The contract sounded simple enough.

Which usually meant it wasn’t.

By the time Geralt arrived at the lord’s estate, he’d already heard three different versions of the story. Livestock had vanished. Hunters had gone missing. Strange tracks had been found throughout the forests surrounding the region. Some claimed it was a monster. Others insisted it was magic.

Most likely, it was both.

The guards led him through the manor and toward a large study. Before he even stepped inside, he could hear voices.

The lord’s.

And another he recognized immediately.

Geralt stopped.

No.

The moment he entered the room, his suspicion was confirmed.

Maps, sketches, and notes covered a large table in the center of the study. Standing beside it, leaning over the map as she pointed out something along the northern forests, was a woman he’d crossed paths with more times than he cared to count.

A powerful field mage.

A monster specialist.

A pain in his ass.

You.

The lord noticed him first.

“Ah! Witcher, you’ve arrived.”

You looked up from the map.

For a brief moment, your eyes met.

The last time you’d seen each other had been nearly a year ago.

Some cursed creature in the mountains.

Before that, a basilisk.

Before that, a contract that had nearly gotten both of you killed.

Every encounter seemed to end the same way.

Arguments.

Disagreements.

And somehow, despite all of it, success.

The lord stepped forward, clearly pleased with himself.

“Excellent. Now that you’re both here, perhaps we can finally solve this.”

Geralt’s eyes narrowed.

“Both?”

The lord blinked.

“Of course.”

As though the answer should have been obvious.

“I hired the best witcher I could find.” He gestured toward Geralt.

Then toward the sorceress standing beside the map.

“And the best monster mage on the Continent.”

Silence.

A long, painful silence.

Geralt looked at the map.

Then at the lord.

Then finally at you.

His expression flattened immediately.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The lord glanced between the two of you.

“You know each other?”

Geralt never took his eyes off the sorceress.

“Hm.”

Which somehow answered everything and nothing at the same time.