The Perfume Scent of Conspiracy and Love

"Clang~"

The wooden box fell.

Two fist-sized, dark red lumps fell out.

One was a dark red, somewhat rotten piece of meat, and the other was a dried-up amulet that looked like some kind of woven straw.

Ailin glanced at Mary and explained:

"It's not Killer Whale, it's sage."

"Don't worry, this herb is harmless to the human body as long as it is not taken."

"However, after processing, it produces a fishy, foul odor that is extremely attractive to griffins and Greater Griffin..."

"What is Killer Whale?" Dite asked curiously.

Out of respect for his benefactor, Ailin took out a crystal bottle containing a deep blue potion from the reagent bag.

"This is the Killer Whale, a kind of potion used by witchers."

"The main ingredient for refining it is sage..."

Ailin glanced at Mary, who was looking down as if recalling some unpleasant memory, and continued to Dite:

"She might be familiar with this smell... uh... which is why she subconsciously said the name of the potion."

More than just familiar with...

Mary rolled her eyes inwardly.

During that period, she almost smelled like sage.

Upon hearing this, Dite glanced curiously at the beautiful blue potion in Ailin's hand, but didn't press the matter further. Instead, he frowned and looked at the Witcher:

"So the attack on the Greater Griffin was indeed an accident, and someone was plotting against us?"

"That should be it," Ailin nodded, closing the Mutated Organ of the nostril. He picked up a dry twig and poked at the somewhat rotting piece of flesh.

"This piece of meat carries a faint scent of a Greater Griffin, which might be related to the one we attacked today..."

"The Greater Griffin is a monster that is extremely loyal to its mate, and perhaps it was this piece of meat and the sage that attracted it."

Ailin's judgment is reasonable and well-founded.

With the evidence before him, Dite immediately accepted his judgment.

Although he had suspected it beforehand, Dite's expression turned grim when he realized that he and his men had indeed been ambushed.

Those who haven't experienced it can hardly imagine the oppressive feeling of a Greater Griffin swooping down on you.

And the fear of being powerless when you are treated as prey.

The more Dite thought about what had happened, the angrier he became.

However, with his savior right in front of him, he suppressed his anger and asked another question:

"Master Ailin, how many people know about this method for making Greater Griffin bait?"

After discovering that Ailin was truly talented, Dite's tone became much more respectful.

"Not many..." Ailin shook his head.

Even among the Witchers of the School of the Wolf, few knew how to make griffin bait, let alone planned hunts for the Greater Griffin.

The reason Vesemir assigned the task to him was because Dite's request was not demanding; all he had to do was find the problem.

Instead of being a griffin decoy.

"The Greater Griffin is not a very valuable monster. Only a few of its internal organs may be ingredients for certain potions, and it usually lives in the deep mountains."

"Not very valuable, and hard to come by..."

"Therefore, only wizards who want to obtain certain materials and witchers who want to hunt Greater Griffin because of a commission would make bait."

Ailin's words did not shy away from the suspicion that he was a witcher.

This is not only unnecessary, but may even have the opposite effect.

Even if the nobleman Dite serves is almost certainly a high-ranking nobleman from Kedwen, or even very likely a member of Kedwen's royal family.

After hearing Ailin's analysis, Dite nodded, then turned to the plump merchant and asked:

Where did this batch of perfumes come from?

"Where are the people who purchased the perfume? Are they still with the caravan?"

This box looks almost identical to other perfume boxes, so there are only a few ways it could have gotten in.

The plump merchant wiped the sweat from his brow, pondered for a moment, and then humbly bowed, about to reply.

Suddenly remembering something, he glanced at Ailin.

"I'm going to help process the materials on the Greater Griffin..."

Ailin made an excuse and tried to pull Mary away.

"Need not!"

Dite stopped them and said to the fat merchant:

"Just tell me..."

"Master Ailin saved our lives, so there's nothing we can't say to him. Besides, I need Master Ailin to help me make a decision."

Upon hearing this, the chubby merchant glanced at Ailin and hesitated for a few seconds.

In the end, she surrendered under Dite's increasingly serious gaze.

He no longer hid anything and said directly:

"Ban Ade, a court wizard from the royal city of Vengerberg, has always had a good relationship with us..."

"This batch of Siren's Kiss was obtained through his connections..." the chubby merchant paused again, "... uh... he even helped us find out about you, so..."

The chubby businessman didn't continue speaking.

However, Dite understood what he meant.

If the sorcerer really wanted to harm him, he could have killed him without anyone noticing; there was no need for such a complicated method.

Dite pondered for a moment, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

"Da da da~"

The heavy footsteps interrupted his thoughts.

Vesemir came over after processing the materials on the Greater Griffin.

"Sorry, I was distracted for a moment."

Dite apologized and then gestured to the portly businessman.

The merchant casually took out a money pouch from his chest, as if he had prepared it beforehand:

"Master Ailin, there are 1,200 Oren here. Please count them."

"No need to count them, I trust you."

Ailin took the money bag without counting it, then put it away. He exchanged a glance with Vesemir, and was about to bid farewell to Dite and the others to continue his journey.

Suddenly, Dite called out to him.

"May I ask where you gentlemen are headed? Could you please hire a few men to escort us to Ad Kale?"

'I'm willing to pay an additional thousand Oren...'

Dite's tone was sincere.

However, even though Ailin and Vesemir had a good impression of Dite.

The compensation for this escort mission is also quite generous.

They couldn't possibly accept this commission.

It wasn't just because they wanted to go to Arland to remove the curse, but more importantly, to escape the turmoil caused by the king's death.

"I'm sorry, we have important matters to attend to in Arland and cannot travel with you."

Ailin felt a little embarrassed that he refused the commission right after receiving payment.

"It's alright, we were just unlucky."

"In that case, farewell."

Dite shook his head, then bowed slightly and bid a respectful farewell to Vesemir, Ailin, and Mary:

May the Lady of the Lake guide your journey.

After a moment of surprise, Ailin nodded seriously:

"I wish you a safe journey."

The three then departed, watched by Dite, who was leading the caravan.

Having found the three horses that were too intimidated to move forward by the Greater Griffin's imposing presence, Ailin and his party continued their journey toward Vengerberg.

"Ailin, do you know whose people they are working for?"

Riding on his horse, Vesemir suddenly turned his head and asked.

"The royal family of Kedwen, perhaps the one that is about to ascend the throne."

Ailin didn't hesitate.

Vesemir was somewhat surprised.

He was, after all, the youngest Witcher Master before Ailin.

When he was young, he did a lot of work for Haxor chief, so it's understandable that he could recognize the "scent" of the caravan guards at a glance.

However, Ailin didn't spend much time with them.

"How did you figure that out?" Vesemir asked.

"Posture, physique, and discipline..." Ailin tugged at the reins. "I once observed the King's Guard of Kedwen for a long time in the abandoned mines of Viscount Haxor."

"Of course, the most important thing is Dite, the profession of tutor, and their destination..."

Upon hearing this, Vesemir nodded in admiration at Ailin's keen insight.

What surprised him most was not Ailin's skill in judging the identities of the caravan guards from their posture.

Instead, Ailin consciously thinks about this matter and the identities of these people.

Instead of acting like a reckless fool, only caring about fulfilling the client's request and collecting payment, without caring about anything else.

There are many examples within the school of thought that show that such witchers sometimes suffer great losses.

Unfortunately, the demon hunters who train at the Ancient Sea Fortress for nearly ten years without ever leaving the mountain are often such reckless brutes.

You only learn this lesson after being deceived and exploited by a client.

But at that point, it's easy to go to the other extreme...

Fortunately, Ailin wasn't.

Even back in Kaer Morhen, he seemed to have matured before, as if he had seen it all.

It's mature to a point that's somewhat frightening.

Some of them... are heartbreaking.

"It seems I don't need to teach you the skills of reading between the lines anymore. In terms of logical judgment, even the average witcher is not as good as you."

"But remember, hunting monsters is a demon hunter's primary duty."

"But the skills of getting along with people are no less important to a witcher than swordsmanship or signs."

"Even now, with fewer and fewer monsters around, it will become even more important..."

Although Vesemir's classes were indeed boring, they were full of valuable information.

So Ailin is already used to it, and he just listens attentively and occasionally chimes in.

for a long time.

After giving several examples of the interpersonal relationships among witchers, Vesemir suddenly sighed:

"Rado is really in trouble this time."

"Rado?"

Upon hearing the unfamiliar name Ailin looked up and asked in confusion.

"He is the only child of Haxor, the future king of the Kedwen," Vesemir explained. "I even held him in my arms when I accompanied the chief to the capital of Ad Kalai when he was very young."

"Unlike that ungrateful beast Haxor, Rado has always seemed to be a good kid."

"Seems?" Ailin found the key point.

This doesn't sound like something someone very close would say.

"Uh..." Vesemir paused, "I haven't seen Rado since Haxor distanced itself from our School of the Wolf in recent years."

"However, I've heard that after inheriting the title of Duke of Steiner, he governed his territory with fairness and benevolence, much better than his father."

Ailin knew that it was a royal territory located near the capital city of Ad Kale.

Generally, when a prince of Kedwen comes of age, he will first inherit the title of Duke of Steiner.

but...

Fairness and mercy?

This doesn't seem like a good word for a king.

Ailin thought for a moment, but didn't say it aloud. Then she asked:

Why do you say he suffered a misfortune this time?

Vesemir sighed again:

Even though I don't understand politics, I still know...

"It's certainly not a good thing for a king about to ascend the throne to send his million-strong personal guard to urgently fetch a tutor from Toussaint..."

"Moreover, this tutor, even while being protected by the King's Guard who were hiding their identities, was still plotted against and nearly died in the jaws of a griffin..."

"No matter how you look at it, Rado's situation isn't looking good right now!"

Vesemir seemed to still remember the kindness he showed when he held Rado in his arms.

But Ailin wouldn't think that much.

The more Kedwen, the better for the School of the Wolf.

Unfortunately, the position of court monster advisor, originally held by a witcher, was abolished in the Kedwen court; otherwise, the School of the Wolf might have been able to exert some influence over it.

But now...

Ailin sighed inwardly and shook his head.

But speaking of Dite...

"Master Vesemir, do you think the bait that attracted the Greater Griffin was made by the court wizards of Vengerberg?"

"Ailin I asked curiously."

After a long period of silence with his head bowed, Vesemir shook his head.

"I have no idea."

"I just hope that this matter will not involve our School of the Wolf any further."

As they lectured, Ailin and Vesemir discussed national affairs and the development of different schools of thought.

Mary was only interested at first, and before she could finish listening, she started to drift off and look at the lush green grass on both sides of the road.

Counting the number of red, yellow, purple... flowers.

until...

"Da da da~"

The urgent sound of horses' hooves came from behind, causing her to turn around instinctively.

It was that chubby businessman.

"Master Ailin, Master Ailin..."

Hearing the sound, Ailin pulled on the reins and stopped.

The merchant rode up at full speed, panting, and revealed a gentle smile:

"Master Ailin, this is just a small token from our caravan, please accept it."

As he spoke.

The plump merchant then took out a beautifully packaged small box from his saddlebag.

A small, delicate bow was tied on the top of the little box with blue silk lace.

"Is it for me?"

Ailin was somewhat puzzled and did not immediately take it.

"Yes, Master Ailin." The portly merchant smiled as he saw Ailin accept the gift. "Mr. Dite specifically asked me to deliver this. Please accept it."

Ailin looked at Vesemir with a puzzled expression before taking the small box.

May the Lady of the Lake guide your journey.

The chubby merchant gave a strangely ambiguous smile, then left without lingering, pulling on the reins.

Ailin, still confused, subconsciously uttered:

I wish you a safe journey!

Then, I watched as that chubby figure quickly disappeared into the distance.

for a long time.

Ailin, Vesemir, Mary looked at each other in bewilderment.

Then, after glancing a few more times at the somewhat feminine and delicate little box, hesitantly pulled open the blue bow on the box.

"Squeak~"

Once the wooden box was opened, a note was immediately visible.

It says on it:

"The Siren's Kiss, may you find your true love— Dite."

Below the note were two bottles of Siren's Kiss perfume.

"Call out--"

Vesemir, who had also seen the note, whistled, glanced suggestively at Ailin, then at the blushing Mary, and laughed heartily, adding fuel to the fire:

"No wonder he's a tutor from Toussaint!"

"So, Master Ailin..."

Who are you planning to give this perfume to?