Silver-haired Lady.

—

[Hall Cabin, four days later.]

Looking at Chronicle Explorers members who are currently playing Gwent to distract their minds from the sudden politics they have become a part of, even though they are all free to walk away from aligning themselves with the Black Sun, William just sip the full bottle of wine of Est Est while thinking about each of them individual motivation.

For starters, there is only one simple reason that he became part of a distinguished warmonger like them. That is, they are the most reachable faction that later will helped him against the dragon and the only faction that is currently fighting the Wild Hunt that Nordling thinks of as an Ayleid when they do a checkup on the body of the deceased Dominion's guard.

And not only that, they are also the ones that currently know better the state of the world and the possible individuals that can destroy that world, with their vast intelligence agencies. Because, from the event of Augur of Dunlain, William knew that his perspective and knowledge regarding the lore about the game is pretty shallow at best.

Even he himself still believed that the guy is only a harmless ball of orb deep within the College grounds and doesn't have any desire whatsoever to destroy the College. And the fact that he still thinks that he still has a little bit of time before everything went to shit, which is quickly becoming a shit since Za'bil's company went on a little camping trip to Saarthal, is not helping him either.

So, from that day, William decided to start playing an active role as the "guardian" of this world that he lived in, but also at the same time has access to the research material to improve his arcane skills much further.

And since the Nilfgaardian delegation extended their hand to offer jobs for all of them to uncover historic secrets like the Eye of Magnus, which in turn resulted in the creation of this organization, Chronicle Explorers, and with all of the bonuses as an official field mage, William received it with open arms.

Looking at Nelacar, who continued his study in Conjuration like nothing even happened, William believed Nelacar also had the same motivation as him, but added a bonus for a writ of amnesty to progress his research without further scrutiny. Since that guy always lived under the College's shadow since the event with Malyn Varen, and wanting forgiveness to the point of even begging for it.

Then turning his head to look at the Khajiiti brothers and one Dunmer, with one of them very distraught because he just realized that two of his friends are spies for the big bad Black Sun, even though the evidence is very obvious with everyone already knowing what was coming before the event of Augur, William thinks their reason is also very simple since now the College that is free of politics is already disbanded.

Which is, Za'bil wants to stay in Skyrim for some reason, and the only way for him to be granted passage for mages entering the province of Skyrim is to align himself with the Black Sun, while J'zargo just wants to follow the flow like any Khajiiti does.

Whatever is happening around the world, we do not care; we only want to enjoy the Moon Sugar until the day we die. That's maybe the thought that is going on inside their heads that does not have any motivation whatsoever except the minimum bare of survival, like himself.

While Brelyna is too compassionate to leave this group on their own, since she is like the nanny that everyone goes to if they are in need of something. Added to that, her blossoming relationship with Za'bil that goes half a centimeter step further, seals the deal to align herself with the Black Sun and receive the proposal.

But different from anyone, looking at Onmund talking in the corner with Syanna, this group leader has very noble goals that bear the entire responsibility of a province. Since he knows, once an empire conquers something it's either being destroyed or swallowed up with no middle ground, Onmund decided the latter since the biggest spokesperson of Skyrim already picked sides in this conflict.

So, to reduce the casualties further in his homeland that, at the end of the day, just wants to worship their god that was banned by the Thalmor, he has no choice but to cooperate and be the black sheep of the family.

Still, William knows that sooner or later war will break out since Ulfric, the key player, is not as noble as the Nords think he will be, since he too is hungry for power. It's just he must rein in his desire further since the leading two players at the table are still in the process of betting all of their cards before the big clash happens.

As for the Toussaintois group? Well, their home is in the Nilfgaardian Empire. So, that's a no-brainer motivation really.

"Yo yo yo, what's up, Sniper! Watcha thinkin'?!"

Looking at the silver-haired lady who has already experienced different multiple worlds like himself, William shrugs, saying, "Nothing. Just thinking about how I speak to your father when Chronicle Explorers are summoned later."

Rolling her eyes, Ciri sat on the table with her legs atop another, and exclaimed, "Emhyr is not my father. That sucker is just a sperm donor, and that's it."

Taking a swig of Est Est, William then raised his eyebrows, "Wow, without reservations, eh?"

Snatching the wine from William, Ciri answered with a snort, "Yes, that was my fucking intention. Let the whole world know that the shit bastard has no right to call me his child or family."

Sighing while looking at the cybernetic Ciri from her titanic skin down into every internal organ of hers, currently drinking the wine like some kind of apple juice, William nodded, "Understood, my lady."

Noticing William's gaze looking at her body, Ciri asked as a fellow world hopper, "So? Got ya any idea to turn this bad girl back into flesh and bone? They are hindering my magic from improving."

Shrugging, William answered, "Well, if you could travel into that world, there might be a chance with just a kiss. But here? I don't know any yet."

Bringing up both her cybernetic legs up to hug them, Ciri let out a long, drawn-out sigh, "I thought so."

"..."

"..."

"Becca… I am home…"

"..."

"..."

Seeing the silver-haired lady silently crying like someone who lost what is dear to her, William goes to the bar counter of the hall cabin and takes anything that has a very strong alcohol content. Placing a sluggish and weakened enchantment on the bottle, he walks back to the devastated Ciri and offers up the drink, "Here, it will feel like ingesting morphine."

"Hahahaha, you are my fucking guy!"

Knowing that she will destroy her life one way or the other if she keeps reminding herself of the past, William then remembers one individual that might help her if that person manages to achieve an Arch-Mage. But he knows that, too, is a stretch, since her mother herself cannot do anything about it since she doesn't know anything about conventional methods of healing.

But William still suggested, saying, "If by any chance your mother can't patch you up after doing everything that she can, there is someone that might have a chance. If that person manages to learn and apply my past knowledge, that is. But you need to be patient, since it will take a long time."

"Who…"

"Shani. She is a Redenian. And she very much loves her country. So I think you need to convince Emperor Emhyr first to stop his invasion into the Northern Kingdoms if you want her to be free of any distraction and focus on your condition."

—

Picking up the delusional Ciri in his arms so that he want to bring her back into her cabin, talking about how a girl named Rebecca should not love someone named David, and calming her down from the frenzied and furious state every time she utters Adam Smasher, which William now has an inkling about since it was different from the first two that he doesn't know anything about.

He was stopped by Vivienne when he stepped out of the hall cabin carrying her, saying that it is inappropriate for a man to bring an unconscious girl into her room. So, giving Ciri to the burning fiery jealous lady to be taken care of, he enters once again into the hall cabin while remembering about how his identity has been easily discovered by this silver-haired girl.

Although at first, they are strangers who don't know each other even after the event of helping him out of the rubble, she becomes curious when accidentally passing by him as William volunteers to patch up the wounded. "It feels like my Elder Blood has an itch every time I see you. It's like meeting a very, very distant relative," those are her exact words when he asked about it.

One conversation led to another, and by the time a week had passed, he slipped up, using phrases and curses of modern language due to being under a lot of strain and constantly hiding his identity. She quickly noticed this with those cybernetic eyes that could discern jittery body language, even in a person who had spent their entire four lifetime perfecting the method.

Being discovered as a world-hopper like her, he thought it is better to take advantage of this world-hopper identity rather than dumbly hiding it with no benefit at all. After that, it can be easily guessed, dialogue after dialogue, conversation after conversation, they finally become close and even comfortable enough talking about their time in the different world.

But he knows this kinship will eventually attract attention that he doesn't need right now, as he doesn't want anything related to fame or connections that are linked to her. So, talking to Ciri about still wanting to maintain anonymity, she is very reasonable and understanding about it and tries to distance herself from him.

But he also knows from the gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077 that he watched in his first life that the place itself is filled with depression and hollowness under many glamours. So, once again, he told Ciri to just be a part of the Chronicle Explorers team to provide a legitimate alibi for how they are getting close, in addition to having a friend of the same age as her to talk to.

"Will. Gwent?"

Looking at J'zargo, who invited him to a round of Gwent, William gladly accepted the challenge.

"Sure."

—