Smoke still drifted through the dead village while Redanian soldiers spread themselves cautiously between the burned huts, checking corpses, muttering prayers beneath their breath, or simply staring in silence at what remained of the settlement.
The wind moved Sebastian's dark cloak lightly while his eyes wandered across the destruction one more time.
Children, families, burned alive or cut down and somewhere out there, whoever had done it was probably eating stolen food around a campfire right now.
The thought irritated him more than he expected, behind him, the Redanian captain approached again, boots crunching softly over ash and broken wood.
"Well?" the man asked. "Will you help us or not, Witcher?"
Sebastian glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
"That depends."
The captain frowned immediately.
"Depends on what?"
"On how much the crown values burned villages."
The captain stared at him for a moment before realization crossed his face.
"…Coin."
Sebastian shrugged slightly.
"You want answers. I want payment, seems fair."
One of the younger soldiers scoffed nearby.
"Mutants really do think about nothing except gold."
Sebastian ignored him completely.
The captain folded his arms over his chest, visibly annoyed already.
"You said yourself this slaughter bothered you."
"It does."
"Then help."
"I will," Sebastian replied calmly. "After we settle the details."
The captain's jaw tightened.
For a brief moment Sebastian could practically see the thought crossing the man's mind.
'This fucking mutant..'
The captain exhaled sharply through his nose.
"How much?"
Sebastian looked around the ruined village slowly, deliberately taking his time.
"Well…" he said at last, "tracking armed killers through Redanian wilderness, possibly into bandit territory, sounds like quite a bit of work."
The captain narrowed his eyes.
"You're negotiating while standing beside dead peasants."
Sebastian met his gaze without emotion.
"And you're hiring a witcher while pretending you don't need one."
The captain got silent, one of the soldiers behind the captain coughed awkwardly.
Sebastian turned slightly as though preparing to leave.
"If this is beneath the crown's budget, I'll simply continue toward Novigrad."
The captain visibly fought the urge to curse.
"You witchers are unbelievable.."
Sebastian took another step toward his horse.
"Two hundred crowns," the captain finally snapped. "Just find out who did it and two hundred crowns shall be yours."
Sebastian stopped.
A faint smirk almost appeared on his face.
"Deal."
The captain grunted irritably.
Sebastian, meanwhile, thought quietly to himself,
'I don't need the money.'
'But something feels off about them.'
That little negotiation had been a test more than anything else.
And the captain had taken the bait immediately.
He was too eager, too invested, could be that he is kindhearted, could be something else.
They really wanted the perpetrators found.
Sebastian slowly turned back toward him.
"You care about these people?"
The captain looked genuinely confused by the question.
"What?"
"The villagers."
Sebastian gestured toward the corpses.
"You care?"
The captain was silent for a second before answering.
"The crown does, burned villages mean abandoned roads. Abandoned roads mean fewer merchants. Fewer merchants mean less trade." He glanced around grimly. "Less trade means less taxes. Less taxes weakens the kingdom."
He paused before adding more quietly, "And frightened peasants stop trusting the crown to protect them."
Sebastian stared at him for a moment.
Then nodded once.
"At least you're somewhat.. honest."
The captain snorted dryly.
"Honesty's cheaper than lies."
Sebastian turned away from him afterward, eyes moving back toward the village.
"I'll get to work then. I think I have a lead."
Behind him the captain blinked.
"…A lead?"
"You said earlier you didn't know who did it.."
Sebastian looked back over his shoulder slightly.
"I'm a Witcher."
His golden eyes narrowed faintly.
"I only work for coin."
The captain stared at him for two long seconds.
Then barked out a rough laugh despite himself.
"You…"
He shook his head.
"Alright. Fair enough."
Sebastian simply continued walking.
The wind shifted softly around the ruined village while soldiers resumed their grim work behind him.
He stopped near one of the corpses lying face down in the mud beside a shattered wagon wheel.
At first glance it looked ordinary, another dead peasant.
But Sebastian crouched slowly, eyes focusing on the ground instead.
Blood, dried, dragged tracks.
Very faint now beneath mud and ash, his witcher senses sharpened immediately.
"…There you are."
He followed the trail carefully with his eyes.
Cart tracks, heavy ones.
Deep enough to suggest it was holding some weight.
Lots of it.
The tracks disappeared between two burned homes before continuing toward the nearby forest, Sebastian touched the mud lightly with two fingers.
Still visible despite time passing.
"Must be what they loaded the supplies with," he murmured to himself quietly.
Food, Livestock.
Anything valuable.
Which meant this massacre had not been blind slaughter alone.
It had been organized and planned for some time.
Sebastian slowly rose back to his feet, eyes drifting toward the dark forest ahead.
"…Alright then," he muttered softly while adjusting the swords across his back.
"Let's see what kind of monsters Redania grows."
.
.
.
The deeper Sebastian rode into the forest, the quieter the world became, the kind that made the hairs on the back of a normal man's neck rise, the wind barely touched the trees here. Ancient roots twisted across the damp earth while pale light filtered weakly through heavy branches above, leaving the forest trapped in endless dusk despite the hour still being early. Sebastian followed the cart tracks carefully but the tracks had become fainter too.
Broken branches, flattened moss.
Wheel grooves disappearing beneath layers of roots and dead leaves, whoever traveled this path knew how to hide movement.
Scoia'tael territory.
Sebastian eventually slowed slightly, his eyes shifting upward without moving his head.
There, a figure crouched along a thick branch perhaps twenty feet away.
Almost invisible, the elf wore forest-colored leathers with a drawn bow already aimed toward him, silver hair braided tightly behind pointed ears.
Female elf, young by elven standards probably.
And disciplined enough not to move, Sebastian pretended not to notice her.
Instead he continued walking forward casually, eyes scanning the ground as though still tracking, then he noticed it.
Trap wire, simple one but very effective.
Tied between roots low enough to catch the ankle and launch prey upward into a snare.
Sebastian stared at it for exactly half a second, then intentionally stepped right into it.
The trap snapped violently.
Rope tightened around his leg before yanking him upward into the air.
A second later Sebastian hung upside down from a thick tree branch, cloak dangling toward the forest floor while his swords swayed lightly against his back.
He let out a believable grunt.
"…Ah, fuck."
Leaves rustled instantly.
The elven archer dropped from the tree gracefully, landing without a sound only a few paces away while keeping her bow aimed directly at his face.
Her pale green eyes narrowed sharply.
"Foolish dh'oine."
Sebastian blinked at her upside down.
Internally though, his thoughts moved far more calmly.
'If I can somehow make her believe she actually caught me…'
'…maybe she'll bring me to their camp.'
'The tracks already went cold.'
'This might be easier.'
A little too easy maybe. Outwardly, however, he only sighed tiredly while swaying slightly in the snare.
"Look carefully, elf…"
His golden eyes locked onto hers.
"Do you see a dh'oine?"
The she-elf frowned faintly.
At first perhaps thinking he mocked her, then her gaze shifted lower.
The swords, the medallion, the eyes.
Realization flashed across her face almost immediately.
"…A Vatt'ghern."
Her grip tightened slightly on the bow.
"Interesting.."
She circled him slowly while studying him with open suspicion now.
"I've heard stories."
Sebastian smirked faintly despite hanging upside down.
"Hopefully the flattering kind."
She ignored the joke entirely.
"I've never met one myself."
Her eyes lingered on his swords again.
"Maybe killing you would be a waste."
Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"I'll take you to the others."
Internally Sebastian almost laughed.
'That was too easy.'
Instead he simply let his body hang limply while saying dryly.
"Wonderful. Always wanted new traveling companions.."
The elf stepped closer suddenly.
Then
THUNK.
The hilt of her sword cracked sharply against the side of his head.
Sebastian's thoughts stopped for exactly one second.
Not because it hurt, even though it absolutely did.
But because for half a moment his instincts almost activated automatically and turned his body intangible, that would have been awkward.
For both of them.
Thankfully he suppressed his powers in time.
Instead he let his head loll sideways convincingly while groaning quietly.
"…Gods…"
The elf watched him carefully.
Sebastian allowed his eyes to unfocus slightly while thinking to himself.
'I'm really glad I can control the intangibility.'
'Otherwise that would've been embarrassing for her… and for me.'
The elf finally lowered the bow a fraction.
"Still awake?"
"...Unfortunately...you don't do this usually do you?"
Another smack.
Stronger this time.
Sebastian made a show of nearly blacking out from it, his body swaying in the rope.
The elf finally seemed satisfied.
"Good enough."
She whistled sharply toward the forest.
A moment later movement stirred everywhere around them.
Sebastian counted at least five more hidden Scoia'tael revealing themselves from trees and brush.
Lean starving faces hardened by years of war and hatred.
One of them spat near Sebastian.
"These are Human-lovers, you should've killed him already."
"He's a witcher," the female elf replied coldly. "Not a human."
"That supposed to make him better?"
"No," she answered calmly. "Just more useful, could be worth something too."
Sebastian remained hanging silently while observing all of them upside down.
They looked tired and angry.
One dwarf among them eyed Sebastian suspiciously.
"Why's he smiling?"
Sebastian immediately stopped smiling.
"…I'm...fuck... I can't think straight..."
The dwarf narrowed his eyes.
"…Right."
The female elf cut the rope suddenly.
Sebastian dropped hard onto the forest floor with a grunt before two Scoia'tael immediately grabbed his arms and forced him upright.
One searched him quickly before cursing softly.
"Two swords."
"Told you," the elf replied.
She stepped closer to Sebastian one last time, studying him carefully.
"You'll behave yourself, vatt'ghern.."
/-\
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