Chapter 220: Meeting Coral Again
"Serrit and I came across a gorgeous carriage when we came into the city. It had a coat of arms in the shape of a black shield dotted with silver fleurs-de-lys on it. That's the emblem of Vizima's royal family." Auckes caressed his new silver sword. "And the knights are patrolling around the carriage. Someone powerful must be inside."
"If I'm right, that guy must be Foltest," Roy said. "He went around his kingdom in disguise for a while before this." Adda told him about that.
"Foltest?" Auckes put on an exaggerated look and gasped. "There were a few sorcerers beside the carriage. I bet the king's going to do something big."
"Foltest brought a sorcerer back with him?" Letho and Roy tensed up. He must have found out about Azar's death and hired a new consultant. But it's only been a month. This is rushing it a little bit.
Auckes said something even more terrifying, "You gotta learn to listen, Roy. Not a sorcerer. A few sorcerers. As in a group. That's what my pendant's vibrations told me. There were two ladies and a guy in the caravan, and I saw a familiar face as well. She's none other than Keira Metz of Aretuza. Remember her, mates?" Auckes sighed. "She's a delicate and charming lady. Oh, but the other lady is as charming as Keira herself. She has lovely maroon hair, a pretty face, and her body is to die for." Auckes' eyes shone, and he made some curves with his hands."
Serrit turned away. "That's enough, you fool. Wipe your drool. You're embarrassing the school."
"Hey, it's normal for guys to talk about women. Are you sure you can still get it up?"
Roy listened to them quietly. He finished his drink and suddenly stood up. "You guys carry on. I have something I need to settle."
"You gotta learn respect, Roy." Auckes' face fell and he raised another glass of wine. "You're not going anywhere until we're done drinking."
"Are you threatening my apprentice?" Letho held Auckes' neck and yanked him away from Roy. "You're drinking with me. Loser's paying for everything." Letho raised his chin, telling Roy to leave.
Roy quietly retreated to the inn's entrance. Even still, he could still hear Auckes announce, "I've had enough of you! I, Auckes, am going to show you who runs this place!"
***
Roy left the brothel in a hurry. He breathed deeply, and the cold air of Vizima's streets cleared the alcohol in his head, sobering him up. The fact Foltest came back with three consultants at once made him feel worried about Vivienne. His last failure taught him nothing.
Thanks to the darkness of the night, Roy slipped to the lake unnoticed and tried to warn Vivienne, but she did not respond to Aerondight's summons, nor did Roy see the palace in the lake's center. "She went into training again?"
Roy went back to their temporary base and paced around the house. He was planning on getting in touch with Adda the next morning to find out more about the situation. It was then that he noticed something in the middle of the room. This was originally Coral's room. There were a few magical items sitting around the dressing table, including the telescope with crystals embedded in it. "It's been a while since I contacted her. Gotta give her Azar's research journal."
Roy recalled how to use the telescope, and he rubbed its glass. Eventually it started heating up, and Roy's mana was reduced by ten points. A bright light filled the room, and just like that, a screen appeared in the air, as if the telescope were a projector. Roy could see steam brushing against the screen, and he heard the sound of water sloshing around. A smooth, beautiful arm appeared and rested itself on the edge of the big bucket. "Someone's bathing?" Roy's eyes widened. For some reason, he felt like he was a peeping tom, and he turned away.
He heard someone chiding him, and the screen darkened. He heard the sound of water splashing against the ground, the rustle of the rug as someone folded it up, and then sounds of footsteps approaching him. When the screen lit up again, he saw Coral looking straight at him. Her hair was fiery red, her eyes as blue as the sea, and her lips as full as flower petals. Her skin was gleaming, as she had just gotten out of the bath. "Roy?" She covered her lips in surprise, and she beamed, dimples forming on her cheeks.
"Um, hello, Coral…" Roy was feeling awkward. It would be hard to explain himself if Coral thought he was peeking at her. "I-I didn't know you were bathing. I saw nothing!"
"I don't mind, even if you did," Coral said. She stood up and pulled her hair together. She brought her chest closer to the screen, and her breasts swayed. Even though they were miles away, just the sight of this made Roy's heart race. His eyelids twitched, and his face burned up from how bothered he was getting. He might have a strong will, but he still was a man. Fortunately, the sorceress changed her position right away.
"Are you alone in the room?" She backed away and allowed Roy to see her from head to waist.
"Yes." Roy took a deep breath and cleared the dirty thoughts away. His eyes cleared up. "What about you, Coral? How's your work in Kerack going?"
"Not exactly busy." Coral rested her chin on her hand and smiled. "You know being a royal consultant is a boring job. Nothing interesting happens. So, I assume you have good news for me?"
"Back when we were in Cintra, you said you were interested in the mutation process of witchers, right?" Roy shifted his gaze away from her lips. "And I have something just for you." Roy took the copy of the research journal out and showed it to Coral.
"Alzur's Witcher Research Journal, a spellbook, experiment journal…" Coral could no longer stay elegant. Her jaw dropped, and she looked shocked. "Did you loot a sorcerer's lab?"
"Yes." Roy scratched his nose. "Azar Javed ‘heroically sacrificed himself,' so his items were ripe for the picking. I wasn't gonna let anyone take it, and you need them. Besides, I still need you to help out with the Trial of the Grasses." Roy had to start preparing for the second trial.
"Who's the new witcher?"
"You'll find out." A pause later, Roy said, "But there's a lot of this stuff here. It's going to be hard for you to transcribe just with this telescope. I'll come up with a way to send these over."
"No need for that," Coral stopped him. She pursed her lips, gazing at him as she slowly got closer to the screen. "Yennefer has always complained that witchers are as unromantic as they get. They would never give anyone gifts, but I think she could be wrong. Are you—"
"I'm just trying to get someone to help my school out," Roy said. He changed the subject. "Coral, I have a question. Three sorcerers came to Vizima today. If I'm right, they'll be Foltest's new royal consultants. How much can you tell me about them?"
Coral sighed, as if she were complaining about Roy being unromantic. She then remembered something fun, and she smiled. "My sisters told me about the new consultants, and they have records in the organization. Foltest told us he wanted to hire a few sorcerers to keep himself safe. According to him, some sort of horrible monster has appeared in Vizima. It has killed the leader of the knight order and his previous royal consultant, the sorcerer from Zerrikania. It's not every day the king of one of the strongest kingdoms in the north asks us for help. It's a great chance to ease the strain between us and the kingdoms, so the organization sent three sorcerers who were nearest to Vizima to help out." Coral massaged her forehead. "Keira Metz of Carreras, Fercart of Cidaris—"
"Where's Cidaris located?"
"North of Kerack. Not that far from where I am, actually. Fercart is a megalomaniac, and Vizima is nearer to the center of power, so he tossed Cidaris away. And the last one is a young but extremely talented sorceress. She's a girl from Maribor—Triss Merigold."
"Triss?" Roy froze for a moment. He had a trip down memory lane to the days when he played Witcher 3. He recalled a lady with maroon hair, and she left as deep an impression on him as Yennefer did.
"You know her, Roy?" Coral arched her eyebrow.
"You told me about her back at the temple of Melitele, remember?" Roy explained. "Geralt told me about her as well."
"Is that so?" Coral let her guard down. "Triss is good friends with Yennefer, and Yennefer has a rich past with Geralt. Still going around each other even until now. It's possible he told you about her. Oh, and one more thing about the royal consultants. Be careful of Keira Metz. Don't be fooled by her looks and elegance." Coral scoffed. "Because she has no shame at all."
Ooookay?
"Yes, she is beautiful, but she has no concept of purity. She's interested in every single man she comes across. If she wasn't a sorceress, she'd probably have a lot of kids by now. And rumors say she's interested in witchers." Coral gave Roy a look.
"Don't worry. I won't get involved with her." He was not going to sleep with someone Auckes slept with.
"Triss is… not bad. You can try talking to her, but don't fall for her charms. Oh, I'm just joking. Just don't get entangled with her."
"Um…"
"Let's get back to an earlier question. Are you alone?"
"Letho and the others are in the inn. They're gonna drink through the night," Roy said.
"Excellent! You don't have to give me the journal right now." A gale stirred in the room, whipping up dust and billowing the curtains. A whirlpool the size of a fist appeared in the air, and it expanded until it became a fiery door. Coral came out of the door, covered in nothing but her towel. She grabbed Roy’s hands, who was still in shock. "Why do your hands feel smoother than a woman's?"
"That's just your mind playing tricks on you."
"We'll talk later. Take the journal and come with me." She chuckled, huddling closer to Roy. "Time to fulfill your promise and teach me that dance." She turned around and stood on her tiptoes. Her towel slipped down a little, revealing her flawless skin that had an angelfish tattooed on it.
Roy was pulled into the portal, and chuckles came from behind it. Roy grunted, and water splashed. Coral gasped. "Why do you have a dog in your hood, Roy?"
"Woof!"
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