Hearing the dryad girl's innocent and firm reply, Guilliman felt a touch of shame in his heart.
However, he genuinely believed that in such a turbulent era, with the Nilfgaardian Empire launching a full-scale war to invade the Northern Kingdoms and occupy the Kingdom of Temeria in less than three years, a poor dryad would be much better off by his side than staying in the swamp.
The Black Ones of the Nilfgaardian Empire were not good people; they always implemented policies of extermination or enslavement towards non-humans.
Besides, he wasn't lying; dealing with evil underwater creatures was precisely what the Lady of the Lake meant by saving the world.
Guilliman was holding Buier's small hand, just about to leave the goddess's lake when he suddenly noticed the dryad girl's gaze, looking at the beautiful scenery full of natural beauty with some reluctance, seemingly very fond of the natural aura here.
And he also smelled the sweet aroma of various exquisite fruits emanating from the surrounding fruit trees.
Since he had come all this way, bringing some gifts back, he believed the generous Lady Goddess wouldn't mind.
Looking at the dazzling array of otherworldly fruits, many of which he had never seen before, Guilliman couldn't help but feel a little eager.
Hmm, can't be too greedy.
There are probably thousands of pounds of fruit here; I'll take a few dozen pounds. Once I've eaten them, I'll come back for more next time. The sorceresses will surely love them too.
However, when he saw Lady Vivian next time, he would also have to prepare a gift.
It's good manners to reciprocate; he couldn't be too impolite.
Half an hour later.
By the time Guilliman and Buier arrived together at the riverbank where they had landed, the hundreds of corpses on the riverbank had already been completely cleared by the old hermit, no one knew when.
The old man, skilled in swordsmanship, still maintained his aloof demeanor, sitting cross-legged on a large rock with his eyes closed.
He paid no attention to their departure, not even opening his eyes.
And the group of mermen that had previously surrounded the island had also dispersed at some point, leaving only the wooden boat they had rowed over, still stained with blood, moored by the riverbank... Back in the Vizima swamp.
The first thing Guilliman did was find a suitable set of clothes for the dryad girl and patiently teach her how to wear human clothing.
Since she would be following him from now on, Buier would inevitably have to live in human society.
He didn't want his dryad to appear naked in front of other men. Although he found it exciting when he first saw her, this kind of benefit couldn't be shared with other men.
After settling Buier, the two immediately returned to Vizima City to retrieve the tall horse named Eggplant.
Because most of the guards in the city knew that Witcher Master Guilliman was currently serving His Majesty the King, treating the princess's curse.
So even if he brought a dryad with green skin into the city, not many people dared to make trouble for him.
This was the effect of power and status, but unfortunately, most Witchers didn't know how to use it, which is why they lived such miserable lives.
Eggplant was very fast, even carrying both Guilliman and Buier, it could run like flying.
Moreover, although the dryad girl's nature magic was not strong in terms of offense, its auxiliary effects on the body were surprisingly comprehensive.
Whenever Eggplant got tired, the Witcher would pull out a handful of good hay to feed it, and Buier would cast a magic spell on the horse to accelerate its recovery of stamina.
It only took a few minutes for Eggplant's stamina to recover by more than half, and it could run like flying again, truly a nuclear-powered horse.
Thus, the two people and one horse, using the treasure map granted by the Lady of the Lake, ran from dusk to night, and from night to dawn.
They traveled without stopping, also taking the opportunity to kill several monsters blocking their path.
Until the sun first rose, and the warm morning light shone on their faces.
They finally found the small lake, now a ruin on the edge of the forest, according to the map's location.
Without delay, Guilliman was quite trusting of the Lady of the Lake in such small matters.
In front of the dryad girl, he quickly stripped naked, then, familiar with the process, popped the Water Elemental Gem into his mouth and plunged into the lake with a splash.
The cold lake water instantly engulfed his body, making Guilliman shiver.
However, this small inconvenience did not diminish his enthusiasm for finding treasure in the slightest.
This small lake was in a very remote location; the Faelja Rebellion a hundred years ago had turned this area into a no-man's-land, and no new villagers had settled there since.
Relying on the powerful properties of the Water Elemental Gem, Guilliman searched the bottom of the lake for several tens of minutes, finally finding the treasure of that large family amidst a pile of rubble.
A hundred years had passed, and the huge wooden chests that had once protected these treasures had long since rotted into fragments, or rather, even the fragments had been eaten clean by the fish in the lake.
Now, all those treasures were scattered by the lake water, buried alone in the mud at the bottom of the lake.
Fortunately, some large precious metal items like candlesticks and statues were quite conspicuous, otherwise, even with a Witcher's eyesight, it would be difficult to find the location of these treasures in the mud.
Unfortunately, even so, what was originally an easy treasure hunt turned into a troublesome task.
Guilliman spent a full day, diving more than ten times, almost turning over half of the lake's muddy bottom, before finally finding over ninety percent of the treasure.
After a simple inventory, the value of this treasure was indeed considerable.
There were approximately ten thousand gold coins alone, and counting the gold ornaments and gems, the total value was probably over fifteen thousand Orens, possibly even selling for twenty thousand Orens.
As expected of a large family's treasure, their foundation was rich.
After a whole day of exhaustion, Guilliman was too lazy to travel further, so he simply stayed by the lake for another night.
With the dryad girl Buier by his side, the two enjoyed Vizima's delicacies and the fruits from the Goddess's Lake, while also researching the secrets of having children through practical action, making the night very pleasant.
The next afternoon, after the treasure hunt, Guilliman returned to Vizima City and temporarily arranged for the dryad girl to stay at Shani's house.
She also got acquainted with Yavin and his mother.
And having obtained such a huge fortune, after about two days of deliberation, he finally settled on a plan to harvest mermen and develop Black Tern Island in the future.
That was to organize a fleet.
An armed fleet composed of a mix of merchant ships and warships.
It could conduct trade and earn money, fish, kill mermen, be self-sufficient, and if danger arose, it could defeat enemies and protect Black Tern Island.
If he were to develop his forces with Black Tern Island as his base in the coming years, such a fleet would be essential.
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