Clang~
An orange-red portal suddenly appeared, startling the flock of birds perched on the maple branches and breaking the silence of the forest.
Allen hurriedly stepped out from the portal, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the sudden glare.
The situation was urgent, and with his "good girl" not at his side, the moment he heard the news, he dropped everything in hand and teleported back.
This was one of the spatial coordinates he had prepared in advance—not far from Kaer Morhen. Since it was located on a cliff rarely visited by witchers, it was a good safe point, though he had never used it before.
Kaer Morhen had, since the visit of the Ban Ard sorcerer earlier in the year, been under wards that alerted to spatial disturbances. That was why Allen hadn't set a coordinate directly inside—he had no wish to be discovered by Philippa Eilhart.
After orienting himself, Allen moved eastward, and before long he saw the gray, ancient walls of the old sea fortress.
The drawbridge was lowered, and neither the gate nor the walls held any guards.
Allen frowned.
"Did everyone go to watch the commotion?" he guessed inwardly, quickening his pace.
It was no surprise that Vilgefortz might clash with Aristo, Erni, Klar, and the others.
Everything they had agreed upon was supposed to take place tomorrow, in the village below the mountain, swiftly and discreetly. There was no need for others to know too much, and so Allen had not explained.
The young witchers all remembered that sudden, helpless "abduction" vividly. Aristo was likely there to back them up.
He had always been hot-tempered and impatient.
Although Mary's voice in the messenger bird had been panicked, she hadn't shared many details. Still, the story's logic was clear enough to piece together.
What Allen couldn't understand was this:
Why change the plan at the last moment when they had just confirmed it last night?
And why appear at Kaer Morhen directly?
What were Tissaia de Vries and Vilgefortz really planning?
Tap, tap, tap~
Allen strode quickly through the shadow of the gate tunnel. His sharpened witcher senses already caught the noise in the air. Fortunately, it was only noise—no sounds of fierce combat.
He let out a breath of relief, then sped up again, following the direction of the voices.
He passed through the barbican at the fortress entrance, then through another iron gate.
In the distance, beneath the looming shadow of Kaer Morhen's main keep, he saw a large gathering of people blocking the way.
Allen paused, then pulled a messenger bird from his chest and released it.
The crystalline bird circled once in the air, then flew straight toward the keep.
Following its path, Allen soon spotted the figure he was looking for.
"Mary, where is Lady Tissaia de Vries?"
Nodding briefly to a few apprentices who recognized him, Allen strode forward and caught Mary by the arm beside a purple-shirted tree at the foot of the steps.
Mary shivered and spun around.
Seeing Allen, her face lit up with relief before twisting in surprise. "You… didn't you go looking for the Big Stone and the others? How are you back so soon?"
"Finished things earlier than expected. I was just approaching Kaer Morhen when I saw the messenger bird fly by," Allen deflected casually, before pressing, "Where is Lady Tissaia de Vries—and the two others?"
"Didn't you say they clashed with Aristo, Erni, and Klar?"
Finished already… Mary glanced up at the sun, which had only just begun to tilt westward. Something felt off—Allen usually spent the entire day at the rock troll's camp. He had never returned this early.
But at his urgent question, she pushed that doubt aside. "Oh, oh—at that time Clay and Spencer nearly fought with the Archmistress… Archmistress Tissaia and the sorcerer she brought with her."
"Lady Vera was the first to hear the commotion and came running."
"Then Grandmaster Sol followed…"
"And just before you arrived, they were all… right there."
Mary lifted her hand and pointed toward the center of the crowd.
Vera and Sol had arrived… Allen finally let out a deep sigh of relief, then asked: "Then do you know how they came—"
"Allen!"
From the center of the crowd gathered before Kaer Morhen's main keep, a voice suddenly called out.
All the noise ceased at once.
The pressing crowd then parted, opening a narrow passage.
The voice belonged to Tissaia de Vries. She stood expressionless in the open space at the center of the gathering, facing Vera and Sol.
Allen looked over, but his gaze did not linger on Tissaia de Vries for long—it fell instead on the two figures standing behind her.
One wore a gentleman's black suit, the other a refined silver-white gown.
It didn't look like they were here to discuss matters that could reshape the political balance of the entire Continent, threaten lives, and decide futures. Rather, they looked more like they had come to attend a noble's banquet.
"Vilgefortz of Roggeveen… and his aide and personal secretary, Lydia van Bredevoort." Allen drew in a deep breath.
Technically, this was only their second time meeting. The last "encounter" had ended in his side's victory.
Even so, seeing them again stirred something unsettling inside Allen—far different from the easy familiarity he felt upon meeting others.
Perhaps it was because in his past life, Vilgefortz had shattered Geralt's legs with two simple blows, without magic. Or perhaps it was the man's political cunning—his ability to manipulate kings, emperors, and mages across the North like pieces on a board.
Most likely, it was both.
Vilgefortz noticed Allen's gaze. With a faint smile curling at his lips, he inclined his head politely.
Lydia van Bredevoort, however, simply stared straight at him, showing no other reaction.
Yet both of them radiated calm, as though they hadn't just been through conflict moments earlier.
It suddenly struck Allen that while Vilgefortz and Lydia's sudden appearance at Kaer Morhen was unexpected to him, this fortress was hardly a welcoming place for them either. It brimmed with hostility, nearly spilling over.
"Who gave them the confidence to come here? Was it Tissaia de Vries?"
A storm of thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
"Allen…" Mary tugged nervously at his sleeve.
"It's fine." Allen shook his head.
He stepped through the path left open by the apprentices, climbed the steps, and entered the very center of the gathering. Pausing, he came to stand beside Vera.
"Allen! He's that sorcerer!" Clay whispered from behind Sol, held back by Aristo, his small face still twisted with anger.
The other young witchers were brimming with the same hostility.
"I understand."
Allen nodded to Clay, soothed him a little, then cast another glance at Vilgefortz before turning to Tissaia de Vries.
"I recall we agreed to meet tomorrow, in Kaer Village at the foot of the mountain."
"The time was indeed moved up by some unexpected events, but coming to Kaer Morhen was not our intention, it was…" Tissaia suddenly paused, tilting her head as her eyes swept the gathered crowd. "Are you sure you want to talk here?"
All around them were apprentices, staring wide-eyed with hungry curiosity.
"Scatter! Scatter, all of you!" Aristo bellowed, as though waking from a dream. "Korio, Llay! Weren't you supposed to be guarding the gate today? What are you doing here?"
"Barry, Vera…"
The apprentices shouted in confusion, then bolted in all directions.
Soon, only a handful of people remained before Kaer Morhen's main hall.
As the crowd thinned, Allen was about to call for Vesemir to take the younger witchers to their training.
But after glancing around, he realized Vesemir was nowhere to be seen—nor were Danthe and Jerome Moreau.
That shouldn't be possible. Danthe might still be in Kaer Village, keeping order amidst the chaos of war, but Vesemir and Jerome Moreau should never have missed such a commotion at the keep's very gate.
Wait!
Allen's searching gaze froze for a moment.
Philippa Eilhart was missing as well…
But now wasn't the time to dwell on such details.
"Fred, take Clay, Ice, and Spencer to train. I'll come inspect later." Allen instructed over his shoulder, then turned toward Sol.
Sol nodded, finally speaking for the first time since Allen's arrival.
"Come. My chamber is better suited for discussion."
With that, he moved ahead.
Tissaia de Vries looked at Sol in surprise, then at Allen again.
If not for Allen's still-youthful face, she might have believed the true Grandmaster of the School of the Wolf was Allen, not Sol.
And not only Vera, but even Aristo—an old and seasoned master of the Wolf School—treated this as though it were perfectly natural.
This…
It seems I'll need to reevaluate Allen's standing within the School of the Wolf… Tissaia's eyes gleamed with thought.
Vilgefortz, too, exchanged a surprised glance with Lydia van Bredevoort.
The gates of Kaer Morhen's keep opened, and the group filed inside.
When Vera noticed Mary following along in a daze, confused and unsure, she waved a hand. "Mary, go back and teach Yennefer…"
"Let Mary join us," Allen interrupted. "She's part of the—of the Wolf School as well. Besides, once this is done, I have another matter to discuss with her."
Caught under the sudden weight of many gazes, Mary stiffened. At a loss, she glanced at Allen, then at Vera.
"Mentor, I…"
Vera silently studied Allen for a few seconds, her eyes flickering. Then she said, "Listen to Allen."
No sooner had Vera spoken than she waved her hand and stepped into the castle hall. The others exchanged glances and followed close behind.
"A-Allen…" Mary tugged at Allen's sleeve, letting the two of them fall a few steps behind the group. She glanced nervously at the figures walking ahead, then whispered, "W-why… why did you call me along too?"
She looked just like a distracted student, suddenly dragged by the class prodigy to the teacher's office after class to face the stern homeroom teacher.
Or like a timid little squirrel with stage fright.
Allen couldn't help but curl his lips into a faint smile. In the same low voice, he said, "You're an important member of the School of the Wolf too…"
"Important… member of the Wolf School…" Mary tilted her head in a daze, unconsciously pointing her finger at her own pale face. "Me?"
"Don't forget, you're also the chief sorceress," Allen said softly with a chuckle. "And besides… I have one—or rather, two things I want to give you later."
"Eh?" She was still struggling to process the fact that the Wolf School even had a "chief sorceress," but when she heard the latter half—that Allen wanted to give her something—her face instantly flushed bright red.
She lowered her head, sneaking little glances at the others just a few steps ahead, and asked in a mosquito-thin voice, "W-what… what kind of things?"
"You'll find out when the time comes." Allen left the words hanging and quickened his pace, rejoining the rest of the group.
Mary stood frozen for a moment, her mind now consumed with thoughts of what Allen might give her. She completely forgot about the Wolf School, Aretuza, or why she had even been asked along.
Watching Allen's calm figure moving to walk beside Aristo, Mary puffed her cheeks, her face still red like a ripe apple. Then, full of curiosity and imagination, she stomped the ground hard.
"What a horrible tease!"
-----------------------------------
The walk passed in silence.
The group arrived at Sol's chambers—though in truth, it was more like the great hall of a castle lord.
Bang!
When Mary, lingering at the rear, softly closed the door, no one rushed to begin the discussion.
Snap!
With a crisp finger snap, two bottles of Toussaint wine and eight crystal-clear goblets appeared out of thin air, filled themselves, and settled gently onto the oak table.
"This is the kind of reception I expected," Tissaia de Vries said, sipping delicately before adjusting the lace at her sleeve. She looked meaningfully at Sol and Vera. "Just now, I almost thought Kaer Morhen had no welcome for an outsider like me."
Sol and Vera said nothing. Instead, they looked at Allen.
Allen froze for a moment, then hastily replied, "Forgive us—that was never the School of the Wolf's intent. The fair and just Tissaia de Vries will always be an honored guest of the Wolf School…"
Tissaia, eyes still fixed on Sol, asked with a faint smile, "And if Tissaia de Vries were not fair and just?"
"Impossible," Allen shook his head lightly.
"Oh?" Her brows lifted. "Because I aided the Wolf School in Drakenborg?"
"No," Allen shook his head again, his tone steady. "Because Tissaia de Vries cannot be unjust nor without order. That is why you will always be our guest."
At that, Tissaia blinked, then gave a soft laugh, turning to Vera. "You have a fine pupil."
Vera only shook her head silently.
Aristo's expression twitched strangely for a moment, though he quickly forced it down. Yet that fleeting change was caught by Vilgefortz.
The sorcerer lifted his goblet of crimson wine, eyes wandering across the oak table in thought.
Then Allen's tone shifted.
"Yet if there is unwelcome in this hall… it is not for Lady Tissaia, but for others."
His gaze fell squarely on Vilgefortz and Lydia van Bredevoort.
"That fault is mine," Vilgefortz admitted easily, lifting his head with an apologetic look. "I will offer a gift as recompense. And if that gift does not please, then we may discuss other means. But for now—let us speak of the true matter at hand…"
"After all, what lies in Kaer Village below brooks no delay."
Kaer Village… Allen stiffened, his eyes darting toward Vera, Sol, and Aristo.
Vera and Sol looked just as bewildered as he, but Aristo's expression was different—odd.
He kept flicking glances at Sol, his left hand twitching upon the table, as though he wanted to speak yet held back. In the end, he said nothing.
Allen's curiosity only sharpened.
"What matter?" he pressed.
Tissaia de Vries exchanged a glance with Vilgefortz before answering gravely. "Allen—you asked why we came uninvited?"
Allen opened his mouth, ready to protest her wording.
But she lifted a hand, cutting him off. "Because in Kaer Village, there is someone we cannot be seen by."
"Who?" Allen looked at Sol and Vera.
"Lado," Vilgefortz said softly, drinking deep of his wine before Tissaia could speak. "The heir of the Unicorn Dynasty, King of Ard Carraigh, Grand Duke of Ban Ard, the fallen sovereign of Kaedwen—"
"Lado."
........
📢Advanced chapters on p@treaon📢
For advance chapters: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
1. 20 advanced chapters of The Witcher: Wolf School's Hunting Notes.
2. 30 advanced chapters of What year is this? You're still writing a traditional diary?.