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"Alright, Ciri..."
I stood opposite the girl, looking her intently in the eyes.
"...we repelled the first attack of your Wild Hunt, the first one, but surely far from the last."
"Yes..."
She nodded, shifting her weight from one foot to the other hesitantly.
"And you must have seen that your skills are at an insufficient level to properly fight the Wild Hunt. You are certainly strong, but..."
I shook my head.
"...the only way you could fight them was because of the unfamiliarity of your enemies with the weapons and your speed. But your skills..."
"I understand that, but what can I do? My foundation, you must realize, is more than good..."
"That's true... your foundation is really good. What's more, when it comes to sword fighting, I think very few people who live in this world can teach you anything. I haven't seen you fight to the death, of course, and in sparring, it's not my place to judge anything specific with my skills... I mostly swing my clubs thanks to my speed."
"That didn't stop you from killing Eredin's avatar."
I shrugged.
"That's true... but why did I start this conversation... wouldn't you like to try and increase your combat experience?"
"Huh?"
Ciri blinked in surprise.
"Are you suggesting training with you?"
"No..."
I shook my head.
"You see, the girls and I are making a coffin on wheels in our spare time."
"Huh?"
"Ugh..."
I shook my head.
"...it's a scary story... not very scary, I'd even say it's extremely childish, about a coffin on wheels..."
And I told her the story, at the end of which Ciri gave a slight, scoffing laugh.
"So? What kind of coffin on wheels are you making?"
"How should I explain this..."
I looked Ciri over thoughtfully from head to toe, and then a brilliant idea came to me.
"...an illusory world!"
"Huh?"
"Imagine you lie down in this coffin, and it closes, and then you're immersed in a very complex illusion where you're forced to fight monsters, people, the Wild Hunt... everyone! Day in and day out! And it doesn't just happen in your head; the coffin itself affects your muscles, so you develop not only mental skills and reflexes but physical ones as well, although the latter happens a little slower."
"Um... what's the catch?"
"The technology hasn't been properly tested..."
"You mean it hasn't been tested at all?"
Kiwi joined the conversation, coming out of the Behemoth and looking at me with a slight smirk.
"Well, why do you say that?"
I shrugged.
"I tested it on myself while you were sleeping."
"WHAT?!"
She closed the distance between us in two steps and loomed over me, drilling me with her gaze.
"You tested the Coffin without us?!"
"Of course..."
I looked at Kiwi as if she were an idiot.
"...you wouldn't have let me get in until the Coffin had been tested. What's more, I overheard your conversations about wanting to pull a stunt like that, so..."
I shrugged.
"...so you just didn't leave me a choice. I simply decided not to let you near an untested invention."
"But you could have talked to..."
Kiwi stopped mid-sentence after I raised an eyebrow sarcastically and looked her over intently.
"Ugh... well, were you at least careful?"
"Of course..."
I nodded.
"...I won't tell you who I involved to secure the testing, though. I know perfectly well what a nest of vipers my harem can turn into. You might hiss at me for form's sake, but my helpers..."
"Tch..."
"In short..."
I turned my attention to Ciri.
"I tested the technology on myself, so you can definitely use the Coffin to improve your skills by gaining experience."
"But?"
I grinned.
"You're not going to try to convince me that there's no 'but,' are you?"
"Of course not..."
I shook my head.
"This benefits me, too. It's all about the program used to create the virtual world, the one I called illusory..."
"I understand... the terminology is unfamiliar, but I'm not stupid, and I can connect the dots with what I've heard."
"Good... in short, it's all about the program used to create the virtual world. This program is almost an AI. It gains experience by reading it from the user's actions. So, the bots are already trained to fight those with a Sandi, and the covert infiltration operation will be significantly harder than the one I went through as a test."
"So, you'll gain my knowledge? You'll be able to learn my skills yourself and teach them to others?"
"Yes."
Ciri looked at me intently, and then she laughed softly.
"You're laughing?"
I was confused by the girl's reaction.
"Why not?"
She smiled openly at me.
"I don't understand..."
"It's simple... you know, I'm not an idiot... I used to be torn between duty and the desire to become someone who would help people with my own hands... a Witcher..."
She smiled wistfully.
"And duty... I take it that's a hereditary title?"
"Exactly, to overthrow my father and take his place on the Imperial throne."
"And what changed now?"
"Well... you're not a bad guy. You're not exactly pure and innocent, but you don't have unnecessary blood on your hands. And if someone like you is the head of a clan that possesses all the Witcher skills that I have, and you periodically accept requests from me, as Empress..."
"What are you talking about?"
I shrugged.
"Of course we will... Although we'll have to develop communication methods, or actually teach someone from the clan magic so he or she can contact your world and open portals if necessary."
"Well... I think that's a good idea, but that's a long way off. And it's entirely possible that I may never be able to leave this world, because finding other allies who will dare to oppose the Wild Hunt... Heh, that won't just be difficult; it will probably be impossible. Finding other idiots who will risk their necks for me, coming up with some kind of profit for themselves..."
She shook her head.
"...there shouldn't be many idiots like that."
"You're right..."
Kiwi grinned and sat down next to us.
"You were very lucky to run into us... there are no other idiots like that in our circle. The others would have probably tried to gain immediate profit by selling you to some corpo."
"It's a good thing you realize how idiotic you are..."
"That's enough..."
I shook my head, pretending to frown.
"...idiots... idiots... idiots... We are simply people. Do you hear that, Ciri? I don't know what happened to the people in your world that makes you see an ordinary human action as an idiotic one... though, I can understand it..."
I sighed sadly.
"...because the same thing seems to have happened to the people here. Ugh... I wanted to grumble for show, but I actually started grumbling."
"Oh, come on..."
An understanding smile appeared on Ciri's lips.
"The main thing is that you've kept your humanity..."
"You have, too..."
"Alright, STOP!"
Kiwi stood up from her seat and positioned herself exactly between Ciri and me.
"That's enough of that! Or in a minute, you two are going to start flirting and making out, and for your information, we still haven't approved Ciri as another wife for you!"
I sighed and shook my head.
"I wasn't planning on it..."
"I wasn't planning on it either..."
Ciri and I said this in unison and laughed softly.
"Kiwi, Ciri is a beautiful girl, of course, but she's not my type... she's a future Empress and..."
"Shut up, you..."
Anger was in Ciri's voice.
"Believe me, if I'm interested in a man romantically, I don't care about his background. The Empire is big enough that I don't have to worry about gaining territory through a dynastic marriage. It's rich enough not to have to worry about gaining financial benefits, and besides... I'm a goddamn Witcher! I may be a future Empress, but I am and always will be a Witcher."
"Alright, alright..."
I raised my hands in surrender to Ciri.
"That's what I thought..."
"Tch..."
"We're not flirting, though..."
A hint of gentle mockery for Kiwi was in Ciri's voice.
"Well, only a little..."
"Hmm..."
Ciri took a couple of steps back and, grinning, she nodded.
"Well... I guess you meet the minimum requirements, so yes, we are flirting a little..."
She demonstratively held her thumb and index finger together on her right hand, showing just how small that "little" was.
"You guys are messing with me, right?"
"How did you guess?"
Ciri's voice was extremely sarcastic.
"She's just smart..."
I whispered the phrase, but loud enough for both girls to hear me.
"Really? But according to local beliefs, she's..."
Ciri looked intently at Kiwi's head.
"...a Blonde..."
She said the word in such a tone... I believe it!
"What?!"
Kiwi literally roared like a wounded whale, looking at Ciri with shock, disbelief, and hurt.
"Oops... sorry... I don't quite understand your expressions and their meanings yet..."
But there was a slight hint of mockery in Ciri's voice. But it wasn't a hurtful one; it was one that showed she wasn't serious at all, so Kiwi took a deep breath, shook her head, and didn't get mad at her.
"You're going to push it... you gray-haired bitch..."
"Hey..."
Ciri theatrically twirled a white lock of hair around her index finger.
"...I'm not gray-haired; I'm White-Haired!"
"Uh-huh... the White-Haired Wolf."
"Yes!"
Ciri even jumped a little in place.
"Geralt is the White Wolf, and as his apprentice, I can claim the nickname White-Haired Wolf!"
"Alright..."
I decided to stop the farce.
"...that's enough. Ciri, let's go put you in the Coffin, and you can start upgrading your skills..."
"Uh-huh..."
"We're not done yet..."
Kiwi playfully threatened our guest, and she just grinned and nodded...
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