In Vizima's Temple Quarter, there was a famous detective agency. Detective Raymond Maarloeve had been working hard to trace Salamandra's crimes because his wife and daughter had died at their hands.
Then he followed in the footsteps of his wife and daughter.
Tonight, on the second floor of the detective agency, Azar Javed was staring at the city district deployment map in deep thought. Beside it was another map of the entire Continent. On it, solid and dotted lines clearly marked the lands Nilfgaard had occupied during its two invasions of the North.
The door was pushed open, and the one who entered was the Professor. His round sunglasses reflected the firelight. "Azar, that mutant freak is on his way here. How long are you going to keep playing this role-playing game with him? These past few days, he has been attacking our men on our own turf every night. I am nearly out of patience with him!"
"Hehehe!" Azar's lip ring swayed with his low laughter. "Look on the bright side. At least he is cuter than Batman. A dead man is much easier to deal with than a cripple."
Rolling up his sleeve, the Professor gestured at the sleeve crossbow fixed to his left hand. "Last year, the situation would not allow it. If it were now, and that bat dared show up again, I would shoot him straight into the wall!"
Rolling up the deployment map before him, Azar said, "You leave first. I still have use for the witcher, and it is not yet time to deal with him. His senses and expertise are irreplaceable. He is the key to breaking the seal on Alzur's Tower."
The Professor turned to leave, then suddenly remembered something and looked back. "By the way, it has already been three days. Still no news from Albert?"
Azar placed his right hand on the gem on his forehead and shook his head. "He has not answered the megascope, and there is no response from the spell mark either. It has probably been destroyed. I did not expect that fool Albert to truly die at Victor's hands."
"I agree with your assessment of him as a fool, but Albert was still a mage. Are you that certain this Dovahkiin fellow could deal with him?"
"At the very least, his odds were much higher than yours."
"Bah!" Spitting, the Professor left the room and departed through the back door.
As Azar moved downstairs, his appearance also began to transform with each step. From a Zerrikanian covered in tattoos and rings, he became a Temerian in a monocle, leather hat, and cloth clothing.
This kind of simple transformation spell could hardly conceal magical fluctuations. It could not even fool the gate guards of a large city equipped with magic detectors. But to deceive an amnesiac witcher, it was more than enough.
Opening the door and welcoming the white-haired witcher inside, they chatted and exchanged pleasantries. Azar used a few baited pieces of information about Salamandra to keep Geralt hooked, making the White Wolf continue pulling chestnuts from the fire for him and solve the mystery of the magic tower in the swamp.
Some time later, somewhere in Vizima,
"...And that is what has happened recently." The Professor bent at the waist, his expression humble and his posture cautious.
The person above him frowned and waved for the Professor to leave.
After thinking for a moment, he rang a bell and summoned another person. "Go to Sapopan and take a look. Confirm what happened there, then return and report to me."
Late at night in Vizima's Trade Quarter, there was also someone paying attention to what had happened in Sapopan. It had already been three days, and that damned little bastard was still completely missing. If nothing unexpected had happened, "Once this battle is over, I will go back home and get married!" would be Victor Corion's final words.
Keira Metz did not feel sad about Vic's death, because that bastard had clearly gone looking for death on his own. Were mages that easy to oppose?
Besides, she had tried to stop him. She had even wanted to teleport over and help him at the time. Although she had been unable to do so because she lost the coordinates, her behavior had absolutely been more than benevolent enough.
Over her long life, the sorceress had seen many people and encountered many things. The young man was merely an interesting novelty. The irritation she felt at this moment was only a sigh over how rare prophets were.
Sitting before her dressing table with her cheek propped on one hand, Keira rationally judged that Vic was already dead. But on an emotional level, she inevitably still held some expectations, hoping that the Dragonborn who had swept across Skellige could create another miracle this time.
Suddenly, the megascope buzzed. The sorceress connected the video call. On the other side was her colleague in Vizima, Triss. She was wearing only a thin veil and looked radiant, as if she had just finished some grand, energetic exercise.
"Ah! My friend Triss. One look and I can tell your witcher has just spent quite a lot of strength."
"Stop it, Keira. Do not be so harsh with me. Victor's accident is something none of us wanted."
"That was not an accident! That bastard went looking for death himself! ...So, what did you contact me for?"
"About that mage Albert you mentioned. After confirming his background, I feel that the mastermind behind the mutations in Sapopan may be Salamandra, the same group Geralt is currently investigating..."
Next, the two sorceresses spent quite a bit of time exchanging the information each of them had gathered.
In the gray morning, the pillar of light that had enveloped the manor in Sapopan for three days, piercing heaven and earth while celestial music drifted through it, suddenly disappeared. The curious villagers felt a sense of loss, but they still dared not set even one foot into the manor.
Because Mage Albert had never shown mercy to those who offended him, the villagers could only watch from afar. After confirming that they could not see anything, they each returned home.
For Victor, this was naturally very convenient. At the very least, he would not be trapped inside the house by villagers demanding that he explain the entire story behind the "manor bloodbath."
Leaving the third floor, he found a clean room on the second floor. The young man sat down on the sofa, took out smoked meat, bread, and milk, and began chewing.
Eating was merely a psychological habit. After all, refining the Grass Draught had taken an entire three days, but in truth, he was not hungry, because from the moment the Wheel of Truth opened, the alchemist had been protected by the world.
Seventy-two hours of alchemy was not exaggerated. Many high-level impossibilities required this length of time. He simply had not expected his first "marathon" to arrive so suddenly.
Originally, according to his experience making Leo's potion last time, it should not have taken this long, and even less should it have formed a three-dimensional "Pillar of Truth," the mark of a legendary work.
Of course, he had nothing to complain about. Since it was something he would use himself, the stronger it was, the better.
After finishing his food, he clapped his hands and took two gemstones from the herbal satchel, a zircon and a ruby. The ruby should have been Azar Javed's spell mark. This name had been confessed by Albert. As for the zircon, it naturally belonged to Keira Metz.
He left the zircon out and put the ruby back into the herbal satchel. Then he took out the communicator, aimed at the mouthpiece, and used the gentlest voice possible. "Michelangelo, Michelangelo, this is da Vinci. Please respond if you hear me!"
Not long after, with a booming sound, a golden-yellow portal opened. The first thing the petite sorceress did after walking out was punch the young man in the abdomen. Her first sentence came with it. "You bastard, you actually did not die!"
Before starting the alchemy, he had in fact had time to report that he was safe. He had simply not considered it at all. As a result, he had disappeared without a word for three days. Victor knew he was somewhat in the wrong.
So he adjusted his posture slightly, letting Keira punch him in an unimportant spot, and conveniently acted as if he were in great pain to calm the sorceress's anger.
Keira was someone used to hitting people, so of course she knew Victor was acting. But seeing that his attitude in admitting fault was good, she did not push it too far.
Today, the sorceress was wearing white clothes and riding breeches, with a court noble's waistcoat over them. Every button was fastened without exception. The zircon ankh on her chest shone brightly, and her hair was coiled into a cloud-like bun at the back of her head. Her whole person appeared dignified and heroic.
Standing elegantly, Keira slowly looked around. The room was neat and clean. "Where are that rogue mage and the mutants?"
Opening the door, Victor gestured invitingly. "This is the second floor. Albert and the Tyrant died on the third floor. The three types of Lickers are all in the first-floor corridor. Which side do you want to look at first?"
"The Lickers first!" Signaling for the young man to lead the way, the sorceress said as they walked, "Vic, I am not sure whether it is a coincidence, but when I went to report the biohazard to the king, Roderick had actually already submitted information ahead of me. And the contents were the same as what we knew, zombie dogs and Lickers. However, he did not mention the Tyrant."
Victor's steps were light. "As far as I know, although the Lily Knight is eager for advancement, his abilities are still very strong. Otherwise, he would not be qualified to stand against Rose Knight Siegfried."
"Perhaps in force or strategy, but that is not the most important thing. The key is trust! I do not trust Roderick. He is a Nilfgaardian." Keira's lips were pale pink.
"There is no use telling me this. Why does the royal advisor not communicate directly with Adda and express your concerns?"
"No one can do anything about Adda favoring him, unless someone even more attractive to the princess appears. For instance, Batman."
"What a shame. I do not know that free man."
No matter what Keira Metz said, there were certain things he would never admit. Although the sorceress currently seemed very close to him, Victor still kept himself guarded to a certain degree.
After accompanying Keira on the first floor to inspect the three types of Lickers, Victor asked, "Do you want to take a corpse back as evidence?"
The sorceress shook her head and refused. "No. This matter has already been handed over to Roderick. Interfering now would be thankless."
The two then went to the third floor to examine the corpses of the Tyrant and Albert. As for the Tyrant, Keira merely glanced at it in passing. But she inspected the mage's death in exceptional detail.
"What is it? Is there something strange?"
"Nothing. I just noticed that there are very few traces of battle, and then he lost. I am thinking about how you defeated him. Can you tell me the answer? Or are you preparing to use the same method against me one day?"
As she spoke, the sorceress's eyes shifted fluidly, and she smiled at the young man.
Facing her question, Victor returned the smile. "I once had a dimeritium bomb. That is all."
Keira pursed her lips and reached out to poke the young man's cheek. "I can tell you are speaking the truth, but definitely not the whole truth. All anti-magic armaments cannot be stored in folded space. Even holding them at a distance can slightly interfere with magic. So tell me, how stupid would Albert have to be to let you approach him when friend and foe were already clear?"
Victor had not known that mages were so sensitive to anti-magic armaments. Only after hearing Keira say this did he learn it. But in other words, with the herbal satchel as cover, it would be very easy for him to launch sudden close-range attacks.
As for the answer she wanted to know, he spread his hands. "All right, this is a trade secret. A witcher's trade secret."
Looking up, the sorceress glared at the young man with puffed-up annoyance. After watching him for quite a while, Keira finally looked away. "Mm... Then let us leave it at that. At least you did not try to lie to me!"
That was what she said, but the sorceress was clearly still very unhappy, because she felt that the young man did not trust her. After casually brushing him off with a few more words, she opened a portal and returned to Vizima.
Although direct long-distance travel was very convenient, Victor did not ask to go with her. As his common sense increased, he had gained some understanding of the risks of portals.
Without personal magical coordination, using a portal had roughly a one percent failure rate. After passing through, one might lose an arm or a leg, or even lose his third leg.
So although the failure rate was very low, even lower than the chance of pregnancy after correctly using a condom, the consequences were far too horrific. If he was not in a hurry, traveling by horse would only take another ten days or half a month, and he could admire the scenery along the way.
After the sorceress left, the young man's next destination had also been decided. He would return to Temeria's capital, Vizima.
That city had left a deep impression on him. He had never forgotten the story that had happened there, especially that beautiful red-haired lady!
The information he had obtained earlier from interrogating Albert, when compared with the news Keira brought, basically confirmed that it was Salamandra's Professor and Azar Javed who had led the atrocity of attacking Kaer Morhen.
Through his connection with the Ramsmeat's gang last year, Victor had already known that behind Salamandra there was the faint shadow of Temerian higher-ups. Their rise was not so simple. It might involve political games, or even a Nilfgaardian conspiracy.
As for the suspicions about Roderick that Keira had just mentioned, Victor actually agreed with them. But he was unwilling to believe that someone he knew could truly be so evil. After all, their previous interactions had been acceptable enough.
Before leaving, remembering that the sorceress had already confirmed this place was of no use to her, the young man took an oil pot from his herbal satchel and began splashing oil all over the mansion, paying special attention to the mutant corpses and Albert's body.
After the preparations were complete, Blazing Strike lit the fire. Let the sins committed in this manor be buried together with the manor itself!
Standing far away in the forest, watching the building on the hill fall into a sea of flames, and watching the villagers beat gongs and drums, carrying buckets of water in a futile attempt to put out the fire, Victor turned his horse's head and rode south.
After arriving in Vizima, he first had to find Angoulême, the person he trusted most. The process of the Trial of the Grasses could not proceed without her protection.
The results of this alchemy were indeed incomparably splendid, but the effect was so powerful that it was also troublesome. The young man had no choice but to carefully consider where he should use it.
Name: Grass Draught of Chaotic Roar, Inverse-Void Principle, All Creation, Divine Descent, Heaven-and-Earth Genesis, Super-Turbo Six-Speed, Never-to-Be-Reprinted Power-Enhanced Edition
Type: Decoction
Quality: Legendary
Traits: Ironclad Effect, Expert Completion, Guaranteed Critical Hit
Note: Trial of the Grasses potion. Limited to Victor Corion's use. If the trial is not interfered with by external forces, success is guaranteed. Multiple unknown mysterious surprises have been added, and it is compatible with subsequent upgrades. The price is that the user must experience double the physical pain, double the mental pain, and double the mutation time.
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