After a short rest, Wayne and Geralt had a very simple meal at Misha's house. It was really very simple. Apart from a few eggs, there was no oil or water at all.
Obviously, these villagers were not having a good time either. For the safety of her son, Misha might have taken out the best food in her home to treat them.
After chatting with Geralt at the dinner table, Wayne finally understood what a reward of five ducats really meant.
The Ducat is a currency of unknown origin, currently only available in Kaedwen, Cintra, and the Skellige Isles.
A few years ago, when Geralt was carrying out a commission in Cintra, the price of a water ghost was two ducats, while in an ordinary tavern, one ducat might only be exchanged for an ordinary meal.
In other words, Misha hired two demon hunters to work for him at the price of two and a half demons.
Hearing this, Wayne looked at Geralt speechlessly. Although he knew that the White Wolf was just and kind, he still accepted such a low price. Wayne couldn't help but sigh that it was hard to be a good person.
This is no longer a wasted effort. If their equipment gets damaged in the battle, it would be a real loss.
Fortunately, he also asked for lunch, otherwise, with this little money, he would not even be able to fill his stomach.
After dinner, it was time for the famous detective Geralt to perform.
He called Misha and the bearded village chief over and asked them in detail about the information, body shape, appearance, habits, etc. of Misha's two sons.
They also learned from the two people the area where the two young men often chopped wood, as well as the general situation of the forest, and then prepared to set off.
During the entire process of questioning, Wayne did not intervene. He just took out a whetstone from the package and while sharpening the steel sword inherited from Vesemir, he carefully thought about the intention of each of Geralt's questions and his thoughts.
As a novice demon hunter, he needs to learn well from his senior White Wolf. Reconnaissance and reasoning are essential skills for a demon hunter to carry out his mission.
After the questioning, everything was ready. Geralt and Wayne took all the equipment needed for the battle, and left their mounts, Carrot, and their luggage with the bearded village chief.
Of course, in order to prevent this group of unruly people from having any evil intentions, the two did not forget to take out their weapons and warned them seriously: "If there is anything missing from our luggage, we will double it and take it back from you."
The bearded village chief is a sensible man and shouldn't make any mistakes.
Based on the information they received, the two quickly left the village and entered a forest not far from the village.
They followed the route described by Misha and used their witcher's super senses to search along the footprints on the road. Finally, they found the area where the two young men usually cut down trees.
It was early spring. The Kingdom of Kovind was located in the northeast of the northern countries. The temperature was colder than in several other countries. In this sparsely populated forest, human footprints were quite obvious.
While following the trail, Geralt orally taught Wayne his detective skills without reservation.
Wayne learned and practiced at the same time, and finally spent more than half an hour before he found two bundles of firewood and an axe covered by weeds in an inconspicuous bush.
"It should be here."
Geralt stroked his stubbled chin and inferred, "Two young men met with an accident here. Because of the emergency, they dropped their wood and axes."
He looked up at Wayne and said:
"Let's look around here and see if there are any footprints, blood or anything else."
Wayne nodded, turned on his witcher senses, and began to look for any possible clues near the grass.
But there is no other way. In the wild where evidence is scarce, only this stupid method can find the result.
After searching carefully for more than ten minutes, Wayne still found nothing. However, Geralt, who was not far away, stood up, waved at him and shouted:
"Wayne, come over here."
"I found a clue."
When he walked over, Geralt had his arms folded across his chest, seemingly lost in thought again.
Wayne looked in the direction of his gaze and soon found four rows of footprints on the ground. Judging from their shape and depth, two of the footprints should be those of Misha's two sons.
It took Geralt only a few seconds to come to a conclusion.
"The good news is that there is no blood around here. At least the two children did not die here, nor did they die in the mouth of the wild wolf. They must have been held hostage by someone."
"The bad news is that it has been almost three days since the incident happened."
"For such a long time, no one knows where they were taken and whether they are still alive now."
Wayne shrugged indifferently, pointed at the footprints on the ground, and said, "No matter where they were taken, all we can do is follow the clues they left and keep searching."
Geralt had the same idea. He drew the long sword from his back and said to Wayne, "Let's go, draw the sword. Looking at the direction of these footprints, they must have been taken deep into the forest."
"Stay alert at all times. Spring is here and the monsters are starting to revive. No one knows what will suddenly pop out of the forest."
………………
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was dusk.
Although the environment in the forest is extremely complex, it still cannot stump the two professional demon hunters with super senses.
Wayne and Geralt walked one in front and one behind, one responsible for following the footprints and the other responsible for guarding, and they moved forward in cooperation.
After walking in the forest for about two hours, passing through many obstacles, we finally arrived at a very hidden cave covered by big trees.
However, before they could get close to the cave, several wooden arrows suddenly shot down from a giant tree near the cave entrance at high speed and hit them accurately on their path.
Without needing to be reminded, Wayne instantly put up a layer of Quinn shield for himself, and the steel sword in his hand was also put into a defensive posture.
Geralt was even more straightforward. The moment the arrow was shot down, he rolled over and hid behind a big rock.
Wayne carefully maintained the Quinn shield and looked in the direction where the arrow came from. He saw that six elven archers wearing animal skins and holding bows and arrows had already stood on the branches above the giant tree.
One of the female elves with long black hair and sharp black eyes observed the two for more than ten seconds. Her eyes seemed to stay on Wayne's pointed elf ears for a long time before she said in the common language of humans: "Demon hunters, two more."
"This is the territory of the elves. Why are you here?"
(Once again, thanks to Daji and Bigan, Beidangyun, How to Cultivate a Passerby Protagonist, Rabbit and Carrot, Where is the Snow Painting, and other big guys for their rewards, as well as everyone's supportive monthly tickets and recommendation tickets. The protagonist has finally gone down the mountain to venture out, and is about to unveil the prelude to a bigger world.) (End of this chapter)