Witcher's Atelier

"I must say that there is no living creature more disgusting than these unnatural beings called witchers. They are the product of evil spells and witchcraft. They have no conscience, no morals, and no ethics. Villains, they are truly creatures from hell, only good at taking life.”

Excerpted from - "Deformity, or Portrait of a Witcher"

…

Walking in the Vizima Palace for the third time, the witcher also understood the location of several important halls. This direction was obviously not to the audience hall, but to the royal suite in the side corridor garden.

Follow the squire through corridors adorned with tapestries and bucklers, crossed swords, javelins and hooks, epees and poleaxes.

Stopping in front of the apartment door, when Victor was disarming, Radovid V happened to come out of it, and the two of them faced each other. The witcher calmly turned sideways and caressed his chest to make way for the little bald man.

The King of Redania was also calm, as if he had never seen him before. He nodded slightly with satisfaction and left gracefully accompanied by his attendants.

Entering the room, candlesticks all around were brightly lit, and sitting in front of the central oak desk was the King of Temeria. Foltest, he looked at the witcher Victor with sharp eyes. Corleone.

The wall opposite the door is covered with game souvenirs. The heads of elk and stags contrast with the grinning faces of wild boars, bears and lynxes. There are also many falcons with intact feathers on the perches nearby, which have been hollowed out and stuffed. hay.

The witcher bowed deeply and saluted, raised his head and observed the surroundings with interest, but the most attractive thing was the "Pterodactyl" next to him. The specimen was very delicate and still lifelike.

Noticing his gaze, "My grandfather's collection," the king said to Victor, stood up and walked to the fireplace, personally stuffing a huge log into the fireplace. "It is probably the last one around Vizima. Pterodactyl. Come on, come closer and talk to me!"

He glanced at Vernon, who was standing with his sword next to him. Roche glanced at him and realized that the "Hand of the King" looked familiar. He had been responsible for guarding the several times he had met. Victor walked up to Foltest.

That handsome and noble side face was that of the king the Alchemist was second familiar with, "Victor of Bell Town, speaking of which, this is the third time we have met!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it is an honor."

"I remember your story, the dragonborn poet, the witcher apprentice who repaid his kindness. But I didn't expect that in just over a month after leaving La Vallette, you would have ended your mutation and become an official hunter. Demon Hunter."

Foltest's opening statement was very straightforward, his voice was majestic and his attitude was gentle, just like the uncle next door, making it difficult for people to feel disgusted.

Victor bowed slightly and thanked the king for his attention. Foltest waved his hand to indicate that he didn't care.

"I believe you know that I will not call you here for no reason. There is a serious matter in front of me that is oppressing my mind. The curse from the past has once again entangled my daughter, and I want you to lift it! Again! Once! Just like your predecessor once did for me, maybe you have also heard the name 'Geralt of Rivia'.

In the next room, I have gathered everyone who may be able to help you, Roderick, who has been the princess's adjutant for the past year or so, and Verelad, who has known Yada since she was a child.

I would have counted on any of the royal advisors to provide you with extensive magical knowledge and female intuition, but unfortunately, they seemed to have failed in their duties when I needed them most!

So now, Victor. Corleone, will you fulfill your duties as a witcher and serve me? "

"As you wish, Your Majesty." Originally, the witcher planned to agree to the mayor's request, but now it was just a more noble client, so there was no need to change his original intention.

But after he graciously agreed, the young man discovered that the king had no intention of letting him leave immediately.

The fire was blazing, illuminating Foltest's side face, "I am ruling a country full of fools!" The king's voice was faintly angry, "This chaos shouldn't have happened, but when I was traveling, At that time, it happened, forcing me to rush back to deal with it!”

Victor blinked but did not respond.

"Those who I left behind in the Gu family behaved in a way that disappointed me very much. One guy even took the opportunity to threaten and gain more power! If it were you, would you be angry? Would you choose bloody revenge?"

"Forgive me, my lord, I don't understand what you mean, but we witchers generally do not interfere in politics."

"You don't need to understand that it's good to maintain a neutral attitude. Unless you are prepared to serve your king with greater enthusiasm, maybe you are willing to deal with the person I designated?"

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but as a witcher, I'm afraid I can't do this. We are not killers!"

"Then shut up, witcher. Before you say too much, let me give you a piece of advice. Rulers usually can't stand rejection from others."

"Of course you are right! Your Majesty."

"Let's go, Victor. Verelad will take you to Kyramez's apartment, and you have one hour to look for clues to find out where my royal advisor has gone!

Of course, the most important thing is my daughter Yada, I am counting on you. "

"I won't forget this!"

…

Soon after, in Keira. In Metz's palace suite, Victor activated his extraordinary five senses and scanned the spacious bath that the sorceress loved. There was cold water and flower petals in it. There were several plates of fruit and a bottle of Fiorano rose next to it. However, this bathroom No useful information.

Although the bad omen thrown on the ground looked very suspicious and made people want to pick it up and confirm it in detail, the boy did not do so. He did not want to lose his valuable moral integrity too early.

Continuing to search other places, the witcher looked for clues and reflected on the conversation with the king.

It was obvious that Taller had regained Foltest's favor, otherwise the king would not have known that he had thought of this. And from what he said, it was clear that the king also had an opinion about the mastermind behind the Salamander Gang. Sure enough, he could see different scenery depending on where he stood.

Just like very few people can see the scene in their eyes at this moment. Through the clear vision of Sharingan, Keira's footprints appeared from the teleportation anchor point. She walked to the dressing table to change clothes. The clothes on the ground were hers that day. What she was wearing──you could see the sleeveless long skirt under her armpits, and then the footprints extended towards the door again, and then disappeared without a trace.

Walk out the door. The "inner corridor" outside the entire row of suites is usually not guarded by servants, but servants clean it regularly, so there are no clues left.

However, after asking the people guarding the "outer ring corridor" that day, they did not see Keira walking out. Victor could tell that Keira was knocked down in the inner ring corridor outside the room.

Extending our imagination, no one has seen the sorceress so far, which may mean that she is still locked in a suite here? Furthermore, although there is usually no one in the inner ring, any loud movement will attract the attention of the outer ring. So Keira disappeared silently, was she caught in a trap? Or a human animal that she trusts?

Continuing to reason about insufficient information and insufficient authority to search other rooms, the one-hour detective work ended. The witcher could only follow Vererad and Roderick with questions to the "Old Palace of Vizima", where the vampire bird hunted Food place.

…

Escorted by more than twenty knights, on the way on foot, the young man approached the Lily Knight and said, "Long time no see, Roderick. I don't think I have congratulated you on your promotion to earl."

"Please! Victor, let us put aside our titles and focus on the more important things in front of us!" His steps were heavy and he looked anxious.

Victor shrugged his shoulders, "As you wish, the king asked me to lift Princess Yada's curse. Is there anything you can tell me? After all, the past fourteen years have been normal. I don't think there is no reason. Did anything happen before the curse broke out? "

Lily Knight sighed: "Uh... I'm sorry, I don't know much. I was not there when the curse recurred. But I am very worried. The appearance of the vampire bird proves that the royal family is cursed. The people are very sensitive to these signs. Poor people." Her Royal Highness the Princess.

I sincerely hope you can succeed, but if... I mean if... when it comes to a last resort, please give her quick and painless relief, witcher, and I will pay you generously for it. "

Roderick's words were quite emotional, and Victor seemed to feel the same way, but deep down in his heart, the boy's decision to move the knight from the gray list to the black list was too suspicious.

Because according to the knowledge Victor learned, the vampire bird curse is unlikely to recur naturally. Geralt's actions after removing the curse are clearly recorded in Kaer Morhen's classics.

At that time, he told the princess that she must wear a flawed sapphire necklace in the future, which is a sapphire with bubbles inside, plus a silver necklace. And the hearth in her bedroom must now and then burn the branches of juniper, gorse, and aspen.

So the reason for the recurrence of Yada's curse may be that someone replaced the necklace or put other spices on the fire in the room. The above actions require someone who is close enough to have a chance to do it, and Yada's adjutant Roderick is just right.

However, without evidence, Victor did not intend to press charges and said goodbye to the Lily Knight. He then approached Verrelade. The white-haired and pot-bellied mayor was now sweating profusely.

Seeing the witcher approaching, the mayor forced a smile and said, "You're pretty good. You look very calm. It's really scary. Geralt warned us back then that the vampire bird might come back. You are sure to come back again." Solve this curse?"

Victor smiled confidently, "I have some ideas in my mind, but they lack actual verification. Maybe you would like to tell me about the situation back then and how Geralt lifted the curse?"

"Of course, Geralt said that as long as you stay in the old mansion where the vampire sarcophagus is located from dusk to dawn, the spell will be lifted and the monster can turn back into Foltest's little daughter.

But he didn’t mention that the noise he made would keep half of the city from sleeping. Anyway, when we arrived at the mansion at dawn, the witcher and the princess fell in a pool of blood next to the sarcophagus. Geralt almost died, and Yada’s curse successfully eliminated. "

"It sounds like this method has a lot of risks. If... I mean if... it comes to a last resort, maybe I can give her a quick and painless relief?"

"You decide what to do, but remember that Foltest loves her daughter very much, and Geralt once rescued Yada, which made the king have a good impression of the witcher."

…

Finally arriving at the area where the "vampire demon bird" was active, Victor used his extraordinary five senses to observe for a moment and found the entrance to the catacombs. However, he had only taken a few steps down when the heavy iron door at the entrance was rumbled shut, sealed and locked.

The change was sudden, and Victor was a little stunned. He patted the iron door without responding. He thought about it but couldn't believe it. He kicked out with a loud bang, "Verelad! Roderick! I'm Temade." Can you tell me what's going on?"

"When daybreak comes, the iron gate will open again!" The voice that answered was Verelad.

"I believe you can do it, please, my friend." Roderick said.

My friend XX! Although he had known to be wary of the aristocrats of this era, their politeness was still very disguised. At least Victor did not expect such a hand. He directly sealed the door, which meant that it would not solve Yada's curse. , then it will be the princess’s midnight snack.

Knowing that it would be useless to talk any more, the boy opened the herbal bag, which was a four-piece set of thunder, blizzard, tawny owl, cat's eye potion, dragon roar potion and mental strengthening potion.

Thunder strengthens wrist strength, blizzard strengthens reaction speed, tawny owl replenishes physical strength, cat's eye provides low-light vision, dragon roar potion protects against assault, and strengthening the spirit can slightly increase the power of the seal.

Speaking of which, it had been a long time since he had drank the spirit-enhancing potion. After taking a tube of it for a long time, he suddenly remembered Mr. Kalkstein, the original owner of the formula, and wondered if the alchemist was in danger in this chaos.

Theoretically, given the strength that the other party has shown, there shouldn't be a big problem, but the chance of the house being set on fire is still high. After all, everyone is a good neighbor in the Temple District, so there is no reason why his house should be the only one with nothing to worry about.

Feeling the condition of the body again, after taking four poisonous witcher potions at once, there was still no toxic reaction, neither nausea nor vomiting. Except for the feeling of some heat on the face, the rest of the physiological functions were as stable as Mount Tai, and the current condition was excellent.

Twisting his neck left and right, Victor drew out his silver sword.

In fact, if you choose to kill the monster, the problem will become very simple. With all the means available, the boy has many ways to seriously injure the princess, but he doesn't want to do this. Giving roses to others has lingering fragrance, so if possible, it is better to get Yada out. good.

Be alert and move deeper into the tomb step by step.

According to Geralt's account, this vampire bird is six feet tall, with a body like a beer barrel, a disproportionately huge head on a short and thick neck, red eyes and red hair, and a huge mouth from one ear to the other. Extending to the other side, there are dagger-like teeth arranged inside, with claws sharper than those of wild cats. It moves like the wind, and has strange strength that is incompatible with its body.

Geralt's solution at the time was to hide in the sarcophagus where she usually lived, seal the coffin board with the "Seal of Arden", and hold on until dawn.

The time was approaching midnight, and the vampire demon bird was about to emerge from the tiger's gate. Victor planned to follow the successful experience of his predecessors and use the Seal of Arden to sleep for a night.

But before that, he must first find the indestructible and gorgeous sarcophagus that cannot be destroyed even by the vampire bird's strange power.

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