Chapter #69

(AN: Chapter 69… Obligatory "Nice")

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The next day, Zeno left Vergen on another ship heading to Vengerberg. While initially in good spirits, Zeno felt a chill on his back while boarding the ship.

He unleashed his senses but he couldn't find anything other than some of the sailor's differing sexual preferences.

'Something must have happened elsewhere...' Zeno thought before relaxing since the feeling didn't cause any sense of emergency in him.

Meanwhile in Ard Carraigh, Sabrina who just finished her conversation with Yennefer through the megascope and smiled in satisfaction.

'Gotcha bitch!' Sabrina thought.

She wanted her friend to be taste defeat in bed but she could never foresee that Zeno would vehemently run away from Yennefer of Vengerberg while yelling "Bros before hoes!".

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The ship ride was peaceful as always, making Zeno itch for a fight then again Zeno wasn't good with water so maybe it was for the best.

They stopped at Hagge, Zeno didn't get off board to visit the city as all he remembered about the town was that the rulers were meeting about Ciri.

'Now that I remembered that I am kind of pissed off.' Zeno thought angrily.

[Eat Snickers...] System joked.

'I will just sing a song.' Zeno decided to make the others in his head groan in annoyance.

It was cool at first but they already got tired of Zeno's singing. They dreaded the day they would have to deal with Jaskier(Dandelion).

Zeno's voice reverberated across the ship giving the passengers and the crew a pleasant surprise.

The rest of the trip passed by as he played with Ao and he bullied Jean as she bullied him back.

"Those two have a strange relationship." Ao muttered as Jean started gnawing on Zeno's shoes only to get kicked by Zeno.

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Vengerberg is the capital city of Aedirn and one of the richest and most populous metropolises in the Northern Kingdoms.

A long-distance trade center crossed by many routes and trails, it has a well-developed industry and education institutions.

Surely there would be jobs for witchers but Zeno didn't plan on going to the capital city if he could help since there was someone he was avoiding.

Zeno got off the ship while bidding farewell to the other passengers, they have been more friendly ever since he started singing.

He had yet to arrive near the city though as Vengerberg was surrounded by high mountains in the west, north and east.

The ship itself had dropped anchor on a small port town that could be considered to be close to the city.

This worked for Zeno as he wasn't here for work but to keep his promise to Old Harkon. He still had the necklace on his person and wanted to get that off him soon.

Luckily Old Harkon's village was on the skirts of the mountains towards the east of Vengerberg, shortening his travel on horseback.

Jean certainly got used to... Horsing around and the idea of being ridden displeased her to no end.

'Violence isn't the answer... It is the question. Yes, is the answer.' Zeno thought while urging Jean to gallop.

[Does this count as animal cruelty?] System.

{Well, I doubt it since Jean is sentient at this point.} Ouryuu answered.

<So, it's basically slavery?> Dragon wondered.

'...' Zeno wordlessly dismounted Jean before deciding to run. He was faster anyway.

Jean saw this and deadpanned, she tried to keep up but failed pathetically as Zeno's figure got smaller in her eyesight.

"..." Jean.(AN: Fuck it! I am getting rid of her as soon as possible or make her more docile, giving sentience to a mount is amongst the worst decisions I have made.)

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Finding the village proved to be a challenge as Zeno didn't have the precise location and apparently the name of the village had changed over the century Old Harkon had lived.

In the end Zeno was able to find the damn place while swearing to launch a satellite and map out the whole world.

'Is this planet even a sphere? As far as I am concerned it can even be in the shape of a doughnut.' Zeno thought.

[Nah, everyone says Conjunction of the Spheres. Spheres here refer to worlds. So, no weirdly shaped planets for you.] System replied.

Anyhow, Zeno met with the old folks of the village, anyone above ninety was subjected to Zeno's infectious smile as he interrogated them using kindness and copious amounts of bribery in the form of food and gold.

While most of them resulted in nothing, Zeno was eventually able to find an old lady that remembered Old Harkon's childhood sweetheart.

Niske, as the old lady remembered, had died many years ago and her daughter, named Kaveri too, lived in the village.

The old lady was kind enough to describe the road for him though Zeno couldn't fulfill her wish to sleep with her for the night and decided to leave her some extra gold.

'What is it with my luck and old horny women?' Zeno wondered and eventually blamed Merlin for it.

Instead of dropping by Kaveri's house, Zeno instead moved to the cemetery nearby the village as he had a name he figured he could find the grave of Niska and drop the necklace there before moving on.

'Still why do I feel like I am being watched?' Zeno sneakily looked around before stopping his gaze on a crow nearby.

Crow acted like it was looking at Ao who was making rude hand gestures to the bird.

Zeno decided to reward Ao for the save as he knew it was probably Yennefer's familiar since they're near Vengerberg and crows are her thing.

'Still, how the hell did she get interested in me?' Zeno pondered but he eventually decided that it wasn't important as he needs a solid plan to get out of here without arousing her interest.

[You don't want to sleep with her?] System asked.

<Hmph, imagine when in the future Geralt learns that his best friend had slept with the woman he is destined with, how awkward would it be. Also bros before hoes.> Dragon snorted and educated System on the bro code.

[...] System.

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Zeno quickly found the cemetery and located Niske's grave but someone was already there praying.

Zeno cursed seeing her as he could guess that it was Kaveri, Niske's daughter. Surprisingly she was half-elf which is a detail the old lady had left out.

Sighing Zeno stood next to her in front of the grave, giving her enough room to not make her anxious and started to pray for Niske.

There weren't any lingering spirits in the cemetery but still the place felt more peaceful after Zeno prayed.

"You look too young to know my mother, may I know who you are?" Kaveri asked politely, likely afraid of the dummy swords on Zeno's back.

"My name is Zeno, a Witcher. There was an old servant at Kaer Morhen back when I was training. We called him Old Harkon, his dying wish was to give this necklace back to its owner but it seems she passed away as well." Zeno said while putting the necklace on the soil.

"Harkon... Right, my mother used to talk about him, her childhood sweetheart that was taken to be a witcher. She figured he didn't make it, otherwise he would come back." Kaveri said.

"Well, he didn't want to be a Witcher and he didn't want to come back here for some reason so he became a servant at the keep. He died during the sacking while protecting us..." Zeno said, putting some emotion at the end.

"I see, thank you master witcher. My mother wanted to be buried with that necklace, you fulfilled her wish." Kaveri bowed before leaving the cemetery.

Zeno decided to stick around for a bit longer as the number of crows had increased while he was chatting with Kaveri.

"Well, what do I owe the pleasure? I don't remember meeting anyone from Vengerberg apart from Harkon." Zeno said out loud.

"Just professional curiosity, I never saw a Witcher with my own eyes." A melodious voice came behind a tree. Soon the owner of the voice revealed herself.

Yennefer of Vengerberg, her appearance matching the games rather than the books as Zeno noticed. Zeno never had smelled lilac and gooseberries but he was sure that the scent wasn't to his liking.

"While I might go into sewers to kill a monster I won't sell myself for a live autopsy." Zeno retorted.

"No one said anything like that. I was satisfied with observing but it seems your little pet had warned you about my crows." Yennefer said while looking at Ao.

Ao, not fazed by her pointed stare, took out a nut from Zeno's pocket before he started to eat it.

"Well, if that's all, I will be leaving. Witchers, their paths and all that." Zeno said and started walking.

"My mother didn't talk much about my grandmother, I really want to hear the story of this Harkon. Also how can I let you go empty handed when you helped my mother?" Yennefer stopped him with a gentle smile.

That smile sent shivers down Zeno's back... 'This is the same feeling when I was boarding the ship, it was her!' Zeno realized and retorted in his mind. 'Also didn't she hate her mother for beating her?!'

Unfortunately he couldn't refuse her without offending her since she brought out family, also his instincts were telling him to go with her for now as there was no optimal path for escape now.

"Why not..." Zeno smiled, though it might have been the most forced smile of this life.