Chapter 96: Where the Lynx Dances with the Wolf (Part 1)
"Alright, even though you're not hungry, I am. Let's go find a place to eat. How about this one?"
Although he hadn't told Vimme directly, Lynn believed that as long as Lukas relayed his words, someone would deliver fresh meat and vegetables tomorrow.
But that was tomorrow's business.
He couldn't go the whole day hungry today.
The witcher himself didn't mind; his constitution was different anyway.
In a real emergency, he could last a day without eating.
But letting a child who worked for him go hungry was something the witcher didn't think he was cold-blooded enough to do.
The two entered the restaurant.
The waiter, who was standing at the door about to greet customers, froze as if petrified when he saw the witcher's eyes.
"Hmm, is there a problem?"
"No, it's just..." Under Lynn's gaze, the waiter stammered, "N-no, nothing. Please come in, you two."
Led by the waiter, the witcher and the girl arrived at a table with empty seats.
Lynn sat down in a chair and glanced at the girl standing behind him. "You sit down too."
Only then did the girl sit down on a chair.
But her posture suggested she was ready to flee at any moment.
"What would you like to order?"
The waiter brought a menu.
Lynn pointed at something on it.
After the waiter left, Lynn closed his eyes and began to think about the troubles they might encounter in the commission issued by Professor Dijkstra.
Professor Dijkstra would never have guessed that the trouble wouldn't come from the ruins but from someone else entirely.
But Lynn wasn't thinking about how to save Professor Dijkstra's life.
—Because that wasn't difficult.
What he was considering was how to prevent the witcher's reputation from deteriorating further.
If he fought with that Cat School witcher in front of Professor Dijkstra, then the professor's impression of witchers would probably plummet drastically.
He had to avoid that situation.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
The waiter placed the fragrant food and water on the table from the tray.
This pulled Lynn's thoughts back to reality.
He took a satisfying sniff.
At least the aroma was quite good.
He just didn't know how it tasted.
He picked up a large bone that looked like something Luffy would eat and took a bite.
Tender, juicy, and with a good texture.
Just as he was about to take a second bite, he noticed the girl staring intently at the food on the table.
She didn't move a muscle.
But her eyes seemed to be able to draw threads of longing.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"I..."
"You work for me. How can you work if you're not full? It's alright, just eat heartily."
Only then did the girl hesitantly and fearfully reach out.
But during this process, she kept looking at Lynn from time to time.
It was as if she expected Lynn to suddenly change his expression and sternly scold her while slapping her hand.
But in reality, the witcher was just focused on dealing with the large meat bone in his hand. After saying those words to her, he didn't even glance at her again.
Noticing this, the girl finally felt relieved and began to eat heartily.
However, she ate too quickly and soon choked. Lynn handed her the water and gently patted her back.
"Slow down, no need to rush. You can always ask for more if it's not enough."
She drank the water in the cup in one gulp.
Then she reached for the food again, this time eating more slowly.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Lynn took her back home.
"Alright, this is my temporary residence, and it will also be your place of work and residence for the next month."
"Just as I said at Vivaldi Bank, if you perform well, you can stay, and I will also pay you a salary."
"But if you take my kindness for granted, or are bold enough to steal my belongings, then you will have to go back to where you came from. As for your fate after that, I believe you can guess."
The witcher's words frightened the girl, whose face was as pale as snow.
He wasn't the kind of guy who liked to scare little kids for no reason.
He just preferred to lay out the unpleasant truths beforehand.
Clarifying the rules first was better for everyone.
Although Triss had only paid half a year's rent for this house, the location was quite good.
Therefore, if nothing unexpected happened, he planned to pay the rent to Vimme himself when the time came.
Novigrad, as the pearl of the North, was a better choice for a witcher's base of operations outside of Kaer Morhen than Vizima.
That's right, Lynn planned to turn Novigrad into a secret base for witchers.
Of course, one had to take things one step at a time. A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step.
"What's your name?"
"Ciri."
"Very well, Ciri. Now, go and rest. When you wake up, familiarize yourself with the surroundings. You don't have to do anything today. You can start working tomorrow."
...
A few days later.
The sun hadn't yet risen, and already more than a dozen people had gathered near the gates of Oxenfurt.
Several of them were wearing Oxenfurt Academy student uniforms and professor attire, while others were dressed as laborers.
On the carriage nearby were tools for digging.
And further away stood a witcher with two swords on his back.
Professor Dijkstra's students stood far away from the witcher, forming a small circle and whispering amongst themselves.
"That witcher is supposed to protect our team? I don't like that guy. The way he looks at us is like we're pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered."
Gottfried, Misia's ex-boyfriend, said with disgust.
Marco, tall and thin with a face full of freckles, quickly lowered his voice. "Shh, keep it down, Gottfried. Witchers have very keen senses. Be careful he doesn't hear you."
Then, he turned to look at Misia standing beside him.
"Misia, didn't you say the professor also invited another witcher? I remember his name was Lynn, right?"
Misia nodded. "Yes."
Marco scratched his head. "Why hasn't he arrived yet? Could he have forgotten that today was the meeting day?"
"No, Master Lynn isn't that kind of person... Look, that's Master Lynn..."
The other two looked over together and saw a young and handsome witcher slowly riding a black steed from the distance.
Before he even got close, a witcher with a fierce look on his face blocked his path.
"Hey, wolf cub, what are you doing! Can't you see someone's already here? Go scavenge somewhere else."
Lynn reined in his horse and looked at the person who had stopped him.
He also had cat-like pupils.
However, around his neck was a cat's head with bared fangs.
Lynn jumped off his horse. "So, you must be the Cat School witcher responsible for protecting the professor and his team? Is that your reaction when you see a fellow witcher? Shouldn't it be a heartwarming embrace?"
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