—
Seeing that one of the mages killed was Stregobor, the sorcerer from Geralt's story who experimented on a young girl, Ciri asked Moiraine, both confused and infuriated, "But why is fear bad when sooner or later our kindness will be used against us? Why is Yoriichi's action wrong, especially if he does not act immediately and the enemies might escape first? Why should we worry about what people think of us when we can just deal with it when the time comes?"
Rolling her eyes, Moiraine replied, "Seriously? Do you think I'm that much of a dimwit? Do you still believe my point of view is just dunderheaded black-and-white logic? No, what I meant is that fear is not a tool to be used all the time or in every situation. Use it in the right amount, and it can be a useful device to curb rebellion. Yoriichi is getting better at this, as he is no longer staring everyone into submission."
Turning toward the center of the crowd where Yoriichi was burning Stregobor to ashes, Moiraine retorted, "As for whether Yoriichi's actions are wrong, who said that I disagree with him? Just because I'm annoyed doesn't mean I don't support his decision. It's just stupid and senseless conjecture from you, Ciri. You should improve on this."
Sighing, she continued, "I might not know what's inside Yoriichi's head or what drives him to decisively hunt down these demons. But what I do know is that we all have our roles to play, Ciri—roles that each of us has that others don't. These roles can address our flaws when combined. His decisiveness is a role that we don't have, and his impulsiveness is a flaw that we need to fill. So, we should strive to adopt this decisiveness until it becomes flawless action, without any openings or gaps that enemies could exploit due to a fragile foundation."
Turning again toward Ciri, Moiraine answered the third question, "As for why we should worry about what people think when we can just deal with them when the time comes—shame on you, Ciri, shame on you. Vanity and ego will only bite you in the end if you think we can stay ahead of others. And that's where I disagree with Yoriichi. Arrogance only breeds complacency. Luckily, I don't need to personally teach him that since he has already been knocked down from his high pedestal a few notches."
Still unsure whether to feel infuriated at being indirectly called stupid or grateful for the life lesson, Ciri directed her discomfort toward Yoriichi. "Then why don't you talk to him like this? Clearly, he is not better than me when it comes to arrogance," she said, silently apologizing in her heart to Yoriichi for throwing him under the bus.
Letting out a breath of lamentation, Moiraine explained, "Because his ego is too fragile. I don't know what kind of world he lived in before this, but it seems he is used to a cushy, comfortable life. Even though he can mask his emotions with that calm exterior, I have a feeling he is not accustomed to being told what to do. It's as if he brings a repulsion from modern society with him. Maybe it's due to the freedom of speech ideology ingrained in him, as mentioned in the database—I'm not entirely sure. But from what I've observed, including how he rebuked Margarita weeks ago and his subsequent actions, he doesn't like being told what to do and quickly shuts down any small relationship he has with that person."
Pausing after speaking for a long time, Moiraine continued, "And my job is to guide him. If I can't even manage a simple task like not becoming his friend, then I have already failed as the Blue Aes Sedai. That's why, for now, I've decided not to be too harsh with him. Maybe right now I am not yet able to confront his flaws directly, but sooner or later, I will be able to."
Shaking her head, Moiraine then refocused on their work. "Anyway, let's go back to our task. Now concentrate on the suspicious people in orange. Do you see them? What do you think of their questionable body language?"
Performing Superfluidity to absorb the photon light reflected from the four individuals, Ciri observed that each of them exhibited different, inconsistent, and unnatural movements. One of them had long hair, a small nose, and sharp eyes, indicating that he was not from Skellige or specifically from Clan Tordarroch, which was meant to repopulate Undvik according to the queen Cerys's agreement with Rita after the treaty to save them from the Conjunction. Instead, he was from Nilfgaard, though he had Skelligian characteristics due to his descent.
Clearly from this person's lingering glance at Yoriichi, who is currently frowning while confronting one of the resurrected sorceresses, Tissaia de Vries, Ciri guessed that the man had just discovered that this confrontation would be a point of exploitation. As she began to think about his motivations and how he might deliver the news to Emhyr, Moiraine interrupted her thoughts.
"Your job now is to focus on noticing these suspicious people and guessing who they are until it becomes second nature to you. For now, don't worry about anything else since you're not fast enough. Once you can identify them at a glance, I will teach you how to uncover their motives and understand how they operate."
Nodding her head, Ciri then looked toward the next person. She was surprised because she recognized him clearly. He was the cobbler who repaired shoes for the rescue party from Novigrad. She remembered that he used to wear a monocle on his left eye, but now it was gone, replaced by a Skelligian headband similar to the one Crach an Craite wears, except that it was made of fabric. The man now wore a simple common folk shirt and was holding a plank of wood that had been chopped by Oreads.
If it weren't for Moiraine's color scheme, Ciri might not have noticed him at all, as his actions seemed very natural, making it easy to forget he was the same person from Novigrad. His actions were so flawless that he slowly lifted his foot toward the crowd to watch the spectacle before returning to the beach. Recalling that his name was Thaler and that he now worked as a shipwright, she concluded that this man was likely working for Redenia.
Next, Ciri noticed a person with pointy ears who almost resembled a human, except for the very slight nudge on the ears. Frowning because she knew the Aen Seidhe had already gone with the Aen Elle to their world, Ciri was about to judge this female as an enemy. However, she paused after observing the tour group led by Triss and Faralda, especially when she noticed one person who closely resembled her, minus the scars. Remembering the portrait given to her by Yennefer after scouring Avallac'h's laboratory—since her mother wanted to find out where the Aen Elle were hiding—Ciri's eyes widened in recognition of her great-great-great-grandmother.
Shaking her head and focusing on who this female elf, disguised as a human, might be working for, Ciri quickly conjectured that the elf was likely a spy for one of the resurrected Aen Saevherne. Since the Aen Saevherne did not want to go to Undvik and was being officially toured by Faralda and Triss, it seemed the sage had sent this elf, who resembled a human, instead. Although Ciri would have liked to find out how the elf managed to enter the archipelago and become a core citizen of Undvik, she refocused her attention on another person.
This time, it was easy to notice that the person was a spy, but very hard to guess who he was working for. Noticing the black and red emblem with a lion holding a flag on the man's shirt—and knowing that the crest did not originate from the land of the Continent—Ciri asked Moiraine, "Who is he?"
"I don't know who he is, but from what I read in the report, he is one of the people saved by Zagreus and Melinoë. Regarding his identity during the census, the man claimed to be from the Empire. When asked which empire, he simply said, 'The Empire.'"
—