The Witcher: My Own Path

Now that we were alone, I wondered how I would transport all the bodies and objects. I wanted to leave the place absolutely empty, so as not to leave any trace here. My dimensional pocket was almost empty, I only had a few small items in there. I could store all the bodies of the slain bandits there, but I would have to bury them somewhere and then go back for the rest of the things. Well... I have no choice but to do it anyway. There are still a few hours until dawn, so if I don't delay any further and hurry, I should make it.

I ordered Gavorn to help Nightingale go through the documents while I set about cleaning up, they couldn't help in any way anyway, as for the rest of my new subordinates, I didn't want to reveal my abilities to everyone yet, so I sent them away. They may have been through a lot, and they are grateful to me for helping them with these bandits, but I can't trust them yet, not until I am completely sure, what I want to build has to stand on a strong foundation of trust, and for now they are under construction.

Sneaking out of the city, not difficult. I used the power not only to hide, but also to climb the walls. Then I found a secluded spot and buried the corpse there. Once again, I used the power to literally pull out, or rather tear out, a substantial chunk of earth, lay the body down and put it back in place. I tried to make the hole as deep as possible, just so as not to attract any cadaverous monsters. When I returned, I stowed the rest of the items, including the alchemical equipment, and when I finished, Nightingale and Gavorn were ready.

''So, what did you find out?'' I asked curiously.

''Most of the scrolls and parchments are closely related to the production of fisstech.

''Explain!''

''Almost thirty per cent of what we have here is related to the flora of the area around Vizima, namely a list of plants to be harvested, how to harvest them and what substances can be obtained from them. The next twenty treat the equipment we need to obtain these substances, but also all the details needed to extract them such as, weighing temperature, length, the rest is related to combining these ingredients and so on. To sum up, if we wanted to start producing fisstech, having absolutely no idea about it, with these documents and notes, we could start in less than a month!''

''Hmm... I have no intention of producing drugs, however, knowing about the plants and what we can get from them could prove valuable, keep everything though, better to have and not need this information than to need and not have. What can you tell me about the rest of the documents, have you found anything that might lead us to The Talon's superior, or at least to any of his contacts?''

''Well, my lord, we know for sure who, apart from those we have dealt with today, was subordinate to The Talon, namely 'Danko', the owner of the tavern "The Hairy Bear". I always wondered where such a buffoon had the money to open that bar, and I think I know now. He was making a living as a dealer and a few other people unknown to me, apart from Danko, those are just rumors.'' Gavorn summarised.

''Nightingale! This could be an opportunity for us, take all the documents discrediting Danko and then order one of your men to keep an eye on him. If there is any way to take over ''The Hairy Bear" avoiding links to today's case, I want to know about it! This tavern would be invaluable to our future plans!

''As you wish my lord, but apart from that, one of the letters says something about drugs of better quality, which The Talon was supposed to hand over to some "M", in fact, he was supposed to deliver them to someone in the commercial district, I assume it doesn't end there.'' Nightingale finished.

I nodded my head in agreement, as I suspected as much myself, but for the moment this is not the most important thing, we had other pressing, matters to attend to before my ascension to adulthood and the start of my business.

''Gavorn! Your role in what happened today ends the moment you leave here. I would like you to focus, on the construction of my inn, and yes, on a few other things, but I will come back to them in a moment.''

''I would like to inform you of my future plans. As soon as I register my company with the authorities, I want to create a secret council, a council that will be responsible for all the most important aspects of our business whether official or secret, they will be called "Spheres".''

''Some of the councillors will officially work for me as you Gavorn, however your identity as a member of my closest circle of course will not be known. You will be in charge of all sorts of constructions whether it be putting them up from scratch or refurbishing old ones, but that's not all, I want you to keep an eye on any valuable artefacts that we could acquire and use in some way or sell for a profit. You will be the Councillor in charge of the "Infrastructure Development Sphere".''

''If we stand on our feet and have a steady income each Councillor in charge of a particular "Sphere" will receive monthly funding to implement pre-determined plans or they can take personal initiative and implement personally developed plans in favour of the whole organisation. It will be the responsibility of the Councillor to work on the development of a particular "Sphere" which means recruiting and training the people he or she will be in charge of, and doing everything in his or her power to make the area develop as well as possible.''

''You, Nightingale, will also belong to the Council and you will of course be among those who do not officially work for me, as you may have already guessed, you will be responsible for information gathering and espionage, but that is not all, your job will be to keep tabs on every important figure, be it a king, a wizard, every noble in Vizima, every wealthier merchant or gang leader and not just those who live here, but every "Important" person who visits Vizima, be it for business or any other purpose. Your work will be one of the most important, because through them we can protect ourselves as a whole, but also through the information we gain, we can prosper better. As a Councillor you will be responsible for the "Sphere of Espionage and Intelligence".''

''We will need someone in the "Council" who will be in charge of our official defence forces that will guard our employees, them and our properties, starting from the buildings to the smallest tools. We need a Councillor in charge of the "Sphere of Defence of Property and Interests".''

''Another "Sphere" I want to create will be responsible for our unofficial activities just like the Nightingale's department, the Councillor of the "Sphere of Elimination and Recognition of Threats " will work in the shadows, making sure that our enemies, whether official or hiding, are eliminated and I am not only talking about assassinations, because there are a multitude of different ways to deal with enemies without resorting to violence, such as planting evidence, blackmail, etc. etc.''

''I won't discuss in detail each of the following "Spheres" because we don't have the funds or the people to create them, but there will be four more:

"The Sphere of Science and Development" will be responsible for training and educating our people, as well as their children. The Sphere will be in charge of gathering all kinds of knowledge and storing it, and using this knowledge when needed.

"Business Supervision and Management Sphere " will be in charge of supervising each of our official business, checking for corruption and fraud, it will also be in charge of monitoring the market and customising our products or services. She will also collect all the funds, keep the accounts and distribute the resources to the other "Spheres".

Last but not least, the "Sphere of Resources and Logistics" All our workshops that we will open in the future, or manufactories producing equipment such as weapons and armour, will come under this "Sphere" The task of this department will be to ensure that you, Gavorn, never run out of materials to build whatever we want, but also that our people are always well fed and equipped, whether with everyday tools or more deadly ones.''

In summary, the "Secret Council" will consist of seven Councillors in charge of the seven "Spheres" and me an eighth person as leader and chief.