At dusk, two heroes, a bard and a witcher, walked along the road toward the abandoned village.
The journey was exactly as Victor had described to Lambert several years ago. At the beginning of the war, the brave soldiers serving Henselt of Kaedwen had devastated everything north of Vergen until not a soul remained.
Dandelion carried his lute across his back. He wore a crimson satin doublet, fitted trousers, and a peaked cap decorated with a feather. Combined with his extraordinary good looks, he appeared every bit as handsome as every distinguished gentleman reading this.
There were two trees beside the road. One was a lemon tree. The other was also a lemon tree.
Victor, meanwhile, had once again donned his Undvik armor. The full suit of heavy armor from the Skellige Isles possessed excellent Void traits and had accompanied the witcher through battles across numerous kingdoms. It had traveled through Temeria and Toussaint with him, and had now arrived in Aedirn. It could almost be considered his second skin.
The armor plates rustled as he walked.
"Hey, that anthem you sang earlier wasn't actually that bad. Are you planning to reinvent yourself as a spokesman for court propaganda?"
"Vergen has no court, and that song wasn't empty praise. Do you know how much I love this place? People follow Saskia because they choose to, not because they must or because someone tells them they should. Can't you feel her charisma whenever you're here?"
The bard's voice was smooth and mellow.
"You have a tendency to leap from one extreme to another. Not long ago, you kept nonhumans at arm's length. Now you sound like a fervent nonhuman enthusiast."
"And you have a tendency to sneer at every ideal, even the noblest ones. You should try believing that mutual understanding between humans and nonhumans is possible."
"I try to analyze this world rationally and without allowing emotions to interfere."
"Ha! Are you going to stand against Saskia, then? Don't be ridiculous. You're going to join Vergen, aren't you?"
Victor shook his head.
He acknowledged the astonishing charisma of the Virgin of Aedirn. Although the total amount of time they had spent together did not yet add up to forty-eight hours, and he had not even met King Henselt on the other side, Victor had indeed decided to help Saskia as much as he could.
"Although many other factors are involved, you're right about the final result. I'm on Vergen's side."
"You simply don't want to admit it. Fine, but it remains the truth. Vergen isn't some whore you can use and then abandon."
"I still need to make sure this woman called Vergen won't drag me into hell with her."
The ideals of the Virgin of Aedirn were magnificent, but Victor's memories of his previous life contained no free state like this one. Nor could he remember any Dragonslayer remaining active in the region.
Their prospects were probably not particularly bright.
"Let me see if I understand your thinking. Kiss my right cheek, kiss my left cheek, but keep away from my arse. In other words, you want the ride without paying the fare."
"I'm merely prepared for the worst at all times. Storm clouds are gathering over this world. Even if we defeat Henselt, I still doubt how long Saskia's free state can survive. You may continue carrying that foolish, romantic passion in your eyes, but I suspect I'll eventually have to drag your arse out of some quagmire."
"Oh, who needs your help? There are plenty of humans, dwarves, and even elves here who would follow me through fire and flood."
"I hope you're right."
Dandelion shrugged.
"Everyone here is becoming united. Even Iorveth has changed considerably. Everyone except you, of course. The stone-hearted Dovahkiin insists upon rationally analyzing an emotional world."
"Hey, I like that insult. But I'd rather preserve my reason until the moment I can no longer endure doing so."
"Still, I genuinely am surprised. Saskia isn't using Iorveth. She has sincerely accepted him."
"It has to be sincere. The Vengeful Ghost isn't a fool. Emperor Emhyr and Francesca Findabair already deceived him once. Empty promises won't work again.
"For the Scoia'tael, the opportunity offered by the Dragonslayer is something they cannot afford to miss. If Iorveth uses it properly, then at the very least, he can lead the elves out of the caves where they've lived for years.
"If he handles matters well, he might even win everyone's respect. People remember only what they choose to remember."
"...I think you're right. A free state in the Pontar Valley could transform Iorveth from a bandit into a knight."
"When a good man commits one evil deed, ten thousand people condemn him. When an evil man performs one good deed, the whole world is moved. That is why Iorveth will unquestionably be Vergen's most steadfast ally during the coming battle for Upper Aedirn."
"Intellectually, I admit that you're right. But I still believe that far more emotion is involved."
Victor did not respond.
Instead, he extended one arm across Dandelion's path, stopping the bard as they reached the ruins.
The School of the Wolf medallion trembled faintly.
The vibration was slow, but unmistakable.
"Are we here? I can hardly wait to meet our beautiful monster!"
"Don't get excited too soon. Her beauty has caused several men to die violent deaths."
"Wait... Several men died horribly, and you're only telling me now!?"
"I thought you knew. Besides, as my dearest friend Dandelion once said, 'Sooner or later, something will kill us!' I thought he made an excellent point."
The bard began to panic.
"That was exag... exaggeration. You know what exaggeration is, don't you? Surely you don't take the words of a poet literally?"
"I thought you were speaking plainly."
Victor smiled with shameless delight.
"Don't be afraid. You will eventually die, but not today. I'll remain hidden nearby and watch over you the entire time.
"The only thing you need to remember is that when she waves or calls to you, you must not rush inside like a dog in heat. We're trying to lure her out, not allow her to lure you in."
Dandelion coughed twice.
"I don't usually resist a woman's flirtation... but I'll do my best."
...
Victor concealed himself in a corner of the ruins and quieted his breathing.
Dandelion, the most handsome and elegant bard in the North, every bit as handsome as every distinguished gentleman reading this, advanced several steps toward the ruins and took the lute from his back.
He was still slightly worried, but he trusted Victor completely.
"Ah... Well... How should we begin?"
Dandelion casually plucked the strings. A melodious sound drifted through the air, and Victor had to admit that the bastard genuinely possessed talent.
"If our bodies could compose a song...
We would praise each other's virtues, yours and mine...
I would caress your cheeks, while you played with my nose...
Or perhaps took tiny bites of it?
No... No, that won't do."
The bard patted the body of his lute and started again.
"If you desire it, my love, lie here beside me...
We shall praise each other's virtues, yours and mine...
I will caress your cheeks, while you play with my nose...
Or firmly grasp another part of me, then leave me satisfied?
"Hahaha! Ah... No... That isn't right either."
Dandelion ruined his own performance by bursting into laughter.
Victor had nothing to say. A leopard could not change its spots. By the end, the bastard had somehow turned the song into obscene poetry.
"If our bodies could compose a song...
My heart yearns to ask your graceful, delicate hands...
Whether they might close gently around it, as though holding a rose...
Or perhaps taste it in little bites?"
Behind the wall, the witcher rolled his eyes.
Excellent. The old bastard had completely abandoned all restraint.
If this unbelievably vulgar poem actually succeeded, Victor would swallow his silver sword.
"Handsome stranger... Who are you?"
A lazy, sweet voice suddenly echoed through the ruins. It sounded charming and teasing.
Victor silently stared at Frost's Lament in his hand.
Dandelion stepped forward, allowing the moonlight to illuminate his handsome face.
"I am a poet, my lady. I have come to praise your beauty, which does not belong to this world, in the hope that you will reveal all of your wonders to me."
Click.
A mechanism sounded in the center of the ruins, and a hidden door leading underground opened.
Then a beautiful, smooth arm emerged and beckoned gently. Pale patterns had been painted across its skin.
"What a dashing man! I will reveal all my beauty to you. Your eyes will not be the only things to experience me. Every one of your senses will feel my presence.
"It pleases me when lovers write poems praising my virtues, but no true poet has ever recited one for me.
"Sweet poet, I feel so empty... Come and fill me. Together, we shall embark upon the beautiful adventure of life..."
After she finished speaking, the slender hand slowly withdrew beneath the ground.
So the terrifying succubus was hiding down there?
At that moment, Dandelion felt entirely fearless. He desperately wanted to stride forward and charge directly into the monster's den.
One could say that he did not stand alone at that moment.
As the champion of fearless libertines, he was not alone. The spirits of Casanova, Don Juan, and Lothario possessed him. He represented the glorious traditions of lechers across the infinite multiverse.
However, he had already given his word.
The bard remained where he stood and pointed out the location to the witcher emerging from concealment.
"That must be the entrance to her secret lair."
Victor studied the hidden door, sheathed his silver sword, and lightly applauded.
"Well done. Honestly, I didn't expect it to be so easy. Perhaps you need a glass of vodka now. Here are a few coins. I'll handle everything else, so you can return first."
"No! I don't want vodka. I've never seen a real succubus! Don't make me feel like some aging pimp. At the very least, let me stay nearby and see what she looks like!"
The glimpse of that pale, smooth arm had granted him limitless courage.
Naturally, the presence of a witcher beside him also helped.
Victor had no objection to Dandelion's request. The chance of an accident was already low, and with Victor there to protect him, Frost's Lament in hand, a mere succubus was unlikely to cause any trouble.
The two men jumped through the hidden door one after the other.
Below them was a stone passage leading to a brightly lit chamber nearby. A gentle breeze emerged from within, carrying a pleasant fragrance.
They entered an opulent stone room. It contained elegant candlesticks, a polished silver mirror, bookshelves, wardrobes, and decorative tapestries covering the walls.
The most conspicuous object, however, was the large, four-poster bed in the center of the chamber, designed in the extravagant style of a princess's bedchamber.
Hearing footsteps, the woman seated before the mirror turned around.
Resting her chin on one hand, she gazed at the witcher with two swords across his back. Her beautiful eyebrows drew together in confusion, while an excited blush spread across her cheeks.
"Ah... Could you possibly be Victor of Kaer Trolde!? Was it you who recited that poetry for me just now?"
She approached with a graceful sway.
She had curling ram's horns and backward-jointed hooves. Her eyes were wild and radiant, her lips full, and beautiful painted patterns decorated her devilishly alluring body. Several strings of beads were the only things she wore.
What a pitiful, impoverished young woman. Could she not even afford underwear?
Dandelion was overcome with sorrow and nearly shed "tears" on the spot.
The magnificent visual impact also caused Victor to draw a deep breath.
"Ah... My lady, how do you know my name?"
"Many people have spoken about you these past few days. I know a great deal about you. For example, you are the famous Dragonborn Bard, and you understand how to satisfy women.
"Welcome... I wasn't expecting you to bring another man. Do you enjoy two against one? I certainly wouldn't object."
She smiled and folded her arms, making her already formidable figure appear even more impressive.
"You know what I am. I can make men forget every worry and sink into pure pleasure. I promise that even a witcher would leave entirely satisfied."
"Like all the men you murdered?" Victor asked calmly.
Her smile vanished. Her expression suggested that he had gravely insulted her.
"I haven't murdered anyone! Everyone who follows me... experiences nothing but mysterious pleasure."
"Perhaps you know that the bodies of young men have repeatedly been found nearby?"
"I enjoy their vigorous essence. Corpses are of no use to me."
"If you didn't kill them, who did? I believe you know the culprit. After all, every victim was one of your lovers."
She lazily stretched her body, causing blood to flow from Dandelion's nose. Her voice was sweet but sorrowful.
"Very well... I am a succubus. I can seduce anyone and lose myself in passion with them for as long as I desire.
"Unfortunately, one fool fell hopelessly in love with me. He could not accept my nature, so he murdered my lovers."
"Tell me his name. Who is this jealous lover?"
"A handsome elf named Ele'yas."
Victor suddenly remembered the commando leader who had been carrying the corpse yesterday, along with all the abnormalities he had observed on the body.
His instincts told him that the succubus was telling the truth.
"Hmm... He killed them first, then smashed their bones with stones to make it appear that wild beasts had attacked them.
"He wanted to mislead everyone and frighten other men away. Fortunately, you aren't a fool. You possess a clear mind and understand the entire situation. Would you prove my innocence?"
"...Why should I help you?"
"I want men to understand that I exchange pleasure for their essence. I do not take their lives. These accusations are slander.
"And besides..."
Her voice became delicate and soft, and her sweet breath carried an intoxicating fragrance.
"I can give you something far better than money..."
"...I'll speak with Ele'yas and his commander, Lansi. Then I'll return."
"I hope that afterward, we can form a very deep friendship."
She placed a hand against her chest and bowed. The movement made the view even more overwhelming.
Feeling heat gather in his nose, Victor immediately turned to leave.
"Let's go, Dandelion."
The bard did not move.
He removed his hat, revealing his handsome face, and spoke in his smooth, mellow voice.
"Vic, here's the thing. I believe this honorable lady can be trusted. And, beautiful lady, I would like you to know that I was actually the one who recited the poem. I am Dandelion, the finest bard in the North..."
"Miruna. My name is Miruna. It's a pleasure to meet you, dear Dandelion. I have heard your name as well."
Her smile was enchanting.
Seeing their obvious mutual interest, Victor found no reason to interfere. He scratched his hair.
"I'll let you stay on one condition. I'm going to find Lansi now. Ele'yas might be lurking nearby, so you are not allowed to leave this room until I return."
Dandelion struck his chest loudly.
"Thank you, Vic. I swear upon my honor that I won't leave before you return. In fact, I have several new poems that I've been eager to share with Lady Miruna."
Victor took out two vials of vitality broth and stuffed them into the bard's arms.
He returned to the surface through the stone passage and closed the hidden door behind him.
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