Contract: The Mystery of the Byways Murders - The Witcher 3

A Nilfgaardian patrol had gone missing near the village of Byways. Geralt took an interest in the matter, for the local Nilfgaardian commander suspected a monster was involved and Geralt knew imperial soldiers were always upfront and honest when it came to pay.

Geralt discovered that local villagers had decided to make a few extra crowns by digging in an ancient elven mine. Since the old underground complex hid its fair share of unpleasant surprises, it wasn't long before they ran into trouble.

The self-taught treasure hunters had awakened a particularly nasty kind of vampire known as an ekimmara, and this enraged beast had attacked the Nilfgaardian patrol as it passed through Byways. Geralt decided to eradicate the beast and tracked it to the ruins outside the village.

The Nilfgaardian soldiers proved themselves honorable men and paid the witcher without a murmur, handing him not only what he was owed for killing the ekimmara, but also a reward for having discovered the truth of what had happened to their missing patrol.

Geralt told the Nilfgaardian commander what had happened to the missing patrol and received his reward. The commander brought no dishonor to his uniform and paid in full, without haggling or backpedalling.

When the ekimmara had been defeated, the villagers of Byways did not prove very grateful. With long years of witchering experience under his belt, Geralt did not find this very surprising.

The villagers were grateful to the witcher for his help in slaying the ekimmara, so much so they even agreed to pay Geralt a reward.

While traveling across Velen, Geralt happened across a village which seemed to have been abandoned. The ghouls lurking amidst the huts gave him a bad feeling about its former inhabitants' fate, so the witcher decided to kill the monsters and investigate what had happened.