Chapter 229 Conspiracy and the Perfume of Love

"Bang~"

The wooden box fell.

Two fist-sized black and red objects fell out.

One was a dark red, somewhat rotten piece of meat, and the other was a dry amulet that looked like it was woven from some kind of straw.

Ailin glanced at Mary and explained:
"It's not a killer whale, it's a sagebrush."

"Don't worry, this herb is harmless to the human body as long as it is not taken orally."

"But after being processed, it will produce a fishy smell that is very attractive to griffins and great griffins..."

"What is a killer whale?" Dieter asked curiously.

Out of respect for the sponsor, Ailin took out a crystal bottle containing azure potion from the reagent bag.

"This is Killer Whale, a magic potion used by witchers."

"The main ingredient for refining it is sage..."

Ailin glanced at Mary, who was looking down, as if recalling some unpleasant memories, and continued to say to Dieter:
"She might be familiar with this smell... uh... so she subconsciously said the name of the potion."

More than familiar...

Mary mentally rolled her eyes.

During that time, she almost smelled like sage.

Hearing this, Dieter looked at the beautiful blue potion in Aylin's hand curiously, but did not ask any more questions. Instead, he frowned and looked at the demon hunter:
"So the attack by the Great Griffin was indeed an accident. Someone was plotting against us?"

"It should be," Ailin nodded, closing the mutant organ of his nostrils, picked up a dead branch nearby, and fiddled with the rotten piece of meat.

"This piece of meat has a little smell of a griffin. It may be related to the one that attacked today..."

"The Great Griffin is a monster that is very loyal to its partner. Perhaps it was this piece of meat and the sage that attracted it."

Ailin's judgment is well-founded.

With the evidence before him again, Dieter immediately accepted his judgment.

Although they had guessed it long ago, when they found out that they were really being ambushed, even Dieter, who seemed to be well-mannered, suddenly became ugly.

It is difficult for people who have not experienced it to imagine the oppressive feeling of a giant griffin pouncing on you.

And the fear of being powerless when being treated as prey.

The more he thought about the previous scene, the angrier Dieter became.

However, his savior was right in front of him, so he suppressed his anger and asked:
"Master Ailin, do many people know about this method of making a large griffin bait?"

After discovering that Ailin had real talent and skills, Dieter's tone became much more respectful.

“Not much…” Ailin shook his head.

There was no plan to hunt the great griffin, and even few witchers in the Wolf School knew how to make griffin bait.

The reason why Vesemir gave him the task was because Dieter's commission requirements were not high, all he had to do was find the problem.

Instead of being a griffin bait.

"The Great Griffin is not a very valuable monster. Only a few organs in its body may be the materials for some magic potions. Its range of activities is generally deep in the mountains."

"It's not valuable, and it's hard to come by..."

"So the only people who make bait are wizards who want to obtain certain materials, and witchers who want to hunt griffins for commissions."

Ailin did not avoid the suspicion of being a witcher when he spoke.

Not only is this unnecessary, it can actually be counterproductive.

Even the nobles that Dieter serves are basically certain to be great nobles in Kaedwen, and there is a high possibility that they are even royal family members of Kaedwen.

After hearing Ailin's analysis, Dieter nodded, then turned his head to look at the fat businessman and asked:
"Where did all this perfume come from?"

"Where are the people who purchased the perfume? Are they still in the caravan?"

This box looks almost identical to other perfume boxes, and there are only a few ways it could have been sneaked in.

The fat businessman wiped the sweat from his forehead, thought for a moment, then leaned forward humbly and was about to reply.

Suddenly he thought of something and glanced at Ailin.

"I'll go help process the materials of the Great Griffin..."

Ailin made an excuse and tried to take Mary away.

"Need not!"

Dieter stopped them and said to the fat businessman:

"Just say it directly..."

"Master Ailin saved our lives, so there's nothing we can't say to him. Besides, I still need Master Ailin to help me with the review."

After hearing this, the fat businessman glanced at Ailin and hesitated for a few seconds.

Finally, he surrendered under Dieter's increasingly serious gaze.

He no longer hid anything and said directly:
"Ban Ade, the court wizard of the Vengerberg Royal City, has always had a good relationship with us..."

"We got this batch of Siren's Kiss through his connections..." The fat businessman paused again, "Well... he even helped us get information about you, so..."

The fat businessman didn't say anything else.

But Dieter understood what he meant.

If the wizard really wanted to harm him, he could kill him without anyone noticing. There was no need to go through so much trouble.

Dieter thought for a moment, his expression uncertain.

"Da da da~"

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted his thoughts.

Vesemir came over after processing the materials of the great griffin.

"Sorry, I was distracted for a moment."

Dieter apologized and then signaled to the fat businessman with his eyes.

The merchant naturally took out a purse from his chest, as if he had prepared it long ago:

"Master Ailin, there are 1,200 Orens here. Please count them."

"No need to count, I trust you."

Ailin took the purse and put it away without counting it. Then he looked at Vesemir and was about to say goodbye to Dieter and others and continue his journey.

Suddenly, Dieter called out to me.

"Excuse me, masters. Where is our destination? Can we hire some of you to escort us to Ade Kalai?"

"I am willing to pay another thousand orens..."

Dieter said sincerely.

However, even Eileen and Vesemir had a good impression of Dieter.

The reward for this escort commission is also very generous.

There was no way they would accept this commission.

It's not just because he wants to go to Elland to remove the curse, but more importantly, he wants to avoid the turmoil caused by the king's death.

"I'm sorry, we have important things to do in Elland and can't go with you."

Ailin felt a little embarrassed for refusing the commission right after receiving the payment.

"It doesn't matter, we are just unlucky."

"In that case, let's say goodbye."

Dieter shook his head, then bowed slightly and said goodbye to Vesemir, Ailin and Mary earnestly:

“May the Lady of the Lake guide you on your journey.”

Ailin was stunned for a moment, then nodded seriously:

"I wish you all the best on your journey too."

Then the three of them left under the gaze of the caravan led by Dieter.

……

After finding the three horses that were frightened by the great griffin's pressure and dared not move forward, Ailin and his party continued to move towards Vengerburg.

"Alin, do you know who they belong to?"

While riding on the horse, Vesemir suddenly tilted his head and asked.

"The royal family of Kaedwen, perhaps the king who is about to take the throne."

Ailin didn't hesitate either.

Vesemir was a little surprised.

After all, he was the youngest witcher master before Arryn.

When he was young, he followed the chief and helped Haxo do a lot of things, so it was understandable that he could recognize the "smell" of those caravan guards at a glance. But Ailin didn't spend much time with them.

“How do you know?” Vesemir asked.

"Their posture, body shape, and discipline..." Arlin pulled the reins. "I once observed the King's Guards of Kaedwen for a long time in Viscount Haxor's abandoned mine."

"Of course the most important thing is Dieter, the profession of tutor, and their destination..."

Upon hearing this, Vesemir nodded in admiration for Arryn's keen insight.

In fact, what surprised him most was not Ailin's skill in determining the identities of the caravan guards from their postures.

Instead, Ailin would consciously think about this matter and the identities of these people.

Instead of being like a reckless man who only cares about completing the client's entrustment and then collecting the reward, and doesn't care about anything else.

There are many examples in the school showing that such demon hunters sometimes suffer great losses.

It’s a pity that the demon hunters who have been training in the Ancient Sea Fortress for nearly ten years without leaving the mountains are often such reckless men.

This lesson is only learned after being deceived and exploited by a client.

But then it is often easy to go to another extreme...

Fortunately, Ayling wasn't.

When he was still in Kaer Morhen, he seemed to have grown up and seen a lot.

Mature and a little scary.

Some of them...are heartbreaking.

"It seems that there is no need to teach you the skill of observing people's words and expressions. Most demon hunters are not as good as you in logical judgment."

"But remember, hunting monsters is the job of a monster hunter."

"But the skill of getting along with others is no less important to a demon hunter than swordsmanship or magic signs."

"It will become even more important now that there are fewer and fewer monsters..."

Although Vesemir's classes are indeed boring, they are full of useful information.

So Ailin is actually familiar with it now, so he just listens carefully and responds from time to time.

for a long time.

After Vesemir gave several examples of the witchers' social skills, he suddenly sighed:
"Rado is really in trouble this time."

"Rado?"

Hearing the unfamiliar name, Ailin looked up and asked in confusion.

"He is the only child of Haxor, the future king of Kaedwen," Vesemir explained. "When he was very young, I held him in my arms when I followed the chief to the royal city of Ard Kalai."

"Unlike the ungrateful brute that is Hackso, Lado always seems to be a nice kid."

"Seems?" Ailin found the point.

This doesn't sound like something someone very familiar with you would say.

“Uh…” Vesemir paused, “I haven’t seen Lado since Haxo became estranged from our Wolf School in recent years.”

"But I heard that after inheriting the title of Duke Steiner, he governed his territory fairly and kindly, much better than his father."

Steiner Alyn knew that it was a territory directly under the royal family around the royal city of Ade Kale.

Generally, when a prince of Kaedwen comes of age, he will first inherit the title of Duke Steiner.

but……

Fair and merciful?

This doesn't seem like a good word for a king?
Ailin thought about it but didn't say it out loud. Then he asked:

"Why do you say he is in trouble this time?"

Vesemir sighed again:
"Even though I don't understand politics, I know..."

"It is definitely not a good thing for a king who is about to take the throne to have his own guards of one million to urgently take back a tutor from Toussaint..."

"What's more, this tutor, who was protected by the king's personal guards who kept their identities secret, was framed and almost killed by a griffin..."

"No matter how you look at it, Rado's current situation isn't very good!"

Vesemir seemed to still remember the kindness he showed to Rado.

But Ailin wouldn't think so much.

The more chaos in Kaedwen, the better it is for the School of the Wolf.

It's a pity that the position of court monster advisor originally held by the witcher in the Kaedweni court was cancelled, otherwise it might have been possible for the Wolf School to exert some influence.

but now……

Ailin sighed inwardly and shook his head.

But speaking of Dieter...

"Master Vesemir, do you think the bait that attracted the great griffin was made by the court wizard of Vengerberg?"

Aelin asked curiously.

Vesemir lowered his head and remained silent for a long time, then shook his head:
"I do not know."

"I just hope that this matter will not involve our Wolf School anymore."

……

While giving lectures, Arryn and Vesemir chatted about national affairs and the development of the school.

Mary was only interested at the beginning. Before she had listened halfway, she began to look at the green grass on both sides of the road.

Counting the number of red, yellow, purple... flowers.

until……

"Da da da~"

The anxious sound of horse hooves coming from behind made her turn around subconsciously.

It's the fat businessman.

"Master Ailin, Master Ailin..."

Hearing the sound, Ailin pulled the reins and stopped.

The merchant rode over on his horse, panting and smiling gently:

"Master Ailin, this is a small gift from our caravan. Please accept it."

talking.

The fat merchant took out a beautifully packaged small box from his saddle bag.

Blue silk lace was tied into a small and delicate bow on the small box.

"Is it for me?"

Ailin was a little confused and didn't take it immediately.

"Yes, Master Ailin." The fat merchant saw Ailin accept it and smiled, "This is something Mr. Dieter specially asked me to send over. Please be sure to accept it."

Arryn looked at Vesemir doubtfully before taking the small box.

“May the Lady of the Lake guide you on your journey.”

The fat businessman smiled inexplicably and somewhat ambiguously, then without stopping, he pulled the reins and left.

Ailin could only say something subconsciously with confusion:
“I wish you all the best on your journey too!”

Then, he watched the fat figure quickly move away.

for a long time.

Arryn, Vesemir, and Mary looked at each other.

Then she looked at the delicate little box that looked somewhat feminine for a few more times, and hesitantly pulled open the blue bow on the box.

"Squeak~"

After the wooden box was opened, a note was seen at a glance.

It says:

"Siren's Kiss, may you find your true love - Dieter."

Under the note were two bottles of Siren's Kiss perfume.

"call out--"

Vesemir, who had also seen the note, whistled, glanced at Aylin with an ambiguous look, then looked at Mary, whose face was flushed red, and laughed and said,

"As expected of a tutor from Toussaint!"

"So Master Ailin..."

"Who are you going to give this perfume to?"

(End of this chapter)