Chapter 182: Every One of Them Is Talented
When Lynn returned to his quarters at Corvo Bianco vineyard, Geralt and Regis were already on the verge of falling asleep.
"How does it feel to be a lord?"
"I bet you're thrilled, otherwise you wouldn't have abandoned us here for an entire day."
Geralt and Regis were good people, but sometimes their mouths could be truly venomous.
"Don't make fun of me."
In front of Geralt and Regis, Lynn no longer needed to maintain his disguised appearance. So he dropped his illusion.
"During the day, I toured the estate and found it to be truly excellent. No wonder the previous lord had dozens of mercenary bandits under his command."
"With this territory, at least our Wolf School will no longer have to risk our lives for a few crowns. We can also consider longer-term goals, like recruiting new apprentices."
Regis coughed twice. "Hmm, should I perhaps step out? Although I've never been this close to witchers before, my intuition tells me:"
"What you're about to discuss shouldn't be heard by outsiders."
Lynn waved his hand at him. "No, it's alright. In fact, Regis, your centuries of accumulated knowledge in herbalism will be a great help to us in improving the Trial of the Grasses formula. If you're willing, I hope you'll stay."
To date, the Wolf School's Trial of the Grasses formula was relatively the most complete among all witcher schools. This was why the survival rate of the Trial of the Grasses in other schools was only three out of ten, while the Wolf School's was four out of ten.
This was even without a sorcerer casting a stabilizing spell nearby.
The stabilizing spell was a specific enchantment developed to counter the Trial of the Grasses. Its main purpose was to alleviate the trial taker's pain and the harm caused by the mutagens.
Vesemir had once mentioned that when Kaer Morhen still had resident sorcerers, the survival rate could increase by another ten to twenty percent when a sorcerer cast a stabilizing spell during an apprentice's Trial of the Grasses.
In Lynn's view, the survival rate of the Trial of the Grasses could be further improved. For example, by improving the formula of the mutagens... Or by adding several precursor mutagens before the main Trial of the Grasses to help apprentices adapt better.
"Recruiting new apprentices, you say?"
At the mention of this, Geralt just felt a pang in his teeth. In truth, when it came to recruiting new apprentices, the Wolf School was much like the emotionless Bear School, lacking any enthusiasm.
Lambert was out of the question; he himself had been sold to witchers by his father, so he certainly wouldn't want other children to experience the same pain. The same logic applied to Berengar. Eskel, decades ago, did invoke the Law of Surprise once.
But afterward, he abandoned his Child Surprise and did not turn the child into a witcher.
As for Geralt, two years ago in Cintra, he also invoked the Law of Surprise. But at the time, Geralt didn't quite know what he was thinking. It just happened naturally, or perhaps, as if by some strange twist of fate. But looking back now, it might have been more appropriate to ask for gold as a reward.
A princess's child would become a prince or princess in the future. Girls could not become witchers—at least not in the Wolf School. Only boys could. But the problem was, after that "price issue," Geralt heard some disturbing rumors:
The Queen of Cintra's desire for a male heir had reached an almost pathological degree. Because Queen Calanthe, the Lioness of Cintra, despite being queen, still faced a strong desire from the nobles for a king to rule them.
Calanthe had tried to birth a son to solve this problem, but she could only bear a princess. So, all of Calanthe's hopes were placed on her daughter, the beautiful and charming Princess Pavetta.
And if Geralt's Child Surprise had been a boy, he had no doubt that when he fulfilled his promise and returned to Cintra, he would likely be met with soldiers and hostility enough to fill an entire hall. Therefore, Geralt had already decided to abandon the idea.
The new generation of witchers had almost no desire to increase the number of new members in their schools. They simply wanted to live their own lives. Even the witcher apprentice in The Witcher 1 was adopted by Vesemir, not by Geralt and the other two.
Hmm, why did this scene suddenly feel familiar?
Lynn shook his head, dispelling these thoughts from his mind. He looked at the vampire and said, "Regis, what are your plans for the future?"
When they first met in the Kingdom of Brugge, they traveled together because Maximus had invited them to help the ailing Duchess. Now, the Duchess had recovered her health. It seemed there was no longer a need for them to act together.
Regis didn't answer Lynn directly but instead posed a question. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a question first, Lynn. Do you plan to stay here and live a noble's life?"
Lynn shook his head and said, "Of course not. There are still many things I need to do. So, once things here are settled, I will return to the North."
At this point, he looked at the vampire. "Regis, I have a suggestion. It's up to you whether to take it, but if you're willing, how about moving your shop from Dillingen to Novigrad? What do you think?"
Regis thought seriously for a moment. "Hmm, I don't really like crowded environments."
"You could open your shop in a village outside the city. Many people who can't afford to live in the city have built several villages outside, and the environment is similar to what you had in Dillingen. More importantly, once you're in Novigrad, you won't be alone. You'll have friends."
Lynn's words made Regis's eyes light up. Personally, he didn't really care where he went. There was nothing particularly important to him in Dillingen. And because he was a long-lived being, he had no strong attachments and had even lost interest in life.
As for his own kind... apart from Orianna, who was also a higher vampire but still relatively gentle, he had long ceased contact with most of his vampire kin.
Somehow, at the banquets hosted by higher vampires, the ever-present blood, he now couldn't even touch, finding it utterly repulsive. His aversion and self-control regarding blood also made his kin consider him "boring," "unsociable," and "unable to read the room." So, in these years since he stopped drinking blood, Regis had always been alone.
Until these past two or three months. Traveling with Lynn and his companions had allowed Regis to rediscover the joy of life. Not only was this adventure memorable, but more importantly, Lynn's group was incredibly talented, and their conversations were always engaging. If he could, he truly didn't want to part ways with these companions.
And now, since Lynn had already made the suggestion, Regis pretended to think for a while, then agreed.
"Friends, you say? I must admit, that proposal is indeed very appealing. Alright, then I'll have to trouble you to help me pick a suitable location for the shop when the time comes."
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