The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes

"What are you looking at?"

Sara, supporting herself on a protruding rock, climbed up the slope that had been previously surveyed.

This was one of the rare places on the southern foothills of the Mahakam Mountains where an army could march.

"It seemed like something flew past the sky just now..." Arthur squinted, staring at the sky.

Unfortunately, he didn't have Witcher-enhanced eyes, so he could only see the stars flickering briefly behind the blue-black sky.

It was said that Knight Allen's lion-like eyes could pierce through everything within a kilometer.

"Ravens or vultures?" Sara casually glanced up. "What battlefield doesn't have these greedy little creatures waiting to feast on carrion…"

"Maybe..." Arthur shifted his gaze from the lowered night sky and looked toward the bright, winding line that stretched out like a long serpent, "Heavy casualties?"

"Heavy, but not too bad..."

"Speak plainly!" Arthur rolled his eyes.

Sara shrugged. "This isn't the Sacred Avenue in front of the Melitele Temple, and places like the southern foothills of Mahakam, where no birds even poop, are only visited by hunters coming to chop wood."

"Pitfalls, hidden caves, sheer cliffs..."

"If ten people walked this mountain path, at least three would sprain their ankles."

"But don't worry, there are many priests from the temple. One divine spell, and it'll be done in the blink of an eye. If healing was always that fast..."

"Last time I got a small cut from a knife, and they forced me to rest for a week..."

"Was that really a small cut? That drowner almost bit your neck off..." Arthur braced himself on an oak tree and pulled a slightly shorter soldier up. "And don't tell me you don't know the cost of divine magic?"

Sara fell silent.

Of course, he knew. It drained life force. That afternoon, a priest in his fifties had explained it to him for hours, making his head buzz.

So now there was one question...

Sara squinted, glancing back at the bright, winding line that flickered with golden light.

What made the usually stingy priests of the temple so generous?

Both he and Arthur knew the answer.

So, they both kept quiet, walking side by side, watching the barren mountain road stretch out in the glow of the firelight, with shadows casting claws and fangs. They stayed silent for a long time.

Until...

"Whoosh~"

Suddenly, behind Sara and Arthur, there was a stir.

Before they could turn around to check the source of the commotion, the rugged, tangled ground in front of them was suddenly illuminated, as if it were daylight.

"It's those Aretuza sorceresses," Sara looked up at the blinding glowing orbs moving with the army. "I heard the priests talk about looking for them to cast some light spells, but those arrogant women kept arguing, saying they didn't want to use their magic, claiming they needed to conserve mana and mental energy..."

"I didn't expect them to agree now."

"They had no choice," Arthur lowered his head, looking at the road, "During the meeting, the sorceresses relinquished their command. The temple's will will dominate the upcoming fight against the undead, and when we face the ghouls, we can even command Tissaia de Vries from the Chapter of the Gift and the Art. "

"Huh?" Sara looked up sharply. "Really? Those arrogant sorceresses would give up command to us?"

"Didn't you hear about it?" Arthur also looked up in surprise. "Weren't you around when the old duke mobilized the army?"

"I was arranging soldiers for reconnaissance then," Sara explained quickly, then eagerly asked, "Why would those women do that?"

"This doesn't sound like them. The notorious arrogance of Aretuza's women, from Kovir and Poviss in the north to the City of Golden Towers in Nilfgaard in the south, everyone knows—"

"Shut up!" Arthur slapped his hand over Sara's mouth and glanced around. When he saw no sorceresses nearby, he sighed in relief.

He whispered sharply, "You know they're difficult to deal with, and yet you still dare to say that?"

"They're all at the back of the group, riding strange horses from who knows where, moving slowly. How could we hear them..." Sara chuckled, "Come on, tell me what's going on..."

Arthur thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's because of Knight Allen. At first, Lady Tissaia was very insistent on having all the command, but Archpriestess Ianna and the old duke were already prepared to agree."

"Then suddenly, the goddess Melitele bestowed her divine blessing, granting the archpriestess divine power and divine magic..."

Melitele the goddess... divine blessing... divine power and magic?

Sara was stunned, feeling as though he was hearing a fairy tale. He instinctively leaned against the rock wall along the mountain path and stopped in his tracks.

He looked at Arthur's serious expression, confirming he wasn't joking, then couldn't help but interrupt: "But what does the goddess' divine blessing to the archpriestess have to do with Knight Allen?"

"Let me finish," Arthur waved his gloved hand. "The goddess did bestow divine blessing on the archpriestess, but Melitele the goddess was actually invited by Knight Allen."

Sara doubted he had heard correctly. "Allen… Knight Allen, a Wolf School Witcher master, invited the goddess Melitele to grant divine blessing to the goddess' archpriestess?"

"Knight Allen walked out of the goddess' sanctuary. I, Lord Mason, and the Aretuza sorceresses were all present," Arthur nodded seriously, "And even the archpriestess herself admitted it."

Sara's mouth hung open, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"This... this... this is really..."

He struggled to find the right word after "really" for a long time.

A Witcher without faith asking the goddess to bestow her divine blessing on her earthly representative...

Although he was a native and true Temerian human, this phrase, even in common tongue, felt very foreign to him.

However, Sara thought back to the May festival, when the goddess Melitele had also delivered a divine oracle to the Witchers rather than her earthly representative. It seemed... perhaps... maybe... he could understand?

He glanced around furtively, then leaned in close to Arthur's ear:

"…Arthur… do you think it's possible that Allen is actually the goddess's illegitimate son? I've heard a lot of knight novels in Oxenfurt, and they all say this…"

"Have you lost your mind from reading knight novels?!" Arthur's eyes went wide, and he jumped back suddenly, waving his hands to brush off Sara's attempt to help him, like he was warding off some kind of horrible evil.

"You're not just disrespecting Aretuza's sorceresses now, but even Melitele the goddess?!"

"She just showed her divine miracle in the mortal world!!!"

Sara suddenly remembered that Melitele was no longer the goddess who refrained from interfering in mortal affairs.

"The… goddess… she shouldn't be that petty, right…"

He cautiously looked up, realizing the moon was bright and the stars sparse, with no storm clouds to be seen. He let out a breath of relief and quickly changed the subject:

"Speaking of Knight Allen, how come I haven't seen him in the party?"

"Master Vesemir also delivered some necrophage oil and those… what were they called? Grapeshot bombs, and then left..."

He looked out at the long line of torches ahead. Nine Witchers from Ellander had arrived, all carrying dual swords, but he seemed to have only seen one, and that one left soon after.

"What's wrong?"

Sara turned back and noticed that Arthur's face was hidden in the shadow of the light spell, and he seemed a bit down. He asked tentatively, "Has something happened to Knight Allen?"

Arthur remained silent for a moment.

He watched as one after another of the faces passed in front of him—faces filled with fear, but also bravery, some youthful, some weathered. He sighed and quietly pulled Sara aside: "Witchers aren't suited for fighting alongside an army. They have their own mission."

"What mission?" Sara was puzzled.

"The necrophage oil..."

"But that's not—"

Arthur shook his head, and Sara understood his meaning.

Just because they didn't need it now didn't mean they wouldn't in the future. As for why they would need it...

"I see..."

So even Knight Allen had little hope for this expedition, even though they had the goddess's blessing.

Sara gazed at the dark ravine ahead, untouched by the light spell.

It was quiet and deep, as if all the darkness of the world spread out from there.

The dark god was said to be there.

"Sara, this is our war. Knight Allen has already done enough for us," Arthur patted his shoulder. "Don't tell anyone else about this, you know what I mean..."

The old duke had many ways of boosting morale, and having Knight Allen fight alongside them was one of them.

If the other soldiers found out, the morale would undoubtedly drop.

"Ah!!!"

"Ghoul!"

The first screams came from the front of the line.

Arthur and Sara both stiffened, exchanging a surprised glance.

"How can Ghouls be here?!" Sara's expression was one of suspicion.

They had just left the camp established on the southern foothills of Mahakam not long ago. It would still take them at least another ten minutes to reach the danger zone, the battleground they had selected.

Once they arrived, the sorceresses would cast spells as planned to draw the ghouls in.

Also, the reconnaissance soldiers he had sent out hadn't made a single sound?

But now wasn't the time to worry about that...

If the soldiers were simply overreacting, it would be one thing. But if it were real...

Sara looked at the panicked soldiers huddling together on the narrow mountain path, and his heart felt as though it had dropped into an abyss.

"Steady! Steady!"

Seeing a soldier miss his footing and scream as he fell into the ravine, both Arthur and Sara's foreheads tensed with veins, shouting loudly.

"Arthur, go back and inform the archpriestess and the sorceresses. I'll head forward..."

Before Arthur could object, Sara pushed him back and, while shouting, squeezed through the crowded soldiers blocking the narrow path, heading toward the front line.

Just to be safe, it was his hunting soldiers who were leading the charge, so of course, he would go.

"Be careful!" Arthur shouted from behind.

Sara waved his hand without turning back.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"

The heavy panting seemed to ignite his lungs, and every gust of cold mountain wind that entered his airways burned fiercely.

The armor felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Sara had to admit, the dark god really did find the most suitable place to descend. This damned mountain path in Mahakam wasn't a place humans were meant to walk.

Perhaps Allen had seen this and chosen to give up.

But then again, Allen was just a fourteen-year-old child. What was he really expecting? What was he disappointed about?

How shameful!

Sara's mind wandered as the mixed stench of sweat and mountain wind filled his nostrils.

"Where are the ghouls?"

He spat on the ground, pushed apart two of the monster hunting regiment's soldiers, and shouted while gripping the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Then, his hand, still gripping the sword's hilt, trembled.

"Glup~"

He swallowed hard.

There was no need for anyone else to answer.

His gaze passed over the monster hunting regiment's soldiers in front of him, frozen and trembling, and then it met the countless pairs of blood-red eyes lurking in the deep, ominous shadows of the forest, reflecting the flickering light of the torches.

The mountain wind carried with it the unique stench of the ghouls.

"Huff~"

Sara's blue pupils contracted slightly, slowly exhaling a breath.

No wonder the soldiers in front hadn't responded, it turned out he had asked the wrong question.

It shouldn't have been "Where are the ghouls?"

It should have been... where 'aren't' the ghouls?

"What should we do, Lord Sara?" A soldier beside him gently tapped his waist with his left elbow.

Sara thought about saying, "I want to know too," but it wasn't something he could say.

"Have you seen Boros, Rodrigo, Ur, Mars, and Nash?"

He asked in a barely audible voice, as if afraid to disturb the tense, silent atmosphere around them.

"No..." The soldier beside him had just spoken a single word before instinctively gripping his silver-bladed halberd tighter.

Thump thump~

The heavy footsteps came from the darkness ahead.

The other monster hunting regiment's soldiers immediately formed a protective circle around Sara.

Clang~

Sara unsheathed his silver sword, its dark red sheen reflecting the dim light.

Thump thump thump~

The footsteps abruptly stopped.

All he could see were a few pairs of unusually cold, blood-red eyes, resting at the edge of the darkness.

"What do these monsters want?" Sara gripped his sword tighter.

The next moment.

The sound of the wind howled.

He instinctively crouched to dodge, only to realize that the heavy object thrown from the darkness wasn't aimed at them, but at the rubble-strewn ground in front of them.

Sara focused his eyes and felt his vision blur with rage.

"Boros! Rodrigo! Ur..."

The five soldiers he had sent on reconnaissance were now flung before him like ragdolls, their bodies bloody and mangled.

Rodrigo's limbs had been gnawed off.

Ur's face was half-missing.

Boros's stomach was empty, his spine and broken windpipe exposed.

And Mars and Nash...

None of the reconnaissance soldiers he had sent out had intact bodies, their faces frozen in extreme fear and agony, their death expressions horribly distorted.

"It's actually trying to intimidate us!"

Realizing this, Sara's fury surged, his teeth grinding with a harsh sound.

"Lord Sara!"

"Lord Sara!"

"Let's fight these damned beasts!"

The surrounding monster hunting regiment's soldiers, instead of being intimidated, were now overcome with such rage that even those who had been trembling from the number of ghouls and the faint magic surrounding them were completely swept of all fear.

Sara stared at the bodies of his comrades, his anger suppressed deep inside.

The campaign had started poorly.

They hadn't even reached their designated battleground, and fighting here now would only lead to pointless casualties.

He couldn't act impulsively.

Every decision he made now could affect the outcome of the battle against the dark god.

So...

What should he do?

"Roar!"

Provoked by the monster hunting regiment's soldiers, a series of furious roars echoed from the darkness not far away.

The stench in the air grew even more intense.

.....

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