Laud Böll

At the sight, the witchers naturally refused to sit back and wait for death. Witt and Geralt drew the steel swords from their backs and stood back-to-back in fighting stances.

Looking at the soldiers' vicious faces, however, Witt wondered whether the steel sword in his hand was ready to face humans.

"What are you standing around for? Get on with it! Keep stalling and you might lose your posts-and your families!" Frank threatened.

The soldiers exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and tightened their grips on their spears, preparing to thrust them at the witchers.

Witt also extended his left hand, sensing the fire elemental power in the air, ready to cast the Igni Sign at any moment.

Just as battle was about to erupt, a shout came from nearby: "Stop!"

Frank looked up toward the voice and saw a flustered man running over from a distance.

The man wore a plain, clean robe and looked utterly comical as he ran, but his rather youthful face left a deep impression.

Although Frank had lorded it over the area around the city gate for a long time, he was by no means incapable of reading people. The man who had spoken up to stop them clearly did not come from the slums.

Years of living as a bastard had taught Frank whom he could provoke and whom he could not. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was his way of surviving.

Frank's eyes shifted, and he raised a hand. "Wait."

Only upon hearing Frank's order did the soldiers dare lower their spears.

Having served under Frank for a long time, they had personally experienced their superior's brutality and viciousness. It was not as though no one had ever resisted this fat pig, but the day after someone did, that man and his entire family, young and old, had been driven out of the slums and expelled from Ard Carraigh for some inexplicable reason. Their own city guard had carried it out.

When the man reached them, panting, Frank asked tentatively, "When did you enter the city? I don't think I've seen you before."

When Geralt saw the man, however, he knew this fight would not happen, and an amused smile appeared on his face.

The man's face was flushed from the strenuous exercise. He snapped at Frank, "Of course you haven't seen me. I teleported in." As he spoke, he casually recited an incantation, and a spray of sparks appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"M-magic!" For once, Frank showed fear. He had witnessed the power of magic before. "You... who might you be, sir?"

"Tsk." The man scoffed. "What? Do you suspect me of being the arsonist too? Go on, arrest me, then."

"I... I wouldn't dare." Frank lowered his head. In the shadows, no one saw the resentment and jealousy filling his ratlike eyes.

"If you wouldn't dare, then listen carefully. I am Laud Böll, a mage from Ban Ard Academy. Your king asked the academy to send a mage to deal with a monster, and that is why the academy sent me here," Laud Böll declared in a strong, loud voice.

"Yes... yes. But these two witchers are..."

Frank nodded repeatedly. His switch from arrogance to deference nearly made Witt laugh aloud.

Laud had no interest in whatever excuse Frank might offer. He cut him off without ceremony and pointed at the two witchers. "These two master witchers were invited here by the academy after I specifically sent it a magical message a few days ago. They also helped the academy defeat the arsonist, and you actually dared accuse them of being spies?!"

"Well..." Frank was dumbfounded. How could he have imagined that the easy targets he thought had no backing had actually been invited by Ban Ard Academy-and were the men who had defeated the arsonist?

"Laud, let it go." Geralt spoke up at just the right moment, seemingly urging his old friend to spare the fat guard captain.

Witt said nothing. He trusted Geralt's decision, and he also understood that, in the kingdom of Kaedwen, although mages had magic to rely on, their actual standing was not particularly high. At least, that was true of most mages.

"Hmph!" Laud flicked his long sleeves, then asked mockingly, "Lord Frank, may the two professional master witchers invited by the king enter the city now?"

"Of course." Frank hurriedly waved his men aside. He did not dare delay the king's business. His status as a bastard was something only that old fossil of a nobleman treasured.

With the farce over, Witt and Geralt were able to enter Ard Carraigh. They had left Roach and Grape in a monster-free spot in the wilderness, far from human habitation. Witt simply did not feel comfortable bringing them into Ard Carraigh, afraid it might cause yet more trouble.

But before Witt could thank Laud for his help, Geralt gave him a look and pulled him along, hurrying after the mage. They only stopped once they were far from the city gate and had reached the slums.

By then, Witt understood the reason too.

"Laud, after all these years, haven't you learned to stop bluffing people?" Geralt chided with a laugh.

"Why should I?" Laud's young face took on a matter-of-fact expression. "Make no mistake, White Wolf. If it weren't for me, you and your friend would already have been locked up by those city guards who throw their weight around on someone else's authority!"

"Thank you, Laud," Witt said gratefully. Seeing that the other man was a peer, he addressed him with a little less deference and a little more ease.

"Ah... it was nothing." Laud waved a hand, spat toward the city gate, and said, "I've wanted a chance to toy with that damned fat pig for ages. Strutting around with his nose in the air all day-disgusting!"

"By the way, Laud, do you still have that Katakan tongue? Could you sell it to me?" Geralt asked. Witt looked at the mage too.

"Of course I still have it. Old Graz contacted me through a megascope a few days ago and told me not to dispose of that Katakan tongue just yet. He said an old friend would be visiting. But..."

"You want us to help deal with the Idr Giant Centipede?" Witt asked eagerly. "Even if you hadn't brought it up, we would have gone to kill that monster."

Laud looked embarrassed and hesitated, somewhat awkwardly. "The mission the academy sent me to Ard Carraigh for wasn't actually about that Idr Giant Centipede..."

Geralt, who knew his old friend very well, planted his hands on his hips and said with an "I knew it" expression, "Don't tell me someone caught you gambling again?"

At Geralt's words, gratitude immediately appeared in Laud's eyes. He forced out a few tears and said, "You really are my savior, Geralt! We first met because you helped me deal with that gang boss in Novigrad who was hunting me down. See? Isn't this a coincidence?"

"Who have you offended this time? The Iron Rat Gang? What for?"

"Uh... for sleeping at their brothel without paying..." Laud lowered his head and spoke quickly, a trace of awkward embarrassment in his voice.

"As expected." Geralt shook his head.

"You can't just abandon me, White Wolf!" Laud clutched Geralt's hand. "That tongue is with them as collateral too."

Geralt glanced at Witt, who nodded in response and said:

"If the Iron Rat Gang was willing to let Laud come out to find help, that means they can still be reasoned with. At least they're much better than that fat guard. Besides, the Iron Rat Gang's connections and influence around here could help us find a Foglet brain quickly. I think we could go negotiate."

Their goals were to get the Katakan tongue and kill the Idr Giant Centipede anyway. Nothing could be better than being able to repay a friend's help right away.

"All right," Geralt said.

Laud hurried over to thank Witt. "Thank you, Geralt's new companion. May I ask your name?"

"Witt of Lyria." Witt could say that name more steadily now.

"Witt... of Lyria..." Laud muttered, then looked at Geralt and asked, "Do all you witchers like making up names for yourselves like that?"

Geralt silently rolled his eyes at Laud. He could hardly tell him that the name he had previously made up, "Geralt Roger Eric du Haute-Bellegarde," had been rejected by his mentor Vesemir.

Geralt thought that name was actually quite good.