Chapter 34

"I must say, despite your claims you weren't nearly as bad as you feared." Síle said as she came out behind the dressing partition sometime the next morning, more early afternoon really, fully dressed in her usual style. It took like a second to do so I'm sure she used magic.

"Can we please not talk about my performance, please and thank you." I said a little self-consciously as I slipped into my own clothes the normal way.

"Why wouldn't I? Sex is a natural part of life, and for ones as long-lived as us, it is one of the few pleasures that does not change with the years." Síle gave me a smile - more gentle than predatory, this time - and patted me on the cheek. "You did well for a beginner, and I would not mind giving you more lessons going forward if you are interested. I have certainly taken an interest in you after all."

This was so weird. I was used to the scary and sexy Síle from the games who you could either turn into meat chunks or mercy kill. Not this.

Guess even pants-wettingly terrifying sorceresses have their softer sides, too. Although even her 'softer sides' were surprisingly firm…

No! Bad Markus! Be professional!

"I'll admit the offering is tempting, very tempting. I might even take you up on it if to be honest. I'll be here for at least a week so maybe we can meet up occasionally, and do more than just that of course. You are a wise and powerful mage after all."

Síle smiled. "Oh, so flattering! It's like you're trying to make me keep you here for another day." She gave a faux disappointed sigh. "Alas, there is business that will wait for neither of us. I shall see you again, Markie."

MARKIE?!?

"I'll… see you later too. I might be a guest lecturer at some point so if you're interested in that, so maybe stop by? Not sure how much sorceresses dirty their hands with monster guts though."

Síle cupped her sharp chin in one delicate hand. "Monsters? I've taken quite the interest in them lately. Tell me, will you be covering the kayran in your lecture?"

"The river monster that lives in the Pontar near Flotsam?" I asked. "It's a pretty unique creature and from all accounts rather peaceful towards people. I can give general ideas but nothing concrete since I've never encountered one before. I can't offer much since I don't know of any Witcher who has killed anything like it… other than perhaps aeschna which are much more violent and common, though not by much." I admitted.

"Hmm, not what I hoped but certainly more than what I could get elsewhere."

"You thinking of hunting it down? As a Witcher all I can say that I recommend leaving the peaceful monster alone before you potentially make it less peaceful. Though I imagine if you have a goal in mind there is not much I could do to dissuade you."

Síle tutted. "Fret not your little blonde head, Markus. I've no plans to confront such a creature for now; my interest at this time is purely academic." She turned to her dresser. "And now, for your payment."

What?

"What happened last night wasn't my payment? Not that I would ever say you were a sex worker or anything like that-I'm going to shut up now." I said quickly when I realized the hole I dug for myself.

Seeing my consternation, Síle could only chuckle. "Dear Markus, you're a Witcher, not a whore; you obtained for me the manticore poison, and now it's time to pay you for it. I make it a personal policy not to mix work with pleasure; last night's activities were purely the latter." She pulled out a coin purse from her drawer. "Would, say, 100 crowns be sufficient compensation? I'm aware of how rare it is, and you should be compensated accordingly."

"Well… maybe you could give me a discount on the next job that requires me turning to a mage for help?" I offered.

She raised one finely trimmed brow. "I wasn't aware Witchers worked with mages that often?"

"Sometimes powerful magic or curses get involved in contracts that could be made easier getting rid of with magical assistance, especially if there is no good way of handling it ourselves. I was only able to handle a curse not long ago due to knowledge most were not privy to. Everyone else hired, mages included though I doubt any of your power and skill, failed to handle it for decades. I like keeping my options open." I admitted.

"Hmm, sounds interesting if nothing else if whatever is involved requires a mage to handle. I might even get something out of it. Very well, I shall lend you my abilities in the future should Destiny lead us to it. In the meantime this is more immediately useful for you." She said as she placed the coin purse in my hand.

"Thank you… for lots of stuff." I said a little shyly.

Síle just giggled at that and I cursed the fact that I found it cute. I really hope this was a magical charm and not me being a total wuss.

Shake you goddamned trinket! I glared at the griffon medallion around my neck. Help me out here!

The medallion rested annoyingly still, the traitor.

---

"Good morning, my friend! How was your meeting last night? There must have been a great deal of discussion between you and the fine lady if you did not return till now." Ivar had the gall to waggle his eyebrows at me.

Dogmeat got out of my bed and ran off to greet me, a confused look crossing her face as she sniffed me a lot. No doubt she smelled Síle's sweet smelling but still somehow sharp personal perfume mix.

I swear sorceresses must make their own scents all the time if Yen, Triss, and now Síle was anything to go by.

"Shut up, Ivar. Did you get what you wanted done?" I asked as I sat on the much less comfortable bed from the inn.

"Mostly. I have received my stipend payment so I can pay you for services thus far and other needs of course. I have turned in my findings and had a copy sent back home to be looked over. I have a meeting planned with the editor of the Oxenfurt Quarterly to discuss several proposed journal articles. During our travels I wrote papers regarding the wight, the penitent in Blaviken, and Bolt the troll, and should have a monograph concerning the manticore and the resolution of the teeth row question finished in three days - just in time to publish before we continue up the river! I also plan to join the panel that thankfully we haven't missed that I mentioned during our first meeting." Ivar paced around the room, pulling out clothes from our bags and placing them in a sack as he talked. "I also have essays outlined for the merfolk, the topic of falsified monster sightings, and drowner anatomy and habits. Then there-"

Ivar went off like a man possessed going on about everything he was doing and working on. If nothing else you'd have to admire his drive.

"Oh! And before I forget I was able to secure you a spot as a guest lecturer as I promised!" Ivar said excitedly.

"Really? When?"

"Oh, about an hour from now I believe." Ivar said in an off-handed fashion. I swear to god I facefaulted onto the floor.

Whelp, I guess I better prepare for that.

Oh, also deal with stage fright but I assume I can get around that as long as there was a monster in front of me I could stick my hands into and show off their guts. And wouldn't you know, that was exactly the case.

Wait. How exactly do you do an official autopsy for viewers?

---

"And as you can see there aren't separate rows of teeth that replace older ones over time, but rather evidence of new teeth growing in over time." Ivar explained as I pried the jaws open on the now embalmed manticore to let him easily point a pointer at the teeth poking out of the gumline.

Thank goodness that Ivar was open to doing most of the talking and all I had to do was dirty work and answer the occasional question/confirm or deny something.

The classroom was packed full of various students and even a few faculty members who, despite many not being focused on biological or monster studies, wanted to take advantage of the unique experience. The classroom itself was a part of the Faculty of Medical Science and was a place where they normally cut open human and non-human bodies to study, but also where they did the same for animals and monsters since they shared facilities with Faculties that focused on that. It looked like one of their old surgical amphitheaters with tiered desks so that everyone could look in on what was happening at various angles.

The manticore itself was on a large stone table and cut open in many spots so that Ivar could point out musculature, skeleton, internal organs, and other such things while also pointing out where my strikes did the most damage. We got a lot of 'oohs' and 'ahhs' as I stretched out it's large bat wings and tail since they were more interesting than the lion part.

"I'm still not sure how a beast of this size could lift itself into the air on wings that small in comparison to the rest of its body." one prefessor stated to the nods of various others around him.

"Blame magic." was all I said. Hey, it was likely right anyhow.

I didn't see Síle sitting around anywhere which made sense since this was short notice for me and she likely had her own stuff going on. I did however notice someone very familiar and who I knew for sure I was likely to run into at some point.

"How does one go about curing manticore poisoning? Are there any medical benefits to its use?" one student on the lowest tier asked.

Said student was a pretty redhead who was wearing a close-fitting green blouse with a short skirt and had been very much focused on parts of the lecture that focused on the damage a manticore could do and how to treat it. Shani was certainly predictable that way, in a good way of course since she was a good person.

Ivar let me answer this since it was something I would have more details on.

"Well, unless you are a Witcher or have a troll's constitution the poison is liable to kill you fast unless you get treatment real soon. Assuming the stinger doesn't simply impale you, in which case there's nothing that can be done. I recommend using ground up blowballs with a potent alcoholic base to reduce the effects to terribly painful rather than fatal. It will still require plenty of rest afterwards and I can't promise the damage won't be permanent since the poison eats away at nerves pretty badly. As for medical uses…" I thought about it for a second. "I suppose it would make a top-tier painkiller if heavily diluted. I'm talking you can take a sword to the stomach and not feel a thing kinda tier. Of course, if you require that level of painkiller your patient is likely already on death's doorstep unless they are an amazing medic or you have magical healing on hand. Not to mention you could get hooked on it and overdose. Though it is rare enough that is unlikely to happen." I explained.

Shani looked rather displeased at the answer but nodded all the same and took down notes along with most everyone else.

The lecture continued on for a bit over an hour along that vein while the manticore was being carefully picked apart by me while Ivar handled most of the explanations. Honestly, it was going better than I thought and I hoped that along with spreading good information around that it would help Ivar's rep as well amongst his colleagues. It also helped me low-key identify the close-minded assholes in the audience based on their questions or the way they reacted to certain things we talked about.

I would either be avoiding them or punching them in the face at some point.

---

"I must say that went quite well! We had everyone eating out of the palm of our hands for the knowledge we delivered upon them! Truly, the ignorant masses gazed upon me as the better that I truly am!" Ivar declared as the last of the audience piled out of the room while I was prepping the manticore corpse for transport by stitching it up a bit.

I was pretty sure that the academy planned on sticking the internal bits in jars, mounting the skeleton in some lab, and finally stuffing the whole thing to be displayed someplace on campus. You know, the usual scientist shit.

"Don't go egomaniac on me now or else I might have cut you down before you turn into a dark lord or something."

Before Ivar could respond to my comment there was a knock at lower room doors.

"Pardon me, but I was hoping to talk to you Master Witcher." Shani said as she walked into the room with a bag hanging by her side.

"If you have any questions about the lecture or any future ones you should be asking Ivar since he is the scholar here, and after this performance I'm sure he will make a great professor one day soon," I responded as I gathered some of the tools I had used during the presentation.

"Awww, you do care and believe in me." Ivar laughed.

"Assuming a certain Witcher doesn't 'forget' about a monster creeping up behind him at some point because he pushed his luck."

"That wounds me, it truly does." Ivar said while mock grabbing his heart.

"It's… it's not about that. Master Witcher-"

"Markus." I interrupted.

"Markus. My name is Shani and I am currently training to become a medic. I was one of many volunteers here in Oxenfurt and around the North that was at the Battle of Brenna, trying our hardest to keep the death toll as low as possible with our admittedly meager skills." Shani said with some sadness in her voice.

"Sounds like you and your fellows were being very admirable all things considered and that you most likely saved a lot of lives just being there helping out." I tried to cheer her up.

"We did, but… There was one life I couldn't save and one I believe you would want to know about considering his origins." Shani said as she reached into her bag and brought out a very familiar looking item resting in her palm. A Witcher medallion in the shape of a griffin's head. The look on my face must have been obvious since she continued her story. "His name was Coën and he… he died on my operating table. Not even my friend and mentor Rusty could save him and he was the best medic there that day. Despite the mortal wounds he received he lived for a relatively long time by the time he got to us, I assume it was his Witcher constitution that kept him breathing for so long. Like us he joined the war as a volunteer and died in the process. I… I was there when he spoke his final words and asked that if I ever came across another member of his guild that I would pass on the news of his passing so they wouldn't expect him to still walk the Path. Gave me his medallion with his last bit of strength and now I'm here to give it to you." Shani said as she handed me said item and all I could do was stare at it for a bit and rub my thumb over it.

Coën, I knew that name from the game and books. He spent the winter at Kaer Morhen once while Ciri was there and even taught her how to use a sword. Ciri also foresaw his death but rather than try to prevent it he still went willingly into what he knew was going to be a hard battle. His silver sword would somehow end up in Vizima, having traded hands many times, before finally being retrieved by Geralt.

As much as I dislike the idea of fate and Destiny on principle I could admire that drive if nothing else.

"Thank you, Miss Shani. I… I didn't know Coën well myself, I became a Witcher after him, but I did know of him and I appreciate that someone as kind as you was with him in his final moments. We Witchers of the School of the Griffin pride ourselves in our knightly ideals, and thus your actions deserve compensation." I stated.

"That's really not necessary. I didn't become a medic for coin, but to help people. I was just doing that." Shani tried to turn me down, but I wasn't having it.

"Then let me give you something so that you may continue to help people going forward more effectively. One moment." I said as I turned to my own bag and began digging through it.

Honestly, out of everything I had been planning to do to potentially screw up canon this was a rather large idea I had and thanks to Shani's kindness I had a great way to introduce it. If things went well it would save a lot of lives in the near future.

"I came across a formula for a powerful medicine during my travels that excels in combating the causes behind infection and therefore distractly reducing the chances of death that way. Not sure of it's origins but I do know that it is useless to Witchers due to our immune system making death by infection very low. However, it could save a lot of lives in the hands of medicinal practitioners and alchemists. It's called a sulfa drug or an antibiotic." I explained as I handed her a written out formula while Shani's eyes widened as she took in what I just told her.

Her eyes quickly went over the formula ingredients as her mind played check up.

"Chlorosulfuric acid, ammonia, aniline, sodium bicarbonate, and acetic anhydride?" Shani asked.

"Like said, you will likely need to find a skilled alchemist who understands what those ingredients are or if they fall under a different name. I promise you though that if made correctly it could mean life or death in the right situation. This is my gift for you. More work." I said with a smile.

"This is… is, if this is what you say it could revolutionize medicine as we know it! Are you sure you are alright just giving it to me?" Shani asked, dazed.

Honestly, I was kinda just using her to produce the drugs and ideally hamper the spread of the plague I knew that was coming, which was literally just the Black Plague back home that Ciri accidentally brought with her after jumping into the 14th century. I couldn't tell Shani that though. Hmmm.

"How about you teach me some medic skills later and in general grace us with your kind heart on occasion. Does that sound like a fair trade now?" I asked with a smirk.

Shani blushed a little at that before shaking her head and staring resolutely ahead.

"You have my word. Thank you so much Markus. Hope to see you later soon." Shani finished before quickly walking out of the classroom and likely to the nearest alchemist she trusted.

"Huh, what a passionate girl. Reminds me of, well, myself!" Ivar said with a smile before turning to me. "Where did you get that formula for that wonder drug anyhow?"

"Something I picked up from a genius who saw what the world could become with the power of science. Dr. Stone." I said with a smile.

… Maybe I should get into writing light-hearted adventure tales in the future.