Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 20 The Elven Relics

Watching Geralt leave with the two young men, Wayne felt a rare sense of relief.

He has been in this world for almost two years, and there are always people around him who need to be careful about him, and he has always needed to hide his abilities.

This is the first time I've felt so free.

He turned to look at Toruviel beside him and said in a somewhat familiar tone:

"It's getting late, Toruville. Let's go to your place and talk about the commission."

"I'm also a little curious about how you live in the cave."

The female elf frowned upon hearing this. Wayne's sudden overly familiar attitude puzzled her, but since she had a commission to entrust to this witcher, she didn't dwell on it too much.

After giving a few instructions to the elven archers in the trees, she ordered them to remain hidden and guard the cave entrance. Then she gestured for Wayne to follow her and led the way into the cavern.

This is a cave similar to a stalactite cave, with countless cone-shaped stalactites on the ceiling. The entrance is not large, but the interior space is quite spacious.

Wayne followed behind Toluviel, the elf carrying a torch she had taken from near the cave entrance. Using the light from some unknown source, they traversed a complex, labyrinthine route.

Finally, following an underground river more than a meter wide, passing through an exquisite and huge archway, we arrived at a building that resembled an underground ruin of elves.

The space here is very large, with a structure similar to a banquet hall in a palace. Four huge stone pillars connect the floor and the ceiling, supporting a vast space.

"This is where we're staying temporarily."

Toluviel pointed in one direction in the hall, where several campfires were burning, and a dozen or so tents of different sizes stood beside them.

Some elves and dwarves were sitting around a campfire, resting, talking, and working. There were men and women, young and old, most of them dressed in simple clothes and looked haggard; they were probably ordinary civilians.

Wayne even saw several short, halflings standing by an iron pot near the campfire, constantly stirring a huge ladle as they cooked food.

"They are all poor people who have been persecuted by humans, lost their loved ones, had their property taken away, and could not survive in the town."

Toruville's face remained expressionless as she calmly narrated her story.

"We took them in, taught them how to fight, and taught them how to survive in the forest."

"But the king's soldiers are still hunting us down, trying to kill us all."

"There's nothing we can do but resist."

As Wayne listened to the female elf's narration, he fell silent. In the world of Witcher, non-human races such as elves, dwarves, and halflings have always been the targets of persecution.

From thousands of years ago, when the Einshidi elves kindly took in human refugees who had been stranded in this world due to a celestial conjunction, this race has been accompanied by a series of cleansings and massacres.

They were forcibly reduced from a vast race that had ruled the continent for thousands of years to a minority race.

Wayne, neither capable nor inclined to concern himself with the affairs of non-human races, skipped the topic and, while observing the surrounding ruins, asked:

"This site looks very large, but you all lived in this hall."

"You've commissioned us to clean up this ruin, right?"

Toruvel nodded, her hand resting on the iron sword at her waist, and without hiding anything, said directly:

"That's right, a Witcher."

"This is an elven ruin we found by chance. Although it is located in a dark underground environment, which is inconvenient for living, it is at least secluded enough to provide shelter from the wind and rain, allowing us to live here."

"However, this place has been abandoned for too long, and many monsters now live within its ruins."

"Several of my warriors have already been injured by the monsters here."

"You are demon hunters, experts in dealing with monsters, which is why I want to entrust you with the task of clearing out the monsters here."

Wayne nodded, but did not immediately agree. Instead, he began to observe the condition of the ruins.

The history of this site is obviously quite ancient, and many places have been damaged and destroyed by the passage of time. However, the exquisite murals and beautiful statues that can be seen everywhere still show the strength of the elven civilization in the past.

Through his darkvision, Wayne discovered that there were four large doors in the hall where Toruville and the others lived, connecting to other places.

Besides the huge archway through which they entered, there was another stone door that had been sealed off with stones and mud. Two other doors were guarded by dwarves and elves carrying weapons and torches, clearly to guard against attacks from monsters.

However, Wayne has already accepted Misha's quest to find her today, so even if he accepts another quest related to the elves' ruins, he won't receive any rewards.

So, after casually observing the hall for a moment, he said to Toruviel:

"I can help you clean up this ruin, Toluviel."

"However, it is already very late. We witchers must make adequate preparations before we fight the monsters."

"So, please help me find a quiet place so I can prepare for the battle."

"After I meet up with my partner tomorrow and we agree on the payment, we will begin your commission."

(End of this chapter)