I don't know if it's fate's evil taste, but love stories rarely have happy endings, especially in this era, and especially in aristocratic families of this era.

"The happy time lasted for a while. But then, we were discovered by my father... Vesemir fled in a hurry and even forgot his soft armor." Mrs. Minole's tone became very lost at this time. "My father issued an arrest warrant for him and married me off soon."

Lann asked with great interest, "That's the Wolf Faction's armor, right? I heard that you have always liked collecting collections related to demon hunters. I guess that must be your first collection."

Mrs. Minole nodded modestly. "My husband died very early and left me a lot of property. So I became a lonely but rich woman who can only live in memories. These collections can bring me a moment of warmth."

After hearing Vesemir's romantic history from a first-person perspective, Lann was in a good mood. He was a member of the Griffin faction now. If he were a member of the Wolf faction, he would not be able to suppress his smile.

"Well, Madame Minole."

Lann's eyes were full of sincerity: "I'll take you to find Vesemir!"

…

The Duchess of Minore showed amazing enthusiasm for Lane's invitation.

In particular, Lann also selectively took out several letters that Ciri wrote to him for display. These letters did not involve any secrets of Cintra or Lann himself, but only described the friendly and warm interactions between Vesemir and Ciri.

I don't know what she was thinking about, but Mrs. Minole's eyes softened when she looked at Lan.

It was just that before leaving, Mrs. Minole needed a few days to make some preparations and explain some things. After all, she was of noble status and had countless businesses under her name, so she couldn't just leave.

Lane expressed his understanding and provided some help in the process.

As for how Lady Minore got to Kaer Morhen, she naturally relied on Triss's portal, and Triss even made a special trip to tell Vesemir the news.

Lane asked curiously, "What was Vesemir's reaction?"

Triss smiled but said nothing.

Lann asked again: "What is the reaction of the other members of the Wolf Faction, such as Geralt?"

Triss fell to the ground laughing.

From then on, Maximilian Borsodi's House was safely included in Lane's [Inventory].

In the [Heart of Stone] series of quests, the only quests left are [Party on Earth] to summon Olgierd's deceased brother and the boss battle [Memories of a Marriage].

Both of these tasks involve relatively far-flung locations.

[Party on Earth] requires going to the family cemetery of the Everec family, where Olgierd's brother Vlodimir is buried; and [Memories of Marriage] requires finding the ancestral manor of the Everec family, where Olgierd's wife is under house arrest.

What is a little troublesome is that these two places are in the Niubao area; although these two places are on the edge of Niubao, it takes more than a day to ride back and forth on horseback.

And Lann only knew the approximate locations of these two places.

Lann decided to send someone out to gather information first. At the same time, he asked the temple guards to propose the idea of ​​meeting Chapelle, hoping to learn the specific location of the Everec family manor through the information of the Eternal Fire to save time.

"Gang riots have become more frequent recently, and Mr. Chapelle has personally led people out. But he has already confirmed his schedule with me, and he will come to see you tomorrow. It should be about the follow-up matters of the toad monster."

This was said by Chapelle's adjutant, who was responsible for recording Chapelle's itinerary. He showed a lot of respect for Lann at this time: "Thank you for helping us get rid of that monster, which killed many of our brothers."

Not seeing the person he was looking for, Lane had to return to his residence. Meanwhile, House, who had gone out to gather information, also brought some unexpected information.

"Did he burn down the place where Olgierd lived before?"

Facing the Earl's doubts, House nodded: "It was a huge fire. There was almost nothing left in the manor. And it was said that the fire started not long after we left."

Lann couldn't help but think of what Master Mirror had said when he came to him before: Reans had found Ogierd.

"So we have lost track of Olgierd now?"

House nodded shamefacedly.

This is not the end. After bringing the bad news about Ogierd, House continued, "My Lord, our soldiers on guard have reported that people wearing cloaks often appear around our courtyard these days."

"Does that mean someone is watching us?" Lann frowned. "Who are they?"

House's expression became even uglier. "We...didn't catch them. They were very agile, even experienced scouts couldn't keep up with them."

He looks like a professional stalker, and at the very least has strong reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities.

Lann asked again, "How many 'cloaked men' are there in total? Can we know that?"

House nodded and said, "Judging from their size, there were four cloaked men who appeared before and after."

…

Four cloaked men sat in a corner of the basement. Their breathing was weak, and their bodies and chests were barely noticeable under the cloaks.

The dispute before them was chaotic, but the four of them remained unmoved, as if they were four sculptures or four poisonous snakes lying in ambush.

This is a spacious basement. Its decoration style makes it look a bit like an underground vault. It has now been transformed into a simple underground meeting room for use by those who are currently inside.

A round table was placed in the middle of the basement, with five people sitting around it. In the center of the round table was a silver candlestick, which emitted a dim light and stretched the shadows of the five people out long.

Looking at these five people, they are a thin man in a cloak, a sturdy dwarf covered with tattoos, a gloomy middle-aged man in gorgeous clothes, a scarred man in iron armor, and a warrior in a nomadic robe with diagonal buttons.

The warrior in the diagonally buttoned robe was the first to break the silence: "We are indeed 'plotting' now, but there is no need to light only one candlestick, right? Could it be that the three friends opposite have lived in a dark place for so long that they even hate candles?"

"Ogierd, they are also our companions and will fight alongside us in the future." The scarred man in iron armor said dissatisfiedly, "Perhaps you can control your temper for a while and listen to what they are going to say first."

These two people are naturally Olgierd and Rience. They met on the outskirts of Novigrad and now came to the underground world of Novigrad.

Clearly they need more allies.

In front of them was another important political component of Novigrad - the mafia.

Novigrad is the "Free City", which is the view of the North; but in the eyes of Vizimir II, its real name should be "Lawless Land".

Because of the existence of the Eternal Fire, the king's decrees will encounter layers of obstacles here.

There had been no actual king's rule here for nearly two hundred years, but Vizimir II could do nothing about it.

However, the political power of religion is certainly not as comprehensive as that of an orthodox kingdom. This is why the underground forces of Novigrad, namely the gangs, were born.

Don't underestimate these gangsters.

At the critical moment of the future North-South War, both Nilfgaard and the North agreed that "the key to the war lies in obtaining Novigrad", but the gangsters dared to proclaim at this time that "if Novigrad is conquered, we will burn the fleet, rob the treasury, and turn the city into a dead city."

This would make Radovid V and Emhyr afraid to act against them, and they would be forced to reach an agreement with the gangsters.

In front of us are the three current gang leaders of Novigrad.

This situation may be difficult to understand in other countries and cities, but in Novigrad, the freest, most prosperous, and most chaotic city, the power and wealth of the three giants can even exceed that of ordinary old nobles. Maybe they are nothing in their official status, but in Novigrad, they are all "uncrowned kings."

The three giants in front of us are:

Francis Beran is the man who controls all the thieves, assassins, beggars, vagrants, and street orphans in Novigrad and calls himself the "Beggar King".

Alphonse Willy, the leader of the mafia family nicknamed "Hawthorne", who controls all casinos, arenas, and women's wards in Novigrad.

And Carlo Varese, the dwarf nicknamed "Chopper", who controls most of the alleys and taverns in Novigrad and unites all the non-human races.

In response to Reigns' words, the Big Three had different reactions.

"News from the North will all converge on Novigrad, and news from Novigrad will all converge on me." The Beggar King spoke in a steady tone, "As far as I know, Mr. Rience seems to have been looking for news about Mr. Lannister in the North, but he always suffers losses. Why is he so confident this time?"

Machete was furious: "Don't just call people 'comrades'. Don't think I don't know that you warlocks are all racists! You talk about fighting side by side, but in the end you probably want us non-humans to take the lead."

Hawthorne looked around with gloomy eyes: "This dark and damp place is disgusting. It's better to choose the bathhouse in the 'Machete'. Reans, you'd better speak up quickly."

The words of the three giants made Reens' expression even more ferocious, but he stroked the scar on his face with his left hand, and after a few deep breaths, his emotions gradually calmed down.

Perhaps it is hard to tell from his appearance that Reens is still a warlock, but at this moment he is still trying his best to maintain the so-called "demeanor".

"Mr. Beilan is indeed well-informed. I have indeed been traveling in the North for a long time, but this time is different."

Reens opened his arms, making his shadow even bigger under the projection of the candlelight: "This time, I brought the promise of Nilfgaard's Emperor, His Majesty Emhyr var Enreis. Now it's not me who invites you to cooperate with me, but His Majesty the Emperor who invites you to cooperate with Nilfgaard!"

Seeing that the expressions of the Big Three finally became a little serious, Reens showed a satisfied expression on his face.

"I believe that everyone has benefited greatly from the Emperor's trade policy during this period," said Reens. "A wider variety of goods and lower prices have brought more benefits to everyone present. After this cooperation, Nilfgaard will continue to increase its commercial inclination towards Novigrad. You should know better than me what this means."

Hawthorne sat up straight. His industry was most closely related to what Reens said, and he had already started to think about it in his mind.

The Beggar King said slowly, "Nilfgaard hasn't even entered Cintra yet. Isn't it too early to plan for Redania now?"

"No, no, this is not about politics or war, it's just a simple business behavior. In the future business development, you can gain greater voice in Novigrad with your industries."

Rience shook his head and said, "And if His Majesty really comes to Novigrad one day, those of you who have already established friendship with the Emperor will be able to take a step further in the new order. Why not?"