A long time passed.
Lado opened his eyes. A middle-aged man with a slightly bowed posture was looking at him worriedly. He was Phyllis, the most trusted servant of the former king, Henselt.
One of the few people Lado could trust in this cold palace. Unfortunately, Phyllis was just a servant and could only do what servants are capable of, offering no help in solving Lado's current predicament.
"My father died too suddenly!"
Lado sighed sadly in his heart again. As a prince, barring any accidents, he would inherit his father's power in a few days. However, the nobles around him were either sycophantic opportunists or sly old foxes like Donato. He couldn't even find a few reliable and trustworthy talents...
The kingdom was in dire straits!
But when he thought of talent, Lado suddenly remembered his tutor from Toussaint. Imitating his father's old mannerism, he gently tapped the table with his index finger and asked: "Phyllis, have you found Dyson?"
The middle-aged man stepped forward, bowing slightly as he replied: "Your Majesty, I've already sent people to locate Lord Dyson. He is currently in Vengerberg, Aedirn, and should be back within a month."
A month, huh...
Lado shook his head. It was still too late. The noble council was happening the day after tomorrow. During that meeting, they would discuss the late king's funeral arrangements and the ceremony for Lado's ascension to the throne.
The former posed no issue, but the latter…
Although his claim to the throne was indisputable and should be just a formality, he still felt uneasy: "Will it really be that easy to take the highest throne?"
Phyllis had watched Lado grow up. Seeing the future king frowning, he felt a pang of sympathy, thinking Lado was still worried about Duke Donato's words. He offered comfort: "Your Majesty, Duke Donato's grandson was taken by a Witcher of the Wolf School and died."
"Since Your Majesty's father originally intended to deal with them, why not follow his will and agree to it?"
Lado shook his head: "Donato doesn't want to deal with the Witchers because of that grandson."
"He has seven or eight sons, and his grandsons number more than twenty."
"How could he care about a child who was taken to Kaer Morhen at four or five years old due to some law of surprise?"
"Moreover, that child was only given to the Witchers by his parents in exchange for the bounty because they were too poor."
Seeing Phyllis's bewildered expression, Lado sighed inwardly and explained further: "He's doing this because of Ban Ard, or rather, some of the sorcerers of Ban Ard."
Phyllis still looked puzzled. Though he had always served Henselt, he only took care of the king's daily needs. He wasn't privy to the hidden dealings between the great nobles.
"Donato and many other nobles have invested in a lot of industries with these sorcerers..."
"They don't care about their grandsons and sons being taken by Witchers from the Wolf School. They just don't want Ban Ard to have any issues and want to curry favor with some sorcerers who despise the Witchers..."
Lado's analysis finally made Phyllis understand. With a face full of admiration, Phyllis said: "Your Majesty, you know so much!"
Phyllis shook his head at the praise, but he didn't say more.
All this information about the Ban Ard faction within the Kaedwen noble circles had been carefully analyzed for him by Henselt when he was alive. At that time, among these analyses, Henselt had mentioned Duke Donato's numerous offspring. However, back then, Henselt had only used this as an excuse to hint at how important a large family was to a noble.
He hadn't gone further to explain how to deal with such an old fox. Memories of the past surfaced again, and Lado spaced out for a few seconds. Henselt may not have been a good king, but he was certainly a good father.
He had groomed Lado with the expectation that he would one day become king, patiently answering all his questions. There had never been any suspicion or doubt between them.
Had he not died so suddenly, Lado would have ascended to the throne smoothly, thanks to Henselt's meticulous planning.
"But why target the Wolf School? Didn't the sorcerers of Ban Ard say it was the Cat School that did it?" Phyllis asked in confusion.
Lado wasn't entirely sure either. He lowered his head in thought for a moment before replying: "Perhaps it's because the Cat School is already finished..."
"I've heard they failed several commissions in Ban Ard, losing many members."
"The entire school might be down to fewer than ten people now. Even a cornered dog might jump over the wall; there's no need to deliberately target them."
"Moreover, the Cat School's reputation in the North has been utterly ruined. No noble or merchant would dare hire them openly."
"Natural extinction is the Cat School's inevitable fate!"
"I see!" Phyllis nodded in sudden understanding.
Although Lado wasn't sure what exactly Phyllis had figured out from his ramblings, he still smiled and nodded.
"Your Majesty, perhaps... perhaps you could go along with the great nobles' wishes for now, and when you have full control over the kingdom, you can settle accounts with them later..." Phyllis autiously suggested.
"Even if the late king knew, he wouldn't mind..."
Go along with the great nobles' wishes?
What did that mean?
It meant taking the blame for the king's death off Ban Ard and pinning it on the Wolf School instead.
Phyllis fell silent.
Didn't Lado already know?
If he stopped insisting, he would gain the support of all the nobles at the meeting the day after tomorrow, ending the current awkward situation. Ban Ard would escape blame, the nobles would be satisfied, and Lado would smoothly ascend to the throne...
The only ones sacrificed would be a group of honorable Witchers...
But what did that have to do with him?
Lado didn't really care about the Witchers' lives or deaths, though thanks to Dyson's teachings, he did respect the Wolf School's contributions to humanity.
However…
His father was dead…
Died in a terrible and undignified manner.
His mother had locked herself in the tower, crying day and night...
And he, Lado, the future ruler of Kaedwen, was expected to compromise?
Why should Ban Ard escape blame?
Just to secure a smooth path to the throne?
That throne was rightfully his!
So…
Why should he!!!
Lado's face darkened, and his pupils burned with rage. Phyllis, still bowing his head, hadn't noticed the change in the future king's mood. He continued to comfort and persuade:
"Besides, Your Majesty, what if Ban Ard really didn't do it?"
"After all, they had nothing to gain from your father's death..."
"And the Wolf School, apart from Lady Vera, may have had other means..."
Hearing his most trusted servant defend Ban Ard, the flames of anger in Lado's heart burned even fiercer. He was about to shout in anger when he suddenly thought of something and suppressed his fury.
"Phyllis is defending my enemies!"
"So… is he really loyal to me?"
In an instant, Lado felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, chilled to the bone. Once the seed of doubt is planted, it quickly takes root and grows. He forced himself to suppress the inexplicable fear, nodding calmly, his tone flat: "Perhaps this is indeed a good idea..."
"I'll give it serious thought!"
"Thank you, Phyllis!"
"Please, don't say that. Serving you is my greatest honor."
Phyllis bowed slightly and stepped back into his place. In fact, he had already overstepped his boundaries, as he was just a servant. But Lado was someone he had watched grow up, and even if he could help in a small way, Phyllis wanted to assist him. Unfortunately, he didn't notice it.
Lado, the child he had watched grow up, his future king, was quietly observing him with a particularly unfamiliar look in his eyes. A fierce light flickered in his pupils.
"Does Ban Ard really gain nothing from my father's death?" Lado began to ponder.
---------------------
The small stone city of Vergen.
After quite some fuss, Houghton finished measuring Allen's dimensions, left them with a casual "Come pick it up in two months," and then practically shoved Vesemir, Allen, and Mary out of his home.
"Houghton's got a hunter's excitement now. He won't be leaving his home until these two months are over," Vesemir explained with a laugh to Allen and Mary.
"But isn't he the lord of Vergen? Doesn't he need to come out and handle affairs?" Mary was completely puzzled.
As they walked to the stable, Vesemir shook his head, grabbed the reins, and led them outside: "This isn't Mahakam, after all."
"Houghton is only a lord in name. The real management is handled by the humans sent by the king of Aedirn."
"If it weren't for the fact that humans can't adapt to living in such environments and no noble wants to come, this place would never have been entrusted to him."
In fact, disputes between humans and dwarves were far fewer than those with elves, which was fundamentally due to such differences. Elves could live in environments where humans could also settle. But in the places where dwarves could live, humans wouldn't necessarily want to settle.
At least in terms of water needs, an average dwarf required about two-thirds less than a human each day. Of course, this was also related to Mahakam's current policies.
Unlike the elves, who maintained a high stance, looking down on and isolating themselves from humans, Mahakam's dwarf settlements had always upheld an attitude of integrating with humans.
Though the terrain was steep and easy to defend, hard to attack, Mahakam always regarded itself as a vassal state of Temeria, with its steel and weapons sold worldwide, occupying a large portion of the market on the continent.
Many dwarves also migrated and integrated well into local societies, engaging in professions like mercenaries, craftsmen, and artists. Some even joined local noble armies to fight. For elves, this was simply unimaginable.
Along the way, Mary, enjoying her rare freedom, curiously asked Vesemir many similar questions. Although Mary wasn't his apprentice, for certain reasons, the witcher master in the black wide-brimmed hat answered all her questions.
As for the other young witcher master, Allen, he was still immersed in the joy of getting a free epic set of gear. When his body was being measured, he had seen the blueprint Vesemir provided to Houghton.
From the style and the materials on the blueprint, the set was strikingly similar to a gear set from the game, almost identical. That set had a rather modest name— Grandmaster Wolven armor.
It was one of the two best gear sets for the Wolven School in the game.
Allen still remembered that when he played the game, it took him nearly a week of traveling around, loading and reloading saves multiple times, just to collect the entire set. And now, he didn't have to spend a single coin, nor hunt a single monster; he only had to wait twenty days to get it. However, after recovering from the unbelievable surprise, Allen realized that this situation was actually quite normal.
The Wolven School was at its peak now, with no shortage of money. Plus, there were seven witcher masters, and who knows how many high-level monsters they killed each year after descending from the mountain.
The place with the most top-tier monster materials in the world was probably Kaer Morhen.
Even the two sorcerer academies couldn't compare.
How could it be possible that to reward someone with a piece of honorary equipment, they'd need to personally endure hardship to hunt monsters for materials?
That would be too shameful.
The reason that, in later times, witchers had to take contracts to earn money and travel everywhere to hunt monsters for materials to craft a good set of gear...
And often, if they failed to gather the materials properly, they'd have to repeat the whole process multiple times, ending up in such a miserable situation...
Was mainly because they didn't have a solid backing.
With only four or five witchers at Kaer Morhen, it would be impossible to gather all the materials for a decent set of gear without braving the elements.
Snapping out of his joy and excitement, Allen, leading his horse Carrot, suddenly realized they had arrived at the southern city gate, as if they were about to leave Vergen.
"Master Vesemir, where are we going?" Allen asked curiously. "Aren't we staying here for the night?"
Master Vesemir adjusted his black wide-brimmed hat and glanced at the sky: "Now that your witcher gear is sorted, we've done everything we needed to do here..."
"Vergen is dwarf territory, and it's not very comfortable—plus, it's expensive."
"It's not even noon yet. Let's head down the mountain and rest in a human village instead."
"If there's still time, we might even take a contract or two..."
At the mention of contracts, Allen showed no reaction. But Mary straightened up abruptly, her ears perked up: "Are we going to hunt monsters?"
"Hahaha, calling it an adventure would be a stretch, but there could be quite a few monster-hunting contracts," Vesemir seemed to be in a good mood.
Hearing this, Mary became even more excited.
"But don't expect to find the type of monsters you're hoping for. Most of the contracts will just be for drowners," Allen said with a laugh, pouring cold water on her excitement.
Drowners?
Mary's face immediately fell.
She had brewed so much drowner heart extract that she was sick of it. Just hearing the name 'drowner' made her feel queasy.
"Don't listen to him. Hughes, Bond and Fred aren't here. If it's not on our way, we wouldn't even take a drowner contract," Vesemir said, glaring at Allen to cheer Mary up.
And Vesemir wasn't wrong. The kind of monsters you hunted depended on your skill level. Unless there was an emergency or you were short on cash, a witcher master wouldn't compete with ordinary witchers for contracts.
Hearing this, Mary knew Allen was teasing her, and she glared at him in annoyance. Then, she grabbed the reins and marched ahead, walking side by side with Vesemir. Allen, seeing her childish reaction, just smiled and leisurely followed behind.
--------------------
And so, after leaving Vergen, the three of them rode until dusk, arriving at a small town. But to Mary's disappointment, all the town's contracts were for eliminating drowners. So, after spending the night at the town's inn, they set off again on their journey the next day.
And just half a day later, something unexpected finally happened, something Mary had long awaited...
came!
....…
📢20 advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
223. The Monster that Brings Doom.
224. The Staff Belongs to Allen.
225. Want to Enter Stage Two? Have You Asked Me First?
226. Vesemir Doesn't Understand, but He's Greatly Shocked.
227. What is a Killer Whale?