System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 2025 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 23
They walked down the corridor laid with bear-skin rugs, the torchlight spilling over a grand hall so lavishly decorated it seemed to glitter. Display cases held half-armors, polished and perfectly preserved, catching the light every few steps; delicate porcelain vases broke the marble’s sheen with soft color.
On the walls hung a dozen expensive oil portraits, mostly stern faces in embroidered coats. Roy’s eyes snagged on one in particular: a likeness of Emperor Emhyr, the man who had crushed a usurper years ago and restored Nilfgaard’s rule. The painting stared down from its frame as if that history still breathed.
“Severin sure knows how to flatter,” Roy said. “Who else would dare keep the portrait of the enemy emperor in Aedirn?”
Letho shrugged. “Dwarves hold power. As long as he stays loyal, local troops can do little. It is not surprising some of them favor Emhyr. At least he does not openly persecute nonhumans.”
“I do not buy that,” Roy muttered, barely audible. “The Emperor likes to use nonhumans when it suits him. Witchers and the squirrels alike could be fodder for his campaign.” He did not intend, if he could help it, to let Viper School be naïvely exploited.
They moved on. At the stairwell to the second floor two attendants tended the flowers in a vase. Roy blinked and almost laughed, then checked himself. The attendants were Dwarf women—short and stout, wearing skirts, but with beards as dense as any grown man’s. Their presence made him smile despite himself.
“Respect other peoples’ customs,” Letho said quietly. He reached into his alchemy pouch and drew out a small bag of white powder, scattering it through the rooms as he moved. “Hellebore Petal powder,” he explained to Roy as he worked. “Dried and powdered; it smells pleasant to humans, but it irritates a few mischievous sorts and makes them show themselves.”
Roy sniffed the air, curious. “A faint perfume. Pleasant to humans, foul to others.”
Letho did not answer directly. He methodically searched the ground floor, then the guest rooms upstairs, then Severin’s master chamber on the third floor. At last he roused the Dwarf, who blinked at the scent and stretched with a yawn; the Hellebore seemed to calm him, as if a long annoyance had somehow lifted.
“Any discoveries?” Severin rubbed the dark circles under his eyes and tried to look composed.
“Not yet. Tell me, is there any secret door in the house besides the rooms on the third floor?” Letho asked.
Severin bristled and fell silent. Letho’s voice sharpened. “This concerns whether we can expose the culprit. If you do not tell, we cannot catch the monster, and no refund.”
The Dwarf ground his whip against his palm and sighed. “Very well. I trust the Viper School’s reputation. It is not that I do not wish to say; it is a weighty matter.”
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