Chapter 92: Oh Freedom! What Crimes Are Committed in Thy Name!
What he needed was a servant to clean the house and buy groceries, not a child who needed to be taken care of herself.
"Master Lynn, don't you need a servant? Don't let this child's thin arms and legs fool you; she can do a lot of work."
"And her demands aren't high either. She just needs a roof over her head and two meals a day. You don't even need to pay her wages."
"Honestly, if it weren't for Novigrad's city hall regulations against employing child labor, I would have taken this child in myself."
"Ah, sometimes having too advanced a system is also a flaw."
After listening to the dwarven banker's words, Lynn's eyes twitched. "Lord Vimme, do I look like a degenerate noble with some peculiar fetish?"
Seemingly sensing that the atmosphere was wrong, Vimme was startled.
He hurriedly explained.
"No, of course not! By the gods, how could I think of you in such a way, Master? You've misunderstood. I really just think this child would be perfect for you."
"Of course, it's up to you. If you don't think it's suitable, then I'll find someone else for you."
Saying this, Vimme turned to the dwarven attendant. "Lukas, take this child away."
The dwarven attendant nodded and said to the little girl, "Let's go."
The two walked towards the door of the meeting room.
Looking at that thin and frail back, for some reason, a particularly strange thought suddenly popped into Lynn's mind:
If he didn't do something, this might be the last time he saw this pitiful little girl, like an abandoned little animal.
Finally, Lynn's heart softened.
The dwarven attendant had already pushed open the door of the meeting room.
Hearing Lynn's words, he stopped in his tracks.
"Lord Vimme, I will give this child a one-month trial period. During this month, she will be responsible for cleaning my house, washing my clothes, sheets, and bedding, buying groceries, cooking, taking care of my horse, and so on."
"If she does well, she can stay and continue to serve me. Of course, I won't give her a single copper less than what she deserves..."
"I will give her a month to prove that she can handle this job, but if she disappoints me, I will send her back."
"Lord Vimme, please have your man take her down first, let her take a bath, and then give her a clean set of clothes."
Vimme grinned and instructed his attendant.
"Lukas, you heard what Master Lynn said. Do as he says."
The dwarven banker rubbed his hands together.
"Hehe, I knew Master Lynn wouldn't just stand by and watch that poor child end up on the streets and die of hunger and cold."
He didn't like being flattered.
Even less did he want to be morally blackmailed.
"That's not necessarily true, Lord Vimme. Don't forget, I am a witcher. Witchers are bloodless and tearless. If she doesn't do well, I will really throw her out. I mean what I say."
He wisely chose to remain silent and not argue with the witcher.
After a while, Lynn broke the silence. "However, how did that child end up here? Is she from the city? Or does she live in some village outside the city?"
Vimme scratched his head. "Neither. Her village is on the eastern side of the Caingorn Mountains."
"The Caingorn Mountains? Isn't that in the Kingdom of Kaedwen? How did she get to Novigrad?"
The Caingorn Mountains were a long mountain range that separated the north, starting from the northernmost city of Holopole, to the Buina River, and then extending from the Buina River all the way to the border between Redania and Kaedwen. Getting from the eastern side of the Caingorn Mountains to Novigrad in this era was a very difficult undertaking.
This was not only because there were no fast and convenient means of transportation in such times but also because the roads were full of dangers.
Robbers, bandits, beasts, ghoulish monsters, and so on...
Even an adult might not be able to make such a long journey.
how did such a frail child manage it?
"I asked her, but she didn't say how she got to Novigrad. She only told me that her village was destroyed, and her parents and three older brothers risked their lives to help her and her older sister escape, but her older sister died of a cold on the way."
"Now she's the only one left."
Similar things happened far too often in this era.
The peace and stability of Lynn's home world were unimaginable to the people of this time.
"Who did it? Bandits? Kaedweni?"
The dwarven banker shook his head.
"Neither. It was the Scoia'tael, those who swore to restore the glory of the elves of old."
"Wait, did you say the Scoia'tael?"
The Scoia'tael were the precursor to the Squirrel Party.
The name "Squirrel Party" only spread after the First Northern War, and this name was not actually chosen by the elves themselves.
They called themselves the "Sons of the Forest," but they felt that the Northerners calling them the "Squirrel Party" signified the Northerners' fear of them.
Therefore, after the First Northern War, the Sons of the Forest all transformed into the Squirrel Party.
"I remember the Scoia'tael were all formed by oppressed elves out of resistance to human tyranny, weren't they? How could they attack an elven village? Lord Vimme, could you have gotten something wrong?"
Vimme let out a disdainful snort.
"Who doesn't know that the Nilfgaardians are behind those Scoia'tael? Even their battle cry, that famous 'drive the humans back into the sea,' was taught to them by the Nilfgaardians."
"Deliberately attacking the villages of their own kin and then deceiving other kin with false information—even if the Scoia'tael couldn't think of it, the Nilfgaardians would teach them how to do it."
"As for whether they could bring themselves to do it... don't make me laugh. Don't let those pointy-ears pretend to be victims now. You should know that before the humans landed, their so-called glorious elven kingdoms practiced slavery."
"Who did they enslave? Not us dwarves, not gnomes, but their own elven kin."
"Witcher Master, perhaps you don't know about the Vaghner system of the elven kingdoms?"
"I really like the definition given by Professor Sigismund Dijkstra of Oxenfurt Academy. I remember him saying this:"
Vimme deliberately cleared his throat, imitating an old scholar.
"In the eyes of those ancient elven kings, a boot was a boot, and a hat was a hat. A boot could not be worn on the head, and a hat could not be worn on the feet;"
"And so it was with the subjects of the elven kingdoms. In those kingdoms, subjects all had their own place. The offspring of nobles should inherit nobility, and the sons of serfs were born to toil in the fields..."
"To grant the sons of serfs the same right to acquire knowledge as the sons of nobles would be a catastrophe second only to the end of the world."
"Hahaha, I'm getting a bit off track... Let's get back to the main point. Anyway, this child has been very diligent these past few days she's been here. All my employees like her very much."
"Including that silent gourd, Lukas. Don't let his appearance fool you; he's just simple-minded."
"As long as you give that child a chance, she will definitely not disappoint you."
This time, the witcher didn't refute.
Suddenly, the dwarven banker seemed to remember something and slapped his forehead.
"Good heavens, my memory! I almost forgot something very important."
"Master Lynn, during the time you were away from Novigrad, Lord Ruxa came to see me several times, saying that there was another very important matter that required your trouble."
"He hopes that after your return, you can take some time as soon as possible to go and see him."
I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to those who support me on this journey. Your contribution make a real difference!
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