"Thank you for your generosity, Your Excellency."
Geralt was caught off guard.
He wanted to add something, but Istrad was already standing and leaving the room.
"Then I ought to be going with him as well. If the two Masters agree, you might as well stay in Tretogor City for a little while longer. There just so happen to be contracts here that require your services, and while you're staying in Tretogor City, all will be at my expense."
The instant that Istrad left, Geralt was complaining to Lynn in discontent.
"Lynn, what's on your mind? We shouldn't be injecting politics here. Have you forgotten what Vesemir told you? Witchers have to be impartial."
Lynn shook his head: "I haven't forgotten."
"Why did you steal his things, then?"
Here, Geralt was so anxious that he did not even get his words together.
But Lynn understood what Geralt was saying.
The White Wolf was accusing him of stealing the signet ring that Istrad had given him.
If there was one person in the Wolf School whose thoughts were closest to the witcher's code,
That person would definitely be Geralt.
Of course, being the hero of the "story," even if Geralt himself did not wish to cause trouble, trouble would always accompany him.
Or, as they say in this world:
Though Lynn could hear Geralt's thoughts, times had changed.
"Geralt, here, men, elves, dwarves, and gnomes can all play the game of power. Why can't we witchers?"
Geralt replied offhand, "Because it is dangerous and will make our position as witchers that much more difficult."
Lynn spread his hands.
"But if we keep our noses out, won't the political whirlpool suck us in anyway?"
He had to admit, Lynn had made a valid point.
Even when witchers would attempt to remain neutral, they would still get drawn in somehow.
Or, more accurately, principled neutrality would most frequently lead to ill things.
Geralt himself had been through that kind of thing several times.
Being neutral, in the eyes of others, was a posture of indifference.
Sometimes it would even be interpreted maliciously as being a turncoat or a fence-sitter.
In any given world, no one likes fence-sitters, right?
Geralt muttered sullenly, "At least, we should do our best to prevent it."
Geralt likely was not aware that Lynn knew him better than he knew himself.
Lynn knew full well that Geralt was a noble individual, nigh saintly.
He was nearer to the ideal of a saint than any cleric.
But regrettably, nobility was not enough to keep the individuals around him safe.
In the original novels and game stories, if Geralt had been a little more "flexible," it would not have been so difficult for him to escape his roving fate and let Vesemir, Eskel, and Lambert live good lives.
Once he had come to this world, what he had to do was obviously to change the direction of the "story" and not let the world line go towards that pitiful end.
Anyway, there were no bronze dragons in this world to protect history from change.
So, he needed Geralt to listen to him.
"Geralt, I know you're doing this out of good intentions, but please believe me. I am doing this for the witchers too, not just for the Wolf School, but for all the witcher schools."
"If we don't act, we witchers. could really become extinct."
Then, silence in the room.
Finally, after all this time, Geralt slowly spoke in a manner as if giving in, "Alright, Lynn, I can't convince you."
"Clearly, you've thought this through a lot, much more than I have."
"You've talked many times before, and to be honest, I didn't catch all of them."
"But I can tell that you have a plan, and it's not one that you came up with in a moment of forgetfulness."
"I won't stop you, but I hope you're aware of what you're doing."
Lynn also let out a heavy breath.
He had expected it to be more difficult to persuade Geralt originally.
And the current situation was definitely the best.
Lynn could empathize with Geralt's sentiments.
The neutrality clause in the witcher code was also originally the intention when the witcher orders were founded.
But now, things were changing, and civilization was progressing.
The new laws no longer worked for this world.
Lynn, being the visionary, well understood what was to occur.
He would not and could not just wait around for disaster to strike him.
Since things were going to occur anyway.
Why not do a good preparation and take matters into one's hands?
Lynn therefore had to make this choice against ancient teachings.
Because the rule of the Thyssen dynasty in Kovir and Poviss was overthrown and they had to flee abroad, Istrad had been scheming secretly his restoration to the throne.
He always sought followers.
Until the time was right, he sternly started the war to reclaim the throne.
King Rad and King Idi, the usurpers, of course would not remain idle and watch Istrad's restoration, and each one of them prepared separately.
But the war to reclaim the throne finally ended in Istrad's favor.
King Rad and King Idi and their families were all murdered by Istrad on the evening now known as the "Night of Torches."
And Lynn agreed to participate in Istrad's coup in the future simply because he knew the outcome of the war to reclaim the throne.
Of course, he was not foolish enough to think that going to war was danger-free.
But the catch was that witchers' daily lives also had huge risks.
At least compared to risking his life to get paid half a crown for a drowners' head for infiltrating a group of drowners, the reward of going after Istrad was much greater.
Also, ennobleing a witcher as a vassal was a two-way win for Istrad.
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Then, to allow witchers to be lords in his country was to have the country view witchers favorably first, and thus that would make existing few witchers in the world flock to Kovir.
And witchers would ward off monsters which damaged the rural areas, thereby allowing farmers to till the lands peacefully and those soldiers who were waging battles abroad would no longer need to worry about their wives and offspring.
Secondly, the special witcher senses generated by the witches' mutations may also serve city guards and enable them to deal with murder more efficiently, capture murderers more effectively, and safeguard the lives and property of citizens.
Finally, when foreign countries invaded, there would also be witchers brandishing swords to defend this land.
Earlier, Lynn had exhibited all these benefits in front of Istrad, which had finally made up Istrad's mind and decided to carry out the vow of "giving Lynn an earl's title and land."
Well, of course, where this place was and whether he would desire to acquire more would surely hinge on future efforts.