"Ciri?"

"Triss?"

Looking at the woman in front of her, Ciri was also surprised.

"Why are you in Novigrad?"

"That's my question...what are you doing here?"

"It's a long story..."

As she spoke, Ciri looked at Liz, who nodded immediately.

"Then I'll go back and tell stories to the children."

"Okay, thank you for your help."

After saying this, Liz bowed respectfully to the two of them, then turned and left. Only then did Ciri turn around and look at Triss helplessly.

"To be honest, after taking care of the children, I realized how naughty I was when I was little... Children are really troublesome."

"Wait? You have kids?"

Triss stared at Ciri in amazement, feeling completely stunned. Ciri was stunned for a moment and waved her hands quickly.

"Ah, that's not what I meant. We adopted them. We met a few orphans before. Their parents died because of the war, so we took care of them for a while."

"I see. That really scared me."

After hearing Ciri's answer, Triss finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then she looked at Ciri.

"I have a lot of things I want to ask you."

"No problem, let's find a quiet place."

Soon, the two of them checked into a room in the guest rooms on the second floor of the tavern, and then Triss cast a spell to ensure that their conversation would not be eavesdropped on, and then looked at Ciri.

"Okay, tell me, Ciri, what have you been through in these years? Why did you come to Novigrad? And what about the messenger of the God of Fire? What happened..."

"ah……"

Hearing Triss asking about the messenger of God, Ciri was embarrassed. This was not something she wanted to be in the first place. Although she was mentally prepared, hearing someone who knew her ask this still made Ciri feel like committing social suicide.

"In fact, I didn't want to be the Divine Envoy. Mr. Fang Zheng forced me to be one..."

"Who is Fang Zheng?"

"Ah... Let me tell you this from the beginning."

It was too troublesome to explain everything one by one, so Ciri simply explained everything that had happened before to Triss. After listening to Ciri's explanation, Triss looked incredulous.

"You mean you were hunted by the Wild Hunt, and then you traveled to another world, met those people, and then they sent you back...?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"So what about the messenger of God?"

"It's all Mr. Fang Zheng's fault!"

At this point, Ciri began to complain to Triss.

"I originally wanted to go back to Kaer Morhen after I came back, but Mr. Fang Zheng said that Geralt might not be in Kaer Morhen right now, and I might not be able to find him if I go back..."

“That’s true…”

As a friend who had a close relationship with Geralt, Triss also understood that this was not nonsense. After all, Geralt was a demon hunter, and he was always involved in some messy things. Who knew where he would run to and what he would encounter...

"But what does this have to do with you being a divine messenger?"

"Because Mr. Fang Zheng said that it would be too troublesome to run around like a headless fly looking for people, so it would be better for me to wait for Geralt here. As long as I build up this reputation, Geralt will definitely come to Novigrad to find me. It just so happened that we encountered the execution of witches in the square at that time, so Mr. Fang Zheng took action against the Church of the Eternal Flame."

“…”

After listening to Ciri's explanation, Triss was confused.

"So, you guys made such a big fuss and changed the situation in the entire North, just to let Geralt know you're here?"

“…That’s about it.”

Ciri was also embarrassed, but what could she do? This really sounded too exaggerated, and besides, this was not her idea!!!

"But I went to church to look for you, why are you always not there?"

"Because I'm not used to the church either. Triss, you haven't seen the way those believers look at me. It makes me itchy all over. So I told them that if Geralt comes to the church to find me, just ask him to stay and send me a message."

"I see... So the Eternal Fire Church is now managed by the man called Fang Zheng?"

Thinking of this, Triss frowned slightly. In her opinion, the other party was obviously using Ciri as a puppet.

However……

"No, Mr. Fang Zheng also said that he was too lazy to care about these things. He and Miss Miao Jie have already set out to find a suitable place for the children to live."

“…Huh?”

After hearing Ciri's answer, Triss felt like her head was a mess.

"So who is in charge of the Church of the Eternal Fire now? Didn't Mr. Fang Zheng send anyone to stay?"

"No, we have only promoted a few people who have a good reputation within the church and asked them to be responsible for managing the church's affairs. According to Mr. Fang Zheng, as long as the Eternal Flame Church stops persecuting other wizards and non-human races, he will not care."

"…But, what if they continue to attack wizards in secret?"

Triss originally thought that the other party must have planted their own people in the Church of the Eternal Flame, but Ciri's answer really surprised her. If the other party did not leave anyone behind, how could they ensure that the Church of the Eternal Flame could always act according to their wishes?

"That doesn't matter. Mr. Fang Zheng said that if you don't obey, he will burn it again..."

As he spoke, Ciri spread his hands helplessly.

Faced with this answer, Triss had no idea what to say.

"So, what kind of person is that Fang Zheng?"

Triss collected her thoughts and looked at Ciri again and asked. In response to her question, Ciri had a complicated look on her face.

“Well…how should I put it…”

Although she had been with Fang Zheng for a while, Xili didn't know how to describe this man. To be honest, Xili believed that he had powerful and unimaginable strength, but his personality and behavior made it difficult for Xili to think of him as a big shot. He was full of nonsense and always had a lot of twisted ideas. Xili had never seen such a big shot before. Although if what Fang Zheng said was true, then his identity was greater than all the big shots in this world combined.

But his performance is really... it makes it hard for people to believe the relationship between him and this identity.

"All in all, he's a very friendly person."

In the end, Ciri chose a more moderate word to describe it.

"……friendly?"

Triss never expected that Ciri would give her such an ambiguous answer.

"Well, at least he doesn't look scary or pretend to be majestic like many big shots. As for the rest... I can't say for sure."

Ciri didn’t know what to say. If she said too much, she would just cry.

In the face of Ciri's answer, Triss was also confused - are you kidding me? A friendly person could burn the entire high-ranking members of the Eternal Flame Order to charcoal with a wave of his hand, and also kill Radovid V with a meteor?

Even the most daring warlock wouldn't do such a thing!

"Can I go see him?"

Although she was confused, Triss still looked at Ciri and made her request. She originally wanted to find a way out for herself and the warlocks of Novigrad. Triss originally hoped to talk to the people who promoted this reform in the Church of the Eternal Flame through Ciri's introduction, but she didn't expect that Fang Zheng, the instigator, didn't bother to care about this church at all. In this case, she was afraid that she would have to meet with the other party in person to negotiate.

Moreover, as a warlock, Triss was also very curious about Fang Zheng.

What's up with that fire giant that's a hundred meters tall?

How did he summon a meteor to destroy the royal capital?

Where does all this come from?

What kind of power does that man possess?

I had hoped to get an answer from Ciri, but instead of getting an answer, I had more and more questions.

In this case, I had no choice but to confirm it with my own eyes.

"Of course not."

In response to Triss's proposal, Ciri responded without hesitation.

Soon, the group set off quickly.

Because they were going to take the children to the new boarding place that Fang Zheng and Miao Jie had found, they prepared a carriage, and having one more sorceress was no big deal. Triss had experience taking care of Ciri before, so it was no problem for her to help them take care of the children.

Soon, they came to a village near Crow's Nest, but after asking around, they still couldn't find any clues about the two people.

"Ms. Liz, what did Mr. Fang Zheng say?"

Ciri scratched her head in confusion and looked at Liz beside her, who took out the letter and took a look at it.

"Mr. Fang Zheng told us to ask people in the nearby villages."

"But I asked, and they said there's no such person here?"

"I've figured it out."

Liz's eyes lit up when she heard Ciri's answer.

"plz follow me."

As she spoke, Liz took Ciri and Triss to the village tavern again and found the owner.

"Oh, it's you again. I told you I've never seen anyone like you."

Seeing Ciri's appearance, the tavern owner hurriedly answered, but this time Ciri did not speak. Instead, Liz stepped forward and bowed respectfully to him.

"I'm very sorry, but I want to ask, has anything strange happened around here recently?"

"Strange thing?"

"Yes."

"Now that you mention it, there is indeed something strange."

Hearing Liz's question, the tavern owner thought for a moment and then looked up.

"Not long ago, a mountain suddenly appeared here!"

"……What?"

"……ah?"

Hearing their boss's answer, Ciri and Triss both looked puzzled.

"A mountain suddenly appeared? What do you mean suddenly?"

"It was just that suddenly...how should I put it...after we woke up from our sleep, we discovered that there was a mountain in the north!"

"Isn't that the mountain always there?"

"Of course not, miss, I'm not blind. Many people ran to see it. It's right over there!"

The boss pointed to the north as he spoke.

"As long as we climb over this hillside and walk forward, we will be able to see it. That mountain is so high! I have never seen such a high mountain! And there seems to be something on the top!"

"No one's going up to take a look?"

"Who would dare to go there? A mountain that appeared out of nowhere. What if it disappears out of nowhere again? And that mountain is very steep and difficult to walk on. You'd better stay away from it. No one knows what's going on with that mountain."

"Thanks."

After getting the answer, Liz nodded and led the two out of the tavern.

"Okay, our destination is set."

"Do you really believe that the mountain is related to Mr. Fang Zheng?"

Ciri asked doubtfully, but Liz did not answer directly. Instead, she turned her head and looked towards the north.

"You'll find out when you get there."