Bear School Astartes

”That really is quite flattering.”

Shanni looked surprised, she truly hadn’t expected Dandelion, this unreliable sort, to actually have connections.

The Demon Hunter’s affairs had already spread widely with Lann’s story; originally an occupation only old-timers had encountered, now even more renowned than in its heyday.

Triss also gained considerable fame after the Battle of Sodden Mountain.

The mountain was renamed ’Fourteen People Peak’, ’Mage Mountain’, and Triss became the ’Fourteenth Person on the Hill’.

She was promoted as a Northern war hero.

As a member of the avant-garde crowd from Osenford University, Shanni naturally knew these stories.

”But...” Suddenly her face showed confusion.

”Wait, Dandelion. This is just a failed business, what’s the big fuss about?”

”Of course, I know it’s just a failed business, they’re here looking for Dudu, but at that time our mutual half-elf friend hadn’t stumbled yet and went hiding.”

Only a few friends knew Dudu’s identity as a shapeshifter, his public persona was always ’Dudu Bieberwitt of Liaocao Pasture’, the cousin in the half-elf Bieberwitt family.

Lann originally stood in the corner with his hood up, occasionally glancing at the alchemic equipment in the other small room.

He noticed that as Shanni mentioned Dudu, this intellectual girl’s face visibly darkened.

”Friend... Ah, Dandelion, I’m not saying Dudu has moral issues, but...”

Shanni spoke half in complaint, wanting to say more but stopped short.

”The partners he found, well... they were too careless.”

With a slightly awkward laugh, Dandelion responded.

In Shanni’s view, the reason for the business failure was purely poor personnel.

Previously, Dandelion was merely a bridge as the middleman and couldn’t quite explain the business, so the group had to come here.

And during the conversations between Shanni and Dandelion, Lann finally understood how Dudu got into debt.

Mr. Shapeshifter was very well-informed; as to why, his friends didn’t quite know, but he was just well-informed.

He was ahead of all merchants in Novigrad, knowing a rebellion occurred within the Curved Coast Duchy.

The princess of the duchy overthrew her tyrannical and foolish father... at least that’s the public story.

The old King even intended to reintroduce the droit du seigneur in the duchy.

”He’s at least seventy, severely impaired in function. Can’t imagine what he’d do with the right to the first night. Stare blankly at young beautiful girls at night? Satisfy through touch? With his wrinkled hands and mouth?”

Shanni scathingly mocked from a medical student’s perspective.

And Dandelion was indifferent.

”You’re still naive, Shanni. Plenty of old Kings are able to blossom anew in their sixties. Seventy isn’t too extraordinary.”

”Besides, the right itself is irrelevant; what’s crucial is he wants to quickly marry off his daughter, have her be a queen in another country, instead of eyeing the throne beneath his buttocks.”

”Then the princess, before the marriage, overthrew him.”

The rebellious princess changed the family crest’s background color to distinguish herself from the old King.

The alteration wasn’t significant, just a few shades difference.

The issue is, when common colors differ by a few shades, it’s hard to manage.

There’s deviation in dyeing materials and techniques.

On top of that, the grand duchess’s coronation and the requirement for new emblems and colors across the nation and troops; any merchant could profit immensely.

At this time, Karkstan brought traveling Shanni to Novigrad.

Before any merchant received news of the Curved Coast Duchy’s rebellion, Dudu had already sought out the Alchemy Master to start figuring out the new dye formula.

With this information gap, the Shapeshifter was bound to earn big.”

The color itself wasn’t hard to manage, bringing in a color mixing expert could solve it.

But for mass production, cost is crucial, and if Karkstan’s alchemy could fix the dye formula, it’s cheaper than the color master’s method.

Karkstan himself was very willing to earn from this, considering his research was always costly, and this job wasn’t hard for him.

”Master Karkstan finalized the new color production formula in half a day and the formula is quite inexpensive. I’m not a dye merchant, but I heard them say the formula’s cost is almost as cheap as using carmine to dye red cloth.”

Shanni spoke casually, evidently following Karkstan wasn’t for learning to concoct dye with alchemy, but for her medical career, so she paid little mind to this formula.

”Dudu already spent a lot of money, even borrowed from Vivaldi Bank to buy raw materials. But then... sigh, Dudu didn’t realize one of his suppliers was part of Novigrad’s criminal underworld.”

”So, the materials were held back? By Novigrad’s criminal underworld?”

Lann, who hadn’t interjected, turning to observe the alchemical equipment inside and Karkstan’s actions, suddenly spoke.

”What if we retrieve the materials... take them back?”

”It’s no use.” Shanni, unaware of the identity of the hooded cloaked person, indifferently spoke.

”This business was all about timing, it’s too late now. The merchants are all aware of what happened at the Curved Coast Duchy. The profit margin has shrunk.”

”Besides, apart from the loan from Vivaldi Bank, the criminal underworld is also pressing Dudu to hand over payment, having chased them all the way here.”

”What’s going on?” Dandelion looked surprised. ”Didn’t they fail to deliver? So why collect ’payment’? Besides, it’s because of them that the business got ruined!”

”Yes, the gang knows nothing, they just start extorting like mad dogs when they hear whispers.” Shanni let out a sarcastic laugh. ”So you can’t expect them to be reasonable, can you?”

Dandelion was speechless.

Now, the situation is still unable to make the debt-avoiding Dudu show up.

Owing money to formal banks and being forced to shoulder debts by gangs, it’s no wonder such a person dares not show up in Novigrad.

The small room fell silent, Geralt looked around before speaking.

”So, where did you last meet Dudu?”

Since the situation is roughly clear, the rest can only be pushed forward in a Demon Hunter style.

”At his place, we discussed the reward issue; it was five days ago. Wait... Are you Geralt of Livia? The one from Dandelion’s poems?”

After talking with Geralt, Shanni realized the person in front matched the image from the poem.

Her eyes were filled with wonder.

”Did you really get saved by Dandelion dozens of times?”

Geralt’s face froze, slowly turning to face Dandelion, who somehow appeared to be inspecting an artwork on the wooden ceiling.

”Ah, yes. I certainly have, been saved, quite a few times by him.”

Geralt spoke each word deliberately, making even Dandelion nearly awkward enough to whistle.

Once the necessary information was gathered, it was time to act.

But as Shanni stood at the door, ready to see them out.

They noticed that Lann had no immediate intention to leave.

He stood between two rooms as a wall would.

A voice of interest emerged from beneath the hood.

Not regarding Dudu’s matters, but the reaction happening among those alchemy instruments.

”I can now be certain... You’re working on the base of the Golem Heart?”

Triss was standing beside Lann, cutely and lively leaning against the wall.

Upon hearing Lann’s words, her rosy lips froze open before letting out a ’Huh?’.

The ”Golem,” a profound magical construct technology, born from a tragic massacre among the world’s wizards.

Inanimate materials form the body, then a Golem Heart is placed in, complemented by magic to activate, resulting in a functioning golem.

It’s the robotic technology of the Magic Realm.

The most common rock golem, its fist alone weighs at least a hundred kilograms.

And it doesn’t sleep, drink, eat, or go to the bathroom, obediently carrying out orders.

It can not only kill a hundred knights but also do the work of a hundred skilled laborers.

Mages everywhere prefer using golems to guard laboratories, libraries, and residences.

The only downside is the cost.

And Master Karkstan, who had been moving around the alchemy instruments without even a glance back, halted unexpectedly after Lann spoke.

Then he slowly turned to face the black-robed cloaked man blocking his door.

”Oh?” He seemed to be intrigued, ”You can understand what I’m doing... Sir, might I ask your name?”

Karkstan’s appearance was not handsome, even strange.

If Belengar, with his long face and slightly protruding oral bones, looked somewhat like a primitive person.

Then Karkstan decidedly resembled a monkey.

But being a warlock and a renowned Alchemy Master, his attire and well-groomed beard showed his affluent material conditions.

”Your book, ’Animating Lifeless Matter’, has been incredibly insightful for me.”

Lann walked into Karkstan’s inner room while slightly raising the brim of his hood.

A strand of molten silver hair slid down, and a ray of light slightly brightened his face under the hood.

Karkstan’s stunned expression lasted very briefly, comparable to Mentos and Lann’s estimation in the New Continent with Wende and Aibo.

His eyes widened slightly, clearly aware of what these features represented.

”Tall body, hair, appearance, and such wisdom...”

Karkstan stood from his crouching position, extending his hand, speaking with excitement.

”Lann of Sintra?! My goodness, your analysis on human cell differentiation and division is simply brilliant! Wait... Are you concealing your identity? Was I too abrupt?”

Although he appeared uninterested in the conversation behind him, unwilling to waste time turning his head for greetings.

Upon recognizing Lann, everyone realized the Alchemy Master wasn’t lacking emotional intelligence, just preferred ’selective display of emotional intelligence’.

Without a doubt, Lann was someone he deemed worthy of such courtesy.