Late spring was nearing summer, and a hundred flowers were in bloom. A rider came from the north, the clatter of hooves breaking the peace of the suburbs. On horseback, the knight's blond hair fluttered in the wind.
After entering the satellite town outside the capital, he slowed his horse and advanced at an easy pace. After more than a year away, some scenes still left faint impressions. There were not many houses with white crosses painted on their doors, which meant the plague was not as fierce as last year. But when he passed the Eternal Fire church, the tightly shut doors were unexpected.
Continuing forward for a while under the villagers' curious yet wary gazes, the rider reined in before the Old Bad-Knee tavern and tied his horse to the post outside the inn.
After more than a year away, Victor of Bell Town had returned, and he was shocked to discover that the tavern was also tightly shut.
Sensing the farmers' faint hostility, and seeing women carry away the children running nearby, the young man frowned and rubbed his chin. Then he mounted his horse and rode straight toward the moat.
Victor had originally planned to investigate some information at the tavern first, but the village had clearly undergone some unknown recent change. Even the church and tavern were closed, so he might as well go straight to the Salamandra smuggler.
From last year's contact experience, he had full confidence in that fellow's "backbone." He was a perfect example of someone who would tell everything he knew once a blade was pressed to his neck. If Victor wanted to know anything, that was the right man to ask.
However, the smuggler's riverside hideout had also been abandoned. No one lived there. Judging by the thickness of the dust, it had only been deserted recently. His plan to gather information before entering the city thus fell apart.
Walking out of the house and looking up at the sky, he realized it was evening and the sun was about to set. Just as the young man was wondering whether he might be too late to enter the city, he suddenly heard arguing not far away. One of the voices sounded rather familiar.
Circling around to the open ground behind the house, Victor saw four humans surrounding a dwarf. They held torches, clubs, and blades, cursing loudly. It looked like they would soon switch to communicating through body language.
Ordinarily, even if the young man intended to act like a chivalrous hero, he would observe the situation for a little longer. But this time, after glancing over and confirming it, he walked straight over. "Hold on. What grievance do you have with this dwarf?"
The sudden accident made all five people in the argument freeze at once. After noticing the young man's tall build and his full set of leather armor and steel sword, the obvious leader among the humans stepped forward.
The mushroom-headed burly man had no beard, and his clean-shaven jaw was thick. "We were just about to shave this fellow's beard. Got a problem with that?"
"Shave a dwarf's beard? Is there some reason you absolutely have to do something like that? For something so cruel, you might as well kill him." The corners of Victor's mouth rose. That mushroom head was far too hilarious.
The burly man bared his teeth at the young man. "Hah! All nonhumans should die. You are speaking up for him, so are you some kind of nonhuman lover?"
Cracking his fingers with a clack, clack, clack, Victor said gently, "Not any kind of lover. I just think maybe this matter can be resolved peacefully, so no one gets hurt."
"Oh, damn stranger. Come on, lads. Let's make this bastard regret sticking his nose into our business!"
With the burly man's roar, a two-against-four street brawl began, with the Dragon of Bell Town joining forces with the dwarf against the four suburban thugs.
The young man had plenty of brawling experience. He opened with a straight punch to the face, knocking the mushroom head unconscious on the spot. Then he followed with a liver punch, and the second man dropped to his knees and could not get up. Next, hearing the dwarf shout a warning, Victor turned and found the third man swinging a sword at him.
Sidestepping the slash, the young man instantly closed in, seized the man's weapon hand with both hands, then pulled, twisted, and pressed down. This impulsive man fainted from the pain on the spot.
Annoyed that the other party had used a weapon, the young man did not hold back with this move. He directly granted this fellow the ability to forecast the weather. For the rest of his life, whenever it was damp or rainy, the pain would make him regret why he had drawn his sword today.
On the other side, the dwarf was riding the last man, raining punches down on him until he collapsed. Then the dwarf stood up and patted off his clothes. "Young man, thanks for helping me settle these dogs... Wait... Victor? Is that really you?"
Seeing that the other party recognized him, the young man struck his right fist against his left chest and smiled. "Who else could it be? My dear Zoltan, may your cup never run dry."
The punk-haired dwarf before him was none other than Zoltan Chivay, the optimist, great philanthropist, and lover of strong liquor and filthy songs whom he had met in Vergen.
Victor was actually very surprised to run into the dwarf here. He did not understand why Zoltan had left Vergen and come to the outskirts of Vizima.
Likewise, Zoltan was also astonished to encounter the young man here by chance. Almost two years had passed since their parting. Victor was in the middle of his growth period, and relying on vitality broth and sufficient nutrition, both his height and physique had undergone dramatic changes. If not for the four knife scars on his face as markers, even the dwarf would not have recognized him.
"Goddess's tits! It really is you..." Zoltan happily stepped forward and grabbed Victor's arm. "Where's that silly lass Angoulême?"
"Relax, she is living the high life in the city!" Victor replied with a grin.
The dwarf happily pulled the young man along, about to head toward the satellite town to the west. "Come on, come on. Let's have a drink at the tavern over there, and you can tell me what happened to you two during this time."
Victor pulled Zoltan back instead. "No need. Let's camp by the woods. I have wine, meat, and a tent in my bag. Nonhuman discrimination looks pretty serious right now. We will be more comfortable chatting out in the wild."
Stroking his beard, the dwarf cheerfully agreed.
Victor was not bragging. His herbal satchel really did contain wine and meat. He placed a cleaned, dressed, and marinated suckling pig on the grill, then took out a small barrel of pepper vodka, enough to drink their fill.
Meeting an old friend in a foreign land and seeing Zoltan again after a long separation was a very pleasant thing. The small grudge from when they had parted also naturally vanished like smoke after three rounds of drinks. Neither of them brought it up.
At first, it was all the dwarf asking questions and the young man speaking. But after Victor summarized the adventures he and Angoulême had gone through over the past two years, it became Victor's turn to ask about Zoltan's situation.
"What!? Because you have no money, you might lose your fiancée, so you came to Vizima to look for business?" the young man said in surprise.
The dwarf's face was flushed red. He shyly scratched his head in silent admission. As for the money he had earned by helping sell decoctions back then, he had invested it in a mining business and gotten stuck.
However, when Victor took out a money pouch, Zoltan solemnly refused. Outside of doing business together, Zoltan was unwilling to touch a friend's money.
Sensing the dwarf's firm attitude, the young man could only give up on direct sponsorship and planned to find another opportunity to help later. In any case, it would be no more than a lift of his hand.
Next, Zoltan spoke of the major news in the outskirts. Not long ago, in the satellite town to the east, a large group of villagers, including Eternal Fire priests, wealthy farmers, and merchants, had launched a witch-hunt against an herbalist. As a result, they clashed with a passing witcher and were annihilated by him alone.
Hearing this, Victor could almost state with certainty that he knew this ferocious fellow. It was the amnesiac witcher Vesemir had recently stationed in Vizima, Geralt of Rivia.
Do not think the White Wolf was easy to bully just because he had lost his memories. Without needing a dimeritium bomb, he had cut down the mage who raided Kaer Morhen right in the hall. His strength could be seen from that alone.
But doubts also arose. What was Angoulême doing? There was no reason for her not to help her uncle when Geralt got into a fight. Yet with her leading the way, the White Wolf had no reason to linger outside the city either. Or was he out investigating Salamandra?
The young man did not doubt that the White Wolf could find Salamandra. A witcher with extraordinary five senses had extremely powerful tracking ability. No clue, however tiny, could escape him.
Victor was thinking about these concerns, so he stopped paying attention to Zoltan's drunken chatter. The dwarf was happily recounting the dragon slayer legend spreading through Vergen, according to which, in Upper Aedirn, there was a farmer's daughter who could remain unharmed in flames...
The next day, Zoltan and Victor entered the city together. The dwarf declined the young man's invitation and continued staying in the city's nonhuman district. He said he had friends there. As for normal times, he could be found at a tavern in the Temple Quarter.
Before parting, Zoltan said seriously, "Remember to tell Angoulême she can find me at the Hairy Bear Inn. It's right across from the Eager Thighs. When I have nothing to do, I'll be there playing dice."
Victor agreed with a smile. After saying goodbye to the dwarf, the young man felt a certain force driving his steps. One step, two steps, one step, two steps, walking with a devilish rhythm, he hurried back to his home in the Temple Quarter.
Suddenly eager to return, he passed the Order's headquarters, glanced at the Flaming Rose, and continued onward.
But just as he reached his doorstep, his steps suddenly stopped, because the scene before him exceeded his imagination.
The familiar alley, the familiar red-haired woman. Her brows and eyes were bright and lively. Wearing a lake-green waistcoat over her clothes, with an herbal satchel slung across her body, she looked full of heroic vigor.
However, this familiar scene had an extremely discordant embellishment, a certain skinny bald man with a monocle was standing by the door, talking with the doctor. He looked like a man who had just escorted the woman home from work.
Victor had never expected to see Thaler immediately after returning home, and even less could he imagine seeing his lady doctor speaking with the bald man. He frowned slightly, but did not intend to step forward.
First, people had the right to choose their friends. Second, Shani was opening the door to his house. The lady doctor, who cared deeply about the boundaries of relationships, was willing to live there, which meant she did not consider herself an outsider.
Of course, the key point was that they were still maintaining a distant social distance. Besides, Thaler was ultimately blocked outside the door and left in frustration.
"Victor could not help sighing with relief. How lucky! His head had not turned green. The lady doctor still loved him!"
"...???"
Slowly tilting his head, the young man glared sideways at the girl. She was raising her eyes to the sky, pretending as if nothing had happened. "Angoulême, I should have warned you more than once. When I am thinking, do not casually add random narration!"
Under the sunlight, the wild girl was fully armed, fully implementing the Troupe's safety rules. When going out, leather armor and steel sword never left her side. The alchemist was not surprised that she could locate him accurately. The effects of Eagle Vision were not for show.
"Hehehe," Hearing the troupe leader's accusation, the troupe member laughed in an extremely punchable manner. "Vic! I was just saying it casually. Don't take it seriously. If you get angry over this, that just means I was right."
Victor shook his head helplessly. "One day, that mouth of yours will get you sent to the gallows."
"My troupe leader will get me down from there in time." Angoulême smiled in response.
Yawning, the young man could not be bothered with her.
But the girl stared closely at his face for a careful inspection, then said, "Vic, we haven't seen each other for a while, and you look much brighter now. You don't have that gloom from before!"
"...Or maybe it is because, on the road to Vizima, I killed a real son of a bitch. Don't look at me with such curious eyes. I will tell you about it later. For now, tell me what is going on with Thaler."
"Just another suitor for the lady doctor... probably! Shani has rejected him several times, but he still refuses to give up. Even though I always prank him, he has no hostility toward me."
Hearing Angoulême's explanation, Victor suddenly felt a little sympathetic toward Thaler. Because as far as he knew, this wild girl had never understood what a "normal prank" was.
Before leaving Vizima last year, the girl had already been the vanguard in sabotaging the bald man's image before the lady doctor, emphasizing more than once ideas like "no bald man is a good man" and "men with monocles are all sly."
Later, because of Thaler, the two of them had been forced to leave Temeria and go far away to Novigrad. More than once, she had displayed before the young man a desire to strike back in revenge one day. Now that she could appear so calm and breezy, the former intelligence chief had clearly already paid many prices that left him unsure whether to laugh or cry.
All kinds of thoughts flashed by. Although the troupe leader knew there were still many things, such as the White Wolf's whereabouts or Zoltan's recent situation, that he needed to discuss with the troupe member, still, naturally, the first thing to do was go back and greet Shani.
Winking at Angoulême, Victor took the lead and walked toward the door.
Opening the door and entering the house, he found no one on the first floor. He went straight up to the second floor. The young man gently pushed open the door, and then he was stunned by the beautiful scene before his eyes.
Just ahead, Shani was sitting on the windowsill, teasing Catherine. The warm spring sun shone in at an angle, sunlight falling across her fair cheeks. Specks of gold scattered over her, creating the texture of oil-painting particles.
Reminded by the goshawk's cooing, she turned her head and noticed Victor staring blankly. Her smile was bright and radiant.
"You're back."
"Yes, I'm back!"
"Have you eaten?"
"Not yet..."
Letting Catherine fly off, she jumped down from the windowsill and walked toward the young man. "Then wait a moment. I'll make something delicious for you!"
She gently embraced him.
He gently embraced her back.
Watching the lady doctor hurry downstairs toward the kitchen, the young man suddenly remembered that, last year, Shani's cooking had vaguely been outsourced to the Hairy Bear's cook.
Facts proved that the young man had worried too much. The lady doctor was indeed a woman of her word. When she said she would make something delicious, she truly made something delicious. At lunch, the three of them sat together and shared a long-missed wonderful time.
The pork pie was fried until its aroma spread everywhere, and the mushroom soup was just right. Although it was not as sumptuous as last year's final dinner, this homely style was even more moving.
Listening to her describe the process of promoting the stethoscope over the past year, as well as many little stories of saving people, the young man felt proud along with her.
When the conversation reached a happy point, Shani raised her cup. "Hey! Right, I heard from Angoulême that you went to Oxenfurt University to look for me before. Although you didn't find me, you donated money and bought a degree from the Department of Philosophy. Is that true?"
Hearing her say this, Victor's expression instantly darkened a little. He had originally planned to give the lady doctor a surprise, only to learn that it had already been exposed as a purchased degree. He immediately began calculating how to teach the person who had told the truth a little lesson. However, he noticed that the lady doctor's expression was not contemptuous. It was mostly amused.
She continued smiling. "Then, since you are also graduates of Oxenfurt University now, how should you address me?"
At this moment, Victor suddenly realized that perhaps this had been a subconscious action. It turned out the reason he had wanted a university degree was so that, at this moment, he could look at the woman before him with complete confidence and say,
"Greetings, senior!"
The spring light was bright and beautiful. Vizima, I, Victor, have returned!
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