Demon Hunter: School of the Wolf.

Chapter 671 A Tide of Intrigue! Ding, a clue found…

Agostino Austin was horrified by Berendil Rogrides's appalling words and jumped up from his chair.

"Fuck-"

The high-backed chair suddenly scraped against the ground with a screeching sound, followed by a loud thud as it crashed heavily to the ground.

"Has your Rogrides family gone mad?!"

Agostino Austin pointed at Berendil Rogrides and shouted incoherently:

“Those are Tissaya de Veris, Narcissus de la Roch, and Born Drummond. The three of them have been sitting firmly on the highest throne of the Supreme Council for hundreds of years, and no one can replace them…”

“Yes, for centuries,” Berendil Rogrides nodded calmly, a stark contrast to the flushed face of Agostino Austin, who was excited. “The throne of Redania has seen more than a dozen kings, but the highest place in the transcendental world still belongs to those five people.”

"No matter how much the people below argue and debate, no matter whether they represent nobles with hundreds of years of history or agents of royal or divine power, as long as those five people cough, everything will be overturned and started over, without any reason."

“Agostino Austin, Redania is the most powerful kingdom on the northern continent, or at least one of the two most powerful kingdoms. You are the representative of the Redanian monarchy…”

Berendil Rogrides slowly rose, leisurely helped Agostino Austin up from his overturned high-backed chair, walked to Agostino Austin, and lowered his voice:
"Have you... never had an impulse?"

"What impulse?" Agostino Austin held his breath, his face expressionless.

Berendil Rogrides curled the corner of his mouth: "When you practice magic, delve into truth, and explore alchemy, are you not bound by those unrealistic rules set by those great figures, so that you can never achieve the best results?"

"At the same time, you also know that these rules are completely ineffective in restraining those above you. At least I know that many people know that Ottoran and his most favored disciples are recklessly researching necromancy, and even taking pride in successfully summoning demons."

“The Roglic family also cleans up a lot of messes for Ben Ade every year. I know that someone in Ben Ade is doing research on ordinary humans.”

"Because they transcended the rules, the Ban Ad and the Risberg Civil Cooperative became the most successful supernatural forces within the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, and the Brotherhood of Sorcerers was almost naturally controlled by these two."

"But these taboos have firmly locked down the development of the Laurel Silver Eagle and the Rogrides family."

“Even our Rogrides family is a little better off; at least we aren’t subject to frequent patrols.”

"And because of your relationship with the Redanian royal family, you, the Laurel Silver Eagles, are the primary targets of the patrol sorcerers' surveillance."

"It must feel unpleasant to be humble and cautious in front of those younger people who are not even a fraction of your age, right?"

"Back then, didn't you ever think that if those five people weren't overshadowing you, the Silver Eagle and even the Brotherhood of Warlocks would have developed better?"

"You represent supreme royal power, possess noble blood, and even have unparalleled achievements in alchemy and magic. Have you never thought of elevating your position to a higher, even higher level?"

Looking into Berendil Rogrides' brown eyes, Agostino Austin felt as if he were listening to the devil's whispers and the devil's temptations.

He couldn't help but retreat as Berendil Rogrides approached, only stopping hastily when he was close to the cold stone wall.

He swallowed hard, his throat dry, and said:

"Who wouldn't want that? But those are Tissaya de Veres, Narcissus de la Roche, and Born Drummond."

"The only one who can be their opponent is themselves."

“If your goal is just Tissaya de Veres, I would think that you’ve won over the other two, which is more realistic, or at least possible.”

"But all three of them have to be dealt with..."

Agostino Austin shook his head: "That's not a dream, that's a delusion!"

Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered Berendir Rogrides's background, paused, and then asked:
“Unless the other member of the Supreme Council you found is Hen Gedimidis? If Ottolan is still on the Northern Continent, he couldn't possibly remain hidden, so it must be Hen Gedimidis…”

"That's not right either!"

Before Berendil Rogrides could answer, Agostino Austin immediately contradicted himself.

“Even if you saved his life, Henry Gedimidis wouldn’t go after the other members of the Supreme Council, so why? What gives you such confidence?”

“It certainly can’t be Henry Gedimidis,” Berendil Rogrides smiled, “but there’s one thing you’re wrong about.”

"If the dean knew about our plan, then the debt of saving lives wouldn't matter."

"He will use his violent magic and the rage of the demonic source to uproot the entire Rogrides family."

"Fortunately, the dean is not only missing, but he is also unlikely to survive."

Agostino Austin had no objection to this.

If you really think about it, Henry Gedimidis has been missing for three or four months. In between, he experienced Sunny's betrayal and the intervention of his nemesis Ottoland and the Risberg Civil Cooperative. If he had really survived, he would have reappeared long ago.

Although the expedition to Dordurak was ostensibly to rescue Ban Ad and Risberg, no one in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers believed that Hen Gedimidis was still alive; they just didn't say it outright.

Agostino Austin even felt that the reason why the members of the High Council, the various warlock organizations, and especially the large organizations had been so obedient these past few days was that Tissaia de Veris had hardly made any calls to them, yet they had all dutifully provided manpower and resources.

The things said at the conference were all jokes aimed at the Witcher, who was famous for being able to tame giant griffins.

His real intention was to keep his eyes on the empty seat at the very top, wanting to make a good impression on Tissaya de Veres and Narciss de la Roche.

"So what gives you Rogrides such confidence?"

Agostino Austin really doesn't understand.

To be honest, there must be a force capable of simultaneously dealing with Tissaya de Veres, Narcissus de la Roch, and Born Drummond.

The Druid's Circle, the Temple of the True God, secular royalty...

But the Druid's Ring cannot intervene in such matters, and similarly, the Temple of the True God cannot.

Secular kings and nobles could use overwhelming forces to surround and kill them, which Tissaya de Veres, Narcissus de la Roch, and Born Drummond certainly couldn't handle, but that didn't stop them from escaping through a teleportation portal.

And aren't they afraid of retaliation from legendary mages, or the covetousness of other kings and nobles?
Agostino Austin calculated that no power on the Northern Continent could actually accomplish this. "This is a secret of our Rogrides family," Berendil Rogrides smiled meaningfully, then, before Agostino Austin could react with anger, he reassured him, "But believe me, the Rogrides family isn't crazy. You say we're like a merchant family, but merchants never want to do business at a loss."

“But it can make others lose money…” Agostino Austin retorted irritably, “There are quite a few forces that have been cheated by your Rogrides family.”

Berendil Rogrides wasn't angry and said calmly, "It definitely won't be the Laurel Silver Eagle."

“We don’t need the warlocks of the Silver Eagle to charge ahead. As expected, when it’s all over, no one will even know you exist.”

“Think about it, Lord Austin. If the plan succeeds, why would your Silver Eagles need to be so humble and cowardly to imitate a Witcher’s potion? You could simply swallow up Aretusa’s Alchemy Workshop.”

"There's no need to separate Vera's private workshop or other sorcerers' workshops; the entire Alchemy Workshop of Aretuza can be handed over to you, Laurel Silver Eagles."

"Why?" Agostino Austin was not lured by the empty promises and asked curiously, "It's as if we can get a big gift without giving anything in return. Would you Rogrides be so generous?"

“How could it be possible to do it without paying anything?” Berendil Rogrides shook his head.

Agostino Austin, with an "I knew it" look on his face, pressed on: "So, what does the Rogrides family need us to do?"

"I want your Laurel Silver Eagles to join the expedition to Dodurak..."

“We, the Silver Eagles of Laureate, already promised Tisaya that she would join the Far East…” Agostino Austin’s expression suddenly changed, and after a sharp pause, he stared at Berendil Rogrides, “You wouldn’t be thinking…”

“That’s right,” Berendil Rogrides said, meeting Agostino Austin’s gaze directly without flinching, “We need the Silver Laureates to commit more to the expedition to Dordurak, instead of just a few mid-level sorcerers and a bunch of worthless potions as they are now.”

Upon hearing this, Agostino Austin's expression shifted between light and dark.

He wasn't surprised that Berendil Rogrides knew the Crown Silver Eagles' expedition roster.

Because of that vigilante justice incident, the Silver Eagles, who have close ties with the Redanian royal family, could not completely avoid participating in the expedition, but it was impossible for them to make the same "generous" contributions as other factions.

Other forces will not criticize them for this, since there are extenuating circumstances, so they can act openly and honestly.

“As I just said,” Berendil Rogrides began, “we don’t need the Silver Laureates charging ahead; we just need Silver Laureates with considerable influence in the ranks, and then…”

"You just need to do the right thing at the right time."

"The timing is up to you to decide."

“Just like this,” Berendil Rogrides clapped his hands, “and you’ll have the alchemy workshop in Aretusa, and the Rogrides family is willing to pull strings for the top five positions for you. Isn’t that a great deal?”

“But Dodurac is also dangerous…the Silver Eagles with Laurel Wings are all alchemists…” Agostino Austin still hesitated upon hearing this.

“Please,” Berendil Rogrides shook his head speechlessly, “that’s Aretusa’s alchemy workshop, the High Council, and the Association of Talents and Skills. How could there be no risk at all?”

“But those are just empty checks from the Dwarf Bank, who knows if they can be cashed,” Agostino Austin gritted his teeth, still unwilling to back down. “But if we join the expedition and go into that hellhole of Dodurak, the Silver Eagles might suffer heavy losses.”

"So what do you need to give us now?" Berendir Rogrides raised an eyebrow with a mocking smile. "Gold coins, potions, recipes, or another contract?"

Agostino Austin remained silent, staring intently at him.

that's it.

After a long silence in the secret room, Berendil Rogrides shook his head helplessly:
"Okay, okay, I just can't do anything with you."

"However, I can't tell you anything specific, I can only say..."

"Because of the Warlock Kingdom, because of the chaos caused by Sunny, and even because of the constraints imposed by the Brotherhood of Warlocks over countless years, it wasn't just King Radovid IV who was dissatisfied with the Brotherhood of Warlocks."

"That was a very, very, very large force, enough to crush anything that stood in its way."

Berendil Rogrides paused, his tone meaningful:
"It's time for the extraordinary order that has been established for five centuries, since the beginning of the Alliance of Novigrad, by mages, rulers, druids, and priests, to change."

“Think it over carefully, my dear ‘Laureate’ Alchemy Master…”

Just say it.

Berendil Rogrides wasn't worried that Agostino Austin would refuse or leak the secret. After nodding slightly, he walked straight out of the secret room.

Only Agostino Austin remained, his expression shifting.
-
"Whoo~"

He suddenly opened his eyes, sat up in bed, panting heavily, his whole body soaked in sweat as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

The cat's deep blue pupils contracted, dilated, and trembled violently before finally stabilizing after a long while.

"here it is……"

He looked around blankly, his gaze wandering aimlessly for a long time over the two longswords beside his pillow, the leather armor leaning against the wall, the simple wooden table, and the dust dancing in the golden morning sunlight, before finally snapping back to reality as if from another world.

"Maina... the Ring of Druids, I... I'm back?"

Having confirmed his location, the Witcher immediately snapped out of his daze, quickly realizing the current situation, and was about to open his Witcher's Notebook.

"Tap tap tap~"

Zebi Ortega's footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a knock.
And at the same time.

[Ding, clue found...]

[Ding, clue found...]

[Ding, clue found...]

……

A cacophony of system notifications rang out...

(End of this chapter)