Release That Witch

Chapter 425: The Utilization of Energy

On the afternoon of the fifth day, the electric motor stopped working.

In other words, a single Dawn I could provide energy for a large-scale electric motor to work for five consecutive days. If an electric motor didn’t run continuously, then its work time could be extended. When the magnetic effect of the copper column was lost, it could be recharged with magic power, which was purely low-consumption, recyclable, and pollution-free energy.

Its flaw was also very obvious—recharging it would exhaust all of Anna, Mystery Moon, and Spear’s magic powers. So if the three of them produced a Dawn I per day, it could only sustain five electric motors (non-stop). At the moment, Anna was irreplaceable for the fine machining and steel smelting in the little town. Roland had tried his best to distribute most of the manufacturing work to ordinary townsmen, but without the machine tools produced and maintained by Anna and her supply of materials, the production of revolving firearms and bullets would instantly bog down in stagnancy.

Furthermore, Anna was also essential for the production of the 152 mm Longsong Cannons, new-style light weapons, and Roland’s other new ideas. So he wouldn’t want Anna to strain her magic power on charging the batteries.

Roland leaned back on the wing chair and deeply sighed.

There were two solutions for this problem. First, increasing the duration of Dawn I. To this end, they needed greater resources or more witches to supply magic powers. Unfortunately, the Marquess’ passage was just strong enough to transfer Anna’s magic power and the process almost exhausted her, so she couldn’t manage to transfer any more witches’ magic powers to Mystery Moon. Hopefully, Spear could get used to it gradually—after all, she might not have the time to study how to improve her abilities while she was a lord.

Second, substituting other witches for Anna. Compared with Anna, Soraya, and Agatha (who were usually busy with work), most of the other witches didn’t have to exhaust their magic powers during the day. So if the rest of their magic powers could be used to produce variable magnetic core columns, it seemed plausible.

As long as the total volume of the magic powers didn’t exceed that of Anna’s, Spear would be able to handle it. She had once said that the passage for magic powers could be connected with more than two people at a time.

Thinking of this, Roland wrote it down. Questions like who had more magic powers or how much of the magic powers should be used per day were left for the Witch Union to calculate.

Undoubtedly, Wendy would be a perfect candidate since everybody trusted her.

After finding solutions for this problem, the next question was how to make use of this whole new energy.

Different from the steam engines, of which four to five pieces could be produced per month and would operate as long as boiling water was supplied, the number of terminal conversion machines was dependent on the number of Dawn Is. Considering the magic powers that could be used, he estimated that only three to four terminal conversion machines could be sustained in the little town. Whether to use them as source power, for boiling water, or supplying energy for light bulbs, the correct choice was imperative if the system was to operate steadily.

Roland thought for a long time and finally drew a circle on the light bulbs.

As for source power, electric motors exceeded steam engines in such aspects as stable rotating rates, easy maneuverability, and automatization. But the power supplied by steam engines was enough for the time being. He had also visualized some high-end electric equipment, such as electric cars that commuted between Longsong Stronghold and the little town, or electric airships that were accessible to ordinary people. But such equipment wasn’t so cost effective—to make it work, Anna or other witches had to stop their work for a day.

The same was true with boiling water, which could simply be solved by a boiler and firewood could. Even though several workers needed to be hired to attend to and maintain the steam engines, it was still more economical than using magic powers. After all, the magic powers weren’t that abundant.

Furthermore, lighting is more significant—a stable and clean source of light could greatly increase the residents’ happiness and render them better study conditions at night. After all, not everybody wants to read a book under the dim candle light after a day’s stressful work.

Besides, doing something like seizing the legendary thunder power and using it for daily life would help eliminate suspicion and enhance scientific spirit. This was probably the civilians’ most intuitive understanding of electricity’s applications. As astonishing as airships and electric cars may sound, they were too far away from people’s daily life.

More importantly, the weak candle light simply couldn’t meet the needs for night production. With light bulbs, the factories would be able to sustain production even at night, and the workers could even work on three shifts if necessary, which meant the work efficiency in the little town would be further improved.

After setting the direction of development, there were still a series of problems to be solved to achieve his goals, such as light bulb manufacturing, line construction, power supply schemes, and the promotion of electricity utilization, etc.

But these problems could be considered later.

With this thought, Roland called Wendy.

“Do you intend to calculate the daily consumption and the surplus of my sisters’ magic powers, and transfer them to Mystery Moon according to the plan?” Wendy asked, after hearing Roland’s statement.

“Yes. Those combat witches who have fixed missions can be excluded from your calculation though.” The prince nodded. “What do you think?”

Essentially, they were to gather the magic powers left after the witches’ ability practice, mission consumption, and emergency preparation, and use them to produce the Dawn I. Such an arrangement could not only put the magic powers of witches into full play, but could also enhance the effects of their practice, which was helpful to the promotion of their magic powers on the annual Days of Awakening.

“I think Hummingbird and Echo would be happy,” Wendy said with a smile, “because they can then be as useful as Anna. But how will the magic power surplus be measured?”

“By using the Stone of Measurement, which was a universal method used by the Union.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” She bowed slightly. “Right, today is the Day of Adulthood for Lucia. Should we gather all the members of the union to accompany her?”

Roland was shocked a bit. “Oh… I’ve almost forgotten it.”

“There are so many things for you to remember,” Wendy said softly. “I’ve written down every sister’s growth history on this notebook so that nothing will be missed.”

After Anna’s Day of Awakening, Lightning, Nana, and Echo had also passed their “second birthday” in succession. But the Day of Adulthood was actually more meaningful and it could be taken as a special Day of Awakening. Although they happened on the same day, the bite of magic power that one suffered on the Day of Adulthood was several times stronger than usual. Unless the witches could master how to eliminate the pain caused by biting, the Day of Adulthood could be a matter of life and death.

After adulthood, the witches’ abilities would be stabilized while getting considerable improvements at the same time, and some witches could even develop derivative skills, which was as significant as evolution.

“OK. I’ll prepare a rich dinner tonight.” Roland said softly, “Besides the Witch Union, I’ll be there to accompany her as well.”

.

Chapter 426: The Shining Starlight

fter dinner, the witches gathered in Lucia White’s room.

Touched by their encouragement and comfort, she could feel her tear-filled eyes. She inhaled deeply with her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry.

“No crying. It’s embarrassing enough to cry out loud in front of Nightingale, not to mention in front of my little sister. I must set a good example for her,” Lucia chided herself.

She had only heard about a witch organization situated here before she boarded the boat towards the town. She was not hoping to live a good life here but simply to find a cure for her sister’s demonic plague and a shelter.

What they found was not only a comfortable life, but a group of people with so much in common that they soon became like family. She felt at home again for the first time since her parents’ death in the pirate attack.

“Is my sister really in danger?” Bell asked while resting in Lucia’s arms, “How painful is a magic power bite?”

“Unbearable pain, it feels just like thousands of knives stabbing you from the inside of your body.” Nightingale grinned. “Only a few witches can survive this. There are probably only one or two out of ten witches who can survive their Day of Adulthood.”

The little girl shivered.

“You don’t scare her.” Wendy stared at Nightingale. “That was all the way back to the time of Witch Cooperation Association.”

“All you need to do now is to keep on practicing every day and release all your magic power before the Day of Awakening, then you’ll be fine,” Scroll said, smiling. “I heard that even Anna was asleep when she was growing into her adulthood.”

“And her first High Awakening appeared at the same time,” Agatha yawned. “It’d definitely cause a stir if it happened 400 years ago back in Taquila, as there’s never any witch who could come to enlightenment in their sleep.”

“Are you alright?” His Highness looked at her and asked, “Even though work’s important, you should not push yourself too hard.”

“The Battle of Divine Will is approaching. If I’m not busy with it now…” Agatha said with her hands covering her mouth, “it would not be an issue to sleep forever if we fail this time.”

“We won’t fail for sure this time.” Prince Roland assured.

“I decided to do a little bit more as I was feeling optimistic about your invention.” Ice Witch rolled her eyes at him, “Otherwise, do you really think that I like to stay in the lab every day?” With these words, she turned around and muttered to herself softly, “I wouldn’t be able to do anything to you even if you don’t fulfill your promise…”

“Well, you shouldn’t discuss such a heavy story at this time.” Wendy interrupted and said, “Oh yeah, didn’t Miss Agatha mention before that each of the witches shall be granted a wish on the Day of Awakening? It’s Lucia’s turn this time; what would you like to wish for?”

“Uh… me?” Lucia was shocked to find that she was the center of attention in the knot of witches.

“Get the ice cream bread in exchange, sister!” Bell said with her eyes sparkling, “10 of them will do, and we’ll have a half each!”

“This one… all you can think of is food,” she thought and gave her sister a good knock on her forehead. Then she looked towards Roland. “May I keep this wish for now?”

“If you wish.” He could not help but smile and say, “However it would not increase even if you keep it.”

“Only one will do,” Lucia answered with gratitude. She had nothing more to ask for herself as long as she could live in this town. All she could hope for was for Bell to live a happy life. Her younger sister was not a witch, so she would have to leave her and build her own family with someone someday. This wish might be able to help her if there were any changes by then.

It was then that Lucia felt her empty body tremble suddenly and the magic power was regenerated as if it was appearing in the void and pouring into her body continuously.

“It’s started.” Nightingale reminded.

Even though the sisters told her not to worry, she grasped the blanket tightly, as a chill washed over her palms and the soles of her feet. This she ascribed to an overwhelming sensation of tension.

“Relax,” Wendy said, reaching for her hands. “The magic power is part of our body.”

“Should we talk about something else to distract her?” Lucia heard someone, perhaps Lily, ask.

“What should we talk about?” Mystery Moon asked.

“What about the result of the second test?” Lily’s voice seemed to come from far away. “Normally once the topic’s brought up, she immediately changes the subject and diverts attention, like what about Mystery Moon’s results…”

“Don’t say!”

“Look, it works.”

Lucia wanted to laugh but she realized that the expression on her face was very stiff and it was scorching hot inside her body. At the same time, there was an undefinable sense of contraction and increasingly more magic power as if she was sucking everything around her into her body.

Will every witch experience this feeling in her Day of Adulthood?

“What was Lucia’s result?” She could only hear Mystery Moon intermittently.

“Her average was 86,” Prince Roland replied.

“Wh… what?”

“That’s very high!”

“You see, she didn’t even try to stop us.”

“You’ve failed, so it’s time for punishment!”

“Go away!”

“Hold on… Stop fighting, Lucia doesn’t seem to look right.”

She could hear the conversation between Mystery Moon, Lily and finally Nightingale’s voice, but she realized the voices of the witches had become distant to her. Lucia was clenching her teeth and she held her head up to look at the sisters around her. She was shocked to see the completely changed scene. Everyone’s appearance became hazy and pixilated like a composition of innumerable squares—some big, some small and each of them had a different color.

She wanted to scream in terror but all she could hear was the hissing sound in her breath.

The contraction in her body was getting stronger and it started to cause a vague but growing sense of pain. Lucia could only hold her breath and see people around her starting to get busy.

It was exactly like Nightingale said, the pain in the Day of Adulthood was far beyond the pain of the awakening. The more persistent she was, the stronger the pain became; it felt as if she was being cut into pieces.

Suddenly, a strange magic power probed her body. Lucia could clearly feel the magic power did not belong to herself. It was just like a tube ridden in the magic whirlpool.

She could not bear it any longer, subconsciously yielding to the overwhelming power and allowing the current to carry her. As if she had finally found her savior, Lucia kept injecting the magic power into it to suppress the pain in her body.

The strange contraction eased after a period of time. The magic power no longer twirled around but it felt substantial and solid; it was a completely different experience.

She blinked and was relieved to find that her vision had fully returned.

Looking at a fearful Bell, Lucia patted her head and reassured her in a hoarse voice, “It’s alright now.”

This was when she realized that she was soaked in sweat. She could feel the chill on her back when the cold wind blew.

“Wait, how could there be any wind in a room with the heater on?”

When she turned her head, she was shocked to see the huge gaps in the wall facing the garden and the two missing windows that allowed the cold air to swarm in. She could see the dark night and the tiny little lights of the small town through the gap. Standing in front of the wall was Anna, looking at her with concern. The Sigil of God’s Will in her hand glimmered.

“Her ability has crystallized,” Nightingale said.

Chapter 427: The Aftermath

oland walked into the office yawning as the sky turned bright.

He had not expected so many accidents on the Day of Adulthood. It was supposed to be an easy day.

The magic in Lucia’s body became extremely turbulent. Nightingale realized something was wrong with her expression. It was exactly the sign of the magic power bite. It was incredible that this was happening to a witch who practiced frequently, especially since she had released all her magic power prior to her Day of Adulthood.

Agatha came out with a solution.

As an ex-member of the Union she had witnessed countless witches awaken. She quickly thought of a remedy.

Ice Witch made Spear Passi summon the magic power channel and release the bite from Lucia’s body. Then it was transferred to Anna who had the greatest capacity. Finally, the restless magic power was absorbed by the Sigil of God’s Will.

Surprisingly, the released magic power had lit up four God’s Stones and activated the Sigil of God’s Will. Anna released it into the open space without further hesitation.

Suddenly, the town was brightened by the golden sun. The dazzling light shone through the castle wall and pierced through the dark, starless sky. The thick clouds could be seen in the dark sky and there were thousands of tassels flowing in the sky. It was incredibly beautiful. Although it only lasted for a few moments, the scene was undoubtedly miraculous.

Lucia was finally safe and she had developed a new ability during this adulthood transformation, just like Anna had a year ago.

However, it was not without trouble. The accident had happened around eight o’clock at night, when most people were still awake. Quite a number of people must have witnessed this spectacular event. Roland would have to come up with an explanation to the public when he returned to his room.

“Your Highness, Director Barov asked to see you,” the door guard informed after knocking on the door.

“Let him in.”

Barov with a head full of white hair walked into the office. Before he paying his respect, he blatantly asked, “Your Highness, what happened last night? How come there was daylight appearing in the night?”

He was indeed here about the light. Roland took a glance at his face and saw dark circles. He probably had not slept either. If outsiders were not strictly prohibited from entering the castle at night, he would have come to the door last night.

“No hurry. Have a seat.” Roland pointed at the chair in front of the table and said, “Have a cup of black tea first.”

Roland mentioned the incident of Lucia’s adulthood after pouring a glass of hot tea. “It was just an accident, don’t worry too much.”

“So… this was caused by a witch?” The City Hall Director frowned.

“Don’t be silly. It was not the demonic side.” Roland quickly guessed the other party’s thought. “No one was hurt aside from the missing wall of this old, broken castle.”

“But the villagers will think this,” Barov shook his head. “Most of them accepted the harmless healing power of Miss Nana but not the ability to destroy the castle like this, causing astonishing changes in the sky.”

“That’s why I came up with a solution,” said Roland while sipping his tea. “You’ll arrange for your men to spread this news: the golden light that appeared last night was from when His Highness captured lightning, in order to bring light to his people.”

“What?” Barov was stunned.

“I’ll soon be building the power supply equipment in Border Town. It has a similar essence to the lightning in the sky.” Prince Roland explained briefly. He knew he was speaking technically and the other party could hardly understand. “This equipment can light up the town brightly even during the night. It coincides with the news.”

“Is that… Is that true?” The director asked in surprise, “Can you really make lightning?”

“It’s everywhere by itself,” Roland shrugged and said, “however, please remember that it’s just hearsay, so it shall be spread according to ‘the Art of Rumor’. Do you understand?”

In order to prevent any impact on the universal education in the future, these statements should not be too democratic. It would be fine as long as an ambiguous explanation could temporarily be given to the public to redirect the discussion towards himself.

Not too long after Barov left, Karl Van Bate, the Minister of Construction came to the castle.

“Your Highness, regarding last night…”

“I know what you want to ask,” Roland put his hand on his forehead. “Sit down first and we’ll talk.”

He sighed silently to himself. Perhaps he would have to explain this incident for the entire day.

Fortunately, Karl was not a deep thinker like Barov, and he simply sighed after listening and said, “It turns out Anna has already become so strong.”

“It was indeed a decisive disposition at the time.” Roland agreed. “If there was any further delay, I’m afraid it would have been not only the wall that disappeared but the whole bedroom instead.”

“The gap in the wall…”

“Just fill it in with bricks. You can go ahead to arrange an exact plan as long as it’s done before the nightfall. I’ll get Lightning and Hummingbird to help you with this.” Prince Roland said. The appearance of the castle would need to be restored after mending the wall. He would get Soraya to paint a simulation coating on it.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As expected, Carter Lannis, the Chief Knight; Iron Axe, the instructor of the First Army and Kyle Sichi, the alchemist, were taking turns to ask about yesterday’s incident and each of them had a different concern.

Carter was concerned about whether she was hurt.

Iron Axe was concerned that the light had been caused by the demons’ attack.

However, what concerned Kyle was… which was more powerful, the Sigil of God’s Will or the nitric acid glycerine?

The men were finally dismissed after a series of non-stop talking and explanations by Roland. He leaned back in his chair, getting ready to take a nap but someone was knocking on the door again.

The last to enter was Tilly Wimbledon.

“No worries. Yesterday was…”

“I already know about it.” Lady Tilly interrupted. “I asked Miss Anna before I came here and she told me what happened.”

“Oh, I see.” Roland cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Anything else?”

“I’m just a little concerned with the cause.” Tilly said slowly, “According to Miss Agatha, be it awakening or adulthood, as long as a certain amount of practice is carried out normally, it shouldn’t cause any sign of magic power bite. It’s basically in line with what we’ve learned from past experience. It’s never happened to any of the witches on the Sleeping Island, so how could Lucia be the one who fell into the bite of the magic power?” She paused here for a little, shook her head and said with a smile, “As for the High Awakening, I’m not surprised… I’ve seen a few of them each day since I arrived in Border Town.”

A few of them each day, that’s an extreme exaggeration… Roland thought, he poured her a cup of tea. Contemplating for a moment, he said, “I do have a preliminary guess regarding Lucia’s misfortune.” He pulled out a transcript from the drawer and handed it to Tilly. “This’s probably the reason.”

Chapter 428: An Exploration of Magic Power

quot;… Grades?” Tilly took the transcript, glanced at it doubtfully, and said, “She did improve a lot.”

“Yes,” Roland nodded. “As a businessman’s daughter in Valencia, Lucia White already had basic writing and arithmetic skills, and she also performed well in the natural theory course. That’s why her grades are so good.”

“I’m not questioning your theory that ‘a better understanding and cognition of the world can help develop abilities,’ ” replied Tilly, twitching her mouth, “but what does it have to do with the bite of magic power?”

“Judging from the evolution of Lily, Leaf, and Mystery Moon, as well as other witches, we can tell that evolution also increases witches’ magic power limits. I think such limits have a lot to do with how well witches perceive the world.” Combining what Agatha referred to as “ancient High Awakening” and the evolution of the town witches’ abilities, Roland explained his theory in details. “They’re essentially the same thing. However, witches who evolved by partial or random enlightenment are far less powerful than those who evolved by a full, comprehensive understanding of the world—Mystery Moon is a typical example. Although she’s a member of the Witch Union, her evolution was achieved through enlightenment, so her magic power isn’t in the same league as Anna’s and Soraya’s.”

Tilly soon learned what Roland meant after a moment of reflection, “You mean the reason Miss Lucia’s magic power was low both on normal days and her Day of Awakening is that her body has adjusted to a certain level of magic power? Yet her ability evolved when she entered adulthood, which resulted in an instant surge in her magic power, and so much power was far more than she could take, right?”

“Pretty much like that, but I prefer to think there are two different types of power increases.” Roland continued, counting on his fingers, “Magic power increases on the Day of Awakening, on the Day of Adulthood, and during evolution. The effects seem the same, but I believe the first two are passive, while the last is voluntary.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because evolution won’t cause magic power bites,” the prince replied slowly. “If this wasn’t the case, Anna would have been killed by the surge of magic power during her evolution. I assume there’s a magic power redline for witches. Once they go beyond it, they’ll suffer from bites. Daily practice can gradually increase their limits, and that’s also why witches need to empty all their magic power before awakening.”

“Redline? It sounds interesting…” Tilly murmured, sinking into her thoughts. “Do you think the outpouring of magic power that was generated by Miss Lucia’s evolution resulted in insufficient space for magic power on the Day of Awakening, which led her to exceed the power limit and thus caused the accident?”

“Correct. Like Lucia, Anna experienced her first evolution when she reached adulthood, but her magic power capacity was incredible, so she had a much higher limit for bites than ordinary witches.” Roland paused for a moment. “This also explains why Lucia went back to normal after Spear extracted the agitated magic power—that power didn’t belong to her anyway.”

“Your theory… does clarify a lot of problems.” Tilly pushed her hair behind her ear and propped up her chin on her hand, apparently absorbed in thoughts. “Why witches present different forms of magic power despite their power sharing the same origin? Why free magic power can only be seen upon witches’ awakenings? Because witches can’t integrate it unless they accept it.”

Roland said with a smile, “We can view awakening as drawing magic power in, but only a small part of it can be retained. Evolution expands and develops this small part, and the greater cognitive breadth a witch possesses, the better strengthening effects she’ll obtain. It’s also reasonable to assume that there’s no limit on the number of times a witch can evolve, since the exploration of the world is endless.”

“I’m suddenly curious.”

“What?”

“If you were a witch, how extensive would your power be after evolution?” asked Tilly, covering her smile.

Roland nearly choked himself. Although he really wanted to personally experience these extraordinary powers, he would rather turn them down knowing the sacrifices he had to make.

“Can I bring a copy of the textbooks you wrote back to Sleeping Island?” Tilly asked, while raising her eyebrow.

She sounded pretty casual, but Roland noticed her right hand gently grasping her skirt’s hemline.

“Absolutely.” He would not miss a single chance to leave his sister a good impression, and generally speaking, it was better to respond as quickly as possible. “It’ll also be helpful to Border Town if the witches on Sleeping Island evolve. Besides, you’re my sister.”

Nightingale immediately pinched his left shoulder with immense strength.

“…” Tilly did not respond back, but simply showed her gratitude with a slight nod. “Thank you, I’ll be excused then.”

“Sure.”

It looks like my performance was overdone. She probably won’t be interested in this kind of approach before hearing a convincing explanation.

Yet to Roland’s surprise, Tilly stopped at the door, turned her head and answered quietly, “Sometimes, I’d rather hope that you aren’t my brother.”

…

After Tilly’s departure, Roland sat at his desk in a daze, with her last sentence reverberating all around his head.

Would rather hope I’m not her brother. What does that mean?

“Hey, are you OK?” Nightingale revealed herself, waving her finger in front of the prince.

“What do you think her last sentence meant?”

“How do I know?” Nightingale commented with a shrug. “Perhaps she thinks you’re better as an ally than a sibling.”

Roland would certainly not assume anything inappropriate, since he had already known this royal princess pretty well after cooperating with her for half a winter.

Could she mean that she doesn’t want Prince Roland to come back? Or was it just the backlash of his lame approach?

“You aren’t her brother anyway. Why do you even care?” Nightingale turned over to sit on the desk, crossing her slender legs. She thrust a piece of dried fish into her mouth and added, “Plus, I could tell you were lying without even using my ability when you said ‘you’re my sister’.”

“Um, is that so…” Roland stroked his nose. “So the answer is the latter then?”

“Also, since Tilly isn’t your real sister, is it alright to give her that Natural ‘Something’ Theory?”

“That’s Natural Science Theoretical Foundation,” the prince corrected her with a sigh. “There are several months of winter. Don’t you think she can produce a copy? I bet she already knows everything by heart, but she still requested my formal permission. This definitely says something about her attitude.”

At least from the standpoint of political alliance, there’s no question in Tilly’s sincerity.

He waited for a moment before continuing, “The residents on Sleeping Island are primarily witches. Even if all of them have evolved, they still rely on witches’ power. However, I’m different. The knowledge not only enables witches to progress, but ordinary people as well… It’s the power of all the people that I’m relying on.”

Chapter 429: Element Separation

ccompanied by howling wind and raging snow, Lucia entered the backyard of North Slope Mountain and closed the door, shutting the chill out of the room.

A circle of wooden sheds was pitched in the yard after winter kicked in. Although the lighting was somewhat affected, the houses here would at least not be buried in piles of snow.

There was a bonfire in the yard, and Lucia could even feel the heat of its flickering flames by the door. She took off her gloves and put her freezing hands above the blazes to warm herself up.

“Are you cold?” Anna, who stood at the workstation, turned her head and beckoned. “Come here, I’ll warm you up.”

“Ah… thank you.” Lucia trotted to her. Soon bathed in warm green flames that gave her a languid and relaxing sensation from head to toe, she felt like she was soaking in the bathtub of the castle.

“Such a convenient ability…” Lucia thought enviously. “She’s never afraid of the bitter cold.”

“Are you warm now?”

“Yes!” she affirmed, nodding vigorously. “What are you making?”

“Some parts for new guns.” Anna grabbed a long slim steel tube with a piston in the middle and pulled it back and forth. “His Highness says he’s not sure if it’ll work with the first shot, so it needs to be tested repeatedly.”

These parts, bright and shiny from the outside, were apparently made from the best rolled steel and were carefully carved by the Blackfire. Before coming to the town, Lucia would have never thought that the surface of iron objects could be as smooth as glass, like artwork.

She had also made a contribution to their creation. Lucia could not suppress a smile at this thought. Both Roland and Anna had said that without high-quality materials, the finished products would still be damaged goods, even with precise and refined processing methods.

“His Highness didn’t come with you?” asked Anna, who withdrew her green fire.

“He said that he still needed to take care of something and would come a little later. He asked me to first get familiar with my new ability,” Lucia answered, twitching her mouth.

“What does your ability look like after the evolution?” Anna inquired with great interest. “There’s probably no one in the Witch Union who created a bigger stir than you did upon entering adulthood.”

Lucia scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed. “I probably couldn’t have made it without you and milord Spear.”

“You already thanked me, no need to worry about it.” Anna dismissed it with a wave. “Let’s see your new ability.”

Lucia agreed. She summoned the magic power in her body and again sensed the same odd feeling enveloping her heart—everything became strange and obscure, dividing into numerous tiny squares that grouped together by color, forming different color speckles. However, this time she did not suffer any pain from magic power bites, so she could calm herself down and carefully observe each single square.

She took one of the parts processed by Anna. There were lumps and bumps on its surface, which had been smooth and shiny earlier. With the help of the magic power, she could clearly see the color speckles on it—there were around seven or eight color blocks, the largest of which was cyan. As if an artist carelessly spilled various pigments on the floor, there were no patterns whatsoever in their arrangement. The only difference, however, was that each color speckle had visible boundaries that prevented them from mixing with each other.

It occurred to Lucia that these were not the tiny particles His Highness had referred to. These “squares” and “color speckles” were just too big to be considered as the fundamental elements of everything.

There’s a larger classification than the particle, which is the element.

Small particles form larger ones in accordance with different patterns and rules, and these larger particles will exhibit entirely different properties due to their various structures.

Lucia used to have no idea about her own ability or its specific functions back in Valencia, but now she thoroughly understood the concept of elements. According to His Highness’ description and classification, she believed it was elements that she had just observed.

After hearing what Lucia saw and thought, Anna pondered for a while and said, “It may be a type of derivative skill.”

“Derivative… skill?”

“That’s a rare talent,” Anna explained, smiling. “There are only a few adult witches in the Witch Union who possess such a talent—according to Agatha, it only occurs on the Day of Adulthood. Once you miss it, you miss it forever. I believe it has a lot to do with the witch’s primary ability, or we can say, it supplements and strengthens the primary power. For example, Soraya needs to first mix pigments into paint if she doesn’t have the magic brush. The same applies to Miss Scroll’s Book of Magic. She once told me that although she could quickly memorize most of the books prior to adulthood, she couldn’t share the contents with others because she didn’t have any money to purchase pens and paper.”

Anna paused for a moment before continuing. “Your main ability is separation and restoration, so I reckon these color speckles may be assisting you in accurately separating a specific type of element—you can give it a shot to see whether you can separate a particular color block or not.”

Lucia nodded. She started to once again apply her power to the pig iron ingot by the workstation. Unlike the separation earlier, this time she cautiously transformed her magic power into a filament to pull the cyan squares.

The whole process was much harder than she expected. Lucia had never manipulated her magic power in such a laborious manner, but she was delighted to see her progress. Compared with her confusion prior to adulthood, she was now able to truly feel the magic power, as if it had become her own fingers—even an extension of her consciousness.

As more filaments clung to the color speckle, the squares finally started to loosen up and wriggle out of the iron ingot. Meanwhile, the rest of the color speckles also changed—their distinct boundaries began to wobble, and the whole iron ingot collapsed and crumbled into a yellow green crystal as small as half of a nail, next to which appeared a box-like iron block.

Lucia withdrew her power and wiped the perspiration from her forehead. She noticed the crystal and the block displayed different colors under the magic power than with normal vision—the previous cyan speckle had turned silver white, which was a color usually seen among pure iron. Nevertheless, the crystal still remained colorful, but if she did not look at it using her magic power, it just looked like a polished gemstone.

“What’s this?” Lucia gently took the tiny crystal. Its size was not even close to that of the iron ingot, but it looked much more beautiful.

“It’s probably a compound formed by the other elements in the pig iron,” Anna suggested, her eyes glistening. “I’m not sure, but I can do a small experiment to verify it. If I’ve guessed right, do you know what that means? It means that you can separate some elements from an object and reorganize the rest of the elements, instead of breaking them up… Any useless, poor-quality materials can be reborn with the help of your power.”

Chapter 430: [The Star of Steel]

t was the last month of winter in Border Town after Lucia’s day of adulthood.

As for the Months of Demons, the end of winter did not mean the end of the snow. The snow would often continue to fall until the spring of the second year, and it was totally in God’s hands as to when it would cease.

Based on past experiences, the Months of Demons would end within the first half of the first month of spring, and it would be a very difficult period. It would be an extremely tough time if it ended within the second half of the first month. The days could become hard to survive if it delayed until the second month.

However, it was a situation that only the local people ever encountered.

The situation this year had been greatly improved. The wheat being stored in the granary would be enough to make sure everyone was adequately fed, even if the Months of Demons continued to the end of the second month of spring.

Roland naturally would not be satisfied merely by no one being starved or frozen to death. Over the last few days, he had been sprawling across his desk, exitedly working on many drawings and the ideas for the next stage of his big plan. The entire plan was divided into both military and civilian aspects. The former included the construction of the weapon factory, the bicycle plant, and the dock as well as the shallow water gunboats and other locations. The latter mainly involved the connections for the water, heat, and electricity of the residential area in addition to the promotion of the universal use of the iron farming tools.

It was Lucia White who motivated him. After he realized what her ability was, Roland clearly recognized that the final limitation of the mass production was resolved, and the productivity of the town could usher into a new peak of the growth in the population.

The limitation was the supply of materials.

The modern way of smelting was very complicated, and the output of steel iron was one of the most important parameters to measure an industrial country. However, Roland did not know much about it, and this was the main reason that the iron making capacity of the town was still outdated. Not only were the techniques not as advanced, the scale was not nearly comparable with the private smeltery owned by some mining businessmen. When the iron ore in the brick blast furnace was smelt into pig iron, quality pieces would be sent away to become parts of steam engines, while the poorer quality ones would be passed to Anna for further processing into steel. However, this process was totally out of control, and the carbon content was not stable. Sometimes, the useful materials could only fill up one to two carriages after an entire workday, which greatly limited the production of the steam engine manufacturing plant.

Although the low-quality pig iron could be processed into the quality-controlled rolled steel with Anna’s special smelter, the production quantity was only enough for military plant use. It would basically meet the need of the small town in the fall, but with the two expansions of the army and the development of new firearms and cannons, the limited quantity of rolled steel could potentially be overstretched come winter.

Lucia’s evolution could be described as a cardiac stimulant. Her targeted separation ability would allow easy removal of undesirable components in the material and regulate the elements proportions in the smelting phase, allowing each furnace of molten steel to be maintained at the same performance.

The smelting standard of Border Town would instantly increase exponentially with the help of both Anna and Lucia.

Roland had already got Anna to put down all the other projects on hand in order to concentrate on the creation of the enormous, latest generation smelter for this reason.

The new smelter was 10 times bigger in size compared with the old special smelter designed by her previously, extending to 50 meters in length, 10 meters in width and four meters in height. It looked like a slender swimming pool at the first glance. It was essentially similar to the last generation special furnace; it was still a metal box without any heating equipment and fully dependent on Anna’s Blackfire. However, it was buried in the ground, relying on the soil to support the pressure of the molten iron on the walls. There was also an aisle built in the center for Anna to heat up the iron ingots on both sides at the same time.

The huge volume was its only advantage. Based on the previous smelting method, it would contain too much of product for only the limestones used for removal purposes; it also required a lot of effort to clean the impurities generated and would be very painstaking to reinforce and stir them. Thus, it should not be mass produced or used with the old method. However, there was no such concern now. As long as the pig iron was melted, Lucia could eliminate the harmful components, such as phosphorus and sulfur.

Roland intended to build a batch of kilns along with the old blast and shaft furnaces. He was only responsible for the initial smelting, and he did not care about the quality of the finished product as long as the ore could be melted into the rectangular iron ingots, all of which were then put into the new smelter for secondary refining. The molten steel formed would flow through the strobe into the mold at the lower terrain and directly form the materials to be processed. After that, the steam engine plant would be converted into rolled steel production, and it would bring a powerful new source of motivation to the town.

Roland was going to name the latest smelter “Star of Steel”.

As soon as Anna completed the manufacturing, the steel production of the town would be more than 10 times higher with the Star of Steel officially in use.

It could be said that the latest large-scale production plan was built on this basis.

Furthermore, the development of the state-of-the-art light-weight weapon had come to a conclusion.

Roland discovered that his initial idea was not appropriate. He had designed a few prototype weapons himself based on the principle of the latest pneumatic automatic rifle, which simply used some of the high pressure gas generated while the bullet was fired to finish the process of ejecting, chambering and re-filling.

This project took about half a month. It was not difficult but he needed to test each of the components repeatedly to make sure it operated normally. He did not bother to memorize the specific structure of the rifle. As long as he knew the operation of the weapon, he thought he would definitely be able to piece together a useful weapon after a few tries.

That was exactly where the problem lay.

The completed prototype machine was not only humongous, it also consisted of almost one hundred different components which were all custom-made by Anna. These included small little gadgets like springs, the firing pins, and the induction pistons. It was really hard to mass produce such a weapon with the current machine tool. If all the revolving rifles in the soldiers’ hands were to be replaced by automatic weapons, it would not only increase Anna’s burden, but the current firearms processing equipment units that had been put into production would be wasted as well.

Additionally, the ammunition consumption was undoubtedly going to increase significantly if all the soldiers were equipped with the automatic weapons. Roland did not care too much about this in the beginning as he felt that it could be resolved by increasing manpower. However, he soon discovered that as soon as the new weapon was put into production, it could easily overtake the entire production of the acid plant.

The frequent cartridge jamming during the shooting test, failure to fire, and the other small issues had become less important as he reaized that the weapon production was not feasible.

He finally dispelled the idea of mass replacement of the automatic weapons after repeated contemplation. However, increasing the firepower of the military had become an urgent need. He began to shift his focus on continuous firing weapons.

He was considering the heavy machine gun.

A heavy machine gun could be assigned to 20 to 50 people in order to significantly reduce the number of weapons. In this case, both of the most critical problems would be solved easily. It could also be self-loaded with the use of a ventilation method; the structure was similar to the trial manufacture of the prototype weapons. It could be put into the principal test after a few alterations, and it could be built in a bigger size with bigger components. The difficulty to himself, Anna, and Lucia would be greaty reduced.

.

Chapter 431: From the Kingdom of Dawn

part from the upgraded heavy machine gun, Roland also planned to develop a bolt rifle which would have a mid to long shooting range. He did not need many, a mere hundred or so would suffice. The rifle would have the same caliber as the heavy machine gun, and could be easily transformed into a sniper rifle by simply installing a gun sight.

In this way, he could continue to manufacture revolving firearms and black powder bullets without a huge waste of the products.

During a battle, soldiers could use field artilleries to suppress enemy forces within 800 to 1,000 meters and heavy machines guns 500 to 800 meters. Snipers could take care of enemies in less than 500 meters, and revolving rifles could be used to clear out enemies within the last 200 meters. Therefore he could, in theory, make sure every inch of the battle field was covered.

Of course, it would probably take three or four months to fully equip his army with the whole set of weapons he planned to make. He might not be able to complete it before the spring attack. Therefore, he needed another weapon, an inland river gunboat equipped with a 152mm caliber culverin. One would be enough to pressure on enemies when he launched the attack.

Roland felt he held more responsibilities upon his shoulders than before. He thought of the founding ceremony subsequent to the Months of Demons, the unification of the entire Western Region and the new population that would swarm in after he kicked Timothy off the throne. He even wished time could have slowed down its pace, and that the Months of Demons hadn’t ended so soon.

Upon entering the Western Region, the landscape started to change.

Otto Luoxi lifted up the blinds and peeped through the window. Heaven and earth were washed out altogether. The sky was covered with dense snowflakes which swirled in the harsh wind, drifted down to the ground and blended into the vast canvas of whiteness.

It seemed that the heavy snow would never cease. He could see nothing other than piles of snow cloaking the soil, rocks and woods in the past two days. If the boat was not wobbly, he would even think it remained on the river.

“Shut the blinds.” The captain grunted. “Go out on the deck if you really want to see it, nobody will care.”

He did not take the captain’s words personally, but shut the blinds and asked, “Does it always look like this here?”

“Of course, do you think I was bluffing?” The captain sipped wine from his decanter and said, “Every year when the Months of the Demons arrives, the Western Region is cut off because of the snow. There’s no way to get here except through the Redwater River. I can use my fingers to count how many people in the entire King’s City are willing to ferry you over here in this bloody weather. Well, they also gotta have a boat.” He grumbled, letting out a burp. “So five gold royals is an awfully good deal. You got it?”

“It’s a bit expensive, but I didn’t bargain with you when I paid,” said Otto, smiling.

“That sounds better.” The Captain tossed the decanter to him and said, “It’s warm. Drink some. It’ll warm you up.” He wiped his mouth and continued, “There was once this tradesman who wanted to purchase goods from the Western Region faster than anyone else, but he didn’t want to pay a little more for the fare, so he asked the rats on the black street to ferry him. You know what? That fellow was killed halfway. Those few mercenaries he brought with him were crap. They all ended up feeding the fish.”

“That was… really unfortunate.” Otto took the decanter, but did not pull out the cork to drink the wine. Instead, he took off his gloves and held the decanter in his hands. He really did not feel comfortable sharing drinks with others.

“You get what you pay for. It’s a universal rule. There’re always people who think they can get away with it. Did it never occur to him that if rats agree to provide him with the service at such a low price, how are we going to run our business?” The captain added, twitching his mouth, “By the way, what’s your trade in the Western Region? Don’t you blame me for not reminding you. There used to be jewelry and furs in this damn place, but you can’t get anything from here now.”

“Really?” Otto marveled, pretending to be interested. “As far as I know, don’t they make a living on these trades? Have people in the Western Region all become bandits now?”

“They’re stale news now.” The captain lit his pipe with the charcoal fire and inhaled deeply. “Ever since Prince Roland ruled Border Town, the Western Region has become weird. You know the town is well known for its furs and jewelry, but nobody knows what the hell the prince is messing around with in his territory. Now there’re only imports but no exports. Some jewelry still gets sold in the Longsong Stronghold, but the Nobility have their specific ways to get a hold of it. You can’t butt in.”

“Only imports but no exports?” He echoed, stunned.

“Yes. Although you can’t purchase local products, sales are pretty good. You can pretty much sell out everything from food and garments all the way to fabrics and general goods. No one knows where Prince Roland got so many gold royals from.” The captain breathed out some smoke and concluded, “So you’re very likely to return empty-handed this time.”

Otto put on a worried look without giving any response. In fact, he did not really care whether this would be a fruitless journey, as his sole purpose was to meet the lord of Border Town. However, due to the hostile relationship between Roland and Timothy, he had to be disguised as a tradesman and come to the border in secret.

Before taking off, he had already conducted a thorough investigation of his destination.

As its name suggested, Border Town was insignificant to neighbors. It was initially built for the purpose of monitoring the intrusion of demonic beasts, and was later transformed into a town for permanent residence. From the prince’s widespread notoriety and the wasteland he was entitled, it was widely believed that Prince Roland was the least favorite of the king, and had been abandoned to his fate on the border.

However, the truth was, not only did he settle down in the Western Region, but he had also become a big threat to the new king. This was what confused Otto the most. If Prince Roland was indeed a capable man, what was his infamy based on and how had he put himself in such a desperate position in the first place?

According to his information, the rise of Roland Wimbledon was just incredible.

As a matter of fact, it was more like the prince had been banished to Border Town a year ago, accompanied by no ministers or guards. Even the knights with him were dispatched by the king. It was almost impossible for him to force the local noble to submit to his rules with such inadequate resources, not to mention the implementation of his policies. Therefore, a lot of people treated his arrival as a joke.

Nevertheless, Prince Roland defeated Duke Ryan and conquered the Longsong Stronghold, becoming the true ruler of the Western Region in merely six months. There were various rumors about the battle among the mass. Some believed the duke was killed during an internal rebellion, while others thought he’d been thrown from horseback, which was why the knightage failed to compete against a group of miners.

Roland thus secured his position as ruler of the Western Region. The wars induced by the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince had become increasingly intense. With Prince Gerald and Princess Garcia being killed in succession and Princess Tilly missing, cities in the Southern Territory and the Eastern Region were devastated by the constant chaos. Only the Western Region remained tranquil and peaceful.

This was certainly not due to the benevolence of the new king, but that the armies sent by Timothy had never come back. Otto was very curious about what on earth Roland had done to foster such fierce soldiers.

“Captain, Border Town is right at the front.” The sailor pushed the cabin door open and reported, “We’re almost there.”

“Ah, finally!” The captain tapped the pipe and yelled, “Lower the sail, raise the flag and tell the dockmen that we’re here! I’m going to a tavern to have a good sip.” He looked at Otto and reminded him, “Hey, don’t you forget your luggage. See you in a week. I’m not waiting for you if you run late.”

Otto shrugged his shoulders, showing no objections.

Out of all the rumors about Prince Roland, the one he cared about most was that the prince had given himself up to demons and was hiring witches in secret. This was believed to be the real reason he was able to quickly crush the duke and occupy the whole Western Region, the evidence of which was the burned church in the Stronghold, the murder of the Priest and the expulsion of believers.

He came here actually because of this rumor.

Otto did not care about whether the prince was trading with demons or hiring witches, as long as the prince was on the opposite side of the church.

In this regard, Roland was more beneficial to the Kingdom of Dawn than Timothy.

The cabin suddenly shook violently when the boat was ashore.

.

Chapter 432: An Encounter

ince his trip was kept confidential, obviously there would be nobody greeting him.

Therefore, Otto did not plan to go straight to the castle, but to first spend one or two days looking at the prince’s territory before turning to local rats for information, as a picture was worth a thousand words.

He walked out of the cabin and onto the trestle, and was immediately astonished at what he saw.

This is… really a borderland wharf?

The dock areas were built with russet colored bricks within several hundred paces from the river bank. Trestles were built at certain intervals, with a sign where the trestle and the dock connected, on which there was a number. Otto counted them roughly. There were 26 in total, all of which were neatly displayed like tentacles extending from the bank. Some were covered with snow while others revealed the tawny planks beneath. This indicated the town’s wharf was well taken care of even during the Months of the Demons.

In comparison, the trestles at the dock of King’s City were less than half the ones here in terms of both length and number!

However, what stunned him more was the boats at the wharf.

A line of colossal gray boats he had never seen were at berth not far away. There were seven or eight in total, each of which had a shallow waterline with no sail or mast. Nonetheless, they were definitely too big to be operated by poles. One unique feature of these strange boats was the giant wooden tire on either side and the bulky iron pipe in the middle. They looked different from any inland river boats.

Otto stood there and watched them for quite a while. He was still trying to figure out how these weird “tire boats” were operated when it began to snow.

He brushed the snow off his head, put these thoughts behind him, and decided to follow the crew to the town.

Apparently, Otto was not the only passenger on the “Downwind” from King’s City. He watched the crew unloading cargo and piling it up at the wharf. Several guards wearing black uniforms were jotting something down on the paper. They seemed to be examining the goods, as they picked out a couple of bags every now and then.

“Who are those people? The mercenaries hired by buyers?” Otto went to ask the captain.

“Huh? Mercenaries?” The captain beamed, “Those guys are patrollers in Border Town.”

“Patrollers?” He was puzzled. Weren’t they the same as bandits? He remembered the first time he left King’s City, the patrollers there blackmailed him for two silver royals, which he later learned was actually a common practice everywhere. These patrollers were sort of the rivals of underground rats, but they basically did the same thing. The difference was they charged more and often charged for nothing. However, to Otto’s surprise, the captain seemed pretty relaxed, still smoking his pipe leisurely without any intention to stop them, nor did he thrust them silver royals or ask the patrollers to leave.

“I thought the same thing when I came here for the first time.” The captain explained, seeming to have read his mind, “The patrollers here are different. As long as you follow their rules, you don’t need to pay anything before entering the market.”

“Patrollers’ rules?” Otto doubted, frowning. “Even the bandits here talk about rules, and they also note things down. They probably write nothing but wriggly symbols, but this is already more than enough to blow my mind.”

“What are they recording?” he questioned.

“The types and numbers of goods… especially wheat,” the captain answered, throwing up his hands. “Goods will be checked after being delivered to the market. This is to prevent you from selling them to others halfway. The food here can only be sold by the lord. Of course, I don’t have wheat in my cargo, so it’s going to be fast.”

All the bags were loaded to the carriages and everybody departed from the wharf, ready to set out for the market. Otto was suddenly dazzled by the scene.

Is this really the most deserted territory in the Kingdom of Graycastle?

Looking at the smooth, hard-surfaced road, the handsome houses along the street and people going to and fro, Otto felt the town was as thriving as City of Glow, the capital of the Kingdom of Dawn.

As a noble, he had seen many magnificent buildings. Compared with the Spire of Dawn and the Great Hall of Sun, these two or three-story buildings were definitely not in the same league.

Yet there was only one Spire of Dawn, which was surrounded by tumble-down houses, swampy paths, and muddy water.

However, he could not find a single house here that looked even slightly worn, as if all the residences had come about at the same time.

“You look quite surprised,” the captain said, laughing. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. Everybody was as stunned as you when they first came here. I ought to say Border Town is an amazing place. See the three-story building over there? It wasn’t there when I was here last time.”

“I heard… that it used to be a mining base here.”

“That’s what I’ve heard too, but who knows the truth,” he commented, picking the nose. “You know a lot of times rumors fly and truth walks. Perhaps there’s tons of gold hidden in the North Slope Mine, and that was why His Majesty sent his son down here… After all, they’re blood-related.”

“Hang on. What’s that?!” Across the square, Otto suddenly caught a glimpse of two big colorful balloons floating in the air. Below hung a banner, which read “Welcome to Border Town” on one side, and “Join Now to Obtain the Citizen Welfare” on the other.

“The stuff above or below?” The captain replied, pouting, “I don’t know much about the floating balls up there, but as to the one below… You can go to the east of the square where the Lord’s notices are usually posted. The banner says they’re recruiting tourists, tradesmen, and refugees from all over the world.”

“Even refugees?” Otto asked in dismay, “What’s the citizen welfare?”

“Allowance for work, food for the first two months and a shelter. Sounds pretty awesome, eh?” The captain explained airily, “It isn’t that easy to get approved. Many of my crews have tried, but none of them passed. The Lord wants someone who’s loyal, not a believer of the church and has no criminal records. But holy cricket, theft is also a crime. All sailors stole at some point in their lives, don’t you think? Plus, it looks very bustling here, but in fact, there’re also lots of downsides as far as I can tell.”

“Such as?”

“Barely any entertainment. No casinos or whorehouses, not even a hooker on the street.” He coughed out a spit and continued to complain, “Wouldn’t you be bored to death living in a place like this?”

The marketplace was to the north of the square. Otto decided to first take a look by himself while the captain and his crews were delivering the goods. According to the captain, there were plenty of rare finds in the convenience market on this side and the high-end market on the other. Indeed there were. Otto saw lines of racks filled with various goods. Once he lingered a little longer at a booth, there would be someone coming up to greet him. No matter what the result of the negotiation with Prince Roland would be, Otto knew this town had already drawn his attention.

Just then, there was a stir among the multitude.

Otto turned around and saw two ladies heading toward this side.

One of them was wearing a black gown with a long dark ponytail. She had fine eyes, a cute nose and plump lips. But the coldness on her face made her look unapproachable. The other one, was completely different, looking soft and gentle. The traits of her every character were elegant and graceful like a warm spring breeze. Her gorgeous blonde hair reflected a shimmer of golden rays of the dawn.

Otto felt all his blood rushed to his head at the sight of the blonde lady.

He rubbed his eyes over and over again, hands slightly trembling, and was sure it was her…

“Andrea Quinn!” Unable to restrain his excitement, Otto shouted aloud in the crowd.