Chapter 86: Darkness Hidden Deep in the Forest
Outside the tent, Triss stood with one hand on her hip, watching the witcher emerge, and said, "You're finally out, little witcher. Did you sleep well last night?"
Without waiting for Lynn to answer, she waved her hand and said, "Never mind, I don't want to hear it. Eat your breakfast quickly, and then let's get moving, otherwise it'll be dark again in a few hours."
"Looking at your sleepy eyes, you haven't forgotten where we are, have you?"
Lynn felt like he might have slept for too long; his mind wasn't very clear at the moment.
"We?"
Triss's angry look was actually a bit cute.
"What's wrong with you? Did you sleep too long and haven't woken up yet? I gave you a contract, remember? Just you and me, the two of us are in the northern forest of Brokilon to investigate the disappearance of the Kaerak merchants."
"Now, guess where we are?"
The witcher blurted out subconsciously, "The northern forest of Brokilon."
Only then did the sorceress finally smile.
"Correct answer, too bad there's no reward. It seems your brain is finally awake. Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Hurry up."
Lynn nodded.
He took the food from Triss's hand.
But his instinctive gaze swept around.
He saw that in this clearing, there were only two lonely tents.
This gave him an indescribable sense of strangeness.
Triss tucked her hair behind her ear and asked strangely,
"What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"
"No, it's..." Lynn suddenly felt a headache. He put down the plate of food. "Triss, I have a question for you."
Triss frowned. "Speak."
Lynn pointed at himself and then at Triss.
"This investigation into the disappearance, it's just the two of us?"
Triss's slightly furrowed brows relaxed.
"I thought you were going to ask why King Brouver Hoog of Kaerak sent an army here, but they disappeared like a stone sinking into the sea, with no one able to return to report."
"Realizing that the disappearance case couldn't be solved by mortal strength alone, only a sorcerer could handle it."
"And even a sorcerer needs a sword to protect their back."
"I hired you in Novigrad, then I opened a portal, and we came to Kaerak City together. At the docks, we found a barge that carried us to the source of the Adalatte River."
"We arrived in this forest yesterday, disembarked, and then encountered dead wolves and a giant bear controlled by black roots. After defeating them, we encountered no more danger until we arrived at this clearing in the evening to set up camp."
Lynn nodded slightly. It sounded like that was the case.
But then he noticed another problem.
"I was on night watch alone? But how did I end up in the tent?"
"It was me who relieved you near dawn. You said you were going back to doze for a while, but you ended up sleeping until now. Is there anything else you need me to explain, Witcher Master?"
Triss's answer sounded flawless, without any loopholes.
As if everything was exactly as she said.
But the strange feeling in the witcher's mind not only didn't dissipate but intensified.
"No, that's not right, there were definitely more than just the two of us."
Triss frowned.
She had hired the witcher hoping for an extra sword to protect her back, not to watch him go crazy.
She was about to say something more when she saw him take out a disc-like object.
"Wait, how do you have that?" Triss was taken aback at first, then recognized it as the Eye of Nehaleni, which could be used to dispel illusions.
Lynn didn't answer, but simply held the Eye of Nehaleni in the air and then channeled magic into it.
A circle of magical light spread out from the Eye of Nehaleni as its center.
Triss looked around.
Nothing happened.
"See? I told you... What's with that expression?"
Before Triss could finish speaking, she saw Lynn's surprised expression.
"Look behind you."
The sorceress turned around and saw a messy campsite behind her.
Outside their two intact tents, there were eleven other tents, askew and scattered.
Around the campsite, there were also a large number of messy footprints.
Even laymen who didn't understand tracking could now see that there were definitely more than just the two of them here.
Triss held out a finger and gently touched her temple.
A faint magical light shone from the tip of her finger.
She cursed.
"Damn it, I have absolutely no memory of this scene. Something in this forest is affecting me."
Lynn was the same.
Even after using the Eye of Nehaleni, he still couldn't remember who the owners of the eleven extra tents were.
However, these traces were enough to show that they weren't the only ones investigating the disappearance case.
"Judging from the footprints, there should have been at least eleven other companions with us when we set up camp last night. And, it's possible there were even more people earlier."
Lynn crouched down in front of the traces, carefully identifying them. Suddenly, his pupils constricted sharply as he noticed a particularly conspicuous mark on the ground. "This mark... is it from some kind of huge snake crawling across the ground?"
He closed his eyes, and scents swirled around his nose.
"Rotten, and the scent of trees... This isn't a snake, it's a tree, alive, a moving tree."
The witcher reopened his eyes and looked towards the depths of the forest.
"Those people... they were dragged in that direction by something."
"Did you find something?"
Triss stood at a distance, not coming closer.
She was afraid of destroying the traces on the ground.
Lynn nodded. "Our companions, or at least the people who were traveling with us, they were taken away by something in the forest."
"What are you going to do?" Triss widened her eyes.
"Go find them." Lynn took out several Superior potions and drank them one after another. "The fact that it chose to take the others away from us in this way shows that its strength isn't powerful enough to overwhelm all of us."
"The sooner we act, the greater the chance the others have of surviving."
Triss nodded. "Alright, then I'll go with you."
"Of course you have to come with me. You're my employer. Only by staying by my side are you the safest."
The witcher grinned at the sorceress, then led the way. "Let's go in this direction."
Lynn didn't lead Triss back the way they had come, but instead followed the obvious drag marks that extended deep into the forest.
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