System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 1999 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 156
“This time we came to Cintra because of the Wild Hunt?” Roy asked curiously.
“That is only one of the reasons,” Letho said, swirling the wine in his cup. “According to our investigation, in 1252 and 1253, the Wild Hunt appeared briefly in Cintra for two consecutive years.”
“Once or twice could be called coincidence. But three years ago, in 1258, the Wild Hunt descended on Cintra again. Repeated appearances in the same place within such a short span made us realize this was no accident.”
“Cintra must have something that draws the Wild Hunt, just as they crave young Witcher apprentices.”
Letho’s expression darkened. “We came to Cintra to uncover the Wild Hunt’s true intent. A Viper School reduced to so few people is absolutely no match for the Wild Hunt at the height of its power, we cannot confront them head-on...” He paused, then continued in a low voice. “We can only sabotage their actions in secret, weaken their strength.”
“But some accidents along the way, plus your Trial of the Grasses, delayed us until now before we could reach Cintra.”
“Fortunately, it seems the Wild Hunt has not succeeded yet. We are not too late,” Orin added from the side. They had arrived in Cintra a month earlier than the other two and had already conducted some investigation.
“The Wild Hunt’s objective?” Roy, sitting opposite, ran the two years mentioned by the Witcher through his mind. After a moment, a conjecture took shape. “1252, 1253, 1258. All three years are tied to the same thing.”
In 1252, Witcher Geralt resolved Duny’s curse in the Cintran royal palace and indirectly brought about Duny’s marriage to Princess Pavetta.
What drew the Wild Hunt should have been Princess Pavetta, who carried the Elder Blood.
The princess had erupted with magic during a banquet. At the time she was already pregnant, and the child in her womb was Ciri.
In 1253, Ciri, the Child of the Elder Blood, was born, and the Wild Hunt appeared again.
Then in 1258, Ciri returned from Skellige to settle in Cintra, staying constantly at her grandmother Calanthe’s side.
Seen this way, what the Wild Hunt sought relentlessly had always been the Elder Blood within her.
Even though he had pieced it together, Roy had no way to reveal the truth to the three Witchers.
This involved Ciri, the Child of the Elder Blood. The matter was of enormous consequence. In the present world, the number of people who knew this fact could be counted on one hand.
The more people who knew, the greater the chance the information would leak. If that triggered some chain reaction and caused a massive shift in future events, it was something he could not handle with his current abilities.
Here in Cintra, he would make contact with Ciri himself.
“Kid, do you know something you are not telling us?” After half a year together, how could Letho miss the change in his expression?
Roy sighed theatrically. “I was just thinking about where we should start if we want to trace the Wild Hunt to its source.”
“There has actually been some progress,” Orin said. “We spoke with residents who witnessed the Wild Hunt at different times. After piecing together their scattered descriptions, I realized the ghost knights appeared in Cintra while searching for a single person.”
As expected, Viper School Witchers were all keen investigators, already closing in on the truth.
“In 1258, a five-year-old girl from a village outside the city suddenly went missing, but an hour later she reappeared unharmed at her doorstep. Unfortunately, the child was so badly frightened that she lost her sanity and still cannot communicate normally. We used a few methods to pry some words out of her.”
Orin recalled, “That evening, she was playing near the woods not far from her house. Suddenly the sky filled with dark clouds, thunder and rain broke out, and she ran back in a panic. Behind her came strange shouts, whistles, neighing horses, and heavy hoofbeats. Then she felt her body grow light, as if someone had lifted her up.”
“She said she was carried onto a horse, a horse flying through the sky. When she looked back in terror, she saw a face behind a horrifying mask and blackened heavy armor. Vaguely, she heard a few words.”
“Cintra, the Child of Destiny ... and one sentence with an odd pronunciation. We judged it to be a language similar to Elder Speech.”
“After that, she passed out. When she woke up, she was already outside her home. The girl had no physical injuries, but her mind was deeply scarred. She often had nightmares of the Wild Hunt’s terrifying faces. As payment, we healed her with the Axii Sign and made her forget those nightmares.”
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