Chapter 42: Continental Contracts
Three teams. Three kingdoms. Three weeks of coordinated chaos.
The deployment began with careful planning—routes mapped, contacts identified, contracts pre-negotiated where possible. Viktor took four members to Temeria, targeting Vizima's growing reconstruction needs. Bran led three to Aedirn, where Vengerberg's merchant class had been asking about reliable security services. I took three to Kaedwen, pushing north to establish presence in territory we'd never touched.
"Communication is critical," I told the assembled team leaders before departure. "Message crystals every three days minimum. Emergency contact immediately if anything goes wrong."
"What counts as emergency?" Viktor asked.
"Anything that threatens lives or reputation. Combat you can't handle, contracts you can't complete, political complications that might escalate. Better to ask for help and not need it than need it and not ask."
The crystals cost fifteen crowns—a significant expense, but essential for coordinating across distances that made physical communication impossible.
"What's our revenue target?" Bran's question was practical. The archer had adapted well to leadership responsibility.
"Seventy crowns minimum. Anything above that is bonus. But more important than revenue is recognition—we need clients in these kingdoms talking about us, recommending us, establishing the foundation for permanent presence."
Temeria: Viktor's Report
Day 8: Vizima operations proceeding. Local authorities cooperative—they remember the guild name from the dragon hunt. Took three contracts: warehouse security (15 crowns), monster clearance in the old quarter (25 crowns), and escort duty for a merchant caravan (12 crowns pending completion).
Day 12: Payment dispute with warehouse client. Claims we didn't prevent theft that occurred before our contract started. Requesting guidance.
I drafted response immediately: Document timeline clearly. Offer compromise—partial refund if client provides written testimony of our professionalism for future use. Reputation worth more than twelve crowns.
Viktor's next message confirmed resolution. The client accepted half payment plus testimony. The written recommendation would serve us better than full payment anyway.
Day 18: Temeria phase complete. 47 crowns earned, three clients satisfied, two testimonials secured. Local recognition estimated at 6%. Recommend return visit in three months for follow-up contracts.
Aedirn: Bran's Report
Day 6: Vengerberg more complicated than expected. Strong guild presence already—established organizations don't appreciate competition. Taking contracts they reject as beneath them.
Day 10: Monster contract went wrong. Client reported "minor nekker infestation"—actually twelve nekkers and a nest mother. Sera took claw wounds across the back. Nothing critical but she's limited for remaining deployment.
I teleported to Novigrad, then took emergency transit toward Aedirn—three days of hard travel to reach the team's position. Sera's wounds were healing by the time I arrived, Aldric's training of basic field medicine having paid dividends.
"How bad?" I asked Bran, examining Sera's bandaged back.
"Could have been worse. She's mobile, just can't climb or twist for another week." Bran's expression mixed frustration with guilt. "Should have scouted better. The client underreported—deliberately, maybe, hoping we'd clear it anyway."
"Did you complete the contract?"
"Eventually. Lost a day regrouping, but the nest is gone."
"Then document everything—the underreporting, the actual threat level, our completion despite complications. That's leverage for future negotiations." I checked Sera's bandages myself. "You'll be fine. Scars add character."
She managed a weak laugh. "Always wanted more character."
Day 18: Aedirn phase complete. 28 crowns earned (reduced for medical expenses). Two contracts completed, one client blacklisted for false reporting. Recognition estimated at 5%. Operational lessons learned—trust but verify all client claims.
Ard Carraigh was colder than expected.
Spring in Kaedwen meant ice still crusted the shadows, mud everywhere the sun reached, and locals who regarded southerners with suspicion bordering on hostility. The northern kingdom had been through too many wars to welcome strangers easily.
"You're from Redania?" The merchant guild representative studied my credentials with obvious skepticism. "We have local contractors for monster work."
"Local contractors who've been failing to clear the drowner colony in your harbor district for three months now." I'd done my research before arriving. "Your shipping schedules are disrupted, cargo handling delayed, insurance rates climbing. I'm offering to solve that problem in one week."
"At what price?"
"Thirty crowns, paid on completion. No advance, no deposit. We succeed or we don't get paid."
The confidence was calculated—I'd scouted the drowner colony personally, knew it was manageable with proper tactics. The no-advance offer removed their risk, making agreement easier.
"Done. Clear the harbor drowners and we'll talk about additional contracts."
The clearance took four days. Twenty-three drowners in a nest that had been growing unchecked for months, entrenched in the harbor's underwater cave system. We used oil and fire to flush them into kill zones, silver weapons for the final engagement.
Two guild members took minor injuries. Nobody died. The drowner colony was eliminated.
"You actually did it." The merchant representative's skepticism had transformed into something closer to respect. "Our contractors tried three times. Kept saying the nest was too deep, too established."
"They weren't wrong about the difficulty. They were wrong about what's possible with proper preparation." I collected our payment. "If you have other contracts, the guild maintains message contacts through Oxenfurt. We can deploy to Kaedwen as needed."
"I'll remember that."
Three weeks. Three kingdoms. Lessons learned at every step.
The teams reconvened in Oxenfurt, exhausted but successful. Revenue totaled ninety-five crowns after expenses—above target, but the true value was harder to quantify. Recognition in three new kingdoms. Testimonials from satisfied clients. Operational experience that would inform future deployments.
"The Aedirn situation needs addressing," I told the assembled team leaders. "Client false reporting almost got someone killed. We need verification protocols—independent assessment of threat levels before committing to contracts."
"That adds time and cost," Viktor observed.
"Less time and cost than medical treatment. Less cost than reputation damage if we fail contracts we shouldn't have taken." I spread the operational reports across the planning table. "What else did we learn?"
"Communication delays," Bran said. "Three-day intervals aren't enough for fast-moving situations. We need daily check-ins, at least for deployments into new territory."
"More crystals, then. Budget accordingly."
"Local contacts," Viktor added. "We operated blind in Temeria—no network, no intelligence on who's trustworthy. Tom's connections don't extend that far. We need to build equivalent networks in each kingdom we operate."
"Agreed. Add that to expansion planning." I reviewed the financial summary. "Ninety-five crowns earned, fifteen spent on communication, twelve on medical supplies. Net seventy-eight crowns. Treasury stands at..."
I did the calculation.
"Five hundred seventeen crowns. Not enough for outpost establishment yet, but heading in the right direction."
[PHASE 2 PROGRESS: 45%]
[Continental Recognition: 12% (averaged across kingdoms)]
[Treasury: 517 crowns]
[GP: 2,050 (contracts generated 1,500 GP)]
[Operational Status: Multi-kingdom capability demonstrated]
"Next steps?" Mira asked, quill ready to document.
"Consolidate what we've gained. Follow up with satisfied clients. Build local networks in Temeria, Aedirn, and Kaedwen." I began rolling up the maps. "We've proven we can operate across kingdoms. Now we need to make that operation sustainable."
Alone in my quarters, I reviewed the full picture.
Two years since waking in these woods. Fifteen members. Two outposts. Operations spanning four kingdoms. Recognition growing across the continent. A witcher partnership developing. A gift package traveling toward Kaer Morhen.
The timeline pressed against my thoughts. Cintra would fall in roughly two years. The Wild Hunt was coming, would come, would find Ciri and begin the chase that would define this world's fate.
"Phase 2 is forty-five percent complete. At current pace, we'll finish in another eighteen months. That leaves maybe six months of Phase 3 preparation before everything changes."
Not enough time. Never enough time.
But more time than I'd had two years ago. More resources. More people. More capability to face whatever was coming.
The guild was becoming what I'd envisioned—not just an adventure organization, but infrastructure. A network that could coordinate responses, deploy resources, provide support when communities faced threats beyond their capacity to handle.
When the Wild Hunt came, when the wars intensified, when the continent needed organizations that could actually help rather than exploit—the Covenant of Blades would be ready.
Or as ready as I could make it.
I pulled up the system interface, reviewing tomorrow's schedule, planning the next steps, calculating the path toward whatever future we were building.
The work continued.
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