Chapter 84: Yennefer

The woman riding the black horse had long, raven-black hair, violet eyes, an obsidian star-shaped amulet around her neck, and a beauty mark below her mouth; she looked both charming and alluring, possessing the mature temperament of a dominant woman.

She had a special magnetism, and the moment she appeared, she drew the gaze of everyone present.

Wayne knew who she was: this was the sorceress whose fate was intertwined with Geralt, Yennefer of Vengerberg.

He watched her with an appreciative gaze for a few seconds, then turned to look at Geralt, and sure enough, he found the famous White Wolf staring fixedly at the woman, his eyes, usually calm as an ancient well, seemingly revealing unusual emotions.

He chuckled inwardly; the purpose of bringing Geralt this time was for nothing else but to have him hold Yennefer back, as Yennefer was the most difficult to deal with among the dragon-slaying party, and the current sorceress was extremely stubborn—a woman who would strike ruthlessly to achieve her goals.

The sorceress rode to the bridge with an expressionless face, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, lingering on Geralt for a few seconds longer, seemingly showing some fluctuation.

However, she said nothing, and after the crowd in front made way for her, she rode her black horse up to the soldiers.

The simple-minded guard soldier scanned Yennefer with a greedy gaze and quietly swallowed, but this grunt also knew that the woman before him was someone he could not afford to provoke, so he said in a somewhat stiff tone: "Whoever you are, no one can cross the bridge without a pass."

The sorceress did not respond to him with words; she reached into her jacket pocket, took out a paper pass, and handed it to the soldier.

The soldier reached out to take it and looked it over, then took out an original to compare it, only then nodding, whispering a few words to another soldier, and clearing the path to the bridge.

Yennefer mounted her horse, looked back at Geralt in the crowd, and just as she was about to ride across the bridge, a voice called out to her.

"Lady Yennefer, please wait a moment."

Recognizing that it was not Geralt's voice, the sorceress turned back with some indifference, only to see a tall, handsome youth walking toward her with a smile.

Originally, Yennefer did not want to pay attention, but upon noticing the youth's amber cat-like pupils and his pointed ears, her heart stirred, and she asked in a somewhat low female voice: "What is it, Mr. Witcher?"

Wayne stepped up to the sorceress, facing Yennefer's scrutinizing gaze without the slightest awkwardness, and said in a low voice: "Lady Yennefer, are you also here to hunt the dragon?"

Yennefer made a "hmm" sound through her nose, noticing that Geralt, who had just been in the crowd, also seemed to be edging closer, so she asked with some impatience: "Say what you have to say quickly, don't be coy like a little girl, I'm in a hurry."

Wayne followed her line of sight and also saw Geralt, who was shrinking back, wanting to approach but afraid of being shunned by Yennefer, and chuckled, saying: "You are a noble sorceress; how can you go deep into the mountains and forests to hunt a dragon without a highly skilled bodyguard?"

"As long as you give me one hundred Lindars, how about I lend you my famous companion, Geralt the White Wolf, to be your bodyguard?"

Yennefer looked at Wayne with some surprise, not knowing why this young witcher she didn't know would make such a suggestion.

However, she thought of her purpose this time, glanced at Geralt, who was standing a few meters away with an awkward expression, snorted, took a small purse from her belt, threw it at Wayne, and said in a somewhat overbearing tone: "Here are two hundred Lindars."

"Let him come over, but if he wants to be my bodyguard, he must honestly follow my orders and not just leave me behind for no reason and vanish without a trace."

Wayne knew that this was because Yennefer was extremely angry that Geralt had once woken up one morning, said nothing, and secretly ran away, leaving her behind.

This was also one of the main reasons for the cold war they had been fighting for years.

"No problem, we witchers always keep our promises; this time, he will definitely guard your side closely and will not run away again."

He smiled, took the purse, put it in his pocket, nodded to the sorceress, walked a few steps to Geralt's side, and under the White Wolf's somewhat ambiguous, even bewildered gaze, whispered:

"Brother, this sorceress is handed over to you; you don't need to worry about anyone else, you just need to stop her from slaying the dragon."

Geralt was a bit dazed at this moment; from the moment he saw Yennefer, his heart and mind had been entirely on the sorceress, but he had not expected Wayne to suddenly jump out, make a deal with Yennefer, and sell him to the sorceress as a bodyguard.

Although his goal this time was to protect Yennefer from being harmed during the dragon-slaying operation, such a sudden turn of events left him unable to adapt.

Geralt was silent for a few seconds before saying somewhat stiffly:

"You should have discussed it with me beforehand."

"Time was too tight just now, no time to explain."

Wayne said somewhat perfunctorily, then patted Geralt on the shoulder and urged:

"Remember, my brother, watch your sorceress; don't let her intervene until we've dealt with the others." After saying this, he didn't give Geralt time to retort, handing his mount Roach and the supplies on the horse over to Geralt.

Then he pushed the somewhat stiff witcher toward Yennefer, who was already getting impatient, and turned to leave.

It must be said that Yennefer was truly Geralt's nemesis to a certain extent; after being pushed to the sorceress's side by Wayne, it was unknown what Yennefer said to him, but Geralt immediately became obedient and followed behind the sorceress, clearly being held firmly in her grasp.

Watching their retreating backs, Wayne walked back to Borch and said to the three who had been waiting there: "Let's leave here too; without a pass, there's no other way unless we force our way through."

Borch looked at Geralt and Yennefer's backs with some curiosity, wondering about the relationship between the two.

However, everyone was here on business this time, and there wasn't much time for him to gossip, so he nodded and, along with Tea and Vea, followed Wayne's pace and rode away.

The four rode for about ten minutes.

Until there were no other outsiders around, Wayne suddenly spoke to Borch and asked:

"My friend, we have reached Hoherberg now, you don't need to hide it from me anymore."

"Can you tell me your true identity?"

Borch was startled, blinked, and asked: "What are you talking about? My friend, my true identity or something..."

Wayne looked at Borch, then saw that Vea and Tea were both looking at him with strange expressions, but he didn't care, instead extending his right hand to show the golden ring on his little finger to the three, then said:

"Borch, um, or should I say Lord Golden Dragon, actually you definitely wouldn't have guessed, I am a favored one of the Lady of the Lake."

"Before setting out, the Lady told me that among those traveling with me, there is one of the world's extremely rare golden dragons."

"I guessed it must be you, which is perhaps the reason you want to save that green dragon, am I right, Borch?"

Borch first opened his mouth in surprise, then stared at the ring on Wayne's finger that looked quite simple but radiated a mysterious color, paused for two seconds, then laughed loudly and said:

"I really didn't expect it, Wayne, my friend, you are such a special person."

"Since you knew I was a dragon, why did you still accept my commission to come here and wade into these muddy waters?"

Wayne shrugged, his smile unchanged, and said: "When we were drinking together, didn't I already say it?"

"We are friends, I don't care about things like race; as long as it's not the kind of bastard who brings disaster to the land and must go to hell, as long as it suits my taste, we can all be friends."

Borch laughed a few more times and said:

"Good, good, good, you really are a magical person; is this also the reason why that Lady of the Lake favors you?"

Wayne just smiled and didn't answer this question; Borch's identity as a golden dragon was, of course, not told to him by the Lady of the Lake—this was just a lie he told, and anyway, besides him, basically no one could go to that Lady to verify this statement.

"Actually, I didn't expect that I would become friends with a dragon, and a golden dragon at that, which is rare in the world; logically speaking, golden dragons are just like phoenixes, they are only legends and do not exist in reality."

Borch touched his beard, chuckled, and said: "The world is so big, and you haven't seen it with your own eyes, so how can you conclude that golden dragons and phoenixes don't exist?"

"Anyway, I was a golden dragon the moment I was born; since my existence is a fact, what reason is there to deny it?"

Wayne waved his hand, his expression becoming serious, and said: "We can talk about the topic of dragons in detail later, but I exposed your identity not to make you look bad or out of malice."

"What I want to say is, since you are a dragon, a golden dragon that can fly in the sky, why do we still care about that troublesome pass?"

"We don't need to beat around the bush or play those schemes and tricks; later, we'll find a secluded place, you transform into your dragon form, and take Diya, Weiya, and me to the side of the Green Dragon."

"We can make preparations in advance inside the Green Dragon's lair."

"Besides, you should have heard it too, that Green Dragon of yours is already injured; I happen to have some miraculous healing potions on me, which might be able to help that poor Green Dragon so she doesn't have to suffer any more."

(End of chapter)