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.

An outpost was set up with wooden piles on a central ford in the middle of the river.

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

After this toll station, you will find the territory of Redania, one of the four northern kingdoms.

Hence this toll station also collects tariffs part-time.

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

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

But the ‘nutrition’ of nature smells like old feces in the human nasal cavity.

Dead water birds, dead fish, and even dead water ghosts. The corpses of these things floated up and down in the floating waves of green algae.

As if Geralt's obedient behavior of paying the fee made him a little dissatisfied, he made a roaring sound in his throat, then tilted his head and spit out a mouthful of phlegm, rolling his eyes.

The emblem of Redania is a red shield with a spread-winged white eagle wearing a crown and holding a scepter. Therefore, unlike the common blue and white colors in Temeria, the official colors here are red and white.

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

The soldiers stationed at the toll booth were like ordinary people, treating the witcher like a leper, as if the cat's eyes would be contagious to him.

Geralt has long been accustomed to these scenes, so he sat on the horse very calmly, waiting for the Redanian soldier in front of him to finish counting the coins in the money bag.

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

Geralt on the horse frowned slightly.

So they just tilted their heads and spit when the witcher passed by, as if to expel bad luck, or blew their noses, and then wiped their cotton armor randomly twice with the hand they blew their noses.

"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 must pay a deposit here first."

“The coins are not trimmed, there are two people and two horses, and no goods are brought, so there is no need to pay trade tax. Well, bah.”

It seems that the phlegm-filled mouth is mumbling some unclean oral habits.

There was no incident when Geralt and Lan crossed the bridge.

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

After the sound of Carrot's horse's hooves trampling on the wooden bridge, a huge figure that should never appear in the common sense walked over the small bridge awkwardly.

From time to time, it would hit the pillars of the wooden bridge and make a "dong" sound.

“Okay, white-haired man.” Rosacea put the end of the halberd on the ground, held the long pole in his arms, and turned the small money bag upside down in his hand to shake it clean.

But they dared to do this when Geralt was passing by first.

“I’ve been up and down the Pontar River hundreds of times, man.”

Because the soldiers guarding the toll booth are well-informed and know that the witchers are just passing by and will not stay for a long time and will not work here.

"Novigrad is a free city. Even if I have to work there, the taxes I pay have nothing to do with Redania, right?"

A Redanian soldier whose rosacea has developed into a fat nose was checking the bag of money that Geralt threw to him.

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

The land of Velen is low-lying, so the water from the Pontal River silted it up into swamps and wetlands, from which monsters and miasmas were born.

But the large piece 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 worse than that of Waylon.

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

Leave the road and walk less than twenty steps to the side, and you will enter the undeveloped forest.

Lush, deep and dark.

But as they approached Novigrad along the road, after riding for a while, they both raised their eyes and looked ahead at the road.

"The world has become more chaotic." Geralt's voice was as calm as ever, "The remnants of that war are still tormenting many people today."

Lan En lowered his head and did not speak. He just patted Qilin's neck, making this noble and elegant ancient dragon speed up his pace a little.

Ahead of the road, a noisy sound came out.

In the sound were the joyful and cruel laughter of men and women, the frightened neighing of the donkey pulling the cart, and the screams.

Geralt also urged Carrot to follow.

What happened before the eyes of the two witchers was obvious.

A wooden cart had its axle broken due to being caught in a trap. The goods on the cart were scattered all over the floor, and the wooden cart was crookedly stuck in the pit.

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

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

The corpse of a young man dressed as a waiter was lying in front of him. The blood flowing from his body made the muddy ground even wetter and smellier.

The people who laid the trap and took possession of the vehicle's cargo were obvious deserters.

They wore Redanian's red and white cotton armor.

He only wore iron protective gear on his gloves, elbows, and knees, and his chest was simply tied to a large iron plate.

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

This kind of wear and tear will definitely satisfy the requirements for replacement even under the hands of the stingiest quartermaster.

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

By the time Geralt and Lan arrived near the scene, they happened to see a leading man pulling a little girl out from behind the car owner who was slumped on the mud.

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

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

The leading man's mouth was full of rotten teeth, which were yellow to black.

As soon as he caught the child, his nose was runny and he tore the child's clothes with a smile.

He kept shouting: It’s time for you to meet a real man.

His companions around him were cheering as if watching the fun, and some even started to untie their belts.