Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 111 The Burning Lower Valencia

George gave an awkward smile and didn't say anything. He was an upright man and didn't like to speak ill of others to their faces. At most, he would only complain a few times when he was feeling down.

Wayne, however, had no such reservations. He jokingly said to Borch:

"Human beings are divided into classes, Borch. People with power and influence receive education from a young age, have enough connections, and have more ways to handle things, so they appear polite. Even when they meet with enemies, they will not lose their manners."

"But the lives of the lower classes are very difficult. Not to mention reading and writing, many people can't even get enough to eat. In order to survive, they have no principles to uphold. Principles, ideals, kindness, and justice are not things they can hope for."

"The poorer the place, the more it relies on barbarity and violence. I've heard a saying that goes, 'Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people,' which is pretty much the idea."

Borchi nodded thoughtfully. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and was worshipped by the Zerekan tribe when he was a young dragon. He had always lived a life of luxury with a large number of servants and maids. He did not know much about the lives of the lower classes and could not imagine their lives.

The three chatted about this matter for a few more minutes before turning the topic back to the green dragon.

George didn't seem to have a high alcohol tolerance. Perhaps he was a little depressed, because after only two bottles of mead, his eyes were already glazed over.

He hiccuped, his voice tinged with frustration, and said:

"I've traveled all over half of Velen and visited six or seven villages, and now I only know about one thing."

"That dragon really exists, and it's a green dragon with gray skin. Just the morning before yesterday, it ate a farmer's cow. Now it should be flying away towards the swamps of Lower Valen."

"However, in order to reunite with you, I did not immediately chase after it, but returned to the crow's nest."

Lower Valencia?

When Wayne heard this name, the first thing that came to mind was the Lady of the Woods and the soul trapped inside the tree.

It's just unknown whether the dragon's flight down to Valen was unintentional or deliberate.

However, it was already too late, and they were unfamiliar with the area, so it was impossible for them to chase the green dragon at night.

So, after having a good meal and drinks with his two friends, Wayne called Lisa over, settled the bill for the drinks and food first, and then asked:

"Lisa, are there any rooms left? Could you give me three rooms?"

Upon hearing this, the young widow hesitated for a moment and said:

"I'm sorry, sir, we don't have many guests here, so we only have two private rooms available, and there are only two beds in each room."

Wayne wasn't angry when he heard this. He looked at George, who seemed to be drunk and reeked of alcohol, and then at Borch, who was obese and also reeked of alcohol.

After thinking about it, I figured that with a demon hunter's stamina, it wouldn't matter if I didn't sleep for a few nights.

So he nodded and said:

"Then rent both rooms to us. I'll take my friend back to his room first."

He stood up, and as he was about to help George up, Lisa tugged at his wrist and whispered:

"However, if you don't mind, I have two beds in my bedroom, so you can stay with me for the night."

Upon hearing this, Wayne glanced at Lisa with some surprise, then looked at her five or six-year-old son, who was sitting on a chair playing with building blocks, and nodded thoughtfully.

………………

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

They left George's mount at Lisa's tavern, and George also met with the baron there to report on the progress of the dragon-hunting mission.

The three then packed their weapons and equipment and left the crow's nest.

Borchi continued along the path until he could no longer see the village surrounded by wooden walls, at which point he reverted to his true form as a golden dragon in a secluded spot.

Without delay, the two witchers mounted the golden dragon and, guided by George, flew to Lower Valen village in the Velen Swamp.

This is a somewhat peculiar village. According to the information George has gathered, Lower Warren is famous for its craftsmanship in making and processing lace clothing.

Unlike other villages that suffer from the ravages of wild beasts and monsters that roam Velen, this village seems to be protected by some force, and despite being located in the swamp with the highest monster population, it lives a more peaceful life than other villages.

Although George didn't know the specific truth, Wayne, who had played the game, knew that the village was, in a way, a follower of the Lady of the Wood.

These old monsters, including Lady Lin, harbor many secrets. They came into this world even earlier than humans, more than several thousand years ago.

One theory suggests that the Ladies of the Wood were the true rulers of Velen, ruling the region for a longer period than the nobles of the Kingdom of Temeria.

If the nobles ruled this region by soldiers and the law, then the Lady of the Wood ruled Velen by fear and faith.

Their ears are everywhere in this desolate region. Many monsters and beasts are driven by them. They are deeply rooted in this region and can be considered the strongest local tyrants in Velen.

All the villages living in Velen were required to offer sacrifices to the Lady of the Wood, who would indeed help these villages to fare better during difficult times. Of course, this help came at a price, and the price was very high.

The only certainty is that the Lady of the Forest were man-eating monsters, and the number of humans they had devoured over the thousands of years was probably in the tens of thousands.

Thinking about the information he had gleaned from the game, Wayne didn't voice it, nor could he explain the source of his information.

Borch was very fast, and it took him just over an hour to fly to the vicinity of Lower Waren village.

However, the scene that came into view made the three of them realize that they were still too late.

From a distance, a village that wasn't very large was ablaze, with towering flames illuminating the nearby fields and wilderness.

About a third of the houses have been engulfed by flames. The wooden houses look like burning torches, making the entire village of Lower Warun radiate high temperatures and flames.

Unfortunately, although they suspected that the green dragon was responsible for this, they did not see the green dragon flying in the air. They did not know whether it had already left or was chasing the villagers.

"Let's go into the village first and see if there's anyone else who needs help."

Borch did not answer, but instead let out a clear dragon roar, then adjusted its flight angle and descended to a height of several tens of meters above the ground, flying over Lower Valen.

Wayne squinted, quickly observing the situation in the village. The result surprised him; it was neither good nor bad.

Throughout the village, there were no cries or screams of people being burned or fighting fires, no sounds of fighting, and not even any corpses were seen.

It seems that everyone in the village had already evacuated.

He patted Borch on the back and said loudly:

"Let's go down. We can't see any living people here. We need to use the clues on the ground to find where those villagers went."

"Perhaps we can find out from them where the green dragon went."

Without saying much, Borch immediately found an open space unaffected by the flames and landed on the ground.

After he transformed back into human form, Wayne noticed that George's expression was rather unpleasant. He immediately guessed what George was thinking, so he patted him on the shoulder and said:

"Don't think too much about it, George. Even if you rode here yesterday, you might not be able to get here faster than we can fly here now. In fact, you might encounter more unexpected problems because you get lost."

After hearing Wayne's advice, George quickly understood, nodded, and asked him:

"What do we do now? Wayne, you're the employer, you decide."

Wayne carefully listened to the sounds in the village, and after confirming that he hadn't heard any human calls, he thought for a moment and said to George:

"We didn't see any bodies or hear any noise here, so the villagers must have evacuated beforehand."

"There are so many of them, we should be able to find their tracks easily if we look around."

"We can just follow the footprints to find them."

George nodded, and then he and Wayne separated to search for the footprints on the ground. As expected, they soon made a discovery.

Indeed, as Wayne said, the number of people who evacuated was not small, including the elderly and children. Such clues were quite obvious to the Witcher.

(End of this chapter)