Release That Witch

Chapter 242: Constructing New Area

he first Award and Honor Ceremony lasted until noon, with Roland being both commentator and host, making him extremely exhausted. Fortunately, the ceremony finally ended with bells and gun salutes. He returned to the castle sweating, but as he reached the third floor, he saw Anna leaning against his office door, smiling.

“What’s the matter?”

“Go in and you’ll know!” Anna blinked her beautiful azure eyes.

[I hope it’s not some kind of trick.] Roland pushed the door only to stare in surprise—the twelve witches were standing in two rows, with Wendy and Scroll standing at the front. When they saw the prince enter, they all held their dresses, bent their knees in a curtsy and bowed with respect.

“Um, what are you…”

Scroll spoke first, “Your Highness, your actions proved everything you’ve told us. We sisters are all extremely grateful for this. There are no words to describe our appreciation, please allow us to continue to serve you in the future.”

“I see.” Roland sighed in relief. “I thought you all came to say goodbye.”

“Pff.” Wendy started laughing. “No way, Your Highness, this place is the Holy Mountain that the witches have been searching. As long as you don’t make us leave, we wish to stay here forever.”

“This is also my wish… In fact, you don’t need to act like this, by helping you I’m also helping myself. You don’t need to be so formal, and I prefer when you’re all more relaxed.”

“Ha! I told you so.” Lily snorted. “See, he thinks we’re too formal.”

“When did you say that? You also instantly agreed to come over.” Mystery Moon whispered. “Traitor!”

“Alright, let’s go to the dining hall everyone, His Highness still needs to change his clothes,” Scroll said helplessly, “Oh, right, I heard from Miss Anna that you’ve been staying up late recently. Please take care of yourself, you have to stay strong until you achieve that goal.”

“Don’t worry.” Roland smiled. “My health is perfect.”

The witches left one by one, leaving only Anna and him in the office.

“What’s it, do you also want to express your gratitude to me?” Roland joked.

“Yes… I want to say the same thing.” Anna tilted her mouth. “No words can describe my gratitude.”

“And…. do you want to live in Border Town forever?”

“I’m not sure.”

Startled, Roland’s heart jumped, “Why?”

“Because you will not stay here forever.” Anna tilTed her head. “… No matter where you go, I’ll follow you.”

His heart was suddenly filled with warmth. Since the day he met her, she had never changed her mind. No matter if it was the invitation from the Witch Cooperation Association or during the dangerous times battling against the demonic beasts, she had always chosen to stay beside him.

At that moment, Anna suddenly came closer and hugged him gently.

“Wait, I’m sweating.” Roland reminded her.

The girl did not reply but instead placed her head on his chest and took a deep breath as if she wanted to take in his scent. In the end, he gave up trying to push her away and put his arms around her white neck. They stayed like this for a long time.

…

After lunch, Roland took a cold shower and continued with his work.

He called Karl van Bate, opened a detailed map of Border Town and pointed to Redwater River. “I want to construct a bridge here.”

“Not a pontoon?” Karl asked after thinking for a while, “With all due respect Your Highness, since Redwater River is nearly 100 meters wide in this location, it’s almost impossible to construct a stone bridge. Even an arch bridge wouldn’t reach more than one-third of the distance. The Redwater River’s current is too strong, so there’s no way we can insert the bridge-piers. They would be washed away even if they’re as thick as a person and made from stone… Other than pontoons and rafts, there’s no other way to cross the river.

“Not a stone bridge, but a steel bridge,” Roland explained, “it’ll have a total of three parts, and the middle pier will be handled by the witches. You only need to construct and assemble the rest of it. Make sure the bridge has a slope so that its height is high enough for sailing ships to sail through without having their mast touching it.”

“Wouldn’t that mean building the bridge into the sky?” Karl asked surprised.

“It’ll only be six to seven meters above ground.” He quickly drew a sketch for the three-span iron bridge. “In order to develop the south bank in the future and also construct the shipyard, the river must have a bridge that won’t affect the traffic on the river. A pontoon bridge may be simple, but it’ll cover the whole river obstructing my future development plans.”

The expedition of the First Army to the king’s city had inspired Roland—he realized, that within the Kingdom of Graycastle flowed countless of rivers and most major cities were mainly built next to a big river. In case he wanted to start a war in the future, having several shallow water gunboats would be beneficial for both supporting his troops or besieging and conquering cities—after all, the strength caliber of a naval artillery would exceed that of a field artillery by far.

“But I don’t have experience constructing bridges…” Karl was clearly hesitant.

“Neither do I.” Roland shrugged. “Since it’s the first time, you can explore freely. You can start by assembling the bridge at the river bank and then test it, and if everything is alright you can move it to Redwater River.” He also introduced him to the concept of general prefabrication and the construction concept of disposable parts, “Just like the construction of water towers, as long as we utilize Hummingbird’s ability to decrease its weight and your student Anna’s help to do the assembly and the welding, it won’t be too difficult in overall.”

“As… you wish, Your Highness.” He nodded.

“Apart from this, there’s also one more important construction project for you.” The prince moved his finger to the castle area. “I plan to expand the size of the back garden, including in all the surrounding high grounds, and at the same time I want to build a three-story house here.”

If everything went well, Tilly’s five witches would arrive in Border Town next month. However, there were no more spare guest rooms in the castle. Although he could convert them into three people room temporarily, the witches would only continue to increase with time, so he had to find a permanent solution. Offering a superior living environment with all kinds of comfort experiences was part of his plan to convince the witches to stay. No matter if it was the people from old times or the modern times, no one could resist an extravagant lifestyle and all the comforts it included. A good life would always be appealing to people.

“Three-story… brick house?”

“Not entirely a brick house.” Roland smiled. “The correct term should be mixed brick construction. The pillars and the roof will be made of reinforced concrete, which is similar to human bones. With this kind of structure, we can build a taller house, increasing the number of stories to four or five later, without any problem.”

“Reinforced… concrete?” Karl repeated looking confused.

“It’s a mixture of cement, sand, and stone, reinforced with steel bars to enhance its bending resistance,” Roland said, “of course, many tests are required to determine the correct percentage of each material needed, but once we succeed, it’ll be even harder than a natural bluestone.”

In theory, a product like this would have great elasticity. Even though they were both concrete, the one bought from the village and mixed was entirely different from the one mixed in the mixing station. The same could be said for the steel reinforcing bars… When some people were building their houses in the residential area, they would not use pebbles, steel bars or bamboos to replace concrete. During his time in the countryside, Roland had witnessed the erection process of several these “country villas”.

Thus, he intended to imitate the process, after all, it would only be a three-story house. It would be too hard for it to collapse no matter how bad materials he used.

On the other hand, through the construction of the witch’s residence, he hoped that Karl could grasp the concept of shape transformation and the beauty of construction materials that were as perfect as a stone. As part of the development direction of the construction industry, concrete’s importance was very significant. However, he was not familiar with architecture, whatever little he knew came from his time at the countryside. Therefore, expanding the mason’s horizons and guiding him to the right direction was the correct way to handle this.

“Um… Do you want me to take it slow with this one too?” he asked.

“No.” Roland smiled. “I can teach you.”

Chapter 243: The Establishment of Intelligence Bureau

he air gradually cooled after the moon rose. Sitting in the garden, Theo could see the little fire reflected in the windows of pubs, brothels, and casinos from a distance. The fire in the night was like the stars in the sky, showing the city’s prosperity.

This was a scene that only could be seen from the inner city area of the king’s city. Even after the end of the demonic plague, about one-third of the civilians died on the fringes of the city. Those deaths did not stop the nobles from drinking and merrymaking in the city center. If one listened carefully, one could even hear the soft cries floating in the breeze.

Theo bought the house with a garden and pool for 150 gold royals, located on a hillside near the edge of the inner city area, even though no one wandered here in the daytime. He typically did not stay here unless he was meeting an informant or exchanging intelligence. He would either spend the night at a hotel or stay in Covert Trumpeter for a few days.

“Sir, they’ve all arrived.”

A man walked out of the room, holding an oil lamp. It was Hill Fawkes who was doing undercover work in the Skeleton Fingers.

“Light the candle.” Theo nodded and walked into the room.

In the dim candlelight, Hill and the other five people sat around a wooden table. When they saw the appearance of the guards, they all bowed and saluted. Theo looked at them blankly, hoping to determine their reliability from their expressions and gestures. It was unfortunate that Miss Nightingale had followed the sailing platoon and returned to Border Town. If she was here, she could make the most accurate judgment in an instant.

They were Hill’s partners and members of the Dove and Hat acrobatic troupe, as well as avengers full of resentment towards the new king. In the siege war last week, it was them who provided intelligence to Theo, allowing him to learn Rats’ night attack plan in advance. Now that the demonic plague had gradually subsided, he decided to meet them in the king’s city. If they were really as Hill had described, then they were some agreeable spies indeed.

“Besides Mr. Fawkes, please briefly introduce yourselves,” Theo said.

“Sir, my name is Rockhill,” said the most robust man in a booming voice. He was almost six feet tall and his muscles were full of strength. “I played Luxman in the acrobatic troupe. Now I’ve joined the blood sails.”

“I’m Clown,” said a little man sitting next to Rockhill as he pointed at his nose. He looked like he was the youngest among them, about 18 or 19 years old. “Of course, I’m a clown in the troupe, but I didn’t join the Rats. I only perform some tricks in various bars.”

“Joe and Neil.” The next two were a pair of brothers. They looked no different than any civilian in the outer city area, from their appearance to their clothes. They have given up all their properties to Priest Ferry and were “devout believers” of the church. Theo could not help wondering if there was any chance those two also had a crush on Hill’s wife. He eased his doubts and turned towards the last person.

“They all call me Magician, sir.” The man saluted again. “My plan was to pretend as a frustrated loser put into Dreamland Water before, but unfortunately most of them died or fled. Even ‘the Fiercetooth’ Tanis died in the hands of the Judgement Army of the church. Everyone was busy looking for a new boss.”

“Died in the hands of the Judgement Army?” Theo raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t they the ones receiving secret support from the church?”

“I also heard that from others.” Magician spread out his hands. “After Tanis was defeated in the siege war at the pier, he was also attacked by Skeleton Fingers while returning to the east area of the city. There were only dozens of people left who followed him. He got so mad that he went to the church with his followers who stayed in the nest that day. The next day, only two or three ended up coming back. They told me that he quarreled with Priest Ferry and was shot in the chest by the Judgement Army… In other words, the Dreamland Water collapsed.”

Theo thought what happened was probably because Fiercetooth had accumulated his strength over a long time with much difficulty, but was now reduced to nothing. Because his position as a leader was precarious, he tried to seek for assistance from the church. But he was refused and a dispute broke out. However, she did not care about the irrelevant details. He just wanted know why Dreamland Water was just an empty title now. There was no doubt this was good news for him. Perhaps he would be able to utilize this opportunity to gather this group of Rats with nowhere to go to expand his intelligence network.

“You must have heard my name from Hill.” Theo rapped the table. “I’m the guardian of His Highness Roland Wimbledon, responsible for collecting intelligence from all over the kingdom. Since you’re willing to come here, you’ve shown your will in a sense. To be clear, I’ll have to ask once again. Are you willing to work for His Highness?”

“We’re willing to do so!” they answered.

“I’m willing to do anything as long as I can mete justice on Timothy Wimbledon,” Hill said.

“Very good. From now on, we’ll gather here weekly. You can report to me in advance if you have urgent intelligence. The signal is a pot of purple flowers in front of the door of the house,” Theo said, “and after I noticed that signal, I’ll wait for you in this room. Remember to knock with three long rhythms and two short rhythms. Got it?”

Theo nodded with satisfaction when everyone agreed. “A qualified intelligence officer will never easily expose himself. The first thing you have to do is to hide your identity. You must keep this in mind whether you’re investigating personally or getting an assistant to collect suspicious intelligence for you.” “If you have financial needs, you can request that from me… Remember, don’t act rashly. Timothy won’t sit on the throne forever. His Highness Roland has personally guaranteed that.” He paused for a moment before asking, “Is there anything else you guys want to add?”

“Sir, Timothy has returned from the Eastern Region,” Hill said, “you may have already received the news.”

The new king’s knight platoon was carrying a banner into the city from the eastern city gate at noon. Many residents had witnessed this scene. Theo said nothing because he knew that they would elaborate.

“I heard from Black Hammer at nightfall that Timothy seems to plan on recruiting a group of Rats to join the corps by offering to make them free civilians. Several leaders of the Skeleton Fingers have gone to the palace. It doesn’t sound like a rumor.”

[Recruiting Rats?] Theo pretended to be calm, despite his inner anxiety. [It’s clear that these Rats can’t combat as formal soldiers, so the main purpose should be feeding them with pills to turn them into walking bombs, just like the last attack on Longsong Stronghold. What’s their goal this time?]

“It’s an interesting news,” he said, “remember to pay close attention to the whereabouts of Rats. Once you have any information, report to me immediately.”

Theo hoped that Timothy Wimbledon would not trigger another riot in the Western Region.

Chapter 244: The Identity Registration

utside the city walls of the Western Region, under the guidance of the First Army soldiers, the refugees accepted an unprecedented identity check.

Barov naturally knew that population was the most valued wealth of His Royal Highness. In order to bring these people back to Border Town, His Royal Highness had spent a lot of gold dragons, going so far as to pay for the First Army to make the expedition from the king’s city. When the bill from Margaret’s Chamber of Commerce was placed in front of Barov, he was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped.

In more than half a month, they actually spent more than 2,000 golden dragons for the charter fees to provide for the caravan, including the shipping fees, food supply fees, and so on. This was equivalent to the selling price of four steam engines. If it were not for the two sailing ship renovation deposits, this time Barov was afraid that the financial statements would be in a deficit.

After the refugees returned, the cumbersome and huge statistical work fell on his shoulders. Almost all of the city officials and apprentices were deployed. At the foot of the walls, a wooden shed and passage were put up for the classification and recorded files of these people. Looking at the over a dozen groups of refugees line up and being examined, he saw them as if they were walking money.

Compared to the ordinary civilians’ registrar, he felt a hefty personal responsibility that the act of channeling out the professionals was so cheerless. So far, only 50 or 60 people had passed.

“I’m… a carpenter.” At this point, a middle-aged man cautiously walked over. “I heard that any craftsmen can get a home?”

“Yes.” Sirius Daly asked, “What’s your name? Are you literate?”

The knight, originally from the Wolf Family, was handy in the Ministry of Agriculture, and up to this point, he had not made any mistakes. Barov was quite satisfied with him. Although demographically the literacy rate in the City Hall was rather high, they still had to pull people from other departments.

“Uh… well sir, my name is Marshall.” He paused. “I don’t know how to read.”

“You can’t read or write?”

“No, I can’t.” The middle-aged man bowed his head.

“Well, if you’re a carpenter…” Sirius looked at the stack of question forms to find the one marked “carpenter”. “Ah, I found it. Let me ask you a few questions.”

This preliminary step was something thought of by the prince. He brought the craftsmen of the various industries together, asked them about their professional knowledge and their corresponding approaches, and recorded the answers on a set of inquiry forms. In this way, as long as one asked a few questions when checking the audit form, they could immediately know whether the other side was lying or not. The first time he saw this polygraph method, Barov could not help but want to applaud the little devil’s mind. If not engaged in the industry, most civilians would not understand these things. If a person wanted to pretend to be knowledgeable, they could be made speechless with only two or three questions.

“What’s the tool used to cut the surface of wood?”

“That’s… a planer, sir.”

“What’re the types of common saws?”

“Box saws and cross-cutting saws. Occasionally hand saws will be used for cutting small pieces.”

Several questions were asked, and Marshall could almost answer everything. Over time, his tone and timing became smoother.

“Well, it seems you’re a carpenter.” Sirius was prepared to write down the name of the person on the identity checklist, but Barov stopped him.

“Sir?”

“Don’t make judgements so soon. First, look at his hands.” He looked at Marshall. “Hold your hand out.”

Marshall was startled at these words. With a puzzled face, he spread his hands. The skin on his palms was incomparably rough and cracked lines mixed with many soil particles. Each finger was thick with callous and seemed to have endured much wind and frost.

“If he’s a carpenter, the palm shouldn’t be so rough. Especially the two pads of muscle under the palm, which will often become smooth and hard from the friction with the wood. In addition, carpenters often need to use black paint to draw contours, so the palm will be stained with the black ink, and will turn black, rather than yellow,” Barov said quietly, “Another point, he always shifts his eyes when he answers. Many people who’re recalling an uncommon memory, will inadvertently have this expression. If he’s a carpenter, then answering should come naturally, right?”

“Is that… so?” He stared.

Barov looked at Marshall who was surprised, and he said, “You have had heard the warnings when the first army soldiers summoned you. Any act of impersonation, deception, or denial of registration will be severely punished. Perpetrators will be issued to the mine or expelled from the Western Region. Now, do you still think you’re a carpenter?”

“No, sir, I was wrong!” Marshall could not help but kneel on the ground. “The carpenter was my neighbor, and all I did was watching him work!”

“Go there and line up.”

Watching the man walk away, Sirius said, “Sir, how do you know these things?”

“In the months of demons, I completed a census for his Royal Highness. I dealt with every carpenter from each town, and wrote down what they did.” Barov feigned a casual reply. Seeing the knight’s face show an expression of shock and admiration, his heart soared.

[Though His Highness’ method is clever, there still will be someone having the tricks to pass the check. It’s only someone like me, who has learned from being tricked in the past, will see through these tricks,] Barov thought.

And influenced by His Highness, they had begun to deal with the problem differently than before… Barov could not help but secretly sigh. In cases like for this civilian, it was only when those that came before were punished with the strength of thunder, then those following could be deterred. But now it would probably save His Highness a lot of money to just let him go. After all, every refugee was worth a lot of money, if not for sustaining years of life in Border Town, then simply for the cost of transporting them thousands of miles.

Sirius waited until the next refugee came for a professional inquiry, he did not immediately register them but looked at Barov.

Barov looked at the examiner and nodded. “You record it, I’ll take him to His Highness.”

On the other side of the hole in the city wall, Roland Wimbledon had constructed a shed. This was also the final checkpoint.

Here, they would accept the advice of His Highness personally. If they were confirmed acceptable, they could get a “resident identity card” and become a formal resident of Border Town. At the present the housing situation was tense, and priority would be given to craftsmen. As for those with a lack of skills, they would wait for two to three months outside of the city wall.

Barov also had an identity card. It was a colored piece of paper, almost the size of his hand. There was a painting of his head that looked like a real person in the upper left. In the middle were his name, address, and number. The back of the paper was printed with the emblem of the Kingdom of Graycastle, and the signature seal of His Highness. Both the paper itself and the outer were wrapped in film. The material was very strange. Whether it was soaked in water or burnt in a fire, you could not damage the ID card.

There was no doubt that this thing was certainly a product of the witch Soraya. His Royal Highness seemed to have implemented the policy of ID cards throughout the town. In the future, the certificate would be shown, whether it was to buy food or pay for something.

Ever since a medal was given to the eldest daughter of the Pine family at the Award and Honor Ceremony, His Highness was no longer planning to hide the existence of the witches, and Barov did not want to ignore the question of who was right between the devil and the church. And even then… [I hope that His Royal Highness Roland can defeat the church and completely unify the Graycastle.]

There was no doubt that the higher the position of His Royal Highness, the more reward he would get.

Of course, there was still a long way to till then, and that could be considered in the future. Now the town’s population had gone beyond that of Longsong Stronghold, and His Royal Highness had also revealed the next year’s city plan to him. Once they were connected to Longsong Stronghold, a majority of the Western Region would be joined as one. Its size would no doubt surpass the king’s city, and become the most magnificent in the Kingdom of Graycastle. And just what kind of promotion would he get as the city hall director?

Barov was looking forward to the future.

Chapter 245: The Tools of Transportation

oland sat on the office chair and took a closer look at the statistics reported by Barov.

It took three days for the City Hall to sort out all of the more than 6,000 refugees. Including the low percentage of artisans, the final approval was only 186 people. Of course, this was also related to the intensity of the audit, as it involved the allocation of housing and the issuance of identity cards.

According to Roland’s consideration, it was only after you were issued an identity card that you would be regarded as his official subject. Therefore, it was important to complete this while the population was small so that better control would be had over the town’s advocates over time. That way, when the population grew, the people’s power could be used to assimilate the new entrants. After all, people were social animals and as long as the environment exemplified a philosophy, more and more people would agree with it. In this way the subjects could be given a better life.

“Then the artisan workshops have been arranged for you, whether it’s for a single person or a family, all have been given their separate suites,” Roland stated.

“Yes,” said Barov, “Your Highness, are these houses issued as a gift?”

“The rent will be arranged.” He shook his head. “Aborigines have free access to new homes because they mostly have old houses, which is equal to old homes being exchanged for new homes. If these people were donated houses, then it would be not conducive to kick them out and engage them actively in work. Of course, the rent can be calculated at a lower grade, and you may tell them, as long as an effort is made to save enough gold dragons, then they can buy a house directly.

“I understand.”

Roland was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked, “After the Award and Honor Ceremony, how many people fled?”

“There’s no one in the aborigines, but seven in the serfs.” Barov paused and continued, “And the refugees in the Eastern Region chose to leave more, a total of 115 people.”

“Really?” he said, taking the time to push the witch to the stage, and he knew that such a situation would happen. In order to assess the public response and to avoid accidents, Roland also specially arranged a flintlock squad temporarily away from the town several meters away, to keep the retention and get the statistics of these people fled as well as to see everyone on the acceptance of the witch.

The answer was not perfect, but at least it could be considered very good. The aborigines had fully accepted the witch, which was close to what he expected; the refugees in serfs appearing in numbers less than estimated, it seems close to the bottom of life of drama performance was good; it touched the refugees from the Eastern Region—they obviously accepted the treatment of witches, and in their homes destroyed, desperate situation, there were still over 100 people who chose to leave. This made Roland slightly surprised.

“Your Highness, I suggest that all of them be executed,” said Barov calmly, “those who’re determined to run in this situation will inevitably be those who’re deeply influenced by the church, and for the foreseeable future they won’t stand on the side of the monarchy. They’ll be converted into church believers, so there’s no need for a kind of kindness to them.”

“Is not necessarily so… Really pious people on the church are those more than 300 refugees, who should be faced with the demonic plague and not want to leave the king.” The prince closed his eyes. “These people may just can’t change their own ideas, stubbornly thinking the witch is evil, and want to flee here.”

“Even so, they’re also your potential enemies.” Barov insisted.

If it was on the battlefield to meet this group of people, Roland would not hesitate to defeat it. Because the ideological backwardness and the concept of incompatibility, it was necessary to wield the butcher to kill a group of civilians. This was a huge psychological barrier for him. Hesitated for a moment, and he finally rejected the offer. “I’ll let Nightingale go to interrogate these people fled, and if there’re spies inside they’ll be hanged, and others will be expelled from the Western Region.”

Barov shook his head, and after a delay, he said, “As you wish, Your Highness.”

“Do you have anything else to report?”

“Not at this time, Your Highness.” He coughed twice. “I have to attend to the distribution of housing.”

“Don’t worry, we can deal with these over time.” Roland opened his eyes and stood up. “First, take a few photos with me to relax yourself.”

“Pho-photos?” Barov was startled.

“You’ll know before long,” Roland said with a laugh.

Inside the castle, he called Carter, Iron Axe, and Soraya together. In the corner of the garden there were a few pieces of wood that were four or five meters long with the same amount wide. The ground was also covered with a canvas.

“Border town isn’t so large yet, so the southern land will be developed in the future and then connected to Longsong Stronghold. The scale will be several times than that of now. At the moment, it takes one or two days to walk from the east to the west, so a faster means of transportation is necessary. The cost of raising a horse is high, and it’s impossible for each subject to spend time learning how to ride a horse,” Roland said as he opened the canvas, “I Intended to promote this means of transportation in the town. It’s easy to use and the price is much lower than a horse.”

“What… is this?” Carter was instantly attracted by this novelty. “Two wheels, an iron shelf. Is it a cart?”

“Two wheels—one in front, one in back, it would be difficult for a cart to stay balanced.” Barov shook his head. “I don’t see how it could replace the horse.”

Only Iron Axe was silent, quietly waiting for the prince to explain.

Roland smiled. “This thing was called a bicycle, I’ll give you a demonstration so you’ll understand.” He placed his feet on the pedals and took on a standard starting posture. With one simple pedal, he began riding up the garden road.

With Anna’s finishing and Soraya’s coating technology, it was not difficult to handcraft a bicycle, as its principles and structures were not difficult. Its required rubber parts were just replaced with a coating. For example, the inner tube was directly drawn onto a roll of paper tube. To this end, Roland also made a simple pump. The tire and brake were also given a greater hardness with a leather coating. The frame was a hollow iron pipe. The brake wire was an anti-corrosive copper wire. The only trouble lay in the chain, where they must rely on Anna to cut the metal, and then form the cut shapes into a long section. As for the kind of pedals that would be installed directly on the wheels of the classic bike, he had no idea.

Riding back in a circle, Roland pressed the brakes and easily pulled over. Seeing a row of stunned men, he could not help but be proud. With this, they could all come to have fine mounts. Compared to the taming and feeding needed for horses, bikes would be more readily available.

“I intend to open a bicycle plant in the industrial area for the production of this means of transport. Not only do we need to recruit workers, but we also have to give it publicity to promote it to the entire territory as soon as possible,” Roland simply explained, “With this, I’ll teach you how to control the bike, and then let Miss Soraya put your riding pattern painted on the board. I want to let all the subjects see that as long as they can afford the cost of one or two gold royals, they’ll be able to have the same with tools as the lords, the first army command, the chief knight, and the city hall director.

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Chapter 246: The New Gunpowder Plan

hat was the hallmark of the Industrial Age? The steam engine that powered the railway was the first thing that occurred to Roland.

For Roland, his first acquaintance of beauty was the steam engine. Rather than the modern mechanical systems of his time whose structure hid in a shell, used high-precision processing to reduce shaking and had sound-proofing. He felt that the greasy cast iron cylinder, the sturdy crankshaft, the huge iron wheels, as well as the rhythmic noise, the shaking, and the shrill whistle of the steam engine, undoubtedly showed the industrial beauty and strength in a more intuitive way.

He wanted to instruct workers to lay railway lines everywhere in his domain so that a train could carry the cargo and passengers to the Western Region. Although this was a good idea, it would not be easy to make it a reality. The large amount of steel needed for such an undertaking far exceeded the capacity of iron ingots which North Slope Mine Kiln could produce.

Thus, for Roland, promoting the bicycle became his best option. The more smooth roads that were built in his domain, the more profitable the bicycle would be. Compared to the steam train with its complicated structure, the bicycle did not need to be maintained. The chain only needed to be oiled once in a while.

If Roland planned to mass-produce the bicycle, he could not let Anna do all of the manufacturing work. First, he should build a company, training a group of professional workers to do the manufacturing and assembly work. Considering that the Kingdom Main Street was scheduled for completion by the next spring, the company size would not be too large at first. The workers would have enough time to get familiar with the manufacturing process when Anna made the machine tools. It would be okay if the company produced 10 bikes per month. The most difficult part was the production of chains, which needed to use a machine to stamp out chain pieces.

Soraya’s ability could help with the production of the rubber parts, such as tires and brakes. Thankfully, the workload was not heavy in this part. The magic pen could draw a lot of these rubber parts as long as the base mold was done. The same was true of the bearings. They could not make reliable ball bearings, so a short piece of steel casing was found to be just fine. After covering the inside with a smooth mirror coating, its effect would be no less than that of a ball bearing.

When the bicycle was first invented, only nobles could afford such an expensive form of transport. In order to promote it to the common people, Roland also planned to advertise and implement an installment payment system to reduce purchase pressure. Of course, only the subjects with ID cards could apply for this kind of payment.

The three of them spent the whole afternoon in the courtyard learning how to ride a bike. As the chief knight, Carter Lannis quickly mastered the skills. Iron Axe, who was the second quickest to learn, managed to finally successfully take a trip around the courtyard. Only Barov failed again and again. Every time he tried, he ended up almost falling off the bike or else he just could not proceed in a straight line. At last, Roland had to let Soraya draw a still picture of him who just stood beside the bike with both hands holding the handlebars.

“Is that okay?” Soraya asked after she had completed the four big posters.

After a moment’s thought, Roland said, “We need to add two advertising lines. At the top of the picture we can write, ‘This is the mount in a new era, I have it, you can have it too.’ At the below we can write, ‘The bicycle factory is recruiting workers. We offer you a good salary and better treatment. You’ll also have the opportunity to get a new bicycle of your own. Anyone who has completed their primary education can sign up in the City Hall.'”

…

When the matter of the bicycle posters was done, the prince returned to his office. He asked his guards to call Kyle Sichi before dinner.

Now that they finally developed mercury fulminate, the production of new weapons should get started too. Undoubtedly at the thermal weapons age, the caliber of the cannon represented justice, while the firing rate represented freedom. The more powerful the weapon was, the more glorious it was. Finally, the quantity of the gun turrets decided everything… But there was another problem here, at this rate, the two acidic liquids which were extracted in the lab would not be enough.

For example, if Roland wanted to improve the firing rate of the cannon, he must discard the black gunpowder which had a lot of residue in favor of smokeless gunpowder, namely guncotton or the mixture of guncotton and nitroglycerin. The same was true for the production of high-explosives. It was fine if he could not make TNT as he could use nitrostarch to replace it. While its stability was not very good, it was more powerful than TNT.

But whether he wanted to improve the firing rate of the cannon or produce high-explosives, he would need a large amount of fuming nitric acid along with a huge volume of concentrated sulfuric acid in order to purify the nitric acid. Neither of these could be covered by the yield of the lab. In other words, if they could not find an industrial way to extract fuming nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid, they would get into the dilemma where they had no bullets to use even if they had created the highly-efficient weapons.

When the chief alchemist entered his office Roland said, “I have a new task for you.”

“Do tell, as long as it isn’t to attend any ceremonies.” Kyle shrugged.

“I need more acidic liquid. Right now the yield of the chemical lab isn’t enough for my needs. So your new task is to design a set of chemical systems which can produce the two acidic liquids efficiently.”

“Chemical… systems?” Kyle was incredibly confused.

“Well, you need to design a set of chemical systems which consist of several pre-positioned types of equipment. They can pump out plenty of products as long as we put in the raw materials.” Roland simply explained to him the essence of the industrial production. “I only know a little about this, so you have to figure it out on your own.”

The prince knew it was a very difficult task to accomplish that could require several years of study and results which could not be ensured. After all, Kyle only knew some basic reaction principles and chemical equations from the book “Elementary Chemistry”.

“I get it.” Kyle nodded. “The things that you’ve mentioned really refresh me.”

“Whether you can accomplish it or not, the two kinds of acidic liquid are what I desperately need now.” After the pause, Roland said, “So I’ve already decided to build another three labs beside Redwater River, and hire some subjects to act as lab assistants. You can pick up some of your students to instruct them if you’re busy. After all, the industrial acid-making process will be a long-term research project.”

Perhaps he could not resist the seduction of “Intermediate Chemistry”, because Kyle agreed immediately. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Roland gently sighed after Kyle Sichi left.

If the industrial acid-making process did not work, he had to let Lucia help with the purification of the acidic liquid. After all, when the war came, he would need more powerful weapons to win a victory for this town.

Roland opened the drawer. He wanted to eat some dried fish but found that the drawer which he used for snacks was empty.

He was stunned for a while, but when he raised his head, a dried fish was handed to him.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” The blonde woman opposite him smiled.

Roland bit the dried fish, but could not help laughing. “I thought you would stay in the Mist for the rest of your life.”

“That would be fine. At least nobody can see me, but I still can see you.” Nightingale smacked her lips.

Seeing Nightingale’s familiar face, Roland was incredibly relieved, his bad mood began dissipating. “You’ve said before that you don’t know how to face me…”

“Huh?”

“Actually, you look just fine the way you are.”

Chapter 247: The Graduation Ceremony

quot;Look, that is Lady Scroll, I heard she’s the Minister of Education.” Piper nudged Jilly with his elbow secretively.

“Education… Minister?” Jilly felt puzzled. “What’s that?”

Piper explained to her. “The minister is the one who’s in charge of all the teachers. Isn’t your favorite teacher Ferlin while you hate teacher Harben with his loud voice? Well, they all are under the charge of Lady Scroll.”

“Where did you hear about this?” Jilly blinked her eyes. “I suppose you must have heard it from the big shot you’ve mentioned?”

“Well, of course.” Piper smiled with pride and then said, “Besides, I also know that, not only will the officials of City Hall will be attending today’s graduation ceremony, but the lord will also attend. How wonderful is that His Highness would come here?”

“Really?” Jilly’s eyes brightened suddenly. “Do you think His Highness will talk to us?”

“Oh… That I don’t know.” Piper touched the back of his head. “He probably will.”

After all, he heard this from his big brother Van’er. Speaking of Van’er, he was an amazing person who used to be a common knapper but became a captain who was in charge of a small platoon when he joined the Militia. Now that he was an officer of the Artillery Squad in the First Army, his monthly salary is 25 silver royals, and he had even talked and shaken hands with His Highness.

Although Van’er spent most of his time in the battalion area, he occasionally had many interesting observations and stories to say when he came back. His former neighbor and worshiper, Piper would go to his place and pester Van’er to tell him more about interesting things. Piper could always get some information from Van’er in advance.

For example, it was also Van’er who told him that the lord would attend this graduation ceremony. A week ago, the First Army had received the command to protect His Highness and guard against danger. They also practiced some manoeuvres near the school building.

Before long, a group of energetic soldiers in uniforms walked in with their heads held high. His Highness and his chief knight were in the middle of the parade,

the crowd could not help but become restless.

After the entrance of the school building was encircled by the soldiers, Roland stepped into the hall, waving to the multiple rows of students. “Hello, my subjects. I’m Roland Wimbledon who’s in charge of the Western Region, the Lord of Border Town. Let me congratulate you all on your accomplishments and for having completed all the contents of your primary education, becoming the first batch of graduates in Border Town.”

A hush fell over the crowd, which was not because they were indifferent to Roland’s words, but because many of them were too excited to say anything.

Jilly grabbed Piper’s arm and pinched it, looking very excited, and she said, “His Highness is talking to us.”

Piper felt exhilarated too. Piper felt like he also had the same close contact with His Highness that his big brother Van’er enjoyed.

“The reason that you can pass the examination and graduate from school so soon is all because most of you are teacher Karl Van Bate’s students. You’ve been ahead of others from the start. So don’t be conceited and self-complacent as there’s still a lot of knowledge which you need to study and explore.” Roland continued, “Of course, today is still worthy of celebration, because from now on, you’ve already chosen a way which is different from others. You’ll get a generous reward no matter what kind of job you’ll engage in. Congratulations!”

“His Highness… live long!” someone shouted, then all of them exclaimed with excitement, “Long live, His Highness! We’re willing to serve you!”

Waiting for the cheers of the audience to subside, Roland laughed. “Then I’ll issue you your diploma as an honor certificate to prove that you’ve completed your studies.” He opened a booklet and said, “Piper.”

Piper shuddered when he heard Roland call his name. Staring at the prince, he opened his mouth and did not know what to say. Teacher Ferlin Eltek waved to him and said, “Don’t be afraid, just go and stand in front of His Highness.”

Piper walked toward Roland stiffly, and his heart beat so fast that he could even hear his own heartbeat. Suddenly, he thought about the military courtesy that Van’er had always mentioned which was simpler than the chivalrous courtesy and could show his loyalty toward His Highness. Given that it was also invented by His Highness himself, although he did not know the exact specific gesture, he still summoned up his courage to salute Roland, putting his hands on his forehead flatly.

The prince was amused. He nodded and handed Piper the booklet, saying, “It would be more proper if your hand moved backward a bit towards your ear… Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Th-thanks.” Piper took the booklet and walked back unconsciously. He only came to himself when His Highness started to issue the next diploma.

“Let me see, what did they write on it?” Jilly turned her head and asked curiously.

“What’s the rush, you’ll have one too,” he mumbled as he opened the diploma’s cover with trembling hands. There was a piece of exquisite parchment inside, In the top left-hand corner, there was a drawing of his own face portrait. In the middle was the royal emblem of the Kingdom of Graycastle which had several lines below it on the page. If it was half a year ago, Piper would have had to ask teacher Karl to tell him what the meaning was of these words. But now Piper had mastered the basic skills in reading and writing, so he simply read it to himself.

“The first batch of graduates in Border Town: Piper.”

“President: Scroll.”

“Issuer: Lord of Border Town, Roland Wimbledon.”

…

After all the diplomas were issued, Roland clapped his hands to get their attention. “From now on, you’re qualified to do jobs which common people can’t do. These jobs have a generous salary, and the minimum wage is 10 silver royals per month. Next, I’ll let Lady Scroll introduce the work content in the City Hall of Border Town.” He raised his hands to stop them from chattering and continued to say, “You don’t have to make a decision instantly, go back to home and discuss it with your family. You can come to City Hall to apply for the job you want with your ID card and diploma once you make up your mind.”

Seizing the chance while Scroll was talking, Jilly turned her head and asked Piper, “Do you have any idea? I want to work in the bicycle plant, for the salary is higher than my father’s. I’ll also have the opportunity to get a new bicycle.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Piper answered without caring. Recently four massive plates were set up in the square of Border Town. Imprinted on the plates was the portraits of His Highness and several officers. This iron mount with strange shapes beside them had stirred up heated discussion among the citizens. Furthermore, the monthly salary of the bicycle plant was 15 silver royals. The plant would have been crammed with people if it did not have specific requirements that only people who had completed their primary education could enlist.

But there was one place that Piper wanted to go the most.

After the graduation ceremony, Piper could not help but get a rather crazy idea. He wanted to step up to the platform of the square and receive the honor from His Highness in front of thousands of people, just like his former classmates Nana.

According to the words of His Highness, one could only receive such honor when he made contributions to the town. He would never have the chance to receive such honor if he worked in the bicycle plant. Unlike Iron Axe, he could not be a soldier and go to the battlefield to fight against the enemies. He also did not have an amazing ability like the witches. The only man he could imitate was Chief Alchemist Kyle Sichi.

He had heard many times that if he could create a practical alchemical product which could bring wealth and fame to the domain, then he could be a great man. No need to be brave or born to a noble family, the only thing he needed was a little luck… it was the best way for him.

Thinking about that, Piper made up his mind.

“I’ll go to enlist in the chemical laboratory,” he said.

Chapter 248: The Mutation

ven in summer, the ice and snow on Hermes Plateau did not melt much.

Mayne stood at the top of the Heaven Tower and looked out from afar. There were only two colors in the wilderness outside the wall—the green meadows and the white snow intertwined, like a scar of the earth left by the war during the Months of Demons. The climatic conditions were unsuitable for any crops, so all the food they needed in the new Holy City had to be transported from the foot of the plateau, that was, the old Holy City, by animal-drawn vehicles.

After living in Hermes for more than a decade, he had been used to the coldness everywhere.

“This time only we two are left?” Tayfun came through the door and asked, “is it okay if the meeting isn’t held in the secret chamber?”

“Do you like to stay in that tiny room?”

“No… of course not.” The old archbishop touched his white beard. “If Heather hadn’t always talked about the disciplines and regulations, I would have been eager to exchange information here. Even if she talked a lot of nonsense, I could at least enjoy the scenery of Holy City. But…” he said with a faint smile, “I didn’t expect such a person who’s always punctually to not return on time?”

“Maybe she met some difficulties,” said Mayne sitting back to the table, “maybe she’s on her way.”

“Maybe…” Tayfun curled his lips and said, “You shouldn’t make an excuse for her. She often said that everyone should suit the action to the word. Even if she met with some troubles, she should report to us first. She isn’t alone in the king’s city of the Kingdom of Everwinter, and sending a messenger won’t take long.”

“Leave her alone.” Mayne pushed three letters to Tayfun and said, “we’re in trouble.”

“Trouble?” Tayfun was stunned for a while and then sat down across the round table spreading out the letters. “Is it all bad news?”

“Yes.” He took a deep breath. “It couldn’t be worse.”

Tayfun lost his smile and began to carefully look at the first secret letter. “… the spread of the demonic plague has been stopped and Faceless’ whereabouts is unknown? Wait, what’s the demonic plague?”

“It’s the latest research result of the Pivotal Secret Area. You don’t need to know too much and just consider it as a rapidly infectious disease.” Mayne simply explained. In fact, according to Master Crow’s Eye, it was a micro demonic beast which would mutate specifically for the human body after special cultivation. And the holy medicine to restrain it was also the demonic beast, but with a smaller body. “The pathogen can’t be directly observed with the eyes, so it can’t be cured with the conventional means. Only one kind of person can stop the spread of the demonic plague.”

“The witch?” Tayfun quickly thought of the answer.

“And it should be more than one,” he said with a low voice.

After reading the letter, the old archbishop punched on the table. “What was the idiot doing? Not to mention that he let the Rats encircle and suppress the mercenaries, he even let Faceless in? Didn’t he even know how important the pure witch is?”

“His idea isn’t wrong.” Mayne frowned. “If there were no lies about the number of people in the letter, then 1000 Rats would be enough to defeat the other party’s over 100 mercenaries. However, it seems that they have powerful long-range bolts, which can be launched continuously. For this point, I remember that Priest Tylo, who stationed in Longsong Stronghold, has also mentioned that the reason why Duke Ryan lost to a group of miners was that the other party’s crossbows were extremely powerful. Although the armors can significantly reduce the damage of the bolts, the Rats don’t have such equipment.”

“Even if it was right to send those Rats, he shouldn’t send Faceless so easily!” Tayfun said angrily, “Heather will be furious when she comes back. Every witch who would grow into a pure witch has an extremely rare ability and the training is very energy-consuming. In a sense, they’re more precious than God’s Punishment Army.”

“But whether it’s the witches or the God’s Punishment Army, their ultimate goal is to destroy the enemy and achieve victory,” Mayne slowly said, “It’s inevitable to lose some of them in this process.”

“Do you want to keep Priest Ferry safe?”

“Don’t forget the law of the church,” Mayne said with a low voice, “only focusing on results is the way the nobles love to deal with things. Although Ferry failed miserably, his starting point and plan didn’t have too many problems. It was just that the enemy was stronger. He’ll certainly be punished, but the specific punishments need further consideration.”

“But Heather may not think so,” Tayfun shook his head and said, opening the second letter, “don’t forget that she’s in charge of the arbitration of the church.”

“I’ll explain it to her.”

Soon, the old archbishop turned over the letter, daring not believe what he had seen. “Timothy’s militia forces sneak attacked the church in Longsong Stronghold and killed all members of the emissary delegation? Was he crazy!?”

The contents of the second letter actually came from two aspects. One was the report from the stronghold’s agent Petrov, and the other was the intelligence from local believers. On the whole, there was indeed a militia from outside the Western Region that attacked the stronghold and plundered the church. They not only took the Berserk Pills, and their target was also the pills stored in the church… So the first judgement wouldn’t be wrong—the team came from either Timothy, the new king, or from Garcia, Queen of Clearwater. Between the two, the former was more likely.

As for the latter one, Mayne felt a bit weird. According to Petrov’s description in the report, the other party burned the church and immediately withdrew from the stronghold being nowhere to be found, then how could they kill the members of the emissary delegation? At this time the emissary delegation should have arrived in Border Town, so it was impossible for the two parties to meet.

Seeing that Mayne did not say a word, Tayfun soon realized that as well. He picked up the first letter to read it again, and then the wrinkles on his forehead deepened. “Is it… Roland Wimbledon that removed the emissary delegation and then pushed it all to his elder brother Timothy Wimbledon?”

“We might as well speculate,” the archbishop said, after a moment of silence, “Roland intended to obtain the cheap population, so he sent the witches to cure the demonic plague and transported the fugitives back to the Western Region. Before that, to avoid being perceived by the emissary delegation that he was keeping the witches, he had sent the knights to raid the camp of the emissary delegation. The emissary delegation even couldn’t send messenger pigeons. Then he placed all the blame on the stronghold raiders. After all, it was with Roland’s support that Petrov became the agent, so it was taken for granted to help him make counterfeiting. Of course… all this is our speculation. The disappearance of the emissary delegation is indeed too suspicious, but we have no energy to send another emissary delegation.”

“In that case, we should immediately send troops to punish him for his arrogance,” Tayfun said coldly, “even if the emissary delegation has nothing to do with him, the witches going to the Western Region is worth our cleaning up.”

Mayne did not answer but pointed to the third letter instead. “You’d better read the last letter first.”

Tayfun looked at him puzzled and spread the letter. Soon, his hands became trembled and could hardly hold the thin paper. “Lots of witches appeared in the Fjords, and they even destroyed all the churches? Then this letter is…”

“It’s from Sea Dragon Bay, and it’s the last church being broken through.” Mayne closed his eyes, leaning against the chair, with a tone filled with tiredness. “Large numbers of witches can’t appear in the Fjords without any symptoms. So there’s only one possibility, that’s, they migrated from the mainland.” The letter also mentioned the Extraordinary—It was clearly defined in the church law that once any traces of an extraordinary witch was found, it should preferentially dispatch the God’s Punishment Army to catch her. Since Fjord Islands were too far away, and the Kingdom of Wolfheart battlefield was at an anxious occasion, he had no time to attend to the affairs across the strait.

“Shall we ask the supreme pontiff for instructions?” Tayfun asked.

“…” Mayne slightly shook his head and forced down the sense of powerlessness. Maybe it was the deities’ test for the church, and the truth of the deities could only be seen when the church broke through brambles and thorns. He opened his eyes and calmed down again. “I leave the matters of the Holy City of Hermes to you and Heather.”

“Do you want to go to the Fjords?” The old archbishop stared at him.

“I’ll lead 100 members of the God’s Punishment Army and Pure Witches who stayed at the church and thoroughly clean out the Western Region of the Kingdom of Graycastle. Then I’ll seek opportunities to deal with the witches in the Fjords.”

“But the law says…”

Mayne interrupted him. “It was in the case that the extraordinary appeared in the four kingdoms. Now they’re separated far from us by the sea, so they have nothing to do with our plan. Don’t forget that our ultimate goal is to gain more land and population, and continue to expand the God’s Punishment Army. It’s clear that Prince Roland of the Kingdom of Graycastle is a bigger hindrance to us.”

“But…” When Tayfun intended to contradict him, there came a rush of footsteps outside the circular room. They both slightly startled and coincidentally looked to the door.

The door was pushed open and a priest rushed in the room in an abrupt manner. “Bad news, Your Archbishop, bad news!”

“Calm down,” Mayne shouted, “What’s the matter, say it slowly.”

“Critical intelligence came from Her Excellency Heather’s follower that a huge fleet had landed on the coast of the Kingdom of Everwinter. A large group of enemies was besieging the king’s city and the situation was urgent. Their ships were uniformly hung with black sails, and the flags on the mast were green flags with a crown and a sailboat on it.” The priest looked very anxious. “The moment when the news was sent out, two gates had been lost. Her Excellency Heather was leading the believers to fight, but there’re too many enemies. Moreover, they had taken the berserk pills!”

“What?” Mayne could not believe his ears for a while. Black sails, designed with a sailboat and a crown…

The enemy was actually the Blacksail Fleet of the Queen of Clearwater!

Chapter 249: The New Clearwater

..

The granite steps of the Kingdom of Everwinter’s temple were stained with blood, which smelled sweet and a little pungent.

Many bodies lay on the ground—bodies of the God’s Punishment Army, believers, their own people, and also the Ironsand people of the Mojin Clan. Ryan saw different wounds on them. Most of them had traces of burnt marks on their bodies, and their broken limbs and intestines were everywhere. Ryan knew that the deaths were caused by the impact and incineration of the snow powder.

He felt sticky beneath his feet for every step he took. The Judgement Army and believers of the church had a simply crazy will of fighting. The slaves who were strengthened by the pills did not retreat but they were clinging to the enemies with their flesh and blood as the shield in order for their companions to have a chance to strike. They became powerful and painless by taking the pills, but their vitals parts such as heart, neck, and head were still fragile. Besides, Her Majesty did not have extra armors for these cheap slaves.

If they had not had the snow powder, it was hard to say that they would certainly win.

[But we won…] Ryan’s heart was burning like a fire. [We finally won!] The flags of Queen of Clearwater were fluttering on top of the city wall, and the strongest defensive point of the church had no resistance to the attack. As a result, Blacksail Fleet was no longer besieged in a corner of the Kingdom of Graycastle, and they did not have to exhaust their force little by little in the endless battles with Timothy.

The temple hall was also in a mess, with scattering broken glass and overflowing blood everywhere on the ground. Ryan did not care about these and walked towards the woman who was standing in the center of the hall in high spirit. He knelt down on one knee and said, “Your Majesty, all the four gates have fallen into the hands of Blacksail Fleet. You’re now the Queen of the Kingdom of Everwinter.”

“You’ve worked hard. Please rise.” Garcia reached out to him.

Ryan gently held the Queen’s hand, symbolically kissed on the back of her hand, and stood up beside her.

“Strange rituals,” Kabala at the side coldly said, “you didn’t even touch her hand. Why do you have to do this?”

The unexpected question made him frown; however, the other party was the Chief of Sandstone Clan and it would not be appropriate for him to denounce her rudeness. He could only coldly say, “This is the common courtesy of nobility. It represents manner and respect. It’ll be rude to touch her and it’s normal for you not to able to understand as a people of Sand Nation.”

“Is that so?” She raised her eyebrows and pointed at her neck. “We’re allies who just fought shoulder to shoulder. As soon as the battle ended, you forced me to wear this. The manner and respect of kingdoms of the continent are really confusing.”

An iron chain with a lifted center circled around Kabala’s neck, which simply looked like an accessory. But Ryan knew that a God’s Stone of Retaliation was wrapped in it. It was hard to take off by any other means other than the special key held by Garcia. Kabala was a witch so she had to be treated with caution. However, she did put in a lot of efforts in the war. Without her operation of command, the slaves who carried snow powder would not dare to attack the closed defense-line formed by the believers. He opened his mouth several times, not knowing what to say.

“Well, stop arguing for such little thing.” Garcia interrupted. “Don’t forget the purpose we’re here. Can’t you tolerate a little stone for the vast land of survival?”

“I’m just saying.” Kabala shrugged. “I hope you can honor your promise.”

“Of course, this is the basis of our cooperation.” The Queen smiled.

“What should the Blacksail Fleet do next?” Ryan asked.

“We’ll talk about the next step later. Let’s watch a good show for now.” Garcia clapped and ordered the guards. “Bring her here.”

After a while, two armored guards brought a woman whose hands were tied at her back into the temple.

She was about 30 years old, with an ordinary look and messy brown hair scattering on both sides of her cheeks. She wore a golden church robe with exquisite workmanship and fine materials, which was generally only worn by the archbishop in Hermes. The gorgeous robe, with stains of blood, was torn apart at a few places.

“She is a… archbishop?”

“Yes,” the Queen of Clearwater said, “I confirmed with a few nobles that she’s one of the three archbishops of the church, Her Excellency Heather.” She looked at the woman and said, “Am I right?”

“…” Heather did not answer, but Ryan could see the strong ridicule and disdain from her eyes.

Obviously, Garcia also felt the same and she chuckled. “I don’t think you’ll surrender, so in my kind thought, I brought you to the temple to send you back to the mercy of the Kingdom of God. You can beg for the salvation of the deities, or you may also beg for my forgiveness. I’ll slowly cut off your fingers, limbs and facial features so that you can fully experience the pain and helplessness of the people in Port of Clearwater.”

“And then?” said the female archbishop, “do you want to be crushed by the army of the church? Or do you intend to drift on the sea for a lifetime without landing?”

“You don’t have to worry about this,” Garcia said while gestured the guards to take action, “the church’s army is now attacking Wolfheart City, and Hermes is left undefended. It’s more important than my life. I may not be able to set foot on the land of the new Holy City, but I can easily turn the old Holy City under the plateau into ruins. You should have heard of the water of Styx’s River at the most southern corner of the Kingdom of Graycastle, which is very ignitable but extremely hard to extinguish. I’ve got an entire boat with me this time.”

The guard pulled out a dagger and approached the archbishop who was pressed on the ground, neatly cutting off her two fingers.

Heather bit her teeth and did not even utter for pain.

The Queen of Clearwater stepped onto the main ladder of the hall and sat on the spacious throne, with her right-hand supporting her chin, revealing the joy.

… Another three fingers were cut off, and then Heather’s left hand had become a bare palm. Her forehead was full of sweat.

“Do you have to do this?” Kabala shook her head. “If it were not a deterrent to the enemy or to interrogate for information, it would be unnecessary to torture.”

“Unnecessary?” Garcia laughed. “That’s what you should say to her. Do you know what happens to the witches who fall into the hands of the church? I guess you wouldn’t be interested in it.”

“Hahaha…” Heather, who had lost all her fingers, suddenly laughed. “You don’t understand the greatness of the church, and you don’t understand how important the Holy City is. You’re always accompanied by ignorance, not knowing the coming doomsday! Hermes will show you what the real power is. Those who’re against the church will have no other endings other than the destruction!”

“Really…” Garcia crossed her legs and smiled. “In this case, I’ll wait and see.”

The archbishop did not beg for mercy even until the moment she died. However, Ryan was surprised that she did not even call for the Gods and, nor asked for the God’s salvation. Finally, Heather died of excessive blood loss and her expression was impassively terrible when she was losing consciousness. It seemed that she was not being tortured, but rather she was watching a farce that had nothing to do with her. Ryan felt as if he saw his destined future through her eyes.

This feeling made him feel inexplicable and almost breathless.

“Cut her head down and hang it in front of the church,” Garcia ordered after confirming the archbishop was dead. And, she looked at Ryan and said, “Now, we can talk about the next step.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He suppressed the discomfort in his heart and asked, “Do you intend to attack Hermes?”

“Yes, but not with full force.” She spread out a carry-on leather map. “Only with a minimum number of sailors and part of slaves of the Eastern Region, the Blacksail Fleet will flow along the river to the west, heading for the old Holy City. And, we’re going directly to the south, across the border of the Kingdom of Everwinter and the destination is the Wolfheart City.”

“Wolf… heart?” Ryan was shocked.

“I had an agreement with Woolf, the King of the Wolfheart.” Garcia said, “if I could help him defeat the church, he would help me take over the entire Kingdom of Everwinter. In this case, if the church didn’t withdraw the army, the boats which are loaded with snow powder and the water of Styx’s River are enough to burn the old Holy City. Unlike the new Holy City, it’s a city without walls. In addition, if we don’t gather enough manpower, there would be no way to stop the slaves from attacking.”

“If they retreat, Wolfheart City will have some breathing space. And, if both the countries merged, we can also work together to defeat the church in the future!”

“That’s true,” said the Queen of Clearwater, “and then we can have a hold of the Kingdom of Everwinter.”