Kedwen, an Omen of National Ruin?

Am I right? What guess?

Demavend II, who had just recovered from the daze of his shattered dreams, was stunned.

And then there's Ban Ade's sorcerer...

Although the order was to prohibit entry and exit, how could an ordinary ban possibly stop those senior male wizards from entering and exiting? It would only increase the cost of intelligence exposure. Is there anything worth mentioning?

However, upon hearing that Kurt had not come to deliver news of the Greater Griffin attack, Demavend II secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Out of a sense of royal dignity and prestige, he gracefully sat down, holding onto the back of the high-backed chair, picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and then slowly asked:

"What are you talking about? What of my guesses is true?"

"The Greater Griffin," Kurt said, "Maybe the Greater Griffin really has been tamed by the Witcher..."

"What?"

Demavend II's hand trembled, and the pure silver goblet inlaid with rubies and sapphires fell straight down.

"Clang~"

The wine glass fell to the ground, staining the expensive carpet a dark red.

The rich, sweet aroma of grapes mingles with the fragrance of irises, rising in a fragrant, ethereal atmosphere.

Kurt thought for a moment, then solemnly said, "Your Majesty, the Greater Griffin has been subdued, and the crisis in Ard has disappeared."

Demavend II remained silent for a few seconds, staring intently at Kurt, as if his soul had left his body.

"Are you sure?" he asked, stunned.

"There shouldn't be any mistake..." Seeing Demavend II's expression, Kurt gritted his teeth and said solemnly, "Yesterday, nearly a hundred people saw the Greater Griffin land in the birch forest north of Lavido village, west of Vengerberg. Then two witchers appeared in the village. Not long after they left the village, the Greater Griffin took off from the forest again and left..."

"And the horse they were riding was the same black horse that we saw yesterday, under the talons of the Greater Griffin..."

"Wait!" Demavend II interrupted him, frowning.

"Aren't there nine Witchers?"

"Only two showed up yesterday, the others..."

"Only two demon hunters appeared, and you didn't capture any of your men!" Demavend II easily grasped the key point.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Kurt took a deep breath, making no excuses, for he knew that Demavend II abhorred excuses.

"You promised yesterday, two days," Demavend II held up two fingers with his right hand, "If you don't bring them over within two days, you will volunteer to join the prisoner-of-war camp to attack the city."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And now you're telling me that the Witcher has tamed the Greater Griffin?" Demavend II looked at him coldly.

Kurt remained silent.

Demavend II silently observed him for a long while before asking again, expressionless, "Now I'll ask you one more time: is it true that the Greater Griffin was subdued?"

Kurt knelt on one knee, his head slightly bowed.

"It's true, Your Majesty."

"Although I failed to bring those two witchers here, everything I just said is true, and..."

Kurt instinctively looked toward the "window," but his view was blocked by the portrait of the founder of the nation, and he then remembered that he was currently underground, in the place where the king had been humiliated by the monsters and had to hide.

"Moreover, it's almost noon, and the Greater Griffin hasn't attacked yet. For the past forty-three days, at this time every day, that monster has already left..."

"Sair, go out and take another look," Demavend II coldly interrupted, waving his hand to order the only servant in the basement.

After the attendant went out as instructed, he returned shortly afterward and nodded to Demavend II.

"Ta-da~"

Upon receiving the news, Demavend II remained silent, his head slightly lowered, his index finger tapping incessantly on the table, occasionally glancing up at Kurt with an expressionless expression.

The atmosphere in the entire basement froze, and even the candlelight flickered cautiously.

"Thump!"

The index finger, adorned with a ruby and gold ring, suddenly struck the tabletop one last time with force.

"Smack!"

Demavend II slammed his hand on the table, gritted his teeth, and looked at the bowed-headed attendant, Ser, standing to the side. His voice was hoarse and solemn as he said:

"Sair, relay my order to the King's Hand: have the logistics forces immediately transport all the grain, weapons, and other supplies stockpiled in the warehouses to the front lines."

"Yes, Your Majesty..." Sel bowed, about to accept the imperial decree, but after hearing its contents, his tone faltered, and he looked up in alarm, "All the supplies? Now...now?"

"Are you Long-ears?" Demavend II roared. "Now! Immediately! Get all the carriages in Vengerberg moving!"

"Yes... yes... yes, Your Majesty!" Sel trembled all over as he was glared at by the king's bloodshot and ferocious eyes, and scrambled away as he ran outside.

"Wait! Inform the King's Hand and the other ministers to come to the palace. The royal meeting has been moved up."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Demavend II waved his hand, and Seri carefully bowed and left, gently closing the door behind him.

"Bang!"

The wooden door had just been closed.

Kurt dared not remain silent any longer and quickly stood up to advise, "Your Majesty, isn't this too hasty? Why not wait another day? By this time tomorrow, the Greater Griffin still hasn't arrived..."

"Wait?" Demavend II gave him a cold look. "A week ago, Ban Green almost mutinied. Logistics are insufficient, and deserters are increasing day by day. With each passing day, the possibility of the front line collapsing will double."

"Who knows, while you and I are discussing whether that monster will come back in this damn cramped basement, a rebellion might be taking place in the Pontar River, Ban Grin, or Vido Stone Bridge."

"Your Majesty, if the Greater Griffin return, the hastily transported supplies to the front lines will inevitably be..."

Before Kurt could finish speaking, Demavend II waved him off.

"What? Were you lying about everything you just said?"

"Every word is true!" Kurt quickly replied earnestly, "But no one saw it with their own eyes. It's highly possible that the two witchers controlled the Greater Griffin, but it's all just speculation. What if the Greater Griffin just happened to land in that area..."

Before he could finish speaking, Demavend II abruptly stood up from his seat, pointed his finger at him, and roared:

"Then you must keep your promise and go to the front lines!"

"With those damned Kedwen peasant nobles, use your fists and teeth to pry open the gates of Ad Kalai!"

"Until those ignorant, cowardly, and greedy nobles, merchants, and damned dwarven vampires of Vengerberg oust me from this throne, or simply kill me!"

The roar echoed through the basement walls, making the candlelight on the table tremble.

The king's eyes were redder than blood.

Kurt had seen the same eyes in many places—merchants, generals, nobles, commoners... but they all belonged to the same kind of people—crazy gamblers who lost everything and had only their hands and feet left to exchange for money.

They grasped at the last straw, but they didn't know whether it would pull them out of the mire or crush them into the abyss.

However, Kurt knew that at this point, Demavend II was not someone he could persuade.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that regardless of whether he captured the Witcher or not, and regardless of the protests of the King's Hand, the Minister of Military Affairs, or others, the war was bound to continue.

So he fell silent, and could only pray in his heart that his guess was correct.

The Witcher has truly tamed a Greater Griffin for the first time in history.

otherwise...

If this hard-won logistical supplies were attacked by the Greater Griffin that had temporarily "taken a nap," then Ard would truly be doomed.

"Whoosh—hiss—whoosh—hiss—"

Demavend II's face was flushed, and he was breathing heavily.

Much later.

With a thud, Demavend II sat back in his high-backed chair. After calming himself down, he asked the same question for the third time, "Do you think the Greater Griffin has really been subdued by the Witcher?"

Kurt could only nod vigorously.

"Phew~"

Demavend II sighed and murmured:

"That's good, that's good..."

He finished speaking.

He suddenly remembered the second thing Kurt had mentioned when he came. "By the way, what do you mean by saying that the Ban Ade wizard infiltrated?"

"It's also related to those witchers," Kurt recounted how the seven witchers suddenly disappeared after the innkeeper and his wife visited, and how there were traces of intense magical battles on the road leading to Vengerberg.

"The reason why seven of those witchers are missing is most likely because of those two wizards who suddenly appeared."

Demavend II pressed his thin, sharp lips together and stroked the wine glass that the attendant had replaced before leaving.

"Couldn't the Greater Griffin have been tamed by those two wizards?"

"Master Aubrey detected the spatial fluctuations of the portal on the battlefield, and our people also found the location where the two wizards lived," Kurt shook his head, "Jakub's Garden Inn, the best inn in Vengerberg."

"They've got some nerve," Demavend II scoffed, not questioning why the city guards hadn't searched them. "And then what?"

"They booked the largest room, but left in a hurry shortly after booking and never went back."

"Leaving in such a hurry? Why?" Demavend II looked up curiously.

"It's still unclear, but the innkeeper, Jakub, said that they left shortly after the Northern Sky Anomaly. Also, they heard a urging bell ringing on their bodies, which might be some kind of magical item."

"Northern visions... wizards... the urgent sound of bells..." Demavend II muttered to himself, his fingers, which were caressing the wine glass, suddenly stopped.

He stood up, picked up a candle, and walked to the other side, where a map was nailed to the wall.

There are many charcoal marks on the map, mostly at the border between Ard and Kedwen, leaning towards Kedwen.

The furthest arrow was only a finger's width away from Adkalay, the capital of Kedwen, but it was erased and moved back quite a bit.

Demavend II paid no attention to the marks, but closed his eyes and thought for a while. When he opened them again, the index finger of his left hand traced from the black dot marked Vengerberg directly north to another famous city near the Blue Mountains —Ban Ade.

"I remember..." Demavend II turned to look at Kurt, "A few months ago, wasn't Ban Ade attacked by monsters?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, a black sun rose over the city of the male wizard that day."

Demavend II nodded, then turned and stared at the small characters "Ban Ade" for a long time, involuntarily clenching his fists, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"Kurt".

"Your Majesty, I am here."

"The strange phenomenon in the north the other day was caused by Ban Ade being attacked by monsters once again."

This is a certainty, not a question.

Kurt paused for a moment, then, seeing the excited look in Demavend II's bloodshot eyes, nodded solemnly. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"At the pre-King's meeting, I need you to report this intelligence and then persuade the King's Hand to guide the Minister of Military Affairs to order a general offensive."

This time, Kurt didn't hesitate. After a sigh in his heart, he immediately replied loudly, "Yes, Your Majesty."

"As for the Witchers..." Demavend II sat back down in his high-backed chair, "Can you identify them?"

"They all had masks on their faces."

"Not only are there people hiding from us, but there are also those in disguise. It seems they don't want their identities to be known," Demavend II shook his head. "The School of the Wolf has been ostracized by the royal family and wizards of Kedwen to this extent, and they still insist on neutrality..."

"The heroes of Vengerberg were forced to risk their lives to subdue the Greater Griffin, and they even had to live in anonymity and refuse to accept the bounty."

"How utterly pedantic!"

Demavend II raised his glass and took a sip of wine:

"However, we are not ungrateful people. Since they are unwilling to reveal their identities, you should have your men keep their mouths shut."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Let's go, the ministers will be arriving soon." Demavend II stood up and slowly walked towards the door.

Kurt lagged behind, following behind.

"Bang!"

The door to the nameless basement slammed shut.

The echo of the closing door reverberated through the dimly lit corridor, becoming sharp and piercing.

Demavend II took a few steps down the corridor and suddenly spoke, "After the royal council, have your men spread the word secretly that Ban Ade's sorcerers attacked the School of the Wolf's witchers without cause!"

Kurt paused, hesitating, "Won't this... make it seem like the Witcher from the School of the Wolf dealt with the Greater Griffin?"

"Hmph~" Demavend II snorted coldly, "As long as we don't admit it, who can prove it?"

"And wouldn't it be better if it were guessed? There are absolutely no witchers capable of subduing Greater Griffin..."

Demavend II paused mid-sentence, lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds before looking thoughtfully at Kurt.

"After the meeting in front of the king, you should prepare..."

"Prepare what?" Kurt felt a chill run down his spine under Demavend II's gaze.

"Prepare to head to the front lines," Demavend II said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. "After all, didn't you promise that if you couldn't find a Witcher within two days, you would volunteer to join the prisoner-of-war camp to attack the city?"

"?" Kurt's eyes widened instantly. The Witcher had subdued the Greater Griffin; wasn't the crisis in Vengerberg resolved? Why...

He saw the king's eyes, which seemed to be smiling but were actually quite meaningful.

There are very few witchers capable of taming Greater Griffin.

Got it...

A high-ranking official was sent to a frontline prisoner-of-war camp to keep the secrets of the Witcher...

He was used as a tool to win over the Witcher—the one who captured the Greater Griffin —...

but...

A highly skilled witcher, plus a Greater Griffin that changes the course of the war...

Kurt's eyes hardened, and he said, "Yes, Your Majesty. I will hand over my duties properly after the royal meeting."

Demavend II patted him on the shoulder with relief. "Don't worry, I won't send you to be a prisoner of war..."

"No!" Kurt interrupted his king, "Send me to the prisoner-of-war camp!"

Demavend II paused, staring at him with wide eyes.

Kurt smiled gently:

"After all..."

"A Greater Griffin is far more important than an intelligence minister who's been forced into a position and doesn't know how to gather intelligence!"