Chapter 997 979 River Toll Station

Chapter 997 979. Toll Station on the River

A simple and narrow wooden bridge connects the two sides of the Pontar River.

On a central shallow beach in the middle of the river, a sentry station was built with wooden piles.

This is obviously a civilian passage, and the sentry station is a toll station where merchants and peddlers who want to cross the river must pay tolls.

After passing this toll station, it is the territory of Redania, one of the four major kingdoms in the north.

So this toll station also collects customs duties part-time.

The river water smells very strong, because the water flow here is slow, so the dirty sediments are piled up nearby.

There is a layer of green algae on the surface of the river, which is the result of eutrophication of the water body.

But the "nutrition" of nature smells like old manure in the human nose.

Dead water birds, dead fish, and even dead water ghosts. The remains of these things are up and down in the green algae.

From time to time, they hit the piles of the wooden bridge, making a "dong" sound.

There was nothing much going on when Geralt and Lann crossed the bridge.

The soldiers stationed at the toll booth were just like ordinary people. They treated the witcher like a leper, as if the cat's eyes would infect him.

But their attitude was much better than that of the villagers.

The emblem of Redania was a red shield with a white eagle with a crown and a scepter on it. Therefore, unlike the common blue and white color scheme in Temeria, the official color scheme here was red and white.

The soldiers' breastplates and cotton armor were all red and white.

Because the soldiers guarding the toll booth were at least well-informed, they knew that the witcher was just passing by here, and would not stay for a long time, nor would they take on jobs here.

So they just tilted their heads and spit when the witcher passed by, or blew their noses, and then rubbed their cotton armor twice with the hand that blew their noses, just like exorcising bad luck.

But they only dared to do this when Geralt passed by first.

After the sound of "bang bang bang" of Radish's horse's hooves stepping on the wooden bridge, a huge figure that should never appear in common sense also walked over from the small bridge awkwardly.

A Redanian soldier with a red nose that had developed into a fat nose was originally checking the purse that Geralt threw to him.

It seemed that he was mumbling some dirty words with a mouth full of spit.

Geralt had long been accustomed to these scenes, so he sat on the horse very calmly, waiting for the Redanian soldier in front of him to count the coins in the purse.

"Okay, white-haired man." The red-nosed man put the end of the halberd on the ground, hugged the long pole in his arms, and shook the small purse upside down in his hand.

"The coin is not trimmed, two people and two horses, no goods, so there is no need to pay trade tax, um, ugh."

As if Geralt's behavior of paying the fee in a proper manner made him a little dissatisfied, he made a "roar" sound in his throat, then tilted his head and spit out a mouthful of spit, and his eyes rolled.

"But you must be going to Novigrad to find work, right? The great priests of the Eternal Fire may forget to collect your business tax, so you have to pay a deposit here first."

"I have been back and forth around the Pontar River at least hundreds of times, man."

Geralt frowned on horseback.

"Novigrad is a free city. Even if I want to work there, the taxes I pay have little to do with Redania, right?"

"Don't be too greedy. I can give you five more silver coins and buy you a drink. But don't mention the bullshit business tax deposit again."

It's better to hope that the Eternal Fire can really drive away monsters than to expect the soldiers at the toll booth to collect the fees honestly according to the rules.

Geralt knew very well how to deal with these people.

The man with the rosacea in front of him was obviously an old hand. He knew that he couldn't fool Geralt, so he curled his lips and prepared to do as he said.

However, when Rosacea put away the toll he received and reached out to Geralt to take the five silver coins, a huge shadow covered the witcher from behind.

The 2.5-meter-tall Kirin, with a magic saddle and Lan in a cloak, sat on it.

The height alone was more than 3.5 meters.

Whether it was Kirin or Lan, their bodies were not simply and deformedly thin and tall, but had a healthy body with full muscles.

In such a state of equal magnification, the difference in body size was even more terrifying.

Obviously, Kirin was just catching up with Geralt from behind, but the shadow covering him was like a slowly approaching darkness.

Lan drove Kirin past Geralt, and on the road he passed, the throats of the Redanian soldiers rolled up and down, and they opened their mouths but could not speak.

"Are you not done yet, Geralt?"

Geralt sat on the carrot and looked down at the rosacea toll collector, while Lan, who passed by Geralt, looked down at him.

Lan walked straight over as if nothing had happened, while the rosacea who was still reaching out to Geralt froze there, not daring to continue to stretch out his hand or to retract it.

The old witcher looked at the rosacea standing next to his horse's head with understanding, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Then he didn't talk about the five silver coins anymore, and followed Lan out of the toll booth.

After the two people left, the toll booth, which had been silent for a short time, slowly became noisy again.

The pedestrians blocking the bridge outside were trying to speed up the checkpoint, while the Redanian soldiers in the toll booth seemed to have just woken up.

"Is that a giant on a horse?"

"What a bullshit giant, this is a civilized place, not a wilderness!"

"But it's not a giant, that size? And walking with a freak witcher?"

The soldiers were arguing, not only out of curiosity, but also to vent the pressure that had accumulated unconsciously under the huge figure just now.

But the old soldier with rosacea seemed to be stunned when he heard the word "freak witcher", obviously remembering something.

It was a legend that had not been circulated for a long time, but it had an influence beyond imagination.

The bard's ballad said that the protagonist of the story was a tall and brave witcher who was beyond ordinary people.

Ignoring the chattering of the rest of the people in the toll station, the rosacea leaned the halberd against the corner of the wall, and then sneaked into the soldiers' lounge of the toll station without disturbing anyone.

Not long after, a pigeon flapped its wings and flew away.

——

The matter of the toll station on the Pontar River was not even taken to heart by Lan En and Geralt for more than ten minutes.

Compared to ordinary people in this magical medieval era, demon hunters have much more knowledge and experience.

Even when Lan was still an ordinary demon hunter, he was already familiar with handling such trivial matters.

Geralt just bounced on the horse and teased the young man.

"I should really go with you more often in the future. Less than 20 times, the customs fees saved are enough for me to complete one mission."

Lan turned around on the back of the unicorn, held the brim of his hood towards Geralt, and made a thank-you gesture after the performance, indicating that he was not polite.

After arriving in Redania, the environment of this place is at least much better than Velen.

Velen is low-lying, so the water of the Pontar River silted up the place into swamps and wetlands, and monsters and miasma were born from it.

But the large area of ​​land where Novigrad is located is the delta where the Pontar River flows into the ocean.

Although it is closer to the ocean, the annoying humidity is not as good as Velen.

Shrubs, trees and grass grow on the loess with suitable humidity.

Less than twenty steps away from the road, you can enter the undeveloped forest.

Lush, deep and dark.

But the two people who were approaching Novigrad along the road, riding horses for a while, raised their eyes at the same time and looked at the front of the road.

"The world is more chaotic." Geralt's voice was as calm as always, "The remnants of that war are still tormenting many people."

Lan lowered his head and did not speak, but patted Qilin's neck slightly, causing this noble and elegant ancient dragon to speed up a little.

In front of the road, a noisy sound came out.

There were men and women laughing happily and cruelly, the donkey pulling the cart screamed in fear, and screams.

Geralt also urged Carrot to follow.

What happened in front of the two demon hunters was obvious.

A cart with a broken axle due to a trap, the cargo on the cart was scattered all over the ground, and the wooden cart was crooked and stuck in the pit.

The donkey pulling the cart screamed and kicked its legs in fear because of the blood, but the harness on its body tied it to the broken cart.

The owner of the donkey cart, or the original owner, was slumped in the mud.

The body of a young man dressed as a waiter was lying in front of him, and the blood flowing from his body made the mud wetter and more smelly.

The people who set up this trap and took possession of the cargo on this cart were a group of obvious deserters.

They wore red and white cotton armor of Redania.

They only wore iron protective gear on gloves, elbows and knees, and a large piece of iron plate was tied to their chests.

But unlike the soldiers at the toll booth, these people looked more dirty and embarrassed, and the armor on their bodies was too old even compared to mass-produced military supplies.

This kind of wear and tear would definitely meet the requirements for changing clothes even under the most stingy quartermaster.

There were six or seven people in total, both men and women, all dressed like this.

When Geralt and Lan arrived near the scene, they saw a leading man pulling a little girl out from behind the car owner who was slumped on the mud.

A little girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old, or a handsome boy?

Obviously, these people don't care much about gender.

The leading man had a mouth full of rotten teeth, yellow to black.

As soon as he caught the child, he had a runny nose and smiled and tore the child's clothes.

He kept shouting: It's time for you to see a real man.

His companions around him were making a fuss like watching the fun, and some even started to untie their belts.