Female mages are always fond of sleeping in.
Sleep can slow the flow of magic circuits within the body, allowing one to forget the uncomfortable cold and heat in the lower abdomen— that feeling of life being gradually eroded by chaotic magic, little by little transformed into something non-human.
Vera was a female mage, and of course possessed all common traits of female mages.
But ever since coming to the Mayena Druid Circle, she had not slept in during the morning for a very long time.
The other woman in the room probably hadn't either.
"Tissaia, aren't you supposed to be at Kaer Morhen, reviving your Hen Gedymdeith?"
Vera sat on an oak-carved wooden stool, arm supporting her forehead, gently rubbing the soft flesh at her temple. With a headache, she glanced at the Tissaia de Vries opposite her.
Tissaia de Vries sat upright with her back straight, sipping the steaming tea in small sips, lifting her chin like a noblewoman attending a social banquet.
"Mind your words, Vera," Tissaia de Vries gently placed the cup on the table, casting a dissatisfied look at Vera. Steam curled upward from the cup's rim and merged into the air. "Hen Gedymdeith is not mine. And he is alive and well—he didn't die, only gravely injured…"
"A month has passed. He still hasn't woken?" Vera countered.
"Hen Gedymdeith was indeed, during the first descent of the Wild Hunt—"
"The third!" Vera corrected. "The first was at Flotsam, the second was at Ellander, the third was Ban Ard."
"Fine, the third descent…" Tissaia de Vries shrugged, giving an expression of whatever you say.
The supernatural world and the mundane world differed in their recognition of the Wild Hunt's descent. The supernatural world—mainly referring to the Brotherhood—believed there had only been one descent, the one in which Hen Gedymdeith led the male mages in counterattack.
Because only after that event did the Wild Hunt truly appear on the political stage of the Northern Continent. From a monster with extreme unpredictability—like griffin and dragon attacks, something you encounter only if unlucky—it became a "catastrophe" that posed considerable threat to all factions.
This was, of course, the official statement of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers. In truth, it was a version invented by the radical faction led by Sunny, after Hen Gedymdeith was gravely injured, to highlight their own presence and the importance of Ban Ard Academy.
Otherwise, when speaking of the third descent…
Listeners would only first want to know which one was the first, then the second—by the time it reached Ban Ard, public attention would already decline sharply.
With Hen Gedymdeith gravely injured and Sunny having ulterior motives, Ban Ard needed more attention.
A dancer standing under the spotlight onstage is less likely to be harassed by ruffians— even if the audience already knows what will happen once the dancer steps offstage.
However, even by mundane standards, the first descent of the Wild Hunt was not at Flotsam, but at Ellander…
"Hen Gedymdeith was indeed grievously injured during the third descent of the Wild Hunt," Tissaia de Vries said. "The Wild Hunt is far stronger than anything we had previously imagined—several times stronger. Not only did it nearly drain all the power Hen Gedymdeith had accumulated over the years, it truly damaged his very source…"
"And also…"
Tissaia de Vries paused. "Hen Gedymdeith has already grown old…"
Hearing this, Vera froze for a moment, shared a glance with Tissaia de Vries, and fell silent.
Hen Gedymdeith had grown old. She, Tissaia de Vries, and Sol—who among them wasn't?
The mandrake decoction of Aretuza could fix their appearances at their youngest and most beautiful state, but the condition of their bodies could not lie.
They needed increasingly long hours of sleep each day, yet found it harder and harder to fall asleep without magical potions.
Even slight injuries took far longer to heal.
The reflection in the mirror never changed, but everything outside the mirror constantly reminded them:
You are no longer young.
You are already…
Old.
"Ianna refused to use Verdant Sigh. I couldn't persuade her…" Vera suddenly spoke, without beginning or end, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the parchment on the table. Her gaze slid from one densely written page to the next.
Tissaia de Vries paused, then let out a soft sigh. "That's exactly the choice Ianna would make. She's always been stubborn. She was like that since childhood—once she chose something, she never regretted it and never listened to anyone's persuasion."
"In recent years… she's already become much gentler…"
"Yes… much gentler…" Vera murmured, looking at the bright sunlight outside the window.
It was long past autumn, but the Mayena Druid Circle still retained the glow of summer. According to the druids, it was the blessing of the Mother of Nature.
"Speaking of it, Ianna was never close to me since childhood," Tissaia de Vries lightly picked up the ceramic cup on the table, following Vera's gaze toward the lush, thick oak trees outside. "Obviously, you were the one who threw her into Aretuza and never looked back. I was the one teaching her knowledge, etiquette, history, rhetoric, trying to activate her magical talent…"
"In recent years, ever since you quarreled with her, I was also the one who spent the most time with her…"
"Yet somehow, between that little girl and me, there's always been a barrier."
"She would rather argue with you—face flushed red with anger—than speak a few more words to me…"
"Hahaha…" Vera let out a soft laugh, seemingly recalling the beautiful past, turning back to the slightly aggrieved-looking Tissaia de Vries. "Because you're too serious, and your requirements are too strict, Tissaia…"
"When Ianna was still in Aretuza, every time I visited her, she always started by complaining about you… Of course, she has always respected you, and loved you…"
"I've never felt that," Tissaia de Vries puckered her lips, staring directly into Vera's eyes without avoiding anything, hinting at something. "But, I've long since gotten used to it…"
"Ianna is not the first girl I taught who grew distant from me, nor will she be the last…"
Vera fell silent.
She did not know whether Tissaia de Vries was referring to Philippa Eilhart—who parted ways with her after the Hen Gedymdeith rescue incident—or someone else.
Vera turned her eyes away a little unnaturally and changed the subject: "Has Ban Ard been found?"
"No one from the Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization can get in touch with Ortolan?"
"No," Tissaia de Vries gently shook her head, seemingly not noticing Vera's unnatural expression. "But it should be soon. A few days ago, the Brotherhood of Sorcerers located Borhn Drummond, who'd been living in seclusion in the Dragon Mountains, Narses de la Roche of Novigrad, and a large number of sorcerers skilled in divination. Through a ritual divination…"
"There are already some clues…"
"But…"
Tissaia de Vries paused, her brows knitting together.
Vera pressed, "But what?"
Tissaia de Vries lightly shook her head. "Nothing."
Although Tissaia de Vries did not say it, Vera could more or less guess something.
In the month Allen had been "asleep," almost every aspect of the Northern Continent had been shaken by an earthquake.
The entire city of Ban Ard, along with everyone inside it, had vanished without a trace. The news shocked every major power that heard it, but the largest shock fell upon the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
After all, Hen Gedymdeith and Ortolan were two of the highest members of Chapter of the Gift and Art and the Brotherhood of Sorcerers' High Council—two of the five who stood at the pinnacle of magical power and authority on the Northern Continent, and the strongest two as well.
Their sudden disappearance was practically equivalent to half—or even more than half—of the Northern Continent's most powerful extraordinary organization vanishing overnight.
Ban Ard and the Rissberg Group's Civil Cooperative Organization under Hen Gedymdeith and Ortolan, together with Tissaia de Vries's Aretuza, were the three most powerful and widely influential factions within the Brotherhood.
All other extraordinary organizations were fundamentally incomparable to those three.
Furthermore, among extraordinary circles, true power belonged to individuals.
Even from what Vera herself knew—Temeria, Redania, the Hengfors League, Kovir and Poviss—almost every kingdom of the Northern Continent was beginning to stir.
Ordinarily, sorcerers and the secular nobility shared close ties and frequent cooperation.
But that did not mean the sorcerers and the nobles were harmonious. On the contrary, the extraordinary and secular worlds had always remained in a subtle, fragile balance—you in me, and me in you; mutually close, yet mutually resentful.
Which king does not wish to completely control the extraordinary power within their borders?
Which noble enjoys bowing to sorcerers—most of whom come from common birth—yet wield extraordinary violence?
By the time the rumors in Kaedwen that witchers ate children had begun spreading, tales of sorcerers bathing in virgin blood and drinking from human skulls had already been circulating for hundreds of years…
And where did those rumors come from?
From farmers and fishermen who toiled from dawn to dusk with no leisure?
Not to mention—Sunny and Ortolan's sorcerer-kingdoms directly infringed on the boundary between secular royal authority and the extraordinary world.
Before Ban Ard disappeared, the kings and great nobles did not openly object—was that because they were truly broad-minded, happy to promote the diversification of power across the Northern Continent?
Moreover…
Although the Brotherhood of Sorcerers had long dominated the field, sorcerers were not the only extraordinary forces on the Northern Continent.
Priests of various temples, folk healers, ritualists from ancient family traditions, and races such as elves, dwarves, halflings, and shapeshifters—each no less intelligent than humans…
And conveniently, almost all these extraordinary professions and races bore grudges against sorcerers.
The Brotherhood plunged into chaos almost the moment news broke.
Of the other two legendary mages of the Gift and Art Association, Narses de la Roche being permanently stationed in Novigrad was one thing, but Borhn Drummond was living in seclusion in the Dragon Mountains. Over the past month, more than half of the Brotherhood's affairs—especially its decision-making—had fallen directly onto Tissaia de Vries.
Fortunately, it had only been a short time—barely a month.
Small, distant countries might not yet have received the news, and the great kingdoms were still observing, preventing an immediate eruption of conflict.
Though Tissaia de Vries was harried and overwhelmed, the situation was still stable enough that she could spare time to help Hen Gedymdeith recover. Otherwise, not only would she have had no time to visit Vera here at the Circle of Mayena Druids—Vera herself might have been swept into this vast maelstrom, unable to extricate herself.
After all, she was also a sorceress—a quite well-known one, and an alchemy master.
"But there isn't much time left…" Vera sighed softly in her heart.
Just yesterday, the Free Elves had sent word to Ida Emean, informing her that Aedirn had already suppressed the domestic rebellion, and that on the bulletin board in Dol Blathanna, the conscription-by-lot decree had been posted once again.
The rebellion was pacified—so what was Aedirn recruiting soldiers for again?
It had to be to rekindle the unfinished flames of war, to completely ignite Kaedwen. Vera didn't even need to think carefully to know it.
And considering that within Kaedwen's territory, even the only potential threat to Ban Ard had vanished…
Overwhelming—this was the only word Vera could think of.
Of course, Vera did not care whether the banner flying above Kaedwen was the black unicorn or the gold-and-red arrow. Even if Aedirn completely ruled Kaedwen, it had nothing to do with her.
But…
Would Temeria and Redania really just watch?
Pull one thread, and the whole web moves.
If Temeria and Redania intervened, what would happen to the Brotherhood of Sorcerers?
Where would the Wolf School go?
And Allen, and the Wild Hunt…
"Everything will be fine once Hen Gedymdeith wakes up. He may be old, but he's still Hen Gedymdeith…" Vera patted Tissaia de Vries on the shoulder, offering the only comfort she could.
Tissaia de Vries gently shook her head, saying nothing, and it was unclear what she meant.
The room fell silent.
Tissaia de Vries and Vera each stared off in different directions, eyes empty, lost in thought.
"Tap tap tap~"
Hurried footsteps came from outside the room.
"Mentor! Mentor!" Mary shouted breathlessly at the door, "Allen is awake! Allen is awake!"
Allen was awake!
"Pa~"
Vera abruptly rose from the oak chair, snapping her fingers instinctively. The door opened by itself.
"Mentor, Allen is awake, do you want to—eh? Lady Tissaia…"
Mary rushed in, but when she saw Tissaia de Vries, her steps faltered and she stopped.
"Good morning, Mary."
Tissaia de Vries nodded lightly, a small smile on her lips as she greeted her.
"Mary, go notify the others first. Tissaia and I still have some things to discuss." Vera gave Mary a meaningful glance. Mary gave Tissaia de Vries a brief bow and quietly left.
Seeing that Vera had no intention of taking her to visit Allen, Tissaia de Vries showed no particular reaction and simply asked: "How is Allen's injury recovering?"
"Not bad." Vera's expression was slightly unnatural; her words brief.
"That's good," Tissaia de Vries nodded. "There's nothing else I need to handle here. You should hurry and go see Allen…"
She rose from her seat, and after a simple farewell, she waved her hand and summoned a portal inside the room.
"Tap tap tap~"
Hearing the crisp footsteps, Vera finally let out a breath of relief.
But just as Tissaia de Vries had one foot through the portal, she stopped: "Vera, do you really have nothing you want to tell me?"
.......
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