The Next Conjunction of the Spheres

The Old Duke?

Ailin paused for a moment.

Why would the Old Duke come at this time? Judging from Nannick's expression, it seems he has some connection to them...

That doesn't make sense!

They've only been at the Temple of Melitele for a short time, how did the news spread so quickly?

Or perhaps it's because of the Greater Griffin?

Ailin shook his head inwardly.

That's not right either.

The sky was dark, and the Greater Griffin had landed deep in the Mahakam mountains behind the temple without even passing over the city. Besides, even if it had been spotted, the Greater Griffin hadn't caused any damage, so there was no need for it to be in such a hurry...

Ailin was about to speak when he asked again in a low voice.

"Sizzle~"

The sounds from the unsealing ritual interrupted Ailin.

Not long after the jade statue became transparent.

A faint, shimmering magical energy began to fill the air.

A pale golden, hemispherical Divine Art barrier suddenly appeared, enveloping the garden space. It collided with the shimmering magical energy, creating a dazzling spectacle, like countless fireworks exploding within arm's reach.

One of the black candles sparked, casting a shadow on the stone slab.

The zodiac Magic Array drawn in chalk seemed to come alive, and the patterns on it changed accordingly.

But Ianna did not lower her hands; instead, her chanting became even louder.

In response to the sacred chanting, the statue grew larger with lightning speed, began to throb and tremble, and its structure and shape changed rapidly, like a cloud of smoke spreading across the stone slab.

The intense light emitted by the crystal penetrated the air, and a wriggling, gradually condensing substance appeared within the light.

A moment later, the body of a human dressed in full leather armor suddenly appeared in the very center of the magic circle.

It's Ernie.

The candle emitted smoke, and the crystal's brilliance dimmed.

Ianna lowered her arms, flexed her fingers, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"May I have your name?"

Ailin temporarily set aside his doubts about the Old Duke's purpose and stepped forward to ask him, following the procedure in the book, whether his self-awareness was clear.

"What are you asking, Commander? I... I'm Ernie..." Ernie stood up from the ground blankly, glanced unsteadily at Ailin, and looked around.

Pink carnations, deep blue roses, daisies with their tender yellow stamens unfurling, and dandelions swaying in the wind, their white fluff sprouting...

Ernie was very diligent in potion-making and materials science. She knew that many of the flowers around her bloomed very differently, but in this mysterious garden, they bloomed naturally and harmoniously, creating a subtle sense of holiness.

These flowers seem to be on a pilgrimage...

He scratched his head, one question after another.

"Commander, Master Vesemir, when did you return?"

"Am I asleep?"

"And where is this? Aren't we in a hotel?"

"We are at the Temple of Melitele in Arland," Vesemir approached and nodded to the drenched Ianna, "And this High Priest Ianna has lifted... well... you can think of it as a curse..."

"The Temple of Melitele? A curse?" Ernie paused, then her eyes widened in shock as she exclaimed, "It's that man..."

Upon hearing this, Ailin and Vesemir exchanged glances and offered a few words of comfort.

"Are you alright? Do you feel any discomfort?" Ianna asked kindly.

"Huh?" Ernie touched her whole body. "I don't feel uncomfortable. My stomach and intestines were a little strange just now, but I feel much better now."

Vesemir and Ailin breathed a sigh of relief almost simultaneously.

Ailin was just worried, after all, it was a living human being shrunk to the size of a palm, which was quite terrifying to look at.

Moreover, in the original story, when Yennefer was restored from the curse by Francesca, she screamed in agony, lost control of her bladder and convulsed, and it took her a long time before she could move normally again.

"But that makes sense," Ailin thought. "Yennefer was sealed by the Shapeshifting Sealing Charm for a full month and a half because of the Thanedd Coup, while Ernie only got two days off because I subdued the Greater Griffin."

Seeing that Ianna had a moment to spare, Nannick quickly stepped forward and said, "High Priest, Duke Mason is here again."

again?

Ailin's ears twitched.

Ianna sighed, offering no response, but instead turned to look at Vesemir and Ailin:

"Does your School of the Wolf really not plan to relocate here?"

Vesemir and Ailin exchanged a glance upon hearing this.

Ailin cautiously probed, "Why do you ask that? Did the Old Duke come here because..."

"That's right," Ianna sighed again, "It's all about the School of the Wolf. Ever since Mason received the letter of refusal from Grandmaster Soyer a few days ago, he's been trying to get me involved to persuade that stubborn old wolf."

"This is the third day already."

"Don't we already have Necrophage Oil and Specter Oil?" Ailin raised an eyebrow. "The demand for witchers in Arland should have decreased by now. Why are they so eager, even wanting you to persuade the chief?"

"That's not how it works." Ianna shook her head, then instead of explaining immediately, she supported Ailin's right arm and looked at the little priestess Lyra. "I've completed the most difficult part of the unbanning ritual. Next... Lyra, you can unban the other witchers one by one."

"Yes, High Priest." Lyra nodded and carefully placed the jade statue of Klar in the center of the pentagram.

"Lyra has improved a lot. She'll take care of things here. Shall we go see Mason together?" Ianna patted Ailin's arm. "Ailin from ' Arland '?"

Ailin turned and glanced at Vesemir.

"Go ahead, I'll stay here and explain to Klar and the others," Vesemir said.

Ailin nodded and helped Ianna, whose face was somewhat pale after the exorcism ritual, walk out of the garden.

Tonight, the moon is bright, a crescent moon like a hook, and countless stars twinkle in the night sky, guiding travelers on their way.

And guiding them forward was Nannick.

After Ianna refused to help Ailin instead, she glanced at Ailin and walked ahead with the lantern.

"Speaking of which, you really don't hold back," Ianna suddenly said with a laugh as they left the garden. "Although the knighthood is the lowest rank of military merit, you are truly the first person to run away as soon as the knighthood ceremony is over."

"At the time, I had some urgent business to attend to back in Kaer Morhen, and it didn't seem like Arland needed me to stay." Ailin paused, somewhat embarrassed.

Duke Mason granted him the title as a reward for his merits on May Festival night. Afterwards, he was in a hurry to go back and train his Witcher Company, so he left through the portal without thinking.

However, it does seem a bit unfair of Ianna to bring this up at this time.

It's like when I was a corporate slave in a past life, and I received payment from the client on time after the project ended, but they didn't even bother to exchange pleasantries or arrange a meal before running off.

It's not that it's wrong, but it's a bit inhumane.

Moreover.

The titles of nobility are all subordinate, and each level has a fixed number of titles.

Therefore, although Ailin did not pledge allegiance to the Old Duke, he actually occupied the Old Duke's position when reporting to the Council of Nobles, and it is estimated that for a considerable period of time, the Prince title represented by the Old Duke will forever lose this knighthood.

Therefore, although the knighthood is not a high-ranking title, it is actually very valuable.

If this title is not given to Ailin, Mason or his successor could use it as leverage to win over certain forces under certain special circumstances.

"You were already gone when you needed to," Ianna shook her head. "The day after you left, the first day after the exorcism ritual completely failed, water ghosts, Ghoul, Rotfiend ... some ghoul creatures came sniffing out the scent."

"Something went wrong?" Ailin frowned.

"No, not at all," Ianna shook her head. "The Monster Hunter Army successfully eliminated a lot of carrion creatures that time, and because of your Necrophage Oil, the casualties were also very small. Most of them were those who were facing the Rotfiend for the first time."

"Isn't that great?"

"Things were fine at the time, but after half a month, things slowly started to go wrong." Ianna sighed and continued, "The ghouls that had gathered started attacking the villages around Arland, and the Monster Hunter Army soldiers would hide as soon as they arrived, only to come out and harass us again as soon as they left."

"If the number of the Monster Hunter Army gathered is not large enough, the ghouls will not flee, but they can only protect the attacked village, not eliminate the invading monsters."

Ailin's expression gradually turned serious.

This is indeed a good strategy for dealing with ordinary human armies that use Sword Oil.

Although the members of the Monster Hunter Army have "Demon Hunter" in their name, they are actually just ordinary soldiers who have experienced war.

Unlike witchers, they are not well-trained and have the ability to hunt monsters alone. Instead, they must fight in a group using the old-fashioned war formations, which is naturally somewhat rigid, and the targets are particularly large.

They lacked even basic knowledge about Monster Economics, and couldn't even avoid being detected by monsters or disturb them.

Ailin concluded. "Ordinary Ghoul wouldn't have such high intelligence; it must be Giant Ghoul or some other highly intelligent monster."

"That's what we think too," Ianna nodded slightly, "But there's nothing we can do about it."

"Has nothing like this happened before?" Ailin asked curiously.

"Of course," Ianna said. "Every five years, the entire Temeria gathers silversmiths and elite knights, warriors, and witchers for a witch-hunting procession, specifically to hunt some stubborn and threatening monsters that frequently attack villages, but this is only the second year."

"With Arland's strength, I would have been able to organize a small demon-hunting parade before May Festival, but at this time..."

Ianna shook her head.

"It seems the effects of the May Festival Wild Hunt are far from over," Ailin thought.

in addition.

He also knew that Ianna's invitation to meet the Old Duke was not a simple one-night stand.

The words he spoke before meeting the Old Duke were certainly not just casual remarks.

However, after thinking about it, Ailin realized that helping the Old Duke deal with the ghouls would be entirely beneficial to him.

Aside from Horton Qui-Gon's distress letter and the Wolf School Master Set, the main purpose of leaving Kaer Morhen this time was to train seven young Witchers from the Monster Hunting Legion, accumulate Combat Points, upgrade their skills, raise the Monster Hunting Legion's rank, and increase the member capacity limit.

and...

Although Ben Ade is estimated to have suffered a major blow, he certainly won't have the energy to focus on the School of the Wolf in the short term.

However, the planned "nuclear weapon"—the Conjunction of the Spheres —must be put on the agenda.

This will save us from having to find a large number of monsters on short notice, like we did a few days ago when we suddenly needed them – that's too unreliable.

It just so happens that Ghoul are the target of his next hunting mission, and he is still short of six or seven hundred before he can complete the Planetary Alignment stage.

In addition, there was the Old Duke's personal favor and the generous reward.

Tsk tsk!

It's a win-win situation.

But to be honest...

Even without these practical benefits, he didn't want to see Arland —a city that had left a good impression on him and had many kind and friendly people—decline like this.

"I can't make the decision about the School of the Wolf's relocation," Ailin said, looking up at Ianna. "However, I can find a way to deal with those monsters who have taken advantage of the situation."

"Shouldn't we discuss this with Vesemir?"

"No need, Vesemir wouldn't refuse such a thing, besides..." Ailin paused for a second, then smiled playfully, "Don't underestimate me because of my young age, but half a year ago, I was already Witcher Master of the School of the Wolf."

"Hehehe~" Ianna paused for a moment upon hearing this, then burst into laughter, her face, etched with the marks of time, now filled with kindness and... a strange pride.

"Very well, my Witcher Master, Drowner Killer, Blue-Eyed Grim Reaper, Bloody Red Fox's Most Proud Alchemy Apprentice, and Ailin of Arland, let's hurry up and give that annoying old man a surprise!"

After reciting a long list of titles, Ianna immediately released Ailin's arm, chuckled, and strode toward the temple entrance.

She was nothing like the pale and weak woman she had been after the ceremony.

Seeing this, Ailin paused for a moment, looked at his raised right arm, chuckled, and quickened his pace.

——

Vengerberg.

"What! Everyone's gone?" Kut slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.

The two men standing in front of him shuddered. One of them quickly spoke up to explain, "Lord Kut, those... those two had no intention of negotiating at all. I didn't even have a chance to speak before they knocked me unconscious..."

Another person added through gritted teeth, "They even used the Axii Sign on me, bewitching my mind and making me believe half of this empty corridor..."

"I don't care about any of that!" Kut interrupted with a grim expression. "All I know is that you asked me for a hundred people, but you didn't bring back a single one."

"Could it be that all nine of them are highly skilled swordsmen, capable of taking on a hundred men single-handedly, while you..."

Kut gave the two of them a cold, scrutinizing look:

"But you don't have a single injury on you. I even wonder if you just slept somewhere all day..."

"Absolutely not!" the two shouted anxiously in unison, their voices cracking.

"Why is that? Tell me, Sir Yore! Sir Kahn!"

Upon being called by name, Yorl and Karn jumped again. After exchanging a glance, Yorl quickly replied:

"Only two people returned from that hotel. We waited and waited but no one came, so we went up to try to recruit them, but they just ran away without saying a word to us."

"Yes!" Karn added, "The people hiding in the village were confused because there were two of them, which is why they let them escape."

"Didn't the master say we should treat them with courtesy, so we acted rashly without even meeting them..."

"Are you blaming me?" Kut's face turned ashen as he thought of the promise he had made to the king—that he would request to be exiled to the front lines if he failed to capture anyone within two days.

"No!"

"I wouldn't dare!"

The two denied it repeatedly, and seeing Kut's face growing increasingly gloomy, they racked their brains trying to shirk responsibility.

"That's right!"

Suddenly, Yorl's eyes lit up, and he shouted:

"The Greater Griffin!"