"Saa~ Saa~"
Erni, Clay, and the other young witchers were all busy sweeping up the scattered debris in their rooms.
Though the witchers of the Wolf School were guests, they had just broken their host's beds, so they naturally felt too embarrassed to treat the priest apprentices like mere servants.
"Shh~ Shh~"
Still adjusting to their newfound strength, the witchers cleaning up the rooms made an excessive amount of noise.
"This isn't the place for serious discussions," Allen glanced at the dust being swept up inside the room and turned to Vesemir and Nenneke, who had started speaking but hadn't continued. "Shall we go to my room instead?"
Nenneke nodded.
The three of them left Clay's room and walked down the dimly lit corridor.
The old wooden floor creaked beneath their steps, adding an air of gravity to the atmosphere between them.
Walking in front, Allen glanced at Nenneke while contemplating her reasons for coming.
Something about Ban Ard and Kaedwen…
His first thought was that something had gone wrong with the collaboration between Sunny and the Rissberg Civil Cooperative.
Or perhaps the northern kings had made preliminary decisions regarding Ban Ard, and the Melitele Temple needed to take a stance. But as of now, he hadn't—
"Creak—"
The wooden corridor wasn't long. Soon, a wooden door came into view, breaking his train of thought.
Opening the door… closing the door…
The noise from the young witchers was instantly sealed outside.
The small house was just a temporary residence, meant only for sleeping at night. It had no proper cups or drinking utensils for guests.
However, since Nenneke frequently visited and was practically a resident here, Allen didn't bother with formalities. As soon as they entered, he spoke, "I haven't yet decided on the temple's stance regarding Ban Ard's original lord and Hen Gedymdeith…"
"It's not about that," Nenneke interrupted after listening for a moment, waving her hand. "And besides, right now… No, for the foreseeable future, the kings likely won't have the energy to focus on Ban Ard."
Huh?
The kings won't have the energy? What could be more urgent than the threat of the Wild Hunt?
Allen exchanged a look with Vesemir.
Nenneke didn't keep them in suspense. After thanking Allen for pulling up a chair, she sat down and said solemnly: "Kaedwen… might be on the verge of destruction."
"Kaedwen? Destroyed?" Vesemir muttered in confusion, glancing at Allen.
Allen had the same blank expression.
Kaedwen… was destroyed?
When playing the games and reading the original books in his past life, he didn't remember—
Oh…
Kaedwen had been destroyed. But wasn't that a hundred years later, during the Third Northern War?
That was when Radovid V, the bald king of Redania, took advantage of Kaedwen's war with Nilfgaard and launched an unstoppable invasion, annexing his former ally.
But before that, had Kaedwen ever been destroyed?
While Allen was still bewildered by this "missing chapter in history," Vesemir was far more agitated.
"Crash—"
Realizing what Nenneke had just said, the witcher master, who had just been about to sit down, stumbled back a few steps.
The wooden stool screeched against the floor.
"Na… Nenneke, priestess… What… what's going on?" Vesemir regained his composure and immediately closed the distance to Nenneke, his face flushed red, his tone anxious and almost stammering.
"Kaedwen… How could Kaedwen suddenly be destroyed?"
Destroyed—how long had it been since he'd last heard such an unfamiliar word?
Nenneke didn't mind Vesemir's impolite, almost interrogative tone. She reassured him: "It's only a possibility for now. But the information came from Ban Ard."
"Ban Ard… Sunny?" Allen frowned slightly.
"No," Nenneke shook her head. "The source is Redania. They have spies in Ban Ard."
Seeing how tense Vesemir was, with veins bulging at his temples, she decided not to withhold anything and continued:
"The original message went like this: Over the past few days, Sunny seems to have become particularly focused on the war between Kaedwen and Aedirn, for some unknown reason. Even under the looming threat of the Wild Hunt, he has sent a significant number of people to the capital, Ard Carraigh, to investigate. Then…"
Nenneke paused for a moment, looking at Vesemir.
"Yesterday, during the daytime, a mage who had gone to investigate returned. Shortly afterward, there was a massive explosion from within Sunny's tower. But there was no enemy attack."
"Afterward, Sunny didn't alert anyone. He simply ordered his apprentices to clear out some 'trash' from his tower. Among the discarded items, the spy saw Sunny's favorite painting, The Serene City of a Thousand Towers."
"That afternoon, in Ban Ard's underground library, Sunny had a heated argument with someone from the Rissberg Civil Cooperative."
"The Rissberg mage mentioned the fall of Ard Carraigh."
"And then?" Allen waited for Nenneke to continue, but after a long pause, she said nothing.
"That's it." Nenneke shook her head. "The Redanian spy only managed to gather this much. Or rather, King Radovid IV of Redania was only willing to share this much. At least, that's all that was discussed in the meeting."
The room fell silent.
The golden light of the setting sun spilled through the wide-open window, illuminating the wooden table.
The carved image of a woman nursing a child on the table now shimmered with a layer of gold.
Vesemir stood by the table, frowning deeply, as if he were struggling to digest the shocking news—or perhaps searching for some missing piece of information.
Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, Allen lowered his head in contemplation, pondering the fall of Kaedwen, the possible reactions of Ban Ard and the Rissberg Civil Cooperative, and what consequences this might bring for the Wolf School.
Nenneke didn't rush to speak or leave.
She knew that such an astonishing piece of news would take time to process—especially for the Wolf School, whose stronghold stood within Kaedwen's borders.
Speaking of which, she had heard rumors about the complicated entanglements between the Wolf School and Kaedwen's royal family. She was curious to see how Allen and Vesemir would react.
"Wait a moment—" Vesemir, his brows nearly knotted together, suddenly spoke. "Ard Carraigh falling—how could that be kept a secret?"
"Kaedwen and Aedirn should have both received—"
"They wouldn't," Nenneke interrupted without hesitation. "After the Wild Hunt destroyed Ban Ard, Sunny pulled all the mages back from the front lines, including those stationed at the royal court in Ard Carraigh…"
"What?" Allen looked at Nenneke in disbelief. "He withdrew all the mages from the front lines during a war?"
What kind of absurd, self-sabotaging move was that?
Had Kaedwen's new king in Ard Carraigh not lost his mind over this?
If it were him, he wouldn't even bother fighting Aedirn—he'd take out his dead weight Ban Ard first.
Nenneke nodded in agreement. "The kings also believe that Sunny's decision to withdraw all the mages from the front lines likely led to Kaedwen's crushing defeat."
"And Kaedwen's new king, Lado? He didn't react at all?" Allen couldn't help but ask.
Nenneke reached up, tucking windblown strands of hair behind her ear. "It's unclear. After Ban Ard withdrew all the mages, Ard Carraigh became an isolated island, completely cut off from the outside world."
"Everyone is actually quite curious why Lado allowed Sunny to pull out the mages in the first place."
"But kings—or rather, nobles—due to their tendency for inbreeding, often act… uh…"
Nenneke hesitated for a moment, as if searching for a more tactful word.
"Unpredictably?" Allen offered.
"Exactly," Nenneke nodded. "So it's not surprising that Lado might do something irrational. But logically speaking, Sunny must have given him some kind of reason to agree."
"Otherwise, Ban Ard—or rather, Sunny—wouldn't have had the power to make every mage disobey direct military orders."
"It's possible that at the time, Kaedwen was already facing an internal crisis. The sudden emergence of the Wild Hunt, which could easily destroy entire cities, must have made Lado feel threatened."
The battlefield was in the right condition…
Allen suddenly had a realization. He lowered his head in thought.
Back then, the Kaedwen-Aedirn front line had indeed been…
Royal Griffin!!!
Allen abruptly looked up—his gaze locking onto Vesemir's shocked, golden feline eyes.
Not long ago, they had subdued a Royal Griffin that had been terrorizing Vengerberg for nearly a month, hunting it down in the Adrel Mountains near the city.
At that time, Aedirn had been dominating the battlefield.
With their supply lines under constant attack, Aedirn, which had been leading the war effort, would have been forced to slow its advance.
Wait a minute!
The day Ban Ard was attacked by the Wild Hunt was the same day Vilgefortz used a transformation-sealing curse to attack Erni and Claral…
The timing is very close!
It's entirely possible that Sunny made this decision after hearing the news Vilgefortz brought.
It matches up! It all matches up!
Vesemir looked at Allen in shock. Could it be that the destruction of Kaedwen… was caused by our Wolf School?!!
Feeling Vesemir's stunned gaze on him, Allen instinctively looked away. The shock in his heart was no less than Vesemir's.
He had already altered the original storyline and the game's events numerous times—whether it was the fate of Francesca and her mother, the timing of the Wild Hunt's arrival…
His very goal was to prevent the destruction of Kaer Morhen and restore the Wolf School.
But… but those were all things hidden behind the scenes of the original story, things that had never been explored.
Kaedwen, on the other hand, was an undeniable powerhouse, a key player in the future political landscape of the Northern Continent. Its role was second only to Temeria and Redania…
And now… he had erased it entirely?!
Back when he interfered in the Royal Griffin attack on Vengerberg, he had only intended to keep Kaedwen and Aedirn locked in a stalemate, not to wipe Kaedwen off the map…
"What's wrong?" Nenneke frowned as she noticed Vesemir and Allen's drastic changes in expression. "Don't tell me… the war between Kaedwen and Aedirn has something to do with you two?"
The moment Nenneke said this, both witchers froze.
Their eyes darted around nervously.
Though they had a good relationship with Nenneke, the idea that a kingdom had fallen because of them was not a burden they could afford to bear.
Not to mention, they still had no idea what kind of consequences this would bring—it was too chaotic to grasp just yet. Until they figured it out, they couldn't let anyone else know.
"How could that be?"
Before they could even think of an excuse, Nenneke let out a small laugh and shook her head, dismissing her own "wild idea."
Vesemir was certainly a powerful witcher master of the Wolf School, and Allen had performed astonishing feats despite having just passed the Trials.
But could two witchers alone really bring down a behemoth that had ruled the Northern Continent for centuries in a single night? Impossible.
She didn't look down on witchers.
On the contrary, she deeply respected the Wolf School—heroes who sacrificed themselves to drive monsters away from humanity. But witchers and the fall of a kingdom… those were two entirely different scales of events.
"Yeah… how could that even be possible..."
"Priestess Nenneke, you're really overestimating us. You gave us quite a scare..."
The two witcher masters put on the best performances of their lives, successfully brushing the matter aside.
"By the way, if no information can be obtained from Ard Carraigh, what about Aedirn?" Vesemir changed the subject.
Hearing Vesemir mention Aedirn, Allen immediately perked up.
He suddenly realized—others might not know they were the ones who subdued the Royal Griffin, but those in Aedirn who had tracked their movements would surely be able to figure out the truth.
After all, the moment they arrived, the Royal Griffin that had been terrorizing Vengerberg disappeared.
Before they left, Aedirnian spies had even tracked them to their rented tavern—some might have even witnessed the moment the Royal Griffin took flight.
With Kaedwen on the brink of destruction, accusations from Ban Ard or even Kaedweni nobles were of little concern.
The Wolf School's history with sorcerers and Kaedweni nobility was well known across the land.
Sunny and his people could try to shift the blame, but no one would believe them. Even if it did happen, it wouldn't be a major issue. But if rumors from Aedirn surfaced and corroborated the story… that would be a serious problem.
"Same situation," Nenneke shook her head. "Because of the sorcerers' betrayal, Aedirn exiled all the prominent mages from within its borders long ago…"
"What about the sorceresses?" Vesemir quickly asked.
Nenneke glanced at him strangely. "Aedirn has always been a stronghold for male sorcerers," she stated, as if pointing out an obvious fact. "However, Tissaia de Vries has promised to make some inquiries."
"But according to her, Aedirn's hostility toward magic users is even greater now than when the war first broke out. It might take a long time."
After finishing, Nenneke watched as both witchers lowered their heads in thought. She placed a hand on the table and stood up.
"That's about all I have to say. If Tissaia de Vries finds anything, I'll let you know. For now…"
She raised a hand, stopping them before they could see her out.
"I think you two need some time to think."
"Thank you, Priestess Nenneke."
"Thank you, Nenneke."
Despite her words, both witchers still got up and escorted Nenneke out of the cabin.
Rustle, rustle—
Erni and Claral were still tidying up their home, their playful laughter occasionally ringing through the air as they ran about.
Allen and Vesemir stood silently, watching Nenneke's figure disappear into the distance. Then, they turned their gazes to the sky, remaining motionless for a long, long time.
Until…
"Should we… inform the school of this immediately?" Allen suddenly spoke.
"Inform them of what?" Vesemir glanced at Allen, let out a bitter chuckle, and said, "That we were the ones who caused Kaedwen's downfall?"
Allen fell silent, lifting his head to watch the setting sun.
The evening glow burned red across the sky.
The scorching sun, losing its heat, had no choice but to sink—slowly, inch by inch—below the horizon.
"…The sun really has set."
Vesemir let out a long, heavy sigh.
.....
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