Chương 43: CHAPTER 43 [By the fireplace]
"Right, that's why we're here." A giggling voice coming from the hushed crowd could be heard.
But then everyone was silent as they realised they'd soon be getting the answers to their questions.
The mayor walked over to Hugo.
"Well, how about a hug goodbye?" He stretched out his arms. Hugo wasted no time and threw a handful of powder into his face. Something hissed, wisps of dirty smoke curled up, and the smell of burnt hair filled the air.
The mayor disappeared and was replaced by a tall old man in a dirty robe. His greasy hair framed a bony, unshaven face.
"Ah-h, Mikali powder. You figured it out, you snake!" The witcher gnashed his teeth. It was definitely him.
I looked at his level and staggered backward in horror—107!
Reineke glanced in the same direction and exchanged looks with Kro and Romuil. I was no longer a part of his plans, that much was sure. Honestly, I no longer had any illusions about being part of the fight either.
"Yes, I did." Hugo's answer was even. "You'd probably have jumped me somewhere along the road if T'd really been leaving."
"Of course! I can't tell you how happy I was to hear the news. I'd have waited until dark, caught up to you, and finished you off. What's with your band of rabble?"
"My friends. They're here to make sure everything is fair."
"Fair with a witcher? Don't make me laugh!"
"A-ah, it's a witcher! That's definitely a quest." A voice rang out from the crowd. "I've heard of a rare one here. And yep, the knights from the order are involved."
"A hidden quest?"
"No, damn it. Just a rare one. There are all kinds of conditions apparently, but you get a really good reward. A guy I know got something rare for it."
So my suspicions were on the money.
"You're kidding!"
"Seriously!"
"But check out that witcher—no walk in the park, that's for sure."
"Yeah, Level 107. Probably has some tricks up his sleeve, too."
"The Thunderbirds were ready for him, though— three high levels."
"Twenty-to-one the Thunderbirds win!"
"Oh, aren't you clever! Obviously, they'll be able to take care of him. Three-to-one says the cute one finishes him off!"
"Done. Five-to-one says that one...Reineke does it."
"Agreed."
The crowd began to make some noise as everyone haggled and bet. The witcher and the knight looked at the orgy of gambling with surprise. Kro, meanwhile, wasted no time jumping backward while the two warriors circled around to the flanks. Gunther realised there was no escaping the fight and tied Duke to a low-hanging oak branch.
The witcher finally found his voice. "Where'd you find these jokers?"
Hugo quickly retorted. "They're the people who live here. And our guests. Well, shall we begin?"
The knight grabbed the hilt of his sword with two hands and hoisted it above his head.
"Why not?" The witcher grunted, thrust his hands forward, and shouted a spell.
Frida's lightning was one thing, but this was completely different. Pulses of energy leaped from his palms toward the knight. The latter barely had time to bring his sword in front of him when the pulses shattered it, flinging shard of energy into Hugo's chest and throwing him onto his back.
Everything else happened in quick succession.
"Unbelievable!" The crowd gasped and murmured in response.
"I told you he had some tricks up his sleeve!"
"Damn, just like Saruman!"
"Seriously!"
A gray-haired, long-bearded mage named Peronius was more thoughtful. "I wonder what that spell was?"
"I'm going in, Kro. Hold your fire!" Reineke shouted over his shoulder before rolling toward the witcher, landing a blow, and looping around him.
"Master!" A distraught Gunther jumped over to the fallen Hugo and began unlacing his helmet.
The witcher flung lightning bolts at Reineke, who, incredibly, was able to dodge them all. An arrow thudded into the witcher and was soon followed by another as Kro joined the battle. The witcher jumped back and sprang toward Reineke.
"I got him!" Romuil shouted and slammed his sword into the witcher as he ran by, only to see him turn, catch another arrow, and try to cast another spell. Before he m had time, however, he was startled by a blow to the back from Reineke and an arrow to the shoulder.
I let my frustration get the better of me as I watched everything going on without me, and jumped around behind the witcher to smack him in the hip. He dismissed me with a hand to the torso that sent me flying back five meters. My health bar turned red.
Someone from the crowd shouted to me. "You got off easy, my friend!"
That was for sure. Why did I go poking my nose in? I didn't even want to!
Reineke and Romuil continued battering the witcher with their swords, and Kro landed another arrow. It looked like he was about to go down when suddenly he sprang up, barked a spell, threw his arms in the direction of the tanks, and flung them back in opposite directions. Without pausing to survey his handi-work, he immediately extended his right hand with an outstretched index finger pointing toward Kro and released a fireball that left her choking and smoking on the ground.
A warrior from the Rublins clan was jubilant. "He did it!"
"Not so fast." An indefatigable dwarf from the Axes clan disagreed. "He's already in the red, so if they can knock him down, they'll finish him off."
The witcher laughed, threw out his arms, and, I think, was very surprised to see the tip of a sword protruding from his chest.
Gunther von Richter, the only one of our group still on his feet, stood behind the witcher and clung to the hilt of his sword. The witcher stepped forward to dislodge the sword from his back, turned on his heel, and shoved Gunther square in the middle of his torso.
I didn't think the blow had much force behind it, but I wasn't too far away to see how the knight's armor melted where the witcher's hands made contact with it. Gunther staggered and collapsed.
Still, the young knight had done his job. The ten seconds he'd bought let everyone else regroup, and the witcher turned back to the battlefield only to have an arrow bury itself in his head, and two swords slice their way into his ribs. His health was nearly gone.
Reineke raised his sword to finish him off.
"Wait!" It was Hugo von Shlippenshtain. "He's mine!"
Reineke lowered his sword.
The master walked over to the dying witcher and picked up Gunther's sword.
"And you said I wouldn't kill you." The old knight gazed at his enemy.
"If you didn't have your pack of dogs, you'd never have killed me. You'd be the one dying instead!"
"It isn't a pack, and they aren't dogs," answered the master. "They're my friends."
And he buried the sword in the witcher's chest.
You unlocked Level 25!
Points ready to be distributed: 5
The game couldn't have picked a worse time.
You unlocked Level 26!
Points ready to be distributed: 5
Oh, come on!
I frantically paged through the level notifications. There were quite a few—six...or even seven. I figured I could come back and read them later.
You completed a quest: Kill the Witcher.
You killed the witcher, so go talk to Hugo von Shlippenshtain to get your reward.
Reward:
1500 experience
Other rewards: variable
That sounded great, but I didn't have time for it either right then.
I tried to get up. The hairy bugger had gotten me good.
My legs shook, and I was starting to feel a kind of pleasant pliability deep inside. I tottered over to Gunther, who was lying motionless and lifeless facedown on the ground.
"Hey, buddy, what's going on?" I turned him over. Through the hole in his breastplate, I could see a jagged wound that looked to almost reach his heart.
Or maybe his lung? I wasn't a pathologist.
Gunther groaned almost inaudibly and mumbled something.
"What's that?" I leaned directly over him.
"Is he dead?"
"Who? That devil? Yes, of course. Master Hugo carved a big old hole in his sternum."
"That's good. Now, I can die, too. Like a samurai."
"What are you talking about?"
I looked at the crowd standing by the Fladridge gate and listened to the chatter going on.
"That's so cool! There wasn't even anything like that on the Klaternah raid."
"Seriously. Wait, who bet on the guy with the mustache?"
"Not me."
"I bet on the hot one."
"Nobody bets on NPCs!"
"Ruslan from the Collectors actually bet on him. Everyone was picking favorites, and he said the NPC would do it. He was right."
"But what about the loot?"
"The players get it."
"No, that can't be. Nobody bet on the NPC."
"That's crazy—nobody won."
"Ha, sometimes everyone walks away with nothing."
A dwarf, who was obviously in the know, had figured the whole thing out. "We should have bet on how long it would take them to kill that guy."
The elf girl snapped back at him. "Hindsight is 20-20."
"All right, show's over. Let's head back to the city."
The group stirred and started moving toward the gate.
I shouted at their retreating figures. "Hey, hold up! Someone heal Gunther!"
The players stopped and looked at me.
~ ~ ~
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