Sol was silent. Vera stood opposite him, quietly gazing at him.
For a moment, the only sound in the courtyard was the rustling of grass and trees swayed by the spring breeze. It was unclear how much time passed.
A long and melancholic sigh broke the silence.
"I understand, Vera, I understand..."
Seeing Sol's drooping head, Vera felt a twinge of sadness in her heart.
Forty years ago.
Her relationship with Sol was still perfectly normal. Although they were often apart, the messenger bird kept them infinitely close. He would confide everything in her. So she knew everything about him.
She knew that forty years ago, in Ard Carraigh, he had saved a mother and her child from the claws of ghouls and alghouls. It was only afterward that he discovered their identities. The king had just died, and ambitious people were mercilessly persecuting the widow and her child.
As a Witcher bound by neutrality, he naturally would not interfere in the affairs of a kingdom. However, he introduced the mother and child to many righteous knights, nobles, and even mages.
As a result, the mother and child secured the highest position in the kingdom.
In return, he gained the goodwill of the land of Kaedwen. Numerous legendary ballads were sung in the taverns across this land, praising the Protector of the Crown, the Dragon Slayer, the Witcher...
Whether noble or commoner, no one disrespected him... at least on the surface.
His school also gained the kingdom's approval and a substantial annual tribute for slaying monsters, flourishing as a result.
However...
His help was neither for profit nor fame. It was merely out of a knight's undying compassion, unwilling to witness the strong oppressing the weak.
Thirty years ago.
The mother grew old, and the child matured.
During those years, Vera often heard him speak through the messenger bird about a resolute, ambitious young king. He made a pact with the king to rid the kingdom of harmful monsters. So that the king's subjects could walk, farm, and trade openly on their land...
And so, for nearly ten years, he led his school in sweeping away monsters...
He fulfilled his promise. And so he was abandoned. The young king became a middle-aged king, and his once idealistic but passionate ambitions turned into something greedy and bloody.
At some point, he desired land more than the people on it, wealth more than those who created it, war more than peace. His appetite grew larger, his body fatter, and his insatiable greed more difficult to fill. Until one day, he wanted Sol to become a soldier, a general, the sharpest sword in the king's hand. Naturally, the two parted ways.
And now.
He wasn't just abandoned but was to be eradicated. The child he once saved had drawn the first sword to strike at him and the school he loved. Vera sighed, looking at Sol's lowered head, his face hidden in the shadows.
As a child, after being scolded by the duke or duchess, he would behave just like this. Sitting silently on the stone steps in a corner of the castle, small and alone. After hesitating for a moment, Vera gently stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head on his chest, saying:
"It's okay, Sol."
"You still have Allen, you still have..."
"...me."
Before she could finish, she felt Sol's body tremble slightly, as if he had relaxed a bit.
"Vera, do I really still have you?"
She nodded, "Yes, you do..."
Pausing for a moment, she looked up at Sol, and seeing that his spirits had lifted, she couldn't help but sigh inwardly, 'No matter how old he gets, he's still that little boy who shrinks away at the first sign of sadness.'
A simple hug can cure everything.
Just as Sol's arms were about to wrap around her, Vera, calculating her timing perfectly, slipped away like a nimble butterfly, avoiding his embrace.
She chuckled softly and said: "...Once we find Allen and get through that Kaer Morhen ordeal he dreamt of, then you'll have me!"
Sol was momentarily stunned, then he smiled. He glanced toward where the king was, then turned back to gaze into her deep red eyes. To him, they were the most dazzling gems in the world. Clearing his mind of distracting thoughts, he let out a deep sigh and said: "Ah~"
"That will take a very long... very, very long time..."
-------------
"Sigh~"
Looking at the scene in front of him, which was both familiar and strange, Allen sighed and carefully placed the medallion of the goddess Melitele back into his leather armor. The matter of the evil god and the goddess Melitele could only be dealt with after the apprentice tournament.
The most important thing now was to figure out exactly where he was and whether he could still complete the task given by the red-haired elf, Ida Emean.
After securing the medallion, Allen suddenly realized that Francesca had been unusually quiet for a long time. So, he turned to look at her. In the room filled with the scent of herbs, the "Daisy of the Valleys" had her head lowered, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she was hesitant or confused.
"What's wrong, Francesca?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Allen asked curiously. The elf raised her head, cautiously observed the surroundings, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said: "Allen, there's something wrong with this place!"
"Short-distance teleportation has limited range; the magic I channeled should only have been enough to transport us about two hundred meters..."
Hearing Francesca's words, Allen raised an eyebrow and asked: "What do you mean?"
Francesca took a deep breath and said seriously: "Yes, although due to overextending my mental energy, the short-distance teleportation turned into... well, what you would call a random teleportation..."
"But regardless of whether my mental energy was overextended or the direction was uncertain, short-distance teleportation is short-distance teleportation, so..."
"So it's almost impossible for us to have left the cave."
Almost impossible to have left the cave?
Allen looked up at the sky.
Lazy clouds lay on a blue bed, and the early spring sun showered the world with warm golden rays. Clearly, above Allen and Francesca's heads was not a dark, rocky ceiling, but a gentle spring sky. However, he didn't refute Francesca because of the blue sky and white clouds above.
Not just because she was an elven sorceress, but also because this place, although similar to the Orchard in his mind, was still entirely different. Moreover, Allen wasn't some ignorant, inexperienced Witcher.
From the original work and the games, he knew that many phenomena in the Witcher world could cause such situations. Seeing Allen look up at the sky, Francesca thought he didn't believe her, so she hurriedly explained: "Allen, I know this might be hard to accept, but your eyes might deceive you, while magic cannot. I can feel the mental energy shifting..."
"I believe you, Francesca," Allen said.
"Allen, this time I'm really not lying to you... What... What did you say?"
Mid-sentence, Francesca suddenly realized that the Witcher hadn't denied but rather agreed with her. She slightly opened her mouth in surprise and asked in disbelief.
"I said, I trust your judgment."
"You're a professional sorceress. Magic is your specialty, so I trust your judgment."
Although the main reason Allen trusted the judgment wasn't just because of Francesca, that didn't stop him from making a small effort to improve her impression of him, hoping to increase the future elf queen's favor towards the Witcher.
After all, the primary purpose of accepting the red-haired elf's commission was to bring some external support to Kaer Morhen.
Ida Emean might represent the present of the elves, but Francesca could wholly represent their future. Seeing the flush of joy on Francesca's cheeks, Allen sighed inwardly about how much he worried about the future of the Wolf School. Then he seriously asked, "So what do you think is going on here?"
"Daisy of the Valleys" touched her flushed cheeks, feeling a warmth in her heart. A slight smile tugged at her lips, and it took a while for her to compose herself before she said, "The most likely explanation is an illusion, but it would require an enormous amount of magic power..."
An illusion?
Allen activated his link with the Mirage Pearl. Instantly, the scene before him became hazy, and even the sunlight turned a cooler shade.
"It really is an illusion!" Allen marveled internally.
"Alternatively, we might have been pulled into a dream created by some creature or sorcerer..."
Francesca continued to seriously list various possibilities on her fingers, but Allen had already started examining the reality behind the illusion.
The house before him was fake.
In the Mirage Pearl's vision, the area defined by the house was just a stone platform, the very place where he had once slept. Though he had witnessed the illusion master Artorius Vigo create a fairy-tale kingdom for the two princesses of Toussaint in the game, that was just a game, with only visual and auditory experiences.
Reality, however, was different.
The dusty, desolate, and decayed slate ground contrasted starkly with the semi-transparent cottage filled with herbs and flowers. Even though the strong herbal scent filled his nostrils, in the Mirage Pearl's view, the area was empty.
An exquisitely crafted illusion!
This illusion didn't just deceive his eyes. Without the Mirage Pearl, his five senses would have been completely immersed in this illusionary Orchard, with no sense of anything being out of place. The only regret was that the Mirage Pearl's ability to see through the illusion was limited, only allowing a clear view of about ten meters around him.
Beyond that distance, the idyllic village scenery of the Orchard under a bright spring sky still unfolded.
Wait!
Allen suddenly noticed something unusual. He saw the bandages he had just removed lying on the ground. These bandages weren't part of the illusion!
So...
"And finally…" Francesca's deliberately solemn voice interrupted his thoughts.
She took a deep breath, her delicate face becoming serious as she said, "Lastly, it's possible that during the teleportation three days ago, we caught the attention of the Goddess of Misfortune and accidentally entered a Conjunction of the Spheres, getting transported to another world…"
Seeing a girl of fourteen or fifteen trying to act all serious was quite amusing, especially when she was supposed to be more mature.
Watching this scene, Allen couldn't help but smile.
Wait a minute!
I'm only fourteen in this body too!
Does Vesemir and the others see me the same way when I'm serious?
Realizing this, Allen's smile faded.
Francesca noticed Allen's strange expression and thought he was frightened by the possibility of being stranded in another world due to the Conjunction of the Spheres. Feeling another wave of guilt, she tried to suppress the fear that she might never see her family again and comforted him, "A-Allen, the Conjunction of the Spheres is the least likely scenario…"
"It's been hundreds of years since the last Conjunction of the Spheres occurred in this world."
"My fa-father once told me that due to certain... incidents, the pathways connecting this world to others have been sealed."
"Even our cousins, the Aen Elle—known as the 'Elder Folk' who supposedly possess the ability to traverse worlds—haven't been seen in this world for a long time…"
"What kind of incidents?" Allen interrupted her with a serious expression.
He knew that apart from a few instances caused by Allen, the world hadn't experienced a Conjunction of the Spheres for a long time.
But the pathways to other worlds being sealed?
Was that mentioned in the original story or the game?
And the Aen Elle, or "The Wild Hunt," were major antagonists in both the original story and the game. How could they just vanish?
Was this another divergence between the real world and the worlds from his memories?
Or maybe something happened in this world between now and the start of the original story a hundred years later that caused the "Elder Folk" to reappear?
Francesca was taken aback, not expecting Allen to be interested in this matter. She frowned, thought for a moment, then shook her head and said, "Father didn't tell me."
Allen sighed with regret. Of course, such a significant event wouldn't be discussed with a young elf.
"However, if you want to know, I could ask my father when I return and tell you later," her sweet voice offered.
Allen turned towards the voice, finding Francesca looking at him with eyes full of guilt.
"Thank you, Francesca."
"There's no need to thank me. Consider it a small apology for dragging you into danger."
Francesca looked down, "But we still don't know how to get out of here. If it really is a Conjunction of the Spheres... I might not even be able to offer that small apology…"
"It's not a Conjunction of the Spheres!" Allen suddenly interrupted her.
"Daisy of the Valleys" thought the Witcher was just trying to comfort her and smiled, nodding, "Yes, it definitely isn't a Conjunction of the Spheres!"
"I'm serious. No one in this world knows more about the Conjunction of the Spheres than I do!" Allen walked into the "house."
"Huh?"
Francesca was puzzled, not understanding what the Witcher meant. Allen had no intention of explaining further. After entering the house, he crouched down and picked up the recently removed bandages from the ground.
"And besides, I might have… already found a way to leave this place…"
Allen suddenly paused, holding up the bandages stained with dark red blood.
"No, perhaps we can even find our respective targets and then leave safely."
"Huh?"
Francesca could understand every word Allen said, but she couldn't grasp the meaning behind them.
Hadn't he just woken up recently?
When did he have time to find a way out of here?
Could it be that the one who was unconscious for three days wasn't the Witcher, but me?
Francesca was confused, "What do you mean by 'targets'?"
"My human couple and your elf!"
....…
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
173. We've Arrived.
174. Hunting Mission.
175. The Blood of the Rock Troll.
176. The Scent of the Witcher.
177. Another Francesca in the World.