183. The Strange Male Sorcerer.
"Why the rock trolls?"
The sorceress asked after hearing Allen's question.
"Huh?"
He was momentarily confused.
"I asked why you're concerned about the rock trolls?"
"I thought you'd ask me if I could take another woman or..."
The sorceress glanced again at Allen's mask and paused briefly, then smiled playfully, adding: "...or take another elven woman with you?"
Allen stayed silent for a while before sighing helplessly and replying: "Sorceress Vera, please don't tease me."
"Fran... that elven woman has already left with the target of my mission. Once I leave this place, I'll go look for them."
"This magical artifact is something she... lent me..."
Allen noticed the sorceress's expression growing more ambiguous, causing him to pause mid-sentence. He knew the more he explained, the more confusing it would sound, so he simply changed the topic: "But that's not important."
"Sorceress Vera, you haven't answered my question. What will happen to these rock trolls if we leave?"
The sorceress coldly glanced at the surrounding rock trolls.
"They'll probably die."
"Since the final efforts of the king's guards for glory and rank have failed due to your interference."
"The next ones to enter here will definitely be the male sorcerers and witchers."
Allen felt a chill in his heart.
"Witchers... as in those from the Cat School?"
The sorceress shook her head: "Didn't I just mention? Sol has accepted the king's contract to hunt the trolls, so..."
Allen fell silent, mentally filling in the rest of the sorceress's sentence. So these rock trolls are doomed.
In reality, Allen didn't have much emotional attachment to the rock trolls. After all, he had almost been killed by them just three days ago. It was impossible for him to have no lingering resentment. But these trolls were somewhat connected to Big Rock and the others, making them a potential source of power that the Wolf School could recruit.
Letting them die under the sword of the school leader would be a waste.
After a moment of thought, Allen asked: "Sorceress Vera, is there a way to get these rock trolls out of here?"
"These trolls could be a valuable asset for us."
"I can try..." It seemed that the sorceress had never really considered rejecting Allen's requests.
"But you'll have to convince these trolls to leave, and... quickly."
She looked up at the sky: "The male sorcerers from Ban Ard are setting up a spell above to block teleportation as we speak."
"You don't have much time."
Block teleportation!
As expected, the first thing the male sorcerers would do upon arrival was to seal off the area. Fortunately, they were one step too late. Allen felt relieved that he had managed to evacuate the target of his mission before the sorcerers could block them in.
He nodded seriously to the sorceress and approached Stonehead, who was distributing the spoils of victory: "Stonehead, more enemies will be here soon. You need to organize your kin and leave with us!"
As soon as he spoke, a few of the rock trolls started causing a commotion. "...Trolls... not afraid... of humans..."
"...Humans... come... humans... die..."
"...Witchers... broke... home... witchers... chased... trolls..."
--------------
Of course.
Some of the rock trolls, unwilling to leave, were already bringing up Vesemir's past actions. They were also associating Allen with Vesemir. But Allen was prepared for this.
He pointed to the large pile of rotting meat next to Stonehead and said: "Leave, and there will be meat. Every day... every week, there will be meat."
As soon as Allen mentioned the meat, the noisy cave instantly fell silent.
A dozen pairs of tiny, beady eyes looked at the pile of rotting flesh, and crystal-clear drool simultaneously began dripping from their mouths.
Allen still didn't understand why rock trolls liked eating rotting meat so much. From what he knew, rock trolls actually had a habit of cooking food using fire and pots. This was clearly very different from the habits of creatures that thrive on decay. But not fully understanding didn't prevent Allen from using this to his advantage.
"...Meat... every week..." one of the trolls asked, wiping the drool from its mouth.
"Every week," Allen nodded, then added, "And Big Rock and the others are all at Kaer Morhen..."
Stonehead was the real leader here. Convincing the other trolls would help, but the most important task was persuading Stonehead. Big Rock, Boulder, and Little Rock, who were likely related to Stonehead by blood, were the perfect leverage.
And judging by Stonehead's intelligence, he must have realized that staying here would put the dozen or so trolls in grave danger. Sure enough, after a few moments of silence, Stonehead nodded in agreement.
"...Witcher didn't harm trolls... Witcher is Big Rock's friend... Witcher helped trolls against humans... Witcher is worthy of Stonehead's trust!"
Seeing that Allen had convinced the rock trolls, the sorceress added: "The portal will lead to a ruined elven site in the Blue Mountains. Let your troll friends wait for me there."
"Once things are settled here, I'll send them to Kaer Morhen."
Allen conveyed this information to Stonehead. Then:
Bang!
A familiar orange portal appeared in the cave. But this time, the portal was a massive twenty meters high, almost reaching the ceiling of the cave.
"Allen."
The sorceress called out to him.
Maintaining such a large portal was clearly taking a toll on her, as her face had become somewhat pale. Seeing this, Allen hurried to help Stonehead organize the trolls, urging them to quickly pass through the portal one by one.
Boom, boom, boom
The heavy footsteps echoed along with the ground trembling beneath them. Even with the lure of rotting meat, it wasn't easy to make intelligent creatures leave a place they had lived in for a long time. Many trolls hesitated at the portal, turning back repeatedly to look at their former home.
It was only after Stonehead occasionally threatened them with "...Trolls stay... Stonehead's fist..." that they finally stepped into the portal.
This significantly slowed the evacuation process.
Allen was constantly on edge, fearing that at any moment, the male sorcerers from Ban Ard would complete their spell, forcing the portal to close.
Luckily.
Even as Stonehead stepped through the portal, no such disaster occurred.
Stonehead watched as the last of the trolls entered the portal, then turned his massive head towards Allen and nodded gratefully.
"...Witcher... Stonehead's friend... trolls' friend..."
Then, he entered the orange portal.
Bang!
The portal closed.
Now, only Allen and the sorceress remained in the cave.
--------------
Plans never keep up with changes. Allen's original goal had been simply to leave this abandoned mine safely. If he couldn't escape, he had planned to use the rock trolls and the illusion of the dead Syren Pearl to cause chaos for the Kaedwen's forces.
Unexpectedly, the rotten meat that was left behind in the morning improved his relationship with the rock trolls. At that time, his goal naturally changed. He thought that he could use his relationship with Mountain Rock, along with the illusion, to cause more damage to the Kaedwen army.
If he could find an opportunity to naturally leak the information that Sadia and Hode had already left to the Kaedwen army, perhaps not only he but even a few rock trolls might survive.
After all, without the thing the king wanted, the Kaedwen army had no reason to clash with such hard-headed beings as the rock trolls. There would be no gain, only heavy losses.
At that point, Allen might have a chance to talk a few rock trolls into joining Kaer Morhen. And now, walking in the dark mine, Allen glanced at the sorceress.
Lady Vera's arrival had directly rendered the illusions, which played a major role in both of his plans, useless. However, compared to a smooth and safe departure, a time-limited illusion that would only last a day didn't seem all that important. Moreover, he had saved twelve rock trolls.
As long as they made it to Kaer Morhen, Mountain Rock alone, with its towering height of at least twenty meters, would be enough to defend a wall on the fiercest battlefield. As for whether he could recruit the trolls?
With an ample supply of rotten meat, would Allen really worry about that?
"The binding ritual is complete."
A cold female voice suddenly came from Allen's side, interrupting his thoughts. Before he could ask for more details, the next second—
"Buzz~"
The wolf medallion on his chest began to tremble.
Allen suddenly felt a heavy weight on his body, as though his shoulders were carrying something burdensome. But upon closer inspection, nothing seemed to have physically changed.
"The binding ritual 'dulls' the elements within its range, making it extremely troublesome to open and close portals," the sorceress explained.
"Extremely troublesome?"
Allen pondered, curiously asking, "So, even if the ritual is complete, it's still possible to teleport?"
The sorceress nodded, then shook her head.
"Theoretically, it's possible, but practically, it isn't."
"Why?" Allen inquired.
"Because within the dulled element zone, the data required for teleporting is disrupted."
"Even if you could open a portal, the caster wouldn't know where it leads… It could open into rock, over the ocean, or even in a pool of magma…"
The sorceress seemed happy to share these magical insights with Allen, even though such knowledge seemed completely useless for a Witcher. After all, he neither knew how to cast portals nor how to set up a binding ritual. But speaking of portals…
"Lady Vera, I'm sorry, I've damaged the amulet of the goddess Melitele."
Allen took out the amulet.
Two distinct black marks marred the silver trinket.
The sorceress immediately stopped, her expression turning serious as she carefully examined the amulet for a few seconds. Meanwhile, Allen explained to her how the amulet got damaged, omitting some of Francesca's negative involvement.
After listening to Allen's explanation, the sorceress's face paled even more. She took a deep breath and worriedly said, "Allen, perhaps you should skip this dueling tournament."
"You should come with me to Ellander, to Melitele's temple, and remove the curse first."
Naturally, Allen wasn't going to agree. There were only a few days left until the apprentice dueling tournament. Ellander was far from Ban Ard, and even rushing at full speed wouldn't be enough time for a round trip.
What's more, he remembered the sorceress mentioning that to lift the curse of a dark god, he'd need to stay in a temple of the good gods for seven days. If that were the case, Allen would certainly miss the apprentice tournament.
Now that both the Cat School and the king had shown hostility, there was no telling what tricks they might pull at the tournament. Allen couldn't, because of his own potential risks, ignore the interests of the School and the lives of Hughes and the others. So, Allen quickly reassured her, "It's okay, Lady Vera."
"It's all in the past. I'll focus on the tournament, and there won't be any more situations where I need to use a portal."
"But…" The sorceress tried to persuade further.
"Thud, thud, thud…"
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the abandoned mine, interrupting the sorceress. Allen breathed a sigh of relief. The sorceress's concern made him, an orphan in both of his lives, feel as though he was soaking in a warm spring. However, giving up the tournament and going to Ellander to lift the curse was simply not an option.
Luckily, someone was coming.
He had to quickly think of a way to convince the sorceress. Just as Allen was racking his brain for ideas, the next second—
The sorceress, ignoring the approaching footsteps, continued her attempts to dissuade him.
"But based on what you said, that dark god has already almost touched your soul… If you don't pay attention…"
"…"
Listening to the sorceress's worried words, Allen helplessly glanced at the soundproofing shield around them. It was clear that powerful mages had privileges no matter the circumstances. Even with enemies closing in, they could still find plenty of time to chat.
Allen listened to her advice, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the pure kindness and concern from another person. It wasn't until shadows loomed in the passage ahead, illuminated by firelight, that the sorceress finally closed her mouth.
"Snap~"
With a snap of her fingers, the soundproofing spell vanished, and heavy shadows engulfed them both.
In the next moment, Allen felt as though he had plunged underwater. Not only did the view of the abandoned cave seem as though it were behind a watery veil, but even the footsteps he heard were muffled as if passing through a liquid medium.
"Thud, thud, thud…"
The blurred footsteps approached. Around the corner of the passage, soldiers holding "unbreakable shields" emerged.
"How many unbreakable shields does Kaedwen have?"
Allen couldn't help but feel a bit curious. But as the Kaedwen army drew nearer, even though he knew the sorceress's magical abilities were formidable, he couldn't help but hold his breath.
"Clang, clang, clang…"
Row after row of soldiers marched past him in perfect formation. First came those carrying unbreakable shields, followed by spearmen, archers…
And at the very back…
Were a group of lazy, disheveled sorcerers whose demeanor didn't match the disciplined military at all.
"After the binding ritual, the sorcerers of Ban Ard have followed the army down here too?"
"Good thing…"
"The rock trolls have already been evacuated."
Allen felt relieved, but in the next moment, he unexpectedly locked eyes with a strange sorcerer wearing a long, pointy hat.
Damn!
Have I been discovered?!!!
....…
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184. Kreve or Melitele?
185. Conjunction of the Spheres—Earth?
186. Chamomile of the Blooming Moon.
187. Sadia and the Child of Miracles.
188. Gate of Ard Gaeth.