Lann took out the Cat School medallion from his inventory. He handed it to Kiyan, chuckled, and said: "The item has been returned to its original owner. Kiyan, please don't lose it again in the future."
Kiyan's consciousness has just returned, and he can still react to Lann's words.
He looked at the medallion in his hand blankly, and suddenly, a wave of memories flooded through his mind.
His eyes began to glow with a red glow, and his face began to shake as if it were having spasms.
Ships, sorcerers, sea, storms...
Many scenes began to flash through his mind, each one of them seeming to be stained with blood. Some scenes were just blurs, but Kiyan could still feel the overwhelming emotions in them.
Until those fragments of memory began to come together and form a coherent narrative.
He remembered everything.
As a witcher from the Cat School, he had hated his identity since he was a child. Opting for a solitary life, he soon grew tired of unstable and dangerous missions. He turned down the offer to be a prince's personal bodyguard and instead became the bodyguard of a smuggling ship, leading a quiet life for a few years.
Until one day, the captain, using the excuse of lack of space in the hold, assigned a sorcerer to his room.
At that time, he had already suppressed his explosive temper of fighting with others at the slightest disagreement. Unless there was a conflict, he would make many compromises in daily life.
That sorcerer was wise, and his conversations were pleasant. Although he showed a strange fascination for Kiyan, the latter did not pay attention to him at first.
Later, the other party took advantage of his meditation and paralyzed him with magic and potion.
In his semi-conscious state, he heard the waves and the storm roaring outside the cabin, the screams of his companions replacing the laughter. Unable to resist, he was taken to the laboratory, where a life of suffering and darkness began.
He didn't want to remember the memories after that. He only remembered that at the last moment of consciousness, he saw a cat statue with red eyes.
He remembered everything, absolutely everything.
Kiyan raised his head, his eyes were deep red, his face was cold, but his voice was soft. Looking at Lann, who gave him an inexplicable sense of affinity, Kaiyan asked: "You saved me?"
"I am Lann of Cintra, Lann Lannister, a witcher of the Griffin School, welcome back to the normal world." Lann asked: "How do you feel now?"
After hearing the question, Kiyan closed his eyes and clenched his fists. He felt a force far greater than his previous strength surging in his body.
He twisted his neck and moved his limbs, emitting a series of creaking sounds. In addition, the old training injuries and chronic ailments that made it difficult for him to move disappeared without a trace.
The vitality within his body surprised him.
"I've never felt so good before."
Kiyan looked around, observing the four witchers and the sorceress who were present, as if noticing them for the first time. "Did you guys save me too?"
Letho shook his head. "We were only involved in part of the process of returning you to your normal state. Getting you out of the underground laboratory was a credit to Lann and Triss."
Kiyan ignored Triss and looked at Lann, his gaze even more intense and closer.
Lann deliberately asked: "So, Kiyan, what do you plan to do now? Are you going to look for your Cat School classmates or other friends?"
Kiyan looked at Lann and then lowered his head in thought. "May I ask, what year is this year?"
"1264."
Kiyan was mentally prepared, but he couldn't help but sighed after hearing this. "Thirty years have passed."
The sadness and loss in those words made everyone who listened sigh.
"Then, the people you knew before must have changed a lot. You should take your time to find them, right?" Lann suggested empathetically. "For now, would you like to stay with me and help me? Consider this a mission I'm entrusting to you. To be honest, I'm the Earl of Cintra, and we're recently rebuilding the Order of Witchers. We already have representatives from the Griffin, Wolf, and Viper schools. If you join, we'd be closer to our goal. However, I've been having some trouble lately..."
"Okay!" Kiyan's response was so enthusiastic that he seemed to be waiting for Lann's invitation.
Lann was interrupted, but he showed a satisfied smile.
...
Would Lann feel empathy for Kiyan because of his cruel experiences, like a witcher who is outraged by his sufferings? Perhaps when Lann first came into this world he would have.
While Lann may be much more empathetic compared to the nobles of this world, he is not the Holy Mother either. He might risk his life for Ciri, Mousesack, even Geralt, but as for the others...
Even with the memories of his previous life regarding the witchers of the Viper School, Lann only felt a slight degree of friendship. At the end of the day, the feelings were not that deep.
So, even less so with Kiyan. Although his story is tragic, in the end, he was not a good person either. Kiyan had accepted a prince's commission to massacre a scientific expedition and steal its treasures, and then became a bodyguard for a smuggling and slave ship.
In the world view of this era, he is also a ruthless person.
However, the existence of the [Follower] panel makes him want to try to subdue Kiyan.
Kiyan may not have been a good person, but Lann already had enough good people around him.
Even the Viper School's witchers, who specialize in assassination missions, have strong morals.
A competent leader cannot have all his followers with the same profile, right? Fortunately, Lann's [Follower] panel did not disappoint him.
And according to the talents and skills shown in the [Follower] panel, even if Kiyan is not as good as the mentor-level figures like Vesemir, he is definitely far superior to ordinary witchers.
Lann couldn't be more pleased with the results of his exploration of Temple Island.
For a moment, he even felt that the mission of Master Mirror was not so important, and his gains from coming to Novigrad were enough!
Okay, just kidding, it's a bit too much to say that.
The mission still needs to be done, but before that, the hands in the dark must be chopped off one by one to avoid complications.
Lann thought about this and returned to his initial objective. "Letho, what are your plans for the future? Will you continue to go back to Rience to lurk?"
Letho shook his head. "We and Rience rarely see each other. We only meet when there is a mission planned in advance."
It's a very loose team structure.
Lann asked again: "Then stay here first. When did you originally plan to launch an attack against me and Chappelle?"
Letho replied: "Seven days later."
Lann nodded. There was still plenty of time, enough for his plan to be implemented bit by bit.
"Kiyan, I want you to do me a favor, too."
The newly recruited witcher from the Cat School straightened up, attentive to what Lann had to say to him.
...
Auckes, Serrit and Kolgrim went to assassinate the King of Beggars, Whoreson and Cleaver, respectively.
Because they were worried about alerting the enemy, the three did not attack immediately, but stayed dormant in Lann's residence until there was only one day left before the planned riot, and then they scattered in the night and showed their fangs.
Among them, Auckes's action was the fastest. At that time, he was following a homeless man. According to his observations, that man was going to 'pay taxes'.
The King of Beggars is a very strange existence in Novigrad.
He called himself the Beggar King to mock the red tape of the court, but he also took some of its essence and established a set of operational order in the underground of Novigrad.
Paying taxes is the most important part of the order he established, which is used to maintain his decent life and class authority.
Following this wanderer, Auckes came to the territory of the King of Beggars known as the Putrid Grove. The sealed doors and few guards were no problem for the experienced witcher.
In the darkness of the night, a black shadow slipped between the corners and the rooftops.
Soon, Auckes found his target.
Although the King of Beggars was dressed simply, he was still quite eye-catching among a group of homeless people and royal beggars, especially when he wore a gold signet ring. All the beggars and homeless people who passed by bowed down to him.
Auckes waited patiently for the King of Beggars to return to his 'palace', then slipped silently into the shadows.
Seeing all of the King of Beggars' bodyguards leave the room, Auckes knew his time had come.
He unsheathed his dagger, ready as a lurking snake.
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