The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! - Chapter 177 - Triss Merigold.

[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV

Kaer Morhen.

...

...

“Hope you’ll keep your word...” Vesemir said in a demanding tone, while the blood-red-haired sorceress didn’t even look at him, keeping her eyes fixed directly on the girl lying in the bed.

“She is...”

Platinum blonde hair was the hallmark of a single family on the continent, a characteristic of the family of Cintra, and now, there was a girl with platinum hair, the age of the missing princess.

But the face wasn’t as all the kings had described in the order when her image was spread across the land. There was no scar, and her face was quite different from what everyone was searching for.

“She is who you think she is,” Vesemir spoke in a serious tone, still distrustful of the sorceress, for he didn’t know her and had only brought her there because of Geralt’s trust in her.

“She’s different from what the kings were looking for...” she murmured.

“As far as I know, her appearance was altered so she wouldn’t be identified, but the hair is something that gives away her true appearance. Though, it can be dyed if we want to hide her,” Vesemir said, now with no reason to conceal it.

“...”

Triss didn’t respond immediately. Her gaze drifted to the rest of the room, where there was an extra bed, identical to Ciri’s. The beds were surprisingly good and decorated—far more than a Witcher could offer a guest or even themselves... She doubted she had a bed like that in any of her hideouts.

“So... they’re here.”

It couldn’t be made any clearer what that meant—the entire continent searching for two children, who in the end, had sought refuge in a school of witchers in the north of the continent.

“You said you would keep your word,” Vesemir emphasized once again.

“Yes... but...” She seemed hesitant. She had been searching for them along with all the other mages, without finding an answer. It was strange that she had finally found them. She felt pressured not to pass this information on to anyone.

How much power could she gain if she delivered this information? How many favors would the kings grant her? That thought crossed her mind, to the point that she was a little tempted.

Yennefer, in Triss’s mind, would do it like any other sorceress.

Vesemir seemed to see the woman’s internal conflict and appeared to be preparing to give a signal depending on her response. The atmosphere grew tense with Ciri there, unaware of what was happening as she remained in her coma.

“Yes... I’ll keep it.”

In the end, Triss spoke those words, making Vesemir loosen his hands.

“Geralt needs you to help her... she’s having magical outbursts... The last one was the worst she’s had in a year,” Vesemir spoke in a calmer tone.

“So she’s a source...” Triss murmured, turning her gaze back to the girl, touching her forehead before looking back at the old witcher.

“What forms does her magic take?” she asked.

“She’s been showing seer abilities. When she loses control, she starts making various prophecies, like the death of some of us and other confusing things...” he commented, but hadn’t finished, sighing at the last part.

“She also has teleportation abilities—something she learned from the other boy. I don’t know how, since he doesn’t use magic. And she has other strange prediction abilities. Her body is also much stronger than a girl her age should have. She seems to be adapting to the training—it’s surprisingly bizarre...” Vesemir said.

“Wait, you’re saying she can use magic and can even control it to some degree?! Who’s teaching her that?” Triss murmured in surprise.

How many decades had she spent studying at Aretuza alongside her sisters just to begin to shape magic... and now, this girl was performing magic at 16—it was a little surprising, despite only hearing it from the witcher and not seeing it firsthand.

But this made Triss think that, since Ciri was a princess with magical potential, her grandmother might have seen it in her and immediately requested her training. After all, there was a druid in her court—they could have started training her. Even so, it was still quite impressive that she had learned magic like this.

“Yes, but I don’t think she learned it from childhood. It was training with another boy who taught her and forced her to use her magic. After a year of that, she started awakening her abilities and had a massive magical outburst,” Vesemir sighed, remembering how difficult it had been to keep that a secret.

It was only Madara who had managed to restrain her... so that no one outside the castle would know about her or sense the uncontrolled magic coming from there. After all, unlike Madara, who used an energy undetectable by mages and sorceresses, all those chaos explosions could be felt for miles around.

Vesemir still remembered the strange barrier Madara created to prevent Ciri’s magic from being detected externally. It had been an immensely powerful surge. He would never forget that blue energy the boy summoned, surrounding the girl with himself inside, while she exploded with green magic. The blue skeleton managed to contain all the force that made the very castle tremble from the impact.

In that moment, Vesemir realized that perhaps the exaggerated stories about the war the boy had fought were not lies.

“It’s incredible...” Triss murmured, still dazed and impressed by all of it.

She checked on the girl one last time, now using magic. Vesemir remained silent as she performed her diagnostic spell.

“She’s fine. You’ve been taking care of her, from what I can tell...” Triss commented, pausing before continuing.

“It won’t take long for her to wake up. Maybe within a day or two, she’ll be conscious.” That was Triss’s response, as she then turned her gaze back to Vesemir.

“I am committed to taking care of her. I will keep my word.” She reinforced this, deciding that she would not betray Geralt for political power on the continent... not knowing that this decision could cause another war. After all, Madara could turn against the North now that he held so much power.

“Good. I’ll leave her with you, then.” Vesemir nodded, satisfied, placing his faith in Geralt’s decision to bring this sorceress here.

“But before that, let me ask another question...?” Triss asked.

She looked at him, following his gaze to the empty bed in the corner of the room.

“The boy... Madara. Where is he?” she asked. “He went with Geralt too, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Vesemir crossed his arms, confirming. “The King of Kaedwen launched an attack a few nights ago, sending a group of his soldiers. After fighting them all off, we discovered they were claiming there were witchers from our school in the king’s dungeon. Madara and Geralt went to the capital. They’re going to deal with the situation with the king.”

Triss fell silent, absorbing those words for a moment. She realized that things were getting tense, and she couldn’t imagine the chaos that would unfold if the King of Kaedwen was attacked.

After all, the continent’s kings feared that Madara would return to destroy them. That was why there was widespread fear and a relentless search to find his whereabouts over the past two years.

Triss shivered slightly. She couldn’t imagine what might happen in that city, the capital. But, for now, she pushed that thought aside and turned her gaze back to the sleeping girl, trusting that Geralt wouldn’t let anything bad happen. After all, she didn’t know Madara well, and everything she had heard described him as a demon in this world—despite Yennefer telling her that he wasn’t like that and was simply waiting for his return from the other continent.

And, just as she had said, two days had passed since that conversation, with Triss settling into the castle.

Ciri finally moved her eyelids while lying in her bed, blinking a few times until her eyes began to open. Her vision was a bit blurry, and her body felt tired. She looked up at the ceiling of the room.

“What happened?” she murmured as she tried to get up.

However, her body, weakened from more than a week in a coma, could not endure the effort. Her strength failed, and she fell back onto the pillow, dazed. A sharp headache took over her at that moment, making her bring her hands to her forehead, letting out a sigh of pain.

“Madara...”

She didn’t fail to call his name, hoping he was nearby.

No response came. Only the sound of the cold mountain wind entering through the room’s window.

That was when she heard footsteps approaching the door. She imagined it was Geralt checking on her, and the girl hoped to find answers about what had happened. After all, the last thing she remembered was that, just a moment ago, she had been on her way to the castle with Madara, Geralt, and Vesemir.

But, to her surprise, it was a woman with red hair, dressed in finely crafted clothes, who appeared. A modest neckline left part of her chest exposed, in a natural elegance.

Ciri’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. At the same time, she narrowed her gaze, suspicious.

“Who are you?” she asked immediately.

The sorceress observed her in silence for a moment before answering.

“My name is Triss Merigold. I came here at Geralt’s request to help you.”

The woman introduced herself, approaching slowly.

“And you must be young Cirilla... a little different from what I had initially imagined of the princess of Cintra,” Triss murmured the last part as she stepped even closer.

Ciri kept her cautious gaze fixed on the stranger, especially when she spoke her name and identity. No one was supposed to know about that, at least not at first.

“You came to help me?”

She didn’t fail to murmur, remembering that Geralt had mentioned this Triss to Vesemir, before questioning:

“Where is Geralt? And Madara?”

“They left. Unfortunately, before I even arrived here, they had already departed,” Triss replied calmly.

“What?! They left? When?”

Ciri raised her voice a little, showing concern.

“A few days ago, almost a week. They went south, to _____,” Triss explained.

“Why did they do that?”

Ciri questioned, her voice now filled with anxiety.

“There were some problems here. The castle was attacked.”

Those words made Ciri’s eyes widen even more, and Triss continued before the girl could ask the obvious question.

“Vesemir said that the King of Kaedwen tried to seize Kaer Morhen while you were in a coma. And perhaps the king has a prisoner from the school among them—Lambert, Eskel, and Coen... maybe more than one. That’s why they left,” she explained.

“The King of Kaedwen...”

Ciri murmured, a bit lost in her thoughts.

She adjusted herself with difficulty on the bed. Triss, meanwhile, came and sat beside the girl, who was still eyeing the stranger with caution. There was no one else here besides Vesemir, and Ciri was assessing whether this woman was truly trustworthy or not. After all, she knew that many would try to harm her.

“I know it may be a surprise and that you’re upset that they left while you were in a coma,” Triss said in a gentle tone.

“But I believe they’re only trying to keep you safe... and help their friends.”

She chose her words carefully, trying to comfort her. After all, she was here to help the girl, and, in a way, she could already perceive how the young one thought, even if the situation sounded a little cliché.

Ciri remained silent, thoughtful, as she looked at her hands for a moment, saying nothing.

“But you are not alone.”

Triss gave a slight smile as she spoke again.

“I’m here to help you. I’ve heard that you have great abilities, and I would love to see them. Maybe I can help you improve them. I heard you’ve been training with your friend for a long time, but he has always been a greater force. However... how about we surprise him while we train here? When he returns, you’ll be able to show him even stronger magic. I’m a sorceress, and I could certainly help you with that.”

The sorceress’s words made Ciri widen her eyes and slightly open her mouth. For the first time, she seemed to truly see that woman as someone who could teach her something.

“You think I can do that?” she asked, sounding less upset than before.

Obviously, her initial reaction upon hearing that Madara and the others had left was frustration, but she trusted that he would do whatever it took to come out well from the situation. Besides, she knew he would return soon. That sense of security made her look at Triss now with genuine interest.

“Of course you can!”

Triss responded enthusiastically, capturing the young girl’s attention.

“You’ve already surprised me just with the stories about your abilities. In less than a year since you awakened, you’ve done things that few can achieve. I promise to help you become even stronger. If you learned all this in a year, I’m sure you can surprise anyone in just a few months!”

Ciri listened to that with eyes sparkling with excitement. Her mind began to imagine the idea of becoming more powerful and proving to Madara that she was strong.

She had always wanted to surpass herself. It was no wonder that, even being trained by Madara, she insisted on going through training even more intense than those the witchers imposed on her.

“I want to!”

Ciri said immediately, determined.

Triss opened an even wider smile upon hearing the girl’s response.

“Of course!” the sorceress replied, pleased.

“I’m sure we’ll get along very well, Ciri. You can just call me Triss. I’m sure we’ll become great friends.”

She spoke kindly, extending her hand to the young girl, who shook it firmly.