The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! - Chapter 230 - Sigismund Dijkstra.

[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.] Third Person POV Redania. ... ... It didn’t take long for Madara to move through the city using the rooftops. He

[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]
Third Person POV

Redania.

...

...

It didn’t take long for Madara to move through the city using the rooftops.

He went to the place agreed upon in the letter, but he didn’t use the front doors—he followed the hidden tunnels of the city instead.

After all, it was easy to get in.

First, he wanted to check the situation, entering a bathhouse where people were relaxing, men and women alike. There were many prostitutes there; you could tell by the couples having sex in some of the rooms, which were even visible through a few open grates, each with its own pool.

But he ignored all that and kept moving through the place, walking along the ceiling, not finding the person he was looking for. He advanced through the corridors away from the pools, until he found the main room of the place, easy to identify with a few guards stationed at the entrance.

Madara simply dropped down from the ceiling and took them out easily with a simple blow, as they fell to the ground unconscious. He opened the door, finding a man who turned quickly, thinking it was a guard, but froze when he saw Madara enter.

The man narrowed his eyes at him.

"You took down everyone up to this point?" the person asked cautiously. He didn’t doubt his ability, but since Madara didn’t seem to be hiding, or even bothered to conceal his face as he entered the city, if this guy wanted to kill him, there was nothing the man in the room could do.

"I didn’t use the front door. I came through the underground areas, easy to find and there’s a Stone Troll down there that’s easy to get past, by the way," Madara replied calmly, closing the door and looking at the man, while he could feel the sweat dripping from his face—something most of the continent’s most powerful people would do upon seeing him in front of them, which was normal after what happened in the war.

At least, the sensible ones.

But Madara also noticed how the man seemed to want to compose himself before him, even though he could feel his nervousness while trying to hide it.

"You know... I’m surprised by you, Sigismund Dijkstra," Madara began, naming him. "You found us since Oxenfurt?" Madara asked, since if he had identified their trail in Novigrad so quickly, it meant he had spotted them during that royal announcement in the city square when they were down south.

"Yes. There are many scouts in that city, and I don’t doubt you noticed that. But finding a witcher, a sorceress, and a pair of young people made it pretty obvious—leaving the city wearing hoods, it was easy to notice," he said, maintaining composure and speaking calmly.

"It was easy to get information when you came toward the city and entered it. So, it wasn’t hard to deduce. Especially when there are two northern dragons asking about Madara Uchiha. Too much of a coincidence. He was identified by the witcher’s necklace—the one with you—from the School of the Wolf, the same school that seems to have some connection to the events that happened in Kaedwen and the strange group called Akatsuki, with strange abilities and a way of coming and going without anyone being able to do much... So, don’t blame me for connecting the dots," Sigismund Dijkstra said calmly.

"It's true, I can't blame you for that," Madara replied, strangely calm. "But I don't like how they're associating the School of the Wolf with me. As much as it seems like they have something to do with me... If they attack them, they'll be my enemy, no matter who it is," Madara said, responding with a threat.

"Redania isn't looking for a war with you, I assure you," Dijkstra said.

"Doesn't look like it, with your king filling the kingdom with posters and offering a large reward for any information about my whereabouts," Madara said.

"Don't take it the wrong way. I can't control my monarch. But... I don't think this bothers you in the slightest. I'm sure this means nothing to you," he said. Unable to control the king’s actions. Obviously, he had some desire to seize Madara’s power, something Dijkstra wouldn’t want to take part in.

"Seems like you don't share the king’s ambitions," Madara said.

"Let’s just say I put Redania above all else, even the royal family. My only goal is to protect this land—even from the monarch himself, if necessary. But we already have a bigger threat to the North. Looks like Nilfgaard is rising again, and I don’t think we need another enemy. Especially not someone who simply devastated an entire army and split two mountains. I don’t see anything positive in having an enemy like that," he replied.

"Still, you seem to be making quite the effort to speak very calmly with me. I’m surprised," he said.

"Well, from what I’ve seen in recent years, you never left the continent. That was just an excuse. You can even alter memories or deceive sorcerers, given that you're with Yennefer of Vengerberg, the same one who helped forge your departure from the continent. And also, the difference in Princess Ciri of Cintra’s appearance in the memories we saw... you probably controlled them and implanted them into the sorceress without any other mage noticing during the meeting we had..."

"You have powers that could alter the entire northern government or even plunge the whole continent into chaos at any moment. But you haven’t done any of that in recent years. Instead of using brute force against the King of Kaedwen, you found a way to publicly clear the accusations made against the School of the Wolf and made the king back off. And you didn’t even need to kill him. Which shows you’re not some irrational monster set on wiping out entire kingdoms."

"You didn’t even need to have this conversation with me either. You could activate your red eyes and put me under mental control, as has already been demonstrated," Dijkstra said.

"But you still see me as a threat, and you’d try to kill me if you could," Madara said calmly.

"I won’t lie, I would do exactly that..." he admitted and went on, trying to change the subject.

"I heard what happened to Whoreson Junior. He had a rather painful death. They say some kind of fungus consumed him entirely. Never saw a witcher do that. Were you his enemy, by any chance? It's strange," Dijkstra asked calmly.

"You could say I didn’t like that guy’s actions. So I decided to eliminate him after looking through the entire city and seeing his crimes," Madara replied.

"And from what I’ve seen, you have some interest in the Eternal Fire?"

"You could say yes. After all, here in Novigrad, it will become a center of the Eternal Fire."

"It already is. The king authorized their growth, ordered them to be established in the old monastery as you can see... irritating little bastards," he said. He was a spy and always knew things. "But the Eternal Fire wasn’t a threat to the kingdom, as far as I could tell," Dijkstra said.

"You’ll find it even worse. You’ll even want to kill your king in the future, thanks to this religion’s actions," Madara said.
But he had no issue revealing that, while Dijkstra took it as a suggestion, not a prediction.

"That's a pretty dangerous confirmation," he murmured.

"In the future, you’ll tell me if I was wrong," Madara replied simply, before looking seriously at Dijkstra. "Anyway, what does the Redanian spy want with me?"

"Well, for starters, there are two dragons shouting your name up north. And dragons are a threat to the kingdom, they’re rare creatures that hardly show up in the human realm and clearly dangerous. They say they’re giants and could devastate the entire kingdom, so I’m concerned about Redania," he said.

"The dragons have already been dealt with. I just came back from the north, if you must know," Madara replied. Obviously, what happened at dawn wouldn’t have reached these parts yet, but he didn’t doubt it would be known by the end of the day.

"Well, if you’re confirming that, then it seems like a closed case," Dijkstra said, before continuing. "I wanted to meet you. I’m not here to be your enemy, but I also wanted to know if you’re a threat to this kingdom. And even ask about your plans."

"I’m leaving Redania at this moment, as you probably already know," Madara said. This guy was well-informed, so even hidden actions, like his trip to Skellige, were likely already reported to him.

"However, the day Redania falls into chaos and the same thing happens as it did in Kaedwen, with massacres of non-humans without justification, I won’t stand by," Madara replied, while the man stared at him for a moment and nodded.

"That goes for the Squirrels as well, they’re becoming a problem," Dijkstra said.

"I’m dealing with many of them," Madara replied.

"One more thing... about the Princess of Cintra. Do you intend to reclaim the kingdom in the future?"
It was obvious that Madara and Ciri had something between them, being young and having known each other since childhood. For Dijkstra, it was hard to imagine there wasn’t or hadn’t been a union, which would mean their children had a rightful claim to the throne of Cintra.
And who could stop Madara?

"I don’t need to answer that. But we have other matters to deal with first. There’s the issue of a rift in this world, through which creatures are about to enter—or should already be among us right now. But no one seems to want to see that, while they were busy chasing a pair of teenagers," Madara replied with a dry tone regarding the entire continent’s hunt for him and Ciri.

"Well, I can't say I put all my efforts into it. But I’ve certainly pulled information over the past few years. Still, we haven’t found anything so far. I don’t believe it’s in Redania. At the same time, I can’t take care of the entire continent. Especially the south... I’m sure Nilfgaard wasn’t too eager to search for dark creatures on their own land."

Madara nodded.

"And what about Sodden? The creature I fought appeared in the mountains. I’m sure starting the search there would’ve made more sense. Do you have any information?" Madara asked, as the man nodded.

"Yes. King Thorne of Sodden, who is extremely friendly with you, is handling it. The same king you placed on the throne more than ten years ago, after his father failed against Cintra. He took your words seriously and put considerable effort into searching the region, but he hasn’t found anything," he said.

"I see. Well, I don’t think we have much more to talk about," Madara replied calmly, as the bald man nodded.

"Either way, it was good to meet you. And one more thing: Nilfgaardian spies are in Skellige. They say they’re the same spies who’ve been tracking you since the start of the war. So don’t be surprised if you hear people speaking of Nilfgaardians on the islands," the spymaster informed.

"I see. Well, a thorn in the side that will be dealt with," Madara said. He was probably referring to Cahir’s squad.

"I’m going then. We’ll meet again in the future, Dijkstra," Madara said, heading to the door and opening it, finding the two guards on the ground, with people around helping them, surprised to see the door opening. Madara simply passed through, heading outside.

Dijkstra remained there before sighing, believing the meeting had been quite tense, despite trying to keep a neutral expression, as he’d trained for his whole life in his line of work.

"I hope I never become an enemy of that monster," he murmured.

Dijkstra was extremely cautious with Madara and always would be, even more so with the princess at his side. It was obvious they wouldn’t even need to try hard to reclaim Cintra in the future. That was a political power capable of shifting the entire dynamic of the continent—especially when someone that powerful was involved. It could even be a threat to Redania. Dijkstra had to know how to deal with that threat. He needed to. Otherwise, Nilfgaard wouldn’t even be the real problem.

But how does one deal with a monster like that?

Madara exited through the front door without much explanation, disappearing as he headed for the docks. He found Ciri and Yennefer, the girl hooded, in a relaxed conversation with Zoltan and Dandelion, who were also leaving with the group.

Zoltan had become very close with Ciri while Madara was out exploring the city, so it was normal for her to talk to him easily, laughing at his dwarf humor while Geralt and Yennefer also joined the conversation.

They only paused when Madara landed easily near them.

"Did you take care of things?" Yennefer asked, a bit concerned.

"Yes. They know all of our identities. But that doesn't matter now, unless Redania wants to bother with something other than Nilfgaard raising an army. That’s something he made very clear he didn’t want," Madara replied.

They nodded, though still a bit cautious.

Madara ignored the entire crew that was starting to prepare the ship, none of them even noticing his arrival. He watched from a short distance, where he saw a dwarf surrounded by tools, also getting ready to travel.

"That’s my friend. He’s also heading to Skellige looking for work. He spent a few months working for Cleaver while he was traveling," Zoltan said, following Madara’s gaze.

"Him? I know him very well," Madara said, stepping away from the group as he approached the dwarf, who grew a bit wary upon noticing Madara staring at him—until his eyes began to widen.

"It can’t be..." he stammered.

"You know Madara?" Ciri, always attentive to his actions, asked immediately.

"How wouldn’t I? This guy used to have weapons made by me back when he started his activities in Cintra, when he was just a child," Madara replied calmly, while the dwarf stood there frozen.

This was the same dwarf who used to forge kunai, steel wires, shurikens for him—after Madara taught him how to mold steel to his liking—in the capital of Cintra since he was six years old.

Lately, he had been running into a lot of people from his past, people who had lived in Cintra. Skellige could very well be another place for unexpected encounters, after all, he remembered clearly having sent everyone from his territory away with enough money to travel and start a new life, requiring them to leave Uchiha territory when Madara was still a duke in Cintra, just before the war broke out.

It would be interesting—not only to meet Mousesack again, but also to find his old butler and even the castle staff, where Madara had lived for some years managing the territory before the Nilfgaardian war.