Chapter 129: Everyone Has a Bright Future
Lynn poked his head out of the kitchen and glanced at the hall outside.
Then he returned to the kitchen, puzzled, "Just the two of us? Where is everyone else?"
"Eskel and Lambert went out to collect the stone and wood needed to repair the castle. I was wondering when I came back, how did those two become nature's porters?"
"As for Vesemir, he's outside with the dwarves, instructing them on what to do."
"After all, the dwarves are too short. Without Vesemir, it would be a bit too difficult for them to consider things purely from a human perspective."
Lynn nodded, planning to go out and help after breakfast.
"Bring out the rest, let's eat outside."
Geralt had made baked apples, bread, and grilled fish.
Not lavish, but enough for the two of them to fill their stomachs.
The two sat at the empty long table, wolfing down their food.
Geralt picked up a beer and poured Lynn a full mug.
He looked at the young witcher and asked, "I heard Berengar is back?"
Lynn thanked him and then took a sip of beer to wet his throat.
"If he didn't wake up in the middle of the night and sneak away, he should be lying upstairs now."
Geralt raised an eyebrow: "He finally returned, although he might not want to come back to this home whose door will always be open to him."
Lynn thought for a moment.
He decided it was best not to answer.
Next, Lynn and Geralt didn't speak anymore.
They just busied themselves with the remaining food on their plates.
Besides eating, Lynn's mind wasn't idle either.
In fact, Lynn knew why Berengar had been unwilling to return to Kaer Morhen for so long.
It wasn't that the Wolf School family treated him badly.
But he loathed his identity as a witcher.
Perhaps even more than Lambert did.
Of course, this was actually quite normal.
In reality, how many people like their jobs?
Let alone others, just take Lynn himself.
In his previous life, when he was in elementary school, his classmates' ideals were to become astronauts, engineers, or even generals and captains.
As a result, after growing up, his classmates went to factories or worked in construction.
Everyone had a bright future.
But even if they disliked their jobs, what could they do?
For the sake of life, for the sake of supporting their families, they had to endure, had to continue doing the work they didn't like.
That's how people are.
But Berengar's situation was a bit more special.
Because his identity as a witcher wasn't his own choice.
He longed to marry and have children like a normal person, to make three or five close friends.
But his identity as a witcher robbed him of these possibilities.
He loathed the hostility of the world and hated that his witcher identity made him suffer such injustice.
That's why he chose to leave Kaer Morhen and hadn't returned for so long.
Lynn devoured all the food on his plate like a whirlwind.
"Is there any left in the kitchen? I'll take a portion to Berengar."
Geralt nodded and said, "I specifically made an extra portion, you can take it up to him."
So Lynn went to the kitchen, took the food left for Berengar, and went upstairs to Berengar's bedroom.
He knocked on the door.
But there was no response.
He simply pushed the door open and walked in.
Berengar hadn't left. He was lying on his side, facing away from the door.
He didn't move even when Lynn came in.
As if he was still not awake.
Lynn gently placed the plate of food on the table.
Then he unwrapped the bandages from last night and checked the wound.
The recovery effect of Superior White Raffard's Decoction was indeed more than one level higher than that of Swallow potion.
It had clearly only been bandaged and treated last night, but the wound already showed obvious signs of improvement.
Lynn changed his bandages with new, clean ones, re-bandaged him, and then left.
Throughout this entire process, Berengar kept his eyes tightly closed.
Before leaving, Lynn glanced at Berengar again.
The latter still didn't move.
He seemed to still be unconscious.
But he forgot that Lynn was also a witcher.
Lynn could tell whether he was really unconscious or just pretending to be asleep.
So, Lynn leaned against the door, as if talking to Berengar on the bed.
Or as if he was talking to himself.
"I know a dwarven banker in Novigrad. Although everyone says that bankers have no heart, that they are monsters more bloodless, tearless, and cold-hearted than us witchers."
"But the dwarven banker I know is actually quite good."
"Coincidentally, I have some money on hand and plan to ask him to help me find a suitable place to open a blacksmith shop."
Lynn glanced at Berengar on the bed.
The latter's body moved slightly.
As if affected by Lynn's previous words.
Lynn pretended not to see it and continued.
"But there's a troublesome thing, which is that I don't know how to blacksmith. Of course, witchers have long lifespans, as long as we're willing, we can learn, practice makes perfect."
"But I don't want to spend the whole day in a hot blacksmith shop either."
"Similarly, I'm not a person who likes to beat around the bush, so I'll just say it straight."
"Berengar, are you willing to work for me?"
"The blacksmith guild's license, the rent for the blacksmith shop, the series of complicated procedures at the city hall, and the tax issues, I'll take care of all of that."
"And what you need to do is only one thing, which is to blacksmith, forge swords, forge more and better swords."
"This way, you won't have to endure the world's discrimination and malice towards you for a few crowns anymore, what do you say?"
How should Berengar be evaluated?
Although he escaped his responsibilities as a witcher, he still hadn't forgotten Vesemir's teachings.
Especially in terms of moral character.
In fact, just like a saying in his previous life, "The ways to make money are all written in the criminal law,"
in this world, if a person was willing to abandon their conscience, they wouldn't be as miserable and conflicted as Berengar.
But it was precisely because of this that Lynn was willing to recruit him and give him a chance.
So as not to let the other party slowly slide into the abyss like in another timeline.
Hearing the olive branch that Lynn extended, Berengar on the bed finally moved.
He turned over and sat up in bed.
His movements pulled at his wounds, causing him to grimace slightly.
"Are all those things you just said true?"
Berengar couldn't believe that such a good thing would fall on his head.
It wasn't that he suspected Lynn was making fun of him.
He simply felt that Lynn didn't have that much money at all, and those words were purely to comfort him.
(End of this chapter)