Chapter 11

By the time we had all returned to Pont Vanis it was late into the evening with only torches, oil lamps, and other primitive lighting sources lighting up the city. You don't realize just how dark places can get without modern lighting illuminating everything till you were someplace without it.

Thankfully the night sky was clear and the moon was almost full, casting its own glow over the land, and as a Witcher I basically had constant low-light vision with the option to have darkvision whenever I drank some Cat. As someone who has always been low-key scared of the dark it was a nice change of pace. Now I only had to be afraid of what lived in it rather than the dark itself.

The prince and his party had taken the prisoners with them while Stig and the other guards came off duty for the rest of the night. Stig informed me that the prince was having him send some night shift guards to lock down manor, to make sure no new unsavory elements moved in, and to collect stolen goods I mentioned to be transported later.

But work was over and so I stopped thinking about it and focused more on my cider and meal at 'the greatest tavern in Pont Vanis' as Stig declared. Pretty sure he just liked the atmosphere since it was full of working everyday people, and since it was late at night tavern was in full swing with people blowing off steam after a long day working. Which included Stig, Ivar, and of course me.

"Won't the wife wonder where you are? I wouldn't want to keep you from her." I asked Stig as he chugged back some beer and Ivar nursed his quietly.

"Naw," he answered, "she knows I like to wind down after a long day's work here. So long as I'm home before the tenth bell, she's fine with it."

"Good to hear, and thanks for the job. While I'm not lazy enough to do nothing till I run through all my coin, it will make paying for things easier." I said earnestly. "I hope you didn't stick your neck out too far at all to do that just because I'm a friend."

"The prince gives me a lot of leeway when it comes to this sort of thing, I got to know him during his troubled youth a bit… but let's just say that if you hadn't come back, I would have been in a spot of trouble." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "The prince puts a good front up, but the whole issue with the manor had us all at our wit's end. Having would-be hunters wind up run off or dead wasn't helping matters none."

"Well glad I was able to help with that, and sorry you couldn't get a Witcher till now to handle it. There are sadly too few of us these days, doesn't help matters when mages dump a mountain on your keep and kill most of the guild after all." I pointed out.

"Well, 'all's well as ends better', as my mother, gods rest her soul, always said. Enough of that, I want to hear what you've been up to since I last saw you! That time, you'd just finished clearing out a siren infestation out past the harbor. That was almost two years ago - any adventures worth sharing since then?" He grinned and quaffed another mug of beer.

I actually grimaced at that before I finally sucked it up and bite the bullet.

"Actually… I have no idea. About a month ago I took on this job to kill a cyclops that was harassing this villages couple weeks north of here. While I killed the thing at some point during the fight I got hit hard in the head and when I dragged myself back I was nearly dead. Thankfully the ealdorman was a decent man and instead of looting me he paid to have the local herbalist heal and look after me till I woke up a week later. I'm in perfect health now… but I don't recall anything before then, not even you. I tried to keep it low-key so I'm sorry about not being totally honest, but since you are apparently my friend I need to be honest about it." I explained as I took look drink of my cider.

Stig made a sucking sound between his teeth. "Damn, Markus. You don't remember anything?"

"I know how to work, but I think that is mostly muscle memory at play. I know general things about world and such, but not a lot of details. Ivar has actually been helping me get up to speed a little since we met up. He said my memories might come back or I will just have to make new ones over time." I pointed over to the now passed out scholar snoring away on at bar counter.

Seems like he hit his limit alcohol-wise and emotionally. Best to let him sleep it off and I can offer White Honey for any hangovers later.

Stig shook his head, his eyes closed. "I thought something was different about you, but I couldn't put my finger on it. You're a lot chattier than you used to be, though. Was kinda hoping it was just because you'd been alone for a while and wanted to talk to people." He perked up. "Wait, does that include memories of debts?"

"No, you know what you owe me and not even a hit from a giant's smaller cousin will change that." I jested.

"What, me, owe you money? Noooo… ah, hell with it." He reached into his pocket and flicked me a couple of bizants. "There, we're even."

"I was kidding Stig, I realize it's hard to tell with Witchers and not even we believe it sometimes but we do have emotions. Besides, you got me a job so I can overlook a few bizants and buy you a few free meals. If anything you should put these bizants towards buying something nice for your wife, I recommend something practical she can use everyday and can't imagine her life without beforehand." I recommended.

"That would cost more than a couple of bizants. Besides, I really did owe you money - you whipped me at arm wrestling and I couldn't front the bet. You told me to pay you back later, and now I have." He shrugged and took another drink. "That said, if you want to lose them to me in a rematch…" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Very well, if you really feel that way. I should warn you if I didn't before Witchers are stronger than normal humans. Want to test that against your guard training?" I challenged good-naturedly.

"Ha! I'm not the one who took on over a dozen bandits single-handedly today. I think I might have the edge in energy levels." He scoffed, the twinkle in his eye belying the scornful confidence in his voice.

"I used magic to cheat there, we Griffin School Witchers are dirty cheats like that. If you win I will not only pay you back what you owe me double, but buy a round for this whole tavern. What do you say? You motivated enough now?"

"I'll drink a toast to your memory, Witcher." He grinned.

At that we got up and went up over to what was the unofficial arm wrestling table of the tavern, the local tough guys using it as a means to show off, have fun, and earn some extra coin. The table had a peg on either side for the wrestlers to grip for stability while the middle was dented from innumerable prior contestant's elbows.

"Clear out you lot! If you want to see and bet on a real show, watch your captain of the guard match his strength against the Witcher, Markus the Golden Griffin!" Stig declared.

At that announcement people got an excited look in their eyes and easily moved out of the way so me and Stig could sit in our spots. All around me I could see and hear patrons crowding around and even a betting pool getting started as word quickly got around who was arm wrestling who. From the sounds of it I was actually the favorite to win due to "crazy mutant strength, breed them with trolls don't you know."

Not sure whether to be insulted by that or not to be honest.

Stig set up across the table, his left hand gripping the peg and his right hand in the middle of the table. I sat down opposite him and mirrored his position. We planted our elbows into the dented wood and our hands grasped each other, and sky-blue eyes stared into yellow cat-eyes. To the side, a local held up a hand. "On three! One! Two! Three!"

I pushed against Stig's hand as hard as I could, the rotational strength in my shoulder and chest coming into play. Stig did the same, and our knuckles turned white from strain. It was an even struggle for a few moments as we tested the other's strength. From the way Stig's arm bulged under his sleeve, he was clearly much stronger than the average man - fortunately for me, 'stronger than average' didn't mean that much in comparison to the strength of a Witcher. I was confident in my victory, but that didn't mean Stig would make it easy for me.

We pushed against each other as hard as we could, and even with his exceptional strength, after about thirty seconds his arm moved past the midpoint and started moving towards the table. Ah, well, at least it'd be a good show for the crowd-

"Ack!" Something lukewarm and stinking of hops sloshed over my back, and I jerked with surprise. That was all the opening Stig needed, and with a roar of effort my arm was slammed against the table! Stig leapt to his feet and gave out a shout of triumph.

"Ha! Score one for the captain! Three cheers for Captain Stig!" Another man wearing a guard's gamberson shouted out.

Que the rest of the tavern bursting into drunken cheers. Even the ones who bet on me didn't seem too upset as they passed their coin to those who bet on Stig.

Stig reached out a hand to me and pulled me to my feet. "Nice one, Markus! I'm going to feel that in the morning. Right shame about getting distracted at the last moment, but you gotta learn to stay focused in contests like this." He gave a wink - not to me, but to someone just past my shoulder. I followed his line of sight, and saw the man who'd spilled the beer down my back.

He gave me a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Witcher. Guess I had one too many to drink tonight. Makes one a bit unsteady, it does."

All I could do was stare back at Stig with a raised eyebrow, lasting for about five seconds before laughing it off.

"Well, I suppose we are all gonna be like this tonight since I have to keep my promise. Barkeep, free round for all! I'm buying!" I shouted towards portly man running bar, who simply nodded to the cheering crowd.

"Just remember, Witcher - the true enemy isn't always the one in your face." Stig's face took a more somber expression. "Staying focused is good, but always mind your surroundings."

"Cryptic, is there a story behind that advice?" I couldn't help but ask due to shift in mood.

Stig shrugged. "Eh, just good general advice. Surely you can see the sense in it with your job and all. Last thing you need is to get the sun in your eyes or something to lead you astray."

"That is true, but enough about that. Work is over today so let's enjoy tonight." I suggested.

"Heh. Man like you out in the wilds like you are, I'm sure you'd have learned that lesson sooner or later. The same sun that lights your path can still kill you, after all." He gave me a pointed look that dissolved into mirth at my deadpan expression. "Awww, don't look so glum, Markus! Here, try the hard cider - they make it in the press out back, using the apples my wife grows. I'll even cover it for you, to show there's no hard feelings."

He passed me a coin for the bar. I accepted it without thinking, and went up to the bar. "One hard cider," I said, handing it to the bartender.

"A floren?" The bartender said, surprised. "We'll accept it, but I'm surprised you don't have any bizants." He handed me a mug of cider.

"Ehh, must have picked it around the docks. Traders going in and out all the time dropping their coin since they have so much of it weighing down their pockets. Guess I just wanted an excuse to get rid of it." Stig laughed it off.

I just raised an eyebrow at him as I took the cider, first the weird advice about not staring at the sun and now a floren which had the sun on it? What a weird… oh fuck me, he's trying to say something important relating to Nilfgaard isn't he?

I mean, I know the Empire was up to shady shit all the time in the Northern Kingdoms, but what does Stig have to do with it and what was he trying to say? Screw it, I have no plans to involve myself with them anyhow, Witcher neutrality all the way.

No point worrying about it when there are hundreds to thousands of plots happening all around the Continent, and me certainly not being the most important one at all.

You know what. This was my first real night to relax in the Witcherverse so I was gonna allow myself to get drunk on cider and not care what happens next.

I deserve this dammit! Screw the consequences!

---

… You know what, I totally deserve this.

I found myself waking up in an unfamiliar room, thankfully with all my possessions still with me or hanging on the side of the bed, while not far away Ivar was snoring away loudly on another one. The room itself was nice and well made, I would guess we were in an upper-middle income home most likely, if only because everything appeared to be in good construction and not super dirty.

We must be in a guest room or something considering how spartan it was.

I started a bit as the door on the opposite end opened up, thankful I didn't feel any serious hangover effects I was worried about, and was surprised to see a young woman step through. I will be honest, she was hot. Blonde hair, blue eyes, clean appearance, nice face and smile, slim but had large tracts of land… point is, she was a catch.

"Oh, glad to see you are up Master Witcher. Thanks for escorting my husband home last night after your drinking was over. You all looked like you were about to pass out so I let you sleep it off for the night. Stig has already left for his shift, but you are welcome to have breakfast with me and my little ones if you like. Just come on in whenever you feel like it, be sure to invite your friend as well when he wakes." she said with a smile before bowing slightly and closing the door behind her.

"Damn Stig, you scored." I couldn't help but admit to myself.

"And another thing!" Ivar suddenly shouted as he bolted upwards from his prone position, startling me a bit. He blinked and took in his surroundings before continuing, "Oh, this isn't the panel talking down all the scholars who called me a quack behind my back. That's a shame, I was only a third of the way done with the fourth one." Ivar said in disappointment.

"Get up, a very attractive lady has invited us to breakfast with her family. You can complain all you want about whoever later and I will agree with you." I offered.

"Markus, you are a gentleman and a scholar."