I think this short story suggests that The Witcher series will not have a hopeful tone, as is common in most fantasy series. In the last two short stories, the ending had some satisfaction, but here… I don’t find the ending “happy.” Not to say that is bad; I actually respect that it’s not a perfect happy world that Andrzej is building.
I don’t know if I respect Geralt’s decision to kill Renfri over Stregobor. If Renfri truly suffered from the Curse of the Black Sun, then maybe… If the curse wasn’t real, which may be possible, then Stregobor was the more evil. Because we don’t have the answer, the ending is tough. Personality-wise, I liked Renfri more, so I suppose that I would prefer Geralt to side with Renfri.
It was nice that Geralt prevented Stregobor from studying Renfri’s body. Stregobor doesn’t deserve the right to know if the curse was real.