Lann and Belengar were both dumbfounded by the candidate Geralt recommended.

A Shapeshifter...

The wonder of this ancient creature lies in its extraordinary ability to imitate.

As long as a Shapeshifter observes someone for a period of time, it can become that person—not just the body, but even clothes and the tools they carry can be mimicked, though of course the target’s weight can’t differ too much from its own.

A Shapeshifter can also copy that person’s voice, way of thinking, style of behavior, professional knowledge and skills, and so on. This is because—put in Geralt’s words—it can copy the victim’s brain patterns and mind, or in other words... soul.

Of course, on the question of souls, Lann, who’d just come back from the World of Fire, had a different opinion.

And the reputation of Shapeshifters among intelligent species is, despite their kind nature, hardly better than that of Water Ghosts or Ghouls.

A pus-dripping, claw-flailing malformed monster is certainly terrifying.

But something that steals your identity, appearance, skills, and even all your social relationships—a "replica" of you—isn’t that even more chilling for the person involved?

A physical monster you can at least deal with using a Silver Sword, but how are you supposed to deal with a thief of "social relations"?

A person is the sum of all their social relationships, and a Shapeshifter has the ability to replace a person completely on the social level.

That is a more thorough kind of "killing" than the "disappearance" of the flesh.

So Shapeshifters, much like other humanoid creatures, suffered large-scale hunts by humans in this world.

To this day, they’ve become rare in number, bordering on things out of fairy tales.

At least Lann had never seen such a humanoid creature.

"You even know a Shapeshifter?"

The young Demon Hunter marveled at the old veteran’s connections.

Clearly, decades of roaming the Continent hadn’t been for nothing.

But Geralt’s expression was a bit odd, as if recalling some bizarre past experience.

Thinking back, the way he’d gotten to know that Shapeshifter really was pretty peculiar.

Thinking about this, Lann pinched his own chin.

"Since he’s someone you’re recommending, then this... Dudu? I won’t question his character."

"But he’s a Shapeshifter—how is he doing business in Novigrad? Did he borrow the face and business acumen of some dead merchant?"

"The face is indeed borrowed." Geralt shrugged. "But the business acumen should be Dudu’s own. It’s not like there’s a rule that Shapeshifters can’t do business."

"And the owner of that face never earned as much as he does."

"That’s the face of a Half-Elf from Liaocao Pasture, Dandy Bieberwitt. Right now Dudu is using the name of his cousin, Dudu Bieberwitt, to run business in Novigrad. The money he earns has a share for Dandy, counted as dividends."

"So there’s no trouble attached to the borrowed face."

Geralt introduced this Shapeshifter he knew to Lann point by point.

"Besides, his identity as a Shapeshifter actually works in your favor. If your cooperation really takes off and he later gets greedy, you can use that identity to protect your own interests."

What Geralt said fit his professional style very well.

Even when bringing two friends with a good relationship together to cooperate, he’d first lay out the possible worst-case scenarios.

As long as you’ve prepared for the worst, you won’t panic or despair too much when trouble actually hits.

You could call this one of Geralt’s little pieces of worldly wisdom.

On the other hand, he was also saying this because he trusted Lann’s morals.

He was certain that if Dudu did nothing wrong, Lann would never go out of his way to make life hard for a Shapeshifter.

Lann nodded to show he understood what Geralt meant.

"Then there’s only one last question... is he willing to take over managing my assets?"

Lann spoke with his arms crossed.

"After all, from the sound of it, he already has his own business in Novigrad."

"Dudu seems to really enjoy the process of making money. He never gets tired of it."

Geralt slapped his thigh.

"Well? If you want to hire him, we can go to Novigrad together. Shapeshifters are very cautious—if some unfamiliar Demon Hunter goes looking for him, he’ll probably just hide himself away."

"Searching for a Shapeshifter in a big city is no easy job, even for a Demon Hunter."

"Novigrad?"

"Yeah." Geralt stood up from his chair. "I’ve been away long enough; it’s time to switch shifts with Lambert."

"Head north to Codwin, back to Ker Morhan to look after Ciri. We can handle this on the way through Novigrad."

"I think you’re just worried Yennefer will tear Ker Morhan down."

Though Lann had only met Yennefer once on the battlefield, that strong, cold, and stunning Female Warlock had an aura that screamed "not to be messed with."

Just picturing a taciturn guy like Geralt acting "well-behaved" in front of her made Lann want to laugh.

With the matter settled and a prospective manager for his assets finally in sight, this troublesome issue was lifted from Lann’s mind.

Besides, making a trip to Novigrad... no matter what Margaret and Tishaya are "conspiring" about, it shouldn’t spill over onto him.

Perfect.

-----------------

Even though Geralt was supposed to swap shifts with Lambert, he still had to delay the Airetusa assignment for a while and wrap things up properly before he could leave.

After talking it through with Lann, Geralt started accelerating the wrap-up process.

Lann, meanwhile, wasn’t idle either.

After leaving the Valerian Blacksmith Workshop, he headed straight for the Crystal Cultivation Laboratory without a break.

Taking advantage of the fact that Tishaya was here too, their experiment could once again be like in the early days: an experienced Great Mage with outstanding Mana, plus a gifted researcher with keen foresight.

This was a good opportunity to push the research forward.

Tishaya had nominally freed herself from the affairs of the Talent and Skill Association under the pretext of taking a vacation.

But doing research with Lann seemed to feel quite relaxing to her as well.

The moment Tishaya stepped into the lab, she frowned, then the hand that had been primly folded over her lower abdomen gave a light wave.

The slightly messy lab instantly returned to neat order.

"Our treatment of that noble whose lower body got... injured by a Ghoul was very effective."

Tishaya said as she walked up to Lann, and even this well‑traveled Great Mage couldn’t help being at a loss for words when it came to nobles’ hobbies.

"Right now the reputation of crystal cultivation is spreading widely through high society. People have very high expectations for this technology."

As she spoke, Tishaya cast a slanted upward glance at Lann’s profile.

"Of course, our project funds have basically been impossible to spend up ever since you came back from the battlefield last time. But I still hope people’s approval will be based on the prospects of this technology... just take it as an old Mage’s stubbornness."

"No, it’s fine, Tishaya. And you don’t look old at all."

Lann had already put on a white lab coat. With the change of setting and clothes, he no longer looked like a Warrior who was both smooth and explosively fierce.

Holding a clipboard, checking the experimental equipment while jotting things down, he looked more like a tall, confident scholar.

He didn’t even turn his head while giving the compliment.

Tishaya, after once again glancing at the Demon Hunter’s profile from the corner of her eye, simply seated herself behind the office desk in the lab.

Only now, the Tishaya who used to straighten and symmetrically arrange everything on the desktop almost by reflex was a bit disorderly in her movements.

Lann, fully absorbed in the experiment, continued updating Tishaya on their recent progress.

"Dragon Bone Growth Liquid is still the most efficient type of growth liquid we have right now, but I’ve already come up with three other ideas for growth liquid formulas. Before I left last time, I handed them to Philixia for verification. How did they turn out?"

Philixia Koli, a Female Sorcerer Apprentice whom Tishaya had taken a liking to and brought into the lab to help out.

Only now did Tishaya realize she was standing in the corner of the lab.

Tishaya pressed her lips together. Her attention had been drawn so strongly just now that she hadn’t even noticed there was someone else here.

Philixia was already very used to assisting the Demon Hunter—more used to it, in fact, than working under Tishaya.

Lann’s social skills meant that, even without intentionally trying, he had already gone through the whole tacit-running‑in phase with Philixia in their work.

This kind of social skill was simply the most important "lubricant" and "adhesive" in team cooperation.

"With Ms. Matty Sodergren’s help, she and I successfully formulated two of those growth liquids."

Philixia replied while flipping through her experimental notes for comparison.

Matty Sodergren was the Female Warlock who had performed the skin graft surgery on Terry back then, a specialist in healing Magic, who ran a clinic in Gos Velen outside the academy.

Her healing Magic had also made her one of the participants in the crystal cultivation project.

But Lann’s deepest impression of this Female Warlock he had never met was—

Tishaya had said that if she and Lann worked together at the same operating table, she’d have far more thoughts about getting into bed with him than about getting any work done.

An open‑minded and highly libidinous, textbook Female Warlock.

"One of the growth liquids completely matched your original theoretical expectations."

Philixia continued her report.

"This growth liquid doesn’t do much to speed up organ growth, but it helps build the organ with much greater precision."

"Are we using this one for our current experiment?"

"That’s the one." In the lab, Lann had tied his molten‑silver hair into a ponytail. While recording the experiment on his clipboard, he instructed Philixia to get started.

"The drawback in growth speed can be made up with Magic Power stimulation under special circumstances, right?"

The first half was his explanation to Philixia; the second half, phrased as a question, was delivered with a smile as Lann turned his head to look at Tishaya behind the desk.

The so‑called special circumstances meant having a Great Mage on hand to supply power for the entire process.

Previously they could have called in Margaret too, but on the one hand, while she was lazy by temperament, she was a responsible teacher and headmistress; they couldn’t very well drain her Mana to the bottom on a single experiment, could they?

On the other hand, although Margaret and Tishaya were both Great Mages, the gap in Mana between them was... a bit huge.