In any world, powerful individuals are respected.
Guilliman and the woman, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, were well-dressed and polite, leaving a great first impression. Moreover, they were fellow witchers who had just lent a hand.
Gaetan didn't refuse. Instead, he led them to a clean house on the edge of the village.
Although the outside of the house was dilapidated, there was a bonfire inside, and the wooden walls could shield them from wind and rain, as well as keep out the fat mutated rats. It was a decent temporary shelter.
At Guilliman's request, Keira cast a healing spell on Gaetan, stopping the bleeding from his wounds. Then, the young Cat School witcher, with a pained expression, took out a Swallow potion and drank it.
It was clear that this Cat School brother was not wealthy; he had traveled to such a place just to fulfill a contract.
Although Keira was not skilled in healing magic, any formal sorceress would learn such spells, more or less, for emergency use.
After casting the spell, before Guilliman could even ask, the proud and refined sorceress, with a hint of disdain, took out a handkerchief, placed it on a broken wooden stump, sat down, and asked:
"Mr. Gaetan, right?"
"What is your contract in this village?"
"Have you seen a Plague Maiden?"
"What's with those mutated rats? Do you know?"
Her barrage of questions left Gaetan a bit bewildered, and this young man didn't seem very accustomed to dealing with beautiful women.
Guilliman noticed that he rarely looked at Keira throughout their conversation. She was such a beautiful woman, so were the corpses by the roadside more appealing?
After a few seconds, Gaetan seemed to have sorted out his thoughts, but his gaze didn't turn to Keira. Instead, he spoke to Guilliman:
"A few days ago, I was hired by nearby villagers to find their missing children."
"About a month ago, children in several nearby villages began to mysteriously disappear."
"Five or six have gone missing in total."
"One villager who witnessed it said that one of the children was carried away by a group of large rats."
"That's why I tracked them here."
Missing children?
Hearing this information, Guilliman and Keira were both surprised. Could this be related to the Plague Maiden?
Or perhaps something even stranger had happened.
"As for the Plague Maiden you mentioned..."
"Two days ago, while I was in another plague-ridden ruin, I did see a wraith wandering in the ruins during the day."
"I'm not sure if it was a Plague Maiden, but wraiths that appear during the day are usually very powerful."
Two days ago?
This information was more accurate than Keira's; her sighting was already half a month old.
Guilliman looked at Gaetan.
This young Cat School witcher was clearly not doing well. His leather armor was tattered, with many unrepaired tears.
The two swords on his back were not high-quality either, and his weathered, aged face showed a life of hardship.
Considering that he was a master capable of defeating a Leshen in the 'Wolf and Cat Dance' quest, Guilliman asked:
"Gaetan, how much will you get paid for this quest to find the missing children?"
Gaetan scoffed, curling his lip in a disdainful smile, and said with contempt:
"Those old geezers only offered me a hundred crowns, and they didn't even give me a full meal."
"A bunch of bumpkins, the kind who wipe their asses and lick their fingers."
A hundred crowns, which currently converts to over three hundred orens, was hardly reasonable for finding five or six missing children.
Hearing his complaint, Guilliman couldn't help but laugh, but he wasn't surprised.
Among the great Northern Kingdoms, Kaedwen was the country most hostile to non-human races like sorceresses and witchers.
They also had the worst attitude towards elves and dwarves.
Furthermore, located in the cold North, life was harsh, and they revered brute strength.
Orthodox Kaedwenis, like their current king Henselt, were all crude and savage boars. When they put down their farming tools, they became brigands who fought and robbed. They were truly not good people.
Thinking this, Guilliman glanced at the somewhat distracted Keira beside him. After a few seconds of consideration, he reached into his storage space, pulled out a large money pouch, and threw it to Gaetan, saying:
"Brother Gaetan, I see you've just arrived in the North and don't yet understand the local customs. It's easy to be bullied by those bastard nobles and cunning commoners."
"Here are eight hundred orens, two or three times your current contract."
"Put aside the quest to find the children for now."
"You come with us to deal with the Plague Maiden and help me protect this beautiful lady beside me."
"After this contract is over, you can join me."
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