The morning light streaming into the room through the window awakened the witcher who was still meditating. Roy took in a deep breath and opened his dark, golden eyes. All the fatigue from his training alleviated and he felt refreshed.
It was another brand-new day!
He called out to Letho to reorganize their inventory before entering the Temple Quarter together with a guard Mayor Velerad had sent to escort them through the Trade Quarter.
Vizima’s Temple Quarter was filled with dilapidated streets and short buildings. Simply looking at the infrastructures and general environment, it was far inferior to the Trade Quarter. There were also few patrols in the dark alleyways some distance away from the Temple Quarter. Security in this part of the city was pretty much non-existent. Brutal and vicious affairs happen here every day.
The three of them quickly walked into St. Lebioda’s Temple located in the center of the Temple Quarter. It was at this time that they noticed a squad of knights from the Order of the White Rose blocking the alley next to the hospital.
It was obvious that something alarming had happened here.
Under the guidance of the knights, the two witchers made their way as they pushed through the knights and saw what was in the center of the incident.
A lithe woman with white hair reaching her shoulders was crouching on the ground with her back against them, investigating the breathless corpse on the ground.
Roy stared at her back with his eyes focused.
‘Adda the White
Age: 19
Identity:
Princess (Adda the White is born of King Foltest of Temeria and Adda of Temeria. On the surface, she is the king’s only daughter.)
Striga (Five years ago, she was still a monster that fed on flesh and blood. She would hunt Vizima’s citizens as food every week. Afterward, Geralt of Rivera broke her curse and returned her to her human form, but some of her old habits and inherited attributes remained. There was a possibility that the curse would return.)
HP: 80
Strength: 8
Constitution: 8
Perception: 7
Will: 5
Charisma: 5
Spirit: 5
Skills:
One-Handed Mastery LVL3
Dagger Mastery LVL2
Bow Mastery LVL2’
***
At this time, the princess who had appeared in countless legends and stories was crouching on the ground with her back to the witchers. She was not that graceful at all. Instead, she looked like a wandering mercenary or laborer with low social standing.
Any noble lady worth their salt would not do anything that could ruin their image in public.
And yet she did it so naturally and so openly that none of the other knights dared to show any sign of disrespect or scorn. Instead, they all remained silent and stern.
Seems like Princess Adda is not a weak and helpless woman. But is it really alright for a princess to interfere in the security of the slums?
The witcher then turned around and looked at the surrounding knights. He noticed a familiar face among them.
Cleveland.
After the captain of the Order of the White Rose from Ellander had been forced back to Vizima, he had become a mere follower of a royal. The difference in responsibility made him look somewhat tired.
Suddenly, as if she had noticed the burning eyes looking from behind her, Princess Adda turned around and showed her face.
She’s gorgeous…
The witcher’s pupils shrank as the words flashed through his thoughts.
He couldn’t imagine that just several years ago, this woman was still a monster feeding on the flesh of humans.
But now? Adda, who had reached adulthood, had become a beauty.
Her lips were well shaped and it looked like they were painted with the color of blood. Her nose was tall, and her eyes were slightly narrow and long, giving her a somewhat bewitching appearance.
Her long hair, resting on her shoulders, was as white as snow… Yes, it was the hairstyle used by the sorceresses, the druids, and the courtesans.
Her skin was so white it was reflecting under the sun, perfectly smooth like silk.
However, her outfit did not match her appearance at all. Everything after her long neck was covered by brown leather. She was also wearing a pair of black gloves, and her feet were covered by light leather boots. A masterwork dagger was dangling on the left of her waist, while a spiked whip was dangling on the right.
Overall, her outfit had nothing to do with her station as a princess. Instead, she looked like a Scoia’tael assassin wandering through the wilds.
The witcher held his School of the Viper amulet tightly as it vibrated gently. He also noticed that not only did Adda have a slim figure, but she was also quite tall. She was at least half a head taller than him. Around her neck was a necklace made of a fine silver chain holding a blue-colored gem, and it was emanating faint magical energy.
***
While he was watching her, Adda was also scanning the two unfamiliar witchers.
Unlike the common women, the way she looked at them was not reserved at all. Instead, she looked at them openly. Her eyes were vibrant and invasive, as if wanting to discover everything there was to see about these two people in front of her.
But the witchers kept their cool even as she evaluated them.
They had trodden on mountains made of corpses. The murderous eyes of countless monsters didn’t faze them. What could the gaze of a woman do?
“So, you two are the bodyguards Velerad sought out for me?” Adda said as she had her arms crossed. Her voice was slightly coarse, but it was somehow quite sensual.
The two witchers nodded, but before they could say anything, the woman approached them quickly.
Her nose twitched as she came close to them, carrying with her the fragrance of mandrake. With a slight frown, she then commented warily, “What a rich scent. Human. Elf. And something else that’s non-human…”
She then licked her lips.
“You do not smell disgusting… I’ll allow you to stay by my side. But if you want to be my subordinate, this isn’t going to be enough.”
She suddenly turned around and pointed at the fresh corpse on the ground. “I heard that the witchers are experts in hunting and scouting, and I need a professional hunter to hunt down those cunning vodyanoi during my expedition. If you can find the murderer that killed the priest and prove yourself, then I will welcome you into my fold. Otherwise, go back to Velerad.” A smile appeared on her face as she continued. “I’ll give you one full day.”
“There’s no need for one full day!” the bald witcher said in a calm voice as he approached the corpse together with Roy. They knelt down and began to investigate as another knight explained the situation to them.
“The victim is Harliette, sixteen years old. She is an assistant healer in Lebioda’s Hospital… While there is plenty of violence in the Temple Quarter, all the residents here have an understanding. Anyone with at least a little good left in them will not touch a priest or priestess serving in St. Lebioda’s temple.”
“The residents nearby have all received help from the clergy one way or another. That’s why I believe the murder might be an outsider or someone that has just moved into the Temple Quarter.”
The priestess’s horror-struck expression was still fixed on her pale face. Her tongue was stuck out of her mouth as her body was bent stiffly.
“Her body was found in the alley by the temple this morning. She might have been attacked while she was throwing the rubbish last night.”
The thin priestess was still wearing the Temple of Lebioda’s long, white robe. But the lower edges of her robe had already been shredded in half, and they could see blood.
“She died from suffocation. Someone choked her to death.”
The knight pointed at her neck. There was a dark, reddish mark of a hand and thumb. And in the redness, there was a shallow and thin wound.
The witcher said, “The murderer had a weapon. He first used the weapon to threaten the unfortunate girl.”
He then held the girl’s thin fingers and observed for a moment.
“If the girl fought back and struggled after she was attacked, there would be skin of the murderer underneath her fingernails.”
It was at this time that Adda said coldly as she got closer, “If we catch this criminal, I will skin him alive and remove all his tendons. I will hang him out under the sun and expose him to the elements so that he will die in pain.”
“Then be prepared.” Roy suddenly stood up as he turned his sight to the door of St. Lebioda’s Hospital.
“The killer is someone green. The way he committed his crime is very sloppy. He didn’t clean up the scene of the crime. He left behind too much evidence.” Then, in the witcher’s senses, an obvious but faint yellow ‘ribbon’ formed by a sharp smell and footprints began to reveal itself.
“His actions were simple but brutal. He didn’t kill her because he simply wanted to let his yearning loose. He is very afraid… But he is smart. He knew that the most dangerous place is the safest place…”
The witchers walked towards the hospital’s main gate, and the knights and Princess Adda followed suit.
In the hall, several female nurses were standing in front of the door worryingly. Patients who were asleep and cleanly bandaged were resting on the available beds.
Roy and Letho both walked unflinchingly towards the hall’s northwestern corner.
“Does this mean that the murderer hides within the hospital?” Adda asked in surprise as she raised an eyebrow.
But the witchers didn’t respond to her question. Their eyes turned and looked at the middle-aged man in ragged clothing some distance away. The patient whose arm was bandaged merely sat on his bed as he looked into the void.
“Nivellen? Why are you in the hospital?”
Nivellen was suddenly snapped out of his torpor by the voice. There was a hint of fear in his eyes as he looked at the knights who began surrounding him with stern eyes.
“Witchers?” he asked after a slight shock. He then tried to force the words out of his mouth. “I’m so poor that I don’t even have a bronze piece. Since I was wounded, I have to come to ask for Lebioda’s kindness, naturally.”
“How were you wounded?”
“…”
“Haa…” Roy suddenly sighed as his dark, golden eyes began to show mixed feelings. Why did he not break his other leg yesterday?
“I leave the rest to you, boy,” the bald witcher said as he crossed his arms and looked at the man coldly.
“Very well!” the young witcher said, and he turned his attention back to Nivellen. He then asked him harshly, “Why are you afraid?”
“Afraid? I don’t understand what you mean?” Nivellen said before turning around, trying to sway to the knights. “Oh, honorable sirs, are you all going to pick on me? A poor, helpless little beggar?”
“Hold him,” Roy suddenly said. “He’s the killer!”
While Adda could only give him a strange look, Roy suddenly stepped forward and pulled at Nivellen’s arms, revealing them to everyone.
His arms were covered with several odd, bloody marks.
Roy then pulled open the clothing that he was wearing, and at that instant, even more scratch marks were exposed to everyone’s sight.
“These were left behind by that poor priestess when she struggled, right?”
Nivellen roared as he tried to fight against the witcher’s enormous strength as his face turned red. “You despicable witcher! You are framing me! Sirs! Your Highness.” Nivellen knelt down on the bed and then begged the knights. “Please, don’t listen to the witcher’s lies! Everything he said is fabricated! He wants to frame me!”
“You still don’t admit it, huh…” Roy pursed his lips. “The wounds on your arms. You cut them yourselves in disguise, correct? And the wound on the priestess’s neck… It was from the same weapon. A dagger? I believe you wouldn’t hide the weapon too far away.”
The witcher observed Nivellen’s expression and then turned and looked at the corner of the temple. “You hid it somewhere inside the hospital. For instance, the toilet?”
Horror flashed in the man’s eyes.
“Sir knight, can you please search the temple? Focus on the toilets. I believe the murder weapon is hidden somewhere there.”
The knight gave Adda a look after he heard what he said. After she gave him a nod, he left together with his peers.
Nivellen was still mumbling under his breath with a pale face.
“Filth.”
“Should I remove your pants now and see if you’ve washed your ugly little thing? The scent is so strong it’s making me dizzy.”
Nivellen was completely silent.
“You killed that priestess without any reason? You wanted to become that monster again?”
The witcher once again remembered Alan from the Sea Scorpion Troupe who was willing to sacrifice himself for his daughter. Meanwhile, this one…
“While you had the skin of a monster in the past, at least you still had some of your humanity left in you. But now? You are just a monster with the skin of a man! And your foolish action will have no effect at all.” Roy shattered his final delusion. “Only the priestess of Coram Agh Tera possesses the potent power to curse you. The young Lebioda priestess does not possess the power to do that.”
“You lie! That’s impossible!” Nivellen’s face was covered with horror when he heard that, and he pounced at the witcher uncontrollably, but the knights next to him held his arms despite his struggle and excuses.
After a short while, Cleveland found the bloody dagger in the temple’s toilet.
Princess Adda gave it a look and gave her leather glove a press, saying, “Witcher, you have really surprised me. You found the suspect in less than fifteen minutes. It’s fine if he doesn’t admit to it…” Adda licked her lips, her beautiful face filled with excitement. “No killer can endure my interrogation. Once I have confirmed his identity as the murderer, I will formally admit you into my expedition against the vodyanoi. But now?” Adda turned to look at the pale-faced beggar, who had finally realized who the demoness in front of him really was. “Pray. Last a little longer. Please me, and perhaps I’ll give you a quick one.”
The princess of Temeria smiled brightly as she said that, and then suddenly turned to the witchers.
“This is going to be fun. Are you two coming?”
Fun? Torturing Nivellen?
While he was scum, Roy had no interest in that at all.
“How are you going to deal with him?”
“I will interrogate him first, then set up a wooden beam in the middle of the temple square… where he will be tried by Lebioda’s believers and the nearby residents!” Adda’s white face began to flush because of the excitement. “He must be tortured and his blood ran dry! To scream in pain and agony until the moment he dies… To serve as a warning for all the evildoers!”
Personality-wise, the princess was like a real man.
“Your Highness, Letho and I will excuse ourselves… We will be reporting back to the mayor.” Roy shook his head. He then asked, “When are we leaving and how many people are we bringing to Black Tern Island?”
“You witchers are so boring!” Adda struck the air with her whip drearily as she lost her enthusiasm. “We will leave on the evening of the day after tomorrow. I will have forty soldiers under my command. We will first march around Lake Vizima and rest in a village in the swamp. Then, during the next morning, we will head to Black Tern Island at the center of the lake by boat.”
“How many degenerated vodyanoi are there?”
Adda’s slim finger stroked her chin as she gave it some thought. “We weren’t able to reach the lake last time the knights and I headed over there, so I’m not sure how many vodyanoi are hidden there. But there will be no less than a hundred.”
The bald man’s expression became even grimmer. There was no need to be afraid of a few vodyanoi. But if they were to appear in a horde, then it would be quite disastrous for them.
However, Roy seemed to have thought of a great idea…
Vodyanoi normally appeared in the lake and would consume the aquatic creatures living in its depths. They were especially attracted to the smell of fish. If they could use this to their advantage…
“Your Highness, if it is possible, could you send your men to prepare some things…? Can you please buy from the market a large amount of…”
Adda’s pretty little face first showed some confusion, but her seductive eyes turned bright once she heard everything.
