Chapter 17: The Unruly Folk of Kaedwen

After leaving Kaer Morhen, Wayne followed Geralt for three full days, traversing the cold and rugged Blue Mountains before entering the territory of the Kingdom of Kaedwen.

This was Wayne's first time camping out in the wild like a common Witcher. The freezing weather and the wretched, filthy environment caused no small amount of suffering for this young master who had always lived in civilized society.

Fortunately, thanks to the hidden shelters Geralt and the others had established in the mountains over the years, combined with the fact that the number of monsters in the primeval forests had decreased significantly during winter, they were able to follow the already-explored routes and traverse the Blue Mountains safely.

But when he and Geralt prepared to search for Witcher contracts in the villages along the way through Kaedwen, they were dealt a harsh, head-on blow by the cruel reality.

"Get out of our village, you disgusting mutants."

"A bunch of bastards born from sorceress whores and monsters, daring to come and defile our land. Get out!"

"Quick, hide the children! The Witcher bastards are here; these monsters will come and steal our children."

After trekking through the wilderness for an entire day, they finally discovered a dilapidated village. Just as Wayne was preparing to find a villager to inquire about the situation,

they were immediately met with insults and driven away by many of the villagers.

The venom in their words was as if the two had murdered their entire families.

Moreover, it wasn't just verbal abuse. Within minutes of the two entering the village, a middle-aged, bearded man wearing a fur coat and carrying an iron sword surrounded them with five young men armed with pitchforks and hoes.

Seeing them holding weapons with expressions as fierce as if they were about to devour someone, Wayne's hand instinctively gripped the steel sword on his back, drawing it halfway out.

Geralt, on the other hand, was very calm. He patted Wayne on the shoulder to signal him not to be nervous, then walked directly up to the bearded man in the fur coat and said in a deep voice:

"Hey, friend, it would be best to tell your farmers to stand down."

"We are Witchers, here to look for contracts, not to fight."

"And if it really comes to a fight, a few pitchforks won't be enough to deal with me."

Although the bearded man looked rough and barbaric, he had spent a few years wandering outside in his youth and had heard rumors about the strength of these mutant freaks.

He knew very well that, let alone these villagers with pitchforks, even sending a dozen soldiers might not be enough to defeat a single Witcher.

Not to mention there were two of them.

Hearing Geralt's warning, he waved his hand to signal the young men with pitchforks and hoes not to be impulsive, then squinted his eyes to carefully size up the two Witchers before him.

When he saw their amber cat-like eyes, Geralt's long white hair, and Wayne's long elven ears, a look of disgust appeared on his face involuntarily.

"Get out of the village, Witcher. There are no contracts here for you."

Geralt did not insist upon hearing this. He shrugged, turned around, and whispered to Wayne:

"Don't be surprised, Wayne."

"The Kingdom of Kaedwen is the country that hates non-humans the most out of all the Northern Kingdoms."

"Most of the people in this country are rude and barbaric, with no regard for etiquette. Their king, Henselt, is even more so. You can imagine him as a wild boar, a bandit, and a temperamental drunkard, rather than a king."

"This king has no great achievements, but the entire North knows that his favorite thing to do is persecute non-humans, trying every possible way to kill the dwarves and elves in the cities."

"As Witchers, we are equally unwelcome here, which is why I rarely look for contracts in this place."

"Let's go. Keep heading west, following the Pontar River downstream. In about half a month, we should be able to leave the Kingdom of Kaedwen."

Wayne nodded speechlessly, preparing to leave with Geralt.

Suddenly, he saw an old woman walking with a limp emerge from the village. She hurried to the side of the bearded man from before, tugging at his sleeve with tears in her eyes, seemingly pleading for something.

The two argued for a few moments until the old woman collapsed to the ground, clutching the bearded man's leg and sobbing incessantly. Only then did the bearded man sigh, help the old woman up, and shout toward Wayne and Geralt:

"Hey, Witcher, wait."

"We have a contract here."

Wayne and Geralt exchanged a glance. Seeing that there was work to be done, they turned back and walked to the bearded man's side, watching the old woman whose expression had turned from sorrow to joy.

Before Geralt could speak, Wayne asked first:

"What is your contract?"

Seeing Wayne so proactive, Geralt looked at him with some surprise. He suddenly remembered the quirk this guy had at Kaer Morhen—that he only had motivation if he took on tasks every day—and couldn't help but find it amusing, feeling that this was one of the few childish temperaments Wayne possessed.

The middle-aged bearded man glanced at Geralt, who was clearly older, and seeing that he didn't object, he tilted his head toward the boyish-looking Wayne and said in a gruff voice:

"Two young men from our village have gone missing. I am hiring you to find them."

He supported the tear-stained old woman beside him, his voice tinged with a hint of pity.

"This is the mother of those brothers, Misha. Three days ago, her two sons went to the forest in the south to chop wood and never returned."

"There have been wolf packs roaming the southern forest."

"Although they might have already turned into wolf dung, whether they are dead or alive, we need definitive news, rather than letting the living hold onto empty hope."

Having said this, the bearded man added with some embarrassment:

"Of course, farmers like us who till the land are all paupers; we don't have that many coins."

"Misha can scrape together at most five Ducats. She only has those two sons; if those two children are dead, Misha probably won't live to see next year."

Wayne looked at the grief-stricken old woman upon hearing this, feeling a sense of sympathy in his heart.

Ducats were the currency of the Kingdom of Kaedwen. He didn't know exactly how much purchasing power five Ducats had, but he figured that poor farmers scratching a living from the fields probably couldn't come up with much money.

And after the bearded man finished explaining the contract, a quest notification appeared in his mind.

Quest triggered: 【Find Misha's Missing Sons】, Expert-level.

Accept?

Wayne felt a surge of joy. It was actually an Expert-level quest! According to the system's description, Common-level quests were relatively simple, belonging to daily tasks that didn't even require combat.

Expert-level quests, however, were more difficult, belonging to a level that was hard for ordinary people to complete, and there was a high probability that dangerous combat would be involved.

As for Master-level and Epic-level quests, those were extremely rare, high-difficulty tasks that one might not encounter even once in a few years, and they could even influence the direction of the world.

Although he really wanted to accept this quest immediately, he was currently a partner in a team with Geralt and couldn't act on his own.

Thus, Wayne turned to look at Geralt, asking for the White Wolf's opinion with his eyes.

Seeing him look over, Geralt's poker face remained expressionless, but he still nodded slightly, albeit with some difficulty.

Wayne breathed a sigh of relief. After choosing to accept the quest in his mind, he smiled and said to the bearded man and Misha beside him:

"We can accept this contract."

"However, we are already a bit exhausted from the journey. You must provide us with a house to rest in temporarily and prepare a decent lunch."

"Once we have recovered our strength, we will execute this contract."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====