Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 112 The Lady of the Woods' Warning

The footprints on the ground were clear, and Wayne and his two companions ignored the burning village and quickly followed the footprints into the swamp forest.

After learning that Wayne had no experience operating in swampy areas, George took the initiative to lead the way, following the footprints as he searched and teaching him how to survive in the swamp, such as how to avoid poisonous snakes, how to find water sources, how to identify mud traps and where to set foot on solid ground.

The group traveled along the way, stopping frequently. George, as expected of a legendary witcher who had been active for over a century and was finally able to fight the green dragon single-handedly, provided Wayne with a lot of useful knowledge through practical training along the way.

Although footprints are hard to find in the swamp, the Witcher's senses are beyond human capabilities, and they can always find the right path through the slightest clues.

After about twenty minutes, a ruin paved with hard stone slabs appeared before the three of them.

"Elf Ruins!"

By observing the architectural style and some fragmented Elvish script, Wayne immediately recognized the origin of the ruins.

However, this is not surprising. In this world, you can find the ruins of elves anywhere. That prosperous civilization once left its mark all over the world.

Although their civilization is almost extinct, you can still find their legacy in places that humans have not yet set foot in.

The three did not linger outside the ruins. They quickly followed the dried mud footprints and found a gate passage to an underground site.

Before even entering the underground ruins, Wayne's keen hearing detected the noisy human voices coming from below.

"Quickly, light a fire."

"The humidity in the swamp was too high. We rushed over overnight, and the children and elderly were almost frozen to death."

"I'm hungry, Mommy, I'm hungry! Daddy, where are you?"

"Stop arguing, that monster just flew away. Be careful not to attract it back."

Hearing the commotion, Wayne exchanged a glance with the other two before walking down first.

As soon as I walked down the stairs, I saw hundreds of simply dressed civilians crowded in the damp underground ruins.

In the center of the crowd, under the direction of a middle-aged strong man, some young men were carrying piles of things that looked like ancient books and adding them to the fire as firewood.

Wayne was taken aback at first, but couldn't help walking up to take a closer look, and their appearance immediately attracted the attention of others.

A middle-aged man who seemed to hold a high position among the common people stepped out of the crowd, as if he wanted to ask something.

Wayne suddenly seemed to have discovered something, and shouted at those who were about to throw even more books into the fire:

"Put down what you're holding, don't burn it."

The other young men stopped when they heard this, but the middle-aged man ignored Wayne and was about to throw a pile of books into the fire.

Wayne didn't stand on ceremony with him. He reached out and grabbed the man's collar, lifting the burly man, who was about 1.8 meters tall, up like a chick. No matter how much the man struggled, he couldn't pry Wayne's arm off.

"Did you hear that? I told you not to burn them. These books are quite valuable; they're not meant to be used as firewood."

Wayne's stern voice and imposing stature quickly intimidated the surrounding villagers, causing them to involuntarily step back from the center.

After multiple upgrades, enhancements from holy water, and genetic mutations, Wayne's physical strength may not be the absolute best among Witchers, but it definitely ranks in the top three.

In terms of strength, speed, and physique, they have far surpassed ordinary humans, probably by four to five times.

Without using weapons, even with his bare hands, he could take down dozens of poor people.

Seeing this, some timid villagers immediately put down their books and shrank back into the crowd. The middle-aged man who was leading the group first examined Wayne and George's armor and weapons, then hesitated for a few seconds before cautiously asking:

"Sir, we are villagers from Xia Walun village who have fled here. We have neither money nor food. Please do not harm us."

Wayne glanced at the burly man, whose cheeks were flushed red from being lifted up with one hand, and then at the fearful or worried looks in the eyes of the civilians around him. He didn't make things difficult for them any further. With a gentle push of his right hand, he sent the middle-aged man flying two or three meters, causing him to fall to the ground.

George frowned slightly, leaned closer to Wayne, and asked softly:

"What's wrong? Wayne, what happened?"

Wayne pointed to the books on the ground and the ashes in the fire, shook his head slightly, and said:

"It's nothing major, but these manuscripts should all have been left by the elves. I think I just saw some blueprints from the Griffin School."

"It would be such a waste if they burned it."

George was startled upon hearing this. After hearing about the Griffin School's blueprints, he didn't bother to ask Wayne any more questions and instead began to collect the somewhat dilapidated and damaged manuscripts on the ground.

Wayne was disguised as a human at this moment. He was wearing fine armor, with a gleaming sword at his waist. He was tall and handsome, and had two figures who looked like bodyguards by his side. So the villagers subconsciously thought that he might be a young nobleman from somewhere, and none of them dared to do anything rash.

Seeing that the villagers remained silent, Wayne looked at the middle-aged man who was leading the group, frowned, and asked with an air of authority:

"We saw a green dragon attacking the village, so we came here specifically to deal with it."

"However, when we arrived at the village, the green dragon had already disappeared, and it seems that you villagers had evacuated beforehand, which is why we ended up here."

Upon hearing that Wayne and his group had come specifically to deal with the Green Dragon warriors, and not as bandits or villains, the middle-aged man leading them breathed a slight sigh of relief and said with a forced smile:

"My lord, I am Jeff, the village chief of Lower Warren. How may I help you?"

Wayne raised his head arrogantly, his face expressionless. He knew that the people of Wellen were simple and honest, and he couldn't be too lenient with these unruly people, otherwise they would take advantage of his kindness and become quite ungrateful.

His voice rose slightly, mimicking the speaking habits of the nobles in Vizima, and he said:

"Tell me, civilians, how did you find this place? And how did you manage to evacuate the village beforehand?"

"Also, why did that green dragon attack you? Where is it now?"

Wayne's barrage of questions left the village chief, Jeff, somewhat taken aback. However, fearing that Wayne and his men might harm the villagers, Jeff, with a conflicted expression, spoke up:

"We don't know what happened, we don't know why that green dragon attacked our village."

"Last night, after nightfall, a messenger from the Lady of the Forest suddenly came to my house to inform me that we should take cover in advance."

"We dared not disobey the lady's orders, so we fled to the elven ruins that very night, following the address she gave us, and hid there."

"As for the green dragon you mentioned, we only saw it burning our village from afar when we were running away."

"But when you're running for your life, who dares to look too long? In the end, all you see is it flying into the depths of the swamp."

Upon hearing that it was Lady Lin who had notified the villagers to take cover, Wayne's brow furrowed even more deeply.

If that's really the case, then it's obvious that those three old hags knew in advance that the green dragon would attack Lower Waren Village. Flies don't land on eggs without cracks, so the reason the green dragon attacked was very likely caused by these three old hags.

However, since no one saw where the dragon flew to, the trail went cold.

Wayne turned to look at George. The Griffin School witcher had already collected the manuscripts and was holding one of them, looking at it with a slightly excited expression. He had obviously found the equipment blueprint that George had just seen.

He thought for a moment, then spoke to the village chief and George:

"George, these villagers are staying here without water, food, or heating supplies. They're sure to have a very hard time."

"Have the village chief send some people back to the village with you. The green dragon there has already flown away and shouldn't be coming back anytime soon."

"After you bring back the necessary supplies, we will set off again to the depths of the swamp to search for news of the Green Dragon."

Upon hearing this, George glanced at Wayne and nodded. He placed the collected manuscripts beside Wayne and prepared to set off with his men.

Borch suddenly gave Wayne a wink, then said:

"I'll go out too, Wayne."

"Staying here and waiting won't solve anything. I'll go and try to find the green dragon first. If I get any news, I'll come back and let you know."

Perhaps, being a fellow dragon, Borch had an easier way to find the green dragon, Wayne thought, and thus agreed with Borch's idea.

He turned to look at Village Chief Jeff, and, feigning a very firm tone, said:

"We have people to deal with the Green Dragon, but you must act according to our orders and not make any rash moves."

"Now, have your men collect all the elf books here for me. I'm taking these with me."

(Thanks to Single Unsuccessful, Extra King, and Crimson Spider Lily for their generous donations.)

(There will be another chapter this afternoon, thank you!)

(End of this chapter)