Release That Witch

Chapter 358: Invitation

This was not a wild guess, but it could be best proved by the development of human civilization.

It took mankind nearly a million years to enter the Iron Age from the Stone Age, but only 3,200 years from the Iron Age to the Age of Steam. From the Age of Steam to the Electric Age, it merely took 150 years, and the world directly stepped into the information era in another 50 years.

From the information Agatha disclosed, demons were not an invariable race. Over 800 years ago, they combatted in a close range with knives and shields made of bronze and pig iron, fighting in a similar way to mankind. In order to compete against witches, some Senior Demons would also wear God’s Stones of Retaliation. Every time they attacked a city, demons generally did not have any effective countermeasures for long-distance weapons such as crossbow bolts and mangonels, and therefore always suffered great loss before conquering a fortified city. If they were not born to possess such immense power, perhaps mankind would have become the ultimate victor of the first Battle of Divine Will.

Nevertheless, demons had already been able to mass produce Magic Stones in the second Battle of Divine Will, and their groups had also experienced differentiation. Demons of various forms took on diverse operation missions, and even Mad Demons who outweighed in number had also developed measures for long-distance attack. According to Agatha, they even created transportation tools and engineering instruments driven by Magic Stones! Now more than 400 years had passed, how far had they evolved?

Roland originally thought Agatha would bring him the Magic Stone technologies from Taquila’s Quest Society, and based on them, he would be able to wedge a new path of industrial development, but he did not expect that such technologies were from the enemies. In that way, the competition against demons would very likely become a war between industrial and Magic Stone technologies.

“Only the one that develops technologies faster will win in the end.”

At this thought, Roland could not help but heave a sigh. It seemed necessary to have a thorough discussion with Tilly.

…

Roland met Tilly Wimbledon at his office after dinner.

He felt pleased when he saw she came alone—at least there had been great progress in terms of trust between them.

“Nightingale told me you want to discuss something with me.” she took a seat and came straight to the point.

“Yes.” Roland poured a cup of tea and handed it over to her himself. “It’s mainly about how to cope with the third Battle of Divine Will and our future.”

Tilly took the tea cup and blinked, seeming to wait for him to continue.

“According to Agatha, the Four Kingdoms was merely a tip of the Land of Dawn and that even the Barbarian Land used to be the most prosperous Fertile Plains. It was after being defeated by demons twice that human beings had to retreat to this place. Based on the time the Stone Gates opened, the third Battle of Divine Will is at the corner.” Roland hesitated for a moment and stated bluntly, “I hope you can stay.”

Tilly smiled faintly after a short pause and said, “I didn’t expect you would say that.”

“The strength of demons is unpredictable, and we must gather all the powers available to win the war. Although Agatha said the first Battle of Divine Will was operated by both mortals and witches, it was very likely that their cooperation was only on the surface, which essentially had no difference from the second Battle of Divine Will.” He addressed in a sincere tone, “As you’ve already seen, the excess of the memories in my head possesses weapons sufficient to defeat demons. Once these memories are converted to physical entities, mortals can also burst out powers beyond imagination. The right choice is to have witches take care of the operation of war machines, while ordinary people fight in the war. Upon a big war, one more person means one more source of strength.”

“…” Tilly took a sip of the tea and did not answer for quite a while. Roland felt his heart was in his throat.

Yet under such circumstances, there was no use feeling vexed. He put on a composed look, waiting silently for Tilly to speak.

After seven minutes or so, Tilly finally heaved a sigh and broke the silence. “If I stay, what about the witches on the Sleeping Island?”

“Does that mean… she agreed?” Roland restrained his excitement. “Ask them to come to the Border Town. They are totally welcome here. I’ll mark off a plot of land for your witches, and each of them will be equally paid as those in the Witch Union—ah, I don’t mean making them members of the Union. They’ll still be led by you. It’s like establishing a special autonomous district in the Western Region. This is not only convenient for our cooperation, but also helpful to boost the mutual understanding between us.”

“Will they be equally paid?” She could not help but smile, “You don’t mind their abilities? You know most of them can’t fight for you.”

“No, no,” Roland waved his hand repeatedly and said, “In the cooperation model I have conceived, assistant witches, on the contrary, can play a more important role than combat ones, because it isn’t themselves that are strengthened, but hundreds of thousands of ordinary people—nature doesn’t lack power, but lacks people who discover and make use of them. In this regard, the abilities of assistant witches are far greater.”

“Is this your real purpose?” she asked slyly.

“Um…”

“It’s indeed a generous offer.” Tilly smiled, shaking her head. “In view of the public concerns, I can’t refuse your request to jointly fight against the intrusion of demons; in view of the personal concerns, I also want to stay here to learn the interesting knowledge. However, I can’t give you my consent now.”

A bit surprised, Roland immediately asked, “Why?”

“Since I am the leader elected by the witches on the Sleeping Island, I can’t decide their future based on my personal preference. Once moved to the Western Region, the organization will inevitably lose its independence. If something happens, they’ll be too vulnerable to resist. If one day there’re conflicts between us, should all the witches have to pack up and return to the the Sleeping Island again?”

“No, I’ll never…”

“I can’t put their future in an oral promise,” Tilly interrupted, “If you were me, would you surrender everything of yours to me simply because we are allies?”

Roland was instantly speechless. He knew the answer even without thinking about it. If he himself was in such a situation, he would never agree with others easily. Most of the time, the closer two people are, the more likely they’ll have conflicts. That’s exactly what the so-called “befriending a distant state while attacking a neighbor” means. The same applies to powers and lovers.

“See? You are worried about the same thing as I am.”

“But… you are my younger sister. I won’t hurt you.” Roland had no choice but to make the last effort.

“Really… but for the reason you just said, I still can’t trust it,” Tilly closed her eyes somewhat melancholy, “this is probably why I can’t promise you right away.” She paused for a little bit, as if she wanted to leave those thoughts behind, “Let’s just treat each other as an ally for now—I will give my full support to the construction of Border Town. If you need witches, I’ll try to meet your requirements as much as I can… If it’s really hard to resist the attacks from demons, you can still return to Sleeping Island and spend the rest of your life in peace. This is all that I can do so far.”

Chapter 359: Different Choices

The fire in the fireplace shook for a second and fainted. Nightingale revealed herself, and put some firewood inside. Cracking sounds came from the fireplace and the flames suddenly rose up.

Roland looked at the stretched shadow of the cup and took a deep exhalation. Tilly had been away for some time, and he had been recalling their conversation to see if there was any way to change the result, but it ended up in vain – trust is very intriguing, and only by taking a lot of time can he earn someone’s trust.

“It seems that you’re not capable of everything,” said Nightingale. She brushed off the dust on her hand and sat back at her usual place, “What on earth did you say to her that day?”

“A white lie.” Roland leaned on the chair. “It’s very normal that she doesn’t believe it.” He paused and said, “You said that you had a younger brother. If he suddenly becomes very different than he used to be, and keeps saying that he’s still himself, will you believe him?”

“Do you mean that guy who looked innocent but then betrayed me at the back?” Nightingale twitched her mouth, “As far as I see, he was basically no different than a mutation.”

“Well, I shouldn’t have mentioned this.”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I’m not a member of Gelan Family anymore, and they’re just strangers to me.” She said carelessly.

“She and I were once just like strangers as well,” Roland sighed and continued, “or I would rather say that I didn’t get along well with anyone in the palace.”

“If you feel bored, you can share it with me.” Nightingale gave a subtle smile, “I’ve been very curious about the royal life, but I also want to know how bad you were at that time. How could you be so bad that your notorious reputation was even spread to the Silver City?”

“To be honest, back then I was much worse than now.” Roland could not help but raise his lips. He picked some stories from his memories and said briefly, “Probably from the moment she fell onto the glass slag, she began to hate me.”

“It’s indeed… terrible,” she clicked her tongue and continued, “but I think she doesn’t hate you now.”

“Oh?” Roland raised his eyebrows and asked, “How could you know that?”

“Of course I know. Didn’t she say these words—’in view of the personal concerns, I also want to stay here to learn the interesting knowledge.'” Nightingale imitated. “It sounded like a consolation, but the truth is that she didn’t lie about it. If she still hates you as much as she did in the past, she would never feel like staying here.”

“Are you comforting me?” Roland smiled and said.

“I’m just telling the truth,” she shrugged and continued, “and I think it’s fine to maintain the status quo.”

“Why?”

“She promised to give priority to providing witches for the town to support you against demons, so there’s no difference whether she stays here or not. If the witches on the Sleeping Island all come to the town at the same time, with more witches like Ashes, I may be very busy.” Nightingale threw a dried fish into her mouth and muttered,” Not everyone is as obedient as Maggie.”

Roland could not help but laugh, “It sounds like that you had some issues with Ashes before?”

“Oh? Of course not. How could it be,” Nightingale waved her hands and said, “I just keep my eyes on her occasionally to prevent her turning against the Witch Union.”

“Really?”

She turned her head to another side and whistled.

“I’m not sure if it’s an illusion,” Roland stared at her. “Why do you feel so happy when I was rejected?”

“That’s an illusion,” affirmed Nightingale, and then she looked at the door, “well, someone is coming.” With these words,she concealed herself.

“Was it just her excuse to get away?” Just at this moment, someone began to knock on the door outside the office.

Roland was very surprised. It was almost midnight now. Who would come at this time of the night? He changed a new candle for the candlestick and said, “Come in.”

The visitor was Agatha.

The prince was shocked for a moment and asked, “What’s the matter?”

She didn’t reply but came to sit down at the round stool beside the table, “Ms. Wendy said that the flintlock that can fight against Extraordinaries and the cannon with an amazing long shooting range were both your ideas. Is it true? And the theories behind these things and their manufacturing methods are all recorded in the books you wrote? ”

“Do you mean Natural Science Theoretical Foundation and Elementary Chemistry? There’re related theories in them, but as for their manufacturing methods, they’re not written down because of length.” said Roland, “After all, they are just textbooks for elementary theories. ” Do you come to see me just for this?”

“Only members of the Witch Union can learn such knowledge, right?” she didn’t reply but continued to ask.

Roland nodded and had almost figured out what she wanted to say.

“Then I apply to join the Witch Union,” Agatha said without a pause.

“But the Witch Union is an organization belonging to the Border Town. Are you sure you want to work for the town?” he said with curiosity, “Its lord is not a Transcendent but just an ordinary mortal.”

“Any mortal that can create weapons to defend demons is not ordinary at all. Even in the Quest Society, there’ll be a place for you.” Agatha paused for a little bit and said, “As long as it does no harm to the witches and it’s not against the survivors of the Union, I don’t mind… cooperating with a mortal.”

Probably it’s a little hard for her to say “to work for a mortal” at the moment, but Agatha’s capability of accepting new things had impressed Roland a lot. Perhaps someone who was engaged in research was always able to accept new things quickly. He restrained himself from smiling and said, “I thought you would follow Tilly to the Sleeping Island, which is a city built by the witches.”

“It’s just a refuge for hiding from the hunting of the Church,” she shook her head and said, “I’ve learned about everything from them before I made this decision. And I’ve seen so many cities ruled by the witches before I was frozen, yet they were all gone without any traces. It’ll be meaningless if we cannot defeat demons. I wish I could see the hope of victory here.”

“You will,” Rolland nodded, “but as to not be against the Union… I cannot promise that, because it probably hasn’t been gone, but just changed its name and covered itself up.”

“What?” Agatha was shocked.

“I’ve thought about what you said carefully. Even if you ran away from Taquila after it was defeated, there were still Transcendents and many Blessed Warriors in the Union. On this undeveloped land in which many original inhabitants are living, they can’t entirely extinct unless they intend to do so.” Roland said in a deep voice, “The Church is probably a transformation of the Union. It were not the mortals that took away the power and the methods of creating God’s Punishment Army from the witches, but the witches themselves did that and turned the Union into an organization that hunted witches. In this way, it’s more convenient for them to create a large number of God’s Punishment Armies.”

“Are you saying that it’s the Union that has led to the tragic situation where witches are oppressed and hunted?” She said in great surprise.

“I’m not sure yet. It’s just a guess.” Roland stood up and went to the bookcase, took out several thick black books and handed them to her. “You can find their chronology written by the Church itself, and the histories of the Four Kingdoms written by astrologers. You can make reference to them. In any case, the Church is now our enemy that we must eliminate in the future.”

“If you decide to stand on the side of witches and fight against demons with me, you’re most welcome at the Witch Union.”

Chapter 360: Ice

arly in the next morning, Agatha received parchment scroll from Roland.

“What is it?”

“A contract. After you leave your fingerprint on it, you’ll officially become a member of the Witch Union.”

She spread the scroll of paper, carefully read the contents in it and asked in surprise, “That’s all?”

“Yup?” Roland seemed a little confused about what she said, “Why ask?”

“The restrictions on it are useless,” Agatha pointed to the part of “Services” and continued, “it just mentions that witches cannot betray Border Town unless the mutual agreement between both parties is breached, but there isn’t any restricting measures. If a witch does want to break the contract, she might have no pressure at all. Besides, and the wordings are way too loose. Is this a real contract?”

“Well, I just wrote it casually and it’s just a kinda formality.” The prince nodded without any surprise. It seemed that Agatha was not the first one to point out the loopholes of this contract.

“It’s a formality full of loopholes .” Secretly criticizing the contract in her mind, she then touched the ink pad and put her thumbprint on it. There were very few requirements for both parties in the contract of the Witch Union. According to the articles, Agatha could barely see any differences after she joined the Witch Union. Although she thought it was unnecessary to sign the contract, she felt much relieved than before.

She said she would work with the mortals, but she knew it well that the man with gray hair was the real leader of the Union. If she had to work for a mortal like the way she served the Union or the leader of three cities with the utmost deference, she would probably not accept it. But now, she was at least free to a large extent.

Roland put away the contract and asked curiously, “What were the restrictions on the contract of Taquila?”

“It was only used for recruiting the mortals and the penalties included corporal punishment and mental torture.” She twitched her mouth. “As for us witches, we didn’t need such contracts. Once you joined the Union, you should serve it for your lifetime and there was only death for traitors.”

“Okay,” he took a breath and said, “welcome to the Witch Union.” After breakfast, remember to come to the castle garden. I need to test your ability comprehensively.”

…

The ability test was much easier than what Agatha thought. All she needed to do was to show every characteristic of her ability once in front of the prince and answer some questions.

“The form of the magic power is a sky blue pentagonal prism and it’s a medium level. It belongs to the summon category. Your ability has evolved once. The initial performance is creating a low temperature, and it can freeze at a normal temperature after evolution, which is a very convenient ability,” Roland asked after recording the results, “how did you get evolved? ”

“Constant practice and a sudden enlightenment,” she proudly said. As the youngest High Awakened, she was called “the Genius of Taquila” by all the members of the Union. “Every day I kept trying to lower the temperature to freeze the water instantly. One day, I saw a witch who manipulated the flame to melt a piece of lead into liquid, and as the lead was heated by the flame, the lead water began to boil.”

“This scene made me realize that everything may have three states: gaseous, liquid and solid—lead is solid at room temperature, but if the temperature is high enough, it can also turn into gas; water is liquid at room temperature, and when the temperature falls, it can freeze into ice.”

“So for gas at normal temperature, can it freeze as long as the temperature is low enough, just like the case of the lead?”

“With this idea, I quickly felt the magic power in my body changing entirely, and I finally evolved into a Senior Witches. This enlightenment is also recorded in the General Principles.”

In fact, she was the youngest witch whose enlightenment was recorded in that book. Back then, even all the Three Chiefs praised her, for such enlightenment was very significant in enlightening witches to evolve and in practical research. However, when she said those in a serious manner, Roland was quite calm.

“I see.” The prince nodded. “What is the General Principles?”

“Wait… Aren’t you surprised at all?” Agatha asked surprisedly. “The world is full of gas everywhere. It can be anywhere and without any weight. Actually, the gas can turn into flowing water and frozen ice.”

“They are very normal phenomena, and there are many kinds of gases, each of which has different boiling points and melting points.” Roland shrugged. “Why should I be surprised? These’re common sense in Natural Science Theoretical Foundation.”

“…” Agatha was quite shocked and hurt, and she took two deep breaths and said, “Alright, I’ll read it carefully.”

“The General Principles…”

“It records the feelings and experiences of the High Awakened during their evolution,” she said in discontent, “but the abilities of witches are different from each other, which makes it very difficult for them to evolve by imitation and referencing, so this book is of course uncomparable to your Natural Science Theoretical Foundation!”

“Did I say something wrong?” The prince was quite confused.

“No, I’m too arrogant,” Agatha was unhappier now.

“Well.” He seemed to figure out the reason, so he changed the topic quickly. “You just said that the abilities of the witches are different from each other… so there’s no one sharing the same ability among thousands of witches in the Union?”

“No,” she replied bluntly, “The Quest Society believes that the form of magic power decides the ability, but there are no witches sharing the same form of magic power.”

“But when you first saw Anna, you could instantly tell that it was the ability of fire control.”

“It’s just an informal categorization, which is easy to understand. The abilities of generating light and heat can be categorized into fire control, but with the development of magic power, consolidation after growing up, or High Awakening, similar abilities will change greatly. Even at the initial stage of fire control, some witches are good at controlling the temperature, some generating greater fire, and some throwing the fire. Even if there’re no obvious differences, it’s because of the lack of careful observation,” Agatha said, “The Quest Society’s categorization method was much more formal and basically the same as yours.”

“Also three categories?” Roland asked.

“Four. The main difference is the summoning type—the Quest Society divided it into two categories, Magic Power and Shaping. You can understand the difference from the literal meanings.”

“The former means that the summoning of the ability costs magic power all the time, just like Anna’s. When the magic power is gone, the summoning of the ability will stop. And Shaping can exist for a very long time, just like the Coating drawn by Soraya, right?”

“Although I don’t know the exact ability of Soraya, it’s pretty much like that… That can stay for a long time can be taken as Shaping, such as my ability of freezing at a normal temperature.”

“Understood.” Roland recorded these contents as well. “That’s all for the test today.” Usually, if you receive no assignment from me, you can practice your ability as you wish, but I’m thinking that someone might urgently need your help.”

“Who?”

“Kyle Sichi, the Chief Alchemist of Border Town.”

Chapter 361: Expansion

According to the records of Stall Literature, temperature control was the key in large-scale production of nitrifying glycerol because the excessive heat of exothermic reactions was extremely prone to cause the sensitive dynamites to explode. As long as the temperature of the large reaction vessel could be kept constant, the nitrating glycerin could be safely manufactured in batches.

However, the ice-water mixture had limited performance in heat absorption, especially when a large amount of heat was released. Its cooling rate was slow while the consumption of itself was fast. Besides,it was very troublesome to produce ice cubes. In light of these, ice cubes were suitable for laboratory tests, but not for the mass production. As the Frozen Coffin of Agatha could easily produce low temperatures, such as nearly 100 below zero, it was undoubtedly a great way to cool down the container.

Roland did not know whether the news was reliable or not, but it didn’t stop him from trying one by one. Even in the event of an accident, Nana could always save her life.

Back in his office, he wrote a reference letter and gave it to his guard, who brought Agatha to the chemical laboratory and sent the letter to Kyle Sichi.

Besides introducing Agatha’s abilities, he also made up an upper-class identity for her in the letter to mellow the alchemist so that he would take good care of the witch who might bring great help to the chemistry experiments. Roland was still worried after the guard left. He knew Keymor was straightforward while Agatha was arrogant and hoped they would not get into a big fight with each other.

Scroll pushed the door open and walked into the room while he was pondering whether he should go to the lab to take a look.

“Your Highness, here are the results for the second batch educational examination.” She smiled with a curve at the corner of her eye and continued, “This time, 762 students have passed the exam and half of them are adults.”

“So many?” Roland was pleased. Compared with the first group of more than 50 kids from Karl College, half of the adults graduated this time proved that night school training did work. At the same time, it verified the feasibility of a series of training programs formulated by the Ministry of Education based on different training schedules and durations.

“Yes, you’ve been implementing universal education for almost six months now, and these students are generally under 25 years old, it’s not too difficult for them to master the basic reading and writing skills.”

It probably has something to do with the characters themselves. It would never be as fast if it was Chinese instead.” Roland thought to himself, although he always felt that these earthworm-like characters were awkward.

During the initial implementation of universal education, he had no idea how far it would go. After all it was utterly new to the Kingdom of Graycastle. In accordance with the principle of encouragement and subsidy, he had been discussing with Scroll for a long time to formulate a set of educational programs for minors and night classes for the workers and make a series of incentives to tempt the workers to study. The result appeared to be really good as of now.

Of course, all of these were attributed to the executor Scroll for she really did a good job in management.

“Thanks for your hard work.” Roland nodded.

“It’s my pleasure to be at your service, Your Highness.” She bowed.

As she was the eldest witch in the Union, it was hard for Roland to compare her with the young girls like Anna and Lightning. Scroll always gave him a feeling of remaining stable and well-organized. When discussing things, she would both silently listen to his thoughts and brutally point out his mistakes. Sometimes, he even felt like a junior in front of Scroll.

Probably… she was born to be a teacher.

Roland smiled and shook his head, putting these thoughts aside.

Anyway, the long-standing factories could finally be put into use with the new productive forces.

“Please invite over Barov,” he said with great excitement.

…

The City Hall Director rushed to the castle quickly. As his workload had been increasing since he started building the city, he seemed older now with balder head and more wrinkles on the forehead. But there was not any fatigue on his face, he seemed increasingly energetic instead.

“Your Highness, are you want to see me for the recruitment matter?”

He probably had also received the news of the new group of graduates in town and took the initiative to ask.

“Exactly,” Roland nodded, “since the Months of Demons this year came earlier, Timothy won’t be able to disturb the Western Region. I’d like to scale up the army of Border Town in order to deal with the war next year and increase the number of factory workers at the same time.”

“And, the City Hall as well.” Barov added. “After the town is expanded into a city, your territory will be five to six times bigger. The City Hall will need more officers to manage such a vast land.”

“No worries,” the prince smiled and said, “you’re not forgotten.” He drew out a piece of paper and said while writing, “For the new group of 700 graduates, the City Hall will provide 20% of the graduates’ jobs, and the acid plant 40%. The rest will be recruited by the steam engine plant and the bicycle plant, with at least 100 allocated to the latter. You may set the salary based on the previous standards, but that for acid factory workers can be a little bit higher. Try to fill all the vacancies quickly.”

As for the soap and perfume plant, the main tasks were completed by the witches, and the ordinary people will only need to repeat a few simple operations. The workers there don’t need to be literate, so there is no need to recruit graduates for them.

Roland believed that education could not only improve one’s knowledge and vision, but also improve his sense of responsibility and sociality, which were exactly the significance of enlightenment. That was why advanced factories required large numbers of elementary educators, who knew their social attributes and the importance of cooperation, altruism and self-discipline better than the illiterate. This was critical to the fine work featuring many complex procedures.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Barov replied. “How many people does the army need?”

“At least 1,000. Start recruiting from the newly promoted civilians and the refugees from the Eastern Region.” Roland commanded. “As in the past, the City Hall issues the notices and the First Army is responsible for the reviewing and hiring.”

“1,000… headcounts?” Barov startled and said, “This is equivalent to the amount of the current headcount of the first army, Your Highness. If they’re equipped with the resources and weapons in accordance with the specifications of the First Army, the cost won’t be low. ”

“I have taken these into consideration. Just do it.”

Knowing the danger of the demon’s invasion, he naturally could not be planning as slow as before. Besides ruling the entire Western Region, the first task in the spring of the coming year was to completely defeat Timothy. As long as he wiped out the regime against him, the new town of the Western Region would become the veritable King’s City even if the other areas were not seized. By then, both the expansion of population and the promotion of trade would be allowed, rather than be limited as it was currently.

However, the prince did not think Barov had to know the plan since all the latter needed to do was to arrange financial and material distribution.

After the City Hall Director left, the guards brought a new message.

Margaret’s caravan had arrived.

Chapter 362: Predicament

t the pier, more than 10 sailships were lined up in a column, with the top of their masts and their interlacing hemp ropes covered in snow, such that they looked like threads of clear silver. Refugees filed out of the cabins and rushed towards the large open space in front of the pier.

This was not the first time Border Town welcomed refugees from the Kingdom of Graycastle, and therefore the entire procedure seemed very orderly. Four lines of iron fence separated the crowd into two columns, which helped to control the crowd movement and prevented a stampede. On both sides of the fences, there were policemen carrying batons on patrol. Anyone who pushed his way through or attempted to climb the fence would be beaten. Although there was punishment, there was also reward—in order to comfort them after an arduous journey, the refugees would each receive a hot bowl of gruel when they passed through the railed passageway. In any case, filling up their stomachs before all else could effectively abate the refugees’ fear and discomfort of being in a foreign land.

This time, aside from the policemen, First Army soldiers, and City Hall officials, Nightingale and Sylvie also took part in the inspection to locate the drug users who were planted in the crowd by Timothy. Under the surveillance of the Eye of Magic, pills and snow powder had nowhere to be hidden.

“Thank you for all that you’ve done for Western Region.” Roland looked away from the crowd and said to Margaret beside him. “If it wasn’t for your fleet, these people would’ve to spend the winter in the slums of other cities.”

“It was rare for Your Highness to ask me for help in such an urgent tone of voice, and naturally I had to do my best.” She laughed. “However, many sailors were unwilling to set sail in the heavy snow, and hence I was only able to pool together these 13 sailships.”

“It’s better than not even one.” Roland puffed out a white breath. After he learned that there were still large numbers of refugees held up in Silver City, Redwater City and Willow Town, he sent a letter of help to Margeret’s Chamber of Commerce, hoping that it could deploy a fleet of sailships to help him transport the refugees.

Although 13 was a smaller number than he expected, all of the refugees could be transported by making the sailships take two extra trips. Assuming that each sailship could accommodate 100 people, and each trip to and fro required an estimated two weeks, the 3,000 stranded refugees would take roughly a month and a half to be transported. Because the gold royals brought along by a small platoon of the First Army were insufficient to last for this entire duration, therefore, on the last return journey, the sailships had to transport food and winter clothing as well. Roland did not wish to see the refugees carry their hopes of a better life on board the ships yet eventually fail to reach the destination.

Thanks to Lightning, Margaret calculated the transportation costs to be two times the normal daily rate. Any other merchant would have considered this to be a foolish transaction, as the transportation costs alone exceeded the value of the goods. On average, it cost one gold royal per two people, which, according to the current market price, would be enough to purchase several strong and high-quality slaves. Margaret had initially expressed her doubts to Roland, but he was insistent on bringing these people over to the Western Region.

From the moment the refugees stepped on board the ships together with the emissary delegation, they were considered subjects of the Western Region, and it was in line with his duty to provide them with asylum. Furthermore, in Roland’s eyes, the value of these refugees was far greater than that of slaves. After receiving education and training, and eventually given employment, the wealth they would create through their jobs would be immeasurable.

…

Returning back to the reception room of the castle, Roland ordered the kitchen to prepare a hot pottage for Margaret. “Drink this, it’ll make your limbs feel much warmer.”

“Thank you for your kindness.” The businesswoman scooped up a spoonful of the soup and sniffed. “There seems to be White Liquor in it.”

“Indeed.” He laughed, “In addition, there’s also pepper and honey, and the base is chicken soup. Spirit is always an excellent drink to dispel the cold, and when heated with chicken soup, it becomes even more delicious. The other seasonings are added to cover the pungent taste, as well as add flavor and a little spice to the soup, such that even a person who rarely drinks alcohol will find it palatable.

Margaret slowly drank the pottage and finished it with a loud burp. “That’s great. Every time I’m on the way to your place, I’m filled with anticipation, never knowing what novelty is in store. It’s a pity that next year I’ll probably be unable to visit you.”

“Are you referring to a trading opportunity?” Roland subtly caught the meaning in her words.

The businesswoman nodded, “Timothy has decreed a ban on saltpeter trade, and therefore, sales are prohibited not only to King’s City, but also Silver City and Redwater City. Aside from supplying at a low price to the Alchemist Workshop, the only other customers are the nobility in the city.

Roland frowned.

“Furthermore, according to a piece of news that I heard from a City Hall source, Timothy is planning to blockade the Western Region. It won’t be just saltpeter, but also merchants, which will be stopped at the frontier of Redwater City. When the time comes, not only Border Town, but also Longsong Stronghold and Willow Town will be affected. Although many nobles have expressed opposition, it’s unlikely that Timothy will revoke his order.” She shook her head in resignation, “From next year onwards, I’ll not only be unable to ship saltpeter and ingots over here, but even the steam engine trade will probably be suspended.”

“I must have pushed him too far, or he wouldn’t have issued a decree that’s so damaging to the royalty.” Roland silently thought. “Before completing the centralization of authority, hasty interference in the trading activities of other territories is always likely to evoke the resistance and defiance of the lords and nobles. Even if Timothy sends his own troops to blockade the land and river routes, the troops would easily be eliminated by assassins covertly sent by the local lords—just let him try to enforce this policy for a year and a half.”

However, trade was the lifeblood of Border Town. Let alone a year… even half a year of blockade was a huge no-no. Saltpeter was a material used in large-scale acid production, and before the problem of synthetic ammonia was solved, it remained an irreplaceable component. If supply was cut off, the 152 mm artillery would become useless, and the reloading of the new repeating rifles would also be massively delayed.

However, compared to weapons, the prohibition of the steam engine trade was even more destructive. At present, the amount of gold royals stored in the City Hall’s vaults was not much. A portion of revenue was used in infrastructure projects and increasing the number of jobs, while another portion was distributed as pay to the townspeople and recollected through the sale of food, convenience goods and housing. This economic model necessitated a continuous injection of gold royals into the market, which had to be at least equal in amount to the wealth created by the subjects.

At present, Border Town remained in a state of primitive accumulation and also did not issue credit. If the revenue from the steam engine trade was lost, finances might dry up to the point that pay cannot be issued to the people, and a full economic meltdown would follow.

In any case, the interruption of funds was absolutely unacceptable.

“This situation won’t last long.” Roland spread his arms, “I believe that you’ll soon be able to visit our town again… no, when that time comes, you’ll see a brand new city.”

Margaret was slightly surprised, “Are you planning to build a city here?”

“Indeed, after the Months of the Demons.” He smiled. “Also, I plan to set up a trade shipping route that connects directly to the fjords. Instead of passing through Seawindshire or Port of Clearwater, it’ll set out directly from the Western Region towards the Fjord Islands. Will you be interested to participate in this?”

Chapter 363: New Trading Route

quot;Setting out from the… Western Region?” Margaret asked curiously. “I didn’t know that there’s a good harbor that leads to the sea here.”

“There isn’t yet, but we can build one.”

Her eyes widened, “Your Highness, are you serious?”

“Of course. By next spring, we should be able to begin the construction.” Roland smiled and said.

In this era, harbors were, without exception, natural. Construction projects which required transforming the natural landscape, such as man-made harbors, were practically impossible.

However, now that he had obtained Tilly’s full support, he simply had to wait until the housing construction in Sleeping Island was completed, after which Lotus would come back to the Western Region, and furthermore, the crisis caused by the demonic beasts should have subsided by then. It would then be a suitable time to start work on the harbor.

He stood up and pointed to a map that was hung behind him. “In the south of Border Town, there’s a shore where the depth of water is ideal and the surface area is highly suitable, sufficient to accommodate all of the facilities required by the harbor. By making only a few modifications, and also flattening the ridges along the coast, I’ll be able to transport goods from the inland of Western Region to the harbor.”

“Modifying the shore… and flattening the ridges? Why is it that when you speak of these astonishing plans, I seem to get the impression that they are not difficult at all?” Margaret said with interest. “However, do you have a merchant fleet? You should know that sea ships and inland river ships are very different.”

“At the moment, no.” Roland spread his hands. “This is also one of the reasons why I hope that you’ll participate.”

“I’ll provide the ships?”

“And also be responsible for shipping and selling,” he added, “while Western Region will only provide the goods.”

This was equivalent to possessing the exclusive dealership in the fjord region, and with her experience, Margaret could smell the potential profits. If he created his own merchant fleet and sold goods to the Fjords himself, the profits would be higher, but Roland did not want to expend too much energy and manpower in this area. He simply wanted to obtain some funds as soon as possible, in order to maintain the rapid development of his territory. After the primitive accumulation was completed, it would only be a matter of time before he introduced credit.

As expected, the businesswoman blinked her eyes and excitedly asked, “You’re entrusting it all to me?”

“If the price is reasonable.” Roland nodded. “If you’re willing to take care of Western Region’s overseas trade, we can discuss the details right now. The selling area is limited to the Fjords, and the selling price must not be lower than the price at which we’re currently selling to the Crescent-Moon-Bay Caravan.”

“That’s for sure. The steam-powered boat, which doesn’t rely on wind power to sail continuously, has alone made it worth it for maritime trading teams to compete for and buy goods at high prices.” She said in a highly assured voice, “If selling directly to the Fjord Islands, I’m confident of doubling the price.”

“We can share the excess profits together.” Roland laughed. “And, aside from the steam engine, there’s also another major product.” He clapped his hands, and a guard who was waiting outside the hall immediately walked in with a plate in hand. On top of the plate was four or five gleaming crystal bottles, and each of them was only about the size of a thumb.

“This is…”

“Open it and smell.”

Feeling curious, Margaret pulled the cork from the top of the bottle and sniffed. Her eyes immediately lit up. “My gosh, you actually created perfume!”

“I wonder, how is it compared with the perfume created by the Alchemist Workshop in King’s City?”

“The fragrance seems to be stronger.” She raised up and scrutinized the bottle, seeming very fond of it. “Was this manufactured by the Alchemist Workshop in Border Town?”

“More or less.” Roland also took a bottle and placed it in his palm. In accordance with his demands, the perfume bottles were made by firing crystals of excellent transparency, and each of them had the same hexagonal prism shape. By spinning the bottle gently under light, the perfume inside the bottle would change into various shades of color, and looked extremely aesthetically pleasing. If the sales concept of later generations was anything to go by, exquisite packaging could greatly increase the quality of the product itself. As the perfume served as the hit product to open up the Fjords’ market, he naturally took great care with every aspect.

Compared to the steam engine, the perfume could be described as real low-cost goods. When Evelyn realized that “the spiciest White Liquor” was also a type of liquor, she started to continually produce liquors with very high concentrations and even skipped the final step of distillation. As for roses and other flowers with unique smells, they were made into various oil products by Leaf. By mashing only two or three stalks of flowers, it produced sufficient fragrance to fill a bottle of liquor.

“If you like, I’ll give these few bottles to you.” He placed the perfume back on the plate.

“Really?” Margaret smiled, “Then I shall not be courteous.”

“I heard that this thing can be sold in the Fjords at a high price?”

“You should know, the Alchemist Workshop in King’s City sells only a very limited stock of perfumes every year. The thousand or so bottles don’t come anywhere close to fulfilling the demand. In fact, of the perfumes sold in other regions, a large portion is bought by maritime merchants and resold in the Fjords.”

Margaret paused after she said this. “I wonder, how many bottles of perfume can your Alchemist Workshop produce a year?”

“If there’s sufficient material, it should be approximately ten times the amount produced by the Alchemist Workshop in King’s City.” Roland deliberately downplayed the actual figure. He did not want to sell this highly profitable good as if it was cabbage, or earn only four or five thousand gold pieces a year. Along with the steam engine, the perfume served as his hit product, and Roland hoped that it would be able to bring back a similar profit.

“…” The businesswoman remained silent for a long while before she heaved, “Your territory is truly full of the unexpected.”

“So, does that mean you’re willing to manage the sales of these goods?”

“Of course, Your Highness.” She stood up and bowed to Roland. “I find this to be a rare opportunity.”

…

After a general agreement was reached, the specific details and contractual terms were handed over to Barov to negotiate. Roland returned to his office and prepared to write a letter to Theo, who was hiding in King’s City.

Whether to initiate an attack and overthrow Timothy, or to open up a new trading route, a fine balancing act was required. Roland did not want to put all his eggs in one basket. He hoped that even if the attack failed, he could continue to obtain saltpeter.

And the way to do this was self-production.

In the letter, aside from mentioning his intention to attack, he made a point to encourage Theo to contact the nitre plants in the surrounding areas of King’s City and purchase a batch of nitre workers to send to Western Region.

This year, life was certainly not rosy for saltpeter merchants. Apart from prohibiting exports, Timothy also forced the merchants to sell at a low price to Alchemist Workshop. As a result, the profits of saltpeter fields naturally sank. Roland believed that as long as the pay was good enough, it would not be a problem to obtain entire factories’ worth of workers.

The principle of saltpeter production was not complicated. At present, the population of Border Town was continually increasing, and could already satisfy the large amount of faeces required by the saltpeter fields. All of the conditions for self-production were fully met. Before defeating Timothy, this was undoubtedly one of the most stable guarantees.

Chapter 364: Double Image

…

The snow outside was becoming heavier again. Snowflakes that were the size of a fingernail fell from the sky and covered Border Town. Gray elves danced in the wind and descended towards the land together, where they blended in with the white roofs and tree branches. In all probability, witnessing such a scene made one feel nothing but cold.

Yet, the more it was so, the warmer Tilly felt.

She leant back on her deckchair, with half of her body covered by a soft woolen blanket, and her legs extended towards a fire barrel. This convenient device for warming oneself was invented by Roland. A charcoal brazier was placed inside a square barrel, which was arranged in line with a chair separated by a horizontal wooden plank. It was different to a blazing bonfire, which could cause burns if one got too close, yet did not provide much heat if one was far away. By placing one’s feet on the wooden plank, one could safely enjoy the warmth of the charcoal fire from a close distance. And by additionally tucking into a blanket, one’s entire body would feel warm.

The swirling snow outside the window accentuated the cosiness of indoors, and the sense of bliss created by this contrast was deeply memorable.

She had to say that the treatment that the witches received in Border Town was completely different from one year ago. Understandably, the witches did not wish to leave as even she herself was immensely enjoying the stay.

Apart from her, Anna and Agatha were also staying in the room. This was originally Anna’s bedroom, and whenever there was a rare downtime, Tilly would bring her books to the room and seek advice from Anna for things she did not understand. At first, there were only the two of them, but now, there was also an ancient witch who had awakened from the ruins. Anna simply moved the fire barrel from beside the table to an empty space in the room and asked Roland to install two more deckchairs. The three of them sat around the fire barrel with their legs resting on each other, and together they learned eye-opening and arcane knowledge.

Of course, most of the time, Tilly and Agatha asked questions while Anna answered.

“It’s hard to believe that a book like this could be written by a mortal.” Agatha closed the cover of Natural Science Theoretical Foundation, and inhaled deeply. “The more I read, the more I realize that the world is the way it is. Amidst the mass chaos there are hidden rules, and everything operates according to the same rules. If he was born in Taquila, the Union would certainly accept him as a member, and there’s a chance that he’ll possess the same status as a Senior Witch.”

At first, she asked many questions regarding the book’s contents, but through Anna’s detailed explanations, Agatha’s attitude towards Roland changed significantly.

However, Tilly believed that this change was only directed towards Roland, while together, they continued to see other mortals as extremely dull and stupid.

As she thought of this, Tilly sighed uncontrollably. Only she knew that all of this knowledge did not originate from Roland Wimbledon but another person who suddenly appeared in his mind.

Through these few days of contact, as well as Sylvie’s supporting evidence, Tilly was able to confirm this explanation. However, it would be impossible for them to prove he was still Roland Wimbledon. What was even more suspicious was that he did not know where this portion of memory came from or who it belonged to. It was hard to believe that memory could be completely separated from his life, or at least, she herself was unable to do so. As long as he recalled in his mind the knowledge of the court mentor and professor, the relevant segments of memory would flash in front of his eyes.

“Where exactly did he acquire all of this knowledge from?” Agatha sighed and said, “I had thought that the mortals’ research has been extensive, but after these few days of observation, it seems that there’s not much difference from 400 years ago—and perhaps even a little behind.”

“I don’t know either.” Tilly shrugged. “In any case, the knowledge couldn’t have been acquired in the palace.”

“How was he like in the past?”

This question made Anna raise her head.

“In the past…” Tilly hesitated for a moment. “He was arrogant, cowardly, bigoted, ignorant, unskilled and terrible… His only merit was probably that he didn’t make use of his status as a prince to commit any atrocious act.”

“Oh… so, he was equal to other mortals?”

“No. Even among mortals, he was considered a terrible fella.” She said, grumbling, “Though he improved after coming here, it’s still never clear what he’s thinking… He would always hold back his words and yet wanted people to trust him. How is that possible?”

The room suddenly quietened.

“What’s the matter?” Tilly sensed something odd in the other two’s eyes.

“No… Nothing.” Anna smiled with her mouth closed. “This is the first time I’ve heard you speak about this.”

“Damn, she only now realized that she had spoken too much. This kind of complaint shouldn’t be coming from an ally. It was probably because in recent days she had been too relaxed.” She tried to explain. “What I mean is…”

“It’s OK, His Highness wouldn’t care.” Anna shook her head and laughed. “He probably has his own reasons.”

“Roland…” Tilly hesitated briefly and asked, “didn’t mention these to you before?”

“No,” Anna said casually, “I haven’t asked him either. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.”

“Indeed,” Tilly sighed in mind. The first time that Anna met the prince, he was already a changed person, and hence it was meaningless to consider this question.

“From what you said, he was a totally different person in the past?” Agatha asked with interest. “There used to be a saying in the Quest Society that the more uncommon a person is, the more distinct quirks he has. Perhaps this kind of change is a normal occurrence. While in the palace, did Roland howl at the moon, or spend a long time staring and gesturing at the wall?”

“What kind of quirks are these?” Tilly could not help but shake her head. “Apart from being a little eccentric in the way he did things, he was no different from ordinary people. However… I heard people mention that once during a court lesson, he publicly exclaimed that he would marry a witch, and probably because of these words, Gerald and Timothy constantly picked on him in the name of purifying the Devil’s minions, while his own father was also unhappy with the behavior. After that, his personality became more and more stubborn and unruly.”

“He was discriminated against because he wanted to marry a witch?” Agatha curled her lips. “This was a noble goal in Taquila. Of course, the number of people who were successful to do this was very small, because most witches were unwilling to spend their lives with only one man.”

“But we’re different from 400 years ago. If he married a witch, it would mean that he wouldn’t have children to succeed him. How could his father feel good about such an idea?” Tilly sighed, “It has already been more than 10 years. He has most probably already forgotten those silly words.”

“Is it?” Anna spoke suddenly, “But now he’s still willing to marry a witch.”

“Oh, he still remembers? Wait…” Tilly’s eyes widened uncontrollably. “You said now?”

“Yes,” Anna laughed gently, “His Highness said so himself.”

Tilly suddenly froze.

Chapter 365: The Journey to the West

etrov yawned, sat up in his bed, and immediately felt a chill run through his upper body. He would stay in his bed forever if he could, where it was warm and had Shirley’s company.

“Don’t you want to sleep a little more?” The woman beside him turned over and mumbled groggily, “It’s still early, isn’t it?”

He bent over and kissed her forehead—Shirley had brown hair that fell in soft ringlets, skin as smooth as a baby’s, and a pair of lovely round eyes. When he first met her at the Longsong Theatre, it took no more than a glance for him to be completely drawn by her eyes.

“I think it’s almost noon, so I should head downstairs to see if there is any official business to attend to.” Petrov whispered. “Go back to bed if you don’t want to get up, and I’ll have attendants bring lunch to you a while later.”

“But I want you to stay here with me.” Shirley wrapped her arm around his waist. “It’s snowing outside anyways, so what official business could there be?”

She wasn’t wrong. Ever since the Months of Demons arrived, the entire city immediately fell silent. Theater performances became weekly, all the merchants left the markets, and even the taverns shut their doors. If someone had walked on the streets during the day, he might have even thought this was a ghost town.

So… should he sleep for a little longer? After pursuing Shirley for nearly a year, Petrov’s dream finally came true, and he felt a little reluctant to leave. Yesterday’s entire night of joy really wore him out, and now that he had regained his strength, perhaps there could be a second round of joy with Shirley after lunch.

Right at this moment, a knocking came from outside the bedroom.

“Sir Petrov, there is a blue-envelope letter.”

He was shocked and immediately rolled out of bed, picked up the robe that was carelessly tossed on the ground, and draped it on. “I’ll be there in a second.”

“Sir?” Shirley murmured.

“Give me a minute.” Petrov said as he tied his belt hurriedly and left the bedroom. After a while, he returned to the bedroom and crawled into the quilt holding a letter encased in a blue envelope.

“What’s this? Who wrote this to you?” At this point, the woman was basically wide awake. She yawned and sat up to lean against Petrov.

“It’s from Border Town.” Petrov replied. “It must be a letter written by His Highness.”

He opened the envelope and took out the letter, and as he quickly scanned its contents, he couldn’t help but frown. “His Highness orders me to pay a visit to Border Town.”

“Right now?” Shirley exclaimed. “Even in this weather?”

“Yes, it must be about something urgent.” Petrov sighed, “I’ll pack later and leave in the afternoon. You should go home for now, and I’ll visit you as soon as I get back.” He couldn’t help but think of the time a year ago when he sailed through a blizzard to Border Town, bearing the warning from Longsong Stronghold for Duke Ryan. Yet now, he was summoned back to that god-awful place because of a letter from the town Lord in a cruel twist of fate.

“Can’t you just pretend you didn’t receive it?” She said, annoyed. “Even though he conquered the Longsong Stronghold, you’re the actual ruler here. Even if it were the King’s order, you didn’t have to immediately carry it out, right?”

If it were from the Duke, it would have been possible. However, Petrov knew Prince Roland’s impatience full well. He could only lovingly stroke her head. “That’s not the same. The King might not pay attention to the Western Region, but His Highness Roland can… He isn’t only the Lord of Border Town, but the ruler of the entire Western Region.”

…

During the Months of Demons, there truly wasn’t much official business to attend to in Longsong Stronghold. After delegating a few tasks to his underlings and placing the town under his father Earl Hull’s charge, Petrov left the castle. Different from last time when he was only accompanied by one assistant, this time he sailed on the Duke’s private ship—the Lionheart, with more than ten attendants and apprentices, as well as two family knights. It was quite a spectacular scene.

Just as they were passing through the outer city and heading towards the Stronghold harbor, sounds of an uproar coming from the street corner caught Petrov’s attention.

He saw ten or so men in a circle watching something. Judging from their dress, they were all civilians. They were probably attracted from their homes nearby by the noise. A few cries of “demon” also occasionally erupted from the circle. “Hang her!” Someone screamed sharply.

Petrov felt a twinge of sympathy and told one of his knights, “Go check it out. If it’s a regular brawl, tell them to get back into their houses.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The knight pushed through the people and walked into the middle of the crowd. As he pulled out his swords, the crowd quickly dissipated. He brought back a woman and two children, one of which still had a rope tied around her neck.

“What happened?”

“Sir!” The woman knelt next to Petrov’s feet. “Kill her immediately! She has fallen to temptation and become a witch!”

This word shocked Petrov. “Witch?” He cast his sight onto the other two people. The slightly taller boy immediately stood in front of the girl and looked as if he was ready to attack. His face was badly bruised, revealing that he had been beaten brutally. “She isn’t the demon’s minion! I saw in plays that there were both good and bad witches. Why do you punish her?”

“Are you certain she’s a witch?” Petrov ignored the boy and continued asking the woman.

“Yes, Sir. Don’t be fooled by the plays. If the Church were still here, it would have never allowed them to spread such lies on stage. This thing here is also a little demon, and I was punishing her on behalf of the Church. Sir, hang her right now so that the influence of Hell won’t spread in Longsong!”

“Get to the point!” Petrov snapped.

After the woman had jabbered on for quite some time, Petrov finally understood the whole story. After the church was burned down by Timothy, this woman and some other believers continued preaching of their own accord in the outer city, and at the same time waited for the Holy City of Hermes to send a new priest to rebuild the Western Region’s church. This chaos happened out of pure coincidence. Just as the girl was using her abilities to help her neighbors clear out the snow on their roofs, the woman ran into her, which led to the debacle at hand.

While she was talking, the woman kept complaining about the absurdity of primary education and the demoralization of theater performances, which led to the onlookers only dared to hold onto the boy but not help her kill the damned demon. If it were in the old days, her corpse would have already been hung on a beam… These hateful words made Petrov’s face twitch.

“Take her back and interrogate her thoroughly.” He spoke to his knight. “You’ll stay in the Stronghold this time. When I come back, I expect all the disciples similar to her to be in prison.”

“What… no! Sir, how could you…” The woman had not even finished protesting before she was silenced by a few slaps across the face from the knight.

“Are you really a witch?” Petrov asked the terrified little girl. “Show me your abilities.”

The girl could only kneel weakly on the ground and gave no response.

Petrov shook his head, raised his voice, and repeated, “If you can prove that you are really a witch, I’ll let you go.”

After a long time, the girl stuck her trembling hands in the snow. Soon, a layer of snow that was nearly an inch thick melted into flowing icy water.

“So I see.” Petrov nodded. “Come with me.”

“Come?” The girl raised her head. “Where to go?”

“A place fit for witches to live.” He motioned for his servant to pick up the girl and continued walking to the harbor.

“Put her down, you liar! You promised to let her go! ” The boy wanted to rush towards her, but he was blocked by the other attendants, and his voice faded slowly into the distance.

Chapter 366: Paper

fter the snowfall during the Months of the Demons, the Redwater River became the only path in the entire Western Region that could still be traveled.

Compared to the small sailboat Petrov used before, the Lionheart was much more spacious. It had room for a simple kitchen, so that even during travels, the passengers could eat piping hot food.

His bedroom naturally was the single bedroom at the cabin that the Duke used to live in, the poop deck of the boat. It had windows that allowed Petrov to see the currents and chunks of ice floating under his feet.

“Milord, the egg soup you demanded.” The knight carried a clay jar and a ceramic bowl into his room.

“Thanks for the trouble.” Petrov nodded and said. “You should sit down and have a bowl too to warm yourself up.”

After His Highness drafted all the knights of the other four noble families to Border Town, the first thing those nobles did was to send over their families as well. All the empty lands left behind were used for soliciting new knights, or directly taken up by the nobles themselves.

Only the Honeysuckle Family didn’t suffer too many losses in this war, actually managing to expand swiftly after they were placed in charge of Longsong Stronghold. Now, they were high above the other four families and still owned a relatively complete platoon of knights. Seth, the knight next to him, was a member of this platoon. Although he was not as well-known as the Morning Light, he was still one of the more outstanding young knights.

“Yes, Milord.” He smiled, opened the lid of the jar, and poured a bowl of soup for Petrov. “But… Milord, do you really think this is alright?”

“Are you talking about the witch?”

“Yes. Even though the church was burned down, it’s pretty easy to rebuild it, and the church will surely return to the Western Region someday. If you place all the blame on Prince Roland, there won’t be anything they can do to you. However, you rescued a witch in public and arrested the believers of the church…” The knight hesitated and continued, “That’s publicly opposing them.”

“If it’s so easy to rebuild it, then why is that place still a pile of rubble?” Petrov blew on his fragrant egg soup. “The church won’t ever come back to the Western Region again.”

Seth blinked confusedly and didn’t seem convinced.

After the egg soup had slightly cooled, Petrov took a little sip and huffed a breath of fog in satisfaction. “As an administrative representative, my most important duty is to figure out the true intentions of my superior. The real purpose of His Highness’ efforts to normalize education in the Stronghold, utilize the newly trained Border Town soldiers, and act out plays with obvious messages was to weaken the church’s influence. Since I’m the caretaker of the Stronghold under His Highness, I have to follow his intentions in governing this area. If I can’t even figure this out, he’ll probably replace me with someone else.” Petrov shrugged. “Preventing the church from being rebuilt is as easy as lifting a hand—the stonemasons and carpenters should have all gotten their warnings. Even if the believers want to rebuild the church on their own, the Rats won’t let these artisans work for them.”

“But the church…”

“Since His Highness did it, he’s not afraid of the church’s retribution, which is to say that he’s confident that he can fend off the church. If they can still set foot in the Western Region, it’ll mean the prince has failed. If he fails, I won’t be able to sit on the Stronghold throne anymore and the point will be moot. This I think you can understand.”

“Do you think Prince Roland can defeat the church’s army?” Sise asked.

“Who knows?” Petrov shook his head, smiling. “A year ago, no one thought that he could fend off Duke Ryan’s knights.” He stood and lifted up the jar. “I’ll go check on the little girl, she may be hungry.”

…

The girl’s name was Paper.

There was no doubt that only an orphan could have such a meaningless name.

Ever since she boarded the boat, she’d stayed silently in the cabin under the deck. Even when her hands were frozen and red and her body was trembling in the cold, she didn’t make a sound. For safety reasons, Petrov still placed a God’s Locket of Retribution onto her. Although His Highness kept claiming that witches were just like normal people, he still didn’t fully believe that someone with such extraordinary powers could be like a normal person—even the slightest wrong move could end up with someone being hurt.

“Why aren’t you lying in the blanket?” Petrov pointed at the hammock hanging in the cabin. Cabin space was limited, so sailors usually slept in suspended hammocks, and used coarse linen blankets. Although it wasn’t the most comfortable thing, it was still warm.

“I’ll get it dirty,” she whispered.

“Sailors can’t be any cleaner than you are.” He found a relatively dry spot and sat down. “This journey takes three days. Are you just going to sit like this the entire time? I’m worried that you’ll starve to death before we even reach Border Town.”

“Border Town?” Paper stared in confusion.

“Didn’t I tell you? You’re going to a place fit for witches to live in.” Petrov opened the jar. “Drink some hot soup and go lie on the hammock.”

This time, the girl did not refuse. It was obvious that she was starved as she began drinking directly from the jar without any fear burning her tongue.

Petrov shook his head. She was as skinny as a monkey, her hair was matted with dirt, and there were holes all over her clothes, which she probably found somewhere. At a glance, she seemed no different from all the other orphans in the Stronghold.

“Who’s he, the boy protecting you?” He asked, “Your orphan friend?”

“Snaketooth. He… often brought us… food to eat,” Paper swallowed the soup, stuck out her tongue, and mumbled. “If I go with you, you won’t… arrest him, right? He’s not… a witch.”

“Of course,” Petrov said expressionlessly. “He isn’t important.” The phrase “often brought us food to eat” slightly surprised him. There were few people like that boy in the slums. Usually, a lack of food pushed people to steal from each other—people who were already struggling to survive rarely had the energy to worry about others. And the name Snaketooth… sounded a bit like a Rat.

At that thought, he couldn’t help but ask, “You said ‘us’ – were there other witches besides you?”

“No.” Paper shook her head. “All of the others were just orphans.”

This relieved Petrov a little. “So what was that old bat talking about when she said you were using your abilities to clear snow? This’s the first time I’ve heard about a witch who used her abilities in public.”

“It was Snaketooth’s idea. He said that I could help the residents clear the snow on their roofs in exchange for food, so no one would go hungry. The theater puts on stories about witches all the time, so no one is afraid of witches now. As long as I’m willing to do it, he can negotiate with the adults.”

“It is that so.” Petrov thought, the corners of his mouth curling into a smirk. “This kid is quite interesting. He knew how to make the most of his resources, but he underestimated the church’s influence.” Then, he asked, “So, did you get food in exchange?”

“Um…” Paper bowed her head. “I cleaned three roofs. One family chased me away, while the other two gave me half a loaf of bread and a pancake. However, when I got to the fourth…”

She met that hateful old woman. Petrov patted her head. “Get some rest when you’re done drinking. I’ll send someone to get you when it’s dinnertime.”

Three days later, the Lionheart arrived in the harbor of Border Town.