White Orchard is located in the central region of the Kingdom of Temeria, about two days' journey east of the capital, Vizima. It is merely a barony, not a particularly famous territory.
The reason it was named White Orchard is because at the center of this area, there is a village of White Orchard with a population of three to four hundred people.
The scenery is beautiful, producing various fruits and high-quality timber. Additionally, due to its proximity to Vizima, the capital of the kingdom, commercial trade has also developed well, making it a relatively peaceful and prosperous village among the Northern Realms.
Even a few years later, when the Nilfgaardian Empire occupied the Kingdom of Temeria, it remained quite peaceful here.
Guilliman was familiar with this place because it was the starting village in the famous game "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" in his previous life.
For tens of millions of Witcher 3 players, White Orchard is one of the most familiar areas in the Witcher world.
For example, their first death in the game, their first killing of a troublesome civilian, their first completion of a monster-hunting quest, and their first pot of gold earned in the game.
They had done the Witcher quests that appeared here many times, more or less, so they were quite familiar with them.
However, the current timeline is early 1269, about three years before the official start of The Witcher 3 game's story.
Even the time since the amnesiac Witcher Geralt descended from Kaer Morhen, the Wolf School's fortress, in The Witcher 1 game, was about a year.
Calculating the timeline, Geralt at this time should still be held captive by the Wild Hunt army, treated as a hostage to lure Ciri, and forced to travel across various worlds, pursuing the legendary Child of Destiny.
And the sorceress Yennefer, also in an amnesiac state due to the torture of the Wild Hunt army, was recuperating somewhere.
While considering these matters, Guilliman had already passed through the not-so-spacious village path, avoiding the crowds, and arrived at White Orchard village.
He looked composed, ignoring the villagers' gazes, which were either fearful, curious, or disdainful, and walked directly towards the largest building in the village.
That was what Judith had told him: White Orchard village's largest and only inn.
Hmm, an inn that didn't even have a name, but was very familiar to players.
He pushed open the inn door, and the somewhat noisy room fell silent for a moment. Several scrutinizing gazes shot over from inside the room, then quickly retracted.
Guilliman's expression was calm as he surveyed the inn. He found that besides the proprietress standing behind the counter, there weren't many guests in the inn, fewer than ten people in total.
Half of them were local farmers, shabbily dressed, patched, and reeking of alcohol.
The other half were more diverse: a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar, a burly man dressed as a mercenary, a merchant dressed as a wealthy businessman, and even a flamboyantly dressed female entertainer, with much of her chest exposed, looking like she was open for business.
After a brief glance at the patrons present, Guilliman's gaze did not linger but went straight to the proprietress behind the counter.
Although her appearance was very different from the game, he was pretty sure that this proprietress was the one in the game who almost repaid kindness with enmity, driving Geralt and Vesemir out of the inn.
However, at this time, perhaps because she was a few years younger and had not experienced the subsequent war, the proprietress still looked quite young and did not have the haggard fatigue seen in the game.
When she saw the Witcher Guilliman walking directly towards her, the proprietress's face unconsciously showed a surprised expression.
"Madam, please give me a bottle of sweet cherry mead, a piece of smoked meat, and also prepare some white bread and a portion of roasted beef for me."
Although he was getting a bit tired of being treated as an outcast and a monster, Guilliman's face still maintained that calm, expressionless look. After ordering an expensive lunch, he then asked:
"May I ask you something, madam?"
Having run an inn for so many years, the proprietress was already well-versed in matters of gathering information. Moreover, the other party had ordered an expensive lunch, which would earn her a good sum, so there was naturally no reason to refuse.
She pursed her lips, her gaze falling on the battle-scarred metal armor on Guilliman's body and his unusually conspicuous amber, beast-like vertical pupils. After a few seconds, she asked softly:
"Are you a Witcher, guest?"
"White Orchard is a safe place, and nothing major has happened recently."
"If I know what you're asking about, I'll tell you truthfully."
Guilliman nodded. To her question, he neither gave an affirmative answer nor denied it, but continued to ask:
"A Witcher I know, there's a rumor that he was arrested by the local lord not long ago, apparently to be put on trial."
"Do you know when that happened?"
The incident he referred to was actually about the Witcher in the noble cemetery in The Witcher 3 game, who had already turned into bones, having died tragically at the hands of a ghost.
As a veteran Witcher player, he remembered it very clearly.
This unfortunate fellow was a Viper School Witcher from the south named Kolgrim, entrusted by the Viper School Grandmaster Ivar Evil-Eye to come north to find lost schematic diagrams for school weapons.
In the third game, Geralt's Viper silver and steel swords were forged using the weapon schematics he found.
The exact time of this unlucky Witcher's death is uncertain. When Geralt found his body in the noble cemetery, Kolgrim had already turned into a pile of bones, and it was unknown how long he had been dead.
However, Guilliman speculated that Kolgrim's death likely occurred around 1269, which is the current time period. If he was lucky, he might even be able to save this Witcher from those troublesome civilians.
That's why he asked the proprietress this question.
Unfortunately, upon hearing the question, the proprietress hesitated for a few seconds, secretly glancing at the handsome Guilliman, and then said:
"There is indeed similar news, guest."
"But what I heard was that about a month ago, a Witcher kidnapped a beekeeper's son."
"When people tried to apprehend him and send him to the lord for trial, that Witcher fiercely resisted, killed a villager, and was then killed by the combined efforts of the other villagers, even having his head cut off."
"However, according to the lord's subsequent investigation, the beekeeper's son was killed by a Drowner, and this Witcher was innocent."
"As for where the Witcher's body was buried, I don't know."
Guilliman sighed at the news. It seemed he was still a step too late and couldn't save that unfortunate fellow.
As for the villagers' account, that was merely a rumor that had gradually evolved through word of mouth.
However, the schematics for the Viper steel sword were on him. Even for the sake of these weapon schematics, he had to go to the noble crypt.