Geralt arrives in Novigrad to upgrade his gear. While exploring the town, he stumbles upon a heated altercation in which a woman named Vespula hurls insults and household items at her ex-fiancé, Dandelion. Seeking respite, Geralt and Dandelion head to a nearby inn. Dandelion strums his lute and extols the virtues of Novigrad. Geralt dismisses Dandelion’s inquiries about Yennefer, indicating the end of their romantic entanglement. Entering a tavern with empty pockets, Geralt and Dandelion meet the halfling merchant, Dainty Biberveldt, and Dandelion coerces Dainty into covering their meal. Suddenly, another Dainty, angry and much-disheveled, storms in and begins an altercation. Realizing that the clean Dainty is an imposter, Geralt restrains him with silver chains, and the creature melts into something resembling misshapen dough. The creature is a doppler named Tellico Lunngrevink Letorte (or Dudu for short). Tellico previously knocked out the real Dainty, stole his goods, and impersonated the merchant for several days in Novigrad.

As the innkeeper contemplates involving the town guards and the temple, Dainty protests, revealing that Tellico has stolen and sold a dozen horses. The prospect of gruesome punishment and an inability to recoup his losses deters Dainty from seeking official intervention. Tellico justifies his actions, confessing to the lucrative sale of the horses and the merits of his reinvestment in seemingly worthless commodities.