How Much Is an Alpha Wolf?
dark...
The darkness was deep and silent, like the deep sea.
He felt himself sinking and sinking, as if he were about to sink into the deepest part of this lightless world.
Every drop of blood, every muscle, every bone was pulling him down relentlessly, as if calling the traveler back home.
But he couldn't control his body at all, and couldn't even open his eyes. He was like someone trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake up from his deep sleep.
He even forgot how he came into this world.
[yes...]
Why did I come here?
A thought flashed through my mind, like a match lighting a candle.
The soul imprisoned in darkness suddenly stopped sinking, like a ship anchored in the deep sea, neither going forward nor backward, neither going up nor down.
At this moment.
"Click~"
Something seemed to crack open in the silence.
A warm white light flashed by.
Kaer Morhen, Vesemir, Vesemir, Huus...
Images flashed before his eyes, and with each one, he subconsciously called out their names in the silence.
Then...
He began to rise to the surface.
No... no...
He sensed that something was wrong.
My mind shouldn't be so empty...
The next moment.
Two bright links suddenly appeared, and the two waves of joy they brought instantly cleared his mind.
The upward speed suddenly increased, as if a rope was pulling him.
At one moment, he seemed to awaken from a deep sleep, and in an instant, he remembered everything.
[Am I not fighting against Mountain Stone... no... am I dodging Rock Troll being hurled at me by Mountain Stone?]
Why did we suddenly end up here? And where is this place?
The next second.
"Hoo~"
A whale's cry came from behind, seemingly trying to stop them, but more so filled with anger.
The surrounding darkness, as deep as the ocean, surged with the whale's cry, and immense pressure came from ahead, threatening to plunge him back into the abyss.
What happened?
Ailin instinctively struggled to turn around and open his eyes, but his body immediately froze.
A blood-red eye was staring at him.
The eye was so large that it even exceeded the size of the city of Ban Ad, and the tiny witcher felt as if he could reach out and touch its pupil.
Damn it!
What kind of monster is this?
An indescribable fear of the enormous creature made him struggle and shrink back, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
But the darkness behind him was oppressive, pressing him down relentlessly, making it difficult for him to resist.
"Snap!"
Another crisp sound.
A blinding white light shone in the darkness.
A beam of light, only as thick as an index finger, shot out from Ailin's chest and directly towards the huge blood-red pupil.
Seeing this scene, Ailin was suddenly struck by a sense of tragic grandeur, like an ant trying to shake a tree.
Until the next second.
The beam of light is focused on the giant eye.
The pressure behind Ailin suddenly disappeared, and his body moved away from the giant eye at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Boom!"
The enormous sound was deafening.
Ailin instinctively closed his eyes, and after a moment of confusion, a female voice suddenly rang in his mind.
Young girl, woman, old woman.
The indistinguishable timbre of the voice evokes an indescribable sense of sublimity and sacredness.
She said:
"... Child of Miracle... Arland... Quickly..."
Where in Arland?
Ailin quickly asked in his mind.
She seemed to smile slightly and said:
"... You'll know when you wake up..."
Ailin wanted to ask more questions.
At this moment.
He suddenly felt himself surface.
The next moment.
Intense pain struck, every nerve seemed to be convulsing violently, and pain was felt all over my body.
"Ah!"
The pain, which he had never felt before and which seemed to touch his very soul, made him roar involuntarily.
"Ailin, how are you?"
A clear, excited female voice came from not far away.
Following closely behind was a cold, damp cloth, which was used to wipe his face, neck, and body.
Despite the headache, Ailin opened her eyes.
The blurry vision gradually cleared...
Wooden beams, a thatched roof, and hanging blue decorative flowers...
The air was filled with the fresh scent of herbs, and soft light streamed in from the window.
Um?
Shouldn't I be under Viscount Hudson's abandoned mine?
Where is this?
"This..."
The hoarse voice cut into his throat.
Ailin could only utter one word before being stopped by the burning pain in his tonsils.
The next second.
His neck was gently lifted, and the wooden touch appeared on his lips.
Ailin instinctively opened his mouth, like a traveler who had been thirsty in the desert for a long time, and eagerly drank down the sweet water.
"Gurgle gurgle~"
Before we could finish enjoying ourselves, the wooden cup was gone.
"Granny Asha instructed that since your fever has just subsided and you are injured, you can only drink this much water," the woman said softly.
Who is Granny Asha?
besides...
Who are you?
Ailin turned her head to look at the person.
Her skin was as white as snow, as smooth as satin, and her eyes were like the purest sapphires, clear and bright.
Dark golden hair fell to the sides of the witcher's ears, and a pair of pointed, pinkish ears peeked out from the thick hair.
As his hair swayed, he caught a whiff of white roses mixed with cedar wood.
What a beautiful person... an elven girl.
She truly deserves the title "Valley Daisy," even the Sorceress acknowledges her as the most beautiful woman in the world.
"Ailin exclaimed in admiration."
Although this was the first time he had seen Francesca's face through the mask, he recognized her the moment his gaze fell upon those deep blue eyes.
Where am I?
After drinking a sip of water, Ailin's voice was still hoarse, but he could speak normally.
The elven girl frowned slightly, looking somewhat troubled for some reason.
"Hey! Is the little one awake?"
A loud voice came from the doorway.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a plump middle-aged woman walking in from the doorway with a smile.
A thought flashed through Erin's mind, Ailin realized that this was most likely the Granny Asha that Francesca had mentioned.
Granny Asha, her hands trembling slightly, carried in a bowl of black liquid. Seeing Ailin rise, she calmly approached.
"Little guy, you've really worried your sister."
elder sister?
Ailin couldn't help but look at Francesca.
Francesca blushed and tilted her head to look away.
"... decocting medicine, changing dressings, feeding medicine, washing the body, applying ointment..." Granny Asha muttered as she walked, "Although she was clumsy at first, at least she learned diligently and quickly..."
"Ah, if only my little Little Crazy could be as quiet, domestic, and caring as Francesca..."
Quiet and domestic?
Quiet?
Are you serious?
besides...
The bandages on my body were all changed by this clumsy elf?
Ailin paused for a moment upon hearing this, then glanced instinctively at the clean bandages covering his body before looking at Francesca with surprise.
A fiery blush rose on her cheeks, and Francesca twisted the hem of her gray linen skirt in her hands, lowering her head.
Granny Asha grumbled as she handed the bowl of medicine to Francesca: "If it weren't for your sister these past few days..."
These past few days?
Ailin was stunned. After drinking the bitter medicine, he quickly asked in a hoarse voice:
How many days have I been here?
"It's been three days." Granny Asha, thinking he was worried about her injuries, took the wooden bowl with trembling hands and said:
"Don't worry, little one, Granny Asha learned herbalism and medicine at the Temple of Melitele in Arland. With injuries like yours, you'll be able to get out of bed in two weeks."
"Don't worry about the cost of medicine. The owner here is kind-hearted, so you can stay as long as you like."
"Adeline, help your brother change his dressing. I need to go to the castle to check on the lady's condition."
With that, Granny Asha took the bowl and walked out of the house.
Three days?
Three days have already passed!
What about the commission? What happened to the human couple? Did the king and the wizard find them?
And Vesemir...
Vesemir and Huus are still waiting for me at the inn. They must be very worried about me since I haven't been back for so long...
When Ailin heard that three days had passed, he was completely stunned.
In his hazy, confused mind, a barrage of questions came rushing in, making his head ache as if it were splitting open.
"Ailin, let me change your bandages," Francesca said softly.
"Wait!" Ailin said in a hoarse voice, looking at the leather armor and clothes placed by the bedside. "Feed me that bottle of emerald green potion from my reagent bag."
Francesca's subordinate paused for a moment, glanced at Ailin, and then obediently took out "Veridian Sigh" from the reagent bag.
The cold liquid went down her throat, and Ailin glanced at Francesca.
The future queen of the elves looked to be about the same age as him, around fourteen or fifteen years old.
Thinking about how the pampered "princess" had clumsily taken care of him while he was unconscious these past few days, Ailin's anger dissipated considerably.
Why would an adult like him get angry with a child?
Although this child may be older than his two lifetimes combined.
"Don't worry if I experience any unusual symptoms later; it's all normal," Ailin gently reminded me.
Francesca, who thought she would be scolded, was taken aback when she heard the Witcher's gentle words and nodded obediently.
Half a minute later.
The intense pain arrived as expected, like scorching lava spreading through every corner of his body.
Muscles, bones, nerves...
Every part of it is burning and growing.
Ailin's forehead veins bulged with pain, his face contorted as he bit down hard on the gray linen blanket, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
If he hadn't seen how Bont took the potion and was already prepared, he would have screamed by now.
Francesca watched this scene with her brows furrowed and her hands clasped together. She stood up and sat down several times, as if she had needles stuck in her seat.
About ten minutes later.
"Phew~"
After exhaling the flax blanket, Ailin let out a long sigh of relief.
"Do you... do you need your dressing changed?" Francesca asked cautiously.
Ailin glanced at the "Valley Daisy," whose forehead was covered in just as many beads of sweat as his, and shook his head:
"No..."
Before she could finish speaking, Ailin refused Francesca's help, put on her shoes, and stood on the ground.
"I think I don't need to change my medication anymore!"
Francesca was stunned.
Having cared for the Witcher for three days, changing his dressings every day, she knew best about Ailin's injuries—bruises covering almost his entire body and as many as seven fractures.
Granny Asha said that it would take two weeks to get out of bed, but it would take at least a month to be able to move around freely.
What kind of magic potion is this?
One bottle was all it took to fully recover!
Francesca lowered her head and pondered.
The medicine, a vibrant emerald green, resembled the exquisite beauty of new buds in early spring...
The effect of almost complete repair...
She seemed to vaguely remember it.
"Francesca, where is this place? Aren't we in a cave?" Ailin's voice interrupted her thoughts.
The Witcher tore off the bandages from his body, wiped himself clean, put on his badly tattered leather armor, and fastened his sword scabbard.
Then, as he walked outside, he asked questions.
"Squeak~"
The witcher pushed open the wooden door of the house.
Francesca's somewhat strange reply came from behind at that moment.
"Hundred Fruit Garden".
"Granny Asha said this is the Hundred Fruit Garden."
Yadai Town.
The Count Burns ' estate.
"Bang!"
The meat and bones were thrown into the plate with a loud thud.
"What!"
"You said the soldiers stationed at the Royal Guard suffered heavy casualties?"
King Kedwen's furious voice was deafening.
The knight, clad in royal guard armor, knelt on one knee before the table, trembling under the king's fury, and said:
"The night before last... the night before last, two petty thieves sneaked into the camp with malicious intent. After being discovered by the guards, they fled to an abandoned mine deep inside the camp..."
"... Sir Wright, upon receiving the report, immediately led ten King's Guard and over forty elite guards down into the mine to capture the thieves... and then... and then..."
"And what happened?" Haxor roared. "And they were all wiped out?"
The terrified knight broke out in a cold sweat, cursing inwardly at the vice-commander who had made things difficult for him and assigned him to report on the battle losses. However, under the king's fierce gaze, he could only continue:
"In the end... Sir Wright's party happened to encounter a horde of enraged Rock Troll..."
Swallowing hard, the knight reported the outcome:
"Sir Wright and ten knights went down the path of glory, while the other guards perished in the cave."
"The specifics were only discovered after the deputy commander noticed something was wrong and sent out five scouts, who died... three of them died,"
"Bang!"
The silver basin filled with roasted meat was thrown directly onto the ground.
The blood-stained sauce splattered onto the knight's face, causing him to lower his head in fear.
"Then why did you only report this to me now?"
"This is the third day already? Is the Imperial Guard's camp really that far from here?"
The king's voice lowered, which only made the knight more afraid.
He was one of the older guards and knew that the king at this time was a madman, capable of anything.
Therefore, he dared not follow the deputy commander's words to appease Haxor, and truthfully replied:
"Deputy... Deputy Regiment Commander, I... I felt that we couldn't come here to report without any results."
"The next day, they sent thirty knights, one hundred guards, and two accompanying wizards..."
"And then what happened?"
Haxor interrupted with a suppressed voice, sounding like a lion's growl.
"In the end... three knights died, seventy-six guards were killed, eleven knights were seriously wounded, and two accompanying wizards fled in fear..."
The knight lowered his head even further.
"Very well, very well! Just because of two petty thieves, fourteen knights and a hundred elite soldiers have died!"
With a thud, Haxor sat back down in his seat, frowning but not asking why he was only reporting now.
The mess he's made is so huge, so many noblemen have died, his dear brother, the deputy commander of the King's Guard, will definitely need time to use his family connections to smooth things over...
Damn piece of trash!
They don't do anything, they can't even guard the house properly!
"Thump~ thump~"
The room was completely silent, except for the tapping of Haxor's index finger on the table.
A few seconds later, he suddenly thought of something, his eyes lit up, and then he turned his head and shouted:
"Walley!"
"Go and invite Grandmaster Soyer over."
The servant named Wally bowed and said yes, then left the room.
"Dart!"
Haxor rubbed the oak tabletop with his right palm, pondered for a moment, then gave the order:
"Go ask the stray cats how the quest is going, and then ask them..."
How much does an alpha wolf cost?
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