"...Driven by the fanaticism of crowds, unorganized, irrational, short-lived social interaction. Collective behavior is infected by group emotion and may lead to deviant conduct, triggering social unrest...
"...Taking history as a mirror, in the mass incidents of Vizima, we can see that under extreme conditions, many people who should have been rational became irrational, people who should have remained calm became unable to stay calm, and some even, because of blind impulse, escalated into bloody incidents..."
In the bright and spacious classroom, the air conditioning set to twenty-six degrees blew coldly. The students below once again grew drowsy, making it difficult for the history teacher on the platform to speak with passion.
He had no choice but to once again bring out an inspiring topic. "And the most famous example from that time was the conflict outside the temporary hospital in the Trade Quarter between Knight Patrick and the city guards. As everyone knows, it was in that battle that Angoulême Corion..."
The useless kid in glasses immediately raised his hand to answer. "Me, me, I know! Blood dyed her battle robe red through the armor!"
The tall, chubby boy sitting beside the useless kid in glasses refused to be outdone. He stood up, lifted his chest high with his left hand, then raised his right hand. "My life has no regrets!"
"Whoa!" His little friends all cheered and applauded for his passionate performance, and the classroom was instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
The male student with the triangular-cone hairstyle did not dare correct them. He only crossed his arms and muttered quietly, "It's clearly, 'In all my life, I have not the slightest regret!'"
Shaking his head with a smile, the history teacher said kindly, "Students! Everything you said is made-up dialogue from video games or comics. You cannot take it seriously. The achievements of cutting down a hundred or a thousand people are even more exaggerated.
"Here, your teacher will tell you that according to historical records, Lady Golden Eagle actually only killed more than fifty knights at the time..."
...
1270, summer, afternoon thunderstorm.
"Boom!"
The sudden explosion not far away temporarily brought a pause to the sudden slaughter outside the temporary hospital.
Both sides returned to a standoff. Seven or eight city guard corpses lay on the ground, along with roughly the same number of knights. In theory, this casualty ratio should have been impossible.
The knights' protection was based on mail, which already had decent resistance against slashing. On top of that, they wore iron plate coverings over key areas such as the breastplate, gauntlets, and greaves, giving them a clear advantage. Most city guards only had mail, without iron plate coverings. When facing the heavy weapons used by knights, such as warhammers, flails, or two-handed swords, the impact force alone would be enough to make them suffer badly.
At the beginning, the situation had indeed been one-sided. Several city guards were cut down in an instant. But... judging victory or defeat in a melee was that simple. The winners stood. The losers lay down.
The rain poured down. Rainwater seeped into armor, and the chill temporarily washed away the fanaticism.
Patrick panted heavily, glaring bitterly at Angoulême, and fear faintly rose in his heart! It was this woman. Originally, although she had been good at fighting, she was only that. But when the Order took out crossbows and aimed at her, she suddenly erupted with terrifying speed, twisting aside to dodge the volley of crossbow bolts. Then, with the armor-piercing steel sword in her hand, she dealt the knights both mental and physical trauma.
Swift as an eagle, her sword struck out and shattered armor! Those hit were either disemboweled or had their hands and feet severed. Every knight lying on the ground had been cut down by her sudden outburst.
In the pouring rain, the girl looked sidelong at the knights with disdain. The sword in her hand seemed as steady as ever. "Get lost! Those turtle shells can't protect you! Your defense zone had an explosion, and you still aren't going back?"
Although Angoulême's words were certainly domineering, in truth, she herself was also shocked by Golden Eagle's power. The note her leader had left back then had only said it had been enchanted with an epic effect that would automatically activate when she fell into desperate straits.
But she had not expected it to activate like this. The instant Eagle Eye sensed that she was about to be shot into a hedgehog, and the dangerous omen screamed madly, the world suddenly slowed down. Or rather, she herself became godspeed. The all-around strengthening of wrist strength and consciousness felt just like drinking Vic's "potion trio."
Even more exaggerated was that Golden Eagle, which originally could only scrape out a trail of sparks when cutting a breastplate head-on, now directly opened a knight's heart when it chopped down.
The magnificent turn from bronze to king happened in no more than the snap of a finger.
And faced with such a violently incomprehensible change, those who did not understand Void traits would only have one explanation.
"So you're a battle mage. Good. Very good..." The knight clenched his fist tightly. His already ugly face twisted into an even more distorted knot. He suddenly roared, "Angoulême Corion! I swear, we will meet again!"
After saying that, Patrick turned and led his men toward the place of the explosion. That had originally been their defense zone, but he had pulled away some of the knights.
Watching their backs as they left, the girl slowly breathed out, sheathed her sword, and sat back proudly under the hospital's front corridor to take shelter from the rain.
With such bearing, the nearby guards immediately looked at Angoulême as though seeing a celestial being, and hurriedly started a fire to warm her.
Meanwhile, she hid her slightly trembling right hand behind her back.
...
At the frontline command post in Natalis Square, on the road he passed through, none of the nobles or even warriors coming and going dared meet his gaze for more than a second.
Because those mutated eyes, the nine black dots seemed to have lives of their own, while the three-layered pupils not only looked strange, their color was also an ominous blood-red, as if a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood were surging within them.
Vincent Meis, walking beside him and leading the way, was quite calm. His tone was gentle, his attitude friendly. "I didn't expect that you would really walk this path and become a monster hunter."
Sensing Vincent's goodwill, Victor could guess the reason. Cheers to true love. Vizima had one less werewolf vigilante.
He shrugged. "I thought I already said so when we first met."
The captain chuckled softly. "I know, but you actually had better choices. Whether you continued being a mercenary or a bard, or even rose to knighthood or nobility, none of it was impossible. I think you should know that Angoulême helped us quite a lot last night and dealt with several Lickers that were harassing the station. After this storm passes, the Phantom Troupe will almost certainly be awarded honors."
"That is my honor." The boy's tone was indifferent, and there was not much honor to be heard in it.
"And about the matter you reported earlier, when you meet the mayor later, don't bring it up. For certain personal reasons, he accidentally overlooked that report."
"Don't worry. I've almost forgotten about it."
As they spoke, they walked close to Mayor Velerad. The boy stopped in a corner while Vincent stepped forward to report to him. Then they walked to Victor together.
Looking curiously at the boy's eyes, Velerad spoke in a resonant voice. "Long time no see, Mr. Victor. I didn't expect that you would really become a monster hunter."
"Almost everyone I know uses that sentence as their opening line when we meet. But I've never hidden the fact that I would become one." With a hand over his chest in greeting, the witcher smiled brightly, though his blood-red pupils were frightening.
The well-informed mayor did not avoid looking straight at those red eyes. He enthusiastically took the boy's hand. "In any case, at this difficult moment, seeing a true witcher sincerely comforts me. In fact, I have an extremely important commission here that requires your help. Please, you absolutely must not refuse my request!"
Seeing this, Victor smiled even more broadly. It was said that when someone treated you with excessive courtesy, they must be asking for something. Velerad was being this polite. It seemed he wanted him to risk his life. Perhaps he would not die, but it was definitely an enormous problem.
The corner of his mouth lifted in an arc that Princess Adda could never forget. "Respectable Mayor, your sincerity deeply moves me, but forgive me for refusing. Before I confirm my friends' safety and well-being, I'm afraid I cannot accept any request."
One second. Only one second. The time the witcher's eyes caught anger on the mayor's face lasted only one second. From appearance to disappearance, it was as brief as a shooting star, so fleeting that one might think it an illusion.
"You mean Lady Shani, yes? The doctor requested to go to the temporary hospital to treat the wounded. With Angoulême and the city guards' thorough protection, she is very safe!"
"Of course I believe what the mayor says, but my words remain the same. Before I see them with my own eyes and confirm they are safe, I will not accept any commission. Please understand. In fact, I am preparing to leave now, regardless of whether you tell me where they are."
After those words were spoken, a subtle current of air swirled. In the noisy environment, that silent corner made even Vincent feel awkward. Fortunately, a fourth person broke the silence.
"Vic! It's actually you! It's wonderful to see you here. Oh my god! You've already become a monster hunter. Those eyes are really distinctive, although the blood-red color looks a little terrifying."
The newcomer was unexpectedly the long-unseen Rose Knight, Siegfried of Denesle. He jogged over and embraced the boy. And once he stood there, his innate aura of friendliness washed away the rift that had just been about to take shape.
Then he released the witcher, faced Velerad, and placed a hand over his chest. "Apologies, I saw a friend I had not met in a long time. Siegfried of Denesle, leading one hundred and fifty knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose, reporting to the mayor."
Glancing at the witcher, then looking at the Rose Knight, Velerad lightly stroked his belly. "Siegfried of Denesle, I now assign you and your knights to escort the witcher Victor Corion to the temporary hospital near the East Gate to meet Lady Shani, then escort him back. This matter is extremely important, and you must put all your strength into it."
The few people present were shaken. Vincent knew what was going on, so he was not surprised. Siegfried did not understand. Victor, meanwhile, was secretly shocked by the mayor's determination.
Clearly, there really was a mission that required a witcher, and it was full of difficulties. But since the other party had fully accepted his demand and even sent people to escort him there and back, refusing after things had gone this far would be making an enemy.
In any case, he would first complete his objective. The boy bowed slightly. "Then, thank you for your concern, Mayor. I will return as quickly as possible." Then he grabbed the Rose Knight's arm and dragged him outside.
In the command room, watching Victor and Siegfried leave together with Velerad, Vincent thought for a moment. "Sir, the witcher's attitude just now may have been somewhat stiff, but..."
The mayor raised a hand and interrupted him. "I dealt with monster hunters more than ten years ago. People with ability have the qualifications to act like that. As long as he's willing to do that matter, this little offense is irrelevant. Go ask where the king is now..."
...
Victor walked forward through the rain, sighing at the long-missed feeling of borrowing another's authority. The last time he had swaggered through the streets with a large group of knights behind him like this seemed to be so very, very long ago. Many things truly had happened in between.
Siegfried moved forward through the rain, delighted that old friends had met again. Back when he brought Victor to the command post, how could he have imagined that Victor would be wrongly accused because of it, flee Vizima in confusion, then carve out the glorious name of Dovahkiin in Skellige?
"Speaking of which, how long ago did you undergo mutation?"
"I left Vizima for the trial seventeen days ago."
The Rose Knight counted on his fingers. "Really now, we just barely missed each other. If you had left a few days later, I would have been able to remember your final appearance before the mutation."
The witcher spread his fingers like a comb and pushed his rain-soaked hair back. "Wouldn't I still have looked like that? Isn't this fine now? Besides, if I had left a few days later, I wouldn't have made it back in time. If a friend were injured because of that, it would leave regrets."
"...Don't worry. With Angoulême and the city guards protecting her, Doctor Shani's safety is definitely not an issue. Besides, no rational person would want to hurt her. It's just that this riot doesn't seem simple. I feel there's some other conspiracy behind it! Thinking back, many things had signs long ago. I already felt something was wrong when I returned to the city. Now even the royal advisor has vanished somewhere!"
Victor only casually listened to Siegfried's earlier comfort. He had confidence in Angoulême in the first place. But when Siegfried finally mentioned that the royal advisor was missing, the boy could not pretend he had not heard it.
"Wait! You just said the royal advisor disappeared? Triss or Keira?"
The Rose Knight glanced strangely at the witcher, somewhat surprised that he directly called the two sorceresses by their names without using honorifics.
"Lady Keira Metz. Supposedly, more than ten days ago, she left Princess Adda's banquet midway, and no one has seen her since. I had accepted her commission to bring her some special alchemical materials, and that was how I discovered she wasn't at home."
The banquet from more than ten days ago, wasn't that the day they had parted!? The boy immediately understood. No wonder Foltest had not reacted at all to the warning, because the crisis had never reached his ears!
Then what about Keira!? Where had she gone? It was impossible for her to leave on her own initiative. She could only have disappeared passively. Could it be that she knew too much, so...
Victor clenched his fist.
Thinking back on his memories of interacting with her, he had once been looked down on by her, beaten by her, threatened by her, and also cared for and protected by her. Yet the image most deeply etched into his memory was of that proud little blonde sitting on his abs and showing off her power.
His heart gave a slight beat.
Silence in the rain.
At last, they drew close to the Trade Quarter's East Gate. But at that moment, an explosion suddenly occurred up ahead. Then residents fled in panic, and the situation instantly fell into extreme chaos.
They hurriedly grabbed several fleeing people and asked questions. Only then did they learn that the Scoia'tael had actually broken through the East Gate guarded by the Order of the Flaming Rose and rushed into the Trade Quarter to burn, kill, and destroy!
Seeing Siegfried's tense and tormented expression, Victor clearly understood his inner struggle. He could even guess what Siegfried was about to say next.
"Your next line is, 'I'm sorry, I have to go save civilians!'"
"I'm sorry, I have to go save civilians!"
After saying that, the two looked at each other and smiled.
Victor waved a hand, signaling for him to do as he pleased. "I'll go to the temporary hospital myself. Go do what you should do!"
Siegfried knocked on his breastplate. "Thank you, Vic! When all this is over, let's have another drink together!"
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810