The Divine Hunter

Chapter 230: Leisure Time

The witchers' mission in the sewers came to an end after they found the secret chamber of the Church of the Lionhead Spider. They could finally pull out of politics for a while.

The furnace was burning brightly. Berengar was swinging his hammer around, creating the steel sword of the Manticore School. Letho, who was relatively experienced in blacksmithing, helped. They stayed in the shop at all times. Serrit, Auckes, and Roy tried to help, but they were all chased out for their lack of experience in this.

"What are we? Chopped liver? I busted my ass off to find the blueprints and materials, and this is what I get?" Auckes grumbled. He calmed down fairly quickly though, and his mind wandered to somewhere else. Witchers lived their whole lives working for something. They had to find ways to exhaust their energy during the lull between requests.

Serrit and Auckes were born and raised in the south, where the Viper School was located. They had no idea how people in the north lived, so they wanted to explore Vizima. Roy had made training plans for him and Gryphon, but the intense battles lately had exhausted him. He decided to wind down a bit as well.

***

Vizima housed tens of thousands of travelers from all over the world, and it was filled with all kinds of buildings, such as castles, military fortresses, temples, shops, marketplaces, stalls, workshops, banks, inns, taverns, and even brothels. It would take them days just to experience everything. However, the witchers were not here to try everything out. They made a beeline to one place. Their hobbies were similarly humble. All witchers were sommeliers. There was a reason people said that.

Serrit and Auckes took Roy to all the taverns in Vizima to have a taste of their specialties. Some served great wine, some had sweet ciders, and some had powerful liquors. This city had it all. Alcohol aside, the taverns had all kinds of interesting people doing things Roy had never seen before. It was a lot more amusing than wine for the young witcher.

Golden Apple, Vizima Temple Area

"Step right up, folks! Today's special—arm wrestling! The champion remains undefeated for the thirtieth time! Can he keep this streak up! Let's watch him, folks! Cheer for Bobby the Sailor of Port Vizima!"

The crowd burst into cheers.

Bobby had a thick beard, and his arms were bigger than most people's waist. His muscles were big and taut. At a glance, this man seemed to be made entirely of muscle.

"And now, introducing the brave challenger… Hm, yes. Auckes the Snake Eye from the south!"

The guy before the champion was a lot humbler. He was wearing a grey hood and was leanly built. His eyes were amber and had vertical irises, just like a feline.

The crowd jeered at him. Obviously, someone could see that he was a witcher. Auckes' irises contracted, and he shot a glare at the champion as he cracked his knuckles.

"Ahem. As usual, I'll be taking bets. No refunds, hear that? You won't lose much, but if you win, you'll have enough money to have a great night at the brothel!"

The skinhead kept on blabbering about the bet, and the customers around him paid generously.

Roy was sitting before a Gwent board, a pile of crowns standing before him. His opponent was staring at his cards, thinking about the card he should play next. "Should I play that one? Or this one? No, no, no. This one? No, I don't think so." The gaunt gambler had fallen into a trance.

"Take your time. I don't mind." Roy called out to the skinhead. "I bet twenty crowns that Auckes the Snake Eye will win in ten seconds."

"Of course! So you're betting on Auckes winning in ten seconds. A one to three ratio it is! Here's your receipt. Don't lose it!" The skinhead happily took the bag of coins, and when he turned around, he muttered, "What a fool."

Roy smiled nonchalantly and turned to the stage on the other side. A crowd had gathered there, and their roars were even louder. They were holding an ancient, popular, and heart-pounding event—Vizima boxing challenge.

Auckes went for the arm wrestling match, Roy was playing Gwent, and Serrit went for the boxing challenge. The champion had gotten into his battle stance, flexing his towering body, bulging biceps, and big muscles. He swung his fists into the air, and the crowd screamed. Serrit was covering his fists in layers of bandages, and he winked at Roy, who was playing Gwent.

Roy gesticulated at him and bet twenty crowns on him winning the match. Boxing and arm wrestling were sports of skill, but Serrit and Auckes could overwhelm everyone with their supernatural speed and strength. Roy knew he should stop at some point, so he did not bet too much, or the bookmaker might not give him his winnings.

Half an hour later.

"Cheers!" The witchers raised a toast to one another. One of them got pinot noir, Roy got a mug of golden apple cider, and the other one had a mug of dwarven liquor. The witchers took all their winnings and left the tavern only to go into another one.

"Don't stay in one place for too long," Auckes said. It was from experience.

In just one day, they had gone to the two taverns in the temple area and all three taverns in the trade quarter. Their day of fun ended as the sun was setting. In the end, the witchers drank for free, and they made nearly two hundred crowns.

"Did you see me, Roy?" Auckes almost could not hold his excitement in. He pranced, punched, and swung his fists on the streets. The witcher also took part in the boxing challenge earlier as well. Naturally, they overwhelmed everyone.

Roy smiled. He had a great time playing Gwent as well. Vizima was truly full of professionals. It did hold the northern Gwent tournament, after all. There were some players who managed to force a draw or even triumph against Roy. He only won a few dozen crowns in the end, but he did get his hands on a rare Foltest card. Yeah. Got his card on his turf. Nice. "Are we also doing this tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid not." Serrit shook his head. He said firmly, "We've won a lot of money from the local gangs. There's a line that we toed somewhere. We will get into a fight if we do the same thing tomorrow."

"Calm down, kid." Auckes patted Roy's shoulder and winked at him. "We're gonna do the same thing in another city once we're done with Vizima, brother."

"You fool! Did you just call him ‘brother'? That's not right! You just dragged our rank down!"

"I don't really care."

Serrit and Auckes bickered, while Roy listened. The stress he accumulated from all the killings was slowly fading away, and he felt a lot lighter. In the end, he split the two hundred crowns in three, and each of them got sixty coins. The remainder was put into the funds. Serrit and Auckes were used to Roy's stingy behavior. They were not the least bit upset. Instead, they felt happy.

"What should we do tomorrow?" Auckes' excitement had faded, and he was starting to think about what he should do next.

"Training. You guys can train my swordsmanship if you have nothing to do," Roy suggested. Auckes was still frowning, so Roy winked at him. "Keira invited you somewhere, didn't she? You can see her if you're bored, Auckes."

"What do you know, kid? I don't sleep around with just anyone." Auckes looked up, but he was starting to waver. "She did say the fountain of roses is a great place… Ah, forget it. I can get women wherever I go. Training's more important."

They rested for one night, and Roy started his training life the next day. Auckes and Serrit would train his swordsmanship and monster knowledge during the day, and he would take Gryphon for a spin at night. He wanted to train its flight and hunting skills. Gryphon could fly for longer durations now, but it was still too little for Roy to ride on it. He would probably have to wait until Gryphon was one year old before he could soar through the skies.

Gryphon had changed its menu. It used to eat rats and bunnies, but now it was hunting down moose and boars. In a one-on-one situation, Gryphon could easily kill most prey if it dived down on them from the skies. Still, there were a few beasts the griffin would never fight. For example, packs of rabid dogs, wolves, and grizzly bears.

***

Keira the consultant came to visit during training, and she and Auckes went out for two days. Triss never came, however.

When they met the last time, Roy noticed that Triss' body was special. To be precise, she was sensitive. Maybe she's avoiding me. Of course, Triss was not the only sorceress around. Lytta contacted Roy through the telescope in her room every night. Most of the time, they talked about the Trial of the Grasses, mutations, and the basics of magic. It was dull work.

Sometimes they would entertain themselves just to get away from all the work. During one particular conversation, Coral told him about her dream. She wanted to sail to the horizon on a canoe and enjoy her life on the open seas. For some reason, Roy promised he would go on this adventure with her someday.

A week had passed, but Adda did not contact them.

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