The Old Duke?
Allen was momentarily stunned.
Why would the Old Duke come over at this time? From Nenneke's expression, it seemed they were somehow related...
But that doesn't make sense!
They had only just arrived at the Melitele Temple not long ago. Could this news have spread so quickly?
Or perhaps it's because of the griffin?
Allen shook his head in his mind.
That's not it either.
The sky was dim, and the griffin had landed in the deep mountains of Mahakam behind the temple, not passing over the city. Even if someone had noticed, the griffin hadn't caused any damage, so there was no reason for such urgency...
Just as Allen was about to quietly ask again, the sound from the dispelling ritual interrupted him.
"Zzzzz~"
The statue became transparent shortly after.
Soon, the air was filled with the faint shimmer of magical energy.
A golden hemispherical divine barrier suddenly appeared, colliding with the shimmering magic, creating a display as dazzling as countless fireworks exploding in close proximity.
One of the black candles sparked, casting shadows onto the stone slab.
The chalk-drawn elven zodiac magic array seemed to come to life, with its patterns shifting as well. But Ianna did not lower her arms, and instead, her chanting became even more intense.
The statue, under this sacred chant, began to grow at lightning speed, trembling and shaking as its structure and form rapidly changed, like smoke spreading out on the stone slab.
The crystal emitted a strong light, cutting through the air, and in its glow, something was wriggling and gradually taking shape.
After a moment, a fully armored human body suddenly appeared in the center of the magical circle.
It was Erni.
The candle released smoke, and the crystal's light dimmed.
Ianna lowered her arms, moved her fingers, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"What's your name?"
Allen put aside his confusion about the Old Duke's intentions for now and stepped forward, asking, as per the ritual, whether Erni's self-awareness was clear.
"Captain, what are you asking? I... I'm Erni..." Erni stood up from the ground, dazed, and after a glance at Allen, looked around.
Pink carnations, deep blue roses, daisies with tender yellow petals, and dandelions with white fluff swaying in the wind...
Erni, who was very diligent in potion-making and materials studies, knew that many of the flowers here were rare and out of season, yet they were naturally flourishing in this mystical garden, creating a subtle sense of sanctity.
It felt as though these flowers were in pilgrimage...
He scratched his head, the questions coming one after another.
"Captain, Master Vesemir, when did you come back?"
"Did I fall asleep?"
"And where is this? Aren't we in an inn?"
"We're in the Melitele Temple of Ellander," Vesemir approached, nodding at the sweating Ianna in greeting, "This is Priestess Ianna, who has removed... uh... you can think of it as a curse…"
"Melitele Temple? A curse?" Erni froze, his eyes suddenly widening in shock, "That man…"
Allen and Vesemir exchanged looks, offering some reassuring words.
"Are you feeling alright? Any discomfort?" Ianna kindly asked.
"Huh?" Erni touched his body, "No discomfort, just a little odd feeling in my stomach and intestines earlier, but it's much better now."
Vesemir and Allen both breathed a sigh of relief.
Allen had been worried earlier, considering the gruesome sight of a living person shrinking to the size of a palm.
Moreover, in the original story, when Yennefer was freed from the curse by Francesca, there were heart-wrenching screams, incontinence, and spasms, taking a long time before she could move normally again.
"But it makes sense," Allen thought, "Yennefer was sealed for a month and a half due to the coup on Thanedd Island, while Erni was only affected for two days because of the griffin I tamed."
Nenneke, seeing that Ianna was free, quickly stepped forward, "Priestess, Duke Mason is here again."
Again?
Allen's ears perked up.
Ianna sighed, not responding immediately but instead looking at Vesemir and Allen: "Are you Wolf School members really not planning to relocate here?"
Vesemir and Allen exchanged a glance.
Allen cautiously probed, "Why do you ask? Could the Old Duke be here because of..."
"Exactly," Ianna sighed again, "He came because of the Wolf School. Since a few days ago, Mason received a rejection letter from Grandmaster Sol, and he's been trying to get me to intervene, to persuade that stubborn old wolf."
"This is the third day already."
"Didn't we already have necrophage oil and specter oil?" Allen raised an eyebrow, "Ellander's need for Witchers should have decreased by now, so why the urgency? Is he still asking you to persuade the Grandmaster?"
"It's not quite like that," Ianna shook her head, not explaining immediately but instead supporting Allen's right arm, looking at the young priestess Lysa, "The most difficult part of the dispelling ritual has been completed, next... Lysa, you can proceed with dispelling the curse for the other Witchers."
"Understood, Priestess." Lysa nodded and carefully placed Klar's statue in the center of the pentagram.
"Lysa has improved a lot, and she will handle the rest here. How about you join me to meet Duke Mason?" Ianna patted Allen's arm. "Allen of 'Ellander'?"
Allen glanced at Vesemir.
"Go ahead, I'll stay here to explain things to Claral and the others," Vesemir said.
Allen nodded, helping the pale Ianna, who had just finished the dispelling ritual, out of the garden.
Tonight, the moon was bright, the crescent moon hanging in the sky, and the stars glittered in the night sky, guiding travelers forward.
And the one guiding their path was Nenneke.
After Ianna had rejected Allen's offer to help, she gave him a look and, holding the lantern, walked ahead.
"By the way, you really are quite impolite," Ianna suddenly laughed as they left the garden. "Though the knightly title is the lowest military rank, someone like you, who runs off right after the ceremony, is really the first I've seen."
"At the time, I had some urgent matters to return to Kaer Morhen, and it seemed like Ellander didn't need me to stay either," Allen hesitated, a little embarrassed.
The Duke of Mason had granted him the title as a reward for his help during the May Festival, but he had been eager to return and train his monster-hunting soldiers, so he hadn't thought much about it and just left through the portal. But with Ianna bringing it up now, it did feel a little inconsiderate.
It reminded him of when he was in his past life as a workaholic, receiving payment after a project finished but not even getting a thank-you or an invitation to a meal.
It wasn't that he had done something wrong, just that it wasn't very thoughtful. Moreover, titles had their subordination, and each level had a fixed number of titles.
As a result, although Allen didn't swear loyalty to the Old Duke, when it came to reporting to the Noble Council, he still occupied the Old Duke's slot. It was likely that the Duke's princely title would never regain that knightly title for a long time.
Although the knight's title isn't of high status, it is actually quite valuable.
If this title were not given to Allen, Mason or his heirs could use it as a bargaining chip to win over certain factions in special circumstances.
"When you left, you were already gone," Ianna shook her head. "The day after you left, the first day after the exorcism ritual failed completely, drowner, ghouls, and necrophag's... some undead creatures came sniffing around."
"Was there a problem?" Allen furrowed his brow.
"Not really," Ianna shook her head. "The monster hunting army successfully eliminated many of the undead creatures, and thanks to your necrophage oil, there were minimal casualties. Most of them were the first time encountering carrion creatures."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"It was at first, but after half a month, the situation slowly started to shift." Ianna sighed, then continued, "The undead creatures that gathered began attacking villages around Ellander, and when the monster hunting soldiers went in, the creatures would hide, but as soon as they left, they would come out again and harass the villages."
"Moreover, if the monster hunting army doesn't have enough soldiers, the undead creatures don't run away, but they can only protect the villages being attacked, not eliminate the monsters coming."
Allen's expression slowly grew serious.
This was indeed a good strategy for dealing with ordinary human armies using sword oil.
Although the monster hunting army were named "Monster Hunter" which was synonyms with withcher they were actually just ordinary soldiers chosen from those who had been through wars.
They weren't trained like Witchers, so they didn't have the individual monster-hunting abilities. Instead, they had to fight in groups, using traditional war tactics, which made them somewhat rigid with large targets.
They didn't even have enough knowledge of monster lore to avoid alerting creatures or to avoid detection.
Allen made a judgment: "Ordinary ghouls wouldn't have this much intelligence. There must be a alghoul or another highly intelligent creature involved."
"We think so too," Ianna nodded slightly, "but we are powerless against it."
"Hasn't this happened before?" Allen asked curiously.
"Of course," Ianna replied. "Every five years, the entire Temeria gathers silver weaponry, elite knights, soldiers, and Witchers to conduct a demon hunting parade, specifically targeting persistent, dangerous monsters that often attack villages. But now, this is only the second year."
"Originally, Ellander, with its strength, could have organized a smaller demon hunting parade before the May Festival, but now..."
Ianna shook her head.
"Looks like the May Festival's wild hunt disaster hasn't passed yet," Allen thought.
Additionally, he understood that Ianna inviting him to meet with the old Duke was not just a casual request.
The things she mentioned before the meeting with the Duke were certainly not just idle chatter. However, after thinking for a moment, Allen realized that helping the old Duke with the undead creatures would be highly beneficial for him with no downsides.
Leaving Kaer Morhen this time, aside from Houghton Qui-gon's rescue letter and the Wolf School master's trap, the main purpose was to take seven young Witchers from the witcher corps out for training, earning battle points to level up their skills, improve the army's ranking, and increase the member capacity.
Also...
Although Ban Ard was probably severely injured and wouldn't have the time to focus on the Wolf School for a while, the planned "nuclear weapon"—the conjunction of spheres—had to be prioritized.
It was better than having to find a large number of monsters at the last minute, as happened a few days ago. That was far too unreliable.
Coincidentally, ghouls were the next target in his hunting plan, and they were only about six or seven hundred away from the stage of otherworldly fusion.
Plus, the old Duke's favor and generous bounty...
Tsk, tsk! It was a win-win.
To be honest...
Even without these tangible benefits, he wouldn't want to see Ellander—a city that left a good impression on him, with many kind-hearted people—decline.
"I can't make the decision on the Wolf School's relocation," Allen looked up at Ianna. "But I can figure out a way to deal with those opportunistic monsters."
"Don't you want to discuss it with Vesemir?"
"No need. Vesemir wouldn't refuse this kind of thing, especially since..." Allen paused for a moment, then smiled mischievously, "Even though I'm young, half a year ago, I became a Witcher Master of the Wolf School."
"Hehehe~" Ianna was momentarily stunned by this, then laughed heartily, her features filled with a sense of kindness... and a strange pride.
"Alright, alright, my Witcher Master, Drowner slayer, Blue Death, Crimson red fox's proud alchemist apprentice, and Ellander's Knight Allen, let's hurry and give that annoying old man a surprise!"
After listing a long string of titles, Ianna released Allen's arm and, laughing, walked briskly toward the entrance of the temple, no trace of her previous pale and weak state after the ritual.
Seeing this, Allen froze for a moment, looked at his raised right arm, and let out a small laugh, quickening his pace.
---------------------------
Venger Castle.
"What! They ran away?" Kurt slammed the table and stood up abruptly.
The two men standing before him immediately froze, one of them quickly explaining, "Lord Kurt, those two had no intention of negotiating at all. Before I could even speak, they knocked me out..."
The other man gritted his teeth and added, "They even used the Axii spell on me, confusing my mind, making me talk to an empty corridor for half the time..."
"I don't care about that!" Kurt interrupted coldly, his face darkening. "All I know is you requested one hundred men, but you didn't bring back a single one."
"Could it be that those nine men were all skilled swordsmen, able to fight off a hundred at once, but you...?"
Kurt glared at the two of them with cold eyes, as if inspecting them from head to toe.
"Could you have just found a place to sleep for the day...?"
"Absolutely not!" The two of them shouted in unison, their voices nearly breaking.
"Then why? Explain yourselves! Lord Yor! Lord Khan!"
Yor and Khan froze again at the sound of their names, and after a brief exchange of glances, Yor quickly spoke: "The inn only had two people return. We waited and waited, but when we finally went forward to try and persuade them, they ran away without saying a word."
"Yes!" Khan added, "The villagers hesitated because there were only two of them, and they got confused and let them go."
"Didn't the lord say to treat them with respect? We didn't dare approach them without direct orders..."
"Are you blaming me?" Kurt's face darkened even further as he recalled the promise he made to the king—if they didn't catch anyone in two days, he would ask for exile to the front lines.
His face turned ashen.
"No!"
"Not at all!"
The two denied immediately, desperately trying to shift the blame.
"Wait!"
Yor suddenly had a bright idea and shouted: "Royal Griffin!"
.....
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
358. If Only You Were My Child.
359. How to Deal with Ban Ard?
360. Kaedwen, the Omen of a Fallen Kingdom?
361. The Continuation of the Path of Beast Roar.
362. The Legendary Hero of Ellander.