Chapter 214

Rudolf Valaris lay quietly on the ground. Though he was covered in blood, beneath that thick beard, a trace of a smile had frozen upon his hard-featured face.

Only his eyes had dimmed, all light gone from them.

The Witcher closed them for him. He had been an opponent worth respecting, and his body ought to be laid to rest properly.

Nearby, the surviving Knights of the White Rose looked stricken. They stared at their commander’s still-warm corpse, tears in their eyes, reverence plain upon their faces.

But there was no hatred there, no regret.

To die in a one-on-one duel was no disgrace for a Knight.

“Your Highness, please allow us to collect our brothers’ bodies.”

“Go,” Adda said with a nod. Carrying a porcelain bowl filled with Holy Water, she went to the Knights still bound tight in vines and began persuading them one by one.

Roy walked over to the Lady of the Lake.

“My lady, now that all is settled, I have a question to ask you ... What was that black smoke that appeared after Rudolf Valaris died?”

Letho, who had done little more than stand by through the whole affair, raised a brow. He had watched the entire battle, yet had noticed no black smoke at all. “Kid, have you overtaxed yourself so badly you’re seeing things?”

“I know what I saw...”

“The fact you can see it means there is something unusual about you.” Trailing her splendid tail, she seemed to descend step by step through invisible stairs in the air. Then her small nose wrinkled slightly. “A Knight returned in triumph ought to be granted decent treatment.” As she spoke, without any visible movement on the Lady of the Lake’s part, a fresh, damp vapor wrapped around the Witcher’s whole body. It swept lightly over him and carried away all the blood, grime, and filth clinging to his skin, hair, and clothes.

Roy was made new in an instant, once more the proud, straight-backed Witcher he had been.

The Lady of the Lake nodded in satisfaction. Her lakeweed-green hair danced in the wind, giving off a faint scent of wet plants. “Now I will answer your question ... When any living thing dies, it leaves behind a trace. That radiance is what people commonly call the soul.”

Roy heard every word clearly. Letho, however, could only see the Lady of the Lake’s lips moving, without hearing a sound. He knew he had been excluded.

In the end, his decision to stand aside during the fight had displeased her. He did not regret it. He gave Roy a sign, then walked off toward Adda.

“Then by your meaning, that black smoke was Rudolf’s soul.” Roy’s dark-gold pupils shifted to the Ruby in the Lady of the Lake’s hand. Beneath the translucent, blood-red shell, he could just make out more than ten strands of black smoke drifting about like tailed meteors. That meant there was more than one soul within.

“As you can see, the Ruby is not only a vessel for faith, it can bear souls as well.”

So it truly was a vessel for all uses. Roy had the dim sense that the Ruby would prove important later.

The Lady of the Lake watched his expression. “This time, you ran yourself ragged to resolve my crisis, and our bond has grown closer. I can share with you some deeper secrets of this world.”