Chapter 231: Unexpected Child
Law of Accident.

A commonly accepted law in the world of demon hunters, almost as old as human history.

The person who saves others can, according to the law of accidents, ask for a reward from the person they saved, and ask for the first thing the person sees when he returns home...

Or something that the rescued person does not know about but already has - usually a child that the rescued person was given when he or she left home.

Such children are called "accidental children".

Lambert, Ciri and even the protagonist Geralt in the original novel were all accidental children.

In addition to having the legal effect of a contract under customary law, the law of accidents also has magical power.

Once a request is made that meets the conditions of the law of accidents, the bond of fate will be firmly established between the objects of the oath and the contract.

Violation of the accident law contract will lead to disaster, serious illness, accidental death, and may even cause the demise of a country.

but.

Accidental laws are usually proposed by people who rescue others in order to make up for their losses.

It was rare for a person being rescued to actively request the use of the Law of Surprise, and to do so with such determination and excitement...

At least Vesemir had never seen it before today.

After all, the ultimate target of the law of accidents is mostly the children of the people who were rescued.

"How...how is it...the two witcher hunters..."

"I have no money, so I should be able to use the law of accidents, right?"

"I have nothing to repay you for saving my life. The Law of Accidents can at least make up for the loss of the Demon Hunter."

The fisherman smiled flatteringly, almost eagerly asking Ailin to use the Law of Surprise.

The strong smell of blood mixed with the smell of urine...

Arryn frowned and glanced at Vesemir.

"This is the person you saved, you decide!" Vesemir shook his head.

Different from the previous game and the original work.

In this time when demon hunters have not yet declined, it is mandatory for demon hunters to receive rewards after saving people, no matter if they are ordinary demon hunters or demon hunter masters or grandmasters.

And unless the law of accidents is used, the rewards for saving people of different identities from the mouths of different monsters will be different.

This is actually quite understandable.

A master demon hunter has a reliable and sufficient source of income and does not need to ask for money for saving lives.

But ordinary demon hunters can't do that.

If the wealthy witcher waives the life-saving reward for the poor, there will inevitably be low-quality scoundrels who use this as an excuse to steal the poor witcher's reward on credit.

You have to know that the strength of ordinary demon hunters is far inferior to that of Arryn and Vesemir.

Most demon hunters have just finished their travel trials and can only deal with low-level monsters such as water ghosts and ghouls.

Even if there are more than three of these low-level monsters, there could be danger.

Weapons and leather armor will also wear out and require money to maintain and repair.

If there is no reward for saving people and there are great risks, ordinary demon hunters will definitely no longer be willing to save other people who have encountered accidents.

Vicious circle.

Therefore, Ailin must accept the reward for saving his life, but the unexpected way of accepting it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

As a modern man, it is somewhat difficult for him to accept that someone would snatch someone else's child and separate them from their parents.

Moreover, he still remembered the torture of the Green Grass Trial clearly, and there was also the precedent of Thomas Moreau turning against him...

"Alin, why don't you agree?"

At this time, Mary's words interrupted Ailin's entanglement.

Seeing that the fisherman was in tattered clothes and covered in smelly blood, the young sorceress helped out.

As a local, she believed that using the law of surprise was a kind act.

"Yes! Yes!" the fisherman said quickly, "My Lord Witcher, I have no money, no money..."

He seemed to be afraid that Ailin would ask him for some money or property.

at this point.

Ailin could only nod and say:
"In that case..."

"The first thing you see when you get home is my reward..."

"Om~"

The words have not yet fallen.

The grinning wolf emblem on the witcher's chest suddenly buzzed.

This is usually a sign that a monster is nearby.

However, the two demon hunter masters were not on guard, because they, who were not supposed to be able to sense magical fluctuations, actually sensed magical fluctuations.

And Ailin also felt that he had a connection with something vague.

"This is?"

Aylin was stunned for a moment.

[It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe, a flash of inspiration or a sudden impulse…]

The words of Shadia when she described the guidance of fate suddenly came back to my mind.

“Is this the law of surprise?”

Mary was surprised to feel the fluctuations of magic in the air.

This is a fluctuation that is difficult to describe.

It is like the waves in a calm sea, steady and not violent, but unfathomable.

Mary glanced at Arryn, who was also in surprise, and fixed her eyes on Vesemir's face.

But Vesemir shook his head with a complicated expression:
"I... don't know. I have used the Law of Surprise at least twenty times, but this is the first time I have encountered a situation like this."

"Alin...it seems you have no choice but to refuse..."

After spending three or four months with Arryn, Vesemir could naturally guess what Arryn was thinking.

"What's wrong, my lords?" The fisherman did not feel any fluctuations of magical power in the air.

He was only worried that the monster with scary blue eyes in front of him would change his mind.

"Nothing." Ailin was silent for a few seconds and shook his head. "Lead the way, take me to your home and bring me my reward..."

The fisherman smiled, bowed in a businesslike manner, said "thank you" twice, and prepared to lead the way.

"and many more!"

Vesemir suddenly spoke up.

The fisherman turned back quickly.

"what!"

Just then, his eyes met the ferocious and furious head of the giant griffin tied to the side of "Carrot". He sat down on the ground with a plop, and was frightened to death again.

The strong stench really tortured the demon hunter's nose.

Seeing this, Arlin looked at Vesemir helplessly.

Vesemir also sighed helplessly and waved his hand:

"Let's go to the river to wash ourselves before we get back on the road..."

Hearing this, the fisherman subconsciously looked down and then at the clear lake water beside him.

The two water ghosts just now suddenly jumped out from this seemingly safe lake.

"No... no need..."

"Don't worry, we will protect you." Vesemir interrupted.

Demon hunters can tolerate the odor for the sake of their mission, but that doesn't mean they like it.

The fisherman glanced at the two witchers again.

Seeing their cold and ruthless inhuman eyes, he thought in his mind which one was scarier, the water ghost or the witcher, before he trembled and went into the water to wash.

for a long time.

After the fisherman had cleaned up all the dirt on his body, the others continued on their way.

……

The fisherman's home was not in Vengerberg, but in a village around the royal city.

Probably because it is close to a small river and most of the people in the village are fishermen who make a living by fishing, the village is named Fisherman Village.

This place is not far from the place where Ailin rescued people. It takes about half an hour to walk there.

When they reached the wooden fence outside the village, the fisherman's nervous mood was obviously relieved a lot.

He pointed over the fence to the end of the muddy path in the village and said:
"Master Demon Hunter, that is my home."

Then he unconsciously quickened his pace, as if he couldn't wait any longer.

Seeing this, Vesemir and Arryn looked at each other and frowned.

Although the thing that the rescued person sacrificed by accident was not necessarily a child, the fisherman who could not read or write certainly did not know this.

After all, there are many stories about accidental children spread in taverns and among bards, but there is no such thing as accidental things in this world.

This fisherman... why is it as if he has a grudge against his own flesh and blood, rushing to send the child away...

What did that child do to anger God and the people?

Even Mary, who was originally pitying the fisherman's plight, felt something was wrong and looked at Arlin, wanting to say something but stopping herself. Perhaps it was the terrifying head of the great griffin that was so frightening.

The villagers he met along the way didn't dare to greet the fisherman and just stayed away from him.

Then he watched with timid eyes as Ailin and his companions walked through the muddy and dirty shanty town and headed towards the end of the village.

The fisherman leading the way didn't care about this.

After all these years, he was finally going to get rid of the monster that made him unable to hold his head up in the village.

The fisherman just felt comfortable all over.

Even if there is no one to wash his clothes, no one to cook lunch and dinner, and he may have less money to drink, he doesn't care.

There is one less mouth to feed at home, and maybe I can even buy some new clothes for my two-year-old son.

"Tap~tap~tap~"

With the sound of hurried footsteps, the familiar yet not warm home is approaching.

Out of some caution.

When the fisherman reached the last turning before his home, he paused.

He looked up at the sky.

"That monster must be washing clothes outside at this time."

The fisherman nodded with satisfaction.

After lifting up his wet pants with both hands...

"Squeak~"

The dilapidated and shapeless wooden fence gate was opened.

In an instant.

The fisherman, who was about to step in, suddenly stopped at the door as if frozen.

"what happened?"

Aelin led the horse up behind the fisherman.

At this time.

"Wow--"

The sound of a child crying suddenly came from in front of the fisherman.

"It must have been frightened by the remaining magical aura of the great griffin. Children are more sensitive."

Vesemir took the reins from Arryn and was about to pull the carrot with the griffin head hanging on it further away.

“Hunter… witcher,” the fisherman turned his head stiffly like a puppet in a rusty music box, “I suddenly… suddenly remembered that I still have some money at home…”

"Can I...can I...can I..."

The eyes of Arryn and Vesemir, who turned around, became increasingly cold, and the fisherman was so frightened that he couldn't utter a complete sentence.

“Do you know what the law of surprise is?”

Before Arryn could say anything, Vesemir loosened the reins, strode over, looked down at the fisherman with disgust, and scolded him harshly:
"This is a contract, a contract signed with fate, a contract recognized by the northern countries, and even the king must abide by it..."

"Do you know what happened to the last person who tore up the accident law?"

The fisherman was so frightened that he shook his head subconsciously.

Vesemir sneered unmoved and said:
"Zeverena, she became the queen of Metinna because of a dwarf named Lemprestilt, and she promised to give her first child to the dwarf..."

"Yet when the dwarf came to claim his reward, he dared to drive him away with witchcraft!"

"soon……"

"Zevilena and her children fell seriously ill and died!"

“Remember…” Vesemir took another step forward, looking down at the fisherman and emphasized:
"The witch queen and all her children - including the one she promised to fate - died..."

"Not one... survived."

Amid the crying of the children, the fisherman's originally flattering face turned as pale as a corpse.

If the child hadn't been right behind him, he would have been frightened to the point of wetting his pants again.

"Do you think you are more powerful than Zevilena?"

The fisherman shook his head repeatedly, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Go in, give us the unexpected child, and we will leave." Vesemir said coldly.

He didn't know why the fisherman was so different before and after.

But Vesemir didn't care, so he didn't want to know.

But if you want to violate the law of surprise...

This is impossible!

He will never allow it!
In the past, when the law of accidents was violated, only the violating party was punished.

But before, when they made the contract by the river, the reaction of fate was so strong that even he and Mary, two outsiders, felt it.

So Vesemir didn't dare to gamble...

If Ailin softened his heart and agreed.

Will fate also bring misfortune to the future of his most admired apprentice and school?

therefore.

Vesemir had to block this possibility before Arryn could speak.

Fishermen are cowardly and selfish.

Under the stare of two monsters with cat-like eyes and the tragic incident of Queen Zenmona.

The love for the youngest son seems...

Not that many anymore.

He tremblingly opened the door and invited the two witchers in, but was refused.

"Give us the unexpected child and we will leave." Vesemir said with a cold face.

"Okay... okay, two... witcher masters, please... please wait a moment..."

The fisherman entered the house.

A little boy, about three or four years old, was sitting on the ground in the yard and crying loudly.

The crying annoyed the fisherman.

The love that was already fading became even weaker.

"It's good to be asked to leave. There's one less mouth to feed at home, and I can have one more glass of wine every day..."

he thought.

Then, without trying to comfort the little boy, he picked him up and handed him to Vesemir, who had a cold face.

Just as the Demon Hunter Master used an Axis Sign to coax the crying boy to sleep...

"Dad," a timid and hoarse female voice suddenly came from the dark room, "Who are they?"

"Why did you send Clay to them?"

moment.

When the fisherman heard the woman's voice, he rushed into the thatched hut like a volcano that suddenly erupted, at a speed that even water ghosts couldn't.

"Snapped!"

A loud slap sounded from the darkness.

"How many times have I told you this? Ah!!!"

"Don't call me dad, don't call me dad, why don't you listen?"

"But you are my father!" wailed the hoarse female voice.

"Snapped!"

"Will I give birth to a monster like you?" The fisherman was furious when he was talked back.

"You damned bastard, a freak cursed by the gods..."

"Why didn't you do the laundry today? Why aren't you outside?"

"Snapped!"

"Ah - I haven't eaten for two days, so I'm looking for..."

Before the female voice finished speaking.

"Snapped!"

Another hard slap.

"Okay! You still dare to eat secretly!"

"Snapped!"

……

The ear-piercing sounds of slapping, cursing, and wailing made the three people who were originally planning to leave stop involuntarily.

Vesemir was holding the sleeping little boy in his arms, hesitating whether to give some advice.

But the fisherman's face turned red with anger, and he pulled the black hair and pulled out a black creature that looked like a girl...

dragged out.

(End of this chapter)