"...No, they went back to the floating port," Gnaiya said. Her gaze crossed Zelin's shoulder, trying to see what was left behind the stairs. "However, I guess they will come again this afternoon."

"Well, you guys eat first, I'll have something to do with George, and I'll be back soon."

Zelin walked out of the hall and walked to the training ground on the other side. George often stayed there, leaving only Virginia and Gnaiya standing in place. They looked at each other and immediately ran to the stairs. Gneia had just stepped on the first step, and another person came down the stairs.

Francesca walked down sadly, still seeming to be immersed in her thoughts. Seeing the Dragonborn and Virginia both standing on the stairs, she raised her head, froze for a moment, and then continued to walk down and out of the hall. Gnaiya and Virginia glanced at each other. They ran to the window, looked out, and saw Francesca walking into the garden from the back, sitting on a raised rock with arms on her knees. , Lowered his head, holding his forehead with both hands, not knowing what he was thinking. The breeze stroked it, and a wave of flowers appeared.

On the training ground, George stood in front of the wooden windmill, looking at a little boy with dark golden mushroom-covered hair, using his sword to resist attacks from different directions from the front, back, left, and right. This is a kind of demon hunter training equipment. The rotating wooden stakes are equipped with claws made of wooden sticks. When they are rotated, they will bring the claws. Apprentices sometimes have to face the attack of several such stakes and swing their swords to resist. The attack will make the stakes turn faster, and the faster they turn, the faster reaction speed and dodge skills are required. Used to simulate the scene when several enemies are besieged. To become a master of swordsmanship, you must have the skills to fight many enemies at the same time. After all, fighting is not a duel, and you can never limit the number of enemies to one.

"One more time, slow down, pay attention to your feet, your legs, there will be many monsters attacking your legs to make you lose combat power, and then kill you. Some cunning humans will also choose from people’s hard-to-defend legs. When you face monsters like ghouls, you must not only be careful of their leaping attacks, but also their sharp claws. Their claws are very powerful, and a single blow can break a young man’s leg. Broken bones and poisoning effects. The corpse poison can ask for your name in half a day... Tell me, what potion can treat the corpse poison?"

"Orioles, sir!"

"Very good, continue..." Suddenly, George noticed Zelin walking over. He immediately made a pause gesture to the apprentices in the pile group. "Go rest for ten minutes and relax your shoulders and arms, otherwise you will have a whole body pain and can't get up after a nap. We will practice the pendulum for a while."

"George." Zelin walked onto the training ground as the young apprentice walked toward the rest house. "How is this kid?"

"Very talented, I found it in Redania." George rolled his eyes and watched the child disappear into the cabin before he lowered his voice. "He is the illegitimate child of a family, Log Evan’s Kendall family, his mother is a maid, and his father didn’t dare to expose this, so he sent the child to me as an apprentice. I acted on him. After testing, his body is not only healthy and well-developed, but also has some magic talent. When he becomes a demon hunter, he will definitely be able to have a high level of attainments in the magic seal."

"He is willing to become a demon hunter?"

"Yes, he hates the life of an illegitimate child, and is willing to change his identity and start again. He is good at swordsmanship, so I think, in his spare time, I have to teach him some personal etiquette and teach him to read. It is really impossible for him to come to Ai Rand’s mission school to study for a year. You know the bishop there, don’t you?"

"Yes, Nanica, I will write her a letter, she should be willing to take in one more student. But, George, I have something to discuss with you."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"I'm going to..." Zelin hesitated for a few seconds before speaking. "Move out the Demon Hunter Academy."

"Move out?" George raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What's the matter?"

"This is because..." Zelin rubbed the tip of his nose. "Let's go to another place and talk."

"Well, how about sitting in the warehouse? I still have a bottle of Towson's wine. I bought it when I passed by Towson four months ago. I haven't been willing to drink it yet."

"Yeah."

At the door of the warehouse, Zelin and George were sitting on chairs made of two tree stumps. Zelin told him the general reason and his thoughts. The most important problem now is to separate this place from the demon hunter. Francesca only described the castle, but did not specify that it was a demon hunter. Of course, many people know that this is the Demon Hunter Academy, but if this is not an academy, but the residence of a wealthy northern merchant, then everything else is easy to explain.

"You mean, pretending to be a rich man, bought this castle?"

"Yes, a, uh, a rich man from Kerviel bought this castle. As we all know, Kerviel and the emperor Fergus of Nilfgaard signed an agreement, a Kerviel merchant and a Nilfgaard merchant A good relationship does not arouse others' suspicion. As for the reason, it is said that because the Nilfgaard army once again arrived at the foot of the Mahakam Mountains, the demon hunters here thought it might affect them, so they sold the Academy Castle and left. No one knows where they went. As for why they moved away only half a month after the start of the war, I explained that it was because the demon hunters left a lot of things in the academy, this Cowell’s The merchant doesn't like things related to witchcraft or mutation, so he asks the hunters to clean up the castle within a month before he can live in."

"But why would a businessman come to a war-torn place?" As soon as George asked a question, he immediately thought of the answer. "Yes, those people outside?"

"Yes, he came here precisely to deal with the commercial activities in the Nilfgaard occupied area. Kerviel is too far away, and the castle in the plain is dangerous, so he chose this one located in the mountains but far from the plain. Not far from the castle." Zelin gave the reason he had thought. "As for where we are moving... I picked a place, the Tyre Tosha Mountains."

Chapter 1957 The distance of the heart

"Tor Tisha? Goblin Dominion?"

"Yes, Goblin Mountain."

Goblins are a kind of humanoid race. Like dwarves and elves, goblins and them are the oldest race on the continent. Goblins are shorter than dwarves, but they are stronger and more lively in personality than dwarves. Because of their sharp noses, they can be easily distinguished from dwarves and halflings. Their small and dexterous hands have given them unparalleled talent in craftsmanship. They are the most talented craftsmen, excellent blacksmiths and alchemists in the world. They invented various machine tools and alchemy, and made swords and armors. Craftsmanship even surpasses dwarves.

"Will the goblin allow us to build a new castle there?"

"Geralt has a goblin friend, Percival Schuchbart. He lives in Thor Tisha. Maybe I can ask him to help match the bridge and get in touch with the local goblin master craftsman. Have a talk, I I will try my best to persuade the local goblins to allow us to build a castle there. Moreover, the Tor Tisha Mountains and Mahakam are opposite each other across the Yaluga River, and the foothills on the left side of the mountains are Tousent, where the environment is very good. , Relatively safe, and the war will not affect Tousant."

This is also one of Zelin's considerations.

Guksat said that the South has begun to reject non-human beings, mainly referring to the homeland of Nilfgaard, including the four provinces of Attoria, Nilfgaard, Vikvaro and Jimmyria. This is Nilfgad. Become the homeland before the empire. Then there are the southern countries such as Mecht, Ebin, and Martina. Rebellions often broke out in these places, and they did not belong to the empire for a long time. Relatively speaking, the laws of the empire could hardly affect every corner of the homeland of the southern countries, and finally, the Hinterland, Towson, and Anglin. More than ten years ago, they were part of the northern countries. In these places, the empire gave them a high degree of autonomy, and retained the local royal family members to continue to rule, but the title was reduced from the king to the duke. Relatively speaking, the places that retain the royal rule are much more stable than the other conquered places. After leaving Mahakam, this is more suitable as an academy base.

After all, the Dragon Mountain Range is too remote, and Thor Tisha happens to be near a major traffic road, adjacent to the Yaluja River. Moreover, due to the shortage of manpower caused by the war, the empire began to try to implement a more relaxed non-human policy in Sintra. This is an opportunity for Zelin and the others.

"I understand." George nodded. "You did choose a good place. Well, I will prepare as soon as possible and notify others. Try to solve the problem within a month. What about you?"

"Me? I stay." Zelin coughed heavily. "In the future... if someone seeks out the demon hunter Zelin, you just say that he has gone to Serekania and visited the Flying Lion Academy there. He has not come back. You don’t know when he will come back. I will. Stay, after all, the portal has to be guarded, and I can’t really create someone out of thin air. Someone has to play the Kerviel businessman, otherwise they will definitely wonder what the **** is going on."

In this way, people will find that the demon hunters do not like the Nilfgaards, so they tried to sell the castle to other places before the Nilfgad came. Really connected with the Nilfgaards is a Kerviel. This can also explain why the demon hunters did not allow any merchants who came to see them to enter, because this matter had nothing to do with them. They are just staying here temporarily and are leaving soon.

George thought for a while, and finally sighed softly. He filled Zelin a glass of wine, then filled himself.

"Brother, you have done too much for the profession of Demon Hunter. By the time Thor Tisha, I must hire a painter to paint a mural about you."

"No, it's just a remedy, and... I remember Kyle Morhan has a mural about you, St. George Slaying the Dragon, just don't paint me like that."

With that, they both laughed.

"Don't mention it, that was the first time to deal with a dragon-like species. A petrified chicken lizard attacked the caravan on the road. I thought it was a dragon at the time, so it rushed up on a horse like the protagonist in a knight novel. In the end, I was only lucky. The petrified chicken lizard did not notice me at all. The panicked shouts of the people in the caravan attracted its attention. I rode a horse from behind and slashed its neck with a sword. . In the end, I didn’t know, they actually thought of me as a dragon slayer and made up a song for me.”

"But you are the real dragon slayer now."

"Ah, it's the dragon slayer who almost died. The dragon was not easy to deal with, and my silver sword was broken at that time. It was really troublesome to deal with a dragon with a steel sword. I hope that next time someone draws me a picture. The murals must be beautifully painted. But to be honest, brother. I think this is feasible. Demon hunters who have contributed to or left heroic deeds erect statues in the academy to depict The murals let the apprentices of the demon hunter know how great things their predecessors have done. Those who have made contributions should not die in the wilderness. No one knows their deeds, leaving only one. Rumors of metamorphosis that know how long it will go."

Zelin nodded in thought.

"You are right. George, after Thor Tisha, you will be fully responsible for the affairs of the academy. I... can't contact you often, and can't make people suspicious. It will take at least more than ten years. Later, people forgot about the war. There is nothing wrong with building a new academy with the remaining treasures of mine. At that time, you can take the money and go to Thor Tisha."

"I understand, Zelin. I understand."

With that, they filled another glass. Only half of the red wine is left in the bottle.

"Zelin, there is something I want you to know, don't put too much pressure on yourself." George said with a wine glass in one hand. "Don't take anything or everything wrong to yourself. You don't make so many mistakes, and there are some things that you don't need to bear."

"I know, George. I didn't take so many things to heart."

Zelin nodded. But George could tell. He was just talking.

In the garden, Francesca wiped the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, as if she felt something, she raised her head, and a translucent figure stood in front of her. After noticing that Francesca raised her head, she sat on the rock opposite the elf.

"Do you need a handkerchief?"

Maria looked at Francesca calmly. The latter glanced away.

"No need."

"Feeling wronged?"

"No." The elf shook her head, she raised her eyes, the corners of her eyes were reddish. "Are you here to mock me?"

"I don't have this preference." Maria put her right leg on her left leg, leaning forward slightly. "I'm curious, how did you make such a mistake?"

Francesca did not speak.

"Because you have spent almost all your energy in considering whether there are loopholes in the plan related to Hundred Flower Valley." Maria said slowly. "If you spend one-tenth of the energy you think about for the future of the elves and consider what you want to do for the demon hunter, it is impossible to make such a low-level mistake. Think about it, if there is a person, one of yours People in the court, go to reach an agreement with the north, kill several governors of your empire, and throw a frontline legion of the empire into chaos, and then at the end of the agreement, by the way, there are several elven territories that belong to his sphere of influence. The northern army is not allowed to attack the elves living there, so when the Nilfgaards come, what do you think the Imperial Army will do? And when you know, your elves may die in Nilfgad. What will you do to that person when he is on the gallows?"

Francesca remained silent, clutching the hem of her wrinkled skirt without saying a word.