Vesemir had meant to ask whether he wanted to learn witcher skills from him. That way, Kaer Morhen would not only have a successor, but would effectively gain a master swordsmith as well.
He had not expected the boy to push his luck, talking only about learning swordsmanship like a total freeloader.
He said irritably, "A witcher's skills are meant for dealing with monsters. With that scrawny body of yours, you'd better stay away from them."
"Don't be so stingy. Teach me swordsmanship, and I'll take care of all your equipment from now on..."
While the two were haggling, the White Wolf suddenly pushed the door open and came in. He found it rather strange that Vesemir had actually grown so friendly with a boy.
But he had no time to make friends and went straight to asking for help. "Vesemir, we have work to do.
"The commander of the Nilfgaard garrison has information about Yennefer, but I have to help him get rid of White Orchard's griffin."
At the mention of a monster, a gleam appeared in the old witcher's feline eyes. "The royal griffin we encountered on the road? How do you think we should handle it?"
The old man was unconsciously testing his pupil again.
"Use a baited trap to lure it out onto open wasteland." Seeing the old witcher's dissatisfied expression, Geralt rolled his eyes and added:
"With buckthorn. The fresher, the better."
Vesemir finally nodded in approval and began dividing the work. "I'll find some bloody meat and pick a spot. You go find the buckthorn."
Buckthorn was an aquatic plant that grew on riverbeds. Mixed with blood, it produced a strong, rank smell that readily attracted carnivorous monsters such as griffins and forktails.
Finding buckthorn therefore most likely meant diving to the riverbed. Finding bloody meat was much easier by comparison.
Still, Geralt had no objections. Vesemir was here to help; he could hardly make the old man do the dirty work.
"If it's too much trouble, you can buy it straight from the herbalist. Pick up some potion ingredients while you're there, just in case." Vesemir thought for a moment and said:
"Take this boy along too. The wounds that drowner gave him have started festering. He needs a herbalist to treat them."
"All right. Get on."
The White Wolf beckoned the patient onto his horse.
The sound of hoofbeats gradually receded from White Orchard village. Chen Xu sat behind the White Wolf, his body tense.
Sharing a horse with a man made him feel a little awkward.
"What were you two talking about?" Geralt was quite satisfied with the appropriate distance maintained behind him.
Neither too close nor too intrusive.
"Vesemir saw my extraordinary talent and wanted me as his apprentice." Chen Xu spoke with complete seriousness. "Unfortunately, I already have a master: Willis of White Orchard."
"Oh? You don't know what you've missed out on." The White Wolf believed him and spoke up for his teacher.
An age without guile. Chen Xu almost could not bear to keep deceiving him.
"If I'm going to learn, I want to learn from the best. I hear you're the finest swordsman in the North. If you taught me, I could consider it." He delivered his flattery and gave directions along with it:
"Turn left."
Geralt was secretly pleased. The boy knew quality when he saw it.
So in the eyes of the world, he had already surpassed old Vesemir?
"Your illness has already affected your brain." He flicked the reins, urging his beloved horse, Roach, to speed up, a smile curling his lips.
"I'm not teaching you. Go beg Vesemir instead!"
Once they entered the forest, both could sense wild dogs and wolves prowling nearby. With a burden riding behind him, Geralt could only steer carefully clear of them.
They reached the herbalist Tomira's cottage safely. Its structure was much like the villagers' houses, except for the small herb garden enclosed outside.
At their knock, a worried-looking woman poked her head out through the wooden door and asked:
"Who are you?"
Chen Xu readily stepped forward to play the lackey. "Mistress Tomira, this is the master witcher Geralt. He's going to hunt the griffin plaguing White Orchard and wanted to ask whether you have any buckthorn."
The White Wolf opened his mouth, then found he had nothing to add.
Hearing that he was a witcher, the woman's face lit up with delighted surprise. "Wonderful! Please come in and take a look at Lena!"
She welcomed them inside. A young, round-faced girl with brown hair lay flat on a bloodstained sickbed, her brows tightly furrowed.
Her sleeping face was contorted with pain, and bandages covered her from her neck to the back of her head.
"Lena was attacked by the griffin too. She was lucky to survive, but I could only stop the bleeding from her external wounds. Inside her body, blood has already flowed into her brain." With a healer's compassion, Tomira pleaded with Geralt:
"I can only use beggarticks to ease the pain enough for her to sleep, but that's just a stopgap. Now our only option is to try a more potent witcher potion."
"To an ordinary person, a potion is no different from poison." Geralt looked at Tomira gravely.
"Have you thought this through?"
"It's the only option left. Her life is slipping away." Tomira clasped her hands in prayer. "We can only ask Melitele to help her pull through."
"All right. I'll see what I can do." The White Wolf relented, nearly forgetting why he had come until Chen Xu quietly reminded him, "Buckthorn."
"Oh, yes... sorry, I don't have any in stock either." Tomira remembered and drew Geralt a crude map. "Here, by the pontoon bridge upstream of the mill. I found buckthorn here before. Watch out for drowners in the river."
Was this a quest?
"That's all right. I've killed quite a few of the drowners around here." Chen Xu volunteered, "Leave the buckthorn to me."
"No. Festering wounds mustn't get wet." Geralt refused outright and turned his gaze to Tomira.
"Do you have any celandine?"
He planned to make a potion called Swallow, which could accelerate the regeneration of flesh and was not particularly toxic compared with many other potions.
"No... that plant has no fixed growing environment, but I think I've seen it in the cemetery." Tomira's face grew a little hot.
These two had come seeking her help, yet not only had she been unable to help at all, she had given them an errand instead.
"I'll go look." With a sigh, the White Wolf rose to leave.
"Wait. I forged these swords myself. Take them for now." Chen Xu took the two swords off his back and handed them over.
Geralt had not been interested at first, but the moment he held them, he could tell neither sword was ordinary;
so he took off his own swords and strapped Moonblade and Gram onto his back.
"Did you come to see me too?" Only after the witcher left did Tomira notice Chen Xu's injuries.
"Yes. Do you have any herbs for external wounds?" Chen Xu showed her the festering spot on his shoulder.
If not for this wound, he probably could have accepted that quest just now.
"That I can help with." Having finally found a purpose for herself, she took out a jar of gray ointment to apply to Chen Xu.
Chen Xu opened the jar and sniffed it. He could smell berbercane fruit, nostrix, and honey.
They were all medicines that actually existed on Blue Star, with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It was quite reasonable.
"I'll do it myself." He first put a pot of water on to boil. While it heated, he squeezed the pus and blood from his wounds, then spread the ointment evenly over them, including those showing no signs of infection.
He only let Tomira handle the hard-to-reach places on his back, finally wrapping the wounds in pieces of cloth sterilized with steam.
[You have learned the skill [First Aid] Lv.1]
The notification sounded, and Chen Xu confirmed that his infection was now under control.
With his constitution, it should no longer be a serious problem.
"You seem to know something about medicine?" Tomira was curious about Chen Xu's technique and procedures.
"A little." Chen Xu took out a handful of copper coins to pay for the medicine.
He looked at the girl on the bed. Judging by the knowledge and experience just poured into his mind, an injury like hers was essentially beyond saving without modern medical equipment.
Humans in the Witcher world were hardier than those on Blue Star, but she still would not last much longer.
A rapid clatter of hoofbeats approached from the distance, which Chen Xu detected early thanks to his 7 points in reaction.
Someone was coming. It was not the White Wolf.
"Tomira! You should know the drill. It's time!" An unfamiliar man's low shout came from outside. Tomira's expression changed, and she immediately rose and rummaged through a cupboard for a coin pouch she had prepared in advance.
"I'm sorry, sir!" She opened the door a crack and passed the pouch out, speaking meekly. "I really couldn't scrape together all of this week's money."