Vilgefortz

"Master, this is Banla Mill."

The hunched guide pointed hesitantly at the shadows in the moonlight.

The waterwheel churned and splashed, like a monster lurking in the darkness, breathing and waiting for its prey to walk into its gaping maw.

The terrifying atmosphere caused the already timid guide to take another step back.

"Huff~"

The warhorse snorted.

A sudden burst of hot air shot out from the side of his exposed neck, startling him so much that he almost screamed.

"Get out of my way!"

The guard scoffed and used his heavy sword sheath to shove the guide aside from the front.

"Phew~"

With the sound of the wind, several orbs of light dispersed and drifted around the mill.

Suddenly, a great light shone forth, illuminating the mill as if it were daytime.

A bald male wizard opened his eyes. "No water ghosts..."

Senne nodded.

soon.

The group rode over and dismounted.

After receiving the magical shields from the wizards, the guards skillfully began to inspect the rooms inside the mill to prevent any monsters from hiding in the corners and suddenly jumping out to attack.

A short while later.

The guards returned and then led several mages to the barn.

"The water ghosts in the mill have all been eliminated, leaving only these bloodstains," a guard said, pointing to the dark red and brownish spots on the ground.

The wizards nodded; no one found it strange.

Ordinary people have no way to deal with Lesser Monsters, but mercenaries who have the ability to travel across countries and sell their power can certainly handle a group of water ghosts.

Senne surveyed the barn and gave a gentle command:

"Fraser, John, Austin, you go and set up the Exorcism Ritual..."

The three male wizards in the group immediately stepped forward.

One of them took out salt, chalk, magic dust, and two small jars of yellow liquid from several saddlebags in the guard's hands.

One began to calculate that the mill was the most suitable place to set up the ceremony.

The last one, accompanied by two guards, went outside the mill to select suitable wood for the ceremony.

Suddenly, the area around Senne became much quieter.

He paused for a moment, his gaze fixed on the large pools of foul-smelling blood on the ground.

"All of them have been dealt with?" Senne didn't look up.

"Besides the bloodstains, there wasn't a single piece of flesh left," the guards searching the house replied in unison.

Following the trail of blood, Senne led two guards to the riverbank.

Illumination, after all, is not real sunlight.

Only a shallow layer of the flowing river was illuminated, reflecting the free-floating black specks of plankton.

The deeper part of the river was still a pitch-black abyss.

A wave of moist air, carrying a unique, faint fishy smell of aquatic plants, wafted towards us.

Seeing that the mage's shoes were only two fingers' width away from the river, a guard couldn't help but speak up to dissuade him, "Lord Senne, you should stay away from the water..."

"Do mercenaries heading to the front lines need to clean up the corpses so thoroughly?"

"It seems... it doesn't need to be..." The guard, interrupted by the mage, paused, "After we dealt with the water ghosts, we let the servants who received them clean up and tidy up themselves."

"You think there's a problem?" The free wizard walked over.

Instead of answering, Senne asked, "Miguel, do you have the Fifth Element, White Myrtle Petals, Pearls, Moon Shard, or Papakan Fruit?"

"Water Divination ..." The wizard known as Miguel looked surprised. "Senne, are you serious?"

"Is there?"

"These are all commonly used ritual materials, but the Fifth Element and the Moon Shard are different..."

"I'll put it in my project's budget when I get back."

"Tsk tsk... For a bunch of mercenaries..." Miguel clicked his tongue in admiration. "Do you need me to help you set things up?"

"Go!" Senne replied.

Then, as if struck by a thought, he looked up at the male shamans setting up Exorcism Ritual in the distance and added:

"Set it up right here!"

Silver sword, spinning, ripples...

Within the mysterious ritual circle, the water formed a gray mirror, and in the hazy mirror, groups of water ghosts were beheaded by sharp blades.

Although their faces were obscured, their ridiculous spinning swordsmanship and clumsy elemental tricks unmistakably proved their identities.

The Witcher!

And he's a Witcher from the School of the Wolf!

Feeling tricked, Senne's gaze grew increasingly cold, his eyes fixed on the mirror like those of a venomous snake eyeing its prey.

The more he thought about the possibilities he had previously considered, the more his blood boiled, and his burning anger scorched his proud rationality.

"These freaks have some nerve!" Veins bulged on Miguel's forehead, a sense of humiliation washing over him, like a lion or tiger being provoked by wild dogs.

"Bang!"

An orange-yellow portal suddenly appeared.

"Where are you going?" Senne stopped Miguel.

"Those freaks dare to pull tricks on us! I need to go back and inform the dean to send someone..."

"The dean won't send anyone; things are different now," Senne said coldly.

Miguel paused for a moment, then his expression turned even uglier.

Given the Dean's current attitude towards Radical Faction, the most likely scenario is that he will not only send people to teach those witchers a lesson, but also give them a reprimand.

"Those weirdos aren't far yet, let's go now..."

"The task of clearing out the water ghosts is not yet complete," Senne glanced at the other wizards who were looking in this direction because of the commotion of the portal, waved his hand to eliminate the portal, and interrupted Miguel, "These past few days, none of us have been able to leave, and the rest of the faction are also under the strict control of the Dean."

"What are we going to do?" Miguel suppressed his anger as a wizard approached from inside the barn. "Are we just going to watch those sneaky bugs slip away right before our eyes?"

Senne's eyes flickered a few times upon hearing this:

"The Dean is only targeting us Radical Faction wizards right now."

"What do you mean? Wizards from other factions won't listen to us either..."

"Not from any other faction," Senne shook his head, then quickened his pace as the wizard approached from inside the barn. "He's a wizard from the Circle of Druids Couver, whom the Dean just invited. He's very capable in combat and he agrees with our beliefs."

"Find a chance to teleport back later and find him to track down those witchers."

Miguel paused for a moment, then nodded and asked, "What's his name?"

"Vilgefortz, Vilgefortz of Logiwen..."

Clouds drifted across the moon's surface, and moonlight occasionally spilled onto the earth, bathing the meadows, moat, towering walls, and clusters of towers in a pale glow, casting undulating shadows over the land.

The knight galloped through the gale.

"They didn't catch up!" The child's exclamation seemed to be a signal.

The two leading knights looked back.

The road behind the group was deserted.

The dense forest we had come from was now covered by another woodland, then villages, rivers, and cities casting vast shadows...

They were already far enough away from that nameless mill.

The mare emitted hoarse, bellows-like breaths.

The two knights exchanged a glance and nodded.

The knights immediately pulled on the reins, and several mares slowed down, panting.

"Ha--"

"That's really exciting!"

"Those are the legendary Ban Aard wizards? Their eyes could practically suck your soul away... I almost couldn't resist pinching Quen..."

"Didn't they say those male witches can read minds? You weren't actually mind-read by them, were you?"

"Probably not. I followed the points the captain and Master Vesemir mentioned a few days before I left, and cleared my mind..."

"Me too! Me too!"

After the apprentices relaxed, they started laughing and joking around.

Ailin listened to the apprentices' voices, his nerves relaxed from their tension.

He put on a hood, slung a scabbard over his waist, and concealed his silver sword...

The strategy of disguising oneself as a mercenary proved to be effective.

Even when facing Ban Ade's sorcerer directly, his identity was not revealed.

He nudged the mare's belly with his heel, and the black mare snorted, picking up speed slightly to catch up with Vesemir.

The Witcher Master's expression was not good.

His lips were tightly pursed, and his brows were furrowed in the shadows.

"What's wrong?" Ailin frowned. "Didn't we leave safely?"

"It's not that simple..." Vesemir's expression turned somber.

He didn't explain immediately, but instead glanced sideways at the young witcher behind him.

Seeing that they were all excitedly discussing their recent encounter, he then looked at Ailin and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, said:

"I know that male wizard who spoke."

"Who?" Ailin asked instinctively.

"Senne Walsh..."

When this name was mentioned, the usually benevolent Witcher Master's face was filled with barely suppressed hatred and worry.

"An expert in elemental magic and biological modification, the most promising successor to the Dean of Ban Ade Academy, the head of the Sorcerer's Council, a hypocritical name-seeker, and the leader of a wizarding faction that reveres pure human blood and hates those of other races..."

Ailin's expression grew increasingly serious.

After reciting a long list of titles, Vesemir paused for a second, his expression growing increasingly grim, as if he had thought of something:

"Outcasts...including us witchers who are originally human."

"He served as the court's magical advisor in Ad Kale for a long time, and under his influence, the former king Haxor launched many wars against elves, dwarves, halflings, and other non-human beings..."

"He wouldn't care about the moral dilemma Ben Ade would face if he killed the Witcher from the School of the Wolf..."

"More importantly..."

Vesemir took a deep breath. "He's a very suspicious man."

Suspicious... Ailin pursed her lips. "What do you mean?"

"Just as you thought," Vesemir adjusted his Black Wide-brimmed Hat, looking solemnly at the towering city behind him, "Even if we managed to get away with it just now, we have to be prepared to be discovered and hunted down."

Upon hearing this, Ailin's expression turned quite unpleasant.

Being hunted by a male witch is not something easy to accept.

Unlike in various novels, games, and movies from my previous life, the powerful male sorcerers in the Witcher world are not fragile melee fighters or glass cannons.

on the contrary.

The more powerful a wizard is, the more important he is in close combat.

In the original novel, there was a wizard who, with only his staff skills and without using any magic, subdued the battle-hardened witcher Geralt in just two moves and then broke his thigh bone.

Geralt's status and strength in the novel, when translated into reality, would at least be on the same level as Vesemir, who is currently in Ailin's sights.

Furthermore, due to her Sorceress bloodline, her enhanced sign abilities should be even stronger than Vesemir's.

A quick comparison reveals a truly staggering difference in strength.

Even Ailin couldn't do that; he could defeat Vesemir with just two sword strikes.

Not at least not for now.

Moreover, even setting aside her past life—after all, it was just a fictional novel—when Vesemir first transmigrated, she breathed lightly, and like a god, she transformed thousands upon thousands of water ghosts in the Killer Lake into leeches in a spectacular display.

Even now, it remains a vivid memory for Ailin.

Therefore, even though Ailin can now easily hunt large monsters, he doesn't want to confront the wizards at this time.

"Are you sure?" Ailin loosened his grip on the saddle and took a deep breath.

"Unsure..." Vesemir shook his head.

Before Ailin could even breathe a sigh of relief, he added, "However, I don't think it's a coincidence that we met Senne."

"You mean?"

"Don't forget that mill..."

Ailin was taken aback upon hearing this, and any lingering sense of relief vanished instantly.

yes...

Where could those male witches go with a poor man who looks like an ordinary villager?

Even in the mill occupied by the water ghosts, there were still several bags of flour and a large pile of unprocessed wheat.

so...

Ailin frowned and looked back at the young witcher, who was still basking in the joy of victory in their "hide-and-seek" game.

How can I kill a senior male wizard as quickly as possible?

His hand went to his waist without his noticing, instinctively stroking Balmor's rough, cold sword hilt.

No!

There might be more than just those few male wizards!

Won't Ben Ade College get involved?

Ailin thought for a moment, then opened the Witcher's Handbook.

Hunting Mission: Water Ghost III (Kill 134/1000 Water Ghosts)

Hunting Quest: Demon Spirit II (Kill 110/300 Demon Spirits)

Hunting Quest: Ghoul I (Kill 23/200 Ghoul)

[Hunting Quest: Foglet I (Kill 2/100 Foglet)]

In the task list, every hunting task is still far from being completed.

The one that is currently progressing the fastest and is most likely to be completed is actually the water ghost hunting mission.

That's true.

Water ghosts are creatures that aren't picky about their environment; they can be found almost anywhere...

"But that won't do..." Ailin shook his head inwardly, "The Planetary Alignment at the completion of the second-stage water ghost hunting mission was already a huge event, as for the third stage..."

Perhaps the overwhelming number of water ghosts will be replaced by an overwhelming number of Drowners King and Giant Drowner...

Just imagining that scene sent a chill down Ailin's spine.

"No, no, what if the warlocks aren't killed, and I end up unable to escape myself..." He rejected the idea in his mind. "I need to wait until Blink and the portal are upgraded a few more times..."

"Therefore..."

"Let's stick with Ghoul. Although there are five or six hundred ghouls in the first and second phases of the hunting missions, Fujian is a war-torn area, so there will definitely be a lot of Ghoul gathered there. That should be enough..."

While Ailin was pondering how to find something for Ben Ade to do as soon as possible.

When Vesemir saw his vacant eyes and unpredictable expression, he thought he had put too much pressure on him.

"Don't worry too much... things aren't at their worst yet... far from it..." Vesemir gently patted Ailin's shoulder. "You are the Witcher whose strength has grown the fastest I've ever seen. All you need is time."

"I believe that in another five or six years, you will be able to easily defeat a wizard like Senne."

"However, this journey will have to be accelerated again."

He finished speaking.

Before Ailin could reply.

Vesemir placed his right hand on the horse's neck, felt its pulse for a moment, then turned and shouted, "Little calves, are you all rested?"

"No!"

"It's only just started to slow down..."

"My inner thigh still hurts..."

A sudden murmur of complaints arose.

However, Vesemir seemed not to hear, and a slight smile appeared on his lips:

"Very good, it seems you've all rested well."

"Then hurry up! We must reach the walls of Ad Kale before dawn!"