Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 176: Blood Beneath the Red Sky
Leading the packhorse behind Margarita, Lannor followed her toward the tavern at Darkwater.
The blonde beauty walking ahead wore an expression caught somewhere between relief and irritation.
Lannor could understand the mood well enough. Back at Aretuza, she had already made herself perfectly clear. If things in Vizima turned ugly, if the enemy proved too strong, then he was supposed to retreat.
She had wanted him to place his own life above everything else.
But the sort of ruthless work where he slaughtered Count Stessa’s entire estate without hesitation clearly did not fit those instructions.
Granted, from Aretuza’s perspective, the incident only made Lannor appear even more valuable.
But Margarita had always treated him as Lannor first and a valuable asset second. So despite being the Rectoress of Aretuza, she found herself angry at the risks he had taken.
The moment the two reached the tavern entrance, Berengar, who already looked fully recovered, stepped forward to greet them.
“Ho! You vanish for over ten days and come back dragging a thing that size?”
The old witcher stood against the wall with his arms folded, staring at the miserable Otherworld packhorse trudging forward beneath the weight of a massive jawbone.
Even weathered with age, the sheer size and shape of the thing still carried a savage grandeur.
The distance between the jaw’s ends nearly matched the horse’s entire body length. Yet the packhorse was not even breathing particularly hard, proof of how unnaturally light the bone truly was.
“That shape is ... dragon bone?! Gods above, how enormous was that dragon?!”
Though Berengar had abandoned the witcher’s path due to lacking the temperament for combat, he had still received the Wolf School’s formal education.
Even if he had never slain a dragon himself, he had at least studied the monster bestiaries.
Pretending not to notice Margarita’s expression ahead of him, the old witcher walked right up to the bone, examining Balerion’s jaw with naked fascination.
But after stepping close enough, he lowered his voice and curled his lips into a grin.
“So, lad, you actually hooked Margarita Laux-Antille? She’s been in a foul mood the entire time you were gone. Listen to me, everyone knows sorceresses are difficult, but once you pin her down on a bed and...”
The corner of Lannor’s mouth twitched.
He had genuinely thought Berengar came over to inspect the dragon bone.
Turns out the old bastard had come to play matchmaker.
And what sort of caveman courtship method was that?!
... Margarita could hear him.
The mutations caused by Chaos magic were nowhere near as extreme as those borne by witchers, but when sorceresses actively wielded magic, their senses could become even sharper.
At that moment, Margarita was watching Lannor with an openly amused gaze.
Not angry about being discussed behind her back.
If anything, there was a dangerous hint of anticipation in her eyes.
Lannor was not entirely certain what expression that was supposed to mean...
Still, at least she no longer looked furious.
Avoiding Margarita’s stare, the young witcher led the packhorse toward the stables.
Then he joined Berengar and Margarita at one of the tavern’s long wooden tables.
“I figured you’d have left already.”
Lannor drank from a mug of ice-cold Kaedwen Black Ale as he spoke.
Margarita had chilled the beer herself with magic.
Berengar, unfortunately, did not receive the luxury treatment. He sat there clicking his tongue while drinking ale at room temperature.
“I wanted to leave, but...”
The old witcher glanced toward the Rectoress of Aretuza seated beside Lannor.
Lannor nodded silently.
When he left to drive out Daggon, he had only told Berengar he would send Arya home. He had never expected to end up wandering another world himself.
After vanishing without warning, Berengar, as the last person to see him, naturally could not simply walk away.
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