A naked woman wakes The Witcher Geralt very early in the morning. Without speaking, the two make love. 

Geralt arrives in the town of Wyzim from the north. He passes the crowded Old Narakort tavern and instead enters the smaller, emptier The Fox. When he asks the innkeeper for a room, the innkeeper tells him none is available, while another patron tells him the town of Wyzim doesn’t need people like him. The patron and his friends try to force Geralt out before he’s finished his beer, but he fights back, killing the three instigators. Guards immediately arrive at the tavern to arrest him, but he agrees to come with them willingly.

They bring Geralt before Velerad, the castellan of Wyzim. Geralt pulls an advertisement from his pocket signed by King Foltest advertising the need of a witcher. Foltest tells Geralt that despite the reward—3000 orens and, by rumor, the princess’s hand in marriage—he might as well leave town given the difficulty of the task. Geralt explains, however, that it is his job, regardless of difficulty.

Velerad explains the details of the king’s proclamation. When Foltest was a prince, he impregnated his sister Adda. Adda gave birth to something monstrous, and neither Adda nor the child survived the birth.