The Divine Hunter

he baron is busy.
He has no time to see you.
Now leave.”

“We are witchers.”

The answer sounded magical, and the soldiers froze for just a few moments.
One of them quickly went into the fortress and came back out with a pudgy, middle-aged man.
“Might you be witchers?” The man who came was in yellowish-brown, tight-fitting attire, and he spoke politely.
Even though he was faced with witchers, he showed no disdain or disgust.

“I am Letho of Gulet, a witcher from the Viper School, and this is Roy.”

“Good.
Very good…” The man rubbed his hands, and the excitement in his eyes was palpable.
“You came at the right time.
Your services are needed.”

“And you are…”

“Oh, that’s right.” The man extended his hand at the witcher.
He had a smooth hand, and there weren’t even any calluses on it.
“I am the butler for the baron—Grant.
Please come with me.
We can talk inside.”

***

The witchers went into the fortress with the butler.
It had simple decorations, a stark contrast to the usual decadence and resplendence of other nobility.
There were no oil paintings, animal specimens, or even armor.
The windows on the walls were sealed shut, forbidding the sunlight from ever shining into the rooms.
The fortress’ inner side felt cool and eerie.
There were hardly any sources of light, save for the few magical ones hanging from the ceiling.

There were, however, many servants who were rushing around.
Grant led the witchers to the staircase in the great hall and stopped the servant who was coming down.
“Regina! How is the baron doing?”

“He had some wine to drink and fell asleep.
Liv is with him.”

Grant eased up a little.
“You may leave us.”

The witchers looked at each other.
“This is quite decadent, isn’t it? Sleeping when the sun has risen? Did he spend all night having fun?”

***

Grant took them to his office and poured them two cups of red tea.
It was rare to receive any hospitality for witchers.
“It has been a couple of years since we last saw any witcher in the orchard.
Rare guests, both of you,” he reminisced.

Roy asked nonchalantly, “When was the last time you saw a witcher?”

Grant smiled, but he did not answer.
“My soldier told me you wished to speak to the baron?”

“Yes.” Letho brought up the excuse they came up with.
They needed some time to look into the matter and seek the truth.
“Roy and I are tracking down a monster near the orchard.
It is a sly one, and it managed to escape us.
It eventually came near this fortress and disappeared.”

“You’re saying that a monster is hiding in the great Amavet Fortress?” Grant had a weird look on his face.

“Most probably.”

“What kind of monster is it?”

“To tell you the truth, even if we told you, nonprofessionals won’t know what we’re talking about.
But I guarantee you that the monster is lethal, cruel, and dangerous.
I don’t think the baron would be too happy to find out that a monster has barged into his home.
If you let us check this place, we’ll capture it for you.
Nothing can escape witchers.” Letho noticed that Grant seemed to be in a dilemma.
“But if you can’t make the decision, we can talk with the baron.”

“I am sorry, Mr.
Letho, but the baron is in no state to see any guests.” The smile was wiped off Grant’s face.
“And I can’t agree with what you said.
Amavet Fortress is heavily guarded.
The soldiers would never allow a dangerous monster to infiltrate it.
And there are many residents in the fortress.
Someone would have noticed if a monster did manage to slip past the guards.
We had a morning meeting, and the servants all said everything is fine.”

“But they are not pro—”

“Enough, witchers.
I am not interested in any horror story you have to say, but I do have a request for you.
Care to hear me out?”

“Tell us more.”

“This is in line with your work.” The butler paused for a moment.
“The baron’s mother died two years ago, and she was his last living relative.
The baron has been feeling lonely.
Since then, he has been trying to enter the family tomb and pay tribute to his family, but the tomb is now infested with wraiths, and it’s stopping the baron from visiting his family.
If you can cleanse the tomb of its wraith infestation, you will be handsomely paid.”

The witchers looked at each other. Well, this is a coincidence.
We just left the baron’s family tomb, and now his butler is asking us to cleanse the tomb of the wraiths haunting it.

“Mr.
Grant, if that is your request, then…” Roy crossed his arms, smirking.
“You can give us our reward now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Letho and I cleansed the tomb of wraiths yesterday.”

“Impossible!” Grant gasped.
He shot up, delight crawling up his face, but it only lasted for a moment, and his face fell.
“Witcher, do you know what happens to those who deceive the Verrieres in the White Orchard?”

“You can send someone to verify if you don’t believe us.”

The butler gazed at them, trying to bore a hole through their souls and see if they were lying, but they seemed too confident to be lying.
“Give me a moment.
You cleared the tomb yesterday, so this monster you’re tracking down is…”

“I think you might have guessed it.
Well, this saves some time for both of us.
The monster you dismissed just now came right out of the tomb, and it’s closely related to the baron.” Roy stared straight at the butler.
“It’s probably standing right beside the baron’s bed as we speak,” he said, scaring the butler.