Release That Witch

Chapter 375: Last Wish

erlin was not unfamiliar with the basement in the Eltek mansion.

When he was young, this place used to be his personal playground. He took immense pleasure in finding all kinds of strange artifacts in the dusty boxes. Of course, for this reason, he was often beaten by his father and was eventually forbidden from entering the basement alone, but he somehow always found a way to sneak in.

This time, Sir Eltek led him into the furthest stone room. The four walls of the room were embedded with pale blue crystals which were the size of a fist. Ferlin inhaled a cold breath involuntarily. To his surprise, every block of stone was a high-quality God’s Stone of Retaliation. As a young boy, he was unaware of this, but now, he naturally understood the implications. High-quality magic stones were worth a lot of money, and those as big as these were worth at least five or six hundred gold royals each.

Is the Eltek Family actually so wealthy?

He suddenly recalled that the treasure map was also found in the Elteks’ house.

A circle of boxes was placed in the stone room, and the arrangement was similar to the impression in his memory. Sir Eltek took out a bunch of keys from his pocket and opened the largest box in the circle. Following a loud creaking sound, a cloud of dust kicked up at once.

Ferlin held his breath and looked inside the box. The interior was divided into numerous layers, similar to the dressing boxes used by young noble ladies, and on every layer was placed gemstones of different colors.

“Which ancestor had passed this down?”

“I’ve not been here for a very long time.” Sir Eltek sighed. “Every time I see these Magic Stones, I would remember the past events which my ancestors told me about.”

“Magic Stones?” Ferlin asked in surprise.

“Yes, they are treasures which only witches are able to use.” He nodded. “This is a long story. Our family was established under the blessings of a witch.”

Ferlin’s father started to recount about the family and its history. Some of the details of his story were different to what Ferlin had heard as a child. The first Eltek ancestor was in fact not from Western Region, but instead, from the remote and unexplored Barbarian Land, which was located past the Impassable Mountain Range.

Ferlin’s eyes gradually widened. He did not imagine that the portrait could have concealed such an amazing secret.

“Our family’s founder, Ancestor Agatha, had once established a huge kingdom together with many other witches. The witches were part of the dominant class, akin to today’s nobility, in the kingdom. It was an offensive by the demons from Hell which brought about the demise of the kingdom. In the final battle, the survivors fled in different directions. Agatha led a group of people towards the stone tower in the Misty Forest to collect experimental materials, while another group of people followed the troops to Graycastle—at that time, the land on which the Kingdom was eventually built was barren and desolate.”

“Were our ancestors part of the other group?” Ferlin asked hoarsely.

“Indeed. He used to be the housekeeper of Agatha. Accordingly, he was supposed to follow her into the forest, but he cowered and suggested that he would stay behind to look after the materials. His request was accepted by his master.” Sir Eltek spoke in a deep voice. “You should know what this means.”

Ferlin nodded. The housekeeper was typically the person the master trusted the most in the household apart from her kin. At most times, the housekeeper ought to have accompanied the master wherever she went, unless she commanded otherwise. In a sense, proposing to leave was equivalent to betraying the master even if she did not refuse.

“When he arrived at Western Region, he began to feel remorse for what he did, and recorded his sentiments in a book.” Sir Eltek took out a black-coated book from another box and handed it to his son. “His master never returned, and after that, he broke off from the Union and left the refugee camp. He took many servants with him and settled down on this piece of land, which was yet to be cultivated.”

Ferlin grasped the black-coated book without opening it. Instead, he thought of something frightening. “So, does that mean that you knew from the beginning that everything the church did was wrong?”

If the witches had fought against the demons before, why are they now branded as the Devil’s minions? There’s definitely much more to this than meets the eye.

“I knew, but I couldn’t do anything.” Sir Eltek said calmly. “If a witch was found in our territory, I would definitely help to hide her. But in the Stronghold, I wasn’t able to do so, because of Duke Ryan’s disagreement—he hated witches more than the church did. From the records of some of our later ancestors, it’s evident that they did the same thing as me… except that they never informed the survivors about what happened in the witches’ kingdom.”

“Are these survivors still in the household?”

“Of course not, they’re all in their graves already.” He spread his hands. “It was very rare to live until 60 or 70 years of age, and being humans after all, they aged and passed away.”

“But you believe that our first ancestor could still be living.”

“This is only a possibility—witches have many different abilities but are unable to breed children, hence I made this supposition.”

Ferlin pondered for a brief moment and then changed the subject. “Did our ancestors never think of entering the Misty Forest to find Ancestor Agatha?”

“Easier said than done.” His father shook his head. “If even witches were unable to return safely, ordinary mortals entering the forest would simply be courting death. Furthermore, four hundred years ago, the Western Region was a wasteland with beasts and jungles everywhere. It was extremely difficult to settle down upon, and hence there wasn’t time to take care of other issues. However, our ancestors did indeed write in their wills that they hoped that someday a descendant would enter the stone tower of the Misty Forest, even if it was just to take a look.”

Morning Light inhaled a deep breath and flipped open the dust-laden book. From the very first page, he already felt a sense of regret written between the lines. Much of the writing had faded over time, but perhaps because of this reason, the heavy feelings of his ancestors became even more pronounced. After reading for a long time, he finally flipped to the last page of the book where the wills, which seemed more like unfulfilled wishes, were written.

This was, in all likelihood, the page which made his father become emotional on that night when he was drunk.

As a former knight himself, he could empathize with this.

“Do you need me to find her?” Ferlin asked after a brief silence. “If she’s indeed Agatha, then she must be staying at the prince’s castle, and as far as I know, many witches are also gathered there.”

“Witches are gathered in the castle?” The knight responded while deep in thought. “Little wonder that Longsong Stronghold made an announcement to recruit witches a few days ago. It seems that His Highness is intent on becoming an enemy of the church.” Then, he shook his head. “No, you don’t have to find her.”

Ferlin felt surprised. “Don’t you want to see her?”

“It’s wrong for an ancestor to visit a descendant.” Sir Eltek laughed. “Of course, we should be the ones to visit her.”

“W…we?”

“Indeed. I’m following you to Border Town.” His father stroked his chin and smiled. “Bring all of these things. If she’s really Agatha, our ancestors’ last wish may finally be fulfilled.”

Chapter 376: The Castle’s new facilities

quot;What are they?” Andrea asked while chewing on the dried fish.

The prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle was tossing about something new again. He spliced sections of brass together, having Anna melt the joint and Soraya wrap a soft layer of magic coating around it. At first sight, they looked like the water pipes installed in the bathroom, but they were much larger in size and each of them was about the size of a human thigh. It was impossible for a man to move it without the help of Hummingbird, who reduced the weight.

Yet, the brass was not installed only in one or two rooms but horizontally throughout the whole castle and the Witches’ House. It entered from the corner of the room, connecting with a strange metal louver along the bottom of the wall, crossed the next room and joined with the longitudinal pipe at the very end.

This large project attracted a lot of witches to surround and watch it, in which the witches from both the Sleeping Island and the Witch Union showed great interest.

“Any guesses?” Roland smiled mysteriously and said, “If you get it right, an extra ice cream bread for dinner.”

Ice cream bread! This caught Andrea’s attention. It was the most amazing food here, a layer of sweet ice cream stuffed in two slices of toasted bread. It had never been heard of before in the Kingdom of Dawn. She instantly fell in love with the delicacy the moment she tried it. Despite being teased by Ashes repeatedly, she would still eat it. Otherwise, watching it being left on the plate would still be nothing short of torture to her.

“Does this supply water to rooms?” Ashes frowned.

“Of course not.” Andrea pouted to herself. Copper was not cheap. Since the small pipes in the bathroom could distribute water, why use such a huge one?

However, considering she was always teased by Ashes’ jeers of “who was the one who said the food from the past was the most delicious”, which she had indeed once said in front of Tilly and could not deny, Andrea could only pretend that she did not hear such superficial words.

“What a shallow opinion. Who needs such a big pipe for water supply?” someone said behind Andrea, “His Highness would never do such a pointless thing.”

Incisive! That was exactly what Andrea was thinking. Her spirit was lifted right away. No one else would dare to use such a tone to talk to an Extraordinary other than herself and Miss Nightingale from the Witch Union. She turned around and saw a woman looking at Ashes in disdain, with her chin being lifted to just the right angle.

This is the expression the nobility should use!

Andrea secretly praised this mysterious woman who was the most cordial witch she had met since she came to Border Town. Nightingale showed her extraordinary skills during the rescue of the witch in the relic. She was also from a noble background, and even her hair color was similar to Andrea’s. In the battles against the demonic hybrids on the city wall, Nightingale had recognized her ability and shared dried fish with her. She was just acting like a noble.

Most importantly, she didn’t like Ashes at all.

Andrea didn’t know how Ashes offended Nightingale when she first came to Border Town, but wasn’t it true that the enemies my enemy was my friend? Not to mention that her character was very compatible with Andrea herself.

“You’re talking as if you know the answer,” Ashes shrugged and said.

“Of course, I know,” Nightingale grinned and said, “I’ve been in the office when His Highness was drafting the design drawings. All of his plans were drafted in front of my very eyes.”

“It’s not fair!” Mystery Moon muttered.

“She doesn’t take part in the examinations though,” said the prince. The prince’s words made Nightingale’s proud expression stupefied right away. “A hint for you all, these pipes are only parts of the system and you may want to look elsewhere in order to better figure out the answer.”

“Goo!” Maggie flew out of the room with Lightning immediately, the other witches were not far behind. Everyone had scattered away, trying to have a look at the pipe. Andrea fell behind everyone else on purpose. When everyone left, she winked at Nightingale and called her out to the door.

“What’s that?” Andrea whispered, “I’ll share half of the dinner bread with you if I got it right.”

“I don’t know either.” Nightingale’s reply shocked her.

“But you just said that you had gone through all the designs, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, just like Natural Science Theoretical Foundation, even if you understand the individual words on it, can you understand them when they’re put together? ”

“Uh…” Andrea opened her mouth but she found that she was quite right. She had tried the book herself and found that it was just like hieroglyphics.

“I’m afraid only Anna has the ability to understand His Highness’ intention by simply looking at his drawings,” Nightingale said, “If you ask her, she’ll definitely tell you the answer.”

After Nightingale left, Andrea hesitated for a long while. In the end, she didn’t call for Anna to come out from the room. It was out of shyness or embarrassment, but rather… out of respect. She was not afraid of heinous criminals nor the cruel God’s Punishment Army, but this young girl of fewer than twenty years left her in awe.

She remembered when she passed by the prince’s office once and overheard the conversation of Anna and His Highness. Their conversation still brought her goosebumps now. Those strange terms like the high angle calculation, orbit-trimming with drop-point parameters and the conversion from kinetic energy to potential energy in an ideal state, all made her rooted to the spot immediately. The were both witches, but why Anna could fluently speak such terms that Andrea didn’t understand at all? From that moment onwards, Andrea had an extended admiration towards Anna. She thought that Anna was a totally different type of person from herself but at the same level with Lady Tilly instead.

Since she could not ask for the answer, she could only rely on herself. Andrea went around to explore each of the rooms according to His Highness’ advice. She found that there was a rectangular metal railing separating the pipes in the room that had completed the installation as if it was to prevent anyone from touching the pipes. Upon seeing this, she thought, if it wasn’t for the presence of barbarians like Ashes, even if someone touched them it probably wouldn’t be a big deal. Thinking of what Nightingale said—”His Highness would never do such a pointless thing”, Andrea thought that these metal railings should have their own distinct functions.

She had a new discovery when she came to the first floor of the Witch House. There was a newly built bungalow between the castle and the Witch House and that was where the copper pipes leading to the two buildings extended.

There was a huge iron box in the house, it was hollow at the bottom half of the box and there was a huge chimney on the top… It looked almost like a cooking stove. And she saw a pipe connected directly to the well in the yard, which looked rather similar to the water supply system in the water tower.

Wait… Was it supposed to be used for boiling water?

If the pipes were used for hot water distribution, there was no need to be such humongous at all.

Andrea still couldn’t understand what it was for after a long contemplation.

His Highness gathered all the witches in the hall before dinner. He smiled and said, “The heating system in the castle is officially launched from today.”

“Heating system?” Ashes puzzled.

“Yes. Water will be boiled in the boiler, and the high-temperature steam will enter the rooms through the pipes and increase the temperature there. As long as the doors and windows are closed, the whole room can be warmed up pretty quickly,” Prince explained, “compared to fire barrels that are too heavy to move and require good air flow to prevent anthracemia, the new heating system is far more efficient and doesn’t have such hazards at all. It’ll make you feel as warm as spring while you sleep.” When the test period ends, the entire residential area will be gradually equipped with such a heating system.”

“Next, to announce the winners of the ice cream bread. In addition to Anna, Soraya and Hummingbird who were participating in the installation of the heating system, there was only one person who guessed it right. And, it was… Tilly!”

Andrea helplessly stared at Lady Tilly who was smiling while eating the delicious dinner, completely losing her reserved manner of a noble.

Chapter 377: Under Low Temperatures

he boiler heating system was not too complicated and essentially just involved boiling the water and distributing the heat through pipes and radiators into the rooms. The heat could be carried by water or steam, and Roland preferred the latter because it had a higher temperature and was more convenient. As long as the boiler kept on running, the steam pressure would fill the pipes with hot water droplets without the help of a pump.

Of course, there were also shortcomings to a steam heating system. The pipes were always under very high pressure, so weak infrastructure could cause leakages or even explosions. The steam would reach temperatures of 200 to 300 degrees Celsius, making it extremely damaging to human flesh and thus raising the safety standards for the steam heating system. Anna’s Blackfire welding technique, combined with Soraya’s coating, guaranteed system integrity and reduced these risks to a minimum.

Roland also installed an automatic valve on the boiler, which had the same mechanical principles as the centrifugal governor on a steam engine . When the furnace pressure was too high, the high-speed rotation of the flywheel would pull the valve upwards, releasing steam and lowering pressure.

The last safety measure was located between the boiler and the two main heating pipes. Roland asked Anna to carve several grooves around the connecting copper pipe in order to decrease its strength, just like in the design of tin cans. Even if the pressure valve failed to turn on, the explosion would still be contained in the boiler and would not harm anyone in the room.

The castle was completely transformed after the heating system was up and running.

The witches’ thick winter clothes were replaced with unlined fall garments. Watching the girls talking and laughing in their colorful attire greatly increased Roland’s motivation to work.

Of course, these facilities could only act as a supplement to their lifestyle and help create a better working environment.

His next task was much more important and decided the future of the Western Region.

He had to find a way to produce synthetic ammonia and reduce dependence on nitrate, which would allow chemical explosive production to reach new heights and satisfy the amount required to use automatic firing weapons.

If he could achieve this by the end of the winter, it would undoubtedly serve him well in his planned offensive in the spring.

Roland summoned Kyle Sichi and Agatha to his office.

“How have you two been working together during these past few days?” he asked with a smile on his face. Kyle Sichi was the Chief Alchemist of Border Town, but besides his love for alchemy, he hardly cared about people’s feelings or opinions. On the other hand, Agatha came from the Witch Kingdom from four centuries ago and was a proud member of the Quest Society, the kingdom’s most prestigious research institution. Both of them were straight talkers and had highly reactionary personalities. Roland was often worried that they might fight, but he needed them to work together to produce nitro-explosives and ammonia. Thus, he had to personally check in with them, because if they argued, only he would be able to work things out.

“Very well.” Kyle’s words shocked Roland. “Miss Agatha’s abilities are of great help to my experiments. I’ve found the stable synthesis temperature of nitration glycerol, and there have been no problems with laboratory preparation, so we’re currently testing the possibility of industrial production. None of this would be possible without the ice cups… Oh, forgive me, I was so busy that I forgot to inform you of this. ” He paused and said, “By the way, if you called me here to ask about this, can I return to my laboratory now? I still have many things to do.”

“Um… is that so?” Roland looked towards Agatha, and she nodded.

“Sir Kyle has an extraordinary amount of knowledge, especially in regards to the elements, which is somewhat similar to that of the Quest Society. We’re cooperating very nicely, and if he was in Taquila, he would definitely have been accepted by the Union.”

“Was it actually easier for two straight talkers to get along? It seems I was worried for nothing. But why does the chief alchemist more respectful towards the witch than towards me? How sad…” Roland thought to himself and cleared his throat. “Then I’m relieved. I gathered you here to assign you some new research. ”

“Please.” Kyle perked up as soon as he heard the word “research”.

“As I said before, there are many different gases in the air, and it’s time we start using them. According to ‘Elementary Chemistry’, oxygen and nitrogen make up 99% of the air, and I need to separate these two gases for chemical production,” Roland explained.

Kyle contemplated for a moment. “Do you mean we should separate them by using their different characteristics, such as their different boiling points and melting points?”

“That’s right.” Roland nodded. “Condense and then reheat the gases. As the boiling point of nitrogen is lower than oxygen, it can be distilled from the liquid first. Since the temperature needed is far below the freezing point for water, the experiment is difficult to conduct with conventional methods, so Agatha’s abilities are crucial.”

“Turning air into liquid,” Kyle said, stroking his beard. “It sounds very interesting.”

“If the temperature was brought low enough, they could freeze into solids,” Roland smiled and said. The alchemist probably never dreamed that the seemingly elusive gas could be held in a person’s hands – as long as adequate anti-frostbite measures were taken.

Agatha asked confusedly, “I flipped through the same book a little, but I didn’t see anything about air being frozen into a variety of gases.”

“It’s difficult to distinguish them with the naked eye because they are mixed together and show no distinct layers,” Rolland explained. “The first step is to eliminate carbon dioxide, which has the highest freezing point, but it makes up a very small percentage of air, so you wouldn’t even notice its solid form. Next, oxygen and nitrogen would fuse together to give off a light blue hue. If you don’t separate it, it would look like a pure substance, but liquid nitrogen is actually colorless.”

“What should we do?”

“First, prepare the distillation vessel.” The prince grinned. “This is a very important project.”

There was no doubt that depending on Agatha alone would not be enough. Glass could easily break under repeated temperature changes, so the vessels for the liquid air could only be made of steel. This was not difficult for Anna, but the closed shell would make it impossible to see the liquefied air changing during the heating process. Therefore, Sylvie’s Eye of Magic was necessary to observe the situation inside of the vessel. Then, Agatha would record the magic consumption at the boiling point of nitrogen, as well as the stable production temperatures.

Preparation alone took three days.

When the vessel was completed, Roland went to the chemistry laboratory to personally oversee the town’s first oxygen-nitrogen separation experiment.

Chapter 378: Oxygen and Nitrogen

gatha, Sylvie, Chavez and Kyle Sichi would conduct the experiment. Carter, Iron Axe, Barov and all the other witches of the Witch Union were also required by Roland to come to the lab, as it was an experiment of great practical and educational significance. The fifth laboratory was chosen for this event, given that it was the largest lab and had enough space for the two dozen people.

Considering the experiment was the first of its kind, Roland had built a tower-shaped vessel which was only as tall as a man with a diameter of one meter instead of a giant fractionation vessel. The inside of the vessel was divided into three parts. The air would enter the vessel through the bottom part and come out through the two parts above.

Before separating the air, Roland gave them a simple lecture on chemistry, telling them what was going to happen and putting forward a few questions for them to think about and try to answer. It was a trick frequently used by chemistry teachers to intrigue their students and enhance the effects of the lesson.

“… theoretically, when Agatha cools down the vessel and brings down its internal temperature, the air inside will gradually be condensed into liquid, and drip down into the bottom of the vessel through the holes in the plate. So when you see liquid at the bottom, please let us know.”

Roland explained to Sylvie in detail, because no one except her could directly see into the vessel and describe the changes happening inside.

Sylvie nodded somewhat skeptically, “Will I really see liquid appear? Will it not be only the water vapor inside the vessel?”

“No, it’s different. The liquefied air is light blue, completely different from water vapor.” Roland shook his head and explained further, “Plus, at that temperature, the water vapor will be solidified into ice crystals long before the air.” Then he made a gesture toward Agatha and said, “Let’s get started.”

“Wait… Do we not have to plug up the hole in the vessel’s bottom now?” she asked.

“Block it up later. Otherwise, the vessel won’t have enough air inside to bring about significant changes.” As this was only an experiment, he chose the easiest way for air intake—when the air temperature inside the vessel was rapidly lowered, the internal pressure would fall, and thereby draw the air into the vessel. In mass production, cooling down the air cost too much energy and the cool air would run off continuously. Therefore, this cooling method was considered inefficient and rarely applied in practice. However, Agatha’s magic power could bring down the vessel’s temperature more efficiently than any refrigerators, saving Roland the trouble to prepare an air pump.

Agatha took a deep breath and pressed her hands onto the fractionation vessel.

About half a minute later, whistling sounds could be clearly heard as the air was rapidly passing through the air intake pipe. White frost could be seen by the naked eye around the pipe hole, and its area gradually expanded—the water in the air nearby was quickly solidified, and then adhered to the vessel. Anna turned her Blackfire into threads to clean up these continuously thickening ice crystals.

“I see some liquid appearing on the plate, but there’s more white frost inside.” Sylvie said in an amazement a moment later.

“The white frost may be the solidified water vapor or the crystallized carbon dioxide,” explained Roland. “Considering that there’s only a small portion of carbon dioxide in the air, most of it should be solidified water vapor.”

In normal production, air must be dried out first before being sucked into the fractionating vessel. Otherwise, the solidified water vapor would block the parting plates and the holes, and thus decrease the production efficiency.

Several minutes later, Sylvie reported to Roland that the bottom part of the vessel had been filled with light blue liquid. Roland immediately instructed Soraya to block the holes in the air intake pipe and seal them with coatings.

The next thing to do was heat the vessel, a crucial step in this experiment.

When the liquefied air was heated, the nitrogen would first reach its boiling point, vaporize and run off due to the different boiling points of nitrogen and oxygen. In this way the two could be separated. Due to the fact that Roland forgot the exact temperature at which nitrogen reached its boiling point, and that he had no way to measure it either, it all depended on Agatha to control the temperature. If she managed to heat the fractionation vessel to the right temperature, the nitrogen gas would come out via the exhaust pipe and the liquid in the bottom part would grow bluer and bluer, with an increasing purity of oxygen.

Fortunately, Agatha was familiar with magic power control. She accurately adjusted the cooling range, increasing the temperature slowly. After a while, Sylvie observed that the liquid was boiling. She saw bubbles around the coating pipe which was plunged into the water. At the same time, Keymor quickly collected several bottles of gas, using the drainage gas-gathering method.

“This is nitrogen?” Lily twitched her lips and said, “I can’t see anything at all.”

“That’s exactly the first question I put forward earlier,” Roland said, “How do we prove it’s different from the air?”

“Test it with a piece of burning wood,” Tilly answered first, “it’ll extinguish the fire instantly if it’s nitrogen. According to Elementary Chemistry, everything requires oxygen to burn.”

“Cool it down again and condense it back into liquid,” Agatha said after thinking for a while, “Didn’t you say that liquefied nitrogen is colorless?”

“How about pouring out the remaining liquid in the vessel and proving it’s pure oxygen? By doing so we can verify the diversity of air composition.” Anna suggested.

In the lab, only a few quick learners eagerly proposed different methods and began a heated discussion, while the others remained silent. Roland looked around and found Nightingale, Andrea, Maggie, the City Hall Director and the Chief Knight Carter all seeming confused and at a loss. Iron Axe, the commander of the First Army, on the other hand, always maintained the same facial expression. Roland believed that Iron Axe would probably give him a nod no matter what he said.

Roland sighed silently. “It looks like this chemistry lecture is a little above their level.”

Perhaps the only ones who could really share His Highness’s happiness at this moment would be Kyle Sichi and Chavez.

“Your Highness, it’s really… amazing,” the young alchemist exclaimed, “and you’ve proven what’s written in the Elementary Chemistry is true. I’m afraid it has never occurred to alchemists that even the air around us is so complicated.”

“With pure oxygen, it’s possible to observe more intense oxidation reactions, right? I have a lot more experiments to try out now.” Kyle said in excitement.

Roland nodded and an idea suddenly jumped into his head.

Nitrogen was the most important raw material for synthetic ammonia. It can react with hydrogen at a high temperature and under high pressure to form ammonia that can be used to manufacture nitrogenous fertilizer and synthesize nitrogen oxides, which can be further used to produce nitric acid. However, in order to carry out this plan, much work needed to be done and many pieces of equipment needed to be built, such as air pumps and vacuum gasholders. Even if Paper has the magic power to work as a catalyst, it would require repeated testing.

Now, with pure oxygen and pure nitrogen, why not try to produce nitrogen monoxide?

The reaction of oxygen and nitrogen in nature wasn’t an automatic one because it was an exothermic reaction that required external energy, such as an electric discharge in which an electric arc can instantly heat the air up to a temperature of thousands of degrees. That’s why places where thunder and lightning frequently occurred had more fertile lands, and why ammonia was often used instead to produce nitric acid in the chemical industry. The electrical method of production was not a common practice as it costed too much energy and required extremely high-quality equipment.

Yet it was the most efficient method in case of an emergency, as it didn’t even require any catalyst, simply constant electric discharge… in fact, any other means that produce the extremely high temperatures that electric arcs can achieve will do.

Roland naturally thought of Blackfire.

He was sure that it was easy for Anna to manipulate her Blackfire, which worked as an efficient and powerful electric discharge. Now all they needed to do to produce nitrogen monoxide was mix purified oxygen and purified nitrogen in the proper proportions and pour the mixture into an airtight reactor.

He decided to give it a try.

Chapter 379: Attack

quot;Move faster!”

“Keep your hands steady. Insert the bullets into the cartridge one at a time!”

“Your teammates at the front need you to act quickly. Otherwise, you’ll give the enemy the chance to approach and kill you!”

“Don’t look at other places. Stay focused on the job in your hands!”

“As long as your teammates are still shooting, you just keep on reloading!”

In the First Army’s military camp, Lord Brian was loudly urging the new recruits to practice, and Nail was one of them.

He was not newly recruited, but instead a veteran in the First Army. After the Militia defeated the demonic beasts under the leadership of His Highness, he joined the army at Iron Head’s strong recommendation. In Iron Head’s words, it was much more promising to carry a flintlock to fight and protect His Highness and Miss Nana than to spend the rest of his life mining in the pit.

Not long after Nail joined the Militia, they were reorganized into the First Army. Guided by Prince Roland and Lord Iron Axe, the army in which he served defeated not only demonic beasts but also great nobles whom he used to regard as unbeatable. They overthrew Duke Ryan and even prevented the troops of Timothy, the new king, from setting foot in Border Town. After those battles, Nail was promoted to a team leader in the Flintlock Squad.

However, according to the First Army’s tradition, whenever a large number of new recruits came, some veterans would be chosen to join the newly formed platoon. They would live and eat together with the new recruits and accompany them in practices, as their instructors. When he first found out that he had been chosen to be an instructor, Nail was initially unwilling to accept the position. He was reluctant to leave the front line and his familiar battle companions, but thinking of the veterans who had helped him when he was a new recruit in the Militia, he had no choice but to accept this task.

At that time, the instructor in his squad had been Lord Brian, who now was the commander of the First Battalion in the Flintlock Squad.

Nail hoped that one day, he would be someone like Lord Brian, wearing a medal bestowed by His Highness and giving commands to nearly a thousand soldiers. Iron Head was right. “This job is far more promising than operating a steam engine in front of a mining pit.”

“My lord, how long do we have to continue with this practice?” A young man in his platoon grumbled. “It’s still snowing.”

“Keep practicing until you can finish the reloading in about half a minute with your eyes closed,” Nail stopped in front of him and said. “You’re Haimon, right? Remember to say ‘Report’ before you speak. That’s a rule in the First Army! ”

“Report,” shouted a little man next to Haimon, with his hands filling the loader all the time, “do we have eggs for dinner tonight?”

Hearing this question, many soldiers in the platoon started to lick their lips.

Nail could not help but grin. He understood aside from the two weeks’ strict military training, sufficient food supply was also an important factor to keep these new soldiers from the Northern and the Southern Territory well disciplined even on such a snowy day. They had oatmeal and salty dried meat for every meal, and sometimes a piece of pickled fish or even an egg. Yet eggs were only provided after a battle against demonic beasts or a field training.

“Well, you’d better ask demonic beasts whether or not they’re coming to Border Town today.” Nail shrugged. “What’s your name?”

“Al Bitter, my lord,” answered the little man.

“It takes you almost half a day to insert one bullet. My next-door neighbor, an old lady, is far more nimble than you,” Nail suddenly stopped smiling and said seriously. “If you can’t improve when today’s training is over, I’ll cancel your share of oatmeal and meat, let alone the eggs!”

The new soldiers immediately lowered their heads and focused. No one wanted to be punished like that.

Just at the moment, the bell on the city wall tolled rapidly.

Demonic beasts were coming.

“Stop practicing!” Brian shouted, “Instructors lead your men into the city wall area. Get ready to fight!”

“Have you heard it?” Nail urged. “Carry your ammunition, everyone. Line up and go up to the top of the city wall, as what you did in the training. Our position is the fourth section of the city wall. Move quickly!”

“The new soldiers now do get a chance to have eggs for dinner tonight.” Nail thought in secret.

…

After arriving at their position, Nail saw the Flintlock Squad was ready. Seeing the dark shadows gradually approaching, he calmly did the last fire check and instructed his men to mount the guns upon the wall piers.

Nail somehow felt a little disappointed. He himself could have given those beasts a hard strike with his revolving rifle.

The bullets were filled into the loaders one by one and then put at handy places that the soldiers at the front could easily reach. There were one to two people responsible for loading behind each veteran. If necessary, the veterans could fire five bullets in a shot. The new weapons were much more powerful than previously-used flintlocks.

“Look! Here comes the witches!” Haimon whispered.

“They’re so… pretty.” Al Bitter murmured. “Before I came here, I only heard about them via the church and thought they were ugly and dreadful.”

“That’s the only thing you’ve noticed?” Haimon grunted. “Don’t you remember the witch carrying a big sword? The girl could chop and kill demonic hybrids. Oh! If only I had powers like that.”

“If it’s truly the power of demons…”

“Shut up!” Nailed shouted loudly. “Miss Nana is also a witch. You think she’s a demon?” Then he lowered his voice and said, “Miss Nana is our town’s angel. The power she has is the power of gods, understood? If you dare say anything like that in front of any veteran in the First Army, I promise you’ll be beaten up really badly. Now focus on the reloading. It’s not practice!”

After shouting at the two gabby guys, he cast a glance at the coming demonic beasts, “They look almost the same as the ones that have come before. It appears to be a short battle… Wait, what’s that?”

There seemed to be a giant figure among the dark shadows, something like a tortoiseshell Siege Beast, but it seemed much bigger and faster.

When it came closer, Nail could not help but stare at it. It was a super giant demonic beast that he had never ever seen! Its huge tusks were almost thicker than a human’s body, like sickles sticking straight up. Its four legs looked like pillars of rock, kicking up layers of snow mists. At each step of its running, the earth beneath its feet trembled. The city walls of more than four meters in height was even lower than its jaw. If the beast ran into the wall, this mud wall would probably crack into pieces.

The artillerymen!

There was no doubt that flintclocks had very limited influence on such a giant monster, but only the big equipment of the artillerymen was able to stop it! The new culverins mounted upon the sixth section of the city walls were the most powerful artillery equipment they had.

At that moment, the new recruits started to scream in fright, “Good God. Look! What’s that?”

“Gods have mercy on us. Is it a demon from Hell?”

“Shut your mouth and focus on your job!” Nail swallowed the lump in the throat and looked at the new cannons at the sixth section of the city wall. The barrel, which reflected the silver light, slowly turned around and projected in the direction of the giant monster.

Then bright flames were shot into the air, and the cannons thundered and boomed!

Chapter 380: Flesh and Blood

ail felt his heart suddenly leap up his throat.

At that moment, time seemed to slow down. He stared at the giant demonic beast without a blink, while at the same time prayed in secret that the new cannons could hit the target. However, the demonic beast was still safe and sound, rushing forward by the time he started to breathe again.

About half a minute later, a snow column was kicked up far away from the monster.

This is gonna be bad.

Nail’s heart suddenly sank. As the monster was not coming toward the sixth section of the city wall, it left an included angle between the cannons. The artillery unit had to constantly adjust the angle of the culverin, while at the same time also estimate how fast the beast was moving and fire in advance. Otherwise, the shell would land somewhere behind the target just like what was happening now.

Based on the firing rate of the field artillery, they only had one last chance before the monster broke into the city wall!

Nail had already been able to see the thick fur that covered the enemy’s body, as well as its huge crimson mouth beneath the tusks. Witches were coming in this direction, apparently planning to stop this monster. Yet the four of them together were not even as big as the beast’s leg. Were they able to succeed with pure magic?

He was so anxious and worried that he even wanted to run to the sixth section of the city wall and remind the cannon team to aim forward. However, since there were supervisors standing on both sides at each section of the city wall, he eventually suppressed this impulse—he would be very likely accused of being a coward if he left his post now without permission. Lord Iron Axe had stated repeatedly that behaviors that would break down the line of defense were absolutely forbidden. Once such a person was discovered, the supervising team could directly shoot him down.

The demonic beast running at the very front had already entered the shooting range of the revolving rifles. There was a series of cracking shooting sounds upon the city wall.

Nail had no choice but to continue with his mission, putting the already prepared loaders one by one next to the shooters.

Just at that moment, there was a second ground-shaking roar, which was less than half a minute after the first firing of the culverin.

“That… fast!?” Nail looked at the sixth section of the city wall in great surprise. The smoke above the muzzle had not completely disappeared and some smoke was continuously running out of it, making the cannon look like a litten silver pipe. Nevertheless, what was shocking was yet to come. He had not even had time to notice whether the enemy was shot or not when the dazzling blazes appeared again.

The third firing!

Good Lord. Don’t they need to load the shells?

Nail only saw four or five people busy working at the rear of the barrel, but none approaching the muzzle. It appeared that entirely different from the short thick field artillery, this new cannon could fire in succession like a revolving rifle!

This time the firing was effective.

Nail did not see the shell entering the monster’s body. What he first noticed was a mass of blood mist bursting out from one side of the giant demonic beast. Aside from the black blood that spilled over, there were also furry skins torn apart, as well as large pieces of flesh. The demonic beast suddenly quivered. Its entire body seemed to be flattened a little bit, and there were streaks of crinkles showing up on its thick furry skins like the ripples on the water surface—but he was not sure whether it was an illusion, because in the next minute, the sunken body restored to normal again, except for the eye balls of the monster, which had been pushed forward when the body was flattened. Meanwhile the eye balls ejected something thick and sluggish in black and white.

With a dull crashing sound, the giant beast fell all its length onto the ground, lying on its side even without an agonal growl. It was until then that Nail found where the shell hit—there was a big hole close to the beast’s neck. It was so insignificant compared with its robust body that it was hard to relate the hole with the fatal shot that occurred just now. Strands of smoke was coming out of the hole, and the furry skins around it were blackened.

The monster from the Hell just died like this?

Nail could no longer restrain the excitement in his heart, but vent out all his earlier anxiety with a roar.

“Long live His Highness!”

Even such a terrifying and fierce enemy could not possibly resist the powerful weapon invented by His Highness! Apart from that new cannon, he could not even think of any other ways to kill this huge hybrid demonic beast—even if a witch could manage to do so, it would not be such a clean shot. Thinking further, he could say that His Highness, in a way, had granted them a supreme power comparable to witches’!

His shout, like an introduction, was responded by more people and it soon created an uproar among others. At first only the new recruits responded with loud shouts, but later even the veterans could not help clenching their fists.

There were loud cheers bursting out from the top of the city walls.

“Long live His Highness!”

Roland was only informed that the beast was killed by the new cannon after the battle was over.

He put on a woolen coat and hurried to the West Wall. The demonic beast’s gigantic body was still lying quietly in the snow, with its black blood melting the snow around it into a pool of black water.

It seemed that no matter how horrible these monsters might look like, they were after all carbon based organism. When faced with ammunition and steels, they were as weak as a piece of thin paper.

This solid pointed shell rolled over due to the loss of its stability after being projected into the beast’s body, and thus transmitted its kinetic energy throughout the entire torso, and finally went through the body while swirling—as it could be seen from the scene, the other side of the beast’s body was completely torn, with the internal organs and broken bones scattered around. Even its head, which was the hardest part of all, was shattered by the vibrating energy and collapsed in total.

However, he still felt a little concerned. “The bone strength of creatures has a limit. This beast is apparently several times bigger than an elephant. How does it support its body without being crushed by its own weight? This is the exactly why terricolous animals have much smaller body builds than marine lives, as they can’t overcome the pull of the gravity.”

Would it have anything to do with the magic power? He remembered Nightingale once said she could see there were magic powers flowing inside some of the hybrid demonic beasts’ bodies.

“How… could this be possible?” Agatha who arrived later had her eyes wide open, “Isn’t this the Fearful Beast of Hell?”

“What‘s that? Is that the name of the hybrid demonic beast?” Roland asked curiously, “It has also shown up at the Fertile Plains before?”

“Yes, and when they showed up in group, they were difficult enemies to both witches and demons. Many cities and towns were devastated by the Fearful Beasts of Hell,” Agatha’s voice sounded a little dry, “However, they could only be seen when the arrival of the Bloody Moon was drawing near.”

“The arrival of… the Bloody Moon?” Roland suddenly remembered what was written in the ancient book, “When there was a Bloody Moon in the sky, the Gates of Hell would open once again.” He frowned and asked, “What does that mean?”

“This was a record passed down since the first Battle of Divine Will when the magic power was the strongest. The appearance of witches would bring another peak in magic power, but likewise, demons and demonic beasts would also be extremely powerful.” Agatha said nervously, “I’ve perused the history book you gave me. Based on the years, I deduce that there’re still at least 20 to 50 years before the arrival of the Bloody Moon. It’s impossible to see such monsters.”

“But it has still appeared,” said Roland in a deep voice, “What does it mean?”

“It means that we don’t have much time left.”

Chapter 381: Evelyn’s Resolution

oland was frightened by the sentence “We don’t have much time left”, but he was relieved after hearing the full explanation. “Don’t stop halfway. It only sounds scary.”

“You think five years is a long time?” Agatha frowned and said, “The timing was accurate at the first and the second Battle of the Divine Will. I don’t know why the timing of the battle has been quickened and… it might come sooner yet.”

“I thought you were about to say the Bloody Moon would come this very winter,” Roland shrugged in reply. According to the current research and development plan, he would be able to universalize the use of new firearms throughout the whole army in one year. As long as the enemies were not impervious to blades and spears, they still had a chance to win the war. The only thing he needed to pay attention to was that the construction and development of the territory. It should be developed to the extent of supporting a lasting war. This required the land, population, and resources to all be at a high level of sustainability. That meant the territory must have sufficient foxholes and retreats where people could recover in the face of possible defeat.

Therefore, the primary difficulty did not lie in arms manufacturing itself, but in the establishment of enough industrial cities to be able to consistently provide population, ammunition, and food during a war. Logistics guaranteed a victory, while staff guaranteed logistics. In the end, he found what he needed most was reliable leaders, governors, and clerks. Without these, even if he unified the Kingdom of Graycastle, he would not be able to consolidate it into a war machine, and the nobility would probably drag him down.

It’s indeed true that a country capable of waging a war always has a high level of educated populace.

“What’s this weapon called?” Agatha suddenly changed the topic, “Back then, I remember you called it 152mm Stronghold… ”

“Stronghold Standard Artillery,” Roland added, “There will be naval artilleries in the future.”

“If you can fit the city wall with weapons like this prior to the arrival of the Bloody Moon, we probably can resist the attacks from the demons. According to Kyle Sichi, what I made in the chemistry lab is also a part of the cannon, right?” Agatha seemed to be determined and said, “I’ll try my best to produce liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen, as long as you can… ”

“Don’t worry.” He comforted her. “We’ll defeat the demons.”

“Was this all that I needed to do today?” Evelyn dipped her finger into the wine and then touched it to her tongue. The spicy flavor appeared to be more intense. According to His Highness’ requirements, the purer the white liquor was, the better it would taste. The best spirits did not contain any water, and every drop of it was mellow and rich. Although she felt the white liquor she had made was increasingly close to what His Highness described, it became increasingly further from what could be considered “tasty”.

“Yes, good work.” The manager of the brewery said while labeling the wine jars. He nodded at her, “Remember me when you are speaking to His Highness.”

“Can you… really sell these?” Evelyn asked, confused. From her past experience of running a tavern, she was afraid that only a few people could tolerate such a bold flavor.

“This wine? I don’t know,” the manager smiled and said, “But, there is someone coming to ship the liquor every now and then, so I think there are still some people who like it.”

Evelyn was relieved instantly. If nobody was willing to drink this, not only did His Highness fail, but she herself would become useless as well… It was fortunate that things turned out not to be what she thought it was, and it appeared that His Highness was a true great noble who knew the tastes of nobility very well. She smiled, “I’ll take off then.”

Evelyn left the brewery and crossed streets that were filled with a bitter and cold wind. Upon returning to the castle, she could feel the warm air greeting her. The world inside the castle was totally different from the one outside. She took a deep breath and removed her coat so she could be closer to the warmth.

This kind of comfortable life was unimaginable in the past. In winter, she used to either sit tightly with her family by a brazier, or curled up beneath a blanket. “What’s the difference between castle life and the Kingdom of God which the church has alleged to be like spring all year round? Besides, His Highness has said that he would popularize the central heating system throughout the residential area, and enable all of his subjects to stay away from the piercing coldness of the Months of the Demons.” She had no idea how many believers of the church had arrived at the Kingdom of God, but in here, witches who were considered as Devil’s minions, and ordinary civilians were the first to enjoy this privilege. If this fact had reached the ears of the believers, they would probably grit their teeth out of envy.

His Royal Highness is truly capable of everything.

Across the hall, Andrea, Ashes, and Shavi were playing poker.

“Pair of eights!”

“Pass.”

“Pair of twos! I win,” Andrea smiled proudly and said, “Ashes has the most cards, a total of six. Hand over the IOU for ice cream!” Then she turned around and waived at Evelyn, “Hey, do you want to play with us?”

Out of curiosity, Evelyn could not help asking, “What’s an IOU for ice cream?”

“It’s a bet,” Ashes waived her hand and continued, “Whoever has the most IOUs will have to give up her next ice cream bread to the winner. How does that sound? Do you want to give it a shot?”

Evelyn was very hesitant. “This was a rare chance for her to make conversation with combat witches. If it was on the Sleeping Island, both Andrea and Ashes would be figures only next to Lady Tilly, who was rarely ever seen, and they would certainly not invite her to join in their activities voluntarily. Besides, Fighting the Landlord is indeed very interesting, it has simple rules but numerous variations, and it also requires teamwork. One can easily spend the whole day just playing it. However…”

“Um, it’ll be the final exam soon. Don’t you need to review?”

“Do you mean the exam for that basic course this evening?” Andrea pouted and said, “It’s very simple. I can probably pass without much studying.”

The other two agreed with a nod.

Right… Andrea is nobility, so, her insight and knowledge is greater than that of ordinary people. Both Ashes and Shavi can read and write. It appears now that she’s the one that falls behind.

“I… I might as well not play,” she hesitated for a moment and then said, “I’d better get back to my room and do some reading. You guys please continue without me.”

Leaving the three people who were a little surprised behind, Evelyn rushed to Witch House. She pushed the wooden door open and found Candle sitting at the table in the living room practicing the arithmetic exercises in the back of the textbook.

“You’re back?”

“Yes.” Seeing Candle hard at work, she felt a lot of relief at once. “How did your revision go?”

“Not bad. Nature and arithmetic are a little hard to understand,” Candle smiled and said. “How about you?”

“Me too,” Evelyn nodded and said, “Let’s make a list of all the things that we don’t understand and ask Miss Anna in the evening.”

“Sounds good.”

According to Miss Scroll, these books were written by the Royal Highness himself, and they were based on his existing knowledge. If she mastered them, did that mean she would also possess one part of his almightiness? Evelyn thought in secret that although she couldn’t change the ability she was born with, at least she could progress in this regard by working hard. Even if the nobles no longer liked to drink spicy white liquor, she could still work as a teacher in the territory rather than being useless. To this end, she pretty much read her textbook and studied those difficult phrases and equations whenever she had time. This had made her a frequent visitor to Anna’, Scroll’ and Wendy’s rooms.

She had the lowest score during the last test, but she firmly believed that that would not be the case this time.

“Let me set an achievable goal first—I want to exceed Maggie!” she thought to herself.