Chapter 131

I went through the portal penultimate, and a slightly exhausted Triss went through right after me, after which the portal closed.

"So, you are the David who helped my grandma...kha kha kha..."

The elderly witch doctor coughed and quickly shooting his eyes around slightly embarrassed continued.

"Did Ciri survive and protect her from the Wild Hunt?"

"Yeah, and you, uh."

Since the old man started to address me by my name, I decided to go easy on him and address him as "you. However, judging by his look, he didn't take offense at my address and didn't even pay attention to it.

"Vesemir."

My hand was extended to me and I shook it.

Hmm... and the old man has a firm handshake. But I didn't expect anything else from a witch, so we stood there for a moment, trying to squeeze each other's hand... Or rather, Vesemir tried to squeeze my hand, but I just stood there and smiled at his handshake with the same force as he did.

"Uncle Vesemir! Enough already!"

Ciri appeared beside us and hovered indignantly over the elderly witch.

"Ciri, good to see you..."

The old man let go of my arm and immediately grasped her by the shoulders, while lifting her slightly and examining her with genuine interest.

"Grown up. matured."

"Put me down!"

She jerked her legs a little, but she didn't twitch any harder. She jerked her legs a little, but she didn't twitch any harder, nor did she use her power of the older blood to break free of the old witch's peculiar embrace.

"It's good to see you, Vesemir..."

Triss stepped forward slightly and smiled warmly at her longtime acquaintance, who lowered Ciri to the ground and looked at Triss carefully. Snorted.

"And you're here. It's good to see you, though."

"Yeah, yeah, where should we set up?"

"А..."

Vesemir waved his hand and shook his head slightly sadly.

"...I've already given everything I've got to this guy, Saul. He's mediocre as a close-quarters fighter, but as a manager.

He nodded his head.

"...as a manager, he's very, very good. So I chose to withdraw after showing him the highlights of the fortress. However, occasionally he comes up to me and clarifies things."

"I see you don't feel bad about it?"

"Should I?"

Vesemir looked at Triss with a sad grin.

"There are twenty of us left, and only a dozen of us come to Caer Morhen at least once every couple of years for the winter or just to visit our alma mater. The rest have long since lost the right to be called witches. And for us. this castle is too big for us."

"And you decided to give it to David?"

"Well... Saul said that no one would kick us out, moreover, if necessary, they would provide medical care and even help recruit students that we would train, and then they would add strength, speed and endurance to them with their own methods... So I thought it was a good opportunity to keep the Wolf School from disappearing."

"You're right. no one's gonna chase you away."

I grinned entering the conversation.

"Because I've listened to Ciri's stories and I respect you. Moreover, I can say that if I just think about it, Ciri will kill me, and I want to live..."

"Ha, you're right! The little one could really kill anyone if she wanted to. especially with her behavior. I remember I gave her a book to read, a witch's bestiary, and as soon as I dozed off, she dropped everything and went to the playground..."

Vesemir nodded towards the very platform that was located on a rather large elevation and actually trained not only combat skills, but also movement coordination.

"Hmmm..."

"What?"

"From what Ciri told me, I thought that this platform was somewhere on the wall..."

"It was there until Saul said it shouldn't be on the wall. A wall should be a wall."

Vesemir was clearly mocking Saul.

"...so I had to reschedule."

"Hmmm... Tsiri looked at the site thoughtfully and quickly reached it and climbed onto one of the posts in one short teleport, then closed her eyes and took two steps forward. A light push and there was a target to strike and it began to sway from side to side. Tsiri immediately unleashed a series of blows, but she didn't forget to step on the posts."

"Hmmm... something like a dance..."

"Well. witches move more jaggedly and sharply, but when Ciri came to us she already had the basis for the style, and it would be much longer to retrain her, so we rather refined her base and built it up. And the sword, witches prefer much heavier types of such weapons, and Tsiri's sword is made of lighter, but no less strong alchemical alloys."

Vesemir felt it necessary to explain why Ciri was moving this way and not the other way around.

"Well... I think it's beautiful and effective. And the fact that it also looks spectacular is more a plus than a minus."

"I can't argue, it's really okay for a would-be aristocrat to sacrifice some efficiency in favor of showiness, but not for a witch.

"You're forgetting that she's an Elderblood..."

I shook my head.

"Where you have to go off a roll or put up a hard block she might just..."

It was at this moment that Ciri teleported to the opposite side of the target and landed a few strong blows before also portaling back.

"...Actually, that's exactly what I was talking about."

"Mm..."

Vesemir shook his head.

"Where do these skills come from?"

"Well... We have our own capabilities and we were partially able to give her sword fighting experience, and then she added her magic to that experience."

"Hmm... thank you."

Vesemir gave me a grateful look, but Ciri had already done a spectacular somersault off the training ground and landed with a very elegant bow. So I couldn't help but clap my hands. Many other members of my clan followed suit, and even Triss and Ian, who had come up to us, couldn't help themselves.

"And what were those twists and turns?"

And a single slightly disgruntled voice was heard from the side of the fortress building.

"Geralt..."

Ciri grinned and turned to him and teleported behind his back and jumped on top of her.

"...hi! Good to see you!"

"Ahem... Ahem. Ahem. Ahem. Ahem."

Everyone had a coughing fit in an attempt to suppress the laughter at Ciri's quick reaction to the appearance of her tutor. And the fact that Ian wasn't entirely happy with him and, judging by the look in his eyes, hadn't made even the slightest contact with him didn't matter...

However, Ian is Ian, and Ciri is Ciri, so she can't expect to just stop communicating with the man who replaced her father. On the other hand, Yen herself, despite her dislike for Geralt, did not seek to turn Ciri against him, realizing what an important role he played in Ciri's life.

"That's enough!"

"Take me for a ride! But! But!"

She slapped her heels against Geralt's ribs a couple times, and he shuddered, but walked in our direction, dragging Ciri, who had become a little girl, on his back.

So how do you treat her?

She looks like a grown-up, but sometimes she does something that makes you want to stand or fall.

"Ahem..."

Saul found himself beside them and caught his girlfriend by the ear.

"Aye-aye-aye! Saul, come on! Come on, Saul!

"Get off Geralt and don't embarrass yourself."

"But it's all our own!"

Despite her indignation she still climbed off her mentor's back and stared resentfully at Sol, who despite her resentment encased her in a hug.

"I missed you, my little princess."

"Uh-huh...

Despite her "offense," Ciri still responded to Sol's embrace, and a few seconds later they kissed. It was nothing serious, just an almost childish kiss, but even that made Geralt's face twist in distaste.

"So, you moved the whole clan here?"

"Yeah, and Vic and Misty. It would be good to send them straight to their fiefdom of the infirmary. I think they'd be happy to look around there and start preparing for the witches who'd already made it to Caer Morhen, and give them both first and second aid."

"Actually, we're all healthy..."

A witch doctor with a scar on his face stepped forward.

"And you..."

I looked at him carefully, and he grinned.

"Excel."

I nodded to him and held out my hand.

"David, the head of this tabor to whom you gave this fortress for use."

"Heh, like we had a choice..."

He shook my hand, but he wasn't going to press me.

"There's always a choice. You know what they say, don't you? Even if you get eaten, you have at least two choices, back through the mouth or through the ass..."

Triss gave me a light shove.

"What?"

"There are girls here."

I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Considering how THIS girls can express themselves, completely unashamed of the guys around them, I doubt my words can embarrass you in any way."

Triss stuck her nose up proudly and didn't argue with me.

"Back to our conversation, if you have a blade with you, you can cut through a third one. So."

"I get it."

Excel waved his hand.

"But you know, sometimes the choice one has is comparable to not having that choice. Especially since the eldest of us, Vesemir, has agreed to your plan and agreed to give you our fortress. Which means we can't argue. He's more experienced than any of us..."

I nodded my head.

"I see... now, give me a tour and tell me what you've accomplished so far and what's just ahead..."

"Well, that's something you'd better talk to Saul about..."

Vesemir immediately turned over tour guide duties to my deputy and future Emperor of Nilfgaard.

"Okay... but Ciri's coming with us."

"Yes, please..."

I raised my hands as if to say that I didn't mind the situation. And that was the beginning of my tour, which also included Triss, who had been to the fortress before, so she could tell me what it looked like before and even show me with some simple illusions.

So for the next couple hours I was taken all over the fortress.

And, of course, the most finished construction, in which there was nothing to be done, was the fortress wall, which was not only restored, but also made wider by increasing its outer diameter, if it was possible, of course. And if not, it was built up along the inner diameter.

Also the gates were completely completed, which became much more massive, and the mechanism of their opening and closing, due to the application of highly simplified, but still modern knowledge, could now be carried out by one person.

Next, I was taken to the barracks, which had also been transformed. And they were radically transformed, because previously only the foundation was left of this building, and it was simply built from scratch, and the building was not only erected on several floors, but also made several underground floors, with good modern lighting.

Then there was the building of the fortress itself, and if the outer walls were completely repaired, but the interior decoration was not yet fully put in order.

Everywhere was a mess, here and there there were destroyed rooms, walls, but not load-bearing, furniture, but Vic's fiefdom on the minus first tier they still put in perfect order and even connected thanks to the clan riper.

He's certainly not as good as Vic, but even he could perform the simplest of operations and do chrome treatment and maintenance.

Vic by that time was already in his fiefdom and apparently he quickly found a common language with his colleague, because during the inspection they calmly discussed those or other members of the clan, the order of operations to replace chromium on synthetics and organics, as well as the prospects of studying witches for better improvement of the clan representatives.

"Vic, how's it going in here?"

"Huh? David? Everything's great. Of course, some of the equipment will have to be replaced and new equipment will have to be connected, I ordered equipment that was much more reliable than what the clan had, but in general, we can work now."

I nodded.

"Did you talk to Vesemir?"

"Yeah, he promised to send all his wards to me starting tomorrow morning, so I'll patch them up pretty quickly."

"That's good..."

I nodded, and noticing that Misty was busy checking her papers, I didn't pester her with questions.