They went through the cells and found mana residue in the prison. They asked the witnesses and soldiers about it, and their answers were about the same as what Linus told them. Thanks to that, everyone thought a sorcerer assisted Vlodimir in his jailbreak. Sorcerers could go around a lot of places in a short time thanks to their portals, so everyone gave up on arresting the escaped criminal. Regrettably, they had to close the case.
Linus asked the witchers to stay around for about two to three weeks, at least until the Free Company's members receive their due punishment. He was worried the von Everec brothers would come for their revenge.
The witchers agreed. There was still time until their meeting in Novigrad, so they stayed back in Oxenfurt.
***
Felix wanted to drop in at the Faculty of Espionage and Faculty of Applied Destruction, but these faculties never took any dropins. In the end, he had to keep Linus safe alongside Carl and Kantilla. The three of them would care for the animals in the morning. They would purchase their food, feed them, clean their excrements up, or play with them (under Linus' guidance). They had to make sure these animals got the exercise they needed, just like dogs.
They would spend their time in the Natural History classes, learning something from the lecturers. They learned about the habits of the animals, their hazard levels, weaknesses, predators, and how to give first-aid if needed. Linus brought up the concept of protection of endangered animals many times.
Felix was not fazed at all. He was a veteran witcher, and he knew he was a monster killer. Linus' lectures did nothing to change his mind. Carl, however, was a different story. Thanks to Linus' lectures, Felix's student got along really well with the animals, and he would talk about things like ecosystem balance and animal protection.
Felix wondered if he should feed Carl the acorn they got from the Ladies and make him forget the stupid ideas Linus was teaching him.
Kantilla was sucking all the knowledge up like a sponge. Her ambition was to hunt powerful creatures and have badges of honor tattooed on her body. Everything Linus taught her would come in handy.
Because of the zoo's exposure, almost the whole Natural History Faculty members volunteered to help out, and it relieved much of Linus' stress. The once-quiet zoo was now bustling with life.
Everyone else had their own thing to do. Auckes dropped in at the Faculty of Poems. He wanted to master one branch of the arts and flirt with the ladies with poems like the bards usually did. The witcher wanted to have a change of taste. He would love to flirt with the wives of rich men this time around. Roy wondered if what Auckes learned would be useful though.
Letho went to the building of the Alchemy Faculty. He was a student of the Nilfgaardian academy in his younger years, though only for two years. Naturally, he wouldn't let the chance to learn from the best alchemists the northern kingdom had to offer slip. He spent all day working with those mad researchers. Whenever Roy would pass by the building, he could see Letho in a room, arguing vehemently with the messy, stubborn researchers in there. He thought it was fun.
Serrit chose the Faculty of Innovative Technology. He wanted to make some new gizmos and small items, so that was the best place to learn. He also wanted to see what the latest tech was like. It would be great if he could get some ideas from the brightest minds and modify his traps further. The traps would be essential for his dumb brother's safety.
Roy was a lot busier than his comrades. He was now a griffin trainer. He had to train Gryphon's sprinting, gliding, flight, and hunting skills according to Linus' training menu. Of course, he gained some EXP during the hunting sessions. He also had to make meals packed with all kinds of nutrients that involved fish, meat, and greens. Not to mention he had to trim Gryphon's hair and claws. The young griffin grew well thanks to the regiment. It could fly for a long while now.
Aside from the griffin training, Roy spent his time on swordplay, marksmanship, Signs, or researching herbs and medicine. Thanks to its leading status in the world of academia, Oxenfurt's Faculty of Medicine had the most advanced and complete apparatus in its laboratory. Roy used Linus' letter of recommendation to buy a bunch of new apparatus and switched the old alchemical items in his inventory for the new ones. This is gonna be helpful.
He kept making marigold potions, paralyzing poisons, meditation potions, spirit potions, and all the potions he mastered. As practice. These potions could be useful for their trip in the free city, but someone was hurt in the process of all this potionmaking.
Roy called Carl over every time he needed someone to test out the potion he made. He used 'adaptive training' as a pretext. Carl drank a lot of potions because of that. Very slightly poisonous potions. He puked after doing it for two days, and he cried after a week. The poor boy fell ill after two weeks of this torture, but still he kept coming. The other witchers approved of that steely will he showed.
The witchers were clear how deadly the trial could be, especially Roy. Even with Lytta's unreserved help, he still had to expend one charge of Full Recovery just to get through it. If Carl could get through this pain, he might have a higher chance of passing the trial, where failure meant death.
***
After that little torture Roy put Carl through, Felix finally decided to put the trial for his apprentice in motion. He was going to pick a day and have Carl take the potion, while Roy would start negotiating with him once they get to Novigrad and see if he could have the recipe.
***
Everyone spent a nice two weeks at Oxenfurt, learning everything they possibly could. The date of the verdict came eventually, and the leaders of the Free Company were sentenced to death. The regular members were sentenced to lashes, then they were either imprisoned or exiled to barren wastelands. The von Everec brothers didn't show up, not even during the execution. It was then Linus knew that the danger had passed. "If you don't mind, I'd like to invite you to an opening ceremony tomorrow. It's for the Society for the Protection of Animals."
The witchers were surprised that Linus actually managed to come up with that organization in half a month. He was ahead of his time.
"It's alright, Mr. Pitt. We're leaving Oxenfurt tomorrow." Roy shook his head. "And you can't expect monster hunters to join that kind of organization."
"No, you took this the wrong way. I am not forcing you to join us. I'm just trying to say thank you," he said gratefully. "Without your help, I couldn't have managed to keep my zoo, let alone come up with the organization." A pause later, he said, "Witchers, this organization is the first of its kind on this continent. This is a historic moment. It'd be a shame if the key people who made this possible weren't there."
The witchers exchanged looks. They were obviously thinking about it. Carl was all for it too. "Just the ceremony?"
"Just the ceremony."
"Very well."
***
The ceremony was as simple as Linus said it would be. He, the witchers, Natural History Faculty's dean, Carl, and Kantilla were holding a pair of scissors each. They were outside the Philosopher's Gate, and the Natural Faculty's members, some academy's lecturers, and the crowd witnessed as they officiated the ceremony. There were no cameras around yet, or these people would have said 'cheese' and beamed.
There was an abundance of artists in the academy though. They made a quick sketch and fleshed the artwork out, creating a lifelike portrait just a while later.
The witchers got one of the portraits as a gift. The Vipers stood in the front row. Felix and Carl were by their side, and Kantilla was in the picture too. It was like a family photo. Roy tucked it into his inventory space carefully.
After the ceremony, Natural History Faculty's members gave the crowd free sweets and drinks, and they made an important announcement too.
Linus finally got over it. Instead of hiding the zoo, he thought it would be safer to showcase it to the public. With a lot of excitement, he announced that the zoo would be open to the public in the near future, and tickets would be sold at a low, low price. The Natural History Faculty's members would act as guides, talking about the endangered species of animals to the visitors along the way. Linus hoped this would change the public perception toward these animals. If they didn't see the animals as invaders or dangerous predators, he could carry out the organization's mission more easily.
The people were curious about the creatures too, and the faculty members explained everything patiently.
While everyone was going on a tour around the zoo, nobody realized that the witchers had left the place.
"Why are you looking so tense, Roy?" Kantilla was still thinking about the ceremony. "You don't think the organization will work out? Or do you think Linus would fail?"
Roy shook his head. "The SPA can only survive in peacetime. The people won't care about animals if they're starving themselves." Roy was trying to search his memory for this organization, but he didn't remember the SPA existing in the witcher world. Perhaps Linus is just a little speck of dust in this great wheel of time. Eventually he and the organization will be forgotten by history.
"But the Northern Kingdoms are doing well, aren't they? It's been years since a war broke out in Redania," Kantilla asked curiously.
"Peacetime has gone on far too long," Letho said. He looked at the skies far, far away. It was clear just a moment ago, but now dark clouds were starting to show, and they were expanding fast. "Change is coming soon, and perhaps not for the better."
End of Arc
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