Chapter 222 – The Spirit of the Abutec Manor 01. - The Witcher

[Chapter Size: 2600 Words.]

Third Person POV

Hengfors League.

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"Tell me, chubby boy, do you want to be a witcher too? Don't you think you need to get in shape first?" one of the guards mocked as soon as the door closed.

Ciri looked at him like he was an idiot before ignoring him, laughing with his friend, the other guard at the entrance.

Geralt sat down with the noble, who explained his situation.

"You understand, witcher, how to get rid of this thing that's haunting my family's house? Every night we feel it walking around… Scaring my wife and children!" the noble said after his explanation.

"I understand. I'll have to investigate before I can be sure what I'm dealing with," Geralt said, listening carefully.

"Alright. Feel free to ask whatever you want, as long as it doesn't disturb my family." he said, and Geralt nodded.

Leaving the room, he found Ciri with the noble's son, a boy of about 6 or 7 years old, who was asking her a few questions about witchers, from what little he could understand.

Before she could respond, the boy's gaze turned to the side, startled.

"What are you doing, Curtyner! Don't mingle with those people!" a female voice, full of mockery, said.

"I just wanted to understand what's going on, mom..." the boy explained, but the woman simply pulled him away, just as Geralt was approaching Ciri, watching the boy being dragged off.

"Is there a problem?" Geralt asked, as the girl shook her head.

"No. He talked about how the scary spirit comes at night to torment the family. And he wanted to understand a witcher's life, but his mother seems pretty snobbish." she mocked.

Ciri found it ironic, considering she held a much higher noble status than that woman, and yet there she was, being treated as someone inferior, snubbed by the lady.

"Anyway, let's go out and take a look at the family crypt." Geralt asked Ciri, who nodded, following him outside, while the guards received orders from the guard captain that the witcher could move freely around the mansion and the property.

First, Geralt and Ciri entered the crypt, a dark place full of stones where the great members of the Abutec family who had died in the past rested.

Geralt looked at the floor, checking the tombs, especially Wilson's, which had been opened recently.

"It was opened weeks ago… Right when the ghost started appearing around the house." Geralt commented.

"Do you think it's the head of the house's brother?" Ciri asked.

"He got very irritated when I asked about the elder who died seven years ago. It's very likely to be a vengeful spirit, since he admitted that his brother died on this property in a tragic incident," Geralt said, observing closely.

"Could you tell how old that boy is?" Geralt asked.

"Almost 7…" Ciri answered, a bit confused.

"Strange... he has Lucas's face…" Geralt murmured, finding something off in a small detail, after all, the boy should be a few months older.

"Would you assume Lucas Abutec killed his own brother?" Ciri asked suddenly, just as an explosion erupted beside her, with Madara walking through the place.

"We'll need to investigate further before claiming anything." Madara said, as Geralt felt the atmosphere grow heavier.

"I'll check his office. I'm sure he must have some kind of journal. Ask the staff more about this. There have to be some old enough to have information about it. Also go check the place where his brother died." Madara said.

Geralt walked through the mansion with Ciri at his side, with her learning as the witcher tried to persuade people, though he wasn't very good at it with that always serious face.

Ciri mocked him several times, and the witcher remained impassive, tolerating the girl's teasing.

Meanwhile, Madara walked slowly through the mansion, heading to the wife's room, while she was looking out the window at the witcher walking around the property and speaking with all the staff. She looked quite bothered.

"Why does he have to keep asking questions? Isn't it enough just to get rid of the ghost?" she muttered, dissatisfied.

Geralt went to the vineyard, where they found the place where young Wilson had supposedly died—hitting his head on a large rock in the middle of the vineyard during the night, according to reports. He checked the spot, but there was nothing unusual.

Geralt and Ciri were given permission to sleep among the servants, as they wanted to see the ghost that appeared on many nights. They would try that approach there.

The house began to show a drop in temperature during the early hours of the morning. When Geralt and Ciri got up, Madara was in the office reading the journal and several hidden documents, about business deals and even secret vaults.

It was then that he also started to feel something. Moaning sounds began to echo throughout the house. They could hear servants trembling with fear, while the guards saw nothing, walking nervously around the mansion.

Madara moved through the dark corridors with his Sharingan activated, while Geralt also came out to investigate.

Madara could see it—there really was an invisible specter flying through the halls. And there was no doubt, he had Wilson's face, just as they suspected. He had become a vengeful spirit. Now they needed to find the reason behind his motivations.

"Should we fight it?" Ciri murmured, also sensing the creature's presence, which merely drifted through the corridors, moaning a few unknown words.

"No..." Geralt replied.

"What is he saying?" she murmured.

"He's saying 'give me back my life'..." Madara landed beside her and informed.

"His death wasn't an accident. His own brother killed him." Madara said, although this wasn't written explicitly in the journal. There were very suggestive situations leading them to believe the brother had indeed killed the elder brother.

"Tomorrow you'll talk to him and take him to the crypt. I want to gather a bit more information tonight." Madara said, and Geralt nodded in agreement.

The spirit continued to wander through the night, while the lord of the house remained inside his room, not leaving, though still hearing the moaning. His children, full of fear, also shared the room ever since the spirit began appearing.

The man left the room a bit displeased when everything calmed down and the day began, heading first to his office to organize his things, ignoring the night full of terror.

But he was easily surprised by Madara as soon as he entered alone. The Uchiha placed him under a genjutsu, beginning to extract all of his memories.

He released him afterward, then met with Geralt before leaving the room, explaining the situation.

"That's horrible..." Ciri murmured. "Should we still help him? Someone like that?"

"We have no choice. Besides, we have to set the spirit free. Though I'd prefer if it were true—that the brother's death was indeed intentional… so that Lucas would pay for killing his own brother." Madara said.

In the end, Geralt and Ciri had breakfast with the servants and were later called to see Lord Abutec, who was waiting for some kind of answer as he saw the witcher enter.

"Tell me, witcher, do you have anything to solve my problem?" he asked immediately.

"Yes. But you also have to be honest, Lord Abutec." he began, and the noble raised an eyebrow at the tone the witcher used with him.

"I investigated the lives of everyone here and discovered that the ghost is a vengeful spirit. And he's your older brother, who died by your hand many years ago. Isn't that right?" Geralt said directly, with the noble narrowing his eyes, still absorbing the words for a moment, before slowly becoming enraged.