"Nilfgaard does not have correct maps, because Nilfgaard only grows larger."
Amerigo Virtucci, cartographer
...
In the distant south, the magnificent City of Golden Towers on the banks of the Alba shone brilliantly beneath the noon sun, worthy of its place as the capital of the Nilfgaardian Empire.
In the office of the court intelligence service, Viscount Vattier de Rideaux, with a map of the political situation of many countries hanging on the wall behind him, gently wiped the blade of his steel sword under the reverent and envious gazes of his subordinates.
It was the Emperor's gift, the reason for his pride. This fine piece forged in Viroleda symbolized Emperor Emhyr's recognition of Vattier's diligent work. A shining motto was engraved on the blade, "Draw me not without reason; sheath me not without honour."
With a scrape, he sheathed the sword. De Rideaux told himself there was no need to care about worldly honor. He strove for the glory of Nilfgaard!
Ending his brief leisure time, he brushed his epaulet, waved his secretary over, and began dealing with reports that could never be finished.
"The Professor and his men were wiped out to the last. That is not strange. Toussaint has always been like that. But at Corion Estate... wasn't he told not to provoke Victor? Or was there another reason?" He thought for a while, folded the report, and set it aside, preparing to deal with it later.
Just then, a guard suddenly entered and delivered an urgent document. Noticing the signature on it was Shilard Fitz-Oesterlen, he hurriedly opened it and read.
This former ambassador to Toussaint was currently being sent to move among the Northern Kingdoms, and everything he came into contact with was top secret! Among them, the key mission of contacting assassins had been entrusted to him.
As for the message that made Shilard send an urgent document, Vattier had only read the opening before abruptly rising and having his secretary bring his outer cloak.
There was actually a bitch planning to murder a king! The contents of this document had to be made known to His Imperial Majesty immediately!
Viscount Vattier de Rideaux hurriedly left the office and went to seek an audience with Emperor Emhyr var Emreis.
...
Meanwhile, not far from the intelligence office, in an exquisite and splendid room, a lady was bound to a bed, unable to move. Her gaze was scattered and muddled, and from time to time she would roar and scream.
Setting aside the deduction for her mad state, she was actually a very beautiful lady, with naturally uneven eyebrows, black curly hair, and violet eyes. A certain wild charm brewed within her.
The door was pushed open. The person entering the room was Fringilla Vigo. She shut the door and came to the bedside. Staring at the once-firm lines of the woman's face, she sighed leisurely and reached out to pinch her cheek.
Taking out bottles and jars of newly brewed potions and elixirs, she once again began today's treatment. Fringilla did not like the woman on the bed. She never had. When they had first met, she had disliked her eyes, as well as her hunchback.
Later, when she was no longer hunched, Lady Vigo disliked her eyes, as well as her voluptuous figure, which had been extensively reshaped with magic.
And after Geralt reached the Duchy of Toussaint and spent the entire winter with Fringilla, Lady Vigo became somewhat jealous of the woman on the bed. It was said that between them, it had been true love.
Although Geralt had also said "I love you" to her, later events proved that he was an emotional fraud. Because of this, Fringilla had no choice but to develop an ointment with a concealing effect, so that she would not blush in front of her fellow members of the Lodge of Sorceresses.
But no matter what, the woman on the bed had once been a proud sorceress and should absolutely not have fallen to such a state. So today, Fringilla Vigo still earnestly carried out His Imperial Majesty's command, trying to find a way to restore this woman's clarity.
...
At the same time, in a certain world, on a certain deep night, in a place called Meridian.
"No! What are you going to do to her!!" Ciri woke from her dream drenched in sweat. She had dreamed that Yennefer, whom she regarded as her mother, was bound in a place whose background was blurry and indistinct, while some indistinct person was torturing her!
This was definitely not a dream, but a fragment of truth! As a Source with Elder Blood, her bloodline not only gave her the ability to travel through space and time, it could also occasionally bring her images of the people she cared about.
Breathing heavily, she suddenly felt a warm, soft hand stretch out from beneath the quilt, the pads and joints of its fingers full of hard calluses, gently taking hold of her hand. "Are you all right, Ciri? Did you have a nightmare?"
Holding the other girl's hand in return, Ciri calmed down and squeezed out a smile. "I'm fine, Aloy. I'm all right. You don't need to worry. No matter what... I will stay with you in tomorrow's battle until the very end."
"And then you'll leave?" Although she had long known this day would come, hearing Ciri's clear intention to go in her words still made it hard for the girl to hide the reluctance in her bright eyes, and faint mist rose in them.
This girl named Aloy lived in a place where the path of technology had gone completely crooked. Artificial intelligence's machines occupied the world, and from time to time, they sent out mechanical beasts that could spit fire, ice, and electricity to hunt humans, while humanity's means of resistance were primitive modified bows and spears!?
It was simply unreasonable!
Because of this, Ciri was very glad that she had first gone to the Monster Hunter world. Facing such unreasonable settings, she had rich experience and remained calm in a crisis, allowing her to adapt and survive quickly in such an absurd environment.
After her chance encounter with the girl Aloy and their becoming companions, as Aloy's origins were revealed, the bond between them also deepened more and more. Tomorrow would be the day the girl fought her destined enemy, the artificial intelligence HADES, in a final battle.
Reaching out to stroke the girl's hair, she kissed her forehead. "Aloy, just as you have your responsibilities... I have mine too. I can't let the people I love suffer for me."
"Then promise me, when the battle ends, you won't leave in secret. I... we have to say goodbye properly. I have so many... so many things I want to tell you!"
"I understand... I promise you. Sleep early!"
The night was cool as water. Amid soft whispers, Ciri and Aloy fell asleep once again.
...
The causes of historical events are the sum of all causes, and this is the only cause. Only when we completely give up searching for causes in individual will can we discover certain laws unknown to us, just as only when people gave up the concept that the earth did not move could they discover the laws of planetary motion.
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
...
"How surprising! I never expected Temeria's Golden Eagle, my dear Angoulême Corion, whose mercenary name rings so loudly, to be an anti-war person?"
There was only one reason Angoulême did not jump up and beat the other party after those nearly mocking words, the speaker was an unrestrained woman!
How unrestrained was she? It could be seen from how she always forgot to button her shirt, leaving her chest openly exposed.
The Blue Stripes lieutenant Ves and the Phantom Troupe's deputy leader Angoulême were sitting in the Hairy Bear Inn and chatting. Ves, who had not eaten lunch, held bread in one hand while using the other to spoon onion soup into her mouth. Angoulême held a chicken leg in one hand and a Champion of Vizima in the other.
"Screw you, I'm not anti-war! I just don't understand how a perfectly fine situation suddenly turned into a war!"
There was a reason for her confusion.
Aryan La Valette, the new lord of La Valette Castle, an important stronghold in northern Temeria, had been declared a traitor to the kingdom. King Foltest was currently assembling his army and would soon send troops to suppress him!
There was no problem with the matter in itself. What kingdom did not have traitors?
The problem was that during the Vizima unrest, which had been quelled not long ago, the king had been on vacation in that castle when the disturbance first broke out. That showed how much he trusted Baron La Valette. Who could have imagined that in a short half year, the winds and clouds would change so dramatically?
Furthermore, Aryan La Valette was a friend of the Phantom Troupe, with the deep bond of having been kidnapped by pirates together. Compared to herself, Victor was even more familiar with him.
"Who knows what he did wrong?" After finishing her soup, Ves threw down the spoon and picked up her beer. "In any case, the Blue Stripes don't need to understand the king's thoughts. We just kill the king's enemies!"
The two clinked cups!
"Where's your leader? How come you showed up alone?" Ves asked carelessly.
Thinking of her leader's whereabouts, Angoulême shook her head with a wooden face. "We separated as soon as we entered the city gate. He said there was something important he had to handle, and he won't be back for a few days."
She was unwilling to repeat her leader's obscene words, so she could only make a slight embellishment. And if even a fierce girl like her did not want to say it aloud, what Victor had actually said at the time was, "Take these bags of crowns for spending money. Eat well, stay well, and don't save too much. I'm going to treat Keira's leaking problem first. I estimate that plugging it up completely will take a few days!"
Bastard leader! Were those even human words?
As for the witcher and the sorceress getting into bed together, Angoulême was not surprised. Back when they were in Vizima the year before last, she had felt that they would sooner or later establish relations. Perhaps she also had the makings of a prophet?
"Well, well, well, I've seen plenty of this kind of secretive behavior. Thaler is always wearing a deep expression too, saying there's something important he needs to handle! But one time, I dragged Roche along to follow him, and we found there was no serious situation at all. That old lecher had gone across the street to the Eager Thighs!" Ves cheerfully sold out the bald man with the monocle.
Angoulême smiled and shook her head. She believed that with her leader's character, before doing anything, he would definitely "do someone" first, but after he was done "doing someone," he would definitely do business too. Though witchers could not make children, after all.
...
Several days later, at night, inside the home of Lady Keira Metz, royal advisor, beside Natalis Square.
The sorceress reached toward the fruit plate beside the bath, picked up a grape, and stuffed it into the witcher's mouth.
"From what you're saying, the reason you returned to Vizima is that you're worried about King Foltest's safety?"
"Uh... no. I came for you. After all, you are Temeria's royal advisor."
She rolled her eyes at him. Not just the whites of her eyes, in fact, she was white everywhere.
Water splashed. Keira sat with her back to Victor, settling into his arms. "Hiss...! Don't take everyone for fools! If even you can see Temeria's succession crisis, how could the royal family and nobles fail to notice? They are absolute experts in this regard.
"Corresponding measures were already being carried out long ago. It is only that they encountered unexpected difficulty, and the other side's attitude was quite hard. That is why the king had no choice but to change tack and use a backup method!"
"Wait... don't tell me... Ah! The war against La Valette Castle is because of this?"
The bathroom was filled with steam. After exercising and sweating, Victor picked up the Lafite to replenish his fluids, and also fed Keira half a cup.
"That's right. You guessed correctly. Aryan refuses to hand over his younger brother Boussy and younger sister Anaïs. Mm... despite clearly knowing that they are the king's illegitimate children, the baron refused private negotiations. King Foltest is actually quite helpless too."
"We've both met him. With his character, what he considers will not be profit, but honor! To resolve the issue of the illegitimate children's status, one must admit to having had an affair with the duchess for years. I'm afraid that is what the young baron finds very hard to accept!"
Looking up at the mural on the ceiling above the bath, the witcher thought of Baron Aryan's honor-valuing character and sighed softly. He was certainly relaxed and pleasant to spend time with, but when flexibility was needed, he became very troublesome.
Keira embraced his head against her chest. "It is not that simple. As more people pay attention, entanglements of interest have begun to gather around him. The matter is gradually slipping out of control, so the king decided to solve the problem thoroughly with one war!"
"Will Aryan be executed?" Victor asked in a muffled voice.
"The king's mercy can only be granted to those who surrender." After saying that, the sorceress twisted her waist and issued an order. "Enough. Now shut your mouth. I need you to focus!"
"Your will, my lady!"
The bathroom was filled with steam.
...
In the blink of an eye, several days passed. Angoulême was staying in an expensive inn, spending all day aimlessly wandering around the city of Vizima. She had originally thought of buying a house, especially since after the unrest, the housing prices around Natalis Square were at a historic low.
But before Victor left, he had very seriously warned her that before the assassin problem was resolved, she absolutely could not purchase real estate in Vizima.
He even forbade Angoulême from exchanging large amounts of orens, telling her to spend in crowns as much as possible. Since the leader firmly believed in his judgment and thought the assassination was very likely to succeed, the group member could only obey his arrangements.
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