The Witcher: My Own Path

(Orik, two days later, headquarters of The Order of the First Reconciliation)

Today, once again, I came first to our monthly meeting, taking my place at the round table of the Order's council. It is always like this, and it is not because the other members do not have respect for our leader or the organisation he has created, but rather because their workload is greater than mine, I am the newest member and my Sphere is not yet properly developed, we have the funds but we lack something more, we lack the right people, people who specialise in a certain field, have knowledge of it and are willing to share it, starting from simple farmers to masters of alchemy and magic. My task is to gather knowledge and sort it properly, because you never know what will be useful to whom and where, and most importantly, what will be useful to the Order as a whole.

There is still so much to do, but today's council meeting will not be about the problems of my Sphere, but rather about the future of the Order. I myself am very interested to see how today's meeting will go and what other members' attitudes are to the events of the past few days. The receipt of the title of minor noble by our leader, is happy news for all of us, the receipt of the position of civil servant as Steward of the Old Den is probably the happiest news I could have heard and I am sure that young Mirim is also rejoicing at the news, but the receipt of the Marshes as a fief must have not only surprised the other councillors and members of the Order, but also our leader.

It probably seems to them that it was a slap in the face to our lord that he was treated this way because of his common ancestry, but I take a different approach. I am quite an old dwarf and I have lived my life, it is true that my race as well as elves can live up to two hundred years, but compared to humans I am already a grandfather, even though I may have at least another hundred years of life ahead of me. I have seen and heard and read a lot in my life. The whole situation has a second bottom for me, which is hidden from the eyes of those who are not as familiar with political intricacies as I am.

Visible to many is the fact that the young Tyr was given the title of Knight and a land that is completely empty and dangerous, i.e. for nothing. To reward him for his heroic deeds, but at the same time to appease the conservatives among the nobles and courtiers and those who do not like his ascension to the ranks of the ' nobles' He was exiled as far away from them as possible, i.e. to the domain of the despised races, the Inhumans and the Swamp so as not to defile the eyes of the other ' nobles' with his presence at the King's court.

The second is that the king acted in this way for the boy's safety through his ignorance of the conspiracies, shenanigans and other treacherous activities that the nobles and courtiers might begin to undertake against him. As long as Tyr is young and inexperienced the King will keep him away from the court, however, providing the young Knight with tasks from time to time, allowing him to prove himself and gain more influence while gaining more experience in dealing with the upper class.

In my opinion, this is how the King and probably Velerad resolved it. Only a fool would allow such a talented young man to leave, especially as there are many barons and counts who would very gladly accept, now Knight Ser Tyr into service. I am curious as to how many of our councillors will, be able to see the other side to this, certainly Albert, but I am not sure about the rest. There is one thing I am most interested in, and that is how our leader will handle the whole situation, whether he is aware of what is really going on, or maybe he will give in to his own rage for the insult he has received after performing such a dangerous task, this is what I am most curious about. It will be a test, so to speak, for our leader and will show, his true colours.

It wasn't long before everyone started to gather. We were just waiting for our master. I looked around at their faces and I could see disappointment and even disappointment, but it was nothing to be alarmed about, that is, they would all still stand firm with our young leader. As I suspected, Albert seems relaxed, he knows, or perhaps only suspects, about the King's plays and his right hand. I could see in his eyes, anticipation ahhh... meaning he too is curious about our lord's performance, a man who has been successful in business and somehow revolved around the upper echelons of the Wyzima, must be interested in what our young leader is made of. Well, we'll wait and see. Either we will all be disappointed or we won't, we just have to wait a little longer to find out the truth.

The door to the meeting chamber opened, revealing the figure of our leader Tyr, no! Now it was Ser Tyr, as he undoubtedly deserved his title. We all stood up to demonstrate our respect for him. He immediately headed to his seat, we all watched him closely, especially me and probably Albert. Tyr was as he always was, confident with his head up and chest thrust forward, his hands clasped behind his back as always.

Ser Tyr sat down in the Order leader's seat and spoke.

"Please be seated, he waited a moment until we were all comfortably seated and continued".

"Thank you all for gathering for our monthly meeting". He paused and looked around, surveying us with his watchful gaze.

It is still remarkable that after such a time I still get shivers when the leader is with us, he is still a child, a young boy, he could be my great-grandson however his presence, this.... elegance, strength and charisma make me want to follow him, and it's not just me, because the faces of the councillors, just a moment ago unhappy and disappointed by recent events, changed, we were all fanatics in some way, of this young leader, and Albert's little smile indicated that he was not disappointed, the mere presence of Ser Tyr, changed everything. Now show me my lord, how in these two days since your belt, you have thought everything through and planned for the Order to climb to new heights!!!

" I know what you are all thinking, however, I assure you that what was given to me by the King was not a curse but a blessing".

Hahaha, I laughed in my spirit, of course I did, if something so small would have broken down our leader, maybe it wouldn't have been worth following him, but I wasn't wrong, now I even think we will come out of this even stronger, I'm curious as to what blessing he is talking about and it's not just me, hahaha everyone gathered is very curious as to what you have to say my lord.

" We have no time to waste, so I'll get straight to the point!"

" Albert what funds do we have available for this month?"

Our treasurer didn't even have to reach for his papers, he was very well versed in our business. 

" Each of the Spheres has already received its funds for this month, so whatever is left can be used, namely three thousand six hundred and seventy orenas, if we add your bounty from the king, it will be six thousand six hundred and seventy orenas".

" Excellent! Albert you will go to the marshes to the village of the brick makers and speak to Vaska there, she is their spiritual leader, find out all about their work, in the firing of the bricks and if it is possible we will invest in the whole venture to increase the quantity and quality of the bricks, but before you go there, ask Nightingale about the more detailed information she has gathered, Haren's people will keep you safe!"

"Gawornie wants you to start contacting people who would be interested in logging. Now that all the forests in that area are mine, there is no point in delaying the logging of wood not only to make it into furniture but also for our other ventures".

"Orik from what you said you have family in Old Wyzima, contact them and find out if there are any willing to work in brick firing".

"Nightingales who is currently the top official in the old district?"

"The Old Wyzima has never had officials, the king always let them govern themselves, but they elected a leader among themselves to represent them".

" And who is this leader?"

"An elderly elf named Isarim, he has been the leader there for ten years".

"Mirim you will go with Orik and contact this Isarim on my behalf and prepare him for my arrival. I also want you to prepare for me the highest tower that is there, I want to set up my office there". 

" You are probably confused by all these orders, but do not be, I am already explaining everything to you". 

" In the lands given to me by the king, or rather wetlands, there are also a lot of monsters, in addition to unpleasant living conditions, and in order to do anything about it I need people, manpower, which is why I am going to use the people in the Old Den. Excuse me". He looked at me, Gaworn and Mirim. 

" However, I am obviously going to pay them, a fair wage for everything they do. I wish to use them to increase the extraction of bricks and wood. With these raw materials we can not only earn more money, but we can also improve their living conditions. Then, if they agree, I want to make them into a troop of at least a hundred members to first exterminate all the monsters in my land and then regularly patrol and guard it against all threats".

"An armed detachment of such numbers my lord for what purpose? I asked surprised, everyone nodded their heads, not fully understanding such a plan. No offence my lord, but apart from the village itself and the forests we want to cut down, the marshes have no uses".

" I don't understand my lord, to protect the village of bricklayers and woodcutters my men are enough, and eliminating all the monsters from the swamps would be unprofitable, pointless. Said Haren, with which we all agreed".

All of our leader's previous orders had been logical and rational, but why eliminate all the monsters from the swamp when the vast majority of that area was useless unless.... There must have been something in it if our leader came up with such a plan.... The question, however, is what?

Everyone looked at each other confused, they all knew our young master well, he never did or said anything without a specific reason. Finally Albert spoke up.

"Sir, I don't know about my fellow council members, but I am convinced that your orders are leading us to something, please tell us this secret".

As if struck by lightning, everyone turned their heads towards our leader, finally realising the mistake they had made in not trusting Tyr's sanity. He smiled at Albert, indirectly praising him for his sharp mind and for his faith and trust.

"Everything I've told you about so far is just side plans that we need to complete before we get down to our main undertaking, which is...

He paused, keeping us all even more curious.

... for the iron mines!"

"Whaaat?!

Almost everyone, including me, shouted as one.

"Yes, you heard right, in the marshes, now in my marshes, given to me by the king, there is a disused iron mine and no, before you ask, it's not empty, I checked it personally, it's full of raw material!"

Gaworn rose abruptly from his chair, which toppled behind him with a noise.

" Sir! What quantities of deposits are we talking about!"

Gaworn's interest in the subject was not jarring, you could see it in the look on his face.

"I'm no expert, but I suspect we could be mining for years, if not decades!"

"Ha haha hahaha hahahahaha!!!"

Suddenly Gaworn started laughing like a madman, startling us all.

" For decades?!!! My lord do you realise the true value of this treasure! Hundreds of thousands of oren, no! Millions of oren, work for thousands of people, wealth, prestige, with this our plans can really move forward. My Lord! You must show me this mine as soon as possible, I want to check it out myself!"

Yes, what Gaworn has just said is true, with this our lord will gain what the king has not given him, true prestige and importance in Wyzima, however, first we must do what our lord has commanded. Secure ourselves financially and increase our forces whether to fight monsters or other opponents.

Everyone was very happy to hear about the mine, the future of the Order was painted in colourful colours, they laughed and joked, the heavy atmosphere from the beginning of the meeting disappeared replaced, by positive news and joy. However, everyone suddenly quieted down when our Lord raised his hand to let us know that he wished to speak.

- Now, surely you are aware of the importance of our minor plans before we take on the mine. Everything must be buttoned up to the last detail. There is going to be a lot of work ahead of us, not only with recruiting people, but with clearing the swamp and creating a safe passage to the mine. I hope to recruit a large majority of our workforce in Old Wyzima, so if you have any helpful and important things to add feel free to speak up, but bear one thing in mind, the mine is an absolute secret until we have a strong foothold in my lands, have I made that clear!