Loyalty! Loyalty?

for a long time.

Rado opened his eyes.

A middle-aged man with a slightly hunched posture was looking at him with concern.

He was Philis, the most trusted servant of the former King Haxor.

He was one of the few people Rado could trust in this cold palace.

Unfortunately, Philis was a servant and could only do what servants were supposed to do, offering no help whatsoever to his current predicament.

"My father died so suddenly!"

Rado sighed sadly to himself.

As a prince, barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will be able to take over the reins of power from my father in a few days.

But the nobles around him who could offer advice were either sycophants or old foxes like Donetto; they couldn't even find a few reliable and trustworthy people...

The nation is facing a difficult situation!

However, when thinking about talent, Rado suddenly remembered his tutor from Toussaint.

He imitated his father's actions, gently tapping the table with his index finger and asking:

"Philis, have you found Dite?"

The middle-aged man stepped forward, bowed slightly, and said:

"Your Majesty, my men have located Lord Dite. He is currently in Vengerberg, Ard, and should be back within a month."

Within a month...

Rado shook his head; it was still too late.

The day after tomorrow is the council of nobles.

At that meeting, the funeral rites for the deceased king and the ceremony for Rado's ascension to the throne will be discussed.

The former is fine, but the latter...

Although his right to inherit is indisputable, it should just be a formality.

But he was always uneasy and somewhat worried:

Is it really that easy to sit on that supreme throne?

Philis watched Rado grow up.

He felt a pang of sympathy seeing the future king's furrowed brow, thinking he was still worried about what Duke Donato had just said, and offered some words of comfort:

"Your Majesty, one of Duke Donato's grandsons was kidnapped and killed by the School of the Wolf's witchers."

"Since Your Majesty... your father originally intended to deal with them, why not go along with his wishes and agree to his request?"

Rado shook his head:

"Donato isn't targeting the Witcher because of his grandson."

"He has seven or eight sons, and more than twenty grandsons."

"How could I possibly care about a four or five-year-old child who was taken to Kaer Morhen because of Accident Law?"

"Besides, that child was given to the witcher by his parents as payment for the bounty because they were poor."

Seeing Philis's blank expression, Rado sighed inwardly and explained further:

"He did this because of Ban Ade, or rather, part of Ban Ade's wizards."

Philis's expression remained blank.

Although he always followed Haxor, he was only responsible for serving the king's daily needs.

I am indeed not very clear about some of the secrets among the great nobles.

"Donato also has many nobles who, following these male witches, acquired a great deal of property..."

"They don't care about the grandchildren or sons taken away by some School of the Wolf witchers; they just don't want anything to happen to Ben Ade, and incidentally, they want to curry favor with some male witchers who hate witchers..."

Rado's logical analysis made Philis suddenly realize the truth.

He looked at the young king with a face full of satisfaction:

"Your Majesty, you know so much!"

Philis shook her head upon hearing this, but did not say anything more.

The analysis of the Ban Ade faction within the Kedwen aristocracy was given to him by Haxor before his death.

Interspersed among these analyses at the time was information about the Duke Donato's numerous offspring.

However, Haxor at the time merely used this as an excuse to imply how important Rado's flourishing branches were to a nobleman.

He wasn't given any further guidance on how to deal with this old fox.

The past flashed through his mind again, and Rado was lost in thought for a few seconds.

Haxor may not have been a good king, but he was definitely a good father.

He carefully nurtured Rado according to the standards of a future king, patiently answering all his questions.

There has never been any suspicion or doubt.

If his death hadn't been so sudden, Rado would definitely have smoothly taken over under Haxor's careful planning.

"But why are they targeting the School of the Wolf? Didn't the Wizarding Academy say it was the School of the Cat?" Philis asked, puzzled.

Rado wasn't really clear about this either.

He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully:

"Perhaps it's because the School of the Cat has been completely abandoned..."

"I heard they failed several missions in Ban Ade and many people died."

"The entire school probably has fewer than ten people now. Even a cornered dog will jump over the wall. There's no need to target them deliberately."

"Moreover, this school of thought has completely ruined its reputation in the north, and no noble or wealthy merchant would dare to openly hire them."

"Natural extinction is the ultimate fate of the School of the Cat!"

"I see!" Philis nodded in sudden realization.

Although Rado didn't know what he had suddenly realized from his own ramblings.

However, he still smiled and nodded.

"Your Majesty, perhaps... perhaps we should go along with the wishes of those powerful nobles for now, and settle scores later after you have completely taken control of the kingdom..."

Philis cautiously suggested:

"Even if the late king knew, he certainly wouldn't care..."

Go along with the wishes of those great nobles?

What's the meaning?

Naturally, the blame for the king's death was removed from Ben Ade's head and then pinned on the School of the Wolf.

Philis remained silent.

Doesn't he know?

If he stops insisting, he can gain the support of all the nobles the day after tomorrow and end his current embarrassing situation.

Ban Ade escaped punishment, the nobles were satisfied, Rado smoothly ascended the throne...

In the end, all that was sacrificed were a group of morally upright witchers...

But what does this have to do with him?

Rado genuinely didn't care about the lives of those witchers, although, thanks to Dite's teachings, he did admire the School of the Wolf's contributions to humanity.

but...

His father died...

The manner of their death was gruesome and horrific, utterly disgraceful.

His mother locked herself in the tower, spending her days in tears...

Why should Rado, the future master of Kedwen, compromise?

How can Ban Ad escape responsibility?

Just so that I can sit comfortably in that prestigious chair?

That throne rightfully belonged to him!

so...

Why?!

Rado's face was gloomy, and his pupils burned with raging anger.

Philis, with her head bowed, had not yet noticed the future king's change in mood and continued to persuade and comfort him:

"And Your Majesty, perhaps it really wasn't Ban Ade who did it?"

"After all, they get nothing from the king..."

"Besides Lady Vesemir, the School of the Wolf might have other methods..."

When Rado heard his most trusted servants speaking up for Ben Ade, his anger burned even brighter, and he was about to open his mouth and shout a rebuke.

Suddenly remembering something, he instantly suppressed his anger.

"Philis is defending my enemy!"

"So... is he really one of mine?"

Rado felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, the chill penetrating to the bone.

Once the seed of doubt is planted, it quickly takes root and sprouts.

He suppressed his inexplicable fear, nodded calmly, and said in a flat tone:

"Perhaps this is indeed a good idea..."

"I will think about it carefully!"

"Thank you, Philis!"

Please don't say that. It is my greatest honor to serve you.

Philis bowed slightly and stepped back to her original position.

He had actually overstepped his bounds, after all, he was just a servant.

After all, he had watched Rado grow up, and Philis wanted to help Rado even if it was only of some use.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice.

Raka, the child he had watched grow up, his future king, was quietly watching him with an unusually unfamiliar gaze, observing him.

A fierce glint flashed in his pupils.

"Did Ban Ade really gain nothing from his father's death?" Rado began to ponder.

The stone town of Fujian.

After fussing around for a while and taking Ailin's measurements, Hog left with the words "Come back in two months" and kicked Vesemir, Ailin, and Mary out of his house.

"Hog is just eager to try his luck. He won't be coming out of the house until the two months are over."

Vesemir explained to Ailin and Mary with a smile.

"But isn't he the lord of Fujian? Doesn't he need to come out and handle affairs?" Mary was completely puzzled.

Reaching the stables, Vesemir shook his head, took the reins, and walked out:

"This is not Mahakam after all."

"Hog is only the honorary lord of the city; the real power lies with the humans sent by the King of Ard."

"If humans could not adapt to such a living environment and no nobles were willing to come, he would not have become the city lord of this place."

In fact, the conflicts between humans and dwarves are far fewer than those between humans and elves, and this is fundamentally due to these differences.

That is, an environment where elves can live can also be inhabited by humans.

But where dwarves can live, humans may not necessarily be willing to settle down.

At least in terms of water requirements, dwarves generally need at least two-thirds less water per day than humans.

Of course, this is also related to Mahakam's current policies.

Unlike the haughty elves who look down on humans and isolate themselves from them.

The dwarf communities, led by Mahakam, have always maintained an attitude of integration with humans.

Although the terrain is high and dangerous, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

However, Mahakam has always considered itself a vassal state of Temeria, and its steel and weapons are sold all over the world, accounting for a large proportion of the continent.

Many dwarves also migrated and integrated well into the local society, engaging in professions such as mercenaries, craftsmen, and artists.

Many dwarves even joined the armies of local nobles to fight.

This was simply unimaginable for an elf.

Along the way.

Mary was enjoying a rare moment of freedom, asked Vesemir many similar questions like a curious child.

Although Mary wasn't his apprentice, for some reason, the Witcher Master, who wore Black Wide-brimmed Hat, was always ready to answer any questions.

As for the other young Witcher Master, Ailin, he was still basking in the joy of getting an epic set for free.

When he was taking body measurements, he saw the drawings that Vesemir had provided to Horton.

Both in terms of the style of the equipment and the materials used, this blueprint is very similar to a set of school armor in the game, almost identical.

That set has a very simple name— Mastercrafted Wolf School Set.

This is one of the two top-tier sets of equipment for the School of the Wolf in the game.

Ailin still remembers that when he played the game, he spent almost a week traveling all over the game and reloading his save several times before he finally collected the complete set.

And now, you can get it without spending a penny or hunting a single monster; you only need to wait twenty days.

However, after recovering from the unbelievable surprise, Ailin realized that this situation was actually normal.

The School of the Wolf is currently at its peak and has no shortage of money.

In addition, there are seven Witcher Master who kill countless high-level monsters every year when they go down the mountain.

Kaer Morhen is probably the place with the most top-tier monster materials in the world.

Even the two wizarding academies cannot compare to them.

How could you possibly reward someone with a piece of honorary equipment by having them personally go out in the wind and rain to kill monsters?

That would be so embarrassing.

The reason why later generations have fallen into a situation where crafting a piece of equipment not only requires accepting commissions to earn money, but also requires gathering information about the target monster and hunting monsters to harvest materials...

If you're not careful and don't collect the materials properly, you'll have to repeat this miserable situation many times over...

The main reason is the lack of a solid support system.

With only four or five witchers in Kaer Morhen, it would be quite a journey to gather a good piece of equipment.

Coming back to her senses from the joy and surprise of the harvest, Ailin, leading Carrot, suddenly realized that they had walked to the south gate, as if they were about to leave Fujian.

"Master Vesemir, where are we headed?" Ailin asked curiously. "Aren't we staying here tonight?"

Master Vesemir adjusted his Black Wide-brimmed Hat and glanced at the sky:

"Once we've got your Witcher Master gear sorted out, we've done everything we needed to do here..."

"Fergen is dwarf territory, which is not very comfortable in many ways and is also very expensive."

"It's not noon yet, let's go down the mountain and find a human village to rest in!"

"If there's still time, we can find some commissions to do..."

Upon hearing the request.

Ailin has not yet made any statement.

Mary suddenly straightened her back and pricked up her ears:

"Want to go on an adventure to hunt monsters?"

"Haha, it's not really an adventure, but there might be quite a few monster hunting quests," Vesemir seemed to be in a good mood.

Hearing Vesemir's words, Mary became even more interested.

"It might not be the kind of monster you're hoping to encounter. Most of the targets in these commissions are just water ghosts."

Ailin laughed and splashed a bucket of cold water on it.

Water ghost?

Mary's expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.

She was almost sick of refining the Drowner Heart Essence Fluid, and now even the name of the water ghost made her feel nauseous.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. Huus, Bont, and Fred aren't here. If it weren't on our way, why would we have taken on the water ghost's job?"

Seeing that Mary was downcast, Vesemir quickly glared at Ailin and offered a few words of explanation.

However, Vesemir was not wrong.

The type of monster you hunt depends on your strength.

Unless it's an emergency, or you're genuinely short of money.

Witcher Master would never compete with an ordinary witcher for food.

Upon hearing this, Mary realized that Ailin was teasing her, and she glared at him angrily.

Then he pulled on the reins and walked past him and Vesemir side by side.

Seeing his childish behavior, Ailin was happy not to take it to heart and leisurely followed after him.

that's all.

After leaving Fujian, the three of them rode to a small town before nightfall.

To Mary's great regret, all the quests in this town were about eliminating water ghosts.

So after resting for a night at a hotel in town, they set off on their journey again.

But just half a day after embarking on her journey, the unexpected event Mary had been eagerly anticipating...

It has arrived!