Woman in the Camp

night.

The starry sky hangs low.

The faint light cast by the crescent moon and stars is insufficient to illuminate the world, let alone in this valley.

Hidden by the towering rock walls, the camp received only a faint glimmer of starlight and moonlight.

In addition, there were abandoned, tall wooden frames that had no known purpose, and various piles of stones.

"It's a great place for stealth assassinations."

"This is what Ailin, a seasoned keyboard assassin from my previous life, commented from behind a supply crate in a corner of the camp."

"Thump~ thump~ thump~"

Seven or eight soldiers, each carrying a finely crafted spear and dressed in finely tanned leather armor, patrolled along the main road of the camp.

Ailin quickly ducked into the shadow of the supply crate, watching the soldiers' backs as he felt a strange sense of excitement.

He had an urge to follow them and slit the throats of those guards with a single sword stroke.

"As long as I kill everyone who sees me, it will be a successful stealth."

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind, but the young witcher shook his head violently, banishing the terrible idea.

Calm down! Calm down!

This is reality, not a game!

His goal wasn't simply to kill an important target within the camp.

He must re-track the trajectory formed by the black magical dots, find the human couple, and ultimately escort them safely out of the camp.

Killing these guards would be pointless given this objective.

"Thump~ thump~ thump~"

Another group of guards passed by, illuminated by the blazing torches on both sides of the main road, interrupting his reverie.

If they had just paid a little attention and checked the pile of supply crates, Ailin would have been exposed and would most likely have died in this unknown makeshift camp.

Thinking of this, the young witcher's heart raced and his breathing quickened.

It's as if...

The guards who were slowly approaching could suddenly turn their attention to this supply crate at any moment.

Following a series of commands such as "Alert!" and "Approach the enemy!", the sharp spearheads thrust forward, charging towards him.

"Thump~ thump~ thump~"

As the guard drew closer, the young witcher's heartbeat pounded like a war drum in his ears, a sound that echoed as his reverie deepened.

fortunately,

This group of guards also failed to spot Ailin, and like the patrol team ahead, they gradually moved away in the dim, flickering firelight.

"Call!"

Ailin breathed a sigh of relief.

The young witcher's mind was filled with all sorts of unrealistic and wild thoughts...

One moment she wants to follow and assassinate like she did in her past life's game, and the next she's filled with fear and paranoia...

One reason is that he had never done anything like stealth assassination before, especially in an environment with hundreds of elite soldiers.

The School of the Wolf is not, after all, a cat or a viper.

The enemies they faced were mostly monsters, and Vesemir hadn't taught them how to escape thousands of miles away after missing a single blow while surrounded.

On the other hand...

Name: Ailin

[HP: 100%, Stamina: 310/310, MP: 373/410]

He was waiting for his magic to return.

"Thump~ thump~ thump~"

Another patrol team of guards came by.

As they happened to walk past him, Ailin's entire body rippled like the surface of water.

It then blended into the pitch-black night of the camp.

At this moment.

The last soldier on patrol seemed to sense something and turned his head to look back warily.

"What's wrong, Teres?" the soldier next to him asked, puzzled.

"Uh... it's nothing, I just felt like something moved behind me." Having found nothing, Teres glanced behind him again.

"Hiss~"

The soldier next to him gasped and, following his gaze, looked warily behind him.

In the dim, flickering firelight, there was nothing behind it.

"Don't scare me, Teresa."

"Ban Ade is a really eerie place. There's a town nearby that supposedly has a haunted castle, full of wandering ghosts..."

The soldier known as Teres scratched his head sheepishly, about to speak.

"Soldiers! What are you chatting about?"

A loud shout from the front of the group interrupted them.

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, then immediately shut their mouths and continued their patrol.

"Phew~"

Behind the two soldiers, under the cover of the illusion, Ailin quietly exhaled a breath of stale air.

Mirage Pearl - Illusion.

Since using the Mirage Pearl to create an illusion and evade the Drowners King's fatal blow.

Ailin never relaxed his practice of the mirage pearl, and would spend at least an hour every day exploring how to construct illusions.

Hard work pays off.

The young witcher, using the illusion created by the Mirage Pearl, went from a blurry, flat image like a photograph or oil painting. After becoming familiar with the Mirage Pearl and greatly enhancing its mystery and magic, he could now create a three-dimensional illusion of sixteen cubic meters, roughly the size of an ordinary room, under extreme conditions.

Of course, this 16-cubic-meter 3D illusion lasts only a short time, probably only about two seconds.

Moreover, when the light is bright, the illusion created by Ailin, although very similar to the original, is very incongruous, and the details are severely distorted.

fortunately.

It's nighttime now, so such extreme effects aren't necessary.

A dark, illusory scene simulating the normal landscape of a camp would suffice.

"The soldiers in this camp are definitely elite."

He crouched low and followed behind the guard.

The School of the Cat Two-Handed Sword LV3 makes his movements more agile, his steps lighter, and his landings silent.

Even if you are only one meter away from the guard in front, you will not be detected.

This is something that the footwork of the School of the Wolf Two-Handed Sword cannot achieve.

After walking for about ten more meters, a deep, dark cave appeared at the front of the group.

A cave?

Is this the place?

Immediately linking the Wolf Emblem to his mind, Ailin focused intently on observing it.

In mid-air, there did indeed appear to be a line formed from a small black dot.

The black line extends in the direction of the cave ahead.

We've found the place!

Ailin's eyes lit up immediately, and he looked around.

A pile of stones as tall as a person, fallen and broken logs, and...

Um?

Is this a mining cart?

Just as the young witcher was about to examine the scene closely, a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him.

Not good!

I'm out of magic!

Ailin immediately broke away from the guards' patrol route, maintaining the illusion as he quickly walked to the cave entrance, to the large pile of stones as tall as a person.

The moment he hid behind the pile of stones, his magic was completely depleted, and a sense of emptiness washed over Ailin's mind.

Yes.

Even a dark, rough, flat illusion can only last for two minutes with Ailin's current magic power.

therefore.

The young witcher wandered around the camp, stopping and starting frequently, spending most of his time hiding in a small corner waiting for his magic to regenerate.

"Phew~"

Leaning against a Big Stone, Ailin let out a long breath.

There was no one in front of the dark cave, except for an abandoned mine cart parked on the tracks.

This place must have been a mine.

Thinking of this, Ailin frowned slightly.

A mine?

It seems like I've heard it somewhere before?

The young witcher lowered his head in thought.

"Who are you?"

The sudden sound from behind made the young witcher, who was deep in thought, shudder.

He instinctively turned to draw his sword, but then felt something pressing against his heart in the back of his back.

The sharp sensation made his hair stand on end, instantly stopping his body's instinctive reaction.

What happened?

I clearly didn't see anyone behind this pile of stones just now.

"Answer me! Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you suddenly here?"

His voice was deep but serious.

At the same time, the sharp sensation on the back of the Witcher near the heart is even stronger, and it is even a little painful.

However, Ailin breathed a sigh of relief.

Because this time he heard it clearly.

The voice hiding behind him was a woman's voice, and it was virtually impossible for women to appear in Kedwen's human army.

There couldn't possibly be a woman carrying a weapon.

unless...

This woman was not with the Kedwen in the camp.

"As you can see, I carry two swords," the Witcher tried to turn around, but the increasing stinging pain in his back stopped him. "So I am a Witcher, a Witcher of the School of the Wolf."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ailin felt the stinging pain behind him lessen slightly.

"What are you doing here? And why are you sneaking around like this? Isn't this human territory?"

Human territory?

The words were filled with deep hostility towards humanity!

Was the person behind me not human after all?

After a moment's consideration, Ailin spoke the truth, saying:

"I received a request from an elf a few days ago, and I'm trying to complete it now."

"Which spirit, and what request?"

"A red-haired female elf gave me a commission in my mind."

"Red hair, and she can even enter your mind—it's Ida!"

The woman behind him sounded surprised, and even the weapon pressed against Ailin's back completely loosened its grip.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Witcher took a sudden step forward and then turned around instantly.

A tall, slender figure in a black bodysuit appeared before him.

She held up a gleaming dagger, her eyes wide with surprise, peeking out from behind her black mask and headscarf.

They seemed surprised by the audacity of the witcher before them.

For Ailin, it was too late to draw his sword or use a spell at this point. Moreover, the newcomers were not yet friend or foe, and they were in a heavily guarded camp of the Kedwen army, so it was not appropriate to make a big commotion.

And so.

Ailin took a step forward abruptly, his right palm facing upwards, and instantly flicked upwards.

With lightning speed, before the man in black could even react, she grabbed his wrist, the one holding the dagger, amidst his surprised gaze.

So weak!

Feeling the strength in the man in black's hand, the Witcher opened his mouth slightly, his eyes filled with confusion.

He hadn't expected to disarm the enemy so easily.

"Didn't you notice that this person was suffering from the side effects of running out of magic power?" Ailin, somewhat puzzled.

With a gentle shake, I grasped the other person's slender wrist with my right hand.

The gleaming dagger fell instantly, only to be caught by a pair of hands covered in thick calluses.

The next moment.

The blade of the dagger was already pressed against the man in black's neck.

The young witcher completed this series of actions within three seconds.

The man in black only felt a shadowy figure flash before his eyes, and then the blade of his beloved dagger was pointed at his neck.

How... how is that possible?

Who exactly is this Witcher?

Oh, right... Ida.

He just said that he is a witcher commissioned by Ian Savigny.

A jumble of thoughts flooded her mind, and the black-clad woman's beautiful eyes widened in shock.

"Phew~"

He exhaled a breath of stale air.

Ailin gripped the dagger in his hand, glanced at the patrolling soldiers in the camp, and quietly calmed his breathing, which was somewhat disordered due to the intense activity in a short period of time.

This was the first time he had used a technique from the School of the Cat Two-Handed Sword at level 3.

This grappling-like move is an advanced technique used by School of the Cat Witchers to knock their longswords away or disarm enemies in narrow terrain.

This was also the first time Ailin had used a technique specifically designed for humans that was not found in the School of the Wolf swordsmanship, and it felt quite peculiar.

After all, there aren't many monsters who know how to use weapons.

"Very well, now it's my turn to ask a question."

"Who are you, this 'elf lady' who suddenly appeared?"

What are you doing here?

"Also... who is this Ada you mentioned?"

"Ailin asked softly."

The man in black, who hadn't reacted much to "Lady Elf," frowned instantly upon hearing the name "Ada," and was about to speak.

Sudden.

The dagger that was pressed against his neck suddenly loosened.

She saw the strange witcher before her, and after sheathing his dagger, he flipped his wrist and placed the intricately carved wooden handle of the dagger in her hand.

What... what does this mean?

The man in black felt a little strange, but after hesitating for a moment, he still took the dagger.

"Lady elf, can you now tell me why you are here?"

"Ailin said softly."

"Aren't you... aren't you afraid I'll use this dagger on you again?"

A clear, melodious sound, like the gentle babbling of a mountain spring, suddenly came from behind the mask of the man in black.

Ailin paused for a moment, staring at the deep blue eyes peeking out from between the mask and headscarf.

"Is this her real voice?" he thought. "It's quite nice."

Then he shook his head and said:

"No, since you didn't hurt me in the first place, you must have realized it."

"Lying slyly in this camp, I, like you who are equally 'sly,' was not invited in by Kedwen's army."

"Perhaps we share the same goal, don't you think?"

Despite saying that, Ailin was actually not afraid that the unknown man in black would get the dagger.

He noticed this when he was grabbing the dagger; the man in black was very weak, extremely weak.

With such a weak and powerless wrist, the weapon fell off with the slightest shake. It's likely that the user doesn't even have a single melee skill above level 1. What's there to be afraid of?

It would be better to return the dagger, leave a good impression, and boost your favorability.

When the man in black heard himself described as "sneaky," his brows furrowed slightly, then he remembered that he had been sent by Ada.

He then relaxed his brows and nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Ailin smiled and said, "My name is Ailin, a witcher from the School of the Wolf."

The man in black hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the gentle smile on the witcher's face in the dim firelight, he paused for a second before speaking:

"My name is Francesca Fantabay..."

"Ian Shidi...or as you humans call her..."

"An elf."