Chapter 43

"Halt! This troll bridge! You want cross? You pay toll!" A large voice spoke out a couple hours ride from Flotsam on the only road out of the region and into Aedirn proper. Said road also included a decently sized stone bridge that stretched over a river that while very crude looking was likely in weirdly good condition under the supervision of its builder/renovator/tollkeeper/guard, the Troll of Flotsam.

Considering the fact the bridge was in decent repair I was at least glad that meant his wife was not killed by bandits yet, and ideally wouldn't be once Iorveth hunts them down due to their connections to Loredo.

Unlike a rock troll this troll did not have rocky growths over his body, instead wearing a number of things to make primitive clothing like rope, pieces of wood, antlers and other items it likely found washed up by the river's shore. His large scared face and piled back lips showcasing his large teeth, along with being larger than your average rock troll, would make most people run in the other direction if they didn't know they took their jobs as bridge tenders quite seriously and could pay them in whatever the troll liked, which could be nicely shaped rocks for all people knew.

"No problem my good troll. What's the toll?" I called back.

"Vodka!" the troll answered back happily. Huh, I guess he was a drinker even before his wife died.

"Don't have vodka, but I do have spirits and other potent alcohols that should hit you better." I offered instead.

"That good! Give here!" the troll stretched out his arm, awaiting his payment.

Before I could even reach into my pack however a large packed mud ball came out of nowhere and broke apart against the troll's thick skull, making him fall over from the blow.

"No booze! You promise! We's needs other things!" A much more fememine voice called out as a large hand came up from the edge of the dropoff under the bridge and pulled out an equally large female troll. How did I know it was female? Let's just say that her primitive clothing did nothing to hide her secondary sexual characteristics… and it was very gross to see.

"But wife! Vodka good! Add to soup and make it better!" the he-troll argued, but the she-troll was having none of it.

"Not always! Me like make soup with other things too! And you get drunk and no keep bridge fixed well! Leave me to fix! Ask for other toll or me ask instead!" she put her foot down, literally, and caused the ground to shake slightly.

"Fine… We ask for new toll." the troll sounded upset as he picked himself off the ground. "What you have to give?" he asked curiously, likely having no idea what else to get.

Heh, it was nice to know marriage wasn't so different among even monsterous species.

"Hmmm, what should we offer Markus? I don't believe coin would be the most useful for them in this case since I do not believe they shop in town all that much. Maybe they would like some animal hides to make some better garments? Or maybe some food or even monster parts to add to their meal?" Ivar listed off as he even went so far as to open his own ration pack. "Do you think they would be against an interview about their daily lives and customs? I was always curious why trolls seem to be such instinctively skilled bridge-builders and had such a strong desire to make soup as their main meal."

Before I could answer him however the trolls perked up.

"Mar-keys? Yellow head Witchyman?" the he-troll asked.

Wow, this was a shock. They heard of me? How did they hear of me? Is this an effect of the 'Protector of Monsters' perk I got? I mean, I got along alright with Bolt but I didn't think the perk played a part… though the 'Nonhuman Friendship' I also got might explain why Iorveth was quicker to trust me in general.

"Yes? I'm Markus the Witcher, also known as the Golden Griffin further up north." I answered back.

"Haha! You good Witchyman! Friend of Bolt and friend of trolls! You no pay toll! You eat soup with us!" the he-troll said with a laugh, and his wife seemed in total agreement.

"Yes! Good Witchymans no pay toll. Can add to pot though if yous wants. Come!" she gestured to us and before I could blink Ivar was already off his horse and excitedly agreeing.

What a minute, how the heck do they know about Bolt?!

---

"Nekker bits in pot, good! Witchyman got goods taste. Adds mushrooms too. Mmmm." the she-troll stated as she happily dumped in my bag of nekker hearts… as in the whole bag, including the bag. I'll be honest, up close and personal the soup looked like the purple stuff in anime that literally gave off an aura of menace. I'm not sure even my Witcher constitution would allow me to survive it.

It's a good thing I politely and subtly dumped Ivar's, Dogmeat's, and my own bowls into the river while they were not looking while eating our own rations instead. If the trolls noticed they didn't seem to care at all. They were too happy taking their own portions of soup in buckets.

Under the trolls' bridge was a weirdly homey atmosphere, like a homeless man's camp that he had for years made his own. It wasn't clean and pretty in any sense of the imagination, but it worked for the trolls themselves so I suppose that was all that mattered.

I did hope that Ivar didn't get sick sitting on the offered blanket that I was pretty sure was infested with bugs.

"So, how do you both know about Bolt? I mean, I didn't think news about what happened in Blaviken would travel down here so fast." I asked.

"Troll news! Troll talk to troll who talk to troll who talk to troll who talk to-" the he-troll started going off before I cut him off.

"So wait? Other trolls talk to each other?" Did trolls penpal a lot or something?

"Oh yesh. Troll talk to trolls all across places. We's talk to not trolls too sometimes. Share lots of news! Soup recipes, humies moves, nice rocks, Witchymans, magics people, old caves, all interesting things. Wham-a-Wham always brag about rocks in cave, how humies think so nice try to steal them." the she-troll explained.

Wham-a-Wham? The volcanic troll on the Skellige Isles?! How does news travel across the freaking ocean?!

What a minute… wasn't there a quest in Witcher 3 about different monsters teaming up to kill Geralt for being a Witcher and hunting down intelligent monsters, and depending on actions can either talk most of them out of it or be forced to kill them? That was a neat quest but it did bring up the question of how the heck so many different monsters got together in the first place and actually planned it out. Was there some kinda secret underground sentient monster community who are able to quickly share news with each other or something?

If sirens were involved they could certainly spread news over sea and wasn't there an easter egg in the game about a troll in Skellige knowing the three trolls that lived on a mountain near Kaer Morhen? I mean, if that was true wouldn't that kinda change… a lot of how people viewed intelligent monsters?

And if I figured this out… I turned my head to see a visibly vibrating Ivar who looked to have figured out what the trolls were talking about a little before me, without the blessing of metaknowledge.

"Tell me everything!" Ivar screamed out with a voice so loud even the trolls were shocked by it, but they took it in stride.

"You friend of Mar-keys, good Witchman. We tell, but promise to tell no bad humies or Witchymans. Deals?" the he-troll said.

I then saw Ivar literally plant his head in the mud and swear before them. "Upon my honor as a scholar, man, and lover of all things monsters I will die before I put this beautiful discovery at risk. You have me word!"

"Okay. We tell loud humie." the she-troll said, taking everything in stride.

I have never seen Ivar sqee in happiness before, and I hope I never do again.

---

Night had fallen by the time Ivar finally tired himself out asking the trolls questions and trying to get the information through their broken speech and understanding of things, while also learning all he could on why they loved soup, how they built bridges, and if there was some wider troll community than the small bands humans normally see. I'm not sure if I should be impressed or concerned at the he-troll talking about 'manys trolls day' or not.

Since our journey forward was delayed by at least another day and since Ivar was busy I was left to stew in my emotions with Dogmeat by my side. I was still feeling super crappy about what had happened due to my actions at Flotsam and I was too ashamed to talk to Ivar about it since I was the one who ignored his warnings in the first place. I also knew that not talking about it was unhealthy and would just mean I would likely repeat mistakes unless I worked through them, but other than Ivar there was no one I could really…

Wait, I had a magic cellphone in my pocket… I hope that Síle doesn't mind me making a trivial call like this.

I walked about twenty meters away from the troll camp; nobody noticed me leave, focused as they were on their conversation. Taking out the xenovox, I stared at it for a second.

"How did she say to use it? Focus my magic at it? How do I do that?" I mumbled to myself as I turned it around in my hand. "Should I Sign at it? The only one that I think would work on it is…" I used Axii on it and hoped for the best.

"Markus? Is that you? You need to speak or else it just sounds like a chime going off." Síle's voice came out of the thing in a slightly echoey way.

"Sorry, I didn't know how to turn it on so I just used a Sign on it. You can hear me, right?" I asked while holding it to the side of my face like an actual phone.

"Yes, I can hear you fine. Be glad we don't have a broken model, those only let you hear and not speak. It's bloody annoying to deal with. So, why have you called? I assume a job requiring my expertise has arisen. Speak up now."

"Ahh, well… I didn't call about a job." I said a little softly.

"... is this a social call Markus? I'm not portalling to where you are just to-"

"Nothing like that! I promise I wouldn't waste your time like that. It's just… have you ever messed up Síle? Like, majorly messed up despite thinking that everything was going to plan because you just knew things?"

There was silence for a moment. Then: "Yes. On occasion. What happened?"

"I… won't get into details since it is a sensitive matter and I have already worried Ivar enough about it. Let's just say there was a very bad man involved and I felt I would be doing the world a favor getting rid of him. I still think that. However, in the course of that a number of innocent people got killed that had nothing to do with it and I didn't even know until after the fact. When that happened I started questioning whether the choice I made would be the correct one in the long-term and what other consequences it might bring because I didn't think things through and ignored good advice by a close friend. It's just… how do you get past that?" I unloaded the heavy question.

There was silence for a short while after that. 'Great, did I scare her off?' I mentally hit myself.

"I see you're just outside of Flotsam. Wait - did you kill the commandant?"

Damn super smart sorcesses who can easily see through vague questions!

"I won't insult your intelligence by saying no. He was human slime and I'm glad he is dead."

"I've met Bernard Loredo before, and I'll agree with you that he was scum. But I want to hear your reasons for doing it before I say anything else."

"That is fair. I… learned about his activities while investigating local criminal dealings and how he treated his people. He was producing and smuggling fisstech, murdering local non-humans on trumped-up charges, kidnapping and raping women, and who knows what other awful things he could get away with since he had control of the local military and the authority of Temeria behind him."

"I...see. And given you are a Witcher, there was a pogrom in response? Because a human was killed by a non-human - or, well, a mutant? The locals wouldn't have cared about the difference."

"Technically yes, it falls into the complicated nature of how things worked out. Look, I know it wasn't smart and it would have been better to move on, but I am firmly of the opinion that if you are in a position to right a wrong you should do it. In this case the wrong of Loredo… it's just the aftereffects that I didn't think things through."

I knew that she would figure out that I got the Scoia'tael to help me out but I didn't want to step into that right now. To be totally honest I'm not sure how the Lodge in general feels about them, but maybe it's complicated due to the fact they helped write the treaty that declared them war criminals.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Markus. It's one thing for our mistakes to cause trouble for ourselves; quite another when they harm those around us, especially innocents." Síle was quiet for a moment. "There's not much I can offer you at this time in terms of advice. All I can say is this - don't be sorry. Be better. Because when you have great power, it's your responsibility to use it well. Learn from this, and try not to repeat it in the future. Next time, you might not escape intact, and I don't think that's an outcome either of us desire."

Huh, despite the fact I knew she was a part of a secret conspiracy to control the Northern Kingdoms that was oddly heartwarming. Simple yet hard to really pull off in general, but worth trying.

She was right though, this isn't a game/book/fictional setting anymore. My metaknowledge would only get me so far and I was already altering things. All I could do was try hard to improve and better myself and my decisions going forward rather than getting all dragged down by past mistakes. I was still alive and it meant I could still do something after all. It was just a matter of getting over myself and trying.

"Thanks, that is actually good advice. Even if it sounds like something any teacher at Oxenfurt would say." I snorted a bit. "Seriously though. Thanks for that talk even though I'm sure you are busy with a half-dozen more important things than me."

Síle laughed. "Oh, Markus, you are very important to me. Never doubt that."

Ahhh, should I be worried or touched? I swear I was suffering from, 'overly trusting first girl I ever slept with' syndrome or something.

"Well, thanks anyway. I do hope that going forward I do, do better. I also hope that you don't judge me too hard for not telling you full details of what happened after you figure it out, you super smart lady you."

"I know a thing or two about 'need to know'. Don't worry, I understand completely. Until next time, darling." With that, she ended the call and I was left with silence.

"I'm so into her despite the fact I know that she has her own plans that can be compared to a supervillain's. Man, I am so emotionally messed up. Papa Vesemir needs to sit me down and give me a good talking to." I said to myself as Dogmeat just barked up at me. "You said it." I gave her a pat on her head.

I headed to bed not long after that.

---

"Mar-keys never have pay toll on bridge. Will tell other bridge trolls too!" the he-troll said with a wave as we crossed the bridge with the morning's light. "Thanks for booze too loud humie!"

"You no drink all at once! You share!" the she-troll smacked him on the back of the head as she waved goodbye as well.

"I can't believe you handed over a bottle of Temerian Rye, didn't you say it was very expensive?" I asked Ivar as he rode down the road and the couple started arguing with each other once more.

"How could I not! A single conversation with that lovely couple may have revolutionized all my work! If I can prove that a community-network of monsters exists it will prove to the world they are capable of interacting with society as a whole and help close the gap! Trolls alone could be an amazing contribution to society in architecture and infrastructure building alone! To say nothing of how they can help defend communities from the usual pest species by their very presence! I'll have to rewrite several papers and make entirely new ones! We must meet more of the community in the future as well!" Ivar ranted.

"Yeah, sure we can buddy. It's all to make the world a better place, right?" I said with a smile before getting serious. "Ivar, I'm sorry for not listening to you about the whole Flotsam situation as much as I should have. You were right that I wasn't thinking things through and people died for it. From now on I will more heavily value your opinion and listen when you speak since I can't trust my judgement alone. I promise."

"Thank you, Markus," said Ivar, touched. "To be fair, I think you had excellent motives, and the world is a better place without the likes of Bernard Loredo. But," and here Ivar lowered his voice, "for all intents and purposes, you are a foreigner to this world. And while you know of certain aspects, you don't think like a native. There are certain things we take for granted that you just won't think about - not because you are stupid, but because you didn't grow up here, and haven't made that understanding, those values, a part of yourself. By and large, I'd say you're better off for it; you're one of the most tolerant and intelligent people I know. But it means you have certain blind spots when it comes to life in our - my - world. Next time that comes up, I will do my utmost to serve as your cultural interpreter!" he finished with a cheeky grin and a wink.

"Thanks, Ivar. I'll take you up on that. Now, all we need to do is ride directly into an active warzone and try to avoid pissing off any of the armies. Any thoughts on that?" I jested

"Don't get killed?" Ivar offered.

"That's a great plan, let's go with that." I said with a laugh.

"Oh, and try not to step in the middle of an ongoing conflict without a full understanding of what's at stake on both sides. That helps too. Now, there are a few things you should know about Aedirn and Kaedwen…" Ivar slipped into lecture mode, informing me about the history of both countries and the courts of their respective rulers.

I did not interrupt at all during the journey despite wanting to focus on something else for at least five minutes, I deserved it for my ignorance. I guess a week at Oxenfurt wasn't enough to knock the stupid out of me yet, maybe this will.

As our horses trotted along the road, I listened to Ivar's lecture as I surveyed the Pontar on our left. We were still in the marshes near Flotsam, and our progress was slow as we made our way around downed branches and loose stones.

In the dawn's early light, I saw a sandbar out in the middle of the river. It was a bit odd, since from what I had learned on the flatboat, that was the main channel, and shouldn't have obstructions in it.

Wait. It was moving? And was that a tree in the river? ...NO, IT WASN'T!

"IVAR!" I shouted.

"...Hensalt's main advisor is named-what? Something wrong, Markus?"

"LOOK!" I pointed. "THE KAYRAN!"

Ivar scoffed. "You're not fooling me a second time," he said as he lazily looked in the direction I was gesturing. "You won't get out of this… this… uh…" His voice trailed off as he realized that I wasn't trying to trick him this time.

Together we watched as the mighty creature breached the surface of the Pontar, its large tentacles still free of growths going into the air like a whale's tail before plunging back into the water. It was a movement it did several times and it was nothing short of majestic as this massive and unique creature swam freely through the Pontar. It must have been fishing a good deal in the area since it stuck around for a few minutes, coming up and down chasing whatever its prey was. It was a terrible shame that a creature that had lived in this region for generations peacefully would die in horrible pain and madness in but a few years' time.

Soon the kayran dipped underneath the waters once more and did not resurface, leaving me and Ivar totally silent for a good minute as we processed what we saw. I was ready for Ivar to talk my head off about what we saw but he didn't say a thing, not a word.

I turned to look at him and found the man silently crying, tears freely falling down his face at what he bore witness to.

"It's so beautiful… so terribly sad that no one will remember that beauty when it finally passes. All they will recall is a maddened monster that had to be put down… Markus, might we return here some day when the end of its' life draws close? That we might end it with decency and record it's long life so that all might know its true story? A being as rare and alone as this one deserves it." He asked me.

"Of course, Ivar. Even Destiny itself can't keep me from fulfilling that promise." I said with determination. Just try and stop me you bitch.