Chapter 84: A First-Class Merchant
As if he had returned to his own home, Gaunter O'Dimm entered the room with ease and took a seat on a stool.
Lan promptly sat down across from him.
"Let's get one thing straight first," the witcher said, pointing to the little girl behind him who was eating voraciously. He raised an eyebrow at Gaunter O'Dimm. "Is it okay for her to eat like that?"
"Of course, of course. I would never harm a noble lady."
Sitting across from a being capable of altering reality—at least within a certain range—yet not hesitating to first discuss his servant, Lan's demeanor somehow made Gaunter O'Dimm even more delighted.
"Good," Lan said, leaning forward on the stool, his elbows resting on his knees. "Let the kid eat. Now, let's talk. Why have you come to me?" His cat-like eyes met the deep, dark eyes of the other man without flinching.
After a moment of silence, Gaunter O'Dimm remained smiling, saying nothing. But Lan seemed to have confirmed something in that silence.
"Alright, I get it." The witcher lightly tapped the fresh, pink scar tissue on his chest.
"You're here for this? But why wait until after I've implanted it? I've been wandering the wilderness of Velen with it for at least a few months. Something like you wouldn't have trouble 'finding' me, right?"
"What? Does pulling this thing out of a slippery biological cavity give you more pleasure than taking it out of a bottle?"
As if he weren't talking about a piece of flesh from his own body, Lan asked with genuine curiosity.
"No, no, no!" Gaunter O'Dimm hurriedly denied, his urgency resembling that of a pedophile desperately trying to prove his innocence.
"You can't lump me in with those tasteless, bloodthirsty types! I'm a legitimate businessman!"
"And what's the fun of a lump of meat sitting motionless in a bottle? It needs to be inside someone, it needs to move! That's where the fun is!"
Lan nodded in understanding.
"Business... got it. So, you're here to make a profit off me. But again, with your 'skills,' why bother with business?"
Even with the ability to alter reality on a limited scale, becoming a world ruler would be easy, right?
The other man easily understood the implication behind Lan's words. Gaunter clapped his hands on the stool, laughing so hard he bent over.
"Oh, my friend. You think I haven't done that before? You think I haven't done it multiple times?"
"Boring! Doing that too often is bound to get boring!"
"So, even though I noticed the extraordinary thing you were carrying the moment you arrived here, and even though I realized you yourself are an extraordinary being, I would never intervene directly."
"I prefer to let things take their natural course and then wait at the 'inevitable' end... When you see the expressions on their faces at the end, that's when you know how much fun it is."
"In short..." Lan raised an eyebrow. "You like to play?"
"What else?" The bald man spread his hands with a smile.
"There are three beings from beyond this world in this room right now. How interesting. But honestly, haven't the Conjunction of the Spheres brought enough extraplanar creatures? It's not even rare. Even drowners and nekkers are extraplanar creatures."
"What's truly interesting is you, Lan."
The witcher remained silent, simply watching the other man.
"You know what?" Gaunter O'Dimm suddenly asked. "If you had hesitated for even half a second when cutting your heart's blood vessel, what do you think would have happened?"
"I'm not you. I don't know what hasn't happened yet." Lan answered calmly.
"Haha, but that's the point!" Gaunter O'Dimm repeated. "That's the point!"
He stared at Lan as if he were a biology professor examining a talking stone.
"You're not a being like me, yet when you should have hesitated, you cut without a second thought!"
The other man's finger lightly tapped the skin on Lan's chest.
"I must admit, this is a very exquisite creation, but it shouldn't have started shielding you from my sight before it was even fully connected to you!"
"Now, alas, the first deal we were supposed to make together has fallen through before it even began."
Gaunter O'Dimm, who had somehow produced a single-strap bag from nowhere, sighed regretfully as he pulled out a scroll of parchment from the bag. With a wave of his hand, it spontaneously combusted.
In the brief moment before it burned away, Lan's witcher eyes caught glimpses of the text.
"...Endless Blood," "The recipient shall fulfill..."
The rest was unclear, but Lan was glad he couldn't see more. Just the sight of that contract sent a chill creeping up from the depths of his heart.
"It seems the contract has expired, and you don't want to interfere with my fate using your own power. So, I'm not sure why you've come here."
"A merchant must always seek out clients and build relationships, Lan." Gaunter O'Dimm waved his hand dismissively.
"Let others owe you favors, and when the time comes, collect them at will. That's my business secret, and it never fails."
"But it doesn't seem to be working today." Lan leaned back, signaling his resistance to the other man's approach.
"Compared to you, my perspective is still too narrow. I can't see what would have happened in that 'half-second' of hesitation. But as it stands..."
The witcher pointed expressionlessly at his chest, then at the door.
"I owe you nothing. I acted on my own will and determination, cutting my blood vessel without a moment's hesitation. And my surgery succeeded."
"A legitimate merchant wouldn't force a sale, would they?"
The message to leave was clear.
And Gaunter O'Dimm, true to his word, seemed more inclined to restrain his power and seek amusement.
He said nothing more, simply spread his hands and walked past Lan toward the door.
Lan remained motionless, his back to the man, beads of sweat forming on his nose from maintaining such a high level of combat readiness for so long.
"Oh, by the way."
Just as he was about to step out the door, the other man turned back with a relaxed smile, as if he had just remembered something.
"Dear Lan, do you know what the standard for a first-class merchant is?"
The cat-like eyes of the witcher narrowed slightly.
The bald man seemed to sense this from behind, his lips curling into a kind yet mysterious smile.
"'A first-class merchant creates demand.' Tsk tsk, whoever said that must have been a pioneer in the industry!"
"The road to Vizima is long and treacherous, my friend. But you need never worry, because..."
"I—Gaunter O'Dimm—am always at your service."
At the doorway, the bald man gave a deep bow.
Then the door closed on its own.
"Sir, I've brought your dinner... Sir?"
Arya's voice reached Lan's ears, and the witcher turned calmly to face her.
The plate she carried, which had been ravaged by her voracious eating, now looked as fresh and untouched as if it had just been served.
*****
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