Chapter 196: Should Good People Be Held at Gunpoint?
Kaer Morhen, like Kaer Seren, Haern Caduch, Gorthur Gwid, Ban Ard, and Yaruga, were all strongholds of witcher schools.
This castle once housed twenty-three witchers and forty apprentices. Every winter, they would gather, recount the adventures of the year, and commiserate about commoners who refused to pay for their work.
Although they weren't bound by blood, they were closer than family. When the winter snow melted, most witchers would leave the castle and head to the Northern Kingdoms to help troubled farmers slay monsters.
However, the witchers' actions were not appreciated by a certain group.
They witnessed the witchers' deeds of eliminating harm for the people but resented them deeply.
So they circulated books and publications full of lies and false information, such as "A Narrative of Monster-like Witchers" and "Monsters, A Portrayal of Witchers (Volume 1)," to incite ignorant nobles and commoners.
They succeeded. They incited a massacre targeting witchers.
The Siege of Kaer Morhen was also known as the Kaer Morhen Massacre. The vast majority of witchers, apprentices, and resident sorcerers, including the previous Grandmaster, were brutally murdered in this massacre.
"Wait, I think I know about this. My uncle once mentioned it, wasn't that..." Fringilla suddenly stopped speaking. Her gaze shifted to Lynn.
Noticing her look, Lynn waved a hand. "I'm fine, Fringilla. Let's go."
The Kaer Morhen Massacre was a thing of the past. There was nothing that couldn't be spoken of. Moreover, he had a faint premonition. If this was the created nightmare world, then the "depths of the nightmare" they needed to reach should be inside Kaer Morhen Castle.
The two entered the large camp. As Fringilla said, everything in this world was an illusion. The soldiers standing guard and patrolling in the camp seemed not to see them, offering no resistance, allowing them to proceed directly.
They continued until they reached the center of the large camp, in front of the most opulent tent. There, they saw a military meeting in progress.
Sitting at the head of the long table was a tall, burly man clad in heavy armor, with a two-handed sword leaning by his chair.
Lynn recognized him. He was the culprit behind the fall of Kaer Morhen, King Władysław of Kaedwen. After his ascension to the throne, he imposed a brutal reign of terror in Kaedwen for eight long years.
During these eight years, his hands were stained with countless blood debts; it was impossible to even count how many innocent people died by his command.
He killed these people for no reason; sometimes, it might simply be because he felt "it's time to kill someone," ordering his guards to randomly pick a "lucky one" to be dragged out and executed. Having killed countless people, he even invented a new machine called the guillotine.
This was a fast execution machine, quicker than a gallows, and it didn't take up much space. Just one guillotine could execute a large number of "criminals" in a short time.
The Kaedwen people endured his tyrannical rule for eight years.
Then, the long-suffering populace erupted in a sweeping revolution. Even the army, which had once served Władysław as his cruel enforcers, turned to the side of the people. Realizing the situation was dire, Władysław attempted to flee, but being too corpulent, he couldn't even ride a warhorse.
He had to be carried by his loyalists in a palanquin. As expected, an accident occurred; he hadn't escaped far from the royal palace before he was captured. Ironically, it was his own invention, the guillotine, that ultimately executed Władysław.
Now, this dignified man's head was still firmly attached to his body, and he roared like a porcupine. "Lady Tissaia, what do you mean by that? Did you come all the way from Temeria just to humiliate me?! To humiliate a king with noble blood flowing in his veins?!"
Opposite Władysław, sitting on the left side of the long table, was a black-haired woman in a robe. Tissaia de Vries, a central figure in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, and one of the five core members of the Chapter of Gift and Art. I
n 1251, Lynn's current year, she had long since abdicated. But in the past illusion playing out in the world within the book, she was still the Rectoress of Aretuza.
Facing the king's fury, Tissaia showed no fear, calmly stating, "Your Majesty Władysław, I am certainly not humiliating you, but rather hoping to stop you and prevent bloodshed and conflict."
"Ha!"
Władysław laughed as if he'd heard the funniest joke. "I have thousands of soldiers under my command. That castle only has a few dozen mutant freaks. Each of us could spit on them and drown them alive."
Tissaia, however, was not as optimistic as the King.
She said worriedly, "Your Majesty, I certainly don't doubt you, but have you considered that it is the witchers who can eliminate the monsters rampaging in the fields, who can allow your farmers to cultivate their land in peace, and who can allow your army to fight neighboring countries without worrying about threats from behind?"
"If you eliminate all the witchers, what will you do when monsters reappear? Send your army to destroy them?"
At this point, on the other side of the long table, a gaunt, bald sorcerer sneered. "Lady Tissaia's remarks are overly alarmist. Times have changed; now, in this world, the number of monsters has sharply decreased. Witchers are monster slayers, but if there are no monsters, what need is there for monster slayers?"
"The Blue Mountains are within Kaedwen's sphere of influence. Those filthy mutants have nested in the royal domain without His Majesty's permission, without swearing allegiance to His Majesty, and without providing military service or taxes..."
"If a commoner dared to be so disrespectful, he and his family would have long been hanged from a tree, his hut would be burned, and the rising smoke would warn others not to challenge the King's authority."
Tissaia frowned, looking at the ranting bald sorcerer: Payard Boudin. The Rector of Ban Ard Academy, a central figure in the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, and another core member of the Chapter of Gift and Art.
It was Payard's persistent instigation, attempting to convince King Władysław that witchers posed a threat to his rule, that led to the current situation. Only a fool would believe that witchers sought power.
The witcher code required them to remain politically neutral and not interfere in any political struggles. Although the witcher schools were diverse and their personalities varied, they had miraculously indeed avoided participating in any political struggles.
What? The Cat School, you say?
Even the Cat School took contracts to kill, but they did it for money, not for any political agenda. Therefore, Payard Boudin's arguments simply held no water. He simply couldn't tolerate the existence of forces he couldn't control, coupled with his coveting the vast collection of books in Kaer Morhen Castle.
Unfortunately, King Władysław seemed to believe Payard's conspiracy theories.
....
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