The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! - Chapter 199 - How long has it been, Yennefer...

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV

Aretuza.

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Yennefer stepped down from the cart, which had finally arrived at its destination, while she examined the city that looked just like all the others she had passed through along the way.

Non-humans were leaving the entire region, and there were signs that some nearby village and town forces, full of humans, were planning to attack the non-humans and expel them from Kaedwen after what had happened. This seemed to be out of the king's hands. While the people of this kingdom themselves were displaying their hatred toward the other races.

“Witch, we're leaving now, do you need anything else?” The men who had brought Yennefer asked, as she looked at them, pulling her attention away from the city.

“No... You can head back south.” She replied, as the men nodded and began to stop somewhere to eat before setting off again to continue fulfilling the king’s orders.

Yennefer began walking through the streets, receiving reproachful and suspicious looks from the non-humans who were preparing to leave the city. Her goal was the main area of the city, and it didn't take long until she finally saw the first sorceresses watching the townspeople leave the place.

Yennefer approached until she was noticed by them.

“Hm? Yennefer! You’ve finally arrived.” One sorceress said.

“I suppose Tissaia informed you of my coming here.” Yennefer commented, after all, sorceresses had many ways of communicating with each other.

“Yes, she informed us a few days ago. It’s good to see you after so long, sister.” Another sorceress said.

“Now let’s go see the others, we’re using the city’s main building.” The first sorceress who had noticed her spoke again, asking Yennefer to accompany them, and so she did.

“Inform that Yennefer is here.” They said to the other sorceresses as they entered to deliver the news.

“I’m only here to see the situation, I don’t intend to join you in the investigation.” Yennefer wanted to clarify this, not wanting to associate with them at this moment.

The sorceresses looked at each other for a moment, but one of them still insisted.

“Even so, I’m sure you’d like to see the others, since Garya will want to pass some information to you,” she said.

Yennefer ended up nodding and followed them. Upon entering the place, a few sorceresses immediately appeared. One of them, Yennefer knew well. As Keira Metz approached her.

“Yennefer, it’s been a long time, huh?” The blonde murmured.

“Yes... Do you know anything about Triss?” Yennefer asked.

“I haven’t seen her for a few months. And like Tissaia, she also isn’t responding to our attempts to communicate. I don’t know what she’s doing right now, but I hope she’s alright,” Keira said, while Yennefer gave a slight nod of agreement.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Yennefer of Vengerberg...”, an arrogant voice came, as someone descended the staircase in the hall of the large mansion, which served as the city’s town hall.

“Coral,” Yennefer muttered upon hearing the person who had spoken, clearly not too fond of that woman.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve shown up at meetings or balls, while we discuss our progress in finding the Uchiha boy and the princess of Cintra... But you simply disappeared. Makes me wonder if you’re hiding something,” said Coral, with a mischievous smile.

“I was keeping my distance, but I’ve had no progress if you must know... anyway... your interest in Madara seems a bit obsessive. I’m concerned about your intentions,” Yennefer replied, staring at Coral firmly.

“The boy saved my life and that of many other sorceresses and sorcerers on the hills of Sodden. Is it so unusual for a maiden to seek her hero?” Coral said, provocatively.

“Maiden? Spare me, Coral,” Keira couldn’t help but respond sharply, but Coral ignored her.

“So, do you have any information about him... about Madara?” She still insisted.

“I know nothing beyond what’s already been told to me: he left this continent nearly two years ago,” Yennefer replied, ignoring Coral’s narrow gaze, still clearly suspicious.

“...” Yennefer said nothing more.

‘That woman is dangerous’ she thought. And she truly was obsessed with Madara ever since the events in the Sodden Mountains.

The discussion between them couldn’t go on for much longer, as other sorceresses began to appear in the corridors.

"Long time no see, Yennefer. I hope your trip here has been pleasant..." said one of them, approaching Yennefer. It was Garya.

"Hello, Garya. Tissaia told me you were handling things here in Kaedwen," Yennefer said.

The sorceress came closer to Yennefer, being one of the most important members of Aretuza—some placed just below Tissaia in the school of magic for girls.

"Well... I’d like to know how the situation is," Yennefer asked, as Garya nodded. More sorceresses approached, greeting Yennefer.

"Alright. Let’s begin," Garya said, starting to report everything she had about the things happening on this side of the world.

The king had orchestrated an attack against the non-humans, but a mysterious group had appeared and eliminated all of the king’s soldiers, as well as all the camps—in other words, more than 2,000 men had been massacred. The sorceresses tried to contact the group known as Akatsuki, but with no success, despite knowing they were still being seen around the region and that some had even tried to approach them, but were ignored.

"The strangest part is how the camps were left after all of this," Garya said in the midst of the discussion, recalling the destruction caused in each of those places. "It looked like it had been caused by a massive fire attack... And not chaos energy. But an attack like that doesn’t seem like something ordinary. At that scale, there’s only one person who masters fire that well on the entire continent."

"Madara Uchiha," Yennefer guessed her implication.

"Yes, he’s a strong suspect," the sorceress said to Yennefer, with a serious look.

"So you know something? You know he’s back?" Coral interrupted, staring intently at Yennefer.

"No... Not that I know of, no," she replied, but at the same time, she was worried about the suspicions that Madara might be in Kaer Morhen. It wouldn’t be long before they turned their attention to that place.

"We’re not certain if it’s him... But everything seems to point to that. No one else has that level of destructive power. Most of the king’s camps were wiped out," a sorceress said, stepping forward.

"Either way, we’re still investigating. That’s why we want to get in contact with one of them. If you’re going to investigate the area, here’s a map of all the camps." Garya said, handing a scroll to Yennefer.

"I’d like you to take me to one of them with a portal. After all, I’d have to ride there... Could you do that?" Yennefer asked, as the woman nodded.

"As long as I’m the one to take her," Coral suggested, while Yennefer narrowed her eyes at her, but said nothing.

"Alright, Yennefer. You may settle in here. I heard you're independent now, so I won’t assign you any tasks. However, I’d like you to share any discoveries. Even if you could report something about the boy... Madara. Even knowing you had some contact with him," said the sorceress, in a serious tone. "Any one of us knows that this boy is a threat to all kingdoms, depending on his goals."

Yennefer nodded, not wanting to discuss such things at the moment. She stayed a bit longer in the mansion, but about an hour later, she was already leaving. Coral was waiting for her, though she didn’t seem to enjoy the company.

"Let’s go," Coral finally said, nodding and opening the gate. And Yennefer followed her to the location.

Shortly after, it was mid-afternoon when they appeared in a place completely devastated by a massive fire, everything blackened and a not-so-pleasant smell spreading within a 100-meter radius around them.

"Here was one of the places we investigated... completely destroyed. As you can see. I've only seen devastation like this once," Coral commented. "I remember very well the result of Madara's battle against that creature on Sodden Hill. The area was just as devastated as this."

"I see," Yennefer murmured, as she moved through the area, checking all the chaos around. There were even charred bone remnants, buried in the ashes. Certainly, Coral was right. Destruction like that could only have been caused by someone... someone like him.

She was a bit confused. ‘Could he have come back?’ she thought. ‘So he was back then...?’ She didn’t remember anything concrete, after all, her memories had been altered by the sharingan and she hadn’t read the letter she wrote to herself... but her worries about Kaer Morhen grew with each step.

"What are your intentions with Madara?" Yennefer asked suddenly, turning to Coral, seeing they were alone.

"Well... You wouldn’t understand," Coral replied, coldly.

"I’m a sorceress like you. I certainly should understand. You want him for yourself, don’t you? Do you really think you can control him? Seduce him?" Yennefer questioned, staring at Coral intensely.

At the same time, Coral looked back at her with a serious tone as she clicked her tongue. "Tsk."

"What? Jealous?" Coral suggested. "From what I noticed..."

"You know nothing about me," Yennefer snapped.

"You just got lucky and managed to speak to the boy a little earlier. But I’m sure I can get him on my side," Coral said, confident.

"He destroyed an entire army. And you think you can get him on your side? Don’t be so naive, Coral," Yennefer said.

"Maybe I can’t control him... But I can ally with him. That boy will have an entire continent in his hands in the future, no one can control the power he has and has already demonstrated... I wonder how powerful he’ll be when he appears again. All kings and queens will tremble at the sound of his name..." Coral replied with conviction.

"You live in a fantasy," Yennefer retorted coldly. "Either way, I’ll keep investigating the area."

She said that turning her back, making no effort to hide her disdain, as she continued onward to examine the rest of the destroyed area. But she stopped the next moment.

Coral, known for her arrogance, had gone silent. Yennefer found it strange. She turned around and noticed the other sorceress was standing still, staring fixedly to the right side of the ruined field. Her eyes were slightly glazed... and red.

Immediately, Yennefer’s eyes widened upon seeing the other’s expression. That gaze... Coral looked paralyzed. Then Yennefer finally realized there was someone else beside them, with a presence even the sorceress hadn’t noticed.

"You..." she murmured, upon seeing a figure standing a few meters away from her and Coral through the smoke and rubble.

It was a tall person, about 1.80 meters in height, cloaked in a dark robe marked with red clouds.

The moment she saw him, Yennefer immediately knew who it was.

"You... are one of them. From Akatsuki..." she murmured. She was terrified by it, Coral was paralyzed while only she remained conscious in front of that figure.

"Yes," he said calmly, and she still couldn’t confirm if it was Madara or not. But everything about him — posture, presence, the heavy silence around — reinforced her suspicions.

"It’s been a long time since I last saw you," he then continued, as he raised his hands and removed the cloak’s hood.

The revealed face left no doubt.

Black hair, youthful, and his eyes — sharingans — staring at Yennefer.

It was Uchiha Madara.

And he didn’t seem to care about revealing himself to her after everything.