Chapter #50
"So, where are we riding? I think we should be able to find a Forktail at the mountains." Eskel said while looking at his map.
They were all riding horses which were actually stolen from a random bandit group that suddenly ambushed them…
Well tried to ambush them.
Considering the fact this side of the mountains only had one path leading to Kaer Morhen and that path being basically a death trap even for those who knew the way, it was a shocking event.
"It was lucky that we ran into those bandits." Lambert laughed while patting his mare on her neck.
Meanwhile Zeno was just gazing at his slightly trembling hands with a shocked expression.
[Your luck seems to be already tremendous my flesh friend. Although it appears that it is happening because it's equinox.] System showed a report of Zeno's Karmic Virtue and how it interacted with the world in ways they couldn't understand yet.
{They appeared just as you said 'I wish we had some horses.' Quick wish to be a decent human being!} Ouryuu exclaimed.
'...' Now Zeno really wanted to punch something.
[I don't know whether you're genuine or you are just roasting him my guy...] System was dumbfounded.
"Zeno? Where are we going?" Remus asked, seeing that they're riding without a direction.
"We need to get the ingredients, no one said we must hunt the monsters ourselves. Deglan said 'gather' not 'hunt'." Zeno said with a smile and pointed to a city nearby on the map.
He would have gladly hunt the monsters if it was just himself but Zeno was certainly not taking risks with this group coming after him.
While the rest was confused Eskel was grinning like a loon. "We're going to need a shitload of gold though."
"I'll handle the money." Zeno replied with his own grin thinking about his abnormal luck today and tapped the belly of his mare to speed up.
Meanwhile Vesemir was trying to catch up to them, for some reason whenever he got close to the kids something unlucky would happen forcing him to slow down.
_______
Zeno and the company rode to Ard Carraigh, closest capital city to Kaer Morhen. While one might think that you can't get the ingredients you need in any random city, Ard Carraigh was wasn't any other city in this world.
Ard Carraigh was basically neighbors with Ban Ard. The male equivalent of Aretuza where people with potential were recruited and trained for years before they emerged as sorcerers.
Ard Carraigh being close to a school for sorcerers, it wasn't short of merchants selling ingredients magical in nature.
The tricky part was their lack of funds. The ingredients would no doubt cost gold which they lacked.
"All right, I have a single Ducat. We need to invest this gold correctly." Eskel said while taking out a single gold coin.
Zeno just took it from his hands before he started walking in a random direction.
At least that's what it looked to the rest, Zeno was actually following his mental Destiny compass he used to find this world.
Since it wasn't an actual compass just yet, Zeno had to hold the item he wanted in his hand and the compass would guide him according to System's calculations.
Destiny was something still eluded Zeno but considering he barely scratched the surface of supernatural it was natural.
The compass took him to a shabby looking tavern. The gang didn't have problems blending since they all looked like they were teenagers instead of 9-10 year olds like they actually were.
After getting in, Zeno quickly located the arm wrestling championships that was about to start giving a 100 Ducats as reward.
Then he noticed a card game tournament happening right afterwards, the name of the game wasn't written but Zeno assumed it would be gwent.
He gestured to the post about the challenge to the rest. Seeing there was no entrance fee the rest had smiles all over their faces.
"Let's get some beer first!" Eskel yelled while catching the coin Zeno threw back.
_______
By the time Vesemir tracked the children to Ard Carraigh, he was covered in mud and his expression was not happy at all.
He had experimented with Aard to clean the mud but it didn't work due to lacking finesse, still it got rid of some of the mud. Vesemir quickly located the children who were not even bothering to cover their tracks.
Vesemir literally facepalmed when he saw the children who left the keep with grim determination and ready to die, half drunk gambling like their life dependent on it.
Even more depressing part was that Zeno was literally hauling a sack of gold that was heavier than himself judging by the size of the sack.
'Not even I had so much gold in my hands at one time! This kid should just become a gambler instead of being a Witcher!'
Vesemir sighed while marking down the people talking with each other with gestures, no doubt planning to ambush the kids.
'It seems I am killing robbers instead of monsters tonight.' Vesemir sighed again before going to a different tavern. 'I need a bath first though, the kids could manage.'
The gang were actually aware of their tails, and were quick to get rid of them by splitting up and regrouping elsewhere.
The fact that they downplayed their strength helped a lot in that matter. The opportunist's who had been lurking lost their trails.
They met up in a shop run by a sorcerer looking merchant. He was either actually a sorcerer or a drop out.
He was conversing with an actual sorcerer when they entered the shop and drew attention to themselves.
"Hello there boys, what can I get you all?" Merchant asked, looking at the big sack Zeno was carrying.
Eskel handed the list wordlessly, meanwhile the rest took the sack down from Zeno's back. Zeno stretched afterwards cracking all the joints in his spine.
"Well, quite the list but I have everything on here. You guys are lucky since they're all fresh too." Merchant went to the back to prepare their order.
At that time the sorcerer suddenly moved, he casually patted Zeno's head with an inquisitive gaze before he nodded to himself.
"???" The gang.
They couldn't even react in time since the guy didn't held any hostile intentions.
Zeno, who had felt his Karmic Virtue basically boil at the touch, couldn't react until he was presented a letter.
"It is from our mutual friend. He asked me to give this to you. Good night young man." The sorcerer bowed and left the shop leaving the gang confused.
Zeno quickly looked over the letter and discovered that it was a letter of recommendation for Ban Ard without and experation date.
It was something that allowed people to study in the school even if they didn't have potential to become a sorcerer.
While looking through the letter a small note fell, caught by Geralt he quickly read the note out loud. "Consider this as a welcome gift, but don't expect me to give you more when we meet- G.O.D."
"Huh didn't know you knew someone with such ego Zeno." Lambert laughed while patting Zeno's back. Only to discover his back was completely drenched...
"*Curses in dwarven*" Zeno cursed, his words were so vibrant that the merchant who came back with their package blused.
Zeno was the only one amongst their group that already learned every language book in the keep. He certainly didn't want to taint the children's minds so early.
'Damn I have to note this down.' Meanwhile Vesemir was impressed, he also noticed Zeno's expression and was surprised to see him shaken like this.
Zeno was scared, Gaunter O'dimm had given him the chills while he played Heart of Stone, considering his lack of magical defense he was naturally scared of someone that can stop time just to kill a nobody.
'With this letter he is basically saying I won't be a threat to him even if I learned magic!' Zeno was also frustrated about his weaknesses.
'This kid could shrug off any type of pain we can cause him but a simple acronym causes him to tremble like this...' Vesemir decided to look into this G.O.D. when the spring arrives. 'Maybe it stands for Golden Oversized Dragon?'
"Well, we got what we came here for. Let's go back." Geralt said after seeing Zeno not recovering from the shock.
"Yeah..." Eskel and Remus agreed.
They were quite shocked, despite being weird. Zeno was like an unshakable pillar for them. Helping them get back on their feet whenever they fell, like an annoying older brother that cared for them.
Seeing him like this didn't sit right with them.
They rode back to Kaer Morhen in silence, only when they saw the keep in their sights did they speak.
"Zeno, who was that person in the note?" Geralt decided to ask, judging it might be the right time.
It wasn't...
Still Zeno answered. "The Devil."
"There are no devils, you know the bestiary better than any of us." Eskel retorted.
"Believe what you want but for the love of everything that is sacred don't cross a mirror merchant if you ever run into one." Zeno said before speeding away.