A fantastical journey across the heavens, beginning with the Witcher.

Around noon, soldiers from Bullburg traveled through the villages, posting bounty notices bearing the seals of both the lord of the packhorse lord and the Bullburg town hall on bulletin boards.

Li De, pretending to go out for a stroll, casually picked up a reward notice, read its contents, and smiled knowingly.

For details on travelers and packhorse riders and local residents, please see:

There are bandits gathering in the area surrounding the Horse Ridge. After attacking the local lord's castle, they have not stopped and have ambushed and killed a patrol team from the Bull Fortress. Therefore, a bounty is hereby issued. Anyone who brings the head of a local bandit to the Bull Fortress Town Hall will receive a reward of 450 crowns.

Note that relevant evidence must be preserved to prove the bandits' identities. Anyone who kills innocent people and claims credit for them will be sentenced to death according to the Niubao Public Security Ordinance.

—Special announcement from the Bullburg City Hall

As always, the mayor, concerned with saving face, referred to the bandit suppression team that had been specially dispatched as a patrol squad.

Overall, it's all within the plan; once the bounty is issued, Li De can start working.

"Let's go check out the manor first; hopefully, there's still some evidence left there."

Li De rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into his bag, then whistled.

Coal Ball, resting in the tavern's stable, heard the familiar whistle, its eyes lit up, and it skillfully untied the knot in its reins with its mouth, running towards its master.

Li De grabbed the edge of the saddle of the galloping horse, flipped himself onto it, and rode along the main road toward the lord's manor.

A dozen minutes later, he gently pulled on the reins and stopped in front of a gleaming paulownia wood gate.

Looking at the building in front of him, a look of amazement flashed in Li De's eyes.

Perhaps because of its proximity to Cowburg, the estate in front of us is not like the typical rural estates with simple brick and stone walls. Instead, it features a lot of reliefs and gray walls that contrast beautifully with the dark green climbing plants.

It's less of a defensive manor or castle and more of an art park.

While Li De was examining the manor's buildings, the guards on the tower were also observing him. Seeing that he showed no intention of leaving, they immediately became tense.

"Who goes there? Don't linger in front of the lord's manor!"

As the roar rang out, several powerful bows and crossbows, their strings drawn to full fullness, were aimed down at Li De from their elevated position, the sharp arrows gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Don't get agitated, I'm just a witcher."

"The Witcher?"

The guards exchanged bewildered glances, and finally the one who had asked the first spoke up: "We don't have any monsters causing trouble here. Go find business elsewhere!"

"Buddy, who says bandits, robbers, gangsters, and rebels aren't monsters? I saw the bounty notice issued by Beefburg and heard that you guys were attacked by bandits. I wanted to see if I could find any clues."

As Li De spoke, he slowly took out a parchment from his bag and showed it to the guards.

The guards, on high alert, hesitated. One of them quietly asked, "The lord said not to let any suspicious persons into the manor. Does that include witchers?"

Although the question was asked in a low voice, it was still caught by the Witcher with his keen hearing.

"Or, why don't we go ask your lord? The sooner we deal with the bandits, the sooner you can have some peace. Judging by how tired you all look, the patrols must have been very intensive lately, right?"

These words struck a nerve with the guards. Heaven knows how frequently they had been patrolling lately, working in two shifts, they had practically tamped down the dirt road beneath the manor's outer wall.

After hesitating for two seconds, the leading guard finally succumbed to the temptation of an early end to the dangers of the night.

"You wait here, I'll go report to the lord."

……

Judging from how quickly the guards opened the door, the lord shared the same thought—whoever it was, get rid of these damned bandits as soon as possible!

"Come with me, the lord wants to see you."

The guard who opened the door tilted his head, gesturing for the witcher to follow.

While heading to the castle, Li De quickly surveyed the scenery throughout the manor.

In just a couple of glances, he noticed something special in the fleeting scene.

First, the decorative iron rods on the castle spire appear to be bent and show signs of melting.

Secondly, the patrols on the north side of the manor were very heavy. Even though many soldiers were so tired that they were sleeping with their rifles in their hands, they still kept a close watch on that area.

Finally, the garden appeared to have been damaged; the edges of the leaves of the various flowers were slightly yellowed, indicating that they had all been recently transplanted.

After walking a few steps, the guard bowed to a beautiful woman admiring the flowers: "Madam."

Seeing this, Li De nodded in greeting, then turned his gaze to the man next to the lord's wife, who was dressed in an elegant gown and had a red lipstick mark on his face, and greeted him.

"Lord..."

Before the greeting was even finished, the woman covered her mouth and giggled. Some bright red rose juice clung to her white lace gloves and smeared onto her face, making her bright and graceful face even more beautiful.

"He's not a lord."

Li De raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the group as if silently asking: You are the lord's wife, and you kissed this man who is not yet the lord. Can anyone tell me what's going on?

The guard who was saluting smirked but did not speak rashly.

The lord's wife explained, "This is my lover; the lord is over there."

Li De looked in the direction she was pointing and finally saw the bald man hiding behind the curtains, playing the role of an incompetent husband, through the floor-to-ceiling glass window on the second floor.

Whether it was due to the scattering of sunlight or not, the glass above the lord's head seemed to glow with a green light, faintly forming the shape of a hat.

"Um... Madam is in high spirits."

Li De didn't know what to say... He tried to think of something but couldn't get it out, and finally just gave a dry compliment.

He dared not linger and quickly followed the guards into the castle.

As soon as you enter, a cool, damp feeling hits you.

Contrary to most people's imagination of a warm and sturdy shelter that is warm in winter and cool in summer, a real castle can be torture for those who enjoy life.

In order to enhance defense, comfort had to be sacrificed.

It has poor breathability, is cold in winter and hot in summer, and is damp and dark, breeding mosquitoes, rodents and ants.

Upon entering, Li De immediately spotted a rat crawling in the shadows in the corner. Judging from its severed limbs and tail, it seemed that the guards had deliberately cut them off for their amusement.

In the dimly lit corridor stood a row of well-equipped soldiers, their cold gazes sweeping over the two of them.

It seems to be saying: We're watching you, don't cause trouble!

Once you get to the second floor, the environment is visibly better. Glass has replaced the nailed wooden planks, and a gentle breeze blows into the room through the balcony window and out through the back window.

He could discern the lord's character traits solely from the architecture:

It's a dilemma; it prioritizes security but is unwilling to sacrifice comfort. The first floor is as sturdy as a typical castle, while the second floor is quite "fragile," unable to withstand arrows and catapults. Even worse, attackers could simply carry a ladder up.

Of course, this had nothing to do with him. He obediently followed the guard into a study.

In the study, Roland, the lord of the packhorse territories, was already sitting behind his desk, sizing up the witcher who had entered.

"So you're the one who accepted the bounty to wipe out the bandits?"

"That's right. I heard that bandits attacked the manor. I want to go and see the scene to find some clues. I hope the lord will agree."

Roland snorted coldly: "You're here to die, why shouldn't I agree? Anyway, I don't have to pay to bury you."

They came here to help each other out, but were treated like this. Anyone else would have already scoffed and mocked them.

But Li De merely curled the corners of his lips: "I suppose the lord didn't summon me here specifically to make sarcastic remarks?"

"You guessed right. I was just telling you that those rotten, filthy, and hateful scum have looted my treasury and granary."

Speaking of his treasury, Roland's eyes twitched with heartache, and then he made a vicious statement with a ferocious expression.

"I know you witchers are experts at tracking. If you successfully find and kill those bandits, I'll share some of the recovered money with you. It's a reward from a knight, but don't even think about keeping it for yourself, or I'll use all my savings to put a warrant for your arrest!"

"Ha, interesting. You mean that after I have the ability to kill those bandits who 'broke into the manor and looted the treasury and granary in front of the guards,' I must return what they stole to you, and afterwards I'll only receive two copper coins from you as charity, not to mention I have to thank you and praise the lord for his generosity?"

Li De has received professional training and usually doesn't laugh on set unless he really can't help it.

"The lord is truly... generous."

Roland seemed oblivious to Li De's sarcastic remarks. For him, the most important thing was to recover the treasure in the vault; everything else was secondary.

"Of course you can take the finances with you, but what about afterwards? I can make sure you have no place in the Kingdom of Redania."

"Hmm, as you wish, I certainly will not question the authority of a lord."

Li De shuddered, as if he had been frightened.

If Vesemir, who knew him well, were standing here, he would definitely know that this kid was faking it. Last time in Novigrad, a gang leader threatened Reed in the same way.

And what happened? Two days later, that guy's head was hung at the entrance of the gang's hideout, and it took his underlings a whole day to repaint the dark red floor back to its original color.

Unfortunately, Roland was unaware of this and was still smugly pleased with his feigned imposing manner, proudly raising his chin: "This is my chief guard; he will take you to the scene for investigation."

"Captain Guard, keep a close eye on him. Don't let this fellow steal anything from my estate. If even a single brick is missing, I'll hold you responsible!"

"……yes."

The head guard secretly observed the witcher's expression, and only after finding no change did he nod in agreement, while inwardly groaning: My lord, couldn't you have told me in secret?

After leaving the study, the two headed toward the vault, mostly asking questions of the witchers, with the head guard answering.

"How did those bandits get into the manor? They couldn't have come in through the main gate like I did, could they?"

"I have no idea…"

The captain of the guard looked bewildered. "That day, a sudden thunderstorm struck, and the rain was pouring down like water. We couldn't see anything, but we heard several loud bangs. When we rushed to the direction from which the sounds came in the dark, we saw that there was a gap in the wall and the castle as well."

"No wonder all the flowers in the garden were newly transplanted; they must have been killed by the torrential rain."

"No, the flower bed was shattered by lightning, and the previous head guard was also killed in the process."

Li De remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he thought of the iron pillars on the castle's spire, which served a decorative purpose, and a guess gradually took shape.

……

The vault is located in the basement below the castle, with walls made of solid stone and treated to prevent moisture.

Strangely, the relatively weakly defended main door was intact, but there was an extra hole in the ceiling.

The head guard said bitterly, "I don't know how they did it. Such a thick stone wall, even if a dozen strong workers swung sledgehammers together, it would take them three days and three nights to break it down."

"But those bandits broke into the vault in just a few minutes, took all the treasure, and left not a single crown behind..."

Li De leaped up, grabbed the edge of the gap, and easily climbed to the first floor.

The first thing you see is a similarly damaged wall, with the gaps already boarded up.

He picked up two pebbles, smelled them near his nose, then jumped back into the vault and said to the head guard, "Let's go check out the wall."

"That's it?" The head guard was a little surprised. What could he have figured out in such a short time? But he remained silent and continued to lead the way.

The gap in the wall was located in the heavily guarded area he had noticed when he entered the manor.

The gap is the same as the castle's outer wall and the vault's ceiling.

The head guard tentatively voiced his guess.

"Master, I've heard that the scholars at Cowburg have developed a powerful alchemical explosive. Just a small handful can shatter a boulder. Do you think this could be the breach created by the explosive?"

"It's not explosives."

Li De decisively shook his head.

Current technology is far from achieving the level of pinpoint blasting; the explosive force will inevitably be dispersed.

Given the thickness of the vault, you can't blow up that ceiling unless you blow up the entire castle.

The same is true for the wall in front of us; only this small section has collapsed, and there isn't even the slightest crack in the wall near the gap.

As for how the "bandits" did this, there is only one answer—magic.

Only magic can destroy a building at a specific point without affecting the surrounding environment.

The thunderstorm that day was also very unusual. The rain was so heavy that the guards could not see clearly. Logically, the water should have flowed into the vault through the castle's breach by now, but there was not much water left in the vault.

There was also a lightning strike that shattered the flowerbed. The iron pillars on the castle spire showed signs of melting and twisting, proving that a lightning strike did indeed occur, but how could it have struck the flowerbed and shattered it? It must have been a lightning strike manipulated by someone.

When all the clues are put together, the whole process becomes clear.

It did rain that day, but not heavily. The "bandits" used illusion magic to create the illusion of a downpour and used magic to blast open the wall.

Then, for some unknown reason, he struck the previous head guard with lightning, rushed straight into the vault, opened a portal, and took all the treasures with him.

This explains why there were so few pebbles on the gold floor, which didn't match the gap in the ceiling, and why the guards were unable to catch any bandits before the vault was emptied.