Chapter 313: "A Perfect Assassination Is Just Killing Everyone You See"
With that preconceived notion, Charimier's men were unwilling to believe that there could be an honorable witcher in the world.
The double-edged sword of physical and mental exhaustion, like overgrown vines in a remote area, coiled around the heart of every man. It made the temptation of capturing Gerd, the witcher who had insulted the Duchess, far less alluring than it had been at the start.
In a fit of desperation, Charimier had no choice but to announce that starting that night, everyone but the sentries could get some rest.
Soon, night fell. Just as Charimier had ordered, everyone but the guards and patrols eagerly crawled into their tents, and the exhaustion of the past few days quickly pulled them into a deep sleep.
What they didn't know was that just a hundred yards away, on the other side of the trees, Lynn said to Gerd, "My judgment was right. They couldn't last."
Charimier and his men couldn't possibly have imagined that the Bear School witcher they were trying to ambush was hiding less than a hundred yards from them. The dense forest made it impossible to see anyone hiding even a few yards away, let alone a hundred. Lynn figured the American soldiers who fought in Vietnam would have a deep appreciation for this.
But while Charimier and his men couldn't see Lynn and Gerd, the two witchers could watch them at all times. They had an advantage normal humans didn't: witcher senses. Witcher senses could bypass physical obstacles and detect a person's breathing, heartbeat, and more. They could even use these to discern a creature's current state. It was with this near-supernatural ability that Lynn and Gerd had been observing the camp for the last two weeks.
That night, Lynn used his witcher senses and noticed a change in the camp's rhythm. More men were asleep than on any previous night. He realized the opportunity they had been waiting for had finally arrived. He woke Gerd and told him what he'd discovered.
Gerd used his witcher senses to confirm Lynn's findings. He couldn't help but rub his hands together in anticipation. The day had finally come.
"Here, drink these potions, then we'll move out."
Lynn handed Gerd a bottle of Superior Thunderbolt, a Superior Wolf potion, and a Superior Cat potion. Superior Thunderbolt would increase their strength, and Superior Wolf would increase their agility. Superior Cat would allow them to see in the dark as if it were daylight.
Although they were only dealing with a group of soldiers and not some mythical beast, Lynn knew the importance of using all your strength to kill a fly. Furthermore, they had to not only defeat the Duchess's goons, but they also couldn't let a single one get away. This was why Lynn had dragged Gerd into a reverse-ambush in the forest for two weeks. The loss of dozens of fully-armored soldiers would be a blow even a duchess would feel for a long time.
And in the future, if the Duchess ever wanted to come after Gerd again, the specter of this day would subconsciously rise in her mind. Then she would think long and hard about whether it was worth continuing to act on her personal grudges. As the saying goes, "strike a punch to avoid a hundred."
After drinking the potions and while they waited for them to take effect, Gerd took off his heavy Bear School armor. The School of the Bear was the only witcher school to wear heavy armor. A few hundred Bear School infantry, all in plate armor and wielding greatswords, would be enough to defeat a heavy infantry regiment ten times its size. If they were fighting against a conscripted peasant army, even tens of thousands of them would be utterly annihilated.
But to avoid making any noise that would alert the enemy, it was better to take off the heavy armor. Gerd removed his chainmail tunic, vambraces, greaves, and all the other armor pieces, leaving him in just his gambeson and trousers.
Once they were ready, the two men quietly crept toward Charimier's camp. Perhaps out of fear that a light would reveal their location, there were no campfires, and the sentries and patrols weren't carrying torches. Torches weren't very bright to begin with, but without even those, they were relying solely on moonlight in the forest…
This didn't mean Charimier was an arrogant fool, only that he was still caught in a fixed mindset. Witchers were even rarer than dragons, and most people who did encounter them avoided them like lepers. Few people were interested in them, and even fewer knew that witchers had potions that gave them night vision. So, Charimier subconsciously assumed that without a light source, the witchers wouldn't be able to see them.
The sentry standing just a few yards from Lynn and Gerd likely thought the same thing. His back was to the witchers, and his gaze was fixed on the path leading to Aethenir Castle. According to the plan, if Gerd showed up, he would appear on that path outside the castle walls. Even though the moon was dim and humans in this world suffered from varying degrees of night blindness, their hearing was at least normal. On such a quiet night, even the softest footsteps would have been audible.
Unless…
Before the sentry could finish his thought, a hand clamped down over his mouth and a sharp blade pierced his neck. His brain immediately registered an attack, but his body was no longer under his control. A moment later, his body went limp.
Lynn pulled the hunting knife from the sentry's neck, a spray of warm blood staining the grass. He then dragged the body into a nearby bush.
"Wait a minute."
He didn't immediately take Gerd deeper into the camp. He scanned the area. Their current location was on the edge of the camp. There were sentries posted in several directions and several patrols as well. If they were to just rush in, the patrols would eventually notice the missing sentry and be alerted.
So, it was better to wait and catch the patrols one by one. Once they had taken out all the patrols and sentries, they could move in and kill the sleeping enemies.
A few minutes later, the clanking of armor and the sound of footsteps grew closer.
"Zavan, where are you hiding, you little bastard? Did you fall into a latrine and drown?"
As the patrols approached where Lynn and Gerd were hiding, Gerd flashed out from behind a tree and moved behind them. The next moment, there was a sickening snap as he twisted the man's head 180 degrees. The man could only let out a small gasp before his body went slack, collapsing to the ground like a rag doll.
(End of Chapter)
..........
AN: Check out my P@treon For +120 extra chapters.
Thank You For your Support!!
👉 Join now: patreon.com/Chaos_God