Chapter 80

Borch was quite shocked after hearing Wayne's answer.

Most humans in this world are staunch racists; even if they don't openly exclude non-human races, very few people are like Wayne, befriending non-human races, let alone demi-humans or dragons.

He chuckled, poured himself another large glass of red wine, looking quite content, patted his slightly bulging belly, and said, "Wayne, my friend, may I call you that?"

Wayne nodded with a smile, not refusing Borch's intimacy, and said:

"You are a well-traveled gentleman, Borch, wealthy and generous, and also very interesting."

"I like making friends with people like you."

"That's great. I also like your character and philosophy, Wayne. You are a good conversationalist."

Borch took another sip of red wine, then stuffed a large mouthful of fried chicken into his mouth, and suddenly said with some emotion: "However, I cannot stay here for long, my friend. Tomorrow I must leave here and head to the city of Hooborg."

"There is something I must do there."

"Thank you for your hospitality, Wayne. When there is an opportunity in the future, I will certainly treat you well in return."

Upon hearing this, Wayne immediately guessed the purpose of Borch's trip. He had likely heard somewhere that there was news of dragon-slaying in Hooborg, so he wanted to rush there to see the situation.

In the original work, he met Geralt and learned that the White Wolf was a witcher who did not want to kill dragons, so he used his human identity to involve Geralt in the dragon-slaying event, making him stir up the various forces and successfully save the injured dragon.

But now, because of his influence, Borch probably wouldn't be able to meet Geralt, which is why he had to find other ways to save that dragon.

Wayne considered it in his mind for a few seconds, then pretended to say regretfully: "Are you leaving tomorrow, Borch?"

"That is a real pity. I am planning to hold an open-air banquet at my home tomorrow, both to celebrate moving into my new home and to see off one of my witcher companions."

"If you, Vea, and Téa also attend, it would certainly be a quite pleasant experience."

As he spoke, he looked at Borch's expression, pretended to be deep in thought for several seconds, and then asked: "If you have any trouble?"

"You know, as a witcher, if it is a request from a friend, I should be able to help you."

"And as a knight as wealthy as you, if you are willing to pay enough reward, you will get the help of two witchers."

Borch's eyes lit up upon hearing this, but he seemed to have concerns in his heart. After considering for a few seconds, he still shook his head and said:

And in the Korath Desert where Zerrikania is located, there also exists a branch of witchers, the Manticore School, which many Northern witchers know very little about.

"I still need to consider it."

Wayne did not force it. Anyway, regardless of whether Borch gave him a commission, he was definitely going to Hooborg. Not only was he going, but he also had to take Geralt with him.

Because according to the development of the original story, Geralt's dream lover, Yennefer, would also go to participate in this dragon-slaying event and meet Geralt again, continuing the fate that was separated last time due to the genie incident.

If his intervention caused his good brother to miss this destined love, that would really be letting him down.

Thinking of this, he smiled and patted Borch on the shoulder, saying:

"Think about it carefully, Borch."

"However, you don't need to go to the city to find an inn to stay in anymore. Stay at my house tonight."

"There are enough guest rooms on the first floor for you to rest. What we need now is to drink heartily."

Borch was quite open-minded and did not refuse Wayne's kindness, perhaps because Wayne's cooking was so good that even this well-traveled golden dragon was quite reluctant to leave.

The four of them ate and drank, talked about various experiences, and chatted for a full two hours before ending this lunch.

In the afternoon, Borch was already slightly tipsy and fell asleep directly in the guest room.

As for Vea and Téa, after serving Borch to wash up, they were quite bored and practiced Zerrikanian swordsmanship using dummies in the simple training ground Wayne had built.

The four Zerrikanian sabers were like thunder and storms in their hands, fast and ruthless, with every strike aimed at the enemy's vitals. Between the swings, one could often only see the afterimages of the blades, which would make even bystanders feel terrified. Combined with the girls' nimble footwork, it could definitely be called a battlefield killing art, and its power was astonishing.

Wayne stood by and watched for a while, and also felt it was quite tricky. If he didn't use Signs, he wouldn't be able to retreat unscathed when facing the siege of the two girls; he would have to pay a certain price to win.

Although Téa and Vea looked only about twenty years old, Zerrikanian female warriors were different from ordinary soldiers. They had been strictly selected since childhood and, under the training of professional instructors, had received rigorous militarized training, day after day for ten years, without stopping.

Therefore, every adult Zerrikanian female warrior was basically an elite expert who had undergone more than ten years of training, and even in the Zerrikanian Kingdom, they enjoyed a quite high status.

And being able to become the guards of the golden dragon Borch, these two girls could be said to be geniuses among Zerrikanian female warriors, and they had to go through layers of selection to possess such qualifications.

Perhaps because the two Zerrikanian girls were also very interested in witcher swordsmanship, after seeing Wayne standing on the side, Vea, who was shorter, had a bolder personality. She grinned at Wayne and said in somewhat awkward Common Tongue:

"Mr. Wayne, practicing swordsmanship with dummies is meaningless."

"We are very interested in witcher swordsmanship. Can we have a spar with you?"

Upon hearing this, Wayne looked at Vea and then at Téa on the side. Both Zerrikanian girls were looking at him with sparkling eyes, full of expectation, which made it hard for him to refuse.

So, he smiled helplessly, nodded, and without any nonsense, took an unsharpened steel sword from the weapon rack on the side, set up the offensive stance of the Wolf School, and said: "A spar is no problem, but Vea, my swordsmanship is very fast, not fancy swordsmanship for viewing. You must concentrate."

Vea nodded, picked up her Zerrikanian saber, and set up her most proficient offensive stance, her petite body exuding a sharp killing intent.

As an experienced warrior, she would go all out when facing any enemy, let alone facing a legendary witcher.

Seeing that Vea was ready, Wayne didn't continue to talk nonsense. He held the steel sword horizontally, moved his feet forward, thrust the blade out, and used the most common and hardest-to-defend fast thrust against the girl.

And just at the moment Wayne thrust his sword, the sword light, as fast as a cold star, shocked the Zerrikanian girl on the opposite side.

She swung her saber to form a dense curtain of blades in front of her, but she only barely blocked a few of the fastest straight thrusts before her formation was disrupted by Wayne's continuous high-speed attacks, revealing flaws.

Wayne closed in, slammed his shoulder into Vea's chest, causing her to lose her balance, then reached out to grab the girl's wrist, pulled her into his chest, and the steel sword in his hand had instantly crossed Vea's neck, causing her to lose her combat effectiveness.

The entire battle process took no more than twenty seconds, but the result of such a crushing spar made Vea, a girl who had been called a genius warrior since childhood, feel heartfelt admiration.

She stood on tiptoe, kissed Wayne on the side of his face, and said with a giggle:

"As expected of a swordsmanship master. If it were on the battlefield, I would have already died under your sword."

Feeling the girl's warm lips, Wayne resisted showing his pride.

He smiled and softly comforted the girl. A few words of flattery and coaxing successfully made the female warrior, who was a bit frustrated because of her failure, beam with joy.

Actually, if it were Wayne before drinking the Holy Water, facing Vea's challenge, even if he could succeed, he wouldn't have performed so effortlessly.

But the current Wayne, after drinking the Holy Water, not only gained an all-attribute increase of five but also had various hidden injuries throughout his body repaired, and his five senses were enhanced; his strength was already much stronger than before.

Just by swordsmanship alone, in a one-on-one fight, it was basically impossible for ordinary people to defeat him.

Only those extraordinary warriors with innate talents or fellow witchers had the ability to compete with him in swordsmanship.

Téa on the side also felt itchy after watching the spar. Under Vea's chattering instigation, she also had a martial arts spar with Wayne. Of course, the result was about the same; she lost the spar very quickly.

This made the two Zerrikanian girls quite frustrated, and they had little interest in the subsequent training.

Seeing this, Wayne immediately had an idea. He took out a few decks of Gwent cards from his arms and said to the two girls with a smile:

"No need to be frustrated, Téa, Vea. Strictly speaking, we witchers can no longer be considered normal humans. Our main enemies are those powerful monsters. Losing to us is a very normal thing."

"While everyone still has time in the afternoon, why don't I teach you how to play an interesting game? You will definitely fall in love with it."

(End of chapter)