Lann noticed something different in Chappelle's tone. Compared to their previous encounters, where Chappelle presented an image of a steady officer, today his demeanor was unusually agitated.
The most important thing was that the system had told Lann that the mission had been completed, but Chappelle was still chattering in front of him, which was unreasonable.
This could only mean that the man in front of him was acting or testing something.
Lann had a hunch that the next conversation would change the direction of their relationship. He took a deep breath and prepared to act. "If that's all you have to say, Chappelle, I'm afraid I can't allow you to take my prisoner."
Chappelle sneered. "Are you sure? Here in Novigrad, next to Temple Island, under the light of the Eternal Fire?"
"Yes, I have two reasons. Since we have had a good relationship, I will take the time to explain it to you." Lann replied in a cold tone. "First: According to my information, this Toad Prince is a prince from the kingdom of Ofir. Cintra needs all the allies it can get, so I must protect the Toad Prince and break his curse."
"You will lose the friendship of the Eternal Fire. Sacrificing a close friendship for a distant ally is not the decision of a wise man."
"That's why I have a second reason." Lann looked into Chappelle's eyes, as if he was talking to another person. "The prince committed the crimes you accused him of when he was cursed and lost his mind. He is also a victim. If we want to find someone to punish, we should find the one who cursed him, not him."
"The sword hurts me, but I don't blame the sword, I blame the one who wields it, right?" Chappelle said. "But this is not enough, Lannister. There is no evidence to prove that the toad is innocent. Now in my eyes, it is just a murderous monster."
"Chappelle, why should we prove his innocence? Shouldn't the evidence prove his guilt?" Lann replied slowly. "Do all monsters deserve to die?"
Chappelle was stunned suddenly. He didn't seem to expect Lann to say such a thing.
"You know I know Geralt. He's told me many stories, including encounters with kind nymphs, dopplers, alps, bruxas, and other creatures that humans often fear. In many cases, they are the real victims. From their perspective, humans are the monsters."
Lann and Geralt often chatted, but this information came from memories of his previous life.
"When people see monsters, they assume they are guilty, which is wrong. They exclude, discriminate, and even kill everything they don't understand. Now it's just these intelligent non-human creatures, but I think one day this attitude will extend to other non-human races, and even to humans with non-human powers, such as mages and witchers."
Lann continued: "I oppose this way of thinking, and so does Cintra. We have overcome prejudice and distrust towards the dryads, we have forged friendship with the dwarves, and my followers have received help from a succubus in Toussaint. All of this proves that Geralt's and my approach is the right one."
The conversation had strayed from the topic of how to deal with Prince Toad, but Lann wanted to impress his ideas on Chappelle.
Geralt had won Chappelle's friendship by almost drawing his sword to protect a doppler. Lann thought he might try something similar.
"So, I won't let you kill the Toad Prince just like that. I won't let him die because of the sins of others, and I won't let him die for the ridiculous reason of being cursed to be a toad."
Triss was surprised by Lann, but not because of his compassion, but because she did not expect Lann to be so adamant in this situation.
Even if the toad was a prince, facing the Eternal Fire for him was madness.
Triss was about to cast a spell to stop Chappelle from calling the temple guards. But then she remembered a little secret Lann had told her about Chappelle.
The sorceress's eyes lit up with understanding and she decided to remain silent.
Sure enough, Chappelle was not angry after hearing Lann's impassioned speech, and even completely lost her previous cold temperament. His tone suddenly softened. "Yes, yes. You are Geralt's friend, right? Sure enough, Geralt's friends are like this. No matter what race, no matter what profession, halfling, bard, or noble."
He looked at the jade statue of the Toad Prince in his hand and handed it back to Lann.
"If Geralt has told you those stories, I don't know if he has mentioned anything about me. But I suppose not, because he is very discreet about his friends' secrets..."
Chappelle was about to say something else when an unexpected noise interrupted his speech.
[Knock! Knock!]
In the middle of the night, someone was knocking on Lann's window.
This scene gave Lann a sense of familiarity. In the past, when this happened, he could see a green-skinned lady who was dressed very 'naturally' outside the window as soon as he opened the window. But this isn't Brokilon, so there's absolutely no chance of a dryad outside the window.
Who could elude the Cintra sentries and the guards of the Eternal Fire and reach her window at this hour?
Or has his men been knocked down again?
Lann activated the Quen Sign on his body and just as Lann reached for his sword, he suddenly heard a familiar voice outside the window.
"Lann, Lann! You're in there, right? Open the window!" With this urgent whisper, more knocks were heard on the window.
The expressions of the three in the room became strange.
Lann walked forward with a smile and opened the window, facing a pair of amber snake eyes.
Kolgrim, the witcher he saved in White Orchard, is back again.
"Long time no see, Kolgrim. Come in."
"Don't worry, Lann." Kolgrim smiled slightly. "Do you remember I told you about my schoolmates? Today I will introduce you to some new friends."
Lann stepped aside to allow Kolgrim to enter through the window.
Then more footsteps were heard on the roof, and then a second person grabbed the window ledge and climbed in, followed by a third and a fourth.
They all removed their hoods, revealing faces Lann had never seen before but that seemed strangely familiar.
Lann was filled with joy and even euphoric.
But just as Kolgrim was about to speak, his gaze suddenly fixed on Chappelle.
"Looks like I'm going to give you another surprise." Kolgrim pointed at Chappelle. "Lann, be careful, it's a doppler!"
Before Lann could respond, a Moon Dust bomb flew out of the hand of one of the people behind Kolgrim and exploded with a bang, scattering silver splinters around Chappelle before anyone could react.
Chappelle, when he saw the four witchers suddenly enter, was visibly nervous. He seemed to want to call the temple guards, but the scream got stuck in his throat under the influence of the silver splinters and then his body began to melt, as if he were a mass of mud.
His hands and feet elongated, becoming thin. His facial features disappeared, and his skin and clothes became a single tone and texture, looking more like an amorphous mass than a living being.
'Chappelle' whimpered and rushed towards the door in a hurry, only to find a man with snake eyes standing there.
"Shout! Call your temple guards, let them see who they've been serving all this time."
Triss stared with shining eyes at the fascinating being she had only seen in books. Then she looked at Lann, with even more interest.
"He is a doppler." Kolgrim explained. "When we arrived in Novigrad, we heard information that Chappelle had a drastic change in personality after almost dying. We felt that something was wrong at that time. After investigation, we found that he no longer touched or used silver utensils. We even found the corpse of the real Chappelle through the witcher's senses."
"All this evidence confirmed our suspicions. The current Chappelle is a doppler!"
"It's ironic. The real Chappelle was feared and died quietly, while the fake gained fame and elevated the image of the Eternal Fire."
'Chappelle whimpered again. The doppler's personality will change with his form. At this moment, he no longer has the momentum of the Eternal Fire's security officer. He has become pitiful and even speaks with a crying tone.
"Lann, don't do this, don't hurt me... I haven't done anything to be hostile to you, and I haven't hurt anyone..."
He seemed to be clinging to a desperate hope. "What you said before is true, right? You said you wouldn't hurt a life that didn't do evil, and you didn't even hurt the toad... You are Geralt's friend, and so am I... Please don't hurt me..."
Although he already knew Chappelle's true identity, seeing this sudden change in character, Lann couldn't help but show a complicated expression. He is really very different from the previous image of a cold and dignified officer.
Lann naturally did not want to hurt the current 'Chappelle'. From an emotional point of view, the other party is a kind doppler. After becoming Chappelle, he used this identity to improve people's lives, spread faith, and protect the weak.
Rationally, the current Chappelle could also offer more help to Lann. They had already begun to form a friendship before the Viper School witchers arrived.
Lann believed that after seeing each other's true forms, this friendship would only grow stronger.
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