought the cannibal was about to feast and eat them all at once.

Everyone shrank back, curled up, and those too tortured to want to live showed expressions of relief. The children huddled together in fear, seeking comfort from someone, but the young ones couldn't comfort each other. Some adults in the small cages reached out their broken hands to the children next door, hugging the frightened kids in their arms. Hopefully, they could offer each other some comfort before they died.

The Head Eater's motivational speech was nearing its end. The next part should be assigning tasks, transporting people, and setting up defenses.

But before this part, the short, stocky man suddenly became serious, his already small eyes narrowing as he looked out over the crowd. This gesture seemed to be quite recognizable in the camp, causing those still cheering to choke on their excitement. The once lively atmosphere instantly cooled down.

The contrast between the noise and silence was so stark that even Lan, sprinting in the distance, could feel it. A poor, remote crime syndicate leader with such authority? Was this a TV drama?

The young man's pace quickened, his cat-like eyes darting around. He knew he couldn't hide much longer.

"The numbers are off," the Head Eater said in a low voice, a tone completely different from his earlier motivational speech. The coldness in his voice made one's heart tremble.

"Where are the guys from the northern half of the camp?"

"Why aren't the torches moving?"

"Why aren't the tents lit?"

Each question was louder than the last. With each question, the crowd below took a half step back in panic. The hunting dogs became more eager.

"Damn it," the Head Eater growled through clenched teeth. "We've been infiltrated and don't even know it. Go find him!"

The camp sprang into action like a wound-up machine, finally moving in a frantic rhythm. Torches were distributed, large areas were illuminated. these people were going to turn the northern half of the camp upside down.

But at the same time, the Head Eater also deduced that the intruder was not numerous, so the money-making couldn't be delayed. A group of about twenty people was sent to the prison area. Preparing to take the people and load them onto the ship.

Two groups of people with torches moved in different directions across the camp. With this method, they could search the entire camp in less than ten minutes.

And just then, Lan finally spotted the child with a slightly larger head in a corner of a large wooden cage.

***

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