The Witcher: My Own Path

Finding Albert was quite a challenge for me, the amount of beggars outside the Temple of Lebioda was quite significant, sometimes I wonder if the situation in the capital of one of the strongest countries in the north really has to be so poor, if it's the fault of the administrator or maybe Foltest just doesn't give a damn when his subjects are starving to death, but if I think about Old Den, a place I admittedly haven't been to yet, but considering who lives there, the situation must be much worse. Not to mention the country as a whole, as they say 'a fish spoils from the head' and if nothing changes, Temeria will suffer the same fate as in the third part of the game, becoming a province of Nilfgaard.

To find Albert, I decided not to be guided by power, relying on it too much could prove disastrous in the future, so I didn't do it when it wasn't absolutely necessary. Albert had been a wealthy, educated man in the past, and with full knowledge of manners and personal culture he could have stooped to the very bottom, but some habits you just can't get rid of just because you don't have money. That's where I started, by finding a homeless beggar who stood out, and by looking at each individual it was easy to judge who had never been in contact with the upper classes of Vizima.

The target of my search kept to himself, I would say, not because he wanted to separate himself from the rest, because he didn't want to deal with them, because the truth was that he needed to have contact with them, but to learn from them how they lived their lives. Rather, it was out of the shame he felt and the humiliation he suffered. He won't get rid of these feelings any time soon either, not until he possesses even a modicum of pride, but that's good for me, it means he hasn't given up yet after these few years of misery.

If I think back to my old world and remember, streets full of houses built from cardboard boxes, this is what the area near the monastery looked like, but instead of cardboard boxes these houses were all wooden, probably collected pieces from old discarded furniture. They looked like dog kennels, it's not that I hadn't seen this before, no, the whole of the Vizima Temple Quarter has such 'add-on houses' to normal houses scattered around, here however there were a lot of them at the base of the city walls.

I finally spotted him, he was sitting cross-legged, staring at a small wooden alms bowl from the people who had taken pity on his plight, he had long ragged black and grey hair almost completely covering his skinny but clean face, his beard was the same colour, unkempt and reaching his chest, he was wearing a frayed and dirty outfit that years ago could have been considered high quality. He wasn't drunk, probably survival was more important to him than an alcoholic escape from reality, that's good. Even when I approached, he didn't move his eyelids, maybe he had escaped deep in thought to the good old days or is at the end of his endurance, well I'll find out soon enough.

''Hello, good man. Isn't your name Albert by any chance? once a rich merchant from the Commercial district?

He raised his head and looked at me, his eyes were not dead like those of someone devoid of hope, there was still a spark of life in them. I could see by his face that he was somewhat surprised, he assessed me and my appearance in an instant. I could detect a slight tension and fear in his body language, I don't know exactly why, but I can assume that he might have been afraid of someone from his former life, after all, I didn't look like a poor villager, I was wearing brown high heeled boots that reached my calves, black cotton trousers, a black robe braided in front and a black belt with a silver buckle around me, all covered by a long black hooded cloak. My appearance didn't suit this place and I think that scared him.

''You don't have to fear me, I'm not here to hurt you but only to talk.'' I said, pulling down my hood, revealing my young face, and showing a reassuring smile.

We looked at each other for moments, he was assessing me and checking if I was lying, I was trying to look as harmless as possible.

''Who are you?'' He asked after a while.

''What do you want from me? He spoke quietly, but I could no longer sense the fear in his voice.

''My name is Tyr, I live in suburb, I have heard about you, Albert, and I would like to hear your story, if you don't mind.''

''I do mind, so go away. I won't entertain you with stories, I'm not a storyteller!'' He turned his head and went back to the position I found him in.

''So, let's make a deal Albert.''

I opened the lapels of my coat, showing a pouch of fairly solid size, tossed it gently in my hand so that its contents buzzed, revealing a little of its contents. Apparently, he was a successful merchant, so he probably knew how many orens were in there. He looked at my hand and at me, this time interested in what direction this might go.

''I just want to hear your story, nothing more, then we'll part ways and if fate wills it so, we'll never meet again.''

''Who did you say you were?''

''Tyr, the son of a blacksmith from the suburb .''

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at me again this time more carefully.

''You must be one hell of a blacksmith, considering your attire.''

''Hahaha, nice try Albert! But I'm not here to talk about me, I'm here to talk about you, what's it going to be, do we have a deal?'' I was amused by his attempt to find out more about me.

''What do you want to know?''

''Hmm... Maybe start with who you really are and what you did for a living before you decided to settle here.''

He looked away from me, he knew I wouldn't tell him anything in particular about myself, so it wasn't worth asking further, and telling me a little about myself wouldn't make him lose even more since he didn't have anything anyway, he could gain something around a hundred orens though, given the sound of the pouch.

''I was born here in Vizima in the Trade Quarter, my father was a small but successful merchant, he traded in food, my mother was not from a poor family either. While my father was engaged in business, my mother brought me up. She taught everything, starting with writing and reading, counting, history, etiquette. Everything the heir of a fairly wealthy family might need. However, life has not been easy or you could say that bad luck has stalked our family. Slowly my relatives began to die and no, it wasn't murders or anything like that, just life. One time an illness, the other, bandits, and another time a monster. I was finally left alone, with all my family's wealth. I didn't despair, of course it was a hard time for me, but it wasn't like everyone left at once either. I was quite young, but I was educated and without bragging I had my head on straight. I sold what I didn't need, added what I had and started my own business, I had no intention of following in my father's footsteps by trading only in food, I wanted more opportunities so I traded in everything from writing pens to armour and weapons. Luck was finally smiling on me. Business was going great, I travelled all over Temeria I had contacts even in Novigrad, I was rich, I had many rich and influential friends, I married a beautiful woman. However...

''When you have wealth but no power to protect it, you die or become a beggar.'' I finished

He nodded, not wanting to speak further. He was, however, looking at me intently.

''Look at this Albert.''

I handed him several sheets of parchment showing plans for my inn, which has been under construction since yesterday, and plans for my other business, furniture making.

He looked through them for a while muttering something under his breath.

''The plan for this inn is outstanding! Not just the look itself, but the functionality, the entertainment. Whoever designed it must have known their stuff.''

His face betrayed admiration.

''As for the rest of the parchments, the ones with the furniture... quite interesting, ingenious, it's a pity though that here Vizima such a business would not work.''

''Explain what!'' I almost commanded, his opinion surprised me greatly.

''Vizima is too small, of course you could make money out of it but you wouldn't get very rich.

Vizima has three districts, if you add suburb to that it's four. Two of them are poor and won't be able to afford such luxuries, the Royal Quarter has its own craftsmen and furniture suppliers, all of whom are rich and have the support of powerful and influential people, breaking through will be almost impossible, if at all. You could scrounge up something in the Trade Quarter, but that's all, well, if the Craft Guild doesn't get on your ass.

Dammit!

''Hey, don't worry. In Novigrad such a business would probably be very popular.''

''What do you think would work?'' I ask interestedly. His observation about the furniture business makes a lot of sense, good thing I haven't started with it yet.

''Food!''

''Food!'' I repeated.

''Yes! Virtually no one in and around Vizima grows food on a large scale, there are plenty of traders, however they import almost everything from Redania, you must have noticed that a huge amount of food goes to two of the five districts. You live in Podgrodzie so you know how people manage there. Here in the poor district, plus Old Vizima, they don't do very well in that respect, it's a huge market. You can make quite a bit of money from it!''

''Then why doesn't anyone do it, I mean rich traders?''

''Because no one is interested in it, you don't gain respect from trading with the poor and only with other rich and influential people, I know because my father taught me this. No self-respecting nobleman or serious businessman will do such a business.''

''After all, this is crazy!'' I almost exclaimed indignantly.

''How are the poor supposed to get out of poverty when they don't even have the basic necessities of life!''

''Now you are the one who is crazy, and who cares about the villagers and the rest, here in Temeria at least they can have something in Redania it is even worse.''

''And what do you think about entertainment for the rich, what do they lack?''

''Entertainment? Well, there is, napping, music, gossip, sex, poetry, drinking spirits well and plotting, but you know what, I've always missed a good book to read, to relax by the fireplace in the evenings.''

Books! Yeah, I could spend a few, I've watched hundreds of films, read thousands of books. The contribution is small as I only need a pen, parchment and time. I wonder how 'Lord of the Rings' would be received or if I wrote 'Batman' adapting it to today's times of course. Hell, the potential is huge and I could meet a lot of influential people through it.'' I started making plans in my head.

''Thank you, Albert, you have given me a lot to think about.'' I smiled at the man gratefully.

''What kind of blacksmith are you!?''

That's right, no normal blacksmith would ask such things and dress like that.

''One who has another proposition for you.''

I knelt down in front of him and looked around making sure no one was watching us. I reached out and took his hand, placing an oren pouch in it.

''You told me your story by which you fulfilled your contract, so this is your payment. Take it and forget about me when I'm gone, or you can use the money to bring yourself to order and tomorrow at noon visit me in the Undercity. I have a dream Albert and it is huge, so huge that I need a lot of people to make it happen. Stay here and reflect on the past or know me tomorrow and... well you might even realise your own desires along the way.'' I smiled broadly at him.

This man was a treasure, if only he would join me, my plans could really spread their wings.

As I stood up and was about to start walking away, I noticed people diverging in all directions and their faces betrayed fear.

AHHHHH! Monster! Run away! A monster!

A monster? In the middle of the day, in the middle of Vizima? Not possible. worth checking out though. I thought while heading towards the fleeing crowd.