Bear School Astartes-Chapter 802 - 785: Ker Morhan
"Alright, alright."
Belengar stared blankly at the dark sky.
"A girl with the legendary Ancient Blood, the only surviving legitimate heir of the Sintra Royal Family... Let’s not even mention that not yet well-defined Ancient Blood. Do you even know what her lineage and family represent?!"
"She has the claim to the Queen of Sintra, the right to inherit the election of the Skellige Islands, she is Princess Brugge and the Duchess of Sodden!"
"If all the titles she holds are fulfilled, then a Northern Country that can rival the Northern Four Countries would instantly appear on this continent!"
However, Lann, sitting on the back of the Qilin, wasn’t particularly interested in this.
"But quite clearly, the Wild Hunt doesn’t care at all about these claims and inheritance rights. They only care about the Ancient Blood... which is conservatively estimated to be a bloodline power capable of time travel."
"Indeed." The Old Demon Hunter cast a sideways glance at Lann beside him, with a hint of disdain in his tone.
"Compared to that, the fact that the girl wants to lock you in a room for a week isn’t so outrageous... Tsk tsk tsk, how old is she this year? Beast!"
"Don’t slap labels on me, Belengar!"
Lann sternly defended his innocence.
"The one who said this is a ’woman’ who is at least twenty years old! I’m not interested in little girls, thank you."
"And that woman shouldn’t have gone far by now."
Belengar, unfazed by Lann’s rebuttal, continued to stroke his chin and speak to himself.
"Seeing her looking so bedraggled, she must be struggling, right? Not having enough to eat, her legs can hardly move. If we go back now to find her..."
"I wouldn’t suggest it." Lann shook his head.
"Although if she really is Ciri, then I should indeed be responsible for her. But when it comes to matters of time... it’s too profound. We don’t know what consequences there might be from interacting too much with a ’person from the future.’
"She is the one with this magical bloodline, if she doesn’t want to seek more help from ’me at this time,’ then I can only assume: even Ciri herself can only live freely and interact with others in the right time corresponding to her age."
"There are countless deeply puzzling mysteries in this world; pursuing them blindly will only lead to a lifetime of confusion."
Belengar nodded nonchalantly.
"Alright, anyway, it’s not the old man that the little girl likes."
"Ha, you can’t say for sure." Lann laughed.
"Didn’t you notice, Belengar? The chainmail she was wearing at the time, all the rings were made of Valerian steel, and they were quite different from this primitive version. I only recognized it because I had the [Muddy Stream · Destruction]."
Lann pointed at the two swords on Belengar’s back, which were what’s known as the ’primitive version’ of Valerian steel.
"Besides you, I really don’t know if there’s anyone else who can expand the versions of Valerian steel over a few years." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Belengar was also bewildered: "Are you implying... I have a good relationship with that little girl? But we haven’t even met yet."
"Time... Who can say for certain?"
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After an encounter with the Wild Hunt, the journey that followed was smooth.
Although their speed was mainly limited by Bopai, Bopai itself was also a very good warhorse.
So, after traveling for almost a month, using a combination of land and water, they finally reached the northeastern corner of Codwin’s territory.
That is, the edge of the civilized world.
They often spent the night resting in wild rocky shelves or caves, worried that the Wild Hunt possessed some supernatural tracking methods, which could implicate others during encounters.
However, the subsequent long period of calm and peace made the Demon Hunter realize that although the Wild Hunt seems to be able to traverse time and space, in the material world they can’t freely find their targets.
At least in terms of tracking, they don’t seem to be as professional as Demon Hunters.
Under the guidance of Belengar, they could navigate by the gray-white mountain walls and snow-covered peaks.
Even though it was early summer, snow at high altitudes remained unthawed year-round.
Upon reaching the end of the forest, a wide valley lay before the Demon Hunters, strewn with boulders stretching to the steep slopes on the other side. The "White Stone River" Gwernic flowed through the center of the valley, with foam swirling around the rocks, and logs drifting along with the current.
This upstream segment made the Gwernic River more like a wide stream, not very deep, and wading across didn’t require much effort.
Even the Qilin didn’t want to bother standing with its hooves on the water surface, simply wading through instead.
Upon reaching the heartland of Codwin’s border, this river would turn into a roaring gorge.
The air was fresh, and the sky was clear.
Compared to Velen’s rainy days, it was enough to make anyone feel pleasant.
And turning a small corner, past a mound and dense pine forest, some tall, ruined castle towers began to peek out from the distant mountains and forest.
"Ker Morhan."
The Old Demon Hunter, who hadn’t returned for over a hundred years, looked at those towers, uttering words with a complicated expression.
In his youth, he endured mutations here, learned to hunt, always wanting to escape the fate of a Demon Hunter and flee from this ’Demon Cave.’
But now, he has achieved fame; if he wanted, he could become the first Demon Hunter in history to die of old age in bed.
And upon returning to Ker Morhan at this time, he felt anger, nausea, but also nostalgia and relief.
Overall, it was a very complex feeling.
Rong Buqiu lay on Lann’s shoulder, supporting itself with its little paws to look into the distance.
In its heart, the Demon Hunter’s school was a place that could produce formidable warriors, and even having heard of its decline, it was still good to pay it homage.
Along the way, the Three-Floral Kitten also engaged in combat with some of this world’s monsters in the wild.
It performed very well.
Although fiends and water ghosts were ugly and disgusting, compared to Rong Buqiu’s homeland environment in the Valley of Miasma, it was fairly normal.
The kitten was cautious when taking down these monsters, a commendable quality.
Lann also figured out Rong Buqiu’s current level through this process, and Mentos had finished organizing the teaching plan.
Just waiting for the right time to arrange it.
"Let’s go."
Belengar withdrew his complex gaze and spurred Bopai forward.
Although the Demon Hunter’s castle seemed to be right in front of them, the mountain roads being visible didn’t mean they could be traversed easily.
"Are you sure there’s someone inside at this time?"
Belengar remained uneasy.
"Our Wolf School, apart from wintering, seldom stays here. After all, this was originally a military-use castle, living here isn’t comfortable; waking up in the morning can freeze a Demon Hunter’s bones stiff."
"But even if it’s uncomfortable, after Ciri was taken away by Geralt, wasn’t this the only place left for her?"
Lann was quite optimistic about this.
"You know about Ciri’s identity as well. For a girl as valuable as her, Geralt isn’t dumb; how could he let her wander and be exposed to the world?"
"And for the Child of Destiny staying in the castle, even if Geralt isn’t there, your Wolf School must leave someone here to look after her, right?"
Belengar smiled noncommittally.
"Let’s see then."
Just as he finished speaking, the gates of Ker Morhan appeared before them.
