Release That Witch

Chapter 316: The Second Exploration into the Stone Tower

aving seen the prince leave the hall, Lightning drew Maggie into a corner.

“Coo?”

Maggie wore her hair down. The long white hair which almost touched the ground made her look like a ghost when she was moving. She parted the hair covering her face and revealed a bulging face. Half of a pork gristle still stuck out of her mouth.

Lightning whispered, “I find an interesting place in Misty Forest. I’ll go to explore it tomorrow. Are you going with me?”

“Coo.” Maggie swallowed the food in her mouth and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, what do I need to prepare?”

“The three-piece suit for exploration…” Realizing that she had used some Roland-style strange words just now, Lightning corrected herself by saying, “no, I mean the three most frequently used things in exploration, flint, solid food and dagger. It’s not very far away. We only need to bring food enough for one day. Don’t fill all your bag with food like the last time.”

“Got it, coo,” Maggie patted her chest and said. When she was about to leave, Lightning stopped her.

She said to Maggie, “Remember, this is our secret. Don’t tell anyone else. We’ll set out tomorrow morning.”

Seeing her hurriedly heading for the dining table, Lightning twitched her lips and started to think about the plan for tomorrow’s exploration.

Despite the fact that she had successfully dropped the bomb for His Highness, recently when she was flying she found that something seemed to hinder her movement and decrease her agility. Every time when she sped up, she felt as if she were chased by a demon.

She believed this psychological obstacle was caused by the dreadful experience of her precious exploration into the stone tower. She had panicked and turned around to flee as quickly as possible when seeing the menacing bulk at the entrance of the basement. This fear had not only made her lose her cool on the spot but also affected her confidence in being an explorer.

“The thing you have to fear isn’t fear itself but fearing the unknown. If you want to overcome it, you must get close to it first.” Lightning repeated to herself what her father had taught her.

Knowing that tomorrow she might confront real dangers, she still made up her mind to be brave and keep moving forward. She knew that if she failed to overcome her fear this time, she would no longer fly freely.

This was the reason for her decision to act without Roland’s authorization. In accordance with the prince’s plan, the exploration of the stone tower was scheduled after the Months of Demons, but at that time, accompanied by all the other witches and the First Army soldiers, she thought she would not force herself to overcome her fear. It could hardly be called her exploration, if she was only able to get close to that dreadful place with so many people.

She was clear that His Highness might reproach her and punish her by stopping offering her ice creams for this unauthorized action, and the sisters of the Witch Union might worry about her, but she still determined to go.

As the daughter of the greatest explorer of the Fjords, Lightning could not accept herself as a coward.

She must be well prepared for this upcoming exploration. Compared with the ill-prepared one several months ago, this time she was equipped with a revolver, a gift from the prince and she had a better understanding of demons and her friend Maggie’s help.

“It’s really good that Maggie agreed to join me. Even if she failed to fright away demons, if any, in her demonic beast form, she could at least carry me and flew away in a dangerous situation.”

“An explorer doesn’t need a large troop to keep his courage up, but exploring with several reliable friends is totally acceptable,” she thought.

When the banquet ended, Lightning wrapped up all the sliced honey ham she had collected and put it in a cloth bag, and then she put in her gun, her torch and her water bag.

She got some of her confidence back after the success of the bombing mission, and felt braver after getting encouragement from the prince and kissing his face which had a little stubble. As a saying went, struck while the iron was hot. After such a nice day, tomorrow was the best time for her to start the exploration.

Early in the next morning, when she flew up to the top of the castle, Maggie was already perching on the top of the wall, waiting for her.

“Check your pack.”

“I take all the things you said.” Maggie transformed back into a girl and opened her cross-body bag for Lightning to check. This time, Maggie only took half a bag’s food, a dagger and a flint.

“Well, I can let you pass this time… Let’s go.” Lightning flew with the pigeon toward Misty Forest.

…

As she had recalled this route many times in her head, she could fly in the right direction even with her eyes closed. It was a little cloudy today, but it was much better than the dark and gloomy day when she had explored the tower for the first time. The land below was slowly moving backward. When she was approaching the area where the stone tower located, Lightning was getting increasingly nervous.

Maggie asked, “Is the interesting place you mentioned last night a newly found eagle’s nest?”

Lightning shook her head and said, “No, it’s much more interesting than that. Our destination today is an ancient monument, an over 400-year old stone tower. As its basement hasn’t collapsed yet, we may be able to find some ancient books in it recording information of that time.”

“Ancient books?” Maggie fluffed her wings. “It doesn’t sound as fun as stealing eagle eggs, coo.”

Lightning explained, “An eagle nest has at most two or three eggs. You’ll swallow them in a few bites. However, if we can find valuable ancient books there and bring them back to His Highness, he’ll reward you with a basket of eggs. You can boil or steam them according to your preference. Even if you eat three of them each day, they’ll be enough for you to enjoy for a long time.”

Hearing that, Maggie immediately cheered up. “Really? Let’s hurry up to find ancient books! Coo, coo!”

They finally saw the tower when it was almost noon.

Half of a stone tower covered by vines and moss stood down there in the woods. Everything around it looked the same as several months ago. Lightning lowered herself to fly around it. After making sure that it was safe, she landed.

“Is this the place?” asked the pigeon perching on her head.

“Hush…” Lightning put a finger in front of her lips to suggest Maggie be quiet. In this silent woods, even their speaking voices sounded quite loud. “Talk quietly, for some demons may be here, too.”

“Demons?” Maggie’s tail erected in shock.

“Waiting for me up there. I’ll get in and check first,” Lightning pointed to the top of the broken tower and said in a very low voice.

Stepping on the withered grass, she could clearly hear the rustle under her feet. She found that the plants had not grown back to cover the tower’s entrance yet, and she saw the small cluster of vines she had cut off last time. She held her breath, and entered the tower, following the route she remembered. Step by step, she was getting closer to the stairs in the center of the tower, which led to the basement. Now she could even hear her own heartbeat.

“Ignorance brings the fear. To overcome the fear, I’ve got to approach the unknown…” The little girl kept encouraging herself in her heart. She lit a torch and walked down the stairs.

Standing at the stair corner, she stretched her neck to peek. She saw that the collapsed wooden door was fragmented and no demon was at the entrance of the basement any more. The profound darkness there looked like a bottomless open mouth of a man-eating monster.

At this moment, she heard a weak but familiar voice coming out of the darkness.

She involuntarily cringed at the sound, and all the hair on her body stood up at once. Feeling a desperate urge to escape, she clenched her teeth to suppress her fear and covered her mouth with her hands to prevent herself from crying out. She focused to listen again.

This time, she heard it clearly. It repeated in the same tone.

“Help me…”

Chapter 317: [The Frozen Coffin]

he voice gave Lightning goosebumps all over her body.

All the horror stories that she had heard from some other explorers flashed upon her mind. No matter it was a devil crawling out of the abyss, a ghost bearing a grudge or a lingering deathless, it would be an explorer’s nightmare. A monster like that could kill a person simply by looking into his eyes and was good at creating illusions and deluding people. She was afraid that there was such a monster in this monument.

Despite that her father Thunder had told her that those stories were just nonsense made up by the worst explorers, she still got cold feet at this moment. “If it’s not a monster, then what’s it? Who can keep shouting inside in the same tone and at the same frequency for several months while being besieged by demons.”

She was faced with difficult choices. If it was a monster who had killed all the demons inside, going there would get herself killed by it, too. If it was someone who had been fighting against demons till now, there must be some demons that she never wanted to meet. She could hardly make a decision.

After a little hesitation, she decided to fly back to discuss with Maggie first.

Hearing what Lightning said about the situation inside, Maggie lifted her head, saying, “We can put out the torch and sneak in. This way, the demons can’t see us.”

“Uhm, but we can’t see them, either.”

“I can transform into an owl.” The pigeon rubbed the little girl’s face. “By doing so, I can see everything in the darkness, coo.”

Lightning’s eyes shone and agreed. “That’s a good idea, but… those legendary evil things have lived in the darkness for their whole life. They must be able to find preys in the dark. Otherwise, they’ve already starved to death.”

“Didn’t you say that those stories were just made up to scare people?”

“It’s not me, it’s my dad.” The little girl corrected.

“It’s all the same to me. Anyway, I’ve never heard of any immortal monster in the Kingdom of Graycastle. If they’re really that powerful, they should not just exist in the Fjords.” A light shone in Maggie and the pigeon swiftly swelled into an owl, eyes filled with excitement. “I thought that you were quite interested in those stories.”

“Yes, a qualified explorer should never miss a chance to verify a story. I’m here to overcome my fear. I’ll waste all my previous efforts if I escape now.” After a moment of hesitation, Lightning decided to do as what Maggie had suggested.

“But, wait… I’m here to overcome my fear, but what makes Maggie so interested in exploring this relic? Is it..”

“Do you hurry to get inside because of the basket of eggs?

The owl blinked her round eyes at the little girl and then turned her head aside.

…

Lightning came to the entrance of the basement again. She took several deep breaths and then crept into the deep darkness, tightly holding the revolver in hand.

She felt much calmer this time with Maggie on her shoulder.

The floor was wet, with puddles here and there. As this basement was located in a low-lying place, all the rain fell into the tower would end up flowing down here. Usually, a drainage system would be built for a basement to drain off the water, but after hundreds of years, most of the ditches here must have been blocked already.

Maggie patted Lightning’s head with a wing to suggest her be careful of the stairs in front of her.

Lightning slowed down to fumble for the edge of the stair and then stepped down. After she took a turn, she saw some light in a sudden.

This dim yellow light coming from the end of the stairs even made the floor gleam.

She fixed her eyes on the floor for a moment and found that it was just shimmering sewage water down there. It submerged part of the door frame. Judging from that, she knew that the water inside the basement might at least be able to submerge her knees if she walked into it.

Given that, she flew up and slowly moved to the door after she came to the stair parallel to the water’s surface. She popped her head in and looked about.

It was an incredibly large room behind the door, which was far more spacious than the space inside the tower above the ground. She did not see any burning torch, but some stones embedded in the wall were giving out yellow light, making it possible for her to roughly see everything inside.

A raised stone stage stood in the center of the room with some standing figures on it. Judging from the big and muscular bodies and the shells on their backs, she was sure that they were demons. They had not yet noticed the girl and the owl. Instead, they were surrounding a blue stone cuboid with large shields and long spears in their hands.

At this moment, the cries for help were getting more and more clear. They now sounded as if someone were talking right next to her ear.

“Help me, help me…”

Lightning swallowed hard. “What should I do next?”

“We…”

“Go and save her right now,” Maggie whispered in her ear.

“What?” The little girl was startled. “But there’re several demons inside… we can’t beat them!” She felt her hand holding the gun was sweaty now. “If Sister Nightingale was here, it would be alright, but I… can’t do this by myself.”

“Are they the demons you’re talking about?” Maggie tilted her head and said, “They all seem to be dead, coo.”

“What? Dead?”

Maggie had flown toward the high stage before Lightning’s voice faded away, leaving her to stand agape in the place. The little girl was so frightened at the moment that she even forgot to reach out her hand to grab Maggie back. When she finally began to take it in, Maggie had already flung herself to a demon. The little girl gnashed her teeth and followed the owl with a gun in her hand, repeating to herself the shooting tricks that Nightingale had taught her.

Surprisingly, she saw the demon collapse in a sudden, like a weather-beaten rock. The owl smashed it in an instant simply by pecking at it.

“What’s… going on?” Lightning landed beside Maggie and looked at the other three demons in surprise.

Standing on the stage, she could clearly saw the cracks over all their bodies and broken spiderwebs between their legs. Through their ferocious masks, she saw their eyes and skins were pale and gray, showing no trace of life. Now she finally saw why Maggie said that, as in dim light the owl’s vision was much better than that of hers.

When she was about to relax, another thing suddenly caught her attention.

Seen from afar, the big cuboid surrounded by the demons on this stage resembled a stone pillar, but it turned out to be transparent at close range. Inside it, stood a woman dressed in radiant garment. She closed her eyes and opened both of her hands. Her long blue hair flew backward, as if it were blown up by wind.

“Is she a witch?” Maggie flew to the top of the crystal cuboid and pecked at it heavily, making loud and clear knocking sounds. However, it did not crack with the sounds.

“I don’t know,” Lightning muttered. As soon as she put her hand on it, she felt a piercing coldness. It was obvious that this woman must have stayed in this “stone coffin” which was covered with a thick layer of dust for a very long time, but she looked as if she was still alive. With her eyebrows knitted tightly and her eyebrow tails raised, she seemed anxious and worried.

“Help me…”

Again, Lightning heard the familiar voice coming from behind the crystal cuboid.

Chapter 318: The Unknown

oland scribbled quickly on a piece of paper. Several paragraphs streamed from the tip of his quill.

He used to draft mechanical drawings with his computer all the time before coming to this world. Since he had rarely used pen, he had not anticipated that he would employ this ancient recording method again.

Beside him lay two documents, both of which were the plans he was going to implement.

One was about the massive production of sulfuric acid. Anna and Soraya had already produced the equipment required. The previous lead reaction vessel had been replaced by a more sturdy iron one, with an anti-corrosion coating on the inner side. The new vessel was three times larger than the trial version.

Since he had yet to find a feasible way to collect and purify exhaust gases (mostly resulting from the combustion of sulfur and escaped nitrogen oxide) emitted during the manufacturing process, Roland decided to place the facilities on the south of the industrial zone, far away from Redwater River and the residential area. He also planned to build an enclosure outside the plant as well as a chimney to further increase the effective emission height.

As the increase in the production of sulfuric acid would greatly enhance the production of nitric acid of a high concentration, the current top priority was to put the facilities to use. In the document, Roland instructed Kyle Sichi to pick some of his students to exclusively help with the mass production of sulfuric acid. At the same time, he also asked Barov to recruit some handymen from local residents for further assistance, so there would be around 100 labors working in the first chemical plant.

The second document was about establishing a public health care system.

To be honest, Roland was not familiar with this area and naturally had no knowledge of modern medical science. Despite that, he still drafted a preliminary proposal that met the current requirements based on common sense.

The first task for this department was to promote and advocate for a healthy lifestyle. For instance, water should be boiled before drinking; meat should be cooked before serving. The public should receive basic education related to health care such as the cause of illnesses and their corresponding treatment, the differences between parasites and microorganism, etc. With the improvement of his reputation, Roland believed that it was not hard to induce his subjects into doing what they were told. The hard part was actually to let them know the reason behind it. To tackle this problem, there should be experts responsible for public education. Subjects should be educated repeatedly before fully accepting the concept. It worked just like the slogans hung over the farmland. A one-time campaign was definitely not enough.

The second task was to encourage birth rates. Since City Hall was short of staff, Roland did not want to specifically found a birth control department. He thus put this part under the healthcare sector. In this era, labor was always in deficiency. So, the more children subjects gave birth to, the better. With the help of Nana, complications that arose during the labor and delivery process would be largely reduced, and almost every woman could survive childbirth. Furthermore, to prevent child abandonment, especially of female babies, Roland made detailed policies regarding subsidies and punishment. For example, the subsidy for a female baby would be slightly higher than that for a male one; subsidies would be distributed regularly; there would be a fine or a sentence of imprisonment for child abandonment, etc.

The last part was about fees. Apart from helping child deliveries, the hospital would charge a certain amount of fees according to how much magic power Nana consumed. This would not only reduce the burden placed on the little girl but would also lay a solid foundation for the establishment of future medical institutions. Roland had already known who the first superintendent of this department should be. It was Nana’s father, Viscount Tigui Pine.

The third document, which he was currently working on, was the most complicated and lengthiest of all three—the city construction plan for Border Town.

The proposal talked about the expansion of the town itself, as well as the merging with Longsong Stronghold. Roland would have to enact a series of laws to govern people in two locations and also create a judicial and policing system. He knew it was impossible to write a comprehensive, perfect plan just with the poor knowledge he had now. Therefore, he decided to first make a draft and further enhance the plan after discussing the details with Barov, the director of City Hall.

Roland stretched himself after finishing the opening section. He then walked to the French window.

It was a somber day. There was no sunshine in the morning. By the afternoon, the sky had been overspread by thick, sullen clouds. It appeared there was going to be a heavy rain soon. Chilly winds swept over the castle backyard while rustling the olive trees.

Just then, Roland saw a dot darting in the castle’s direction.

“It’s Lightning.” Nightingale’s voice popped up behind him.

“She probably went to Misty Forest to pick mushrooms again.” Roland smiled. Normally when Lightning and Maggie did not need to scout around, they would just practice flying freely around the forest and have lunch outside. According to them, they would often come across some bird eggs and beehives. Sometimes, they would barbeque some little animals. Perhaps every explorer would eventually become a Bear Grylls.

Although bird beak mushrooms usually grew on trees, they always remind Roland of the story of “A Little Girl Who Picked Mushrooms”.

“Your Highness, you have a… weird smile on your face.”

“Ahem, I just thought of an interesting story. Do you want to hear it?”

“Huh?”

Roland cleared his throat and began. “Once upon a time, there was a little girl who liked to pick mushrooms while counting… Hang on.” The dark shadow gradually drew closer. To Roland’s surprise, it lowered and dashed straight to the French window instead of passing the castle. Roland hesitated for a moment before opening the window panes. Lightning darted into the room swiftly.

“Your, Your Highness! I found a witch!” No sooner had she landed than she exclaimed in excitement.

“A witch?” Roland asked curiously, “Where?”

“In the stone tower in Misty Forest.” Lightning pointed to Maggie who entered the office later. “She can be my witness!”

“Coo, coo!” Maggie raised her head.

“Stone tower?” Roland’s brows knitted. “What happened exactly. Fill me in.”

Roland gasped after hearing Lightning’s account. He could not believe the little girl would be so audacious as to again investigate the ancient relic where demons had once appeared accompanied by no one but a pigeon. What was more astonishing was that there was a witch down the relic. Of course, the witch could not be an ordinary one… At any rate, it was just incredible.

“What of the voice calling for help?”

“It’s this. I found it on the table behind her.” Lightning took out a palm-sized square iron box from her pocket. The box looked like a small vanity mirror at the first glance. When Roland opened its lid, however, he saw a red gemstone embedded in it. After turning on the switch beside the gemstone, an anxious lady’s voice rang in his ear.

“Help me…”

Roland shuddered. It was such a horrid voice that it appeared to be very close one moment and suddenly drifted far away the next. If he heard the same voice in a dim dungeon, he would not feel like staying there for even a single minute.

“The gemstone has magic power.” Nightingale revealed herself and commented with amazement. “I can see the swirl of magic power, although it was almost invisible. It looks just like the magic power of a witch.”

It seemed that the gemstone worked as a recorder running by magic power. Now the probability that the woman was a witch appeared to be even higher. “Are there any other stones like this in the basement of the stone tower?”

Lightning shook her head. “I didn’t look. Many rooms have been flooded. At that time, I just wanted to fly back and tell you the news as soon as possible.”

“Don’t do that again in the future, and particularly, don’t go to dangerous places on your own.” Roland patted Lightning on her head and then looked to Nightingale. “Summon all the members of the Witch Union and Iron Axe to my office. We probably have to carry out the relic-searching plan earlier than we’ve planned to.”

Chapter 319: Snow in Fall

fter everybody was here, Roland related the whole story again. “A crystal coffin in an ancient relic, a damp but fully intact basement, a magic gemstone sending out a call for help, and a demon reducing to ashes… What’re your opinions on these matters?”

Anna replied thoughtfully, “Are you saying she may be a witch? If she’s still alive, we can probably learn more about what happened over 400 years ago from her.”

“She may not be a witch as well, or even not belong to this era,” Scroll said hesitatively, “plus…”

“She may not necessarily stand on our side,” Leaf continued.

Leaf’s comment took Roland by surprise. If the relic was left by the church, the woman down there was very likely a member of the church. From her splendid dressing Lightning had described, she might even have been one of the senior executives in the church. If she was just an ordinary person, it would not be too big a problem. If she, unfortunately, was indeed a witch, then she might be a difficult person to deal with.

Based on the battle between Ashes and Nightingale, and the attack from Faceless, Roland concluded that there were no specific guidelines to grade a witch’s fighting capacity. An Extraordinary without a God’s Stone of Retaliation might, in some cases, be defeated by an ordinary witch who had a unique ability. Likewise, a combatting witch could also put herself in a difficult position if she was caught unprepared by an assistant witch.

If the woman, by any chance, harbored malicious intent, nobody would then be able to guarantee that her ability would not pose a threat to the Witch Union… unless she was awakened under the influences of a God’s Stone of Retaliation.

“Are you guys all crazy to debate whether she was on our side?” Lily put her hand on her forehead. “How could she possibly be alive? At any rate, she was a person living over 400 years ago. Witches have a short lifespan. Even a strong Extraordinary can live no more than 100 years. You guys worry too much. In my opinion, she would probably shatter like that demon upon a gentle touch.”

Roland corrected her. “Witches don’t live long is because of Demonic Torture. Witches are physically stronger than normal people, so they should have a longer lifespan.”

“Normal people live no more than 40 to 50 years.” Lily let out a snort. “Do you think everybody lives as long as a turtle?”

A life expectancy of 40 to 50 years was primarily caused by insufficient food and poor medical care. Once people’s living standard improved, this number would increase by 20. Nevertheless, Roland thought Lily was somewhat right. Even if people did have a longer lifespan, they could not possibly live for 400 years. Even a turtle could not live that long.

“But she’s alive indeed.” Lightning retorted. “You’ll see once you get there. She’s different from that dead demon. Her skin is radiant and her lips are plumped. Maggie!”

“Coo! Lightning is right!”

“Well, stop arguing,” Wendy spoke up, “Whether she’s alive or dead, it’s worth taking a look.”

“Are you sure?” Scroll frowned.

“If she’s really a witch working for the church, we’ll just put a God’s Stone of Retaliation on her after she wakes up. That should do. Plus, we have Anna and Nightingale here. That shouldn’t be a problem.” Wendy said placidly, “The key lies in the fact that she may know something about the battle over 400 years ago. We need to rescue her even just for that.”

The information about demons, which the church endeavored to cover up, was truly important for the town, and most likely it was not going to be a piece of good news. If they could learn it in advance, they would probably be able to gain a prevailing position in the future battle against the church.

As both Anna and Nightingale held the same view, Scroll conceded unwillingly. An agreement had thus been reached among the Witch Union.

“What about the First Army?” Roland looked at Iron Axe.

“I can dispatch 50 people at most,” Iron Axe replied, “Your Highness, you sent out a few units to help City Hall to recruit refugees. There’re currently 500 soldiers garrisoning the town approximately. Although Timothy received a God’s punishment, there’s still a chance that he makes a desperate effort to wage an aggressive war against the Western Region. In this light, we must retain a certain number of soldiers in the First Army to defend against a possible attack from the king’s city.”

“I see.” Roland nodded. A military force of 50 soldiers was decidedly a little too thin. They would possibly suffer a great loss if demons speared them far away from somewhere out of their sight. In order to prevent this happening, Roland would need Lightning and Maggie to scout around in the air. Meanwhile, he had to also rely on Sylvie’s perspective view. The ideal combination would be a hot air balloon in concert with ground forces, a few witches responsible for close-range combatting and guarding, and a flintlock squad in charge of long-distance attacks.

In that case, however, witches on Sleeping Island would also know there was a sleeping beauty in the relic. After a thorough reflection, Roland decided to include Sylvie, since the most important thing for this rescue operation was personal safety.

When Roland was about to turn the subject to the details of the rescue plan, Mystery Moon cried out in a low voice. “Heaven… what’s that?”

Everybody was stunned when looking outside the window.

Roland pushed the window open in disbelief. The sullen sky had been covered with “white elves” which swirled and drifted down silently to the ground. Roland stuck out his hand. He felt a cold sensation as the little white dot of feather descended on his hand.

It was snowing.

This was out of usual… As far as he knew, it only snowed once in winter in the Western Region, and it was not even winter yet!

“Would it normally snow in the second month of fall?” Roland eyed Iron Axe who also looked at the snow sternly. Iron Axe slowly answered, “During my stay at the town over the past seven or eight years, I’ve never seen this.”

Snow meant the arrival of the Months of Demons. At that time, the sun would be overspread by dark clouds. Before it once again peeped through the clouds, the entire Western Region would be under the attacks of demonic beasts. The whole Misty Forest would be filled with these fierce monsters. It would thus be pretty dangerous to travel somewhere beyond the city wall and almost impossible to transport witches with a hot air balloon, not to mention sending out the First Army.

In view of the above-noted factors, Roland had no choice but to suspend his rescue operation for now until the sky cleared up.

As the temperature in fall did not normally drop that fast, Roland truly thought the heavy snow was just temporary and would cease in no time.

To his disappointment, however, the town was wiped out by snow three days later. The forest and distant mountains were all covered with a thick layer of white muslin. It would definitely be a breathtaking view in the modern world. Unfortunately, at this point, Roland did not have the slightest intention to appreciate its beauty.

Although the snow had become noticeably less heavy than earlier, snowflakes still sprinkled here and there. The First Army was currently on a full alert and patrolled upon the new city wall regularly every day. Tents were pitched at the foot of the city wall so that soldiers could get prepared for the upcoming war in a timely fashion. As the temperature decreased almost on a daily basis, soldiers had changed their attire from shirts to winter jackets.

Roland’s heart sank on the fourth day when he received the news from the front.

The west wall was attacked by demonic beasts.

That meant the Months of Demons arrived one month earlier than usual.

Chapter 320: Sleeping Spell

n Sleeping Island of the Fjords.

“I’d never thought that Sleeping Spell’s first patron would be you.” Tilly laughed as she served up a steaming bowl of fish soup. “Thanks for your help in finding the ruins in Shadow Islands.”

“You’re welcome.” Thunder received the soup. “I’ll be willing to enter those mysterious waters a few more times even if I’m not rewarded. Honestly, without the witches traveling together, the area to the east of Shadows Island is absolutely dangerous and forbidden to an explorer.” He took a sip of the soup and exhaled a mouthful of hot air. “Ah… blacktail fish soup is absolutely delicious.”

Neither black tea nor ale was popular in the Fjords. The people here were used to having a bowl of cold fish jelly during midsummer, and when temperatures were lower, they would have a bowl of boiled fish soup instead. When cooked, different kinds of fishes had very different tastes. This was a custom that Tilly learned about only after coming to Sleeping Island.

“Is that why you couldn’t wait to come and patronize Sleeping Spell?”

“Correctly speaking, I was eager to begin my next adventure.” Thunder laughed heartily. “The last time in the ruins, the scene I saw through my telescope was stunning. I wished so bad that I could fly over to see what there was on the land, and why a stone gate appeared on the cliffs.”

“Is that so…” Tilly poured a cup of fish soup for herself. “You should know that I intend to visit Border Town. This is because I wish to have a good talk with the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association and, at the same time, experience the Western Region’s Months of Demons. You… won’t be going with us to have a look?”

Thunder remained silent for a moment before he put on a grin and replied, “I think not. She’s probably living well over there, and it’s fine this way… As an explorer, you never know when an accident will happen after all. I’ve already lost her mother, and I don’t want to lose her too. When the time comes, I hope you’ll…”

“I will.” Tilly nodded her head. “She’s one of us after all.” Laughing gently, she continued, “But remember, business is business. Though you’ve helped us a lot, the cost of hiring witches will be calculated according to the book.”

“Of course. Business is always business. This is the Fjords’ tradition.” Thunder drank up the remaining soup and laughed even louder.

…

“So, who did he hire?” After seeing Thunder depart from the palace, Ashes walked into the hall and sat cross-legged beside Tilly.

“‘Magic Servant’ Molly, ‘Door of Random’ Orbit, and ‘Puppet’ Shadow.” Tilly laid open the agreement. “The fees are set at more than 4,800 gold royals. It’s generous, isn’t it?”

“4,000…” Ashes gaped in wonder. “Where did he get so much money?”

“Don’t forget that he’s the most famous explorer in the Fjords.” The princess smiled. “He can attain a huge fortune whenever he discovers a new navigation route or digs up a treasure. That explains why he has the financial ability to consistently hire a large number of experienced personnel to accompany him in exploring mysterious and dangerous regions. His risk is heavily reduced with the witches around. Using money to offset risk has been a worthy transaction since time ancient.”

“But, is this really good?” Ashes seemed unconvinced. “While the establishment of a bounty guild can bring huge fortune to Sleeping Island, the witches’ abilities will be revealed as a result. If the church learns of them…”

“Sleeping Spell” was a new guild established by Tilly. Here, explorers of the Fjord Islands could hire witches with suitable abilities to help them complete their adventures. Of course, aside from its primary business, there were also various convenience services on offer, such as reparation of damaged items, crafting of several exquisite artworks, fast house construction, as well as floriculture and fumigation. As long as the witches’ abilities were not made use of for evil, “Sleeping Spell” could offer any service.

However, the downside to all this was that their abilities were publicized.

Tilly held Ashes’ hand. “Haven’t I already told you that I don’t care about the gold royals, but rather, what I hope is to use the bounty guild to enable more people to understand Sleeping Island and build up friendly relations. Thunder said something which I agree very much with: fear comes from the unknown. It’s the same with witches. The Fjord Islanders’ and the kingdoms’ citizens’ fear of us simply arises from the church’s slander and their own ignorance.”

“I have no means to force them to initiate contact with and understand us. All I can do is to publicize our identity positively and tell them that our power doesn’t come from demons, as well as that our abilities aren’t overly uncanny—witches are normal people before their awakenings, and therefore are essentially humans too. When there’s greater mutual understanding, the fear will disappear.” She took a breath and continued, “As for the church, they’ve never cared about what abilities we have. The Judgement Army has always been responsible for capturing witches, while at times the God’s Punishment Army would be mobilized. There isn’t much difference among our abilities in front of the God’s Stone of Retaliation.”

“I hope that you’re right,” Ashes said softly, “I only know how to fight and kill. I won’t be of much help in this regard.”

“You’ve already helped me plenty.” Tilly laughed. “To develop and expand Sleeping Island, the most important thing to do is to build relations among the Fjord Islands. Fostering mutual understanding is a long process. I’m doing all this simply to speed up this process as much as possible.” “There’s also a further use for the bounty guild.” She stuck out her tongue and revealed a sly grin. “And that’s to find new uses for abilities which seem to be useless at the moment. This way, our non-combat witches won’t feel depressed that their abilities aren’t useful.”

Ashes seemed to be amused by her expression. “You always have so many reasons, one after the other, that it’s difficult for anyone to refute you.”

“Because I’m always right.” Tilly smirked. “Let’s change the topic. Maggie has still not returned to Sleeping Island. Did something happen over there?”

“Perhaps she’s being delayed by something.” Ashes pondered briefly. “Or perhaps…”

“What?”

“She doesn’t want to come back.” She answered while shrugging her shoulders. “Compared to the Fjords, living conditions over there are much better. I’d long advised you not to send witches there. What will we do if Lotus and Honey also refuse to come back?”

“Then we shall go over,” Tilly replied.

“Alright, I’ll go and make preparations… What?” Ashes seemed dazed for a moment before she regained her senses. “We… will go over?”

Princess Tilly curled her lips. “Haven’t we already agreed that we’ll help him to fight the demonic beasts before we fetch the other witches back? Without Lotus, the immigrants from the Crescent Moon Bay will have no houses to live in next year.”

“There’s still more than a month before winter. Do we really have to go so early?”

“The journey will take considerable time. If Border Town has indeed run into some trouble, we may be able to assist the Witch Cooperation Association by reaching early. And…” She blinked several times. “I want to see how that obnoxious elder brother of mine has changed.”

Chapter 321: The Laws of Border Town

oland was awakened by the cold early in the morning. He climbed out of his chilly bed, put on a woolen coat, and placed his feet in a pail of warm water.

This was the kind of “corrupted privilege” only he could enjoy as a prince. Every morning, maids would place the pail of warm water beside his bed, and also fetch a clean towel and a cup of warm milk. This way, his body could quickly regain warmth.

Of course, he considered this to be restrained compared to the great nobles who often had their servants to warm their beds. The prince had brought over his chief maid, Tyre, for this reason, but unfortunately, she died before he got to enjoy it. Roland was not in favor of this practice, and thus, he handed the vacant position to a senior and highly experienced old maid. It turned out to be the correct choice. Though the castle accommodated many witches at present, she was able to keep the castle’s interior spick and span.”

The flames in the fireplace had gone out, leaving behind only a trace of white ashes. Gusts of cold wind slipped through the window cracks behind his back, causing him to feel a piercing chill. It was hard to believe that it was still mid-autumn. Roland wiped his feet dry, cleaned himself up with another pail of warm water, and then walked up to and closed the window which had been left open overnight.

Although open fireplaces were very common during this era, he remained worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, and thus, he would leave a gap in the window when he slept. For the first half of the night, the room temperature could be maintained at a warm level, but as the firewood was burned up, the temperature became similar to outdoors by the early hours of the morning.

“I should think of a way to solve this problem,” Roland thought, “or else, I won’t be able to sleep in anymore.”

After breakfast, he led Nightingale, the chief knight, and a bunch of guards to the city wall area to conduct a routine inspection.

There was a huge patch of grass between the new and old city walls. At this time, it had turned into a white expanse. As they walked over the piles of thick snow, they could hear a creaking sound beneath their feet.

Roland raised his head and saw that the sky was a faint gray. On occasion, a lump of snow would drift against his neck, bringing with it a chilly feel. He was aware that this weather would likely last until the coming spring… or even longer.

“How’s the situation at our defense line?”

“Much better than last time.” Carter Lannis seemed to be perfectly calm. “Most of the First Army soldiers have battle experience and carry revolving rifles. A city wall of approximately 100 meters in length only requires 10 guards to suppress demonic beasts clattering below. Plus, the new city walls are higher than the old ones by half a meter. Even demonic wolves will find it difficult to leap on top of the city walls, and as such, they become shooting practice for our soldiers. As long as demonic hybrid beasts don’t appear, it’s impossible for our defense line to be breached.”

“That’s great.”

As Roland climbed to the top of the city wall, the soldiers raised their heads and puffed out their chests to salute him. Judging from their spirits alone, they were completely different from the initial militia soldiers. When he visited at that time, although the Militia stood on the city wall and thrust their spears uniformly, it was nothing more than a conditioned reflex which they had trained repeatedly. Their eyes seemed numb and their movements were rigid. On closer inspection, he even saw that most of their legs were trembling slightly.

This time, confidence oozed from the expression in the soldiers’ eyes. After saluting, they turned their sights straight ahead and resumed their watch on the battlefield.

As he cast his glance along the city walls on the side that led towards Misty Forest, he realized that this area appeared to be much busier than the rest.

The temporary residences constructed for the serfs and refugees were situated in this area. As he looked down from the top of the city wall, he saw that long inclined tracks were arranged in parallel like undulating waves. Along each of these tracks were built 10 or so houses, whose structure was identical to that of cave dwellings. The thick earthen walls served to maintain indoor temperature, and together with heated brick beds and linen blankets, the inhabitants were kept away from the cold.

The entire settlement was divided into two zones. The zone closer to the city walls was called the Western Zone and was arranged for refugees. The zone further away from the city walls, called the Eastern Zone, was partitioned and given to the serfs.

Every day, the City Hall would send men here to distribute food and charcoal. In return, the refugees performed logistical errands for the First Army guarding the city wall. As for the serfs, most had already stored up sufficient wheat for themselves. Except a few hardworking ones who came out to find odd jobs and earn a little extra cash for themselves, the rest of the serfs rarely stepped out of their warm houses.

All of a sudden, a heated argument was heard from the direction of the Eastern Zone. Roland looked towards where the sound seemed to be coming from, only to see a group of people gathered on the main road in the center of the residential area, loudly arguing over something. One of them was wearing a blue and white uniform which suggested that he was a city hall officer. The quarrel soon escalated into a brawl. Two groups of people fought against each other, turning the scene into a mess.

“Your Highness?” Carter asked.

“Let’s have a look.” Roland nodded.

Roland’s party made its way towards the location of the trouble. The chief knight took the lead by charging straight into the brawling mob. With two or three blows, he quickly subdued several of the rowdiest brawlers. Roland’s guards pulled out their swords and urged everyone to stop fighting. Before long, the situation was brought under control.

When the two groups of commoners discovered that the arriving party was none other than the lord himself, they kneeled on the ground all at once.

“What’s your name?” Roland looked fixedly and frowned at the officer, who had taken two punches on his face. “What happened here, and who attacked you first?”

“Your Highness, I’m Khoya Harvie,” the officer replied in a shrill voice while covering his face, “and it was that d*mn refugee wearing a brown linen shirt who hit me first! I was distributing food when he jumped on me like a vicious dog.”

The refugee whom Khoya pointed at raised his head and retorted. “Your Highness, the matter isn’t as he said. These people colluded with the serfs to exhort us. They’re charging us a price for every portion of oatmeal. When Your Highness took us in, you clearly said that all these would be distributed for free!”

Roland felt slightly surprised. The Eastern Region refugees had already been checked through by the City Hall. Those among them who were craftsmen, possessed special skills, or were literate had been shifted into an inner ring. In principle, the remaining ones should only be peasants. However, judging from his manner of speech and vocabulary, he did not quite seem to be a peasant.

By comparison, the city hall officer, whose mouth was full of expletives, was very disappointing. From his name and surname, Roland could guess that he was probably a knight who pledged allegiance to Duke Ryan.

“I indeed say so—before your people are officially incorporated into Border Town, oatmeals and residences will be provided for free,” Roland repeated his original words in front of all the refugees. “At present, my words are still effective!”

“Your Highness is benevolent!”

“Long live the lord!”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

The refugees kowtowed and exclaimed.

Khoya Harvie’s face turned a ghastly pale at once.

“However, within my territory, fighting and injuring others is always an offense, especially assaulting a city hall officer.” Roland signaled to his guards. “Arrest all of the refugees and serfs who laid hands on others, and bring them to the castle. I’ll handle this case myself.”

After a brief pause, he glanced with interest towards Khoya. “I’ll also like to ask you about what’s with the pricing of the oatmeal.”

Chapter 322: Western Territory Security Bureau

hen Roland returned to the castle hall, he sat back on the seat of honor and looked down at his subjects.

From his memory, the former Prince Roland had exercised his right to adjudicate only once, and that took place shortly after he arrived in Border Town. After he fell out with the nobles and became dissatisfied with life, he handed over all of his responsibilities and matters to Barov and never took interest in them again.

When everyone involved was present, Roland announced the start of the trial.

Each party was allowed to state their reasons before Roland interrogated them. With Nightingale’s secret assistance, his duty as a judge became relaxed and easy—he neither had to work out who was lying or being insincere nor needed to have an overbearingly meticulous heart.

The whole story of the matter soon became clear.

After being stripped of his status as a knight, Khoya Harvie harbored some discontent. At the same time, he was sick of the tedious paperwork at the City Hall. He thus decided to take his grievances out on the refugees. While distributing oatmeal to them, he deliberately charged a price, and then drove a wedge between them and the serfs by claiming that the serfs had not turned over their grains accordingly, which caused the stock of wheat to be insufficient and therefore unable to be distributed for free.

In fact, Khoya had been collecting a price for the oatmeal for several days. As he would wear the unmistakable uniform of the City Hall and the refugees were worried of reprisal from the officials, most of them chose to remain silent. This made Khoya grow even bolder. Only today, when a refugee by the name of Vader came forward to protest at Khoya’s measures and stirred up a commotion, the matter was brought to light.

After Roland understood the circumstances, he let out a sigh of relief.

During an organization’s development phase, it would typically be full of vigor and vitality. After it stabilized, corruption and inflexibility would become inevitable. However, these problems should only occur after the unification of the Kingdom of Graycastle. If they arose at such an early stage, then the organization was destined not to go far.

As things stood, it was fortunate that this incident was caused by the individual behavior of Khoya Harvie, and did not involve other city hall officials. Furthermore, the matter was only extortion of money, instead of what Roland would be most worried about: collusion with the serfs to resell and traffick grains.

Of course, he was also at fault for this incident. Initially, when the City Hall was desperately short of manpower, he did not arrange any screening or training, and simply assigned all of the surrendered knights to Barov after giving them a warning. As the outcome of this case showed, not everyone could accept this job without complaint while having to endure the psychological blow of falling from a knight to a commoner.

Roland summoned Barov to his side and asked softly, “How would a lord usually handle a situation like this?”

“Your Highness, there’re two kinds of situation,” the latter replied respectfully, “If the offender is a noble, he may pay a few gold royals and be spared from further punishment. The offence of a commoner who assaults a noble can be deemed either big or small. The punishment may range from amputation to flogging.”

“But Khoya isn’t a noble.” The prince shrugged his shoulders. “I’d taken away his title.”

“Understood, Your Highness. If that’s so, the verdict entirely depends on the lord’s mood.”

“Nothing is fixed?”

Barov shook his head.

Roland furrowed his brows. “If it entirely depends on my mood, it means that it doesn’t matter how I deal with the commoners. It seems that in the eyes of nobles, they aren’t people who need to be taken and treated seriously.”

“Aside from chopping off their limbs, flogging, pulling their nails and similar punishments, is there anything more normal? Like imprisonment.”

“Imprisonment?” Barov was taken aback. “Your Highness, you mean to simply lock them up? That doesn’t count as a punishment. Prison is but a temporary place to hold criminals while they await trial. If we keep them locked up, you’ll have to provide them with food. To some people, this could even be seen as a form of reward.”

“Alright. Seems like fixed-term imprisonment, which is used extensively in later ages, can’t be applied here.” Roland pondered for a moment and decided to follow the rules in the Kingdom of Graycastle. He stood up and swept his glance across the entire hall. “I’ll now pronounce my judgement.”

“Khoya Harvie. For dereliction of duty and extortion of refugees, from today onwards, he shall be removed from his duties in the City Hall, and be banished to labor in the mines for 10 years. He shall also pay a fine equivalent to three times the amount he earned from extortion.”

“Vader. For instigating an assault on a city hall officer, he shall be sentenced to 10 lashes.”

“As for the rest of the refugees and serfs who participated in the brawl, each of them shall pay a fine of two silver royals or be sentenced to five lashes.”

“Oatmeal shall continue to be distributed for free. The extortion money shall be returned in full.” He peered at the city hall director. “You shall be in charge of carrying out the above rulings. The final outcomes must be declared to the people living in the provisional residence area.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Barov answered while making a bow.

When Roland returned to his office, he leaned back on his chair and stretched his body. He promptly felt a pair of hands place itself on his shoulders and begin to massage him gently.

He closed his eyes to enjoy this moment of relaxation.

From this incident, Roland had become aware that as the population of his subjects rose and the authority of the City Hall rapidly increased, it was perhaps time for him to address the issue of internal supervision.

Yet, he did not wish to establish an organization akin to a procuratorate, or more so to have an independent public security unit. The former would require a large number of literate personnel, and was prone to cause mutual conflicts and blame-pushing, which would hinder the implementation and expansion of new policies. On the other hand, the latter would insidiously diminish his own powers, such as in legislation, judicial interpretation and jurisdiction, all of which he felt would be better off under his control.

What he needed was a simple and effective system which would not require too many personnel in order to serve the functions of supervision.

He clutched the hand on his shoulder.

Nightingale dissipated her Mist and held on to the prince’s hand as she sat back on the table. Tilting her head, she asked, “What’s the matter?”

As she swayed her slender legs over the edge of the table, her high deerskin boots and tight pants formed a perfect curve.

Roland coughed twice before he spoke. “I intend to set up a new department which will supervise the City Hall as well as arrest individuals or groups who threaten the stability of the Western Region. This department shall only answer to me, and will be independent of the CITY HALL and the First Army.” He enunciated his words clearly. “For the time being, I shall call it the Western Territory Security Bureau. I hope to put you in charge of this department.”

“Me?” She blinked her eyes in surprise.

“Indeed. Only you can easily distinguish truth from falsities. No form of deception will work in your presence.” Roland nodded in approval. “How about it? If you accept, I’ll even offer you alone the drinking afternoon tea with ice-cream in winter, or…”

Nightingale gently pinched his hand. “Even without this offer, I’ll agree to your request as long as it’s something you want.”

“…” Roland suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

She laughed and broke the silence before it turned awkward. “But, what do I have to do?”

“Hmm, the supervision part is really easy.” The prince adjusted his emotions. “I’ll install a letterbox for reporting offences at the castle gate. All you have to do is to verify the contents of the letters received.”

The most cost-effective solution was indubitable to enable public supervision as well as let the City Hall supervise itself, similar to how he arrested spies who infiltrated Border Town during the previous year’s Months of Demons.

The downside of this method, which came from a later age, was that both the accused and the accuser would need to be meticulously verified. There would also be cases of false or mistaken reports, not to mention frame-ups. However, these problems would become insignificant with Nightingale’s ability. It would be easy to verify information simply through face-to-face interrogation. Furthermore, by rewarding the accuser if he was found to be truthful, while punishing false accusations and information, this reporting system would certainly be highly effective.

“As for maintaining the stability of the Western Region and eliminating threats and dangers, it’ll be best to have an internal intelligence system. I’ll slowly supply more men to you until you have enough eyes to watch over the entire Western Region.”

Chapter 323: The Public Security Team

oland went on to moot his general plan for Border Town’s public security system.

At present, there were approximately 20,000 people living in Border Town. Aside from native inhabitants, there were also people from Longsong Stronghold and refugees from the Eastern Region. When the emissary delegation dispatched by Barov returned, there could even be migrants from the south and north of the kingdom. The composition of Border Town’s population would thence become more complicated, creating greater discrepancies in terms of population quality. Conflicts similar to what happened today would only become more common.

This was why Roland needed to establish a public security system to replace the First Army’s ongoing patrol work. It was only a matter of time before internal and external violence had to be demarcated. He had long considered this issue but had been hindered by a shortage of manpower. Now that the First Army needed to concentrate on fighting the demonic beasts, and his population was rapidly increasing, it was the right time to implement his plan.

He would personally take charge of legislation, judicial interpretation, and jurisdiction of major criminal acts—his verdict would be final. The public security team would arrest criminals in accordance with the law, as well as handle civil disputes. The Security Bureau would be responsible for maintaining the integrity of public departments and preventing abuse and corruption of power. In order to economize on manpower, they might also call on public security personnel to carry out clean-up operations. This was the outline of Roland’s idea for the public security system.

Ideally, he would first try out this system within Border Town, and only extend it to the entire Western Region in the following year, when Border Town would undergo expansion.

When the time came, all of his territory, including the domains self-governed by nobles, would enforce the same set of laws and be managed by unified departments. The only person who would be above the law was Roland himself.

As the greatest noble in the Western Region himself, he would neither claim that everyone was equal before the law nor abolish the aristocracy. However, he could at least ensure that his cities did not carry the presence of feudal aristocrats in the traditional sense. If they wished to receive his protection, they would have to give up their right to self-rule.

Roland had also long decided on who would be the head of the public security department.

As a person with a great sense of justice yet was not pedantic in doing things, Chief Knight Carter Lannis would make a fine choice.

When Vader hobbled his way back to his provisional residence, an old man named Cacusim immediately walked out of the house and assisted him.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Vader put on a smile and replied. “I was simply sentenced to 10 lashes by His Highness.”

“Let me have a look.” Cacusim beseeched.

“We should go inside first.” When Vader entered the house, the interior warmth dispelled his bodily chills at once. Closing the door, he felt as if it was a different world from the outside. Compared to the wooden shed he had stayed in which provided no shelter from wind or rain, this low and narrow mud house was much more comfortable.

“Right, don’t the locals call this type of house a cave dwelling?” Vader thought.

The old man got him to lie on the heated brick bed, lifted the shirt off his back, and involuntarily exhaled a mouthful of cold air.

“Your back is covered in blood. I’ll go get some ash for you.”

“No, don’t use that. These are just bloodstains from my punishment. The bleeding stopped long ago.” Vader repeatedly urged. “The chief knight has told me that it’s best to leave them open. The wounds will heal in two to three days.”

“Two to three days?” Cacusim shook his head worriedly. “No, child, you may fall into a high fever and get swelling on your back because of this. Even if you’re healthy and strong, it’ll take at least a week to recover. You should know better than me what happens when a disease acts up.”

“You may not believe me but…” Vader licked his parched lips. “I don’t really feel the pain from the wounds on my back, and instead there seems to a cool and itchy feeling. This is the sign of healing. After I was whipped, they poured a bucket of water over my back…”

“Salt water?” The old man knitted his eyebrows.

“I thought so at first, but I didn’t feel the usual searing pain afterward.” Vader laughed softly. “The knight who carried out my punishment told me that the water they used could remove all pathogenic microbes. For my wounds to heal faster, I simply have to not do anything while allowing it to air.”

“Micro… what?”

“Microbes.” He curled his lips. “Devil knows what that is. It’s probably something to do with the witches.”

The old man lowered his head, and only after a long time, he spoke in a deep voice, “You shouldn’t have stood up for me. If only you controlled yourself a little…”

“That would only cause us to receive even worse treatment. I understand that b*stard’s character, or should I say, all nobles are more or less the same.” Vader spat out a mouthful of saliva. “I’d heard that snowfall can last for a couple of months here. Neither of us has enough money to last until it ends.” He paused before continuing. “And… I purposely picked that moment to hit him.”

“Purposely?” Cacusim froze.

“Every day at that time, His Highness would appear at the city walls of the Western Zone. He had promised that food would be distributed for free, and would certainly abhor behaviors which tarnished his own reputation. This was, therefore, the most effective method. If it was only a simple brawl, His Highness might not even have heard of it. And, after all, Khoya Harvie could have been instigated by someone else. If the city hall officers wished to suppress this news, nothing we said would have mattered.”

“But how if he was instigated by the lord himself?”

“The possibility of that is very low. If His Highness wanted to save money, he could simply reduce our meals from three to two a day. I had also asked around beforehand, and found that the local people and serfs were full of praise for His Highness’ benevolence and sagacity.” He chuckled smugly. “See, didn’t I make the right bet?”

“Oh… I see.” The old man sighed at length. “Your insight was truly profound.”

What Vader did not guess correctly was the punishment he would receive.

As a member of the patrol team in Valencia for more than 10 years, he deeply understood the hideous side of a city behind its glamorous facade. He had seen nobles who made use of their power to carry out extortion one too many times before. This even happened within the patrol team he served. Therefore, he had long learned how to punish this kind of crooked and lofty nobles.

His Highness’ response was also as he had expected. Only the means of punishment took him by surprise.

Under this kind of circumstance, a lord who was fond of his own reputation would typically acquit the oppressed party. Instead, His Highness meted out punishments to everyone involved—it thus seemed that he was more concerned about the system rather than his reputation.

This was a seldom seen quality, especially for a lord who had been used to doing as he pleased.

“What do you intend to do next?” The old man asked after a brief silence.

“Rest for two days specially authorized by the chief knight. Then I’ll continue as before to run errands for those guys who carry strange weapons.”

“You could have entered the inner city area and lived together in dignity with the other craftsmen.”

“But you couldn’t follow me, Cacusim. Let’s not talk about this.” He shook his head. “I’ll not abandon you on the outside.”

This old man was neither his kin nor his senior. Half a year ago, the former was a convict locked up in prison. Although everyone knew that he was used by the rats of Black Street as a scapegoat, such cases were so common that the patrol team simply could not be bothered. Later, when Valencia was ransacked by a large group of pirates, Vader had thought that he would die in the turmoil, only to be rescued by the old man and hidden in his prison cell. Cacusim used his smelly bed sheets to conceal the latter’s figure, and ultimately helped him to survive.

Vader had never thought that he would ever be rescued by a convict, which he usually would not even look in the eye. It was then that he realized that he was essentially no different from those obnoxious nobles.

The other two people living in the same room as them also knew Cacusim’s identity. Things were fine when Vader was around, but when he was not, they would disturb the old man.

“Relax, everything will become better.” Vader gave the latter a pat on the back.

Two days later, he heard news from the inner city area that His Highness was recruiting public security personnel.

Chapter 324: The Omen from the Seas

quot;Hey ladies, want some fish soup?” Captain Jack poked his head into the cabin while wriggling the cigarette in his mouth. “A fortunate young man caught a huge tailless trout just now.”

“Thank you.” Tilly Wimbledon nodded. “We’ll be over shortly.”

“Fish soup again.” Ashes sighed when the captain had disappeared from sight. “What’s so good about this tasteless stuff?”

“You can add some salt in it if you need.” Breeze chuckled. “Pepper is also fine, although it’s more expensive and Mr. Jack may disapprove.”

“Don’t put anything, or you’ll spoil the original taste of the broth and won’t be able to tell the quality of the ingredients.” Andrea elegantly ran a hand through her pale golden locks. “Lady Tilly, let’s go to the captain’s cabin.”

“I just want something hot,” Shavi, who was the shortest among the group, muttered, “My toes are almost freezing.”

They walked up the stairs to the poop deck of the Charming Beauty. One-eyed Jack was standing by a porthole, observing the lines of the ship’s white wake as they tumbled and scattered.

“This bloody weather, why is it suddenly so cold?” He exhaled a puff of smoke. “Holy Three Gods above, it’s only mid-autumn.”

“Perhaps the Gods are asleep?” Ashes shrugged her shoulders.

“Phooey, don’t say that when we’re on the sea.” Captain Jack snickered. “The Sea God is constantly watching over us.” He made a blessing gesture at his chest. “Never mind, I shan’t think about it anymore. Have some fish soup to warm your stomachs.”

In order to enjoy warm food in his own cabin, he had made a large opening in the floor, placed a brazier in its center, and filled its sides with sea sand. This had an insulation effect which prevented any accidental fire from igniting the entire ship.

The large pot of fish soup placed on the brazier was bubbling and making a rumbling noise. A fragrance soon filled the room.

The six people present took off their shoes, sat around the brazier, and buried their feet in the fine sand, so as to allow their toes to be in maximal contact with the sand and thereby enjoy the warmth provided by the heated charcoal.

Tilly received a bowl of fish soup from the captain and gently blew against its steaming surface. Unlike the milky white broth made from blacktail fish, this soup was dark yellow in color, and a layer of oil which refracted a bright luster was visible on the surface.

When she saw bits of green and white floating in the soup, she knew that the old captain had inserted a few precious ingredients. As the ship was frequently at sea for months at a time, the crew could rarely eat fresh vegetables and fruits. The captain had apparently used ice nitrite to preserve the freshness and tenderness of the scallions, whose fragrance neutralized the fish smell, and mixed together with shredded ginger and a small amount of ale, so that all that was left was a rich and mellow taste.

Tilly slowly drank the fish soup. Every time she felt that it was going to scald her tongue, she would pause and take a couple of breaths. With every small sip, she could clearly feel that the soup was like a warm current which slid smoothly down her throat into her stomach, where it provided a nice comfort.

The chill quickly went away, and she even felt her body begin to give out heat.

“Try adding a little chili.” Jack pointed at the spice jars that were placed beside the brazier. “That’ll make the taste even more special. And, it’s even more effective at dispelling the cold than wine.”

“Though I believe that food should be eaten in its original flavor, I have to say that these condiments perfectly complement the food and don’t cause the soup to lose its flavor.” Andrea commented.

“Aren’t you drinking it?” Tilly glanced at Ashes.

The latter waved her hands. “Probably not. I simply can’t stand the smell of fish.”

At first, Tilly was also unable to accept the Fjord people’s penchant for eating fish. Every meal would consist of several varieties of fish, which could be grilled, steamed or fried. There were also special things such as fish jelly, fish sauce and caviar. After she forced herself to try eating fish at a few formal dinners, she realized that the taste was indeed not bad, and that after getting used to the fishy smell, it could further bring out the delicious taste of the fish. At present, she was also willing to try the more pungent varieties, such as dried fish, grilled cuttlefish, and even pan-fried surströmming.

“Our dear young Madam Ashes here has had her taste for food spoiled by the terrible forms of cuisine in Border Town.” Andrea chaffed while covering her mouth. “It’s really a pity. The spices and table salt she would normally put in her food have made her unable to appreciate truly good food. Now, she doesn’t even have the courage to try new food.”

“What’re you saying?” Ashes glared at her.

“Why, was I wrong?” Andrea giggled. “A little bit of smell fazes you. This shows that you’re as wayward as a young girl. How can we count on you to step up when Lady Tilly needs you?”

“I see… it seems to me that you’re challenging me to a round.” Ashes’ tone suddenly became milder. “You’d better give up that thought. There’s a scary type of weapon in Border Town which is much more powerful than your arrows. Even so, I defeated it in a competition. You’re still many years of practice away from challenging my position as Lady Tilly’s bodyguard…” She took a breath before continuing. “Or perhaps even a lifetime.”

“You…”

Ashes began to grin. “You should also know that the cuisine invented by His Highness don’t merely add spices and table salt. You’ll understand when you try it. Before that, please don’t spill your saliva on your clothes. Lady Tilly can’t afford to lose face.”

“Nonsense, that would be you!”

Tilly began to laugh involuntarily. As Sleeping Island’s best combat witches, the two of them argued incessantly over who was better. Tilly considered both to be her best subordinates. She knew that when real danger arose, the two of them would unhesitatingly fight side by side and work together to construct an impregnable wall for Sleeping Island.

The pair’s argument caused the atmosphere in the room to liven up. As she observed the scene, Tilly could not help thinking about the five witches she had sent to Border Town, and whether they were still living well in her elder brother’s territory.

Right at this moment, the Charming Beauty began to shudder without warning.

“Careful!” Ashes pulled Princess Tilly away as the pot on the brazier overturned. The spilled soup extinguished the charcoal fire, and chunks of fish fell all over the floor.

They then heard a shrill whistle from outside the cabin.

“Enemies! Enemies are attacking!”

A sailor dashed into the captain’s cabin and exclaimed in horror, “Captain, the mutant sea ghosts are here! And there’re more than one!”

“Sea ghosts… isn’t that another name for the demonic beasts?” Tilly was bewildered. “How did they manage to come here?”

The party ran out of the cabin, only to see more than a dozen fish-bodied crab-legged creatures on the deck. There were even more of them climbing up the sides of the ship. They were fast and agile; when they moved on all six legs, they resembled giant cockroaches. Their human-like arms, which they waved in the air on either side of their heads, were astonishingly strong and could easily break off a sailor’s neck.

“Since you aren’t willing to fight, then let’s have a contest.” Andrea snapped her fingers, and momentarily, a beam of golden light emerged from her fingertips and formed into a bow which she held steadily in her hands. “Whoever kills more monsters shall be considered the more powerful between us.”

“Fine.” Ashes pulled out that huge and strangely-shaped sword from behind her back. “I’m game.”