"If the old man ever gives you hell over this, I promise I'll speak up for you."
With his revenge finally complete, the balding witcher left those words behind and departed Novigrad in complete satisfaction.
A week of peaceful life followed before the Phantom Troupe received a visit from its second witcher.
This one was bald, Leo, who was supposed to be enjoying a leisurely life in Toussaint.
The instant Victor saw him, he wanted to shut the door and pretend he wasn't home.
Because Leo hadn't come alone. Standing behind him were two Toussaint knights Victor knew well, and a lineup like this could only mean extraordinary trouble.
Deputy Commander of the Toussaint Ducal Guard, "Barrel Junior" Horace de Funès, and the hopeless romantic Guillaume de Launfal.
The two of them had traveled all the way from Beauclair to Novigrad just to find him. How could that possibly mean anything good?
Through the open doorway, Angoulême, who had been sprawled bonelessly across a lounge chair, spotted the bald witcher, the hopeless romantic, and Barrel Junior. She sprang upright in surprise.
"What are you doing here?"
The moment Horace saw Victor, he reacted like a man who had finally found a long-lost relative. He rushed forward and seized the witcher's hand with both of his, completely eliminating any possibility of Victor closing the door.
"At last... at last we've found you! Sir Victor Corion, Viscount, Toussaint needs your aid. Beauclair is threatened by a terrifying Beast!"
Hearing Horace, the girl couldn't resist teasing him.
"Hasn't it been threatening you for years already? Last time you even paid Vic to forget about it... What, you can't satisfy her appetite anymore?"
Victor wasn't nearly as optimistic as she was.
With his foreknowledge, back when he had been active in Toussaint, he had already encountered the higher vampire who might one day cause a terrifying catastrophe, Dettlaff van der Eretein.
That monster was the final boss of the entire Blood and Wine expansion, and he was absurdly formidable.
But his appearance required a long chain of prerequisites, and Victor also remembered that the entire affair was supposed to happen after the Third Northern War had ended.
Right now, the war had only just begun.
In theory, that meant the incident should still be several years away. By then, whether it was Geralt of Rivia or a far stronger and more experienced Victor himself, either of them should have been capable of resolving the problem much more smoothly.
That was why he hadn't taken it seriously at the time, nor had he proactively warned anyone. Before leaving, he'd merely asked Vivienne to pass a message to Anarietta, if anything happened, remember to find Geralt.
It had been nothing more than planting a seed in advance.
Yet judging from the knights' tense expressions, some unknown factor had caused the Beast to emerge ahead of schedule.
And an opponent like a higher vampire, judging from the abilities displayed in the game, was absolutely not something that could be dealt with easily.
Guillaume de Launfal, formerly a hopeless romantic, now looked both serious and astute.
"My dear Lady Angoulême, we are entirely serious. This is no jest."
He then turned toward Victor and proclaimed in a ringing voice,
"Victor of Kaer Trolde, at the behest of our merciful sovereign, Her Illustrious Grace Duchess Anna Henrietta, we have journeyed to the Northern Realms in search of you, that we might formally present you with a contract."
Golden hair and golden armor both gleamed as Guillaume spoke with all the solemn grandeur of an actor performing upon a stage.
Inside Fergus's smithy, none of the others had ever witnessed such a formal proclamation. Everyone except Victor stared wide-eyed and drew in a sharp breath.
"A terrible monster has appeared in the Duchy of Toussaint, a Beast that has committed heinous crimes against Her Grace's subjects. Only the bravest among witchers has the ability to destroy the Beast.
"Thus we have come to humbly beseech you to hear of our woes, resolve our troubles, and liberate our land from the clutches of fear.
"Your humble servant, Guillaume de Launfal."
"And Horace de Funès."
Barrel Junior copied his companion, placing a hand over his chest and bowing.
Victor shook his head speechlessly, stepped aside, and motioned for all three men to enter the alchemy workshop. Then he slammed the door shut, cutting off the curious gazes of everyone outside.
He pulled over several chairs and invited everyone to sit, then waved Angoulême off to prepare drinks before taking a seat himself.
"Enough with the theatrics. Give me the short version. What's going on?"
Horace coughed twice and produced a scroll.
"My apologies, but this is an official message from Her Illustrious Highness. By tradition, it must..."
"I know."
Victor slapped his knees and stood back up.
"Tradition in Toussaint is sacred above all else! Go ahead."
Barrel Junior smiled and opened the scroll. Holding the parchment like some solemn ducal decree, he began reading aloud.
"Most Honorable Victor, Slayer of Monsters and All Evils Nefarious which Prey on the Defenseless of this World!
"Whereas never have you been known to deny help to the innocent nor leave widows and orphans to fates undeserved, answer you now our present summons! Free us from the Beast which floods our streets with blood and sows panic in the hearts of rich and poor alike!
"Come to our aid, witcher, thus humbly beseeches you the star-crossed city's most gracious protectress, Her Illustrious Highness, Duchess Anna Henrietta."
Once Horace finished reading, Guillaume immediately asked in complete seriousness,
"Then, Lord Victor, will you answer Her Grace's summons?"
Victor looked up at the ceiling, remembering his interactions with the duchess.
"Her Illustrious Highness really said that? You're sure you didn't read it wrong?"
Horace rubbed his nose.
"What she actually said was, 'I don't care which brothel at the ends of the earth they're hiding in, bring me a witcher!' The court's officials subjected that statement to a certain degree of literary refinement and transformed it into this properly dignified letter. I'm sure you understand."
The witcher chuckled.
"Of course. But, 'they'? So you're looking for Geralt of Rivia as well?"
"Indeed. I have another message here intended for Geralt. The only difference between the two is the name. Whichever of you we encountered, we were to present the corresponding scroll. But I trust you won't refuse to help on that account."
Guillaume admitted it cheerfully.
Victor rubbed the stubble on his chin.
"With such an enthusiastic and courteous request, I can't find any reason to refuse. I'll help."
"I'm very pleased you've accepted."
Horace rolled the parchment back up and handed it to the witcher.
"Speaking purely in a personal capacity, I should also mention that an extraordinarily generous reward awaits you for completing this contract. For the details, however, you'll have to speak with Her Illustrious Highness yourself."
Victor tucked the scroll inside his clothes and shrugged.
"I'm not interested in money. Now tell me the details of the case. I want some idea of what I'm walking into."
Victor was almost certain that the Beast they were facing this time was the higher vampire Dettlaff van der Eretein.
But even though he knew the answer to the mystery, he had completely forgotten the process, the details, and even the identities of the victims.
So he still needed the relevant intelligence.
More importantly, when his gaze met that of the bald witcher, Victor's Blue Rinnegan read a secret from Leo's Sharingan.
For instance, that his friend Dettlaff was the Beast.
Leo had personally witnessed Dettlaff lose control before, so there was no reason he wouldn't have suspected him.
Yet Leo had neither informed the Toussaint authorities nor tried to resolve the matter privately.
Instead, he had led the knights all the way here to find Victor.
There had to be a reason behind that.
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