"Ever since the bigwigs in Ban Ard sent Lowell to the village as a herbalist over ten years ago, he's spent all day shut up in that house on the hillside. No one knows what he's researching."
"None of you know?" Witt asked.
"We wouldn't dare..." Fear filled the villagers' eyes. "That fellow came from Ban Ard Academy. They say the people who go there to learn magic are all ill-omened. I don't want to catch some strange disease."
"Master, do you suspect Lowell too?" Before Witt could ask any more questions, a busybody beside him spoke up.
"So you know something?"
"Master, it's not just me saying this..." The busybody hesitated, looking around. Only after making sure Lowell was nowhere nearby did he pluck up the courage to speak. "Things were all right a few years ago. Everyone in the village had benefited from his kindness, so we didn't shun him this much. But some strange things have happened lately..."
His eyes widened, and beads of sweat kept rolling down his head. He caught his breath and continued, "People have been going missing in the village since last month. All of them were men in their prime, in their thirties or forties. They had families here. They wouldn't just abandon their families and everything else. It... it could only be Lowell! That magic-using monster!"
Hayden nodded in agreement. "That's right. Two or three people have already gone missing."
"Are you sure it wasn't the elves out in the wilderness? I hear people keep getting killed by elven guerrillas around the Blue Mountains."
"Absolutely not." Hayden shook his head firmly, then looked toward the mountain behind White Mist Village and said hatefully, "As long as you stay away from the forest, you rarely encounter elven guerrillas. They wouldn't risk leaving the cover of the trees to kill people in a human village. Besides, after killing someone, they always throw the bodies out of the forest to intimidate us. Those damned pointy-eared bastards! We commoners aren't the ones killing elves! Why don't they go into the city and kill those high-and-mighty noble lords? Why make trouble for people like us, who can barely get by!"
From Hayden's words, Witt understood that not even the missing people's bodies had been found.
None of this was normal. People didn't disappear for no reason.
"And... and another thing! Master witcher, I went drinking at the tavern the day before yesterday. I got drunk and collapsed by the road. By the time I woke up, it was the middle of the night. I saw that the lights were still on in Lowell's house, so I crept over. Heavens, my goddess! You wouldn't believe what I heard!" the villager cried, only to realize he seemed to have attracted other people's attention, and hastily lowered his voice.
"...I heard Lowell reciting some strange spell, like the ones in bards' songs..." The villager then babbled some strange gibberish, but no one would have thought it sounded like a spell or anything else.
"Did you see it with your own eyes?" Witt didn't put much stock in a drunkard's drunken ramblings; neither his medallion nor Geralt's had reacted at all inside Lowell's house.
"No, I didn't dare, master! I felt someone watching me, so I didn't dare go around to look through the window..."
"Don't talk nonsense, Holland. Doctor Lowell saved your child once. Though... the recovery was a little slow, he did his best." Hayden spoke up for Lowell.
"Hmph! A slow recovery? Village head, I told you long ago that he deliberately gives us the wrong medicine just so he can keep taking our money! What good ever came out of Ban Ard?"
At that, Hayden fell silent. It seemed he thought the same.
"Actually, Lowell really has been acting a little strange lately..." Hayden began.
"A few weeks ago, he started deliberately stockpiling all kinds of supplies. Food, household goods-he bought a lot of everything. Originally, none of that was any business of ours. However much he bought had nothing to do with me, but..."
"Because of the elven guerrillas?"
"That's right. Quite a few people have already spotted Lowell taking supplies into the forest, though he thinks he's being discreet."
Looking at the agreement and shared hostility in the eyes around him, Witt understood the anger they had harbored for so long.
"Master, you must know some noble lords in Ban Ard who have influence. We're not trying to use you as a weapon. We just don't want our lord to take us for accomplices funding those pointy-eared bastards."
"That's right, master witcher." Like people clutching at their last lifeline, the villagers poured out their grievances to Witt.
"I..." Witt fell silent. He didn't want to deceive these pitiful-looking villagers with fine words.
Only after a long while did Witt find the words. "I'll tell the mage who arranged for Lowell to come here everything you've told me, but I can't promise what the final outcome will be."
A faint light flickered in Hayden's eyes. "Thank you, master witcher," he said to Witt. The people around them also offered their thanks.
"You'd better not do anything you'll regret, Hayden. You're a good village head." Witt understood his intentions from the resolve in his eyes.
"Master, hunting monsters is your duty. Protecting the villagers is mine." Hayden tightened his grip on his hammer.
"We're planning to hunt the griffin tonight. Whatever you hear, don't leave the village. By dawn, everything will be peaceful again."
"Let's hope so."
"Lowell's teacher will deal with his affairs. You have a family too, Hayden."
Witt had barely finished speaking when he saw Lowell slowly approaching from a distance. The villagers scattered at the sight, and Hayden suppressed the anger in his heart.
Lowell shook his head and told Witt the results of his inquiries. He hadn't learned anything else. The family didn't even seem to know that griffin eggs had appeared in their backyard.
With nothing else to ask, the two left White Mist Village to meet up with Geralt and Old Graz.
On the way, Witt stopped and stared straight at Lowell.
"You're doing something very dangerous, Lowell. I didn't want to get involved in whatever special dealings you have with the elves, but as Old Graz's friend, I only hope you won't drag your teacher down with you." His tone was very stiff.
"Impossible! How could those stupid villagers have discovered me..." Lowell said in disbelief.
"Never underestimate people who will do anything to survive. They deserve respect, and they deserve to be feared."
"You don't understand at all, Witt!" Lowell said angrily. "You survived the witcher trials and gained the abilities I've dreamed of, all thanks to fate's gift. Yet you treat fate's favor as a curse! What sanctimonious words!"
"These people!" Lowell turned and pointed at White Mist Village, roaring, "Do you think I didn't come from among them? I'm despicable, and so are they. I'm cowardly, and they're no braver! The elves can give me magic. I won't be one of these mortals anymore!"
"I have no intention of correcting your behavior. Witchers only hunt monsters. But as a person, I don't think casually turning your back on your past will make you feel much better. That's nothing but running away." Witt shook his head. At that moment, he wasn't speaking only to Lowell. He was also facing himself from another world.
"You're not human anymore! Are you? Witchers are nothing but tools made by mages!"
Witt remained expressionless. Words like these couldn't shake him in the slightest.
"You can't stop me! You can't stop me!"
Roaring, Lowell pulled a dagger from inside his clothes and charged at Witt. His eyes were bloodshot, but to Witt, his body, as weak as his mind, was less of a threat than even some drunks.
Witt didn't draw his sword. He wasn't a judge, and Lowell posed no threat to him.
He didn't even reach out. He simply turned slightly to evade the charge, then lifted a foot to trip Lowell.
Lowell fell flat on the ground, his dagger flying from his hand. Now even his last bit of strength was slipping away.
"Do you think I'm pathetic?"
Lowell climbed to his feet with his back to Witt. His shirt had torn from the violent movements, exposing his bloodied back.
Some sort of design seemed to be carved into it, but Witt couldn't see it clearly.
"No."
Lowell didn't attack Witt again. He knew it was pointless. Now only one path remained open to him: the forest.
Witt watched Lowell move farther and farther from the human world and did not pursue him.
What would happen when a human without magic ran into a forest inhabited by elves? The outcome went without saying.