Witcher: Master Kiliman’s Grand Ambitions-Chapter 52: Audience with the King, Foltest

Before leaving the sewers.
Kiriman made another round of killings along the main thoroughfares, even clearing out an ancient elven tomb and eliminating over a dozen ghouls nesting inside.
Finally accumulating three hundred soul points, he didn't hesitate and directly upgraded his [Spatial Storage] skill to level two.
He could tolerate holding off on other combat skills.
But this exclusive skill that determined how much loot he could carry was something he absolutely couldn't wait on.
As the saying goes, a thief never leaves empty-handed.
When you have too much loot but can't carry it all, that feeling of frustration is something ordinary people can hardly understand.
Fortunately, the [Spatial Storage] LV2 skill proved remarkably effective, expanding from the original one cubic meter storage space directly to eight cubic meters—an eightfold increase.
Moreover, his storage space was completely different from the physical space concepts of real-world boxes, rooms, or warehouses.
It had no fixed shape and imposed no weight restrictions on objects. Even if you tried to store a metal rod tens of thousands of meters long weighing thousands of tons, as long as its total volume didn't exceed eight cubic meters, it could be stored.
This way, the eight cubic meters of space could effectively hold an enormous amount of items without any waste.
By now, he had completely cleared all main passages of the entire sewer system, leaving only the branch tunnels, along with secret chambers and hidden camps whose locations remained unknown.
However, the Vizima sewers ran deep—they not only concealed monsters like certain evil cultists and low-level vampires, but even hid a Salamander Gang drug manufacturing base.
Without proper preparation, he had no intention of clearing those overly dangerous and concealed areas to avoid unnecessary trouble.
After leaving the sewers, Kiriman didn't immediately attend to his business but first found an upscale bathhouse for a hot bath.
After washing up, he changed into proper attire and carried a large bag dripping with bloody drowners' ears to the training grounds where the city guard was stationed.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man, as gold leaf makes the Buddha.
In medieval times like these, a person's status was largely judged by their clothing and equipment.
Just as ordinary poor people could never afford silk or fur garments in their lifetime, if you wore high-quality clothes, people would regard you highly no matter where you went.
Kiriman carried the cloth bag, its strong bloody smell and blood-drenched appearance attracting many stares along the way. Several knights from the Order of the Flaming Rose even stopped him to inquire about the details.
They served directly under Princess Adda of Temeria, assisting the city guard in urban management.
Thanks to substantial financial support, this order gave the impression of being well-equipped, physically robust, and numerically strong.
Of course, having been established relatively recently, this order hadn't yet achieved any remarkable military feats, but as a knight order dedicated to guarding the princess, they remained quite conspicuous in Vizima city.
Perhaps noticing Kiriman's equally expensive high-quality attire, the knights didn't give him too much trouble. Nor did they provoke him because of his witcher identity, instead letting him pass quite readily.
This reaction, so different from what he expected, made Kiriman somewhat curious—it seemed this knight order had some differences from the game version.
However, he didn't dwell on it too much and soon reached the city guard station, where he met Captain Vincent Meis.
This was a veteran soldier with quite ordinary looks and a stout, pudgy build, yet he appeared rather righteous.
Kiriman had originally received the sewer clearance commission from him.
When this city guard captain saw the witcher carrying a large bag full of drowners' ears, his otherwise plain face unconsciously revealed a thoroughly astonished expression.
Perhaps people of this era simply couldn't believe that a single witcher could eliminate hundreds of monsters within two days.
After all, in many ordinary people's views, monsters' combat capabilities didn't differ much from regular soldiers.
In one-on-one situations, some poorly trained, inadequately equipped soldiers might even lose to a single drowner.
And if someone could eliminate hundreds of monsters in two days, then they might equally capable of killing that many soldiers or civilians in the same timeframe.
They would be virtually a war machine.
"What's wrong, Captain Vincent?"
"We had an agreement—two orens per drowner."
"There are over two hundred fifty drowners here, so you owe me five hundred orens in bounty. Not a single coin less."
"As for other monsters like ghouls and rotfiends, I'll consider those free gifts."
Kiriman knew that many so-called city guards were actually veteran soldiers who had retired from battlefields—people who spoke human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts.
If you showed weakness, they would bully you without mercy.
So he kept one hand on the long sword at his waist, wearing an impatient and angry expression to show he wasn't someone to be trifled with.
Perhaps his battlefield intimidation attribute came into effect—his over-two-meter-tall muscular build proved extremely intimidating. Just standing there made several soldiers behind Vincent tremble with fear.
Captain Vincent also seemed somewhat wary of his imposing presence, frowning as he took half a step back. After considering for several dozen seconds, he finally said:
"Mr. Kiriman, our city guard station truly hasn't prepared that much bounty money to pay you."
"The city government only allocated two hundred orens for this commission, and I certainly can't cover the difference out of pocket."
"However, I have a proposal."
"Today, our Vizima mayor, Mr. Velerad, is having an audience with His Majesty King Foltest."
"As a powerful witcher, you must have seen the notice on the town square bulletin board—His Majesty is offering a reward for anyone who can completely lift Princess Adda's striga curse."
"I can recommend you for this commission, and you can accompany me to see His Majesty."
"And even if you cannot complete the commission to lift Princess Adda's curse, you won't face punishment from His Majesty."
"What do you think of this suggestion?"
"If you don't agree, you can either take the two hundred orens bounty and leave, or I can take you to see Mayor Velerad."
"Whatever outcome you negotiate with him afterwards would be none of my concern."
Kiriman had anticipated the possibility of the city guard station reneging on payment.
But he hadn't expected Captain Vincent to be so honest, directly explaining that the shortfall came from insufficient municipal funding rather than his own actions.
This city guard captain was actually quite a remarkable character in the game.
He was a rational werewolf—serving as city guard captain protecting citizens by day, while transforming into a werewolf vigilante by night to punish gangs and evil elements in Vizima city, essentially a low-budget version of Batman.
This man's character was somewhat reliable, and his humanity wasn't bad.
After considering for over ten seconds, Kiriman nodded and said:
"Very well, Captain Vincent."
"I'll accompany you to see the King. I happen to want to try whether I can resolve this striga curse situation."