When they were back at the tavern, the witcher tried to find the missing black horse from the stable. Unfortunately, they didn’t succeed as they had hoped.
However, both of them were thinking that they were already not too far from the city itself. If the horse went missing here, it was possible it would be caught and sold to other horse dealers in the city.
“Should we go and look for it in the city?” Roy said as he could feel the sting in his heart. “Your old pal cost us quite a few coins.”
“Sure,” the witcher agreed. “We should also clear up your ‘inventory’ and replenish our stock.”
***
Roy led the horse and walked on the small path in the outskirts. To his left was the wide Lake Vizima that stretched out to the horizon.
The Temeria River was directly to their north.
TL/PR Note: According to the map, it should be Ismena.
The capital city of Temeria, Vizima, was located on a giant island in the northern part of the lake. It was surrounded all around, and it was connected to land via four bridges.
The witcher’s destination was the eastern bridge, which was connected to the Trade Quarter.
They were able to see the shadows of the buildings in the city through the bridge. The tallest one was just at the end of his sight, located on the northwestern part of the island.
“Foltest’s castle.”
The origin of the castle was something he found quite funny.
When King Foltest’s own daughter-turned-striga, Adda the White, took over his headquarters, the king had no choice but to build another seat of power. He then chose to build this castle within the city. Several years later, when Nilfgaard breached Vizima’s gates, this castle had also become Emperor Emhyr var Emreis’ temporary residence and palace during the war.
“I wonder how that striga is doing right now.”
Speaking of Adda the White, Roy couldn’t help but sigh.
The Viziman legend was also someone quite pitiful.
She was born from an incestuous relationship between Foltest and his own sister, and she became a monster that only knew how to feed off flesh and drank blood. She had been dominated by her bloodlust for fourteen years. Even if her curse had been broken by Geralt, only five years had passed. How much of her humanity could she recover in that time?
And how did the king treat her?
Before Roy could even finish his thoughts, he had already reached the bridge together with the witcher.
There were many merchants coming and going on the bridge, and it was filled with people. But the two witchers’ unique outfit made the commoners automatically open up a way for them.
But the strangest thing was that when the guards at the city gates saw them, they simply glanced at them curiously, advised them on the laws of Vizima in a few sentences and then let them leave.
It made the two of them feel like they shouldn’t have to be worried so much.
“Looking at the guards’ eyes… Why do I feel like they’re gloating at us?”
Letho shuddered. “No need to be worried about them. Let’s leave as soon as we’re done.”
The long and narrow streets after the gate were rows of brick buildings tightly arranged together. Multi-colored flowers were placed right in front of the windows of the buildings.
Most of the city folk walking around the city were wearing presentable clothes, and not clothes made by the commonly seen flax. They were high-grade fur and silk.
They walked with confidence, with some of them growing somewhat chubby and having fair skin. It was obvious they were nothing like the inferior and skinny commoners.
“Seems like everyone who lives in the Trade Quarter are rich people…”
The closer they got to the heart of the Trade Quarter, the cleaner it became. The ground was paved with clean cobblestones and it was surrounded by the finely decorated buildings. In this bustling trading market, merchants from all corners of the world gathered in this place.
After Roy and Letho dismissed a few guides who tried to sell their services, they entered the place.
***
“Are you two trying to sell horses?”
A short man with shifty eyes immediately stepped forward and before they could even answer, he opened Wilt’s mouth and inspected its teeth.
Bang!
There was a crisp noise as Wilt’s clean and white teeth suddenly shut, and he quickly took back his hand.
“Your horse is so lively!” The short man couldn’t help but praise it as his eyes brimmed with interest.
Roy patted Wilt’s head comfortingly. “You’re trying to tell his master to sell him. He would naturally get angry. I won’t sell the horse, but I want to ‘buy’ one.”
“That’s even better!” The short man flashed a smile. “Whether you want the normal ones or good ones, the ones to carry cargo or people, or even to participate in competitions! The Chinon Stable has it all! I can guarantee that you’ll be happy with what we offer! Honored customers, this way please! Please allow Macaulkins to serve you!”
***
The three of them walked past the heart of the Trade Quarter. Roy was shocked to notice that the merchants weren’t selling anything ordinary. They sold jewels, gold and silver accessories, out of print books, expensive furs, spices and other luxury goods.
Macaulkins explained to them, “This must be the first time you come to Vizima. The people living in Vizima’s Trade Quarters are all the social elites. Nobles, wealthy merchants and mages live here. Even our city’s castellan Velerad made his home here. They are all very rich people, and this part of the market serves them. If you want to buy some ordinary items for daily use, then you would need to go to the Temple Quarter.”
“I see.” Roy then asked curiously, “From the way you speak, it means that the Temple Quarter and Trade Quarter tend to different classes of people?”
“Yes. ‘Poor people’ like us who sell horses and socialites respectively.”
“I’m also quite curious. Whose temple is it when it refers to the word ‘temple’ in Temple Quarter?”
“The selfless and generous Prophet Lebioda. His faithful had even built the Saint Lebioda’s Hospital. They treat and house the poor who can’t afford to see a doctor either for a very low price or for free.”
Doesn’t that make it function similarly to the Temple of Melitele?
The short man continued to tempt them, saying, “I can hear from your accents that you are both outsiders. If you have the chance, you must go and see our Lebioda and feel his greatness.”
Roy shrugged as he couldn’t care less. He didn’t want to be the second witcher who was brainwashed by Lebioda.
Macaulkins tried to press them. “If you believe in the prophet, I think I can give you a discount on behalf of the Chinon Stable for a fellow believer.”
“What is wrong with you? We’re witchers. We do not believe in gods and idols! Stop wasting your breath. What other groups are there in the Temple Quarter?”
“Haah… The headquarters of the Order of the White Rose as well as a small gathering place for the Eternal Fire.”
The three of them reached the stables in the northeast of the Trade Quarter as they chatted.
They looked around the place. Currently, there were only about five or six horse dealers in the stables and they were each taking care of about two or three horses that looked dispirited. Meanwhile, the Chinon Stable’s horses were the most organized. There were around twenty of them, and each of them had smooth fur. In terms of their physique and appearance, it was obvious they were better than the other horses.
Unfortunately, after the two made a round, they still couldn’t find the old, black horse Letho had lost. And then both could feel the pinch on their coin pouches.
The short man then said, “You’re quite lucky. You’ve just made it in time to see the newest batch of horses that have just arrived. If you’d arrived half a day later, maybe only some of the normal ones would be left behind.”
“That means your business is quite good.”
“Since Vizima has one of the biggest ports in the north, we didn’t have to worry about the sales of the high-quality horses. However…” Macaulkins seemed to have remembered something, and all he could do was let out a bitter smile.
“You should choose your horses first.”
Letho then checked the horses’ eyes, ears, teeth, size, and muscle one by one and eventually chose a white mare.
And Wilt didn’t even wait for its master’s order. It rubbed at the white mare’s head with its eyes showing great excitement. It also kept on neighing, as if it had already chosen it as its partner.
“Wilt, you’re only three years old! Don’t tell me you’ve reached the age where you want to mate?” Roy couldn’t help but smile as he patted the brown horse’s neck.
“That’s nothing strange. The horse and the master are pretty alike…” Lethos mumbled. “When you were in Ellander, you were cozying up to both Eveline and Lytta Neyd. Do you miss them?”
Roy raised his thin and faint brow at the witcher and said, “It has been a long while since you’ve looked for a woman. Is the heat building up in there, and do you need to let off some of that steam?”
“I’m sorry…” At this time, Macaulkins suddenly broke their conversation. “How about this black one? I can’t sell the other one.”
“Why is that? You told us that we can choose freely?”
Macaulkins had an expression of pity on his face as he patted the white horse’s back in silence.
“To be honest with you, another important guest has booked this white horse,” he said after he took a deep breath. “While both of you are foreigners, you must have heard a little about the story of Vizima’s King Foltest’s daughter, correct?”
Roy asked in realization, “Princess Adda? She’s the important guest you said?”
“Correct. The princess that the king deeply loved would take a white horse from our stable once every month… And according to the norms, the horse will be provided by the Chinon family.”
Roy then asked curiously, “Once a month? Why would Princess Adda need new horses so frequently?”
And then he thought to himself wickedly, Well, this is a mare. It can’t have any other uses, right?
“Well,” Macaulkins began to complain, “perhaps the princess hasn’t yet recovered from the incident last time… So no matter how good the horses are, they wouldn’t survive for long.”
Does that mean the princess hasn’t lost her bloodlust? Roy thought to himself. However, they didn’t need to fight a princess for a horse, and so they gave it up without hesitation. They also successfully completed the trade with the short man, and bought another black horse with a special price.
Their rewards from cleaning up the drowners and nekkers for half a month were gone just like that.
After they were done with the paperwork, Macaulkins even gave them stern advice. “Thanks for the business. I would like to give you two some advice for free. If you meet Princess Adda in Vizima, that beautiful woman with white hair, do not show any disrespect in your words. If you can avoid her, do so. If you do anything that makes the princess feel uncomfortable, you two would be in great trouble.”
“She’s that arrogant?”
Since they couldn’t afford to draw her attention, they could at least get out of the way, right?
The two of them didn’t want to start any problems, and so Roy led the brown horse and Letho led the black horse and they quickly left the stables.
But before they could even reach the gates, a squad of ten soldiers suddenly stopped them in their tracks.
They flaunted their sharp swords on their hips and said to the two witchers without much expression on their face, “The mayor would like to invite you to a meeting. Please stay here for a while.”
“My apologies. We’re extremely busy at this time.” Roy suddenly remembered the soldiers’ gloating expressions at the gate. It must’ve been something quite difficult to handle if they were so serious about it. “We are booked for the year, and we no longer have the time to accept any more contracts. If you would like, you can register with us for pre-booking and wait for a year.”
“Then I would like you to push back the other contracts first…” the soldier said with a raised eyebrow. “Lord Velerad’s orders. If the two of you don’t come, then you two will not leave Vizima either.”
