Chapter 111: Burning Downwalen

George smiled awkwardly and didn't speak. He was a decent person and didn't like to speak ill of others to their faces; at most, he would just complain a few times when depressed.

Wayne didn't have such scruples. He said to Borch in a joking tone: "Humans are divided into classes, Borch. People with power and influence receive education from a young age and have sufficient connections, so their methods of handling things are also more numerous, which is why they appear polite. Even if they are enemies, when they meet, they won't lose their etiquette."

"But the lives of the people at the bottom are very hard. Not to mention reading and writing, many people can't even fill their stomachs. In order to survive, they don't have any principles to uphold. Principles, ideals, kindness, and justice are not things they can hope for."

"The poorer the place, the more it relies on barbarism and violence. I've heard a saying: 'Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly peasants.' It means roughly that."

Borch nodded thoughtfully. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and was worshipped by the Zerrikanian tribes during his young dragon stage. He had always lived in luxury with a bunch of servants and maids, and he didn't know much about the lives of people at the bottom, nor could he imagine their lives.

The three chatted a few more sentences about this matter before pulling the topic back to that green dragon.

George's drinking capacity didn't seem very good. Perhaps it was because his mood was a bit depressed, but after drinking two bottles of mead, his eyes were already somewhat unfocused.

He let out a hiccup, his tone carrying some frustration, and said: "I ran through half of Velen and visited six or seven villages. Now I probably only know one piece of news."

"That dragon truly exists, and it is a green dragon with gray skin. Just the day before yesterday morning, it ate a farmer's cow. Now it should have flown toward the swamp direction of Downwalen."

"However, in order to rendezvous with you, I didn't chase it immediately, but returned to Crow's Perch."

Downwalen?

Mentioning this name, the first thing that came to Wayne's mind was the Crones and the soul trapped in the tree heart.

It was just unclear whether this dragon flying to Downwalen was unintentional or intentional.

But in any case, it was too late now, and they were unfamiliar with the place, so it was impossible for them to chase that green dragon at night.

So, after accompanying his two friends to eat and drink their fill, Wayne called Lisa, settled the wine and food bill first, and then asked:

"Lisa, are there any rooms here? Can you open three rooms for me?"

The little widow was somewhat embarrassed upon hearing this and said:

"Sorry, guest, we basically don't have many travelers here, so there are only two single rooms in the shop, and only two beds."

Wayne wasn't angry upon hearing this. He looked at George, who seemed to have gotten drunk and was reeking of alcohol, and then looked at Borch, who was fat and also reeking of alcohol.

He thought about it; anyway, with a Witcher's physical strength, it didn't matter if they didn't sleep for a few nights.

So he nodded and said: "Then just rent both rooms to us. I'll send my friend back to the room first."

He stood up and was just about to help George up when Lisa pulled his wrist and whispered:

"However, if you don't mind, there are two beds in my bedroom. Guest, you can make do for a night at my place."

Wayne looked at Lisa with some surprise upon hearing this, then looked at her son, who was only five or six years old and playing with blocks on a chair, and nodded thoughtfully.

………………

Early the next morning, just as dawn broke.

They left George's mount at Lisa's small tavern, and George also met with the Baron here to report on the progress of the dragon-hunting mission.

The three brought their weapons and equipment and left Crow's Perch.

They kept walking along the small path until they could no longer see the village surrounded by wooden walls, when Borch restored his true golden dragon form in a secluded place.

The two Witchers didn't delay, immediately rode on the back of the golden dragon, and under George's guidance, flew toward the Downwalen village located in the Velen swamp area.

This was a somewhat strange village. According to the information George had inquired about, Downwalen village was famous for its lace clothing manufacturing and processing craft.

Unlike other villages that were ravaged by beasts and monsters all over Velen, this village seemed to be protected by some kind of power. Although it was located in the swamp area with the most monsters, it lived more peacefully than other villages.

Although George didn't know the specific truth, Wayne, who had played the game, knew that this village, to some extent, could actually be considered a believer of the Crones. And these old monsters, the Crones, hid many secrets. The time they came to this world was even earlier than humans, exceeding thousands of years.

There was a saying that the Crones were the actual rulers of Velen, and the time they ruled this area was even longer than the nobles of the Kingdom of Temeria.

If the nobles relied on soldiers and laws to rule this area, then the Crones relied on fear and faith to rule Velen.

This desolate area had their ears everywhere, and many monsters and beasts were driven by them. They were deeply rooted in this area and could be considered the strongest local snakes in Velen.

All villages living in Velen had to make sacrifices to the Crones, and the Crones would indeed help these villages live better in difficult times. Of course, this help came at a price, and the price was very high.

The only thing that could be certain was that the Crones were man-eating monsters. The number of humans they had eaten in these thousands of years was probably in the tens of thousands.

Thinking about this information obtained from the game, Wayne didn't say it out loud, and he couldn't explain the source of his information.

Borch's speed was very fast, and it only took about an hour to fly near Downwalen village.

However, the scene that came into their eyes let the three know that they were still late.

Looking from afar, a village that was not too large was burning fiercely, and the sky-high flames illuminated the nearby fields and wilderness.

About a third of the houses had been swallowed by flames, and the wooden houses were like burning torches, making the entire Downwalen village emit high temperatures and flames.

Unfortunately, although it was guessed that this matter was very likely done by that green dragon, they didn't see the flying figure of that green dragon in the air. It was unknown whether it had already left or was chasing the residents in the village.

"Let's go to the village first to see if there is anyone who needs help."

Borch didn't answer upon hearing this, but let out a clear dragon roar, then adjusted the flight angle and descended to a place a few dozen meters from the ground, flying over Downwalen.

Wayne narrowed his eyes and quickly observed the situation in the village. The result surprised him; it was neither good nor bad.

In the entire village, there were no shouts or wails from humans being burned or fighting the fire, nor was there any noisy sound of fighting, and not even a corpse could be seen.

It seemed that everyone in the village had already evacuated long ago.

He patted Borch's back and said loudly: "Then let's go down. There are no living people here. We must find the whereabouts of those villagers according to the clues on the ground."

"Perhaps we can also know where that green dragon went from their mouths."

Borch didn't say much, immediately found an open space that was not affected by the fire, and landed on the ground.

After he restored his human form, Wayne noticed that George's expression was somewhat ugly and immediately guessed what he was thinking, so he patted his shoulder and said:

"Don't think so much, George. Even if you rode a horse to get here yesterday, you wouldn't necessarily be faster than us flying over now. Instead, you might encounter more accidents because of getting lost."

Hearing Wayne's persuasion, George quickly figured it out, nodded, and asked him:

"What now? Wayne, you are the employer; you decide."

Wayne carefully distinguished the sounds in the village and indeed didn't hear any human calls. After thinking about it, he said to George:

"There are no corpses seen here, and no sounds heard. The villagers should have evacuated in advance."

"There are so many of them; if we look for them, we should easily find their tracks."

"We just need to follow the tracks to find them."

George nodded, so he and Wayne separated to look for the tracks on the ground. As expected, they soon made a discovery.

Indeed, as Wayne said, the number of people who evacuated was not small. There were old people and children. Such clues were quite obvious to Witchers.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 112 =====