Tethys quickly steered the topic back to the unknown hermit. "Is that hermit alright?"
The landlady shook her head mysteriously. "Someone went to her residence after the incident and found it burned to ashes. And that respectable herb master has disappeared without a trace."
Tethys pondered. It made sense that the hermit had fled to the nearby swamp tower for temporary shelter. It was very likely that the penitent spirit was the hermit after her death. As for those who harmed her, Tethys turned her head to look at the drunkards slumped over the tables, guzzling. All she needed to do was figure out who hadn't been harassed by the penitent spirit to understand.
Waving her hand to make the landlady forget this conversation, Tethys turned to the witcher. "I remember you said that the penitent spirit only harasses those who have done bad things. So those she let off aren't the targets for revenge."
The food in front of Lambert had been cleared. He was lounging lazily in his chair, looking like a well - fed feline.
"Becoming an evil spirit while still retaining sanity. It seems this hermit isn't simple."
Patting his stomach, Lambert got up and walked towards the market outside.
"I'm going to buy supplies. Do you need anything?"
Seeing Tethys shake her head, the witcher whistled as he walked towards the market, leaving Tethys to enjoy the fruits that had just been served.
The landlady hesitated for a moment and, taking the opportunity to add water for Tethys, whispered in a low voice, "Miss, please take your food back to your room quickly. Otherwise, those drunkards might offend you."
Sure enough, the half - drunk lumberjacks noticed Tethys alone. Seeing that the formidable witcher had left, they took advantage of their drunkenness to tease this beautiful noble lady.
Just then, the guard officer who had been threatened by Lambert came hurrying into the inn with a young man. Seeing that the fierce witcher was gone, the guard officer's nervousness immediately relaxed.
He went straight to Tethys, who was picking berries, and sat down unceremoniously in the seat where Lambert had been sitting. He then haughtily scolded, "Where's that freak you're traveling with? I've brought the scribe to see him."
The guard officer's saliva sprayed like raindrops, landing in the plate in front of Tethys.
Tethys felt a bit nauseated. Frowning, she looked at the ferocious - looking guard officer. With a glance, his garrulous mouth suddenly froze, as if bound by an invisible force.
"Since you want to eat so much, here you go."
The plate was moved towards the guard officer. An invisible force pressed his head down hard onto the plate full of blueberries, and blue juice splashed all over his face.
The guard officer, unable to even move his eyeballs, kept bumping his head against the table. The fragments of the plate scratched bloody gashes on his face. Red and blue mixed together, forming an indescribable purple.
Everyone in the inn was dumbfounded. The drunkards immediately sobered up and quietly left the tavern.
The young scribe, who was holding a ledger, was obviously more knowledgeable than the lumberjacks. He took out a money bag from his bosom and placed it on the table, pleading in a low voice, "Respected female sorceress, please forgive old Bok's offense. The two hundred and fifty crowns you want are all here, not a single one less. Don't let old Bok's blood dirty your hands. If this matter causes a death and the news reaches the Knights of the Temple, it will bring you trouble."
Looking at old Bok, whose collar was soaked with blood, Tethys said, "Young man, tell me your name."
"Hol, my name is Hol."
The young scribe was a bit nervous. He added, "Please rest assured that we won't tell on you. As long as you spare old Bok, I guarantee you'll be able to leave here safely."
"You don't need to return the things your companion took. Consider it a gift from old Bok to you. No matter how long you stay or how much you buy, I'll make sure they offer you the best discounts."
Old Bok's eyes, unable to move, were full of terror and pleading. Only then did Tethys release her control over him. With a cold face, she asked, "Tell me, is the hermit living in the forest still alive?"
"She killed those Knights of the Temple and ran away. We only managed to burn their bodies. We don't know anything else!"
The terrified guard officer blurted out everything he knew and lowered his head, not daring to look Tethys in the eye.
The magic of lie - detection sent back an affirmative response. Tethys got up and went upstairs, leaving behind the words, "Gather all the lumberjacks in your town who haven't encountered the penitent spirit. If I don't see them tomorrow morning, you'll be like this forever."
Only then did old Bok realize that his mouth had disappeared. He immediately rushed out of the inn and gathered his soldiers to round up all the lumberjacks. Unable to make a sound, old Bok gestured wildly, but the soldiers couldn't understand him. Finally, the scribe Hol conveyed the order on his behalf.
When Lambert returned to the inn, carrying vegetables like potatoes and carrots that could be stored for a long time and cured meat, the landlady returned the money the witcher had paid to him intact.
This surprised the witcher, who was rarely treated well by the villagers. The reputation of witchers had always been bad. Ever since the cat - school witchers got involved in political struggles and assassinated the king, the witchers associated with them had to pay more even for a piece of clothing.
When Lambert entered the room, he asked Tethys, "What have you done? Those people are so scared they want to hide in the ground."
After learning the whole story, the witcher shrugged to explain to Tethys, "The kings of the northern countries all have the tradition of appointing sorcerers as advisers, especially female sorcerers. Their power can influence the king's will. After the coup on Cidhna Island, the powerful female sorcerers from the north and the south formed an alliance and a gathering. They spared no expense to protect and preserve the interests of magic in this world. The priority of this goal is even higher than their duty to the countries they serve."
"They think you're a sorceress, and sorceresses generally have bad tempers. Dealing with them isn't an easy task. I bet now they don't care about the penitent spirit anymore. How to satisfy you is their top priority right now."
Tethys wasn't really interested in wasting too much time on this. Since the penitent spirit wouldn't kill innocent people indiscriminately, it wasn't absolutely necessary to eliminate it.
The witcher went into the bathroom to clean his almost unrecognizable leather armor. The landlady came back and forth several times to bring him hot water before he finally cleaned it up.
After taking a refreshing hot bath, Lambert, who reappeared in front of Tethys, looked much cleaner. At least there was no trace of stench on him.
Tethys moved her fingers slightly, and the wolf - head badge hanging on Lambert's chest trembled and fell off, landing in Tethys' hands.
"An interesting little thing. Did your mentor make this?"
The witcher tilted his head and thought for a while. "No, these badges have been passed down from witchers before Vesemir. There were sorcerers stationed in Kaer Morhen during its heyday. Maybe this is their work."
As Tethys fiddled with the wolf - head badge, its eyes glowed blood - red. It was very sensitive to magic power and had some kind of enhancing effect on the wearer.
When she was on the Island of the Formless, the tree nymphs also researched some enchanted items. The apple - wood ring they gave to Achilles was one of them, but its principle was completely different from that of the wolf - head badge. This made Tethys a bit eager. The ruby she got from the guard officer old Bok flew out of Lambert's money bag and kept spinning in Tethys' hands.
With fragments flying around, the gem had turned into a smooth bezel. Countless flickering runes alternated, adding an almost invisible spiritual light to this not - so - good - looking gem.
Amid the witcher's pained howls, the silver sword he had carried for three years melted into a pool of liquid.
Tethys frowned with a bit of disgust. There were too many impurities in this silver sword. All kinds of strange components had contaminated this weapon, and it was likely to break down in battle soon.
With a rivet being thrown out, Tethys looked at the witcher with an even stranger look. This sword had actually been broken before and the two broken ends were connected with rivets to forcibly extend its service life.
"Don't look at me like that. We're not as rich as female sorceresses. A small jar of Yennefer's magic cosmetics can sell for two hundred crowns, which is more than most of our commissions."
Lambert took the money bag Tethys threw over, jiggled it. With this money, he could buy the best products in the blacksmith's shops in big cities. Satisfied, he put it together with the cleaned leather armor.
The pure silver was refined and, under Tethys' control, wrapped around the enchanted gem to form a ring.
Combining the magic of two worlds, this ring allowed the wearer to use fireball spells three times a day. Limited by the materials, many of its functions couldn't be fully utilized. Tethys was a bit regretful and played with it for a while before throwing it to the curious witcher.
"Just consider it compensation for the damaged silver sword. Sorcerers would be willing to pay a high price for it."
The burning ring didn't feel hot in the hand. Lambert put on the ring and made a few gestures. A spark burst out from the ring.
"Is the effect similar to the Igni Sign? Are there any usage restrictions?"
"You can use it three times a day. But you can also force it to be used at the cost of damaging the ring. The last use will have a power far beyond the previous ones. The ring will automatically recharge in a natural environment. If a spellcaster actively infuses magic power, this time can be shortened."
Tethys was getting impatient. She pushed the curious baby Lambert out of the door and summarized the problems and gains in this enchantment process.
The higher the terrain, the earlier winter arrives. The cold wind coming from the Blue Mountains seemed to be able to blow into one's bones. This cold air could extend all the way to the border of Temeria, bringing silver frost to this warm country.
Autumn was almost over, but the morning temperature already carried a bit of cold. Water - rich Kovir felt even wetter and colder, with frost even hanging on the tall oaks.
The witcher had a rare good night's sleep. The heat from the ring kept coming, allowing him to stay comfortable in such a cold night.
Half - asleep, Lambert dreamed of his hometown. His poor parents had also handed him over to a passing witcher on such a cold and gloomy day. In order to let him survive, they cruelly pried his hands off the door. After enduring the pain of the Trial of the Grasses and becoming a witcher, he once returned to the hometown in his memory to look for his parents, but all he found was a dilapidated and abandoned house.
The noise outside disturbed Lambert's memories. His cat - like pupils opened and then expanded into circles. Under the thin daylight, the wild orange - yellow turned into a deeper amber.
Tethys, wearing a cloak, swept her clear gaze over this group of uneasy lumberjacks and asked loudly, "I'm here for the tower in the swamp. Before that, I need to know what exactly caused the death of the hermit in the forest?"
This statement caused a commotion among the crowd. The lumberjacks whispered to each other, as if discussing something, and even ignored the soldiers' scolding.
After a while of whispering, two middle - aged men with gray hair stepped forward from the crowd. Their appearance made the lumberjacks' discussions stop, as if they were the leaders.
The lie - detection magic was ready to be activated. Tethys saw the flickering eyes of the two middle - aged men and had an idea. Without waiting for them to explain, she said, "Since that's the case, I'll just have to take you all to the swamp and let the penitent spirit find out the person who's hiding the truth herself!"
At this, the faces of the two lumberjack leaders immediately turned pale, and the workers behind them started making a fuss again.
"It's old Aaron and his son. We didn't harm the hermit! I saw them following the Temple Guards into the forest!"
One of the leaders immediately retorted, "My son was saved by the hermit. How could he harm her! We followed them because we wanted to help the hermit escape from those lunatics!"
The feedback of the spell indicated that old Aaron wasn't lying, but Tethys could tell from his panic that there was more to this story.
The soft cloak fluttered in the wind, carrying Tethys down from the second - floor corridor. It turned into a long dress the moment she landed.
"You took the hermit to the wooden tower and then left without harming her?"
Old Aaron's face full of wrinkles twitched. Under Tethys' certain gaze, he lowered his head.
What old Aaron said next didn't surprise Tethys. At first, they really wanted to help the hermit. Relying on their familiarity with the forest, old Aaron and his son took a shortcut to the hermit's hut. After making several rounds in the forest, they used pre - set animal traps to deal with these troublesome pursuers.
This act of gratitude changed when old Aaron noticed the hermit's pointed ears. The grudges between the northern kingdoms and the non - human races were endless. Old Aaron's wife had been killed by the squirrel - party. How could he accept that the benefactor he had risked his life to save was an enemy?
If this matter became known to the other people in the town, the best outcome for him and his son would be expulsion. In order not to live a life of wandering with his son, old Aaron deceived his still - unaware son and killed the elven hermit!
He burned down the hermit's hut and used the excuse that the hermit had hidden in a cave to deceive his son. Then he joined the lumbering team and returned to the town. Old Aaron thought everything was over, but he didn't expect that the dead hermit had turned into an evil spirit and harassed the lumberjacks near the swamp, attracting the witcher and Tethys.
Lambert came to the hall and asked, "Did you leave her body in the swamp?"
"Just in the ruins under the tower," old Aaron nodded, turning his face away from his son as if struck by lightning.
The young hunter Aaron trembled, tightly gripping his hunting bow and glaring at his father.