Wizard: This witcher is neglecting his duties.

Chapter 276 Kayla's New Commission

After buying the books, Lani's doll indeed became much quieter.

Wayne could sense that she was following behind him, floating in mid-air, holding a huge book in one hand and turning the pages one by one with the other. Her delicate face was expressionless, with only her jewel-like eyes moving slowly, giving her a rather serene appearance.

Seeing this, he didn't bother Lani anymore and went to deal with his own work.

Upon returning to Vizima, Wayne had some matters to attend to, such as the rescue of the inhuman races around Julia the cat, Sian's shop, and dealing with Letho and others from the Viper School.

It has been almost three months since he left, and they must have each made different progress by now.

Wayne first went to the Catclaw Mercenary Group's stronghold in Vizima, which was a house near a civilian inn in the Temple District.

After several months, the popularity of this stronghold has increased noticeably. People come and go from the inn from time to time. In the stable outside the stronghold, there are even more than a dozen traveling horses neatly tied up. Several mercenaries with swords are guarding the stronghold. It seems to have become quite a force to be reckoned with.

When Wayne reached the vicinity of the hotel, a man immediately approached him with two subordinates and bowed to him very politely.

Wayne observed the man's appearance and recognized him as a squad leader under Julia, a Kovir man with a large beard.

The bearded man had clearly seen Wayne, the big boss, before, and spoke in a tone quite incongruous with his rude appearance:

"Mr. Wayne, welcome."

"Would you like to come in for a cup of tea? However, our leader is not in Vijma today; he should be back by tomorrow afternoon."

Wayne was slightly disappointed upon hearing this, but he also knew that as the business expanded, Julia, as the leader, couldn't always stay in Vizima. It was normal to encounter such situations.

So he nodded and said to the bearded man:

"In that case, forget about tea. When Julia comes back tomorrow, have her come to my house to see me. I have something to discuss with her."

The bearded man nodded politely. With a big spender like Wayne, he could basically get away with any request.

After leaving the Catclaw Mercenary Group's stronghold, Wayne went directly to Kayla's mansion.

It wasn't that he was lustful again and wanted to have a deeper conversation with the sorceress, but rather that Triss had already told him when he left Kaer Morhen that Kayla had something to discuss with him.

He naturally did not refuse his former lover's invitation. After arriving at Keira's mansion with ease, the maid Maisie quickly opened the door for him.

In just a few months, Maisie had grown into a more mature and beautiful woman, towering over the petite Kayla by about half a head, reaching nearly 1.75 meters in height.

As an ordinary human girl, Wayne had known her for almost three years and had witnessed her grow from a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl to a twenty-year-old young woman. He couldn't help but marvel at how quickly time had passed.

Maisie was delighted to see the Witcher and warmly invited Wayne into the hall, where she soon served him a cup of warm black tea and a plate of delicate pastries.

Her rosy cheeks were beaming with a happy smile.

After serving the tea and snacks, she didn't leave. Instead, she stood about half a meter away from Wayne, her eyes fixed on him.

Wayne took a sip of his black tea; the temperature was just right, and the taste was quite good. He beckoned to Maisie, pulling the somewhat reluctant girl to sit down beside him. Only then did he speak gently:

"Macy, when is Kayla expected to be home?"

Maisie blushed slightly, avoiding Wayne's eyes, and instead stared at the pastries on the table, whispering:

"He should be back soon, Mr. Wayne."

"I've already sent someone to inform Miss Kayla."

"Miss has been looking forward to your visit and will definitely be back soon."

Wayne nodded upon hearing this. He looked Maisie up and down for a few seconds, then reached into his spatial bracelet and took out a huge money bag containing five hundred Oren gold coins. He pushed it in front of Maisie and said gently:

"We haven't seen each other for almost half a year. These gold coins are a gift from me to you. You can deposit them in the bank as a form of security for your future life."

Maisie was very surprised and even quite confused when she heard this, not understanding why Wayne suddenly wanted to give her a large bag of gold coins.

Her mouth agape, her eyes wide, she glanced at the heavy, enormous money bag on the table, shook her head blankly, and waved her hands frantically, saying in a flustered manner:

"No, Mr. Wayne."

"Why are you suddenly giving me money, and so many gold coins at that? That's way too much."

"I cannot accept these gold coins."

Wayne smiled and took Maisie's hand, half-embracing her as a maid. Although she was only twenty years old, the girl's fingers were already somewhat rough.

"Don't be nervous, Maisie."

"I recently made a fortune and was planning to buy you a piece of jewelry as a gift."

"However, I think that with your personality, a precious piece of jewelry would be too likely to cause unnecessary trouble, so I'll just give you a bag of gold coins as a gift instead."

"This is a token of my appreciation; you can't refuse it."

"After all, you brought me a lot of joy when we were together, didn't you?"

Faced with Wayne's half-forceful, half-teasing tone, and after staring at the handsome witcher for over ten seconds, Maisie's eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded with a touched expression. Then she asked softly:

"Mr. Wayne, why are you suddenly being so nice to me?"

Wayne smiled upon hearing this, offering no further explanation, but simply patted the girl's hand and said:

"There's no particular reason. It's just that the North might not be so peaceful in the future. You're my friend, and it's only right that I help you within my capabilities."

Actually, he hadn't been thinking about this before meeting Maisie. However, after meeting the little maid and thinking about the intimate moments they had shared, as well as the joy he had with Keira and the other two during the tango, he suddenly took out the money. It was quite a whim.

After all, with his current financial resources, this amount of money is not even a drop in the ocean.

According to Vivian's introduction, at the Wealth Goddess's Wealth Bank, the general loan interest rate is around 10% to 20%, depending on the amount and membership level.

Deposits held in the wealth bank also earn approximately 3% interest annually, which is used as a reward for members.

In other words, the 1.8 billion Orens Wayne deposited with the Goddess of Wealth would generate 54 million Orens in interest annually, which translates to over 100,000 Orens in daily returns.

Of course, this time is calculated according to the Lord's Time as prescribed by the Goddess of Wealth, and the flow of time is about half that of the Wizarding World.

That translates to roughly 70,000 to 80,000 Orens per day.

This is wealth that many noble families couldn't accumulate over hundreds of years, but for a modern witcher, it's just a day's earnings from lying at home.

It wasn't that Wayne was unwilling to give Maisie, the little maid, more gold; it was just that for an ordinary person, and a weak and powerless girl at that, too much wealth might bring misfortune.

As a maid, she couldn't stay by Keira's side forever; she would eventually have to face life alone and find another way out.

Even Kayla, a sorceress with magical powers, might die at the hands of a witch hunter in the future without Wayne's help, let alone a mere mortal like her.

In the world of magic, most people's lives are like drifting duckweed, with no one knowing where their future will lead.

Just as Maisie was leaning against Wayne, seemingly indulging in the man's romance, a crisp footstep slowly drifted from the courtyard.

Upon hearing the footsteps, Wayne didn't rush to push Maisie away. Instead, he calmly picked up the cup of black tea and took a sip.

When the owner of the footsteps, Kayla, wearing a red and blue dress, entered the living room, Maisie immediately stood up in a fluster, her eyes involuntarily drawn to the large bag of gold coins on the table.

This action made Kayla, who had just walked in, unconsciously raise an eyebrow.

As a royal advisor, Keira may appear petite and cute, but she actually has a strong personality, especially when dealing with a maid she has watched grow up.

Kayla raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping between the man and Maisie with a half-smile before finally settling on Wayne. She said in a slightly mocking tone:

"Looks like I came back at a bad time, Wayne."

"What are you and my maid doing in secret? Are you having an affair?"

The sorceress's questioning made Maisie feel extremely uncomfortable. Due to their long-standing master-servant relationship, she was naturally in a much weaker position than Keira.

Just as he was about to explain, Wayne waved his hand to stop him.

The expected conflict did not occur. Wayne got up and walked to Kayla's side, then casually took out a magnificent gem necklace made of seven huge gems and a large amount of gold from his spatial bracelet, and put it around Kayla's neck.

This action immediately made Kayla, who was initially somewhat angry, beam with joy.

She casually conjured a mirror with magic, admiring the beautiful jewelry and her own radiant appearance with the gemstone necklace in the mirror, seemingly unconcerned about what had just happened between the two of them.

The three then sat down at the table. Wayne took out some elven delicacies he had brought back from Middle-earth, casually explaining the gift he had just given to Maisie, and invited the two ladies to taste these exotic foods from another world.

After drinking a few cups of elven wine, the little maidservant very conscientiously left the dining table, leaving the living room to the witcher and sorceress, while she herself, following Keira's habit, went to the bathroom to boil water.

After Maisie left, Wayne and the other man got down to business. Looking into Kayle's sky-blue eyes, he asked in a relaxed tone:

"Kayla, Triss told me that you seem to have something you want to give me."

"Tell me what it is. If you can help, I won't refuse."

Kayla downed her glass of wine in one gulp, then brushed a strand of silver-white hair from her face, gave a seductive laugh, and reached out to touch Wayne's stubble-covered chin, saying suggestively:

"Why are you in such a hurry to get down to business? It's almost evening. Are you planning to go home tonight, generous Mr. Wayne?"

Wayne reached out and removed Kayla's soft hand from his face, gently kneading it in his own. He didn't reject the sorceress's intimacy and flirtation, but simply smiled and said:

"I'm just curious. With your abilities, you should rarely need anyone's help."

Hearing the man's praise, Kayla covered her mouth and smiled, then pressed her body against Wayne, tilting her head back to kiss him on the lips for over ten seconds before saying with some regret:

"You can casually give me a piece of jewelry worth thousands of gold coins. Wayne, you've really grown a lot!"

"He has become a powerful and charismatic man!"

"I now regret giving you to Triss."

As she spoke, Kayla tilted her head back and kissed Wayne deeply again, until she was somewhat lost in passion, before parting their lips and saying:

"This is a rather dangerous mission, and I'm not sure whether I want to take it on. I'd like to hear your opinion first before making a decision."

Wayne raised an eyebrow, not taking Kayla's predicament to heart. To put it bluntly, with his current strength, there should be very few tasks in the wizarding world that would pose a challenge to him.

"It's alright, just tell me what kind of request it is, and I'll give you some advice."

When the conversation turned to serious matters, Kayla's expression became more serious. After a few seconds of silence, she said:

"Actually, things are quite simple."

"You must have already heard about what happened in the Kingdom of Cordwin."

"A while ago, the Warlock Brotherhood posted a bounty."

"Among the monsters of those other worlds, there seems to be a very powerful undead monster that can resurrect the dead to fight for it. It has already resurrected about a thousand corpses in the cemetery of Banad, the capital of Cordwin."

"They even used these corpses to break into a small town near the mist, killing most of its inhabitants and expanding its corpse army to nearly two thousand."

"Therefore, the Brotherhood of Warlocks has put a bounty on this monster. Whoever can defeat this powerful undead and its forces will receive a generous reward from the Brotherhood of Warlocks, and may even be promoted to a prospective member of the High Council."

"For most young warlocks, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

I want to give it a try.

At this point, a glint of ambition seemed to flash in Kayla's eyes. She paused for a few seconds, glanced at Wayne, and then continued:

"However, I am well aware of my own abilities. Without the protection of someone I can trust, it would be impossible for me to complete this mission."

"And the only person I can trust who is both highly skilled and adept at dealing with monsters is you."

"If you're willing to protect me, you're definitely more reliable and make me feel safer than a hundred-man mercenary squad."

(End of this chapter)