Chapter 529: The Bloody Baron (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

Is this RPG truly a proper RPG?

At this very moment, this was the only thought in Song Ren's mind. His head was still filled with the images of that romantic night from ten seconds ago.

This was an old acquaintance?

This was Geralt?

Before this, Geralt had always struck Song Ren as a little bit sharp-tongued, for instance, when confronting the Nilfgaard garrison commander in White Orchard. At the same time, though a Witcher, he also maintained goodwill towards ordinary people, even if he didn't fully show it, such as rescuing the merchant attacked by the griffin, or choosing to give some Gold Coins to his opponent for food after winning the first boxing match in a side quest.

But among all those labels, 'crude sexual encounters' was definitely not one of them!

As for the Unicorn figurine belonging to Yennefer at the beginning, Song Ren hadn't thought much of it at the time. After all, Yennefer and Geralt seemed to be a couple; wasn't a little marital fun perfectly normal?

But here, facing Keira, with her clothes off, and those lines he uttered, saying Keira shouldn't take off her shoes – Geralt, what did that even mean?

After a moment of reflection, Song Ren redirected his attention back to the storyline.

On the morning after their pleasant post-dinner activities, Geralt discovered Keira had vanished. Following her tracks to Fyke Isle, Geralt realized that Keira had asked him to lift the curse merely to acquire the plague virus research notes from the lab at the top of the tower. Her goal was to escape her impoverished rural life by presenting the virus research notes to King Radovid of Redania.

However, Geralt clearly understood that King Radovid of Redania didn't care about such things at all. Here, there were three options: let Keira go to Radovid, or simply turn hostile and kill Keira, or persuade Keira to go to Kaer Morhen to lay low.

Looking at the three different options, although he didn't know what the subsequent storyline would be, Song Ren still chose to have Keira temporarily take refuge in Kaer Morhen. After all, this option seemed more reliable. Although he hadn't met Radovid yet, from the information revealed in the game, the king's collaboration with the Church of the Eternal Fire to brutally persecute sorceresses, confiscating their property to acquire military funds, meant he certainly wouldn't easily overlook Keira. As for loveless abandonment after sex, Song Ren felt that given Geralt's character, he definitely wouldn't do such a thing.

After resolving these matters, Song Ren controlled Geralt to search for the Bloody Baron. Upon arriving at Crow's Perch, he met the Bloody Baron, who made it clear to Song Ren that he had indeed seen Ciri. However, since the Baron's wife and daughter were missing, he demanded that the White Wolf help him find his family before he would reveal Ciri's whereabouts.

Through investigation, Geralt quickly discovered that the Baron's wife and daughter hadn't simply disappeared. Instead, the Baron frequently got drunk and committed domestic abuse, and the most recent assault, which resulted in his wife's miscarriage, led her to take their daughter and leave him that very night.

Playing up to this point, Song Ren felt that this Baron was truly the scum of the earth. But soon, as the game's plot progressed, events took an unexpected turn for Song Ren.

Just like the title of this quest: every family has its own troubles.

This was a domestic matter difficult for outsiders to judge. You might think the Baron's domestic abuse was his fault, but what was the truth? The Baron was once a junior officer in Temeria. Although he had a quick temper and loved to drink, he also had a tender side. He was devoted to his wife, Anna, and even made a doll for his daughter with his own hands. However, during the war, the Baron was away fighting for many years, causing his wife Anna's affections for him to wane. She not only cheated on him but also took their daughter and moved into her lover's house.

Knowing the truth, the Baron stated that if it had happened once or twice, he could have pretended not to know and chosen to forgive. But Anna had carried on for several years. Enraged, the Baron killed the man right in front of Anna. It was after this that whenever the Baron started drinking heavily, Anna would appear precisely when he was drunk enough, deliberately provoking him with words designed to sting, and then the domestic abuse would ensue.

After one instance of domestic abuse, the Baron discovered Anna had suffered a miscarriage. Seeing the fetal remains, the Baron believed he had done it while drunk. Later, after burying the child, the Baron was filled with remorse, and it was because of this that Anna and their daughter ran away from home.

After discovering his wife and daughter had left, the Baron was very worried about their safety, but on the other hand, he didn't want to lose face. He could only search in secret until the appearance of the White Wolf Geralt gave the Baron hope.

Without much effort, the White Wolf quickly found the Baron's daughter. However, having witnessed her mother frequently being beaten by her father, she hated the Baron and chose to distance herself, moving to Oxenfurt and joining the Church of the Eternal Fire, becoming a witch hunter.

As for the Baron's wife, Anna, she was abducted by a monster during her escape and her whereabouts were unknown.

During this investigation, the truth soon came to light. Anna was actually captured because she had made a forbidden deal. In Velen, the common folk didn't worship gods, but three crones. Anna was pregnant with the Baron's child, but she had already decided to leave with her daughter. So, before leaving, Anna found the old crones and signed a pact, hoping to get rid of the child in her belly. However, she didn't expect that the old crones' method of fulfilling her wish was to drain Anna's vitality with dark magic. This not only damaged Anna's sanity but also made her appearance incredibly aged. Furthermore, due to the pact, Anna became a servant of the three crones, adopting various war orphans in the swamps. But these orphans, as revealed through the White Wolf's conversation with the three old crones, were actually food that the old crones were raising; Anna was merely raising them like livestock for the old crones.

After explaining the whole story to the Baron, he honored his promise and told the White Wolf about Ciri. It turned out that after Ciri arrived in Velen, she was captured by the old crones. She narrowly escaped them and, along the way, rescued a little girl. She then eventually made her way to Crow's Perch, which was the Baron's territory. The Baron generously helped Ciri, including the orphaned little girl Ciri brought with her, whom the Baron adopted into the castle. Ciri spent a pleasant time there, but during a horse race, a basilisk suddenly appeared, forcing Ciri to use her power of space and time. To avoid implicating the Baron, Ciri immediately left Velen afterward.

After the Baron finished recounting his clue about Ciri, Song Ren was ready to help the Baron. After all, from his perspective, Song Ren truly sympathized with the Baron. This guy was just too tragic! He had been thoroughly cuckolded for no good reason, and the Baron himself had even helped Ciri.

Of course, there was another very important reason: this Baron was also a Gwent master! Although his wife and child had not yet returned to his side, the Gwent match still had to be played. Moreover, the Baron in front of Song Ren even showed off a small monster he had won from a merchant on the Skellige Isles: the ugly, pustule-ridden Uma.

As fellow Gwent players, Song Ren and the Baron sympathized with each other. "I'll help you get your wife and child back; then we'll have a grand Gwent match!" Song Ren said, looking at the Baron.

But as the quest progressed, Song Ren discovered that the current task was completely different from what he had imagined. He had to make the most agonizing choice he had ever had to make since the game began.

(End of Chapter) <>