Chapter 19

"Everything appears to be in order. Very well Witcher, you will be allowed access into the tower to hopefully rid this town of it's horrors once and for all. Do keep in mind though that if you fall to the specters we will not retrieve your body. The dangers would be too great to my men." Sir Roland said politely after looking over the alderman's writ.

He was in full plate armor so I couldn't see his face under his bucket-like helmet, but he certainly filled it out well in muscle and height. The flaming rose of his order was on proud display on the cuirass of his armor. He was only one among a half dozen knights in the local chapter but apparently had the most seniority.

"That's fair, I'm not a part of your order so you are under no obligation to lose more lives over a corpse. Any other security rules I should be aware of?"

"Yes, we have discovered long ago that the specters will not cross the threshold of the tower. When you wish to exit simply knock loudly and proclaim who you are and we will unbar the doors to let you out. There should be no risk of anything following you out or specters attempting to escape with trickery after all." Roland stated.

I was a little worried about the fact that also meant they could easily lock me inside, but worst come to worst I should be able to blow up doors with a full powered Aard or even melt through it with Igni. Maybe I was letting the fact who their grandmaster is color my perception but I didn't really trust the Order of the Flaming Rose to have nice plans for me since I was a Witcher.

"Good to know, my companion Ivar and my dog won't be coming in with me. Is it alright that they stay out here with you?"

"Assuming they do not interfere with our duties in anyway I do not see a reason to oppose the request."

I turned to Ivar and Dogmeat. "You heard the man, be good. Don't chew on anything, pee on anyone, or go running off the second something interesting comes by. I'm trusting you to keep the other leashed… Dogmeat." I said seriously to the little puppy.

"Hey!" was Ivar's indignant response. Too bad, he knows who I trust more to be responsible without me around.

I then performed the Xiil Sign on Dogmeat and transmitted a simple message. 'Watch funny man, protect.'

'Will protect! Then play and food!' Dogmeat mentally said and barked resolutely. Awww, she was already demanding payment for services. She will make a fine Witcher dog indeed!

I turned back to Roland who while I could not see his face looked equal parts confused and amused at the interplay.

"Assuming all goes well should be back in an hour."

"Truly? It will be that fast to remove the specters?" Roland asked in surprise.

"No, ideally that is how long it will take to complete my investigation and figure out a means to remove wraiths. Since they have been hanging around for decades and no one has been able to keep them gone for long I assume they are some kind of penitent, wraiths attached to a certain place out of a strong desire for revenge on something or someone. If I am right I need to figure out who they were in life, how they died, what they seek revenge on, and work from there how to remove them. Could be as simple as finding their bones and destroying them to remove their anchor in the world or having to fulfill their unfinished business somehow so they pass on. Obviously I don't want to actually kill anybody just to remove some wraiths, but they only need to think it has been fulfilled to get them to pass on." I explained.

The Order of the Flaming Rose might be famous as monster hunters themselves but they obviously are not as skilled dealing with beings they can't simply hack to death with their swords. I had basic implanted Witcher knowledge and knowledge of books and games to help me out in this case myself.

"I see… it's certainly much more complex than I imagined. I wish you luck on your investigation then so we can put this matter to rest at last." Roland stated.

"Agreed." I nodded back.

What came next was basic preparations for facing specters. First was the Quen, then swallowing some Tawny Oil, Thunderbolt, Cat, and PP, and last but not least putting some specter oil on my silver sword. I think I disturbed Roland and his knights at my black veins and eyes, but they did do their jobs and opened the barred doors to me at my go ahead. Inside was unlit but I had no issue walking into the kinda lobby area and heard the heavy doors close behind me with a heavy thunk and locks being fitted back into place.

I was now most certainly on my own in hostile territory now, let's see if I can't make the best of it.

Considering the way my amulet has been shaking constantly since I even before I entered tower it sadly meant it won't be able to help much as an early warning system since magic was apparently everywhere. Just meant I was gonna trust my own senses then.

I then forced myself forward deeper into the tower, mentally preparing myself for what might come my way.

---

I was not ready for this. Thankfully, it's more disturbing than life threatening.

From what I knew from the books, Stregebor had either created an illusion or taken advantage of one created by the previous owner. In the thirty-plus years since he'd left the place, it had, shall we say, degraded. What had been a paradise-like garden full of nubile young men and women was…

Well…

There was something that could technically be called a garden. It was rotting, full of filth and decayed plant life. The illusive puppets looked like runny, melted wax, and as I watched several forms slipped and drooped even more. They were naked, as per the book, and - Ooh! Oh, my. I really, really, REALLY did not want to see that. Ugh.

Below the illusion, the original building's construction was starting to show through. Moldy plaster, crumbling brickwork, and eroded statuary were prominent. Weeds were pushing their way through flagstones. The dried-up remains of a tree stump stood in the middle, and ants could be seen crawling all over it, having turned it into a nest of sorts.

At least it wasn't a pocket dimension in a book made up of fairy tales that were trying to kill me.

But the specters were doing their level best to make up for it. For all that there weren't many of them they seemed to respawn after only a short amount of time as I traveled around the tower. And it was always the same six forms. Pretty sure based on Netflix's show that these wraiths were Renfri's band who followed their boss into death, not that they were very communicative. They all sported the precise injuries that led to their deaths by Geralt and swung or shot spectral weapons at me. They kept coming at me at a steady pace no matter how many times I cut them down. Unlike Geralt who was a master swordsmen, I had to cheat a lot with my Yrden discs thrown at their feet to slow them down so I didn't need to actually fight them sword to sword. My potions and Signs might help make up for lack of skill with buffing but it was still annoying as heck.

More than a few times wraiths had rushed me out of nowhere, sometimes through walls, and it was only thanks to my overpowered Quen that I hadn't gotten any injuries yet. I mean sure to keep refreshing it whenever I could.

I had just put down the only half-elf of the group for what had to be the seventh time, fucker keeps firing ghostly crossbow bolts at me and makes me glad I had magic forcefield since unlike Geralt I wasn't skilled enough to deflect that shit, and I kept pushing myself to investigate each room I come across for anything.

All and all seems like Stregobor cleaned the place out when he left, though seemingly in a hurried manner.

The only things I had found were scattered paper that broke apart in my fingers, broken bottles, shattered and decaying furniture, and of course the bones and corpses of those who had tried to get into the tower in the past and never left. I even found what looked like a Flaming Rose footman; I might as well tell Roland about that when the place was cleared out. I must have spent over half an hour walking around getting nothing and constantly having to deal with wraiths that would not get the hint before I finally found something.

I guess I should have guessed I was getting close to source when wraiths started ganging up on me rather than coming in one at a time or in small groups.

"Will you just fuck off!" I yelled in anger as I ran through a doorway and placed a Yrden Sign quickly on the side, the wraiths slowing down significantly as they ran through it after me despite fact they could phase through walls so thank goodness they were stupid. With all six in a group I did a heavy swing through all of them which dispersed their forms once more for the time being.

I was breathing a little harder than usual since I ran away to better group them up rather than fight them in open, mostly from fright honestly since Witcher body and Tawny Oil made it so getting tired was hard for me.

I turned around to investigate the room I found myself in and quickly found it to be quite different to the others. Basically it looked like a really old-school laboratory with desks, worktables, abandoned chemistry set things, and all manner of discarded stuff that looked very expensive. The fact unlike the other rooms this one was not stripped meant either Stregebor didn't have the time to clean it out or couldn't.

Seeing as specters could come back any time I quickly browsed around the room before heading for the back of it and found something very interesting on top of one of the tables. A mostly-decayed corpse, but unlike the others I had seen this one didn't have a scrap of clothing hanging on it and looked intentionally positioned. I looked it over and off to the side I noticed a stack of paper that looked like they wouldn't disintegrate at my touch.

A quick read of the top one confirmed my thoughts.

'Autopsy report of Daughter of the Black Sun known as Renfri.

After years of being hunted down by this mad woman she is finally slain and I can study her properly for any abnormalities brought about by being born during the day of the Black Sun. I hope to discover…' I didn't bother reading more as I just facepalmed hard.

"Seems like when Geralt was run out of town old Steggie saw no reason to not take Renfri's body for study like he wanted. I doubt the townsfolk complained much if he gave some wizardly reason for it." I muttered to myself.

"Geralt?!" a terrible and inhuman voice screamed out to my side and I turned quickly to see a being come into existence not unlike the wraiths I had been fighting so far. Only this one was much more violent coming into the world and my amulet was shaking like mad from the magic in the air.

The specter before me was of a woman who had been tall and slender in life, with defined muscles and scraggly blonde hair. She bore the wounds that she'd taken at the end of her life - a gash in her left shoulder, a slash to the leg and a torn throat. More gruesomely, her torso had been peeled open with a Y-incision, giving me an unhindered view of what had been her insides. Suffice to say it was unpleasant. Her eyes had been cut out, and a hole made in the side of her skull where Stregebor had presumably trepanned in his attempts to find any abnormalities in her brain.

The poor woman had been utterly mutilated in death, her body desecrated to fulfill the ambitions and sate the paranoia of a madman. No wonder she was pissed.

Her vacant sockets had no trouble focusing on me. Her right hand held a spectral shortsword, her left a dagger which I knew was a main gauche from my implanted knowledge. Her wounds didn't seem to hinder her much as she slowly paced counter-clockwise around me; I rotated slowly to keep her in my sight, left hand out and ready to use a Sign while my right hand held the silver sword in a high guard.

"Look, I know I said his name and that I'm a Witcher but I don't even know the guy. I know of him, but that is a pretty big difference when it comes to knowing someone. I'm not even part of the same school, see the Griffin head?" I lifted my amulet to the spirit of Renfri as I kept my silver sword and guard up. Since she was actually intelligent I was hoping to reason with her since even Geralt was able to talk down some ghosts in his line of work.

"Where is he?! Where is Stregebor?! Bring them to me! They must pay for everything they did to me!" She demanded.

Okay, not attacking me right away so that is something. Although I have no idea how she is going to take the next part and I need to sell it enough that she doesn't freak out and attack me. Sure I could fight or bug out if needed but rather avoid what ifs.

"I can't, though I think you should be happy about the reason why. They are both dead. Stregebor in a coup among the mages of the Northern Kingdoms and Geralt earlier this year in a pogrom in Rivia. You can rest now since both are gone from this world." I said gently.

Technically not a lie in regards to Geralt since he was off with his waifu in another dimension altogether, but I had no real idea about Stregebor at all. Lots of mages died during the Thanedd coup so I figured it was safe to assume he was dead at least and I only had to sell it to mad wraith who is obsessed with revenge. Here's hoping she's in a reasonable mood for a specter.

"Wh-what? But how-No! You lie! You protect them!" Renfri sounds more confused than angry, not much but not attacking quite yet.

"It's true! Your revenge has already been met! And I can give you proof! All I need you to do is wait a day at most and keep your gang from attacking me anymore. Unless you want to spend decades more waiting around for no one to come. It's your choice, Renfri. You want proof you need to let me go peacefully or else you will never rest." I stated my terms harshly.

Renfri really seemed to struggle with herself. Her anger and other negative emotions conflicting with her nature of a penitent wanting to see her unfinished business dealt with so she could finally move on. I can only imagine what it would be like having the thing that has kept her in this world for years end up for naught.

"Bring proof! One day only! Come back later than that and I will rip you apart myself if you ever enter this place! Now go!" At that final demand Renfri phased away in a huff. I could only slowly breathe out slowly at that at the danger passing for the moment. I better not outstay my only limited welcome and go find something that is proof enough to Renfri's mind.

I would take her bones with me to be looked after by a priest… but I don't want to possibly set her off by doing that until after I get her to leave in peace.

Walking out of the lab and through the tower back to the main entrance I was very happy not to run across any more of Renfri's band seeking to violently murder me. Seems like they still listen to their boss even in their practically mindless state. I hope it stays that way when I come back.

Since I was no longer investigating every room it didn't take too long to make it back to the front door with the worst thing I had to deal with being the very gross-looking illusions. Whoever moved into this tower next was going to have to fix that themselves since I knew dick all about long-lasting magical enchantments. Though the idea of learning magic sounds awesome it also sounds super time-consuming and most likely ending with me being dragged into all the stupid mage politics.

No thank you.

I beat on the barred door loudly several times and called out. " It's me, Markus. I've found what I am looking for and would appreciate it if you would please open the door."

Not long after that I heard the door being unlocked and opened up, the sunlight coming through brightly causing me to wince slightly at the brightness. I really should have drank White Honey to cancel out the Cat, I grumbled to myself as I shielded my eyes with my left hand and fished for the potion with the other as I walked out, barely noticing the knights closing the door behind me quickly once I was through.

"Markus! You're back! Tell me everything! How many specters were there?! How did they act?! What did you figure out about their coming into being?! What happens next?! What-" It was at that point that I clamped my hand over his mouth roughly to shut Ivar up and I could finally see again as the White Honey purged the Cat from my system so the sun didn't burn anymore.

"Yes, I found actual specters this time and I will tell you everything later. I had a very annoying time dealing with them in there so I would like some peace and quiet for a moment. Thank you." I said… not harshly, but certainly in a tone that would deal with no arguments.

"That was certainly quick, Witcher. Did your investigations unearth anything useful?" Roland's voice broke in and I lowered my silencing hand from Ivar's mouth to turn to him.

"They did. The specters are Renfri and her group of bandits, killed by the Witcher that came to this town years ago. She is most certainly a penitent and it seems like she dragged the spirit of her men with her to haunt this tower. She wants revenge against two people who she feels are responsible for her suffering in life. A mage known as Stregebor and Geralt of Rivia." I explained.

"The White Wolf?" Roland asked, apparently familiar with Geralt's fame/infamy. That or the Order is aware of him for less nice reasons.

"The same. Sadly for her, both of her targets are already dead and when I told her that she didn't take it well. But when I was able to convince her I can bring proof she let me go and has given me a day to make good on my word."

"But… but how are we going to give proof of that? You don't have their heads rolling around in your pouch, do you? I think I would have noticed that." Ivar pointed out the obvious flaw in my plan.

"No, I don't. I have no physical proof of either." I confirmed.

"Does this mean this spector will haunt this world forever then? If we have no proof to present to her then will it not simply remain until the world is frozen over?" Roland asked concerned.

"Normally yes, but we are in luck since I know for a fact that Geralt was good friends with a famous bard, the same one that wrote a number of the songs about his deeds over the years. He died earlier this year in Rivia during a pogrom but I have no doubt that said bard, Jaskier, has already written a ballad about it and it has spread far and wide. As for Stregebor, I honestly don't know if he is dead or not but it doesn't matter. It just has to believable to her and we all know how many mages died or went missing during the Thanedd coup." I explained.

Roland looked at me quizzically. "Jaskier? I've never heard of a bard by that name. Are you sure-"

"What?!" burst out Ivar. "You've never heard of the great bard Jaskier, companion to the famed White Wolf? The writer of 'Toss a Coin To Your Witcher'?"

"Hang on, you meant that ballad written by the famous bard Dandelion? I love that song!" Roland replied enthusiastically.

Huh, I guess dialect and meanings can change between regions even as culturally connected as the Northern Kingdoms. It was a thing back home and even a thing here.

"Doesn't matter what you call him, point is I am sure we can use it to our advantage."

"How in the Eternal Fire does a ballad work in putting specters to rest? Seems ridiculous to me." Roland snorted.

"Music can be surprisingly powerful under the right conditions, kinda like it's own form of magic. Ballads are all about bringing historical events to life in words and songs, the more famous and widespread the song the bigger the power behind it. As long as the one singing it believes it and is skilled enough you can put to rest even the most dangerous of unsettled spirits. Heck, could even soothe some monsters." I explained.

"Fascinating! Music being is its' own form of magical expression! It ever supports the saying of music soothing the savage beast! So many ways to test it!" Ivar said with excitement.

"Best not to do said testing anytime soon since I assume like people each monster has a musical preference." I warned and because the last thing I wanted is to spend time watching Ivar sing at monsters only to save his ass cause one didn't like his tone of voice or something. "The point is we need someone skilled enough and knows the ballads involved to-"

"I can do it!" Ivar spoke up, hand raised high as if he were in a classroom.

"Ivar, this is serious. We actually need a good singer to-"

At which point I was cut off as Ivar opened his mouth once more and something other than his usual objections came out.

"On the isle of Thanedd sorcerer and sorceress met, only to find betrayal and death. Brotherhood broken by the Sun and the North, undoing faith and ending men's breath." Ivar let loose with a beautiful tenor voice, hitting the notes almost flawlessly. Damn, I have to say I wasn't expecting that. So I did.

"Huh, I was honestly not expecting something like that to come out of you. Color me shocked, you are a man of many skills." I admitted and I swear Ivar grew a few inches from pride alone. "You know about the one about the White Wolf's death?" I asked and just as quickly Ivar looked a little embarrassed.

"I… well, no." he admitted.

"Hmm, guess that means we need to visit a local bard that does and have them teach you the lyrics. I was planning on bribing one with lots of coin to walk into a haunted mage's tower and sing to the ghosts with only me as protection for them, but this is much cheaper. Thanks Ivar, I knew there was a reason I kept you around for other than monster bait." I jested in a totally deadpan voice.

"I for one would not mind being bait since I know for a fact you would protect me and it would only me to further advance my studies!" Ivar replied with honesty.

Damn, why couldn't he at least have Dandelion's sense of fear when he knew he was in over his head?

"Well then, if it's a bard you are looking for you will no doubt find one at the local inn singing for their meals. Last I was there a young man was doing just that on his lute, though I didn't bother to ask for his name he sounded decent. I can't say I much believe this will work, but I suppose if it works it doesn't matter what I believe in the end." Roland stated.

"Yeah, it really doesn't. Be back by morning at the latest." I then turned to Ivar. "You think you can learn a whole new song in less than a day?"

"You doubt my memorization skills?! I will have you know I once memorized an entire textbook on monster anatomy in less than a week! This is not as directly related but if it gets me within close proximity with actual specters I will force myself to know nothing else!" Ivar declared.

"Good enough for me, good day Sir Roland." I nodded to the knight and moved past him back into the town proper with Ivar and Dogmeat hot on my heels, both of them practically skipping in happiness for different reasons. Oh right, I promised Dogmeat treats and playtime. I will need to make good on that promise.

… I could swear the alderman said something about the inn earlier but it's slipping my mind. Oh well, I'm sure it wasn't anything super important if I forgot it that easily.