“Yes…” said the mage, stammering slightly. “I wanted to say goodbye… to someone.”

“Good luck. Thanks for the sword. And for the horse, thanks again. Farewell, Pinety.”

“Farewell.” The sorcerer shook Geralt’s extended hand without thinking. “Farewell, Witcher.”

* * *

He found Dandelion—where else?—in the portside tavern, slurping fish soup from a bowl.

“I’m leaving,” he announced briefly. “Right away.”

“Right away?” Dandelion froze with the spoon halfway to his mouth. “Right now? I thought—”

“It doesn’t matter what you thought. I ride immediately. Reassure your cousin, the instigator. I’ll be back for the royal nuptials.”

“What’s that?”

“What does it look like?”

“A sword, naturally. Where did you get it? From the sorcerer, was it? And the one I gave you? Where’s that?”

“It got lost. Return to the upper town, Dandelion.”

“What about Coral?”

“What about Coral?”

“What do I say if she asks…”

“She won’t. She won’t have time. She’ll be saying farewell to somebody.”

INTERLUDE

CONFIDENTIAL

Illustrissimus et Reverendissimus

Magnus Magister Narses de la Roche

The Head of the Chapter of the Gift and the Art

Novigrad

Datum ex Castello Rissberg,

die 15 mens. Jul. anno 1245 post Resurrectionem

Re:

Master of the Arts

Sorel Albert Amador Degerlund

Honoratissime Grandmaster,

Rumours about the incidents which occurred on the western borders of Temeria, in the summer of anno currente, have doubtless reached the ears of the Chapter. The result of the said incidents, presumably, is that around forty—it is impossible to state precisely—persons, mainly unschooled forestry labourers, lost their lives. These incidents are associated—regrettably—with the person of Master Sorel Albert Amador Degerlund, a member of the research team at the Rissberg Complex.

The research team of the Rissberg Complex is united in sympathy with the families of the victims of the incidents, although the victims—who stand very low in the social hierarchy, abusing alcohol and leading immoral lives—were probably not in legalised unions.

We wish to remind the Chapter that Master Degerlund, a pupil and acolyte of Grandmaster Ortolan, is an outstanding scientist, a specialist in the field of genetics, boasting immense, simply incalculable accomplishments in transhumanism, introgression and speciation. The research that Master Degerlund is conducting may turn out to be pivotal for the development and evolution of the human race. As is known, the human race is no match for the non-human races in terms of many physical, psychological and psychomagical traits. Master Degerlund’s experiments, based on the hybridisation and combination of the gene pool, are intended—in the beginning—to equalise the human race with non-human races, while in the long term—by the application of speciation—to permit humans to dominate non-humans and subdue them utterly. It is probably unnecessary to explain what cardinal significance this matter has. It would be inadvisable for some trifling incidents to impede or stop the above-mentioned scientific studies.