System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 1999 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 288: A Deal at the Crossroads
A cool morning wind blew in from the river delta, dispersing the smell of blood that had lingered over Oxenfurt Academy Island for most of the night.
At this moment, Linus Pitt was walking through the Menagerie of Rare Beasts with the Witchers, doing the final cleanup.
“Last night’s operation was a great success, masters. Weapons, drugs, boats, and a great many tools used in the crime were seized. They were caught with the goods in hand, and the criminals have no way to deny it. They have now been thrown into prison.”
“Has the sentence been decided?” Roy asked. “How long will they be locked up?”
“The judge is still interrogating them. There should be a result in about three days. But believe me, not one member of the Wild Boar Army will escape.” The Oxenfurt Academy scholar looked invigorated. “Their crimes are not limited to murdering an Oxenfurt Academy student and stealing Academy property. They are also connected to multiple caravan raids from several years ago, and many lives are on their backs.”
“With all their crimes judged together, the Wild Boar Army leaders headed by Vlodimir von Everec will certainly not escape death. As for the remaining members, even if they survive the punishment, they will be thrown into sunless prisons and spend most of their lives there.”
“So, Mr. Nales, do you still think I was too heavy-handed?” Flavius asked, holding his student’s small hand.
“How could I?” The Oxenfurt Academy scholar explained in slight panic. “I feel only gratitude toward you masters. Thanks to your help, the animals in the garden were unharmed, and I also escaped with my life from those desperadoes.”
His eyes flickered, trying not to look at Flavius’s cold face.
This baleful star had struck cruelly and without mercy. In a certain sense, he was too fond of killing. There had been more than forty members of the Wild Boar Army who smuggled themselves onto Academy Island last night, and a full seven died by his hand.
Roy and the Viper School Witchers had held back a little, which was why more than twenty members of the Wild Boar Army survived.
“Mr. Linus, after last night’s trouble, the rare animals have been thoroughly exposed, haven’t they?” Letho asked curiously. “You will probably have plenty of trouble to deal with next.”
Nales Pitt said, “Better they be exposed than stolen away.”
“Though this may attract more ill-intentioned people, it is not entirely a bad thing. Just now, all the teachers and students of the natural history department submitted a joint application to help me protect the rare animals. Their enthusiasm exceeded my imagination. It made me realize that perhaps I have always been too cautious.”
He shook his head and smiled in relief. “Perhaps the Rare Animal Protection Society envisioned by myself and the sorcerer Dorregaray will officially be founded through this opportunity.”
“Let us set the animal protection matter aside for now, Mr. Linus. Are you certain all members of the Wild Boar Army were captured?” Roy interrupted the scholar’s reverie. “Our operation last night ... were there any fish that slipped the net?”
“To be honest with you, there are indeed three members of the Wild Boar Army whose whereabouts are unknown. Two of them are ordinary farm boys, not worth fearing.”
“And the other?”
Hesitation appeared on the Oxenfurt Academy scholar’s face. “His name is Olgierd von Everec, Vlodimir von Everec’s elder brother, another direct member of the von Everec family. It seems he escaped in the chaos of last night’s battle. But he will not flee for long. Oxenfurt’s soldiers have already posted wanted notices throughout the city. As long as he remains in the city, he has nowhere to hide.”
As he spoke, Linus Pitt sighed with feeling. “There is another matter I forgot to mention. According to the investigation, the von Everec brothers owed a huge debt outside. This reckless attempt to target the rare animals was entirely forced by that debt.”
“If nothing unexpected happens, by the end of the month, the von Everec estate will be publicly auctioned by the court to repay the debt. The von Everec family was once a great family, and the scale of their estate ranks among the finest in the surrounding region. If the masters are interested, I can recommend you for the auction.”
“Witchers do not have that much money...” Roy refused the suggestion. Oxenfurt was by no means an ideal place for a base.
Another matter occupied his mind.
“According to the normal order of time, the von Everec estate should not be auctioned until several years later, should it?” Roy pondered for a moment, then understood.
He and Letho’s group of Witchers were an enormous variable.
If the party had not come to Oxenfurt and become involved in the matter of the Menagerie of Rare Beasts, then the Wild Boar Army’s plan against Linus Pitt should have succeeded. The von Everec brothers would have gained a great sum from this deal and allowed the family to survive for several more years.
“But what can Olgierd do now? Several years early, will that being intervene?”
...
Outside Oxenfurt town, on a green field by a stream.
“Hah, hah...”
Olgierd’s chest heaved violently, breath rasping like a broken bellows.
After being pushed into the water by the Witcher’s Sign last night, he had muddled his way to shore and then lost consciousness.
When he woke, he was already outside Oxenfurt town, and it was noon the next day.
Olgierd was in dreadful shape. His clothes were soaked and wrinkled into a mass, his eyes bloodshot, exhaustion plain on him. His hair and beard were clumped together.
His face was flushed and burning as well. He had a low fever.
“Why have I fallen to this point? What did I do wrong?”
Those cunning mutants had long since seen through their self-important plan. Last night’s operation had been a trap from beginning to end.
And he had led the brothers under him straight into it like fools, delivering themselves into the net.
Self-reproach and rage filled Olgierd’s chest.
In truth, not long ago, he had intended to enter the city and find out what had happened. But he discovered that every entrance to Oxenfurt was guarded by soldiers, and wanted notices by the city walls bore his face clearly.
What drove him deeper into despair was that the von Everec estate had also been surrounded by soldiers. He had a home, but could not return to it.
He understood then. It must have been Oxenfurt Academy pressuring from behind the scenes, or the soldiers would never have moved so swiftly.
But Olgierd still had one place to go.
He barely forced himself up and, like a man of seventy or eighty, staggered slowly toward the northwest of Oxenfurt.
After several tormenting hours, exhausted and starving, Olgierd finally reached a secluded manor. It was hidden among thick green vegetation, quiet and elegant.
This was the home of his fiancée Alice, the Birwitz family estate.
Alice’s parents were famous merchants in Oxenfurt, wealthy and powerful. If they were willing to provide him a place to hide, nothing could be better.
But in recent years, after the von Everec family’s decline, the old couple had increasingly wanted to separate him from Alice.
The chance that they would kick him while he was down was even greater.
But Olgierd had no other choice. Clinging to a frail hope, he washed his face in the small pond outside the estate, tidied his clothes a little, and came to the main gate.
“Stop. Who are you? State your identity.” Two strong servants blocked Olgierd at the gate, studying his disheveled clothes with frowns. “What are you doing at the Birwitz estate?”
“You two must be new. It is normal you do not recognize me.” Hearing their tone, hatred stirred in Olgierd’s heart, but his wretched situation forced him to restrain his temper. He put on a mild manner and said, “I am your family’s son-in-law. I have come to see my fiancée, Alice. I have urgent business with her. Do not block the road.”
“You are Olgierd von Everec?” The two guards’ faces changed when they heard this, and they quietly pressed their hands to the swords at their waists. “I am sorry, but this very morning, the master dissolved the engagement. From now on, you have no further connection with the Birwitz family.”
“Please leave at once. The Birwitz estate does not welcome you.”
“Dissolved the engagement? Damn it, that old thing goes too far.”
Olgierd’s heart shook. He instantly understood. His future father-in-law and mother-in-law already knew the wrong he had committed. They were drawing a clear line.
“You want me to leave? Fine.” Olgierd suppressed the wild unease in his heart. “So long as I see Alice one last time, I will leave at once.”
Even in such a desperate state, he still could not stop thinking of that graceful figure.
“Miss has been taken into the city by the master...” The guard gradually lost patience, a vicious light showing in his eyes. “If you know what is good for you, do not come harassing her again. Otherwise, do not blame us for being impolite.”
“To tell you the truth, Olgierd,” another guard said. “If Miss had not specially instructed us, I would have gathered a group of brothers and tied you up to exchange for the bounty in town.”
“Go, quickly. The farther from Oxenfurt, the better. This is Miss’s final mercy toward you.”
“With your present identity and circumstances, you are no match for Miss Alice. Or do you intend to take her fleeing across the world with you?”
“No match?”
Olgierd’s eyes went blank for an instant. The rage in his heart seemed to be doused with cold water. He thought of his own circumstances, lost brother, lost family estate, crushing debt, wanted by the law.
“What face do I still have to look for Alice? What right do I have to ask her to bear risk for me, to stop being a proper rich young lady and live with me in fear?”
Olgierd shook his head in self-mockery. His body suddenly trembled. At last, he looked deeply into the estate one final time.
Then he turned and left.
...
Olgierd had nowhere left to go.
Lost and empty, he wandered aimlessly through the wilderness. He did not know how much time passed before despair and confusion completely corroded his reason. That mad nightmare began surfacing in his mind again and again.
This time, he no longer doubted it. Like a drowning man, he grasped desperately at the only straw that might save him. Olgierd walked with grim resolve toward the scene from the dream, the crossroads.
The moon rose to the middle of the sky.
A man tortured by hunger, exhaustion, and illness arrived at the forked crossroads. His low fever had worsened into a high fever. His vision blurred, his chest felt tight and nauseated, and his mind seemed stuffed with paste, dull and muddled.
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