Read 20 Chapter's Ahead in Patreon
As the heir of White Harbor, Clay had seen and experienced much. With just a single glance, he recognized the marks left behind—this was undoubtedly the work of a powerful crossbow. The short yet deadly bolt, launched from a well-crafted chanism, possessed the capability to pierce through steel plates at close range.
This particular bolt had embedded itself deep into the ground, hidden beneath a mound of blood-soaked earth. There was no way an ordinary rchant caravan could have been responsible for this.
A low-profile rchant convoy would never carry such an intricate, expensive, and difficult-to-maintain weapon like a crossbow. That ant this bolt could only have belonged to the attackers.
Whoever launched the attack had chosen to strike near the Kingsroad, a place where travelers could appear at any mont. They had waited for nightfall to ambush the White Harbor caravan. If they had been the ones wielding the powerful crossbow, then the fact that the bolt was now missing ant that they had ticulously cleaned up the battlefield.
But that raised an important question—why?
In the dead of night, with nothing but darkness surrounding them, they had slaughtered the convoy. Instead of seizing their loot and fleeing imdiately, they had taken the ti to comb through the battlefield, even going so far as to retrieve buried crossbow bolts.
Were they truly so brazen? This was not the behavior of re bandits. Furthermore, if they had carried crossbows, then longbows would surely have been present as well. Yet, how could they possibly have recovered every single arrowhead after the fight?
Most importantly, Clay had personally questioned that knight earlier. With unwavering certainty, he had asked whether all the victims had died solely from sword wounds. The knight's response had been firm—yes, only sword wounds.
Then what of this crossbow bolt?
There was only one possible explanation: the knight had lied. He had hastily buried the bodies of the other rchants to conceal the true cause of their deaths.
Had he done so under the orders of House Frey?
The thought flashed through Clay's mind, but he dismissed it almost instantly. House Frey had no reason to target White Harbor at this mont. Moreover, he himself was in the Twins—attacking his people now would be far too risky.
So then, who was this knight lying for?
Clay had an overwhelming urge to march up to the knight and press an Axii sign against his face, forcing him to reveal everything. Unfortunately, this was neither the ti nor the place for such actions.
However, one thing was now clear—this scene had been deliberately staged by the knight, which ant he had known about the attack well in advance.
He and the attackers had likely planned everything to ensure that, by the ti Clay arrived, the bodies would already be decaying, reeking to the point of being unbearable. They had deliberately chosen three corpses that bore only sword wounds to mislead him. Those who had died to crossbow bolts had long since been buried deep in the ground.
There were no supply-laden wagons at the scene, and the bodies bore only sword wounds. Everything had been staged to make Clay and his n believe that a group of poorly equipped bandits had been responsible. Clay could even guess that the chaotic hoofprints on the ridges were also part of the deception.
Rising to his feet, Clay casually tossed aside the dark red clump of soil he had been holding. He dusted off his hands and silently made his way toward his gathered cavalryn.
Just in case, he would not allow the events of four nights ago to repeat themselves here. This ti, he had two hundred well-equipped cavalryn at his command.
The mont he reached his n, one of his attendants stepped forward, leading his white warhorse to him. Clay ran a hand along the steed's face before mounting it in one smooth motion.
At that instant, his captain of the guard ca galloping down from the hillside, heading straight toward Clay's forces. He pulled hard on the reins, bringing his horse to a stop just five paces away.
"Tell what you've found. Speak plainly."
Clay reached for his waterskin and tossed it to the captain, who caught it, took two deep gulps, and steadied his breath before reporting:
"There are indeed wagon tracks on the ridge, along with human footprints. But it's been four days… and it looks like there has been so rain over the past two days, so many of the traces aren't very clear."
"There are plenty of hoofprints—I made an estimate, around twenty horses. My lord, that's roughly the number of pack animals in our rchant caravan, with little margin for error."
The captain frowned as he spoke, but Clay had spent enough ti around him to recognize that expression. The man clearly had more to say. His gaze kept flickering toward Clay's back, as if reluctant to speak in the presence of the Freys.
Clay nudged his horse forward a few steps, distancing himself from Aenys Frey, who was busy questioning his own cavalryn. Once they were far enough that no one else could hear, the captain imdiately lowered his voice:
"My lord, sothing isn't right."
"What do you an?" Clay narrowed his eyes.
"There are too many things that just feel off," the captain said. "First of all, I recognize the wagons built in White Harbor. Our wheelwrights always make the wheels larger than those in the south because of the rain and snow—our roads are harder to travel."
"But when I examined the tracks, I saw not only our wide wheel marks but also several narrow ones. Where did those co from? If the attackers were simple bandits, did they just happen to have wagons prepared?"
"Second, the number of horses doesn't add up. The ridge to the east indeed has tracks from over twenty horses, but in a battle like this, wouldn't at least a few horses have been injured or killed? Yet all the hoofprints are steady—there isn't a single sign of a limping horse."
"And finally, the west side—why are there no traces there? To wipe out our entire caravan, the enemy would have needed to surround them from both sides. But while there are human footprints to the west, there are no horse tracks. Why?"
The captain had raised several questions, none of which ford a complete picture on their own, but they were enough.
Clay already knew the knight was lying. That ant everything here had been deliberately arranged for his benefit. Nothing could be trusted.
So where was the truth?
If they wanted him to believe the attack had co solely from the east, then the real question was—where did the western path lead?
The answer was clear—it led to this knight's estate.
A hazy yet chilling realization settled over Clay's mind.
Everything before him—the carefully arranged corpses, the misleading tracks, the inconsistencies—suggested a collaboration. This knight must have joined forces with the unknown attackers from the east.
Otherwise, how else could a re landed knight possess the strength to annihilate an entire rchant caravan?
As the local lord, he had likely provided intelligence on the caravan's movents. Then, while the unknown force launched the main assault from the east, he had positioned his own n in the west, blocking any escape routes. Once the slaughter was complete, his job had been to clean up the battlefield and erase any traces of what had truly transpired.
Now, what Clay urgently needed to know was—what had been inside those wagons?
If they had been transporting Witcher herbs and alchemical ingredients, then this attack could have dire consequences for him.
Yet, aside from using Axii to force the truth out of this knight, he lacked any solid evidence. As the heir of White Harbor, he had two responsibilities at this mont.
The first was to honor the dead.
And second—to find the ones responsible and take their heads.
---
(Author's Note)
Hey guys,
So yeah, I know I've been super inconsistent with uploads lately. I've been down with a nasty fever, and if you know how fevers hit n… it honestly felt like I was on my deathbed. No joke, it was like soone was repeatedly punching in the nuts — pure suffering. Anyway, I'm finally starting to feel human again, so I'll be getting back to regular uploads. Really appreciate you all for sticking around. Thanks a ton.
..
..
[IMAGE]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Chapter End's]
🖤 Night_FrOst/ Patreon 🤍
Visit my Patreon for Early Chapter:
spatreon/Night_FrOst
Extra Content Already Available
Reviews
All reviews (0)