"I'm not here because of the offenses you committed against me." Lann spoke. "I am here to restore the reputation of the witcher."
Leo walked into the house with a large cloth bag that was half the size of himself in his arms and handed it to Vitty's mother.
The woman seemed to have guessed something. She opened it tremblingly and burst into a heart-wrenching cry.
"Thank you, Lord Earl, thank you." The beekeeper prostrated himself on the ground, not knowing if it was for him or for his son.
"Look me in the eyes."
The beekeeper heard Lann's cold voice and did not dare to disobey. He looked up as he trembled, and what appeared in his eyes was a hand with a white glow.
"You are not sure that the witcher killed your child, right?"
The beekeeper seemed to have lost his soul. "Yes."
"Then why do you do this?"
"The boy is gone, and if I catch the witcher, I can use his horse and sword as compensation."
Lann's eyes twitched. He knew this was normal, but it was this normality that made people draw their swords and look around in confusion.
[Axii Sign] + [Delusion]. At the same time, her magic reserve decreased at an alarming rate.
"I have judged you and you must repent of it. Tell the truth to everyone you know and let everyone in White Orchard know the whole story. Otherwise, you will forget all beekeeping skills. Understood?"
The beekeeper's face became guilty, and two lines of tears slowly flowed from his eyes: "I accept the trial, I feel deeply regretful, I will repent to everyone I know, and I will let everyone in White Orchard know the truth."
His magic reserve dropped to a low point. Level two [Delusion] is barely enough to achieve this level of hypnosis.
But it's worth it.
At this time, the system notification sounded.
[Mission - Home Sweet Home - Completed]
Lann was no longer in the mood to stay here, so he turned around and left.
Only Leo was reluctant to leave. Before he left, he angrily questioned the beekeeper: "Why did you do this? Why did you let Vitty do this? How could I go to Mr. Snake Eyes to collect a debt?"
The beekeeper was still under the effect of the Axii Sign and responded with bewilderment. "I didn't send Vitty, he left on his own."
Leo opened his eyes in surprise and looked at Vitty's mother inside the house. By this time, she had already cried until she lost all her energy and had fainted.
"Leo, keep up." Levin saw the boy falling behind and hurriedly urged him.
Before going to rest, Lann sent House to visit Leo's house and express on his behalf his desire to have Leo as his squire.
The couple didn't know what the Earl saw in Leo, but they were still grateful.
House also followed Lann's orders and suggested the couple move to Cintra. Since according to Lann's memories, Leo had become an orphan due to Nilfgaard's invasion of Temeria, before being taken in by the Wolf School.
Since Leo has been accepted as a servant, there is no need to be stingy with such a small favor.
Unfortunately, the couple was comfortable in White Orchard, Temeria was at peace, and they also had more children besides Leo. Therefore, they rejected the idea of moving to chaotic Cintra.
Lann did not force it. Anyway, he decided to keep Nilfgaard out of Cintra, and the Black Sun Empire would have no chance to reach Temeria, and the couple should not have died early for this reason.
The group walked back to the White Orchard Inn in silence, using wine and food to suppress the various emotions in their hearts.
Finally, Milva asked Lann with a red face after drinking a mug of Viziman Champion. "My Lord, the boy's death... is it because of his mother?"
Lann shook his head. "It doesn't matter, the boy is dead. Maybe his mother wanted him to go get the honey money to make her husband happy for a while and save herself from being beaten."
"Either the boy was sensible, and he wanted to relieve the pressure on his mother. Or he simply couldn't handle the environment at home and ran away, wanting to ask Kolgrim for some living expenses before leaving."
"I have some worse guesses, but they're not important."
"The result is: the boy did not go home, ran to the river outside the village alone, and died because of it. That's all."
Milva looked around with misty eyes, grabbed House and Levin's mugs, and gulped down two more mugs of beer.
House's eyebrows jumped. "This mug of beer is not replenished once empty, we should be moderate with our drinks."
After saying that, he turned to Lann and said: "My lord earl, Mr. Enns specifically told us before leaving that we are not as creditworthy as before..."
Lann waved his hand and looked at Milva's distressed expression and asked: "Why do you seem to be particularly affected by the situation?"
Milva blushed, blinked twice, and suddenly leaned on Lann as if drunk.
House and Levin covered their faces at the same time.
Mirva smelled of birch, mixed with a slight sweetness on her alcoholic breath.
"My father... used to be very strict with me. He trained me to use a bow. I always disappointed him, and he always scolded me to tears... but I know he loves me." Milva closed her eyes. "Why would there be a father like the beekeeper?"
"Little Leo's family is the same. I went to his house with House to see. Their parents are not so much happy for Leo as they are happy that there is one less mouth to feed. They even want to ask for a reward... Are they selling their children?"
"My Lord Count, will Cintra be like this in the future?"
Lann sighed and did not respond to the restless and drunk Milva. He simply picked her up and carried her back to her room.
Time passed and dusk fell.
Inside her room, Milva mumbled a few times, occasionally rubbing her head against the pillow and quilt.
As the night deepened, there was no sound outside.
Suddenly, Milva's ears moved slightly, and she opened her eyes.
There was still a little blur in her eyes. If you didn't look at her face, which was still slightly flushed, you couldn't tell that she was drunk.
Milva sat up and saw her armor, removed by Lann. The redness on her face spread.
But she saw her intact shirt and pants and curled her lips in dissatisfaction. "Tsk."
Mirva turned nimbly, put on her armor, and picked up her bow. She jumped out the window and slid across the roof of the hotel, moving along the eaves.
When she passed the window of Lann's room, she hesitated for a moment, but finally gave up the tempting idea.
Then, grabbing the eaves, she launched herself into the void and did a couple of somersaults on the ground, dissipating the momentum, got up and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
In medieval times, the villagers had no nightlife, they didn't even drink late. The guards also had time off due to the lord's dismissal, and the new tax collector had not yet taken office. For a while, there was no one in the town at night.
Suddenly, a few sounds of something falling and some faint animal moans were heard in the village, but they soon ceased and did not disturb the sleep of the villagers.
The next morning, Lann assembled all the cavalry and dwarves and prepared to march towards the port of Maribor.
On the way, Lann rode on Black Wind while thinking about what to do with Leo. 'Why not throw him to his teacher Jerome to clean the castle together? I believe that the two old guys will definitely not be stingy to teach him a trick when they see how hard the child works.'
'I accepted Leo's commission, and then Leo handed himself over to me as a reward for the law of surprises. So in a sense, this child can be regarded as my surprise child, right? Although the explanation is a bit far-fetched, there is nothing wrong with treating him as an apprentice of the Griffin School.'
Milva looked at Lann's thoughtful expression. In the past, she could look at that beautiful, cheerful face and be completely stunned, but today she seemed uneasy, her gaze averted.
"Go ahead and say it." Lann suddenly slowed down the speed of Black Wind and spoke to Milva, which made her shoulders tremble. "You are not suitable for this kind of hesitant expression. Do you have anything to tell me?"
Milva bit her lip. She did something stupid last night under the influence of alcohol and did not dare to tell the Earl, but now it seems that she will be punished more if she conceals it. "I went to the beekeeper's house last night when no one was around..."
Milva whispered: "I destroyed their beehive and let all the bees go. I also took away all his wine and threw it into the river."
Lann's eyes narrowed.
Milva's voice became even quieter. She explained: "After everything they did... to the child, I couldn't stand it. Besides, they insulted the Count, you are kind and compassionate to commoners, but I can't stand it..."
Milva's voice became smaller and smaller, and finally lowered her head and said resignedly, "Please punish me..."
Lann reined in his horse, and the whole team stopped. "Look up, Milva, look at me."
Milva pursed her lips, her expression almost ready to cry. Not even when she had fallen into the dryads' trap and been hung upside down, had she shown such an expression.
"Milva, I'm happy that you defended my honor. But I don't like the way you did it. I don't need my subordinates to make decisions for me, understand?"
Lann stared at Milva and said word by word. "You are my sword, my bow, my hands, my eyes, but you cannot be my mind. You must only do what I tell you. Do not make decisions on your own."
"Milva, you disappoint me in this matter."
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