Disclaimer: I do not own the Witcher Franchise Books/Games/Series.
(AN: D*mn some of the guest reviews are brutal in this site)
Chapter XXII
I had a productive day as I racked up 38,000 coins from my Gwent hunting, the deck that I have is sufficient enough to be used in a game against a deck with many overpowered cards.
I deposited majority of it in the bank and kept 5000 on me for my own use, I am now preparing myself before going back to the tavern to meet Raymond, I bought some casual clothes from the local store and washed my outfit/armor and hanged them back in my room, I wasn't that concerned about the armor being stolen because the place I rented isn't that public and barely anyone passes through it.
When I arrived at the tavern, I was greeted by the serving lady that served me my lunch, she then led me towards the place where Raymond has reserved for the evening, it has a better vantage point of the whole tavern and if you just simply look down you can even take a peek of the ladies' generous assets from where I sat.
I arrived earlier than the appointed time because I wanted to eat in here again, I did not have the chance to eat their kind of food back on earth as we were dirt poor, I had to make do with what was available in our vicinity.
With my food delivered to the table I began eating and waited for Raymond to arrive, it was not long after that, that a bard was announced to perform on stage, I ordered more food as the entertainment of the tavern began, it is quite a different kind of music from where I am used from that is for sure, but not an unwelcomed one.
Raymond has good timing because he arrived shortly after I stopped ordering as I was full, I offered to get some food for him but he refused saying that he already ate before coming to the tavern, he wanted to eat here but was offered food at his office and it would go bad if he did not finish it all, he looked around cautiously trying to scope out the people in our vicinity before he started talking.
"The people you are talking about, I know of them, I have been tracking them down for years now, I had to make sure you are not in league with them that is why I told you to meet me here at night, I followed you and investigated your background, from what I found, I know I can have a bit of trust in you, if not then at least we share the same goal and enemy" Raymond finally revealed his intention, he took a drink of his alcohol that we ordered earlier so as to not be rude to the owner of the tavern.
"By people, you mean the ones who attacked us? And how would I know that you are not in league with them? for all I know this is some elaborate scheme to lure me into a trap, and why are you revealing all your 'cards' on the table this early" I asked half-heartedly even though I know his real character, I have noticed someone following me earlier, they are very skilled in doing so and I could barely keep track of them, I did not engage and just applied counter surveillance, it is one of the things I was training in back on earth.
I have my suspicions that it was Raymond following me throughout the city but have no way of confirming it, I could've attacked to confirm myself but it would defeat the purpose of me doing counter surveillance to figure out what they want, plus they seem to not harbour any ill intention at the time.
"Yes them they are called the Salamandra, they killed my wife and abducted my son, I don't even know where he is right now, I have been tracking them down for years and their trails lead me here, I had to investigate very discreetly because the organization is quite a large one and I could not do much on my own but gather information, when you mentioned that they are accompanied by someone called the professor I know you are talking about that organization, I am taking a gamble, that is why I am telling all of this to you right now, I don't know where to go from here" he took another drink before continuing again.
"There were a lot of close calls with them, I could not die before avenging my family and finding out if my son is still alive or not, if you doubt my identity then you can ask around some people in here, they know me and my reputation" Raymond finished.
"Alright I will bite; why did you want to meet with me here then?" taking a drink of my own alcohol, while giving Raymond a questioning stare, I wanted to get it over quickly so I can have more time preparing than investigating.
"We can work together, I find them then you take them down, it is a win win situation" he told me as if it was the answer to all our problems, I wasn't satisfied with the simple explanation so we discussed it in length that night.
Raymond shared all the relevant things that he knew about the organization which is not much, he was still trying to figure out important things such as its members, leaders, and locations, he knows of their operations at least but the location where they conduct their activities is still out of his grasp, he showed me papers and documents supporting his claim, I would have to visit his office for a more detailed one, what I had on hand is just a brief over view of the date Raymond collected over the years.
"We can definitely cooperate if you were able to gather this much, but if we are going to do this I would like to propose some kind of rule moving forward, is that alright with you?" Raymond nodded and motioned for me to continue.
"We can only share information with each other and some friends of mine that I was talking about earlier and no one else" He nodded again and before he could reply, I raised my hand to stop him before continuing again "Let me finish first, when it comes to combat you must strictly leave the things to us, do not keep any secret pertaining to the case at hand as it would jeopardize this whole endeavour, we must establish a way to meet up secretly and exchange information secretly, we have to make something like a secret handshake or a code word, and finally and probably the most important one, if I tell you to run and hide you would do so without hesitation and to the best of your ability"
Raymond pondered for a while at my proposals and nodded but questioned all the same; "I can see the reason for your rules but why the last one? I am certain of my abilities to escape whenever I want, I have been tracking and avoiding their attention for years even before we met and nothing dangerous happened to me yet"
"I do not know why they are not aware of you yet, but all the data you have gathered in the past are almost useless to them, but once you have obtained information like names and important places, I am pretty sure your threat level would rise and you would be hunted down, I added that condition because they have a powerful mage in their midst, I do not know the whole scope of a magic casters abilities yet but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a spell that is able to track you down" I answered back in a calm and reasonable voice lest he goes wild about being able to protect himself and such.
"Alright I will accept your terms, I would like to live to see the day they are destroyed after all, you will find no complaints from me" Raymond wisely decided as he raised his right hand while promising so, we shook hands and continued on with our discussion.
I have informed Raymond of some of my informants in the brothel where the girls I saved earlier are, 'Come to think of it, I didn't inquire of their names, I have to ask them next time' he also shared some of his friends and contacts in case I run into them, he also mentioned a friend from the flaming rose, but I doubt I would be meeting up with him anytime, if I didn't kill him yet that is.
I finally informed him of Geralt and told him that he would probably be looking for him afterwards if he is on the right track in finding our thieves, I instructed Raymond to point him in the direction of where I am currently staying in and if he can inform him of the finer details of our transaction.
We took a final shake of hands before separating, intent on finding our common foe, I thought for a moment before I decided to follow Raymond to see if he is being followed by other people, I sticked to the roofs with the help of my grappling hook, over the months of training with Geralt I finally had enough time to train my balance by adding some kind of exercise into my forms so following Raymond through the roofs is quite easy for me.
I followed Raymond till he arrived at his office and found no one in his vicinity or anyone suspicious in his surroundings when he travelled to his office, with a relieved sigh I jumped down and trekked back towards the room I rented, the night is still young so I went directly to the backyard after getting some candle light from the owner, he informed me of lighting some lamps and placing them on my room, I thanked him for his consideration as I went to the backyard to train some more, I had to utilize every time I have available if I want to accomplish my goal of annihilating the Wild Hunt on my own, if possible.
My routine continued as such for a week and I made great progress with everything, I am now probably the richest Witcher alive in my generation, I have won close to 300,000 coins in my conquest to play the arrogant nobles for their riches, there are a few who are quite respectable but a great majority of them are suckers, they even went and challenged me multiple times to regain their 'honor', of course my wins came with consequences, I had to deal with thieves, bandits and hired muscle all the time, needless to say I knocked them all out, I could've killed them but that would gain me unwanted attention and they don't deserve death as they simply want to mug and beat me up so I just returned the favor, I limited my strength and finished them by using hand to hand combat, I am not complaining about them as they are providing me with precious moving punching bags, often times a good fighter would show up and I took advantage of it effectively by prolonging their beating, I wasn't bothered as much when they found out that I was toying with them till they dropped exhausted or in pain.
Raymond and I also made great leaps and bounds in our investigation, we finally established the names, even Azar Javeds', we avoided drawing attention from the organization as we made our inquiries, locations and other important details were noted, we only needed a few more and I can order Raymond to hide until the situation calms down after me and Geralt slaughters every last one of them.
The girls were also a great help by finding out the information I needed, I found out that the self-proclaimed leader of the group is the brave girl who I met first, her name is Lisa, they have been getting some strange costumers lately, and they tried listening in on what they have to say, one of the girls even had the chance to make a stupid drunk salamandra talk.
As for my training and area reconnaissance I could not complain as everything is going great so far, the thing that I lack the most in my training is a skilful sparring partner but there is no one available at the moment so I opted to play with some local criminals for practice, I scouted the whole of Vizima at night because it is easier to do so in high places with no one noticing you.
I even found the hospital where I know one of the major characters of the series is working in, I saw the effect of the plague on the people in the city, it was quite devastating and sad to watch, luckily for them there is a pretty aspiring doctor trying her best to help even at her own peril.
'Shani being here means that Geralt is probably stuck in the prisons right now' I could've probably stuck around Geralt and help him but I know he can take care of himself, he has been doing this for a longer time than me, even if his mind forgot I doubt his body would too, he can take care of himself in prison, there are more important matters at hand and he would probably meet up with me as soon as he is able.
It was a good and relaxing day at the tavern but as I was about to sit down and eat lunch, I was stopped by one of the girls I rescued Rea I think her name was, she is panting like she just ran a triathlon, she is struggling hard to form sentences in favor of breathing, I motioned for her to sit down and offered her my drink, she took big gulps and we waited for a moment till she calmed down, it took a minute but she was able to speak clearly now.
"Mister Witcher please we need your help, its Lisa she was walkin to the plaza to get some supplies but she acted silly when she returned, been dizzy ever since" she requested hurriedly as she stood up, she also grasped my arm trying to make me stand so we could go to where her friend is.
I stood up, intent on following her "Don't worry I will help, now lead me to her" I reassured the girl before we went out towards Lisa's room in the brothel.
We arrived to an abandoned brothel establishment, I had assumed correct in thinking that Lisa was probably infected with the plague, the customers and employees stayed away from this building except for her friends, the girls had a relieved look on their faces once they found out that their new guest is me, they then led me to her.
I approached Lisa in her bed, she is coughing loudly and burning up "Hey, you are going to be alright, ok? But to do that I need you to be strong for a while, you understand?" I asked and reassured her as I checked her vitals, it is quite convenient that my ears can function like a stethoscope; I rubbed her head gently attempting to calm her fast breathing down.
"Alright girls I need you all to vacate this place and go to your homes for now, clean yourself up regularly and eat some healthy foods, here are some gold to get you what you need to eat, leave Lisa to me and don't hesitate to ask me for assistance if you feel the same as her" I told all the girls that stayed behind to take care of their friend, they received the coins from me as they said their farewells for now.
"Alright Lisa I am going to take you to the hospital, it is better for you to be there because they have the proper equipment for your condition so hang on and don't give up yet" I felt her nod as I carried her piggyback style, I also wrapped her in blankets and took some change of clothes in her cabinet in the brothel.
We had to avoid crowded places so I followed what I believe is the shortest route while doing so, we entered the hospital and it was quite busy, I asked a medical personnel as I didn't know if they have nurses in here where to put a patient affected with the plague, I was ushered in towards a room with multiple patients, I looked for a suitable bed with covers and clean sheets and placed Lisa down on the bed, I gently placed her down as I wiped the sweat on her head and kept rubbing it for her to feel some kind of comfort, I was about to go out and find a doctor to tend to her but I was interrupted by someone suddenly appearing behind me, she went directly to check on Lisa, she had short red hair and fitted outfit that really captures her perfect curves.
"I am Shani a helper in this hospital, tell me who you are and where did you find the patient?"