Witcher's Atelier

Chapter 38 A familiar old place



It was morning. "Mom! What is that brother doing? Why is he staring at the notice board?" The ignorant little girl pointed at the boy wearing leather armor, carrying two swords, and leading a brown horse and asked.

The mother looked at him sideways, and was immediately surprised by the outfit. She quickly picked up the little girl and walked away quickly: "Shh! Don't stare at him, or he will kidnap you."

When she left Elland the day before yesterday, Sister Nennek kept her promise. She really prepared a good horse for the boy. This brown mare with a moderate physique, bright fur, and strong limbs, Victor fell in love with it as soon as he saw it, and he named her "Amber".

Riding to the capital of Temeria, because the shortest route would pass through Dorndell, and the place name left a bad impression on Victor, he decided to take a detour, first go south to the Ismina River, and then go west along the river to Vizima.

At that time, he didn't expect that this route would bring him a surprise.

So now, he looked at the notice board of "White Orchard Village" with mixed feelings.

Although it was a memory from more than ten years ago, after hundreds of hours of game time, the unchanged story starting point always makes people unforgettable.

Without paying attention to the girl's childish words or the peasant woman's bad words, Victor led his horse to find the only inn in the village. Since he was here, he had to take a little sightseeing.

Passing by the blacksmith shop, he heard the clanging sound of hammers and anvils. The boy went in and asked the dwarf blacksmith to help sharpen the steel sword. He had forgotten whether the blacksmith had a name in the game, so he asked.

The dwarf blacksmith with a black and gray beard did not have any bad feelings towards the witcher. He was cheerful and cheerful and even served Victor for free without charging any wages.

He said his name was Willis, and he had lived here for fifty years. He was as close to the humans in White Orchard Village as a family. If the witcher wanted to express his gratitude, he could see if there were any water ghosts by the river. They rarely appeared, but there were still some.

Victor nodded in agreement, then left the blacksmith shop and continued to move forward. Passing through chicken coops, pig pens, and cowsheds, when he played Geralt in the game, his first pot of gold came from the sacrifice of these livestock.

Finally, he found his destination along the path, tied the amber to the door, and walked into the inn. It was busy farming season in the morning, and no one came to drink. The store seemed a little empty. The layout of the tables and chairs seemed familiar. The Temeria lily shield emblem that caused countless tavern massacres in the game was cleanly hung behind the proprietress.

The leather boots made a sound on the wooden floor. "Good morning, ma'am, what's your name?" Victor asked politely when he walked to the proprietress.

Being called a lady obviously made the middle-aged woman a little uncomfortable. "Love... Elsa." She said.

Victor nodded and smiled: "Elsa, please give me a pot of warm milk! Thank you."

...

In the evening, Amber stopped running with an unsatisfied look. Victor jumped off the horse, led it and walked through the dazzling herb garden, knocking on the wooden door of the cabin.

The woman who opened the door was about 40 years old, with a few strands of gray in her long black hair and crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, but the blue in her eyes was still pure, and her plump figure exuded the sweet fragrance of chamomile.

Facing the lady, Victor raised the cloth bag in his hand, "Good night, Miss Tomila, I saw your notice, this is the beehive you want. In addition, I noticed that there are allspice and basil in your herb garden, can I buy some from you?"

Tomila is the herbalist of Baiguoyuan Village, but she does not live in the village, but lives in a hut in the valley two miles outside the village.

She came from the city and was a worldly person, who was incompatible with the people in the village, so the boy's polite visit made her very happy.

After a little more conversation, it was discovered that they not only understood herbs, but also had some opinions on the changes in the world. Victor was therefore invited by the owner of the wooden house to have dinner together.

The various spices in the cabin kitchen fully demonstrated the owner's taste. Black pepper pork chops, French vegetable casserole, and honey croissants, after a delicious dinner that was enjoyable to both the host and the guests, Tomila opened a bottle of Toussaint wine and asked Victor to drink with her.

There is no doubt that she is an easy-going woman, with a straightforward personality but not vulgar. The two of them drank and complained in the cabin, from the lack of rain in the spring that caused the growth of herbs to be bad to the invasion of Nilfgaard that caused the price of wine to rise.

In the midst of the wine, Victor touched the herbalist's arm with his elbow, "Hey! Tomila, tell me about yourself, what's your story? Why did you come to this place?"

She squinted her eyes slightly and looked at Victor: "My story... is very sad. Do you know the Temple of Meliteli in Elland?"

The boy raised his red wine and clinked his glasses with the herbalist: "Are you asking me if I know? I just left there. Amber is a gift from Sister Nenneke."

Tomila took a big sip of red wine: "What a wonderful coincidence! I received medical training under the Nenneke priest.

Well... I was only eighteen years old when they took me in. At that time, I was more interested in love than in class."

Thinking of the group of young and bold female students in the temple, Victor smiled with his glass.

"There was a boy... Geslaf. He always worked shirtless. The apprentices all stared at him, and saw him stumble and knock over things.

I left the temple for him, and we spent a wonderful summer together... and then he left me."

Speaking of this, the herbalist took another sip of red wine.

"I didn't see Ms. Nenneke again. Priest Hrosvisa refused to take me back. My parents also refused to talk to me. They gave me a cloak and a small bag of gold coins and asked me to leave.

Then I traveled for a long time, trying to find a place where I felt safe and needed me.

Finally I came to White Orchard. The story ends."

The atmosphere froze for a while.

Putting down the wine glass, Victor opened his arms and gave Tomila a warm hug: "It is indeed a sad story, but I can feel that you have let it go a lot. Now it's good. Everything is over. Isn't it?"

Feeling the kindness of the young man patting her back, Tomila hesitated for a moment, then gently hugged back: "Yes, it's good now."

...

At midnight, Victor, who stayed in the hotel, suddenly found that he was sleep-deprived again, but the experienced him did not try to ask for help this time, but sniffed the fragrance that rushed into his nose in the dark.

Chamomile, also known as mother chamomile, has a slightly sweet fragrance. It can be used to make essential oil by steam distillation. The finished product is dark blue in appearance, with a strong sweet taste, medium volatility, and medium-intensity aroma.

In a trance, the boy seemed to fall into a sea of ​​chamomile, rising and falling with the waves.

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