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“You cheeky little bloodsucker. You can’t expect me to teach a witcher magic? That’s like asking a rooster to lay eggs.” The alchemist screeched and pulled a strand of his beard out, and he winced. “Anything but that.”

“Do you have an extra scroll or two lying around? The one that can turn someone into a bird?” Roy did not push his luck. “Can I have a few of those?”

“What do you want to do with them?”

“I have a really big pet. Terrifyingly huge, it is.” Roy made a big circle in the air, roughly making out the size of the grifin’s head. “I’d probably be arrested if I took it with me in public. It needs a friendlier face.”

“What kind of pet? A cross between a cat and a dog?” Kalkstein was trying to figure out the pet Roy mentioned. It piqued his interest, and his chin did not hurt as much anymore.

“Just a regular monster.”

“Interesting. As far as I know, monsters are impossible to train.” He spun around and slammed his left fist into his right hand. “Alright. I’ll give you something after you finish the request. It’s a magic crystal I made a long time ago. There’s a transfiguration spell embedded in it. Just inject enough mana into it and you can turn your target into a random animal. You can use it once per day, and the effect lasts for twenty four hours. Even witchers can use it.”

If I can get that crystal, I can take Gryphon with me everywhere I go. “What’s the catch?” Roy was overjoyed that Kalkstein had something he desperately needed, but he held his excitement down. “Something that powerful must come with some sort of condition.”

“Ahem.” Kalkstein felt awkward that Roy saw through him. “Your target has to stay still when you’re casting the spell, and it must trust you unconditionally. If it even tries to fight back, the spell will backfire and turn the caster into an animal instead.”

“Whoa.” Roy’s face froze. No wonder Kalkstein was happy to give me that. A scroll is probably more practical than this crystal. I’d have to be mad to willingly turn myself into an animal.

The condition was not a problem for Roy, however. Gryphon trusted him unconditionally after all.

“So, what will it be, kid? Time is money, and I don’t have time to waste on you.” Kalkstein craned his neck, staring at Roy with anticipation.

“You’ll have to add that new term into the contract.”

“Of course. Right away.”

***

“You sure you want to sign this contract, kid?” Letho put the contract down and gave the alchemist a questioning look. The alchemist felt offended, and he glared back at Letho.

“And that’s why I need your opinion. What do you think about this contract?”

“It’s not a problem for me, but we’ll need a safety net for you.” Letho came up with another term a moment later. “Mr. Kalkstein, we’ll need to have a clause that guarantees our safety. It needs to be magically binding just in case something were to happen to Roy. If he’s hurt or dead, you’ll have to pay the price that includes and is not limited to death.”

The alchemist grinned. “Of course. Right away. I’ll come up with a new contract. You gentlemen can make your decision after that.”

Roy had an escape strategy at the ready. He would leave his weapon with Letho and teleport himself away if he were to run into any unwanted circumstances. Of course, he would have to see if the teleportation still worked after he was turned into a bird.

***

The crimson sun rose above the horizon the next morning, shining down on Foltest’s castle. A shady man with a bandana and stud came out of a double-story villa near the castle, and a mousey art enthusiast followed. They chatted happily and went down the streets like friends.

Right after they left, a yellow bird with black eyes and underwings flew high up into the air, chirping merrily. It flew past the patrolling soldiers and made a beeline for the villa. The oriole circled the villa, but all the windows were shut tightly. There were no cracks from which the bird could enter. It flew up to the roof and hopped to the chimney. It craned its neck and looked down the dark chute, and a moment later, the bird slid down into the chimney, disappearing into the opening.

The villa had spacious living quarters, but it was shrouded in darkness and silence. A weird, quiet chirping came from the fireplace, and a petite silhouette fell down to the coal pile on the fireplace before hopping into the living quarters. It tilted its head and scanned its surroundings, its eyes filled with an almost uncanny cautiousness.

The bird then noticed a staircase that led to the second floor, and its eyes shone. It flapped its wings and landed on the first step of the staircase, taking careful measures to not touch any floorboard or furniture. It stopped and waited to see if anyone would come out to stop it, but all the bird got was silence. It flapped its wings and flew up clumsily, going past three steps. Not a step more, and not a step less.

The bird flew up another three steps a moment later. The bird realized that it was difficult to control its flying distance in this claustrophobic space. It flew a bit short one time and landed on the edge of the step. The bird almost missed the step and fell, but thanks to it holding onto the step with its other leg, the bird managed to avoid tripping on itself.

It was a heart-pounding experience, but the bird managed to land on the second floor. The second floor was separated into a few areas. Some of them were hidden in the depths and out of the bird’s sight, though it was not here to explore those areas. The bird hopped all the way to a particular room, following a weird arc.

Orioles had weak muscles, making walking impossible. Hopping was their only way to ‘walk’ on land. Those who did not know better would think they were dancing.

The door was locked shut, and the bird stopped right outside. Instead of getting closer to it, it tilted its head for a moment. The bird then flew up to the ceiling and into the ventilation shaft. The little creature took a few dizzying turns in the shaft and came to another opening. Contrary to the dim dark space outside, the bird noticed a magical, yellow light shining in the room.

It stuck its head out and looked around the room. There was a row of tables in it, and they were filled with crucibles, test tubes, beakers, and tripods. Witchers would build a makeshift laboratory to make their alchemical supplies, and the laboratory the bird saw was a hundred times better than what witchers would usually come up with.

There was a rack in the corner of the room, and it was lined with containers filled with colorful liquids. Some of them had weird limbs floating in them. There were a few metal containers standing in the room. They looked like coffins.

Alright. This is it. Roy opened his beak and took a deep breath, then he charged straight at his target. He landed on a floorboard that had a lily engraved on it, and the floorboard beside it had a rose engraving on it. In fact, the whole room’s floorboards were filled with lily and rose engravings.

Lilies mean safety. Roses mean traps. That’s what the journal says. Azar Javed was a powerful sorcerer, and he decked his laboratory out with magical traps. It was a dangerous place, but Kalkstein was not one to shy away from danger. He had been eyeing Azar’s laboratory for a long time now, and the alchemist had been coming up with a plan to infiltrate it. He even came up with the layout of Azar’s laboratory behind him. Kalkstein knew all the safe spots and dangerous areas in this laboratory.

According to him, most of the traps were recorded in his journal, while Azar would change the rest every month. That was the dangerous part of the mission, and Roy would have to rely on his own experience and instincts to avoid those traps.

Roy was feeling a bit magical. As a human, his physical capabilities far outclassed the regular man. However, after Kalkstein turned him into a bird, Roy’s physical capabilities did not transfer. He could fly and hop, but that was it. As far as birds went, he was a regular bird in terms of strength and reaction speed. He was so weak that a human child could kill him easily. The only different thing was that he had a spell on his beak.

However, there was also something good that came out of this. Roy could still use his character sheet skills, even in this state. Observe and Teleport were two of the skills he could use, but most importantly, he still had his inventory, and he could transfer items in and out of his inventory. Thanks to these skills, Roy had more confidence in completing the request.

He turned his head around and scanned the laboratory curiously. There’s an electric trap on that gilded drawer. That book on the center table is filled with magic glue. That pot of flower spreads sleeping gas in its vicinity. That oil lamp will blow up if I touch it. That rhino head is… safe.

Roy flew to the rhino head specimen on the east wall and observed the room from up there. Experiment journal. Where would Azar hide that? In a safe box? A hidden place? Not likely. He needs to write in it frequently, and from what Kalkstein told me, Azar is as mad a scientist as he is. He’ll have to write any inspiration or breakthrough down the moment he stumbles upon them. He’ll keep the journal in arm’s reach. I wonder what Azar is researching lately.

Roy looked at the laboratory tables closely. Every single table was thoroughly cleaned, and not even a speck of dust could be seen. Cleanliness was the basic rule of a laboratory. However, one table was not as clean as the others.

Roy landed on that exact table. There was a black tripod standing before him, and a transparent glass tube the size of a forearm hung in the middle. It was filled with colorless liquid and what seemed like a green strand of hair.

The tweezers and heating element were still lying on the table, and the drawers were half-opened. Azar has probably been working on this lately. Roy came to the edge of the table and poked his beak into the drawer, and he felt it pass through an invisible bubble.

The spell on his beak buzzed, and the trap did not activate. Roy pulled the drawer open at a painstakingly slow speed, and halfway through, he saw a yellowing diary hidden in the drawer. There was no title on the cover, though there was a line of numbers. July 1261 – August 1261. July to August? I wasn’t in Vizima then.

Roy flipped to the next page using his beak. ‘Thanks to Rudolf Valaris’ assistant, I have finally procured a strand of her hair. This shall be the first time I have gotten a specimen of her hair. Oh, she is a wondrous yet elusive creature.

I have decided to halt all research on witchers and turn my attention to this new creature. I do not want to do this, but I have no choice. The blood I received from the witcher is faulty. Experiments show that the components are a mix of nekker, drowner, Lake Vizima’s fallen vodyanoi, and a steed in heat’s blood. Either the experiment is flawed, or that brat somehow managed to deceive me under my nose. He won’t get off that easily. I’ll make sure he pays.

Rudolf has been pestering me. He wants me to progress the experiment as soon as possible and come up with a feasible plan.’

Roy paused for a moment, then he quickly skimmed through the journal. He did not care or worry about the content. All he wanted was to finish skimming right away. Kalkstein’s laboratory had a telescope and surveillance crystal. The latter would copy everything Roy saw. So, magical transcription?

Roy finished skimming through the thirty-page journal and clumsily closed it with his beak. He pushed the drawer in and made sure it was half-opened, the way it was before Roy opened it.

He was about to leave the laboratory, but Roy hesitated. Azar Javed has been researching witchers up until now. I wonder if he has any records of his research.

Coral was looking into witcher mutations as well, and she helped Roy a lot during the Trial of the Grasses. Maybe he has something Coral will be interested in.

Roy opened the drawer under the first one. It was filled with a stack of experiment journals, and all of them were about Azar’s witcher research over the years. However, there was another thing that got Roy’s attention. Contrary to the soft, yellowing papers of the journals, this book’s cover was as hard as a tree bark.

The cover was worn and out of color. It seemed old, and the title was written in Elder Speech—Alzur’s Wiedzmindarl’len (Alzur’s Witcher Research Journal).

Roy flipped it open, but he realized that the book was not complete. It was missing a lot of the content, but Roy skimmed through it and put everything back to where they were before he carefully flew back out the same way he came in.

***

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