Chapter 26: You're a Friend I'm Definitely Making
Witchers live in poverty and cannot save money.
On the one hand, it is indeed true that living is getting harder and earning money is getting harder;
But on the other hand, it is also because other Witchers, like Geralt, spend a lot of money on this.
A noise of footsteps suddenly interrupted his line of thought.
He glanced around and saw a well-dressed man walking towards him.
The man had black thick hair, a good-looking face, and a tall, powerful figure.
He wore a robe of fine material, with ornamentation on it.
He appeared to be in a legitimate business.
The man raised his glass in a toast to Lynn's congratulations.
"What a wonderful boxing fight."
Lynn also nodded in approval: "Thank you, you are."
"I beg your pardon, I am a trader of Kovir. I am Istrad."
Lynn raised his eyebrows.
Then he carefully looked at the trader who claimed to be from Kovir.
The other's face was far younger than his face in his recollection.
But if nothing, then it should be him.
But what Lynn did not expect was that he would find him here.
Lynn's stare made Istrad involuntarily brush his face: "Witcher master, is there filth on my face?"
"It's nothing, sit down, Lord Istrad." Lynn waved an inviting hand, "You may call me Lynn."
Having settled into the seat across from Lynn, he came to the point.
"Master Lynn, I have no time for beating about the bush, so I will just be straight with you. I have a commission here requiring a Witcher master."
"What sort of commission is it?"
"As you may have noticed, I'm a merchant. I believe that the journey may not be very safe, and therefore I would like to have you as a caravan guard."
As a matter of fact, there is no strict rule in the Witcher code, so Witchers accept only bounty assignments to kill monsters.
It's just that over the centuries, Witchers established an unstated rule: Witchers may only live off bounty quests.
After all, Witchers were born to take care of monsters.
But Lynn believed rules were meant to be broken.
In addition, whatever he would do in the future can be said to completely obliterate the Witcher code his ancestors set.
Thus, is this a warm-up for breaking ancient precepts to follow?
He recalled just now.
The return for the guard work was secondary.
The key was that since this person had arrived here at this time, it meant that the "Night of the Long Fangs" event hadn't yet taken place.
Now that being the case.
"I see. Lord Istrad, I want to ask you where your destination is? I have to assess the risk based on the destination and the route, so that I can decide on the reward."
Istrad concurred: "I understand. Though we've never met, I believe you won't spread it around."
"My caravan will go through the Mahakam Mountains, sail to Free City of Novigrad by boat on the Pontar River, and journey north to reach the Principality of Tretogor."
The Principality of Tretogor is located in the north of the continent, further north than Redania. It borders the neutral states of Kovir and Poviss and is an independent state.
Lynn stroked his chin: "In truth, Lord Istrad, the way from Aldersberg to the Principality of Tretogor is anything but short."
Istrad answered with a practical face.
"That's true, that's why I need a good Witcher to protect my caravan."
"If you agree, all of the expense throughout the duration of labor will be paid for by the caravan. When you arrive in the Principality of Tretogor, I'll give you two hundred crowns."
Crowns are a Novigrad currency.
It is the most stable and most expensive among the currencies issued by the Northern Kingdoms.
Six Temerian orens could exchange for one Novigrad crown currently.
Therefore, the majority of merchants are willing to pay crown gold coins.
Two hundred crowns amount to one thousand two hundred orens.
It is not a small amount.
Furthermore, if he nodded, what he would get was not only a big reward.
He had no ground to refuse.
"Lord Istrad, I'm honored to accept your service, but I have a small question."
Istrad smiled happily: "Tell me, please."
"As this is a long journey, do you mind if we take on another Witcher?"
When Geralt had finally eaten his feast of abalone and returned to the tavern to welcome Lynn.
Lynn told Geralt of Istrad's commission too.
Geralt paused for a moment, then nodded.
"The offer is very good. Long a journey, but better to have work than none."
Geralt wasn't the kind of fussy type.
Now that the Witchers were on the downslide, they could not even survive, so they still talked about that.
It's more to say that they were already so destitute, and the Witchers could still stick by their principles and bottom line without stealing houses, which was already quite good.
What else do you want?
As long as it's not a killing commission directly against the ancestral tenets, other jobs can be negotiated.
After all, the taste of hunger is really not pleasant.
Having seen that Geralt had agreed.
Lynn swallowed the remaining reasons.
Actually, if it was just some guesses beforehand.
Then after the talk, Lynn was nearly certain that the Kovir merchant who had impersonated Istrad was indeed the future king of Kovir and Poviss, Istrad Thyssen.
Istrad was a member of the Thyssen family.
His grandfather and father once governed Kovir and Poviss.
Nonetheless, while his father ruled, the nation and the throne were taken by a noble named Ryder.
From then on, the young prince Istrad and those of the remaining nobles loyal to him fled and traveled to the Principality of Tretogor.
The Principality of Tretogor was a refuge for the exiles since it was once the home town of the Thyssen family, and also because there were many collateral branches of the Thyssen family.
Istrad himself spent most of his exile in Tretogor.
But he did not waste his time idly.
He had been building up his strength, recruiting followers, and rallying allies in secret.
When the time was right, he returned as king, slew the traitor's family and resumed the throne.
The night of such massacre afterwards became known as the "Night of the Long Fangs."
Istrad and his son, as to character or ability, were undoubtedly among the best of the Northern Kings.
In the future timeline, when the entire north was under threat from the Nilfgaardian Empire, Istrad, who had been sitting on Kovir and Poviss' throne for a long while, not only graciously summoned one million crown gold pieces to aid Redania.
He even released the inner prisoners and permitted them to be mercenaries of the Free Company in order to battle in defense of the north, and eventually reversed the tide of affairs.
In the rather more distant future, due to the persecution of sorcerers begun by King Radovid of Redania in the north.
All sorcerers of the north were in danger.
At that dark period, the only haven that sheltered sorcerers was Kovir and Poviss during the reign of Istrad's son.
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