Chapter 327 I haven't started yet, how come it's over

It was afternoon and the air was hot and dry.

At this hour, the pub was as crowded as ever.

But what was somewhat strange was that most of the tables were empty but filled with slightly cold ale.

The drinkers were all gathered around the same old, mottled wooden table.

"Old Jeter, the hunter from East Village, is dead too. He died last night." A man sitting at the table among the people said in a low voice.

"Old Jet is dead!!!" One of the onlookers was surprised, "Because they wanted to hunt, wasn't the only silver fork in East Village in Old Jet's hands?"

"What's the use of a silver fork?" The people at the table took a sip of wine and sighed, "When the old village chief and the guards collected the bodies this morning, I also went to see it..."

"A family of five... The floor, walls, and bed were all covered in blood... Broken flesh and bones were spread all the way from the bedroom... Ugh..."

The man retched, as if thinking of the tragic scene he saw in the morning.

After a while, he continued with a pale face:
"According to the old village chief and the guards, at least three water ghosts sniffed the blood of the pheasant that Old Jet shot yesterday and sneaked into his house in the middle of the night."

"Old Jeter is just a hunter, not one of those weird...hunters...monster hunters..."

"What's more, it's late at night, when everyone is asleep..."

"When they were found, the silver fork was right next to Jenny, whose abdomen was hollowed out... There was no trace of blood from those damn monsters on the silver fork..."

Just say it.

The whole pub suddenly fell silent.

Everyone's face was pale, without a trace of blood, like a newly dead body.

What happened to old Jack could happen to any of them.

"Old... Old Jeter is... so careless. How could he bring the blood of the prey home without dealing with it properly?"

Someone uttered a hoarse voice, as if trying to prove that it was the victim's own carelessness that caused this misfortune.

"Don't you know him? His family of five depends on the money from the prey hunted by Old Jett. Besides, Jenny is pregnant again. The pheasant blood is a top-notch tonic for making black pudding. How could he bear to throw it away?"

"Besides, Old Jeter's home is the farthest from the river in the entire East Village because of years of hunting. Nothing has happened in decades. Who would have thought...eh..."

The continuous sighs seemed to be contagious, echoing throughout the tavern.

"The guards, mages, and parliament are silent again?!" Someone hammered the wooden table in indignation.

"Shh~" The others were so scared that they immediately covered his mouth and looked around carefully.

I found two mercenaries wearing leather armor and carrying long swords in the dark far away from here. They were probably mercenaries going to the front line for the bounty. They were busy eating and seemed to have not noticed the movement here. I breathed a sigh of relief and scolded:

"You are crazy! The last person who slandered those great wizards has been wielded with a broken silver fork and was torn into pieces by those damn monsters!"

"Do you also want to die miserably like him?"

The man who was hammering the table groaned. Although he was a little unconvinced, he still lowered his voice and complained:
"We pay so much tax every year to support those nobles and wizards, but they really don't care?"

"It would be a good idea to hire a few... demon hunters. I saw them when I went to Ban Ade to deliver goods in March. Those demon hunters killed water ghosts faster than we cut wheat."

When the others heard this, the expressions on their faces suddenly became much more positive.

However, an older man sitting next to him shook his head:

"Don't even think about it. The demon hunter won't come."

"Why?" everyone asked in unison.

The old man took a sip of beer, sighed and said, "Do you think the village chief can't think of this?"

"The village chief and his family live in the village just like us, and they can't run away."

"If we can really hire a demon hunter, the village chief should have spread the news and issued a reward by this time of year in previous years."

The drinkers gathered in the pub looked at each other.

"It is said that..." The old man glanced at the mercenary in the corner and suddenly whispered, "There is a big conflict between the demon hunters and the wizards. A few months ago, the wizards were reluctant to pay the bills for the water monster rain. So those freaks are unwilling to come again."

"Ah! Master mages are so rich, but they still owe money and don't pay it back?"

"The richer people are, the more stingy they are. The village chief's family is just like that."

"That's right. If I lend him a needle to mend his clothes, I will help him sew some for the village chief..."

The topic gradually shifted to how stingy and calculative the village chief was...

"Snapped!"

The wooden table was slammed loudly, and the turbid liquid of the cheap beer in the glass sloshed.

The indignant man stood up suddenly:

"No, the wizards are useless. If I stay here, I'll just die. I want to move to the city with my wife and children..."

"There's a blue pot cover there every day, so it must be safe."

When everyone heard this, they immediately became agitated and started discussing moving heatedly.

The old man slowly drank the last of the beer in the cup and asked only one question in a low voice.

"Do you have money?"

Instantly.

The discussion gradually died down.

The man who stood up blushed: "I have strength. I can always find work in the city."

The old man did not argue loudly with him, but said calmly:

"Since the blue lid went up two months ago, the entrance fee has been rising again and again."

"My son ran errands for the village chief the day before yesterday. He came back from the city and told me that the entrance fee to Ban Ade has increased to five orens."

“Five Orens!!!” The person who stood up swayed suddenly.

He worked very hard to save money from mining and coal mining for half a year, but he only earned twenty orens.

“Besides…” the old man sighed, “People like us still have a chance of survival if we stay in the village.”

"Ban Ade is the real man-eating monster."

"I have seen no one who has settled in the city like us who has ever returned."

The old man's words made the atmosphere around him become negative.

"Is there nothing we can do about it?" someone asked.

The old man held the wine glass in silence for a long time, then sighed and said:
"This is fate..."

……

In the other corner of the tavern, two men dressed as mercenaries were busy eating the not-so-tasty stew and hard bread.

But their attention was not on the food.

The enhanced sense of smell of water ghosts... the surging number of monsters... the skyrocketing entrance fee... the blue light curtain that enveloped Ban Ade Academy...

"Not a small harvest..." thought one of the younger mercenaries.

From such a distance, one can accurately capture information from noisy or whispered conversations on the other side of the tavern, at least thirty meters away.

The young mercenary is naturally not an ordinary person.

"Alin, you have so many wonderful ideas!"

Another middle-aged mercenary wearing a black wide-brimmed hat raised his head and looked at the young mercenary, admiring him.

Yes. These two mercenaries are actually Aelin and Vesemir.

The biggest feature, or the only feature, that distinguishes a demon hunter from ordinary people is actually a pair of cat-like eyes that resemble those of wild beasts.

And now.

Although Vesemir couldn't see his own pupils, Arryn opposite him had a pair of black human pupils in his eyes, plus a scabbard that could be prepared in the village of Kell.

If it weren't for the school badge hidden in the leather armor, it would still be trembling slightly under his suppression.

In a trance.

Just before entering the tavern, even he almost thought that Ailin had returned to his ordinary form and became a mercenary rushing to the battlefield for a bounty.

"It's just a little trick." Ailin smiled, his mind detached from the drinkers who had suddenly fallen into silence and were drinking alone in the distance.

“This is no small trick…” Vesemir looked at his apprentice’s eyes with emotion again, and moved his right hand upwards as if he wanted to touch his own eyes, but he thought of something and put it flat on the table again.

Such a sophisticated illusion is much more practical than the one that Arryn showed him in Kaer Morhen.

“This…this…can we learn this?” Vesemir asked expectantly.

Aelin shook his head and was about to answer.

"Dong Dong Dong~"

Footsteps were approaching.

The two witchers fell silent at the same time.

"Guest, here are your dried meat and jam pancakes." The tavern owner came over carrying a bulging burlap bag.

"Thank you. How much?"

"Because of the recent rampage of water ghosts, the price of these dry food has gone up a lot. The total is two orens and seven coppers. If you want a large quantity, just give me two orens." The tavern owner held the sack tightly in his hand.

Upon hearing this, Vesemir took out two silver coins and placed them directly in his hand.

After checking it out, the tavern owner smiled and handed over all the dry food:

"Good luck in the war, and kill those Aedirn guys!"

“We will.” Vesemir patted the sword at his waist.

The tavern owner leaves.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to learn this," Ailin continued the previous topic.

Because it's not like when we were in Kaer Morhen, where there were so many people and eyes.

He glanced around, took out the Mirage Pearl, showed it to Vesemir, and stuffed it back: "This is a magic prop given by Ms. Vera."

"Well, that's a shame." Vesemir looked at the slightly bulging area on Arryn's chest, his face full of regret and envy.

The news was obtained, dry food was purchased, and all the purposes of coming to the tavern were achieved. The two witchers ate their black bread with the slightly salty stew and got up to leave.

"Squeak~"

The wooden door groaned.

Walking out of the tavern, Ailin saw the towering city in the distance and the blue light curtain of the city that was still shining brightly under the scorching sun.

There is the most mysterious city in the entire Kaedwen - Ban Ader.

When traveling from Kaer Morhen to Vergen, you don't actually need to pass through this city.

in contrast.

Although the camouflage of the Mirage Pearl is exquisite, the place where it is most likely to be exposed is the city with the largest number of sorcerers in the northern continent.

However, in order to clarify a problem, Aelin persuaded Vesemir to choose this place as the first stop after leaving Kaer Morhen.

Why more than a month... no... it has been nearly three months since the end of the Apprentice Fighting Competition on the Spring Equinox... Those Ain El went to the Floating Harbor and to Elland like people with poor directions, but they just didn't visit this place where the celestial spheres meet and the fusion of foreign lands occurs?

Could it be that the Wild Hunt's target is not the Gate of Ard Ghaith?

This is impossible.

The celestial conjunction three months ago was spectacular, and the Wild Hunt hadn't appeared for hundreds of years, so it appeared right after that.

If it’s too coincidental, it’s not a coincidence.

Or maybe Ain El and his people are unable to lock onto their targets and are just trying to catch dead mice?

Ailin didn't quite believe this.

Would a race of monsters that had conquered countless alien worlds not have the means to locate such huge spatial fluctuations?

And now...

Looking at the magnificent blue light curtain that almost covered the entire city, and adding the time when the blue light curtain rose, "two months ago", which he had just heard, Ailin felt that he had found the answer.

This blue light curtain that rose after the Apprentice Fighting Competition should be the reason why the Wild Hunt was misled.

"Found the answer?"

Vesemir interrupted his thoughts as he walked out of the stable leading his horse.

"Almost." Ailin nodded and stepped on the stirrup to mount the horse.

To get more detailed information, you might have to spend five orens, enter Ban Ade, or even go to Ban Ade College.

Thinking of the intimidating figures that appeared after the Apprentice Fighting Competition, Ailin felt that there was no need for him to know so much.

As for sneaking into Ben Ader College, destroying the light curtain, and finding some work for the wizards, letting them fight the wild hounds...

Although he was still helpless against the doomsday of the white frost, Ailin still wanted to live well.

"Then go back quickly, those kids are waiting for dinner!"

The witcher master mounted his horse, squeezed his legs together, and galloped towards the country road opposite to the blue light curtain.

"It's a pity for cities like Flotsam and Elland that have suffered such unprovoked disasters."

Taking a final look back at the giant blue screen of Ben Ader, Ailin sighed, turned around and followed Vesemir.

But just at this moment, an accident happened.

The moment he turned his head, Ailin felt something flicker in the corner of his vision, and he subconsciously turned his head back.

The huge blue light curtain that almost covered half of the huge city of Ban Ade flashed twice and then disappeared.

"what!"

He exclaimed instinctively and rubbed his eyes.

The conspicuous blue light curtain actually disappeared.

At this moment, even in the sparsely populated village, there were sounds of amazed and surprised coming from all over.

"It's not an illusion!" Ailin was extremely surprised.

Vesemir heard the movement behind him, tightened the reins and stopped the horse: "What's wrong, Ai..."

The Demon Hunter Master's voice suddenly stopped.

Obviously, he also saw the changes in Ban Ade.

Arryn turned around upon hearing this and met Vesemir's gaze, his eyes filled with indescribable emotions.

"I... we should be fine, but..." The Demon Hunter paused for a moment and looked back at the mysterious City of a Thousand Towers.

"But for the wizards in Ban Ade, that's not so certain!"

(End of this chapter)