Release That Witch

Chapter 150: A Stone Tower

ightning was flying above Misty Forest.

The world seemed to shrink in her eyes. All the details had become obscure in her sight, with only various color blocks left. The brown one was earth, gray the mountains, green the forests and blue the rivers.

Green, however, occupied most of the landscape she saw.

Unlike the bright, vibrant green color of the fields in Border Town, the green color here was dark and intense, mingled with some gray and black shades. The endless dark green landscape extended from the west all the way to the north. If Lightning gazed at it for a long time, she would feel like going to crash to the ground. Therefore, she had to divert her attention to the azure of the sky every now and then to dispel the increasing sense of constraint.

The low, thick clouds behind her, meanwhile, overspread the peaks of the Impassable Mountain Range and enveloped Border Town with a thin film of mists and rain.

Lightning was currently looking for a relic of 450 years old in Misty Forest. There was no doubt that this was a great exploration. Half a month ago when Roland had given her the task, she had promised to find the relic with great confidence. Unlike Supervisor Cara, the Snake of Magic, who strictly followed the hints in the ancient book with incredible obstinacy, Prince Roland stressed over and over again that the map was no more than a reference. He told Lightning to stay safe and that she did not need to feel sorry for failing to keep her promise. These words made the little girl quite happy.

Lightning knew His Highness was right. Even if it used to be a grand castle, it would be ultimately swallowed by bushes and shrubs and reduced to ashes in the elapsed 400 years. But she still wanted to find that place. By locating the Star of David, she could thereby spot where Holy City of Taquila was. After hearing the full account, Lightning had instantly known what Taquila stood for.

Down the relic, it was very likely that she could help the prince uncover the real reason behind the battle between the church and demons, which the church strenuously tried to conceal.

This was going to be much more fun than exploring new routes with her father!

Using the method of making nautical charts, Lightning first drew some grids on a square parchment and then filled each grid out based on the distance she covered in a certain period of time. When all the grids were filled out, her task was done.

She had filled out half of the grids already.

The rain clouds behind approached her faster than she had anticipated. The little girl could even hear muted thunders when layers of clouds rolled by. She lowered the height and flew toward the forest below at a tremendous speed.

Just then, she caught a glimpse of a transient white gray shadow from the corner of the eye.

For a second, Lightning was not sure what exactly she had seen. So, she stopped flying, hovered in the air and turned around to glance about the area she had just passed by.

Nothing particular was found.

Lightning wondered if that was an illusion. She decided to examine the area once again.

This time, she flew even lower, low enough to make out peeling tree trunks, splitting twigs and leaves in various shapes out of the entire green forest. She again saw the details of the color block.

A few minutes later, Lightning suddenly discovered a small part of a white stone tower sticking out from layers of branches. As the top of the tower was chopped off and its lower part was hidden in the forest, it was pretty hard for her to see it from the sky. If it was not because of the rain clouds, she probably would have missed it.

Lightning’s heart was pounding in her chest. [Could that be the relic marked on the map?]

She flew around the stone tower but did not perceive anything unusual. Therefore, she decided to take a closer look.

After landing, the little girl noticed it was not technically a white stone tower.

Instead, it was covered with vines and mosses and turned out to be a grayish green color when she drew closer. The tower was slightly tilted as if it had been struck by some great forces. Stones of the same material and color as the tower littered on the ground, which appeared to have fallen off the top. Some bigger ones were still visible, while other smaller ones had been buried in the grass and soil. The tower was colossal, whose base was almost as big as Prince Roland’s castle. For this kind of edifice, there was usually a basement beneath the ground.

Lightning should have recorded the location of the relic and returned to Border Town immediately.

A sensible voice in her head was telling her it was not a good idea to enter a relic of hundreds of years old, for the toxic underground gases were sufficient to kill her.

But Lightning was rooted to the ground and was burned with curiosity. Another dauntless voice was urging her to take a peek, to take just one peek. She looked up at the sky. The cloudless sky now appeared sullen. Apparently, a heavy rain was on the way.

Lightning finally found a justification for herself to enter the tower: since it was not comfortable to fly in the rain, she had to get into the tower to keep herself from getting wet. If she found the basement, she would absolutely not go down there alone.

After making up her mind, Lightning, driven by her great curiosity, went up to the entrance covered with vines. She pulled out her dagger from the waist and managed to drill a small hole for her to creep in. The wooden door frames had been rotten long before, and she went into the tower without any difficulties.

As the top of the tower had been chopped off, Lightning could clearly see everything without a torch. She searched the first floor of the tower but found nothing. Evidently, anything exposed to sunlight had been wiped out by the sands of time without leaving the slightest traces behind. There was nothing left on the ground floor of the tower other than the ruins of the wall. Lightning also found some holes for staircases that started from the floor to the ceiling, but no staircases were ever found.

It was fairly easy for her to locate the passage leading to the basement. It was on the southwest side of the ground floor, right across the entrance to the tower. Lightning suspected that she could probably find Holy City of Taquila mentioned in the ancient book if she advanced toward Barbarian Land in this direction.

While she was pondering, she felt something dropped on her nose. It was rain. She thus slowly entered that passage winding down to the basement and took a turn. There, she reached a wooden door. Although the door had not been completely eroded, it was quite dilapidated as if it were going to crack into pieces upon a gentle touch.

Presently, the light drizzle turned into a pouring rain. The rain pattered on the ground in torrents and obscured her vision. Although Lightning was standing somewhere dry, puddles soon overflowed and the water started to trickle down the stone staircases. In order not to get her shoes wet, she managed to float above the ground with her two feet dangling in the air.

Suddenly, Lightning heard a feeble, obscure yell in the rain.

The sound made her hair all stood up on its ends. The little girl glanced about in horror. The narrow passage was littered with nothing but a few dead vines here and there. With the help of the dim light from outside, she opened her bag and took out a portable torch and flints, attempting to light the torch for a further examination.

At that moment, she again heard the shout. This time, she realized the sound was coming from the wooden door behind. Lightning shuddered in fright and turned around immediately. The torch fell to the ground and the water splashed over her body.

This time, the voice was clearer. Although still pretty quiet, it was loud enough for her to figure out it was a woman.

[Is someone in the basement?] Her back was instantly covered with cold sweats at this thought. [How could that be possible? The stone tower should be a relic of over 400 years old. As it situates in the middle of nowhere deep down in the Misty Forest, who could have come here other than me?]

“Help me…”

By the time the woman yelled for the third time, the voice had become fairly clear. It was indeed behind the wooden door. Someone was truly asking for help. Lightning swallowed hard. She put her hand on the doorknob cautiously and then gently pushed the door open. The wet, goopy wooden door fell backward and hit the ground, accompanied by a muffled clunk.

A tall, stout figure appeared before her abruptly!

Lightning felt all her blood froze. The figure looked exactly like the demons Soraya had drawn. In the dismal light, Lightning sensed that the demon was also gazing at her. Its giant stature slightly leaned forward. In its hand, which had only three fingers, was an axe glistening with dark red blood stains. In a second, she recalled the day when these fiends had slaughtered the witches from the Witch Cooperation Association.

“Ah…!” Lightning shrieked at the top of her shrill voice. She threw the flints in her hand at the demon and darted out of the passage as fast as she could. She flew straight into the rain and headed toward Border Town.

Lightning did not notice, however, that the flint hit the demon on his chest at a crisp and clear sound. Some tiny cracks soon appeared around the area that was hit and then started to expand all over the demon’s body. The demon gradually shattered into pieces as more cracks emerged. It finally reduced to some white ashes that eventually melted into the wind.

Chapter 151: The Negotiation (Part I)

fter visiting the steam engine, Roland and Margaret returned to the office in the castle and continued to discuss the details of the business contract. If such a discussion involved bargaining, it could commonly take one or two days. To save effort, the lord would usually entrust its treasurer to do the negotiation, while revealing the number and bottom line to him. But this time Margaret insisted that the price was non-negotiable, which saved Roland a lot of effort.

“I guess I’ll be here again after one month, with three sloops full of saltpeter,” the businesswoman said as she hastily took notes on a parchment, “Calculated by 90% of the market price, it is worth about 315 gold royals.”

“By then the little town would have manufactured two steam engines.” Roland lowered the number deliberately. “They’re worth 1000 gold royals. You can pay the price difference with gold royals or with other goods.”

“What kind of goods?”

“Iron, copper, lead, green alum,” Roland said, “Nothing but common minerals. But for the first three items, what I need are not ores, but metal ingots. In addition, I also need 10 sets of crystal glass vessels. As to whether I need them with or without carvings, be them kettle or wine glass, it doesn’t matter to me, as long as they’re the finest products from the alchemical workshop of the king’s city. If they’re worth more than two steam engines, I can pay you in gold royals or you can deduct the price difference from the next month’s two steam engines.”

“You seem to take me as your exclusive businesswoman,” Margaret said with a smirk. “Although I’m not involved in mine management, I do know a few peers who’re in this line of business. What surprises me is there are so many opportunities in this barren isolated area. Not many nobles are living here and yet your saltpeter consumption is enormous. The town was established because of North Slope Mine but yet it needs to outsource ores. All that’s happening here really contradicts my common knowledge. Your Highness, your domain is remarkable.”

A major feature of industrial production is that it takes in massive raw materials and gives out end products. Roland laid out his hands and said, “This town will need more raw materials in the future. I think we can reach a long-term—”

At that moment, Margaret was suddenly surprised looking behind Roland with her eyes wide open. Roland was startled and then turned around subconsciously. He then saw Lightning, who was soaked to the skin, standing next to the French window. Her hands were clinging to the glass, and her face pale, on her forehead were fringes of hair with water flowing by—she looked like just being salvaged from a pond.

Roland hurriedly stood up and opened the window. Lightning flew in and threw herself into Roland’s arms. At that point, her nerves were able to loosen up, and she totally rested her body on Roland and then passed out.

“Nightingale, go get Nana,” Roland said anxiously.

“Yes sir.” A reply came from his side without anybody shown.

“What happened? Since she could fly, she shouldn’t have encountered demonic beasts or demons. Or they could fly too?” Roland roughly checked Lightning’s physical condition and found no obvious injury. He was slightly relieved.

“Your Highness, is she… the Lightning whom you mentioned?” Putting one hand on her mouth, Margaret slowly walked to the prince and carefully examined the little girl in his arms.

Roland was startled. “Damn it! How could I forget about her.” He shouted toward the door, “Sean!”

The guard then walked into the office.

“I’m sorry, Miss Margaret. I have no choice but keep you here for some time.” Holding Lightning in his arms, Roland stood up and said to the guard, “Take this businesswoman from the king’s city to the guestroom on the first floor. Keep a close eye on her. Don’t let her out without my order.”

“Yes sir!”

“What? No, Your Highness… wait a moment.” Margaret suddenly realized something. “I hold no grudge toward witches. Besides, she’s the daughter of Thunder. I won’t tell the church…”

“Just in case.” Roland interrupted her. “I’ll come back to you for verification later.”

…

“Your Highness, she woke up,” Nightingale opened the door and said.

Roland nodded. Following Nightingale, he walked into the bedroom. The water bucket at the bedside was giving off steam with Lightning’s wet clothes randomly hung on. A group of witches surrounded the bed. Wendy sat on the head of the bed combing Lightning’s hair. Her hair was still wet, but yet her face was not that pale anymore. Lightning leaned at the bedside with two pillows on her back. The quilt was pulled so high that only the upper half of her face was shown. She stared at Roland motionlessly.

“How is it going now?”

“No injury. It was a trauma caused by the exhaustion of her magical power,” Nightingale replied, “After Wendy helped her with cleaning, she soon woke up in bed.”

Roland walked to the bedside and said with a smile, “What happened? Why did you fly back in such a hurry in the rain?”

“I’ve found the ruin,” Lightning murmured, “but demons are inside.”

The crowd was startled upon hearing this.

“You went in?” Scroll asked.

“No.” Lightning shook her head, and then began to tell the whole story. “A Demon was guarding the gate. I heard someone inside calling for help, but I was so scared that I had no way to save her but to escape by myself.” She slightly shrunk her head in the quilt. “Am I no longer being qualified to be an explorer?”

“No, you’ve done well.” Roland consoled her. “An excellent explorer understands to act according to the situation, while not putting him or herself in danger. When you couldn’t save her, escaping was your best choice.”

“Is she a witch in the stone tower?” Wendy asked, “Because except for witches, no one else could reach so deep into Misty Forest.”

“Witches won’t go there either.” Scroll shook her head. “It’s a ruin from 450 years ago that we’re talking about. Without the guidance of a map, to locate the stone tower among the countless trees is as difficult as climbing up to heaven. Unless…”

“Unless what?” Roland asked.

“Unless they have been living there all along,” Scroll slowly replied.

“Do you mean they didn’t go there from the kingdom but had been living there since 450 years ago? They had lived in isolation, generation after generation?” Although not saying so, the prince had deep down denied this speculation. “What would it mean by living in a primitive forest! It’s full of elusive beasts, horrible insects and toxic animals, no stable source of food… and even Bear Grylls couldn’t live in such a place for long. Not to mention in this world there’re months of long snowy winter, and demonic beasts and demons running wildly. Settling down in Misty Forest basically means committing suicide.” Roland looked at Lightning. “Was there any trace of people living near the ruins?”

“No,” the little girl said while shaking her head.

“Perhaps there’s more than one map,” Soraya said, “Perhaps there’re other people searching for the whereabouts of Taquila just like us.”

“No matter what, we can’t help them.” Leaf sighed. “Except Lightning, no one can reach the stone tower quickly.”

“I’m afraid we won’t know the actual situation until we get there.” Roland stroked his chin. “Anyway, it’s cheering that you returned safe and sound. Tonight’s class will be dismissed. Everybody get a good rest. The truth will be revealed when the time is ripe.”

After leaving Lightning’s bedroom, Roland said to Nightingale, “We’ve yet another problem to deal with.”

“As long as she’s removed of the God’s Stone of Retaliation,” Nightingale said with a smile, “I’ll do the rest.”

Chapter 152: The Negotiation (Part II)

he rain had basically stopped. The layers of clouds were dyed red by the setting sun.

Roland pushed open the guestroom door to see Margaret walking back and forth in front of the fireplace seeming rather agitated. The moment the guard Sean saw Roland coming, he bowed and left. Upon seeing Roland, Margaret hurriedly walked up and asked, “Your Highness, how’s Lightning doing?”

Roland was startled, unexpecting such a response from her. He had speculated that she might be peaceful, angry, or maybe cold, but never expected that she would show any concern for Lightning.

“She’s fine… only tired.”

“Really? That’s good.” She looked relieved.

“You seem to care about her.”

“She looks very much like her father, especially that pair of long and narrow eyes and her pointed nose… I can tell she must be Thunder’s daughter.”

After saying this, Margaret unbuttoned her collar and took down a string of gold jewelry on her neck. “The verification you mentioned… you mean to judge me with the help of a witch’s magic power, right? If my sincerity can be proved like this, then could you ask her to also join the conversation? I don’t like being spied on.”

The string of jewelry was composed of a gold chain and a light blue gemstone which was cut into a polyhex. “It must be a high-quality God’s Stone of Retaliation,” Roland thought.

Roland was surprised by her proposal because he had just been thinking about how he should bring that up without making her uncomfortable or suspicious. To be honest, he kind of admired this Fjords woman. Although she was in a fairly disadvantaged situation, she was still trying to take the initiative of the conversation. Both her negotiation skills and her conduct proved her a successful businesswoman.

Roland took the God’s Stone of Retaliation from Margaret’s hand and hung it on the clothes rack beside the fireplace. With such a good quality, this God’s Stone of Retaliation might be able to restain any magic power within a one-meter range. In Nightingale’s eyes, this was the same as a huge black hole. Perhaps Nightingale had dodged far away to escape from this stone.

“Let’s talk in the living room,” Roland said. Since the woman had shown sincerity, Roland did not want to appear too harsh. When the two of them stepped into the living room, Nightingale had already shown herself and sat on the seat of the host. Holding her chin with hands, her position looked as if she had been waiting a long time. “It seems she’s thinking the same as me,” Roland thought.

After everybody was seated, Roland started to introduce them. “This is Nightingale. She can tell whether you’re telling the truth.”

“Hello, Miss Nightingale.” Margaret nodded toward Nightingale, and Nightingale greeted her likewise.

“You once said that you meant no harm to the witches. What do you mean by that?” This was the first question that Roland posed, which was also the thing he wanted to know the most. “As far as I know, the church also has power in the Fjords.”

“But its influence is incomparable to that of the Three Gods. Or in other words, most of the people in the Fjords have similar beliefs to Sand Nation. They worship the sky, the ocean, and the earth. As to me…” She paused. “I used to have a very close friend. Once we encountered a storm when we went fishing in the sea. Our sailing ship was cut into two by a giant wave. Through this disaster, my friend became a witch who could breathe like fish. I lost consciousness in the ocean, and it was she who found me and dragged me ashore.”

“What happened next?” Nightingale asked curiously.

“When I woke up, she’d left… Perhaps compared to staying with me, she yearned more for living in the sea,” Margaret said regretfully, “Since then, I’ve never seen her again. The villagers use to say that when there was fog on the sea, she would guide the fishing boats with her singing to avoid reefs. No matter what, my friend can neither be an evil person, nor can she be the devil’s minion.”

Roland nodded. “Witches are awakened commoners. If one has had a profound understanding of the witches before their awakening, the impression one has on them won’t be easily altered by what the church advocates.”

“You seem to know much about witches’ abilities. How did you guess that I have more than one witch here by the few words that I said?”

“To be honest, because of this childhood friend, I became very curious about witches. I even considered taking in such special girls,” Margaret said with a smile.

Up until then, Nightingale had not found any evidence of Margaret lying, which basically ruled out the possibility that she would be a snitch to the church. Roland felt relieved and then said with a bit of guilt, “It seems that I’ve been too suspicious. I hope you won’t mind.”

“Of course not. I understand that Your Highness was doing this for the safety of Lightning and… this girl,” Margaret said while waving a hand, “It’d have meant you’re too irresponsible if you did nothing but stand by.”

“Are you familiar with Thunder?” Roland asked, “Your concern toward Lightning indeed exceeds the kind of concern one person shows toward the children of a hero.”

Faced with this question, Margaret hesitated for a moment. Then Roland said it would not matter if she did not want to answer, but slowly she began to tell the story, “To be honest, after I left the village, I used to join in Lord Thunder’s expedition team and went through a fairly long period of going on exploration trips with him. As a new member of the team, Lord Thunder and his wife showed particular care to me. When Lightning was born, I was there to witness it.”

“Was she born on a ship?”

“Yes, during a fierce storm. Out of the cabin, the thunder and lightning never ceased. Not long after her birth, Lord Thunder’s wife passed away due to an infection of septicemia, and I… acted half of her mother. Since there was no breast milk, I chewed oatmeal, mixed it with fish roe and fed her bit by bit.” Margaret’s voice became very tender. “Lord Thunder was extremely sad, but yet he still managed to command the whole crew. Without a backbone, the crew was likely to collapse through the months’ long voyage. I lived in the cabin and watched Lighting growing. That expedition ended when Lord Thunder found Shadow Islands and we returned to Sea Dragon Bay. After that, I… left the Fjords and settled down in the king’s city of the Kingdom of Graycastle.”

“That’s what happened!” Roland thought to himself, “No wonder when she heard the name of Thunder, she reacted so strongly. As to why she stopped following Thunder with his expeditions, it’s not hard to guess. Not every story started with a love scenario ends up with a love scenario.”

“But what a twisted and turned coincidence… having such a connection with her. Will I get a bigger discount on my trade with her?” Roland coughed twice. “Miss Margaret, you and I are sort of acquaintances now, so our business…”

“Your Highness, that’s not how it works,” Margaret said with a smile, “Business is business. That’s our unwavering principle.”

Chapter 153: The Alchemy (Part I)

yle Sichi walked into the alchemical workshop.

When the apprentices saw Kyle enter, they immediately bowed and said, “Respected Chief Mentor.”

He waved his hand. “Carry on everyone.”

The apprentices sat back down to continue their work.

The outermost part of the workshop was the washroom. Here was where the materials arriving from all over Kingdom of Graycastle were cleaned, sorted, filtered, and ground. The design of the washroom was very clever, where there was a stone surface placed flat over a creek, acting as a walkway, leaving both side access to two flowing streams. Passing over the smaller creek, you would find a cleaning area at the farthest side.

At first glance, the long and narrow washroom looked like it was divided by the two streams into three sections. The light coming through the side windows would reflect off the stone and the streams surface, sending long strips of light throughout the room. The overlapping of light and shadow resembled the skin of a snake.

There were nearly one hundred apprentices leaning against the walls, dealing with the materials assigned to them. If the debris to be removed were lighter than water, it was just tossed into the stream. If the material sank in the water it was then placed into a basket and taken to the washroom to be discarded. Cleaning with running water was several times more effective than using the stagnant water in a wooden bowl.

The apprentices would study here for the next three to five years. Only when they had become adept at sorting and cleaning all kinds of materials, would they get the opportunity to be selected as a disciple by an instructor, and then moved to the next room.

Kyle, stepping on the dark and light stripes, entered the core area of the alchemical workshop, the refining room.

When he opened the door, a large room opened up before him. 12 giant wooden pillars had been brought from Misty Forest to support this spacious room. Many windows liked the walls and there was even a skylight on the roof making the room bright. In the center of the refining room there sat six wide wooden tables. On them, there were all kinds of alchemical utensils: round-bottomed flasks, beakers, protective glasses, scales, mortar and pestles, furnaces, crucibles… Each instructor managed and was responsible for their own table. As for himself, being the Redwater City’s Chief Alchemist, he naturally got the longest table, with the most tools on it.

The room was always full of clutter and in disorder, just like the alchemy process itself. Mixing all kinds of raw materials together and then heating, performing dry distillation, watering or incinerating them, the results were ever changing and fascinating.

After experimenting, if the combination worked out, that specific process would be written down as a formula. As long as a person was able to create their own unique, successful, formula they were considered an alchemist. He had already conducted 10 successful alchemy experiments, and each of them worked as if it were coming from the deities themselves. Kyle believed that if his alchemy was perfected he would not only be able to break things down into their separate parts, but also combine all things.

“Chavez, how far have you progressed with your imitation powdered snow?” he asked.

A young man around 20 years old came over and shook his head. “The damn alchemists in the king’s city definitely added extra materials to it. The powder has been crushed too finely and it’s near impossible to extract anything useful.”

He was the youngest alchemist in the alchemical workshop—generally, the creation of an alchemical formula required a long accumulation of knowledge and tryouts and sometimes even a bit of luck. Many people in the workshop had stayed as students their whole life, unable to ever progress further. Chavez, however, had an innate talent for alchemy. Two years ago, he had concluded how to obtain acidic liquid through dry distillation of green alum. From that moment, he won the respect of the five alchemists, claiming his own long table in the room.

“Take it easy and be patient.” Kyle smiled and patted the young man’s shoulder, comforting him. Being a chief instructor for eight years, Kyle naturally understood the difficulty of finding true logic through disorder and chaos. “However, I did manage to create something good yesterday evening. We can at least show something to those arrogant people now. Come with me.”

He went to his table and asked two students to bring him a storage box. The box was about half the height of a person and made completely out of iron, making it nearly impossible to be stolen or destroyed. He pulled out the key and opened its first drawer. In the middle of the drawer, laid a small piece of transparent crystal.

“Did you cut off a crystal?” Next to him, Chavez took the crystal carefully into his hand to examine it, holding it in front of the window. “No, this is… crystal glass! God, you succeeded!”

“Correct.” Kyle smiled proudly. “I can’t wait to see the expression on their faces when they discover that their proudest alchemical discovery has been successfully duplicated by me.”

Chavez, unable to control his praises, drew the attention of the other alchemists. They all left their work and came over to see for themselves.

“Is this what you were working on until late last night? It’s incredible.”

“It’s so beautiful, looking just like a crystal.”

“Congratulations. With this, the status of our alchemic workshop will once again rise in the eyes of the duke.”

“How were you able to achieve this? Can you tell us?”

Kyle nodded. “It’s widely known that the composition of glass greatly resembles that of river sand, but in the end when it’s burned, the glass color will still vary because the sand contains impurities. So, we have to either find a way to remove all of the impurities or obtain purer sand. Everyone was trying it using these methods and so was I. However, the reason for this time’s alchemical success was largely attributed to luck. I selected a fine white sand from Willow Town and the sandstone from Fallen Dragon Ridge…”

Everyone around him was listening quietly, and when he had finished his explanation, the alchemists exclaimed together. “So that’s how it was done, telling us that was very thoughtful of you.”

Crystals were both rare and expensive gemstones, but a transparent crystal was even rarer. Only the purest glass of all could be considered as crystal glass. This was the product that the Alchemist Workshop in King’s City relied upon in order to dominate over the Redwater City’s Alchemic Workshop. In addition, the gold royals it brought them every year had the Duke of Redwater City greatly envy them.

Now, everything would soon change. If Chavez could also figure out the composition to create the snow powder, in addition to his method of creating the acid, they would finally be able to outrank the Alchemist Workshop in the king’s city. By that point, the people who looked down their nose at them would have to bow their arrogant heads. Thinking about this greatly boosted Kyle Sichi’s mood.

As he was preparing to screen the raw materials needed for the second batch of crystal glass, a panicking student ran to his side. “Respected Chief Mentor, a messenger from the Western Region’s Border Town wants to see you, who has brought you a letter from the fourth Prince Roland Wimbledon.”

“Prince Roland?” Kyle frowned, it seemed that there was indeed such a person in the royal family from the Kingdom of Graycastle. He did not know much about the noble, but as far as he was concerned, they were all uneducated and ignorant, always fighting for power and wealth. “What does he need me for?”

“I don’t know, the messenger said that once you read the letter, you’ll naturally understand what His Highness want.”

“…”The chief alchemist revealed an impatient look, assuming that the content of the letter would be either an offer to recruit him for a lot of money or to denounce alchemy as a devil’s trick. However, since the other person was a prince, he still had to maintain a basic level of etiquette. “Take me to him, and after I get the letter, send him on his way!”

“Yes, respected Chief Mentor.”

Chapter 154: The Alchemy (Part II)

By the time Kyle Sichi returned home, it was already dark outside.

After he had dinner with his family, he returned to his study and recorded the formula and the raw materials for the crystal glass in the book he was writing—”The Door to Alchemy”. In it, he had recorded his biography starting from the day he had become an apprentice until the day he became a chief alchemist. In addition, he also included the alchemic formulas they had discovered over the years at the Alchemical Workshop of Redwater City.

Kyle believed that with this book, he would earn a place in history. Thousands of years later, alchemists would still remember his name.

Only after the candle had burnt out completely, did Kyle finally put down his pen and prepare to go to bed.

Suddenly, he remembered the letter from the prince. Glancing at the soon dying candle, he decided to use the last of its light to finish the letter so that he could give a verbal reply to the messenger the next day. The tiny candle would not allow him to write more than a few dozen words, but it was more than enough to read this worthless letter by.

He opened the envelope and saw that it contained three pages. The first page was the usual formal introduction full of titles and territory. Kyle did not even bother reading it and just moved straight to the second page.

The content of the second page took him by surprise, and there was no recruitment offer or denouncing. Instead, there were five strange formulas written on it. After carefully examining them, he noticed that each formula was composed of the same three sentences.

[Oh, this is interesting.”] He smiled even though he still did not know what the purpose of the letter was. The prince was quite good at mystifying.

He glanced over the first line.

“Dry distillation of saltpeter produces nitric acid.”

Saltpeter… dry distillation… nitric acid, all these were terms used in alchemy. Wait a minute, Kyle’s heart suddenly stopped. [Isn’t this one of the double-stone acid-making methods of the alchemic workshop?]

The acidic liquid produced by the dry distillation of saltpeter had to be collected in a special container. It looked just like water vapor, so it was hard to recognize. It was, however, very corrosive. Apart from skin removal, it could also dissolve specific metals.

[This… is actually an alchemic formula? Does this mean that there’s an alchemist in Border Town?]

He quickly moved his sight to the next line.

The first sentence had already surprised him, but the second sentence was even more incredible.

It consisted of a bunch of weird symbols, one after another, forming an equation. Kyle frowned, for he had never seen such strange symbols.

Looking further down the letter, it appeared that the third sentence was the explanation for the previous two. This line included the names and meanings for each of the symbols. However, these words were so difficult to pronounce that it almost seemed as if they were made up. To help him link the words with the symbols he read them over and over. Even so, he was still having trouble understanding the full meaning of the entire sentence.

At this point, the candle flame sputtered twice and then flickered out.

Damn it! Kyle cursed silently, and without hesitating, he took a new candle from his drawer and lit it.

…

By the time the second candle had burnt down halfway, the hands of the chief alchemist were shaking slightly.

For a letter that appeared to mean nothing, it had taken him a very long time to read.

The fives formulas on the second page were actually all alchemical formulas!

It was not unimaginable that an excellent alchemist would manage to come up with five formulas on his own, but the amazing part was that four of them, excluding the first one for the acid-making process, were all connected to each other. Certain words would appear repetitively, creating what seemed like a balanced cycle.

“Nitric acid reacts with silver to form silver nitrate, just like water with nitric oxide.”

“Silver nitrate reacts with iron to form ferrous nitrate and silver.”

“Silver nitrate reacts with copper to form copper nitrate and silver.”

“Copper nitrate reacts with iron to form ferrous nitrate and copper.”

He had previously also tested the alchemical reaction by putting a silver bar into the acidic liquid and part of the silver bar was clearly dissolved beyond recognition, which was an attribute of the acid. It would dissolve anything, but according to the letter, because silver nitrate was soluble in water, it would seem that it had disappeared, but in fact, it still existed in a different state and had not been destroyed.

How was that even possible?

No… Kyle shook his head. Apparently, the other side had already anticipated his doubts. The connection between these formulas was not coincidental and he realized that he was given the opportunity to personally verify them. He could try it with silver, iron or copper, and these were all common minerals. If he was to perform alchemy according to the later formulas, the silver would reappear, proving that it was not destroyed but still existed within the acid.

Seeing the orderly and neatly arranged formulas on the paper, he started breathing heavily. If these alchemical formulas were proven to be real, his years of accumulated experience, the efforts of his colleagues, as well as everything he had written in his book “The Door to Alchemy”, would be nothing more than a joke!

“You and the kid can go to sleep first, and I have to go back to the alchemical workshop!”

Disregarding his wife’s surprised look, Kyle put on his coat and rushed out straight into the night.

Arriving at the alchemic workshop, he immediately called the three students on duty and told them he had to conduct an alchemical experiment. He had them light the torches and candles, saying the more the merrier. Everything was soon arranged on his long table that was now brightly illuminated by the flames. The students began shuffling between the materials warehouse and the refining room, preparing the experiment materials for their Chief Alchemist Kyle.

There was still plenty of acid, that had been produced by the dry distillation of saltpeter in storage, so he was able to start verifying the second formula right away.

He took some of the acid and poured it into a glass. Then, he placed a silver bar into it. As the reaction started, the bar gradually dissolved, creating several bubbles.

As he waited anxiously, Kyle turned his attention to the third page of the letter.

There was only a short sentence on it, “This was merely a small part of my work, for more answers, come to Border Town.”

[Damn it! Writing this sentence is totally useless! Once I verified the formulas, I would definitely have to pay a visit to this unknown alchemist master.] Otherwise, he would not have been able to sleep again for the rest of his life.

Once the bubbles dissipated, he removed what was left of the dissolving silver bar and put a small piece of copper into the cup in its place.

Soon, something incredible started to happen. A thin white crust began to appear on the surface of the copper, much like a beetle’s skin. The white crust continued to expand and soon covered the entire surface of the copper. As for the previously colorless acid in the glass, it gradually turned a shade of blue.

Exactly as it had been described in the letter!

“The white matter is the silver, and the newly created substance, copper nitrate, is soluble in water just like the silver nitrate. However, it’ll turn the acid sky blue.”

Staring into the cup, Kyle Sichi stood there motionlessly.

…

The next morning, when Chavez arrived at the alchemical workshop, he was shocked to see the chief alchemist. He looked completely exhausted and had big black circles around his eyes indicating he had not slept.

“Didn’t you go home to sleep last night?” Chavez asked surprisedly, “Did you decide to stay up and wait for the second batch of crystal glass?”

Kyle shook his head while dragging Chavez over to his table and he said tiredly, “You were once my most valued student, so I want to ask you, what do you think about alchemy?”

“Uh… just like what you taught me.” His attention was drawn to the table where a number of glasses had been placed, filled with solutions of varying colors. The most eye-catching one was the one that was sky blue. Was this the reason the chief alchemist stayed up last night? Although Chavez was confused, he still replied honestly, “Like you, I believe that the essence of alchemy is to find the logic within all the disorder and chaos…”

“No, no, Chavez, I was wrong.” Kyle interrupted him. “Everyone is wrong. That isn’t alchemy.”

“Not true…?” Chavez felt that his teacher was acting strangely. First, he had spent the whole night performing alchemy, and now he was asking weird questions. Before he could ask for an explanation, the chief alchemist continued, “Unlike what you and I previously believed, there’s more order in alchemy. An order that might even be considered a strict order, like in mathematics where one-plus-one will always equal two. No matter what changes are performed, the material amounts don’t increase, decrease or disappear, for they just change forms.”

“Will never increase, decrease, or disappear? What’re you talking about? Isn’t that what alchemists do? They combine common materials, to create new and incredible things,” Chavez asked confused.

“Yes, that’s also what I used to think, but after receiving a letter from the Lord of Border Town…” Kyle patted his shoulder, and what he said next shocked Chavez. “I’ll soon leave for Border Town to find answers. You… do you want to come with me?”

Chapter 155: The New Visitors

oland obtained his first ever purchasing order since the manufacture of the steam engine, and the transaction volume was the largest one so far.

The price of a bare machine was 500 gold royals. Two machines had to be delivered in the first month, and then the amount would increase by one every following month, until he reached a total of 10 machines. Technical support, parts replacement, and equipment upgrades would all require additional gold royals. As for after-sales service and a three package commitment, Roland said he had never heard of it before.

Barov was excited about the deal because, in his opinion, any activity that could add revenue to City Hall was worth praising, whether it was trade or plunder. There were also those who opposed to it, such as Carter, Scroll, and Nightingale who had all questioned the deal. They thought it was too early to sell these machines to outsiders, as there were not even enough for Border Town itself.

Roland did not bother explaining too much because he was not looking at it from a lord’s point of view. He made the decision as an industrial promoter.

It was almost impossible to push the process of social industrialization alone, even though he had the knowledge to do so. The town’s consumption capacity was extremely limited, and the manufactured industrial products were no different from scrap iron if nobody bought them. More people were needed to be brought into this change to set off a new wave of operation.

What could he gain by selling steam engines?

Enough money, lots of jobs, and a number of skilled workers which was the most important.

This was also the reason Roland lowered production.

Anna’s ability had improved a lot, and the production efficiency was enhanced. As long as there were enough raw materials, she could produce a steam engine every day.

But selling such products was only “selling” machines.

If he wanted to promote the development of this industry, he had to set up a special team to be responsible for production, assembly, and maintenance. In Roland’s plan, he needed to open a factory, making tools for production, such as a plant or mill so that the production of the steam engine was handed over to the workers. What could be expected was that production efficiency would be low in the early stage, and the product quality would be appalling. But everything would improve bit by bit. With the help of tools made by Anna, as long as the workers were familiar with the manufacturing process, the production rate would be greatly enhanced.

The next step would be to expand the scale of production and train more skilled workers about the profits of machines. Experienced workers would give the town the ability to produce more advanced products, such as steam trains, steamships, etc. There was no doubt that this was a virtuous circle. And the steam engines that had been sold could also create benefits indirectly; they could be used for mining, which could reduce ore prices; if used for shipping, it could promote trade; if used for textiles, it could make up for their shortboards.

Roland wanted to make steam engines popular throughout the country, as long as these machines were from Border Town. Once he unified the Kingdom of Graycastle, it would save a lot of work.

He also considered the possibility that buyers might imitate steam engines, but the new steam engine used boring machine drilled round cylinders, coupled with some deliberately designed complex parts. Relying on the current level of technology, it would be difficult to create qualified machines in a short time. Even with a witch like Anna, it would be difficult.

He should have been happy to have such a big order and find the channel to sell industrial products, but Roland was not content.

“The sky is clear. Why are you still unhappy?” Nightingale sat at his desk with her legs up, holding a dish of dried fish in her lap. “Are you still worried about the church?”

When Scroll was not there, Nightingale behaved casually, and the corner of the desk and the armchair were her usual places. For other lords, this would obviously be offensive, but Roland did not care, and she knew it.

“I have been wondering why the church supported both me and Garcia to compete for the throne at the same time, and now I understand. If I guess right, I believe Timothy also received an invitation from the church,” he said with a frown.

In addition to the order, Margaret had also brought many pieces of intelligence for him, one of which made Roland surprised. The church had attacked and taken over the Kingdom of Everwinter. And according to the merchant’s statement, they intended to invade the Kingdom of Wolfheart. This news came as a shock, as it confirmed all of his suspicions.

“It supports all three of you to compete for the throne?”

“Not support, but exhaust,” said Roland shaking his head. “The church doesn’t care that the war is spreading to the whole country. Rather they’re happy to see Kingdom of Graycastle falling into civil war, and they’re not concerned whether the churches and believers are involved in the war. Kingdom of Graycastle isn’t as weak as Kingdom of Everwinter, with its vast territory and numerous citizens. If they were to use plain force, the Judgement Army would suffer many losses. Only after we kill each other, will they be able to occupy Kingdom of Graycastle at the lowest cost. At that time, they can have as many believers and churches as they want.” “Those pills… are only traps that they’ve prepared. ”

The Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince issued by King Wimbledon III was equivalent to giving the church an opportunity to manipulate the situation. If the Kingdoms of Graycastle, Wolfheart and Everwinter were destroyed, the Kingdom of Dawn might not exist. The real purpose of the church was probably the reunification of the four kingdoms, taking into account the slowness of the message, as well as the people’s political indifference. Everyone might come to their senses when facing death.

It was also the reason Roland was perplexed.

In this period of time, they had not developed the notion of a unified battlefront. It would be a disaster to depend on the support of the noble of the Kingdom of Graycastle. When the time came for the church to attack, these few people in the Western Region would be the only ones he could rely on.

“But you have a new weapon. The Judgement Army isn’t much stronger than the average knight, so I don’t think they could defeat you.”

Roland remembered that in the past, when it came to the church, Nightingale was terrified. But the confidence she had nowadays had exceeded Roland’s expectation.

He smiled weakly and sighed. [It won’t be difficult for Anna to produce revolving rifles that can trial a revolving rifle and two revolvers. Whether it has a trigger reset or an automatic wheel, the performance is excellent. But if the firing problem was not solved, there would be no actual value in the new weapon. In the absence of the development of mercury fulminate, I’ll need to use an alternative material to fire the guns.]

Roland hoped the guards would bring good news from Redwater City.

At this point, the momentum was restored, and Lightning flew into the office. She brought unexpected news. On the east side of Border Town, the flags on the soil slope had been replaced with blue.

According to Roland’s secretly spread rumors, the agreed communication signal was that a blue flag meant that a new witch had come.

Chapter 156: The Puzzles

heo climbed up a small hill. From here he could vaguely see the outline of the Lord’s Castle in Border Town.

Finally, he had arrived back. It had taken him nearly one and a half month to go there, while it had taken only seven days to get back. Most of his time had been spent getting from Silver City to Redwater City. Even if Ashes did not care, he still chose the most secluded roads, to reduce the possibility of being found by the church.

Ashes led the way, but Theo could not be sure whether her name was real or not. She always dressed in a black robe, with a large sword wrapped in cloth on her back. Her long black hair was tied up simply in a ponytail, swaying on her waist. Whether it was riding or sailing, she paid little attention to him, walking alone in the front, looking at the scenery around her. It seemed that this trip to Border town was just a relaxed sightseeing tour.

Sometimes Theo would doubt his judgment. Was she really a soldier? The robe would interfere with her movements and the long hair was another disadvantage. Furthermore, it seemed Ashes was not afraid of being attacked from behind, during this time what he had seen most was her back. He did not think that the witch had a trustful nature. He could only assume that she had enough self-protection capability, that even a God’s Stone of Retaliation would not pose a threat to her.

Theo searched around the hills and quickly found his target, a flagpole with red stripes on it. He dug a cloth out of the mud in the edge of the flagpole and replaced the red flag with blue cloth. Then he clasped his hands and sat on the ground.

“That’s it?” Ashes asked.

“‘Go to the foot of the hill in the northeast of the town, follow a stone road and find the flagpole at the top of the hill, then replace the flag with a blue one, and our people will notice.’ That’s what they said to do.” Theo wiped the sweat on his forehead. “The Witch Cooperation Association will only take action at night, let’s just wait here.”

Ashes nodded, and sat in a clean spot, and asked if he had any food.

“Uh… wait.” He untied his backpack, and took out a piece of meat. He ate half of it, and then gave the other half to her.

When Theo saw the witch chewing the dried meat slowly, he sighed. Except for her large sword, she had not even one bronze royal. Penniless as she was, she dared to rush to Border Town. Along the way the accommodation and meals were all paid for by him. She had to have the upper single bedroom and meat. Moreover, she was unaccustomed to portable food like dried meat.

Maybe the domain was strange to her, she was quite cautious. However, would not the most prudent approach be to prepare food by herself?

“The place we’re going to is opposite the strait,” Ashes swallowed the meat, and suddenly spoke, “I don’t know if you have ever heard the rumors of the Fjords. There are countless islands, some of which are very harsh. We had to build a home suitable for a witch.”

Theo was surprised, no matter how much he inquired, the witch had never said anything before. Why had she taken the initiative to mention this issue now?

“Are you wondering why I didn’t reveal anything to you before?” she explained, “because if you were a liar, you would send a message secretly to the church when I was asleep at night. Then those girls would have likely been stopped halfway, but now they should be on the merchant ship to the Fjord. And the church is unable to stop them. I came here to take away the helpless witches in the Witch Cooperation Association. Sooner or later they’ll know the news, so there’s no sense hiding it.”

“Even though I’ve brought you here, you can’t rule out the possibility that I’m a liar.”

“Yes, that’s true,” said Ashes, “and if people later coming here was not the witch, you would die here, with those who tried to kill the witches.”

“Okay,” said Theo, “can I ask another question?”

She thought a little and said, “If I can, I’ll answer it.”

“Do you come from the Kingdom of Graycastle? I’ve never seen such eyes before.” Theo decided to start with her origin, for this topic was not sensitive, and it would decrease her suspicions.

“I was born in the Kingdom of Everwinter, but this has nothing to do with the color of my eyes. My eyes have been like this since I became a witch.”

“The Kingdom of Everwinter? It’s so far from the Kingdom of Graycastle. There are kingdoms in the middle, how did you come to Silver City?”

“I was sold to the church, and later…” She paused. “I wandered from the cloister in Holy City to the Kingdom of Graycastle until… I only stopped the vagrant life when I met her.”

“Her?” Theo was curious.

“Tilly Wimbledon,” said Ashes with warmth in her eyes, “she took me in.”

The guard was suddenly startled when he heard the name. He had at first thought it was a duplication of the name, but the meaning was completely different adding Wimbledon. The person leading the witches to the Fjord was Roland Wimbledon’s sister, Princess Tilly? His voice stuttered. “She, she’s your leader?”

“The leader? You could say so.” She nodded. “But for me, she was the most important person… No one could replace her.”

As night fell, the two lit a bonfire on the hillside.

Ashes took her sword, and opened the cloth slowly. The blade of this terrible weapon had been close to her waist. It was covered with traces left behind from the collision. The dark gray blade did not have an edge, and it was clear that it killed people only by its weight. It was hard for ordinary people to lift this weapon, but in her hands, it was as light as a single-handed sword.

[How many blacksmith’s shops had been robbed, in order to make up the necessary materials for this sword?” Theo thought, “and if His Highness’ witch didn’t show up, I might become a victim of the sword.]

“I heard that the Lord of Border Town is also called… Wimbledon.” He decided to find something to say, otherwise, the wait would be particularly tough.

“Roland Wimbledon, Prince Roland of the Kingdom of Graycastle,” she said quietly, “I’ve seen him before.”

“What?” Theo was surprised.

“When I was taken in by Tilly and served as her bodyguard in the palace, I had the opportunity to meet her brothers and sisters.” Ashes seemed to know Prince Roland very well. “Incompetent, arrogant, a man without knowledge or skills. It’s hard to believe that he’s Tilly ‘s brother, but in some aspects, he’s quite daring.”

Her tone became colder.

Theo could not help shuddering. He had heard a lot of rumors about His Highness when he served in the palace, his outspoken behavior, his flirting with the maids. Although he had never abused his power, it was inevitable to take advantage of others. He could not have…

At that moment, Ashes suddenly stood up and stared in the direction of the path. “People are coming.”

Theo followed where she was looking, and figures of people gradually appeared in the night. The witch leading the way was the personal guard of His Highness, Nightingale.

Chapter 157: Ashes (Part I)

he newcomers were all witches. Theo did not lie. Ashes could feel the magic power coursing in them and could even roughly differentiate the strong ones from the weaker ones—particularly the leader in front of her. Her magic power was like a sharp knife cutting into Ashes’ suffer when she tried to feel it keenly.

“I’m Ashes. Nice to meet you, sisters from the Witch Cooperation Association.” She put her great sword on one side and went forward to hug the four witches… No, she knew there were five of them. Ashes looked up at the dark spot circling in the sky. “Is she not joining us?”

“She’s showing us the way,” the leader smiled. “I’m Nightingale.” She then pointed at the three other witches. “Scroll, Leaf, and Echo.” She nudged her lips at the sky and said, “That little girl is Lightning.”

When Ashes stared at Scroll, she was stunned. The magic power in Scroll was fairly weak, like a cloud scattered all over her body. It surprised her and she asked, “Are you an extraordinary witch?”

Nightingale also looked surprised. “You can see magic power?”

“No, but I can feel it,” Ashes explained. “An extraordinary witch can sense the form and flow of magic power because all parts of her body have been altered. I think this sister here has the same feelings as I do.”

Scroll smiled and nodded. “You’re right. This ability has helped me find a number of companions in the sea of people.”

“Is an extraordinary witch that rare?” asked Nightingale.

Nightingale’s focus was on the numbers instead of the meaning of an extraordinary witch… Ashes wondered if they had never heard of the term in the Witch Cooperation Association. This was a heavily-guarded secret of the church. That was because that an extraordinary witch used her power directly on herself and therefore was not limited by God’s Stone of Retaliation. Any known extraordinary witch would make herself the top enemy of the church.

“In a thousand witches, perhaps there’s only one.” Despite her thoughts, Ashes remained calm when she answered, “I’ve only met three extraordinary witches including Scroll in my life.” Ashes momentarily paused. “Right. I remember that Cara is the leader of Witch Cooperation Association. How is she?”

“She died.” Nightingale shook her head. “She died on her way to find Holy Mountain.”

“… That’s such a pity,” said Ashes, her voice lowered. What concerned her was the lack of sadness in Nightingale’s expression when she spoke. “Who’s your new leader?”

“Let’s talk about that when we go back to Border Town.” Nightingale smiled. “You’ll be able to meet him very soon.”

…

When they entered the town, Ashes sensed that something was off. The witches actually dared to walk boldly on the streets while holding torches. Besides, the town was not tranquil even though it was already dark. She could see dim flames from the paper windows of many homes and hear the sound of children reading.

Though candles were not expensive things, commoners would probably not light them until it was necessary due to their limited savings. But there were many households in Border Town that could afford candles. It was incredible. In addition, children were reading word by word. Were their parents teaching them to read?

But they did not explain and she was also unwilling to ask. After all, this was not a permanent residency for them. What she needed to do was to take them away as soon as possible.

Walking through criss-cross streets, they got closer to the castle. Ashes could see the dark walls and guards in the darkness. “Where are we going?” she asked.

“The castle of Border Town. We’re almost there,” replied Nightingale.

“Wait.” Ashes slowed down. “That’s where the lord lives.”

“Yes. But it’s also home to the witches.”

“Have you reached agreements with the lord?” Ashes frowned. Even though Witch Cooperation Association had huge influence among the locals, it would boldly go against the church and the lords possessing God’s Stone of Retaliation. The association was forced to work with them. That was a choice some witches took. Most lords, however, were reluctant to discuss conditions and endlessly oppressed and exploited the disadvantaged witches. Such collaboration was quickly put to an end.

“Kind of.” Nightingale did not sound oppressed, but rather joyful. “We’ve all at least signed an agreement with His Highness.”

Ashes could not feel happy for them. Agreements written in ink and paper had little binding force. Once the lord was sick of protecting witches or wanted to terminate their equal relationship, he only needed to scrunch the agreement and throw it into a fireplace. No one would feel indignant in the witches’ place. They were like lonesome boats in the vast sea, and they risk being capsized at any time.

Fortunately, here she was. She wanted to lead them away to the other side of the sea. There was a habitat there built by witches. They can stay away from the threats of the church and the secular world.

After through the gate of the castle, guards were really used to the presence of the witches. They even exchanged greetings.

Compared with the palace of the king’s city, the lord’s castle was not as spacious. Only several torches were hung on the walls along the hallway and the swaying lights were unable to light up the entire place. Walking through the gloomy hallway made one felt rather depressed. It only got brighter when they entered the guest room.

In the hall, Ashes saw more witches who seemed to have waited for a long time. The moment they saw her, they all applauded to welcome her. Just as Nightingale stepped forward to briefly introduce her, a witch rushed over.

“Wendy!” someone shouted.

Ashes noticed the witch’s behavior and did not take any defensive measures. She could feel the other girl’s pleasant surprise, but there were no traces of hostility. She was quickly enveloped in a warm hug.

“You actually survived.” The girl’s voice was full of excitement. “Thank you for saving me back then.”

Ashes was stunned. “You’re…”

“I’m Wendy.” She loosened her hold and looked straight at Ashes. “I’m the little choir girl. Do you remember me?”

…

In the bedroom on the second floor, only Ashes and Wendy remained.

Ashes never thought that she would meet a companion from the cloister here.

To be precise, calling her a companion was a stretch. If not for their encounter that night, they would not have known each other. Honestly, she did not realize there was another unfortunate person like her who was dragged and forced into that underground cell. Most of all, she did not expect that person would become a witch.

“After escaping from the cloister, I settled down in Seawindshire,” Wendy said after a long silence, “I later heard that there was a huge fire in the cloister that day and all children there disappeared.”

“A fire?” Ashes shook her head. “The church did that to cover up the scandal. I killed some managers and Judgement Army soldiers who tried to stop me until… the God’s Punishment Army arrived. This scar on my eyes was left by them. Had I not made up my mind to run away immediately, I’d have died there when the rest arrived.”

“God’s Punishment army…” Wendy repeated those words with wide eyes. “What’s that?”

Chapter 158: Ashes (Part ?)

shes explained to Wendy, “God’s Punishment Warriors are the strongest fighters of the church and confidential weapons to destroy Extraordinaries. They could absolutely compete with me in terms of strength and speed. What’s more…” She hesitated and then continued, “They appeared to be unconscious. Once in a fight, I cut off the right hand of a God’s Punishment Warrior, but he immediately lifted his left hand trying to gouge my eyes without any hesitation. As I turned around to escape, he didn’t overbalance at all. It’s nothing to do with willpower. Losing an arm, a tough warrior can continue to fight but he won’t be adjusted to the unbalance in such a short time.”

“I only heard of Judgement Army of the church. Given that the church people had such powerful warriors, why didn’t they use them when rounding up witches in the previous times?” murmured Wendy.

“I don’t know,” Ashes said slowly, “and until I came back to the old Holy City, I heard the name “God’s Punishment Army” from some people.”

“You… came back?” Wendy was surprised.

“Uhm, how could I let go of those craps easily.” Ashes stood up and walked to the window. “I attacked some chapels and a station of Judgement Army where there was even a chief justice. I had thought that they weren’t afraid of death at all.” In fact, the chief justice had acted no better than a common person facing death and painful torture. He had been frightened and begged Ashes for mercy. “From him, I know the name of God’s Punishment Army and the fact that they’re converted from the Judgement Army by a rite. According to him, only the best warriors are blessed with such an honor and they should be voluntary to accept the conversion. It seemed that a successful conversion has a lot to do with their determination. In other words, unlike witches, God’s Punishment Warriors aren’t gifted. They’re altered artificially.”

“…” Wendy was dumbfounded by the news.

“I guess that the reason why they couldn’t put God’s Punishment Army into battles like what they did with Judgement Army is that the conversion has side effects. Unconscious warriors, in some degree, aren’t different from monsters.” Ashes sighed and continued, “During that period of time, I hid in water channels or deep wells in the daytime and attacked believers of the church at night. I wasn’t forced to evacuate from the old Holy City until the church launched a citywide search. The day I left, my clothes were so sticky with blood. Ferocious as I was, in others’ eyes, I also looked like an unconscious beast.”

With these words, Ashes felt Wendy put a hand on her shoulder. “It was all gone. Here, you can live like a commoner and Prince Roland is very nice to us. Having undergone attacks from the Months of Demons and Duke of Stronghold together, we’re accepted by most local people. Hence, this small town is Holy Mountain we’ve pursued before.”

Ashes stared at Wendy who now was standing beside the window together with her. In her memories, children in the cloister were all thin and weak with dull eyes, but now Wendy looked completely different in terms of figure and appearance. It was hard to imagine her childhood look based on her present appearance. Furthermore, Ashes felt peaceful and calm in her naturally gentle tone.

However, there were some words she had to tell Wendy. “I won’t settle down in the town. It isn’t the reason why I came here.” She paused. “I come to take all of you to a really safe place, as Border Town isn’t a permanent settlement.”

“You won’t stay here…” Wendy was startled and remained speechless for a moment. “Why?”

“As long as we live on this continent, we’ll be threatened by the church. Tilly’s gathered most witches of the Kingdom of Graycastle to the Fjords where a country of witches would be constructed.”

“But Fjords is also under the influence of the church, isn’t it? ”

“Due to a special landscape of archipelago, islands are divided from each other so the church only exerts influence on a certain island. Besides…” Ashes curled her lips. “There’s no God’s Punishment Army on the Fjords.”

It was the high time for the church to try witches’ rage. They planned to uproot local churches in the Fjords one by one in much the same way as the church eradicated witches.

Ashes continued to persuade Wendy. “You and your sisters must leave. It’s a mistake to spread the rumor to summon companions since the church may also hear that. They never let a witch organization expand. After a while, the army of the church will come across Kingdom of Graycastle to destroy you. Confronted with the invincible God’s Punishment Army, do you think Prince Roland will still protect you? No secular lords want to coexist with witches. He’s nice to you now, but he’ll abandon you without any hesitations upon the dangerous moment.”

After a while’s silence, Wendy said, “I don’t know about the other sisters’ thoughts, but I won’t leave Border Town.”

Ashes frowned. “Here’s already the edge of the cliff. The longer you stay here, the more dangerous your situation will be.”

“It’s cruel to leave Prince Roland behind just to avoid the upcoming danger and to prevent us from being abandoned by him. I don’t want to be such a person. Besides…” Wendy paused to take a deep breath. “I don’t think that Prince Roland would be subdued to the church. Nightingale’s asked him the same question and he answered that even if it meant fighting against the church, he would still ensure that each witch in his domain would live like a common person.”

“…” Ashes remained speechless this time, as she did not know what to say at the moment. She had seen many promises broken up by its promise. In addition, what was the point of Prince Roland protecting witches down the way? It only resulted in sacrifices in front of overwhelming power.

By now, she had basically known the situation of the Witch Cooperation Association. After “The Snake Witch” Cara died, the rest members of the association were accepted by the Lord of Border Town. She guessed that Theo who spread the news in Silver City was not a commoner saving witches coincidently but a guard of the lord. Though she did not know what cunning measures the lord had adopted to make witches trust him, she believed that his meticulous camouflage would be fallen apart in front of her great sword.

“I want to talk to your lord, Roland Wimbledon,” Ashes said in a deep voice at last.

…

The next morning, she met Prince Roland.

Led by Nightingale to an office, Ashes met this disgusting man once again.

She was clear that he had the same blood as Tilly, but she was indisposed to admit that. His long gray hair was simply banded behind and shinning silver lights in the morning sunshine, the hair color was a shared feature of royal family members of Graycastle. His forehead and nose were similar to Tilly’s, but the more similar they looked, the more unhappy Ashes felt. Different from his usual appearance in the palace, he dressed uniquely neat without any ornaments—no earrings, necklaces, rings, or bracelets. He simply sat on a chair and looked at Ashes who now felt that he was looking down at her.

The temperament of a superior.

The term immediately struck her.

[Well, you’ve improved a lot in appearance, but how long can you stay that way?] Ashes mocked coldly in her heart.

“Welcome. You’re Ashes, the envoy dispatched by my younger sister, right?” Roland took the initiative to talk.

“No, it’s my personal decision to come here.”

“Even so, you’re still an envoy, aren’t you?”

“…” Ashes frowned and wondered what was the point of stressing the envoy? She did not want to play character game with him and said, “Kind of.”

“Very well, Envoy Ashes.” He put on a strange smile. “I’ve heard that you want to take my witches away?”