The Witcher: Elemental Lords

Overnight, upon waking, some people noticed that the atmosphere in Walsenburgh had suddenly become tense. The usually peaceful city felt more restless than usual these past few days.

Prices hadn't increased; things still cost the same, but everyone inexplicably felt a sense of oppression.

The commoners' market wasn't affected, but within the circles of professionals, everyone knew someone had done something, and it wasn't small. Recently, all the mercenary groups with bad reputations had been sought out.

In front of the Adventurers' Guild, several mercenaries sat together.

"Have you heard? Someone was killed over at the Flower Garden. It was someone from the Munch Mercenary Group."

"I heard. Apparently, it was a drunken brawl. The one killed was the Munch Mercenary Group's second-in-command."

"I heard about it too. The City Guard arrived in less than three minutes. There's definitely a conspiracy involved."

"Yeah, it wouldn't have been a big deal normally; people die all the time. But the City Guard showing up makes it a different story."

"Then this is a big deal. Although the Flower Garden belongs to the Lant Family and has connections with several large mercenary groups, killing someone on the spot and being discovered by the City Guard makes things unclear."

Several people were discussing this.

At this moment, someone else joined in.

"Hey, brothers, I know what's going on. I heard that the Lant Family tried to pull a fast one with the Azure Drink Shop and got caught."

That person wondered, "Is that so?"

"Of course. The Flower Garden launched that thing a while ago and stole a lot of Azure's business. They didn't say anything, but now they're trying to mess with them. Rumor has it they were poisoning people. Guess those guys got angry."

At the mention of "those guys," everyone sighed. Those individuals were not to be trifled with. The inquiries these past few days have been a complete mess. I bet that Wizard Dole is furious.

"I heard that Krista stopped supplying all the major families with potions and even launched a bunch of discounts for us adventurers. It's a real benefit."

"Exactly! I need to head out soon, so I'm going to stock up on some potions. Good quality at a great price, who wouldn't like that?"

"Tell me, are those big families just bored? Why are they picking a fight with a potion maker?"

"Exactly, exactly."

…

Inside and outside the guild, everywhere was filled with talk about the events of the past few days. The atmosphere was slightly restless.

Because of the major families, various adventurer and mercenary groups had partnerships. So the atmosphere in the hall was very tense. Several mercenary groups that had good partnerships suddenly had news exposed that they would no longer cooperate, and even became competitors. For a time, it was a complete mess.

Although swords weren't drawn and bows weren't bent, the atmosphere was definitely tense.

At the guild entrance, a majestic convoy drove from afar, quickly passing the guild entrance and heading mightily into the city.

It was the Steel Pioneers Legion's carriage. The horses were all enormous warhorses, and the chariots were also very sturdy refined steel chariots. Passing through the streets, they exuded an imposing aura.

The neat footsteps and the sound of hooves gave people a feeling of shock.

At the guild entrance, the people who were chatting all thought that there would be a show to watch. Westling of the Rhine Family had returned.

The Rhine Family's patriarch was the commander of the Steel Pioneers Legion, and Westling was currently the family's most skilled general. Westling's return at this time was clearly related to this inquiry. It was said that Wizard Dole and Westling's most outstanding daughter were in love, and it was unknown which side Westling would stand on.

The legion slowly passed, and soon the streets returned to their previous calm.

Dole didn't want to be enemies with anyone, and even didn't want to communicate with some messy people, wasting time and energy. He preferred to deal with medicines and witchcraft.

Since advancing to Level 5, things had suddenly increased several times over. New potions, new witchcraft models, there simply wasn't enough time. Now he was also being made difficult by some people, and he was already a little angry.

His sources of information were somewhat blocked, but that didn't prevent him from understanding some major events. Both wizard towers were under the surveillance of his clones.

The official launch of the inquiry made everyone feel a bit shaken. The pressure was overwhelming.

Morris and Sano and others sat in the conference room, looking at each other.

They discussed it, but didn't come up with any results. They sent messages to Dole, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response at all. They wanted to help, but found that in a struggle of this scale, they couldn't help at all. The relationships they had cultivated in the past could at most gather some information, without any substantial help.

Thinking of this, everyone began to sigh.

"Let's work hard to improve. Let's quickly reach Level 6. Boss Dole has already released the relevant alchemy recipes. We need to hurry and work hard. Only when we reach Level 6 potion masters will we have the capital to compete with large forces."

Bennard saw through the essence of the matter at a glance, and his eyes became firm.

Morris was also feeling a little uncomfortable at this time, "That's all we can do for now. The inquiry has already had results, and there's no way for us to take action. Let's just wait. Dole should have a plan."

The others also sighed at this time, and that was all they could do.

The people of the Krista Wizard Tower, from top to bottom, were sighing at this time. This emotion infected everyone, and even the people who came to buy medicine looked at them differently.

…

Westling returned, first going to the City Lord's Mansion to meet with the patriarch and report the situation, and then returning to the family, to his own small courtyard.

At this time, the women of the Fourth Consort had dressed up in gorgeous clothes and were waiting at the entrance. Besides them, there were also two younger sons and a young daughter.

Westling simply nodded, and then with a calm expression, touched the heads of the children one by one, and said, "Where's Ash, I want to see her?"

Hearing this, the reactions of the various consorts were different. The Third Consort immediately became sarcastic, "Ash, that little girl's temper has grown recently. After saying a few words, she ran outside. I don't know who she's hanging out with."

Laura's face changed instantly.

"Third Sister, you're exaggerating. Ash just doesn't want to be disturbed by some people."

The Third Consort immediately became unrelenting, "Disturbed by some people? Oh, so I'm one of those people. She's already so old, and still not looking for a husband. Is it good to be hanging out with some people outside all day long?"

Laura was about to speak.

Westling glanced calmly at the Third Consort, without using too much aura, even just looking at her straight on. The Third Consort's face instantly turned pale. She seemed to see endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood, endless bloody light.

Westling deterred the Third Consort, and slowly said, "Who Ash is with is her choice. No one can interfere. Her talent is much better than anyone in our family. She shouldn't be bound by the family. She will become an Eighth Level, even a Ninth Level person in the future. She doesn't need to care about romance."

Hearing this, everyone's face changed.

Hearing this, Laura's face slowly calmed down.

Westling looked back and said to the people behind him, "Go ask, where are Dole and Ash? Are they at the wizard tower?"