The Divine Hunter

ts away.
His eyes cleared up.
“What about you, Coral? How’s your work in Kerack going?”

“Not exactly busy.” Coral rested her chin on her hand and smiled.
“You know being a royal consultant is a boring job.
Nothing interesting happens.
So, I assume you have good news for me?”

“Back when we were in Cintra, you said you were interested in the mutation process of witchers, right?” Roy shifted his gaze away from her lips.
“And I have something just for you.” Roy took the copy of the research journal out and showed it to Coral.

“Alzur’s Witcher Research Journal, a spellbook, experiment journal…” Coral could no longer stay elegant.
Her jaw dropped, and she looked shocked.
“Did you loot a sorcerer’s lab?”

“Yes.” Roy scratched his nose.
“Azar Javed ‘heroically sacrificed himself,’ so his items were ripe for the picking.
I wasn’t gonna let anyone take it, and you need them.
Besides, I still need you to help out with the Trial of the Grasses.” Roy had to start preparing for the second trial.

“Who’s the new witcher?”

“You’ll find out.” A pause later, Roy said, “But there’s a lot of this stuff here.
It’s going to be hard for you to transcribe just with this telescope.
I’ll come up with a way to send these over.”

“No need for that,” Coral stopped him.
She pursed her lips, gazing at him as she slowly got closer to the screen.
“Yennefer has always complained that witchers are as unromantic as they get.
They would never give anyone gifts, but I think she could be wrong.
Are you—”

“I’m just trying to get someone to help my school out,” Roy said.
He changed the subject.
“Coral, I have a question.
Three sorcerers came to Vizima today.
If I’m right, they’ll be Foltest’s new royal consultants.
How much can you tell me about them?”

Coral sighed, as if she were complaining about Roy being unromantic.
She then remembered something fun, and she smiled.
“My sisters told me about the new consultants, and they have records in the organization.
Foltest told us he wanted to hire a few sorcerers to keep himself safe.
According to him, some sort of horrible monster has appeared in Vizima.
It has killed the leader of the knight order and his previous royal consultant, the sorcerer from Zerrikania.
It’s not every day the king of one of the strongest kingdoms in the north asks us for help.
It’s a great chance to ease the strain between us and the kingdoms, so the organization sent three sorcerers who were nearest to Vizima to help out.” Coral massaged her forehead.
“Keira Metz of Carreras, Fercart of Cidaris—”

“Where’s Cidaris located?”

“North of Kerack.
Not that far from where I am, actually.
Fercart is a megalomaniac, and Vizima is nearer to the center of power, so he tossed Cidaris away.
And the last one is a young but extremely talented sorceress.
She’s a girl from Maribor—Triss Merigold.”

“Triss?” Roy froze for a moment.
He had a trip down memory lane to the days when he played Witcher 3.
He recalled a lady with maroon hair, and she left as deep an impression on him as Yennefer did.

“You know her, Roy?” Coral arched her eyebrow.

“You told me about her back at the temple of Melitele, remember?” Roy explained.
“Geralt told me about her as well.”

“Is that so?” Coral let her guard down.
“Triss is good friends with Yennefer, and Yennefer has a rich past with Geralt.
Still going around each other even until now.
It’s possible he told you about her.
Oh, and one more thing about the royal consultants.
Be careful of Keira Metz.
Don’t be fooled by her looks and elegance.” Coral scoffed.
“Because she has no shame at all.”

Ooookay?

“Yes, she is beautiful, but she has no concept of purity.
She’s interested in every single man she comes across.
If she wasn’t a sorceress, she’d probably have a lot of kids by now.
And rumors say she’s interested in witchers.” Coral gave Roy a look.

“Don’t worry.
I won’t get involved with her.” He was not going to sleep with someone Auckes slept with.

“Triss is… not bad.
You can try talking to her, but don’t fall for her charms.
Oh, I’m just joking.
Just don’t get entangled with her.”

“Um…”

“Let’s get back to an earlier question.
Are you alone?”

“Letho and the others are in the inn.
They’re gonna drink through the night,” Roy said.

“Excellent! You don’t have to give me the journal right now.” A gale stirred in the room, whipping up dust and billowing the curtains.
A whirlpool the size of a fist appeared in the air, and it expanded until it became a fiery door.
Coral came out of the door, covered in nothing but her towel.
She grabbed Roy’s hands, who was still in shock.
“Why do your hands feel smoother than a woman’s?”

“That’s just your mind playing tricks on you.”

“We’ll talk later.
Take the journal and come with me.” She chuckled, huddling closer to Roy.
“Time to fulfill your promise and teach me that dance.” She turned around and stood on her tiptoes.
Her towel slipped down a little, revealing her flawless skin that had an angelfish tattooed on it.

Roy was pulled into the portal, and chuckles came from behind it.
Roy grunted, and water splashed.
Coral gasped.
“Why do you have a dog in your hood, Roy?”

“Woof!”