Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 119 Francesca's Invitation

Led by Toruvel, Wayne and Geralt once again entered the elven ruins in the forest. After traversing a labyrinthine cavern, they once again encountered the inhuman inhabitants who lived there.

However, to his surprise, unlike when he left at the beginning of the year, the number of residents here had increased two or three times. The children and the elderly were gone, and they no longer lived in tents made of linen, but in simple wooden houses made of trees cut down from the forest outside.

The mental outlook of these people has also changed. They are no longer the weak, bewildered, fearful and helpless people they were at the beginning of the year, but rather like moths drawn to a flame, full of vitality, willing to risk their lives for their ideals.

Ask away, Wayne has nothing to hide.

He looked at the rejuvenated residents and asked Toruville:

"You seem to have a lot more people, and they've changed a lot too. Are these all inhuman races persecuted in Cordwin?"

Upon hearing this, Toruville turned to look at Geralt, who was following behind the two of them. She did not answer immediately, but instead smoothed her shiny black braids.

Seeing this, Wayne was about to explain that Geralt was a trustworthy person, but the White Wolf spoke first, saying:

"Elven Chieftain, is the dwarf blacksmith Horton, whom I saw last time, still here? Earlier this year, that fellow won dozens of orens from me, and I've held a grudge ever since."

Toluviel paused for a second, then answered softly:

"Yes, Witcher, he's the quartermaster in the camp now, in the cabin by the big campfire. You should be able to find him there."

Upon hearing this answer, Geralt didn't linger. He greeted Wayne and Toruville and then walked towards Quartermaster Horton.

Wayne initially wanted to persuade Geralt to stay, but after thinking about it, he realized that Geralt didn't like getting involved in such matters, so he gave up.

After Geralt left, Toruviel hesitated for a few seconds before saying to Wayne:

"The people here are all brave warriors who are willing to stay in the Kingdom of Kovind to save our compatriots, while the old people and children have been sent to the Valley of a Hundred Flowers, where they are in a safe environment."

"We have been trying to rescue more people. Your advice was excellent. We formed a special team and have been using bribery, purchases, and employment to secretly rescue some of the captured non-human races."

Wayne frowned upon hearing this. In his memory, it seemed that not long after, the Elf King of Hundred Flowers Valley was wiped out by the armies of several northern kingdoms due to a turmoil.

From that time until the sorceress Francesca became Queen of the Elves, the Elves had no leader in any real sense.

During this period, Hundred Flowers Valley could hardly be considered a safe place.

Of course, at this moment, he wouldn't display his precognitive abilities in front of Toruville, but instead nodded and said:

"That's not bad either. But I remember there should still be many humans living in Hundred Flowers Valley. The elves of Hundred Flowers Valley should only make up a small part of them, and most of them are forced to live in the forests and mountains."

Toruvel nodded. Although the Valley of a Hundred Flowers was known as the last settlement of the free elves, it was currently a territory controlled by King Demavi of the Kingdom of Aden.

This king constantly relocated human inhabitants to the forests of the Valley of Flowers, destroying the forests, cultivating fields, and building houses, all in order to squeeze the living space of the free spirits in the forest.

However, unlike the domesticated elves and half-elves in the city, the free elves living in the Valley of a Hundred Flowers are the ones who inherited the will of the ancient elf kingdom, possess the most rebellious spirit, and are also the strongest group of elves.

It was because of their hard work and struggle that the elves did not completely lose this only piece of territory in the northern continent, and it also let the northern kings know that the elves were not powerless to fight back.

Toluville seemed to trust Wayne quite a bit, and after some thought, she revealed a secret to him.

"Wayne, we have actually made contact with a big shot in the Valley of Flowers. It was she who helped us evacuate the old and children, and also sent elite warriors from the Valley of Flowers to help us train soldiers, provide us with living supplies, and strengthen our courage to resist the Kingdom of Cordway."

"The golem cores you left behind at the beginning of the year have been bought by that person for a total of 500 crowns, which is 30% higher than the market price. She also expressed her gratitude to you for helping us clean up this site."

At this point, Toluvelton paused for a moment before continuing:

"That lady said that if you're willing, she'd like to meet you in person; she's quite curious about you, a member of her clan."

"But if you don't want to, she won't force you, because if it's fate, you'll meet someday."

Seeing how mysterious the elven female leader was, Wayne was quite skeptical. As someone who had read the original novel and played the game, he had a pretty good idea of ​​who was helping them.

While it's true that someone of her status should conceal herself to avoid causing further trouble, looking at the entire Elven race, there are currently only a handful of people who are truly capable.

So he pretended to be puzzled and asked:

"Toruville, I think that, no matter who you're going to see, you should at least tell me who she is first, out of basic sincerity."

"Isn't that right?"

Toruville looked at Wayne's face, hesitated for a second, then nodded and said:

"I can tell you her identity, but Wayne, to avoid causing that lady any unnecessary trouble, I hope you can keep it a secret and not tell anyone else."

Wayne immediately nodded with a serious expression and said:

"No problem, I assure you, Toruville."

Toluville nodded, no longer hiding anything, and said:

"As a witcher, you may have heard of her name."

"Lady Francesca Fantaby is a high-ranking noblewoman among the elves and one of the five core members of the Warlock Brotherhood's council."

"She is currently the most powerful elven sorceress in the world, or you could say she is the most powerful sorceress."

"It really is her," Wayne thought to himself, but he still feigned surprise on his face, and after considering it for about ten seconds, he said:

"It's this lady! I've heard her name from other warlocks. They say she's the most beautiful woman in the world and is very famous throughout the warlock community."

Hearing Wayne say this, Toluville frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed and said:

"Indeed, Wayne, Lady Francesca is absolutely the most beautiful lady I have ever seen. She is an extremely rare pure-blooded elf in the world. Hundreds of years ago, she made various contributions to our elven people. In the hearts of all our people, she is definitely one of the most respected people."

Wayne nodded thoughtfully. In fact, both in the game and in the original work, there is very little description of this elven sorceress.

The only thing that left a deep impression was that after the Nilfgaardian invasion, in order to maintain the independence of the elves, she reached an agreement with Nilfgaard, allowing the Valley of Flowers to become an independent elven kingdom and a vassal state of Nilfgaard. She also publicly severed ties with the Scoia'tael party, helped the Nilfgaardian warlocks capture Yennefer, and severely damaged the power of the Brotherhood of Warlocks.

In short, he was indeed an elven sorcerer who made many efforts for the continuation of the elven race.

To be honest, Wayne had great respect for this kind of person. To be able to work hard for a great cause and persevere for hundreds of years, instead of for personal desires, power, or money, is something that many ordinary people cannot do.

But while you may respect such people, it can be quite a headache to become their enemy or friend, because they always put their personal desires aside and are always willing to make sacrifices for the continuation of their race.

However, nowadays, Witchers are treated as non-human races by all humans, even worse than non-human races, and can be treated as monsters.

As a half-elf, it wasn't a bad thing for him to know such a powerful sorcerer of his own kind.

(End of this chapter)