Adar Town.
The estate of Count Burns.
Bang!
An orange portal suddenly appeared in the center of the room. The abrupt change in space stirred up a fierce wind, blowing out the candles. Silk curtains, expensive oil paintings, and bookshelves filled with rare parchment books all swayed uncontrollably.
Tap, tap, tap~
With crisp footsteps, a young man wearing a long, pointed hat emerged from the portal. He was the Vice Dean of Ban Ard Academy, a member of the Feron family whose noble titles spanned across three countries, and the former heir, Jenks Feron.
Jenks walked out of the portal and looked regretfully at the empty long table in front of the king. When using the portal, he had deliberately amplified the spatial ripples, but the king still wasn't dining.
"Ah! My dear 'Big Eater,' what could possibly make you lose your appetite?"
"The great Lord of Kaedwen, so anxious that you had to hastily send a servant to urge me to come?"
Jenks looked at Henselt playfully, his tone resembling that of a court jester.
Henselt didn't mind, his expression serious: "Three days ago, my royal guards, sent to search for the target, encountered a group of Rock Troll at their camp and suffered heavy losses."
Jenks leaned against the windowsill, smiling as he looked at the king. "Mm-hmm, so what?"
"I only learned of this today..."
"Oh, that really is bad news!" Jenks interrupted, his smile growing more mocking. "It seems the king's guards aren't quite loyal to their king, are they?"
Jenks didn't know why Henselt would expose his lack of control over his own guards to him. But that didn't stop Jenks from mocking the king.
Henselt remained expressionless, completely unaffected, and continued: "Today, after learning of the news, I invited the dragon slayer Sol to join my army tomorrow to deal with those damned monsters..."
Jenks absentmindedly played with the guard's longsword. "Mm-hmm? And then? Did you call me here just to complain about your soldiers getting beaten by a bunch of monsters..."
"Then Lady Vera came by, and she wants to join in as well."
Clang!
Jenks, who had partially drawn the sword, trembled, and the blade slid back into its sheath.
Jenks frowned. "Lady Vera? You mean..."
"Lady Vera the sorceress, Vera of Toussaint, the Scarlet Fox—Vera..."
Hiss~
Jenks sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Are you saying that the Scarlet Fox wants to join the team to hunt the stone giants?"
Henselt nodded.
"That's impossible!"
"Lady Vera isn't some newly graduated sorceress from Aretuza; why would she be interested in exterminating monsters..."
"Even if she's short of alchemical materials... with her enviable wealth, she wouldn't need to personally obtain even the rarest monster ingredients..."
"Moreover, unlike those sorceresses in the Council who seem poised and graceful on the surface but are secretly ambitious, she has never shown any desire for power..."
"Since the Aelirenn Uprising, she has fully devoted herself to alchemy, making numerous achievements that have shocked the entire wizarding world..."
"Do you even know how many breakthroughs she's made in alchemy..."
As he spoke, Henselt's expression grew increasingly peculiar. Perhaps sensing the king's gaze, Jenks paused and concluded: "In short, it's impossible for Lady Vera to be interested in hunting Rock Trolls!"
Henselt remained silent. It wasn't that he was persuaded into silence by Jenks. He was just unsure whether he should have Ban Ard find a different male sorcerer to work with.
"Could it be that Lady Vera couldn't have come to see Grandmaster Sol and just happened to encounter my request, so she decided to deal with the Rock Trolls?"
"Impossible. Lady Vera should be busy with..."
Before Jenks could finish his sentence, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Anyway, you should know that Lady Vera wouldn't waste her time hunting Rock Trolls with that damn freak."
Henselt's expression grew even more peculiar.
"But Lady Vera is already here at the estate and will be joining us tomorrow morning."
Jenks froze.
Yes, since the sorceress had already arrived, there must be something that attracted her here. But it definitely couldn't be because of the Witcher or some coincidence...
Wait a minute!
Jenks suddenly looked up at Henselt.
"You said the soldiers searching for the target encountered Rock Trolls at their camp?"
Henselt's expression turned sour, thinking Jenks was about to mock his misfortune again. But before he could respond.
"Rock Trolls, unlike drowners, are intelligent creatures. To avoid retaliation, they rarely attack humans proactively..."
"Moreover..."
"Rock Troll usually live in remote mountains or caves. How did your men encounter them?"
Jenks looked seriously at the king.
Henselt had intended to gloss over the incident, as it wasn't exactly honorable to lose over a hundred elite knights and soldiers because of two small thieves. He was certain this defiant sorcerer would ridicule him for it. However, under Jenks' insistence, Henselt had no choice but to recount the events in detail with a grim expression.
Surprisingly, Jenks didn't seize the opportunity to mock but instead became increasingly alarmed as he pressed on: "How is the search progressing?"
"Hmph!" Henselt, now irritated by the mention, snapped. "Three days ago, you told me it would take at most three days to capture them."
"Now my men have nearly combed through the entire search area you designated, but we still haven't found them."
Jenks ignored Henselt's complaints and instead asked rapidly: "Have you captured those two thieves? Or do you know what they were trying to do by infiltrating the camp?"
Henselt, now sensing that something was amiss, grew serious as well: "What are you suggesting?"
"Perhaps what we're looking for has never been above ground," Jenks gritted his teeth. "Lady Vera might not be here for the Witcher; her target could be that gemstone!"
"Refuse her, Henselt."
Jenks sternly ordered.
"In what capacity do you command your king?" Henselt rebuked, then deliberately adopted a nonchalant demeanor. "Besides, I've already agreed."
"What!"
Jenks took a few steps forward.
"Have you forgotten our contract?"
"We help you find people, kill people, but the gemstone must belong to Ban Ard."
"Henselt, do you know the consequences of breaking the contract? Even if you are the King of Kaedwen, Ban Ard can still..."
Henselt, feeling threatened, interrupted with a grim expression: "Of course, I remember."
"But no matter why Lady Vera is here or whether her goals align with yours, she already knows about that place."
"Would you rather let a powerful sorceress wander outside our sight?"
Jenks fell silent.
He locked eyes with Henselt for a long time.
"Don't betray, don't take chances..."
"If we don't get the gemstone, someone won't escape disaster, even if they seek refuge with Lady Vera."
Henselt sneered: "Are you threatening me?"
"No, this is merely advice," Jenks suddenly smiled, "a sincere piece of advice!"
"Hmph!"
Henselt snorted coldly.
"Besides... it doesn't matter if those two thieves who sneaked into the camp are elves or humans, whether they were after money, rescuing someone, or our gemstone..."
"They've already been inside for three days!"
"The longer we wait, the more unpredictable things will get, my dear king."
"How about we move the hunt to tonight?" Jenks suggested, as he lightly brushed the oak table in front of the king with his right hand.
After a moment of pondering, Henselt hesitated, "But my army isn't ready for tonight..."
"No matter, my dear king, no matter..." Jenks gently interrupted, "Powerful monsters aren't dealt with through sheer numbers. I will personally lead Ban Ard's sorcerers in the hunt."
-----------
In the abandoned mine.
A faint mist, barely visible, drifted against the wind into the crevices between the corpses of the rock trolls and the rock walls.
"Whew~"
In an instant, the mist condensed.
A Witcher, carrying two swords on his back and holding a disproportionately large arm bone in his hand, lightly crouched on the ground, crouching in a pool of blood as well.
"The feeling of being misted... I guess I'll never get used to it!"
The Witcher suppressed the nausea churning in his stomach and nodded slightly towards Francesca, who was covering her mask in shock after witnessing Allen disappear and recondense after turning into mist. Though it caused physical discomfort, the concealment effect of misting was indeed remarkable.For nearly twenty meters, not a single rock troll had detected him.
As for why he didn't use a fog pearl?
Allen reached out towards the pool of blood on the ground.
Leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints in the lair of the mountain Rock trolls—was he afraid the mountain Rock trolls wouldn't know he had raided their home?
"Ding! Do you want to absorb the blood of the rock trolls?"
Hearing the familiar system prompt, Allen's eyes lit up immediately. So it's possible after all.
He had just been worried whether the blood needed to be fresh and whether, like with the big stone, the small stone, and the broken stone, the rock trolls had to voluntarily donate their blood. After all, the summoning quest wasn't a hunting quest; it didn't require him to kill monsters.
"Roar!"
A roar echoed from not far away.
Mixed in with it were the shouts and curses of humans, battle cries, intense clashes, and the sounds of metal clashing. The Witcher, hidden behind the corpses of the rock trolls, wasn't distracted by these noises.
Misting, materializing, misting, materializing...
Allen tightly gripped the small foglet arm bone, weaving in and out among the corpses of the rock trolls.
During this process, he noticed that most of these rock trolls had died from severed arteries, bleeding out. Pulling his gaze away from a scorched, blackened cut that could only have been caused by a weapon with a high silver content, Allen thought:"Besides hiring Witchers, the human army clearly has other ways of dealing with large monsters."
[Ding! Quest: Summoning I (Collect Rock Troll Blood 10/20)]
After collecting blood from seven corpses, Allen sighed with relief and then focused his attention on the intense battle at the core of the battlefield.
Three tower shields, each taller than a person, were standing side by side at the entrance to the cave that was just wide enough for five people, sealing it tightly. Faint magical glows swirled around the enormous black shields.
These are definitely not ordinary tower shields!
The Witcher thought.
The next moment...
"Crack!"
The mountain Rock troll grabbed a three-meter-tall stalagmite with both hands and fiercely smashed it towards the center of the tower shields.
"Boom!"
A thunderous sound, far louder than the tolling of any temple bell from his past life, reverberated.
"What?"
The Witcher's blue cat-like pupils contracted sharply. The shield in the center remained rooted in place, as if it had merged with the other shields and was anchored to the ground, without budging an inch.
"What kind of artifacts are these three shields?"
Staring at the faint ripples emanating from the center of the shields, Allen was utterly astonished.
"Boom!"
After this strike, the mountain Rock troll seemed to be somewhat exhausted and placed the stalagmite on the ground.
"Whoosh!"
At that moment, several arrows tipped with silver light shot out suddenly from behind the shield wall. But most were blocked by the hard stone shell on the mountain Rock troll's body, and the few that penetrated struck non-lethal areas.
Arrows aimed at the other rock trolls were also blocked by their tough stone shells, leaving none of the rock trolls injured. There was no doubt. The battle on both sides was so skillfully exchanged with ineffective attacks and defenses that it must have happened many times before.
"But why?"
The Witcher was curious.
"Are the rock trolls being forced to fight? Why is the Kaedwen army engaging in such seemingly futile harassment..."
"Wait!"
"Harassment?"
Allen suddenly realized that although the rock trolls on the front lines appeared fierce and menacing, their attack stances clearly lacked the power they had three days ago.
[...trolls... don't eat... humans...]
The words of the big stone suddenly flashed through his mind.
Yes, although rock trolls were labeled as ogres in most bestiaries, according to the big stone, most rock trolls don't eat humans unless they have no other choice. Realizing this, Allen paused and looked around.
Indeed!
Although the cave chamber looked like a scene from hell, there were no signs of humans being eaten.
"The Kaedwen soldiers' intent is clear."
"They're exhausting these rock trolls!"
They were starving them, wearing them out, and weakening them, ultimately looking for a chance to kill them.
Not only that.
The blazing flames from the torches were burning right where the corpses were densest. This was a net tightening around the rock trolls, leaving them no escape.
"Too bad those soldiers are my enemies!" Allen thought, "They are more dangerous foes to me than the rock trolls."
With that thought, the Witcher made up his mind.
"Plop, plop, plop..."
The soft sound of something hitting the ground, accompanied by a strong stench, large chunks of rotting flesh piled up behind the rock troll corpses, out of Francesca's line of sight.
Allen emptied out eighty percent of the contents of his inventory. Based on the big stone's appetite, this much rotting flesh should be enough to feed these twelve rock trolls for ten days. That's including the mountain Rock troll's share.
"I wonder if the king will appreciate this gift I'm sending?" Allen couldn't help but grin. Then, the Witcher took out the small fog sprite's arm bone, intending to mist away. Suddenly, a scene of the mountain Rock troll being wounded by the silver arrows flashed in his mind.
Instinctively, he looked at a pit about five meters ahead and, after squinting at it for a few seconds, his eyes lit up. There was a shallow pool of blood collected in the pit.
"It's the blood of the mountain Rock troll!"
....…
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
176. The Scent of the Witcher.
177. Another Francesca in the World.
178. Unspeakable Family Affairs.
179. The New Item.
180. As You Wish.