Chapter 305: It's Him, It's Him
Many years ago, before he was married with children, Crach an Craite was brought to Cintra by his uncle, Eist Tuirseach.
The plan was for him to marry Princess Pavetta of Cintra. But, as often happens, an unexpected turn of events led to Crach returning empty-handed. His uncle, however, did not; he became the queen's new husband and the king consort of Cintra.
Yet, Crach's journey to the royal betrothal feast wasn't entirely without gain. He met the most famous witcher in the North, Geralt of Rivia. From then on, Crach held a deep respect for the witcher profession. When Lynn's reputation spread across the island, Crach had his men gather information on him and, as soon as Lynn returned to Kaer Trolde Port, had them invite the witcher over immediately.
After some mutual flattery, Lynn got straight to the point and stated his purpose. Crach was greatly surprised. The an Craite and Drummond clans were sworn enemies. For the Drummonds to now offer a reconciliation? Crach couldn't help but suspect it was a trap.
Noticing the grave expression on Crach's face, Lynn already guessed what he was thinking. He had prepared for this on his way here.
"Lord Crach, I have a proposal: Since 'One-Eyed' Lugos wants to meet with you, why don't you meet at another lord's clan keep? If you meet on a third party's land, neither of you has to worry about the other resorting to foul play."
Crach's face lit up with delight. "That's a good idea, truly a good idea."
He didn't doubt the witcher and was willing to trust Lynn. But when it came to the Drummond clan, with whom the an Craites had a long-standing feud, he instinctively maintained a healthy dose of suspicion. However, if the meeting were to be held in another clan's keep, Crach would happily attend.
Afterward, Crach hosted a banquet to treat Lynn with great hospitality. Lynn didn't refuse. He stayed in Kaer Trolde keep for several days before finally boarding a ship and setting sail for Spikeroog Island to the northwest.
While not the most popular tourist destination in the Skellige Isles, Spikeroog's charm was undeniable. The snow-capped peaks on the southern and western shores of the small island were a particularly captivating sight. Travelers who were confident in their martial skills would especially enjoy Spikeroog. In the north of the island was a famous arena where local warriors tested their strength. South of the arena was the village of Svareg, home of the Brokvar clan. Situated by a scenic bay, Svareg was best visited during the summer and during the grand feasting of the Beiyeting Festival.
Of all the Skellige Isles, the largest was Ard Skellig, which Lynn had just left. The second largest was Undvik, where the Drummond clan once resided. Spikeroog Island was very small, only about a sixth of the size of Ard Skellig. Because of this, the ruling Brokvar clan was also quite poor, living directly in the village without a keep of their own.
Lynn first went to the Jarl's Longhouse to meet the Brokvar clan patriarch. He had intended to pick up a few witcher contracts on the island, but to his surprise, he learned from the patriarch that another witcher had beaten him to it.
The good news was, the other witcher had only left a short while ago. If he was lucky, Lynn should be able to find him in the tavern in Svareg.
So Lynn left the Jarl's Longhouse and made his way to the village's only—and largest—tavern. He pushed open the tavern door, and a rush of loud noise, heat, the smell of sweat, and the pungent aroma of ale poured out.
A patron sitting near the door instinctively turned his head. He didn't recognize the person who entered, but seeing the two swords on his back, he looked away, deciding the man was not to be trifled with. Most of the other patrons didn't even bother to look up.
Lynn walked in, his gaze sweeping the tavern, and he quickly spotted the person he was looking for. The burly, robust figure stood out even in the crowd. The Brokvar patriarch hadn't mentioned which witcher school the witcher belonged to, as he couldn't tell the difference. But at the first sight of the man's back, Lynn recognized his school.
There was only one school of witchers who would wear wide, flowing chainmail robes: the Bear School.
"A Bear School witcher... that's a tough one." A rare look of trouble crossed Lynn's face.
If he had to choose the most troublesome witcher schools, it would be the Cat School and the Bear School. The former was because of their overly heightened emotions. Cat School witchers were like cats: aggressive, cruel, impulsive, and capricious. The latter, however, was the opposite. Their emotions were so severely diminished that even within the Bear School, the members had little affection for each other. They scoffed at the code set by Alzur and Cosimo to protect humanity and instead held a different belief: that they were simply hired hands who got the job done for coin.
Because of this, Bear School witchers most perfectly embodied the stereotype of witchers as "cold and heartless." The downfall of the original witcher order was even led by the founder of the Bear School.
Lynn had heard Geralt tell a story from a long time ago, when he was still an apprentice: about thirty years ago, Geralt encountered a Bear School witcher fighting a Leshen alone. Even if it were a stranger in danger, Geralt would have drawn his sword to help. All the more so for a fellow witcher. To his surprise, the Bear School witcher told him to leave, or he would be next to die after the monster.
His kindness was met with such contempt that even the warm-hearted Geralt couldn't bring himself to keep trying.
"I'll go say hello first. If we can't talk about feelings, we'll talk about money." Lynn had no intention of stealing the contract. The only reason he was here was to try and recruit the man.
Witchers were a dying breed. There were probably no more than a hundred witchers on the entire Continent. After finally meeting one, he naturally hoped to pull him into his own camp. Besides, following him would mean a life of luxury and fine food. Wasn't that better than sleeping out in the open?
So, Lynn went to the counter, ordered some food and drink, and had the server take it over. He planned to wait for the other witcher to accept his goodwill first before going over. But what Lynn didn't expect was that when the Bear School witcher took the food and beer he had ordered and turned his head after hearing the server's words... a familiar face came into view.
(End of this chapter)
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