Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 642 Can you call me Mom one more time?

When Colin introduced himself briefly to Vera and mentioned Erin's current condition...

"What?!!"

You said Erin was seriously injured?

A piercing scream with a strong penetrating force immediately rang out on the old road, startling the birds on the treetops on both sides into flight.

Colin looked in the direction of the scream.

The gasp didn't come from Vera, but from the two women behind her who looked to be the same age, yet weren't standing together, but rather separated by several men—or rather, girls.

They must have just come from a difficult journey, as their exhaustion was undeniable.

But even dust, mud, and sweat cannot obscure their outstanding appearance; just as gold shines even brighter in the sunlight when surrounded by mud and sand.

No matter how unwilling Colin was, he had to admit that the two girls were more beautiful than his sweetheart, Vincent.

A female sorceress.

Without a doubt, they were sorceresses like Vera and Visena.

And they all like Erin… Colin thought.

"Where is he?" Vera asked expressionlessly.

Colin quickly pointed behind him to the oak tree not far from the old road: "It's under that oak tree..."

The words have not yet fallen.

Colin felt a gust of wind blow past him, and Vera's figure had already disappeared from his sight.

The two girls stumbled and ran after him, jostling each other, and the people along the old road hurriedly made way for them.

“Sorry,” Colin said, just as he came to his senses. A witcher with dark gold cat eyes walked up to him and smiled apologetically. “They were just too concerned about Erin. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Vesemir, a witcher from the Wolf School. These are Dante, Jerón Morlu, Vigfortz, and Ms. Ada. Can you tell us how you met Erin?”

Wigford, Dante, Jerón Mollu and Ida Emin then gathered around.

Colin looked around, paused for a moment, then nodded: "Of course."

the other side.

Just as Colin was recounting his encounter with Erin to everyone, Vera had already reached a lush oak tree that was at least thirty years old at her fastest speed.

But she didn't see her child.

What she saw was a sorceress dressed like a tomboy, wearing a brown blouse, a gray cloak, fur boots, and short, unkempt hair, standing in the shade of an oak tree.

She recognized the person: Vinsenna, the mistress of the Ring of Maidalui, and a member of the Middle Council of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.

However, Vera's gaze only lingered on Visenna for a moment before falling behind her into the dark shadows of the trees.

In the shade of the trees, on a roughly woven stretcher, layers of white bandages completely wrapped a person.

Two crystal-clear lovebirds stood on the wooden poles on one side of the stretcher, gently pecking at the person's hand.

But the man remained motionless, like a corpse whose soul had been taken by the Grim Reaper.

Erin!

Vera's heart skipped a beat, her vision went black, and she clutched her forehead, swaying unsteadily. Fortunately, Vincent noticed her and immediately stepped forward to support her, preventing her from falling.

"Ms. Vera, are you alright?"

“He…he…” Vera felt her throat was terribly dry, as if it were burning with fire. For a moment, she couldn’t form a coherent sentence. Perhaps she was afraid, afraid that if she asked a question, she would get an answer she didn’t want to hear.

“He is Erin,” Vinsenna followed her gaze and, knowing that Vera might have misunderstood something, quickly explained, “Although Erin’s injuries are very serious, his condition has stabilized.”

"You can't speak yet, but you're conscious and can communicate using telepathy."

Using telepathy... Upon hearing that Erin was conscious and in stable condition, Vera quickly activated her senses. Only after hearing his faint but steady breathing did she finally calm her panicked emotions.

"Thank you."

Vera took a deep breath, gave Vincent a stiff smile, patted Vincent's arm, and left her support.

Before she could say anything more, Vera took a few more steps closer to the stretcher and squatted down.

Arlin's breathing became clearer, but it was still fainter than the nearly burnt-out candlelight in the cold corridors of Kaer Morhen.

This caused Vera a sharp pain, as if she were being stabbed by steel needles.

"Crack~"

She took another deep breath and snapped her fingers.

[Vera...]

The moment Erin's weak yet clear voice appeared in her mind, it was as if a thread snapped instantly.

Hot tears silently welled up from the sorceress's eyes, falling in large drops that splashed against the wooden poles of the stretcher, eventually seeping into the soil or the gray linen.

[Vera, please find a way to open a portal to send Vinsenna and Colin back to the Ring of Maidalui.]

They had an urgent matter to attend to and needed to return; I had already agreed to it beforehand…

The time spent awake was too long, and in addition to taking stock of the rescue of Hen Gedimidis and the annihilation of the Wild Hunt, he also exhausted the last of his mental and magical energy to send out the lovebirds...

The weariness piled up layer upon layer, almost crushing Erin's mind, to the point that he couldn't even open his eyes.

Sensing the connection established through telepathy and confirming that the mental fluctuations were at a familiar frequency, he immediately reiterated the promises he had made to Vincent and Colin.

After the conversation ended, no other voices besides his were heard in the telepathic communication.

【Wei…】

Erin squeezed out some energy from his deep mental exhaustion to clear his mind and utter a single word.

The moist, warm fragrance of oranges mixed with cardamom wafted into my nostrils, and I could hear the "patter patter" of raindrops hitting the ground.

Vera cried.

The mental fluctuations from the telepathic technique became clear instantly, and the intense guilt overwhelmed the Witcher like a vast ocean.

Yes, guilt.

It wasn't sadness and heartache, but guilt and regret that filled every corner of the telepathic mental frequency.

Erin paused for a moment, then her voice softened.

Vera, this was my own choice. I chose to leave Kaer Morhen. You've forgotten how you tried to persuade me when you were in Kaer Morhen, but I didn't listen. My injuries are my own fault, and have nothing to do with you.

Vera did not respond.

The damp, warm fragrance of oranges mixed with cardamom grew even stronger. The sound of raindrops falling in my ears also quickened.

He forced his eyes open, and dirty red hair hung down in front of him, casting a heavy shadow that obscured the sorceress's face.

Only large, crystal-clear tears fell, fell, and fell again...

Erin was at a loss; he had never seen Vera like this before.

"How can you say it's unrelated, Erin?" Vera replied, her clear, cold voice trembling and choked with sobs. "I gave birth to you, and then abandoned you, making you endure the freezing winters of the Ancient Sea Fortress, year after year, with your hands cracked from the cold. I made you drink the bone-melting, skin-corroding herbal decoction, and led you down this damned path of the Witcher..."

"...Of course this day would come...I knew it all along...No...you've already experienced it..."

[...In Elland...I heard from Ianna...that you fell from the back of the great griffin and crashed heavily onto the hard rocks of Mahakam, your exposed skin covered in countless scalded blisters...]

[...Ianna and Melitelli's doctors and priests spent an entire night trying to save you...]

[...but I wasn't there at the time, and after hearing Ianna's words, I shamefully forgot...]

Ianna told me to tell you to be careful, but...

"You're a Witcher... You're the Witcher I sent to Kaer Morhen for trials..."

"[Vera, this was just an accident...]" Erin called out, but his words were drowned out by Vera's chaotic thoughts.

[...Witchers are always caught in a cycle of being wounded, seriously wounded, and slightly wounded...]

"[Vera!]" Erin couldn't help but call out again.

Vera continued her rambling, seemingly oblivious to his words: "Like this time, your injury is much more severe than last time. And as long as you are a Witcher, as long as you are doing the work of a Witcher, you will inevitably get injured again, just like your father, until he was crippled, until he died..."

"Mom!" Erin intensified the fluctuations in her thoughts.

Vera's thoughts suddenly quieted down.

"I'm really okay, it was just an accident," Erin said softly. "I'm so tired right now, I can't hold on much longer, I have so many things to arrange..."

"I'm sorry, you said..." Vera's voice was cautious.

[First, there's the matter of Vinsenna and Corin. Send them to the Ring of Maidruid. If they extend an invitation for us to stay, then there's no rush to return to Kaer Morhen.]

【it is good. 】

My injuries seem quite severe, but Full Moon (increases maximum health after consumption) and Swallow (accelerates life regeneration; life regeneration stops for two seconds during strenuous activity) should help me recover quickly. I've taught Mary this; I can ask her for help…

She's here, right behind us.

Mary is here… Erin paused for a moment before continuing: [There’s another potion called Pure White Raphael Decoction (instantly restores a certain percentage of health). It’s not difficult to make. The recipe is one bottle of dwarven spirits, five longleaf plantains, and one Fiend’s Heart. The process is to first extract the dwarven spirits… then squeeze the Fiend’s Heart’s blood… and finally the longleaf plantain… If the finished potion is a pure white with a slight golden tinge in sunlight, then it’s good; otherwise, wait until I wake up next time…]

I'll remember that, Erin.

Did Wiegolford succeed?

[Tessaya is already treating Hen Gedimidis, and Wigfordts has also arrived.]

"That's good, that's good..." Having confirmed that her injuries hadn't been in vain, Erin could no longer suppress her weariness. In her dazed state, she asked one last question: "I have nothing more to ask. Do you?"

Vera remained silent for a long time, then her spirits trembled, and she pleaded in a humble tone:
[Erin, can you call me "Mom" one more time?]
-
"Mother?"

Vinsenna froze on the spot, looking incredulously at the Witcher Erin on the ground, then at the ruthless and cruel "Crimson Fox," her mind reeling with shock.

She didn't eavesdrop intentionally.

However, when Vera was casting the telepathy spell, she seemed to be distracted and included someone not far away in the spell's range as well.

She hadn't really paid much attention to it, and was even grateful that Erin's first words were about returning to the Ring of Maidalui.

Unexpectedly, what happened next was more bizarre than the last.

Mother Nature above!
The legendary "Crimson Fox," who kills without blinking an eye, actually cried before her eyes, like a woman whose child had died.

Moreover, the child actually seemed to be Vera's child.

Not only that……

[...As long as you are still a Witcher, and still doing the work of a Witcher, you will get injured again sooner or later, just like your father, until he was crippled, until he died...]

Vera's heart-wrenching emotional outburst shook even Visena to her core, nearly causing her to lose control of her mind during the telepathic communication.

Arlin turned out to be the child of a sorceress and a witcher.

and many more!

The Witcher who was closest to Vera was undoubtedly Soy the Dragon Slayer, the Grandmaster of the Wolf School.

Therefore, Arryn is the offspring of the Crimson Fox and the Dragon Slayer!

“No wonder…no wonder the Witcher Colin mentioned is so strong…” Vinsenna pondered to herself, “But it’s already difficult for a sorceress to have children, and if the chaotic magic completely corrupts her womb, it becomes completely impossible. And the Witcher…have any Witchers ever had children?”

Vincent was lost in thought.

"Ms. Vincent?"

Vera's call startled Visena awake, sending a chill down her spine.

We've been discovered?!

Vinsena stiffened her neck and turned around, only to see Vera looking at her with a worried expression. Apart from a slight redness in the whites of her eyes, there was no indication that she had just been crying.

“Ms. Visena, thank you so much for your treatment and care these past few days. I… the Wolf School will remember your kindness and that of the Ring of Maidalui…”

Vera seemed to think I was distracted because I was exhausted from treating Erin these past few days... I'm just glad I didn't discover that she was eavesdropping... otherwise I probably would have been silenced... Vinsena waved her hand seriously: "Just call me Vinsena, Ms. Vera."

"The contributions of witchers to humanity are evident to all. As children of nature, we should help each other. Members of the Maidalui Ring have also been rescued by witchers from the Wolf School."

“It’s different.” Vera shook her head, offering no further explanation, because Mary and Francesca Fantaby had already arrived.

"Mentor/Ms. Vera, Erin...Is Erin alright?"

Upon seeing Erin on the ground, Mary and Francesca Fantaby exclaimed in surprise and were about to rush over when Vera expressionlessly raised her hand to stop them.

"Erin is fine, he's already asleep..."

Vera's attempts to stop them forced Mary and Francesca Fantaby to give up. They looked at Erin with teary eyes and glared at each other.

Finally, their gazes fell on the lovebirds beside the stretcher, watching Vera squat down and put both of them away.

At this time.

Colin also came over with the others.

(End of this chapter)