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TWL Chapter 316: A Conversation Amidst War
🕑 Added 2025-03-04 22:22:04 +0000 UTCRayla remained silent within the group, but her gaze remained fixed on the front of the formation. Her attention was on Geralt.
Lann gave Geralt a meaningful look: Use your witcher skills and get some information out of her.
Geralt let out an almost imperceptible sigh and slowed his pace until he was in the middle of the group.
When he reached her side, Rayla reacted with a slight but evident hardening of her posture, as if her body had tensed involuntarily.
"It seems like you know me. Have we met before when I was on some commission in Aedirn?" Geralt asked.
Rayla continued to stare straight ahead, but her throat moved subtly, as if she were suppressing a reaction. Like a good soldier, she maintained a firm and disciplined posture, and Geralt noticed how she deliberately slowed her speech, gathering her thoughts before answering.
"You may not remember me, but I saw you wield your sword at Vengerberg. It was the most impressive display of swordsmanship I have ever witnessed."
Geralt suppressed the urge to raise his hand to his forehead.
Vengerberg… Now he understood.
At that time, Yennefer was still the court advisor in Vengerberg, and her relationship with Geralt was quite heated.
In fact, he had stayed in the city for quite some time and had accepted numerous commissions in the process.
"After you left, I followed closely the ballads that the bards sang about your adventures," Rayla continued, her expression impassive, but without losing her formal tone. "I even attended a recital by Dandelion under the Great Oak of Bleobheris. Your story with Lady Yennefer is... fascinating."
This time, Geralt couldn't help himself and put his hand to his forehead, looking away in obvious discomfort.
"I always hoped that you would join the ranks of Aedirn. With your talents, no one would question who is the best swordsman in the kingdom. But in the end, you neither stayed, nor did Lady Yennefer remain in the city." Rayla added, with a slight hesitation at the end.
After a moment of hesitation, she asked cautiously, “I heard that Lady Yennefer joined Cintra and that you now serve Duke Lannister. Would it be indiscreet to ask you…?” Rayla looked up for the first time, her expression revealing genuine hope. “Are you and Lady Yennefer still together? Is the famous child of surprise safe?”
Geralt suddenly felt the urge to drag Jaskier out of wherever he was hiding and give him a good beating.
"We… are fine. Both Yennefer and the child of surprise and I." Geralt replied calmly.
Rayla let out a long sigh of relief. "This is the best news I've heard in a long time. Could I share this information with some of my colleagues? I understand that it's a private matter, but… it's been a constant concern for them."
After the whirlwind of emotions, Geralt regained his neutral expression and nodded with a simple: "You can do it."
Rayla seemed to relax even more. "Don't worry, we will do everything we can to drive Nilfgaard out of the North. Cintra will be restored, and you, Lady Yennefer, and your child of the surprise will have the happy ending you deserve."
Geralt looked down. As a soldier of Aedirn, isn’t it supposed to be for the good of your own kingdom that you expel Nilfgaard? Why does it sound like your motivations… seem wrong?
"Thank you for your blessing..."
After the brief conversation, Rayla still maintained her disciplined expression, but her gaze was less tense and her posture more relaxed, as if she had gotten rid of an invisible weight.
Lann, who was keeping an eye on the group's rear to make sure no one was left behind, cast a quick glance in Geralt's direction. His eyes conveyed a clear message: Get on with your business.
Geralt looked at Rayla again, or rather, at the tricolor rose emblem on her uniform.
"Has the Scoia'tael threat in Aedirn intensified? I understand your unit was formed specifically to confront them, as I was told by His Majesty Demavend."
Hearing Geralt mention the origin of her special forces unit, Rayla puffed out her chest with pride. She seemed to feel honored that her work had caught the witcher's attention.
After pondering for a moment, she replied seriously, "The Scoia'tael originated from Kaedwen's cruel oppression of non-human races. Now, under Nilfgaard's promotion, they have spread to Aedirn and Temeria."
"However, many greedy non-humans who were never recruited by the Scoia'tael guerrillas have begun to use their name as an excuse to raid villages. At the same time, there are humans who, under the pretext of exterminating the Scoia'tael, have begun to indiscriminately hunt down non-humans. The situation has reached a critical point, and so our special unit was created."
In the original timeline, in a few years, the Scoia'tael would expand uncontrollably throughout the North and the situation would become very chaotic thanks to them.
Humans slaughtering non-humans, non-humans taking revenge on humans, and then humans taking revenge again… Too many people who had nothing to do with the conflict would be dragged into the war. Children and old people who should never have picked up a weapon would be forced to face iron and fire.
For the witchers, the worst part was that the racial extremists hated not only elves, dwarves, and halflings, but anyone who deviated even slightly from the human standard. That included mages capable of manipulating forces beyond the control of ordinary people, and of course, the witchers, whose alchemical mutations made them different.
Geralt had no ability to foresee the future, but his intuition, experience and knowledge told him that any conflict that reached a racial level would become irresolvable. Moreover, he knew that in such struggles, the beast that lived in the hearts of humans always ended up breaking free.
From what Rayla described, in Aedirn that beast had already begun to awaken, although not yet in its most terrible form.
'If the Scoia'tael continue to get out of control, Cintra will be dragged into this too… No, it will be for sure.'
Geralt appreciated Cintra and its people. The thought made a shadow of worry cross his face.
Geralt kept his face impassive, but the atmosphere around him became heavier.
Rayla seemed to have noticed. After a moment's hesitation, she suddenly changed the subject and took the initiative to tell Geralt: "You know that I was born in Lyria. But I actually also have… a quarter of elven lineage, because my mother was a half-elf. I heard that Lady Yennefer has a similar lineage to mine, is that true?"
"In years past, kingdoms like Cintra and Temeria barely knew of the Scoia'tael, but in the eastern north these assassins were already greatly feared." Rayla lowered her head. "As a child, I was often called little squirrel as an insult and bullied for it. That's how I ended up in Aedirn."
"I hated those villagers," she continued, "but I hated the Scoia'tael even more, who brought me undeserved suffering. However, I do not hate all non-human races, for after all, I too belong to them, if only in part."
Noticing Geralt's expression, Rayla clarified, "Aedirn's strategy follows the same logic. The creation of special forces units like mine is not intended to suppress all non-human races. On the contrary, our purpose is to identify and eliminate the true members of the Scoia'tael, protecting those non-humans who are peaceful and have truly integrated into society."
As she spoke, Rayla pointed at Yarpen, who was leading the way. "For example, them."
The dwarves in the group seemed especially cheerful after returning home. After singing several dwarven ballads, they began singing songs of Cintra, some even praising the Lion of Cintra, forcing Lann to intervene more than once to silence them.
The dwarves seemed to have enjoyed their stay in Cintra.
Geralt nodded to himself. Apparently, hostility towards non-human races in Aedirn had not reached an irrational level.
But how long would this situation last before it got worse? And how would Lann prepare to deal with it? Would this affect his plans?
Of course, none of this was a problem that worried Geralt. His task was to gather information and pass it on to Lann.
Leaving the topic of the Scoia'tael behind, the White Wolf turned his attention to Rayla's left hand, where she wore a lead ring entrusted to her by Demavend.
Geralt took the opportunity to start a new topic: "May I ask how His Majesty Demavend obtained that ring?"
"Of course, it's no secret," Rayla replied without reservation.
"It was a coincidence," Rayla sighed. "You may know that legally, the Mahakam Mountains belong to Temeria, though the dwarves enjoy almost complete autonomy. However, one day King Foltest decided it was time to tax them and sent a tax collector."
"I guess it didn't go well."
"You have a great sense of intuition," Rayla replied with a laugh. "The dwarves, furious at what they considered an insult, put the tax collector in a barrel and threw him off the mountain. Foltest, outraged, ordered a march against Mahakam."
Geralt nodded with an understanding expression. He remembered that at the meeting of the northern kingdoms, Foltest had shown an unusual hatred towards non-human races, even greater than the ruthless Demavend, although not as much as King Henselt.
