Chapter 69: Let's Play a Tense and Exciting Round of Gwent
Although Vimme Vivaldi was already a member of Novigrad's upper class, he didn't put on any airs of superiority.
On the contrary, he spoke in a tone of an elder advising a younger person.
No pretense, no condescending superiority.
No wonder he could turn his family bank into the largest bank in Novigrad.
So, Lynn didn't turn around and leave, but replied politely.
"Lord Vimme, I am very grateful for your consideration, but such worries are actually unnecessary. Hasn't Elder Brokilon sent anyone to Novigrad recently?"
"Elder Brokilon? How do you know... wait a minute."
Vimme paused, then seemed to realize something.
His eyes instantly widened.
"You're the witcher who beautifully solved the problem in Mahakam?"
Lynn nodded. "Accurately speaking, it was solved by me and another witcher companion together. However, I believe the ghost in Novigrad is not as difficult to deal with as the one in the Mahakam mountains. I alone am enough."
Lynn really wasn't just saying that casually.
The distribution of monsters and evil spirits in the witcher world actually follows certain patterns.
Whether it's unintelligent monsters like leshens and spriggans, or intelligent creatures like higher vampires, they all try to avoid densely populated cities as much as possible.
It's not to say that there are definitely no monsters in cities.
Rather, the monsters in cities either live in the sewers like drowners, or they are vampires who disguise themselves as humans.
Powerful evil spirits would never run rampant in a city.
Because if they did, the people in the city would have fled long ago.
Besides, there's a high probability that house hauntings in the city are caused by lesser earth elementals.
If it really was a lesser earth elemental, then the reward for this contract would be as good as free money.
Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that it was indeed an evil spirit at work.
But even if it was a true evil spirit, it would definitely not be as powerful as a plague maiden.
Lynn was confident that he alone was definitely enough.
"I'll take this contract. I'll go take a look at the haunted house later, but Lord Vimme, if I may be so bold, how much reward are you planning to pay me?"
It was better to clarify some things beforehand, otherwise, if they weren't discussed in advance, conflicts would arise later.
Even the best of friends were the same.
"Like to get straight to the point? Ha, well, I don't dislike it either, young witcher. I need this house urgently. If you can really clear out the ghost, I can offer you this much."
Vimme held up two fingers. "Two hundred crowns, paid in cash, no delays, and no worthless promissory notes to fool you."
Two hundred crowns was a decent reward.
Very fair.
If it really was a lesser earth elemental causing the trouble, then earning this money would be incredibly easy.
And even if it was a wraith, it didn't matter.
As mentioned before, powerful wraiths usually don't lurk in bustling urban areas.
Lynn extended his hand and shook the dwarven banker's hand solemnly.
"Deal. But I have one last question, Lord Vimme. Do you play Gwent?"
"You've come to the right person, young man. My card skills are first-rate in the city."
Unfortunately, this game of Gwent was more bark than bite.
In the end, Lynn only won twenty crowns from Vimme.
After losing two consecutive rounds, Vimme refused to play any more cards with Lynn no matter what.
Leaving the Vivaldi Bank, it took more than ten minutes.
Lynn arrived at the ominous haunted house.
This ominous house was located in the Upper City, a two-story villa with a yard.
The area occupied by this villa was truly not small in this place where land was worth its weight in gold.
Lynn didn't immediately enter the villa.
Instead, he first walked around the courtyard wall outside the villa.
There were no signs of intrusion, fighting, or damage on the courtyard wall.
If he hadn't known beforehand that this place was haunted, this house wouldn't have looked much different from an ordinary house.
But Lynn didn't go straight in.
Instead, he walked towards the house next door.
He called out a few times outside the yard.
The door quickly opened, and a man stood behind the door, looking at Lynn warily.
"You are..."
"Hello, someone asked me to come and solve the haunting problem in that house."
The wary look on the man's face clearly eased a lot.
"Gods be praised, someone has finally come to clean up this mess."
Lynn nodded and asked, "You live next door, so have you heard any noises?"
The man paused, then shook his head. "Noises? No, nothing."
Lynn was puzzled. "Nothing? So you just heard that your neighbor's house was haunted, but you've never actually seen anything?"
The man nodded. "That's right."
Lynn frowned.
"Then have you heard any unusual noises?"
The man shook his head again.
"Okay, then do you know if anyone else has seen anything?"
"No."
Lynn asked a few more questions, but didn't get the answers he wanted.
So he went to find other people and asked them all about the situation.
And they all said that they had only heard about the haunting in that house, but they had never seen it with their own eyes, nor had they heard any strange noises.
"This is interesting."
Lynn returned to the ominous house.
Although he didn't get any results from asking around, sometimes no result is also a kind of result.
If it were a powerful evil spirit, the neighbors wouldn't have no feeling at all.
However, to be on the safe side, before officially going in, he still cast a master-level Quen shield on himself.
And as usual, he drank several different potions.
When the effects of the potions took hold, he then took out the key Vimme had given him, opened the courtyard gate, and walked in.
The layout of the courtyard was not much different from the preferences of other wealthy people, with greenery, a fountain, and all the necessary scenery.
In addition, many herbs were planted in the yard, indicating that the previous owner was an alchemist.
Alchemy was certainly not exclusive to witchers.
Ordinary people also had their own potions, and there were many kinds, a dazzling array.
However, the useful potions used by ordinary people were a bit like traditional medicine.
As for other things like panaceas and elixirs of eternal youth, there was no need to even think about it; they were definitely fake.
Of course, sorcerers also concocted their magical potions.
But that was another story.
Lynn identified the herbs and quickly recognized that they were raw materials for making wound potions.
He stayed in the courtyard for a long time.
The Wolf School medallion didn't react at all, and his enhanced senses didn't hear any movement.
Then he finally walked towards the villa.
He had just walked into the villa, and the door hadn't even closed yet, when something completely unexpected suddenly happened.
The ground suddenly shook violently.
The chandelier hanging from the ceiling swung violently, making a loud clanging sound.
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