Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

As September drew to a close, the grand procession finally set off, leaving Novigrad and heading towards Kaedwen.

The journey to Kaer Morhen was long, and it was impossible to cross two countries on foot alone. So, Lynn provided each person with a horse, and brought a few extra just in case.

As for the supplies they had purchased in Novigrad, there was no need to hire wagons for transport this time. That would be too time-consuming and arduous.

Instead, Lynn chose to simply place all the purchased goods into his Runic Pouch.

After all, the internal space of the Runic Pouch was as large as a villa, more than ample to hold supplies equivalent to over a dozen wagons.

Letho's trio and George had never been to Kaer Morhen Castle.

Yet, they showed intense curiosity about this last remaining witcher stronghold.

Especially since they'd heard that the witchers of the School of the Wolf were like a family.

Therefore, they were eager to see what kind of grandmaster of a school could instill such a spirit.

Unlike the expectant and curious witchers, Tissaia's expression was much calmer.

She recalled her last visit to Kaer Morhen, which wasn't a pleasant memory.

She only hoped this time wouldn't end in unpleasantness like before.

Geralt, meanwhile, stayed constantly by Yennefer's side.

Although Yennefer always maintained an unapproachable demeanor around others, Lynn could tell that the couple had already made up after their quarrel.

He couldn't help but sigh softly.

It was a shame Triss couldn't leave Vizima for so long, otherwise, he wouldn't have to watch others' displays of affection and gorge himself on "dog food."

Their previous return to Kaer Morhen involved taking a barge upstream along the Pontar River.

This time, they were traveling by land.

First, through Redania, then across Kaedwen.

With nothing much happening on the journey, Lynn took the opportunity to give Kassia and the children a lesson in ethics, Vesemir's way.

He taught them that no matter what happened, family would always be their solid and reliable backing.

Letho's trio and George were amazed.

The School of the Viper, of course, was different.

While the School of the Griffin was renowned for its nobility, it never explicitly taught its members about the bonds within the school.

The group traveled through Redania for a month without incident.

Then, they entered Kaedwen.

Since everyone knew that Kaedwen was the most prejudiced of the Northern Kingdoms against non-human races, and witchers were also considered non-humans, entering cities with so many witchers in their group would undoubtedly cause unnecessary trouble.

So, after some discussion, they decided to bypass cities and villages, only camping in the wilderness.

With so many of them, monsters and bandits would simply avoid them.

Of course, with so many people, daily food consumption was not a small amount.

Although they had purchased a large quantity of food before departing, this was meant for surviving the winter at Kaer Morhen.

During the long winter, heavy snow would block the mountains, making it impossible for anyone to leave unless they could fly.

Therefore, they couldn't consume all their stockpiled food on the road.

However, this was easily remedied.

Whenever they approached a village, town, or city, Lynn would use his Charm of Deception to alter his appearance, disguised as an adventurer, and enter to procure vast amounts of food.

After all, time was still inside his Runic Pouch, so he didn't have to worry about the food spoiling.

One day, shortly after they set off, everyone noticed a towering column of smoke and the glow of fire illuminating the distant sky.

Everyone knew what this meant.

"Something's wrong," Lynn said, frowning as he looked at the smoke column. "We've been deep in Kaedwen for days, long past the border. Even a neighboring country wouldn't penetrate this far into the heartland to burn, kill, and plunder."

Geralt offered, "Could it be bandits?"

In an age without networked identification or street cameras, bandits were second only to cockroaches and rats in number.

Cities or towns protected by walls were generally safe; the spontaneously formed militias and fortifications were usually enough to deter most bandits.

Take Toussaint, for example: even though the bandit groups active within its borders knew that most of the knight-errants had left, they still wouldn't dare to attack Beauclair or other walled towns.

They wouldn't even dare to approach, for that matter.

But villages without walls were different.

They were like defenseless sheep in the eyes of bandits, the places most frequently plundered.

If the smoke column was caused by bandits, it would make sense.

In this era, no country, not even the Nilfgaardian Empire, could completely eliminate banditry.

In fact, due to Nilfgaard's exploitation of occupied territories, illegal activities like smuggling and black markets were rampant in those provinces, and banditry was even worse than in the North.

But for some reason, Lynn had a faint feeling that something was off.

He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He just had a vague sense that this wasn't the work of ordinary bandits.

"Should we detour?" Auckes asked.

Avoiding danger was an instinct.

While their group had nothing to fear from bandits, witchers were not heroes, never had been.

Their goal was to reach Kaer Morhen, so Auckes instinctively wanted to avoid all trouble.

But Lynn thought for a moment and rejected Auckes' suggestion: "It's best to go and check the situation."

The smoke column was rising in the direction they were heading.

Even if they detoured, they might still run into the people who caused it.

Therefore, it was better to scout ahead and see what was happening.

"Those willing to go with me, raise your hands."

As soon as Lynn spoke, the witchers all simultaneously raised their hands.

This greatly pleased Lynn.

However, he didn't need that many people just for a reconnaissance mission.

Besides, Lynn needed them to stay behind and protect the group.

So, in the end, Lynn only took Letho with him.

The rest of the group hid in the nearby forest, concealed for the time being.

He instructed them that if he and Letho couldn't meet them by nightfall, the group should take advantage of the darkness, bypass the smoke and fire, and continue forward.

They would then regroup at Kaer Morhen.

....

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