Chapter 37 What About Traps?

Temple Island Plaza.

In a sea of ​​people.

The witcher in the black cloak proudly stood in front of the shapeshifter, with a calm expression facing hundreds of malicious gazes, as if he were walking in his own garden.

"Roy?" The shapeshifter's hazy eyes looked at the lonely back in front of him, moved and anxious, "You shouldn't have come!"

"Have you forgotten?" Roy said without looking back, "We are allies, and the witcher will never turn his back on allies!"

Around the stake, the nobles who were accidentally injured by firewood pointed at him and yelled at him. Some of the peasants on the periphery who were not affected by the fire roared as if watching the excitement. There were even a few young and rebellious teenagers, who turned their admiration to the witcher.

"Grim, do you know this guy?" Cassirer lifted up a beautiful girl with black hair and big eyes who was bumped by the chaotic crowd behind her. The latter stared at the angular face of the knight, her eyelashes flickering, and she fell into Madness state.

"We met once in Sintra... Ravex of the Four Corners City, the companion of the white-haired witcher..." A trace of excitement appeared in the pupils of the blond knight, "If you find him, you will find Geralt, and so does Ciri. Not far!"

"Then let's..." Cassir let go of the girl's arm and clenched her fist.

"Don't worry, just wait and see."

At the other end of the crowd, the tall half-elf looked at the witcher on the stage with yellow-green eyes, a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and whispered to the peasant woman.

"Mutants! I originally planned to deal with this evil creature, and then go to the alder forest to arrest you... I didn't expect you to take the initiative to send it to the door!"

Cyrus stood up with the help of the temple guards, trembling, his voice sharp and majestic,

"You sabotage the sacred ritual of purification with wicked sorcery, and defy the laws of Noah and the majesty of the eternal fire! You are a sinner!"

"Now, arrest them both and burn them all!"

"Burn the mutants!" a voice in the crowd shouted, but the owner of the voice shrank his shoulders sternly.

"Sir Bishop! Didn't you hear the witcher's request?" The leader of the dwarf camp, Butcher Clifford, shouted with a broken gong, his unique oiled Mohawk hairstyle shining in the sun .

He stared at the bull's eye, put his hands around his chest, and spoke with justice,

"What did they do wrong? Shouldn't you be clear?"

"According to me, even if he is wrong, he is far from being burned at the stake. A week in prison is enough punishment! Besides, there is no conclusive evidence to convict this shapeshifter!"

"That's right," said one of the ragged beggars, "how can the eternal fire be indistinguishable from right and wrong and reverse black and white."

"Archbishop Cyrus, under the testimony of so many compatriots in Nuocheng, if you want to judge someone, you must first convince everyone!"

"There are many bards present. I believe they will compile today's events into works and spread them throughout the North. If you want to reverse black and white, you can't stop the long speeches!"

The poets in a circle couldn't help but nod their heads.

"Beware of the stench forever!"

"Shut up! Be quiet!" The archbishop who dug his own grave straightened his slightly hunched back, his cloudy eyes looked directly at the young witcher, and his sharp eyes met tit for tat, "Okay! I'll let you die clearly!"

"For the past two years, under the cover of this deformed beast, you have been carrying out cruel experiments in a suburban orphanage, turning helpless orphans into new mutants..." the archbishop asked hoarsely, "Do you agree? deny?!"

The witcher with the double swords took two steps closer to the archbishop, and the three temple guards immediately stood in front of him as if facing the enemy,

"Lord Cyrus, if you help a group of orphans who have lost their parents and their homes and become self-reliant, it is an evil act." The witcher's body was not tall and strong, but he made a penetrating voice. , so that everyone in the corner of the square can hear clearly, "Then are all blacksmiths, teachers of cultural knowledge, farmers, and hunters evil?

All deserve to be burned? ! "

"Witcher, don't confuse things of a completely different nature!"

"Why is it different? Witcher is not a profession? Collect money and eradicate demons and monsters in this world!" Roy gave the archbishop a meaningful look.

The latter made a hissing sound in his throat, his face covered with age spots was bluish and white, his body trembled, and he almost lost his breath.

A shrine guard with a beard as strong as a bear scolded,

"Don't change the subject, witcher, so you admit your guilt!"

"I don't understand, why are we guilty!" Roy looked calm, "We picked up a lonely child who was about to starve to death in Nuocheng, and took good care of them so that they could live and grow into useful talents! Again! What kind of sin?"

"If I were a sinner! All of you present, ignore the group of orphans, let them freeze to death, starve to death in the streets and alleys, and be kidnapped by human traffickers," Roy's sharp eyes were cast into the dark crowd, "Isn't it the right time to let them die? Sin plus one more class!"

Those who were swept by his gaze lowered their heads unconsciously, unable to refute.

"As for evil mutation experiments, it's even more nonsense. Our orphanage never forced any child to choose the way of the witcher!"

"It's purely voluntary!"

"How do you prove it?!" asked a mercenary with a furious face in a leather jacket who was hired by the half-elf Skirrou. "Without witnessing it with our own eyes, how do we know if those children were persecuted?"

"Mutants, you must bring the children to town and confront them!"

"All the children of the orphanage have a record with the City Council and Eternal Fire!"

"Fifty-three, not one less!"

Those who hated mutants, found an outlet, and began to fight hoarsely,

"The witcher must take the initiative to bring all the children to the Temple Square to prove their innocence!"

"Under the eternal fire, all evil is invisible!"

"Do you dare to agree?"

"It's useless if you don't agree, the temple guards will personally go to purify the evil!"

"Did you hear it? This is what everyone is saying!" The archbishop finally breathed his anger, and pointed his withered finger at the witcher not far away and asked again, "Do you dare to agree?"

"No need to bring it back!"

A beggar in rags said,

"We've been to Gawain's House, including the guards of the Eternal Fire, we've seen those kids, and the witcher is right, there's no coercion! They're much happier than most of the Norsemen!"

"Who are you?" A guard suddenly rushed over and dragged the beggar out. "What is your capacity to testify for the witcher? Are you with them? Ah? I want to ask you something!"

The beggar shook his head immediately.

They have done their best to achieve this step, but they will not get burned for the witcher!

The archbishop turned around again, and his eyes swept over the hundreds of temple guards who were surrounded by adult walls.

"Anyone willing to testify against the witcher?"

"stand out!"

The guards looked at each other, but no one said a word.

"I'll be a sheriff, for a while," said Gigi, the shapeshifter who was also tied at the stake.

"Shut up, heretic, you're a witcher, your testimony is useless!"

"Now, witcher, what do you say, everyone is waiting for your words! Don't try to play tricks!"

Roy's expression turned cold and he didn't say a word.

Now that the children were hiding in a shelter at the foot of the crowd, he wouldn't naively send sheep into the tiger's mouth.

...

"No, folks, witchers don't just kidnap children!"

A thin peasant woman in sackcloth and linen shouted in the crowd, staring at Roy with hatred.

"They committed a greater sin!"

The Archbishop's heart moved, after a look.

There was a gap in the wall of the temple guard.

The plainly dressed peasant woman hunched her back slightly, walked out of the crowd, and came to the Archbishop.

He pinched his fingers cautiously,

"Child... don't worry, speak slowly, and be more detailed." The old man's warm palm gently held her hand, gave her a kind smile, and prayed to the eternal fire for her a thousand times in his heart, she came It's too timely, it's my own savior!

"What's your name?"

"Talika."

"You're wronged, right? I guess the witcher hurt you in the past!"

"Speak out in front of everyone, Eternal Fire, myself, and everyone present will support you! Get justice for you!"

Roy's indifferent expression changed, his eyebrows furrowed.

An ominous premonition.

...

"That's right!" The woman's thin, stick-like body trembled in the eyes of everyone, her cheekbones protruding face was both nervous and excited to testify against her enemies, "Five years ago, I lived in Sweetwater on the outskirts of Tritog. The village, at that time the village was harassed by a ghoul, and then one day a witcher passed by the village to help us deal with the ghoul and took the bounty... But he didn't leave, he that night, he..."

The woman was trembling all over, her mouth was half open, and she let out a hoarse exclamation, as if her chest had been split open by a sword, "He's suddenly crazy, and he's killing anyone he sees!"

"All dead, Tianshui Village, more than fifty families, except me, are all dead!"

"And that beast!" She waited for Roy, her eyes splitting.

The witcher was expressionless.

It's not that I killed your relatives, why do you hate me?

"He patted his butt and left! It's like killing dozens of people is the norm!"

"Inhumane, that beast!"

...

"Monster!" The archbishop narrowed his eyes, glanced meaningfully at the witcher in front of the stake, and cleared his throat, "Have you seen it, this is a living witness! Talika's testimony is enough to prove the witcher Humans have exterminated humanity in mutation experiments!"

"No matter how clever he is, he is deceiving everyone's trust!"

...

"Ms. Talika..." The well-built blond knight in dark gold plate armor interjected abruptly, "Are you sure that what you say is the truth?"

Roy's eyes followed the crowd of voices, his pupils condensed.

It's him.

He once tried a match with Geralt in Sintra. The champion knight of Toussaint, who has a powerful Horcrux Sword of Justice, was not driven away by the cuckold Duke Raymond, and began to travel around the world. ?

"I swear!" The woman seemed to be angry at the questioning of such a wise knight, raised her right hand and screamed, "I swear to the goddess Meritelli, I swear to the eternal fire, the father of the sky...the gods, just now I If the words are half false! The ground under my feet will crack and swallow me into hell!"

Such a vicious oath suddenly made everyone look at her, and they believed her words seven or eight points in their hearts.

Ninety percent of farmers in the north believe in Merita Lily.

"Child, don't get excited," the archbishop smiled at her gently. "The eternal fire has given me a revelation. You are a loyal believer, and your oath is trustworthy!"

"Then now..." He looked at Roy who was expressionless, "what else do you have to argue?"

"Witchers are evil from start to finish and can't change!"

In the crowd, a group of men hired by Schirlu went viral to spread the rumors.

"The witcher, the blasphemous shapeshifter, a pair made in heaven!"

Under the eyes of the public, Roy with his arms around his chest suddenly laughed, as if he had heard a big joke. The laughter made everyone's heart go cold.

"You're about to be burned to ashes and go to hell, can you still laugh?"

Anger came from the crowd.

"People of Novigrad, I want to ask you a question..." Roy turned a deaf ear, raised his voice, and looked into the dense crowd, "Invading Sintra, let countless Should the Nilfgaardian Black Armor of the Northern People's family be destroyed?!"

"What do you mean?!"

"Sure damn it!"

The butcher shouted very powerfully, and although he didn't understand the meaning of the ally's words, the dwarf behind him also raised his arms and shouted.

"Nilfgaardians are all beasts and should go to hell!"

People in the crowd who were watching the fun and not being too busy began to respond.

"Very good!" Roy suddenly looked at the archbishop, decisively, "Then Sir Cyrus, you should be damned!"

"asshole!"

"Shhh-"

A group of temple guards drew their swords around their waists, and the anti-magic metal shackles and blades reflected the cold light under the afternoon sun, surrounding the witcher in the center.

"I ate the gall of a bear heart and a leopard!"

"You ignorant mutant, kowtow to the bishop to apologize!"

"Did I say something wrong?!" Roy stood on the high platform and squinted at the temple guard, "According to your logic just now. A witcher went crazy and killed Sweetwater Village and killed the compatriot of this Lady Talika. , then all witchers be damned!"

"Similarly, Nilfgaardians should go to hell for hurting the heavens, so shouldn't everyone go to hell?"

"Lord Cyrus, why do you refute?" Roy looked at the distinguished old man with a mocking smile, "Could it be that you are not human?!"

In the entire temple island square, thousands of people were stunned and fell into a terrible silence.

"This witcher is really kind, doesn't he want to get involved?" Cassirer in the audience whispered in admiration, "In the south, who would dare to say such things to His Majesty Emhyr, the Archbishop of the Sun Cult, even in a frying pan? It's light!"

No one dares to insult the most respected Archbishop of Eternal Fire in Novigrad, the base camp of Eternal Fire!

there has never been!

...

"breathe…"

The blood of anger poured into the brain.

The old man caressed his chest, took a deep breath with a painful expression, suddenly felt dizzy, and fell backwards!

"Bishop Cyrus!"

"It's fine! I'm fine!"

"Witcher with sharp teeth and sharp mouth, you are confusing black and white again," the archbishop held the arms of the guards on both sides with his trembling palms, and blue veins appeared on his old cheeks, "In the whole world, there are so many mutants, less than one hundred. Are there any differences in the size of sesame seeds between your different schools and individuals?"

"How can this difference be compared with humans in the south and north!"

Roy took a deep breath.

"There are at least fifteen witchers in the orphanage!" said a voice from the audience, "call them all to the Temple Square to confront them! Let Ms. Talika identify them!"

Roy's eyes suddenly turned to the crowd!

Collision with a man who looks like a mercenary!

A monstrous killing intent shot out from his pupils, and his eyes were as bright as a falling meteor in the sky!

The latter shivered all over, as if he had been stabbed in the brain by an invisible sharp knife. His pupils were dilated, his expression was in a trance, and his figure was shaky, but he came back to his senses in the blink of an eye, clutching his bloody nose, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"Did you hear that, witcher!" The archbishop noticed his fierce look, and instead smiled happily, the more rude this guy was, the more afraid he was, "If you want to prove your innocence, then take the fifty-odd people from the orphanage. A child, and all the mutants called here!"

"Let the eternal fire and thousands of eyes on the field be the witnesses to see whether it is a normal orphanage or a filthy monster's nest!"

"Witcher, why are you silent?"

"Don't continue to use rhetoric to weave lies? Or, you are afraid, and you are thinking about how to flee in fear of crime?"

Roy was silent.

He is now 100% sure that this is all set for the witcher today!

First use the shapeshifters to draw them out.

Then pour dirty water and ask for the child to find Ciri's whereabouts.

Finally list this witness from nowhere!

Push them step by step to get them out of the well-arranged, iron-tight base!

The archbishop broke free from the support of the people around him, supported the nanmu walking stick, and took the initiative to take a step closer to him, with a sharp tone,

"Turn around and see, everyone has heard the poems that sing your praises! The unselfish witcher, the helpful witcher, the evil hunter who eradicates evil."

"So many people have high expectations for you, do you have the heart to let them down?"

"Don't worry... I, Cyrus Engelkander Heimfa, swear to the eternal fire that I have believed in all my life." The archbishop was righteous, his cane slammed on the ground,

"As long as you prove that you did not force any orphans, and that there is no murderer who wiped out Tianshui Village, then I will solemnly apologize to you!"

"Add some sweetness." The old man looked at the shapeshifter on the stake, and a trace of unwillingness flashed in his eyes, "How about releasing this bastard?"

"Master Witcher!" A beautiful girl in a long green dress shone with stars in her eyes, waved her pink fist, and cheered softly, "Prove it to everyone, I believe in you!"

Roy raised his eyebrows.

"Your Excellency..." More than a dozen bards wearing fashionable and colorful clothes and carrying lutes looked at him expectantly, "Please prove to everyone that our poems are not made up!"

Among the beggars, the beggar king whose hood covers his bald head and strokes the golden seal ring on his finger, and the butcher Cleaver whose cockscomb head is swaying in the wind among the dwarfs.

The Merchant Association, the Blacksmith Association... the craftsmen of the major craft associations... the nobles, the merchants and pawns, all looked at him.

"Don't count on it, he is obviously afraid, and he is guilty of being a thief!"

The voices of encouragement and ridicule came one after another.

Roy folded his arms around his chest, and the leather armor that wrapped his arms creaked.

A palpitating coldness began to radiate around the body.

long hesitation.

"Then let's prove it!"

A low voice tore through the noise.

A giant bear as strong as a standing man, with a bright bald head, easily pushed away the human wall formed by the guards of the temple.

"who!?"

"Go back!"

A ring of shining steel swords was aimed at the man, and the guards held down the anti-magic metal bombs around their waists.

A smile appeared on the stiff square face of the man,

"Everyone wants to meet all the witchers in the Gawain House."

"To fulfill you! We are here..."

swish

A group of demon hunters wearing leather, scale armor, plate armor, various school suits, carrying double swords, wearing pendants, and tall and straight, separated the crowd.

They seemed to be smeared with oil, and as soon as the crowd touched them, they automatically separated and fell to both sides!

A pair of vertical pupils looked around.

Aiden, Kayan of the cat faction, Vesemir, Lambert, Geralt of the wolf faction, Lesso, Ox, Serret of the snake faction, Coen of the Griffin school... Those who passed the trial of green grass soon Monty, Carl, Arkhamtom, Chanem, Lloyd... Except for Flius, Escal, Druid Evelyn, Mage Coral, Calkestan, and Griffin who stayed at the base, All the witchers came to the scene.

A chilling, sturdy, sharp-edged aura came towards him.

Everyone in the square couldn't help holding their breath.

"Life is priceless and worth cherishing. I sincerely advise you not to act rashly."

Serrit's voice was as hard as chewing on steel.

"Respected Archbishop of Eternal Fire, Ms. Talika," Lambert walked to the stake with his comrades and bowed to the guards, the archbishop and the audience, but there was no smile on his face, and his amber pupils seemed to flutter. The venomous snake before the attack shrank into a prismatic shape and faintly exuded a determination, "The fifteen witchers you want are all here, let's identify them."

...

On the east side of the square, on the second floor of the side hall of the temple.

The cold sunlight through the window showed a man with a scar on his face and thin lips, rubbing his chin, a smile on the corner of his mouth, and an elegant sorceress with a face that changed like the Northern Lights stood beside him. , quietly staring at the center of the square.

At the feet of the two, a man in a purple silk robe with a handsome, fair face and an elegant beard on his chin was bound by Wu Hua Da, wearing anti-magic metal shackles, his mouth was blocked by a cloth strip, and his body curled up like a boiled shrimp. .

...

At the same time, on the outskirts of Nuocheng, a group of elves wearing colorful fur armor, wooden bows, steel swords, anti-magic metal bombs, and squirrel tail decorations on their waists quickly poured into the alder forest!