37. Gos Velen

Although the vigilance towards the "Cannibal Gang" was still buried deep in Lann's heart, he had already shared his suspicions with those responsible for the security patrol in Velen. What else could he do?

A lone hero charging into danger?

Don't joke around. The Cannibal Gang must have at least dozens of members. It takes that size of a group to develop the "ritualism" represented by that hand necklace.

The Demon Hunter is not a god, and no one is stupid enough to think a single sword can face dozens of swords.

Dozens of swords, even a Mage would get cut down!

And as for Philip's choice, Lann had nothing to say.

The crime of abducting children is hard to outweigh the cannibals in terms of severity, and in terms of impact, it's the same.

Moreover, the scale of child abductions is significantly larger, so it's fair to prioritize this case.

Lann could only hope that before Velen's security forces get a break, the Cannibal Gang wouldn't cause any major trouble.

The young man didn't linger long at the Crow's Nest; he just packed his damaged school armor and left on horseback.

Before leaving, he asked Philip to leave a message for Auridon, saying he needed to go to Gos Velen, not to break any promise.

Since Ivan the blacksmith regularly came to the Crow's Nest to buy materials, passing a message wasn't difficult; Philip agreed readily.

There wasn't much to say about the solitary journey, luckily Mentos was quite useful in chatting.

And Lann could entertain himself by humming some tunes when there was nothing else to do.

Although whenever he hummed, Mentos would suddenly stop talking.

But at least it saved Lann from having to share his feelings with Bopai.

Talking to a horse out of loneliness — it sounded just a bit too pitiful.

Passing by swamps and villages, occasionally seeing abandoned houses and farmland, the scenery of Velen carried a gloomy beauty, yet its color composition was extremely bright.

Various flowers, clear skies, white clouds, trees, ponds...

Lann thought that even if he used a camera from his homeland and edited the photos to the max, he couldn't achieve such color contrast.

The journey proceeded quickly, and he followed the map to a coastal city he had never visited before.

Surrounded by high walls, with towering spires that glitter at the top. On the other side of the city was the sea, the gray-green surface reflecting the morning sun, scattered with spots of white sails.

This was the first settlement in this world that deserved the name "city" in the eyes of the young man.

Although, according to Mentos' estimation, the city could only have at most five thousand residents, it was considered significant for this world.

In the destitute and vicious land of Velen, it was like a "pearl".

Lann wore a hooded cloak, hiding his cat-like eyes in the shadow.

The city gate guards were experienced and were not affected by such mysterious attire.

No one should think of evading the few silver coins of city entry tax.

Lann carefully counted out the required number of silver coins from his purse and handed them to the city gate guard.

The tall and robust mysterious man, carrying two swords and cloaked, counting money on horseback was a bit of a discordant sight.

After Lann left, a few city gate guards chatted among themselves.

"That guy just now, wearing a cloak, I thought he was someone important. But counting money like that, he was no different from an ordinary merchant."

"Carrying two swords, I thought he was a notable mercenary. But famous mercenaries don't count money for the entrance fee, do they? Counting money like that, he can't be anyone well-known."

In the guards' laughter, Lann's mouth twitched slightly.

"Don't understand saving and financial management… Deserves to be just a city gate guard all their life! Loser!"

"Indeed," Mentos immediately chimed in sycophantically, "Daring to mock you, they're on a sure path to disaster! They'll never even reach the level of Defense Captain in their lifetime!"

The young man immediately puffed out his chest and raised his head, looking proud.

It was clear he relished the flattery, "Tone it down, Mentos."

The AI, knowing him well, quickly switched to a polite and elegant tone.

"As you wish, sir."

The young man nodded in satisfaction.

Entering the city gate was equivalent to stepping onto Kado Street.

According to Philip's introduction, this street ran through the entire city, linking the city gate and the sea gate.

Passing the sea gate from this street led to a bridge extending to Sandy Island.

That was the isle where the Female Warlock Academy — Airetusa was located.

The Demon Hunter's vision cut through the not-so-large city via the main street and looked toward the sea gate.

There, a layer of pale blue flat light was covering, blocking it, as if... a lockdown?

Hadn't heard of Airetusa Academy being a closed management?

Lann's brows furrowed slightly.

In fact, more than half of the economy of Gos Velen was contributed by the Mages in the academy.

Judging by such economic ties, the relationship between the academy and the town shouldn't be this "separated" approach.

But the cat eyes looked at the reactions of the surrounding populace, they walked past the light screen without batting an eye, neither nervous nor afraid.

Not even curious.

Lann shrugged, it seemed to be no big issue, maybe this was just the academy's routine.

The locals had a strong acceptance of magic, after all, even the royals and nobles in distant regions might not have seen as much magic as the residents here.

Maybe he could find some business here later.

Lann thought aimlessly.

Following Philip's described directions, he soon found the blacksmith shop said to have "passed the master certification in Novigrad."

The young man examined the storefront, confirming repeatedly he didn't get it wrong.

There was no furnace, no forge, no grindstone... from outside, it looked like a clothing store.

A typical wooden structure commercial building.

But once inside, Lann immediately knew he was in the right place.

This was indeed a "clothing store," but what was displayed on the racks weren't high-end tight suits made of soft velvet.

But one piece after another of sturdy solid armor.

Lann entering stirred the bell at the entrance, alerting the shop there was a visitor.

Inside the shop was a stocky Dwarf with a bandana and a blonde girl with braided hair.

They were originally busy with something behind the counter, hmm... couldn't quite call it "busy."

From Lann's perspective, it was clearly playing cards.

The Dwarf, upon seeing a customer, shot up in relief, "Aha! A customer, get up Yuna, let's not look unprofessional!"

If it weren't for his exaggerated movements flipping the card table as he stood up, Lann might have believed his enthusiasm for customers.

His opponent at the card table didn't believe it either, the braided blonde girl screamed.

"Fergus! You were just about to lose, damn it, don't think of reneging! Give me that Earth Elemental card!"

Wow, she's feisty.

The young man clicked his tongue slightly.

The Dwarf had a stereotypically huge bulbous nose, but his well-groomed beard didn't hide his relatively wrinkle-free face.

This guy was at most eighty years old, considered a young Dwarf.

He zipped across from the card table to behind the counter, starting to greet Lann.

This way, it was officially a receiving state, and the girl could only glare and give up.

"Welcome, customer. Welcome to Master Tuer Butcher's blacksmith shop."

"Whatever you need, feel free to tell me. I'm Fergus, the chief apprentice of this shop."

"If you fancy any product currently on the shelves, we have a transparent price, just pay to take it. If you have customization needs, please specify, we'll notify the master himself according to the difficulty and then provide a quote."