Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 576 Erin from Another World
Moonlit night.

Fireflies flew through the silent darkness, their shimmering light revealing a glimpse of the true form of the black monster lurking high in the mountains.

A heavily guarded fortress.

Or at least it was once a heavily guarded fortress.

Bricks, beams, and planks were piled up haphazardly, all covered with a thick layer of dust, and the city walls were blackened and covered with burn marks.

Fireflies sway in the wind; this place is more like ruins than a fortress.

However, this place is not just a deserted ruin. The stockade bridge over the moat was originally broken in part, revealing a large hole, but a few irregularly shaped wooden planks filled these gaps.

Although the bricks, beams, and planks were piled up haphazardly, they did not obstruct the path leading directly to the castle.

"Wow~"

A mountain breeze suddenly stirred up dust from the ground, causing dappled shadows of trees to sway.

Suddenly, the darkness burst forth with starlight.

A horse appeared with a "bang" amidst the starlight, carrying a girl, followed by a strange beast with a single horn.

Starry-eyed, is this your home?
Ivaraquax looked curiously at the huge, dilapidated stone house not far away, its front hooves gently pawing at the soil.

She stared blankly at the familiar, dilapidated city gate, the rusty chains of the stockade bridge, and the hole in the stockade bridge that had been cut down, planed, and nailed up because she had almost fallen into the dry moat.

Geralt and Vesemir's cooking skills were really not very good, and Escal and Lambert mocked them quite a few times when they returned in winter.

She took a deep breath of the air she had longed for since Tyr Na Lia.

"Yes, Ivaraquax."

"I am home."

"Da da da~"

She gently patted Kelby's neck, and the black mare trotted gracefully toward the dark ruins.

Ivaraquax sensed the girl's emotions and silently followed.

Quietly, they crossed the village bridge, entered the barbican, and then walked through another iron gate with a large opening, arriving at the inner fortress.

Upon entering the inner fortress, one finds a training ground overgrown with weeds.

A winding path led directly to the main castle atop a three-story platform. Surrounded by towering, dark walls, it offered her no sense of terror or anything of the sort that she expected.

"...I will definitely save the Wolf School..."

[...When you travel back to your world, the first thing you see is me...]

"Erin, you really are a liar..."

Sheri looked up at the crescent moon hanging high above the purple robe, and murmured to herself in self-reproach.

Since nothing has changed in Kaer Morhen, Arryn, the wolf school witcher from seventy years ago, has naturally failed on that plain.

He failed to keep all his promises, failed to save the Wolf School, and failed to survive the disaster.

As I thought about it, tears involuntarily streamed down my face.

The mountain breeze rustled through the weeds, shrubs, and yew trees lining the path.

Starry-eyed, what's wrong?
Ivaraquax came up from behind, saw the tear stains on the girl's face, and tilted his head.

Aren't you happy to be home? (Starry-eyed emoji)

"I……"

The girl wiped away her tears, trying to hide something, and suddenly turned her head sharply to look at the darkness under the scaffolding of the city wall beside her.

"who?!!"

A figure emerged from the darkness.

The girl's wariness instantly turned into surprise: "Vesemir!"

She quickly dismounted, took a few quick steps, and leaped onto the white-haired old witcher.

Two long, slender legs bent, swaying joyfully behind her.

"Hehehe~" The old witcher's face crinkled with laughter as he spun the girl around several times. "You've lost weight, Ciri, you've lost weight..."

Ciri, who was already struggling to suppress the bitterness in her heart, had countless images flash before her eyes the moment she heard the old witcher's hoarse voice.

She buried her head deep in the old witcher's arms and burst into tears.

"So many people have died, Vesemir! So many people have died because of me!"

“Giselle, Kere, Esther, Reeves, Iskra… and Michael. He sawed off their heads… one after another, right in front of me…”

"...Old Raven Vesogta could have lived a long time, but he died too..."

"And...and..."

……

The girl started speaking with some logic, but as she continued, she started sobbing and uttering one or two names at a time. In the end, her voice became hoarse from crying, and it was just pure sobbing and venting.

The old witcher's nose also tingled with emotion. He tilted his head back for a long time, forcing back his tears, before gently patting the girl's thin back.
"Alright, alright, you're back, everyone's back. You're home, She-Ra..."

After being comforted for a while, She-Ra finally let out all the grievances she had suffered along the way through tears.

Then she remembered that she was no longer the little girl who spent all her time thinking about how to escape Vesemir's boring classes, and she got off the old witcher with embarrassment.

She wiped away her tears and changed the subject in a hoarse voice:
"Vesemir, why are you still in Kaer Morhen at this hour? Shouldn't you have gone down the mountain long ago?"

Vesemir did not answer the question immediately, but stared straight at Ciri's face.

Sheri seemed to remember something, and awkwardly turned to the side, smoothing the strands of hair behind her ear with her left hand, letting her long, silvery hair cover the horrifying scar on her left eye.

The old witcher, of course, couldn't ignore the girl's actions, but he didn't say anything. He took a deep breath, calmed the raging anger burning within him, and then, following the girl's words, said:

“It was Triss Merigold. A few months ago, she suddenly contacted me and told me that Geralt had lost you on Xenide Island.”

"I told you to come back quickly and wait for you in Kaer Morhen, but I never expected that I would actually find you."

"Wait a moment, after I find the magical item Triss Merigold gave me, I need to inform her so she can then inform Geralt..."

The old Witcher suddenly paused.

After calming down, he noticed Ivaraquax hiding behind the dark horse Kelby.

Sheryl turned her head following his gaze: "Oh right, Vesemir, I forgot to introduce you."

"It is my friend Ivaraquax, and it was thanks to it that I was able to escape from the Wild Hunt."

“Ivaraquax, this is Vesemir, the Witcher Master of the Wolf School, I…I…”

The old witcher waved his hand, glanced up at the crescent moon hanging high in the sky, and said, "Let's talk about it once we're inside the castle. You must be starving. Let's warm ourselves by the fire and get you something to eat..."

The voice just fell.

"Gulu——"

"Gulu——"

Two loud rumbling sounds echoed through the ruined castle of Kaer Morhen, silencing even the biting mountain winds that swept by.

Vesemir paused for a moment, then smiled gently and shook his head: "Come with me."

"Wait!" Ciri, who had taken Kelby's reins, suddenly called out to the old witcher.

"What's wrong, She-Ra?"

The girl hesitated for a moment, but finally decided to speak up and asked:

“Vesemir, do you remember a Witcher from the Wolf School named Arryn?”

...“Bibo Bibo~”

Inside the castle hall, where a campfire blazed, Ciri sat alone at an ancient oak table, greedily devouring the stew made by the old witcher.

Yes.

Vesemir was not in the castle hall.

Of course, I'm only temporarily away.

"Squeak~"

At the entrance to the castle hall, the dilapidated door was pushed open, and the rusty hinges groaned unpleasantly.

Almost the instant the unpleasant groans reached her, Sheri, ignoring the slightly hot and delicious stew, jumped up from her seat and headed for the door.

Vesemir entered through the door, carrying several pamphlets.

“It’s been so long since the library has been cleaned,” the old Witcher complained. “This winter, Geralt, Escalde, and Lambert should give the whole Kaer Morhen a proper cleaning…”

"So you found them, Vesemir?" Ciri approached the old witcher and took the dusty booklets without wiping the food crumbs off her face.

"Wow~"

The pages turn.

"Actually, there's no need to make such a big fuss. Although seventy years ago was the peak of the Wolf School, due to the difficulty of the three trials, there weren't many people in Kaer Morhen, even in winter."

"Not to mention master witchers, I won't forget any ordinary witchers from the Wolf School..."

"And a fourteen or fifteen-year-old demon hunter master, little girl, do you think hunting a large monster is easy?"

"I was the youngest Witcher Master in the Wolf School back then, and I was almost fifty when I became a Witcher Master..."

Vesemir watched Shire hurriedly turning the pages of the book, shook his head slightly, and rambled on and on.

until……

"Cough cough...Found it!" Shire coughed a few times from the dust, her slender, jade-like index finger pointing to a line of text in the Wolf School Experiment Catalog.

"There really is?!" Vesemir was stunned for a moment, then quickly came closer.

Sure enough, I saw the name "Eilin" on the yellowed, thin paper.

"Swish, swish, swish~"

Sheri's eyes lit up, and she quickly turned the pages.

"This is it!" She stopped on a certain page and stared intently at it.

[Apprentice: Erin]

[Method: Law of Accident]

[Date: December 21, 1166 (approximately less than one year old)]

[The Witcher Guide: Soy Henrietta]

……

“Soy Henryetta…” Vesemir exclaimed from the sidelines.

Hearing this, Shire asked curiously, "What happened to Soi Henryette?"

"Zoy was the grandmaster of the Wolf School at the time, and he was also the founder of the Wolf School who left the Witcher Order..."

"What's so weird about this?"

Vesemir frowned his thick eyebrows: "If I remember correctly, in 1166, Grandmaster Soy had devoted himself entirely to the affairs of the school and rarely came down the mountain to take on commissions."

"Rarely going down the mountain to accept commissions means rarely encountering apprentices, especially through the Law of Accidents..."

Seeing Shire's blank expression, Vesemir briefly explained: "Most of the apprentices who come up the mountain by accident are from poor families who can't afford to pay their wages."

"Grandmaster Soy is an upright man. It's not that he wouldn't accept such a commission, but the custom at the time was that Witcher Masters were qualified to waive this part of the bounty."

Ciri pursed her lips: "But wasn't I also Geralt's accident..."

“That’s different,” Vesemir interrupted Ciri. “Cases like yours are extremely rare, and each one becomes widely known because of your identity; at least no Wolf School witcher would be unaware of it…”

"At the long table in the castle hall, the witchers talked about everything, but I'd never heard of this guy named Erin before, it was like..."

“It’s like someone…” Ciri pointed to the name in the Witcher guide section, “is deliberately hiding it?”

Vesemir looked at the name Soi Henrietta and gently shook his head: "Let's continue reading..."

[On December 21, 1170, he underwent the "Choice" trial, adapted well to the trial, and no magical talent was detected...]

[Starting June 21, 1171, he began taking the enhancement potion and undergoing physical training...]

Sword training began on June 21, 1172...

【Year 1173……】

……

After all, it's a story about an apprentice's entire journey from childhood to experiencing the Witcher Trials, and it's quite lengthy.

Ciri and Vesemir turned page after page, and under the old Witcher's explanation, no matter how you assessed it, this apprentice named Arryn was very ordinary.

To put it more accurately, he was mediocre, mediocre in every way, and didn't look like someone who could become a master Witcher at the age of fourteen or fifteen.

And then, as expected...

When She-Ra turned a certain page, the hand suddenly froze, and the emerald pupils contracted sharply.

"This...this is impossible!"

Vesemir glanced at Shire and looked over with a frown.

He died on December 21, 1179, after undergoing the "Trial of the Grass."

The old witcher, who had anticipated this, sighed softly.

In the Wolf School… no… in any Witcher School, the death of a Witcher apprentice is a perfectly normal occurrence.

This was also the most important factor that led him, Geralt, Escalde, and Lambert to decide to abandon their efforts to continue the school after several years of struggle following its decline.

of course.

He didn't think Ciri had fabricated a witcher master from the Wolf School called Arryn.

Perhaps, possessing the legendary talent of ancient blood, she went to a place inaccessible to ordinary people, and that person named Erin might just be a spirit who longed to become a master witcher...

After sighing, the old witcher organized his thoughts, gently patted the girl's shoulder, and was about to say a few words of comfort.

suddenly.

As if sensing something, Shiri suddenly looked up and gazed at the castle hall, at the cobweb-covered, dusty beams.

Something she had given to the Witcher suddenly vanished like a shooting star in the power of the Ancient Blood.

It was dazzling suddenly, and then vanished in an instant.

She vaguely thought of a possibility.

……

At this moment, some people also seem to have gained some insight into the changes hidden in the dark side of the world.

But that person wasn't in the ruins of Kaer Morhen, but in a far more magnificent castle—

Tir Na Lia

(End of this chapter)