Old Flames
Hundred Fruit Garden?
Rows of thatched houses, wide streets, and green trees and wildflowers...
This place does look a lot like Hundred Fruit Garden, but it's definitely not the Hundred Fruit Garden he visited.
Ailin's Cat Eyes narrowed to vertical lines as she stared intently at the familiar herbal medicine shop across the street.
If this really is the Hundred Fruit Garden he knows.
The room he was in now was probably the inn where the witchers from Hundred Fruit Garden were staying.
But if not...
How could the layout of the street, the style of the herbal medicine shop across the street, and even the location of the well not far away be exactly the same?
"This... how is this possible?"
Leaning against the doorframe, Ailin muttered to himself in surprise.
The disorienting feeling of the vast changes of time in his mind was overwhelming, as if he had been unconscious for not three days, but thirty years.
Oh, right!
Coma!
Ailin immediately turned to Francesca and asked:
"How did we get here? I mean, how did we escape from the Rock Troll?"
"Teleported here," Francesca trembled upon hearing this, "Back then, short-distance teleportation required less Divine Power, but the situation was urgent, so I had to overdraw my Divine Power to teleport..."
"What are the consequences of overdrawing Divine Power for teleportation?" Ailin grasped the key point.
"It will hurt a lot..." Francesca's face paled. "And there's no way to determine the direction and location of the teleportation."
"Random teleportation?" Ailin asked instinctively.
Francesca had never heard of this spell before, but after pondering its meaning for a moment, she nodded.
"Yes, just like you said... uh... random teleportation. In this case, it's possible to be teleported to anywhere."
She paused for a second, then swallowed hard.
"They might even be teleported into a crevice in the rocks..."
After a few seconds of silence to process the information, Ailin asked, "And then we were teleported here?"
Francesca nodded:
"We fell right there in front of the herbal medicine shop across the street. You were covered in injuries and unconscious, and I was also in a daze from exhaustion."
"The owner of the herbal shop—he was a student of Granny Asha —saw us and brought us all over..."
Ailin fell into deep thought; he felt that something was amiss.
coma...
Yes, he had almost forgotten that bizarre dream.
That endlessly sinking, helpless, and uncontrollable dark space; those blood-red eyes that send chills down your spine even with a fleeting recollection; that sacred voice that blended the timbres of a young girl, a woman, and an old woman...
Why would he have this dream?
[... Wear this amulet at all times... Do not use portal spells...]
Lady Vesemir's cool voice echoed in my mind.
Short-distance teleportation is still teleportation.
Therefore, that eye is the Evil God that constructs the Swamp Hag worship that makes up the Jingguan)...
And that voice...
"The characteristics are already very obvious: a young girl, a woman, and an old woman."
"Therefore, the voice in my dream that resembled the Goddess Meritellie was telling me to go to the Temple of Melitele in Arland!"
"You'll find out when you wake up, as you'll know."
Ailin thought to himself.
With a change of heart, he took out the Goddess Meritellie's Amulet from his chest.
"Huh?"
Ailin frowned, quickly raised the amulet, and examined it carefully.
In the three holy images of the silver amulet, both the girl and the woman have a dark crack on their bodies.
After a moment's recollection, Ailin remembered hearing two "click" sounds in his dream.
After a voice rang out, he remembered the faces of many people and stopped sinking.
Another sound rang out as a beam of light appeared directly from his chest, striking his large eyeball and breaking through the pressure preventing him from rising.
What would happen if you completely sank into a dream?
The moment the thought popped into his mind, a strong palpitation seemed to come from the depths of his soul, causing him to instantly and completely abandon the dangerous idea.
"Thanks to the Meritellie amulet given to me by Lady Vesemir, otherwise..." Ailin trembled all over.
His gaze returned to the cracks on the amulet.
Clearly, this amulet can only passively defend against one instance of damage from Evil God.
By the way, Lady Vesemir.
It's been three days already, why hasn't the lovebird that requested the "Veridian Sigh" potion returned yet?
Even if Lady Vesemir is not in the castle, Mary will definitely return the lovebird within a day.
This was something they had agreed upon.
Ailin's brows were almost furrowed together.
"We can't even find lovebirds here, what kind of hellish place is this?"
Yadai Town.
The entrance to the Count Burns' manor.
"Who goes there!"
The King's Guard placed his right hand on the hilt of his longsword, watching warily the suspicious man on horseback wearing a black hood.
If it weren't for the fact that the horse beneath that man had strong, powerful limbs and a glossy coat, it would have been clearly quite valuable.
Upon closer inspection, they noticed the suspicious person's hooded cape; although the color was ordinary, the material was clearly expensive silk.
People who aren't notified in advance would have been taken down long ago.
Hearing the hostile question, the suspicious man stepped out of the stirrup, jumped off the saddle, removed his hood, and said expressionlessly:
"I am Vesemir, Vesemir of Toussaint."
"I'm here to see Soyer Henrietta, the Grand Master of the School of the Wolf in Kaer Morhen. Please inform him."
"Vesemir of Toussaint ..." A middle-aged knight, at least thirty years old, among the King's Guard pondered for a few seconds before his face suddenly turned pale.
"Vesemir of Toussaint? Are you the Bloody Red Fox?"
"Clang!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a commotion broke out at the doorway.
The older guards turned pale and involuntarily raised their longswords slightly, revealing gleaming scabbards.
A young guard, just recovering from his reverie over the Sorceress's exquisite beauty, noticed his seniors' flustered expressions and asked in a low voice, puzzled:
Who is Vesemir of Toussaint?
But nobody paid him any attention.
"Could you please inform them?" The cold female voice clearly carried a hint of impatience.
"Yes, ma'am."
Upon hearing this, the captain of the guards responsible for protecting the manor immediately stepped forward, bowed to the Sorceress, and ordered the young guard who had asked the question to return to the manor to report.
After the ignorant young man left, the manor gate fell silent.
Even the captain of the personal guard remained silent, staring intently into the distance, as if some great enemy lurked in the void, threatening the manor and the king's safety.
Vesemir didn't mind and stood there waiting, holding the reins.
About ten minutes later, a man with completely white hair and beard, who looked like the manor's steward, walked quickly over with a young bodyguard.
"Your Excellency Lady Vesemir, the King is unwell and unable to see anyone. Please allow me to escort you to the residence of Grandmaster Soyer."
"Unwell?" Vesemir sneered. "You're just afraid to see me, aren't you?"
The butler didn't dare to speak, but just bowed and smiled awkwardly.
The guards standing nearby seemed to have heard nothing, their backs ramrod straight, their eyes fixed on the distance.
Vesemir didn't make things difficult for the servants any further and said directly, "Lead the way!"
The butler breathed a sigh of relief, nodded politely to the King's Guard on both sides, and then led the way into the manor.
Seeing the two walk away, the young guard couldn't contain his curiosity and asked:
"Who exactly is this Vesemir? Why are you all... all..."
"Are they all that afraid of her?" a teammate chimed in.
The young guard pursed his lips, not daring to admit it.
"Didn't your family teach you any history? You don't even know what Bloody Red Fox?" another team member asked in surprise.
The young guard chuckled, trying to brush it off, when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head.
"Silence!" the captain of the guard suddenly interrupted sternly, "Don't you all know that Sorceress can read minds?"
"We've already gone that far..."
"Shut up, Anderson," the captain of the guard said, looking at the young guard. "Jerrick, if you have any questions, go back and read them yourself. Lady Vesemir's story is in the Aelirenn Uprising ..."
"But now, go back to where you're supposed to be guarding, and do what you're supposed to do, understand?"
"Yes, Captain!"
Although the captain of the King's Guard was afraid of being mind-read, the Sorceress was naturally not so bored as to waste time on a bunch of soldiers.
After following the butler for three or four minutes, Vesemir arrived at Soyer's courtyard.
Two King's Guard stood at the door, and seeing that the person who came was brought by the steward, they looked at Vesemir with curiosity.
"Thump~ thump~ thump~"
The housekeeper knocked gently on the door.
Before anyone inside could respond, Vesemir pushed open the door and entered the courtyard, under the awkward gazes of the butler and two guards.
Soyer was sitting on a chair in the courtyard tending to his two longswords when he heard the courtyard gate being pushed open. He gripped his steel sword more tightly on alert.
He only stood up in surprise when he saw that the person who came was Vesemir, and said:
"Vesemir? What brings you here?"
"I'm sorry, Grandmaster Soyer, Lady Vesemir came in before I could even knock..." the butler said apologetically.
"It's alright, you can go now." Soyer nodded to the butler.
"Squeak~"
The gate to the courtyard was closed.
"Smack!"
A snap of the fingers.
A pale red soundproofing spell rose in the courtyard.
Soyer paused for a moment, then heard Vesemir, who had been expressionless, suddenly furrow her brows and say anxiously:
"Soyer, Ailin is missing!"
Missing?
Wasn't Ailin with Vesemir to prepare for the fighting tournament in Ban Ade?
How could they have disappeared?
Soyer frowned and sheathed the two longswords:
"Don't rush, explain things clearly. Ailin should be with Vesemir, how do you know he's missing?"
The Sorceress realized she had lost her composure, took a deep breath, and waited for her anxious emotions to calm down a little.
"Smack!"
A snap of the fingers.
A Crystal Bird appeared in the Sorceress's palm, motionless.
Lovebirds?
Even knowing that they had been given to Mary and Ailin, Soyer's expression still became complicated when she saw the prop that looked like an exquisite decoration.
"Four nights ago, Mary came to me with this lovebird and some bad news."
"Vesemir's team of young witchers was attacked. Although they repelled the enemy, an apprentice named Bont was seriously injured..."
"What? Seriously injured?" Soyer's expression changed drastically. "Who dared to attack..."
"That's not important. Don't interrupt. Let me finish!" the Sorceress interrupted fiercely.
"Okay, okay." Soyer took two steps back helplessly, shrugged, and gestured for the Sorceress to continue.
"They're all fine," the Sorceress, mentioning the outcome, then continued, "But Bont needs the Veridian Sigh to heal his injuries, but by the time I'm ready and have Mary reply to Ailin ..."
Soyer glanced at the lovebird.
This magical artifact had been with him for decades, so he naturally knew that the bird belonged to Ailin.
"The lovebird flew around Mary's head a few times before falling down."
"Soyer, you know that."
"This only happens when the user is trapped in a place where the lovebird can't find them, or..."
Or the user died.
Soyer silently continued the words the Sorceress dared not utter aloud.
The Sorceress took a deep breath, suppressing the pounding in her heart:
"Then, following the information Ailin gave me, I found Vesemir."
"Vesemir told me that in order to gain allies for your School of the Wolf, Ailin accepted a commission from a Red-haired Elf —I suspect it was the elven sage Ida Emin..."
Upon hearing this, Soyer sighed and asked, "And then Ailin disappeared?"
"Yes, and then Ailin disappeared."
The Sorceress glared at him fiercely:
"Several young witchers have just been attacked, Vesemir must protect them."
"It was Ailin... it was Ailin who persuaded Vesemir to go alone to fulfill that damned elf's request, and then..."
The Sorceress closed her eyes sadly.
Fear gripped her again at that moment, its cold, bony fingers rubbing against her heart.
After a long while, she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said:
"And then... and then only Ailin's horse returned that day..."
Soyer gently patted her shoulder and comforted her:
"Ailin is a miracle..."
"I know!" the Sorceress roared, unable to contain herself, "But just because the Child of Miracle cannot die doesn't mean he won't get hurt, won't suffer pain, won't endure inhuman torture..."
"Especially this time, the elf's request seems to conflict with Haxor's..."
At this point, the Sorceress suddenly grabbed Soyer's leather armor and said urgently:
"You've been spending a lot of time with Haxor lately. Have you noticed anything unusual about Haxor? Has he caught anyone? As the chief of the School of the Wolf, there's no reason for him to catch anyone without showing any sign of anything amiss."
The aroma of oranges mixed with cardamom wafts over you.
After taking a deep sniff of the intoxicating scent, Soyer's thoughts suddenly turned to the king's unusual behavior:
"Just before you arrived, Haxor gave me a commission: to clean up the Rock Troll deep inside an abandoned mine."
"What does this have to do with Ailin?" the Sorceress asked anxiously.
"According to the conversation between the two knights guarding the gate, this abandoned mine was a temporary station for the King's Guard."
"The reason Haxor gave me this commission is because the King's Guard suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Rock Troll..."
"The reason these guards went so far was because three days ago, two 'thieves' sneaked into the camp, but after being discovered by the guards, they escaped into the mine."
The Sorceress's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this.
Three days ago, the timing matches up.
The mine has complex terrain, so it's possible that the lovebirds might not be able to find their target.
The temporary residence of the King's Guard is associated with Haxor.
That makes sense.
only...
"Why are there two people?" the Sorceress asked.
Soyer shook his head and said, "You'll know when we get there tomorrow morning. You can come along, and I'm sure Haxor won't refuse."
The Sorceress nodded slightly.
Only then did she truly breathe a sigh of relief.
Two or three minutes later, the Sorceress seemed to suddenly remember something and said:
"Oh, right."
"The ones who attacked the School of the Wolf witchers were the School of the Cat witchers."
"Vesemir and Ailin suspect that they were commissioned by Haxor."
The Sorceress paused, gazing at the silent Soyer, and said:
"So... let's stop clinging to the past, Soyer."
"It's obvious that the boy you once saved is now King Haxor..."
"He..."
I want to kill you!