Chapter 88: The Legendary Hero of the Viper School

As Victor left the Kalkstan Alchemy Workshop, a fine rain began to fall from the sky. He hesitated briefly beneath the eaves, then decided to stroll home through the drizzle. However, before returning, there was one more place he needed to visit to confirm some of his suspicions.

...

When he finally arrived home after his detour, Victor discovered that the leftover apple pie from lunch had vanished without a trace. Dandelion wasn't particularly fond of sweets, and Katherin, a carnivore through and through, certainly wouldn't have eaten it. There was only one person who could have done such a thing.

It seemed she was recovering well; not only could she get out of bed on her own to forage for food, but she also had quite the appetite. Since Shani would likely be coming by later to check on the patient, Victor decided to cook something special himself.

When the third sizzling dish of meat was placed on the table, Victor easily caught sight of Angoulême’s furtive head peeking around the stairwell corner, drawn in by the tantalizing aroma.

He sliced off a piece of chicken and placed it on a plate, motioning for her to come and have a taste. “Shani should be coming tonight. Let’s wait for her before digging into the rest.”

She walked over, grabbed the chicken, and popped it into her mouth, declaring with satisfaction, “No problem! It’s delicious!”

“How are you feeling?”

She shrugged her neck. “My ears are still buzzing a bit, but everything else is fine.” Swallowing the chicken, she collapsed into a lounge chair in the living room, in a rather unladylike posture.

He pulled another lounge chair beside hers, handed her a flask of potion to drink, and relaxed into his own seat, enjoying a moment of leisure before dinner.

Angoulême’s voice drifted to him. “Victor…yesterday…what happened after I passed out yesterday?”

He turned to look at her; she was staring at the ceiling as if it were adorned with some masterpiece.

“…Didn’t Shani tell you when you woke up?”

“She just insisted I get some rest…”

There was a tinge of gloom in her tone. The captain could tell immediately—she was probably feeling insecure after being bested by a monster, worried that her place as the top fighter was in jeopardy. The sort of adolescent troubles he had plenty of experience with.

Fortunately, dealing with single-minded individuals was something Victor was well versed in; all it took was a little distraction to remedy the situation.

“In short… I used your crossbow to silence her, then carried you out. Halfway through our retreat, three witchers from the Viper School ‘just happened to be passing by’ and helped us deal with the vampire lady.”

“Are witchers really so remarkable that they can ‘just happen’ to be passing through the sewers?” Angoulême couldn’t resist the urge to retort.

That was a good sign—banter meant she was returning to normal. “Heh! They mistook me for a loner apprentice and wanted to take me in. They’d been tailing me for days.”

“Days… I never noticed a thing.” She was a little surprised.

“Of course. The witchers of the Viper School specialize in ‘stealth and infiltration.’” At this, Victor felt a sudden surge of mischief. He tried to resist, but couldn’t help himself; he desperately wanted to boast on behalf of the Viper School.

“You see, the legendary ‘Solid Snake’ of the Viper School was renowned for his intelligence, fluent in six languages, with unparalleled stealth skills. He infiltrated Nilfgaard multiple times and sabotaged colossal golems, earning the titles ‘Legendary Mercenary,’ ‘Legendary Hero,’ and ‘The Man Who Makes the Impossible Possible.’”

Listening to Victor’s fantastic tale, Angoulême stopped staring at the ceiling and turned to face him. “I’ve never heard of that person… And why do I feel like the captain is spouting nonsense again? Is this some of your hometown humor?”

“Tsk!” She was becoming less gullible and harder to fool—where was the girl who believed everything he said?

“I’m not making it up. It was the shadow war between ‘Solid Snake’ and ‘Liquid Snake’ that laid the foundation for Redania’s prosperity, establishing the famed tradition of ‘Royal Spies.’”

With not a hint of guilt, Victor dragged the very real Redanian royal spies into his story to back up his tall tales, then doubled down with even more outrageous claims.

After ten minutes of mixing fact and fiction, Victor succeeded in persuading Angoulême to accept the Viper School’s dazzling, magical history.

Swept up in the legendary stories, Angoulême’s spirits revived. “Hey, captain, since the vampire lady’s down, aren’t there no more monsters inside? Doesn’t that mean Yavon’s commission is completed?”

“Yes… why?”

“Since we’re done, there’s no contract binding us. I remember Yavon said that place was the residence of an elven mage—there should be plenty of ‘treasures’ inside.” As she spoke, a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

Should I be impressed? What happened to your sense of morality, barely scraping the average line? Why do you look so delightfully sly? Perhaps I need to reconsider whether there’s a flaw in her moral education.

Victor took a sip of milk. “I went to check before coming home. It’s empty—truly empty. No signs of habitation at all.”

“What? Nothing? Seriously? He lost an entire assault squad for an empty hall, and then asked the captain for help?” Angoulême could hardly believe it.

Victor crossed his arms. “I find it strange as well. I can only assume he was misled by records and genuinely thought there were ruins beneath. Unless he’s suddenly developed a passion for civic duty, striving to rid Vizima of danger.”

“He’d prefer the humans wiped out entirely.”

“Either way, I’ll settle accounts with him tomorrow and discuss it face-to-face. The task went beyond reasonable scope—it’s time to demand extra payment. You just stay home and rest; there’s no need to come along.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Angoulême, thinking it was Shani, jumped up to answer it. “Why don’t you open it yourself? Didn’t you bring your key?”

Victor also rose to greet his older sister, but when the door opened, a group of knights entered instead. They wore the Temerian lily insignia on their chests, signifying the Royal Guard.

Faced with these ‘running buddies’ from the last time Batman fled, Victor’s heart skipped a beat, wondering if his mischief had finally caught up with him.

Fortunately, one knight was helping Dandelion through the door, prompting Batman to withdraw his hand from the herb pouch.

Angoulême directed the knight to carry the poet upstairs to the third-floor bedroom, leaving Victor alone with the leader.

“Roderick de Witt, Royal Guard knight. You must be the ‘Heavenly Minstrel’ Master Dandelion spoke of—Victor,” said the knight, dark-haired and brown-eyed, with refined features and a Nilfgaardian accent, bowing slightly.

Victor returned the bow. “I wouldn’t dare call myself a heavenly minstrel—just an amateur.”

—Now Victor fully understood why Geralt would sometimes want to draw his sword and hack Dandelion to pieces. He felt the same urge now.

Roderick, however, was very pleased with Victor, who was impeccable in manner and appearance. “No need for false modesty. If the master recommends you so highly, you must possess exceptional talent.

Tomorrow, Princess Adda is hosting a court banquet and has invited Master Dandelion to perform. He insisted that your lute would add even more brilliance to Vizima’s starry night.

This is a formal invitation from the Temerian princess.” With that, he produced a gilded invitation from his pocket and handed it to the bard.

—An axe would be better. A blunt one. Start with the limbs. That bastard mustn’t die too easily.

Victor smiled graciously as he accepted the invitation. “It’s my honor.”