NOVEL SIMPLE 230. The Unexpected Child.
The Law of Surprise.
A customary law in the world of Witchers, almost as ancient as human history itself.
A person who saves another can, according to the Law of Surprise, demand compensation from the person they saved, asking for the first thing the saved person sees upon returning home...
Or something the saved person possesses but is unaware of—typically, this turns out to be a child born during their absence. Such children are referred to as "children of surprise."
In the original work, Lambert, Ciri, and even the protagonist Geralt were all children of surprise. Besides having the legal effect of a customary contract, the Law of Surprise also holds magical power.
Once a demand that fits the Law of Surprise is made, a bond of destiny is firmly established between the parties involved. Breaking a contract formed under the Law of Surprise invites disaster, which may manifest as severe illness, sudden death, or even the downfall of a kingdom.
However...
The Law of Surprise is generally invoked by the person who did the saving as compensation for their loss. It's quite rare for the person saved to actively request the Law of Surprise—and with such eagerness and determination...
At least, Vesemir had never seen such a thing before today.
After all, the outcome of the Law of Surprise almost always ends with the saved person's child being claimed.
"H-How about it...you two Witcher...lords...?"
"I'm penniless, so...the Law of Surprise should be an option, right...?"
"I have nothing to repay you for saving my life, but at least the Law of Surprise could make up for your losses."
The fisherman wore a fawning smile, practically begging Allen to invoke the Law of Surprise. Amidst the strong stench of blood mixed with the smell of urine...
Allen furrowed his brow and glanced at Vesemir.
"You saved him. You decide," Vesemir said, shaking his head.
Unlike in the game and the original story.
At this time, when Witchers had not yet fallen into decline, it was mandatory for Witchers to receive payment for saving people—whether they were ordinary Witchers, masters, or grandmasters.
Unless the Law of Surprise was invoked, the payment a Witcher received for saving people of different statuses from different monsters would vary. This was easy to understand.
A Witcher master had a reliable and abundant source of income, so they might not need a reward for saving someone. But ordinary Witchers did not have that luxury.
If a wealthy Witcher waived the life-saving fee for the poor, it would surely lead to unscrupulous individuals using this as an excuse to refuse payment to poor Witchers.
One must understand that the average Witcher's strength paled in comparison to Allen and Vesemir. Most Witchers, fresh from their trials, could barely handle low-level monsters like drowners and ghouls.
Even facing more than three of these low-level monsters could put them in danger. Their weapons and leather armor would also suffer wear and tear, which would cost money to repair and maintain. If saving lives came without any reward, and with significant risk, it would certainly discourage ordinary Witchers from saving people who found themselves in danger. It would create a vicious cycle.
So, Allen had to accept some form of payment for saving the fisherman's life, though invoking the Law of Surprise made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Taking someone's child, separating families, was something that, as a modern person, Allen found hard to accept. Especially since he still remembered the torment of the Trial of the Grasses all too well, and the betrayal of Tomas Moreau still lingered in his mind…
"Allen, why not just agree?"
At that moment, Mary's voice interrupted Allen's internal struggle. The young sorceress, seeing the fisherman in his ragged clothes, covered in foul-smelling blood, chimed in to help. As a local, she saw the use of the Law of Surprise as a benevolent act.
"Yes! Yes!" The fisherman quickly added, "Witcher Lord, I am penniless, truly penniless..."
He looked as if he feared Allen would demand some kind of monetary payment. At this point, Allen could only nod and say: "In that case..."
"The first thing you see when you return home will be my reward..."
Bzzz~
Before he could finish speaking. The snarling wolf medallion on the Witcher's chest suddenly vibrated. This was typically a sign that a monster was nearby. However, neither of the two Witcher masters reacted with alarm, because they both felt something strange: the presence of magical energy. Moreover, Allen sensed that he had just established a connection with some vague entity.
"What is this?" Allen froze for a moment.
[It was a feeling difficult to describe, like a sudden flash of insight, or an inexplicable hunch...]
Suddenly, he recalled what Sadia had said when describing the guidance of destiny.
"This is the Law of Surprise?" Mary asked in surprise as she sensed the magical energy in the air.
It was a type of wave that was difficult to describe. Like the calm sea, though steady and not violent, it was unfathomably deep.
Mary glanced at Allen, who was equally astonished, then shifted her gaze to Vesemir. But she saw only a complex expression as Vesemir shook his head: "I...don't know. I've invoked the Law of Surprise at least twenty times, but I've never seen anything like this."
"Allen...it seems you won't be able to refuse now…"
After spending three to four months with Allen, Vesemir could easily guess what was on his mind.
"What's the matter, lords?" The fisherman, not sensing the magical disturbance in the air, was only worried that the terrifying creature with the blue eyes might change its mind.
"Nothing," Allen said after a few moments of silence, shaking his head. "Lead the way to your home. Bring me my reward..."
The fisherman grinned from ear to ear, bending over in servile gratitude, saying "Thank you" twice before preparing to lead the way.
"Wait!"
Vesemir suddenly spoke up. The fisherman quickly turned around.
"Ah!"
He found himself face-to-face with the snarling, enraged head of the massive griffin tied up beside the horse "Carrot" and collapsed onto the ground, terrified, once again wetting himself. The thick smell of urine was overwhelming to the Witcher's senses.
Allen glanced at Vesemir helplessly. Vesemir sighed in equal helplessness, waving his hand and saying: "Go to the river and clean up, then we can be on our way…"
The fisherman, hearing this, instinctively glanced down at himself, then at the crystal-clear lake beside him. After all, the two drowners had just emerged from what appeared to be the safe waters of that very lake.
"N-No need…"
"Don't worry, we'll protect you," Vesemir interrupted.
Witchers could endure foul smells for the sake of a mission, but that didn't mean they liked it.
The fisherman, after glancing nervously at the two Witchers, saw their cold, inhuman eyes and weighed in his mind which was scarier: the drowners or the Witchers. After some hesitation, he reluctantly entered the water to clean himself.
A long time passed.
Once the fisherman had roughly cleaned himself up, the group set off again.
-----------------
The fisherman's home wasn't in Vengerberg but in a village near the royal capital. It was a place known as Fisherman's Village, likely because it was near a small river and mostly inhabited by fishermen.
The village wasn't far from the place where Allen had saved the man—about a half-hour's walk. When they arrived at the fenced-off outskirts of the village, the fisherman's anxiety visibly eased.
Pointing to the end of the muddy path within the village, he said: "Witcher Lord, that's my home right there."
Then, he hastened his pace, as if he couldn't wait to get there. Vesemir and Allen exchanged glances, both frowning deeply. Although what is offered in accordance with the Law of Surprise may not always be a child, the illiterate fisherman surely didn't know that.
After all, many stories about the Children of Surprise were told in taverns and by bards, but nothing about objects of surprise had ever been widely circulated.
Why did this fisherman act as if he had a grudge against his own flesh and blood, eager to hand over the child?
What had this child done to deserve such a fate?
Even Mary, who had originally pitied the fisherman's situation, began to feel something was amiss. She looked at Allen but hesitated to speak. Perhaps it was the fearsome head of the griffin that unnerved people.
Along the way, villagers avoided the fisherman, not even daring to greet him, instead hiding from a distance. They watched timidly as Allen and the others, covered in mud and grime, made their way through the dirty, shabby village, heading toward the far end.
The fisherman leading the way paid no attention to any of this. After all these years, he was finally going to rid himself of that monster that had made him unable to hold his head high in the village.
The fisherman felt a deep sense of relief.
Even if there would be no more clean clothes, no one to make lunch or dinner, and maybe even less money for drinking, he didn't care. With one less mouth to feed, maybe he could buy a new set of clothes for his two-year-old son.
"Thud, thud, thud…"
The familiar yet far from welcoming home came into view as the hurried footsteps approached. Out of a sense of caution, the fisherman paused just before the final turn to his house. He looked up at the sky.
"At this hour, that monster should be outside washing clothes."
The fisherman nodded in satisfaction.
After hitching up his damp trousers...
"Creak…"
The rickety wooden gate swung open.
In an instant, the fisherman, who had just lifted his foot to step inside, froze in place at the entrance.
"What's the matter?" Allen asked, leading his horse up behind the fisherman.
At that moment—
"Waaahhh—"
A child's cries suddenly came from ahead of the fisherman.
"It's likely scared by the lingering magic aura of the griffin. Children are more sensitive to these things," Vesemir said, taking the reins from Allen, preparing to lead the horse with the griffin's head away.
"Witcher… Sir Witcher," the fisherman turned stiffly, like a rusty puppet in a music box, "I just… just remembered… I have some money at home…"
"Could I… Could I… Could I…"
The colder and colder looks from Allen and Vesemir caused the fisherman to stammer and fail to complete his sentence.
"Do you know what the Law of Surprise is?"
Before Allen could speak, Vesemir let go of the reins and strode over, glaring down at the fisherman with disgust, harshly reprimanding him: "It's a contract. A contract signed with destiny. It's a contract recognized by the northern kingdoms, one even kings must obey…"
"Do you know what happened to the last person who broke the Law of Surprise?"
The fisherman, terrified, shook his head instinctively. Vesemir sneered coldly and continued: "Zivelina. She became the queen of Metinna thanks to a gnome named Rumplestelt. She promised to give her firstborn to the gnome…"
"But when the gnome came to claim his reward, she dared to use sorcery to drive him away!"
"Not long after…"
"Zevilina and all her children fell seriously ill and died!"
"Remember…" Vesemir stepped closer, looming over the fisherman, and stressed, "A queen skilled in sorcery and all her children—including the one she promised to destiny—died…"
"Not a single one survived."
Amid the cries of the child, the fisherman's once obsequious face turned pale as a corpse. If not for the child right behind him, he might have soiled his trousers again out of sheer terror.
"Do you think you have more authority, more power than Zevilina?"
The fisherman shook his head frantically, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.
"Go inside, give us the Child of Surprise, and we'll leave," Vesemir said icily.
He didn't know why the fisherman had suddenly changed his mind. But Vesemir didn't care, nor did he want to know. What he couldn't allow, under any circumstance, was the breaking of the Law of Surprise.
He had seen others break it before, and they had always been punished. But the intense reaction from fate when the contract was made at the riverside, which even he and Mary, as mere bystanders, had felt—he didn't dare take any chances.
If Allen showed mercy and agreed, would destiny then cast its curse upon the witcher he admired most, the future of their school?
Therefore, before Allen could speak, Vesemir shut down that possibility. The fisherman was cowardly, selfish.
Under the intense gazes of the two men with cat-like eyes, combined with the tragic example of Queen Zevilina, his affection for his young son seemed to fade. Trembling, he opened the door and invited the two witchers inside, but they declined.
"Bring us the Child of Surprise, and we'll leave," Vesemir repeated coldly.
"Y-yes… Yes, sir… Please… please wait…" the fisherman stammered as he entered the house.
A boy of about three or four years old sat in the yard, crying loudly.
The sound irritated the fisherman.
His fading affection for the child grew fainter still.
"It's better this way… One less mouth to feed, and I can have an extra drink every day," he thought.
Without trying to comfort the boy, he simply picked him up and handed him to Vesemir, whose face remained cold. As the master witcher used an Axii sign to lull the crying boy to sleep...
"Dad," a timid, raspy voice suddenly called out from the dark interior of the house. "Who are they?"
"Why are you giving Clay to them?"
In an instant, upon hearing the voice, the fisherman exploded like a volcano. He rushed into the shabby hut with a speed he hadn't even shown when facing the drowners.
Slap!
A loud slap echoed from the darkness.
"How many times have I told you?!"
"Don't call me Dad, don't call me Dad, why won't you listen?!"
"But you are my dad!" the raspy voice cried out in anguish.
Slap!
"Could I have fathered a monster like you?" the fisherman roared in rage.
"You cursed freak, this wretched spawn of the gods…"
"Why didn't you wash the clothes today? Why weren't you outside?"
Slap!
"I haven't eaten in two days, so I went to find—"
Before the girl could finish.
Slap!
Another vicious slap cut her off.
"Oh, so you dared to sneak food!"
Slap!
--------------------
The sharp sounds of slapping and cursing, mixed with the cries of the girl, made the trio—who had been ready to leave—stop in their tracks.
Vesemir, holding the now-sleeping boy, hesitated about whether to intervene. But then, he saw the fisherman, red with fury, drag a black-haired figure—something resembling a girl—out of the dim house.
....…
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232. Aedirn... Has a Problem!
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235. Archgriffin, Give Me Some Points!