472. The Possibility of Rebuilding the Witcher Order! The Gate of Magic!

"Master Danthe, you know the House family's current predicament. The Cocke family is steadily squeezing and devouring our space to survive."

"Charcoal burning, farming tools, trade guilds—even the granary and milling! The foolish peasants on House lands have been lured away by petty favors. To revive my family, I had no choice…"

In order to survive and hold out until Lord Evenson and Lord Padrek Vasquez arrived, Little House, who was being dragged along by the collar by Danthe, forced himself to speak despite the howling wind in his face and the jolting pain from his knees, toes, and arms. He mustered all his strength to convince Danthe to understand his helplessness.

But the more he spoke, the more he began to believe that he had sacrificed a lot for his family, and his voice grew more self-righteous.

"Yes, Master Danthe, everything I've done was to revive the legacy that Old House worked so hard to build…"

Thud!

A loud crash was followed by a sharp cry of pain.

Little House's shin had slammed hard into a wooden step. He instinctively reached down, but a jagged splinter at the corner of the step tore a deep gash into his right palm.

Blood began to flow immediately.

"Shut up, Little House!" Danthe snarled, lifting him up until their faces were almost touching.

His brown beast-like eyes burned with killing intent—like a wild wolf locking onto its prey.

Terror overtook Little House's pain, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He went completely silent.

"Don't test my patience, Little House," Danthe growled, veins bulging on his forehead. "Do you really think I don't know what you've been up to?"

"Tom Cocke was once Old House's comrade-in-arms. Why is he now a sworn enemy of your family? Isn't it because you nearly defiled his granddaughter?"

"And the mill… You've got some nerve bringing that up. The customary mill tax is one-sixth—you were collecting half! And you blame the peasants for fleeing?"

"And…"

"The moment we stepped into Montecalvo, I didn't even need to ask to know—yet again you gambled something away. If it wasn't antique furniture, it was the armor Old House left behind…"

"You maggot from a dung heap!"

"If I hadn't held you as a baby myself, I'd have doubted whether you were even Old House's blood!"

"Shut up right now, or I swear I'll kill you where you stand!"

Little House trembled like a leaf and immediately fell into dead silence.

"Hmph."

Danthe snorted coldly and continued running through the dark corridor.

"Who taught you to use a Leshen to frame Master Danthe?" Allen suddenly asked.

Little House glanced fearfully at Danthe but didn't dare speak.

"Answer!" Danthe roared.

"Lord Padrek Vasquez," Little House replied at once. "He said we could use a Foglet to lure Witchers. Something about Foglet materials being valuable to them… and that it wouldn't be difficult…"

"No pointless rambling!" Danthe shook him. "Allen asked a question—give a straight answer!"

"Y-yes… ngh…" Little House shrank back instinctively, the movement pulling at his wound. He winced but didn't dare make a sound.

"So Padrek Vasquez told you to frame Master Danthe too?"

"No—it was Lord Evenson."

"Evenson?" Allen froze, and even Danthe's steps faltered.

That was an unexpected answer. They'd always assumed the mastermind was the mage Padrek Vasquez.

"Yes, it was Lord Evenson," Little House said cautiously, glancing at Danthe. "Drakenborg is a massive prison and can't sustain itself. Most of its supplies come from nearby Montecalvo…"

"So we've always had contact. Though… not very close…"

"The most recent was a few weeks ago… uh… maybe three weeks. I was with the family's caravan delivering flour and spices to Drakenborg. Also… to…"

"To what?" Danthe frowned.

Little House shuddered, not daring to lie. "To see if we could negotiate a delay on repaying our debts…"

"You owe Drakenborg money?!!"

"A little… just a little…" Little House chuckled awkwardly.

"Let him finish first," Allen stopped Danthe, who was clearly itching to teach Little House another lesson. "Go on. What happened next?"

Seeing that Danthe obediently held back, Little House gave Allen a surprised glance and then continued: "Then… when I made the request, Lord Evenson readily agreed. He even said that as long as I could… could kill… kill any passing Witcher, he would cancel House family's debt."

"Padrek Vasquez happened to be there at the time. He came up with the idea for me and told me to find some people to bring the body back for his research…"

"Wait!" Allen suddenly frowned and interrupted him.

"Kill any passing Witcher…" Allen paused for a moment. "So your target wasn't specifically Master Danthe, but any Witcher?"

"Of course not," Little House muttered. "I didn't even know Master Danthe would be passing through and take the contract at that time…"

Allen stopped listening to his rambling.

It all matched. Everything fit.

He'd been wondering how it made sense that Master Danthe, along with Hughes, Bond, and Fred, had only made a last-minute decision yesterday to come to Montecalvo and take the contract. After accepting it, they stayed just one night in the city before setting out at dawn.

There was no way Little House could've reacted so quickly—deciding to plot murder the moment he saw them, and coming up with a plan that, though crude, was very effective.

He had even rushed to Drakenborg overnight, persuaded the administrator, and arranged to investigate Danthe's group afterward. He even managed to drug Bond. So the trap had already been prepared for any Witcher—they just happened to walk into it.

That explained everything.

"Evenson is just a baron in charge of Drakenborg. He wouldn't dare do something like this alone—there must be someone behind him…" Master Danthe's voice echoed grimly in Allen's mind. "Allen, your earlier suspicion was right. This isn't a plot targeting a single Witcher…"

"It's bigger than that."

Master Danthe paused for a moment, thinking deeply, and then continued: "Also, Foglets are difficult to deal with, but what makes them truly dangerous is encountering them unawares, in the wild. When they catch you off guard, using illusions…"

"But if you know you're facing a Foglet and you're properly prepared, even a newly initiated Witcher can handle them."

"Besides the bounty from the contract, a Foglet's teeth, eyes, and heart are extremely valuable materials."

"The risk is low, and the reward is high."

"Any Witcher with skill—or who thinks they're skilled—wouldn't be able to resist the lure. It's too easy to fall for…"

If this had happened a hundred years later, when the Witchers were already in decline, no one might fall for it at all… Allen thought to himself.

Compared to the future, there were hardly any common folk now who'd dare try something like this.

If someone like Geralt had encountered such a 'perfect opportunity,' he might not have been fooled completely—but he definitely wouldn't have been caught off guard like Danthe was.

If Allen and the others hadn't been there, it could've cost them all four lives.

Of course, the reason Witchers weren't more cautious toward their clients wasn't their own fault—it was simply that there were too few "troublemakers" among the common folk.

Witchers, who endure terrifying trials and risk their lives to slay monsters for humanity, deserved the respect of everyone on the Northern Continent.

"Redania is hunting ground for both the School of the Wolf and the School of the Griffin. Whoever's behind this must be targeting either the Wolves or the Griffins. But generally speaking, it's the Griffins who are more active in Redania…"

Danthe was still analyzing the situation in his mind.

But Allen was already lost in memory, his thoughts stirred by what Danthe said.

He remembered that the School of the Griffin had fallen into decline around the same time as the School of the Wolf.

In the records of his past life, the fall of the Wolf School had been blamed on growing public resentment, fueled by prejudice and rumors, which ultimately led to a violent mob assault on Kaer Morhen.

Now, however, it was clear that it had been a coordinated effort—engineered by kings and sorcerers.

As for the Griffins, their decline had been attributed to an avalanche.

The mages, coveting the vast library within Kaer Seren, demanded that the Griffins share their knowledge. When the Griffins refused, the mages held a grudge and summoned an avalanche from the mountains behind the fortress. The snow buried Kaer Seren entirely, and all the Witchers inside—except for Old Keldar—perished.

The school's founder, Erland, witnessed the destruction of his home and, heartbroken, vanished from the public eye. Only Old Keldar remained to guard the ruins of Kaer Seren.

"So… is the downfall of the Griffin School about to happen, too?" Allen narrowed his eyes in deep thought. "And what can I do about it?"

Rebuilding the Witcher Order wasn't very realistic right now.

The founding masters of the schools were still alive, and not only would it be hard to determine who should lead, but after the tragic end of the old Witcher Order, none of them would likely want to reunite.

Besides, some schools—like the Bear or the Cat—were completely incompatible with the others.

Still, whether it was to fight the Wild Hunt or face the inevitable arrival of the White Frost, the Griffins—whose founder was still alive—were a crucial fighting force. He couldn't let them be buried in an avalanche.

Also…

"Crisis might also be opportunity," Allen thought. "This could be the perfect chance to warn them and save the School of the Griffin—and to approach Grandmaster Erland."

"If I can't unify all the schools, then forging an alliance between two like-minded ones would still be a good start."

"No…"

"It shouldn't be just the Griffins…"

"It's been six months. Ernesto should've already led the Kuhn family to the Tir Tochair Mountains. I just don't know if they've encountered the Viper School yet."

"A school founded entirely to fight the Wild Hunt—the Vipers should be natural allies of the Wolves…"

"Developing only the Wolf School is too slow…"

"Allen? Allen?" Danthe suddenly called out to him twice, snapping Allen out of his thoughts.

Allen immediately glanced at the footprints on the ground. "Turn left… keep going down the corridor to the end…"

Danthe gave a slight nod, then asked in his mind, "What were you thinking about just now?"

"The matter with the Griffin School…"

"Hmm… It might not necessarily be about the Griffins," Danthe replied, his tone a bit uncertain. "In the Free City of Novigrad, there are quite a few Witchers from the School of the Wolf who like to take contracts in Redania while they're there."

"Grandmaster Erland of the Griffins is more closely tied to the nobility. Thinking about it again, it's more likely this is aimed at us—at the School of the Wolf."

Allen nodded noncommittally. "No need to guess. Once we rescue Bond, we can just ask that Evenson and get the answer."

"True, Evenson definitely knows," Danthe agreed with a nod.

Loud shouting echoed through the hallway, carried by the corridor's draft. The tower trembled faintly, and the noise was getting closer.

Danthe fell silent, focusing on the route under Allen's guidance.

To Little Hughes, the whole scene was eerily strange.

There was no need to carefully examine the footprints—Danthe seemed to know the layout of Rissberg's laboratory like the back of his hand. He never even paused as they moved forward.

Yet Little Hughes clearly remembered that back in the guest room, the two Witchers hadn't known where the lab was at all. It didn't seem like they'd ever been here before.

As for the vague hint Allen had given him earlier, Hughes had long tossed that aside.

How could anyone possibly find the lab from such a fuzzy clue?

And then…

Danthe suddenly stopped at a corner.

"Where do we go next?" he asked mentally.

Allen didn't respond for a long while.

"Allen?"

"No need to go any further," Allen narrowed his eyes, examining the area carefully again. "Rissberg's lab is right here."

"?"

Danthe froze.

The corner of the tower was just a dirty, grimy gray wall. No graffiti, no ornamentation—no doorknob, no door.

Coming to his senses, Danthe frowned.

"Concealed by magic?"

Mages did love hiding their homes with little magical tricks. Still, it was impressive that Allen could see through it.

But the real issue was…

"How do we get in?"

Danthe looked to Allen for input. "Should I burn it with Igni, or blast it open with Aard?"

Allen stayed silent for a few seconds, then activated his will.

"Vmm~"

Both the wolf medallion on his chest and the mirage pearl buzzed in unison.

The next second—

"Ahhh~"

With a startled yelp from Little Hughes, the grimy wall rippled like the surface of a lake, and a heavy brass door—tightly shut—emerged like an inflated bubble pushing out from within the wall.

The door was studded with iron nails and rusted hinges, adorned with a knocker that had a bluish jade-like sheen. A faint, dim magical glow shimmered across the surface of the bronze door.

This wasn't the kind of door that could be broken through with an Igni or Aard Sign.

Danthe clearly realized that too and fell silent.

"Rumble rumble rumble~"

The tremors in the tower were growing stronger, getting closer—seemingly already approaching the floor below.

"Thud!"

Suddenly, Danthe tossed Little Hughes to the ground. Gritting his teeth, he raised his right hand in the Igni Sign and stepped up to the bronze door. "Whatever happens, let's at least try it!"

"Wait!"

Allen quickly stopped his reckless move and, sounding a little uncertain, said: "How about… we knock first?"

Then he grasped the knocker at the center of the door.

"Dong… dong… dong…"

The knocks echoed through the empty corridor.

By the time Danthe thought to stop him, it was too late.

"We've given away our position…" he thought grimly.

Just as that thought crossed his mind—

"Click~"

A strange sound.

The door… opened…

....

📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢

For advance chapters: p@treon.com/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)

1. 30 advanced chapters of American Comics: Multiverse of Madness.

2. 30 advanced chapters of Warhammer, but Emperor's Chosen.

3. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.