Later that spring, Geralt boards a small barge headed to Oxenfurt. This trip is his sixth on the barge, as the company hired him to kill a monster that attacks their ships. A victim of one recent attack was a young pregnant woman. As the barge approaches the harbor, Geralt reads a letter from Ciri. She writes about her lessons with Mother Nenneke, the head priestess at the Temple school. Geralt also reads a letter from Yennefer. When he first contacted her, he struggled with how to address the letter, so he called her his “dear friend.” In Yennefer’s response, she slyly mocks him for it. A young boy on the boat, Everett, pesters Geralt. The skipper, Boatbug, introduces Geralt to Linus Pitt, a professor of natural history at Oxenfurt Academy. Linus and Geralt debate the water monster, which Geralt calls an “aeschna.” Linus believes aeschna are extinct because of witchers, a point they debate briefly.

Redanian officers board the barge to check for smuggled goods. One of the officers, Olsen, recognizes Geralt from his past trips. Olsen says someone named Rience is asking around about Geralt and a young girl. A Temerian ship pulls alongside the barge, and the officers arrest Geralt for kidnapping a girl.