“I know you’re a smart boy, and you wanted to help Seville settle his problem,” Letho told Roy after leaving the dwarf’s residence. “But listen to me this time, and stay out of it. Witchers should always stay neutral in political fights. This is our principle, and our way of survival.”

Roy thought Letho looked funny as he lectured him in earnest, for he and the Auckes brothers would break that principle in the future by assassinating the kings of the Northern Kingdoms, completing the hardest political power play. A perfect example of what not to do. Even though Letho was holding to his principle at the moment, Roy didn’t think that was a good thing.

Maybe staying neutral is the reason why witchers go into decline. Nobody can stay away from trouble when chaos is brewing. If Roy could pass the Trial of the Grasses, he thought he’d try his best to change the school. Get them to go along with the times.

***

The afternoon sunlight shone onto the land, but none of its warmth reached them. Letho and Roy went past Plaza of Lebioda on the way to Walls Inn, and a shrill wail made them stop. 

If the pamphlet the caped man had spread last night was true, those who wanted to rebel would be attending the march at the plaza at the moment. However, Roy didn’t see the sea of people he’d expected, but instead saw the state of chaos, where rubbish was strewn everywhere, just like how tourist spots in his past life looked every time tourists left. And there was a wailing woman there.

She was unkempt, in torn clothes, and stared dumbly at the sky, her face streaked with ruined makeup, and she was scarlet from her cries. She looked pitiful, and yet, inexplicably funny. The woman was sitting on the ground, mumbling like a madwoman as she patted the shoulder of the man laying on her legs.

The people who saw them gossiped about what had happened. There were those who pitied the woman and the man, but also those who laughed at them.

“How could the soldiers do that? The man’s head was smashed in by their shields. His skull must have been crushed.”

“He was just asking for it when he joined the parade to go against the baron. Everyone else scurried off quickly, but that oaf just wouldn’t run.”

“I didn’t expect an honest person like him to be a revolutionist.”

“Can you keep quiet? He’d been nice to everyone when he’d been alive. Also, we wouldn’t be paying lower taxes if not for the rebels. Respect the dead, you lot.”

“That poor woman. She lost her husband, and they have no children. How is she supposed to survive?”

Roy stared at the face of the unmoving man, for he had no courage to look at the woman who was in despair. “Such a shame. He’s nothing but the revolutionists’ cannon fodder. I wonder who’ll take his widow in.”

Letho was as inscrutable as ever. “Set your pity aside. Haven’t you seen enough corpses outside the city? Politics have nothing to do with us. Let’s go. I have something to tell you in the inn.”

After they had left the plaza, a man with a cart came up to the woman and took the corpse away as she wailed.

Once they came back to the inn, Letho placed a satchel of crowns onto the table. “Couldn’t have done it without your help. As per the witchers’ rule, you get a share of the reward. Fifty crowns, and not one less.”

“You’re splitting the reward again?” Roy was surprised by the split, since Letho was the heavyweight in the whole request. Roy was just a minor character. “You can keep it. We don’t have to be this meticulous.” Letho had been the one paying their expenses ever since Roy had started following him. The boy didn’t pay even a single crown.

After taking the money from the dead rebels and winning thirty crowns from the Gwent matches at the inn, Roy had a hundred and twenty crowns at hand. That could last him a while.

“I told you that was the rule. It concerns my principles.” Letho stared at him, unblinking. “Also, I’m officially telling you that you’re going to pay for your expenses yourself starting from tomorrow. I’m not going to pay a single crown.”

“You have to be joking.” Roy’s face stiffened. No wonder he’s splitting the money. So this is what he has in mind. But why though? “Why are you leaving me to my own devices after taking me to Aldersberg? What’s the meaning of this?”

Letho wasn’t angered by the questioning. “We’ll have to prepare the potions and the necessities for the Trial of the Grasses for you. That’s going to cost a lot. We still need a few rare ingredients and mutagens too,” he said. “Can you not feel it? Your training is different from what the Viper School teaches.” Letho gesticulated clumsily. “If we continue with our traditions, you’ll be well fed and sheltered, but you’ll also be locked in Gorthur Gvaed and trained for years. You’ll never enjoy anything there. Auckes, Serrit, and I think that being in this kind of state weakens the trainees’ will to live. The 100% failure rate of the Trial of the Grasses over the past twenty years relates to this. It’s time to change if we don’t want the Viper School to disappear. The old witchers usually only start taking requests after they finish school. But now, it’s also a part of the test. Only by supporting yourself can you know how hard it is to make money. That’s the only way you’ll treasure it. And only by forming a deep bond with the material world can you stare death down in the trial,” Letho concluded.

Roy kept quiet. He thought what Letho had said was sophism, but he had a point. One of the training methods involved locking the disciple up, while another let them do whatever they wanted. Letho went for the second one, though Roy had some objections. “If we spend all our time working, how are we supposed to train?”

“Well, you seemed to have well handled it along the way.” Letho patted his shoulder. “I trust you can find the balance, boy. Don’t forget what you learned. It’ll help you survive.”

“Is this a challenge?”

“If you think it is. Or it can be a test, if you wish.”

Roy relented. He’d been angered in the beginning, but excitement welled up within him after he’d calmed down. Can I survive in a big city like Aldersberg with my own skills? “Are you leaving me?” Roy asked. He noticed the hints in Letho’s explanation.

“Don’t worry,” Letho answered. “Just a temporary separation. I have to get an ingredient for your preparatory potion, and it’s in a dangerous spot. Going solo makes it easier for me, so take this chance to explore. Once I get back, the only time you’ll be alone is after you pass the trial.”

Roy smiled bitterly. In other words, I’m left behind because I’m too weak, and I would’ve been a burden. “What’s this preparatory potion you talked about?”

“It’s a potion with a lower toxicity level. It’ll help you adapt to the Decoction of the Grasses. You’ll need it, since it can gradually increase one’s resistance to poison. Can’t just take the Decoction of the Grasses right away. It’s too poisonous. All the trainees would die.”

Roy could understand why Letho wanted to go alone. “How long will you be gone? Will I be learning anything else?”

“About a month or two. Give me a moment.” Letho took out a black leather note from the horse’s saddlebag. “You know a lot of herbs now, so it’s time to start potion-making. There are more than a dozen recipes here, and the note has some common monster traits written in it. Should be enough to last you a while.”

“Humans use normal potions, while witchers use potions and decoctions brewed with magic. This is going to be your basic alchemy training. That’s all I have to say, boy. Time is of the essence.” He patted Roy’s shoulder. “You’re a disciplined one. Don’t disappoint me.”

“Wait. Do you still have that Dragon’s Dream you used against those drowners?” Roy had to get something to protect himself after Letho’s departure.

PR/N: For those who don’t remember, Dragon’s Dream is a kind of alchemy bomb infused with flammable gas.

Letho thought about it before handing a green, glass canister to him. “You don’t know how to cast Igni, so Dragon’s Dream won’t be of any use. Dancing Star’s a better choice. Once this canister is smashed, a circle of fire with a ten-feet radius will appear. Even if it’s underwater, the effect’s going to last for a long time.” Letho warned, “Be careful when you use this. It’s the last one in stock. The materials alone cost a hundred crowns. Keep this as your trump card, and don’t use it unless absolutely necessary.”

“I understand,” Roy answered. “And how am I supposed to know when you’re back?”

“I can find you as long as you’re still in the city.”

Letho left without another word, and a short while later, he was but a little speck in Roy’s eyes. Roy kept Dancing Star in his inventory space, feeling safer with it around.

***

When he opened the old, ancient, leather notebook, the words inside jumbled up and floated around him, giving him a headache. He realized one big miscalculation. I probably only know about a hundred words in common speech, and that’s including my parents’ names and the herbs Letho taught me. How am I supposed to learn this on my own?