Chapter 49: Shocking! Geralt Actually Has Such a Past.
Seven days went by, and the vessel reached the mouth of the Pontar River—Novigrad, the greatest and most prosperous city in the north.
Novigrad proved to be the pearl of the north. Seagulls perched on the top of countless masts, and there were crowds of people in the harbor, full of life and noise.
After the group reached Novigrad, Istrad sold half of the fine weapons of the Mahakam Mountains from his wagon in Novigrad and gained a lot of Novigrad crowns.
And Lynn and Geralt also took advantage of the few days the caravan stayed in Novigrad to buy a lot of alchemy materials.
As being the world's most coveted city, Novigrad held traders of all parts of the Northern Kingdoms selling a multitude of all forms of stuff.
There were individuals who sold alchemy supplies again.
Although, overall, their items were fairly not that cost-efficient as opposed to others.
Yet, anyway, they still couldn't help themselves but buy something they needed.
The experience upon entering the abandoned mine was the most vivid proof.
If it were not for a sufficient amount of potions and alchemy bombs, the Crimson Plague Ghost would not be so simple to kill.
Even if they encountered troublesome monsters once again on the next journey, they might be unable to stock up on sword oil, potions, and materials for alchemy bombs in a timely manner.
In addition, money had to be spent.
Only by spending it and turning it into actual combat power were they able to maximize their earnings.
So Lynn and Geralt started a crazy shopping binge in Novigrad.
They did not leave out any of the ingredients that go into making easily accessible sword oils, potions, and alchemy bombs.
They then went to the city blacksmith store to get their exhausted silver swords repaired.
Gwyhyr was a steel sword, and it was effective enough to kill human beings. Steel swords were not so effective in killing monsters of the Conjunction of the Spheres. Silver swords alone could be effective enough.
When the sun set and the streets and alleys of Novigrad were shrouded in a sea of orange light, Lynn, after returning to the tavern and counting the remaining money, realized that they had already spent close to fifty oren gold coins for this day trip.
Compared to the four-thousand-oren payment, fifty orens is nothing, but most Witchers basically did not get four-figure payments for completing Witcher contracts.
Usually, the payments were three figures, and they were rather low.
This was thanks to Elder Brouver being so generous.
If it were a stingy employer, they would not only not make any money, but also have to spend a lot of money from their own pockets.
Now Lynn understood why after the breakup in the Witcher Order, the various schools gradually deteriorated, and there came no Witcher who could bring all the schools under one umbrella.
Because Witchers were too poor.
They earned less, wasted more, and the profit was quite unequal compared to the amount of effort they put in.
Despite having such great ideals, at some point or the other, they would lose all their warlike ideas and energy.
After that, they would spend their time in brothels and indulge in immoral ways of life.
Until they were one day killed by a monster on a Witcher contract, or killed by the pitchforks of thankful villagers who didn't want to pay.
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A couple of days later, the party left Novigrad and headed north by sea.
They traveled across the Praxeda Bay and anchored at the mouth of the Braa River.
When all of them disembarked on the shore, they were already within the territory of the Duchy of Tretogor.
The Duchy of Tretogor was located at the far north of the world, at the foot of the Dragon Mountains.
Nobody had ever returned alive from beyond the Dragon Mountains.
Therefore, the Dragon Mountains and the Blue Mountains were also known as the edge of the world.
The Duchy of Tretogor was previously a part of the Kingdom of Kovir and Poviss.
But when the Kingdom of Poviss dissolved, the Duchy of Tretogor and other minor countries seceded from Kovir.
It was now a separate country.
This country was ruled by Duchess Benenka.
But the interesting thing was that she was a child of tragedy who carried the Black Sun Curse.
The Black Sun Curse was also known as the Dark Sun Curse.
The Black Sun referred to an eclipse of the sun.
This was a prediction made by the sorcerer Ithbad.
His prediction was based on the inscription of the Vozgor Great Tomb and Doak Stone Monument, and also referred to the Hairy Crone's legends and traditions.
According to his interpretation, in the not-so-distant future, there would be a solar eclipse before the resurrection of the witch Lilith.
Lilith was still worshiped in the East and named Nehalenia. And resurrected by "sixty maidens wearing crowns of gold filling the valley with blood."
Because of it, during years when this prediction was first announced, dozens of girls from prosperous families, even noble families, suffered misfortune.
Sorcerers intercepted these "children of disaster" everywhere, killed them after the arrest, and then performed autopsy.
They even performed live autopsies.
After they stained their hands with the blood of thousands of innocent girls, they had to admit that it was difficult to distinguish between children of disaster and ordinary girls.
So, they planned to imprison these girls in tall towers and isolate them from the world.
This plan also failed.
Because for some years, it was fashionable among the royal courts and nobles to "rescue beautiful girls from high towers."
Then, with the lapse of time, these girls either came to untimely ends, or escaped from the high towers.
Some were abandoned by sorcerers when they grew up, and then tried other means to kidnap other new girls.
Two of the escaped girls became rather harsh to people when they were all grown up, thanks to the miserable experience of being persecuted.
Geralt was nicknamed the "Butcher of Blaviken" due to a particular incident when he killed a group of bandits in Blaviken.
And the leader of that bandit group, Renfri the Shrike, was a Disaster child and victim of Black Sun Curse.
Of course, not everyone believed in the Black Sun Curse prophecy.
Those who did not believe in the prophecy called the Black Sun Curse "Madman Ithbad's Mania."
And Duchess Benenka was also imprisoned in a magic tower because of the Black Sun Curse.
But later, with the help of other individuals, she escaped.
The Duchy of Tretogor was also affected during the Poviss schism and was thrown into chaos.
At that moment, Duchess Benenka dominated other competitors and gained power in Tretogor.
But perhaps because she was tortured in all kinds of ways while she was in prison, Duchess Benenka practiced brutal rule in Tretogor after gaining power.
It was said that the most common landmark in Tretogor was the gallows.
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The night was dark.
The sky was covered with thick clouds.
It was as dark as night, without any hint of light.
Along the road to Tretogor City, a caravan was moving slowly in front.
Before long, the scout who had ridden off to scout ahead returned on horseback.
Having heard the message, Istrad rode his horse up to the Witcher.
"Master Lynn, Master Geralt, our scouts said that there is an inn a short distance down the road. We can spend the night there."
Lynn agreed.
It was better to have a roof over one's head than to camp in the open.
Remaining at an inn did not just mean hot food, but also a hot warm bath.
Not just Lynn and Geralt, but the entire caravan as well, were looking forward.
So all of them regained their spirits, and after some time of riding, the brightly lit inn entered everyone's vision.
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