When Lynn and Brovar were the only two left in the empty throne hall, Brovar spoke. "Now you may speak, master witcher."
Lynn first used his Witcher Senses to scan their surroundings.
Only after confirming that he had spotted no one else nearby did he nod.
Then he told Brovar what he had overheard last night about a faction within Mahakam attempting to oppose him.
Of course, to avoid offending Brovar, Lynn concealed the fact that he and Geralt had used the Axii Sign.
Instead, he presented the information obtained through hypnosis with the Sign as something he had overheard.
"Hmm, so that's what this is about."
Just as Lynn had expected, Brovar already knew that there were people within Mahakam who opposed him.
The great elder showed no surprise.
His earlier guarded expression eased considerably.
"Master witcher, thank you for your honesty. However, I've known about this for some time, so there's no need for you to worry. You need only complete the commission I'm preparing to give you."
Seeing how confident Brovar looked, Lynn dropped the subject.
Although this was not enough to earn a favor from the great elder, delivering the message at least proved that he was Mahakam's friend, not its enemy.
With that, his objective could be considered achieved.
"I understand. But, great elder, since you've mentioned the commission, why don't we discuss what you intend to ask of us now?"
Lynn spread his hands. "I'm already here, after all. There's no harm in hearing you out."
Brovar nodded.
"Very well, master witcher, if you insist..."
He cleared his throat and began his account.
"About a month ago, the miners discovered an abandoned mine tunnel in the mountains."
"Although they didn't know why it had been abandoned, the miners found adamantite ore throughout the tunnel."
Adamantite?
Lynn nodded slightly.
No wonder.
At this point, he could more or less guess what came next.
"So, even though you felt something was wrong, you still ordered the miners to work in that abandoned mine."
Brovar did not evade the question, admitting it openly instead.
"Yes. Mahakam may have many mineral veins, but no one would complain about having too many, and dwarves are no different."
"Especially since adamantite is a metal far harder than ordinary steel. Weapons forged from it can last at least several centuries."
"Even if someone else were great elder instead of me, they would have made the same decision."
"I intended to have the miners work in shifts to ensure that none of them spent too long inside. But unexpectedly, every miner who went in suddenly fell ill, breaking out in red rashes and blisters all over."
"So I ordered all the miners to withdraw and sealed the abandoned mine again."
After a pause, Brovar looked expectantly at Lynn. "Whatever is in that mine is the reason I invited you here. Master witcher, can you deal with it?"
Lynn supported his right elbow with his left hand and curled his right hand into a fist, gently tapping his cheek with his knuckles as he pondered.
"A monster that makes people ill usually means a plague maiden."
"But plague maidens generally appear alongside plagues." At that thought, Lynn asked, "Great elder, has Mahakam ever had a widespread outbreak of plague?"
Brovar thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. At least, Mahakam hasn't suffered a major plague since I took office."
"That's strange, then."
Brovar's answer did not match the knowledge recorded in the books at Kaer Morhen.
The predecessors of the School of the Wolf could not possibly have lied.
Then the truth could only be...
Seeing Lynn's grave expression, Brovar's heart sank.
"Master witcher, is this monster called a plague maiden difficult to deal with?"
Lynn nodded and said,
"No wraith is easy to deal with. Fighting them is one thing, but truly killing them is another. Unlike ordinary monsters, destroying their bodies isn't enough."
In truth, there was something else Lynn had left unsaid.
A mine that had been abandoned despite producing extremely valuable adamantite ore, and a plague wraith inside it that made people ill...
All of this was enough to prove that Mahakam must have suffered a plague in the past.
The only question was whether Brovar was withholding the truth or genuinely knew nothing about it.
"Great elder, where are those sick miners? I'd like to see how they're doing before deciding whether to accept this commission."
Although witchers made their living by hunting monsters,
they could naturally refuse commissions that were too dangerous.
For instance, a few years ago, when King Foltest's daughter needed a witcher to lift her striga curse...
Several witchers had actually visited Vizima before Geralt.
But they had considered the king's demand that they lift the curse without killing the striga too harsh, which was why the job had been left for Geralt.
Their reason for refusing was simple: however good the money was, they had to survive to spend it.
Brovar expressed his understanding.
"Of course, I understand. But I will say this: my payment certainly won't disappoint you or your companion."
"How about this, master witcher? To give you more incentive, I can tell you in advance what reward you'll receive if you complete my commission."
"First, gold. I know you witchers sometimes demand that strange Law of Surprise as payment, but more often, you ask for gold. After all, money can work miracles."
"So I'll give you four thousand gleaming gold orens. And I can guarantee that they'll be whole coins, without any clipping around the edges."
In this world, some poor people clipped pieces off the edges of coins.
For one thing, those clipped pieces could also be used as money.
For another, they passed the clipped coins off as whole ones when paying witchers.
There was no helping it. In this world, witchers were not much better off than nonhumans.
Being sneered at and spat on was practically an everyday occurrence.
Naturally, there were also those who thought themselves clever and tried to take advantage of witchers.
Still, with Great Elder Brovar's personal guarantee, Lynn and Geralt would at least not have to worry about that on this commission.
And the great elder had not finished speaking.
"Besides the gold, I'll also generously present the two of you with a fine sword that can slice through iron like mud."