There's a flutter of irritation in his gut, though in a way that's largely imperceptible from the outside. Yes, part of him wants to say, I know. For Estinien's part, he's no longer debating the need for action or lack thereof with Geralt. He's already gotten the impression that the man has too much baggage to even defend himself properly let alone make any hopeful stands.

But he supposes that he should find some worth in the fact that Geralt is explaining himself at all, even if Estinien is no longer interested in even trying to recruit him towards any cause. What he said just before was more about trying to let the man know that as bad as it felt, it didn't always have to be that way. Yet, he supposes Geralt just thinks he's naive for saying so.

"I'm not telling you to do anything," he says. "Not now. 'Twould clearly be a waste of both our energy." He isn't exactly sorry for taking issue with Geralt's aggressive passivity, but he also isn't going to keep fighting against a wall for no particular reason. Especially now that he's come to terms with the fact that Geralt's perception of things may be more personal and not the figurehead of everything Estinien was finding frustrating at the time.

Fortunately, Estinien realizes now that he doesn't have to agree with Geralt's takes to be friends with Jaskier, which was, foolishly or not, one of his concerns. There's some relief in that.