Soyer Henriette

afternoon.

Castle ruins.

"Bang!"

The dark stones were pushed aside, revealing a dark passage.

Inside Viscount Hudson's castle, there were charred marks everywhere, as if a great fire had completely burned the place into ruins.

But in reality...

The main structure of the castle was miraculously undamaged.

"This must be man-made," Ailin thought.

When a real fire starts, even the hardest rock will crack from the intense heat.

Even concrete buildings from the previous era could hardly survive the merciless flames, so how come this medieval castle is so intact?

"Um... Ailin, is it right to apply the Specter Oil to the Silver Sword now?"

Vesemir took out a bottle of oily potion with a hazy blue glow from the reagent pouch at his waist and asked somewhat hesitantly.

Although he had learned the recipe for Necrophage Oil, he had never used this potion that Ailin called Sword Oil.

after all.

For him, whether or not he applied the Sword Oil to the water ghosts and Ghoul was irrelevant; it was all just a matter of one strike.

"Yes, Master Vesemir."

As Ailin spoke, he also took out a bottle of Specter Oil from the bag at his waist.

Although the specific recipes and mixing methods for the unlocked Sword Oil and Witcher potions are unknown.

But he still remembered some of the common solvents in the formula.

Therefore, it is worth considering that the recipe might be obtained outside.

Before leaving Kaer Morhen, Ailin made a point of getting some Dwarven Strong Alcohol, Dog Oil, and bear fat—common potion solvents—from the Sorceress and putting them in his baggage.

After obtaining the recipe, I went to the herbal medicine shop in the Hundred Fruit Garden and spent 30 copper coins to buy six portions of flea venom. I borrowed the herbal medicine shop owner's crucible for 1 copper coin and quickly prepared six bottles of Specter Oil.

It doesn't affect our continued exploration of the castle ruins at all.

"Pop~"

Open the bottle and slowly pour one-third of the Sword Oil into Elsa's mouth.

Spin the sword.

After two or three laps, the beautifully decorated silver sword was covered with a light blue light.

Vesemir watched his movements closely and, imitating Ailin, applied the Sword Oil as well.

Then, the two exchanged a glance, picked up their silver swords, and walked into the dark passage...

Yadai Town.

The Count Burns ' estate.

The Yadai Town is not far from the Hundred Fruit Garden.

After settling the injured Fago in, Serio followed Fowler on horseback for about half an hour.

The heavily guarded manor, nestled among the trees, came into view before them.

Serio glanced at Fowler, who was leading the way on horseback, and quietly pulled his horse closer to Bowen, whispering:

"Bowen, Fago is injured and can't come. Fowler also heard that he was injured because of a demon..."

"We can't hide the fact that we've been to the abandoned castle."

Bowen gently tugged on the reins, slowing the pace, and said:

"I've been thinking about this the whole way."

"Captain Serio, let's just tell the truth."

"Tell the truth?" Serio asked in surprise, then realized he had spoken a bit too loudly and glanced at Fowler in front of him.

Fowler led the way as usual, the sound of horses' hooves masking their conversation.

"You don't even know who's behind this? Aren't you afraid of being exposed?" Serio said.

Bowen shook his head and said:

"Just as you said, Fago was injured first, and then the matter of the Witcher was exposed. The fact that we spent time with the Witchers in the castle ruins can no longer be concealed."

"If witchers accept a commission normally, they may not necessarily help us cover it up if someone asks."

"So this is something that can't be avoided."

"Since the covert approach isn't working, let's test the king's attitude openly."

"My family and I only want to reclaim the castle and the fiefdom. Compared to that, the truth about the death of Viscount Hudson is insignificant."

"Besides, no matter what, the death of the Viscount's family and the burning of the castle happened ten years ago."

"No matter who is behind it all, even if it is the king, ten years is a long time. He should have done what he needed to do and obtained what he was supposed to obtain."

"There's no reason for them to react too strongly to a nobleman's right to inherit a property and to reclaim his fiefdom."

Serio breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Indeed, even if the king has leverage over the matter, it is normal for nobles to try to reclaim their family castles and fiefdoms as long as he has not made a formal judgment.

but...

Serio glanced at the young knight whose brows had involuntarily furrowed.

Obviously.

Bowen was not as calm and collected as he claimed.

After all, while the demands were normal, King Haxor, who was jokingly called "the Glutton" by the common people and nobles, was not normal.

But there's nothing we can do.

The king's summons came too suddenly, and the two had no time to prepare. So even though they couldn't guess Haxor's reaction, they had no choice but to bite the bullet and proceed with the new plan.

Otherwise, if the matter is exposed, they, as the King's Guard, will only be in a more passive position.

Upon entering the manor, Serio and Bowen, guided by the manor servants, removed their armor and weapons and changed into noble attire.

Even as the king's personal guards, these noble sons found it difficult to gain the king's complete trust.

Every time they had an audience with the king, they had to remove all their armor.

"Squeak~"

The dark wooden door opened.

The aroma of roasted meat and fine wine wafted over.

"Your Majesty."

After entering the room, Serio and Bowen knelt respectfully on one knee, without looking to the side.

The chewing sounds abruptly stopped.

"Regarding the elves... um... there's another person, Serio? You were attacked by elves?"

Haxor put down the blood-stained bone, and before he could finish speaking, he noticed something was wrong.

"Your Majesty, Fago was scratched by a demon and is currently receiving treatment at the town mayor's place in the Hundred Fruit Garden."

"Demon spirit?"

A deep, middle-aged man's voice suddenly came from Serio's right side.

Who is so bold? Daring to be so presumptuous in front of the king... Serio subconsciously turned his head to look over, and just happened to see a pair of silver Cat Eyes.

Looking further down, the flat, silver metal badge gleamed.

School of the Wolf Witcher?

No, the School of the Wolf's emblem isn't like that.

"This is Soyer Henrietta, the Grand Master of the School of the Wolf of Witchcraft and Dragon Slayer, and also the eldest son of the Grand Duke of Toussaint, or rather, the former."

To Serio's left, someone seemed to have read his mind and said in a deep voice.

It really is a Witcher from the School of the Wolf, but what is that voice?

Before Serio could turn his head to look, the voice continued:

"I am Jens, the vice dean of Ben Ade."

"Jens!" Haxor growled.

"I apologize, Your Majesty, I forgot that I shouldn't have used mind-reading in your presence..."

The voice responded flippantly, clearly not caring much about Haxor's attitude.

Upon hearing Serio immediately turned his head to look.

A young man wearing a tall, pointed hat made eye contact with him and even smiled at him.

Was he mind-read?

What was read?

"I haven't read anything yet," the flippant voice continued.

"Rest assured, under the majestic power of your noble king, I am so trembling that I can't read anything."

"I can tell that from your straightforward face."

"Jens!!!" Haxor roared, slamming the bone in his hand into the silver basin with a grim face.

"Alright, alright, I'll shut up, I'll shut up..." The wizard named Jens shrugged, raised the corner of his mouth, and smiled at Serio again.

Serio didn't dare to look any longer and quickly lowered his head.

With a wizard and a dragon-slaying witcher, it's no wonder the king summoned his guards back.

Seeing that Jens had calmed down, Haxor was about to ask for more details when he suddenly remembered something, frowned, and asked:

"Wait, you said Hundred Fruit Garden?"

Seeing the king's thoughtful expression, Serio's heart sank.

How could an ordinary small town possibly provoke the king's thoughts? This was not a good thing for either him or Bowen.

He was starting to regret it; the water in the castle ruins seemed to be deeper than he had imagined.

However, since the king asked, he still braced himself and said:

"Yes, Fago is currently recovering at the Hundred Fruit Garden."

At this moment, the wizard next to Jens seemed to remember something, and his expression suddenly changed drastically.

He tilted his head close to Jens ' ear, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly.

Jens's expression gradually changed from nonchalant to serious.

"The Hundred Fruit Garden you mentioned... isn't there a castle ruin nearby?" he asked.

Serio looked up at the king, saw Haxor frowning, nodded, and then said:

"There is indeed a castle ruin in the Hundred Fruit Garden. It was there that Fago was wounded by the demon."

Upon hearing this, Haxor instinctively exchanged a glance with Jens. Seeing Jens nod, his face immediately darkened, and he was about to reprimand him.

Suddenly noticing Soyer standing to the side, he suppressed his anger and asked:

What's the current situation with those castle ruins?

Castle ruins.

The clang of metal rang out, and sparks flew from the sound, illuminating for a moment the handsome, angular face beneath the Black Wide-brimmed Hat.

Then, in the next instant.

Spin.

Cut!

The pale blue light, following the force of the bounce, quickly spun into a bright fan shape and pierced through the demon's belly.

"Whoosh!"

It was a sound like water suddenly vaporizing.

The point where the silver sword intertwined with the spirit seemed to boil over, and after a significant twist, the spirit's translucent body suddenly froze.

In the next second, it shattered into countless green, blue, and purple grains of sand.

However, this witcher, wearing a strange hat in the dimly lit room, did not stop to rest after killing a demon. Instead, he turned his gaze to the next demon.

That's right.

This witcher is none other than Vesemir.

He's gone mad with killing!

"Ailin is a genius; he even thought of a potion like Specter Oil." Vesemir twirled and brandished his sword, inwardly exhilarated.

He hadn't paid much attention to the Necrophage Oil before, since these kinds of physical creatures were just a matter of one sword strike, and the effect wasn't noticeable for them, the Witcher Master.

But Specter Oil is different.

No demon hunter who has ever hunted demons can refuse Specter Oil.

Absolutely not!

Although I don't know why Ailin's Witcher's Eye can kill a demon spirit in one hit.

However, the speed at which the demons are eliminated has little to do with the demon hunter's own strength; it simply relies on the slow mutual cancellation between the silver and the spirit.

No matter how strong a demon hunter is, at most he can deal with multiple demons at the same time without taking any damage.

Each demon still takes a very long time to eliminate.

Vesemir even calculated when he was bored that it would take about 230 strikes with an ordinary silver sword to kill a single demon.

Mechanical and cumbersome, lacking any of the usual thrilling and exhilarating feeling of combat.

But after Ailin created this Specter Oil...

Three swords and one demon spirit.

If the sword pierces deep enough into a spirit, it can even kill one with a single strike.

"Whoosh!"

Another demon has departed this world.

"Cool!"

Vesemir let out a hearty roar, ignoring the end of the Yrden Sign's duration, and swiftly pounced on the next wraith.

Vesemir had a good time killing.

but.

Ailin, who was not far behind Vesemir, was not happy.

He even regretted refining the Specter Oil ahead of time and giving it to the Witcher Master.

He watched as Vesemir danced gracefully and fluidly within the dimly lit castle.

After each change in the rhythm of the dance steps, a demon spirit, glowing green, would let out a final, mournful cry before disappearing, leaving behind a pile of materials.

In just three minutes,

Of the ten demons they suddenly encountered, six were turned into materials by Vesemir's sword.

"Master Vesemir, don't kill them all! Give me a few!"

Seeing the Witcher Master wielding his sword and killing another demon spirit not far away, Ailin quickly shouted.

He ducked to dodge the slow-moving sword swung by the demon, then spun around on his left foot and flashed away with a sword.

A vaporizing sound also came from inside the demon's belly, before it shattered into black powder.

"Whoosh!"

A violent vaporization sound came from both sides of the body at the same time.

Ailin turned his head and looked.

The last demon spirit disappeared with a flash of green light almost at the same time as the one he killed.

"Bite!"

[Slay the Lv38 Monster Horde "Yokai"!]

[Rewards Settlement: Victory over the Enemy, Base Rating D, Killing a Level Above the Enemy +3 - C, Decapitation Intimidation +3 - B]

Final rating: B

[Loot obtained: 2 Nekker's Purified Spirit, 9 Experience Orbs, 4 Nekker's Chest]

Yes.

Of the ten spirits, Ailin only managed to snatch two.

After discovering the special effects of the Specter Oil, Vesemir seemed determined to end the frustrating days of mechanically hunting ghosts with his sword, and he had only used Yrden once.

He chased after the demon spirit like a madman, hacking at it.

"Cough cough~"

"Ailin, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop myself for a moment."

Under Ailin's resentful gaze, Vesemir coughed twice and explained.

Ailin: "..."

When he spoke up to remind her, Vesemir was still in the corner.

This isn't just about not being able to stop; it's about having so much fun killing that he doesn't want to stop.

Moreover, this wasn't the first or second time; all three waves of demons encountered after entering the castle were like this.

"Um, Ailin ... your Specter Oil is really useful..." Vesemir wanted to change the subject, but under Ailin's silent gaze, he finally agreed, "Next time we encounter a ghost spirit, I'll give it to you... give you a few."

Ailin nodded and collected all the spoils on the ground into glass bottles.

Looking at the two piles of spoils left by the demons on the ground, Vesemir glanced at Ailin and tacitly refrained from pointing out the difference between the two piles of spoils.

After packing up the spoils.

They searched the entire castle, but no other spirits appeared.

Vesemir's promise has fallen through.

However, that's not the point.

The key point is that although the two witchers had collected all the bones.

But these bones provide no other clues besides indicating that these people did not die in the fire.

Especially the clues about the human couple.

"There must be something wrong with the environment here, otherwise these demons wouldn't be able to appear during the day!"

"If only witchers could sense magic like wizards!"

Vesemir looked at the mountain of pale bones and sighed.

Feel the magic?

Ailin grasped the key words.

He gently touched the School Emblem on his chest with his right hand, thinking:

"I can't sense the magic, but I can see it!"