Witcher's Atelier

The day after crossing the Yaruga River and the Rivendell Valley and overcoming the obstacle of the Nevi River, the Phantom Troupe's life in the wilderness ended when they arrived at the town of "Ledbruni" in the Nilfgaardian territory.

Then heading south are densely populated areas, and then passing through Belhaven at the intersection of the Nevi Valley and the Sansredo Valley, the two of them can reach the destination of this journey─Anna. The Duchy of Toussaint ruled by Countess Henrietta.

However, unexpected obstacles suddenly emerged from the past, hindering their smooth journey.

In the airtight room without windows, the hard wooden chairs where the Phantom Troupe sat were firmly nailed to the floor. The original purpose was obviously to interrogate prisoners. The brackets and straps on the back of the chair could tie up the hands and strangle the neck, making it easier to use various torture instruments, such as eye-piercing, tongue-pulling, and branding irons.

Of course they haven't been put to use yet, but they could be anytime soon.

"...Let's put it this way! Witcher, I hope to hire you!" said the Governor Falco Atveld who was stationed in Ledbruni. In Victor's continued silence, he seemed increasingly impatient. "I'm willing to pay you gold coins, a bag full of florins, enough to fill your belly with white bread dipped in honey for every meal for the next half month, as long as you get rid of that damn monster in the mine for me!"

Wearing a leather eyepatch over his left eye and a face covered in scars, Falco, who is also the governor and chief law enforcement officer of the region, is a black-haired man with broad shoulders and a cyclops shape. "Don't test my patience, when they are exhausted, I'm going to have to hire you some other way, and you're not going to like that!

I want to remind you one more thing, witcher, although I don’t know the reason, but your apprentice, she looked at me with fear, guilt and anger. There is nothing wrong with only one of them, but having all of them at the same time Emotional people, usually... are criminals.

I can pretend I didn’t see it and remain unaware before you leave or even after you leave, as long as you serve me! "

…

"Ledbruni" is a town located at the bend of the Nevi River. According to the girl's previous story, the main body of the town, which is made of bricks and wooden buildings, is actually very small. The residents in the center only account for ten percent of the town. One of them, and the remaining nine-tenths are scattered in huts, huts, stalls, shacks, tents and caravans outside the town, in chaos, filth and the smell of excrement.

However, with the expectation of entering a pig pen, what Victor actually saw was beyond expectations. The main part of the town was replaced with stone buildings. Although outside the fortress fence, there were still many caravans of farmers heading north to reclaim the wasteland, but at least it looked quite Standard, the smell is not as exaggerated as she said.

Counting from the time Angouleme left, such drastic changes in just a few years are inseparable from the iron-fisted governance of Governor Ledbruni and the chief law enforcement officer of the region, Mr. Falco Atveld.

This is a ruthless official who will do whatever it takes to enforce the law or govern.

After being brought to him, and after a few minutes of communication, Victor left a message of "by any means necessary", and the suffix of "cruel official" came from what he saw in the tavern and what happened to Angouleme that year.

A few years ago, Angouleme was "active" in the surrounding area as a "hero", and the newly appointed Chief Law Officer, Mr. Falco, wanted to deal with the local gang, the Nightingale Gang.

He caught Angoulin, who had broken away from the gang, and told her that her eyes would be gouged out with hot iron pliers, her chest would be torn apart, and she would eventually be impaled on a wooden stake and bleed to death unless she could provide intelligence and help arrest other members of the Nightingale Gang. Gain the grace of a quick death on the gallows.

It was in this situation that Geralt saw the girl, and when he saw her, he thought of Ciri, who was similar in age. The paternal white wolf agreed to cooperate with Falco to eradicate the Nightingale Gang, on condition that Angouleme be redeemed. life.

Three years passed like this, and she was once again taken to the familiar torture chamber and met Governor Falco Atveld. The vivid memory of that time emerged. Even though she had experienced many storms, the girl could not hide her emotions.

As for the reason why the brigade was called, it had nothing to do with past grudges. It was simply that the rulers once again needed the services of witchers, and Victor's brilliant blue Sharingan was easy to identify.

…

"How do you think about it? For me... don't... fulfill your vocation, witcher, and fight for the civilians of Ryderbruny who are in trouble?

The answer is nothing more than two options, one is to kill the monster, take my florin, and continue your journey, and the other is, I don't want to introduce it yet. " Touching the long scar on his forehead, the chief law enforcement officer spoke slowly. The slowness was similar to the grandeur of an "ultimatum".

The so-called "ultimatum", translated into Chinese, means "don't say you didn't predict what you said."

Looking around the room at the twelve fully armed guards and weighing the cost of turning over the table, Victor narrowed his eyes. He didn't like the governor's attitude of asking for help, but due to the limitations of the times, he was actually being polite and didn't have to argue with him. The key lies in Angoulême's mood swings.

The girl showed displeasure after hearing this past incident. Since the group members hate this guy, the group leader will never accept the other party's request, let alone a mere bag of gold florins, even if it is ten thousand bags! ...Wait a minute... Let's change it to ten bags. Victor thinks ten thousand bags can still be negotiated. After all, it's too much!

Anyway, at the Hairy Bear Hotel, he had told Dandelion that he wanted to reserve the right to say "No!" Before leaving Skellige, during the conversation with Ermia, he became more convinced of his ideas.

──I have gone through dangers to hone my skills so that no matter who I face, I can hold my head high and say "no". No one can make Victor. Corleone does things he doesn't want to do!

The witcher shrugged his shoulders after making up his mind. "Respected Governor, what you said is reasonable. With generous rewards and considerate words, I actually have no reason not to agree, but -"

" - You have to pay more!" A clear female voice interrupted the boy's words.

Victor raised his eyebrows, Falco pinched his nose, and Angouleme said proudly, "Governor, this mission is quite difficult. We lack the necessary tools. We have to pay more, and we have to pay first!"

Hehe, Falco looked at the boy's special pupils. He had seen cat eyes, snake eyes and even multi-colored pupils, but he had never seen Sharingan. "Witcher, can your apprentice speak for you?"

Tilting his head to glance at Angouleme, Victor thought for a moment, turned back to the front and smiled, "Yes, what she said is what I mean."

"One hundred florins! Pay half first." The governor raised his chin slightly with dignity.

The witcher touched his chest and saluted, "It's an honor to serve you."

According to the announcement of the Vivaldi Bank in Novigrad and the Sian Vanilli Bank in Beauclair, one florin is currently equal to about three crowns, and one crown is about three orens. This task is close to the value of one-third of Princess Adda.

...

It should be noted that money can make the devil go!

——Excerpt from "The Wisdom of the Sage"

...

At night, the Phantom Troupe arrived at the commission execution site, a quarry area adjacent to the town. It is said that there is a kind of swift and terrifying monster here, which regards the dark mine as its hunting ground.

Take out two bottles of potion from the herbal bag, one bottle of poisonous potion for the witcher to use, and one bottle of non-toxic potion for Angouleme, "Cat's Eye, drink it first!"

Then Victor activated the extraordinary five senses and observed the traces left by the monster. According to the testimony of the survivors, it is known that it is a creature that can make a terrifying scream, and now there is a new clue. It pulls out the victim's intestines and wraps them on the top of the tree, which is a very cruel practice. Then the witcher squatted down and observed the monster footprints that can only be seen by extraordinary vision.

——The shape of this footprint looks... seems to be

Drinking cat eye drops next to him, Angouleme held the hilt of the sword and was alert, "Hey... Wick, why don't you ask me why I interrupted just now?"

Victor reached out and touched the footprints lightly, put it to his nose to smell the smell, "Since you want to talk, I'll ask you, don't you hate that governor very much? Why interrupt my refusal?"

"You're right, I still hate that bastard. But I don't think he has any inspiration, he doesn't remember me at all, even when he used me as a breakthrough to intimidate you, he didn't have any blatant hostility towards me."

"Tsk tsk, that's because he doesn't know yet. When he really finds out who you are, it's another matter. This reminds us that Eagle Eye Vision is not omnipotent. There are many perverted villains in the world. When they have a flash of murderous intent in their hearts, their hands have already taken action, and they can even distort their psychology and hurt others without any guilt!"

——That's right! This footprint should be a "petrified chicken snake"...

"You don't need to tell me, I've noticed this flaw a long time ago.

But what I really want to say is that he never really cared about the criminals he punished, he just did what he thought was right, and I was surprised that in just a few years, he managed Redbruni to what it is now.

So I remembered the Phantom Troupe's motto, 'to be chivalrous and punish evil and eliminate evil', I don't need to care about him either, I just need to do what I think is right. I don't regret my Hansa career, I would have died if I hadn't done that in the past, but now if I have the ability..."

Victor chuckled, "Hey! Girl, don't be so serious, relax, I have no objection. I don't plan to ask if you don't tell me.

By the way, today's hunting target is a petrified chicken snake."

After saying that, he stood up and took out two bottles of "hybrid animal oil" - a mixture of dog fat and white hibiscus petals, and handed one to Angouleme.

Hearing the name of the monster, Angouleme widened his eyes and gasped, "It's such a terrifying monster. I should have asked for more! The petrified chicken snake is a nightmare born from a shellless egg laid by a seven-year-old rooster and incubated by a toad for forty-four days."

"Wow. Is it so magical? What other information do you know?"

She rubbed her philtrum with her finger, "You asked the right person this question. It hates all life and will devour the hatcher as soon as it is born. And its most dangerous weapon is its deadly gaze. Only the bravest adventurer can use a mirror to deflect its deadly gaze and defeat the petrified chicken snake!"

After listening to what the girl said, Victor also gasped, "Hiss! It's so terrifying, Mad, tell me, who told you this?"

"Animal Bestiary!" Thinking that he would be praised, the team member answered confidently!

The cold leader gave cold instructions, "Remember to go back and find it and burn it, that crappy book is full of nonsense! The eyes of a petrified chicken snake are no more dangerous than an angry goose on the roadside.

What you should be wary of is its sharp beak and long barbed tail. A big hole will be poked in the parts without armor. With its agility, you might as well hang yourself with a rope to avoid the monster's sight!"

After being scolded, Angouleme touched his nose, evenly applied the hybrid animal oil on the steel sword and crossbow, then opened the crossbow and followed Victor into the cave.

Victor, who was leading the way in front, pointed his silver sword and concentrated on defense, "Forget those messy babblings. Intuitively, it is just a product of the intersection of the celestial spheres, a monster with a head like a rooster, a body like a two-legged flying dragon, but a snake tail.

In addition, judging from the footprints, this petrified chicken snake is obviously not yet fully grown. A mature monster can easily reach the height of two people and a wingspan of nearly fifteen feet, but it is still far from that. It is at most one person tall and has a wingspan of no more than seven feet.

The more troublesome situation is that it can fly and escape, so I will throw a honeycomb to attack its weak wings at the beginning. One should be enough, and more will be a waste. Then you should pay more attention to its attempt to escape. "

"Hmm!" The girl responded with a sound of eagle vision. The beast did not know how to hide its killing intentions. Even if the environment was dark, it was difficult to sneak attack her.

Following the faint smell of blood and footprints, the Phantom Troupe gradually went deeper into the underground. When they reached a certain intersection, Angouleme gently pulled the corner of Victor's clothes, pulled up his two thick eyebrows, and pointed to a fork in the road.

Gestured to let Angouleme stay where he was, Victor pinched the Quen seal and slowly moved forward along the fork in the road.

Then he stopped, and a fire flashed in the darkness. The "honeycomb" drew a beautiful arc and flew not far ahead.

"Boom! "

With a scream, the monster rushed out of its hiding place towards the witcher. It swooped down swiftly in the darkness, like a meteor.

Although a little surprised, Victor reacted instinctively. He dodged to the side lightly, with his back against the rock wall of the mine, letting the monster pass by.

Then there was another shrill scream, and the petrified chicken snake was shot in the left wing. Victor saw Angouleme throw down the crossbow in his hand and hold the "Golden Eagle" to meet the monster.

It flapped its wings, accelerated again and leaped towards the girl, hissing and opening its terrifying beak.

The dangerous tension spread throughout his body. Angouleme leaned to make room to avoid the pecking, and at the same time, the Golden Eagle took advantage of the momentum to pass by, scattering a ground of stinking chicken blood. The sword slashed the monster's leg fiercely, causing it to lose balance and fall heavily to the ground, and also lost its most dangerous speed.

With its back to the two people and screaming continuously, the petrified chicken snake staggered to its feet, giving them a vicious surprise. Its tail suddenly became like a whip. It whipped over like a scorpion, with the sharp tip pointing directly at the witcher's throat.

This action was extremely swift, but unfortunately the monster chose Victor. Under the lightning reflex, the speed of the True Silver Warrior Sword was only faster than its tail. It rolled on the ground in pain with a scream, and Victor cut off the tip of its tail with one blow.

And the thunder and lightning confrontation in an instant, Angulan next to her saw it clearly, and couldn't help sweating slightly in her palms. She knew that if she defended herself, she might not be able to do it so easily.

Blocking the eager members, the leader of the Phantom Troupe made a sword flower and walked towards the monster that had climbed up again, aiming at the red gizzard in the throat, and stabbed a sword shortly and powerfully.

The force of the elbow was exerted, and the impact of this blow knocked the monster against the rock wall. The petrified chicken snake with a hole in its throat made a hissing cry, flapped its wings in vain, spit blood, and swung its tail randomly.

Not long after the dying frenzy, it shook a few times and "Bang! "Fell to the ground, blood gushing out of the wound and absorbed by the soil on the ground of the mine.

To stop Angouleme from approaching, Victor gestured to step back a few steps, "This thing is very cunning, there is no need to rush to approach, let the blood flow for a while, it will become really dead even if it pretends to be dead. ”

After writing down this instruction, the girl took a few steps back as the boy stepped back. She smiled and took out her precious music box to play "Hero's Proof".

This song is now Angouleme's theme song. During the journey south, they talked about her contribution to protecting Shani during the Vizima turmoil. As a reward, Victor gave her "Hero's Proof".

It was actually quite appropriate to listen to this song after killing the monster.

After the music box looped twice, it felt that the petrified chicken snake was completely silent, and even the slight twitching had stopped. The witcher stepped forward and carefully stabbed it with the tip of the sword to make sure it was dead.

Then Victor sheathed the sword, took out the mat from the herbal bag, and waved to Angouleme to come over to help carry the monster out of the cave.

For a hundred florins deal, you might as well show the employer the complete monster first to make him feel that he is getting value for money, and then collect materials.

"Angoulême, do you know? The petrified chicken snake is full of treasures. It is said that the meat tastes like chicken, and its stomach is a necessary material for several high-level sword oils!

Look here, the most valuable part of its body is the feathers above the tail, especially the feathers in the middle. Touch it, it feels softer than goose feathers and is not easy to wear.

The pen made of petrified chicken snake tail feathers writes cleanly and beautifully. Experienced scribes will pay five gold coins for each pen without hesitation! "

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