The Divine Hunter

The northern suburbs are full of farmland, which are planted with crops such as turnips, carrots, and peppers, as well as some low shrubs and grasses.

At the very center is a wide main road that stretches from Vizima to the north in no end in sight.

There are wheel marks all over the main road. Every day, carriages from south to north pass by this way, some heading for Novigrad, and some heading for the no-man's land in the west, Goth Velen.

But the witchers didn't intend to follow the road in a proper manner. According to the plan, they drove their horses into the vast wilderness shortly after leaving Vizima.

The wilderness is unpredictable and dangerous, but there are abundant product resources.

Early October has entered autumn, which is the most active season of wild animals. Demon hunters gallop in the wilderness on horseback. From time to time, they can encounter foxes, roe deer, and elk suddenly burrowing out from the grass, bushes, and rocks next to them, swaggering around. Hang out.

Roy even saw a family of wild boars, extremely fat sows and boars, with a bunch of petite flower-skin cubs behind their buttocks, humming and groaning in the grass.

After a heated internal discussion, the Snake Sect witchers let them go for a yard and did not break up the neat family.

When it was evening, the witchers were divided into two groups, Roy took Golfin out to hunt, and the three of Lesso chose a temporary camp in the clearing behind a rock and set up a bonfire.

When the moon hangs in the sky, the rich meat aroma wafts up with the curling smoke, the youngest witcher holds a soft brush in one hand, and brushes spices and honey on the deer that has been gutted and cleaned on the grill. The other hand keeps turning the grill.

until the meat is golden, crisp and juicy.

...

Four snake demon hunters surrounded the bonfire, consuming the dwarf spirits, cider, and mouthfuls of oil taken out from the space... An entire adult forest deer turned into a bare skeleton.

"Boy, if you don't do this business in the future, you can become a chef in a tavern in a big city!" Lesso sucked his fingers and said, "Make sure you make money!"

"Hiccup... How about a buffalo for roasting tomorrow?" Serrit touched his chubby belly, picked his teeth with his left little finger, and began to think about the next few meals, "The day after tomorrow, it will be a rabbit, and then..."

...

"I said enough of you, I'm a witcher,

Not your servant! Roy angrily stuffed a piece of roast meat into the mouth of the barking Golphin black dog, who had already eaten two rabbits, but wanted to add more.

"Roy, you should be honored...Preparing food for seniors is a glorious tradition of the Snake Pie!" Oaks got up suddenly, hooked his fingers at the young man, showing his white teeth, "Have enough to eat and drink, it's time to do exercise, Come and learn with me!"

...

After the discussion, the witchers used Axifa to soothe their horses, and then sprinkled a circle of sun-dried fork-tailed dragon feces around the camp to prevent harassment in the dark night.

There will be a witcher in charge of the vigil at night. After all, in addition to the beasts, there are also thorny beings such as Anderegger, petrified lizards, and Qiqimo in the wilderness.

But Roy is not in the category of night duty.

He would sit by the campfire and listen to Brother Leto and the Ox bragging, such as the trek to the treacherous lands of the far south, and some stories of battling monsters to the death.

But it's more about experience, and they will share the witcher's experience in combat, drug preparation, and monster identification without reservation.

There are also repeated discussions to hone combat intuition.

Train Golphin.

Occasionally, in the dead of night, Roy would secretly leave the camp, take out the telescopic mirror in the space, and chat with the sorceress in Karak.

A week went by without any particular danger, except for a grizzly bear.

Until this cloudy day, the four discovered an abnormal situation.

The sky was covered with cotton wool-like, dull clouds, the sunlight was completely blocked, and the air was suppressed to the extreme.

A gloomy wind whistled across the vast wilderness, bending the bushes and grass, and the humming of insects stopped.

The witcher who was pulling the reins slowly turned his eyes to not far away, where there was a sheep-gut trail looming among the fences. At the end of the trail, it led to a row of rudimentary buildings, a small village.

"Do you smell it?" Lesso's nose moved, and in addition to the fresh smell of soil, plants, and animal body odor, there was a strange smell lingering in the air.

Several witchers felt it carefully for a moment, their faces were solemn, and a faint smell of blood came from the direction of the village, not only the blood of animals, but also the blood of humans.

"Everyone be careful..."

The witcher tied the horse to a nearby crooked-neck tree, and then, under the cover of tall and lush elephant grass, lurked to the outer edge of the village, behind a hut made of wood, rammed earth, and hay, and listened for a moment. .

There was only deathly silence, not to mention human conversation, not even the cries, breathing, and heartbeats of livestock and animals.

As things went wrong, the witcher became more cautious, crept up to the roof of the wooden house, crouched on the eaves like a cat, and observed the whole village from a commanding height.

Dozens of old houses with grass and wood structures appeared in the field of vision, most of which were dwellings. You could also see a larger tavern and a blacksmith shop with sharpening stones in the courtyard.

But there is no figure.

It would be understandable if this was an abandoned village, but on the muddy trail in the middle of the village, one could clearly see messy footprints, ruts, and horseshoe prints, all of which reminded the witchers that not long ago there were still Humans are active.

"What happened here?"

The witcher jumped off the roof and followed the direction of the bloody smell in the air to investigate separately, and then found some suspicious clues one after another, distributed throughout the village: the fighting marks left by the violent collision of the limbs, the dried blood, the corpses of poultry and livestock .

"It's basically certain that this village is not visited by ghouls..."

Roy plucked an arrow from a wooden fence where livestock were kept in captivity. The arrow was made of pig iron. The craftsmanship was extremely rough, primitive, and had some burrs.

The blacksmith ability of the maker is obviously not professional enough.

And when the witcher looked at the innermost part of the bird pen, Dark Gold's pupils shrank to a point, and a corpse lay quietly in a layer of withered hay.

The witcher walked in.

The deceased was very young, about 15 or 16 years old. He was handsome and fair-skinned. In the countryside, he was definitely the target of many young guys chasing after him.

However, the wonderful life has not yet begun to come to an end.

Roy quickly confirmed that she was strangled to death and had been treated badly before her death.

Obviously, there is more than one murderer.

The witcher took a deep breath and clenched his fists. The three big men came over at some point and patted him on the shoulder.

In their long life, they have seen many similar situations, and they have not been greatly touched.

"Little brat, I can probably understand your current mood..." Lesuo pondered, "Bury them later, it's safe to bury them in the ground."

"They?" Roy was surprised.

"Come here and see what we found."

Furniture in most of the houses in the village was violently destroyed and became a mess, and their belongings were looted.

In the courtyard outside the house, some also built stoves and grills made of clay, strung with leftover livestock and livestock.

But there is no one, where have the villagers gone?

The most spacious and luxurious building, the village's tavern, the door was violently smashed, the glass bottles in the wine cabinet in front of the door were all smashed, glass slag and drinks were everywhere, and the ground was in a mess.

The viscous liquor still exudes a smoky and intoxicating smell, mixed with a pungent bloody smell.

Point to the hall.

The tables and chairs in the hall were violently damaged and pushed to both sides, and the vacant area in the center was filled with corpses like mountains.

Thirty-five in total.

The witcher dragged them down, placed them side by side, and glanced at them,

This group of corpses included men, women and children. Most of them had rough skin, thin bodies, and calluses on their palms. They were undoubtedly farmers in this village.

But now, the fresh life has all turned into a corpse.

"We checked, and these poor people had sword wounds on their bodies, which was the cause of their death," Serret explained, "Judging from the shape and depth of the wounds, the perpetrators included at least ten strong men. But they have no formal military training, their swordsmanship is fancy, and most of the wounds are superfluous."

Many corpses were drenched in a layer of sticky alcohol like a prank, and the worst was a fire.

"Usually the robbers who rob houses will destroy the corpses, but they don't, and they don't seem to care. So they are most likely a group of miscellaneous troops passing through the border." Leto paused, "Did you notice just now that there are a lot of horseshoe prints on the road. ... The murderers may have run away on horseback."

"Is that the case?" Roy stared at the corpses all over the floor in a trance, and glanced at the pale faces.

He admits that he has killed a lot of water ghosts and evil ghosts, and even people, but all for survival and self-protection.

What is the psychology behind the slaughter of such a remote village, a group of unarmed peasants?

Just for trivial wealth, or to vent primitive animal desires?

"You want to avenge the villagers?" Oaks sneered.

"That's right," Roy said with a sullen face, taking a breath, "Isn't it a witcher's duty to remove the 'monsters' that harm humans? You have also seen the tragic state of that woman, the beasts who ruined her—" Hunter A cold light flashed in the devil's eyes, "Shouldn't we kill it?"

"The number of 'monsters' exceeds ten. With such a scale, there must be a lot of traces of life along the way. It is very easy for us to track them."

"But you have forgotten the principle of witchers, exchange for equal value, and don't meddle in your own business... We are not 'knights' of the Griffin school, and we don't have so much time for good deeds!" Serrit said seriously, "Take their corpses Buried, even if the benevolence and righteousness are exhausted."

"But I've already accepted the entrusted deposit..." Roy threw a copper coin between his thumbs, his face full of awe, "I just found it in the villagers' houses... I'm going to catch up and avenge them. "

Now that he has met, Roy has no intention of letting go of these beasts. Killing them can gain experience without adding any psychological burden.

If Brother Serret, Letso is willing to take action, it will be easy to take down a group of thugs.

This also counts as achieving limited justice.

"It's okay to catch up, I don't care." Oakes shrugged, "Lesso—"

"Wait, someone..." The bald man looked at a big tree in the distance.

"Watch your back!"

Roy turned around abruptly, following Leto's guidance, and looking through the window of the tavern - on the other side of the village, on the huge banyan tree with the canopy like an umbrella, there was a petite figure creeping down.

…

"Child...what's your name?"

This is a boy of about seven or eight years old. A dirty little face was covered with dirt, dust, and dry eye mucus, and he was as thin as a stunted monkey, revealing a row of dry ribs on his chest.

He was shivering uncontrollably, looking at the four witchers timidly, his back pressed against the cold wall, like a deer frightened by a beast, he never spoke.

"Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you..." Outlining his five fingers, Roy used Axifayin to soothe his fragile heart and won his trust.

When his eyes were no longer so panicked, he handed over a piece of marinated jerky, and the little boy took the jerky and devoured it.

"Ka...Karl...My name is Karl." He finally spoke.

The other three big men looked at the boy, and when their eyes turned, they didn't know what to think.

"Karl, are you from this village? What the hell happened here?"

Hearing the words, the boy suddenly choked up, and then coughed as if he was stuck in his throat. The witcher patted him on the back quickly and handed him a pot of water.

When he was relieved, Carl's small mouth suddenly deflated, and big tears flowed down.

"Dead, everyone is dead... The village chief, Aunt Xena, Uncle Tom, Daddy Downton are all dead... woo woo..."

"Who did it?"

"A bunch of big bad guys, robbers! Woohoo..." Carl suddenly screamed and cursed, baring his teeth like a wolf cub, and then howling.

"How many people?" Leto asked proactively.

"Sixteen people..." Carl sobbed and took a bite of the jerky, "they rushed into the village on horseback, and they started as soon as they came... I hid in a tree and secretly hid... woo woo... I was terrified..."

"You are doing well and bravely," Oakes stroked his tousled brown hair. "Are there any relatives elsewhere?"

"Woooo..." The boy didn't answer, his nose and tears flowed out at the same time, and he kept crying.

This was exactly the answer the witcher wanted, and the four exchanged glances.

Before they organized the speech, the boy suddenly said again, "But I recognized a teacher... He asked me to wait here to avenge me!".

"teacher?"

"What teacher?"

Full of hope but suddenly failed, Oaks said madly,

The boy licked his dry lips, hesitated for a while, and then slowly took out a chain from his arms and showed it to the witcher—

A necklace woven of black hemp rope with a silver pendant hanging from the top in the shape of an animal's head, a lifelike cat.

It was opening its mouth wide, revealing two fangs, and there was a dim light in its eyes.