Chapter 183: 184. Kreve or Melitele?
"Don't worry!"
"He can't see you!"
A cool voice echoed in Allen's mind. Hearing this, Allen instinctively relaxed his right hand, which had been gripping the hilt of his steel sword. The next second, although the strange mage looked confused, his gaze indeed shifted away.
"This is just the instinct of a powerful sorcerer. They can sense unusual attention but often won't investigate further," the sorceress explained.
"Why?" Allen turned to look at her, curious.
"The Path of Shadows, that's the name of the spell I just cast."
"How this spell works exactly is too complicated to explain in a short time."
"You just need to understand that we are currently hiding within the shadows."
"So to Jenks—the mage who just locked eyes with you—what he sensed wasn't something from this world."
"Generally, no mage would dare to pursue such unusual attention without being prepared."
Hearing this, Allen instinctively touched the Melitele amulet, thinking of that giant eye in his dream.
"Because they don't know what entity is casting its gaze?" he asked.
The sorceress nodded.
"When delving deeply into the study of magic, it's hard to avoid contact with some unspeakable entities."
"To live long, the most important thing is recognizing one's limits, curbing curiosity, and not doing anything beyond one's capabilities."
Her eyes were full of warning. Though she seemed to be explaining why the mage let it go, Allen understood that she was really talking to him. The general message was: "You've just passed the Trial of the Grasses, so focus on keeping yourself alive before worrying about the school."
Sigh~
Allen sighed inwardly, pretending not to understand and turned to continue observing the army descending into the mine. This time, he really did spot someone familiar. The chief witcher of the Wolf School, Sol, was walking right behind the mages, passing close by Allen and the sorceress.
Buzz~buzz~
Sol's unique Wolf School medallion lightly hummed. But Sol just furrowed her brow, glanced subtly in Allen's direction, and then continued marching with the troop.
"When there are many spellcasters around, don't rely too much on your school's medallion," Vera warned.
Allen nodded. His Wolf medallion sent a faint feeling of grievance. The medallion could only alert him to magical disturbances but couldn't differentiate the exact cause of the anomaly. However, Allen's Wolf medallion was different.
After a few months of growth, it had developed an intelligence akin to that of a three-year-old child. It could now convey emotions and use vibrations to roughly identify the source of magical disturbances for Allen. But since the sorceress's reminder came from a place of concern, Allen saw no need to argue.
After soothing the childlike medallion, Allen shifted his attention back to the front. After the mages and Sol passed, more of the elite soldiers of Kaedwen followed.
Knights, spearmen, archers...
Wait!
Allen sensed something off.
Although the dim torchlight only provided limited visibility in the mine, the subtle inconsistencies among the knights' formations became glaringly apparent due to Allen's focus. Some of the "knights" were being isolated.
Allen squinted, concentrating. He realized that beneath the helmets, the eyes of those knights were all murky yellow, like cat's eyes.
Cat School witchers!
What were they doing here?
Why were they hiding so deeply?
Realizing the oddity, Allen quickly turned to the sorceress.
"Lady Vera, there are a few witchers among the spearmen!"
"I've seen their eyes before. Cat School witchers always have that murky look. It can't be wrong!"
The sorceress frowned. Her gaze, which had been focused on Allen, now shifted toward the Cat School witchers.
"Their target is Sol!"
After a moment of observation, the sorceress's cool voice sounded in Allen's mind.
Allen was stunned.
Though the sorceress hadn't explained her reasoning yet, Allen already believed most of it. It couldn't be that the infamous Cat School, known for its vile hunts of humans, was tailing the army to compete with the Wolf School for contracts on hunting rock trolls, right?
Upon closer inspection, Allen found more clues.
Though the Cat School witchers intentionally dispersed their gazes, they never once glanced at Sol despite being directly behind her. Too suspicious.
"Is it Kaedwen's king?"
"It has to be him."
"First, he sent people to brutally kill the young witchers of the Wolf School, and now he wants to assassinate the chief…"
"What kind of grudge does Henselt have against the Wolf School?"
While questioning himself, Allen clenched his fists in frustration, mentally calling out: "Lady Vera, can you warn the chief, quickly…"
The sorceress shook her head.
"Don't worry! They won't get the chance. The rock trolls have already been sent away, haven't they?"
"Without the element of surprise, these witchers alone can't assassinate Sol..."
The sorceress paused, showing a slight sneer.
"Not enough!"
Hearing this, Allen felt reassured but couldn't help asking: "But aren't there so many mages and soldiers..."
"Still not enough!"
The sorceress withdrew her gaze and looked at Allen, her tone firm.
"If it were an open field, perhaps."
"But in these winding mines, attacking Sol with just this group is simply suicide!"
Allen fell silent. He knew that to become the chief of the Wolf School, and to earn the title of "Dragon Slayer," Sol must be incredibly powerful. But exactly how powerful, he had never seen firsthand.
However...
Allen stole a glance at the sorceress, who was rumored to have had romantic entanglements with the chief. Since Lady Vera said so, there really was nothing to worry about. But the next second, a thought suddenly struck Allen.
What if he and the sorceress weren't here, and the rock trolls—especially Big Rock—hadn't been sent away?
When the chief was fully engaged in a battle with the trolls, or after successfully hunting the monsters, those Cat School witchers could suddenly appear and strike at the moment the chief's guard was down.
Could the grandmaster Sol still…
Thinking this, Allen couldn't help but voice his thoughts to the sorceress. Her eyes shifted subtly. But after a long silence, she gave no response.
So.
Allen understood. A cold sweat instantly formed on his forehead. He hadn't spent much time with the chief, so his feelings for Sol weren't as strong as they were for Vesemir and Vera.
However.
If Grandmaster Sol were really assassinated here...
Allen could hardly imagine how much the morale of the Wolf School witchers would collapse. To be blunt, it might lead to the early collapse of the entire group.
Snap!
A snap of fingers. The moment they returned to the mine from the "Path of Shadows," a soundproof barrier seamlessly connected around them. That snap also interrupted Allen's thoughts. At some point, the Kaedwen army had already disappeared into the mine tunnels.
"Let's go. After I take you out of here, I'll return to warn Sol." said the sorceress.
Noticing that Allen seemed a bit distracted, she didn't continue chatting with him and quickly led him out of the mine. Outside the mine, the camp was brightly lit.
Everywhere, elite soldiers were patrolling. The defense was several times stronger than when Allen had snuck in. But most of the guards were gathered around a lavishly decorated tent. So even without the sorceress, Allen could have slipped away under the cover of darkness.
Thus:
"Lady Vera, you can stop here," Allen urged. "From here on, I can manage on my own."
The sorceress looked around, then nodded. Allen breathed a sigh of relief and was about to bid her farewell.
Snap!
Another snap of fingers.
A gold trinket appeared in the sorceress's hand, as if made from pure gold. It was engraved with an image of a dignified middle-aged man holding lightning.
"This is the amulet of the Sky Father."
Vera handed him the shiny ornament.
"Though I can't read minds, I can tell—you're not about to give up on the combat tournament to head to Ellander and break your curse, are you?"
"So keep this amulet on you, just like Melitele's. Don't ever take it off."
"Even when you're sleeping, got it?"
Allen instinctively nodded, allowing the sorceress to place the Sky Father's amulet around his neck. Allen knew about the Sky Father religion.
Its original name was the Kreve Sect. In addition to being called the Sky Father, Kreve was also revered as the embodiment of lightning. Compared to Melitele, this deity's influence was far weaker. That's because Kreve imposed strict doctrines on his followers, requiring them to challenge themselves, eliminate their distractions and weaknesses, and fight evil.
With such harsh teachings, it was no surprise his followers were fewer than those of the "merciful" Melitele.
However...
Though the Sky Father had fewer followers than the goddess Melitele, the Kreve Sect was still recognized as a legitimate religion by the Northern Kingdoms.
And due to their doctrine of combating evil, many clergy of the Kreve Sect possessed abilities to exorcise demons. Perhaps the Sky Father's amulet could block the gaze of dark gods even better than Melitele's.
But...
Allen looked down at the two amulets—one gold and one silver—now lying side by side around his neck.
He felt puzzled. How did an "evil" witch, shunned by major religions, come to possess so many holy amulets?
And...
The religions of the Witcher world were extremely exclusive. As someone who wasn't even considered a casual believer, would it really be safe for him to wear both amulets from different faiths around his neck?
But...
When Allen looked up to ask the sorceress, she had already disappeared.
"Since the sorceress didn't warn me, it should be fine," Allen thought.
He then oriented himself and headed towards the Orchard. The commission was nearly completed. He couldn't help but wonder whether the "reward I want the most," mentioned by Ida Emean, was really what he desired most.
----------------
About an hour later.
Outside the largest tent in the camp. A portly middle-aged man wearing oversized armor hesitated for nearly a minute before finally summoning the courage to enter.
"Jaquel, what do you mean by…"
"What do you mean by 'nothing'?"
Henselt put down the meat he had been eating and looked up in confusion at his younger brother, who was also the deputy commander of the King's Guard, and who had caused him quite a bit of trouble. He had walked in saying "nothing," but who could understand what that meant?
"It's not exactly 'nothing'..." Jaquel, the middle-aged man, stammered, sweating profusely.
"The sorcerers said there was an illusion there, but... it was empty."
Henselt's thick eyebrows twisted together like worms.
"Empty? What do you mean, 'empty'?"
Had Jaquel lost his mind?
What illusion, what emptiness...
How could he not even explain himself clearly?
Had the nobles, still mourning their dead children, driven him mad?
Jaquel explained truthfully:
"I mean, there was an illusion, but no one—no humans or elves—inside. I went in myself. Though it was a magic illusion, the scene looked real, but..."
Henselt realized something was wrong.
"What about the monsters?"
"Weren't there a bunch of... what are they called? Rock giants..."
"Rock trolls," Jaquel corrected.
"Whatever. What about those rock trolls? Did Sol kill them all? What about Sol? Did the Cats succeed?"
Henselt's bulky body leaned forward. Being his younger brother, Jaquel naturally knew about the plan to hire Cat School witchers to assassinate Sol.
Henselt had even instructed Jaquel...
If the Cat School witchers only managed to wound Sol, but not kill him...
He was to find a way to slip past the sorceress and finish him off. Jaquel lowered his head, his voice trembling: "Your... Your Majesty..."
"There... There were no rock trolls. They suddenly disappeared."
Bang!
Henselt slammed the table.
"Disappeared?"
"How could so many monsters just vanish all of a sudden?"
Jaquel lowered his head further, nearly trembling: "They really disappeared, Your Majesty."
"The bodies of the first squad of soldiers were still there, but those rock trolls just vanished. The knights, soldiers, and sorcerers all saw it with their own eyes..."
"How could they suddenly vanish? What about Sol?" Henselt asked urgently. "Did the Cat School witchers act?"
Seizing the moment, Jaquel quickly complained: "No, I've urged Treyse multiple times, but he refuses to act. He says without the trolls weakening Sol, they have no confidence. Unless..."
"Unless the sorcerers help them..." Henselt interrupted, already guessing the outcome.
"So you didn't ask those damned sorcerers?"
"I did!" Jaquel raised his voice emphatically.
"But Jenks refused to act because Lady Vera was present."
"Damn those sorcerers!"
Henselt cursed loudly. But given the current situation, Henselt could only ask more questions to clarify things. After hearing Jaquel' full report...
The entire tent fell silent. After a long, tense quiet, Henselt's calm voice finally broke the stillness: "So, what you're telling me is…"
"We've lost nearly three hundred elite soldiers in this place, and the royal family's reputation has taken a hit…"
"And in the end…"
"Not only is Sol still alive, but we've also lost track of that damned elf?"
"Is that what you're saying?"
....…
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185. Conjunction of the Spheres—Earth?
186. Chamomile of the Blooming Moon.
187. Sadia and the Child of Miracles.
188. Gate of Ard Gaeth.
189. Witcher Master Allen.
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