An eerie silence fell on them. Auckes'' eyes went wide with envy, while Prisci pouted. She had a look of disgust on her face. Roy felt sorry for Dandelion, but only for a moment. <em>He showed his true colors right in front of Prisci. Can he even date her in the end?</em>
"I knew it. Dandelion, you''re a master of the art of love. You''re a casanova." Auckes wiggled his eyebrows at Dandelion.
"Um…" <em>Oh, they''re a little calmer now. </em>He heaved a sigh of relief. The bard argued, "Chasing after inspiration is a poet''s instinct, and inspirationes from all things nice, including humans. I am just doing this for art."
"Alright, I don''t care about your reason. Just tell me where your lovers live, Dandelion."
"I have a condition." The bard pressed on despite the great pressure the witchers were giving off. "I need you to promise you won''t interrogate them with any illegal means."
Geralt was his friend. Of course he knew how witchers could extract information from the people they wanted. "I''ve only spent a single night with some of them, but I don''t want them to suffer because of me."
"Well, at least you''re not total scum," Prisci mocked. The witchers agreed to the terms.
"Fine. You ask them out." Roy looked around and whispered, "Then we''ll infiltrate their ce to look for the map."
Dandelion thought about it, and he nodded. Two of his lovers were working at The Golden Sturgeon and The Kingfisher Inn respectively, one was married to an aristocrat, one was a tailor, one was a middle-aged madam, and one was an Eternal Fire cultist. He had a broad taste in women. Humans, part-elves, teenagers, and even married women.
Roy stared at the bard for the longest time. It made Dandelion ufortable. <em>Wow, he has a lot of lovers. Even more than Geralt the Stud himself. Honestly, this guy might actually be the protagonist of this world.</em>
Roy asked himself if he could do what Dandelion did, and he shook his head. Not everyone could fall in love with everyone they came across, nor could they handle a bunch of women at the same time.
"You gotta take care, Dandelion. Or you''re gonna exhaust yourself at this rate." Auckes patted the bard''s shoulder. He was concerned.
Dandelion, however, wasn''t embarrassed. In fact, he was proud. "Don''t worry about me, witcher. There are always men who have greater needs and skills out there. They enjoy being wanted by women, and I''m one of them."
"Bragging about your natural abilities in front of witchers. You''re a brave one."
"Oh no. Compared to you, I''m not impressive. I haven''t passed the trial, and my member''s still in the range of an ordinary person," he said humbly. The bard then asked, "So that''s the n then? When are we gonna execute it? And if I may say something, setting up a date that''s attractive enough for thedies does take a lot of coins, so can you sponsor me?"
The witchers'' jaws dropped. They had a feeling they just got scammed. Prisci covered her mouth and chuckled.
"I''m curious. What did you guys and the butler talk about?" Dandelion didn''t think the top leadership of a gang had anything inmon with the witchers.
"He wanted our help with a request, but we refused."
***
They left the inn. Two hourster, the little team was moving down the streets, with the witchers standing on both sides of Dandelion like they were his bodyguards. The bard strutted down the street and winked at a youngdy whose braids extended down to her hips. The girl covered her blushing face and ran away.
Roy stared at the ground. He was immersed in his thoughts.
A beautifuldy with golden hair and blue eyes was following them. She was staring at the witchers, jotting something down on her parchment with her quill.
''The Hunting Vipers
Hair as ck as a raven''s wings, as lustrous as the night sky.
Eyes as golden as a slumbering lightning.
''Twas a man who looked as steely and ice cold as the pendant he wears. Sharp enough was the look in his eyes, it could almost kill…"
***
"A reminder, Dandelion. Just because we''re guarding you doesn''t mean you can do anything you want. Dial it back a little."
The witchers searched the rooms of the waitresses and the madam for over two hours, but s, the map wasn''t in their rooms.
Dandelion distracted thedies by taking them to another room and spending the witchers'' money on a meal and <em>entertainment</em>. He was done with them within ten minutes every time. The bard had to spend precious minutes asking them about the map, so he spent really little time on the… real action. It was a far cry from the skills he bragged about.
<em>Honestly, how''d he hook up with the duchess of Toussaint? With his oratorical skills?</em>
"Calm down." The bardughed dryly. "I think we''re closing in on the target."
They came to the pink house a whileter. The witchers hid in the alley and watched in disbelief as an angry elf in full drag yelled profanities at Dandelion from his balcony. For ten minutes. And he didn''t use the same profanity twice.
Eventually, he calmed down and took Dandelion away. The bard looked a little out of it though.
The witchers infiltrated the house, but instead of finding a map, they found a whole room of thetest fashion. Lawyer outfits, princess gowns, aristocrats'' outfits… you name it. They had all kinds of uniforms here, and all of them were fashion for women.
"I had no idea he was such a… broad-minded person." Prisci looked a little shocked.
"Man, are all artists this decadent?" Roy had to say that Dandelion had great taste in women. The waitresses and the madam were plump and hot, but his taste for men was… <em>It''s weird in this era, really.</em>
"Hey, what are you doing with that skirt, Auckes? Where''d you hide it?" Serrit shouted. It seemed like he found something interesting.
"Shut up! Be quiet!" Auckes covered his brother''s mouth quickly. He noticed the look Prisci and Roy were giving him. He smiled sheepishly and tossed the skirt onto the ground. "I just think the skirt''s out of ce, so I''m helping him out. Trust me. Hey, don''t give me that look. I''m not that kind of person!"
Roy picked the skirt up and smirked. "I''ll keep this for you, Auckes. You might need it eventually." <em>Like when you''re drunk, </em>Roy added silently.
The date went on for a while this time. Ariel the tailor was the one who came back first. He looked glistening and glimmering, like he just had a revitalizing bath.
Dandelion came back a while after him. Unlike Ariel, he looked pale and weak, like he was diseased, and he was sweating too.
"Do you have to take a rest, Dandelion?"
"No!" Obstinance shone in the bard''s eyes, and he held the witcher''s shoulder with trembling hands. The bard did nothing but make up praises for Ariel as hard as he could. Praising someone took skill, especially when it would go on for a while. "I will not let you down. We will find the map today."
The witchers nodded. They gave the bard a smidgen of acknowledgement.
Their next target was the Eternal Fire cultist. Her house was in northern Novigrad. More precisely, a civilian housing area near the bridge leading to the ind. The group ran into a little problem in an alleyway.
Eight men in ck outfits and leather caps approached the group, but they maintained a little distance. The men spread out in a single line, blocking the alleyway. They were holding some sort of ring-shaped object that looked like ropes. The witchers looked around and rolled their shoulders. They could feel a hint of animosity and cautiousness from the men.
Dandelion whispered, "Calm down, witchers. They''re guards of the temple." He said with uncertainty, "They''re probably going to search you, since you do look different."
<em>The temple guards. Protectors of the Eternal Fire, huh? </em>Roy scanned the weapons these guys were holding. They were no ordinary whips. Instead, these weapons were Lamias.
"Chappelle…"
The man called Chappelle stopped in his tracks and looked at the group closely. Roy realized that his unusually icy eyes were reflecting the color of metal, and his forehead was drenched in sweat. His cheeks were covered in red spots as well.
"The talented Dandelion, and Prisci." He looked at the witchers'' pendants and said loudly, "And witchers of the Viper School. Are you traveling to the ind of the temple? Going to pray to the Eternal Fire?"
"That''s not actually it." Dandelion wiped his sweat away. "I''m just going to see a friend of mine."
Chappelle nodded at the witchers, but they didn''t answer.
"They''re bodyguards I hired," he lied. The bard said, "You know how some people in Novigrad envy my looks. They use me of seducing their wives and daughters. I hired these witchers for my safety. Some insane men might send an assassin after me, after all."
"Is that so?"
The witchers nodded quietly.
"I can prove it, Chappelle," Prisci said gently. "The witchers are indeed hired by Dandelion."
"Very well." Chappelle looked at the witchers suspiciously. "You may travel around in Novigrad freely, but I have advice for the witchers. I know some cities have a monster problem because of theck of the Eternal Fire there, but none of those filth exist in Novigrad. Use your weapons and Signs carefully, witchers. Do not point them at the people and the believers. They''re all kind souls."
"Of course." Roy nodded. <em>Yeah, the gang members aren''t exactly kind.</em>
"Witchers are no murderers. You do not have to worry."
"But most importantly…" Chappelle emphaasized, "I heard you witchers hold no beliefs. I respect that, but I hope you''ll respect the Eternal Fire as well. Do not spheme it. Anyone who sphemes the Eternal Fire will be burned at the stake, and I will personally see to it. Their wealth will be confiscated as well. That''s all I have to say. And remember this… The Eternal Fire watches all life." Chappelle drew a circle in front of his chest. He stared at the group for a while and turned around. As he left the alleyway, so did the armed soldiers. They followed him in a single file and left.
Dandelion saw them off and heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh gosh."
Prisci was obviously relieved as well.
"Who was that guy? You look terrified of him. And how''d he know us?"
"That''s the Chancellor of Security. Novigrad''s intelligence agency is a derivative of the church. He''s no priest, but he''s the highest ranking official. The guy wields the most power in this city, and he''s also the most dangerous man around. All the citizens… No, even the city council and guilds are terrified of him. There''s a lot of dark incidents surrounding him. Disappearances, torture, assassinations, threats, extortions, and even petty theft, you name it. He''s behind all of these crimes. You''re lucky he let you guys go so easily, witchers."
"He''s right, witchers. If you ever run into Chappelle, turn back. And you''re involved with a gang now too. Don''t let him catch you." Prisci looked wary as well. "Or he''ll make sure your stay in Novigrad bes a permanent one."
The witchers nodded. They took the advice to heart.
***
About fifteen minutester, Dandelion met that cultist. She was a cut, sheepish youngdy with freckles on her face. Surprisingly, thedy handed the map over before the witchers could search her room.
The witchers got what they wanted, but the map wasn''t a detailed one. It was just a simple sketch of Kaedwen borders. More specifically, an area at the base of the mountain. There were no specifics of Kaer Morhen''s location. The Wolf School didn''t give them all the details. They would send someone to wee them at the rendezvous point during Yule.
<strong>***</strong>
<strong>***</strong>