Even though it had been only one week since he came to Carne Village, Geralt felt like he had made more progress than in the ten years prior, since that fateful day he decided to become a Witcher, When the Sorcerer King told him about a genius alchemist in that village, he was curious about him. He turned out to be as good as Geralt imagined, Nfirea was capable enough to recognize the compounds in the mutagen and the several Witcher potions. Together they were able to further refine the solutions. When they were done, Geralt steeled his resolve and choseto test it on himself, Whether because of ten years passing or his bad memory, the mutation hurt a lot more than Geralt remembered. But the results were clearly worth it. He felt stronger than ever before. He was only able to test a couple of small things, but from what he could tell, all of his abilities seemed to have improved. Even his prior mediocre night vision was now on a different scale. In fact, all of his senses have become sharper, so much so, that it gave him a headache and little bit of dizziness. It would take him a while to get used to them. Originally, he wanted to leave the village right after he regained consciousness, but the residents convinced him to rest for the night. Nfirea wasn't that persuasive, but his wife was a lot more stubborn. He couldn't help but chuckle as she scolded her husband for his carelessness. Now he was returning to Kaer Morhen, but first he wanted to stop in E-Rantel. His first reason was to talk to the guild master of the adventurer guild. He wanted to inform him of the progress the adventurers made during their training in Kaer Morhen. His second reason was to look for some presents for Ziri and Triss, to apologize for his long absence. Geralt enjoyed the fresh air that was still moist from the heavy rain from last night. His horse was equally enthusiastic and carried him along quickly. But when they were hit by a gust of wind, they became very tense. The wind from E-Rantel carried a particular smell. Most people wouldn't be able to detect it, but Geralt could immediately tell its' origin. The slightly metallic smell could only be one thing. Blood. A lot of it. His horse neighed. Gerald patted its' neck.
"Easy, girl."
The horse puffed.
"I know, I noticed it, too."
He drove his horse faster and quickly arrived at E-Rantel. At first glance, everything seemed normal. Geralt could see the giants tending the statues, as normal. The Death Knights stood motionless on the walls and even the human guard didn't show unusual behavior. When he passed a long grass plain, he saw several red spots the rain couldn't wash away. A lot of blood had been spilled here, probably not more than three days ago. Slightly worried he approached the guard post. As usual, there was a long line before the gate. Geralt knew that newcomers had to go through the workshop, before they were granted entry to the city, so he waited patiently till it was his turn. He was greeted by the watchmen.
"Welcome. Is this your first visit here? What business do you have in E-Rantel?"
Geralt pulled out his passport from his pocket and showed it to the guard. After seeing the Sorcerer Kingdoms' crest on this official document, he immediately stepped aside.
"Sorry you had to wait. I hope your stay will be pleasant."
Before passing the gate, Geralt asked.
"Say, could you tell me what happened?"
"What do you mean?"
Geralt pointed at the plain he just came through.
"Seems like you haven't heard yet."
"I have been in the wilderness for almost a month and then to a remote village for a week and just returned."
The guard sighed.
"Well, two days ago the Kingdom launched an attack on this city."
"What?"
Bewildered Geralt raised his voice more than he intended to.
"Don't worry, there were no casualties. At least on our side."
Geralt blankly stared at him. The guard interpreted this as him being dissatisfied with the answer.
"Ahem... his majesty successfully defended the city. Once the invaders were defeated, he launched a counterattack on the kingdom. From what I've heard they surrendered and the former princess is now in charge of ruling the conquered territory on his majesty's' behalf."
Relieved Geralt answered.
"Thank you very much."
In truth, Geralt wasn't dissatisfied with the answer he was given. He was pleasantly surprised the guard referred to the Sorcerer Kingdom as 'our side'. He was glad the population was starting to accept the Sorcerer King as what he was, a benevolent and strong ruler. After entering the city, his first stop was the inn he was staying in. He tossed silver coin to the stable boy.
"Make sure she has some tasty hey and water."
The young boy nodded eagerly and took the horses rein. After making sure his trusted companion was in good hands, he slowly walked to his next goal. The adventurer guild was in the middle of a thorough reorganization. The newbies he was currently training would soon be dispatched into several poorly explored regions, to turn the unknown into the known, as the king liked to phrase it. The receptionist was a woman, maybe in her thirties. Geralt has only spoken to her once, when he first came here to discuss things with the guild master, Pluton Ainzach. After she told him to wait for a couple of minutes, she went to the secondfloor, where the offices were located. When she came down, she politely thanked him for his patience and said that the guild master could see him now. Geralt entered the office and was happily greeted by the old man.
"Geralt, nice to see you."
"Likewise. I am grateful you could make enough time to see me."
"Please, as if I could let a fellow guild master wait. So, tell me. What brings you to E-Rantel?"
"I just wanted to give you an update on how the training progresses, but I think we should talk about something else first."
"What do you mean?"
"When I traveled here, I noticed the smell of blood. Despite the heavy rain last night, it still lingers around."
Ainzach scratched the back of his head.
"I guess you talked to the guards. What else could I tell you?"
"You? Nothing. I wanted to tell you something."
Ainzach looked at him.
"I just wanted to tell you, it is not your fault. I heard from several people that you desperately tried to stop them and from the bags under your eyes I can tell you had a hard time sleeping. You did what you could. It's on them. They decided to ignore your advice."
"I still feel sorry for all those men."
"That's understandable. But you did your best to save them. Their deaths are not your fault."
After a minute of silence, Ainzach pressed out a faint
"Thank you."
"Back to the topic. The recruits are doing better than initially thought. I think most of them will complete their training by the end of next month."
"Really? That's hard to believe. I thought many of them would quit halfway and give up."
"They are very motivated. Plus, I think some of them are afraid of what I would do to them when they try to quit."
Ainzach laughed.
"That sounds plausible."
Geralt seemed a little bit hurt by that.
"You have to admit, at first glance you do look scary. You can't blame them for not knowing what a nice guy you can be. By the way, you do seem little bit different than last time. Did something happen?"
"You know what happened after my last stay here?"
"You were attacked by some elven soldiers and came back heavily wounded."
Yes. I made sure something like this won't happen again."
"I can see that. The last time, you gave of the impression of a very strong warrior, somebody that could rival even adamantite ranks. But this time, all my instincts tell me you would be an unbeatable opponent, even for a whole team of experts. Not quite on the level of Momon, but still better than before."
"I take that as a compliment."
Now Ainzachs eyes wandered over his armor.
"I see you replaced your equipment. A new armor?"
Geralt smiled and responded.
"No, actually a really old one."
The two guild masters chatted like this for another hour, before Geralt left his office. While strolling over the market, Geralt took his sweet time. He enjoyed not being the weirdest thing walking down the streets. Next to all that dwarfs, undead, demi-humans and heteremorphs, he looked almost normal. Before he met the Sorcerer King, he would sometimes wonder if it would have been easier if he hadn't decided to become a Witcher. All the scared and hateful stares he received left some deep scars. Unlike the scars on his body, the mutation couldn't erase them. But there were other things that could heal a hurt soul. Being accepted like this helped him a lot. The other thing was having people that truly cared for him. Although he only knew them for a short while, being around Ziri and Triss calmed his mind to a degree he would have never expected. They have spent only a couple of days together, but Geralt felt like they were part of his family. That was very rare for a Witcher. Not only were they mostly despised and ostracized from society, which made it hard to form bonds with others. They also worked in a profession that made their return uncertain. Many couldn't deal with waiting for loved ones, not knowing if and when they would come back. Therefore he had to make sure to treat them properly. He needed some presents to apologize for his sudden departure. While walking down the street that was lined up with stall after stall on each side, his eyes stopped at a small and rather inconspicuous stable. An elderly women was selling pieces of old clothing and some remnants of fabrics. Among those, he saw something that piqued his interest. A stuffed animal in the form of a bird. He picked it up and inspected it from all sides. It looked a bit worn out and was obviously well used.
"That belonged to my daughter. She really loved it when she was small. Would never go to sleep withoutit."
Geralt chuckled and smiled.
"How much?"
He asked.
"Five Copper."
Geralt paid. Until only three months ago he wouldn't have had the money to leisurely pay for such non-existential goods. Now he could afford to buy something nice just to make somebody happy.
(That's one down. Now all that is left is something for Triss.)
As this thought crossed his mind, he had a sudden realization. What was Triss for him? What does it mean for him to give her a gift? Geralt had some experience with women, mainly those he had paid for, but he never thought about an appropriate gift for one. In some way he felt a little bit helpless. He once heard that many men would give their women jewelry or flowers to show their affection, but would that make the air between them awkward? After all, it wasn't like they were a couple. Maybe something less meaningful. But all he could think of were things like food or alcohol, things he had experience with. Geralt spent a lot of time looking for nice things, when he suddenly felt a shiver running down his spine. He knew that feeling. Somebody was watching him. He continued for a while, observing a hooded figure tailing him from the corner of his eyes. He did his best to look as unsuspicious as possible, not going faster or slower than before. While he pretended to search the stalls for something, he was quietly looking for a good place to confront his pursuer. He found a narrow alley that looked appropriate. He leisurely entered it and immediately hid behind some crates, patiently waiting. Only a couple of seconds later, the hooded figure walked past the crates and was turning his head left and right, probably asking himself where he went. Geralt left his hiding spot, standing in the middle of the alley and blocking the way out.
"I don't know, who you are, but you better have a good reason for sneaking after me. You have one chance."
He slowly raised his hand to reach for his sword. He was interrupted by a somewhat familiar voice.
"Please wait. I don't want to harm you. I was just waiting for a good chance to approach you."
The voice belonged to a young woman. She turned around and lifted her hood, revealing her blond hair and blue eyes. For a second, Geralt seemed to have troubles remembering. The first time they met, her face looked significantly different. For an example, her hair used to cover half of her face. But then he recognized her. He relaxed and took his hand off his sword.
"Oh, it's you. Leinas, right? What are you doing in E-Rantel? I thought you returned to the Empire."
"I was on my way to Kaer Morhen. Then I have seen you here, so I wanted to talk to you."
"And you decided that stalking me was a good way of opening the conversation?"
"As I said, I was waiting for the right moment."
"Well, now is as good as any other time. What do you want?"
She pulled out a small leather bag, from the metallic sounds Geralt could guess it was filled with coins.
"More."
"Pardon?"
"I need more."
"I don't think I follow."
"That potion you gave me. I need more of it."
"The one to suppress your curse? Why? I gave you enough too last for a whole year and it has been just over three months. What happened to it?"
"I used all of it."
"What?"
Geralt spurted out in surprise.
"Are you crazy? I explicitly told you to use it sparsely. Haven´t I said you would have to wait for at least three weeks between using it? Using it without resting could have lethal side effects. Are you suicidal?"
"That's none of your business. Just give it to me and I'm gone."
"Absolutely not. I'm not going to give you the poison to kill yourself."
"Why are you such an asshole? Nobody is going to blame you. What I do is my choice and my alone."
"I don't care if somebody is going to blame me or not. I would know it."
Leinas threw a punch at him, but Geralt easily dodged it. Under tears she yelled at him.
"You have no idea what it's like. Not being able to walk down the street without people pointing at you and talking behind your back. Treating you like some kind of freak."
"Are you sure?"
Leinas didn't know how to respond.
"I know exactly what that feels like. So don't you dare accusing me of that."
"That's different."
"How so?"
"You had a choice in that matter. I don't even know what I did to deserve this. For the first time ever I feel like a normal person. Can't you understand this?"
Geralt exhaled deeply and answered.
"Yes, I do. But as much as I would like to help you, I don't want your death haunting my mind."
Angrily, Leinas yelled
"Fine."
She tossed the bag filled with coins at Geralt.
"That way | don't owe you anything."
She turned around and ran away. Now in a very bad mood, Geralt decided to cut his stay short and leave E-Rantel. After he got his horse back, he immediately left the city, heading north. As he was all alone on the road, he began talking to himself.
"I don't have to feel guilty. I did nothing wrong. She is an adult and makes her own choices. If she can't use the potion responsible, I am more than justified not to give her more."
His horse puffed.
"Be quiet. What do you know?"
It neighed.
"Yes, I know that she is desperate, but what was I supposed to do?"
Another neigh.
"You know what? I don't need your sarcasm. If you have nothing constructive to say, just shut up."
Geralt continued his ride for almost ten minutes, before he sighed.
"Fine. You win."
He turned around and rode back to E-Rantel at full speed. After passing the city, he turned west, towards the Baharuth Empire. After a short while he saw a familiar blonde haired rider in front of him. He called out for her.
"Leinas"
She turned around and nearly fell off her horse when she caught the abject he threw at her. It was the bag she angrily threw at his feet.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"A Witcher never takes payment up-front."
Both of them dismounted and Leinas stared at him in disbelief.
"Does that mean you have changed your mind?"
"No. My stance on the potion hasn't changed. I will not be responsible for that. However..."
He stopped Leinas before she could protest.
"I decided to come with you and help you get rid of your curse."
"How are you planning to do that?"
"You remember the way it can be transferred?"
"Of course. Find the one responsible and throw the curse in his face."
"Quite literally, yes."
"Do you think I haven't tried that? I went to everyone who could hold a grudge against me. Nobody seemed to be responsible."
"That's where I come into play. It is something personal and it might be good to let an outsider look at it from a different angle.
So I am coming with you and take a look at all possible suspects."
"So all my enemies?"
Geralt nodded.
"As well as friends and family members, former and current lovers. Even acquaintances come into question."
Without warning Leinas jumped at him and hugged him. Shedding tears of joy she thanked him wholeheartedly. After she let go of him and calmed down a little bit, she asked him.
"I don't know how I can repay you."
Geralt scratched his chin and said somewhat embarrassed.
"About that. I have a small personal problem you could help me with. I wasn't able to come up with an idea for a suitable present."
Leinas turned around and asked timidly.
"That present. !s it for... a girl?"
"Yes."
"I see."
