"A magically protected door?" Professor Dijkstra exclaid in surprise. "Master Lynn, is there really nothing even you can do?"
Lynn spread his hands helplessly.
"I'm just a witcher. Clearing monsters and chanisms in ruins is no problem, but magic really isn't a witcher's forte."
Professor Dijkstra scratched his head. "But I heard that witchers are also very good at dispelling curses?"
"Dispelling a curse on soone and dispelling a curse protecting a door are two different things. Although I know it looks the sa to outsiders, the reality is different."
Even though Lynn had already explained, Professor Dijkstra still asked unwillingly, "Is there really no way at all?"
A magically protected door – even a fool would know there must be good things inside.
If they reported it to Oxenfurt Academy, the academy could certainly invite a sorcerer.
But in this day and age, a sorcerer's status was incomparable to a witcher's.
Two hundred crowns could hire a witcher to help clear ruins.
Even two thousand crowns might not be enough to hire a sorcerer...
Especially since there might be treasures worth more than two thousand crowns inside.
And what if the entire elven underground ruins beca the property of the Brotherhood of Sorcerers? That would be a joke.
Similar things had happened in history before.
After all, even the most respected professors at Oxenfurt Academy had to listen to the orders of kings.
And kings, in many choices, needed to listen to the opinions of sorcerers.
The gap between the two was evident.
If possible, Professor Dijkstra really didn't want sorcerers to get involved.
Seeing the other party's worried and seemingly helpless look, Lynn said slowly.
"Well, although I can't help, I have a friend who happens to be a sorceress. Perhaps she can be of assistance."
Professor Dijkstra's eyes lit up, but then he hesitated and asked, "What about the fees..."
Lynn thought about the sorceress's character.
He felt that even if she was really willing to make a trip for nothing, Lynn couldn't really let her do that.
He had to give her so incentive.
"If there's treasure inside, she'll have to get a share."
"This... alright."
Professor Dijkstra agreed with a苦着脸 (kǔzhe liǎn - bitter face).
This was already the best outco.
Giving away a portion of the treasure was better than having all the results seized by the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
After receiving Professor Dijkstra's affirmative response, Lynn walked to a place so distance from the camp, ensuring that no one else could eavesdrop on their conversation. He then took out a shiny silver box.
This was the ssage box Triss had given him before leaving Novigrad.
Following the instructions Triss had previously taught him, he began to operate it.
Soon, an surprised voice ca from the other side of the ssage box.
"Lynn?"
"It's , Triss. Are you free to talk now?"
"Of course, I was just about to contact you. The reward I promised you last ti is ready. I was planning to co find you. Where are you now? Still in Novigrad?"
"No, I'm not in Novigrad anymore, and that's not why I contacted you. But it's good to hear so good news."
Then, Lynn told her everything that had happened to him during this ti and the reason for contacting her. The voice in the silver box pondered for a mont and said, "I see. A magically protected door? Hmm, I can co take a look, no problem. Anyway, even if it's unsuccessful, there won't be much loss."
"So, you're agreeing?" With Triss's help, this could be considered a sure thing.
"Of course, but Lynn, are you sure we're only taking two shares of the treasure? If you want, we can actually secretly take a few more shares. No one else will know anyway."
Lynn really seriously considered Triss's suggestion.
But he didn't think for too long before refusing.
"Let's forget it. Since we've taken their reward, we should at least have so credibility."
Triss continued, "What does it matter? According to you, your employer hasn't even been inside the ruins with you. How would he know exactly how much treasure is inside?"
This ti, the witcher didn't hesitate at all and shook his head directly.
"He doesn't know, but I do. They trusted enough to call here. If I did that, wouldn't I be betraying their trust?"
"Besides, Professor Dijkstra has already promised to give a share if we find treasure. That's already very good."
Money was sothing that no one would ever think was too much, at any ti.
If Lynn was just a re witcher,
then he might have readily agreed to Triss's temptation.
But he didn't just want to be a witcher.
Therefore, for him, looking a little further ahead wasn't a bad thing.
Of course, there was an even more important point: based on his understanding of the Enchantress, Triss wasn't that kind of person.
If these words had been said by Keira or Philippa, then they might really have been encouraging Lynn.
But Triss wasn't that kind of person.
She was a rare upright figure among the sorceresses, a group known for their rationality (at least the sorceresses themselves thought they were very rational).
She wasn't like Philippa, who wouldn't care about setting the world on fire herself as long as she could achieve her goals;
nor was she like Francesca, who wouldn't mind sacrificing her comrades who fought alongside her and selling them to the Northerners for a good price as long as she could build an elven utopia;
and certainly not like Vilgefortz, who planned for decades and wouldn't hesitate to personally trigger a world war in order to obtain the power of the Elder Blood...
Triss's words just now were less like encouragent and more like a joke.
"Alright, if you insist, then see you later."
Indeed...
From the sorceress's tone, Lynn didn't hear much disappointnt. Instead, there seed to be a hint of approval and appreciation in it.
...
Half an hour later, a teleportation portal appeared in front of the witcher.
Triss, still dressed in her hunting attire, walked out of the portal.
Before Lynn could speak, the sorceress stepped forward and gave him a sweet kiss.
After a long while, the two separated.
"Your reward."
She took out a delicately crafted leather pouch and placed it in the witcher's hand.
The witcher's senses were very keen.
The leather pouch was light and didn't feel like it contained two hundred crowns at all.
But out of trust for the sorceress, Lynn said nothing and simply reached into the pouch.
And after he did so, he realized what kind of gift Triss had actually given him.
(End of this chapter)
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