I'm… pregnant?
Visenna froze. Her right hand lifted instinctively, but the moment it touched her belly, she yanked it back as if shocked by electricity.
I… a sorceress, pregnant with a child?
Whether male sorcerers or female sorceresses, the probability of conceiving a child was not zero—but it was extremely small, and in most cases it was male sorcerers rather than female sorceresses.
This was because the source of a sorcerer's magic lay in the lower abdomen. In men, the reproductive organs were farther from that source, while in sorceresses, the uterus was located precisely in the lower abdomen.
If one were to calculate it, out of a million people, perhaps only a thousand possessed sorcerous talent, and among those, no more than ten could reproduce.
And if there were ten, then nine would certainly be male sorcerers, and only one a sorceress.
More crucially, this was not merely because conception itself was difficult. Throughout the ten months of pregnancy, every second of the fetus's development would be affected by magic. It was extremely difficult to carry the pregnancy to term—and even if the child were born, it was hard to say whether it would still be a normal human.
Why did Tissaia de Vries demand that the sorceresses of Aretuza be sterilized, to completely abandon the possibility of becoming mothers?
It was precisely because, in the past, the sewers of Aretuza had once carried countless stillbirths, malformed fetuses, and monstrosities—hardly any normal children were ever born.
For a sorceress to become a mother was an utter tragedy.
Visenna, of course, knew this all too well.
So she was seized by extreme terror. A chill ran through her entire body as it stiffened in a stress response, her mind going blank.
I don't want my child to be a monster… I don't want my child to be a monster… I can't give birth to him…
"Do you want to give birth to it?" the reindeer asked with pity.
"I don't—" The words reached her throat. Bloody images of deformed fetuses flooded her mind, yet as she touched her belly, she seemed to feel, within her body, a second heartbeat—tender and faint.
Those simple words just wouldn't come out.
"Ah~"
The reindeer let out a soft sigh. A streak of emerald-green light fell upon Visenna, warming her entire body, releasing her from her fear-induced rigidity and supporting her so she wouldn't collapse to the ground.
Feeling the warmth spreading through her body, Visenna suddenly realized something. Her mind jolted, and she looked at the reindeer with hopeful eyes.
"I am powerless," the reindeer said, shaking its head with pity.
Visenna's gaze dimmed.
"But my inability doesn't mean others are unable," the reindeer suddenly said, seemingly out of nowhere. "That witcher you brought back is about to leave. Arrange the affairs of the Druid Circle properly, and then follow him…"
The witcher… Visenna was stunned. "You mean… Allen?"
What could Allen possibly do?
He's just a witcher!
Wait—Allen!
Visenna suddenly remembered something she had overheard by chance: the voice transmission between Vera and Allen.
Allen was the child of Vera and Sol—a sorceress and a witcher.
They… they might truly have a way.
"That's right, him," the reindeer nodded. "From his mouth, you will learn the answer."
Visenna looked at the reindeer again, full of anticipation. "This is… your divination?"
"Yes. This is my divination."
The reindeer nodded gently.
-----------------------------------
Seeing Vera waiting in front of the cabin, the witcher quickened his pace.
As he drew closer, he heard faint conversation and saw Vera's lips moving.
Only then did he realize that it wasn't just Vera standing at the cabin door. Inside the half-open wooden door stood a stranger—a woman… no, a girl.
She had short black hair uncommon among sorceresses, a pair of emerald-green eyes, and a slender, elegant figure. Leaning casually against the doorframe in the candlelight, her very low-cut black neckline set off an exceptionally pale and full curve, like a bold oil painting.
Who is she?
Allen wondered.
The witcher's approach disturbed the two sorceresses who were conversing—or more accurately, where one was instructing the other.
Before the witcher could ask, the girl turned around. When she saw Allen, her gaze lingered noticeably on his deep-blue, cat-like eyes for a moment, and then her expression burst into a strange excitement—like… like a fangirl from his previous life seeing her idol.
But Allen was certain he had never met this girl before.
"Hello, you must be 'God-Slayer' Allen, right?" The girl quickly stepped forward to greet him, staring straight at him.
Allen paused awkwardly. "Just call me Allen. May I ask who you are?"
"Oh, oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself," the girl stuck out her tongue. "My name is Fringilla Vigo. I'm a sorceress from Beauclair. Allen, I've heard about you for a long time—I never imagined you'd actually be this young…"
"Fourteen years old… how did you accomplish all those major feats? When I was fourteen, I was still being forced by my uncle to—"
Fringilla Vigo chattered on enthusiastically, rattling off Allen's experiences, many of which even Allen himself didn't know about. He couldn't correct her either—the girl was so animated that there was no chance to get a word in.
But Fringilla Vigo?
When Allen fully registered the sorceress's name, he froze for a moment, then carefully examined the girl in front of him.
Although it had only been a year, to Allen, his previous life already felt like decades ago.
But green eyes, short hair, bold attire… yes, these were indeed Fringilla Vigo's features.
Of course Allen knew Fringilla Vigo. In The Witcher novels, she was a Nilfgaardian sorceress from Beauclair in Toussaint, the niece of the Toussaint illusionist Artorius Vigo, and a distant relative of the future Duchess of Toussaint, Anna Henrietta, and her sister Sylvia Anna.
She was, along with Margarita Laux-Antille, Yennefer, Ida Emean, Philippa Eilhart, and eleven other sorceresses, a member of the Lodge of Sorceresses.
She participated in a series of major events, including the Battle of Sodden Hill and the Second Northern War.
It was worth mentioning that at the Battle of Sodden Hill, after Fringilla Vigo's friend was torn to pieces by Yennefer's magic, she used magic to blind Yennefer. Yet later, at the sorceresses' gathering, although Fringilla recognized Yennefer's identity and saw through her attempt to escape to rescue Ciri, she not only failed to obstruct her, but secretly helped her teleport away.
At the same time, Fringilla Vigo was also mentioned in The Witcher game trilogy.
That said, given her uncle's status, it made sense for Fringilla Vigo to attend the Sorcerers' Brotherhood assembly.
But why would she follow Vera to the Mayena Druid Circle?
Had they happened to meet at the Brotherhood assembly and she was brought along to visit relatives?
Come to think of it, whether traced through Vera or through Sol, Fringilla Vigo and Allen really were blood relatives—albeit very, very distant ones.
Fringilla Vigo was still energetically rambling on, and Allen could only helplessly look toward Vera.
Strangely, Vera's gaze seemed to flicker for a moment before she interrupted Fringilla Vigo: "Fringilla Vigo is serving as a magical advisor to Viscount Frank of Beauclair. She wants to purchase Necrophage Oil, and in addition, she'd like to visit Kaer Morhen."
At that, Fringilla Vigo froze instantly and turned back to look at Vera in surprise.
I want to go to Kaer Morhen? Since when did I know that?
Vera merely shot her a glance. Fringilla Vigo immediately shrank back, forced to brace herself and admit, "Y-yes… that's right. I've… I've been curious about Kaer Morhen for a long time."
Necrophage Oil was sold only on the Northern Continent—or more precisely, only within the sphere of influence of the School of the Wolf. This had been agreed upon by Allen and Vera before Necrophage Oil entered large-scale production and sale.
After all, necrophages were the most common monsters on the Northern Continent, and the primary source of income for most witchers.
Allen had ways to provide the witchers of the Wolf School with better potions to hunt stronger monsters. But in order to avoid affecting the livelihoods of other witcher schools as much as possible, he had still restricted purchasing rights for Necrophage Oil.
It wasn't that he feared the other witcher schools. Rather, he still intended to reunite the Griffin, Bear, and Viper Schools and rebuild the Witcher Order.
If offense could be avoided, it was best to avoid it—at the very least, to present a reasonable attitude.
Otherwise, the reputation of profiting by stripping other witchers of their livelihoods would sound terrible and would not be conducive to witcher unity.
Of course.
Once a potion like Necrophage Oil entered large-scale production and sale, it was very difficult to control it so strictly. In truth, it was nearly impossible to prevent it from spreading into the spheres of influence of other witcher schools.
But in the end, this was merely a stance—a stance that sounded reasonable and could be accepted by the other witcher schools.
It wouldn't make sense to say that he possessed something that could allow ordinary humans to deal with monsters in emergencies, yet deliberately lock it away just to avoid affecting witchers' livelihoods, restricting it solely to witchers.
That wouldn't fit the style of the School of the Wolf, nor was it something the various schools of the Witcher Corps ought to condemn.
Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn't impossible to control. As long as the quantity of Necrophage Oil sold was reduced according to each buyer's actual needs, the impact on other witcher schools could be minimized as much as possible.
If buyers didn't have surplus, they certainly wouldn't resell it.
Necrophage Oil was a consumable. Even if some accidentally circulated elsewhere, it wouldn't have too great an effect on the other schools.
However, Allen didn't do this, because that would involve another plan altogether.
That aside, selling some Necrophage Oil to Fringilla Vigo wouldn't be a problem, even just for the sake of distant kinship. The real issue was Fringilla Vigo's other request—or rather, Vera's request.
To be honest, Mary and Enid had already given him a massive headache. Bringing Fringilla Vigo back as well…
Just thinking about it sounded troublesome…
"Agree to it."
Vera's voice suddenly echoed in Allen's mind.
Allen thought for a moment. He guessed something must have happened at the Sorcerers' Brotherhood assembly that made Vera value the influence of the Vigo family within the Brotherhood. Left with little choice, he agreed to Fringilla Vigo's request and said: "Necrophage Oil is no problem. There's nothing at Kaer Morhen that can't be seen anyway, and there happens to be quite a stockpile of Necrophage Oil there. There's no need to wait for the alchemy workshop to produce more—you can take it directly from Kaer Morhen back to Toussaint."
"Really? That would be wonderful!" Fringilla Vigo immediately tossed Vera's strange phrasing to the back of her mind, her face lighting up as she nearly cheered with joy.
After that—
At Fringilla Vigo's intense interest and insistence, they chatted for a while longer about the conceptual ideas behind Necrophage Oil and Specter Oil (mostly made up).
When Allen was nearly talked dry by Fringilla Vigo's relentless questions, he hurriedly invited both Fringilla Vigo and Vera into the room, then turned to Vera to change the subject: "How did the Sorcerers' Brotherhood assembly go? When are they planning the expedition to the Valley of Thousand Monsters?"
What was meant as a simple attempt to change the topic unexpectedly caused Vera's expression to darken at once. Fringilla Vigo also reined in her smile, becoming cautious.
Allen immediately sensed something was wrong. "What's wrong? Don't tell me the Sorcerers' Brotherhood isn't planning to rescue Ban Ard and Ortolan?"
"The schedule for the expedition to Dol Dhu Lokke has already been set, but that's a long story. We'll talk about it slowly once we're back at Kaer Morhen," Vera glanced at Fringilla Vigo and chose her words carefully. "Are you finished with everything you needed to do at the Mayena Druid Circle?"
"We need to return to Kaer Morhen as soon as possible."
That serious…? Affected by the two sorceresses, Allen also became solemn. "Yes, I'm done. There are just a few things I need to take with me. Otherwise, we could leave right now."
"A few things to take?" Vera looked around the empty cabin, where a layer of dust had settled on both the floor and the oak table.
Allen shook his head. "Not here. They're at—"
Before he could finish, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside, cutting him off.
Not long after, there was a knock at the wooden door that had just been closed.
Creak!
The door groaned open.
It was Visenna—the mistress of the Mayena Circle, whom Allen hadn't seen for a long time since he moved to Lydia's former residence.
Visenna looked terrible. She was completely different from her usual calm, detached demeanor, as though nothing could ever affect her—
She was panting heavily, her face deathly pale, sweat soaking the strands of hair on her forehead. Her clothes, which should have been neat and orderly, were disheveled, as if she had just suffered a serious illness yet not only failed to rest, but had instead stayed up all night running.
"Allen, are you planning to leave? Do you know Vera—eh… Vera, you… you're here!"
The moment Allen opened the door, Visenna—acting entirely out of character—hurriedly began asking questions. When she saw Vera inside the room, her eyes immediately lit up. Extremely rudely, she skipped past Allen without hesitation, clutching her abdomen as she almost rushed straight toward Vera.
Allen, Vera, and Fringilla Vigo were all stunned by this sudden scene.
"Vera, can you tell me how you—"
Visenna's words abruptly cut off, her expression flickering, because only then did she notice the unfamiliar Fringilla Vigo inside the room.
After a long silence, Visenna took a deep breath, discreetly lowered the hand resting on her lower abdomen, and gave Fringilla Vigo a slight nod.
"Hello. May I borrow Vera and Allen for a moment?"
"I have something extremely, extremely important to discuss with them…"
.......
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