In the end, Geralt did not take the little girl with mouse-gray hair.
At his insistence, Lann and Vesemir could only set off in the middle of the night, continuing toward Brugge.
Thanks to those Viden soldiers who were blocking the road and killing, Vesemir now also had a horse.
The three of them rode silently under the moonlight.
Lann, although he found the little girl Ciri quite pleasant, knew his boundaries.
The relationship with the girl, according to the unwritten law of accident, was Geralt’s connection.
He had no right to demand that Geralt fulfill his duties.
Lann believed that Vesemir also thought the same.
The old Demon Hunter had already taken care of Ciri as if she were a junior, but when leaving, he only stood and looked at the girl’s sleeping face one more time before riding away.
"I don’t know if ’fate’ exists..." Vesemir’s aged voice broke the silence during the ride.
"But Geralt, you should know that the child of accident is indeed special. According to my years of experience..."
"Plague take it!" Geralt cut off the old Demon Hunter’s rambling, "Are you now going to tell me about ’fate’ too, Vesemir? If Demon Hunters have a fate, it’s that no Demon Hunter can peacefully die in bed! Do you want Ciri to end up dying in some muddy pit? Do you?"
"Don’t know where I’ll die... Brother, I don’t think I’ll have that kind of ending."
Lann calmly spoke from the side.
Geralt was momentarily silenced, intending to retort, but for an instant, he really believed that someone like Lann, even in death, would never go unnoticed.
So he could only say in a sulky manner, "That’s you! What can Ciri do? She might not even be able to defeat a Qiqimo in her life!"
"She might not have my physical strength and swordsmanship or whatever, but her magic power is evident, right? Ancient Blood, the power even Aisne had to borrow, and it’s still in the ’infant stage’. I gather you were also messed up by a female warlock and didn’t even have the courage to talk back?"
"Ciri and Ye... are different! Can you stop bringing this up?!"
After joking around, although Geralt was still a bit stubborn, the atmosphere clearly relaxed. Updates are released by novel·fıre·net
"All right, all right, everyone’s talking about fate! Fate!"
Geralt suddenly turned to look at Lann.
"Our ’renowned’ Mr. Lann, with wide experience, you’ve even saved the world and collaborated with many deities. Can you reveal to me, a mere mortal, something?"
"Is there truly such a thing as ’fate’ in this world? Listen, I don’t want general truths or those ’as the saying goes’ kind of clichés. Can you give me an authoritative, definitive answer? Does fate exist?"
Lann remained silent under Geralt’s gaze for a moment, finally sighed, and said, "Alas, I can’t answer you."
The Lady of the Lake, when dealing with Da Gun’s threat, only said, ’many people are helping’. The ones Lann could definitively confirm, besides the Lady of the Lake herself, were only Aisne, whom they had just met, and that annoying otherworldly demon—Gant Odim.
Who else contributed at the time, he hadn’t seen nor specifically asked.
"Aha!" Geralt cheered triumphantly as if he’d won a round. "You don’t know, either, right? Fate is just an argument for debate..."
"But I can go ask, Geralt."
Before Geralt’s cheers subsided, Lann’s calm tone cut him off like a suckling pig with an apple stuffed in its mouth.
The calm tone brought a powerful sense of credibility.
At least in the eyes of Vesemir and Geralt, who understood Lann, he was serious at that moment.
"If you want to know if fate exists, you must experience it yourself or rely on hearsay. But I can seek out people to ask, ask them if fate exists in this world."
Who are you going to ask?
Geralt originally wanted to question as such.
But then he recalled the things Lann had discussed during their journey. So he opened his mouth a couple of times and eventually said—
"Then, I’ll wait for your news."
The restless Geralt left alone midway.
In truth, considering his role as an ’intermediary’, when Vesemir agreed to open up the Demon Hunter knowledge to Lann, he could have left already.
Just because he got along well with Lann, hadn’t seen Vesemir in a long time, plus the matter of Ciri, he uncharacteristically traveled with them for a stretch.
When Lann left, he told him where he often stayed—Airetusa Academy and Dark Water Village on the outskirts of Vizima.
If he encountered troublesome problems that needed help, or if he wanted to know the answer about ’fate’, he could go to these two places to find him.
Vesemir and Lann reined in their horses, watching as Geralt and Roach’s silhouettes gradually became blurry and disappeared in the dim night.
"He likes Ciri very much."
When Geralt’s figure was out of sight, Vesemir still spoke in that direction.
"He’s just... too insecure. Demon Hunters, accustomed to discrimination, actually begin to undervalue themselves inside."
"He’s worried he’ll mess up the life Ciri could have had, given that she’s a princess."
Bopai’s hoofbeats moved back and forth as Lann also faced the direction Geralt left.
"If you only look at power and status, departing from a princess’s position isn’t a wise move. But given the current situation... it’s hard to say."
Baron Bodrog’s complaints at Dun Kanar clearly indicated a trend.
The Southern Niflgaard Empire certainly had both hawkish and dovish factions domestically.
The doves, in terms of actions towards the north, supported pro-friendly figures, but the most outstanding achievement of this faction—Count Steza of Temeria, was ambushed by Lann, killing through the entire manor and crushing his head.
Their long-standing efforts and resources were mostly taken advantage of by Veltrest, who seized the timely opportunity. The remaining small portion decayed in the hands of those struggling to hold on without any real ambition.
The doves’ prestige and power were thereby suppressed, and the resources they originally invested in Count Steza required explanations and returns domestically. And now, they had nothing to show for it.
The Southern Empire today is likely dominated by the warlike hawks.
Sintra can almost be regarded as a borderline between the North and South.
In a time of international upheaval, is it really a good position for the princess of a country sitting atop a powder keg?
Unnoticed, times of chaos tend to arrive unbeknownst to people before they even realize it.
Lann himself wasn’t sure if his feelings were right.