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<title>Release That Witch</title>
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<h2>Chapter 1 - Becoming a Prince</h2>
<p>Cheng Yan felt as if someone was calling him.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, wake up…"</p>
<p>He turned his head away, but the sounds he had heard did not disappear, instead they became even louder. Then, he felt someone gently tug on his sleeve.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, my Royal Prince!"</p>
<p>Cheng Yan opened his eyes immediately. He did not see any of the things he had grown familiar with—the screen was gone, the desk was gone, and so too, was the wall which he had plastered with Post-its. They were replaced by a strange scene—rows of small brick houses, a round public square that was crowded with people, and a door-shaped gallows that was erected in the middle of the public square. He was seated on an elevated platform from across the square. The chair he sat on was not his usual soft swivel chair, but instead, a cold and hard iron chair. Sitting alongside him was a group of people whose gazes were fixated upon him. Among them were a few young women who were dressed as medieval ladies like what he had seen in Western movies, and they were busy giggling among themselves.</p>
<p>"Where on Earth is this? Wasn’t I working urgently on my blueprints?" Cheng Yan’s mind was vacant, perhaps caused by three consecutive days of working overtime that had pushed him to the limit mentally and physically. All he could remember was when he finally broke down, his heartbeat began to palpitate unsteadily, and he wanted nothing but to lie on the office table for a brief rest…</p>
<p>"Your Highness, please announce your verdict soon."</p>
<p>The speaker was the person that had quietly tugged on his sleeve. His face was old, seemingly in his fifties or sixties, and he wore a white robe. At first glance, had a little resemblance to Gandalf, from The Lord of the Rings.</p>
<p>"Am I dreaming?" Cheng Yan thought as he licked his dry lips. "Verdict, what verdict?"</p>
<p>He soon knew. The people in the public square were all looking in the direction of the gallows, while waving their fists and yelling as loud as they could. Some even threw stones at the gallows.</p>
<p>Cheng Yan had only ever seen such an ancient instrument of death in movies. The gallows of two pillars extending upwards about four meters from a raised base. The top ends of the two pillars were connected by a crossbeam, which was embedded with rusty metal rings for a thick yellow hemp rope to travel through. One end of the rope was tied to the frame of the gallows, and the other end was tied around the felon’s neck.</p>
<p>In this strange dream, he discovered that his eyesight was extraordinarily good. He would usually require glasses to read the words on a computer screen, but now, he could clearly see every detail of the gallows, which was fifty meters away, without his glasses.</p>
<p>The felon was hooded and her hands were tied behind her back. Her shabby gray garment was akin to a piece of rag. Her body was so emaciated that her ankles—the only part of her body which was exposed—seemed like they could be broken by pinching them. It was her faintly bulging chest which gave away that she was a female. She shivered terribly in the cold wind, yet she was observably trying hard to maintain her straight posture.</p>
<p>"Alright then," Cheng Yan thought to himself, "exactly what crime did this woman commit that so many people are waiting with indignation for her to be executed?"</p>
<p>As he pondered, memories suddenly came flooding back to him, and the answer to his question abruptly appeared in front of him. Cheng Yan’s memories appeared, almost as if they’d suddenly been turned on and he realized the cause of the situation, and the answer to his question, at almost the same time.</p>
<p>She was a ’witch’.</p>
<p>Witches had degenerated after falling to the temptation of the Devil and are now the incarnation of impurity.</p>
<p>"Your Highness?" ‘Gandalf’ urged cautiously.</p>
<p>Cheng Yan glanced at the old man. Ohhh, actually, he’s called Barov and not Gandalf. He’s the Assistant Minister of Finance, and was sent here to assist me with government affairs.</p>
<p>As for myself, I’m the Fourth Prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle, named Roland, and I’m in charge of this place called Border Town. It was residents who caught and arrested the witch, and immediately brought her to the police station—no, it was the court of justice. The warrant to execute the witch would typically have been issued by the local lord or bishop, which, in this case, would mean me.</p>
<p>His memory answered every question he had indiscriminately. It was as though this bout of memories was derived from his personal experiences, rather than knowledge he had gained from his extensive reading. This confused him. A dream can never be as detailed as this, therefore is this not a dream? Could it be that I have travelled back in time to the dark ages of medieval Europe and became Roland? Have I transformed from an ignoble draftsman to a dignified prince?</p>
<p>Albeit this piece of territory seems barren and backward, and I’ve never seen the name ‘Kingdom of Graycastle’ in any history book.</p>
<p>Well, what should I do next?</p>
<p>I shall leave aside the question of how something scientifically impossible like time travel happened. Right now, I need to end this circus. Before civilization, it was common to assign the blame for disasters and misfortune to these pitiful witches, but Cheng Yan could not accept that they had to be executed as well to satisfy the dark desires of the audience.</p>
<p>He snatched the formal written orders from Barov’s hands, tossed them on the ground, stretched his arms and said languidly, "I’m tired. The judgement shall be postponed to another day. Court’s dismissed!"</p>
<p>Cheng Yan did not act recklessly or without thought. Instead, this was in accordance with his memory’s detailed recollection of the way that the prince behaved, and all he did was reenacting their willful manner. The Fourth Prince, Roland, was indeed this screwed up and abominable, and did whatever he wanted. Certainly, it was impossible for a twenty-something unruly prince to be well-cultivated.</p>
<p>The members of the noble who sat with him seemed unsurprised, but a tall man wearing a suit of armor stood up and argued. "Your Highness, this isn’t a joke! All witches should be put to death immediately upon being identified, or else, what can we do if other witches attempt to save her? The Church will get involved if they know of this."</p>
<p>"Carter Lannis. This handsome man is my Chief Knight." Cheng Yan frowned and replied, "Why? Are you scared?" His voice, which was full of blatant mockery, sounded natural. "How could a man, whose arms were thicker than a normal person’s body, be worried about witches breaking into our prison? Does he really think that witches are the mouthpiece of the Devil?" "Won’t it be better to catch a few more witches?"</p>
<p>As Carter remained silent, Cheng Yan signaled to his personal guards and left. Carter pondered for a moment before he decided to catchup with the guards and walked beside Prince Roland. The other nobles stood up and paid their respects to the prince, but Cheng Yan could see the disdain and contempt in their eyes.</p>
<p>Back in the keep, which was considered to be the castle in the south of Border Town, he ordered his guards to deny entry to the anxious Assistant Minister so that he himself could finally catch a brief respite.</p>
<p>As a person who had usually spent 90 percent of his time sitting in front of a computer, he had outdone himself by speaking in front of such an audience. Using his newly-gained memories, Cheng Yan located his bedroom, and then sat on the bed for a long rest which allowed his heartbeat to regain normalcy. At the moment, the most important matter was to clarify his situation. "Why is the prince not residing comfortably in King’s City, but instead sent to this desolate land?"</p>
<p>The answer popped up spontaneously and left him a bit flabbergasted.</p>
<p>Roland Wimbledon was sent here to contend for the throne.</p>
<p>It all started when the King of Graycastle, Wimbledon III, quizzically proclaimed, "The heirship of this kingdom will not be based on age, but instead, the capability to govern." He then dispatched his grown-up sons and daughters to govern different territories, and after five years, he would decide his successor based on their level of governance.</p>
<p>Although the ideas of meritocracy and gender equality sounded progressive and futuristic, it was difficult to implement in reality. Who could guarantee that each of the five children faced the same initial conditions? After all, this was not a real-time strategy game. According to his new knowledge, the Second Prince was given a much better territory than Border Town. In fact, among the five of them, none had a place as bad as Border Town, and thus he had a huge disadvantage.</p>
<p>Furthermore, he wondered how the level of governance would be assessed. By population? Military power? Economic standing? Wimbledon III did not mentioned his criteria, nor did he put the slightest restriction on their methods of competition. In case someone secretly assassinated the other candidates, what would he do? Would the queen stand by and watch as her children kill one another? "Wait…" He carefully recalled another memory. "That’s right, another piece of bad news is that the Queen died five years ago."</p>
<p>Cheng Yan sighed. This was obviously a barbaric and dark time during the feudal era. The way that people wanted to kill witches recklessly was enough to give him a few hints. Yet, even if he did not attain heirship, he would forever be a blood prince of Graycastle, and would be the Lord of a Realm for as long as he lived.</p>
<p>Furthermore… so what if I become the king? There isn’t Internet or other comforts of modern civilization. Like the locals, the only fun thing I’ve to do is burning witches. And living in a city where shit is excreted and dumped anywhere and everywhere, won’t I eventually die of the Black Death?</p>
<p>Cheng Yan suppressed his chaotic thoughts and walked up to his bedroom mirror. The man looking back at him in the mirror had light gray hair, which was the royal family’s most distinctive feature. Although his facial features were regular, his face lacked a proper shape and seemed devoid of royal disposition. His pale face gave away his lack of physical exercise. He recalled from his new memories that he did not indulge much in wine or women. He did have several sexual relationships while in King’s City, and all of them were consensual. He had never forced anyone into an affair with him.</p>
<p>He also discovered a probable reason for his time travel. Because of his company’s urgency to make progress on a project, his boss had arranged consecutive nights of overtime work for him that caused him to die of exhaustion. The victims of such a case were usually coders, mechanical engineers, and programmers.</p>
<p>"Forget it, no matter what, at least I got the equivalent of an extra life, and therefore I really shouldn’t complain too much." He began to wise up to the fact that he would probably adjust to this life in the days to come, but that for now, the most important mission was to act well as the Prince Roland and not let anyone find out. Or else, they may believe that the Devil had possessed the real Prince Roland, and immediately burnt him at the stake. "So, most importantly, live well. " Cheng Yan took a deep breath, and whispered towards the mirror, "From now on, I’m Roland."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 2 - The Witch Named Anna (Part I)</h2>
<p>For a period of time Roland locked himself in his room as he thoroughly reviewed the memories of this new world, and had dinner sent directly to him by his servants.</p>
<p>Because of his strong desire to live on, Roland fully suppressed his fear and discomfort of the unfamiliar environment he found himself in. He was fully aware that if he wanted to blend in and avoid being suspected by the people around him, he needed to acquire more information as soon as possible.</p>
<p>It had to be said that, apart from information about himself fooling around with other noble children, his new memory consisted of nothing much else. He was unable to recall any information of value, such as knowledge of the aristocracy, the political situation in his own country, or the diplomatic ties with neighboring countries... Although he had some general knowledge such as city names, and the years of significant events, they were completely different from the history of Europe that he knew previously.</p>
<p>It therefore appeared evident to him that he had absolutely no chance of obtaining the throne. Perhaps the King of Graycastle himself was aware of this, and because of that, he sent Roland to this hellish place. Even if he made a mess of things, it would not cause too much damage.</p>
<p>The next memories that Roland recalled were regarding his brothers and sisters, and what he found left him unsure whether to laugh or cry.</p>
<p>Roland’s eldest brother, the First Prince, was a great fighter. His second brother was sinister and scheming, his third sister was aggressive and savage, and his fifth sister was extremely smart. What should he say? After living with them for more than a decade, his impression of them could be summed up in a few words. He knew nothing about the extent of their power, their subordinate officers, or their skills and talents.</p>
<p>Just three months into his leadership of Border Town, the noble had already stopped concealing their disdain and contempt towards him. It was evident that the Fourth Prince wasn’t cut out to be a leader. Fortunately, when he left King’s City, he was accompanied by two assistants—one for civil issues, and one for military issues—who were provided by the king, or else it would have been a much bigger mess.</p>
<p>When Roland woke up the next morning, he was repeatedly reminded by his maid, Tyre, that Assistant Minister Barov wanted to see him. Realizing that he could put it off no longer, he groped the maid’s behind twice—as he recalled it was customary of the original Roland to do so, and told her to inform Barov to wait in the sitting room.</p>
<p>He saw Tyre’s face flush a bright red as she walked out the door. Suddenly, Roland thought, "Since Border Town is primarily involved in farming, is there a system of any sort in place?" He yawned and mentally repeated the word ‘system’ many times in his head, but could not think of anything.</p>
<p>Indeed, novels were all fiction.</p>
<p>Barov was waiting restlessly in the drawing room. The moment Roland appeared, he immediately hurried towards him and asked, "Your Highness, why didn’t you order the execution yesterday?"</p>
<p>"One day earlier or one day later, what’s the difference?" Roland said as he clapped his hands to order the servants to bring breakfast in. "Have a seat and let’s talk."</p>
<p>It was in line with his memory that the Chief Knight preferred to ask questions in front of other people, while the Assistant Minister usually chose to talk in private. In any case, he could trust both of them to be loyal to him, even though they probably did so as part of their duty to the king.</p>
<p>"Just one day may be enough for other witches to appear, Your Highness! This isn’t like any other trivial matter, you cannot act as recklessly as before!!" Barov cautioned.</p>
<p>"Why are you also saying this?" Roland asked while frowning. "I thought you could distinguish between rumors and facts."</p>
<p>Barov looked bewildered. "What rumors?"</p>
<p>"That witches are evil and are the Devil’s emissaries," Roland replied glibly. "Isn’t this part of the Church’s propaganda? If we don’t want them to interfere in our affairs, we should do the opposite of what they say. We shall deliberately not hunt down witches, and instead publicize to our citizens that these are all shameless rumors spread by the Church."</p>
<p>Barov was shocked. "But… witches are really…"</p>
<p>"Evil?" Roland asked in reply. "How so?"</p>
<p>The Assistant Minister remained silent for a moment, as if he was guessing whether the prince was purposely making fun of him, "Your Highness, this problem can be discussed later. I understand that you don’t like the Church, but this way of causing conflict is counterproductive."</p>
<p>Roland curled his lips. It seemed that reversing this myth about witches could not be done overnight, and he decided not to dispute it further for now.</p>
<p>Breakfast finally arrived on the table, consisting of fried bread, fried eggs and a carafe of milk. He first poured a full cup of milk and offered it to Barov.</p>
<p>"You haven’t had breakfast right? Let’s eat as we talk." According to the maid, Barov had arrived outside the keep at dawn, and therefore should not have had time to eat. While he’d decided to imitate the former prince’s way of life, and he’d also decided to begin to change the way people perceived him a bit at a time. Although he had determined to imitate Prince Roland’s way of doing things at first, he also wanted to make changes gradually. The Assistant Minister is a good first target for my plan. Roland thought to himself. "Making one’s subordinates feel valued invariably makes them more motivated to work for oneself. Taking the initiative is always the most efficient way of doing things, no?"</p>
<p>Barov accepted the cup of milk from Roland but didn’t drink. He anxiously said, "Your Highness, we have a problem. Three days ago, guards reported that a camp suspected to be inhabited by witches has been discovered in the western forest. They left in a hurry and didn’t clean up their traces. A guard found this in the camp."</p>
<p>He took out a coin from his pocket and put it in front of Roland. This was not a common currency seen in the kingdom, at least according to Roland’s memories, and he had never seen such a coin. In fact, it did not appear to be made of metal. He pinched the coin in his hands and was surprised to feel that the coin was becoming warmer. The heat definitely did not come from the Assistant Minister's body, as it was above 40℃ at least, and it made him think of heating pads.</p>
<p>"What is this?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>"I thought it was just some foul trinket that a witch made, but it’s actually more serious than that." Barov had to pause to wipe his forehead. "The printed pattern is known as the Insignia of the Sacred Mountain and Magic Eye, which is the emblem of the Witch Cooperation Association."</p>
<p>Roland rubbed the coin’s uneven surface, and guessed that it was probably made of fired ceramic. Indeed, he saw that in the center of the coin was carved a mountain-shaped pattern—It was formed by three juxtaposing triangles, and the image of an eye was placed in the space between the triangles. The pattern’s contour lines were very crude, and therefore he judged that it was polished by hand.</p>
<p>Roland attempted to recall the two terms "Insignia of the Sacred Mountain and Magic Eye" and "Witch Cooperation Association", but did not discover any relevant information. It seemed that Prince Roland knew nothing about occultism.</p>
<p>Neither did Barov expect Roland to have any knowledge about this. He continued, "Your Highness, you haven’t seen a real witch before, so it’s understandable that you’re unimpressed. Like us, they can be hurt. They bleed, and aren’t any harder to kill than the rest of us, but that’s only for witches who don’t have resistance. The lifespan of witches who receive the Devil’s power would shorten greatly, but they would obtain a terrible amount of power which ordinary people are unable to rival. Once the witches are fully developed, our armies will suffer greatly. Their appetite for disaster is extremely difficult to restrain or suppress, and they’ve already degenerated into the devil’s minions. The Church therefore formed a Punishment Army, which would arrest and execute any woman who was discovered to have the slightest chance of transforming into a witch. The King has approved of this decree, and in fact, these measures have been highly effective and the incidents of witches wreaking havoc have greatly declined in comparison to a hundred years ago. Rumors about the Holy Mountain, or rather, the Gates of Hell, were derived from an ancient book of that era."</p>
<p>Roland, while gnawing on his bread, sneered in his heart continuously. Although the histories of this world and the world he was from were very different, their historical trajectories were surprisingly similar. The Church was still the Church; he understood that religion was the real Devil’s minion and the real source of evil. Executing a person because a small sign was discovered, and using God’s name to set laws, and then to arrest, trial and sentence a person, were in itself a form of degeneration. The Prince Roland’s memories of the Church’s misuse of authority corroborated with his views.</p>
<p>Unaware of Roland’s thoughts Barov continued, "It’s recorded in ancient books that witches can only find real peace in the Holy Mountain. There, they wouldn’t be reverse bitten by their magic powers, and wouldn’t be troubled by burgeoning desires. There’s no doubt that the so-called Holy Mountain is the birthplace of evil and an entrance from the human world to Hell. I think that only Hell won’t punish this bunch of degenerates."</p>
<p>"How about the Witch Cooperation Association? What’s their relationship with the Holy Mountain?" Roland enquired.</p>
<p>Barov explained with a grimace, "In the past, witches acted solitarily, whether it was to flee or to live in seclusion. But in recent years, the Witch Cooperation Association appeared and made a difference. They wanted to gather all witches and find the Holy Mountain together. For this purpose, the Witch Cooperation Association would even lure other people to become witches,, In the Port of Clearwater, there have been many cases of female babies disappearing in the past year, and there are rumors that they were the doings of witches."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 3 - The Witch Named Anna (Part II)</h2>
<p>After Roland ate the last piece of fried egg from his breakfast, he took a napkin and wiped his mouth before saying, "So, are you saying that you're worried that the Witch Cooperation Association will try to rescue the witch when they hear the news that she did not die?"</p>
<p>"It's as Your Highness says." Barov stamped his feet and exclaimed. "I hear that they're in a hurry and probably on their way to somewhere. Had that prisoner died, and then it can't be helped, but she's still alive! If those witches are crazy enough to steal babies, I'm afraid that they won't forsake a degenerated companion."</p>
<p>Roland was somewhat confused, and he could not help but feel that there was something amiss about the situation. Why is it that my Assistant Minister and Chief Knight speak of witches as if they're a forthcoming and formidable enemy?</p>
<p>The woman who's to be executed is a witch, right? She's so thin that even the wind seems like it can blow her off her feet. If she truly possessed frightening power, why would she be standing there and awaiting her death? No, she wouldn't even be caught. According to the Church's explanation, she's a Devil incarnate, and therefore the Punishment Army and other military troops would suffer losses if they fought her. Yet, she was caught by the normal citizens of Border Town, and was tortured by every means possible up until she was led to the gallows, but there was still no sign of her frightening power.</p>
<p>"How did she get caught?" Roland queried.</p>
<p>"I heard that when the North Slope Mine Area collapsed, she revealed her identity in order to escape, and was then captured by angry villagers," Barov answered.</p>
<p>"I've a certain impression of this matter, and it happened right on the day before I travelled through time," Roland thought.</p>
<p>"How did she reveal herself?" The prince asked aloud.</p>
<p>"I, well… I'm not sure." the Assistant Minister shook his head and said, "The situation was very chaotic, and it could be that someone saw her using witchcraft."</p>
<p>Roland frowned as he asked, "Aren't you able to investigate the situation properly?"</p>
<p>"Your Highness, our priority is to restore the production of the mining area." the Assistant Minister retorted. "Half of our revenue is derived from the iron mine, and what's more, the guards have confirmed that someone at the scene was killed by witchcraft."</p>
<p>"What kind of witchcraft?" Roland asked, becoming more interested than before.</p>
<p>"The head and a large part of the body were spread out on the ground, as if they were melted. They reminded people of burnt-out black candles." Barov's face was filled with disgust. "Your Highness, you wouldn't want to see such a scene."</p>
<p>Roland played with his silver fork as he pondered over the issue. Historically speaking, most of the victims who were hunted by the Witch Cooperation Association were innocent people, and thus, the witches bore the brunt of the Church's and the ignorant people's anger. In truth, a small percentage of witches had sought their own deaths. This group of witches dressed bizarrely, and spent their days mixing all kinds of materials in large pots, claiming that they could predict the future and knew the conclusion of life and death. They based their legitimacy around a few tricks, for example, making use of a natural flame reaction to 'prove' that they had obtained the power of God.</p>
<p>To a modern person, these were nothing but some simple chemistry tricks, but in medieval times, it was easy to mistake them as godly phenomenon.</p>
<p>As for melting people, the first thing that Roland thought of was a chromic acid solution. However, the preparation for this was tedious and the process itself required the entire human body to be immersed in the chromic acid. Furthermore, the melting effect was definitely not as strong as the melting of candle wax. And chromic acid was the strongest of the known acids.</p>
<p>Then how did she do it?</p>
<p>If she relied on alchemy, that meant she could have been a chemist, which was very rare in the whole territory, but if not…</p>
<p>Roland thought until here, and then said in a determined tone, "Take me to see her."</p>
<p>The Assistant Minister stood up in a flurry and accidentally knocked over the cup of milk that he had not drank. "Your Highness, you want to see the witch?"</p>
<p>"Yes, this is a command." Roland looked back and smiled at the Assistant Minister. In a way, he was thankful for Prince Roland's unreasonable style.</p>
<p>As Roland walked over to the door, he suddenly paused and asked, "Right, I always wanted to ask why we use the gallows."</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>Roland reiterated his question, "Why the gallows? Shouldn't witches be burned at the stake?"</p>
<p>Barov seemed puzzled. "Is that so? But she's not afraid of fire."</p>
<p>There was only one dungeon in Border Town because such a barren land could not afford to upkeep too many prisoners. Most criminals would face trial within a few days and either be released or executed.</p>
<p>In addition to Barov, the prince was followed into the dungeon by the Chief Knight, the prison warden, the castellan and two guards.</p>
<p>The dungeon had a total of four floors and its walls were made of hard granite blocks. It was Roland's first time in this kind of place. He noted that the deeper down he went, the narrower the hallway became, and the lesser the number of cells. He imagined that the builders probably dug a pit in the shape of an inverted cone first, and then piled it up with layers and layers of stone..</p>
<p>This type of crude engineering project would naturally not provide for a good drainage system. The ground was always very wet and muddy flowed down the stairs, all the way to the last floor.</p>
<p>The witch was imprisoned in the bottommost floor of the dungeon. Every floor down they went, the stench in the air became thicker.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, you're risking too much by doing this. Even though she's sealed with God's Locket of Retribution, it isn't completely safe."</p>
<p>It was Carter Lannis, the Chief Knight, who spoke. As soon as he learnt that the prince was planning on visiting the witch, he immediately rushed over and pleaded with the prince to turn back... He did not accept the prince's command and refused to leave—not when the prince seemed to blatantly disregard his own safety. "How could such a tall and handsome man be such a bugbear?" Roland thought. He wished that someone would just sew Carter's mouth up. "If you don't even dare to look evil in the eye, how will you have the courage to defeat it? I thought you knew that," he said.</p>
<p>"Before fighting evil, one must know one's strength. Reckless behavior is not courageous." Carter rebutted.</p>
<p>"You mean to say that you'll uphold justice against an inferior enemy, but turn a blind eye to a superior enemy?" Roland challenged.</p>
<p>"No, Your Highness, I mean …" Carter stammered.</p>
<p>"Before this, you were afraid of a witch raid, and now you're even afraid to see a little girl, my Chief Knight is indeed one of a kind."</p>
<p>Although the Chief Knight was talkative, he was not proficient in debate, and thus was helpless against a smooth talker like Roland. Soon the party reached the bottom floor of the dungeon.</p>
<p>This floor was many times smaller than the ones above, with a total of only two cells. The castellan lit the torches on the walls, and as the darkness faded, Roland saw the witch curled up in one corner of her cell.</p>
<p>It was already late autumn and the temperature in the dungeon was low enough for people to see white fog when they exhaled. Roland wore a fur coat with silk lining inside, and thus he did not feel cold, but the girl only wore a thin garment that did not fully cover her body, and hence her exposed arms and legs were frozen white.</p>
<p>The suddenly lit up torches made her turn away and close her eyes. But soon, she was able to open her eyes and looked straight at the party.</p>
<p>It was a pair of pale blue eyes that resembled a calm lake before the onset of heavy rains. There was no fear on the witch's face and neither was there any sign of anger or hatred. For a moment, Roland had an illusion that he was not looking at a weak little girl, but instead a shadow that devoured flames. He felt as though the torches became a little dimmer.</p>
<p>The girl tried to stand up against the wall, but her sluggish motion made her seem as if she could fall down at any time. Eventually, she was able to get on her feet and hobbled her way towards the light.</p>
<p>This was enough to make most of the party members gasp in horror and take two steps backwards. Only the Chief Knight held his ground and shielded the prince.</p>
<p>"What's your name?" Roland patted the knight on the shoulder to indicate that he did not need to be so nervous.</p>
<p>"Anna," she replied.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 4 - Flame</h2>
<p>"Can you clearly describe what happened when the mine collapsed?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>Anna nodded and began talking.</p>
<p>Roland was surprised because he expected her to stay silent or to angrily curse at him, but she responded to all of his questions cooperatively.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a complicated story. Anna’s father was a miner and was working when the mine collapsed. Immediately after they heard about the accident, Anna and the other miners’ families went to rescue their loved ones. The North Slope Mine area was rumored to be an abandoned monster lair with many forked pathways extending in all directions. Since the volunteers were all acting on their own accord, they separated at the mine entryway, and only Anna’s neighbors Susan and Ansgar were by her side when she found her father.</p>
<p>Her father’s leg was crushed under a cart filled with ore, rendering him motionless, but at his side was another miner patting him down for money. When the looter saw them, he rushed at Ansgar with a pick and knocked him to the ground, but as he was about to strike her, Anna killed him first.</p>
<p>Anna’s neighbors vowed to keep her secret and helped Anna rescue her father. However, early next morning, Anna’s father went out on his crutches and reported to the patrolling guards that his daughter was a witch.</p>
<p>"Why?" Roland couldn't help but ask.</p>
<p>Barov sighed and answered, "Probably he could receive a reward. Discovering and reporting a witch can get you 25 gold royals. For a man with a crippled leg, 25 gold royals would take care of him for the rest of his life."</p>
<p>After a moment of silence, Roland asked, "Your opponent was a strong adult man, so how were you able to kill him?"</p>
<p>Anna laughed, and the flames of the torches began shaking like waves on a lake surface.</p>
<p>"Just as you think, I used the power of the devil," Anna said.</p>
<p>"Shut up! Vile sorceress!" shouted the prison warden, but everyone could hear his voice trembling.</p>
<p>"Is that true? I want to see it," Prince Roland said unwaveringly,</p>
<p>"Your Highness, this is no laughing matter!" The Chief Knight interjected as he furrowed his brows.</p>
<p>Roland stepped out from behind his knight and walked towards the cell. "If anyone is afraid of her, I won’t ask them to stay here."</p>
<p>"Don’t panic, she has a ‘God’s Locket of Retribution’ around her neck!" shouted Barov to comfort everyone, but probably mostly himself. "No matter how powerful the devil is, he cannot overcome God’s protection."</p>
<p>Roland stood in front of the cell bars, an arm’s length away from Anna, and could clearly see her dusty and bruised face. Her soft facial features showed that she still was a minor, but her expression contained no trace of childlike innocence. There wasn’t even anger in her face, giving her an unsettling feeling Roland had only seen on TV. It was the face of a wandering orphan who had suffered from poverty and hunger, but it was also not exactly the same. Those children always stood with a bent and broken body and a lowered head in front of cameras, but Anna did not.</p>
<p>Up until now, she had tried to stand straight with her vision raised and calmly looked into the prince’s eyes. "She does not fear death," Roland realized, "and she is waiting for death."</p>
<p>"Is this the first time you have seen a witch, my lord? Your curiosity might get you killed," Anna said.</p>
<p>"If you really had the devil’s power, you would be able to kill with a glance," Roland responded. "If that were true, it is not I who should fear death, but your father."</p>
<p>The prison torches suddenly dimmed, which was definitely not an illusion, as the flames seemed to be smothered into small sparks. Roland heard the panting and prayers of the men behind him, as well as the thuds of people who had tripped while trying to run away.</p>
<p>Roland’s heartbeat sped up and he felt that he was at the border between two worlds. On one side was the world of common sense, which was in exact accordance with the laws and constants that he knew. On the other side was an incredible new world, which was full of mystery and the unknown. He was standing in front of this world.</p>
<p>"Was the thing around her neck God’s Locket of Retribution? What a simple and crude locket," Roland thought. It was a red iron chain with a sparkling and translucent pendant, which seemed easy to destroy if the witch hadn’t been handcuffed.</p>
<p>Roland glanced at the crowd behind him, who were still mouthing prayers in panic. He quickly reached into the cell, grabbed the pendant, and tugged on the locket, snapping the chain—the move startled even Anna.</p>
<p>"Come on." Roland whispered.</p>
<p>"Are you actually a liar, some type of alchemist, or a real witch? If you take out bottles and jars and start compounding acids, I will be disappointed," Roland thought.</p>
<p>Roland then heard a crackling sound, the noise of water vapor expanding in heat. Their surroundings began to heat up rapidly, and the water on the ground was turning into steam.</p>
<p>Roland saw a blazing flame rise from beneath Anna, and the ground she was standing on was set on fire. The torches behind them exploded at once, as if they had received pure oxygen, giving off a blinding light. At that moment, the whole cell was as bright as day, causing the onlookers’ terrified screams.</p>
<p>As the witch moved forward, the flames surrounding her moved with her. When she came to the edge of her cell, the iron bars that made up the wall became pillars of fire.</p>
<p>Roland backed up instinctively from the biting and painful heat. In just a few seconds, he felt that he was back in summertime, but this was a different kind of heat, which was solely generated by a flame, rather than an enveloping summer heat. One side of his body was facing the flame’s heat, and the other side was still chilly. Roland could even feel cold sweat trickling down his back.</p>
<p>"She really does not fear fire," Roland thought.</p>
<p>Roland remembered the Assistant Minister’s words. Only now did he really understand what he meant.</p>
<p>If she is an actual flame, how could she fear herself?</p>
<p>Soon, the iron bars turned from crimson to a light yellow and began to melt. This meant that they were being heated to over 1,500 degrees Celsius, a temperature that seemed practically impossible to Roland to achieve without insulating measures. Like the others, he backed away from the cell, holding himself firmly against the furthest wall.</p>
<p>If he had not done this, the heat of the melting iron would cause his clothes to combust even without direct contact—even Anna’s clothes were reduced to ashes and replaced with a ball of flames.</p>
<p>After what seemed like eternity, the flames disappeared.</p>
<p>All that was left were a couple torches quietly burning on the wall as if nothing had happened, but Anna’s burned clothes, the hot air, and the twisted prison bars all proved that this wasn’t an illusion.</p>
<p>Besides Roland and the Chief Knight, the other men had all collapsed to the ground, and the prison warden was so scared that he soiled his pants. Anna now stood naked outside the cell, and her arm shackles were gone. She did not hide her naked body, her hands hanging naturally at her side and her blue eyes appearing as peaceful as before.</p>
<p>"Now that I have satisfied your curiosity, my Lord," she said, "can you kill me now?"</p>
<p>"No." Roland stepped forward, wrapped his coat around her, and said with a forcedly gentle tone, "Miss Anna, I want to hire you."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 5 - Reasons</h2>
<p>"The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Heat can never pass from a colder to a warmer body without causing other effects, or it is impossible to convert heat from a single source into work without causing other effects, or entropy always increases in an irreversible heat reaction."</p>
<p>Roland carefully wrote this down using the language of this world. At a glance, the text resembled a moving earthworm, and he really didn’t understand how the locals could learn so many complicated characters.</p>
<p>If asked which of the physical laws was the most depressing, Roland would definitely choose the second law of thermodynamics. It states that heat will always pass from high to low temperatures, thus adding chaos to order and increasing entropy. Eventually, everything will become nothing and the universe will become morbidly silent.</p>
<p>Somehow, this world was exempt from the issue of increasing entropy. It could produce magic power out of nothing, which was much more impressive than a perpetual motion machine! "The forces of evil?" Roland scoffed to himself. "The people here don’t see the nature of this power, which could possibly change the entire universe."</p>
<p>Of course, he could start by changing this small border town.</p>
<p>Roland hummed a tune, tore up the paper he had written, and threw it into the fireplace, where it was reduced to ashes, feeling a sudden joyous freedom.</p>
<p>The Assistant Minister was confused by Prince Roland’s actions, but fortunately for Roland the old prince had always acted this strangely, and Barov could see that the prince was in a good mood.</p>
<p>"It’s been done. The ‘witch’ was hanged at noon," reported Barov.</p>
<p>"Good, could anyone tell?" Roland asked while writing, "All of the condemned wear hoods anyways."</p>
<p>In order to prevent trouble with the Holy Church and the Witch Cooperation Association, Roland ordered the prison warden to find a death row criminal with a similar figure and use her to replace Anna at the gallows. Besides the Chief Knight and Assistant Minister, everyone who was with him in the dungeon was given 20 gold royals of hush money, which was a huge amount for them.</p>
<p>Barov even suggested killing all of the witnesses to ensure total silence, but Roland rejected this. He knew he couldn’t prevent this secret from spreading, but this didn’t matter because he actually wanted someone to spread the word—just not now. He would clash with the Church sooner or later, since he couldn’t tolerate those idiots would waste such valuable resources! If other witches heard there was a town where they could live freely and even get special treatment, what would they think?</p>
<p>No matter the era, talent and human resources were the most important.</p>
<p>"Good," Roland said, "and next I need you to give me a summary of the past year’s trade, taxes, and expenditures. I would also like you to record the numbers and sizes of steel, textile, and pottery workshops in the city."</p>
<p>"I’ll need three days to prepare these records, but…" Barov first nodded, but then fell short of words.</p>
<p>"What is the matter?" Roland asked, knowing that his ability to lie was about to be tested. Barov undoubtedly had questions about what happened yesterday, since although a scoundrel would always be a scoundrel, having a bad character didn’t also mean being brainless. In the eyes of the Assistant Minister, harboring a witch was akin to declaring war on the world.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, I don’t understand…" Barov wrestled with his words. "Although you’ve caused trouble in the past, it was always harmless, but now… risking so much only to save a witch? It was the Church that passed the law to hunt them, but even your father, his Majesty Wimbledon III, supports it."</p>
<p>Roland thought for a moment and asked, "Do you believe that this border town is a good place to live in?"</p>
<p>"Uh, this…" Barov didn't understand what this question had to do with the problem, but eventually answered truthfully, "Not really."</p>
<p>"It’s awful. Compared to Valencia or the Port of Clearwater, what do you feel my chances are against my siblings of gaining the throne?"</p>
<p>"…" The Assistant Minister opened his mouth but didn't answer. "Almost zero. So, I can only choose another path." Roland watched expressionlessly as Barov walked into his trap. "A path that would even impress my father."</p>
<p>He did not argue that witches were not inherently evil, because it would be useless. Barov had been the Assistant Minister of Finance for twenty years and was a pretty competent politician. For politicians, personal gain was more important than moral law. Also, if Roland recalled the previous prince’s actions correctly, using emotion wasn’t typical of him because he wasn’t considered as a righteous person. So, he chose to use the eternal conflict between religious and secular authority, as the expanding power of the Holy Church was a constant issue for Wimbledon III.</p>
<p>The Church claimed that the world worked under the will of God and that the Pope was the voice of God. If the people found what he said was full of lies, the dominance of the Holy Church would be greatly undermined.</p>
<p>It would be hard to convince the Assistant Minister by saying, "Witches are not evil, so I want to save them," but replaced with "witches are not evil, and I can use them to attack the church," Barov could easily be persuaded.</p>
<p>"No matter how the territories of my brothers and sisters flourish, everything will eventually be in the possession of the Church. They had already declared the divine right of kings, which states that rightful rulers must be blessed by the Pope, so are we even the real rulers of this land?" Roland paused and said, "My father will see a new hope in me: a leader who isn’t suppressed by the Church and who holds all the exclusive rights of a royal king, and his choice will be very clear then."</p>
<p>Changing the "enemy of the entire world" into "enemy of only the Church" was easier to accept, especially since Barov himself stood on the side of the royal family.</p>
<p>"Similarly, if he realizes that witches have extraordinary powers that could aid in fighting the Church, the execution orders will be nothing more than a joke. While there is no possibility to guarantee success, it’s not impossible either. Do you think it’s worth the risk?" Roland stared at the Assistant Minister as he said, "Don’t doubt me, Barov. You’ve been an assistant minister for twenty years, right? If I can become Wimbledon IV, I could remove the assistant part, or even make you… Hand of the King?"</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Watching Barov leave, Roland felt relieved. It was obvious that he didn’t think much of this promise, which was normal, since even Roland himself did not believe that this hasty and bold plan could be achieved. However, it was more important to convince Barov of his seriousness. This simple plan thought up by a sheltered noble son reflected Prince Roland’s hatred towards the Church and paved the way for attracting more witches.</p>
<p>As for his real thoughts? Even if Barov knew, he wouldn’t be able to understand them.</p>
<p>Roland summoned the maid. "Tell Miss Anna to come to see me."</p>
<p>"Now back to business," Roland thought happily.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 6 - Training (Part I)</h2>
<p>In the castle backyard stood a single cottage, which was covered with wooden planks and had two windows. There was a pond in front of the cottage with a circumference of roughly nine and a half yards, and it was filled with river water, making it not only fire-resistant but also modifiable. Piled atop the ground were several iron ingots, which came from a blacksmith and were placed there by Carter.</p>
<p>Roland had chosen this location for the cottage because of its proximity to a well, but it was still too crude to be a laboratory. He shook his head, realizing that building a perfect lab overnight was not possible. He would need Barov to collect the resources before he could build an official workshop.</p>
<p>"How are you? Did you sleep well?"</p>
<p>Roland turned around and asked Anna, who seemed confused.</p>
<p>The witch in front of him and the witch he saw yesterday were two completely different people. After a thorough bath, her long flaxen hair draped over her shoulders like a shawl and had a soft luster. Her skin glowed with vitality and a light dusting of freckles on the bridge of her nose added a youthful vitality to her face. Her body was still so thin that a strong breeze could topple her, but her cheeks were rosy and the bruises and marks on her neck had faded. Roland suspected that magic power not only gave witches extraordinary power, but also improved their health. Anna’s recovery rate was much faster than the average person’s.</p>
<p>"Since you experienced so much difficulty, you should be allowed to rest for a few days, but our time is limited, so I’ll make it up to you later." Roland walked around the girl. "Does your dress fit well?"</p>
<p>Anna wore clothes that he had carefully selected to satisfy his lewd tastes. The protective clothing that iron workers wore was too thick and unsuitable for her, while the elegant and classy robes many mages wore in games actually restricted mobility and would quickly be turned to ashes. As for maids’ dresses, was there any better clothing than this?</p>
<p>Even though this world had no modern maid outfits, it was not an issue since the current maid clothes were similar to those of later generations. Thus, Roland took a set of clothes from Tyre and cut it to Anna’s size, shortened the skirt, shortened the sleeves, folded the collar, and added a bow, thereby creating the new witch uniforms.</p>
<p>This was accompanied by a witch hat (customized), black boots (ready), as well as a knee-length cape (tailored), and Roland found himself looking at a character he had only seen in movies..</p>
<p>"Your Highness… What can I do for you?" Anna asked.</p>
<p>Anna really could not keep up with the ideas of this man, and she felt that she was losing her judgement. As she was dragged out of the dungeon with a bag over her head, she thought she would soon be free from her cursed life. However, after taking off the bag, Anna found herself not in the gallows or the guillotine, but a magnificent room. Then, a bunch of people flooded in and began undressing and bathing her from her armpits to her toes, leaving nothing unpolished.</p>
<p>Next was her clothing, and Anna didn’t expect that someone would help her get dressed. She also never knew that clothes could be so comfortable that they laid gently on her body and created no friction at all.</p>
<p>Finally, a bearded old man entered the room, and after he ordered everyone else to step out, he placed a contract in front of her. At this moment Anna realized that the man who said he wanted to hire her in the dungeon was actually Prince Roland of this kingdom, and that he wasn’t joking. The contract clearly stated that if she worked for the prince, she would be paid a gold royal every month.</p>
<p>Anna knew how much a gold royal was worth. Her father’s pay as a miner was determined by the amount of ore he mined, but even his best haul was only worth one silver royal. One hundred silver royals were equal to a gold royal, and this still depended on the purity of the silver royals. So, was her job to sleep with the prince? Anna had heard the maids whispering this while she was bathing, but she didn’t think she was worth this price. Her blood was tainted by the devil, so anyone who knew of her identity avoided her at all costs. Even if the prince’s curiosity was so compelling that he didn’t fear the devil, he didn’t need to pay her.</p>
<p>However, no one came into her bedroom that night, and she fell asleep peacefully. It was the softest bed Anna had ever slept in, so she lay down and immediately fell asleep. When she woke up the next day, it was already noon, and lunch was being served in her room, consisting of bread, cheese and steak. She had been ready to die, but after tasting the luxurious meal, Anna could not but start to cry.</p>
<p>The sauces and seasonings exploded in her mouth with a strong spicy flavor mingled with a sweet taste, attacking her taste buds… Suddenly, she felt that the world was a little bit brighter.</p>
<p>Anna felt that if she ate this food every day, she would even have more courage to fight the demons that attacked her body.</p>
<p>Standing in this garden that looked nothing like her prison cell, Anna secretly made up her mind. Since the prince needed her, whether it wearing strange clothes, or even using the devil’s power, she was willing to try. So, she repeated her question, but without hesitation this time.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, what can I do for you?"</p>
<p>"Right now, I want you to learn to control your own strength. Practice it over and over until you can send out and retract your flames freely."</p>
<p>"You mean the devil’s…"</p>
<p>"No, no, Miss Anna." Roland interrupted her. "This is your power." The witch blinked her beautiful blue eyes.</p>
<p>"Most people in the world have the misconception that witches’ power belongs to the devil and is incredibly evil, but they are wrong." Roland bent down and met her at eye level. "But you already figured that out, right?"</p>
<p>Roland remembered Anna’s chuckle in the dungeon. Would a person who felt she was evil laugh with such self-mockery?</p>
<p>"I didn’t use my power to hurt anyone else," she murmured, "except that looter."</p>
<p>"Self-defense is not a sin, and you did the right thing. People fear you because they do not understand you, and they only know that training will lead to power, but they do not know how to become a witch. Unknown power is always scary."</p>
<p>"You’re not afraid," Anna said.</p>
<p>"Because I know your power belongs to you." Roland laughed. "But if that looter had such incredible strength, I wouldn’t be able to stand so calmly in front of him."</p>
<p>"Well, let’s get started," he said.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 7 - Training (Part II)</h2>
<p>The fire rose up from her feet but quickly dispersed.</p>
<p>That had been her twenty-third attempt.</p>
<p>And she had failed again.</p>
<p>On Anna’s forehead, beads of sweat constantly appeared, but she used the back of her hand to wipe them away, and the crackling sound of rising flames went out.</p>
<p>Without stopping to rest, the end of one exercise was immediately followed by the start of the next. The witch’s uniform lay at her side, neatly folded. If Anna had not insisted on doing so, her new uniform would have already been burned to ashes.</p>
<p>Fortunately, given Roland’s identity as the Fourth Prince, getting a few spare robes for her to practice in was not difficult. He had his maid Tyre deliver a whole bucket of robes, gathered by the maids for Anna to use.</p>
<p>The twenty-fourth attempt had finally been successful. The flame no longer came from her feet. Instead, it appeared in her hands. She gingerly moved her arm to try and have the flame go to her fingertips, but the flame suddenly shook twice and engulfed her arm, setting her sleeve on fire, spreading from the sleeve to engulf the whole robe.</p>
<p>Anna dispelled the flames, but her robe was already completely burnt and unusable, so she turned to the bucket and got a new one.</p>
<p>This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but whenever it did Roland would look away. He would stare off into the distance, even if Anna herself didn’t care.</p>
<p>In fact, if it weren’t for Roland’s strong objections, she would probably have taken off all of her clothes and practiced in the nude, in broad daylight! But even if Roland would look at her, he wouldn’t be able to work well with a naked girl, especially when that girl burst into flames and her body gave off an entirely different kind of energy.</p>
<p>Roland shook his head, removing such impure thoughts from his mind. For the moment, it seemed very difficult to master the use of magic. Roland had instructed Anna to try to control the fire to such a degree that she could release flames from her palm or her fingers without destroying her own clothes. However, he also wanted the flames to be hot enough that they could melt the pig iron ingots that were in the yard.</p>
<p>After Anna’s thirtieth attempt had failed but before she could begin the next one, Roland stopped her and told her to take a break.</p>
<p>Anna looked startled, but she gave no other response.</p>
<p>Roland had to walk over and even pull Anna by her hand, leading her to a chair and forcing her to sit down.</p>
<p>"You are tired; when you are tired you need to rest. Do not be too impatient, we still have some time." He helped her wipe the sweat from her forehead and said, "Let us have some early afternoon tea."</p>
<p>Roland knew that the noble of the Kingdom of Graycastle were not in the habit of drinking afternoon tea. Since this world’s economy was underdeveloped, the vast majority of people would not have the opportunity to taste such delicious food. The people in this world were not familiar with the idea of eating three meals a day, not to mention a fourth one. As for the sons of nobles, they generally gathered together in the afternoon at bars or casinos.</p>
<p>If Roland wanted to introduce the custom, he had to prepare the food and drink himself, for the maid and the cook were not familiar with it. Since prepared some light refreshments and they didn’t have any tea, he was forced to use ale as a substitute, but it would be important to get some tea in the future.</p>
<p>So, in a wooden cottage in the castle backyard, the first afternoon tea party of Graycastle was held.</p>
<p>Anna looked at the dishes of exquisite snacks, not believing her eyes. How could food look so beautiful?</p>
<p>Although she did not know the name of the cake she ate, it was a pure white, and the bright red collection of fruit could make a person’s mouth water.. The edges of the pastries were decorated with exquisite patterns. This experience exposed her to things she had never seen before, forcing her to change her view of the world once again.</p>
<p>Roland proudly observed Anna’s expressions; she looked stunned, but also slightly frightened. Although the strawberries on the cream cake were marinated in sugar and didn’t even taste fresh, Anna ate the whole thing.</p>
<p>Roland found that watching the witch’s face while she ate was more satisfying than eating himself. Roland observed Anna, who was carefully placing the cake into her mouth, her blue eyes twinkling and her hair gently swaying in the wind. Seeing all this, his heart suddenly beat faster and he thought to himself, why would anyone eat food which is not only delicious, but also beautiful!</p>
<p>Well, these strong feelings were also very important.</p>
<p>Watching Anna while she practiced and having afternoon tea with her became Roland’s daily routine. He had not shown any interest in government affairs. Barov helped him to take care of any issues so that everything was in order.</p>
<p>Three days later, Barov delivered the information on the Border Town’s industries that Roland had asked for to his office. This was an unbelievable moment; the former Fourth Prince had never actually had the patience to see such a large pile of complicated reports.</p>
<p>In fact, even now he still didn’t have it. Roland needed only to read two lines of text before he began to feel dizzy, and he told Barov, "You’ll read it to me."</p>
<p>He spent an hour listening to Barov read the reports before he found a mistake. "Why did the Border Town have no trade revenue or annual taxes in the winter?"</p>
<p>Since the winters were so cold, the lack of agriculture revenue was reasonable, but how could it be absolute zero? Did the local people hibernate?</p>
<p>Barov coughed, "Your Highness, have you forgotten? During the winter months, the ‘Months of the Demons’ takes place. Since the town cannot guard its borders, all of the residents must evacuate to Longsong Stronghold. But rest assured, your safety is certainly our main priority."</p>
<p>"Months of the Demons?" Roland seemed to recall having heard that phrase before. He personally didn’t believe the tales of ghosts and the legends of wicked witches, and he privately considered it to be part of this uncivilized world’s nonsense and superstition. But now it seemed that the monsters were not myths, since witches did actually exist. Then, what about other famous legends, like ghosts?</p>
<p>When he was receiving his education, his history tutor had told him the story of the "Month of the Demons." Every winter, after the first snow fell and the sun had disappeared behind the mountains, an intense darkness would descend upon the world. At that time, the gates of hell would open and release demons into the world.</p>
<p>The evil spirits would corrupt living creatures and turn them into the slaves of the devil. Some of these animals would change into powerful demonic beasts that would attack humans. Most witches were born during this season and would be much stronger because of it.</p>
<p>"Have you seen the Gates of Hell?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, how could we ordinary people see them?" Barov shook his head repeatedly. "Don’t say such things. The mountains they come from cannot be conquered. Even being close to the mountains means you’ll be affected by the foul miasma. First you get a mild headache, and then you can lose your mind in the most severe cases. Unless..."</p>
<p>"Unless what?"</p>
<p>"Unless the person who goes to the Gates of Hell is a witch. Only a witch would be able to travel to the Gates of Hell because they have fallen from grace and become the devil’s minions. Naturally, they don’t need to fear the evil forces," Barov said, glancing in the direction of the backyard.</p>
<p>"Have you ever seen one of these demonic monsters?" Roland said, knocking on the table to recapture the attention of the Assistant Minister.</p>
<p>"Well, I personally haven’t see them. Like you, this is my first time I have ever been to the kingdom’s borders. In the capital, only a few people there have encountered real demons."</p>
<p>If he needed to evacuate once a year, how would Roland be able to develop the Border Town? He initially thought that the Border Town was a barren land, but that it could be developed; that now seemed to be a pipe dream.</p>
<p>"Since we can hold of the demonic beasts at Longsong Stronghold, and since they aren’t invincible and they can be killed, then why can’t we defend this Border Town as well?"</p>
<p>"Longsong Stronghold has a very high wall. Also, Duke Ryan’s elite troops are stationed there. It is nothing like this Border Town. This small town cannot be compared to it," Barov explained. "First, the Border Town was established to provide an early warning to the stronghold. Therefore, the town was set between the North Slop Mountain and the Redwater River."</p>
<p>It seemed that the Border Town only existed to slow down the demons. It was the only path they could take to reach Longsong Stronghold. Roland laughed at his bad luck.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 8 - Months of Demons (Part I)</h2>
<p>If Roland wanted to develop the Border Town, he would have to put down roots. Even though the area was a wasteland, it could easily be reclaimed and improved. If the size of the territory was too small, people could expand outwards. However, all of talk was useless if no one was willing to stay.</p>
<p>If they could be forced to abandon their land at any time, then who would be willing to purchase it? Who would want to improve it?</p>
<p>After the Assistant Minister left, Roland called in Chief Knight Carter and ordered, "Assemble your men and go and find some of the local guards, hunters and farmers who have lived here for more than five years. Ask them if they have experienced the Months of the Demons. If you find someone who has fought a demon, that would be even better."</p>
<p>After the knight saluted and left, Roland rubbed his forehead and continued to look at the data compiled by the Assistant Minister.</p>
<p>The Border Town primarily exported products from hunting and mining, and mainly imported food. Everything was transported directly along the Redwater River to Longsong Stronghold or Willow town.</p>
<p>The mining exports included all kinds of minerals, such as iron, copper, sulfur, crystal, ruby, and sapphire, etc. This was completely against the concept of associated minerals. He thought about what Anna had said to him: the North Slope Mine area was rumored to be an unknown underground lair, and until now there had been no proven bottom to the mine. It was also unknown how far the mine extended.</p>
<p>The minerals the town exported weren’t paid for with the kingdom’s gold royals, but instead they were traded for the foodstuffs that arrived. It seems reasonable that, since the gems were a high-priced luxury, in these last five years the Border Town should have saved a surplus of food, but there was nothing left.</p>
<p>In other words, the annual mining production of the Border Town was only enough to feed two thousand people. Before the prince had arrived, the Border Town had been governed by the duke who also controlled Longsong Stronghold; it was him who had set up this arrangement. In his opinion, it would save food and also created a warning system for the monsters.</p>
<p>The fur trade was how the local people made their living. They ventured into the Misty Forest to the west and hunted birds and other animals. They then sold the animals to the acquirers of Longsong Stronghold or to the residents of Willow Town. No transactions took place in the Border Town and so no taxes were collected.</p>
<p>Roland thought that, since he had come this practice could not continue; minerals would no longer be paid for with food. The Redwater River ran through the whole kingdom, and anyone could use it. It was essentially a highway; even if they no longer bought food from Longsong Stronghold, there were other places they could trade with.</p>
<p>However, this was all built upon the premise that he could stay in the Border Town and hold off those damn monsters.</p>
<p>Carter worked quickly and by the next day he had found two local guards and a hunter. He reported, "These two men are part of the town patrol, every year they are responsible for lighting the beacon. The hunter said he has crossed paths with the demons. He returned with the head of a demonic beast, which he said he cut off with his own two hands."</p>
<p>The three of them bowed simultaneously.</p>
<p>Roland nodded, gesturing for them to stand up; the first person stepped forward to speak.</p>
<p>"Honor... respected prince... Your Highness." The first guard who spoke was so nervous he was unable to speak clearly, "Brian and I are... are the people, uh... when it begins to snow, we... we’ll go to the North Slope Mine area... to the Beacon Tower. There it is the first possible... it is the first place where you can see the demons, and if they are crossing over in great numbers... we’ll conceal ourselves in the Misty forest... and light the beacon in the tower… We retreat up the road and board the boat, which we prepared beforehand... then we leave."</p>
<p>"Since you both were together, let your partner answer." Roland covered his face to hide his disapproval. "What are the demonic beasts like? Can they be killed?"</p>
<p>The other guard was also very nervous, but at least he did not stammer. "Your Highness, I believe so. They used to just be ordinary animals in the forest, but because of the evil miasma they become manic and ferocious; however, they can still be killed. During every past Months of the Demons, Longsong Stronghold would send cavalry to cleanse the remnants of the demon monsters along the land from Longsong Stronghold to Border Town."</p>
<p>"How long does the Months of the Demons?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>"Generally two to three months... it depends on the sun," said Brian.</p>
<p>"The sun?" Roland asked doubtfully.</p>
<p>"Yes," the guard explained. "Your Highness came to this town not too long ago, so you do not know. In this Border town, once the snow begins to fall it does not stop until the sun shines again and then the snow goes away."</p>
<p>"So the snow indicates the end of the Months of the Demons?" Roland recalled that at least in Graycastle, it was not like this. The next day it would stop snowing, and the sun would seem to be no different.</p>
<p>"It is exactly like this. The longest Months of the Demons I have experienced was two years ago, which lasted for nearly four months and many people starved."</p>
<p>"Why, shouldn’t be the grain reserves in Longsong stronghold large enough to support the town for more than one month?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>Brian’s face got a little angry. "They had enough. But Reynolds, the Municipal Administrative Governor who was responsible for managing such things, declared that the amount of ore and minerals mined was only enough to buy food for three months, and for the fourth month we had to deliver a new shipment of ore. But the Months of the Demons had not ended, and we couldn’t leave the fortress."</p>
<p>"So that is what happened... I understand."</p>
<p>They were fools to be alienating people. If Longsong Stronghold treated the people who lived on the frontier with this kind of cold harshness, like a spring wind, the frontiersmen would most likely want to stay and not leave. At the moment it seemed that the group of people controlling Longsong Stronghold were not the good-natured sort. Roland beckoned the last person forward to answer, while putting the name of the Municipal Administrative Governor in the back of his mind.</p>
<p>The third man looked courageous and strong, standing over 6 feet tall, making Roland feel tense. Fortunately, he came forward on his knees.</p>
<p>"You said you killed the beast?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness." His voice was low and hoarse. "A demonic boar and a demonic wolf."</p>
<p>"Species?" Roland repeated, "what do you mean?"</p>
<p>"This is the name of the demonic beast, Your Highness. The fiercer the animal was before, the more difficult it is to deal with variation after. The transformation emphasizes the advantages of the animal. The demonic boar’s back fur becomes extremely tough, even within 50 meters it is difficult to hurt it with a crossbow. The demonic wolf becomes more cunning and it runs faster. To kill it, you need to set up traps in advance."</p>
<p>"Stronger animals become even stronger and faster animals become even faster." Roland nodded as he heard this. "But they are still animals."</p>
<p>"Yes, they are, but they aren’t the most terrible kind of enemy," the hunter said. He swallowed his saliva before he could speak further, "The worst ones are the demonic hybrids."</p>
<p>"They are the devil incarnate; only hell is able to create such a horrible monster. I have seen a demonic hybrid. It had not only strong limbs of beast, but on its back there was a pair of huge wings, allowing it to fly short distances. And it always knew where I was. No matter how much I tried to hide, it could always detect me. It was not hunting its prey, Your Highness, but it was just teasing it." The hunter lifted his clothing, revealing a large scar extending from his abdomen to his chest. He said, "Before I lost consciousness I fell into the Redwater River. I was lucky to survive."</p>
<p>"Such a monster actually exists." Roland felt that the world was becoming more and more fantastic. A strong wall could stop all ordinary kinds of demonic beasts, but if they could fly, what should he do? "Demonic hybrids are very rare, right?"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 9 - Months of Demons (Part II)</h2>
<p>"There are not many, Your Highness," the hunter replied. "During every Months of the Demons, there’ll only be two to three demonic hybrids, otherwise Longsong Stronghold would be unable to defend itself."</p>
<p>"Well, you are very observant." Roland noted. He ordered the man to stand up and asked, "What’s your name? You don’t look like you are from my Kingdom of Graycastle."</p>
<p>"Half of my lineage hails from the Mojin Clan, and the townspeople call me Iron Axe."</p>
<p>Mojin, the Ironsand people were said to be the descendants of Ironsand Giant, who once lived in the southwest of the barren lands. Roland searched for any memories he had related to the Mojin Clan and realized that Iron Axe did not use the name his clan called him by, but instead used the name given to him by the people of Border Town. Apparently, he did not want to have a relationship with the Ironsand people. As for why, since it was obvious that he was from the southwestern border of the desolate lands, Roland estimated that there was a series of sad stories involved.</p>
<p>For the moment, those stories weren’t important; everyone was welcome in Border Town regardless of their background.</p>
<p>Roland clapped his hands. "That’s not why I asked you all to come here. Carter, give each of these men ten silver royals, and then they may go."</p>
<p>"Thank you very much for the reward, Your Highness," the three said in unison.</p>
<p>Afterwards, the men were taken away by Carter. Carter returned once again and asked, "Your Highness, why did you ask them these questions? Do you want to stay here?"</p>
<p>Roland didn’t express any opinion, but instead asked, "What do you think?"</p>
<p>"This matter is out of the question, Your Highness!" the knight said loudly. "According to the hunter, even the demonic boars would be difficult to defeat. Outside of 50 meters a shot from a crossbow would have no effect; we would have to wait until it came within 40 meters, or even until 30 meters before taking our shot. Only our elite soldiers could accomplish this. Plus, there’re too many demonic beasts, and we have no strong walls. We could only stand with the local guards to stop them. I’m afraid that the casualties would outstrip the accomplishment, and our defeat would be assured."</p>
<p>"You already saw what a witch is able to do, so why can’t you think positively?" Roland sighed.</p>
<p>"These... witches are evil, but Anna... Miss Anna does not look so. As your Chief Knight, I use facts to look for the truth."</p>
<p>"If I could give you a city wall, do you think it would be possible to defend Border Town?"</p>
<p>"What?" For a moment Carter suspected that he had heard Roland incorrectly.</p>
<p>"If I give you a wall between the North Slope Mountain and the Redwater River, could you defend Border Town?" Roland stressed every word he said. "Although they would not be like the enormous walls from Graycastle and built only to stop beasts, but they should be enough.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, do you understand what you are saying?" The knight honestly didn't know whether to be angry or to laugh. "Even your nonsense should have a limit. If you don’t stop, you’ll have to excuse my lack of manners."</p>
<p>"We still have three months, don’t we? I looked at Border Town’s records, and the first snow usually falls then."</p>
<p>"Even if we had three years it would not be enough! Building a wall would require many workers. To set the foundation they must compress the earth and every one or two feet has to be reinforced; otherwise, there is a high risk of collapse. This would only be the most simple of earthen walls." Carter shook his head repeatedly. "Brick and stone walls are even more difficult to build and it would need hundreds of stonemasons who would first have to cut the stones or bake the clay into bricks. Afterwards they would need to build it block by block. Your highness, all walls are built this way, without exception. A city being built in a day and a night is only the stuff of legends."</p>
<p>Roland indicated he had heard enough. "I see. You don’t need to be so upset. If there is no reliable wall in place when the time comes, I’ll evacuate with you to Longsong Stronghold. I’m not prepared to die in this place."</p>
<p>The knight knelt, swearing, "I’ll protect you!" Afterwards, in the beautiful castle gardens, Roland nipped at his bitter ale. Looking at Anna, who was intently eating cream cakes, his mood recovered substantially.</p>
<p>He had decided to stop the demonic beasts at Border town by joining the elite soldiers with the town guards. He would also increase the amount of available farmland by expanding the area the guards patrolled. If he wanted to build a wall connecting the North Slope Mountain and the Redwater River within three months, he would have to use technology from modern times.</p>
<p>It was not that Roland had just suddenly thought of this. Previously he had checked the edges of Border Town (although he didn’t go personally). In his mind he had a clear picture—the Northern Slope Mountain and the Redwater River were only separated by 600 meters at their closest point; it was a natural bottleneck. And due to the year-round, the area was surrounded by rock gravel mined from the cave.</p>
<p>These gravel cast offs were ash gray, containing plenty of calcium carbonate, which could be used as limestone after it was ground. With the limestone, he had his solution. It would be the same as cement. Being able to build with a water hardening material, with raw materials which were easy to obtain and simple to prepare: it would change the history of mankind. It would stand as one of humanity’s greatest achievements, among the most efficient tools for tilling fields.</p>
<p>Roland estimated the time he would need. Even if he could implement new technology, even with cement, he wasn’t sure if it was possible. The amount of cement they needed was too much and he wasn’t sure if they could calcine so much cement powder in three months. The strength of the concrete would be subpar and they would need to reinforce it with steel. Thus, the odds for successfully building a concrete city were not great.</p>
<p>They had to maximize the usage of existing materials in order to save cement, so building a fieldstone wall seemed to be the most appropriate choice.</p>
<p>The so-called fieldstone was a stone which had not undergone any grinding; it was just a natural byproduct of mining. This stone, because of the irregular edges and corners, had no direct uses in building, but instead it first needed to be processed by the stonemason into usable bricks. However, building a fieldstone wall and using cement as binder was possible. Regardless of how oddly shaped the stone was, it could still be used, and the gaps between the stones was filled in by the cement. This process saved cement and used leftover materials.</p>
<p>With this, the course was set, but as for the actual implementation, Roland was afraid he would have to do that by himself. Regardless of whether it was the calcined cement or fieldstone wall, both of these were new ideas. Except him, no one had ever seen these things, and no one knew how to make them. He was afraid he would be very busy for the next three months.</p>
<p>"You, look here." The sound of Anna's clear voice came from behind him.</p>
<p>As Roland turned, he saw a small cluster of flames in her palm burning quietly. There was no wind, but the tip of the flames was rising up and down, as if it was nodding to her. She shook her finger and the fire slowly moved towards the tip of her finger. Finally, it stood at the very tip of her index finger.</p>
<p>"You did it." It was an incredible scene. Roland felt sincere admiration for what he had just witnessed. This was not a magical illusion, nor a chemical trick, but a real supernatural power. However, this was not the thing Roland was attracted to—many times more dazzling than the flame was Anna’s expression.</p>
<p>While she was intently staring at her fingertips, her lake water limpid eyes were reflecting the vibrant flame, as if an elf was sealed within a sapphire in her eyes. The traces left from being tortured in prison had already faded, and though she rarely smiled, her face was no longer lifeless. On the tip of her nose was a speck of sweat and the rosy color on her white checks emitted vitality. Anyone who looked at her would be put into a cheerful mood.</p>
<p>"What happened to you?"</p>
<p>"Ah... Nothing." Roland noticed he had looked at her for too long, and he removed his gaze and coughed. "Well then, try using it to melt the iron."</p>
<p>In the past few days, except for eating and sleeping, Anna had continuously practiced. In front of the hardworking enthusiast, Roland could only endlessly blush in shame—even when he studied for the college entrance examination he did not work so hard.</p>
<p>"Apparently, she’ll not need long until she completely grasps this power," Roland thought. "Once she does, my ideas for new projects can be put on the agenda."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 10 - The Stonemason</h2>
<p>The weather had been bad all week, and the sky was always gray. Karl van Bate’s mood was just like the weather: gloomy to the extreme.</p>
<p>As he walked down the wet stone street, people greeted him from time to time—Karl ran a school in this town. Unlike the Kingdom of Graycastle, where only the children of noble could go to school, here he taught r the children of ordinary people. Therefore, he had a very high reputation in Border Town. "Hey, Mr. van Bate, good morning."</p>
<p>"Sir, is my son doing all right?"</p>
<p>"When are you free, Karl? Let’s go fishing together."</p>
<p>Usually, Karl would always smile and respond to them, but today he just nodded, never saying a word.</p>
<p>He had just witnessed Anna’s hanging, so in his eyes there was a crack in the once-perfect world—or this crack had begun to form since his departing from Graycastle , but he deliberately turned a blind eye. He used his busy work to numb himself, and to a certain extent, he even used the innocent smile of the students to mend this crack.</p>
<p>"Until Anna died," he thought, "the world had not changed." But after the hanging, the crack not only did not disappear but expanded.</p>
<p>His memories of Anna stopped at half a year ago. She didn’t stand out of her class of more than thirty students with her normal appearance and few words, but there was something about her that impressed Karl deeply.</p>
<p>It was her passion for knowledge. No matter what he taught, whether it was characters or history, she could always remember it on her first try. Even if it was the boring history and evolution of the religion, she could read about it all day. He had also seen the young lady help to take care of her neighbor’s sheep--sitting down in the sun, Anna would carefully brush the sheep’s hair, like someone would with a baby. He still remembered her sweet smile very clearly, and no matter how, he could not think of her as a sinister and evil person.</p>
<p>Then, after the fire on Anna' street and her mother unfortunately passed away, Anna never came back to school. He never saw her again until a week ago, when she was proved to be a witch and hanged in the town square.</p>
<p>"Tempted by the devil? An unclean person? Evil? All lies!" He began to doubt the Holy Church and the knowledge they imparted for the first time in his life.</p>
<p>He didn’t know if Anna had been a witch or not, but she was never evil! If a teenage girl, ignorant of the world and full of curiosity, could be called evil, and then the administrative officials of the Kingdom of Graycastle were from hell and possessed by the devil too! In order to save several hundred gold royals, they deliberately switched out the stone material used to build a theater, leading to its collapse and the death of more than thirty stonemasons.</p>
<p>But were they hanged? Not even one! The judge finally ruled that the leader of the stonemasons was unsuitable for his job, and he was punished into exile, while the Mason Guild was forced to disband. Karl, who knew the true story, fled the Kingdom of Graycastle, followed the road to the West, and eventually arrived in Border Town.</p>
<p>He managed to establish a school with a lot of students, got to know his new neighbors, and find new friends, but the Graycastle officers’ crime was always engraved in his mind. Now, he felt the world was mocking him once again. - Could the Gods in Heaven really recognize what was evil?</p>
<p>The last straw for Karl was Nana.</p>
<p>Nana and Anna were so different that one could even say they were the complete opposite. After class you could always see her playing with birds or rolling around in the grass. If you asked what she was doing, she would giggle for a while before answering that she was looking at a fight between a grasshopper and ants.</p>
<p>Nana was always smiling; it seemed to be in her nature. She was completely oblivious of the world’s sorrows, and at least at school, she could continue smiling without a care. Karl was even curious if she had ever cried since she was born.</p>
<p>Two days ago, Nana suddenly came to him with tears in her eyes and asked, "Teacher, will I be hanged like Anna?"</p>
<p>This told him that his student, Nana Pine, had become a witch.</p>
<p>"Ah, isn’t that Mr. van Bate? Come over here and help us read what it says."</p>
<p>Karl felt someone pull his sleeve and looked up to find that he had arrived at the town square. Many people stood around the bulletin board, and when they heard van Bate’s name, they all made a path for him.</p>
<p>"You came just in time, sir. Please help us read it."</p>
<p>"Yeah, Meg was supposed to read this to us, but he got a stomachache and had to go to the toilet, but he still isn’t back yet."</p>
<p>Usually, he would have nodded with a smile and explained in detail the contents of the bulletin board to everybody who listened. However, Karl found this impossible—the smiles and enthusiasm of these people were earnest, but this made it even more difficult to bear than if they were all pretending.</p>
<p>The notice about Anna’s hanging had also been placed here, and everyone had also discussed it this cheerily. "In a sense, you were all her murderer," he thought, "and your ignorance and fear had killed her."</p>
<p>Karl suppressed his emotions, took a deep breath and walked in front of the announcement list.</p>
<p>"The prince calls for hands to help with the construction of new buildings for Border Town, and a variety of different kinds of jobs are available," he said.</p>
<p>"But I’m also one of her killers, so why do I deserve to blame them? Wasn’t I the one who taught them that witches were evil?" Karl had a bitter taste in his mouth. "Look at what I’ve taught these children. I followed every word of the Church’s doctrine, and I thought I was teaching them well, damn it!"</p>
<p>"Stone grinder, male, 20 years to 40 years old, strong and healthy, salary is 25 bronze royals per day."</p>
<p>"Mud craftsmen, no gender limitations, over 18 years old, must have experience in masonry, salary is 45 bronze royals per day."</p>
<p>"Handyman, male, over 18 years old, salary is 12 bronze royals per day."</p>
<p>"…"</p>
<p>No, he had to do something. If Anna’s death was irreversible, at least he couldn’t let Nana die. Karl heard his inner voice shout, "When the Mason Guild collapsed, you didn’t do anything; when Anna was hanged, you didn’t do anything. Are you also not going to do anything and watch this lovely child being dragged up to the gallows?"</p>
<p>But what could he do? Could he escape with Nana out of Border Town? He had his own family, a family who traveled with him from Graycastle. Would he make them leave again just when their lives were getting better? Would Nana herself, who was born into a rich family, be able to leave her comfortable life?</p>
<p>"Stonemason, no gender limitations, no age limitations, long-term position for anyone who has participated in construction for the government, salary is one gold royal per month."</p>
<p>"Additional Term: People with rich experience and excellent performance may be granted an official position."</p>
<p>After hearing the notice, the people became even noisier, "One gold royal per month is even better than the salary for the stronghold cavalry!"</p>
<p>"But can you do it? If you can’t even build a mud pile, can you build a fortress?"</p>
<p>"Don’t just stare at it. Even the first few positions aren’t bad. If you get paid every day, you’ll earn the same amount as a hunter."</p>
<p>"Indeed, hunting is a life-threatening job, and the Misty Forest is a really dangerous place."</p>
<p>Karl van Bate did not pay attention to this chatter and only concentrated on the seal and signature at the foot of the notice. It was the autograph of Roland Wimbledon, the Fourth Prince.</p>
<p>Did the prince not know that the Months of the Demons were already coming? Whatever he wanted to build, it was not a good time to start now. It seemed His Highness knew nothing about constructions, so if he could become a stonemason and catch his attention… Karl had suddenly an idea. Perhaps through this recruitment, he could meet the prince himself, Border Town’s highest ruler.</p>
<p>Karl gulped in fear. Could he convince the prince that witches were not evil? There were rumors of His Highness’ unique ideas, so he should be different from ordinary people, and he also hated the Church deeply. "Maybe I can do it!" he thought. "Although Anna’s hanging was ordered by Prince Roland, everyone could tell that he was not willing to do it."</p>
<p>The prince himself was still in his early twenties, which should make it easier to understand, that these young girls were incapable of being evil.</p>
<p>Of course, there was a possibility that Karl would be branded as a Witch Helper and have to go to the gallows with the witches. The Church’s law stipulated that anyone who protected a witch or begged for leniency should be regarded as the devil’s minion.</p>
<p>He could only hope that the prince’s hate for the Church also extended to its laws.</p>
<p>Karl prayed in his heart.</p>
<p>Even though he did not know which God to pray to, he closed his eyes and prayed for a blessing.</p>
<p>For the sake of the dead Anna, for the sake of Nana, who was still alive, and for the sake of his own heart to stop breaking, he decided to take the risk.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 11 - Princess Garcia</h2>
<p>"The air is getting colder." Garcia Wimbledon lamented, combing her hair with her fingers that blew in the wind, as she gazed at the ocean beyond the shoreline.</p>
<p>"It's because winter comes soon," the handsome man behind her replied, "and although we live in the south, we are not in Southernmost Land. Only the people of Sand Nation are ignorant of the meaning of winter."</p>
<p>"The ocean current will stop all movements of our fleets in winter. This is our last chance to sail out." The young woman retorted. "Ryan, how long has the Blacksail Fleet been away?"</p>
<p>"Two months and four days," the man replied without hesitation, "If there are no hiccups, they'll arrive at the Port of Clearwater in three days."</p>
<p>Garcia laughed. "I do hope they bring enough surprises."</p>
<p>Ryan Koban looked at the famous woman in front of him, and feelings welled up in his heart. Her long gray hair reflected a faint silver glow in the autumn sun, and her eyes were narrow and light green. When she stared at someone, her eyes would give off a kind of unspeakable sense of oppression. Her long stays at the beach had turned her skin rougher and less fair than that of the other women, but Ryan did not mind. In his eyes, Garcia's temperament made up for any lack of beauty.</p>
<p>Unlike her close relatives at Graycastle, Garcia Wimbledon is the true genius. She had the wisdom and pride of the noble, but she was not dulled by the constant routine. In fact, she showed aspects that were closer to that of the common people, she was full of expectations and adventurous.</p>
<p>Of course, no common people could have such power and vision as hers. Even the duke and the princes seemed short-sighted in front of her. With all the income from the Port of Clearwater trade being poured into the construction of the fleet, there was not even a copper left in the vault. This characteristic was far beyond those misers.</p>
<p>"There is no meaning to put gold royals in the coffer. It's like a stone when it's not in use, and only when you spend it, can it reflect its value. To spend the money doesn't mean you lose it, but rather, you create a return value that's even greater." Ryan's memory of what she had said to him echoed deep in his psyche, and this was a sobering concept that formed in contrast to the usual perceived stereotype.</p>
<p>Compared to that of the noble families who spent their time accumulating and growing wealth, Ryan believed that hers was the demeanor of a ruler.</p>
<p>So he went under the command of Garcia without hesitation, and followed her to the Port of Clearwater.</p>
<p>But after arriving here, Ryan learned that the princess was so much more outstanding than that. She not only had ideas but also was full of actions. She created the plan of Blacksail Fleet and executed it in a well-ordered way. As early as five years ago, Garcia's forces had penetrated the Port of Clearwater, preparing for the formation of the Blacksail Fleet, with no Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince announced by Wimbledon III. In other words, she had long been ahead in the race of all other heirs.</p>
<p>"Let's go inside; the wind grows stronger," said Garcia. Her palace was located on the Salmon Harbor at the southernmost tip of the Port of Clearwater. The tower-like building looked like a watchtower on the coast. It possessed a circular terrace at the top, allowing a bird's eye view of the harbor and all ships that entered and exited it.</p>
<p>Five years had passed since the beginning of the operation, and the Port of Clearwater trade had begun to take shape. A three-masted ship would appear at the harbor every six months, and a foundation of trust had been laid down. Taking advantage of Princess Garcia's good mood, Ryan asked the question that had been plaguing his mind for months.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, there's something I don't understand." Ryan closed the door, cutting them off from the whistling wind.</p>
<p>"Go ahead." She smiled and nodded.</p>
<p>"How is it that you were able to predict all of this, even before the King had announced the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince?" He had guessed that the King had alerted her in advance, but it was impossible to know for certain. It was known that the king favored the second prince, and that this competition was set up in his favor. After all, he was given a clear win when he was assigned Valencia for his fiefdom.</p>
<p>Was she able to guess this all on her own, so that she could set out the framework as early as five years ago? Heavens, she was only 20 years old!</p>
<p>"I could predict it?" She shot him a strange look. "Do you take me for a witch? I have no such powers."</p>
<p>"But..."</p>
<p>"I had no idea that my father would take the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince as a way to give everything to his precious second son. In all truth, is there any relationship between what I'm doing and that Royal Decree?"</p>
<p>"No relationship?" A thought occurred to Ryan, and he could not help but gawk.</p>
<p>Seeing Ryan Koban's strange expression, Garcia laughed. "Is it that I must wait for my father's permission, and only then I can compete for what is thrown? Will it not always be the case that he who governs best will become the ruler of the Kingdom of Graycastle?" "I thought you understood the plan behind the Blacksail Fleet."</p>
<p>"So she has not created the fleet purely to increase her property," Ryan murmured. After the trade was completed, the fleet would put up black sails somewhere far away from the port and rob the merchant ships of other cities or countries. Similarly, the princess would encourage her subjects to sail into the sea and participate in the Blacksail Fleet plot. She gave her word that the Port of Clearwater would never tax any profit gained in this manner, and that it would remain the property of the captain of the ship.</p>
<p>This move had brought the princess great wealth, so this time she had simply ordered the Blacksail Fleet to move towards the south. They would plunder any ship throughout the Endless Cape, as well as those people of Sand Nation.</p>
<p>Yet these movements were not solely for the sake of money. Garcia did not use the profits from the fleet to build a city or expand trade by roadway, rather, she poured the money back into her ships, expanding the size of the fleet.</p>
<p>Over the past few years, she had won over a large number of people—experienced sailors, aggressive warriors, and popular figures. If she lost governance of the area, those who committed the crimes of theft and plundering would be sent to the gallows.</p>
<p>'The person who governs the best city will win the throne of Graycastle?!' No, Ryan now knew it was Garcia Wimbledon that would ascend the throne, because she possessed a large number of ships and soldiers and could move along the Sanwan River to pose a threat to Valencia.</p>
<p>"Did you know that you'd be assigned to the Port of Clearwater?"</p>
<p>"Believe it or not, I didn't expect that. It was a move to increase the trade of this city." Garcia shrugged. "It was also payback to the church who'd tried to fool me."</p>
<p>"This had something to do with the church?" When Garcia did not continue, Ryan dared not ask. If there was one thing that he was sure of, it was that even if she did not come to the Port of Clearwater, she would take over the place and continue with her plan.</p>
<p>"Let's move on." She took a sip of her black tea. "My little plan seems to have failed."</p>
<p>"Ah, yes," Ryan quickly recovered and replied, "and the only news we have received from Border Town was that the plan had failed. We have received no more information since then."</p>
<p>"Our spies must have been killed by my brothers. It's unsurprising. These people were just pawns that we placed in order to win some time, and had no weight on the actual situation. Nonetheless..." She changed the topic of the conversation. "It's normal that other plans have failed, but I didn't expect the fourth Prince to remain safe. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit disappointed."</p>
<p>"Kingfisher reported in her letter that the pills were consumed, but..."</p>
<p>"A failure is a failure, and I don't need an explanation." Garcia interrupted. "The Months of Demons are around the corner, our fourth Prince will go to Longsong Stronghold for refuge. When demonic beasts invade Border Town, Stronghold will be in chaos for a while. Write to her and tell her to take this chance. Will the goddess of luck continue to stay on my brother's side?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness."</p>
<p>"You may take your leave." Garcia waved, but as Ryan was about to leave, the princess stopped him. "Oh, yes, if I remember correctly, the pills were bought from the alchemist Enbis?"</p>
<p>Ryan nodded his head.</p>
<p>"What did he say? It was colorless and tasteless, just like water? It caused death, and had no cure? It was his latest invention?" Garcia yawned. "Hang him."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 12 - Firing the Cement</h2>
<p>Roland stood by the kiln, waiting for the first batch of cement.</p>
<p>The brick structure was designed for cement production, about 15 meters long and four meters wide. It had a front and a back door. The front door was designed wide enough to allow the transport of materials and people coming in and out of the room. The back door, on the other hand, was only large enough for one person and functioned as Anna's secret entrance.</p>
<p>To this end, he also built a wall surrounding half of the kiln and stationed guards at the entrance and exit. They were all Carter's men and he had no doubt about their loyalty.</p>
<p>The cement production process was easy to explain. First, limestone was crushed into powder, and then mixed with clay or iron powder. It would result in a paste whether they use the wet or dry method. After combining it with gypsum, the cement would be ready for use. Raw materials were readily available and no iron powder was included for it was difficult to produce. The key was in the calcination temperature.</p>
<p>Roland could not remember the specific temperature required to melt the cement. Thanks to the fact that he did not have the necessary tools like an infrared thermometer or a thermo coupling temperature gun needed to measure the said temperature, the process was made incredibly difficult. He only knew that the melting point of cement was similar to that of iron, and that the calcination process was also a tricky factor when it came to making cement.</p>
<p>For such an era of undeveloped technology, it was a huge problem to simply maintain the temperature of the blast furnace. The common open furnace would result in great heat loss and it was difficult to keep it burning above 1,200 ℃. As for the reverberation furnace, it required an inner capable of sustaining higher temperatures, but he did not know how to create the refractory bricks. The traditional blast furnace used for iron was even worse. The temperature may suffice, with only a narrow furnace cavity available to calcite the cement, but they could not produce enough cement before the end of Months of Demons.</p>
<p>With this in mind, Roland designed a kiln that needed no heating and relied on Anna instead.</p>
<p>Broken particles of limestone and clay were mixed with water to form a paste, which was spread evenly throughout the firing room. Then the knights locked the door and cleared out the laborers. Anna then entered through the back door and heated the ground beneath the paste until the iron bar placed inside the room also melted.</p>
<p>Roland was becoming restless. This was his first step in guarding Border Town. If he could not produce any cement, his plan of building a city wall in three months would just be empty words. Without a wall to protect the town, he worried that no one would be willing to stay in this godforsaken place. Whether in history or fictional literature, a stable base was necessary for agriculture.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, you're saying that this material can hold stones together?" asked Carter Lannis, who stood near Prince Roland. Even though the prince had said this was the result of the latest research by the alchemical workshop in Kingdom of Graycastle, he was nonetheless skeptical. After all, that group of people was never famous for being useful.</p>
<p>"Who knows? That's what they said," Roland replied.</p>
<p>In this world, alchemy and astrology were known as the sage arts, and were very popular in the mainland. The royal family would generally keep their own alchemists and astrologers to predict and improve their fate. For ordinary folks however, such knowledge was beyond their comprehension and thus had little enthusiasm for them. Keeping this in mind, it was only natural for Roland to claim that the cement was a product of the alchemical workshop. He did not care about whether the chief knight believed it or not.</p>
<p>The flame in the window eventually died down. The firing of the cement seemed to be complete.</p>
<p>Roland stood up at once. Sending Carter away to the yard, he waited alone in front of the brick house.</p>
<p>The iron door creaked as it opened and Anna stepped out, naked. Roland draped a robe over her at once and handed her a glass of water. "How was it?"</p>
<p>The witch's face was painted a dusty gray. Even though wet cement would not produce much dust, it would still appear when the cement was burning. Since she could not wear a mask, it was uncomfortable for her to stay inside for tens of minutes. She coughed twice and nodded. "The mud has turned gray."</p>
<p>Roland was too impatient to wait for the temperature to be lowered. Wetting a towel, he wrapped it around his head and grabbed a shovel. He then went in through the back door.</p>
<p>Hot air instantly engulfed him and he found it difficult to breathe. The skin on his hands was burnt raw. Fortunately, shoveling the ashes took only a short moment. Otherwise, he might really experience thermal shock had he stayed any longer.</p>
<p>"Is this what you want?" Anna asked, staring at the material. She had already put on her witch's robes.</p>
<p>"Looks like it." Roland flattened the powder and tested the temperature with his fingers. "I wouldn't know for sure until we use it."</p>
<p>"What's the use of this thing?"</p>
<p>"To build houses and bridges and to repair roads. There are too many uses for this thing. If it succeeds, people won't have to worry about the cold or the rain and snow damaging their houses." Using his other hand, he patted the girl on the head. "It's all thanks to you."</p>
<p>Anna lowered her head. He wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, but the girl's breathing seemed to have sped up a notch.</p>
<p>In theory, the fired material should be grinded with gypsum as to adjust its hardening time. But there was no need to think about so much right now. After a short break ,Roland picked up two shovels and called for Carter, who was standing outside the courtyard. Roland told him to mix the gray ash proportionally with the river sand in a ratio of 3 to 1 to prepare cement mortar.</p>
<p>The chief knight did not mind doing menial work. In his opinion, it was much better than fighting or chasing after the noble ladies for His Highness in the Kingdom of Graycastle.</p>
<p>As there was no iron powder in the raw mixture, the resulting paste looked off-white. Roland piled the paste on a brick and placed another brick on top of it. It would usually take around four hours for the cement to become solid. As this was merely a trial run, he decided that it would be best to wait until tomorrow to test the mixture.</p>
<p>The next morning, Roland hurried to the kiln room, bringing Carter and Anna with him. When he opened the door, he noticed that the cement appeared solid and the bricks seemed to have stuck together. The surface of the material seemed rugged and part of it was covered in white frost.</p>
<p>Roland squatted down. It was natural for the alkalization process to result in some white frost. He pressed onto the hardened cement and his heart leaped. The cement was rock solid, completely different from the texture of the solid clay. Even when he pushed into the cement firmly, there was no mark on its surface.</p>
<p>After getting the signal from Prince Roland, Carter first tried to lift the bricks. He then attempted to kick the bricks until they gave way. The cement dislodged from the ground, yet the bricks remained stuck firmly together. He ended up using the hilt of his sword to knock them apart, but he succeeded in only knocking off a small corner of the bricks.</p>
<p>"So this is the effect of the so-called cement." The purpose of the material dawned on Carter. "It's simply incredible. It flowed like wax from a melting candle yesterday, but in just one night it had become as strong as a rock. With this, we can build the wall as fast as we want. As long as we have enough bricks, we could even build a wall around Border Town in less than five years!"</p>
<p>"What's the use of that?" Roland asked. "A tall wall would not be able to stop enemies from within. I'd rather turn the old wooden huts in Border Town into solid cement houses, so my subjects would no longer have to worry about losing their homes in natural disasters."</p>
<p>"..." The chief knight was stunned. He did not expect Prince Roland, who was known for his many aristocratic vices, would suggest such a thing.</p>
<p>"You'll understand it in the future." Roland reaffirmed the path he was taking. For many people who travelled through time, technology was the gate leading to productivity. But here, the witches were their path to the future.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 13 - The City Wall</h2>
<p>The production of cement went into a rapid development. In order for Anna to have ample amount of rest, the kiln room only operated once every two to three days. Hoping to obtain more raw materials, Roland once again issued a recruitment notice, thus doubling the population of the workers.</p>
<p>However, Roland himself knew that he could not always depend on Anna to do these. Working in a dusty environment for an extensive amount of time would cause people to suffer from Silicosis. Plus, once the production scale was expanded, Anna alone would be much too insufficient for the demand.</p>
<p>Witches should not be utilized as consumables, but instead as the engine to stimulate the development of civilization. Although Roland recognized the fact very well, as of this moment, he could only spend all his efforts in constructing the city wall. After all, nothing could be done if the demonic beasts could not be stopped.</p>
<p>A project was launched to dig the foundation for laying the city wall that connected the North Slope Mountain and Redwater River. As chief manager of this project and in accordance with the routine of the world Roland previously lived in, he dug out the first shovel of dirt amidst a mass of flabbergasted faces in audience.</p>
<p>Roland thought that after solving the cement problem, building a city wall would be effortless. However, when he actually began to do the work, he discovered that he was utterly ignorant in engineering. How deep and wide should the foundation be dug? How to solve the unevenness of the ground? How to ensure a 600-meter-long wall was kept in a straight line after construction? Back then, when the city government was constructing the road, Roland saw a group of young fellas measuring the road with tools and rulers, something called theodolites and leveling instrument, but there was hardly anything like those to be found over here!</p>
<p>As a mechanical blueprinter, although Roland and the next-door civil engineer were known as the ultimate geeks, however, their expertise was much too different. Not only that, none of the recruited bricklayers had ever participated in the construction of a big engineering project. Their capabilities were not even comparable to Roland's. Therefore, progress was extremely slow after the city wall project started. It took a whole week to even dig an incomplete, shallow trench.</p>
<p>Once the engineering project lost control, the final product would be unimaginable. For instance, this shallow trench that they dug with much difficulty looked more like a drainage ditch instead of the foundation for the city wall. Although Roland gestured an estimated width before they started, the width became increasingly narrow as they continued to dig. It even appeared to be a twisted snake if someone looked at it from a distance.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Roland was reluctant to terminate the project. Based on the mindset that, a gradual progress was better than no progress at all, as long as the kiln room was not in its operating hours, Roland would spend all day at the foot of North Slope Mountain. He would adjust the direction of the pit with his naked eye and slowly push the project forward. At the same time, he also doubled the rewards of the stone craftsmen.</p>
<p>Fortunately, such an awkward period did not last too long. While Roland was in the firing room to direct the firing of the sixth batch of cement, Assistant Minister Barov reported that a stonemason had responded to the recruitment notice. The stonemason claimed that he joined the Mason Guild in the Kingdom of Graycastle for a while and was now waiting outside the hall.</p>
<p>Roland thought about it for a moment and was exhilarated. In his memory, the Mason Guild in the Kingdom of Graycastle was a prominent and pioneering team that even Prince Roland had heard of. Even though the team was ordered to be dismissed due to a construction accident, but how could there be no accidents when you work in the construction industry?</p>
<p>"Bring him in." Roland made a pretense of being composed and nodded. He wanted to tell Anna to leave but changed his mind after a while. Border Town had a population of 2,000 residents and hardly any residents had ever seen the faces of witches. Besides, Anna looked totally different from the girl who previously wanted to commit suicide. Plus, with the peculiar clothing that Anna was wearing, it was unlikely that anyone would recognize her.</p>
<p>Karl Van Bate was upset when the knight brought him into the courtyard. He wanted to first inform his Highness that it was unsuitable to undertake such a big project in this season, and then gradually obtain the trust from His Highness and ultimately change his perspective towards witches. However, according to the rumor, His Highness had always been quite capricious. What if his advice received adverse effect from His Highness?</p>
<p>His heart was shaking when he bowed and saluted to His Highness. While lifting up his head, he stood aghast at the sight—the girl stood next to His Highness looked so familiar, he even had this delusion that he might be dreaming. Karl rubbed his eyes, stared again, and cried out uncontrollably, "...Anna!"</p>
<p>Jesus Christ! What a coincidence? He just randomly hired a craftsman and he hired a neighbor of the witch? Apparently, the craftsman seemed very familiar with Anna. Otherwise, he would not be able to recognize her in an instant. Roland turned his head and looked at Carter Lannis, who immediately understood Roland's thoughts. Carter quickly locked the door, blocking the only exit.</p>
<p>"Professor... Karl?"</p>
<p>Anna's reaction puzzled Roland for a bit. "What? Professor?"</p>
<p>"It's you indeed, Anna, I, I...." Karl felt the warmth in his eye socket, and something started to spill down. He fell on the ground hopelessly, and repeated endlessly, "Sorry, I'm so sorry... I'm so glad... What a blessing..."</p>
<p>After a while, Karl Van Bate finally was able to appease his emotions. He slowly stood up, and again bowed to Roland. "I'm sincerely apologetic Your Highness, I have forgotten my manners."</p>
<p>"What's the matter? Aren't you a stonemason?"</p>
<p>"I used to be," Karl swiftly replied after he released his concerns. His Highness did not execute Anna! It was a surrogate that was hanged on the execution ground—realizing this fact, he already knew what his next move would be. Although he was fuzzy about why His Highness would rescue a witch, nevertheless, even if His Highness intended to take Anna as his lover, that would still be much better than sending her to the gallows. At least it proved that the prince did not fear the rumor that witches were the incarnation of the demon.</p>
<p>He confided his experience of being exiled from Kingdom of Graycastle to Border Town, including incidents such as establishing a local school and finding out that Nana Pine also turned into a witch. At the end, he beseeched His Highness to also hide Nana in the castle, in order to protect Nana from any persecution in case the residents found out her true identity.</p>
<p>Anna, who was standing aside did not speak a word, although she seemed to desperately want to plead for Nana.</p>
<p>"A new witch. What great news! Although the name Pine sounds familiar," Roland thought and called the assistant minister for further inquiry, and he found out that Pine was the last name of a middle-class noble in Border Town.</p>
<p>"You could bring her to see me. If she is truly a witch, I vouch that she'll be safe from any sort of harm." Roland promised. "But I can't take her away from the Pines, especially when she isn't threatened by her family. Besides, the reason that I saved Anna is far different from what you thought..." He pondered for a bit, and decided to tell the truth. "I need her help. Compared to such incredulous tales of demons and evil power, I'm more inclined to believe that the power of witches has nothing to do with good or evil, it can instead be controlled. So, regardless of Anna, Nana, or any other witches, as long as they did not commit any real crime, I'd not consider them as sinful."</p>
<p>"Next, let us talk about some serious issues. Have you ever participated in the construction of the city wall of Kingdom of Graycastle?" The prince brought the subject back to the construction project.</p>
<p>"Yes!" Karl nodded. Even though Prince Roland did not keep Nana as how Karl predicted, saying that His Highness needed the help of witches was also perplexing, however, it was good enough that His Highness promised to protect Nana.</p>
<p>"Very well, I'm planning to build a city wall over the Redwater River and at the foot of North Slope Mountain to block the invasion of demonic beasts. From now on, you're responsible for this project."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 14 - The Ability</h2>
<p>"Your Highness, how tall and how wide do you plan to build this city wall?" Karl asked.</p>
<p>"At least five meters high, two meters wide, and allowing four people to march forward side by side." Roland subtlely acknowledged that Karl was indeed a professional, first asking about the technical data and then confirming the construction plan.</p>
<p>"Then a trench needs to be dug that's about one man's height in order to stabilize the upper portion of the city wall. Also, if the top of the wall is about two meters wide and the wall is about five meters tall, the width of the lower portion of the wall at least needs to be doubled," Karl promptly replied, "The process of trenching will need huge manpower. Your Highness, if you could provide me with 150 people, I could probably finish the trench before the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>"A gutterway could not possibly block the demonic beasts," Roland said noncommittally.</p>
<p>"That's why, it'll take three years if the upper portion of the city wall is masoned with stones. If it's solely for the purpose of blocking the demonic beasts, then there's no need to build the wall to such a great height. About four meters high would be enough. We can also shrink the width by one-third and the bottom to about two meters. Digging trenches and masonry will proceed simultaneously. Increase the number of workers by 200... that way, I can complete it before next year's Months of Demons.</p>
<p>Karl paused, and then continued, "Pardon me in my frankness, Your Highness, now it's not a good time to undertake the construction. If we don't mason the wall in a timely manner, even if the trench is dug, but after soaking by the rain and snow through the entire winter, it'll lose its original functions. That way, it'll cost more time and manpower to clean and soften the trench, causing the trench to be dug even deeper."</p>
<p>"Assuming we adopt your plan, and build the city wall four meters high and two meters wide. How long will it take to complete the trench?"</p>
<p>"It'll most likely take one and a half months," Karl answered.</p>
<p>"Then let's take this plan. Digging the trench and masonry will proceed simultaneously so that the construction is completed before the Months of Demons." Roland waved his hand and interrupted Karl. "I know your concerns. Look at this first, a new product from the alchemical workshop of Graycastle."</p>
<p>He, of course, did not have time to once again stick the bricks together to show the stonemason. He simply presented the two bricks that he stuck together beforehand. Fortunately, no one dared to question the prince. When Karl heard that an alchemic adhesive, called cement, was able to solidify within one night and produce massive adhesive force, he looked astonished.</p>
<p>Karl, as someone who devoted half of his life to the Mason Guild, naturally recognized how groundbreaking this invention was. Besides adhering stones, most importantly, it would be able to transform into any shape.</p>
<p>Roland judged Karl's expression with satisfaction, and pursued again. "What do you think? Would three months be enough?"</p>
<p>Karl Van Bate replied with a trembling voice, "If what you said is true, no, no, I mean... if the alchemical workshop described this thing truthfully, I, I'm willing to give it a try."</p>
<p>"Very well, I'll have someone write a detailed document for you regarding the usage of cement. You can speak to my assistant minister for any other needs." Roland smiled. "Mr. Karl, now you're a member of the Administrative Office."</p>
<p>Roland saw Nana in the next afternoon. The young girl stared at Anna with some degree of bewilderment. She clutched her clothes and was finally able to compose a sentence. "Have, Have I already died?"</p>
<p>When Roland first met Nana, he had to admit that the power of witches not only bestowed them incredible abilities but also in some degrees, changed their countenance and aura. Nana was a totally different type compared to Anna, but they all had their unique charm. Such feelings had nothing to do with age or lifestyles. Even when Anna was waiting for the coming death in prison, the brilliance that was illuminating from her was not affected at all. Searching through all his memory, Roland did not even encounter this sort of feelings, whether it was the hooker on the streetside of Kingdom of Graycastle or the well-mannered noble mistress. If Roland had to describe it, when he placed witches with those ordinary girls on the same page, it was as if colorful figures appeared on black and white photos.</p>
<p>Karl, who escorted Nana, gracefully excused himself. Now there were only Roland, Anna and Nana left in the palace garden.</p>
<p>"You're alive, and Anna is here, safe and sound." Roland tried to suppress his smiles. "I'm Prince Roland Wimbledon, and you're..."</p>
<p>"I'm Nana Pine." The young girl was back to her usual lively self after she heard that she did not die. Nana rushed straight to Anna, rambling on and on with her, and completely neglected the presence of Roland, the prince of Graycastle. Certainly, Roland would not care to haggle over the impudence of a 14-year-old young girl. He poured himself a glass of ale and started to appreciate the "daily life" of the two witches.</p>
<p>Anna was apparently not accustomed to the overwhelming friendliness from Nana. She occasionally responded while Nana continued her speech. After all, Anna was merely 17-years-old, but she already appeared to be an elder sister. Roland could not help but think how outstanding Anna would become after she became fully grown-up.</p>
<p>When Nana finally slowed her speech, Roland coughed and inquired. "Miss Pine, according to your professor, you have awakened as a witch?"</p>
<p>Compared to the public, who most often referred to the word "fallen" when describing someone that had turned into a witch, Roland believed that "awaken" was a better word choice. He would not naively consider all witches as innocent and pure. Those malicious individuals who obtained power would only beget a catastrophe. This was the same as using a weapon as it can create violence, but also resist violence. The essential aspect was that it all depended on the person who was using the weapon. Perhaps the church's propaganda of the massacres done by witches was based on evidence. However, it was unfair to use that as the proof to treat all witches as guilty.</p>
<p>Nana's expression stiffened and she mumbled in a soft voice, "Are you going to hang me?"</p>
<p>"No, of course not, those individuals who were sent to the gallows were all heinous and despicable villains. You're not one of those, nor is Miss Anna. So don't concern yourself with that."</p>
<p>Nana took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm not sure... Professor said that witches obtain the demonic power after being lured by the demon. But, but I have never seen any demon!"</p>
<p>"When did you find out that you've become different?"</p>
<p>"About a week ago," Nana muttered, "I saw a bird with a broken leg, I really wanted to help it. Then... I felt something come out of my hands."</p>
<p>"What came out of your hands?" Roland questioned, "What happened next?"</p>
<p>"Umm... all of a sudden, it surrounded the little bird like a mass of sticky liquid." Nana tilted her head and recalled. "Then the bird's leg was healed."</p>
<p>"Is her power the healing type?" Roland's heart missed a beat. He was very clear what this kind of power meant. In the days where there was an absence of antibiotics and a lack of advanced medical technology, people died easily from injuries and infections. Although this power might not work to promote the development of civilization, it was meaningful to every individual human.</p>
<p>Roland immediately walked to the door, and demanded the knight to bring a living hen. If he could prove the credibility of her words, perhaps he could change the situation of witches being mercilessly oppressed in Border Town.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 15 - Misconceptions</h2>
<p>After seeing the knight leave with his orders, Roland returned to the table. "If you can heal small animals, why would you still think that witches are evil?"</p>
<p>"The teacher said that witches can do things ordinary people can't. Sometimes it does not look bad, but this is the devil's ruse in order to lure more people..." The girl's voice lowered, "I... I've never seen the devil, I swear."</p>
<p>"Of course you haven't. That is just one of the church's lies, and your teacher was deceived as well," Roland comforted.</p>
<p>"The church lies?" Nana exclaimed, "Why?"</p>
<p>Roland shook his head and did not explain. Even if he tried to explain, they would still not understand. When civilization had not yet developed to a certain extent, these sort of strange things would always happen. Even without personal gain, people would automatically attribute man-made, natural disasters or any unexplainable phenomenon to the invented culprit behind the scenes—historically speaking, the blame always fell on the women.</p>
<p>And in this world, if witches possessed powers of unknown origin, it was even easier to become the target of the church. The church could allow for the witches to be ordained as saints by saying they were the gifts of God or the witches could be hunted, proclaiming they were the demon's advocates. However, once the former was chosen, monotheism would greatly lose its power—because the appearance of the witches had nothing to do with the church. If churches that believe in other deities also recognised the witches as saints, and everyone was the chosen one, which church's God was the true God?</p>
<p>The prerequisite for the coexistence of polytheism was that the gods were real and could restrict each other. Since Gods did not exist and were only hearsay icons, why should the other party share the world? So any faith would claim that they believed in the true God, and the infidels would have to be eliminated. So they could only choose the latter, to spare no effort in destroying the witches.</p>
<p>This was irrelevant to preference, it was all about gain.</p>
<p>There was a living chicken in the castle's kitchen. It was still kicking and fluttering when the knight carried it by its wings.</p>
<p>The next thing left Nana stunned. Roland pulled out the silver knife, and stabbed the chicken once, the knight held it in place firmly, and he let Nana treat it before he tried a different method and continued... He did this repeatedly.</p>
<p>When the chicken finally died, Roland had a better understanding of Nana's ability.</p>
<p>She could restore the damaged parts, including splits, fractures and bruises. But If the body part was completely missing, for example, after the chicken feet were cut off, she could not regenerate claws. But the broken claws could be connected if she used her ability to make the fracture intact. Finally, she could not reverse life and death. Once the chicken died, her treatment became useless.</p>
<p>Throughout the whole treatment, Roland did not see the "sticky water" that she described. She simply put her hand on the chicken's wound, and then it was healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. After several experiments, Nana did not deplete much energy, at least she did not sweat profusely like Anna.</p>
<p>Only Nana was dissatisfied, as she felt it was too much to treat the chicken like this, so she kept staring at Roland even after the experiments.</p>
<p>"Come on, stop staring and eat something," Roland had to resort to "summon afternoon tea" so as to divert her attention. This move had worked several times on Anna, so he assumed that many girls her age could not resist the temptation of delicious dessert. And truth be told, Nana did not fare any better than the one before her.</p>
<p>After eating the pastries, Roland sent Nana away. Anna asked in confusion, "Why didn't you make her stay? She's like me, we're both witches, right?"</p>
<p>"She still has family members, and they have not realised she is a witch."</p>
<p>"Anna whispered," It's just a matter of time."</p>
<p>"Yes, sooner or later," Roland sighed. "So anyway, the later the better. Do you... miss your father?"</p>
<p>She shook her head, and her eyes were like a calm lake with no ripples. It seemed that the betrayal by her father had left her completely disappointed. But even without any relatives, she still had friends.</p>
<p>"Nana will come often, in fact, I intend to let her come every two days to train her ability."</p>
<p>Hearing this, she blinked her eyes and nodded quickly.</p>
<p>"Do you want to go back to Karl's college with her, and learn from the other kids?"</p>
<p>Anna did not answer, but he felt he heard her thoughts.</p>
<p>"This situation won't last too long... As long as I'm here, you'll eventually live like ordinary people, and not be hunted wherever you are or sent to the gallows. This day will come, "I promise," said Roland firmly.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Since Karl Van Bate took over the project, Prince Roland immediately became idle.</p>
<p>He stayed in the castle garden every afternoon, practising with Anna or Nana. Now Anna's training no longer required additional clothing, even if each finger was in flames, she could skillfully operate them without lighting up her witch hat by accident.</p>
<p>Nana also put on a set of witch uniform. Although she was reluctant to practice, for the sake of afternoon tea, she still poutingly did so. Watching the two witches dangling in the yard, Roland's wicked humour was greatly satisfied.</p>
<p>Occasionally he would go to the foot of North Slope mountain to check on the progress of the project. After more than two weeks of construction, about 100 meters of the city wall had been built. In the absence of the theodolite distance measurement, Karl asked the craftsmen to use a piece of wood at the same time every day, according to the shadow of the sun, to determine the distance and flatness. At a distance of every ten wood markers, a viewing tower was set up to play a role in stabilizing the city wall.</p>
<p>Such large-scale employment naturally caught the attention of the town's nobility. However, other than getting some information from Barov, they made no further movement, as if the situation had nothing to do with them. Roland did not mind this. These people's family businesses were in Longsong Stronghold and would certainly not stay here to help him guard Border Town. He could even imagine the gang of people ridiculing his attempts in private.</p>
<p>Not just the nobility, but businessmen were the same. In previous years in Border Town, once animal fur traders realised nothing could be purchased, they also returned to Stronghold. They naturally vented their discontent about returning empty-handed, on the ruler Roland. The news about Kingdom of Graycastle's Prince Roland Wimbledon's construction before the arrival of Months of Demons, was deemed as simply stupid and ignorant. News of this spread along the Redwater River.</p>
<p>At this point, no one thought he could protect the town, and in fact, most people simply did not consider this a remote possibility. After all, Prince Roland did not give the impression of being a courageous fighter. Whatever he was contemplating, he would eventually have to obediently retreat to Stronghold.</p>
<p>And just like this, amidst discussion by the masses, Roland ushered in the first winter.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 16 - The Road Ahead</h2>
<p>The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, chasing away the chill coming in from the door and window gaps. Atop of the fireplace hung a huge horned deer head, and under the shadows, the horns looked like huge claws.</p>
<p>Opposite was a dark red long wooden table, filled with parchment rolls and books, mostly executive orders waiting to be signed. Roland usually came here to deal with official matters—after converting the third level of the castle into an office, he gradually started to like it here.</p>
<p>Through the French window behind him, he could see the town extending into endless mountains. The mountain passed through the continents of the Impassable Mountain Range, dividing Kingdom of Graycastle and Wild Places into east and west. And North Slope Mountain was just a branch of the Impassable Mountain Range.</p>
<p>At the foot, you could see the garden surrounded by the wooden fence. The wooden shed built for Anna's training had been removed, and the brick pool was made into a long table for afternoon tea. When the weather was good, he would also go downstairs for a suntan, or lie on a specially tailored rocking chair to take a nap.</p>
<p>Although the castle was not big, at least it was still considered a villa with an independent garden. In his previous life, it would have been almost impossible to own a real stone castle. He would have had to pay for tickets just to have a visit. But now, he not only owned the castle, but also the town.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, recently you've had a lot of expenses from recruiting the craftsmen and the manual laborers. If we continue such expense, we won't be able to last until next spring." Barov held a pile of parchment while reporting the recent financial situation to Roland.</p>
<p>The original income and expenditure of Border Town was very simple. One line was ore in the precious stones trade. This line was monopolized by Longsong Stronghold, turning North Slope Mine's output into wheat or bread, with no tax in the middle, and Stronghold sent people to host the exchange of resources. As the saying goes, those nobles stationed in Border Town can be seen as regulators of the shareholders, and their fiefs are mostly in the east of Stronghold, where they are only temporary and different people are dispatched each year.</p>
<p>In fact, the history of Border Town was less than three decades long. Compared to nearly 200 years of Longsong Stronghold, it was a mere newborn baby. Originally Duke of Ryan was just going to build an outpost here as an early warning for the invasion of demonic beasts, but he did not expect to discover a wealth of mineral resources at North Slope Mountain after land reclamation. So he decided to set up the town here, and named it Border Town. In a sense, it was North Slope Mine that created the town.</p>
<p>In order to prevent theft and cover-ups, the duke did not employ the noblemen, but instead employed local residents, refugees and even criminals to serve as miners. The output of ore was evenly distributed according to the resources allocated by the investors. Longsong Stronghold only needed to provide the employers with a full year of grain and a small commission, which was a fixed amount regardless of the output of the mine. Border Town had more than two thousand residents and half of them worked for the mining area.</p>
<p>The rest, was the other industries in the town, such as blacksmith shops, pubs, textiles and so on. The meager tax of Border town came mainly from here, and not much was left at year's end. The previous lord did not take this barren land seriously. After Roland was sent by Kingdom of Graycastle, he simply stayed in Longsong Stronghold and did not come back.</p>
<p>Therefore, Roland could only pay people to repair the wall with his own money. If it was the previous Prince Roland, this would have been out of the question. But for Roland, as long as he could stabilize Border Town, he would not mind investing his whole property. Anyway, in the future, ore trade would no longer be bartered with food. If it used currency, then his investment would be just a small price to pay.</p>
<p>The only problem was Longsong Stronghold was not willing to give up the monopoly, and continued normal trade with Border Town—this was quite like snatching food from the tiger's jaws, but Barov's data showed inefficient manpower and transport hurdles. The annual value output of the ore was no more than a thousand pieces of gold royals. Compared to the entire revenue of Longsong Stronghold, it was but a drop in the ocean. The only loss was that of the nobles.</p>
<p>For the long-term development of Border Town, this line had to be recovered. Roland knew very well, that even if their investment was fully recovered ten years ago, the nobles would not easily let go. Even if this was a small piece of meat, yet this was a passive income without doing anything. He was willing to give the previous investors a certain amount of concessions and compensation, such as half-price purchase and the like. But dragging a ship of ore back in exchange for just half a boat of food was not allowed to happen again.</p>
<p>As Roland stared at the list, Barov was also watching him intently.</p>
<p>Over these three months, well to be exact in the last month, Prince Roland underwent some unspeakable changes. Outsiders might not notice, but he was with the prince every day, and the change could not escape his eyes.</p>
<p>At the Kingdom of Graycastle, he had already heard of Prince Roland Wimbledon's notoriety. He did what he liked, wantonly and without caring about noble manners. In short, he did not make grave mistakes, but he made numerous errors and was far worse than his two brothers.</p>
<p>When Barov was sent by His Majesty to come here, he was very disappointed. If not for the fact His Majesty promised to appoint him as the official Treasurer after the struggles of the throne ended, he would have given up ages ago.</p>
<p>In the first two months at Border Town, Prince Roland showed his usual extreme childish behavior, and offended almost all the local nobles. Fortunately, the town was very small, even if all the administrative staff vacated, he could easily fill their posts with the dozen civilian staff he brought.</p>
<p>And then, things started to change.</p>
<p>When did the change begin? He thought, probably... after he saved the witch.</p>
<p>Barov had considered that Roland was possessed by the demon, or maybe he was controlled by another witch. But this was a slim possibility. If demons and witches had such ability, would they look for Prince Roland? Wouldn't it make more sense to control His Majesty or the pope? What further dispelled his suspicions was the fact that he saw the prince hold God's Locket of Retribution.</p>
<p>This was the church's weapon to deal with witches. Any demon would collapse in front of the God's Locket of Retribution. Yet Roland held it directly. In other words, if he was not Prince Roland but a devil that did not even fear the divine power, then would it be necessary to expose him? Saving one's life was the most important thing.</p>
<p>The prince continued with his notorious behavior, but he left a different impression on Barov. No, Barov thought, the two had clearly opposing behaviors.</p>
<p>The biggest difference was in motive. He could feel Roland was planning something. In order to achieve his purpose, he had to use some inexplicable means. Just like how Roland tried to persuade himself to save a witch, the plan may not be mature and have loopholes, but the prince was indeed moving forward with his plan, and was confident about the results.</p>
<p>This was the most puzzling thing. The throne could be taken by any one of Roland's siblings, but definitely not the prince himself. He would have been clear about this fact. Talking about development in this small place, Border Town? Even the gods could not do it! What crazy plan was Roland making, trying to develop a border town to be more successful than Valencia? Even convincing himself that it would work?</p>
<p>If it was just a crazy fantasy, that would be fine, but Roland's construction of the walls proved otherwise. He really intended to be stationed here, relying on a type of alchemy product--"cement", to build a wall that was impossible to complete.</p>
<p>Barov's family had an alchemist, but he had never heard of alchemists creating such a thing. To build a wall based on what had never been seen, was this self-confidence or imagination? What else was Prince Roland concealing? He found himself starting to have a faint interest in the future.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 17 - The Ambassador (Part I)</h2>
<p>"This place is just as lousy as it used to be," said Petrov, the ambassador from the Stronghold, as he stepped out of the cabin and was immediately hit by the stench of rotten wood. Sinking in the moist and dull atmosphere that discomforted him from head to feet, he sniffed and looked up to the sky where the clouds were gathering. They were a sign of heavy rain that drew near.</p>
<p>"It's been a year since your last visit," said the assistant as he wrapped his boss in a wool coat. "There is nothing here except stones."</p>
<p>"It's been one and a half years," stated Petrov. "Every season the Lord Duke sends a different person here and the last time I came here was in summer. Apart from stones, there were other kinds of things here like fine furs and… "</p>
<p>"What?" the assistant said with a dazed look.</p>
<p>Petrov shook his head and said no more. When he crossed the board and set foot on the moss-covered wooden dock, the planks he stepped on were creaking so loudly that it made him believe it would only be a few years before the whole dock shattered into pieces. Yes, in addition to stone and fur, it was the land of Border Town that could not be underestimated. But a common assistant who only dealt with papers and numbers was not open-minded enough to understand.</p>
<p>The land between Border Town and Longsong Stronghold was untouched and squeezed into a narrow channel, caged on each side by the Impassable Mountain Range and the Redwater River. If it was Border Town that worked as an outpost and took the duty as a defensive line, the Stronghold would easily possess the untouched land, and farm it constantly. And with the natural barrier guarding it on both sides, managing it would be simple. The food harvested from the land would feed the rising population in the Stronghold, and Border Town would become part of the Stronghold rather than staying independent.</p>
<p>The only disadvantage was that the operation would be expensive and would take three to five years.</p>
<p>What a shame, when it came to investment, most nobles were no better than a poor businessman.</p>
<p>"Why is there no ore in the storage yard?" Pointing toward the clearing, the assistant said, "Shouldn't they stack the ore before we arrive?"</p>
<p>Petrov sighed softly. "We should pay our respects to His Highness."</p>
<p>"Wait… Mr. Ambassador, why not wait for their welcome party?" the assistant suggested.</p>
<p>Petrov was unsure if there would even be one, so instead he stated, "Let's go, the stables are just in front of us."</p>
<p>This illustrated the difficulties with having the two lands independent. When the king sent out Prince Roland in the name of the Royal Decree on the Selection of the Crown Prince, how would a loyal young man behave? Surely he would sweep everything under his wings, and as such, it was hardly possible that he would trade ores and gemstones for food and bread. He feared that gold royals would be all that the prince held dear.</p>
<p>He would do the same under such circumstance because no one would tolerate when all that they've reaped from the land was exchanged at such a low price. It seems that many people have forgotten that Longsong Stronghold is not merely a station run through Redwater River. Beyond it also exist many other places, like Willow Town, Fallen Dragon Ridge, and Redwater City, where he could sell minerals at market price, and he could take the refugees. They were only a little further than Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>And then what would Longsong Stronghold do? Bar the river and block the prince's procession? No, to do so would be treason. Even if it was a well-known fact that Prince Roland did not earn much favor from his father, the loyal name and blood could not be ignored.</p>
<p>There were no better horses in the stable other than the old ones. They were weak and skinny with scruffy fur that left them trembling all over as they trotted slowly. The ambassador had no choice but to pay two gold royals as a pledge for two shabby horses, which carried them slowly on the flagstones along the river.</p>
<p>"Look! Sir, is that a cargo boat from Willow Town?"</p>
<p>The assistant called out, causing him to turn his eyes to where his assistant was pointing. Slowly, there came a sailing boat with one mast and a banner bearing a green leaf and scimitar hanging over it. It's high waterline meant that the boat was full of cargo.</p>
<p>Nodding his head and keeping a poker face, Petrov hid the very real concern that was triggered by what he had seen. He had not expected Prince Roland to act so early. "If Prince Roland has begun to trade with the towns downstream of the Redwater River, then the advantage he has is shifting. He had intended to persuade his father to agree on acquiring ore at 30% less than the market price. And at any rate, there are gemstones that will be crafted into many valuable luxuries. However, this issue is under a monopoly, and is not for him to decide. Even the Honeysuckle Family as a whole cannot make a decision unless all six noble families agree."</p>
<p>But they seemed unaware of what had been changed as time had gone by, and barely had any response… Or maybe the production in the mine was too low to draw their attention. It ended up that the other five families remained indifferent and his own father, looking so sure of himself, rejected his advice. But all of them had made a huge mistake since the low production of the mine, caused by the trade-off based on materials and food, could easily be transformed into a much greater amount when the exchange became normal and the ore was bought at a fair price. With this, the more Border Town sold, the more money they would earn, resulting in an increase in ore the following year.</p>
<p>But with this, Petrov thought the monopoly on ore that he had hoped for would be unlikely to realize. From the view of the empty storage yard on the dock, it seemed that the prince had no plan of trading his stones for inferior wheat, as he had already summoned other buyers.</p>
<p>Thirty percent off would be his last bargaining chip if he still wanted to maintain business with Border Town. Willow Town would offer as much as half off the market price since the long waterway between the two towns would add transportation costs and they also had more than one source of minerals. The prices offered by Fallen Dragon Ridge and Redwater City would be even lower. As a result, Prince Roland may continue his business with the Stronghold, especially for gemstones.</p>
<p>But the problem was whether his father would agree on the contract that he decided to sign. What if the other families thought that the contract was a sign of surrender and handing over family interests?</p>
<p>After all, they always treated Border Town as a sub-area of the Stronghold and a supplier for whatever they needed.</p>
<p>They rode slowly to the gate of the castle that was standing in the southeast corner of the town, whose lord had changed since his last visit.</p>
<p>The guards saw the ambassador's voucher and immediately went to inform the lord.</p>
<p>Prince Roland then quickly sent for Petrov. When both of them arrived at the hall, the Prince was seated and waiting.</p>
<p>"Mr. Ambassador, please take a seat."</p>
<p>Roland clapped his hands, and the maids brought forward a scrumptious looking meal. It included an entire roast chicken, boar trotter stewed with mushrooms, buttered bread, and a huge portion of vegetable soup. It looked like, whether in the border or not, whatever a prince wanted, he got it.</p>
<p>Petrov naturally could not hold back. It took two days from the Stronghold to Border Town with good winds. If he traveled on a freighter with multiple masts, then it would move even slower and take three to five days. There was no kitchen on the boat and they would usually eat their own dried meat or wheat cake. Seeing the hot churning dishes, his mouth and throat filled with saliva.</p>
<p>But the courtesy that he had been trained since his youth helped him keep his decent manners at the table. In comparison, the prince paid little attention to his own manners, especially with using a knife and fork. Petrov noticed that he used a pair of little sticks to pick up the food, and only used the knife and fork to cut the meat. The little sticks looked... handier than a fork.</p>
<p>"What do you think?" Roland suddenly asked when the dinner was about to end.</p>
<p>"Of... what?" The ambassador was lost.</p>
<p>"These." The Prince shook the sticks in his hand and went on without waiting for Petrov's reply. "A knife and fork seem beyond most commoner's means, not to mention they are made from silver. However, a man who grabs food with his bare hands could easily take in much filth and become ill. Do you follow?"</p>
<p>The ambassador did not know what to say as he barely understood the question. Maybe, he guessed, that the filth attached to the food that we eat could make us vulnerable to sickness. But how could that be true? People have eaten with their hands for a long time, and no one has died from such a thing.</p>
<p>"There are numerous pairs of oak sticks in Misty Forest, and they are both clean and accessible. This means that the common people should use them to grab the food, instead of using their hands." Prince Roland sipped some of his drink and said, "Of course, for now, meat seems a little far from their real life, but things will change."</p>
<p>Petrov was relieved, as this was not a hard topic for him. He routinely expressed his approval and blessing, but in his heart he disapproved. Let the common subjects eat meat? It was simply whimsical. Even in Graycastle they are far from this point, not to mention in Border Town of this desolate land.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 18 - The Ambassador (Part II)</h2>
<p>Petrov tossed aside his complaints and enjoyed the feast.</p>
<p>Under the harmonious atmosphere during the dinner, Prince Roland did not talk about the ore, so Petrov thought it was inconvenient to speak anymore.</p>
<p>When the prince told the maid to serve the dessert, Petrov tentatively said, "Your Highness, according to the previous practice, today should be the day when the ores are delivered. However, I didn't see any on the dockyard."</p>
<p>Roland put down the sticks in his hand and nodded. "Unfortunately, the Northern Slope mine collapsed a few days ago. My people have been trying to resume production this month. However, the gravel from the collapse has not yet been cleared up. If we go by the schedule, we can't start mining until the start of next year."</p>
<p>"A collapse?" Petrov was stunned for a moment. "Was it an excuse?" But he soon realized that it was unnecessary for Roland to deceive him. Otherwise, it would be clear if he went to Northern Slope, and it would show on his face if the prince told such an obvious lie.</p>
<p>"Then... what about the ore from the past two months?"</p>
<p>"Not many are left. According to the normal practice, there aren't enough to support the livelihood of my subjects." Roland emphasized the words "according to the normal practice". He continued, "Mr. Ambassador, you remember the Months of Demons two years ago, don't you?"</p>
<p>Of course Petrov remembered that. The cold lasted four months and nearly one fifth of the people in Border Town starved to death due to the greed of Municipal Administrative Governor Reynolds. There was also opposition brewing among the nobles. Some even demanded Reynolds to be penalized. But this incident finally resulted in zero consequences for him, simply for the fact that he was the husband of the duke's second daughter.</p>
<p>Now that the prince brought up this issue, Petrov had a bad feeling.</p>
<p>"It's worse," said Roland with a sigh. "I'm afraid we only have enough for two months if we trade wheat the way we used to. My people can't survive winter with so little food. The ways of the past must be abolished."</p>
<p>Petrov opened his mouth, but did not know how to refute the prince's words. He wasn't a professional diplomat, and hearing such good reason, he had no choice but to pause. "Your Highness, I'm sorry about this. The tragedy will never happen. I'll persuade the six big families to lend you food for a month. Your people can return them next year when the production is resumed."</p>
<p>"If I sold the ore to Willow Town, I won't need to repay the food so slowly."</p>
<p>"But..."</p>
<p>"There's no 'but'." Roland interrupted. "They're willing to buy ore with gold royals and sell their wheat, cheese, bread, and honey at market prices... They can sell anything that can be bought with gold royals. Not to mention, Mr. Ambassador, even if you're willing to lend us one month's worth of food, would the other five families agree with your decision? As far as I know, it's not easy to reach an agreement with Duke Ryan."</p>
<p>Petrov fell into silence. Prince Roland was right. He was not confident in persuading his father, least of all the other five big families. To maintain their monopoly, they must change the trading scheme. But he simply had no right to give the final word. He held the title of an ambassador, but he was nothing more than a mouthpiece in reality. Perhaps the duke did not want anyone to make private agreements with Border Town. The current agreement withstood, whether it was with the former lord or with Prince Roland. That was why the duke assigned different candidates every season and they were never the ones in charge of their families.</p>
<p>Regardless of the outcome, he had to give it a try. With such resolution, Petrov showed the last of his cards. "30%." He stretched out three fingers. "The Stronghold will buy the ore and gemstones at a price 30% lower than the market price. I think our offer should be higher than that of Willow Town, Your Highness."</p>
<p>Roland threw up his hands and said, "The old question remains. Can you make that decision for the six families?"</p>
<p>"I'll go back to Longsong Stronghold tomorrow. I'll come up with a new contract after reaching an agreement."</p>
<p>"But my people can't wait that long. You should know that it often takes forever for nobles to reach an agreement."</p>
<p>"Your Highness, working with Longsong Stronghold is the better choice for you and your people. Willow Town is too far away, and even though you could go there during the Months of Demons," Petrov said and felt his throat became dry, "the journey... is dangerous."</p>
<p>"Good God! What am I doing?" His heart was pounding. "Am I threatening a prince?"</p>
<p>"Hahaha." Roland unexpectedly did not fly into a rage, but laughed instead. "Mr. Ambassador, you seem to have made some mistakes. I haven't thought of going to Willow Town."</p>
<p>"You mean…"</p>
<p>"Of course, I don't intend to go to Longsong Stronghold either." Roland looked at the ambassador with interest. "I'm not going anywhere."</p>
<p>For a moment, Petrov suspected that he misheard the prince.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the prince broke the silence and explained himself. "I'm staying in Border Town this winter. Border Town will become the new border of the Kingdom of Graycastle. Don't be surprised, my friend, this is not me saying nonsense. I'll take you to the new wall at the foot of North Slope Mountain for a visit."</p>
<p>"City... wall?"</p>
<p>"Yes, the city wall is a stone wall of about four meters high and two meters wide, connecting Northern Slope and the Redwater River. With the wall, we can fight off the demonic beasts in Border Town."</p>
<p>Petrov felt his brain was not working. The former ambassador had not mentioned any city wall. Back then, the Lord of Border Town was from Longsong Stronghold. How could he send the limited manpower he had to build the wall? In other words, did Prince Roland began building the walls as soon as he arrived? Even so, it had been only three months. How could they have built something like that in such a short time?</p>
<p>"Wait a minute... What did his Highness say? Is it about four meters high and two meters wide, connecting Northern Slope and the Redwater River?" Petrov calculated in his mind. "It would take years to build such a wall! Firstly, he did not have enough masons to cut and grind the stones! Border Town was not like Graycastle, and most people who lived here were poor laborers."</p>
<p>He had yet to digest the news when Roland's next words shocked him again.</p>
<p>"As for the sales of the ore, I can slash the price by half from next year, my good sir. But I won't sell all of them to Longsong Stronghold, for you won't need so much ore. I think, compared to the low profits the ores make, you'll prefer metal products like spades, shovels, and things like those." He paused for a moment, seeming to wait for Petrov to absorb his words. "As for the raw gemstones, they'll be sold to the highest bidder through an auction. I'd like to sell them at a good price after the gem is cut, but unfortunately no one in Border Town has that ability."</p>
<p>"Do you even have the ability to build a city wall in a few months?!" Petrov screamed from the bottom of his heart. "And what did he meant by saying the Stronghold not needing so many ores? Besides, it already took a whole year for them to produce 1,000 gold royals . Even if there will be an increase in the production, it'll be doubled at best! Was he saying that the Stronghold can't even take in ores worth of 2,000 gold royals? That was too presumptuous of him!"</p>
<p>He tried hard to suppress his frustration and maintained the last of his etiquette. "Your Highness, I've memorized everything you said. I'll return immediately and negotiate with the six families. But there's one last thing. The city wall you speak of... I want to go and have a look."</p>
<p>"Of course." Roland smiled. "You don't need to be in such a rush. Enjoy the pastries of King's City first. It's not too late to go then, right? Mr. Ambassador?"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 19 - The Lecture</h2>
<p>The winter's first rainfall finally arrived, lasting for two days.</p>
<p>Roland leaned against his working desk and looked out at the hazy town in rain through the window. The wind brought a shower of rain against the window, causing bursts of ripples. The town's silhouetted outline became distorted through the ripples. The houses and the extensions of the streets seemed bent and deformed, in contrast with their tidy look in the past. Due to the lack of effective drainage measures, the crisscrossed flagstone pavement became overflowing with accumulated water. From afar, the water on the road looked like many little crystalline brooks.</p>
<p>The distant mountains and forests were covered with mist, looming and changing like a lost world on earth.</p>
<p>If in modern times, such a landscape would certainly be a tourist attraction, but what Roland wished to see was a jungle made of concrete and steel. Because of the rain, the city wall construction also had to stop. This fact affected his mood and made his previous delight in successfully "discouraging" the stronghold messenger the day before yesterday fade away.</p>
<p>"You just said the air around us is made up of lots of different gases, is that true?"</p>
<p>Anna's clear voice interrupted Roland's thoughts, while she looked at him curiously, blinking her beautiful blue eyes.</p>
<p>"Ahem, Miss Anna, you should address His Highness with honorifics," warned the chief knight next to her.</p>
<p>"Don't make a fuss about it." Roland turned around, "She's now my student." Since it was raining and they had not much business, he called Carter and the two witches to attend his class—yes, he had decided to give a small lecture on natural science. He was inspired by Stonemason Karl's college. If a mason could open a school, then a mechanical engineer like himself could open one too. Why did discrimination exist? Was not it because of ignorance? During any period of history, universal education was the most effective way to promote the development of civilization.</p>
<p>He originally wanted the assistant minister to attend the class too, but the latter was too busy with other administrative tasks and politely declined his offer. Roland did not know why, but since the beginning of the winter, Barov seemed to be overzealous and took charge of all the daily management of Border Town all alone.</p>
<p>At the prospect of gaining new knowledge, Anna's eyes immediately sparkled with curiosity. Nana also became happy for she did not need to treat any wounded animals. As for Carter, since he had nothing special to do, he attended the class to see what new nonsense the prince had thought of.</p>
<p>But not long after the class had begun, the knight's eyes became drowsy. Nana also had a bewildered look, her eyes staring at the words "Natural Science". It seemed that Anna had only grasped the general idea trying hard to remember everything she had heard. Roland could not help but stop the lecture for a moment, letting the three of them contemplate on his lecture.</p>
<p>As for Anna's question, he smiled and nodded. "Of course, even though they look alike."</p>
<p>"Your Highness, I don't understand, since they all look the same, how can you tell that they're different gases?" Carter expressed his doubts.</p>
<p>"I can prove it to you"</p>
<p>Roland knew that using only words, most of the people would be confounded by listening to these theories. He decided to make them interested by showing them the example of a simple experiment.</p>
<p>A candle, a glass, a wooden basin, a bowl of clear limewater—he had prepared these things in advance. Although at this time they only had pale brown glass, which was far less transparent than normal glass, it could still serve the purpose of the experiment. After all, there was no need to observe the modification process during this simple experiment.</p>
<p>Roland had done the experiment beforehand, and the results showed that although magic existed in this world, the rules of nature were still the same as on earth. He let Anna light the candle and put it in the basin.</p>
<p>"The process of burning requires a specific gas. This gas is also related to all life. If we stop breathing it, we'll be like this candle. Take a look." Roland put the glass on the candle, and after the flame shook a few times, it soon went out.</p>
<p>"It exhausted the air, Your Highness, this is not surprising," the chief knight said disapprovingly, "Of course we'll die without air, for example, if we fall into the water."</p>
<p>Nana nodded repeatedly.</p>
<p>"So, do you think that there's nothing in the glass anymore?" Roland asked and then poured the limewater into the basin. The waterline rose quickly and stopped rising when half of the glass was filled.</p>
<p>This was a classic experiment, often used by most elementary school teachers to arouse children's interest in natural science. Until today, Roland still remembered the shock he felt when his teacher had demonstrated it. It was at that moment that he embarked on the road of science and engineering without looking back.</p>
<p>He gently lifted a corner of the glass, and instantly bubbles of air could be seen rising out of the limewater.</p>
<p>Then, the clear limewater appeared to be a little bit cloudy, and some white particles slowly spread within the glass.</p>
<p>"If there was nothing in the glass, we wouldn't see any bubbles or changes on the water surface. This proves that the air contains at least two different kinds of gases. In reality, burning a candle consumes only a part of the air, while the other part doesn't take part in the burning process. ''Though they are both colorless and odorless, their nature is the complete opposite.''</p>
<p>"Well… That seems to be the case." Carter thought for a long time before figuring out the relationship between the two. "But what's the use for knowing this?"</p>
<p>"If we can obtain the former gas, then we can let the flame burn longer, and if we obtain the other gas, we can quickly extinguish the flame!" Anna suddenly said.</p>
<p>"What a genius!" Roland praised her silently. Even though she made a small error, she had shown herself to be a genius by suggesting separation and purification of gases before use. She had not received any systematic modern education, but yet she could quickly think of this point. This showed that her logical skills were far beyond those of normal people—at least far better than those of his chief knight.</p>
<p>"Correct, since the time humans learned to use fire, they were separated from the animals. Perhaps it all started as a coincidence, a lightning that hit a tree and lit it up, or a spark generated between two rocks. But if no one had noticed it and tried using it, we would still be the same as animals," Roland replied patiently, "The goal of this experiment is to show you that curiosity and thinking are the driving forces for human progress. There are many similar forces hidden in nature, waiting for us to discover and use them."</p>
<p>After he finished, Carter still had a doubtful look while Nana was staring at Roland with open eyes, amazed but unable to comprehend what he meant. Only Anna gazed down as if she was thinking about something.</p>
<p>Well, Roland sighed that, indeed, teaching advanced theories would not bring enlightenment, and it would only make people confused. Their intellectual level determined that they would not be able to understand the significance of these forces unless they saw it with their own eyes. Only then they would understand how amazing the hidden forces in nature were.</p>
<p>At this moment, the kettle hanging from the mantel gave off a clanging sound—the sound of the steam hitting against the lid.</p>
<p>"Ah, the water is boiled." The knight walked over to remove the kettle with a fork, and soon the sound stopped. He wrapped a piece of cloth around the handle, and then filled everyone's cups with water.</p>
<p>[Take this for example.] Roland reached out for the cup and felt the temperature of the handle. [From the discovery of fire, the principle of boiling water became a reality. Numerous people had witnessed "Boiling water" and used it, but no one thought that the gently curling and rising water vapor could also contain such a tremendous amount of energy.]</p>
<p>[In a few hundred years, it would become the driving force behind humankind's development, and it would quickly change the history of mankind. Although the principle was simple, due to limited technology, it would not be the first choice when it came to farming. But this world was different,] he thought, [there are witches here. Using magic to fight wars was the way of barbarians… Instead, applying magic to create and to replace some of the key technologies to make civilization develop faster was the correct way to use magic.</p>
<p>They chatted until the sunset, and after having dinner together, Roland went to his bedroom.</p>
<p>There was no nightlife in that era, and most people went to bed early if they did not make love. He had previously considered taking advantage of his position as a prince and calling a maid to do some physical activities. But in the end, he was too embarrassed to do it.</p>
<p>Right after he lit the candle in his room, he heard the sound of applause behind him, and then someone spoke, "It was a spectacular lecture. I didn't expect Your Highness was actually a learned man."</p>
<p>It was the voice of an unknown woman. Roland instantly felt cold sweat on his forehead. If she could and would suddenly appear like this in his room without giving him notice, what else could she be if not an assassin?! He immediately ran towards the door, but before he could reach the doorknob, he felt a cold wind blowing next to his ear. When he was back to his senses, he found a silver dagger firmly logged into the door, with only a finger's width to his cheek.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 20 - Nightingale</h2>
<p>"Don't be frightened, Your Highness. I don't intend to hurt you. I only wish to talk to you."</p>
<p>"Damn, what sort of talk is this?" Roland swallowed and slowly turned around. Under the threat of a dagger, he could only wait for the other side to speak.</p>
<p>In the shadow of candlelight, Roland saw the other person. She was sitting on his bed, her body hidden under a robe, and a hood hiding her face, so he could not see her clearly. Candlelight cast her shadow over a large part of the wall.</p>
<p>"Who are you?"</p>
<p>"I have no name; my sisters call me Nightingale." She stood up, pulled up her robe, and made a curtsy as properly as any lady. "First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to you, Your Royal Highness Roland Wimbledon."</p>
<p>"Gratitude?" Roland noticed that the pattern on her robe shimmered peculiarly in candlelight. Three parallel triangles with the shape of an eye. Where had he seen this before?</p>
<p>"The pattern on the coin... is the insignia of the Sacred Mountain and the Magic Eye. It's the emblem of the Witches' Cooperation."</p>
<p>What Barov had told him flashed in his mind. "You, you're a witch!?"</p>
<p>"Haha." She let out a string of chuckles. "Your Royal Highness is quite knowledgeable."</p>
<p>After recognizing the identity of the other party, Roland was silently relieved. It seemed that she was not an assassin sent by his siblings. "So, you've come to this distant town for the sake of the witch in the North Slope Mine area? Although I have no idea how you received this information, you came much too late. If I had wanted to hang her, she'd be long dead."</p>
<p>"I'm aware of that. And if you had done it, I'd have no wish to speak to you." Nightingale sat back down on the bed. "The Witch Cooperation Association prefers not to intervene in secular affairs, especially with royalty. But I prefer not to listen to them. It may be improper to kill a prince for a witch, but it's still within my power to leave a deep enough impression on you."</p>
<p>It was an explicit threat but Roland regained his composure. "She's alive and well."</p>
<p>"I'm also aware that there is another girl, Nana." She nodded. "I visited this place a week ago, but I didn't meet you. I've been watching all that you've been doing, and while I don't understand why it's that you don't have the typical hostility against us witches, I'd like to thank you on behalf of the Witches Cooperation Association."</p>
<p>"You've been here for a week." Roland wiped his forehead. "She's seen everything?" This had been going on for a week and he did not notice anything. "So, tell me. Did you come here to talk, or just to thank me?"</p>
<p>"Isn't it tiring to stand while speaking to me?" She said as she lowered her hood. "Come here and talk. I'm not ugly. My appearance won't scare Your Highness."</p>
<p>She was more than not ugly. In fact, one could almost say that she was pretty. With her hood now lowered, Nightingale's golden wavy hair fell down like a cascade, dancing under the candlelight. Her nose was long and her eyes sparkled. Unlike Nana and Anna's childish faces, hers showed an air of maturity. Though in the dark one could not fully perceive her face, the delicate and well-proportioned shadows on her face could serve as enough proof of her beauty.</p>
<p>Roland slowly walked across the room, and sat next to her on the bed. He was doing so not because her beauty made him forget possible dangers, but rather because he simply believed that she was not malicious.</p>
<p>"You can talk now."</p>
<p>"Sure enough, you're not afraid of me." The woman sounded happy. "I can see now that you're different from those people. They hate us because they're afraid of us, and I can see the fear in their eyes. But as for you..." She could not help reaching out her hand to gently stroke Roland's cheek. "You're only curious."</p>
<p>Roland made an awkward little cough and turned his head. He really wasn't sure what to think about this change in character. Just a moment ago, she was a deadly assassin, but now she was an overbearing master diplomat.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the woman quickly suppressed her emotions. "I came here to tell you that I'd like to take Anna and Nana with me."</p>
<p>"No way!" Roland said without thinking, his heart pounding. Fearing that his sudden exclamation might annoy Nightingale, he added, "They're well cared for here, and no one can hurt them. Besides, where do you want to take them? This is the safest place."</p>
<p>"I'll bring them to the Witches Cooperation Association, and that's their destination." Nightingale was not brought down by the refusal, and kept a calm tone. "The members of the community are their companions, there's no discrimination, no persecution. There's no need for them to hide who they are."</p>
<p>"And where exactly is the Witches Cooperation Association located? Or is it that you have no fixed location? A month ago, my guards found your camp in Misty Forest, and now the signs show you've been traveling north. What's in the north other than endless mountains!?"</p>
<p>"You're right. We're currently hiding in a place in the mountains, where witches can be completely safe from harm."</p>
<p>"And just how safe is it to live like a savage in the mountains over winter? Will they have clean drinking water? Enough food? A warm dwelling place? And with the Months of Demons coming, the whole northwest will be dangerous. What in the world are you thinking..." Roland stopped short. What had Barov said, exactly? "Witches travel to Holy Mountain with the intent of finding true tranquility. The Witches Cooperation Association was launched in order for witches to travel together to Holy Mountain." No way, were they.... "Are you going to the Impassable Mountain Range to try and find Holy Mountain?"</p>
<p>"I have nothing to say on this subject." Nightingale smiled, but her look told Roland clearly what to think regarding his speculation.</p>
<p>"That being the case, I can never let them go with you," Roland said. "In just two months the demonic beasts will prevail outside the domains, and even if you can avoid humans in the mountains, you won't be able to avoid the demonic beasts. Holy Mountain can be found at any time. You should come to Border Town for winter, and stay here until it has passed."</p>
<p>It was Nightingale's turn to be stunned. "Stay here? You really are a funny man." She thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "Your Highness, you aren't afraid of witches, but yet this doesn't mean that everyone else is the same. As soon as we're exposed to the crowd, the church will soon come knocking at the door."</p>
<p>"As long as the witches can help ease the burden of the Months of Demons, my people will realize that they're not evil." Before Roland could open his mouth to speak, Nightingale stopped him. "Besides this, we have another thing to consider. Anna is about to reach adulthood."</p>
<p>"Adulthood?"</p>
<p>"Yes." As if seeing through Roland's doubt, Nightingale calmly explained, "Adulthood is the first hurdle all witches need to cross. Usually the sooner one becomes a witch, the harder it's to cross the hurdle. Your highness, do you know why we're seen as the embodiment of the devil?"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 21 - I'm Not Going Anywhere</h2>
<p>When Nightingale finished, the room returned to silence, only with the occasional crackle of candle flame.</p>
<p>Roland had a serious look on his face, for he finally understood what the witches were.</p>
<p>Most of the witches' awakenings occurred during the Months of Demons, and it was on that day that the Gates of Hell were opened. Generally, the time when witches reached adulthood was a dividing line. If a girl had not yet awakened by her 18th birthday, then it was unlikely she would become a witch. However, the one who awoke before her 18th birthday would suffer the Demonic Torture on her awakening day every year thenceforth.</p>
<p>It seemed that the pain was hard to understand by normal people. As Nightingale spoke about this part, her voice trembled. According to her personal experience, it was like something was trying to escape from you. Each blood vessel and tendon was in distending pain. In the end, blood would seep through your skin and eyeballs would protrude out...</p>
<p>If you could survive, the body would slowly recover after four or five days of rest, or you would die in this torture miserably.</p>
<p>Nightingale had witnessed the deaths of many companions. Their body lost the energy to support the power and turned into a mass of bulging meatball. Blood mixed with viscera burst out of the body's holes, and then the air turned into black mist. Spray after spray would continue until nothing was left but sections of scarred flesh.</p>
<p>It was why witches were regarded as the embodiment of demons.</p>
<p>Ordinary people were terrified when seeing it, and who would care what caused the death? Plus the church added fuel to the fire, claiming that this was what would happen to demons. Over time, the witches became the spokespeople of evil.</p>
<p>No matter how outsiders saw it, this torture was real, and it was for this reason that the lives of witches were generally short. As time went on, it got more and more difficult, and as such, many of the witches chose to end their own life.</p>
<p>The demonic torture when a witch hit adulthood at the age of 18 was the most difficult hurdle to pass. In fact, prior to this point, the magic within them was incomplete, it was only after reaching adulthood that their power was stabilized. After the magic had stabilized, it would also see an increase, and new branches of the abilities could even be created.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the process of stabilization was extremely painful. The torture of the magical power was so strong that the ordinary adult could not take it, and many witches would die on that day.</p>
<p>Hearing that, Roland was silent for a long time before he whispered, "According to the ancient books, the witches have to find Holy Mountain where they will receive eternal peace and save them from demonic torture. Is that true?"</p>
<p>"No one knows. Holy Mountain only appeared in the legend. However, if we bring them to the Witches Cooperation Association camp, they'll have a better chance to survive. Over there, they would not have to hide themselves and could live freely. The physical suffering will be much less than that of the past."</p>
<p>Roland was vexed because Anna and Nana played an important role in his plan, but he could not bear that they would take tremendous risk for the sake of his plan. "Anna is downstairs. I'll call her over, and if she is willing to go, you can take her with you. As for Nana, I won't see her until tomorrow," he said in a weak voice.</p>
<p>"Thank you for your understanding, it seems I didn't misjudge you," Nightingale said as she stood up to give her regards.</p>
<p>At this time, Anna had not yet slept, and when Roland called her, she was copying something at a desk. Seeing Roland she looked surprised. When she was asked to go to his chamber, she followed him without saying a word.</p>
<p>When she found there was another person in his room, the girl was shocked. Roland took her hand and introduced them briefly, and then the three sat down around a roundtable. Nightingale repeated what she had said before. "In the camp, there are many people like you, and they'll be your sisters."</p>
<p>"This seems to be the case, Miss Anna. Although I signed a contract of employment with you, in the event of life-threatening circumstances, I must respect your opinion. If you agree..."</p>
<p>"I'm not going."</p>
<p>Roland was stunned. "What did you say?"</p>
<p>"I said I'm not going." Anna quickly interrupted. "I want to stay here."</p>
<p>"Anna, I'm not lying to you." Nightingale frowned. "I can feel the soaring magic power in your body is close to maturity. Your day of adulthood will come two months into the Months of Demons. The earlier you come to the camp, the safer you'll be. "</p>
<p>She paid no attention to Nightingale, but turned her head and looked at Roland.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, do you remember when you asked me if I'd like to go back to Karl's College with Nana and learn with the other children?"</p>
<p>Roland nodded.</p>
<p>"At that time I did not respond. But what you said after... I don't care whether to live like a normal person." Anna's voice was smooth and natural. "I just want to stay with His Royal Highness, nothing more."</p>
<p>Roland had thought he had understood Anna's mind, but now he realized that he did not understand it at all.</p>
<p>He could not see any emotions in her eyes. It was neither dependency nor love. There was nothing to see... only deep, bottomless tranquility.</p>
<p>He remembered the first time they met. Back then her eyes also looked as calm as they were now.</p>
<p>The difference was that at this moment her face was full of life, like a blooming flower. Still, she did not fear death, nor did she await it.</p>
<p>"The demonic torture won't kill me," said Anna, "and I'll beat it."</p>
<p>Nightingale closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright, I understand."</p>
<p>"So then, will you leave us alone?" asked Roland.</p>
<p>"No, I'll stay here," she said, pulling on her hood and standing up. "Regardless, the camp won't move until the end of the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>"Why?" Roland was shocked. Did she actually plan to watch them throughout the whole winter?</p>
<p>"I don't think that the chicks who haven't yet seen adulthood will understand its danger. I've hung over the edge of death and witnessed the loss of my companions. When that day comes, I'll help her. If..." Nightingale shrugged. "If she should not survive, I have experience in dealing with the funeral."</p>
<p>She went to the door, unsheathed her dagger, and kneeled once again in front of Roland. "Then I shall take my leave," she said, and her body gradually disappeared into the dark. The mist did not even leave the slightest trace.</p>
<p>"Is this Nightingale's ability?" Roland pondered. "Her silent voice simply makes her a natural assassin. And from how she threw that dagger, she had obviously had the relevant training. Apart from being a group of the same type of people, did the Witch Cooperation Association also assist her with the training? Or was it that she had possessed the skills from her life prior to joining them?"</p>
<p>The information available about the group was simply too little, and Roland could find nothing useful in his memories. However, Roland had a feeling that he would meet yet again with the group, as long as he continued searching for witches.</p>
<p>"It's late. Go back to bed," Roland said as he patted the girl's head.</p>
<p>To his surprise, Anna pushed away his hand, and left without saying a word.</p>
<p>As she shut the door, the lights were cut off behind her and she was left wrapped in shadow. She gently leaned against the door, and the calmness left her as her eyes filled with tears.</p>
<p>She raised her head with her arms in front of her face, and whispered with a voice that no one could hear.</p>
<p>"Fool."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 22 - The Declaration</h2>
<p>The day after the rain stopped, Border Town became boisterous again. Many villagers gathered in the square, waiting for the speech of Prince Roland amidst heavy discussion.</p>
<p>Roland put up the official notice a day before the speech, saying that anyone who came to the square for this speech could get a dish of oatmeal and half a piece of bread. This amounted to a free lunch for the townspeople. Thus, the audience that showed up was much more than those who watched hanging.</p>
<p>When it approached noon, Roland mounted the elevation stand.</p>
<p>He would be deceiving himself if he said he was not nervous while confronting the sea of people. He mainly dealt with computer monitors before. Even at meetings, he just applauded the speaker from below. Therefore, this was the first time he needed to deal with such a big crowd.</p>
<p>But in order to make the townspeople stay in Border Town, he had to do it. There had to be a general mobilization.</p>
<p>Roland waved his hands and the people became quiet immediately.</p>
<p>This scene had been repeated a lot of times in secret. However, when this formal performance came, his lips still turned dry, "My subjects, good afternoon. This is Roland Wimbledon, the fourth prince of Kingdom of Graycastle. I have gathered you here at this moment to declare an important message."</p>
<p>"The envoy of Longsong Stronghold reached here four days ago for ore delivery. One clear fact is that the collapse of the mine of northern slope was a terrible accident we came across. Till today, the production there has not recovered completely and this accident meant there was only two months' output last quarter. "</p>
<p>"I explained to the envoy this condition and hoped he would distribute enough food to Border Town and we would make up the ores at the end of winter. However, he refused and accepted no negotiation. He refused to distribute more food just like two years ago."</p>
<p>The crowds exclaimed, showing that the food shortage two years ago left a deep impression on them.</p>
<p>"It gets even worse this time. Astrologer of Kingdom of Graycastle informed me that this year's winter would be much longer than before and Months of Demons would probably last for over four months. That is to say, everyone might face two months of food shortage. You lost your companions, brothers or children two years ago. What else are you prepared to lose this time?"</p>
<p>"No! Your Highness, save us, please!" Someone shouted loudly and more screams came next, "Your Highness, we beg you to help us!"</p>
<p>Roland was relieved that he hired a few extras for this occasion. He put up his hands trying to suppress the screams of the crowd. "Of course, I won't leave my subjects behind, not even one. You may not know that the value of wheat and bread Stronghold brings every year is not equivalent to the value of ores they take away. Normally, we just need two months' ores to get half a year's food. I have sold ores to merchants from Willow Town and the freighter they sent would soon get to Border Town. Besides bread, there is also cheese, mulled wine, dried meat. This is enough for everyone during the entire winter!"</p>
<p>There was a burst of cheer in the square.</p>
<p>"However, that means we end our relationship with Longsong Stronghold and they won't take in anymore of our townspeople. We need to pass this winter in Border Town. As most of us can see, there is a substantial city wall being built in the west of Border Town. I want to tell you that you don't need to worry about the threats from demonic beasts. They are not stronger than the beasts from forests. Although huge and strong, they cannot pose threats to the city wall and merely serve as a target."</p>
<p>"Make your choice, my subjects. You have two choices here. One choice is to hide behind the shack of Stronghold and die of hunger. The other one is follow my order and guard Border Town till the end to protect your relatives and children. I promise you that if you hold up until the end of Months of Demons, all those who take part in the building of city wall, will be rewarded 25 silver royals. And anyone who sacrifices his life, his family will get a compensation of five gold royals!"</p>
<p>"Fight for Your Highness!" Following the example of the extras, the audience shouted they would fight to their death. Sensing their high spirits, Roland took the opportunity to distribute lunch. He did not expect all of them to stay in Border Town. He was confident that if just half of them stayed, he could stop the demonic beasts from invading them.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Petrov didn't know how his Highness Prince Roland maligned him. When he delivered the message to the six nobilities of Stronghold, they all laughed uproariously.</p>
<p>"Do you mean to say that the naive prince intends to throw us off? Even daring to repair the city wall before the coming of winter? Should I praise his courage or ridicule his over-confidence?"</p>
<p>"The bravery of Your Highness is without equal and known to all. However, Prince Roland isn't equipped with this boldness. He is just ignorant!"</p>
<p>"Sure, he doesn't even have any stonecutters. He just piles up those unpolished stones, and add wet mud in between. Be careful they don't all fall down after a certain height."</p>
<p>"Anyhow, it is a good thing. If he escapes to Longsong Stronghold, he has no choice but to submit to us. If he dies in Border Town...we can end this farce early."</p>
<p>"What do you think, Petrov?" The Duke suddenly broke his silence.</p>
<p>Petrov stared blankly for a while and he didn't expect the Duke of Longsong would ask for his opinions. "Uh, I originally planned to carry on the monopoly management. And if the price is 30% cheaper than the market price, it is worthwhile for us. But..." He swiftly organized his thoughts, "His Highness doesn't want Stronghold to specialize in ores management. He would like to sell ores at the price 50% cheaper than market price, which means he plans to increase the output of ores. And once it doubles the output, we could earn more than before. He also intends to produce ironware. It’s popular everywhere and easy to resell. However...these are not the key points."</p>
<p>"What is the key point?"</p>
<p>"If he is able to guard Border Town, that would be nice for Stronghold. We don't need to spend too much effort on fighting against demonic beasts, which could save us a lot of money. Besides, the wide land between Longsong Stronghold and Border Town would belong to us. It would be a good choice to cultivate or migrate, which can relieve the condition of population congestion." Stronghold demonstrated his thoughts one by one. "Besides, Prince Roland won't stay in Border Town forever. Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince just lasts for five years. We are going to obtain a more prosperous Border Town. Longsong Stronghold will be the third largest domain of kingdom with the joining of Border Town. Thus, my advice is..." He peeked at Duke, cautiously saying, "Stronghold needs to send hands to repair the city wall and coordinate to guard Border Town."</p>
<p>"Well done," Duke smiled, "But that's just from a business aspect, analyzing the benefits."</p>
<p>He then straightened up, glancing at all the other participants and his tone became gloomy, "I have come so far today and it is not all about benefits. Why should I deal with a person who is out of my control? You need to obey the rules or you will get punished. It is not that important whether Border Town is prosperous or not. The point is, that is my territory, and no one can interfere, including the prince.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 23 - The Source of Power</h2>
<p>"Come and try to put the two pieces together," said Roland.</p>
<p>Anna stretched out her fingers and pressed on the seams of the iron plate. The flame sprayed from her fingers, and the interface melted at a visible speed.</p>
<p>"Reduce the firepower, and start from the back again."</p>
<p>She nodded and did as she was told. The two iron plates were joined at 90 degrees and firmly welded together.</p>
<p>Roland scrutinized the interface and the effect was as he imagined—a perfect weld without any flaws. If the traces of grinding could be polished away when the iron was molten, the two iron plates would look no different from a single body.</p>
<p>"Very good, Miss Anna, that was fantastic." Roland could not help but praise. "Next, we'll also attach the other two pieces of iron."</p>
<p>"What's this? An iron... bucket?"</p>
<p>"No, it's a cylinder." He corrected.</p>
<p>"Cylinder?" Anna repeated confusedly.</p>
<p>"Yes, it can be used to fill the air." Roland pointed to another square iron plate. "See the hole above? Air flows from this hole into the cylinder, activating the piston. Hum, the piston is an iron plate smaller than a cylinder's diameter, and it can move freely in the cylinder."</p>
<p>Even Anna, began to feel dizzy in the face of so many foreign words. "Then these... cylinder and piston, what do they do?"</p>
<p>"They are used to create a machine that can move automatically."</p>
<p>The steam engine, the driving force of mankind's first industrial revolution, completely liberated human and animal power.</p>
<p>Its schematic diagram was familiar to every mechanical engineer. In short, it was a magnified version of the kettle. The boiled steam was introduced into the cylinder, pushing the piston and connecting rods, converting heat into mechanical energy.</p>
<p>The principle was very simple, but that did not mean it was easy to manufacture. Its difficulty lay in the airtightness between the cylinder and the piston, as well as the manufacture of the gas pipe. If the metal processing was not advanced enough, relying on manual forging to create a qualified cylinder would be simply impossible.</p>
<p>However, Anna's ability made up for the deficiency in technology.</p>
<p>Roland just needed to design four same-sized pieces of iron plate in advance, let the blacksmith polish the cast, and then use the right-angled plate to fix the shape. Followed by Anna's welding, Roland could get a very stiff square cylinder. With the help of the witch, he did not need to follow the traditional production process, which firstly to make a gun barrel machine, and then to process a circular cylinder. It was the same with the other large parts. You could make small pieces and then join them. In this way, even the blacksmith shops could work together to create a steam engine with all the necessary components.</p>
<p>In fact, before welding was invented, people could only rely on bolts or rivets to connect small pieces. The internal of the cylinder had to be smooth, and the conventional connection obviously could not do this.</p>
<p>The only trouble was the gas pipe. Its production method was not really anything special. A long iron plate was welded untill it became red hot, and was placed into the groove-type mold, and then was knocked into shape with a hammer. This was also the method of producing flintlock barrels. But the barrel also needed to be straightened afterwards, including drilling and rifling, hence it was a little more complex.</p>
<p>The trouble was that Roland could not call the blacksmith to his castle backyard, as the witch could not be exposed yet. Besides, he was not good at forging iron. In desperation, he had to let Chief Knight do it instead.</p>
<p>So after three tedious days, Roland finally created the first steam engine in the backyard.</p>
<p>"So this is your great invention?" Carter frowned at the strange machine. He also ascertained it had nothing to do with the cult. The machine seemed more like a sealed stove, each of whose iron lumps was manually installed by him. It would be strange if the demon had any interest in it.</p>
<p>But how could a pile of iron lumps move? It looked very clumsy, and had no feet. How could it fly?</p>
<p>But in Roland's eyes, this seemingly simple machine exuded the beauty of industrial charm. With the scientific knowledge he acquired in the previous life, he naturally would not make the Newcomen steam engine, the Watt steam engine, or the steam engine. His first trial product was a high-pressure steam engine with double connecting rods and sliding valves. Its manufacturing process was not more difficult than that of the most primitive steam engine, but the key lay in some innovative ideas.</p>
<p>"You'll find out soon!"</p>
<p>Roland poured a bucket of water into the steam compartment, and let Anna light some firewood.</p>
<p>Ten minutes later, the water boiled, and kept boiling furiously. Soon, a crackling sound came from the cylinder, and Roland knew that was the sound of thermal expansion in the cylinder. The piston's iron plate was thin, the expansion was larger than the cylinder block, and would ultimately be edged firmly in the cylinder wall.</p>
<p>"Isn't this boiling water? Didn't expect it to be a stove," Carter muttered.</p>
<p>When the cylinder was full of steam, what happened next made Roland very excited. The piston began to push the connecting rod outwards. When the rod moved to the vertex, the other connecting rod pulled the sliding valve, causing the steam in turn to push the piston inward. The two connecting rods worked alternately to make the wheel rotate, and with the increased firepower, it quickly reached its peak.</p>
<p>The machine let out a harsh roar, and the exhaust spat out white gas, with a kind of unstoppable momentum.</p>
<p>"This is what you mean by... the hidden power of nature?" Anna asked blankly.</p>
<p>The chief knight looked incredulous. He installed the big iron wheel with a huge effort. Yet now it was like a feather spinning, and he could even feel the air blowing caused by the spinning wheels—this could only mean this machine of iron lumps had a surprising strength.</p>
<p>His heart gradually became a little uneasy.</p>
<p>His Highness said that it could replace manpower and animal power. If this was not a lie, when it replaced the horse and the chariots, even ten knights would not be able to resist this brute force.</p>
<p>It took fifteen years to train a qualified knight, but to make such an iron furnace, it only took three days. If the time of building certain parts by blacksmith was counted, it would only take a week in total.</p>
<p>It did not need food, was not afraid of cold and hunger, and also not afraid of arrows, swords and guns. As long as the embolon was mounted, it would be able to rampage on the battlefield.</p>
<p>In this way... what's the point for traditional knights to exist?</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>At night, when Roland returned to his bedroom, he saw Nightingale again.</p>
<p>She did not wear a hood this time, sitting at the table with a smile, holding a few pieces of parchment in her hands. "It seems the rumors are really untrue. It's said that Prince Roland is ignorant and unskilled, of vile character, but you're actually much better compared to the court master. Is it the design of the iron furnace on this piece of paper? You call it... steam engine, right?"</p>
<p>"Oh damn, can't I get any privacy? You come and go as you wish, do you think this is your home!" Suppressing his displeasure, he said blankly, "It's a design, but without Anna's help, it's just a sheet of paper."</p>
<p>"What is it for?"</p>
<p>"A lot. Transportation, drainage, smelting, forging. It's useful wherever massive power is needed."</p>
<p>"In that case, I'll keep it." Nightingale rolled the parchment and put it in her robes. "There's also someone in the Witch Cooperation Association who can control the flames."</p>
<p>"Hang on..."</p>
<p>She waved her hand to stop Roland's protest. "Of course, I'm not going to blatantly take your things. Take a look at this first." She placed a small lump of white thing on the table.</p>
<p>Roland went over, picked it up with his fingers and found that it was a roll of paper.</p>
<p>He gently spread it and had a quick look. "This is..."</p>
<p>"The letter sent by the pigeon," said Nightingale in a joking tone. "The recipient is your head maid Tyre, and it seems that your harem is not safe."</p>
<p>"I have never laid a hand on her," Roland said, frowning.</p>
<p>Tyre, seemed to have followed him for a long time in his memory. Originally, the prince was quite interested in her, but he failed in several harassments. After they came to Border Town, he directly promoted her to head maid, so that she could attend upon him. Her room was also arranged just next to his. He did not realize she was a spy sent by his siblings.</p>
<p>Although the letter was not signed, judging by the content, it was very likely the handwriting of his siblings. The letter said the lord was very unhappy about the failure in the last attempt. She was ordered to strike during the riot at Longsong Stronghold next time and not allowed to fail again. "Well, actually she had succeeded," he thought, "or I would not have become Roland Wimbledon."</p>
<p>This letter was unlikely to be forged by Nightingale, because only those who participated in this conspiracy, would know about the first assassination. Plus Nightingale did not need to take so much trouble to kill himself.</p>
<p>"Did you steal this from her?"</p>
<p>"Your head maid was not so stupid. She was about to burn it, but luckily I happened to appear behind her back." Nightingale made a switching action. "So what're you going to do? Do you need my help to 'handle' this?"</p>
<p>Roland definitely knew what she meant by "handle". He hesitated for a moment, and then finally nodded. "In that case, thank you for your kind help." He has no confidence in doing something like this. "If you can, please help me to find out who her mastermind was."</p>
<p>"As you wish, Your Highness," said Nightingale with a smile. "The design will be the pay."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 24 - The Development Plan</h2>
<p>Waking up in the morning, Roland was not attended to by Tyre, but an old maid.</p>
<p>Walking out of the bedroom, Chief Knight Carter was waiting outside for him.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, I have to tell you a piece of unfortunate news," he said, "Your head maid was found dead last night."</p>
<p>"What?" Roland's eyelids jumped, although he already expected this result, his heart still felt uneasy. After all, she died because of him.</p>
<p>"She fell from the balcony of the room, and there were no traces of fighting. The guard did not see outsiders come in. So... she must have accidentally fallen. It was an accident."</p>
<p>The knight reported the results of the investigation, while looking at Roland a little weirdly. Roland knew what he was thinking of course. In the Kingdom of Graycastle, everyone knew that Prince Roland wanted to possess Tyre. In that era, the prince and the maids having relationships was very normal. There was hardly any entertainment, much less nightlife, so there was literally nothing else to do except fornication. Besides, the prince and the noble would also exchange women among themselves, and even organized orgies. So to say that the circle of noble was chaotic was more than a harmless joke.</p>
<p>Prince Roland was already considered tame in this aspect, and after Cheng Yan woke up as Roland, he did not touch a single woman. Other than Tyre, the rest of the maids were considered quite shabby. Plus after the time travel, he had to face the Months of Demons, so his brain was full of the farming project. He did not have the time to enjoy the decadence of noble life yet.</p>
<p>"It's a pity," said Roland, with a feigned look of remorse. "About Tyre's funeral, ask the old maid who served me this morning to handle it. And she'll now be the new head maid."</p>
<p>Carter nodded, bowed and left.</p>
<p>As soon as Roland entered the office, he saw Nightingale sitting on the mahogany table.</p>
<p>"Did you manage to find out anything?"</p>
<p>"Nothing, she committed suicide when she saw me," Nightingale said, with some frustration. "It was too fast, she didn't hesitate at all."</p>
<p>"You didn't try to stop her?" Roland went round the other side of the desk, and sat back on the chair.</p>
<p>"I had tied her up," said Nightingale, leaning over, "but I didn't know she had poison in her teeth. So I had to set it up like an accidental fall."</p>
<p>"I thought you were very experienced, and you expect to be rewarded for this?"</p>
<p>"Hey, hey, don't put it like that. Although I didn't get any information from her, that does not mean I have nothing to report." Nightingale chuckled and put a folded paper in front of Roland. "Found in her room."</p>
<p>Roland spread out the paper. It was a letter, from someone who called Tyre elder sister, and the content was just ordinary chit-chat. But he noticed that the writer mentioned the sea several times, such as how beautiful the seaside scenery was, and how she liked to stay on the beach to watch the sunset and the like. Finally the writer asked Tyre when she would come back, as she deeply missed her. Recalling the domains of his siblings, Roland asked uncertainly, "Garcia of the Port of Clearwater?"</p>
<p>"That's probably the case as the sea can't be seen in the domains of your two brothers. I guess Princess Garcia Wimbledon must have taken Tyre's sister as a hostage, and used Tyre as a hidden pawn. From Tyre's decisive style of suicide, it's unlikely to be a coincidence. That means before she was arranged to be by your side, she had received at least two to three years of professional training."</p>
<p>Roland sighed softly, and reiterated that the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince would not end so easily. Even if he did not fight for the throne, it did not mean he could stay out of it. To get the throne, his brothers and sisters had no scruples, therefore it was likely something similar would happen again later.</p>
<p>"Ah, somebody is here. I'd better make my move, Your Highness."</p>
<p>Nightingale blew a flirtatious kiss through the air towards Roland, and disappeared with the blink of an eye.</p>
<p>Even if this was not the first time he saw this, it was still shocking to see this in bright daylight. He hesitated, and stretched out his fingers towards the empty space now beside the table, but was stopped halfway by a soft hand. "Your Highness, you'd make Anna sad in this way."</p>
<p>[Well it seems her ability was invisibility and not disappearance,] Roland thought. [That would have been too scary.]</p>
<p>There was a knock at the door. "Your Highness, I'm Barov."</p>
<p>Roland took back his fingers and became expressionless. "Come in."</p>
<p>With a large bundle of files in his arms, the Assistant Minister began to report nearly a week of government affairs right after he came in. Roland also cleared his thoughts, and concentrated on his report. After more than a month of contact, he found himself familiar with Barov's working style, rather than being completely confused and puzzled like in the beginning.</p>
<p>In general, the finance of Border Town had a certain degree of improvement. This was mainly due to the ore and gemstones being sold to Willow Town in exchange for nearly 200 gold royals. After being used to purchase food and pay wages, there were still 90 royals remaining.</p>
<p>Barov was also in a good mood, now that there was some extra money, surviving this winter would not be too difficult.</p>
<p>But Roland was determined to not let him be idle. "I want to pick a group of people from the subjects to fight demonic beasts. And from now on they must be gathered to receive training. The instructor will be my chief knight, and I'll give him the specifics later on. You need to make a purchase plan, as these people must have solid leather armor and a gun, but also two sets of winter clothes."</p>
<p>"Your Highness, this... according to the convention, isn't this a temporary recruitment of subjects for war?"</p>
<p>"Fighting on the battlefield without proper training makes them but a group of mobs. Can we scare off demonic beasts by relying on sheer masses? It's more troublesome if they break up."</p>
<p>"Don't tell me you really want to stand by Border Town?" Barov hesitantly asked.</p>
<p>"If we really can't protect it, of course, I'll retreat. But I don't think we can't defeat even a few mutated beasts.</p>
<p>"If we go according to your plan, you'll need more money."</p>
<p>Barov's miserly face made Roland laugh. "These're necessary expenses, go take care of it."</p>
<p>There were still more than 300 pieces of gold royals in his own vault, mainly used to pay for the cost of building the city wall. He also paid the blacksmith shop for the steam engine materials and components. The first machine cost him almost 20 gold royals, and he needed at least three more.</p>
<p>The steam engine triggered the first Industrial Revolution, but it did not mean that the steam engine was equal to the Industrial Revolution. At that time, the United Kingdom urgently needed a new power to replace people and livestock in order to satisfy mine production. After Watt improved the steam engine, massive orders were immediately received from overseas, and the new power quickly spread to various industries.</p>
<p>At this time, Border Town did not have the foundation for the Industrial Revolution, and industrialization did not even exist. So Roland did not expect to sell steam engines to make the first pot of gold. He just wanted to invest the machine in the Northern Slope Mine Area for mining and gravel. When the mine production increased, then he would expand the steam engine's scale of usage. This was the equivalent of promoting industrial development from top to bottom.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 25 - The Militia</h2>
<p>"These are the men you recruited?" Roland asked. Looking at the crowd of folks in rags, he had to hold back the urge to turn about and get away immediately.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, these men were chosen according to your requirements," Carter replied, counting his fingers. "Male, no criminal record, above 18, under 40 years old and not disabled... I have checked over everyone carefully."</p>
<p>Alright, Roland knew that he could not expect too much. After all, the productive forces of this world were so low that it would be difficult even to fill the people's stomach, not to mention to dress decently. His identity as a prince prevented him from seeing that refugees who had no clothes on their backs and begged for a living were a common sight out of the castle. As a matter of fact, even in the capital of Graycastle, there existed the profession of corpse collecting. These people dragged away the corpses of the starving who dropped dead in the streets and burned them.</p>
<p>[So what's warfare like in this world?] Roland closed his eyes and contemplated. It seems... it was only a little more elegant than gang fights. Generally speaking, when a lord decided to wage a war, or rather, had a fight, since Roland did not think what they were doing had anything in common with warfare, he would convene all the noble families in his domain, whom in turn convene the lower noble families in their respective domains. For example, a duke would convene his earls, while an earl would convene his viscounts, and a viscount his barons, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>These noble families usually had a bunch of knights and mercenaries as their own forces. These men were the main forces in a fight, and they were well armed and equipped. At the same time, they recruited common men and peasants in their domains to join the fight. To be honest, their purpose was to carry provisions for the troops and to fight in the frontline. The ones who suffered most in battle were those groups of "cannon fodder". As for the warriors from the noble families, as long as they did not die on a battlefield, they would be captured and then treated well so that they could be traded for ransom.</p>
<p>Roland would not count on those few noble families in Border Town to fight for him. In fact, they had nothing to do with Border Town. Instead, their titles of baron were mostly granted by the Lord of Longsong Stronghold, and their territories also belonged to the domain of Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>In this age, a platoon completely composed of common men required some imagination to understand. They were too ignorant to read documents or understand orders. Not to mention that they never had any professional training. How could they be compared with knights who started practicing sword fighting since the age of ten?</p>
<p>Carter approached Roland and said softly, "Your Highness, this method has never been acceptable. Look at them. Which one of them can hold a sword? I'm afraid that they'd soon disperse at the sight of demonic beasts. This would instead disturb the line of defense and have a negative effect. I suggest that we should recruit professional mercenaries from Willow Town or other places to defend the city wall. These men could be kept for sundry duties."</p>
<p>"No, I'll use them," Roland said, refusing Carter's suggestion. He did not like those mercenaries who fought for money. Besides, he was not only building this army to defend against demonic beasts. He knew from history that a powerful and dynamic army must be built from the people, and there were countless feudal, modern, and contemporary armies that had attested to this rule.</p>
<p>"Okay, we'll do as you say," said the knight with a shrug. "Then should I train in swordplay? Though it may not be of much use..."</p>
<p>"Swordplay? No. You should instruct them to stand in formation and run." Roland held back his words after this, as it suddenly occurred to him that the chief knight himself might have never had such an experience. He said instead, "Call the hunter whom you approached last time. You both should pay attention to what I'll do."</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>The unimaginable things Van'er experienced today were more than those of the past 20 years combined.</p>
<p>He saw Prince Roland with his own eyes! The prince walked past him and even smiled to him. God, was the prince drunk?</p>
<p>Three days ago, when Prince Roland gave the lecture at the square, he knew that this winter would be different from before. They would not head for Longsong Stronghold, but would instead stay and pass the long winter in Border Town. Most of what the prince said was incomprehensible to him, but yet he agreed wholeheartedly with this decision. Van'er's brother died two years ago in Longsong Stronghold slum. For a whole month there had been no food supply of any kind. He shared the dark bread he bought with the few coppers he had earned unloading cargo at the pier with his brother. But that winter was too cold. Wind came in through every crack of the shack in which they lived, and what they ate could hardly keep them warm. His brother lost consciousness with an ailment and never woke up again.</p>
<p>In Border Town, he at least had a house built by the earth, in which he did not have to fear a heavy snow that lasted long. He also saw wheat transported from elsewhere that piled up on the pier and then was transported to the castle in heaps. So Van'er came as soon as he heard that Prince Roland was recruiting for the militia.</p>
<p>Of course, what had enticed him to give up his quarrying work for enlistment was the pay, which was as high as 10 silver royals per month. It was comparable to the pay of an experienced mason! He was no longer young and planned to marry Sheryl, the tavern waitress the next spring, so it would be wise to start earning money.</p>
<p>As for what the notice said about the militia's duties, he took no notice of it. It was either to carry things for their lordships, or to facilitate the patrol. After all, they couldn't possibly be ordered to fight the frenetic demonic beasts on the city wall.</p>
<p>The selection was strict. The eyes of the knight in shiny armor made Van'er a little nervous. Fortunately, he passed the selection with his rather stout figure, though the knight eliminated many bony fellows through selection. At the end, there were only about 100 people left.</p>
<p>But it had never occurred to Van'er that it was His Highness himself that trained them.</p>
<p>Those who passed the selection were brought to a meadow west of Border Town. Behind them the city wall was being built, while in front of them stretched the endless Misty Forest.</p>
<p>The prince commanded all to stand in formation and then rested aside. It had rained a few days ago and the ground was still mushy. Moisture penetrated his shoes from the water-logged ground, making his whole body uneasy. Not to mention that the posture the prince demanded from them was quite unusual. They had to stand with hands down close to the sides of their thighs and keep their backs straight.</p>
<p>It only took a quarter of an hour to make Van'er exhausted. It was more taxing than hammering stones during the quarrying. But he grinded his teeth and persisted, because His Highness had said the one who moved during the training would not have any egg at lunch. God knew how long it had been since he had last tasted an egg. It was obviously what others thought as well, for they all persisted with all their effort.</p>
<p>It was not until the prince declared that everyone could rest on the spot that Van'er found himself soaked in sweat, despite the fact that he had only stood for half an hour. On the other hand, those who had not made it until the end regretted losing their egg.</p>
<p>Yet Van'er could not think of the use of this training. Could they carry a few more packs of solid food, if they stood like this?</p>
<p>If it was not for the fact that His Highness trained them himself, he would have cried out in doubt much earlier.</p>
<p>But after the rest, the second order His Highness made was even stranger. He commanded that everyone should continue standing in formation. If no one moved this time, each one would have one more egg at lunch. However, this time if even one person gave up, everyone would lose their chance of adding one more egg to their meal.</p>
<p>Van'er heard the sound of someone swallowing.</p>
<p>Hell, was this the new joke of the nobles? With a carrot and a stick, the prince had led everyone on! But Van'er would never consider himself a dumb donkey.</p>
<p>But what if everyone could do it? Then later on he could have two eggs for lunch.</p>
<p>The appeal was too great. Drooling over the eggs, Van'er decided to try his best.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 26 - The Experience Learned from History</h2>
<p>"Your Highness, what's the meaning of this?" Carter thought Prince Roland was arbitrary before, but now he thought the prince had become divorced from reality.</p>
<p>With regard to how to train a soldier, the chief knight thought that no one would be more professional than himself. His family had a complete set of training method, where a boy of 10 years old could be trained as a soldier, and would master all kinds of weapons in five years. If the soldier was further trained for five years, he would then be a top soldier, a knight who knew all rituals of upper class—of course, the trainees could not come from a civilian family.</p>
<p>[Look at these idiots! They only think of eating eggs!] Carter thought, [Besides... the eggs are so expensive!]</p>
<p>Roland responded casually, "Just watch them, and remember they must be trained in this way for the next few days. Of course, I'll make some changes, and I'll list down the details on paper."</p>
<p>During the cold war era, it was impossible to train a group of qualified soldiers in two or three months. And Roland had never thought of that, as he did not need that kind of Spartan warriors who were strong enough to tear a beast apart with bare arms. The individual soldiers did not have to be strong, but they had to be disciplined and execute every order without fail.</p>
<p>The power of a unit was usually much stronger than individual strength. This was decided by social norm and acceptance. So he needed to form them into a unit quickly. The modern military training, with some modifications to suit the current situation, was a good choice. In his personal experience of military training, it took only half a month to integrate students from all over the country into a cohesive unit. The effect was very obvious regardless of the process.</p>
<p>Only when this group of people completely understood the importance of discipline, could Roland implement the next step of his plan.</p>
<p>Van'er still failed to get the second egg at the end.</p>
<p>They had to stand twice as long as the previous round, and it did not end until someone's legs went weak and trembled.</p>
<p>Just then, Prince Roland announced to have a rest and ordered the attendants to serve lunch. People's anger at the weakling was successfully transmuted into the eagerness toward food. Of course, Van'er began to suspect that His Highness probably had never intended to let them get a second reward.</p>
<p>Lunch was packed in four large pots, which was transported by carriages to the outside of the town. In addition to food, they also brought a lot of wooden bowls and spoons.</p>
<p>Van'er licked his lips, ready to rush to the carriages with the others, but was held back by the chief knight.</p>
<p>His Royal Highness ordered all the people to line up in four rows and come forward one by one for bowls and spoons. Whoever dared to disturb the order would be forced to be the last one to get his food.</p>
<p>The crowd hustled and squeezed, and lined up into four rows. Van'er was lucky enough to stand in the forefront of the outermost row. Of course, some people were not satisfied with their positions. The sound of quarrels and fighting was heard in the rows. Soon the knights and several guards rushed into the crowd and kicked the troublemakers out.</p>
<p>[Fool,] thought Van'er when he glanced at the man who started the riot. That was Insane Fist, the most aggressive street fighter in the town. He used to stir up trouble everywhere with his brute force, but now he had to squat in the corner with swords pointed at him. Look how pitiful he was now.</p>
<p>He felt that he had already figured out what His Royal Highness liked.</p>
<p>He liked order.</p>
<p>They had to stand upright in a straight line, line up to get food, and always follow orders... Van'er had heard from some knowledgeable businessmen that some of the noble had a strange habit: they could not tolerate disorder and once something was out of place, they could not help rearranging things.</p>
<p>In Van'er's mind, this kind of person was purely bored and had nothing better to do. So they would deliberately create some trouble to occupy their mind.</p>
<p>He did not expect that His Royal Highness was such a person.</p>
<p>When the lids of the pots were opened, Van'er smelled the strong flavor of food.</p>
<p>When the flavor spread in the wind, he almost lost himself in it. The crowd also became restless, but soon the knight roared to keep them quiet. [We probably have to line up again,] Van'er thought.</p>
<p>Sure enough, Prince Roland required them to line up for their portions of food just like before.</p>
<p>Their mouths were watering and their stomachs were growling. But thinking of what happened to Insane Fist, they had to line up and wait patiently.</p>
<p>The pots were filled with hot oatmeal. To Van'er's surprise, there was even dried meat in the porridge! Even if he only got one thin slice, but that was meat! In addition, he even got an extra egg like he wished for.</p>
<p>Van'er gobbled down the porridge, even licking the bottom of the bowl once. He swallowed the entire egg without biting. Since he ate so fast and carelessly, his tongue blistered quickly.</p>
<p>After putting down the pot, Van'er patted his belly and made a satisfied hiccup. He had not enjoyed such delicious food for a long time. And what was even more incredible was that he even felt a sense of satiety. Compared with brown bread, the sweet meat porridge tasted like heaven. He even thought, if he could eat such food every day, what would it matter if he had to fight against the demonic beasts in the front?</p>
<p>After lunch, they had a long period of rest. They were brought back within the city wall, walking all the way to the camp of the battalion. A burly man of foreign nation came out and began to teach everyone how to set up tents.</p>
<p>Van'er knew him—nearly everyone in the town knew Iron Axe. With regards to his superb archery skill, he even far surpassed the most experienced old hunters in the town. [Wait a moment, so now Iron Axe is serving Prince Roland? It seemed that I saw him by the side of the knights before.] Van'er frowned and thought, [What's His Highness planning? Iron Axe is a man of Sand Nation.]</p>
<p>"Do you really intend to appoint a man of Sand Nation as captain?" Carter had the same question. "He doesn't belong to Kingdom of Graycastle. And he isn't even from our continent."</p>
<p>"The witches don't belong to the Kingdom of Graycastle either," Roland said, "but they all belong to Border Town. Besides, aren't you watching them for me?"</p>
<p>"But, Your Highness..."</p>
<p>"Don't worry." Roland patted the knight's shoulder. "The origin of a person doesn't matter in Border Town. As long as they don't violate the law of the kingdom, they're still my subjects. If you're really worried, you can choose two more excellent captains. Anyway, the team will continue to expand in the future, and you can cultivate some promising ones now. I have written down the training regulations. Compared to the people of Sand Nation, I think you'd better be more concerned about this."</p>
<p>Carter took the parchment roll from Roland's hands. Skimming through the contents from beginning to end, he got a nasty shock. The training contents were almost unheard of. For example, they needed to run laps around Border Town in the afternoon from 2 p.m. till sunset. The regulations emphasized that everyone had to complete this, and they were allowed to help each other on the way. If they persevered and no one gave up, they would get an extra egg for dinner. Another example, when the whistles were blown at night, everyone had to get dressed and fall in as soon as possible. With these kinds of training exercises, Carter was afraid that most people would quit in a few days.</p>
<p>The first few rules were already hard to understand, and the last one completely confused him.</p>
<p>"Every day after dinner, they're required to go to Mr. Karl's college for cultural training."</p>
<p>"Your Highness... What do you mean by cultural training? Do you want to teach them to read and write?"</p>
<p>"I hope so, but the time is too limited. Karl could only teach them some simple words and numbers so that they can read and write orders. I'll personally explain this part to Karl. You just need to send them over."</p>
<p>"But, why do you want to do this? It's of no use in fighting against the demonic beasts."</p>
<p>"Who said so?" Roland yawned. "A unit good at fighting must also be well educated. That's the experience learned from history."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 27 - The Past</h2>
<p>The weather was getting colder day by day, and Roland was waking up later and later.</p>
<p>As the ruling class, he certainly had the right to sleep late. Especially with his large bed and three layers of velvet blankets, his whole body would fall into the soft encirclement when lying down. This made it much harder for him to get up early.</p>
<p>After washing up, Roland stepped into his office and found Nightingale had been waiting there for a long time.</p>
<p>"Well, here is your breakfast. I ate half when it was hot, but now it's cold," she said, with her lips protruding. She nodded her head in the direction of the remaining bread on the table, as if she was the lord of the domain</p>
<p>"Hasn't anyone taught you to be humble before the prince?" asked Roland, as he pushed away the plates and sat at the desk. "I remember you were very polite at first."</p>
<p>He sighed inwardly. He had not realized that she made friends instantly, and she would always be accompanying Anna or him. She had kept hidden at first, but now as long as there was no outsider present, she would stroll around his office and not even wearing a hood.</p>
<p>"Like this?" She jumped off the table and bowed in the style and etiquette of a flawless noble. "You've been getting up later and later recently. Since the breakfast remained unconsumed, I wanted to do you a favor by helping myself to some of it, Your Highness." She walked toward Roland and said, "You don't care, do you? I can see that you don't like the tedious etiquette."</p>
<p>"Did she have a third eye?" Roland wondered silently. "She could see even this."</p>
<p>He sighed. "As you like, but you'd better finish the breakfast once you start it in the future. I'll order another portion if I want to eat it."</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness!" She smiled and picked up the plate, moving quickly to one side.</p>
<p>Roland rolled out a blank parchment. He was ready to complete the design drawing, left unfinished from yesterday.</p>
<p>If he wanted to defend Border Town, he should not pursue a win with an almost equal loss in the first battle of winter. Since a corp that had not experienced war was not a qualified one, Roland feared that if there was any major loss, his soldiers who had only been trained for a short time, would not have the courage to stand on the city wall.</p>
<p>He needed epochal weapons in order to have an absolute advantage over the demonic beasts.</p>
<p>There was no doubt that he needed the flintlock.</p>
<p>The era was equipped with all the conditions for the emergence of the flintlock. The alchemists often produced something they called snow powder for palace celebrations. It was essentially gunpowder but with the wrong formula and could burn slowly. When put into the copper tube, it mostly just made a small sound.</p>
<p>In about one century, the prototype of the flintlock, the harquebus, would appear. The firearm had a complicated operation, which relied on the cooperation of two people doing the loading and shooting. In general, it could only be used as a single-shot weapon. As for its speed and power, it was no match for a trained archer.</p>
<p>Roland, of course, was not interested in repeating history. It was better to make use of the witch's ability and create a flintlock with practical value, just like he had created the steam engine.</p>
<p>"I had looked at the order on the table before you came," Nightingale swallowed the last piece of bread and asked casually, "What are you going to do with so many ices? It's winter now, and if you want to drink cold ale, why not directly put it outside for one night?"</p>
<p>The noble liked to use ice during summer, namely, the ice made of saltpeter. Then they could cool their milk, wine or juice for enjoyment. Thanks to winter's blessing, the current purchasing price for saltpeter was very low.</p>
<p>"To make iced cheese, the temperature is not low enough yet. It doesn't work well without freezing," Roland replied precariously.</p>
<p>Although the woman in front of him was not his enemy, he did not know her as well as he knew Anna. Unlike the steam engine, there were not so many technical barriers to the flintlock. Once it became popular, it would obviously be unfavorable to his farming project. Until he learned more about her, it was better to keep some things from her. Thinking of this, he tentatively asked, "Does the Witch Cooperation Association help to train killers in addition to searching for Holy Mountain?"</p>
<p>"No, they're only a group of poor people coming together for a dream," Nightingale waved and said, "and I joined the Witch Cooperation Association only two years ago."</p>
<p>"In other words, you were working for someone else?" She could not have gained such perfect dagger-throwing skills without someone's guidance or years of hard work. Roland was pretty sure about it. "Other than me, is there anyone else willing to take in a witch?"</p>
<p>"Take in?" Nightingale looked a bit strange. "How could it be. If he had known that I would become a witch, he wouldn't have even let me through his door. As for later on, if I had not proved my usefulness to him, I'd have been secretly killed."</p>
<p>"Oh? Can you elaborate?"</p>
<p>Nightingale shook her head with a smile, which contained slightly inexpressible moods this time. "Your Highness, I'll let you know when the time is right. I know what you're worried about. Please rest assured that I have been free for the last five years, and no longer work for others."</p>
<p>Negotiations failed, it seemed that he was not charming enough... However, her answer indirectly confirmed his speculations. At least five years ago, she had secretly done something for someone. Fortunately, the person had only used Nightingale by chance, instead of recruiting large numbers of witches like he intended to.</p>
<p>Roland did not ask more. He bowed his head and went on with the drawings.</p>
<p>To his surprise, Nightingale, who had always liked being around him, became quiet, only leaving the sound of furnace fire burning in the room. When Roland lifted his head to stretch his limp, numb neck, she had left the office.</p>
<p>"She didn't say goodbye," he muttered, folding the parchment and putting it into the inner pocket of his underclothes.</p>
<p>He worked for a few days. He finished all the work, including the drawings, and the designs of the weapons, or the copies.</p>
<p>He was planning to make the famous flintlock, which was time-tested and similar to the harquebus in terms of the technique level, with the ignition charge loaded into the rear, and the lead ball loaded into the front. Its rate could be nearly three shots per minute. So more than sufficiently, it could be used to cope with the unintelligent mutant beasts.</p>
<p>Most animals would not be able to climb the wall, so the shooting distance was approximately equal to the distance from the top of the city wall to the ground, approximately four meters. Within this distance, it was hard to miss the target and the initial speed of the bullet would hardly decrease. As long as the demonic beasts had not evolved with a skin harder than steel, they could basically be killed in one shot.</p>
<p>The disadvantage of the flintlock was its long production time. At first, like the harquebus, it was made by craftsmen's repeated beats with a hammer. From the barrel to the trigger, it took about three months to make the whole gun. Among all the parts, the barrel was the most time-consuming. The craftsman had to beat the iron sheet into a thin and cylindrical shape, seal it with iron powder, and then engrave the rifling. Although there was no need for precise instruments, the craftsman must be skilled in order to make qualified barrels.</p>
<p>This was why Roland had produced the steam engine first.</p>
<p>With the steam engine available, he could directly drill a barrel into a solid iron bar with the steel drill. So, the production speed would be greatly improved, without any more reliance on the operation by the skilled craftsmen. The only thing he needed would be a table on which he could fix the iron bar.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 28 - Fierce Scar</h2>
<p>But when Roland operated it himself, he realized the actual situation was not as simple as he had expected.</p>
<p>After slogging in the backyard for four or five days, the harder drill bits were completed successfully though. With the use of Anna's flame at a high temperature, he could easily get molten iron at over 1,500 Celsius degrees. Without any temperature constraint, he could quickly and easily produce small quantities of steel with the conventional wrought-steel method. By stirring the molten iron with an iron bar, the excessive carbon and other impurities in the pig iron would oxidize in the air, and after repeating the operation several times, the premium steel appeared as the molten iron cooled down.</p>
<p>The problem lay in the first steam engine.</p>
<p>When this primitive machine was working, it created loud noise and high-frequency vibration. As a result, the drill could not stably finish drilling the entire solid iron. In rough labor, this degree of tremor did not matter, but this clearly would not work with the processing of the barrel.</p>
<p>To improve this situation, he had to create a centrifugal governor to control the output power of the steam engine, and then use the gear assembly to reduce the vibration, and adjust the bit rotation rate. Plus, the machining gears required a simple lathe. By the look of things, Roland found himself unable to achieve his goal before the arrival of the Months of Demons.</p>
<p>Eventually, he could only apply the old method of asking the blacksmiths to gradually hammer it out. The plan to mass produce flintlocks did not succeed. According to the number of blacksmith shops in Border Town, a maximum of three to four barrels could be produced monthly, which should be on the condition that the production of the second steam engine was stopped.</p>
<p>The only consolation was that there was no need to worry about the pass rate of the barrel. The blacksmith just needed to beat the approximate shape of round tubes. Anna would do the pipe linking. The effect was close to the seamless tube cut out by the boring tool, and basically eliminated the risk of the gun-barrel explosion.</p>
<p>Roland had no choice but to revise his previous plan. He had intended to recruit hunters from Border Town to set up a Flintlock Squad—they were mostly proficient in archery and both the bow and crossbow were their handy weapons. Plus a firearm training was not time-consuming, so they could be ready for combat very soon.</p>
<p>But from now up till the Months of Demons, only four flintlock guns could be made. In this way, only the most outstanding of the hunters could form an elite team. Roland decided to entrust this matter to Iron Axe to carry out. He had stayed in Border Town for 15 years, and was also generally recognized as the best hunter.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Brian was unhappy this past half month.</p>
<p>Especially when he met the militia team in the street, his unhappiness doubled... He even could not reconcile himself to what had happened.</p>
<p>He felt that he had been forgotten by His Highness.</p>
<p>A month ago when he was summoned by the chief knight, he was full of excitement. Being in close contact with Prince Roland and questioned by His Highness himself was a very fortunate and glorious matter.</p>
<p>He was born in an ordinary hunting family and grew up in Border Town. By virtue of his own abilities, he became Patrol Leader. He knew he could not rely on his background to become a knight, but could only wait for the opportunity to make a merit, and accept the conferral by the authorities.</p>
<p>His Highness' inquiry made him sense the opportunity had come. Apparently Prince Roland did not want to give up his domain and was trying to find ways to fight the demonic beasts. Later on, the massive construction of the city wall proved without a doubt that this year they would be spending the Months of Demons in Border Town.</p>
<p>If His Highness wanted to prevent the invasion of demonic beasts here, he had to set up a platoon brave enough for a face-to-face combat. Brian thought he himself was the best choice for the role, as he was proficient in investigation, swordsmanship and equestrian skill. Every year, he would remain till the time for the garrison duty to ignite the beacon-fire to prove his courage. But he never expected that His Highness would plan to choose a platoon from the populace to fight with the demonic beasts!</p>
<p>Yes, it was a platoon of civilians. Furthermore, the whole patrol team of ten people, including him, did not pass the review by the chief knight. This was simply incredible. Did His Highness felt that these civilians who had never held swords would be better than him in battle? It was more likely they would disperse once they saw the fiendish faces of the demonic beasts.</p>
<p>But His Highness seemed to be serious... He was not only training this group of mobs but also gave them uniforms. Every afternoon, Brian could see this group of people wearing brown and gray leather armor, filed in two lines running on the streets. At the beginning, the platoon was messy, but recently it became much neater.</p>
<p>But every day, he could only carry out boring tasks, without any hope of promotion.</p>
<p>At night, while he was tossing and turning, there was a loud noise next door. The door was pushed open, and someone came in quietly.</p>
<p>"Hey, get up! All of you," he whispered. Brian recognized his voice; he was a member of the patrol team and nicknamed Fierce Scar.</p>
<p>There were five people in his room. Other than Greyhound and himself, the other three quickly got up, as if they had already been preparing for this as they slept with their coats on.</p>
<p>"Captain, get up quickly. I have something important to tell you."</p>
<p>Fierce Scar had a noble relative in Longsong Stronghold, who was said to be a great noble. Hence his position was very high in the team. Brian could not ignore him, so he got up and asked, "What happened?"</p>
<p>Greyhound was also awakened. "It, it's so late, don’t you guys... go to bed?"</p>
<p>"I have a good job for you, do you want to be conferred as a knight?"</p>
<p>"Wh-What? Knight?" Greyhound exclaimed.</p>
<p>Brian's heart skipped a beat and quickly asked, "What's the job exactly?"</p>
<p>"You all know my uncle Hirte. He's the earl conferred by the duke, and also the duke's confidant. He personally told me this." Fierce Scar lowered his voice. "Prince Roland is ready to cast off Longsong Stronghold and this has displeased the duke greatly. The duke has decided to let the prince know that only he is the master of the Western Region."</p>
<p>"D-D-Don't tell me... you intend to, to assassinate..." Greyhound stuttered once he got nervous, and could not complete his sentences.</p>
<p>"How could it be," Fierce Scar said, tittering. "He is a prince after all. If he's dead, even the duke cannot protect us. As I said, it's a good job."</p>
<p>Brian subconsciously felt that the deal was not as simple as he claimed. But the temptation of being a knight was so great that he could not help but reply, "Tell me more."</p>
<p>"Grain. If there's no food, he'll have no choice but come back to Longsong Stronghold. The duke promised that as long as we can successfully burn the grain bought by Prince Roland, he'll make us knights. And even give us a piece of land in the eastern Longsong Stronghold. It's a golden opportunity. Captain, what do you think of it?"</p>
<p>"You, you're crazy. His, His Highness has already said, this y-year, the Months of Demons is likely to last f-for more than four months. If you b-burn the grain, what will we eat!" Greyhound shook his head repeatedly. "Have we a-all forgotten what happened two, two years ago?"</p>
<p>"What does that have to do with us?" The other man remarked with disdain. "Anyway, I didn't intend to stay here. After finishing Duke Ryan's task, I'll be able to live a good life in Longsong Stronghold."</p>
<p>"That's right. Do you want to stay in this dump and eat furnace slag forever?" The others echoed the view.</p>
<p>"Damn, they were in cahoots." Brian's heart sank. Only Greyhound and him grew up in Border Town, the rest came from all parts of the country and did not have any special feelings towards the town. Sensing it pointless to stop them, he changed the subject. "But the wheat has already been transferred to His Highness' castle. With the entrance guarded by personal knights, how could you enter it?"</p>
<p>"That's why I've asked you to join," Fierce Scar laughed confidently, "You've stayed in this dump since you were young, so no one knows this environment better than you. I remember you once said the well at the back mountain, was connected to the waterway at the bottom of the castle. Through it, you can quietly access the castle garden. You even crawled through it when you were a child. So if you join me, you can become a knight in the future—and even personally conferred by the Duke."</p>
<p>No... Knights should be courageous and fight unfairness. They should not be afraid of powers of coercion, but should protect the weak! Just for the sake of the duke's personal grudges, why should we expose the town residents to the threat of hunger and death? Such a knight is just an empty shell, without any glory at all!</p>
<p>As he was about to refuse, Greyhound shouted.</p>
<p>"A, a group of madmen! You, you, actually dare to mess with the grain. I'll never let you leave h-here! I want to r-report to..." Greyhound was in mid-speech when the sound solidified. He turned around in disbelief, as a former teammate stood behind him, sneering. A black dagger thrust into his back and entered the body completely. He trembled twice, opened his mouth trying to say something, but could only utter a hoarse breathing sound.</p>
<p>The attacker swiftly moved the dagger twice, and then violently pulled it back. Greyhound suddenly lost the support like a lifeless doll, and collapsed softly to the ground.</p>
<p>"And so?" Fierce Scar came close to Brian, who could even feel the stench of his mouth. "I think you have decided. Right, Captain?"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 29 - Brian's Anger</h2>
<p>The lord's castle in Border Town had not been originally built in its current position.</p>
<p>Whilst burying the foundation of the stone wall, an underground cave was uncovered. The ground suddenly collapsed, so there was no choice but to move the position of the castle.</p>
<p>The waterways that had already been dug were mostly destroyed during the collapse. Even those that were intact were abandoned because of the reconstruction.</p>
<p>When Brian was young, he often played in these tunnels, and one day he accidentally found that the route from an abandoned well led to the well of the castle garden. Brian told his father, and was severely beaten. His father warned him that the punishment for trespassing the castle was death. Once found guilty, he would be sent straight to the gallows.</p>
<p>Brian was terrified and naturally did not walk through the waterway again. But at times when everyone got together to drink and chat, he had more than once boasted that he knew a direct access to the castle. Now he regretted his remarks.</p>
<p>Excluding Greyhound, there were a total of nine people. In other words, the entire patrol team had been persuaded by Fierce Scar—being able to serve Duke Ryan, the lord of the Western Region, with such a lucrative return, was a temptation few people could resist.</p>
<p>The abandoned well was located at the outset of the collapse, and now it remained a wasteland. Held by Fierce Scar's sword and caught in the middle of the platoon, Brian went down the well. What was once a spacious waterway, was now very narrow. No one had passed through in years, plus the water direction had changed. Many vines had sprouted all over the cave.</p>
<p>The bloke who had stabbed Greyhound was in front holding the torch and bowed. He held a short axe and used it to remove obstacles.</p>
<p>Brian pretended he was trying to remember the road, but in fact, he was thinking about getting away.</p>
<p>Obviously in such an inconvenient place, he had no possibility of escaping. He could only wait till he got to the castle, before getting a chance. What should he do once he got there? Shout to attract the personal knights of His Highness? No. Fierce Scar would raise his hand and finish him off. He had to lengthen their distance first, otherwise he would end up like Greyhound.</p>
<p>Thinking about Greyhound, Brian's eyes became bleak again.</p>
<p>He and Greyhound had lived in Border Town before it was even established. The two had spent their childhood together and joining the patrol team was also Brian's idea. He had not expected that Greyhound would be elected as the patrol team leader.</p>
<p>Brian was happy for him for a long time. Because of his stutter, Greyhound had always been despised by others. Now, he had finally gotten the opportunity to be recognized. At least at the time, it was what Brian thought.</p>
<p>But when Greyhound fell and Brian screamed, Fierce Scar told him the real reason they had been elected captains.</p>
<p>"Fool, patrol leaders have to stay until the Months of Demons, to ignite the flames and warn everyone. If you two didn't do it, did you expect me to do it myself?"</p>
<p>The sentence was like a sharp knife piercing Brian's heart.</p>
<p>All those compliments and congratulations were false, and the real reason was actually so ugly. He showed a look of shock and despair to cover up his raging anger. It was simply unforgivable. Brian secretly clenched his teeth. Someone had to pay the price!</p>
<p>After walking through the dried-up waterway for half an hour, they finally heard the sound of water.</p>
<p>This meant that they were not far from their destination.</p>
<p>After turning a corner, it suddenly became more spacious, and could accommodate two people standing side by side. The person walking at the head of the platoon said, "There's no way forward, just a shaft."</p>
<p>"What's happening?" Fierce Scar nudged the sword and asked.</p>
<p>"Ask him to look up," said Brian. "We have arrived."</p>
<p>The abandoned waterway was connected to the middle of the castle backyard's waterway. Perhaps it had not been sealed shut due to negligence. Fierce Scar stuck to the wall and looked up, three feet below him was gushing water, and above his head he could see a small circle of the night sky.</p>
<p>He let people guard Brian, while he pulled out a rope from the backpack, tied the hook, and gently threw it up. When a "dang" sound was heard, the hook was firmly stuck in the edge of the well's head.</p>
<p>Fierce Scar followed the rope, and carefully climbed up. Soon, he tugged the rope several times above, indicating that the rest of the people could come up.</p>
<p>The line of people took almost half a day's efforts to climb out from the well. The castle which was originally far from sight now stood erect in front of them.</p>
<p>Fierce Scar grabbed Brian and shouted, "Hurry and take us to the warehouse."</p>
<p>Brian had only come here once. Though the memory of the castle was obscure, he quietly led the crowd, pried open the nearest wooden door and slipped into the castle.</p>
<p>At this hour, most people inside the castle were asleep, and the lamp lights along the corridor walls were completely extinguished. In the pitch-black darkness, someone from the platoon lit a fire. Faint fire could only illuminate a few feet, and Brian knew his chance had come.</p>
<p>When the platoon went to a crossing leading to the basement, he aimed at the bottom of the ladder, and suddenly rushed over. Although the person who held Brian had been paying attention to his movements, but the leap was too fast. Before he could react, he collided and began rolling down with Brian.</p>
<p>Down the ladder, the two instantly came out of the fire's range, and disappeared in the darkness.</p>
<p>"Oh, damn!" Fierce Scar immediately pulled out the dagger, and chased after them. He thought Brian would use the dark to play hide and seek with him. But not only did Brian not escape, he was also quietly standing under the stairs, as if waiting for him.</p>
<p>Fierce Scar saw that the associate who collided with Brian was lying on the ground motionless. And Brian was holding the man's weapons in his hand.</p>
<p>"Fool, do you think you'll have a chance to win?" Fierce Scar held his attack stance, waiting for the others to come down, and then said, "There are seven of us, and only one of you."</p>
<p>Brian did not answer, and he no longer needed to suppress his anger. He swung the sword, and swiftly struck the peak of Fierce Scar's sword, with sparks flying. Without waiting for the next stance, he stabbed the sword into Fierce Scar's shoulder!</p>
<p>Fierce Scar roared and fell backwards. Another one stepped forward, blocking the pursuit of Brian.</p>
<p>This was an excellent place to strike, as the narrow aisle gave the opponents hardly any advantages. He just had to stand in the middle of the aisle facing the enemy, and the opponents could not do anything. It was just too narrow here to accommodate two people waving weapons.</p>
<p>With regards to swordsmanship, Brian was confident he would not lose to anyone of the patrol team.</p>
<p>When this group of scum was lazing around, gambling, and indulging in the bar, he was honing his fighting skills. Regardless of wind, frost, rain or snow, years went by and his routine was never interrupted. This was also why he did not choose to immediately shout for help.</p>
<p>He wanted to personally avenge Greyhound's death.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 30 - Coming from the Mist</h2>
<p>The enemy only blocked Brian's two strikes before his weapons were knocked down.</p>
<p>[They're more like a bunch of hooligans than members of the patrol team.] Brian thought angrily. [Other than blackmail and extortion, what else have they done? Greyhound and I meticulously performed the tasks given by the lord, but ended up being the weird ones out of the team.]</p>
<p>But... it just so happened, this group of scum, in order to join Longsong Stronghold, did not care about what happened to the town, and used despicable methods to kill Greyhound.</p>
<p>Unforgivable!</p>
<p>He wielded the sword, aiming toward a frightened opponent's neck...</p>
<p>At this moment, a shadow emerged from the target, and swiftly stabbed close to Brian's heart. This blow was too concealed, so when he detected it, it was already too late.</p>
<p>In desperation, he crashed backwards to the ground, his body popping up, and felt a stabbing pain at his chest.</p>
<p>After rolling a few laps, Brian immediately stood up and put on a defensive stance. That sword attack only pierced his coat and skin, and there was no serious harm done. But the main point was who did the attack! He did not know any guy in the patrol team with such a fencing skill.</p>
<p>"Huh? You actually dodged the attack." The man pushed away his teammate and came forward.</p>
<p>By the firelight, Brian found he did not know that person—he was not tall, and yet his hands were very long, hanging down almost to the knees. His face was unfamiliar, and Brian vowed he had never seen this face before.</p>
<p>"You're not from the patrol team... Who're you exactly?"</p>
<p>Despite having few dealings with the five people next door, but at least he recognized them. This guy obviously replaced one of them, followed the team in and infiltrated the castle. It was not surprising that he did not discover him in the middle of the night, but it was impossible that Fierce Scar did not notice as well. Since they did not seem surprised, then there was only one explanation that this guy was deliberately arranged by Fierce Scar.</p>
<p>"You already know the answer, so why asking me?" He smiled indifferently. "Anyway, you're going to die."</p>
<p>"Damn, he's injured me!" Fierce Scar shouted hatefully. "Viper, chop off his hands and feet, and I want to slowly drain his blood!"</p>
<p>"Unfortunately, Mr. Kihls, I have to first complete the tasks of the earl."</p>
<p>Without much pause, the guy known as Viper continued attacking. His movement was swift and mysterious, plus his abnormally long arms, forcing Brian into a bitter struggle. Brian was forced to retreat, and simply could not find an opportunity to counterattack.</p>
<p>[Too careless!] Brian began to feel anxious. [We've fought for so long, surely the people above would have noticed, right?]</p>
<p>He wanted to personally revenge Greyhound's death, but yet now he only wished he could hold on a little longer, till the guards of His Royal Highness came to ambush this group of villains.</p>
<p>"You seem to be expecting something." Viper suddenly paused attacking. "I guess you're waiting for the prince's men to save you? Unfortunately, this stone castle is different from your usual pubs and hotels. In those wooden houses, the floors would creak when people were entertaining. But here, as long as the door was closed, you could shout at the top of your lungs, and no one would hear any movement upstairs."</p>
<p>After Brian's thoughts had been exposed, he could not help but hesitate, and Viper was waiting exactly for this opportunity. He kept the sword pointing down to dull the opponent while slightly raised the other hand to trigger the hand crossbow in the sleeve.</p>
<p>A bolt with just a finger's length was shot from the cuff, and once Brian heard the light buzzing of the machine, the bolt was already thrust in his lung.</p>
<p>Unbearable pain suddenly exploded in his chest. Brian threw the sword at Viper, and turned back to run. But the blood from the lung exuded quickly into the trachea, making it difficult for him to breathe. He did not run far, before he tripped over the threshold, with a staggering heavy fall to the ground.</p>
<p>Viper caught up with him, and wanted to terminate his opponent, but was stopped by Fierce Scar.</p>
<p>"Let me do it," he said gnashing his teeth. "I want this guy to know what happens to those who stab me!"</p>
<p>A trace of cool flashed across Viper's face, but he eventually moved aside. "Do it efficiently, and don't forget our main business."</p>
<p>Fierce Scar grabbed Brian's hair and shouted at him, "Believe me, you'll die a very painful death."</p>
<p>Brian wanted to spit some blood on his face, but his whole body's strength was draining away, and he knew he did not have long to live. Past regrets surged to his heart, such as the wife he had not yet met, and the dream to be a knight. But the most regrettable was... being unable to avenge Greyhound.</p>
<p>Wait, what was that?</p>
<p>He blinked, and there was a woman sitting on top of a box. Although under the dim light, her look was not clear, that exquisite body proved clearly that she was without doubt a woman.</p>
<p>Hell, was this an illusion... When he fell into the room, he did not see anyone inside. Did the deities in heaven hear his complaints, and deliberately created a fantasy to comfort him?</p>
<p>"Hey, you guys are not only fighting in other people's territory, and even intend to kill right in front of me. Don't you think that's inappropriate?"</p>
<p>Brian could feel Fierce Scar's hand tremble, and let loose his hair. He could hear sounds of weapons bursting out of the sheath, and some shouts. "Who are you!?"</p>
<p>[Their reaction is just too... Wait!] Brian was thinking hazily. [Isn't this an illusion?]</p>
<p>"Of course I'm from here." The woman jumped from the barrel, and patted the dust from her robe. In the dim firelight, Brian saw her gown was embroidered with a strange pattern—three juxtaposed triangles, and a huge eye in the center. The silhouette of the eye shone golden bright under the firelight.</p>
<p>"What about you guys? Rats that come from the gutter?" Her voice was crisp and sweet, yet without any emotion. This was unreasonable... Anyone who saw a murder scene would not behave so calm.</p>
<p>Viper was also aware of this. He looked somber, walked slowly around the other's side, and suddenly stabbed her.</p>
<p>The woman did not even turn her head, but casually waved her hand. Viper did not even see her weapon, but just felt a burst of cold wind blowing through his body.</p>
<p>There was a scream. Fierce Scar stared incredulously, and he saw Viper rush forward and retreat quickly. But the original site of the sword was now an empty space.</p>
<p>His arms fell to the ground, as well as the sword.</p>
<p>Fear suddenly strangled Fierce Scar's throat. The others might not know, but he was very clear about Viper's bottom line—vicious, dangerous and cunning when attacks. This was the earl's evaluation of this person. Someone who could be chosen and recruited by the earl, only meant his strength should not be underestimated. Even Brian would have difficulty in resisting his attack for more than half a quarter. But now, he was nonchalantly attacked by a woman, and his whole arm severed.</p>
<p>"What're you guys waiting for, hurry and kill her!" Viper shouted, holding his wound.</p>
<p>After having lost a lot of blood, Brian's vision began to blur. He heard chaotic sounds of footsteps, weapons, collision, and muffled sounds when bodies fell to the ground. What had happened exactly? He tried to turn his eyes, looking forward...</p>
<p>And then the patrol leader saw an image he could not understand.</p>
<p>That woman's figure was like a ghost, and she strolled amongst the crowd, disappearing and appearing at times. Every attack would penetrate the enemy's vital point. It did not seem like a fight, and it looked more like a dance. He had never seen anyone use weapons with such a sense of rhythm. The sword shadow was flying up and down, and drawing an incredible orbit. The people around seemed like clumsy clowns, compared to her. They futilely counterattacked, and then fell in vain... In the end, she was the only person proudly standing.</p>
<p>That was also the last sight Brian saw before losing consciousness.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 31 - [Our] Friend</h2>
<p>Roland was sitting at his desk dumbfounded. He had never expected that someone would dare to commit murder in his castle. If Nightingale had not found the assassins in time, they would have killed him.</p>
<p>Who had plotted the assassination attempt this time? Was it his third sister? Or the other siblings? Why were they so anxious? The Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince would last for five years, and it was only a few months that had passed. Roland slammed the desk in growing agitation. [How outrageous! Can't they just let me get through the winter?]</p>
<p>Footsteps sounded from outside the door. Chief Knight Carter Lannis swung the door open and entered. "Your Highness, the identity of the bodies has been clarified. Seven of the eight corpses were former members of the patrol team, and one person's identity is still unknown. Of the two who're still alive, one is still unconscious after being healed by the witch, I mean, by Miss Pine. Another has been cast in a cell and is being cautiously guarded.</p>
<p>"Patrol team?" He knew that this team, trained by the former lord, was unreliable. Roland gnashed his teeth in vexation. Eight out of ten members were disloyal. It was truly the right decision to forbid these bastards from joining the Militia.</p>
<p>"Warn the guards to watch the one that's locked up in jail carefully. Don't let him poison himself like the last time!"</p>
<p>"The last time?"</p>
<p>"Umm, never mind." Roland shook his head. Nightingale had woken him up at midnight and his mind was a blur. "Anyway, I have to hear everything from his mouth. The chief plotter, the primary contact person, and the buyer, we need to find these people."</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness," Carter responded but did not depart at once. Instead, he got down on one knee. "It was my dereliction of duty that allowed the assassins to sneak into the castle. Please punish me, Your Highness."</p>
<p>"Enough. You were not in the castle at the time. This assassination attempt had nothing to do with you."</p>
<p>"Then..." Carter hesitated for a moment. "Would you tell me, Your Highness, who prevented this assassination attempt? From what I saw at the scene, they..." The knight gulped. "They seemed to have been killed by the same person, and they did not have even the slightest chance to fight back."</p>
<p>"You can decipher all that?" Roland's curiosity was aroused.</p>
<p>"If the two sides were well-matched in strength, the scene would not be so neat and clean, and there would have been all kinds of wounds on the assassinators' bodies," Carter said this in a low voice. "But all the assassinators were lying on the floor of the warehouse. There was not a single broken item. On the huge boxes where we store meat, there's not even a trace of sword cuts. This means that the person who prevented this assassination attempt was able to move swiftly in a limited space without using any coverage. In my humble opinion, Your Highness, this is incredulous."</p>
<p>"I see." Roland nodded. He understood what Carter meant. In theory, even the strongest man on earth would fall into a predicament, if he was surrounded by enemies. Real battles were not comparable to movies or shows where the hero would fight one after another. Attacks from blind spots were most fatal. That's why, in a one-to-many situation, the correct countermeasure was to utilize the surrounding environment, to face the enemies.</p>
<p>However, Nightingale was not ordinary.</p>
<p>"No matter how, you shall do what you have to do. I won't reveal this individual's identity yet. I'll acknowledge you when the time comes."</p>
<p>Even though, the chief knight was loyal, dependable, and was aware of the fact that Anna and Nana were both witches, Roland still decided to conceal the existence of Nightingale for now. Different from the other two witches, Nightingale was not affiliated with Roland's party. She stayed in Border Town only for Anna. She was a member of the Witch Cooperation Association and would leave the town someday eventually.</p>
<p>Carter left with apparent signs of disappointment on his face.</p>
<p>Roland could understand his thoughts. As a swordsman who had been working to enhance his swordsmanship through learning the doctrines of his predecessors, he had always viewed those doctrines as the axioms of swordsmanship. He would naturally doubt himself when seeing such a disbelieving scene. If someone's swordsmanship could be exquisite to that extent, of what heritage was he so proud of?</p>
<p>"I thought you would have sold me out." Nightingale revealed herself. She was still sitting in the corner of the desk with her legs crossed.</p>
<p>"I thought so too. Why don't you just live here? Work as my shadow guard and you'll receive two gold royals every month, double the amount of Anna's pay. Would you consider my offer?" Roland began. He pushed his enticement. "You'll have a garden house, two days off per week. Every year, you'll have paid leaves. Well, I mean, you'll still get your salary on vacations."</p>
<p>What surprised him was that this time Nightingale did not refuse immediately. She smiled and stated with firm determination. "I can't leave my sisters behind."</p>
<p>"Then tell them to all come to the town. Once winter has ended, Border Town will be comprehensively renovated. The town will be able to fit as many residents as you could imagine. Also, witches will be able to walk in the streets without discrimination. No one will consider you folks as the wicked."</p>
<p>"Well, inform me once you have accomplished this." Nightingale shrugged.</p>
<p>Alright, so solicitation needed to be presented with the actual product. Roland diverted the subject. "Nana has been safely escorted?"</p>
<p>"Uh-huh, she was quite frightened."</p>
<p>The prince sighed. It had been midnight when Nightingale woke him up. He nearly threw up after seeing the battle scene. She briefly accounted the things that had happened. Roland ordered her to get Nana secretly. The young girl who previously had only treated chickens almost fainted when she saw the soldier covered with blood.</p>
<p>In order not to disturb Nana's family, Nightingale had to escort Nana back home as well.</p>
<p>It was almost dawn when everything had finally been settled.</p>
<p>"What do you think about this incident? Would you be able to predict which of my dear brothers or sisters schemed this?"</p>
<p>Nightingale shook her head. "They were all the members of the patrol team. The only exception did not carry any identification documents. Anyone could have hired those assassins. But I believe perhaps this assassination attempt has nothing to do with your siblings."</p>
<p>"How come?"</p>
<p>"They were too careless. They went through internal conflicts for this one-time group mission. None of the assassins attempted suicide once the mission failed, leaving at least two of their members alive. Also at the time, they were not professional at all, almost like a street gang. That doesn't seem to be their usual behavior. It's more like a scheme plotted by amateurs. I believe even if I hadn't shown up, this assassination attempt wouldn't have had the slightest chance of success. Don't forget Anna was sleeping right downstairs."</p>
<p>Nightingale picked up Roland's cup, took a sip nonchalantly, and continued, "Anyway, your knight is heading to the cell for interrogation as we speak. I bet soon enough he'll find out the truth. Compared to the tactics that your sister plotted, this guy is so much more inferior. He even begged me not to kill him."</p>
<p>"As for the heavily injured patrol leader, I seem to remember calling him in before."</p>
<p>"Really?" Nightingale tilted her head. "I think you should sincerely applaud him. If he hadn't detained the other guys, I wouldn't have discovered those rats sneaking into the basement so quickly. I'm not sure why he did it, but an enemy's enemy is our friend, right?"</p>
<p>Right, Roland thought. However, his focus was not whether the patrol leader was a friend or a foe; it was the phrase that Nightingale had just used:</p>
<p>"Our" friend.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 32 - The Knight</h2>
<p>When Brian woke up, the first thing he saw was the off-white ceiling.</p>
<p>The dazzling sunlight shone through the window. Brian slightly closed his eyes and opened them again, but the glare of the sun remained unchanged.</p>
<p>[It's not a dream,] Brian thought, [I'm... still alive?] He tried to move his body but found that all he could do was to wag his fingers a little bit. Brian felt as if all his strength was drained.</p>
<p>Then Brain heard someone call out. "He has awoken. Report to His Highness immediately."</p>
<p>[His Highness?] Brain felt his mind was in such a muddle that it was much duller than usual. [By the way, how did I faint?] Brian could vaguely remember that Viper pierced through his chest. He felt so close to death, but a ghostly woman showed up at the very end and defeated all the enemies in an inconceivable way.</p>
<p>Very soon, there came maids who assisted him to lean against the bed. Another maid brought a basin of water to clean his feet. Brian apparently had never experienced such a thorough service, plus, they were all young maids, which made him felt quite helpless.</p>
<p>Fortunately, such awkwardness did not last too long. When Prince Roland walked into the room, everyone bowed.</p>
<p>Brian sensed his fervent heart pumping in his chest. Brian had too much to ask, but when he opened his mouth, he did not know where to begin. Instead, Roland nodded and said, "I've heard about your contributions, Brian. You're the well-deserved hero."</p>
<p>Once the word "hero" was said, Brian felt a sourness in his eyes, and his voice even started to choke. "No... Your Highness, my mate is the real..."</p>
<p>Roland patted Brian on the shoulder to comfort him.</p>
<p>Just like Nightingale's speculations, Fierce Scar divulged everything as soon as he was dragged into the interrogation room. The prison warden did not even need to work him over.</p>
<p>The chief plotter of this group was not Roland's siblings. Instead, it was the Elk Family from Longsong Stronghold. Earl of the Elk Family contacted his distant relative Kihls Medde, which was Fierce Scar, and controlled a majority of the patrol team through enticement and segregation. Besides that, the earl also replaced one of his elites into the patrol team as the insurance to prevent any accidents in his plan. The purpose of these people was not to kill Roland but to burn all the storage food so that Roland would have to return to Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>This conspiracy caused the death of an innocent member—Greyhound. He tried to stop the criminal plan of Fierce Scar's group, but he was killed by a patrol team member with a dagger. The whereabouts of patrol team member, which Viper replaced, was unclear. He probably escaped after he noticed that their scheme had failed since the castle did not catch fire and Fierce Scar did not promptly return either.</p>
<p>Roland waited until Brian calmed his emotions and said, "Your friend Greyhound will receive a decent funeral. His family will also be properly taken care of so that his family shall not worry about food anymore."</p>
<p>"Thank you, Your Highness." Brian took a deep breath. "May I ask... whether Fierce Scar is dead?</p>
<p>"He's still alive for now."</p>
<p>The patrol leader closed his eyes in agony. He would rather drag Fierce Scar into hell with him than be saved alone. His hope, however, had become almost impossible... Undoubtedly, Fierce Scar was guilty, but a crime by the noble could be lessened with monetary exchanges.</p>
<p>Roland certainly noticed Brian's thoughts. "Kihls Medde, or Fierce Scar in your tongue, is a member of the Elk Family from Longsong Stronghold. The family is in the charge of Luke Medde, an earl anointed by Duke Ryan and also Fierce Scar's distant uncle..." Roland paused for a moment. "But all of these shall not affect the final jurisdiction, and Fierce Scare has been sentenced to death by hanging. He'll be executed in three days. If you're recovered by that time, you could probably take a look."</p>
<p>Brian suddenly opened his eyes wide. "But, but Your Highness, the noble could be atoned with gold royals. Your jurisdiction will probably infuriate the..."</p>
<p>Roland waved his hands, and gestured Brian to compose himself. "The noble? Perhaps for you guys, Fierce Scar who was born in the Elk Family hold the social status that was distinctly different from yours. But in fact, he's hardly a noble, for he has neither title nor lands. Besides, even if he's a noble, there's no way to spare his life for what he has done—intruding the quarter of the prince, attempting to burn down the grains and disregarding the life of over 2,000 people living in Border Town."</p>
<p>Roland had a bit of hesitation when he ordered death sentence to Tyre, but Fierce Scar will definitely not be excused from his wrongdoings. If Fierce Scar's plan had succeeded, Roland's foundation in Border Town would be destroyed. Roland would have no chance to turn the situation around. This was even more abominable than killing Roland.</p>
<p>Would his jurisdiction infuriate Longsong Stronghold? Who cared?! Since the earl was unwilling to have peaceful business transactions with Roland and decided to harm Border Town, Roland would not give in for sure. This assassination attempt also gave Roland a warning—the political struggles in this world were far different from that of Roland's former world. In Roland's former world, the political leaders preferred to keep the fights in the shade. In this world, people were more inclined to confront one another.</p>
<p>"Rest well. You lost too much blood, so you'd better not leave the castle." I've assigned your work in the patrol team to someone else. I'll hold the canonization ceremony for you after the Months of Demons ends.</p>
<p>"Your Highness." After hearing the last sentence, Brian looked at the prince incredulously. "You mean..."</p>
<p>"Yes, you'll be my knight, Mr. Brian," Roland answered with a smile.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>"Ready, stab!"</p>
<p>Van'er thrust out his long wooden pole, using the same strength from last time and also a similar angle.</p>
<p>This was the 100th time that he thrust out his wooden pole.</p>
<p>His arms turning sore, Van'er thought that he would not be able to stand such exercise anymore. Even though he already felt like that when he thrust out his weapon for the 50th time, but the conditioned reflex after a week's training made him obey the order. Van'er himself was surprised that he was able to go this far.</p>
<p>"Everyone, rest!"</p>
<p>The moment when Iron Axe called out the instruction, he heard heavy breathing from all around him. Van'er was relieved too. He put down his pole and slumped down onto the ground.</p>
<p>Until now, Van'er finally understood that the Militia to which he belonged was not an insignificant troop that was only responsible for running errands for soldiers or knights. After a week's peculiar training, their training mission became more and more official. Like now, they were standing upon the city wall thrusting out and withdrawing their spears—although these spears were replaced with wooden poles, Van'er soon understood his role and responsibility in his troop.</p>
<p>Logistics team would never do such training. This means that Van'er and the other members would actually confront and fight against the demonic beasts on the city wall. It was such a frightening thought. Van'er originally planned to sneak away, but after seeing the other members who went through the same training with him, and also thinking about the palatable meals and lucrative salary, Van'er could not make the decision.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 33 - The Gunpowder</h2>
<p>"Everyone stands up. Prince Roland is coming." They had not rested for 15 minutes when Iron Axe clapped and yelled.</p>
<p>Van'er soon returned to his position; the previous special training caused him to have reflexes towards conforming commands. Almost subconsciously, he held up his wooden pole and assembled himself in the preparation posture for thrusting.</p>
<p>Prince Roland and his retinues walked upon the city wall and passed the troop from behind. Through the corner of his eyes, Van'er noticed that His Highness slowed down when passing himself.</p>
<p>Roland groaned in his heart. It was truly the axiom that "getting up late will ruin your morning while getting up early will ruin your whole day." He just finished dealing with the aftermath of the raid on the castle, and then he had to come to inspect the recent training results of the Militia. The poor guy did not sleep all night, and now he was sleepy. But he had to come, for the team had been in the training stage. As the commander, his prolonged absence would lead to a diminished sense of existence and the morale of his team would also become unstable.</p>
<p>[Umm... What do people usually say when inspecting the troop?] Roland pondered for a moment. "Hi, comrades! Good job, comrades! If nobody responded, it would be very awkward after I called out that phrase. Or perhaps it'll be better to have casual conversations with someone. That would help me to express my kindness and also raise my reputation."</p>
<p>He thought to implement his plan and patted a muscular young fellow on the back.</p>
<p>"You were laborious. Did you feel tired? Did you like the meals?"</p>
<p>Depended on the past experiences from reading the news, Roland was expecting the young fellow to answer his questions with a loud and excited response such as "Not tired at all, I feel excellent!" However, the young fellow was so excited that he immediately knelt down on his knee after he turned to Roland, which surprised Roland quite a bit.</p>
<p>Van'er felt that he was being blessed by the heaven that Prince Roland was asking him if he was tired with the training in such a kind tone. Not to mention the royal family, even the ordinary nobles were normally reluctant to talk to plebeians. Almost by reflex, he imitated knight's salutation to honor Prince Roland. He did not care whether if he was appropriate to do such practice. Van'er only had one thought in his mind that after he returned to his hometown, he would be regarded as a substantial figure.</p>
<p>Van'er felt the chaos in his mind after Roland asked him to stand up. Van'er could not even remember how he replied to Roland's questions.</p>
<p>At last, His Highness asked if Van'er had any opinions about the training. Van'er suddenly cleared his head. [This is a great opportunity! If I could make Your Highness believe that the Militia alone wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility of defending the city walls, then perhaps I won't need to worry about whether to stay or sneak away.]</p>
<p>He carefully cogitated his word choice. "Your... Honorable Highness, the number of the members of the Militia is small. If we continue the current alignment training method, when the demonic beasts attack, we at most can only defend one third of the city wall. Will you consider..."</p>
<p>Even if Prince Roland recruited more members, there would not be enough time for training, Van'er thought. Besides, there would be a huge expense for their weapons. It would be arduous to gather enough spears for 300 members within two months in Border Town. It would be difficult to assemble even a hundred spears, therefore, they were still training with wooden rods.</p>
<p>If Prince Roland could realize that, then perhaps he would recruit mercenary from other towns as the primary defense force. At least the mercenary would be able to go on the battlefield without training. They would have their own weapons and armors, except that the price would be a bit high.</p>
<p>Roland pondered for a moment and nodded. "You have good points. It's unrealistic to have the Militia alone guard entire city wall."</p>
<p>Van'er felt delighted. His Highness meant... to agree with his thoughts?</p>
<p>However, Prince Roland did not say what Van'er was expecting to hear. Instead, he called Iron Axe. "In a sense, demonic beasts are just mutated beasts and that they don't have the ability to think, right?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness. The normal demonic beasts are no different from those wild beasts, and even their habits are almost the same... As for the demonic hybrids, I haven't seen many so I'm not sure."</p>
<p>"That'll be okay. Even though it's almost 600 meters from the Redwater River to the foot of North Slope Mountain, we can lure the demonic beasts to attack the specific areas."</p>
<p>"You mean setting up traps?" Iron Axe asked.</p>
<p>"It's a trap, but not the kind that hunters would typically use. Standard traps capture preys by concealing themselves. Well, I want to do the opposite. I'll set up roadblocks from places far away from the city wall, such as fences, earth slopes, ditches to force the unintelligent demonic beasts to detour. The continuous roadblocks will lead the preys to assigned locations, and at the end gather at the defense area that we prepared." Roland looked at the Iron Axe. "As for how to lure those beasts, I think no one knows better than you do."</p>
<p>Iron Axe thought for a moment. "It'll be fine to guide then, and demonic wolves don't like water, demonic boars are afraid of light, and all the other demonic beasts have their own habits. But Your Highness, in this way, we'll have all the demonic beasts gathered within this area of 600 feet, wouldn't that be too dangerous?"</p>
<p>"It's true if we only have spears and arrows as the weapon," Roland said confidently, "but now, we have a new weapon."</p>
<p>When it was about the time to leave, the prince once again came to Van'er and patted on his shoulder. "You have a good observation. What's your name?"</p>
<p>"Van-Van'er, Your Highness."</p>
<p>"I'll propose to my chief knight to appoint you as the Deputy Force Commander of the Spear Squad. Mr. Van'er, I'm looking forward to seeing your more achievements."</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Roland built a flat house in the yard of the firing room to produce snow powder—in other words, the gunpowder.</p>
<p>This 300-square-meter house only had one entrance and was heavily guarded. There were two knights guarding the entrance. To prevent anyone from bringing flammables to the room, all visitors were required to register and go through the security check.</p>
<p>"This is the new weapon that you talked about?" Carter, who was summoned by Roland, pinched the black powder with his fingers, and sniffed it. "Isn't it the snow powder?"</p>
<p>Perhaps Iron Axe did not know, but Carter often attended the royal ceremonies, and of course, he knew that snow powder was something that people place in the ceremonial barrels. It was the proudest production of the alchemical workshop and its prescription was a confidentiality to outsiders. However, the prince could get whatever he wanted.</p>
<p>"It's snow power, but not entirely the same," Roland said, "and it's the newest modified product of the alchemical workshop. I call it the gunpowder."</p>
<p>Gunpowder was known as the secret weapon for mass production. Its ingredients were easily accessible. The prescription required three ingredients: sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter. Gunpowder would be made by just mixing these three ingredients at a 1:1.5:7.5 ratio. It could be easily produced without any technical barriers.</p>
<p>The snow powder in this age consisted of 60% of charcoal, 20% of sulfur and saltpeter, and 20% of other bizarre, inferior ingredients (such as mercury, butter, honey, etc.). It could not function as gunpowder due to its slow combustion speed and insufficient gas release. However, Roland knew that the alchemists were trying to test other prescriptions. In at most 30 years, a prescription similar to the standard gunpowder prescription would be developed.</p>
<p>In history, after the invention of gunpowder, it still took a long time for people to forgo the usage of cold weapons. The reason rooted in the prescription of gunpowder and also the stagnation of the related armament manufacture industry.</p>
<p>However, many people overlooked the fact that gunpowder itself could be an extremely formidable weapon even without relying on firearms.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 34 - The Trial Blasting</h2>
<p>Right when the firing room for cement was built, Roland had already assigned labs for the several follow-up projects. Most of the labs were being built around the North Slope Mine area so that the labs could be efficiently guarded—the construction of the labs was speedy due to their simple composition of adobe walls and wooden roofs. And their construction would not intervene with the construction of the city wall.</p>
<p>The saltpeter purchased from Willow Town was delivered to the nearby warehouse to be stored. It would be ground, measured, and sent to the labs when it was time to use them. Charcoal and sulfur would go through the same process. The transport and mixture of the three ingredients would be completed by different groups of people. This way, Roland could eliminate the risk of the plan being leaked out.</p>
<p>Roland took 20 pounds from the pre-made gunpowder, and slowly poured it onto a cropped sheepskin.</p>
<p>The gunpowder all went through the process of soaking, compressing, drying, grinding, and screening. They were all in similar sizes and extremely inflammable. To prevent any accidents due to the collision of sparks, the entire manufacturing process did not use any metal products. Instead, they used ceramics or wooden products.</p>
<p>After pouring the gunpowder, Roland folded the sheepskin to three folds and tied it with string.</p>
<p>"That's all I need to do?" Carter asked. This object in front of him could also be called a weapon? Although it was the modified version of the snow powder, it would not do any damage just by its loud noise. Perhaps it would be effective to farmers who had never been to the battlefield, but it certainly would not frighten the trained soldiers and mercenaries. However... the chief knight pondered cautiously, although the things that His Highness had been doing seemed unreasonable, they all turned out to be extremely efficient. If the demonic beasts had similar intelligence to ordinary beasts, perhaps this gunpowder thing would actually work? For example, a sudden loud noise could make them flee in startle. That way, the stress on the troop could be lessened.</p>
<p>Roland gave the wrapped up gunpowder to Carter and took a bag of the inflammable gunpowder that had been ground. "It's almost the time, let's head to the outside of the city wall. Iron Axe should already be prepared."</p>
<p>About two miles from the city wall to the west, the vacant space between Misty Forest and the Impassable Mountain Range would be the area to do the trial blasting.</p>
<p>Iron Axe and the other hunters had already been waiting here for a long time. Besides Iron Axe, everyone was local and also the ones with the best archery skills. Hearing that Prince Roland had a mission to assign them, they immediately followed Iron Axe over.</p>
<p>Everyone knew now that the new Lord of Border Town was generous about giving remunerations.</p>
<p>Following Roland's command, they set up long wooden poles on the four corners, tied up strings, and enclosed a watch circle for half of a mile. Roland assigned knights to scout near the city wall in case anyone approached by accident.</p>
<p>Roland examined around the watch circle, and nodded. "Did you bring all the preys?"</p>
<p>"Your Highness, the preys are here." Iron Axe came up with a cage. Carter noticed the hens and rabbits in the cage.</p>
<p>"Very well, put them on 5 steps, 10 steps, 15 steps, and 30 steps away from the center and tie one on every wooden pole."</p>
<p>Carter shook his head and suggested, "Your Highness, I'm afraid the preys you selected could hardly have any test effect. These animals are timid by nature. They will flee if there're any noises nearby. Even if the noise could scare them, but it wouldn't be able to startle the demonic beasts."</p>
<p>"To startle the demonic beasts?" Roland paused for one moment and realized. "I'm not planning to scare them, even though this thing is astonishing when it explodes."</p>
<p>Roland brought the chief knight to the center of the circle, dropped off a bag of gunpowder, and tore an opening in the bag to allow some powder to leak out. Then Roland pulled out the leather bag with gunpowder, and continued to sprinkle the gunpowder from the opening while stepping backward.</p>
<p>It was a windless day, perfect for such a primordial explosive method.</p>
<p>Roland retrieved the leather bag only when they retreated to 100 meters away.</p>
<p>"That's enough, let's ignite it here." He repeatedly estimated the distance, making sure it was errorless, and then said to Carter, "Bring all the hunters here."</p>
<p>At this moment, Roland was quite excited. He had done a smaller scale of the explosion test so he was not that concerned with the outcome of the experiment. What he really cared about was that this moment would be a moment of great invention. The thermal weapon would officially step on the stage and Roland would be recorded into history as the chief leader.</p>
<p>After everyone gathered, Roland ignited the gunpowder.</p>
<p>Carter lay on the ground. He felt uneasy as he watched the spark furthering away.</p>
<p>With such a long distance, plus it was not even put in the bronze barrel, the exploding noise of snow powder might not even be reached here. It was unnecessary for Prince Roland to demand that everyone had to lie on the ground. However, there was nothing left to say since Prince Roland took the lead himself.</p>
<p>The ground was freezing cold during winter. Carter could felt the chill even if he was wearing chain armor. Carter moved a bit; an astonishingly loud sound broke out as he was about to lie on his side.</p>
<p>Because the distance was too close, the exploding noise and the shock arrived at the same time. He felt a sudden buzzing in his ears and the world became quiet. The shaking of the ground continued momentarily. He lifted up his head and saw a black cloud rising into the air, followed by the falling of stones and mud.</p>
<p>The shock that Roland received was much less than the chief knight's. As someone that would cover his ears even for firecrackers, Roland promptly prepared protection for himself. The explosive point was unlike in movies, where there would be huge fireballs; the glaring light of flame flashed, multitudes of mud were blasted off the ground, reaching a height of 10 meters in the air. When everything settled down, the only thing that Roland felt was this noise was much louder than firecrackers.</p>
<p>Regarding Iron Axe and the other hunters, they were flabbergasted by what they just saw and heard. Only Iron Axe knew that this experiment was to test a new weapon, but he also did not expect the momentum of the weapon to be so groundbreaking.</p>
<p>Only the thunder of God's Punishment could be comparable to this!</p>
<p>Roland stood up. He led the group to the center of the explosion. There was a half-meter deep hole on the ground. The bunny that was closest to the center had utterly disappeared, leaving only a short stake on the ground.</p>
<p>Roland examined every other prey. The hens that were placed on the 10 step point and 15 step point were lying on the ground, apparently dead. Although there were no physical damages on them, Roland knew that they died of the shock from the explosion.</p>
<p>The only survivor was the gray bunny that was placed on the 30 step (about 15 meters) point. There were drops of blood from its ear, and it even gave up struggling when people walked near it. It seemed like that the massive blast of the explosion had deprived its soul.</p>
<p>Carter swallowed. The buzzing in his ears was gradually recovering. Until now, he finally understood what Prince Roland meant by "not planning to scare them away." Was that the outcome of the modification of snow powder? With such accomplishment, the power of alchemists would be much superior to the power of astrologers.</p>
<p>The way Iron Axe looked at Roland had changed. "Your Highness, if the Militia could utilize such a weapon, then Border Town would no longer be threatened by the demonic beasts. Could this weapon be mass produced?"</p>
<p>Roland shrugged. "Probably not, we would only be able to produce 20 to 30 of them before the Months of Demons." The key issue was the saltpeter. The manufacture in this age was still quiet primordial. The only way of manufacturing was to collect the nitric acid crystals separated out by the lime mixture of human and livestock' waste. Other than the alchemists and the upper nobles that had a demand, there was almost no other uses. So there were few refining fields, if they were all used to do explosives, they would soon be exhausted.</p>
<p>As the ultimate weapon, it had to be used along with flintlock and crossbow bolts.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 35 - The Home</h2>
<p>Nightingale walked in the Mist.</p>
<p>In it, she could see the world had only two colors, black and white.</p>
<p>The outline of all things turned vague, and the lines that used to be straight were folded, and curved, as incomprehensible and abstract as doodles painted by children.</p>
<p>The feeling was hard to get a sense of, and it took her a long time to distinguish the different types of lines. If she handled them well, there was nothing that would restrain her, and she could travel unimpeded in the Mist. Though the wall seemed to link up into one stretch, with a little change of the angle, she could see a gate to the real world, a gate that never existed in reality.</p>
<p>In the Mist, the concepts of up, down, forward, and backward were not consistent, and they would shift and even overlap. Now she did this again and sneaked into the castle under guards' noses, following the changeable lines. Step by step through the void, she went through the ceiling and entered Anna's chamber.</p>
<p>For Nightingale, it was an absolutely free world.</p>
<p>The Mist was the only place where she truly felt at peace. Quiet and lonely as it may be, she enjoyed the safe, unthreatened feeling it gave her.</p>
<p>Mostly, it was black and white, but sometimes she could see other colors.</p>
<p>Such as the color of Anna who was in front of her.</p>
<p>Different from ordinary people, the witches were an aggregate of magic power which was the only color in the Mist, and Nightingale could see how the power flowed and faded.</p>
<p>However, she had never seen colors as strong and rich as Anna's. There was a dark green light glittering on her that led to a dazzling bright white core. Nightingale was confused. Generally, the color of magic power was connected to the owner's performance of ability, and for the witches that she knew in the Witch Cooperation Association who had the power to control fire, the light that shone out of them was dark red or orange and shaped like a fireball. Whether in size or radiance of light, Anna's fire was far above theirs.</p>
<p>In addition, there was something even more miraculous.</p>
<p>How was she still alive with so much powerful energy converging on her?</p>
<p>Of all the witches in the Witch Cooperation Association, no one had power as strong as Anna, not even the adults. And when Anna became an adult...</p>
<p>Nightingale sighed. She knew that Anna no longer had any hope. The bite grew with power, and she was afraid to even imagine what horror would come to Anna when the Demonic Torture began. She knew the feeling too well. From your skin to your guts, the constant sharp pain tore at you, keeping you conscious until the moment you gave up and accepted death.</p>
<p>Stepping out from the Mist, she restrained the depressed mood and braced herself up, greeting, "Good morning, Anna."</p>
<p>Anna, who had been used to Nightingale's abrupt and uninvited visits, nodded. She did not reply but continued practicing with her fire.</p>
<p>Rubbing her nose, Nightingale headed to the girl's bed and sat down.</p>
<p>She had seen Anna practice many times, from the beginning when she set fire to her own robes accidentally and had prepared a full bucket of robes in a shed in the backyard garden till later when she could easily make the flame dance on her fingertip, and Roland had to dismiss the supervision and take down the shed to make room for afternoon tea and sunbath.</p>
<p>Even so, Anna still followed the old instruction of Roland and kept practicing two or four hours every day in her own chamber.</p>
<p>"I've brought some fish cake, do you want some?" Nightingale took out a little bag and unfolded it, handing it over.</p>
<p>Anna smelled it and nodded.</p>
<p>"Go and wash your hands." Nightingale smiled, feeling lucky that Anna did not hate her but was simply bad at talking. In fact, Anna barely even talked to Nana who she cared about so much. She scarcely talked to anyone except Roland.</p>
<p>In contrast, Roland talked too much of his endless principles. Even for dinners, he had many rules, like washing hands before eating, eating slowly, and never putting anything that dropped on the floor into your mouth, etc. He could go on and on about every principle.</p>
<p>Though Roland's sermon sounded annoying to her at first, she had to listen and obey because Roland, the fourth Prince of Graycastle and the lord of this land, had accommodated her under his roof. Now, she actually formed those habits and somehow, felt a sense of odd fun when competing with Roland and Nana to be the first one to wash hands.</p>
<p>Anna washed her hands in a pail and lit a little fire to dry them before she pinched a fish cake and returned to her table and ate it slowly.</p>
<p>"Did you really make up your mind not to return with me?" said Nightingale, trying to start a conversation. "We have a lot of sisters there and they would take care of you."</p>
<p>"Over here, the castle is the only place you can stroll and roam. It's quite boring, isn't it?"</p>
<p>"Indeed we don't have much food or goods, but we're a family having joined together for the same purpose."</p>
<p>"A girl like you who has such power will be most welcome."</p>
<p>"I'm afraid that you'll not make it through this winter..."</p>
<p>Nightingale's voice lowered. "Maybe it's too late," she thought. Even if she went back to the camp, Anna's power was so strong that she would never survive the adulthood. All Nightingale could do was to watch her die.</p>
<p>"Where did you live before joining the Witch Cooperation Association?" Anna asked.</p>
<p>Nightingale waited for a little while, for Anna barely asked her anything. "I... used to live in a big city in the east, near the capital."</p>
<p>"Were you happy?"</p>
<p>"Happy? No." It was a piece of memory she would never recall. It was when she had to depend on others for a living, being despised and mocked. And things turned worse when she found out she was a witch. She was watched and chained around the neck, just like a cat or dog, forced to follow their commands. Nightingale shook her head and asked softly, "Why are you asking?"</p>
<p>"I used to live in the Old District." Anna briefly went through her story. "My father sold me for 25 gold royals to the church. It was His Highness who released me. I'm very happy here."</p>
<p>"But you cannot get out of this castle. Except for Roland Wimbledon, everyone still hates witches."</p>
<p>"I don't really care about it, and he promised that he would change them all, didn't he?"</p>
<p>"As long as the church stands, witches will always be treated as evil, and that will make the change extremely difficult."</p>
<p>Anna did not contradict her and was quiet for so long that Nightingale thought she would never speak again. Then she asked suddenly, "What place makes you happier to live in, the Witch Cooperation Association or here?"</p>
<p>The question caught Nightingale unprepared, and she was flustered. "What, what're you talking about? O-of course, it's..."</p>
<p>The Witch Cooperation Association? Honestly, she did not have much interest in searching Holy Mountain, but in the association, she had some friends who she would never leave behind.</p>
<p>Border Town? She would not have been here if she hadn't heard the news of endangered witches!</p>
<p>The answer was obvious, so why was she hesitating?</p>
<p>This time, a smile appeared on Anna's face, the smile that Nightingale had hardly seen. Her eyes were as clear as water in the lake twinkling in the early sun, and brought her a feeling of odd relief – even though she did not walk in the "Mist". "Roland used to tell me that you girls are looking for the Holy Mountain among the northern mountains, and I've found mine if it's the safe and home that you want to find there."</p>
<p>Nightingale realized Border Town was Anna's Holy Mountain. However, death was coming upon her, and her spirit would approach the next world earlier than most witches.</p>
<p>There were hurried footsteps outside the door. Listening carefully, Nightingale figured out it was from Nana.</p>
<p>The door was flung open before Nana dashed in.</p>
<p>She ran into Anna's arms, weeping, and said, "Anna, my sister, wh-what should I do? My father has found out I'm a witch."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 36 - The Negotiation</h2>
<p>Roland was dragged out of bed by Nightingale.</p>
<p>He was taken aback when hearing the news that Nana Pine's father was waiting for him in the hall. But he realized it was a good opportunity—in order to have the girl's support in the fight against the Months of Demons, he must persuade the Pines to spend winter in Border Town.</p>
<p>It had been a tricky situation for Prince Roland, as his reputation and popularity had hit rock bottom among the noble. Even his relations with Longsong Stronghold had turned strained. He would not stand a chance to keep the nobles at Border Town in winter, as their business lay mostly in the east of Longsong Stronghold. From the very beginning, Roland had not thought of cooperating with the nobles, who were good at winning power and possessions, rather than fighting side by side.</p>
<p>He got dressed quickly and briefly cleaned himself, before heading to the hall.</p>
<p>Being left alone for so long that he could no longer hide his rage, Tigui Pine stood up and asked as soon as he saw the prince, "Your Highness, where is my daughter?"</p>
<p>This was the first time Roland saw Nana's father. He was strong and sturdy, not very tall, and had a thick beard that made him tough looking. From his attire of the waisted cotton garment and leather pant attached with big pockets, he looked like more a huntsman than a noble.</p>
<p>"She's fine, Mr. Pine..."</p>
<p>"Why did your guards let her in but yet bar me outside?" Tigui interrupted loudly. "I need an explanation, Your Highness! Please take my daughter to see me!"</p>
<p>Roland did not expect this and got stunned for a little while. He had pictured a scene that a father, who knew that his poor daughter was a witch, would beg his prince to hide the news, or ask him for help to deal with the problem. However, a father who was so pushy and discourteous without his noble manner, did surprise Roland.</p>
<p>Certainly, he knew why the guards allowed Nana in, for they were under his command. They became familiar with Nana who had been coming here for Anna from time to time.</p>
<p>After a moment's thought, he summoned the maid to take Nana here.</p>
<p>[However rude he is, Tigui Pine is Nana's father. Let's see what'll happen when they meet each other. If he has any plans to send the girl to the church or abandon her, I'll intervene and take action,] Roland thought.</p>
<p>Following Anna, Nana stepped in the chamber.</p>
<p>Seeing his daughter, Tigui Pine's anger died away at once. He opened his arms and called Nana, "Come here, my daughter."</p>
<p>The young girl did not move. Hiding behind Anna, she popped out half a head and asked, "Will you sell me to the church?"</p>
<p>"Nonsense... what are you talking about? Silly girl, the church doesn't want a girl as silly as you. Come home with me now."</p>
<p>Roland was confused about what was happening. Nightingale told him that after Nana's father bumped into her when she was doing magic, she ran to the castle for Anna in panic. Her father was after her, his face murderous.</p>
<p>But all he could see from Tigui was how he cared about and loved his daughter, unlike ordinary people who loathed the witches.</p>
<p>[Do I have my facts wrong?]</p>
<p>Roland hesitated for a little while and decided to be frank. "Mr. Pine, I believe you've already known that your daughter is a witch."</p>
<p>"Pardon me, Your Highness, I don't understand," said Tigui, as he stepped over and tried to grasp Nana's hand, but was blocked by Anna.</p>
<p>"Father, I'm a witch now... sorry," Nana whispered.</p>
<p>Tigui became anxious and said, "Nonsense! Witch? Must be the teachings from the damn guy Karl. I shouldn't have sent you to the school because what you've learned is nothing but bullsh*t!"</p>
<p>These words hit Roland's mind, and he realized that all the concealing Tigui had done for Nana might be due to his misunderstanding of him.</p>
<p>Therefore, he was so anxious and worried before seeing Nana.</p>
<p>"Anna." He winked at the witch, and she nodded. She reached out her right hand to Tigui who tried to bypass Anna and get Nana. Fire burst from her palm, flying pass his top.</p>
<p>Tigui's eyes widened, flustering backward to dodge the fire. Nana held Anna's arm in alarm. "Sister Anna, No!"</p>
<p>"Your Highness, what's..."</p>
<p>"As you see, she is also a witch, like your daughter." Roland extended his hand and said, "Maybe you've misunderstood the reason why Nana is free to walk in the castle. Shall we have a real talk now?"</p>
<p>Tigui seemed awakened. "Ha! Ha!" he said, "Your Highness, I..."</p>
<p>"Take a seat." Roland pointed to the table and said, "Let's begin our talk with some nice tea."</p>
<p>He sighed secretly. [Now I see now how notorious my reputation is. They even think I'll put my claw on little girls. Now, I've understood everything from Tigui's ungracious behavior. What will a father, who loves his daughter so much, think when he sees his girl running into the castle where the guards are accustomed to her?</p>
<p>If I'm the father, I'll bring down the castle on my own.]</p>
<p>The words Tigui used to cover up the truth that his daughter was a witch had proved all things clearly—worrying that the prince would threaten him with some excuse that Nana had fallen into depravity, and only cleansing could save her. He personally did not care much about whether his baby daughter was a witch or not.</p>
<p>Tigui hesitated for a long while before taking the seat. He drank up a cup of tea, dried his lips with his sleeves, looked awkward, and said, "My apologies, I've been rude. Please tell me when did you know my daughter was a... witch?"</p>
<p>"It was before winter, and it was not me but her teacher Karl Van Bate who found her awakened. He entrusted me to protect Nana because of Anna, his friend." Roland explained explicitly. "In this half month, she came to the castle to practice her power when she was available. By the way, she has the power to heal."</p>
<p>"Has she?" Tigui scratched his head and said, "That was why the cat started to run and skip again."</p>
<p>"Cat?"</p>
<p>"Er... Nothing special. When I came back home, I found her sitting on porch and carrying a cat wounded by a carriage. I was about to scare her from her back, but when she spotted me, she ran away immediately. The cat had broken legs, but suddenly it recovered." He gazed at Nana and Anna and asked, "You two are friends?"</p>
<p>Nana nodded quickly before Anna could make any response.</p>
<p>Tigui's face turned gentle.</p>
<p>Seeing this, Roland asked, "It seems that you don't trust the rumor that the witches are the evils seduced by the demon."</p>
<p>"Certainly, my daughter is no evil!" he said firmly, "and whatever she turns into, there's no doubt about that."</p>
<p>Roland was touched by Nana's father who was much different from Anna's father. He finally understood the reason why Nana was always so sweet and innocent, wearing a smile on her face almost every day. This family was like a warm cradle for a kid to grow up in.</p>
<p>"I have no doubt either, Mr. Pine." The prince was straightforward. "Your daughter has a marvelous power to heal the wounded. I hope she'll stay in Border Town, assisting me to fight through the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>Tigui was indecisive. "Your Highness, forgive me, I have no choice but to refuse. When the Months of Demons come, Border Town will be deadly dangerous, and I'd never allow her to stay in danger."</p>
<p>[Tigui Pine's land is beyond Border Town's governance, I can't command him directly even in the name of a prince.] Still, Roland believed that nothing was impossible when they were willing to sit down and talk.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 37 - Tigui Pine's Family History</h2>
<p>"Danger is relative, Mr. Pine, yet opportunity comes with danger," Roland said, as he read over the relevant materials collected by his assistant minister in his mind. "You inherited the title from your father, am I right? He had been a knight and was rewarded the name and land for his valor in battle."</p>
<p>"Exactly," Tigui said, nodding.</p>
<p>"The battle also started in the Months of Demons, and it was an honorable battle fought for the innocent. At that time, a small number of demonic beasts accidentally crossed our stronghold defense through the Redwater River into the hinterland of the Western Region. Your father came across those beasts when he was in his patrol duty. Considering that the town behind him had no fortifications, though it was not in his governance, he chose to attack the beasts. Rather than avoiding and retreating for support, which most man would have done under the same circumstances," Roland stated, watching Tigui. "I believe you're clearer about what happened afterward than me. Together with the men who he gathered in town and his squire, your father marched on the beasts and defeated them."</p>
<p>"Indeed," Tigui said, his voice trembled with excitement, apparently admiring this glorious history. "One of the monsters, dreadfully huge, looked like either a stage or an ox or the combination of both. Its leg was thicker and sturdier than my father's trunk and shook the ground when it ran. I could never defeat this kind of monster if I were there."</p>
<p>"But he did it. Standing near a shallow groove, my father lured the angry beast to him, and when it sped up to strike, he lay down in the shallow groove, holding the sword on a stone with the tip right up. The seemingly invincible beast was too foolish to dodge the sword tip which ripped open its belly, and the guts poured out, covering all over my father. By now, above my hearth still hangs the reward from that battle—a large horn from a demonic beast."</p>
<p>Roland drank some tea and said calmly, "The battle was worthy of admiration. Your father had kept his faith, compassion, and bravery of a knight. Joe Kohl, who gave your father the title and the land, was an earl in Longsong Stronghold back then. 25 years ago, he was promoted to a duke by my father, King Wimbledon III. He was appointed as the Guardian of the Southern Border with his governance extending all over the Southern Territory. It was a pity that with no one staying in Longsong Stronghold to back the late Pine. After Joe Kohl had received the new appointment, he became a thorn in the eyes of the Duke of Longs Stronghold, when he stayed at the east of Longsong Stronghold."</p>
<p>"You know it all too well." Tigui exhaled, looking a little helpless. "Lord Joe doesn't get along well with Duke of Longsong Stronghold and didn't obtain his earl's title from the duke, either. With a bloodline tracing back to the branch of the crown, he's not beneath Duke Ryan, whether by family or blood."</p>
<p>"This is politics", Roland thought secretly, a trick played by King Wimbledon III that would balance two powers.</p>
<p>In order to fully understand the complicated relations between these two families, he had spent a whole day with his assistant minister.</p>
<p>The lands and governance among the noble are extremely complicated. In theory, the superiors were able to command juniors within his land. But it turns out that was far more complex to carry out. As we could see from Joe Kohl and Duke Ryan, though having his land in the Western Region, Joe Kohl, who was an earl named directly by the king, was as respected and beloved as Duke Ryan by the subjects.</p>
<p>After Joe had been titled the Duke of the Southern Territory, the crown would surely arrange new spies on his land, which was the usual means to keep political stability.</p>
<p>"Therefore, when the land was passed to you, the trade and farm had turned bad gradually, and the property was no longer as prosperous as it had been," Roland said slowly. "Now, here is a new chance for you."</p>
<p>"A new... chance?"</p>
<p>"I suppose you heard the famine that happened two years ago. Longsong Stronghold detained the food supply of the next month in the name of insufficient ores trading. This year we have the same trouble. The unexpected collapse that happened in the Mine of Northern Slope has backed my people into a corner, and we have to ward off demonic beasts with the help of our newly built city wall. The war will be tough and hard, but yet chances come with danger, as I said before."</p>
<p>"..." Tigui knew what the prince meant. He frowned and said nothing.</p>
<p>"It seems to me that you're not a general noble." Roland smiled. "For no nobles dress like you when they're out and no high-borns get their palms full of horns. Mr. Pine, you haven't left behind your father's legacy, have you? The fighting skill of a knight."</p>
<p>It was certain that he did not leave behind the skill, Roland thought, or he would never spend so much time on the Misty Forest. From the information offered by Barov, he spent at least three days every week in the Misty Forest during his days in Border Town. Each time he was fully equipped and brought hunters with him because he could not afford to keep squires. Some people liked fighting and apparently, Tigui Pine was one of them.</p>
<p>"I'll offer you this chance to win back the honor of your father—to fight for them with your sword and courage. I'll reward you a piece of land in the east of Border Town, an appropriate piece of land for the viscount if you're doing well in battle."</p>
<p>Though it rarely happened, the offer was valid. When a prince had come of age, he had the power to name the viscount, baron, and knight according to law. However, he barely did it to the men who were under other lords' authorities. He was afraid of either being inappropriate to poach from other lords or being awkward to be rejected. But in Roland's eyes, manners meant nothing compared to Nana's healing skill, neither did he worry about being rejected by Mr. Pine. Since Joe did not bring Tigui's father with him when he was the Guardian of the Southern Border, it seemed that Joe had given up the Pines.</p>
<p>Finally, Tigui said, "Your Highness, may I send Nana back to Longsong Stronghold? No one has ever defeated the demonic beasts here, and I don't want my daughter to perish here in case we lose the battle."</p>
<p>"I've told you from the very beginning, Mr. Pine, that the danger is relative. Have you ever thought what if anyone in Longsong Stronghold finds out Nana is a witch? Unlike here, the church has its root deep and long in Longsong Stronghold. With disciples and spies everywhere, I can't even save her, once her identity is revealed."</p>
<p>Roland paused for a moment and added, "Border Town will not fall, for I'll fight with my people side by side on the city wall when the Months of Demons comes. Our enemies are mutated beasts not unbeatable demons. You father defeated them on a plain without any cover, and we have more now, an unsurpassable wall that stands between the beasts and us. If... I mean, if we're truly in danger, I'll send Nana away to secure her safety." He paused. "And Anna, too. I'll prepare a boat on the dock in case. I promise they'll be safe."</p>
<p>"Then... I lay my trust on you, Your Highness," said Tigui Pine, and he stood up and kneeled, his chest straight up and his belly flat, before he saluted the prince with a knight courtesy and pledged. "I'll fight for you."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>After Tigui and Nana had taken their leave, Anna rolled her eyes to Roland.</p>
<p>"What're you dreaming of?" she said, "I'm not going anywhere."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 38 - The Era of Firearms</h2>
<p>Iron Axe knew that he was under surveillance.</p>
<p>The hunters involved in the trial blasting were gathered in a two-story building near the castle. Looking through the window, one could see the stone walls enveloping the castle and the guards stationed at the entrance.</p>
<p>It didn't bother him. Rather, he felt that it was reckless for His Highness to send only two guards to watch over them.</p>
<p>Even now, the roar of the trial blasting echoed in his mind. There had never been a weapon that left him in so much shock. In the Southernmost Land, he had witnessed orange fire erupting from within the earth, which burnt for decades. He had also seen the monstrous winds and waves at the Endless Cape... However, those were the immeasurable prestige of the Heavens, the will of the Mother Earth or the Sea God, as well as the iron whip of the deities used to punish all creatures.</p>
<p>Yet His Highness alone had usurped the power of the three gods and obtained God's strength to punish all creatures. His power was still lacking compared to the Heavens' thunderbolts, but it was already in a realm untouchable by mere humans.</p>
<p>If the participants in Iron Sand City proved to be still useful, their tongues would generally be cut off. Of course, that was not the safest practice to keep their secrets. Only the dead would carry their secrets to grave. As for the foreigners, even just the sight of them was considered blasphemy. It was impossible for any of them to assimilate into the core class of the Mojin Clan.</p>
<p>Even though the prince was aware that he was from a different race, he still allowed him to witness the Fire of God's Punishment. The prince even intended for him to form the Hunter Squad. His trust roused Iron Axe's spirits and set his blood boiling.</p>
<p>After being betrayed and framed countless times in Iron Sand City, he fled to the Southern Territory in the Kingdom of Graycastle. But he still suffered discrimination there due to his mixed blood of Sand Nation and Graycastle Nation people. Dispirited, he came to Border Town with the intention to work as a hunter for the rest of his life. Yet he unexpectedly won the prince's favor here.</p>
<p>He had no doubts that this new weapon would pave the way for Roland Wimbledon's victory in the Selection of Crown Prince.</p>
<p>Iron Axe was thrilled to know that he would have an opportunity to serve the future king.</p>
<p>"Everyone, gather downstairs!"</p>
<p>Hearing the shout, Iron Axe looked out. The voice belonged to Carter Lannis, Prince Roland's Chief Knight.</p>
<p>He finished dressing up and hurried downstairs. He walked towards Carter and stood upright in front of him. He had participated in the training of the Militia, so he knew that His Highness favored disciplined and well-organized troops. The other hunters, however, were much slower. The six people spent about half a quarter just to line up.</p>
<p>"The same old place. Follow me." Unconcerned, Carter headed straight to the city wall with everyone.</p>
<p>It was the same site for the trial blasting, but without cordons this time.</p>
<p>Other than Roland, there were four knights with him; all of them Carter's subordinates. Iron Axe noticed that the prince was fiddling with an oddly-shaped long metal stick as he explained something to the knights.</p>
<p>Noticing the arrival of Iron Axe and the others, Roland approached them and asked, "Have you all got used to living in your new place?</p>
<p>"Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Everyone bowed and answered that their new houses were very comfortable.</p>
<p>Iron Axe thought that the new houses were much better than the old ones. At least, they did not leak. The roofs were not covered with thin straw blankets, but neatly lined with tiles instead.</p>
<p>"That's great." Roland nodded and added, "The current arrangement is for security reasons. You can return to your old houses after the Months of Demons ends. I've also distributed your first month's salaries to your families. You can meet them on weekends, accompanied by guards of course."</p>
<p>"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness." The hunters' replies were cheerful.</p>
<p>This came as a surprise to Iron Axe. Never mind the law of Sand Nation, even the military management of the Kingdom of Graycastle should not be this lax. Was this His Highness's benevolence towards them? He became a little worried. If the prince wanted to fight for the throne, he must be merciless. That Iron Axe knew all too well, having lived in Iron Sand City.</p>
<p>However, when Prince Roland said that they would test a new weapon based on gunpowder next, Iron Axe immediately threw his worries behind. He stared without blinking at the prince as he showed them two oddly-shaped iron sticks.</p>
<p>"They're called flintlocks," said Roland. "I'll tell you how to use them next."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>It took Iron Axe only half an hour to learn how to use the new weapons.</p>
<p>Put gunpowder—that was, the black powder which would cause the Fire of God's Punishment—into the barrel, put a lead pill, and poke it until it reached the end. Then pour the gunpowder into the flash pan at the rear, aim at the target, and pull the trigger.</p>
<p>He believed he had a talent for killing and were skilled in all kinds of weapons, whether it was the sword, knife, hammer, axe, or spear. But that was due to years of training and combat experience. To master a weapon in only half an hour, this learning speed could only be comparable to that of the hand crossbow.</p>
<p>The other flintlock was handed to Carter.</p>
<p>Chief Knight was also intrigued by the novel weapon and was unwilling to put it down.</p>
<p>After several rounds of simulations, Roland let them test the power of the weapons with live ammunition. The target was already prepared. It was a plate armor propped up by a wooden stick, held up by two knights standing about 30 feet away.</p>
<p>Following the shooting method the prince demonstrated, Iron Axe and Carter aimed and pulled the trigger.</p>
<p>The loud noise coming from the first fire startled everyone present. Iron Axe was no exception. But very soon, everyone's faces were colored with astonishment.</p>
<p>There was a small hole on the plate armor. The lead shot had cleanly penetrated the thickest part of the armor.</p>
<p>Iron Axe had carefully observed the armor before they began shooting. It was evidently not some shoddy product from a handmade workshop. The mark of the hammer and anvil on the neck showed that it was a standard armor from the Blacksmith Society in the Kingdom of Graycastle. The thickest part of the armor was half the thickness of a finger, strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a crossbow at a close distance. The wiser choice to deal with this kind of armor would be to use a heavy crossbow, war hammer, or halberd.</p>
<p>Therefore, the flintlock was equally easy to operate as the hand crossbow, but far stronger in power. Its loading speed was also equivalent to that of the hand crossbow. As for the accuracy... A target 30 feet away would be nothing.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, the output of this weapon..." Carter said.</p>
<p>"There are only two at the moment. We can produce two more at most until the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>Iron Axe saw that Carter was visibly relieved. He could roughly guess his thoughts. If this weapon could be manufactured easily, it would take only a few days to train a large number of "quick warriors" with the flintlocks. There would be no restriction in age, occupation, or even gender. Even a fragile woman could pose a great threat to the knights.</p>
<p>Although it was not as shocking as Fire of God's Punishment, it was still a good weapon. Iron Axe thought it would be easy to kill the giant pachyderm demonic beasts outside the city wall with this power. If he had a flintlock when he was facing the demonic hybrids back then, the outcome might not have been so pathetic.</p>
<p>At the scene, Roland alone understood the true meaning of this weapon.</p>
<p>With his own hands, he had unveiled the curtains to a firearms war.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 39 - The Winter</h2>
<p>Roland stood on the city wall and looked out toward the north. In the past month, he repeatedly inspected the castle, the mine, and the city walls, checking every possible detail that might have been neglected.</p>
<p>The Militia became increasingly skilled at handling the weapons. Under Carter's repeated drills, they had been able to stabilize their spears until the captain who was in charge of the observation gave the order to attack.</p>
<p>Standing behind them was the Hunter Squad. The hunters who stayed in Border Town that were skilled in bows and crossbows were absorbed into this squad. These experienced hunters were the main force to kill the demonic beasts. Standing on the 4-meter-high city walls and shooting at the corner, it was almost impossible for them to miss the target.</p>
<p>The last squad, which was comprised of Iron Axe, Carter, and other two elite hunters, was the Flintlock Squad. It used four pre-installed flintlocks that were forged by the Blacksmith Society and welded and assembled by Anna. Their job was to kill tough monsters whose skins could not be penetrated with crossbow bolts or demonic hybrids. In that 200-meter section, they would be anywhere if there was a need for them.</p>
<p>As for the explosive packages, they were stored in a tightly guarded warehouse next to the city walls. They would be separately transported to the city walls when needed—after all, if there was an accident, the explosive packages might cause greater destruction than the demonic beasts did. The demonic beasts could not bite the cement or the rubble, while the explosive packages could send the whole city wall to heaven.</p>
<p>So far, Roland had organized two actual combat exercises, including the use of explosive packages. Thanks to these two exercises, the Militia was not so scared of the noise of the explosions that they would throw their weapons away. The other benefit was that the team morale suddenly rose up when it was discovered that the prince held such powerful weapons.</p>
<p>"Your Highness," Barov tightened his collar and said, "we've spent half of the income of the ore trade. If the Months of Demons are as long as the astrologers said, I don't think we can get through the winter."</p>
<p>"Then use mine to fill up the vault," Roland said without hesitation, "and continue to trade with Willow Town. The first steam engine has been transported to the mine, and the cleaning of the collapse has almost been completed. So we'll still get a little yield in winter. Especially the rough gemstones, they should be sold as soon as possible and you don't have to consider too much about the price. Storing more food, especially jerky, is always right."</p>
<p>Barov nodded. "I will, Your Highness. But... "</p>
<p>Seeing the hesitant look on his assistant minister's face, Roland surely understood what he wanted to say. "Don't worry, I've arranged a boat. If we're totally defeated, I'll leave."</p>
<p>"Then I'm relieved," Barov said.</p>
<p>Roland smiled at him. "You can go and do your work. I'll have a look again."</p>
<p>When Barov left, the prince slowly went up into the watchtower. It was the highest point in the center of the city wall. Standing here, he could overlook the vast jungles and rolling hills ahead. The cold wind whistled, but he did not care. Only in this open and high platform could his tense mood in the face of a war calm down.</p>
<p>"You lied to him," said someone around him. "You don't intend to leave at all."</p>
<p>"Since life is so hard, some things are better hidden."</p>
<p>"I don't understand what you're talking about. If you think it's difficult being a prince, imagine how hard it is for us?" Nightingale appeared. "Even if you won't become a king, as long as you get through the five years of the Royal Decree on the Selection of the Crown Prince, you'll become a lord. Instead of worrying about this, you'd better accompany Anna. I'm afraid... she won't live long."</p>
<p>Roland was silent for a moment. "I don't think she'll die during the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>"Why do you think so?"</p>
<p>"She said she wouldn't lose to the Demonic Torture." He paused. "And I believe her."</p>
<p>"You even believe a witch," said Nightingale shaking her head. "We are cursed by the demons."</p>
<p>"Really? I believe you, too."</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Brian wore casual clothes and stood in front of Greyhound's grave.</p>
<p>He gently touched the brand new stone, and looked at the line of words engraved on the pure white surface: "Nameless but long-living. In memory of the hero of Border Town."</p>
<p>"Greyhound."</p>
<p>[I've realized my dream. At the end of the Months of Demons, Prince Roland will hold a canonization ceremony for me.]</p>
<p>[But I don't want to sit on the bed waiting.]</p>
<p>[My wounds have healed, so the city wall is where I should be.]</p>
<p>[The Months of Demons are coming soon. The demonic beasts may be terrible, but they'll be held back by the line of defense we built together and they can't move a step further.]</p>
<p>[I'll wield the sword to guard the town, for you, and for myself.]</p>
<p>[This won't be the end.]</p>
<p>[The man who framed you is still alive... but he won't live long. It's His Highness' commitment to me.]</p>
<p>[Next time I come to you, I'll bring good news.]</p>
<p>Brian bent down and placed a bunch of flowers at the grave.</p>
<p>"So, goodbye, my friend." Brian silently said to Greyhound.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>"Sister Anna , aren't you scared?" asked Nana lying on the bed with her legs crossed.</p>
<p>"Scared of what?"</p>
<p>"The Demonic Torture. Nightingale said it would be in winter. I became a witch in autumn this year, so it'll be my first time... "</p>
<p>"The first time," Anna said, "will really hurt, and sometimes you even wish to die at once."</p>
<p>"Ah!" Nana shouted and immediately covered her mouth.</p>
<p>"But you'll survive, just like me."</p>
<p>"I don't know... " Nana whispered. "I'm not as strong as you."</p>
<p>"I'm not that strong." Anna closed her eyes and envisioned the scene when she met Roland for the first time. It was in the dark and cold dungeon that he put his clothes on her body and softly said he would hire her. Until now, she still felt it unbelievable. "You'll encounter some things that make you want to live on, even if you have to struggle to survive."</p>
<p>"Such as…?"</p>
<p>"Such as a steak with sauce." She sighed. "How can I know what you want, huh?"</p>
<p>Seeing Nana staring at herself, Anna wiped her face with her hand and asked, "Is there something dirty on my face?"</p>
<p>"No... " Nana shook her head. "I'm just a little surprised, you never talked to me so much before... Sister Anna, you were so beautiful when you were thinking with your eyes closed."</p>
<p>Anna rolled her eyes, jumped out of bed, and went to the window.</p>
<p>Nana followed her. "What are you looking at, the Misty Forest?"</p>
<p>"The Forest is in the west," Anna said sourly. "I can only see the Redwater River here."</p>
<p>"Sister Anna, look!" The girl pointed at the sky.</p>
<p>Anna was startled, and then pushed open the window. A cold wind mixed with little snowflakes poured into the room.</p>
<p>She stretched out her hand and squeezed the crystal-clear snowflakes. A chill came to her fingers.</p>
<p>"It's snowing."</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>After a long silence, Nightingale said, "You didn't lie."</p>
<p>"Of course." Roland laughed. "I rarely lie."</p>
<p>Nightingale did not say anything. She tilted her head, with some unknown look in her eyes.</p>
<p>Suddenly, she felt cold on her neck and could not help shrinking. She looked up and found that snowflakes were floating over the city wall. It seemed that there were countless white spirits in the gray sky. They danced in the north wind and flew around, accompanied by the slogan of the Militia.</p>
<p>... The Months of Demons had begun.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 40 - A Family Letter</h2>
<p>The firewood burned, but Gerald Wimbledon felt little heat.</p>
<p>The tent was large and made from leather, with its bottom rim running flush to the ground. There should be no air leakage. Nevertheless, he still felt cold, especially his toes, which were frozen almost to the point of being numb.</p>
<p>"Even your piss will freeze in this damned place." He spat and stood up, placing his hands on either side of the table, with the veins on his hands bulging as he lifted upwards and the six-square-foot, solid wooden table was lifted off the ground.</p>
<p>Releasing the table near the edge of the fire, Gerald felt a wave of comfort. He took off his shoes and put his feet over the fire to warm himself. Then he unrolled some parchment, and continued to write the unfinished letter.</p>
<p>"Dear Olivia,</p>
<p>I've been in Hermes for more than a month, even though the men in the church like to call it the 'New Holy City'. Were it not for the Agreement on the Months of the Demons, I still wouldn't wish to stay here. All I want is to return to your home and share a warm bed with you.</p>
<p>Thanks to the agreement, the corps monitoring the church became their allies. Very ironic, isn't it? Speaking of the church, I have to admit that what they have done is truly amazing. 20 years ago, Hermes was nothing but mountains and stones, and the church's towns lay at the bottom of the mountain. But now they have paved the way for carriages to go up the mountain, and have also built a large fortress city at the top of the hill.</p>
<p>If it were summer, you should have come with me to see this place. The so-called New Holy City is even more magnificent than Graycastle. And do you remember the theatre in Graycastle? We went together and saw Hamlet. Then you sighed with emotion about how clever the theater was, and the interior was so spacious.</p>
<p>But if you see the Hall of Military Affairs in New Holy City, you'll find that the theater in Graycastle isn't even comparable. I would consider it to be an exquisite work of art instead of a building. Even though the theater is so large, it doesn't have even one pillar to support it. Rather, eight things like demon's bones stretch out to the outer walls. Then, many branches and hemp rope are attached to these curved bones, and the roof is suspended in the air. How did they figure it out?</p>
<p>And as for those bones, if they were in fact taken from demonic beasts, then the demonic beasts must have been more than 33 meters tall. Only in Hermes would one encounter such a creature. But my dear, please don't fear. Even if the demonic beasts are huge, they are no more than minions of demons. And no evil can escape the sanctions of God, neither demonic beasts, witches or demons themselves. Rather, they'll turn to ashes."</p>
<p>At this point, Gerald Wimbledon put down his pen, and shook his tingling hands. It was weird that he felt relaxed swinging around a 15-pound, two-handed sword all day, while he felt tired when he wrote for a short time. He laughed at himself, "I'm really suitable for some rough work."</p>
<p>Speaking of demons, I suddenly remember that my brother was assigned to some sort of poor places like Border Town. I'm afraid that he's already fled to Longsong Stronghold, even though the demons there cannot be compared to those in Hermes. I cannot blame him. If I had gone to such a place, I would have also sought refuge. Therefore, you can see how unfair my father is. Did he intend that my second brother inherit the throne just due to his intelligence? Father has forgotten that he himself didn't win the throne of Graycastle by intelligence. Since the death of my mother, I've had more and more difficulty figuring out his thoughts."</p>
<p>Gerald did not know how to continue, for he did not know whether or not he should tell Olivia the truth. He paused for a moment, and decided to keep writing. If the plan went well, he should have already arrived at Graycastle Palace when the letter was received.</p>
<p>"My dear, Astrologer Ansger is right. If I don't do anything, the throne will definitely not belong to me. He's read this in the star image, 'The Apocalypse Star is moving away from the sun. It'll completely deviate from its orbit in at most four months." As the astrologer has told me this, there must not be much time left. I cannot remain idle.</p>
<p>After today's battle, I'll secretly return to the king's city with my loyal knights. Coldwind Ridge is far behind Valencia in terms of wealth. But they aren't lacking in courageous warriors. As long as gold is promised, they'll seek the given goal like hungry wolves. Of course, that isn't my ideal method. All I want is to ask father in person the reason he issued the Royal Decree on the Selection of the Crown Prince. In the end, what makes him forget that I should have the right to inherit the throne?</p>
<p>Astrologer Ansger has already arranged everything. Olivia, my love, you won't wait much longer. The day I become King, I intend to marry you and make you my Queen. If I should fail... you have no need to return to the king's city, and you should live a good life in Coldwind Ridge.</p>
<p>Gerald loves you."</p>
<p>He carefully placed the folded letter into an envelope, and sealed it with wax oil. After checking it a number of times, he knocked on the table, and a bodyguard quickly entered the tent.</p>
<p>"This letter shall be sent to Rose in Coldwind. You needn't travel all day and night, and don't have to ride a horse. You'll be dressed as an ordinary traveler, and should travel between the two places on a business trip. Most importantly, this letter must be sent personally."</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Royal Highness!"</p>
<p>"Good, you may leave." Gerald waved away the guards and simply sat down on the table, his feet hanging over the fiery pit.</p>
<p>There was no way back.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and recalled his childhood. At that time, he played hide and seek in the garden of the king's city with Timothy and Garcia. When Garcia fell down, he and Timothy went to accompany her. When did the three of them become so distant?</p>
<p>Gerald shook his head and put away the confusing thought. Such sentimental things did not suit him. After all, he knew when the confusion would end—when he was on the throne.</p>
<p>Just then, the dull sound of a horn came through the tent.</p>
<p>"Waaawaaawaaa—!"</p>
<p>"They're here!" He jumped up from the table and put on his shoes. Outside the tent, the battalion was already on the move. Running soldiers and flags came together to create a torrent, heading for the battlefield. The sound echoed over the distant mountains, never-ending.</p>
<p>Demonic beasts were coming.</p>
<p>"Come with me!" He rode his warhorse and came to the top of the city wall.</p>
<p>Only when you stood on the walls of New Holy City could you feel its magnificence. It was like an insurmountable natural moat, standing in the foothills of the Impassable Mountains. The top was flat and wide, so that dozens of people could stand side by side. In front of it lay natural glaciers, and its rear was a plateau.</p>
<p>This was the reason that the church so desperately wanted to build New Holy City on top of the mountain.</p>
<p>With this harsh terrain, it was almost impossible to break the lines of defense.</p>
<p>Gerald Wimbledon had a long-term vision. The strength demonstrated by the church in the creation of Hermes was staggering. They established it in just 20 years, taking timber and stones from the foot of the mountain to its peak.</p>
<p>But even though he was no longer disgusted by the church scoundrels, there was something Gerald had to admit. If they did not support the holding of Hermes, all the countries on the continent would face a catastrophe, which was the basis for signing the Agreement on the Months of the Demons.</p>
<p>When the Months of the Demons came, the four kingdoms bordering Hermes had to send troops to aid the church and fight with the church's Judgement Army.</p>
<p>The four banner flags flew in the wind, the Kingdom of Dawn's serpent scepter, the Kingdom of Wolfheart's knife shield crossing, the iceberg rose of the Kingdom of Everwinter...</p>
<p>and the tower and spear of the Kingdom of Graycastle.</p>
<p>Looking at the black spots in the distant sky, Gerald Wimbledon clenched his sword.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 41 - Demonic Beasts Appear</h2>
<p>As Brian said, when it started snowing in Border Town, it did not stop.</p>
<p>The town had been wrapped in a layer of white yarn overnight. In the morning, the amount of snow lessened with only a few snowflakes falling every so often, while the sky remained gray. Roland felt incredulous at the fact that it would be a few months before the sun would be visible once again.</p>
<p>"It was simply unreasonable," he thought. "It was hard enough to find sense in a world with witches and magic power, but how could demonic beasts affect the heavens?" Unfortunately, he had no meteorological tools to help him know about the world's current cloud distributions.</p>
<p>Walking along the road to the city wall of the Western Region, Carter could not help but exclaim. "The town seems deserted, and with that, there are some people leaving with the noble families."</p>
<p>"At least this way, they won't drag us down," said Roland. "I've arranged Barov for a population census this winter."</p>
<p>"What's that?"</p>
<p>"That means, you need to go door to door and record how many people are left, their name, and career they're engaged in, and then register it," Roland explained. "In this way, we can quickly and effectively allocate human resources during war and distribute pensions after war."</p>
<p>"Uh... human resources?" Carter blinked and then laughed. "Your Highness, you really have changed."</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>"In the past, you would also say some things I didn't understand and act strangely. At that time, some of what you did didn't match a prince's behavior, but now... " Carter paused for a moment, and seemed to look for his words. "Whether it's your quirky training regulations or the alchemical tests, the results are surprisingly effective. Perhaps this is what my grandfather said that what made someone extraordinary was that they can see what normal people ignored. I'm beginning to think maybe you really could become the next king."</p>
<p>"... Is that so?" Roland's heart felt warm. Was there anything more fulfilling than being approved by heelers for men? For a time he felt that his hands and feet were full of strength, and the dark sky was not so oppressing.</p>
<p>Along the city wall, the militia team was cleaning up the aisle of snow. When they saw the prince, they all bowed and gave a salute.</p>
<p>"They should be taught a proper salute," Roland thought. "How was the situation last night?"</p>
<p>"There was no trace of the demonic beasts." It was Iron Axe who answered him. "Your Highness, according to previous experience, there'll be a relatively stable period after the first snow. During this period, the number of demonic beasts is small. And mutated animals are small and weak."</p>
<p>Roland nodded. "Then keep alert."</p>
<p>The rear section of the city wall had been transformed into a battalion. When all was quiet, most people would rest in the battalion to save energy. For the guards, a rotation system was implemented. Due to the low winter temperature, each warning patrol only stayed out for two hours before being replaced.</p>
<p>It was Roland who laid these measures into place. When asking Brian, he found out that Longsong Stronghold had no experience in the fight against the demonic beasts. The most unlucky recruits would be sent to monitor the evil creatures for a whole day on the city wall. This meant that each winter saw 20 to 30 people being hung for the dereliction of duty or the violation of military orders.</p>
<p>When the demonic beasts appeared, it was a mess. The defense was not put into divisions, and as such, responsibility was not specified. Thinking of the level of war in that era, Roland understood. There was an extreme emphasis on personal bravery, honor, and pillaging. Even the knights would charge forward in person out of impulse, and one could not expect too much.</p>
<p>Roland toured the walls once again. It seemed that all was going smoothly, but Roland found himself ignoring a problem.</p>
<p>That was the guidance of the roadblocks.</p>
<p>At the moment, these obstacles clearly led the demonic beasts to the center of the city wall, but if what Brian said was true, snow would cover these obstacles within two to three months. If that happened, they could have to defend from the beasts in a line as long as 600 meters. His staff could not take such wide range into consideration.</p>
<p>He could not send a platoon to remove the snow as a few demonic wolves were enough to make the team suffer heavy losses.</p>
<p>Perhaps he would have to rely on the power of the witches once again.</p>
<p>For example, let Nightingale sneak out of the city with Anna and melt the snow with fire, and then sneak back—that was similar to how she stole Nana from the Pine's.</p>
<p>At that moment, the observation alarm on the left side of the city wall was sounded.</p>
<p>"Look ahead!"</p>
<p>Roland and Carter looked at the position he was pointing to, and a small shadow came out of the snow and moved slowly toward the city wall.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, do you...?" a hunter responsible for defense turned around and asked.</p>
<p>"According to the previous exercise, you should judge whether or not to blow the horn," Roland said, "and at this point, you're more experienced than me."</p>
<p>He hesitated, and ultimately decided to pull on the strings of his crossbow and continued to observe from the city wall.</p>
<p>Roland nodded with satisfaction. For the moment, the order on the city wall was still well maintained. He just did not know if the defense would swiftly organize according to their drills when a large number of demonic beasts attacked Border Town.</p>
<p>The shadow gradually approached. When it came to about 50 meters in front of the city wall, Roland was able to see its appearance.</p>
<p>Was it just a variant of fox?</p>
<p>Its fur was gray and black, and its eyes were flushed. It panted as it reached the city wall.</p>
<p>"This creature seems to have been just attacked, and it's no threat to us," Iron Axe said as he aimed his bow.</p>
<p>"You said they were all infected with the breath of hell, and exiled to the west?"</p>
<p>"Not only to the west," said Carter. "When the Gates of Hell open in Barbarian Land, any place beyond the protection of the Impassable Mountain Range will be attacked by demonic beasts, especially in the north. There, the Impassable Mountain Range seems to be cut off, and the gap is about 5,000 meters. It's also the main direction of the attacks by the demonic beasts."</p>
<p>The manic monster wandered around the city wall for a while. Then it raised its head and grinned at the soldiers on the city wall. When it leaped, Iron Axe released his bowstring, and the arrow penetrated its neck, nailing it firmly to the ground.</p>
<p>Roland noticed that the blood flowing from it was black.</p>
<p>"Why could a witch stay conscious after their awakening, but a beast became frantic and alienated when they were ambushed by the same demonic power? If there was ever the chance, I should go to the rear of the Impassable Mountain Range and take a look for myself," he thought. From the prince's memory, the Gates of Hell was located in a place where humans could not reach. However, as no one had ever gone there, the information found in the ancient books was all rumors and speculations, and not verified. That was questionable.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 42 - An Accident</h2>
<p>"If someone is bitten by a demonic beast," asked Roland, "will he turn into something like the beast?"</p>
<p>He hoped that this was not some otherworldly version of Resident Evil. They could not extract virus antigens with the current technology.</p>
<p>"Of course not," said Iron Axe, making a confused face. "Humans will simply turn into corpses."</p>
<p>"Can we eat the flesh of the demonic beasts?"</p>
<p>Carter exclaimed. "Your Highness! How can you eat these beasts? They're all tainted by the touch of hell!"</p>
<p>Roland turned to Iron Axe, who nodded. "Your knight is right. Once I tried to cut off a piece of flesh from the beasts and feed it to a hound, but it died soon after."</p>
<p>"Is that so? What a pity." Roland sighed. Food was so scarce in this era, so if demonic beasts could be eaten, then they could have a huge harvest in the winter. Just imagine, with all the crazed beasts running from the forest to Border Town, they would not even need any hunting tools.</p>
<p>Once he finished patrolling the city wall, he decided to pay Nana a visit.</p>
<p>He had expropriated a nobleman's house, which was the closest to the city wall, and transformed it into a field hospital. Of course, it was simply a normal hospital to others. Just to be safe, the place was the most heavily guarded place except the city wall.</p>
<p>When the house owner escaped to Longsong Stronghold, he took all of his properties with him. Border Town was a place where one could give up at any moment. Even though the house was large, there were no frescoes, carpets, or porcelain to decorate it. If it were not neatly cleaned, it would just look like a house that has been abandoned for a long time.</p>
<p>Roland tore down the wooden partition on the first floor to make one large room, leaving only the hallway and entrance intact. He then placed 10 beds to form a simple hospital. There were no nurses, no doctors, and even these 10 beds were unlikely to be occupied. After all, Nana's treatment did not require bed rest. It was immediately effective.</p>
<p>During the day, she was on the second floor of the hospital on standby. Anna accompanied her whenever she had spare time. Tigui Pine and Brian were in charge of the first floor, with two more guards posted at the entrance. It was foolproof.</p>
<p>However, Roland did not expect that the first patient that the hospital received would be a worker from the North Slope Mine, rather than some soldier defending the city wall.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Nail felt his hands shaking.</p>
<p>When he heard Iron Head's hoarse screams, he once again quickened his pace. He wished he could fly to his destination.</p>
<p>Everything was a result of his negligence, he thought. He really deserved to die. How could he forget the veteran knight's warnings?</p>
<p>He knew that he should not have agreed to operate the large machine alone.</p>
<p>Ever since the big, dark machine was installed at the entrance of the mine, work had become a lot easier.</p>
<p>In the first place, the most tiring job was removing the ores from the mine. When the basket was filled with ores, it would take three to four people to drag it. Usually two people pushed in the back, with the others pulling from the front. After years of mining, the uneven surface of the tunnel would become flat due to the repetitive transporting of the baskets. The iron pads under the baskets also had to be changed frequently.</p>
<p>A week ago, Chief Knight ordered Iron Head and his men to haul some oddly-shaped metal pieces up the mountain. After a few days, they assembled the pieces in a furnace. Nail did not expect that the furnace would come to life and start moving on its own. It was both powerful and dynamic.</p>
<p>The veteran knight said it was an invention by His Highness called a "steam engine".</p>
<p>As long as they tied the mining basket to the machine with a hemp rope and ignited a fire, the machine would let out a cry. Then it would turn the winch to pull the basket to the entrance of the mine.</p>
<p>It sounded incredible!</p>
<p>The veteran knight demonstrated it a few times, and then asked Iron Head to select a person to operate the steam engine. Nail's heart soared when he was selected. As long as he stood in front of that machine, he would never have to dig in the mine or push the basket. That was what he thought, but he had been terrified ever since the landslide accident.</p>
<p>He kept the veteran knight's words firmly in his mind.</p>
<p>Making the contraption work seemed easy. All he had to do was to lift the green rod and press the red rod down. The veteran knight said that the green rod was connected to the air intake valve, and the red rod was connected to the exhaust valve. And the steam would enter the cylinder through the pipeline. When the basket was pulled up, he would stop the machine by lifting the red rod and pressing the green rod down. Then steam would come from the side of the boiler into the tube. After each cycle, the boiler must be filled with water. Although Nail did not understand the meanings of the valve and cylinder, he promised to operate it step by step.</p>
<p>But the veteran knight stressed two points. Firstly, he should not mess up the order. He must start from the green then to red rod, and end with the red rod followed by the green rod. If he did this incorrectly, he would probably damage the machine. Secondly, he had to clear out the surrounding miners before emptying the exhaust, and continue shouting out to remind others what he was doing, until the red rod was completely lifted.</p>
<p>Nail was sure that he absolutely could not mess up the first point. As for the second, he had some problem.</p>
<p>Today, when he turned off the machine as usual, there was no one around. He felt like a fool calling out to an empty room, so he proceeded to pull the red rod silently. The rod was tight, and it took quite an effort for him to lift it.</p>
<p>He did not expect Iron Head to appear right then in front of the boiler. Nail swore that he did not see him approach, and the loud roar of the machine masked his footsteps. White steam screeched from the exhaust port and headed straight at Iron Head's face!</p>
<p>Nail was frozen in horror, seeing Iron Head fall to the ground. Iron head clutched his face, rolling around. The mournful screams that he let out gave Nail goose bumps.</p>
<p>Soon other miners gathered around. They held down Iron Head who was still rolling, and forcibly removed his hands. His face was a mess, with blood oozing from the cooked flesh of his skin. His eyes were mere white beads. Everyone there knew that it was the end for him.</p>
<p>Behind them, tears welled in Nail's eyes. Iron Head had always taken care of him. Considering his young age, Iron Head assigned him less work than others, but never reduced his pay. But now this happened because of his negligence.</p>
<p>Caught in his grief and anxiety, Nail recalled what the veteran knight had said. If someone was accidentally injured in the mining area, they could bring them to the new medical hospital near the city wall.</p>
<p>He knew that there was little hope to mend such a serious injury. The wound was too serious and herbs would do little to help. Iron Head's skin would continue to rot, and he would soon fall into a coma because of his fever. Nonetheless, Nail put Iron Head on his back. Clenching his teeth, he ran, ignoring the surprise of the people around him.</p>
<p>He knew if he did nothing and simply watched Iron Head die, he would not be able to forgive himself in this lifetime.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 43 - Be Strong</h2>
<p>"Where's Anna?"</p>
<p>Nana heard footsteps pounding up the stairs and ran to the door to see who it was. She was disappointed to find that it was His Highness.</p>
<p>"She's still working. She may come later."</p>
<p>"Work?" Nana heard the prince say that word often these days. "Do you mean she's burning that gray powder?"</p>
<p>"For the time being, yes."</p>
<p>Nana pouted and went back to the table. "I also have work," she thought. "I stay here and treat those who are injured while defending the town."</p>
<p>"What is it? Are you bored when Anna is away?" Roland smiled. Taking a chair, he sat down by the fireplace.</p>
<p>"Well..." Nana looked down. Honestly, she did not want to help the injured. It was just… too terrible.</p>
<p>She remembered the scene when she first treated Brian. He was soaked in blood, and the reddish-brown clots solidified in his chest. Red and white blood bubbled out of his dry lips. Upon seeing this, she fainted...</p>
<p>She was so ashamed.</p>
<p>Nana looked up and stared at the prince, only to find he was snoring in his chair. "He seems exhausted, too," she thought, "he must have been constructing the city wall and training soldiers to protect Border Town from the demonic beasts."</p>
<p>When he invited to come to the castle, she had hesitated for a long time, but in the end she agreed.</p>
<p>"You'll also encounter something that you want to live for, even if you have to struggle." Nana did not understand the meaning of these words, but when she closed her eyes, she could see Anna. Her blue eyes were like a lake, gently enveloping her. It was because of her that she agreed to help Roland.</p>
<p>She wanted to be as strong as Anna.</p>
<p>Suddenly, she heard footsteps downstairs. Nana jumped up from her chair to see if it was Anna. However, she was stopped by an invisible hand.</p>
<p>"Wait, there's more than one person."</p>
<p>Nana patted her chest, unnerved. "You scared me, Nightingale."</p>
<p>The door was pushed open, and Brian, who was in charge of the first floor, came in. "Miss Pine, please come down. Someone was burned."</p>
<p>This is my work, isn't it?</p>
<p>Nana closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Alright, I got it."</p>
<p>She went downstairs. The two guards were busy placing a man who was moaning painfully on the bed. Next to them stood a small man, looking anxious. Brian came forward and tied the wounded man's hands and feet to the bedside. The guards then sent the small man out of the room and drew the curtain.</p>
<p>"What happened?" Roland went downstairs, rubbing his eyes.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, this man came from the mine of the northern slope. He seems seriously burned."</p>
<p>The prince looked the man over. "These are steam burns. Is there any problem with the first machine? Who brought him here?"</p>
<p>"He's in the hall." Brian pointed at the door.</p>
<p>"I'll go and ask about the situation. You stay here," Roland said as he left the room.</p>
<p>Nana slowly went closer and glimpsed at that man from the corner of her eyes. She saw that his face was melted into a ball. His original ruddy skin became pale with dehydration and was hanging onto his face like a rag. On his neck were blisters as large as bowls, some of which had been broken. Mucus with blood wetted the pillow. In the flickering light of the fire, his appearance was more terrible than a demon from a nightmare.</p>
<p>She retreated a few steps and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw her father was watching her with care.</p>
<p>"Are you alright?"</p>
<p>Nana nodded and thought about what Roland had told her: "It's best to think of treating the wounded like treating a small animal." With this in mind, she went back to the bed and stretched out her hands.</p>
<p>An incredible feeling emerged from her body, and she gathered a small part of this power into her palm. She saw a ray of green light flowing out of her palm and onto the injured man's face. Although this green light was so visible to her, others could not see it. The wound then changed. The scalded skin fell off and new skin grew quickly underneath it.</p>
<p>The painful moaning of the wounded man gradually stopped. His breathing became even as if he had fallen asleep.</p>
<p>Nana exhaled. She performed better than she did the last time, didn't she?</p>
<p>"My God, is this the healing power His Highness mentioned? This is the first time I've seen it," said Tigui Pine. "My dear daughter, you're amazing!"</p>
<p>"It's the power of the deities," said Brian. "I'm so grateful that Nana helped me when I was injured."</p>
<p>"Ah, this fool." Nana clutched her face and thought. "Didn't he know that Nightingale helped me sneak out to cure him?"</p>
<p>"When was it?" Tigui said, surprised, "Why don't I know?"</p>
<p>"Well... Her strength has nothing to do with the deities. It belongs only to the witch herself." Roland opened the partition and coughed as he joined the two men's conversation. "How's the injured man now?"</p>
<p>"Basically healed," said Brian excitedly. "It's like he was never injured! Your Highness, with Miss Nana's, everyone will have a chance to survive the Month of Demons!"</p>
<p>"As long as you don't die on the spot, it's not a problem to keep you alive." The prince nodded, motioning Brian to wake up the man. "You're Iron Head, am I right?"</p>
<p>Iron Head sat up. He said in confusion, "Is, is this a dream?"</p>
<p>"No," said Roland. "You're still alive."</p>
<p>"You're... I've seen you in the square!" The man suddenly realized the identity of Roland. He abruptly got down from the bed and fell to his knees. "Prince Roland, did you save me?"</p>
<p>"Tigui Pine's daughter saved you. She's a witch with healing powers."</p>
<p>Nana tensed and wondered if it was okay to say that she was a witch so directly. Sure enough, the look in the man's eyes changed. "A... witch? Your Highness, aren't they demons...?"</p>
<p>"What the hell are you saying!" Tigui stood up and shouted unhappily. "My daughter doesn't have anything to do with demons. She did save your life. Do you think a demon would lend you a helping hand?"</p>
<p>"No, no! Please forgive me for my rudeness." Iron Head lowered his head. "You saved my life. Thank you, Miss Pine."</p>
<p>Nana was overwhelmed by her feelings. She wanted to run out of the room. Still, there was a voice repeating in her head, reminding her to "be strong".</p>
<p>When Iron Head was sent away, Tigui asked with concern, "Is this really alright, Your Highness? If you do this, I'm afraid my daughter won't be able to live a normal life."</p>
<p>"Think about the positive side, Mr. Pine," the prince said. "If we take advantage of this period to break the ice, Nana may be able to have a future where she's truly free. Otherwise, as time passes, she'll one day be exposed. When that day comes, I'm afraid I can do nothing but hide her."</p>
<p>Truly... free? Nana did not know, but right now she felt like she was free. But if what His Highness said became true, then Anna could also leave the castle on her own. Would she return to Teacher Karl's college?</p>
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<h2>Chapter 44 - The Unspoken Answer</h2>
<p>When Roland returned to the castle, it was already dark and snowing heavily again.</p>
<p>He went into the bedroom and removed his coat. He shook off the snow at the collar, and hung it on the hanger beside the fireplace.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, don't you think this matter was handled too hastily?"</p>
<p>Nightingale appeared in front of the prince.</p>
<p>"Nana?" Roland poured a glass of ale for Nightingale and himself. Although the wine was much bitterer than the beer he was used to in his past life, he had gradually become accustomed to its taste.</p>
<p>Nightingale took the cup and held it in her hand but did not drink—she was waiting for the prince's answer.</p>
<p>"There's no better time than now." Roland downed his wine and refilled his cup. "If we want to develop Nana's power before the Months of Demons, we can't conceal her identity as a witch. She can instantly heal fatal injuries in a way more efficient than the ordinary herbal medicines or bloodletting therapy. I'm sure people will realize this."</p>
<p>"It's a blessing that this small town is outside the border of the Western Region, therefore, the church has very limited influence on it—if I were them, I would not be willing to spend gold royals on this unimportant place either." Roland went on. "The town didn't even have a chapel, and the missionaries returned with the noble to Longsong Stronghold a long time ago. What do you think of Border Town now? It's an island cut off from the outside world."</p>
<p>"... you planned this long ago?" Nightingale asked.</p>
<p>Roland nodded. "The snow will bury the road leading to Longsong Stronghold, and the docking of the ships at the port is controlled by me. We have at least three months to correct the wrong idea that "witches are evil". If we depend just on publicity, the effect is very limited. So we need to rely on close contact, in order to quickly eliminate this layer of misunderstanding."</p>
<p>That was why he wanted to keep Nana at all costs. He wanted to create a Florence Nightingale in this world.</p>
<p>Due to this legendary nurse's dedicated efforts to take care of the wounded, the casualty rate was reduced from 42% to 2%. She was conferred the title of "The Lady with the Lamp", and she raised the reputation of nurses.</p>
<p>And Nana's ability was even more magical. Through magic power, she could cure trauma and revive lives as long as it was not death on-the-spot. This was probably better for the morale of the Militia than any weapon.</p>
<p>Moreover, thanks to her father's identity as a noble in decline and his association with hunters and farmers, he had a peaceful attitude towards civilians, and even allowed Nana to attend Teacher Karl's college. As compared to the other nobles, even the lowest ranking baron, would not be happy to allow his daughter to mix with civilians—in their eyes, these people were so-called lowlifes.</p>
<p>"Can these... really be done?" Even if it were Nightingale, when faced with the powerful authority like the church, she would still appear particularly weak.</p>
<p>"If we don't try, we'll never know the answer."</p>
<p>Roland did not expect the whole town to change their view, but at least this new platoon he formed had to be firmly grasped in his hands. Later on, he would rely on these people, who came from the civilians, to promote his ideas.</p>
<p>Three months were enough to change a lot of things.</p>
<p>Nightingale was silent for a moment, and then whispered, "Why are you doing this for the witches?"</p>
<p>In order to liberate productivity, become more powerful and have a place in the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince—of course, these answers were not suitable to be said at this moment. Even though Roland was a mechanical engineer, he had also played a variety of GALGAME. So it could be said he had also seen many battles. Two decades of experience reminded him that this time he was facing a key question.</p>
<p>He pondered the right words to say, and then slowly replied, "I've already told you a long time ago, that Border Town doesn't care about your background. I hope that one day, even a witch, can live like a free man in my domain."</p>
<p>This time Nightingale was silent for a long time. Only the crackling of charcoal burning could be heard in the room. Her side profile shone like a beautiful picture under the bright firelight.</p>
<p>When she spoke again, Roland felt time had regained movement. "In fact, you don't have to do this." Her voice was remote yet gentle. "Please forgive me for lying to you earlier on... My sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association have been drifting around for a long time. They don't have many expectations. Just a place to settle down would satisfy them, even if it was in the castle."</p>
<p>"How would that be different from a cage." Roland shook his head. Then suddenly it dawned upon him. He stared at Nightingale. "Hang on... are you saying that you now allow them to come over?"</p>
<p>Nightingale sighed and avoided eye contact with the prince. "In that case, you'll become an enemy of the church."</p>
<p>"They had gone too far," Roland said nonchalantly. "Once the divine right of kings becomes a slogan, the conflict between the church and the mainland countries will break out sooner or later. As for Border Town, as long as we can live through these three months, the church can't do much harm to us. We're far from the base of the church. Will the bishop bring the Judgement Army across the entire Kingdom of Graycastle to capture me? My father won't allow such a thing to happen. This would be a serious provocation of the royal majesty."</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>After Nightingale bowed and left, Roland lay in the bed, and let out a sigh of relief.</p>
<p>He did not tell her all his thoughts, such as the church was far away, and according to the speed of communication in that world, they probably would not respond until early summer. Plus the long distance and his identity as a prince, it meant the church would probably only send envoys to investigate the situation.</p>
<p>It would take half a year to carry out a round trip. By then, he would have the ability to break the ties with them.</p>
<p>Therefore, the biggest danger was not the church, but the witches themselves.</p>
<p>This point was noticed only by Roland.</p>
<p>Although the witches were now at a disadvantage, the situation would not last forever. Witches did not rely on blood heritage, but instead a random awakening, which meant witches could not be exterminated, and they would only increase in numbers.</p>
<p>The church relied on God's Stone of Retaliation to maintain their advantage over the witches, but this could only be used to offset the magic power. By the look of things, the witches' awakening not only gave them a variety of abilities. Even their physical qualities, thinking agility, and their appearance were superior to ordinary people.</p>
<p>They were in essence, considered "New Mankind".</p>
<p>The more brutal the oppression was, the more intense the resistance would be. When a riot led purely by the witches arose, how much damage would that cause to the Kingdom of Graycastle? The hatred caused by the church, once uncontrollable, could very likely be transferred to the same hate toward the kingdom and its people.</p>
<p>Roland did not wish to see that happen.</p>
<p>So he needed to start from Border Town. He first had to frame a structure to accommodate both parties, and promote this to the entire Kingdom of Graycastle, and even the mainland kingdom.</p>
<p>He wanted to build a world where witches and ordinary people could coexist.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 45 - The Conspiracy (Part I)</h2>
<p>When the moon started to set, Gerald Wimbledon saw the flickering silhouette of the city wall of the king's city.</p>
<p>After a few months, he was finally back. Thinking of that, he felt the fatigue of the long journey diminished greatly. But he still remained vigilant, and tightly pulled his horse, beckoning his assistant to go ahead and inquire about the situation.</p>
<p>If the plan did not change, Astrologer Ansger should have already replaced the city guards with Gerald's men. After the assistant shot out the signal, Ansger would let down the side drawbridge.</p>
<p>Gerald kept his eyes wide open, as if he was afraid to miss the faint fire.</p>
<p>He did not have to wait long, but Gerald felt like time had stopped. When his eyelids became too weary, he finally saw the distant flickers—twice under the city wall, and thrice above, just like it was planned. He took a deep breath and waved his troops forward.</p>
<p>By the look of things, he was only one step away from the throne.</p>
<p>Gerald rode through the side door of the city wall, with the assistant by his side.</p>
<p>Behind him were more than twenty cavalries. They were all silently pulling the reins, and controlling the mount to inch forward slowly.</p>
<p>The city walls of the king's city were made of materials obtained from Fallen Dragon Ridge. The gray-colored stone had a dark red luster under the torch as if it was soaked in blood. The whole city wall was about 6 meters wide. And in order to build this wall that was out of this world, more than 1,000 slaves and masons died on the site.</p>
<p>An army of 10,000 could not overcome this impregnable wall, but yet he was sliding through it so easily. Gerald thought to himself that any loophole must have started from the inside. All of a sudden, he recalled New Holy City. Would their seemingly more magnificent and indestructible wall be destroyed from the inside as well?</p>
<p>"Your Highness, I've been awaiting your arrival for a long time." Marching through the gates, he saw Astrologer Ansger and a small platoon waiting. Seeing Gerald appear, Astrologer Ansger quickly dismounted, bowed and saluted.</p>
<p>Gerald cast his distractions aside. He was probably so excited that he unwittingly let his imagination run wild. "You did well. Have you also swopped the palace guards?"</p>
<p>"Your Highness, the plan had a small mishap. Silver Knight who promised to serve you, was transferred to the Southern Territory three days ago. So now there's only time to replace the palace chamber guards."</p>
<p>Gerald frowned, as this meant that he could not bring all the 20 people into the palace. The guards would not attempt to stop him, but would also not allow so many armed men to enter the royal premises.</p>
<p>"Oh well, assign me two guards from the chamber platoon. The rest can stay the entrance, and ensure outsiders don't come in and bother me." He hesitated for a second before confirming. Although the plan had changed, the situation was still under control. Father's guards would generally stay overnight in the outer rooms. As long as someone could hold them off for a moment, he was confident that he could obtain victory.</p>
<p>Entering the inner city, he saw everything he used to be familiar with. Although it was night, he could still recognize every street. This was his territory without a doubt. Everyone jumped off their horses, and advanced quickly toward the palace. As they arrived at the door, the cavalry spread out according to the new plan, forming an ambush outside the palace. Just like Astrologer Ansger said, although the guards were surprised as to why the prince returned at night to the king's city, they still let him enter as Gerald lied that he had something important to report.</p>
<p>After all, he was the eldest son of the Kingdom of Graycastle, first in line to the throne.</p>
<p>The prince and Astrologer Ansger went through the garden and the hall, and right in front was King Wimbledon III's residence. The astrologer lifted the torch in his hand and shook it from left to right. Immediately, guards walked out of the darkness, and knelt down to the two men. "Your Highness, please come with me."</p>
<p>Gerald sniffed his nose and smelled a bloody odor.</p>
<p>Had not the chamber guards been completely replaced? He looked at the guard by firelight, and it was someone familiar—a knight of the earl who supported his succession plans. This made him feel a little more at ease.</p>
<p>"Did someone get into the castle?"</p>
<p>"Your Highness, His Majesty summoned a maid in the evening. And when she came out, she saw our exchange," replied the other. "Please rest assured. We've dealt with it."</p>
<p>[A maid? Father has not touched a woman for a long time—ever since Mother died.] Gerald felt a little surprised, but now it was not the right time to bother about such a minor thing. He nodded and did not say anything more. He followed the guards into the castle, and the others followed behind them.</p>
<p>Gerald knew the castle like the back of his hand, and he could walk from one end to the next with his eyes closed. He had lived here for more than 20 years, and he knew exactly where the secret tunnels or hidden doors were. But his purpose now was to persuade his father to pass the throne to himself. Sneaking into the chambers was meaningless. He also had to get rid of the guards outside, so that his father could completely understand his situation. Then they could sit down and talk seriously about the attribution of the inheritance.</p>
<p>If he could not convince his father...</p>
<p>Gerald Wimbledon took a deep breath, reached out and beckoned everyone to stop. He then pulled out the hand sword at his back.</p>
<p>The bronze door at the end of the corridor was the only entrance to the palace chambers. Behind the door was the outer chamber, but also the last line of defense. Two to three guards were usually stationed there, so that they could rush into the chambers to protect His Majesty at the first sign of danger.</p>
<p>Gerald first pushed the door to open a small slot. Then he used his shoulder to bang the door, fleeing quickly into the room, whilst holding his sword in an attacking stance, but the outside chamber was silent, without a single soul. At the same time, a strong bloody stench covered his nose.</p>
<p>His heart flashed an unknown premonition, and he ran straight toward the bedroom.</p>
<p>Shortly after, Gerald witnessed a scene that he could hardly believe...</p>
<p>King Wimbledon III was sitting on his bed in his robes, and his upper body leaning against the pillow. His robe was open, and a hilt was inserted into his chest. Blood dripped down his raised stomach and soaked the quilt.</p>
<p>Standing beside his father was his younger brother, Timothy Wimbledon.</p>
<p>"How, how could this happen?" Gerald stood motionless.</p>
<p>"Just like you, my elder brother." Timothy sighed. "I didn't want to do this."</p>
<p>He clapped his hands, and a number of armored warriors quickly poured through the door to surround the royal prince. "This is a chess game, and I originally wanted to follow the rules. Brother, did you know? Garcia did not respect the rules from the start, of course... you too. If not, why would she rush to the king's city after hearing the astrological prophet of Astrologer Ansger? Seriously, if you didn't show up, I wouldn't know what to do."</p>
<p>"Astrologer!"</p>
<p>He gritted his teeth and looked back. Astrologer Ansger stepped back and said, "I didn't lie to you. 'The Apocalypse Star is far away from Blaze day' is a metaphor that the lost has strayed from the right path, but it also has the meaning of destruction."</p>
<p>Now Gerald finally understood. He had fallen into a well-designed trap from the very beginning. The stench of blood at the door of the castle was not left by some maid and Silver Knight had not been transferred away. But the most disappointing fact was, Astrologer Ansger, who had taken care of him for more than a decade, and taught him to read and write from an early age, still chose the 2nd Prince—just like his father.</p>
<p>"Timothy Wimbledon! We're both his sons, but he devoted so much effort to you and assigned the best territory to you. Yet you were the first to lay your hands on him! You're a demon from hell!"</p>
<p>Anger flashed in Timothy's eyes but quickly disappeared. "Do you really think so? Dear brother, if you failed to persuade him to let you inherit the throne, would you really walk away quietly? Don't deceive yourself."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 46 - The Conspiracy (Part II)</h2>
<p>"..." Gerald knew that he was now backed into a corner, and all he could do was to drag his younger brother together to hell. At this moment, he was actually calm, "Do you just want to get rid of me?"</p>
<p>"Get rid of you? No, that's of no help to me, my dear brother. I had no choice but to resort to this." Timothy's tone was still calm as if he was stating a fact. "If I had patiently waited for five years, I would probably end up having to face Garcia's pirate army. Do you know what she has been up to recently?"</p>
<p>Gerald shook his head and estimated the distance between himself and the 2nd Prince. He remembered his younger brother was very smart since childhood, but he was not good at riding and battle. As long as he could find the opportunity to rush forward to cut off...</p>
<p>"She is forming her own army, Brother. Really, I admire her. She did this even before the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince. Even I, did not expect this from her. When we were children, we all got along so harmoniously. How did we end up here, planning to kill each other?" He said, and then retreated two steps." For example, I'm afraid now you just want to split me into two halves with your sword, right?"</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>"I know it, Brother. You are still the same as before. When you want to kill, your eyes have a horrific stare," Timothy sighed. "Let me tell you honestly. I want to terminate the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince. If not, the fleet of Garcia would be waiting for me five years later. She had already controlled the Port of Clearwater a few years ago. And Valencia was suitable for creating businessmen, but not for raising fighters."</p>
<p>"I need an army that can resist Garcia's fleet, and this can't be achieved by a trade city." Gerald Wimbledon, tomorrow you'll be judged because you left your domain and assassinated the king. I have to return to Valencia tonight to make preparations before the bad news spreads to the Eastern Region. I'll be deeply sad, and step up rightfully as the second successor. And you'll be sent to the guillotine on the charges of killing the king."</p>
<p>"You..!" Gerald screamed and rushed toward his younger brother, but the distance was too great. His sword was intercepted by two armored guards. Then his calf numbed, as a dagger pierced his calf. Gerald suddenly lost his balance and fell crooked to the ground. The crowd swarmed forward, and he was tightly pressed to the ground, bound and unable to move.</p>
<p>"Judge? Do you think you're qualified to judge me? I'll divulge all of this, and let the people who support you know what kind of monster you are!"</p>
<p>"Of course you won't, my brother," said Timothy patiently. "The Alchemic Workshop has a medicine called 'Forgotten Language', which is made up of mixed lizard venom and horse's milk from the sandy land of the Southern Territory. After drinking it, you won't be able to make any sound. Rest assured you won't feel any pain. Instead, the taste is sweet, smooth and quite intoxicating. If you want to blame someone, then blame our talented sister. If not for her, I would not have to do this."</p>
<p>He waved to the leader of the guards, and the latter also nodded in reply and saluted. The royal prince was pulled out of the palace. The other armored guards also filed out. Finally, only the 2nd Prince and Astrologer Ansger were left.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, your throne is now secured, so I should call you Your Majesty," Astrologer Ansger said bowing.</p>
<p>"You did really well, and when I get on the throne of the Kingdom of Graycastle, I will fulfill our arrangement. But...seeing my brother's tragic appearance today, I feel certain promises should be accompanied by a guarantee clause."</p>
<p>The astrologer's expression immediately changed. "Your Highness, you mean..."</p>
<p>"Don't worry. I just don't want to be betrayed." Timothy pulled out a wax pill from his arms. "You must have seen this quite often. The wax pill's shell takes seven days to completely dissolve, about the same time it takes for me to return from the king's city to Valencia. I've used the position of Chief Astrologer as the price for your collaboration, and I don't wish for others to pull you away at a higher price."</p>
<p>"Your Highness... you must be joking." The astrologer's face turned white blank. Yet he still bit the bullet and swallowed the wax pill in the end.</p>
<p>"Smart choice," said Timothy nodding with satisfaction. "Now you can go."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>When the palace was empty, the 2nd Prince's face was gloomy.</p>
<p>He grabbed the porcelain on the bedside table and thrashed it on the ground. The porcelain was smashed into pieces. A guard came in immediately. "Your Highness?"</p>
<p>"Get out!" He roared.</p>
<p>"Yes." The latter quickly headed out of the room and shut the door.</p>
<p>[Damn it! Things shouldn't be this way!]</p>
<p>His plan did not include killing his father. By virtue of the king's preference, he just needed to highlight Garcia's actions to the king and stop her. Plus he had Prince Gerald Wimbledon as bait.</p>
<p>Timothy thought that his plan was infallible. He used the position of Chief Astrologer to lure Gerald's enlightenment mentor—the low ranking Astrologer Ansger in the Astrologers Association, into writing a letter to Gerald. And Gerald got hooked quite quickly. This was also in line with Timothy's judgement. His elder brother was stronger at fighting than thinking, whilst not willing to hand over the throne.</p>
<p>The next few letters stirred up the ambition of the first Prince Gerald, and Timothy also finished preparing the next step. When the last letter with the astrological prophecy was issued, he secretly returned to the king's city, to reveal the news that the first Prince Gerald might be planning a takeover. There was no doubt that once the matter was confirmed, his father would fly into a rage and send the first Prince Gerald into prison. He would face either imprisonment to death or exile.</p>
<p>Then, his father would look upon the other children, and Garcia who was expanding her army rapidly, would certainly be a natural choice.</p>
<p>But... why did it turn out like that? Father heard his news, smiled strangely instead, pulled out a dagger, and pierced his own chest!</p>
<p>Everything happened so fast that Timothy could not react in time, and could only watch his father die in front of him.</p>
<p>He sat down feebly along the bedside. For the first time, he felt he was also a pawn in a game of chest. Father's last smile was like a nightmare, making him feel creepy. He went over the whole thing repeatedly, and even examined the body, but still, could not find a clue—why would father do that?</p>
<p>He also suspected that this person was a fake. But he could find no evidence, and even the hidden wound at the back was a match.</p>
<p>Knowing Gerald was about to arrive at the king's city, he had to pretend to be calm, and replace the whole program. He would blame the death of King Wimbledon III onto Gerald, and then use his position as second heir to succeed the throne ahead of time. As long as the coronation was smooth, he would no longer be subject to territorial restrictions. This meant he could directly mobilize the power of the Duke of the Southern Territory to threaten Garcia and force her to give up the Port of Clearwater.</p>
<p>So it seemed that the outcome was not bad either, but Timothy could not help but feel uneasy... as if there were an invisible hand, that had unsuspectingly joined the struggles at the Kingdom of Graycastle. However, he was completely ignorant about it.</p>
<p>At the moment, other than firmly grasping the throne, he had no choice. Timothy Wimbledon swore to himself. If he found out who was behind this, he would be sure to let the culprit know the consequences of annoying a king!</p>
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<h2>Chapter 47 - The Market and Cycle</h2>
<p>Border Town had been fairly peaceful over the week.</p>
<p>According to Iron Axe and Brian, the strength and the number of demonic beasts would gradually increase as the Months of Demons continued. Taking advantage of the current defensive pressure, Roland sent a sloop loaded with ores to Willow Town.</p>
<p>Due to the use of the steam engine, the number of workers in the North Slope Mine had been reduced by half, while the output increased steadily, allowing it to the level it had been at before it collapsed. The use of machines greatly lowered the manpower required.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Roland carried on a preliminary reform of the mining system, turning the fixed compensation into a floating salary. He set a daily average output tallied by Barov as a standard, and going above by a certain amount would end in additional remuneration. In addition, anyone who found gemstones or mineral veins could claim extra rewards. This measure effectively promoted the workers' enthusiasm, and lively scenes could be seen everywhere in mining areas.</p>
<p>Roland naturally would like to do something now that the ore was in his hands.</p>
<p>Besides the steam engine, he also planned to manufacture a series of machine tools.</p>
<p>Machine tools had a long history, and generally speaking, they were tools used to produce other tools. So an anvil, which was manually fixed and forged, could be regarded as the most original machine tool.</p>
<p>Making tools by hand was not all that bad, however, the issue lay in the ungainly positioning of the tools. Thus, people added clip or groove on the tool stand to fix the parts that were processed. The early harquebus and flintlock were both handmade on anvils with grooves.</p>
<p>As time went on, merely depending on manpower could not meet the demand of processing, and then the machine tools evolved and expanded. The machine tool applied different fixed methods and toolings according to different usages. In addition, the linkage of handwork and machinery could effectively improve the efficiency of process.</p>
<p>Roland considered making the manual milling machine.</p>
<p>Although the milling machine had versatile functions, he would simply use it to produce involute gears and its frame could be simplified. All it needed was a pair of card slots and a rotatable steel mill. With the help of Anna, a specific molding mill specialized in cutting gears could be easily produced. The top of grinding tool was polished into the shape of a trapezoid and was heated to a hot red state. Then marks were drawn with iron bars, followed by a quench hardening treatment in water. That was how a customized mill was produced.</p>
<p>After solving the key problem, Roland immediately called Carter to hire two carpenters to forge the milling machine base, while Anna continued to make other metal parts in the castle backyard.</p>
<p>There was no doubt that metal processing had become as easy as making pottery with the help of Anna, especially after she grew skilled in controlling her flames. The initial production of small parts all depended on her. Seeing her melting iron ingots into a fluid iron liquid and kneading it, Roland marveled unceasingly.</p>
<p>Without the witches, it would have taken over 10 years to achieve what he had imagined.</p>
<p>Two days later, the first simplified milling machine was placed in the backyard.</p>
<p>Recently, Roland had been busy designing a set of gears, which would be used to regulate the speed and stabilize the output of the steam engine. The relevant fluted discs were in the molding process. Once the milling machine was finished being assembled, the process of gear milling would be carried out.</p>
<p>Gears were nothing new for Chief Knight Carter. The drainage of water in most of the mines in the world was achieved by livestock pulling wooden gears with a winch mechanism. Carter was satisfied this time. He was able to understand what the prince was doing.</p>
<p>Roland told him to bring three blacksmiths and their apprentices to learn how to operate the milling machine in the backyard. It was unlikely that Roland was going to operate these machine tools, so he had to train some skillful workers.</p>
<p>After their respectfully saluting, Roland started to demonstrate how to use the milling machines to produce gears.</p>
<p>Roland did not mind serving as the demonstrator at all. Actually, he just would seem like a type of prince that had various hobbies. Besides, being considered as half-assed, it was easy for him to operate the machine tools.</p>
<p>Carter was responsible for pouring warm lard on the side. In that era, it was a waste to replace oil lubrication by lard. However, something was better than nothing. The lard fell down into a ceramic bowl after soaking the mill, and it could be used repeatedly.</p>
<p>Roland firstly carved an indentation on the fluted disc according to the designed angle. Then he set the fluted disc upright and fixed it on the working table. Next, he pulled the mill above the fluted disc, aiming at the inscribed line, then pressing the pedal. The belts transferred the power generated by pedal's wooden wheels to the mill shaft.</p>
<p>Later on, Roland held fast to the mill handle and pulled down slightly, and then the rotating mill cut the fluted disc slowly at an angle of 90 degrees.</p>
<p>As the material of the fluted discs was pig iron, it was not hard to carve the indentation, despite the fact that the mill was working the rolled steel after the quenching process. The air was thick with the fragrance of lard, causing the blacksmiths and apprentices who did not eat meat for a long time to swallow their saliva.</p>
<p>After the demonstration, it was time to sign the contract. The business in Border Town had just begun, and the industry was even more recent. Therefore, neither steam engines nor machine tools would get popular immediately. At this time, the majority of people could hardly understand the huge power those things represent or their potential. As a result, Roland had to promote the machines by himself.</p>
<p>The contract said that the smithy using milling machines had to process one set of gears every week. All the needed materials should be provided by the castle and the processing fee was ten silver royals. Besides, the machine tools were not free, and the process functioned more like renting. The smithy had to pay two silver royals to use the tools.</p>
<p>During the Months of Demons, the business in the smithy was not as prosperous as before. It was an order from the prince and it could also benefit the smithy. Thus, nobody went against this order. At the same time, Roland told them that it was the first milling machine and there would be more milling machines being produced constantly. Anyone who was interested could apply at the City Hall.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, why don't you directly make the processing fee eight silver royals?" Carter asked, confused, after the blacksmiths went away.</p>
<p>"The amount is the same, but the meanings are different," Roland explained. "This is probably the first commercial lease contract in Border Town. I need to set an industry standard."</p>
<p>Carter wiped his forehead, knowing that His Highness was talking nonsense. He had experienced this situation. The prince would carry on talking if he pretended to listen carefully.</p>
<p>"A good start can lead to a virtuous cycle. At present, only I need to buy gears, so I provide machine tools. They get rewarded for their labor. Later, when others also need them, the blacksmiths will realize that they can get more commissions from buying the machine tools than renting them." Roland paused, "Thus, whenever they confront new things, they would consider applying the method of alternative production to avoid the risks. I can get rewards by renting the tools out and the subsequent development of new things will be decided by the market. That's a virtuous cycle."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 48 - The Assembly</h2>
<p>With high spirits, Roland was about to give a long harangue on how to establish a reasonable market when there came the hum of horn.</p>
<p>This was unusual as only when the patrol team could not handle the issue would the alarm signal sound out.</p>
<p>Roland and Carter looked at each other and then rushed to the castle's backyard. Roland mounted the horse which had been prepared by the guards and headed for the city wall with Carter and his heelers.</p>
<p>When they boarded the city wall, the Militia was already in place. To Roland's relief, there was suddenly an array of guns on the top of wall. It seemed that the eggs did work.</p>
<p>Roland looked northwesterly, finding a group of demonic beasts approaching Border Town. Roland guessed there were about 20 evil beasts.</p>
<p>Iron Axe ran to Roland from his guarding position, giving a salute and reporting to Roland, "Your Highness, there is something weird about those demonic beasts."</p>
<p>"Weird? Do you mean that they generally don't take collective action?"</p>
<p>"No," Iron Axe explained, "colonial animals would forever be colonial animals. Take wolves for example. Their habitual nature won't be changed. However, these demonic beasts are not the same kind, and they are not supposed to take actions together. Some hunters even witnessed them fighting with each other before."</p>
<p>Demonic beasts were often mutated. They had a burning desire to hunt, were prone to be infuriated and did not know how to avoid risks. In a sense, they had lower intelligence than beasts.</p>
<p>Roland carefully observed for a while, finding different sizes and species of beasts, including demonic wolves and demonic bison. Roland thought it didn't mean that they knew the importance of collective actions.</p>
<p>Because they were still guided by the barriers and traps furnished by Iron Axe. All the beasts had been gradually getting close to the front of the city wall.</p>
<p>Van'er was so nervous that his wet palms could not grip his gun tightly. While nobody was noticing, he secretly wiped the sweat using his clothes.</p>
<p>The hunters who were responsible for observation repeatedly said, "Relax and take a deep breath." Van'er did as what the hunters said over and over. However, his could not cease to be nervous because he had heard so many rumors about how fierce the demonic beasts were for the past ten years when he lived in the Western Region. Since the start of Months of Demons, the Hunter Squad had killed some scattered demonic beasts under the city wall, which had eased his fear for them a little and he had thought he could be brave enough to face the fierce beasts. The fact was, he was not that brave.</p>
<p>Being picked out by His Highness to be Deputy Force Commander of the Spear Squad, Van'er tried to keep his expression calm, maintaining the appearance of an armed guard.</p>
<p>The beasts were getting closer to Van'er and he could recognize what they looked like. At the head of the beasts was a demonic bison, whose two shiny black embolons were as thick as his arms. Its fur was just like a cloak, fully covering its body. Van'er felt the ground was quaking while the demonic bison was about 70 meters away from the city wall. He licked his dried lips, waiting for the "thrust" order from the hunters.</p>
<p>A loud noise was heard.</p>
<p>The demonic beast did not slow down and directly ran into the city wall, shattering its brain and splashing its black blood.</p>
<p>Before Van’er could catch his breath, two demonic wolves swooped down.</p>
<p>"Stab!"</p>
<p>Hearing the order from the hunters, Van'er subconsciously raised his gun and tried to stab the wolves even though they were not in his attack range. The effect was not as good as they trained: Some thrust their guns immediately after the wolves jumped up, and some failed to react in time after receiving the order.</p>
<p>As a consequence, there was only one demonic wolf being pushed back, while another one fell down on the top of the wall.</p>
<p>"Stay in formation!" the hunters shouted loudly.</p>
<p>Although he was wondering which side the demonic beast would attack, Van'er still remembered what Iron Axe had warned them. When you focused on the things behind you, the danger would come from the front. He kept closely staring at the oncoming beasts, holding fast to his gun.</p>
<p>The Hunter Squad was obviously more experienced than the Spear Squad.</p>
<p>Before the demonic wolf fell down, the hunters had pointed their machetes at the beast. Iron Axe was pretty nimble; he directly dashed to the beast, smashed at its waist with his gunstock and then watched it roll a few circles in the air.</p>
<p>The demonic beasts were great in both physical stamina and defensive ability. Thus, such attack would not cause it too much damage. Alter falling down, the beast got up instantly and showed its sharp fangs.</p>
<p>Iron Axe had already pointed his gun to its forehead.</p>
<p>Then came a gunshot!</p>
<p>The skull of the demonic beast flew into the air and its body retreated back, collapsing and trembling.</p>
<p>"The damn beast was dead now. You need to continue keeping your position."</p>
<p>"Ah, my stomach." Someone was screaming.</p>
<p>Van'er glanced at him from the corner of his eye and saw a member of the platoon team sitting beside the city wall, hands stained with blood.</p>
<p>"His tharm was out!"</p>
<p>"It was scratched by the claws of demonic wolves."</p>
<p>"Please help me..."</p>
<p>"Damn it! Bind up with a cloth!"</p>
<p>The scene was chaotic. A few demonic boars with rough skin rushed at the city wall and were hit by crossbows of the hunters.</p>
<p>"Calm down!" Roland shouted loudly. He was blocked by Nightingale just now and arrived at this moment, "Don't you remember what to do if someone get hurt during the training? Follow the rules!"</p>
<p>What prince said reminded Van'er of his responsibility. As Deputy Force Commander of the city wall's defense team, there should be someone organizing the rescue when there was an injury.</p>
<p>He named his two teammates and said, "You take him to the hospital quickly!"</p>
<p>According to his previous experience, there was no chance that this man could survive. His Highness, instead, considered it to be more important to follow the orders and regulations, especially for the member of the Militia.</p>
<p>After the wounded were carried away, the order was restored on the city wall. The demonic beasts seemed to be of numerous quantities, only a few could impose threats on the people atop the city wall.</p>
<p>The Hunter Squad shot the left demonic beasts one by one and Van'er eventually took a deep breath. He felt he had use up all of his energy during this half an hour's battle.</p>
<p>At this moment, the hunters on the alert in the watchtower of the city wall shouted again, "My gosh, what's that..."</p>
<p>Van'er also saw it.</p>
<p>Although it was a long distance from the city wall, it must be a buster from its silhouette. Van'er firmly believed that it would be larger than ten cattle together.</p>
<p>Only Iron Axe recognized what that monster was at once.</p>
<p>He sucked in a breath. There was no doubt that it was a demonic hybrid and that this would bring them big troubles.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 49 - The Demonic Hybrid</h2>
<p>Roland could not believe his eyes. [What the hell is this? If the mutation of demonic beasts is at least biologically sensible, this monster is so incredible that it seems to have come out of a horror film.]</p>
<p>From a distance, it looked like a gigantic tortoise with two heads. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to have two wolf heads.</p>
<p>[Is this the guinea pig of Dr. Frankenstein?] Roland thought to himself. The gigantic demonic beast was as high as the city wall and almost six meters long, with six short and thick feet in the shape of rhinoceros' legs. The size of each leg was equal to that of an adult human's body. As for its heads, the two wolf heads were unlike those of the common two-headed monsters in films, which either let out howls in turn or snapped at each other. Instead, the two heads sank low, with their eyes dimmed and their movements like zombies.</p>
<p>The most eye-catching thing about it was the shell on its back. The shell's surface had a dim grayish brown color and was covered with moss. With one glance one could tell that it was incredibly hard. This shell was similar to that of a tortoise, it covered the monster from head to tail. If the monster could retreat into its shell like a tortoise, it would definitely be hard to kill it.</p>
<p>But Roland was not worried since a demonic beast that moved so slow was destined to be a target. Even if firearms could not penetrate its shell, it would be easy to hit a wolf head outside the shell. If it hid in the shell, they could blow it with dynamite.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, this is a demonic hybrid." Iron Axe approached him with a grave face. "Now I understand why there has been a collective action of demonic beasts of different species. They were all driven by this demonic hybrid."</p>
<p>[Just like a lion that drives a herd of sheep?"] Roland thought and nodded. "This one is rather different from the one you saw last time."</p>
<p>"It's also the first time that I've ever seen a demonic hybrid of this kind. Though it looks clumsy, you shouldn't underestimate it. Any of the demonic hybrids would be hard to tackle."</p>
<p>"It's almost within the range," Roland said, "and let the archers try first."</p>
<p>It snowed lightly, while the wind blew rather unpredictably from the northwest. The weather was not good for archery. But the two huntsmen chosen by Iron Axe seemed confident enough.</p>
<p>They ascended the lookout tower and shot their arrows according to their judgement of the instantaneous wind direction.</p>
<p>The two arrows behaved like a pair of eyes. After they rose to a vertex, under the influence of both wind and gravity, they fell and landed almost vertically on the targeted shell.</p>
<p>Just as expected, the arrows were repelled and this action even sounded off an attention tone like a game in Roland's mind.</p>
<p>The two huntsmen continued to shoot their arrows calmly for another two rounds.</p>
<p>The last round was successful because the arrows landed at the anterior of the monster. One arrow landed right onto a wolf head, while the other stuck into the neck of its target.</p>
<p>However, it did not screech angrily or increase its attacking speed. It stopped for a moment, and then hid its heads and feet into the shell while moving on.</p>
<p>This incident baffled everyone.</p>
<p>The beast looked then like a tank with its chassis lowered. The ridge of the shell almost touched the ground. In this way, even the best archer could not shoot their arrows into its body.</p>
<p>"Use flintlock." Roland commanded.</p>
<p>Now the target was about 17 meters away from the city wall. Even a flintlock without rifling could not miss it.</p>
<p>Carter and Iron Axe came to the parapet quickly, mounted their guns, aimed, and fired.</p>
<p>While the smoke was dispersing, Roland could see clearly how the bullets hit the shell and made tiny fragments sputter. A small section of the shell cracked. Yet the demonic hybrid was unaffected and maintained its speed.</p>
<p>[The hardness of the shell still corresponds with that of a carbon-based organism,] he thought to himself. It was a pity that the lead bullets were too soft and prone to deformation. They were unfit to penetrate the thick shell. It would be unrealistic to attempt to shatter the hybrid's shell with these four guns. They would have to resort to the explosive packages.</p>
<p>Iron Axe made the same judgement like the prince. He commanded Deputy Force Commander of the Spear Squad to carry the dynamite, while the beast was already butting the city wall. When it found it could no longer advance, its shell began to vibrate with such an unbelievable speed and hit the wall with high frequency like a rotary hammer. Stone chips instantly splattered and several cracks spread quickly along the weak spots.</p>
<p>The rubble wall had a high compressive capability, but yet its tensile and shearing strengths were extremely low. To be more specific, it was almost defenseless against vibration. The people on the city wall all felt it. Soon, a loud friction noise pierced the ears of everyone and informed them that the hybrid's shell had cut a slit into the wall.</p>
<p>Yet the crashing did not stop. The beast moved again until the whole anterior of its body was embedded into the city wall.</p>
<p>The Militia fled from the part of the city wall that was covered with cracks, while the invisible Nightingale carried the prince in her arms and jumped from the wall—if anyone had stared at the prince at that moment, he would find the prince had descended like an apparition.</p>
<p>When Van'er arrived carefully with a pack of dynamite, he found that the middle part of the city wall had an almost three-meter-wide opening. The demonic beast who had crossed the wall then stopped vibrating and continued to advance with its previous speed.</p>
<p>"Hurry up!" Iron Axe said loudly, "Light the dynamite and place it under the beast!"</p>
<p>Though his hands were shaking, Van'er retained the clearness of mind. He remembered every detail of the training about how to use an explosive package. Unlike the packages used in training, each of these explosive packages contained less dynamite and was sealed with wooden planks. Fragments of mining waste were stuffed between the packages and planks. Its firing equipment was also optimized with an extractor of flint and copper wire. When this part failed, at the end of the package there was still a normal fuse. He tore the cloth soaked with oil at the outermost layer in a flurry and pulled at the copper wire with all his strength. From the wooden box there soon came a short buzzing sound. Then smoke appeared—that was a sign it had been successfully lit.</p>
<p>The fuse that had been soaked in salt burned rather slowly and would take about 30 seconds to burn. The world turned quiet for Van'er when he saw the white smoke that came out of the box. He had seen how powerful this thing could be. If it exploded in his hand, not even a fragment of his corpse would remain.</p>
<p>27 seconds.</p>
<p>Van'er listened to his pumping heart and silently counted. He walked up to the demonic beast and placed the lighted explosive package on its path.</p>
<p>15 seconds.</p>
<p>Then it crushed the package. Nothing could stop its advancing movement.</p>
<p>9 seconds.</p>
<p>Van'er turned around and ran.</p>
<p>6 seconds.</p>
<p>3 seconds...</p>
<p>There came a boom. Van'er felt the ground beneath his feet vibrated. Then the world continued its hustle and bustle.</p>
<p>He turned and saw white airflow gush from beneath the shell—it was the snow on the ground that had been blown up by the explosion and looked like a misty flower. The demonic beast stopped advancing at last, as if it was unable to withstand the burden it was carrying. Its gigantic shell fell rumbling to the ground. Black blood gushed out from beneath the shell and soaked the ground.</p>
<p>"Ooh..."</p>
<p>There was a burst of cheer in the crowd.</p>
<p>Van'er fell and sat on the ground. Only then did he realize that cold sweat had soaked through his clothes.</p>
<p>[It had finally ended.]</p>
<p>When everyone thought so, the horn sounded loudly again on the border.</p>
<p>Another herd of demonic beasts emerged from the horizon and came toward Border Town.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 50 - The Wall of Flame</h2>
<p>"Do you feel better?"</p>
<p>Anna patted Nana on the back. She also felt like throwing up, but she restrained herself.</p>
<p>A wounded man was brought to them and while he was still conscious, he repeated, "Save me, save me..." The despair and plea in his eyes was heart-wrenching to watch. When she saw the bowel hanging out of his body, Nana vomited.</p>
<p>Even so, she made up her mind to complete the healing. After Brian placed the bowel back to the wounded man's body, Nana reached out her hand and healed the wound with her eyes closed.</p>
<p>"Um..." The little girl seemed a little dispirited. She leaned on Anna and said softly, "Today is the first time I heard the sound of the horn. Did His Highness get into trouble?"</p>
<p>"I don't know." Anna shook her head. She wanted to take a look at the city wall so much. But she was also worried that she might only make things more troublesome for Roland. She was now a little envious of Nightingale's power of invisibility, for that power would make going out very convenient.</p>
<p>At that time, there was a booming sound from the city wall. Everyone felt a slight vibration.</p>
<p>Brian stood up and walked to and fro impatiently in the room.</p>
<p>"Take it easy, lad." Baron Pine was wiping his sword. "Losing patience before going to the battlefield would only make bad things worse. Not to mention, now things are still far from bad."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, Your Excellency," Brian answered. "I just can't calm down. I just don't want to sit here wasting my time while others are fighting on the city wall at the cost of their lives. Defending this little town should have been my duty."</p>
<p>"Perhaps." Pine shrugged his shoulders. "But the duty of defending the town doesn't belong to you alone. I've heard that His Highness will grant you the title of knighthood. Then you should understand that a knight's foremost duty is loyalty. If he asked you to protect Anna, then it would be your duty to obey."</p>
<p>"You're right." Brian returned to his seat after a moment's hesitation.</p>
<p>But soon, they heard the second horn blow—more desperate than the first and rumbling like a thunder in everyone's heart.</p>
<p>Pine frowned.</p>
<p>"Anna!" Nana cried out in surprise.</p>
<p>When he turned his head, he saw the witch walking directly to the door. Brian caught up and stood in front of her.</p>
<p>"Didn't you say that you wanted to defend the city wall? Now it's time," Anna said calmly. "As long as you come with me, you aren't disobeying the order of His Highness."</p>
<p>Brian became bewildered. He turned his gaze to Pine.</p>
<p>[That was clever,] the Baron thought to himself. [What she said makes sense. The prince didn't make it a rule that she should only stay at the hospital. According to Nana, she can summon fire. If things are really urgent, the participation of a witch might turn the situation around.]</p>
<p>Finishing his thought, he nodded. "Take care of her."</p>
<p>"Yes, I will," Brian became spirited instantly and replied cheerfully.</p>
<p>Seeing the two leaving, Nana asked, "Father, will you go to the battlefield?"</p>
<p>"My battlefield is right here, my sweet one." The baron smiled. "Whether they're demonic beasts or demons, I'll never let them hurt you."</p>
<p>The city wall was not far from the hospital. Anna and Brian ran eastward on the flagstone pavement along the wall. When they came to the central lookout tower, they realized things had escalated for the worse.</p>
<p>The city wall had then a huge opening. Roland's guards were defending the opening with shields, but still, a few of them were knocked down. Among the demonic beasts, there was one with the look of a boar that was particularly ferocious. The guards at the front who got hit were almost sent flying with their shields.</p>
<p>"Hey, it's dangerous here. You should leave right now!" Someone warned when he saw Anna in her strange outfit.</p>
<p>Anna acted as if she had heard nothing. She walked directly to the opening. When the demonic beast made its way through the crowd, it turned and headed for Anna. Brian the guard came to the side speedily, lowered his body and waved his sword horizontally—the frenetic beast did not dodge, and one of its forelegs hit the blade and sent the sword flying, while the force of its own body weight severed the leg.</p>
<p>It fell down shrieking and struggled like a fish out of water. No one dared to come close. Anna walked near it and placed her hands on the ground. Soon fire rose from under its body and quickly burned it into charcoal.</p>
<p>Roland also noticed the flame that emerged all of a sudden. When he found that it was Anna who did it, his heart almost leaped out of his chest.</p>
<p>That was never in his plan!</p>
<p>He had planned to make Nana win the affection of the Militia first. After most of the people had accepted witches as one of them, he would slowly make Anna known to them.</p>
<p>But now it was too late. He said immediately to Nightingale, "Pay no more attention to me now. Protect her first!"</p>
<p>[No harm must come to Anna. She's the key in the development of industrialization. If she was injured, the loss would be immeasurable,] thought Roland.</p>
<p>"Got it," Nightingale replied. "Take care of yourself as well."</p>
<p>Anna walked to the opening. Roland's guards made way for her since they had all seen this girl in the strange outfit many times. She stood right in a wall of shields, stretching her arms out horizontally. Flames grew from her hand like vines and climbed onto the surface of the city wall where the opening lay.</p>
<p>Everyone who saw this wonderful scene was dumbfounded. They could not believe their eyes when they saw a wall of flame rise unhurriedly and fill the opening in the city wall. This, however, could not be an illusion, because the high temperature of the flame made the guards step back involuntarily and the snow around melted instantly, giving rise to dense white mist.</p>
<p>The demonic beast also felt the heat of the flame wall. They fled from it, though a few still darted into the flame before they soon burned in it.</p>
<p>"Everyone, get to the top of the city wall!" Roland grabbed the chance and shouted, "Spear Squad, resume your formation! Hunter Squad, fire!"</p>
<p>After saying this he grabbed Carter's flintlock and ascended the wall, shooting at the demonic beasts which had no way out.</p>
<p>The prince's action inspired everyone. After all, in this era, the noble and the royal members hardly fought in the front. When Prince Roland chose to fight with the Militia whom he had selected from the common people, it seemed inspiring indeed.</p>
<p>Everyone shouted "Defend Border Town! Fight for His Highness" and resumed the defensive formation as if the city wall had never been damaged.</p>
<p>The fight lasted till dusk. There was eventually no more demonic beasts alive in front of the city wall.</p>
<p>The flame gradually dimmed and vanished. Anna wiped the dampness from her forehead and walked out of the opening.</p>
<p>Then Roland saw an incredible scene.</p>
<p>The guards all touched their chest and nodded respectfully to her. The Militia, as if affected by the guards, watched her quietly. No one shouted "demon" or "sorceress". Peace prevailed at the moment on the border.</p>
<p>An unknown power was dreadful indeed. But when the owner of it stood by the people's side and fought against the evil with them, trust and gratitude would gradually replace fear.</p>
<p>Roland tried to suppress his excitement and walked over to Anna, only to find her pale and staggering. It seemed she would collapse any minute.</p>
<p>"Are you okay?" He held the maiden's shoulders worryingly, while the latter gave a faint smile, passed out and fell in his arms.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 51 - Her Majesty the Queen</h2>
<p>Through the narrow and high window on veranda, the setting sun shone its scarlet light on the floor and imprinted vermilion strips on the wall.</p>
<p>In the whole kingdom, there were only a few places left, where one could still see sunsets, and Port of Clearwater was one of them. It was rumored that the Months of Demons in which heavy snows and storms prevailed had almost no influence on this place. Apart from the fact that Blacksail Fleet couldn't sail forth from the harbor, the whole city was as busy as usual.</p>
<p>The lord of this harbor city, Garcia Wimbledon, was sitting at the table below the window and reading the letter in her hand attentively. Her gray hair had a tinge of gold in the setting sun. And the play of shadow and light on her face made her features even sharper, lending it even more charm and audacity.</p>
<p>Ryan had stood beside her for quite a while.</p>
<p>Though the letter had occupied the queen longer than usual, Ryan chose to wait quietly aside, for he doesn't want to be the one who disturbs the peace in this room.</p>
<p>At last, Garcia let out a sigh and put down the letter.</p>
<p>"My father died."</p>
<p>Ryan was dazed for a moment until he said: "What?"</p>
<p>"My father, Ayling Wimbledon, the King of the Kingdom of Graycastle, has died."</p>
<p>She seldom repeated what she had said, he thought to himself. She would have ignored his question if she had reacted according to her usual manner. But couldn't she be joking? Could the king really be dead?</p>
<p>"..." Ryan opened his mouth in attempt to comfort her, but his words turned to a question: "how did he die?"</p>
<p>Fortunately, Garcia took no notice of all this psychological activity — she was Princess Garcia, Lord of the Port of Clearwater, the Supreme Commander of Blacksail Fleet, and cared for no one's comforting, "The letter said, it was my brother Gerald who killed the father and was later caught by the guards. He didn't commit suicide to escape punishment, so the Hand of the King and a few other ministers made him go through a public trial and sentenced him to decapitation."</p>
<p>"This couldn't be the case," replied Ryan subconsciously.</p>
<p>"Of course this couldn't be the case," said Garcia impassively, "My brother was stupid, but not stupid enough to court his own death. Without someone else's instigation, he couldn't have done this."</p>
<p>"Did someone set him up?"</p>
<p>"Let me guess..." Princess Garcia closed her eyes in contemplation, "Maybe someone made a detailed proposal to him, saying that they could help him to take the throne — to bring assassins into the King's City is impossible unless careful arrangements are made, including killing, swapping, and buying off personal. But that has never been what Gerald is good at, or rather, he doesn't care to deal with these trifles. So it's not hard to conclude that the ones who made the arrangements had all his trust, yet betrayed him at the last moment."</p>
<p>Ryan didn't reply, for all was just speculation. How things happened no longer mattered. It was the result that mattered the most. He believed that Princess Garcia was of the same opinion.</p>
<p>As expected, Garcia opened her eyes and continued, "There were so many stupid men around my big brother, every one of them a muscular beast. No wonder they were all duped. It was only..." Her voice was then tinged with anger, "Timothy's ways were far too cruel."</p>
<p>"Are you saying that it was Timothy Wimbledon who did this?"</p>
<p>"Who knows Gerald better than he does? Who will benefit the most from this state of affairs?" Garcia said, knocking her fingers unconsciously on the table, "A blind man can see that! But he didn't have to do this, for he had been father's favorite."</p>
<p>Ryan realized that Her Highness was upset. It was unusual for her to put on such an expression. Much as she complained about King Wimbledon III's excessive partiality, she would have never wanted her father to have such an end.</p>
<p>Ryan could understand her feelings more or less. It was exactly how the younger generation felt towards the elder in a big family — the elders are like a mountain to cross, arousing respect, awe and loathing. If she had been right and Prince Timothy had done all this, then the prince could be called cruel.</p>
<p>"But... why did he have to do this?"</p>
<p>"Because he was afraid of me," Garcia took a deep breath and seemed to be gathering herself together, saying "He was afraid of the Blacksail Fleet."</p>
<p>Seeing that Ryan didn't reply, she continued to explain: "Timothy have informers in the Port of Clearwater. There's nothing strange about that, just like I have arrange informers in Valencia and King's City. When he knew about the existence of Blacksail Fleet, he could easily guess what was my next plan. However, Valencia doesn't have an army that can resist Blacksail Fleet. So he used the most stupid way, making Gerald his stepping stone to get what he wants."</p>
<p>"Do you mean that he wants an army?"</p>
<p>"He wants the crown," said Garcia, "When Gerald dies, he will be the first in line of succession. Now that my father had died, he must have been on the way to King's City." "As long as Timothy becomes Wimbledon IV, he can muster the forces of feudatory and army beyond the limit of domains," She continued, shaking her head, "But as I have said, he didn't have to do this as father's favorite son."</p>
<p>"Isn't this the worst situation?" Ryan said worriedly, "What if Prince Timothy is successfully crowned, declares that Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince has come to an end, and then summons you to King's City?"</p>
<p>Garcia replied scornfully: "This step of his was much too blunt. My father's partiality doesn't entail the support from most ministers. The murder of the king is no trivial matter — though Timothy has shifted the blame to Gerald, he could only fool the commoners. It would take him a long time before he could seize the power of Kingdom of Graycastle completely. So..." She turned to look at Ryan, "I may have to change my plan a little."</p>
<p>Ryan at once went down on one knee and said: "I'm all at your service."</p>
<p>Garcia stood up and walked to the window, her back to Ryan, "He would take on me as soon as he were crowned. But what he could think of could only be ordering Joey Kohl, Duke of the Southern Territory, to exert military pressure on me. Yet the latter would probably take the mourning of the latest king as an excuse to hold back his troops — the old man's too sly to take any risks. The most Joey Kohl would do might be mustering his feudatories and making a show of it next to the border Port of Clearwater." Princess Garcia made a little pause, "But these possible movements might bring unnecessary troubles to us, so we shall sail forth tomorrow."</p>
<p>"Sail forth? Your Highness, would you want to..."</p>
<p>"As it lies at the heart of the kingdom, Eagle City has been a city almost without defense. It is possible to arrive at Town of Clear Spring by the tributary of Sanwan River, and from there one can reach Eagle City within a day. After taking over Joe's city, the whole Southern Territory will be in my command. There will be such an interesting time lag: when he sits on the throne and wants to command Joey, he will find that the whole Southern Territory has been seized by m. I'd love to see his face then."</p>
<p>"But as you have said, King Wimbledon III has just passed away. In this way —"</p>
<p>"What then? Shall I shed tears first?" Garcia turned, while the setting sun on the sea surface cloaked her with magenta gossamer. Her face was hidden in the dark, yet there was still some flickering light in her eyes. "Her eyes are so firm," Ryan thought, "though there could be anger or pain in them, but there should be no place for sadness."</p>
<p>Sadness is not for Her Highness.</p>
<p>"No, you shouldn't," he answered earnestly.</p>
<p>Garcia nodded satisfactorily, "Go and gather the captains here for me. Now that Timothy wouldn't wait until five years later, I'd certainly not disappoint him. The whole Southern Territory will be declared independent, after I seize the Eagle City."</p>
<p>"It doesn’t' matter to her if it was done by Timothy," Ryan thought, "she can always find her way in the most turbulent situation and head for her goal once a decision is made. This is where her charm lies and the reason why I've followed her."</p>
<p>"I'll do as you bid, Your Highness...No," Ryan answered respectfully, "Your Majesty the Queen."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 52 - The Flame of the Heart (Part I)</h2>
<p>Roland knocked on the door and pushed it open after he heard Nightingale's consent.</p>
<p>The heavy drapes hung in the room would only be pulled apart in the early morning and evening, to let in some fresh air. At other times they were down for warmth and shade.</p>
<p>The only source of light came from the two candle stands at the end of the bed. The candles burned in silence and projected two crossing shadows on the objects in the room.</p>
<p>He walked to the bed and watched the still unconscious girl buried in soft pillows and quilts. He let out a little sigh.</p>
<p>"Everything is okay at the border front line?" Nightingale came to hand him a glass of warm water.</p>
<p>"Everything has gone on well." Roland took a sip and handed the glass back to her. "After that day we didn't encounter any more large groups of demonic beasts. When the injured Militia members returned to the army, they were... inspired."</p>
<p>"What about the opening in the city wall?"</p>
<p>"Karl moved the shell of that hybrid demonic beast to the damaged spot by rolling logs, and attached it to the city wall with hangers and winches." Roland knew that Nightingale was trying to divert his attention to keep him from worrying too much. But ever since he stepped into the room, all his attention could not help but be on the girl in slumber.</p>
<p>The person who contributed the most to the last victory against the demonic beasts was Anna. If she had not blocked the damaged spot on the city wall with her flames, what would become of the battle was hardly imaginable.</p>
<p>But she collapsed in his arms and had not woken up since.</p>
<p>"It's been a week," Roland said softly.</p>
<p>Theoretically speaking, if someone was in a coma and did not eat, drink or get nutrition through other means (for example, by injection) in more than a week, the body function would then deteriorate until the brain died gradually in the process. But Anna did not show any signs of serious illness or even weakness—her look was at least much better than when she fainted off. Her cheeks were rosy. Her breath was smooth. The temperature one felt by touching her forehead was normal. All indicated that Anna was healthy, yet... unable to wake up.</p>
<p>"It's also the first time that I'm faced with such a situation." Nightingale, who stood aside, shook her head and said, "The magic in her has been emptied during the battle. But now it's almost saturated and even thicker than before. If my estimation is right, she'll have her Day of Adulthood this middle night.</p>
<p>"Do you mean that she'll come to adulthood in the coma?"</p>
<p>"No, she might die in the coma." Nightingale spoke frankly, "One has to undergo the pain on the Day of Adulthood with the utmost willpower. As soon as one gives up resisting the pain, the magic power will bite a witch's body and destroy it irreversibly."</p>
<p>Roland took a chair and sat beside the bed. "However, I remember you told me that when Demonic Torture happens, no matter how painful it is, one will retain clear consciousness until one either overcomes this crisis or dies."</p>
<p>"Yes, indeed. In the Witch Cooperation Association, some witch had hoped to pass the Demonic Torture in a coma. It was not even Day of Adulthood pains... but less severe pains that happened once a year." Nightingale hesitated for a moment, and then said, "She sank into unconsciousness with the aid of alchemical potion, but that attempt was meaningless... The magic power bit her body and made her awake yet defenseless."</p>
<p>"Does the pain increase gradually?"</p>
<p>"No. When the time comes, the pain strikes like a thunder. But as for how long the pain lasts, it varies from one person to another. My sister was not weak. It was only..." Her voice lowered.</p>
<p>Roland understood what she meant. The uncertainty was a trial in itself as one did not know how long one had persisted, and how much longer one would still have to persist—this felt like a lonely boat in the stormy sea, thereby making one lose hope even more quickly.</p>
<p>In the silence, he felt a hand upon his shoulder.</p>
<p>"I've seen too many deaths in my many years of vagrancy. The witches have been treated like animals—hanged, burned or tortured to death by the noble who take pleasure in their pains. The fortunate witches that survived could only distance themselves from the crowd and live in isolation, while Holy Mountain, a place that is nowhere to be found, serves as a feeble hope for them." Nightingale's voice became softer than usual. "But Anna is different. It's the first time that I've seen someone outside the Witch Cooperation Association who cares so much for the witches. She's needed, respected and treated like a normal person... Your Highness, even if Anna doesn't come to adulthood successfully, she has found her own Holy Mountain."</p>
<p>But this would not be the ending that he wanted. Roland closed his eyes and recalled the first time he met her.</p>
<p>Her feet were bare and her clothes were ragged, but yet she did not show any fear in a prisoner's cage. Her eyes were like unsullied lakes, serene and clear.</p>
<p>She was the flame, yet not so flippant like the flames.</p>
<p>Pictures flashed quickly in his mind.</p>
<p>"Now that I've satisfied your curiosity, Sir, could you kill me now?"</p>
<p>"I've never used my power to hurt anyone."</p>
<p>"I only hope to stay by your side, Your Highness. That's all."</p>
<p>"The demonic torture won't kill me. I'll beat it."</p>
<p>"What are you thinking of? I'm not going anywhere."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Roland suppressed his emotions and said softly, "I'll be at her side until the last moment."</p>
<p>"Me, too, and... thank you."</p>
<p>After dinner, Nana came as well. When she heard that Anna would come to adulthood, she insisted on staying. Roland had to arrange a room on the second floor for Tigui Pine who had accompanied her.</p>
<p>So just like that, Roland and the other two witches sat by the bed and waited quietly for midnight to arrive.</p>
<p>Nightingale and Nana had to undergo the demonic torture in this winter as well. Fortunately, the awakening time was different for every witch. Otherwise, Roland thought he could not have acted so calmly if the three witches had to undergo their trials of life and death all at the same time.</p>
<p>There was no belfry in the little town. The passing of time became unnoticeable in the dimly lit room. From time to time there was a shrieking sound of the wind current that passed through the window gap. Just when Roland began to feel drowsy, Nightingale observed. "It's started."</p>
<p>Only she could see the magic in Anna that then became active. The green flame became thicker and thicker, and its center turned from bright to dark. The restless magic gradually converged to the center, as if dragged by something. It struggled and seethed, but yet its effort was in vain.</p>
<p>Roland did not see this change, but he still felt that something was different.</p>
<p>The flames of the candles flickered, though there was no wind in the room at the time. The flames became darker and darker as if devoured by the shadows around. Then the color of the flame changed from red to green.</p>
<p>He turned his gaze to the girl in bed. Anna was still in slumber without the slightest change of expression on her face, as if nothing in the room that happened was relevant to her.</p>
<p>Then the candlelight became almost invisible—the flame was not out, but the green part of the flame was nibbling away at the red part until all light vanished and darkness prevailed.</p>
<p>But soon light returned to the room, while the flames of the candles remained pure green. In the green light, the three looked at one another in confusion.</p>
<p>Then Anna's groan pulled their attention back to her.</p>
<p>She slowly opened her eyes.</p>
<p>"Anna..." Roland was in a daze and thought, [Is she waking up?]</p>
<p>The girl blinked and smiled, and then reached out her right palm to the prince.</p>
<p>Green flame leaped from her palm and burned quietly.</p>
<p>Roland understood her intuitively. He placed his finger into the flame after a second's hesitation, but the expected burning pain did not come. Instead, what he felt was only gentleness and warmth, as if he had placed his finger in lukewarm water.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 53 - The Flame of the Heart (Part II)</h2>
<p>The next day after Anna woke up, Nightingale came to bid farewell to Roland.</p>
<p>"Though we don't know why, Anna is probably the first witch to have spent the Day of Awakening without pain," Nightingale said excitedly before leaving. Having lived with Roland for a long time, she got used to the word "awakening" to describe the transformation of witches. "I'll bring my sisters in the Witch Cooperation Association to Border Town. I hope you'll accept them, just as you have accepted Anna."</p>
<p>That was exactly what Roland prayed for. Anna's ability alone helped the town to improve the hot forging process so that the town could see the dawn of the Industrial Age, let alone the ability of a bunch of witches? Of course, considering Nightingale's safety, he asked her to stay, hoping that she could go to the Impassable Mountain Range after the Months of Demons.</p>
<p>But Nightingale was obviously too eager to wait. "Many of my sisters will face the difficult period during the winter. If I could tell them the news earlier, maybe more of them can survive the awakening. Don't worry, few demonic beasts can sense my whereabouts."</p>
<p>"Then, when is your Day of Awakening?" Roland finally asked.</p>
<p>Nightingale mounted her horse and said, "The end of the winter or early spring." She waved to Roland and rode off. "Don't worry about me. That pain becomes lighter and lighter these years."</p>
<p>Her reply made Roland lost in thoughts.</p>
<p>He had been thinking about the reason why Anna got through the Day of Awakening successfully. After all, Anna said after awakening that she did not feel the slightest pain, which was a total reversal of Nightingale's notion—"A witch gains her power from the demon, and thus she is tainted and evil." Such notions were rooted in people's mind, as they saw the witches would suffer terrible pain on the Day of Awakening. And when the witches died in the awakening, their blood and flesh would be dried and their skin would be burnt, which became the irrefutable evidence of their depravity.</p>
<p>However, Roland never believed in that notion.</p>
<p>He had probed the memory of the real Prince Roland, but yet failed to find any evidence of the existence of God or demon. Since power was not endowed by God, then it should not be regarded as a standard to distinguish between good and evil. In fact, even if the gods existed and frequently interfered in the secular world, believers should be endowed with power after they chose their camp, and not the other way around.</p>
<p>According to the description of Nightingale, the magic power gathered in the witches' body. Then was it possible that the vessel was damaged because the magic power could not be released? Roland thought it was quite possible, as the witches, faced with most people's hostility and oppression, had to hide their ability and pretend to be normal. Therefore, they had few opportunities to use their magic power before they reached their adulthood.</p>
<p>Of course, Roland would not think that his castle happened to be a wonderland. He had already talked to Anna, knowing that she experienced insufferable pain before. If anything was different during this year, then it was the fact she used her ability almost every day since she came to the castle.</p>
<p>And what Nightingale said before she left implicitly confirmed his assumption—Nightingale often used her ability of invisibility as it was hard to be noticed, and she had also been forced to train her ability; what's more, she could use her ability without any misgivings now. And that was why the bite on the Day of Awakening had little effect on her.</p>
<p>After Roland returned to the castle, he immediately asked Nana to strengthen her training. If no one was hurt while defending the town, she would have to heal a variety of small animals. If the assumption was proved through Nana's training, it would have an earth-shattering effect on the witch community, as the curse of demon would change into the endowment of God. As long as he could ensure that his domain was safe and open to the witches, they would come here endlessly.</p>
<p>Anyhow, everything got back on track after this incident.</p>
<p>Roland urged the production of Steam Engine II, which could also help Anna to familiarize herself with the new ability.</p>
<p>Another shed was put up in the castle backyard, but to shelter snow this time. He felt that it would be safer to build his experimental base in his own territory.</p>
<p>According to what Nightingale said, a witch's ability would be stable in her adulthood, and she might generate new derivative skill. Though he had not seen Anna's new skill yet, her way of controlling flame was completely different now.</p>
<p>No, whether it could be called as a flame was uncertain now, Roland thought. If the former flame could be barely understood with common sense, the green flame now was utterly unexplainable.</p>
<p>He named it as "Heart Fire".</p>
<p>Because it could exist away from Anna, and change its shape at Anna's will, just as what she was doing now.</p>
<p>A flicker of flame stood on the iron plate two meters away from her, swinging slightly back and forth, as if it was saluting. But Roland knew that it was controlled by Anna. Normally, it kept a temperature close to that of the body; once Anna wanted to heat it up, it would instantly rise to a higher temperature and the color would change from green to dark green. Similarly, it could also change into a large cluster of flames; in addition, it could move at a slow speed.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it could not be far away from Anna; through repeated testing, it was confirmed that the Heart Fire would disappear if it was five meters or more away from Anna.</p>
<p>Another feature of Heart Fire was that Anna could summon a lot of flames, though she could barely control two flames simultaneously until now.</p>
<p>Recently the border was quite calm. Demonic beasts still appeared outside the wall, but without demonic hybrids, it was hard for them to break through the defense line. As Roland said, the beasts became stronger and quicker, but they were just beasts. The demonic beasts were led to the middle section of the wall, so that the Militia of about 100 soldiers could cope with the situation.</p>
<p>So in addition to the daily routine inspection, Roland spent a lot of time on construction.</p>
<p>He had set aside a site on the south of the castle, and planned to build houses on it for the arriving witches. As the investor of the project, he appointed Karl to be in charge to build a number of two-story brick houses. A reasonable and pleasing layout, easy entrance and exit, convenient drainage system and other issues had to be taken into consideration, as he strove to create a well-planned neighborhood.</p>
<p>He even considered distributing the witches to live in the old and new area of the town, so that they could live together with the common residents. Later he thought it over and deserted the plan. That might be helpful to speed up the common residents' understanding of the witches, but it might cause irreparable consequences, before the misunderstanding was cleared up. After all, the different view of witches only existed within the Militia right now.</p>
<p>What's more, Roland could not guarantee that all of the witches brought by Nightingale would be pure and harmless—most of them had suffered the pain and torture of the world, so Roland was afraid they were much more sophisticated. After all, witches like Anna and Nana were rare.</p>
<p>Therefore, if the witches lived together, it was more convenient for centralized management. Relevant rules and regulations had to be drawn up before their arrival. Roland had no experience to refer to. After all, he was neither the personnel of Superpower Office of National Security Agency, nor was he the founder of the Avengers, how could he know how to manage a group of people with super powers! He had to work out a temporary system by referring to the personnel management system used in companies, and planned to modify it slowly while putting it into practice.</p>
<p>Of course, Roland knew that this plan was full of flaws. Anyhow, as a pioneer, who else could he rely on? If he chose to hide and be conservative in Border Town, maybe he could touch the threshold of industrialization in decades. But being a mortal man, how many decades could he afford?</p>
<p>If he wanted to lead the town to the next era and be the pioneer of the reform, he had to have an adventurous spirit.</p>
<p>Just when he was writing his thoughts on the parchment, Barov opened the door and walked in.</p>
<p>Shaking the snow off his coat and saluting to the prince, Barov said, "Your Highness, a messenger of Longsong Stronghold has come."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 54 - The [Bad News]</h2>
<p>Petrov never thought that he would return to Border Town so soon.</p>
<p>He was unwilling to leave his warm house in such a cold winter, especially when the demonic beasts were raging on the continent. Nevertheless, Duke Ryan designated him to place the tricky document in the hands of Prince Roland.</p>
<p>Certainly, he knew what was said in the document—in fact, the entire nobility of Graycastle was discussing the alarming news: the king died in a murder and the murderer was Gerald Wimbledon, the king's eldest son. Subsequently, the king's second son rushed to the king's city and declared that he would succeed to the throne as the second-in-line, since the kingdom could not survive without a king.</p>
<p>However, his action was not accepted by all. It was claimed that Gerald's trial was rather strange, as he was exposed only a few times during the whole interrogation, with his mouth sealed and his hands tightly bound. Therefore, some people were hoping to investigate the murder thoroughly and then decide who should inherit the throne.</p>
<p>Besides, it was rumored that Timothy Wimbledon, the 2nd Prince, was the man who pulled the strings behind the murder. As the real murderer of the king, he pretended to be sad, but could not wait to ascend the throne.</p>
<p>Regardless of the controversies, the 2nd Prince temporarily took over the position of the king, thanks to the full support of Prime Minister. At the same time, he issued recall orders to all his competitors—the battle for the throne had come to an end, and the princes and princesses, after receiving the orders, had to return to the king's city before the end of the winter. The new king would confer domain and titles on them, based on their ruling of territories over the past six months.</p>
<p>Of course, Petrov could sense the eagerness behind the command.</p>
<p>Through this, Timothy Wimbledon could know his siblings' reaction and know whether he could sit on the throne firmly. If they chose to give up the battle for the throne and return to the king's city, then Timothy Wimbledon would become the undisputed Wimbledon IV.</p>
<p>All the documents to Border Town would be transferred through Longsong Stronghold first. When Duke Ryan read the recall order, he was fairly disdainful of it. The last king had controlled the lords well before he died; as for the 2nd Prince, his ascending to the throne was already controversial. Moreover, since Gerald was beheaded on the guillotine, it was highly doubtful that anyone would be willing to return to the king's city.</p>
<p>Anyway, in the eyes of the six noble families in Longsong Stronghold, this command came at a good time.</p>
<p>About two months ago, Earl of the Elk Family made an unauthorized scheme, which made the duke unhappy, especially when he knew the scheme failed. The prince also gave a fierce response, and he directly sentenced Kihls Medde to be hanged. With this, both sides came to an open rupture.</p>
<p>The duke had originally planned to calm the troubled waters after the end of Months of Demons. But now with this document, he had a more legitimate option. After Roland Wimbledon returned to the king's city, Border Town would naturally be owned by the duke again. And if the prince refused, the duke could force him to leave—in the name of the new king.</p>
<p>The duke did not care much about who would inherit the throne in the end.</p>
<p>But as a messenger, Petrov did not feel very comfortable. Last time he promised that he would bring back a new trade agreement, but the scheme of the Elk Family came first. Now he visited Border Town again, but he brought bad news again—whether it was the death of King Wimbledon III or the recall order of the new king, neither would be welcomed by Prince Roland, Petrov believed.</p>
<p>The sail to Border Town was quite smooth. As Kingdom of Graycastle lay in the south of the continent, the river did not freeze even in winter.</p>
<p>From time to time, Petrov looked outside the window. He did not see any people being starved to death or fleeing from the town, which indicated that Border Town did not fall to the demonic beasts.</p>
<p>That surprised him slightly. After all, he witnessed how the city wall was built when he visited Border Town last time. Truth be told, he had little confidence in the stone wall plastered by mud.</p>
<p>What he saw next surprised him more. A sailing ship with the banner of Willow Town slowly passed them on the right side of the river—he had seen such a scene before, but never in the Months of Demons! [Border Town is doing business, even when they are fighting against the demonic beasts? How could they resist the brutal beasts without summoning all miners to the defense line?] he thought.</p>
<p>Three days later, the ship arrived at the dock of Border Town.</p>
<p>The wooden dock was still old and shabby, but beside it, a simple wooden shed was newly built. Once the ship was ashore, two guards walked out from the shed, staring at every move of the boatmen.</p>
<p>Petrov immediately understood the meaning of setting sentries here.</p>
<p>Prince Roland apparently did not want anyone to leave the town secretly through the waterway.</p>
<p>Petrov jumped off the ship and showed his identity to the guard. Then a man brought a horse for him and accompanied him to the castle.</p>
<p>Just like last time, Prince Roland Wimbledon met him in the living room. What's more, the prince ordered his attendant to prepare a sumptuous meal, although it was not the normal dinner time.</p>
<p>The attendants served grilled ham, dried fish slices, an unknown salad of wild vegetables, as well as butter bread, and vegetable soup that could be seen at any dinner party.</p>
<p>It seemed that the prince liked to talk business after dinner.</p>
<p>Petrov thought, while his hands were busy with the forks. After all, he had not had much of a chance to enjoy a good meal. Even his Honeysuckle Family, except having dinner with guests, would just eat potato and bread with bacon.</p>
<p>When the dinner was finished, the dessert was served. Petrov respectfully handed over the document.</p>
<p>Roland took the document and opened the sealing wax with his dining knife. He flattened the document and took a quick glance. Then he was stunned.</p>
<p>[The king was dead?]</p>
<p>Roland had no feeling toward his nominal father. He was already in Border Town when he woke up as Prince Roland, and he had never seen the king face to face, plus he only found complaints and resentment toward his father in Prince Roland's memory. Because of this, he thought he was caught in an embarrassing situation—should he have a sorrowful look on his face?</p>
<p>He could sense it was a conspiracy when reading the following contents. [The eldest son murdered King Wimbledon III? The 2nd Prince, under his new authority as the new king, announced the end of the battle for the throne, and commanded all his siblings to return immediately to the king's city?] He doubted that.</p>
<p>Roland coughed and raised his head, and caught the regretful look in Petrov's eyes.</p>
<p>[So that's it,] Roland thought, [Duke of Longsong Stronghold must be happy to see this. Whether I obey the order or not, I'm in a dilemma.]</p>
<p>[Instead of bringing the promised agreement, Petrov brought a piece of bad news which might cause my death. He must be feeling guilty at this moment,] Roland thought. He secretly smiled, folded the document again and said, "I got it."</p>
<p>"Uh, Your Highness, what do you intend to..."</p>
<p>"Even if I intend to leave, I have to wait until the end of the Months of Demons. If I leave, what will the people of Border Town do in the heavy snow?"</p>
<p>To someone else, Petrov would certainly say things like "Don't worry, Stronghold will help you handle the situation", or any other diplomatic words. However, faced with Prince Roland who he had only met twice, he could not speak so readily. For the first time, Petrov detested his own identity as a messenger. In the end he merely nodded. "I understand. Should I deliver a reply for you?"</p>
<p>Roland called the attendants to bring over a pen and paper. He soon wrote a document and covered it in sealing wax and his personal seal. Petrov glanced at the envelope when he got the document from Roland. It was clearly written to Timothy Wimbledon, the second Prince of Graycastle instead of King Wimbledon IV.</p>
<p>[He has showed his attitude,] Petrov thought.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 55 - A Once-in-a-lifetime Opportunity</h2>
<p>Roland pushed open the door to his office, where Barov had been waiting for him for quite some time.</p>
<p>He tossed the document to Assistant Minister Barov, settled back in his chair and put his feet on his desk.</p>
<p>If outsiders had not been present, he would have wanted to hum a tune.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, please restrain your grief," said Barov. He read the letter, frowning and frowned. "The king has unfortunately passed away; the first prince is the murderer. It is a tragedy. I don't know what Your Highness intends to do next."</p>
<p>"Gerald's death was so peculiar. I want to see how Garcia and Tilly react before deciding," said Roland, "but in any case, we should be taking precautions."</p>
<p>Barov looked at the prince, waiting for him to continue.</p>
<p>"With this change in royal power, the king's city may become turbulent. The first thing to do is to vacate your beloved ones and family members." It was important to prevent the Second Prince from taking these people to threaten his personal ministers. Right now, Assistant Minister Barov was indispensable for maintaining the administrative and normal financial operation of Border Town. Roland sipped his tea and continued, "You, Carter, and your subordinates, need to write letters to your family members. I'll entrust the guards to go to the king's city with the letters and arrange shelter for them in other towns."</p>
<p>"No need to come to Border Town?" Barov was not a fool. After 20 years of experience in politics, he immediately understood the prince's deliberate intention.</p>
<p>"No." Roland neither wished for the adversary to use the families to threaten his subordinates, nor did he want his subordinates to think he was trying to use the families to threaten them. So he chose a compromise, relocating them to other safer towns first. When things settled down, he could bring them to Border Town.</p>
<p>"I understand. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Barov nodded his assent. Roland sighed with relief. He really had too few talented employees.</p>
<p>"And about the ore trade, the recent export of iron ore will be suspended. We'll only sell raw gemstones to Willow Town," he commanded. "I need to keep the iron ore for my own use."</p>
<p>"This will reduce revenue, Your Highness."</p>
<p>"But it won't go down too much. The miners have found a new gemstone deposit that can make up some of the gap," Roland said. And there would be no business during the winter. No one was willing to go out any time the demonic beasts might be hanging out. As a result, there would likely be only two or three transactions for the next four months. For the lightweight barge, obviously the transport of gemstones was a more cost-effective choice.</p>
<p>"Understood." Barov jotted everything down.</p>
<p>After Barov had left, Roland called on Carter Lannis. "I need to expand the size of the Militia. After the recruitment release, please arrange to transfer a few members with quick response and high ability, to the new platoons to become captains. The training must be based on the same method that was implemented last time."</p>
<p>"Your Highness, if you follow the old training method, it will probably be a long time before the new platoon is ready."</p>
<p>"That's still stronger than a rabble," said Roland, waving him to do what he had said. The platoon trained thus far was far from being able to be called an army, he was afraid that they were at the level of college students after military training. But sometimes the measure of fighting capacity had to be compared to the opponent. In addition to the demonic beasts, they were also likely to encounter a group of private corps, mercenaries, and "mixed platoons" temporarily put together by serfs. As long as they were equipped with cross-era weapons, college students would be almost adequate.</p>
<p>After Carter had left, Roland could not help laughing.</p>
<p>He had not expected such a coincidence! It was a timely benefit, just like the passing of a pillow when sleep beckoned.</p>
<p>Was it bad news for him? A dilemma? Wrong! He knew little about Garcia Wimbledon, but she was not the kind of person to be trampled upon at will. The first prince had been sentenced to death in such a short period of time. Even if there was no insider, she would probably not return to the king's city easily.</p>
<p>He was just to follow suit. As long as he could guard Border Town without moving elsewhere, someone would certainly jump out, and the Duke of Longsong Stronghold was likely the first person to feel uneasy. Otherwise he would not have been so anxious about the documents and delivered them to him in such bad weather.</p>
<p>For the Duke, the sooner he saw it, the sooner he would sleep and eat in peace.</p>
<p>If Roland chose to stay in Border Town, it was equivalent to defying the new king's will. He would wait until the Months of Demons were over. The duke would then probably want to give him a profound lesson under Timothy Wimbledon's banner. But this was exactly what Roland needed.</p>
<p>If anyone were to ask what industrialization lacked the most, the answer would definitely be people.</p>
<p>It required a large number of people to join in this large-scale production, turning the public into individual parts of a huge machine to drive it into operation. It was no exaggeration to say that with the "sheep eating men" enclosure movement in Britain, a large number of farmers were deprived of their land, making them free laborers, which then laid a solid foundation for the later industrial revolution.</p>
<p>The industrial age was so harsh, as long as educated workers were put into this furnace continuously, the exchange in return would be huge. The smaller the industrial classification, the larger the population needed to be.</p>
<p>Roland had been troubled constantly by the problem of population.</p>
<p>There were just over 2,000 inhabitants in Border Town. Even if it was a new era of machinery, it was still only workshop-style production. Without a large number of people, many projects could not be launched. Where could he swindle so many people to come to this town?</p>
<p>Could he buy slaves? There was no mention of where to buy thousands of slaves at once. Adult slaves were expensive, and did not have much significant training. Younger slaves, under the age of ten, would take too long to train. Even if child labor was employed against conscience, the waiting period would still be too long.</p>
<p>Could he recruit talents? How many people would be attracted to Border Town? This would result in more costs than buying slaves.</p>
<p>Could he encourage people to give birth to more children? Forced marriages? Forget it...</p>
<p>He had also considered Longsong Stronghold. But since the kingdom was in a stable state, if he were to attack the surrounding lords, it would simply be gambling with the future. Duke Ryan would also not dare to confront him blatantly, he would rather secretly try to put a spoke in his wheel.</p>
<p>However, the situation was different now. Now that Timothy had ascended the throne, he was eager to see all his competitors disappear. This recall order reflected his eager mood. Duke Ryan had obviously been able to understand this. Once released from the old king's constraints, it would be strange for him, as the ruler in the Western Region, to do nothing.</p>
<p>This was the opportunity Roland had been anticipating for a long time</p>
<p>Longsong Stronghold, as the border of the kingdom, was a century-old city with nearly 10,000 permanent residents. Behind Longsong Stronghold, there were towns with large tracts of land and no defense ability. If it was possible to defeat Duke of Longsong Stronghold and win the city, he would be able to get a large number of free people, while completing the original accumulation of wealth in the meantime.</p>
<p>What easier way was there to gain population than annexation? What else could accumulate wealth faster than plunder?</p>
<p>The news was like a lighthouse dispelling the mist, illuminating the direction of Roland's progress.</p>
<p>He would never miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 56 - In the Mountains</h2>
<p>Nightingale stepped slowly along the mountain trail.</p>
<p>The path under her feet was only as wide as her shoulders. To one side was a huge stone cliff. Opposite were steep rocks. The two apart was about three meters wide. Below was a bottomless ravine. She carefully followed the stone cliff to avoid slipping.</p>
<p>When she looked up, she saw that in the sky, there was only a thin ray of light, like a hanging silver thread. But she knew that it was noon. Even in the daytime, she had to carry a torch. The light coming through the rock was not bright enough to illuminate the road ahead. The long path gave the illusion that she was inside the mountains.</p>
<p>The only advantage here was that despite the cold wind whistling and snow swirling in the mountains, the gap between the cliffs remained unaffected. Occasionally a few snowflakes fell from overhead down the cliffs and paths, quickly turning into water vapor. The temperature here was different from outside. Occasionally she could see warm gas rising from the abyss.</p>
<p>Had it not been so, she would not have dared to go alone through the Impassable Mountain Range in the Months of Demons. The Mist could hide her body, but could not isolate the temperature. She would have frozen to death if she had walked in the cold wind for less than two hours.</p>
<p>But Nightingale was unwilling to stay here for more than a moment, for she always felt something in the dark staring at her. It gave her the creeps.</p>
<p>If she could, Nightingale would have wished to walk through the Mist. Unfortunately, she did not have enough strength to do that. Prolonged usage of strength would quickly exhaust her.</p>
<p>Nightingale lifted the torch. On the opposite, rocks were flickering in and out of sight. In the faint firelight, she could occasionally see shadows of different sizes on the opposite cliffs. Nightingale knew that they were caves, so deep that light could not shine, and they looked like a cluster of shadows. In the same position as the cliff close to her, there was also a corresponding deep hollow.</p>
<p>This reminded her of the hearsay about the mine on Northern Slope. It was said to be the demons' underground den. From there, there were many byroads in all directions supposedly dug by monsters. Northern Slope was only one corner of the Impassable Mountain Range. Were these caves connected to the mine?</p>
<p>The idea made her shiver.</p>
<p>West of the Impassable Mountain Range was the uninhabited Barbarian Land. Who could dig numerous caves inside these mountains stretching hundreds of kilometers? Perhaps nobody but the monsters, who had survived in Barbarian Land, could do that.</p>
<p>She did not dare to contemplate further, and instead she concentrated on walking forward.</p>
<p>Finally, the path in front changed. The shoulder-wide path was divided into two, one slightly upward and the other straight down, extending deep into darkness. Nobody knew where it led to. At the turnoff, she had stronger feelings of being watched as if countless pairs of eyes were gazing at her in the darkness. It made her mouth go dry and her scalp tingle.</p>
<p>Nightingale gritted her teeth, opened the Mist and hurried upwards. Soon the strange sensation vanished.</p>
<p>With the altitude rising, the surrounding temperature was gradually falling. The silver thread overhead was growing wider and wider. After half an hour, a huge cave appeared on her right. The entrance of the cave was slightly higher than the road. She stepped into the cave and could see faint lights of fire deep within.</p>
<p>It was the hideout of the Witch Cooperation Association.</p>
<p>Nightingale stepped out of the Mist and was immediately discovered by the guarding witch. A black gas wall blocked her way, but soon disappeared into the invisible. In the darkness, the companion's voices cried pleasantly. "You're back!"</p>
<p>"Finally back," she thought, but when she noticed her companion's arms wrapped with two pieces of white cloth, Nightingale's mood, which had just leaped, sank again. "Two more sisters..."</p>
<p>The other person's voice paused for a moment. "Uh... ah, they were Airy and Abby. They died five days ago and didn't make it to adulthood," she said, forcing a smile. "This often happens, doesn't it? Don't say this. You can go to the camp. Wendy has been talking about you for a long time."</p>
<p>Airy and Abby, a pair of twins born to an affluent family of Fallen Dragon Ridge, had at last ended their lives in this deep mountain. Nightingale sometimes wondered whether she had done a right thing. If she had not taken the two away, at least they could have enjoyed the rich and healthy life, not having to drift away with the others, before death.</p>
<p>But at the thought of Wendy, a warm current surged in Nightingale's heart. If Wendy had not helped her, she would still be a puppet, used as a tool and possibly discarded at any time. Nightingale wanted to tell her the news as soon as possible. And she wanted to tell all the sisters that they did not have to hide like rats, here and there. Some people were willing to accept them. And they could spend their Day of Awakening every year in peace!</p>
<p>Entering the camp, Nightingale saw a familiar figure squatting at the side of the campfire, handling the food. The other witches had not arrived yet. She could not help crying out. "Wendy, I'm back!"</p>
<p>Wendy was startled. She raised her head, revealing a smile with which Nightingale was familiar. "Veronica, welcome home."</p>
<p>Wendy was a very kind-hearted woman, and also one of the earliest members of the Witch Cooperation Association. She was 30 years old, but there was not one wrinkle on her face. Her reddish-brown straight hair was almost waist length. She had mature facial features, full of charm like a big sister. She cared about every sister in the association. It did not matter whether it was daily life or psychological enlightenment, and she was ready to do whatever she could to help. Had it not been for Wendy, the association would not have been able to gather so many witches so quickly.</p>
<p>It was because of her that Nightingale had decided to get away from her family and embark on the journey looking for Holy Mountain. Wendy was also one of the few people who knew her original name.</p>
<p>"How many times have I told you that I'm no longer that cowardly little girl," said Nightingale, shaking her head with a smile. "I'm now a powerful witch, and Veronica has ceased to exist."</p>
<p>"Your history still belongs to you. To rid yourself of the bad nightmares of the past doesn't mean to sever the links," Wendy said softly, "Of course, it's OK as long as you like to do so. I've been waiting for your return. You have experienced a hard journey."</p>
<p>"Well." Nightingale stepped forward and hugged. "Thank you."</p>
<p>After a while, Wendy asked, "What happened to the girl? You couldn't save her?"</p>
<p>Speaking of this, Nightingale was suddenly excited. She grabbed Wendy's arm, and excitedly said, "No, she did not need me to save her. Instead, she saved all of us!" Then she recounted her experience in Border Town. "The lord, called Roland Wimbledon, is the fourth Prince of the Kingdom of Graycastle. He's willing to have us in his care. Besides, he promised that in the future he would let the witches in his territory live as free people."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 57 - [Snake Witch] Cara</h2>
<p>Yet Wendy did not seem as thrilled as her. Instead, she asked suspiciously, "Did he really say that?"</p>
<p>"He did, and he had already saved Anna and Nana before I even got there. The prince has never believed that our power is given by demons. On the contrary, he said the power belonged to our own..." Nightingale stopped abruptly, realizing that they did not believe what she was saying.</p>
<p>Well, she thought, it was not Wendy's fault. Neither was she convinced of the subsequent new life by merely one witness. Long had they been bullied and oppressed during their journey from the Eastern Region to the Impassable Mountain Range. It was not rare for them to be sold and discarded, and with the bloody samples in front of them, they had long ago lost their trust in people.</p>
<p>She calmed down at the thought. Things had turned a little more complex than she had expected.</p>
<p>"Wendy, you know that my derivative skill, besides being able to see the flow of magic power, it enables me to tell if people are lying," Nightingale said seriously. "I asked him why he had risked so much for the sake of witches, and 'we don't care about what you're at Border Town' was the answer he gave to me. He hopes that all witches will have freedom."</p>
<p>"If he did what he said, he would be targeted by the church." Wendy frowned. "Granting that the prince hasn't realized what it means to protect witches, you've known no better."</p>
<p>Nightingale could not hold back her smiles and said, "At first I had almost the same opinion, and you know how he answered me when I asked him 'can you really do that?'." She paused and stated word by word, "He said 'you'll never know the answer if you don't try.'"</p>
<p>"He wasn't lying?"</p>
<p>"He wasn't lying." Nightingale assured.</p>
<p>"That sounds incredible." Wendy softened her voice. She could not think of any reason that Nightingale, an old friend, would lie to her.</p>
<p>"It is." Nightingale shared her feelings. She would have never made up her mind so quickly without witnessing with her own eyes. And it was proven by her power. In retrospect, Roland barely lied, as he had said to her when they were on the wall. During the two months that she had spent with him, Nightingale had been very pleased. The only thing he had hidden from her was the actual use of the ice.</p>
<p>She hardly cared about the hiding. It would be weird if Roland unveiled all his secrets to a witch he had just met.</p>
<p>"I'll share the news with everyone tonight when they're all back at the camp!" She looked at Wendy and said in a deep voice, "I hope you'll help me to persuade them."</p>
<p>When night fell, the witches who had spent all day working outside returned to the camp. Seeing that Nightingale had come home safely, they were extremely glad and surrounded her to ask all about her journey. The white bandages tied around their injured arms weighed heavily on her heart. After answering a few questions thoughtlessly, she raised her hands to silence all witches.</p>
<p>It took her some time to tell them everything. She began by telling them about the time she snuck into Border Town, the acquaintance of Roland, Anna, and Nana, then the construction of the wall, the assembly of the steam engine, the fighting against the demonic beasts, and finally Anna who had just passed through to her adulthood. Nightingale even took out the design of the steam engine to convince others that it was true.</p>
<p>Most witches had been cocooned in an isolated world since they joined the Witch Cooperation Association, so it was hard for them to imagine the outside world. They seemed charmed by the stories, and when Nightingale came to the part about Anna passing through the Day of Adulthood unscathed, they were abuzz. The Demonic Torture had haunted them all their lives. All these years they had suffered from hunger and cold, leaving behind the secular world and secluding themselves to the Impassable Mountain Range in order to seek the legendary Holy Mountain. If what Nightingale had said was true—a land where the lord would accept them and a method that would protect them from Demonic Torture, Holy Mountain seemed less worthy to pursue.</p>
<p>Just then, the audience moved to clear a path for a green-haired witch who had half her face tattooed with serpentine. She walked towards Nightingale.</p>
<p>"Hello, my respected mentor," said Nightingale, as she bowed to the witch, "Snake Witch" Cara, founder of the Witch Cooperation Association. The witches in the association addressed her as mentor.</p>
<p>"I've heard your stories," she said with a hoarse and hollow voice, "and you mean to tell us that all we have done is wrong?"</p>
<p>"No, mentor, they aren't just stories. I mean..."</p>
<p>"Enough." She waved her hand impatiently. "I don't know what adventure you have been through, weaving your stories. A highborn prince who pities the poor witches? It's as silly as pitying a frog." She sneered as she turned around. Spreading her arms, she shouted, "Sisters, don't forget all of what the common people have done to you!"</p>
<p>She went on without waiting for Nightingale's explanation. "There's no doubt that the common people, the incompetents, have targeted us with blades and whips in the name of gods. Without God's Stone of Retaliation, they have no authority to oppress us. It's deities who grant us the power, not the evils. It should be us who work on the behalf of deities, not the church. It should be us, the sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association! Holy Mountain, told in old books, refers to the quarters of deities."</p>
<p>What?! Nightingale could not believe her ears. She had known that the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association was kind of eccentric, and although she was hung up on searching for Holy Mountain, she was far from mad. Despite not being as approachable as Wendy, Cara still sincerely cared for them. What Nightingale had not expected was that she would have such hostility toward ordinary people.</p>
<p>Had Cara secretly buried her anger and hatred all these years? And what she had claimed, about being detached from worldly affairs, was this really a way to save power for striking vengeance without warning one day? What had made her uncover her disguise now? Maybe...</p>
<p>"We've found the clue to the opening in Holy Mountain, the same as what we read from the old books! All we have to do is wait. In twenty days, when the blood moon rises in the sky, through a huge gate emerging from underground, we shall reach our final realm." She turned back, looking straight at Nightingale. "The common people have deceived you, and we've lived in a big fraud since we were born. What we've suffered in the Day of Adulthood is the test given by deities. One who is determined and resilient will obtain the true power. The church..." She sneered. "It's just a gang of common people who want to work in the name of deities. Sooner or later, all of them will go to hell."</p>
<p>"And you, child. There's time for you to stop this." Cara paused. "I'll forgive your ignorance and fault if you forget your stories. We'll retake you as one of us, and together we'll find peace in Holy Mountain."</p>
<p>Nightingale's initial excitement had cooled. The suffering was a test? The ones who did not make it through the torture on the Day of Awakening were simply worthless losers? The statements were exactly what the church was advocating. But no one stood out against these ideas, and instead, they wore a face of agreement. Even Wendy did not make a comment. Suddenly all turned dull and boring to her. Standing in front of her, the witch who was the founder of the Witch Cooperation Association and the leader of the witches seemed so unfamiliar.</p>
<p>She shook her head. "In that case, I'll take those who're willing to go, and good luck with those who decide to stay."</p>
<p>Just as Nightingale was about to take her leave, she felt a faint sting on her leg. She looked down and found a black snake with sparkling blue stripes biting her flesh. The Snake of Magic, which bore various venoms and was able to strike the target in silence, was often used by "Snake Witch" Cara.</p>
<p>The paralysis struck her hard and quickly. Nightingale moved her lips and struggled to say something, but the darkness overwhelmed her.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 58 - Escape</h2>
<p>Nightingale did not know how long she had been here, but when she woke up, she found her hands were bound behind her against a stake along with her waist and legs. She struggled to move, but yet she was bound so tight that her body was attached to the stake and got stuck.</p>
<p>When she tried to use her power, she could not sense the familiar feeling that she felt every time she induced power—the magic power was disconnected. Nightingale looked down and caught the sight of a crystal prismatic stone hanging around her neck hangs.</p>
<p>"You've woken," said Cara, as she walked over. "How do you feel about Petrifying Venom? Nightingale, you know I reposed great hopes in you, and I meant it. Yet, you've disappointed me."</p>
<p>"..." Nightingale drew a deep breath and said, "You kept the God's Locket of Retribution from us. Cara, do you actually know what you're doing?" Their respected mentor chained her own people with the exact lock that was used by the church to hunt down the witches. What made her angrier was those who stood aside and showed no hint of dissent. [Damn it!] Nightingale cried out in her mind, [haven't you found you've turned into those whom we hate the most?]</p>
<p>"It's just a way to punish some kids who're out of control," Cara said with no regards, "and Nightingale, you're the one who needs to be punished. Or... shall I call you Veronica? A girl who fell from a noble and became a witch, yet still dreams of reclaiming her nobility."</p>
<p>"I don't understand what you're saying."</p>
<p>"You've disappointed me. I thought you'd stand on our side when Wendy saved you from the chains of the noble. Now, take a look at what you've done. You mean to gut our foundation when Holy Mountain is within our reach." Cara shook her head and sneered. "Take your sisters to a prince? Either you have been chained too long to live without a master to enslave you, or... you plan to sell them to the nobles for your nobility."</p>
<p>"All I've done is for my sisters." Nightingale damped down her rage, for she knew that curses and abuses made no difference here. "All I want is they'll suffer no more tortures on the Day of Awakening and live a better life, in warm shelters and with enough food. I don't mean to interrupt your plan, and yet they deserve a chance to choose their own life. Many things are changing in Border Town now, and the design of the steam engine that I showed you is one of them. The engine could run itself and hold the enormous power that'll save us from the labor of fetching water from the mountain stream.</p>
<p>Cara sneered and said, "This is what you mean?" She turned and pulled out a wad of parchments from hands of a witch who stood behind her, waving in front of Nightingale. "I admit the drawing is too difficult for me to understand, but a lifeless thing built by a pile of cold irons could run itself? You take us for ignorant kids!"</p>
<p>Walking towards the brazier, she tossed the parchments into fire.</p>
<p>"No!" Nightingale cried out in vain, witnessing the drawings turning into ash in the brazier.</p>
<p>"You've run out of my patience, I'll give you one last chance," said Cara as she pulled out an iron spike with a hot red tip. "If you confess in front of all sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association that you've been deluded by nobles, I'll spare your life and punish your gullibility with whipping. Otherwise, I'll drive this spike through your heart and nail your body on a stake as a warning," she said word by word, "and don't waste my last bit of mercy. State your decision."</p>
<p>Nightingale watched the spike moving towards her, along with the hot wave from the tip. She knew that she was no longer the young girl that she used to be. The girl who had been too weak and coward to stand up and resist. She was Nightingale, a witch with great power that even death would not be able to make bend her knees.</p>
<p>She closed her eyes, waiting for the last moment. Somehow, Roland appeared in her mind.</p>
<p>"Stop it!" The shouting surprised her, and she opened her eyes, seeing that Wendy walked out of the crowd and said to Cara, "Mentor, please have a look at the bandage bound on your arm. We've seen so many departures over the years, and you want to add one more with your own hands?"</p>
<p>"Why, did she deceive you too? Wake up, Wendy, those stories are lies."</p>
<p>"I don't know." Wendy shook her head. "I'm not intending to leave for Border Town with her, but I think she's right in that we deserve a chance to choose our own life."</p>
<p>She turned to the crowd and asked loudly, "Is there anyone who wants to go with her?"</p>
<p>There were no replies and the crowd fell into silence.</p>
<p>"So let her go by herself," Wendy said. "She didn't undermine the Witch Cooperation Association, and I won't watch you kill her and do nothing."</p>
<p>By now, Nightingale had fully understood what Wendy meant. Wendy did not believe her words either. That was why she stood aside as Nightingale wanted her to persuade other witches. Though disapproving her idea, Wendy who was a kind and caring person would never let her friend die under such circumstances.</p>
<p>The crowd started whispering together about what Wendy had said before some other witches stood out.</p>
<p>"That's right. If she wants to go back to the outside world, let her."</p>
<p>"Too many lives have been taken by the church and pains. Respected Mentor, please reconsider."</p>
<p>"Shut up! All of you!" Cara's rage soared. "What if more girls follow her after we let her go with impunity? What if she betrays us and sells our location to the church? There'll be nowhere to run!" Hardly did she finish speaking before she shoved the spike towards Nightingale. But Wendy was faster, she wove a strong wind that blew Cara away.</p>
<p>Then she tossed out a coin, and with a wave of her hand, she cast a rapid airflow that wrapped the coin and dashed to Nightingale. The airflow disappeared instantaneously when it neared Nightingale, and yet the inertia of the coin carried it further, hitting right on the God's Stone of Retaliation that hung on her neck.</p>
<p>The hit broke the crystal prismatic stone into pieces.</p>
<p>"Traitor!" Cara struggled to her feet and screamed. She extended both her hands pointing at Wendy and Nightingale, and out of nowhere two snake shadows appeared, one of which opened its mouth and bit hard on Wendy's hand, but yet another that aimed at Nightingale missed.</p>
<p>The ropes slipped onto the ground, keeping a shape of binding, but Nightingale was nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>Cara broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of the opponent's ability, and instantly she aroused all her power to summon demonic snakes. Glittering with various colors, the snakes poured out from her chest, forming a wall of snakes from which she retreated hastily.</p>
<p>Yet Nightingale was faster.</p>
<p>Taking one step... only one step forward, she emerged right behind Cara, holding out both of her hands, she put the spike that would have been driven into her heart by Cara, directly through Cara's body.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 59 - An Explorer</h2>
<p>Seeing Cara fall down, all the witches surrounded her in a panic. "Respected Mentor!".</p>
<p>"Idiot!" Cara coughed with pain, her hands clamping to the wound. She could no longer feel her legs. "Hurry, go kill that traitor!"</p>
<p>However, at that time, Nightingale had already disappeared into the Mist with Wendy.</p>
<p>Back at the crossroad, Nightingale found that Wendy was still in a coma. Her forearm had turned black, and the poison was obviously spreading through her blood. She could not hesitate any longer. She took a deep breath, rolled up the sleeve of Wendy's injured arm and bound the upper arm as tightly as possible. Then she drew a dagger from the sole of her boot, and cut deep into the arm.</p>
<p>It took her nearly a quarter of an hour to amputate Wendy's arm completely. She carefully wrapped up the removed arm with her cape and tied it steadily on her back with two straps. As long as she could bring Wendy back alive to Border Town, Nana would be able to heal her and reattach up her arm.</p>
<p>But... could Wendy bear such pain for so long?</p>
<p>It took her three days to come here alone, and she would be slower when carrying Wendy on her back. If she walked too fast and accidentally slipped off the cliff, she was unsure whether she would be able to climb back up again.</p>
<p>Wendy's arm was still bleeding and she might die in three or four days. But Nightingale had no other option. She would never leave Wendy behind. After all, Wendy was wounded because of her.</p>
<p>"Do you need a hand?"</p>
<p>Startled by the random voice, Nightingale released the Mist and simultaneously looked around in a defensive position.</p>
<p>But there was no-one in front of her.</p>
<p>"Don't be nervous, I won't hurt you."</p>
<p>Nightingale looked up and saw a girl flying in the air. "Who are you?"</p>
<p>"I'm Lightning. I just joined the Witch Cooperation Association recently. I usually wander around, so it's natural that you don't know me." She tried to give a reassuring smile. "But I know you, famous Nightingale, the killer in the shadows."</p>
<p>"Did Cara send you here?"</p>
<p>"No, no, you misunderstand me." Lightning slowly fell, one foot treading on the ground. "I want to go with you."</p>
<p>Nightingale could not believe what she heard and asked, "Pardon?"</p>
<p>"You said that we should have the right to choose our own way of life." She paused. "I choose to go with you. That's simple."</p>
<p>"But... why?" Nightingale had been completely disappointed with the Witch Cooperation Association. The sisters refused to go with her, and even Wendy could not fully believe in her. Yet the girl in front of her... she was actually still a child, 14 or 15 years old, about the age of Nana, believed her. She had short blonde hair and a face high in spirits. Her speech and manners were full of confidence that did not match her age. She did not wear the robes of the Witch Cooperation Association, and instead, she was dressed in a fitted coat and trousers. Outside she wore a short and shabby leather jacket with many pockets and patches. Around her waist was a crude-looking belt, which seemed to be picked up from somewhere. At first glance, she dressed like a man.</p>
<p>"Because I'm quite interested in what you said. The black machine which puffs out white smoke, the gray powder which will turn into a rock when mixed with water, and the powder which explodes like thunder. I want to see them." She held her head up and said, "I'm determined to be an explorer, so it's only natural I go to any and all interesting places."</p>
<p>[What kind of reason was that...] Nightingale was stunned. However, she knew that the girl was not lying.</p>
<p>"I don't understand... why would you join the Witch Cooperation Association if you want to be an adventurer?"</p>
<p>"Not an adventurer, an explorer!" Lightning stressed. "I'm different from those people who work for money and call themselves adventurers. They're nothing but greedy wolves that will do anything for cash. Explorers only do things that we're interested in! As for my reason for joining the association..." she said confidently, "Isn't it a great adventure to look for Holy Mountain? But Cara doesn't have the slightest sense of adventure. She has been totally driven by that ancient book, trying to connect everything we saw with the description in it. She said she had found the Stone Gates which rose from the ground, but they were just two old pillars. If she keeps on like this, she'll never be able to find the real Holy Mountain. An explorer must honestly record what they see. We can never find a horse by reading its description. My father has emphasized that point again and again."</p>
<p>Nightingale had a lot of questions that she wanted to ask. For example, what kind of father would cultivate a daughter full of strange thoughts? But she knew it was not the right time to talk, as Wendy might die at any moment. She was happy to get a hand from Lightning since she was not an enemy.</p>
<p>"Is your ability flying?"</p>
<p>"Uh-huh." Lightning nodded. "Even if I carry both of you, I can fly like the wind."</p>
<p>"Then I'll have to trouble you." Nightingale quickly bound Wendy on her back and climbed onto Lightning's back, hugging her tightly.</p>
<p>"Ugh... you're so heavy." Lightning gritted her teeth and rose slowly. "Maybe I won't be as fast as the wind."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>They hurried toward Border Town. When Lightning was exhausted, Nightingale would carry her under her arm to walk through the Mist and when Lightning had recuperated her vigor, she would fly with Nightingale on her back.</p>
<p>Only when both of them were exhausted would they stop to take a short rest. At that point, Nightingale would ask Lightning some basic questions about things like her father and her family.</p>
<p>Lightning claimed that her father was the greatest explorer in the world, who left his footprints everywhere. He owned an ocean fleet and was kindly addressed as "Thunder" by the crew. Lightning lost her mother when she was little, so she did not have much memory of her. In a violent storm, her father's ship hit a rock and sank, and then she was carried to a small island by the ocean currents and lost contact with her father. With the knowledge and skills taught by her father, she managed to live on the island alone for nearly two months. When winter came, she awoke as a witch.</p>
<p>After that, she flew all the way to the west and arrived in the Southern Territory of Kingdom of Graycastle through the strait. She wandered here and there, and finally joined the Witch Cooperation Association. She believed that, as long as she kept exploring, one day, she would be able to meet her father in some wonderful land... if he was still alive.</p>
<p>Nightingale failed to acquire much useful information from what she said. With her ability, she could only tell whether someone was lying or not, but she could not judge the objective truth of the words. In other words, if someone said that the sun was square and did not doubt it, then her ability would still show that they were telling the truth.</p>
<p>Anyway, she could guess from some of the information, that Lightning must have been born in a rich family. People who were struggling with poverty would not have the time to explore. In addition, the fact that her father owned an ocean fleet further confirmed it. So Thunder was probably a wealthy ocean-crossing businessman. Besides, Lightning's blonde hair showed that she might come from the Fjords across the sea rather than from one of the kingdoms on the continent.</p>
<p>Wendy woke up several times, drank some water with Nightingale's efforts, and then she quickly fell unconscious again. Nightingale was increasingly anxious. She felt that Wendy's body was becoming colder and colder.</p>
<p>Nightingale and Lightning took turns to hurry forwards, and it took them one and a half day to finish the three-day-long path. At the entrance, the horse given by the prince was still tied to the ground, and the heap of straw in front of it was half eaten.</p>
<p>Without catching her breath, Nightingale mounted the horse with Wendy on her back and rushed toward Border Town, with Lightning flying after her.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 60 - Arrangements</h2>
<p>The second recruitment in Border Town went much more smoothly. Thanks to the winter food rations, the members of Militia were given a larger amount of better-tasting food. Many would save their bread and dried meat, and gave them away secretly to their families on visitation day each week. Roland told Carter and Iron Axe to turn a blind eye, but nevertheless, it became known when families happily talked about the food they brought home.</p>
<p>In the first place, a military force comprised of civilians was an excellent chance for publicity. The word-of-mouth approach became even more effective than any announcement the City Hall could make. Most people in Old District were well aware of the Militia organized by His Royal Highness by now, where the soldiers were paid a high salary and fed three meals a day. The fighting with the demonic beasts was also not as dangerous as they had imagined. Thus, more candidates from Old District showed up compared to the first recruitment. There were even some residents from New District who came to sign up.</p>
<p>There were more candidates that met Roland's requirements than he had anticipated. The second Militia was thus expanded to 200 soldiers. Carter was appointed to helm their training. When the horn sounded, the new recruits made their way to the city wall and were on the standby as an auxiliary force.</p>
<p>Chief Knight Carter and Assistant Minister Barov raised objections to this. The first Militia was already a force capable of fighting demonic beasts, making the recruitment of a second Militia unnecessary in their eyes. Never mind the fact that the size of the second Militia was twice the size of the first one. The higher food rations and salaries of the soldiers also led to a hike in their financial expenditure. What was worse was that the gold royals they spent did not give them any significant returns.</p>
<p>But Roland insisted on his decision.</p>
<p>That was because these people were not recruited to fight demonic beasts.</p>
<p>At the moment, he dared not to tell his men about the plan he had in mind. He wanted to conquer the stronghold before the duke could attack Border Town, but he worried that Carter and Barov would completely shut down his idea.</p>
<p>Unlike Border Town, Longsong Stronghold was the official border of the Kingdom of Graycastle. Its city walls were 10 meters high, built of bricks and stone. The duke and the six noble families of the Western Region were stationed in the inner city, so they could mobilize about a thousand soldiers at any given time. In theory, it was impossible to conquer the stronghold with his Militias made of fewer than 300 soldiers—even if they were equipped with flintlocks, a technology invented in a different era.</p>
<p>Besides, the witches could not serve as their secret weapon of decapitation due to the God's Stone of Retaliation; Roland had confirmed this with Nightingale several times. Duke Ryan and the six noble families must have spared no efforts in purchasing the stone—naturally, this was done in the name of donation. It took several dozens of gold royals for them to trade a single stone, which could seal the power of the witches within a certain range and hence acted as the most powerful weapon against the demons. The stones were thus the biggest annual income source for the church.</p>
<p>Roland's only chance was open warfare.</p>
<p>Most of the armies kept by the lords in this era were conscription-based, where most soldiers were drafted just before the war. To prevent runaway soldiers, the lords were forced to lead them to the battlefield personally. This gave Roland an excellent opportunity to implement his annihilation plan. However, he was still unsure how to seize this chance. After all, his knowledge of war strategies came from movies, television, or historical stories. He had no firsthand experience with them.</p>
<p>Since he could not figure it out, he thought he should focus on the things he was good at instead.</p>
<p>He stretched lazily and left his office, heading towards the wooden shed in the backyard.</p>
<p>The assembled Steam Engine II stood quietly in the middle of the field. Upon first glance, it looked more polished than the previous version and the welding marks were evener. Thanks to Anna's new ability, her green Heart Fire could penetrate into the tiny gaps for welding, allowing the individual parts to fit better than their last attempt.</p>
<p>In addition to a better appearance, Steam Engine II also functioned more efficiently, thanks to a newly equipped centrifugal governor. Its existence was remarkable as the first automatic control system and feedback system in history. The structure of centrifugal governor was very simple, consisting of two thin hinged rods, each with an iron ball at the end, and one rotating spindle. It looked like the bamboo dragonfly, a toy for children. When the bamboo pole was rubbed between hands, the two rotating blades would rise into the air because of the centrifugal force.</p>
<p>As for the centrifugal governor, the two iron balls acted like blades. When the steam engine worked, the spindle would rotate. If the engine output was high enough, the balls would spin faster and gradually rise under the influence of the centrifugal force, leading the rods to reduce the aperture of a throttle valve. When the output lowered, the balls would spin slower and fall because of gravity to increase the valve output again. This would keep the steam engine running with a near-constant output.</p>
<p>Now that it was speed-controlled, Steam Engine II was able to take on sophisticated tasks.</p>
<p>And the gears produced by the blacksmith now sat neatly in the corner of the shed.</p>
<p>Going by modern assembly line standards, none of the gears would pass the quality check and would be thrown into the defective bin, waiting to be recycled. But in this era, they were rare artistic works—the involute design of the gears carried an inherent sense of harmony, and the gears emitted a unique metallic sheen after being immersed in lard.</p>
<p>Besides the gears, the carpenters had prepared the foundations, caps, as well as other parts. He sent the guard outside for Anna, so that they could begin assembling the first steam-driven boring machine together.</p>
<p>In Roland's plan, this was the most effective way to mass-produce flintlocks.</p>
<p>If he had relied on the work of blacksmiths, the manual production of a single gun barrel would be time-consuming. But with the boring machine, they could directly drill the barrel from the casted iron bars. In one day, they would be able to produce more than ten barrels.</p>
<p>With a change in the cutter, the boring machine could also be used to cut rifling. Fitted with rifling, the flintlocks could be fired with even greater accuracy.</p>
<p>With how things were going, he was sure that he could arm his two Militias of nearly 300 soldiers by the end of winter.</p>
<p>However, Roland still could not guarantee that, in the face of charging enemies, his soldiers would be able to calmly load, aim, and shoot their targets, rather than dropping the weapons and running away. The two Militias had only been in training for a short period of time and had no experience in battling human beings after all.</p>
<p>Thus he had to bring out an even more powerful weapon that could obliterate the enemy before they could start their own assault.</p>
<p>That weapon was cannon.</p>
<p>As the Lord of War in the history of warfare, the lethality and deterrence force cannons commanded were incomparable to flintlocks. A six-pound field cannon had the range to attack the enemies before they could gather. The mixed-up armies of this era would not be able to keep their discipline under the constant attack of the cannons. As long as Roland could equip his Militias with three or four cannons, his enemy would not even have the chance to charge at them.</p>
<p>He had made his arrangements step by step—after he had invented the manual milling machine, he processed suitable gears that he used to build the steam-driven boring machine on the basis of speed-controlled Steam Engine II. And with the boring machine, he could produce a variety of gun barrels and cannon barrels.</p>
<p>There were at least two months before the Months of Demons ended. If his plan worked, the Militias of Border Town would have the ability to compete with the duke's troops in an outright battle.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 61 - The Return</h2>
<p>As Roland squatted on the ground to install the base, three figures suddenly emerged out of nowhere, staggering upon landing, and together falling torwards the ground.</p>
<p>Anna was startled. A cluster of green flame rose up and transformed into a wall of fire, blocking those figures.</p>
<p>Roland looked up and found that one of the women was Nightingale after the long separation. Her appearance looked so discomfited that her cheeks were abnormally red. While the frigid wind was obviously blowing outdoors, her forehead was covered with dense beads of sweat.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, please call Nana to come. Hurry up!"</p>
<p>She looked up as she exclaimed in palpable anxiety.</p>
<p>Roland had noticed that the woman on her back had a pale face and her eyes were closed, half of the arm was missing, and the crimson blood was seeping through the cloth that wrapped the open fracture.</p>
<p>"Cardin, go to the hospital and bring Nana here!" He shouted at the guard near the door, with a tight heart.</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness!"</p>
<p>Other than the two people, there was a little girl tucked in Nightingale's armpit. She appeared to be nothing serious, and her eyes looked around curiously.</p>
<p>"Are you okay?" Roland went up and untied the cloth belt from Nightingale's back, and removed the woman with the broken arm.</p>
<p>"I'm all right, Your Highness, cough... Sorry. I didn't bring the sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association back," Nightingale gasped, in a weak voice. Apparently she had experienced a long journey that made her exhausted.</p>
<p>"Don't say anything. First, take a good rest," Roland said as he picked up the unconscious woman who had been seriously injured and let Anna hold Nightingale. The five people went back to the castle. Nightingale's room was next to Anna's. He ordered the maid to fire up the furnace and prepare a vat of hot water in the room. After Nana's arrival, he explained about the issue before she healed the wound, and stepped out of the room when he finished.</p>
<p>As long as she was not dead, Nana would be able to recover her from her wound as usual. To keep her life, the problem was not serious. Nightingale also brought back the woman's broken arm to reconnect it. However, the arm had lost blood for a long time. He did not know whether it was possible to connect it back. The next steps would involve undressing to conduct the cleaning and treatment. As a well-educated man in his previous life, Roland consciously chose to avoid it and left the room.</p>
<p>"But how could things go this way?" He thought, "Was the camp of the Witch Cooperation Association attacked by the demonic beasts, and only three people managed to escape? If that was the case, it was surely a great loss."</p>
<p>He was lingering uneasily outside the door. About half an hour later, the door was opened. The first one to get out of the room was the little girl who had come in good condition with Nightingale. She nodded towards Roland, "You're exactly what Nightingale said."</p>
<p>"..." Roland was slightly puzzled, "What did she say about me?"</p>
<p>"A prince who cares about the witches". She gently shut the door, "Unfortunately, the news was too unbelievable. Most people of the Witch Cooperation Association didn't believe her. In fact, I didn't believe her either. But my dad had said that the world is so big with various types of people. I'm Lightning, Your Highness. Nice to meet you," she said as she bowed her head, with her right hand on her left shoulder—that was probably a way of saluting.</p>
<p>But Roland was not concerned about it. He keenly captured the phrase "most people did not believe her". "Has the members of the Witch Cooperation Association been attacked by demonic beasts?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>"Attack? No... Why did you ask this question?" She touched her forehead with her index finger, and then revealed a sudden expression, "Ah, I understand! You're referring to the big sister with a broken arm. She's Wendy. She was hurt by Cara, the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association," Then, Lightning roughly told the whole story.</p>
<p>Roland was silent after hearing this. It was so... unbelievable, he thought. He had really underestimated the brutal oppression of the witches in this world. "Accumulatively over the years, the witches' distrust towards the church and the nobility had reached its peak. According to Lightning's story, the priority by the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association, after gaining enough power, might be to eradicate people like me."</p>
<p>But fortunately, Nightingale had safely returned.</p>
<p>Not only that, but even two witches were brought back to Border Town. As for the project of building houses for the witches, Roland thought it over and decided to let Karl go on. "We may not need it now, but we'll get more witches in the future," Roland thought to himself.</p>
<p>"Are you a member of the Witch Cooperation Association?"</p>
<p>"No," she replied, "Like Wendy and Nightingale, we've already left the Assosciation. It's impossible to go back. Cara must hate us bitterly."</p>
<p>"Will she be able to survive after being pierced by Nightingale" Roland asked, frowning.</p>
<p>"Probably. There's a witch called Leaf, who can increase the effectiveness of herbs several times," Lightning expressed her thought, "With the more usage of hemostatic grass and blood agent, it should not be a problem to save Cara's life. But compared to your witch, the effect is far worse."</p>
<p>"It's really a hassle," he thought to himself, "It isn't a worry to be targeted by the Church, but it may be a bit ironic to be aimed by witches. Fortunately, the adversary's purpose is to find the Holy Mountain, and now they shouldn't have enough time to trouble Nightingale."</p>
<p>"You said it before that you didn't really believe in Nightingale. Then why did you escape with her from the Witch Cooperation Association?"</p>
<p>"Because of the black machine wheezing white gas, and the gray powder able to turn into a stone after making contact with the water, and the snow exploding with a thunderous sound!" Lightning repeated Nightingale's words, "The prince that is kind to the witches may not exist. But she should not have lied about all of these to me. Otherwise the story could not have been made so lifelike—it's an explorer's intuition. By the way, the big block I saw in the yard just now, was it the black machine able to blow white gas? Nightingale seemed to call it... the steam engine?"</p>
<p>"An explorer?" Roland automatically ignored the last question.</p>
<p>"Yes, an explorer," she repeated the word emphatically, "That's why I chose to follow Nightingale here, and the explorer is curious about all of the unknown."</p>
<p>"..." Roland secretly sighed, "Is it the young people's frivolity? In this era, the people pursuits other than survival must be born in a rich family. Look at her tomboy's dress and short golden hair." "Are you sure you're not called Ezreal?"</p>
<p>"Who is that? I'm called Lightning," said the little girl.</p>
<p>Slightly after that, Anna and Nana pushed the door open and came out.</p>
<p>"How's it going on?" asked Roland, "Is the treatment going well?"</p>
<p>At the sight of Nana's nod, he breathed a sigh of relief. "In general, the broken limbs should be connected within six to eight hours. Beyond the time limit, the success rate of surgery would be greatly reduced. Lightning said that they had spent nearly a day rushing towards here from where they were hiding. During this period, the limb's open fracture was in a state of gradual atrophy. The conventional surgery has almost no way to engage with the nerve. I can only say that Nana's treatment ability is really excellent."</p>
<p>The little girl also looked a bit tired. The treatment seemed to have consumed a great deal of her energy. Roland encouraged her, "You have been working hard. After dinner today, you may go to bed with Anna."</p>
<p>"Of course, that includes Tigui Pine too," he thought.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 62 - The Oath</h2>
<p>After all the chaos today, Roland no longer had any mood to assemble the steam boring machine. Instead, he ordered the cook to prepare a particularly luxurious dinner and serve unlimited plates of black pepper steaks and fried eggs. It was enough to stuff Anna and Lightning silly. Even Nana, who tried her best to maintain a proper etiquette, had her lips stained with grease at the end of their dinner. Roland also asked the maids to place stewed shredded pork and wheat porridge in the insulated porcelain and send it to Nightingale's chamber to make sure that the food was still warm whenever they woke up.</p>
<p>Once dinner was settled, it was time to decide their accommodations. Fortunately, the previous lord was a pompous person and had his castle built in the standards of a medium-sized town, despite only governing over a budding town. To describe it in Roland's terms, it was a three-story villa with an executive suite, equipped with towers at its four corners. Coupled with a parvis and a garden in the backyard, the castle covered an area of 900 square meters.</p>
<p>He arranged for Lightning to stay in the chamber opposite Anna's. The next one was left for Wendy after her recovery. When he saw Nana sticking to Anna like a piece of sticky candy as they entered the chamber, Roland could not help laughing and shaking his head.</p>
<p>Roland poured himself some ale after returning to his office. The change in plans was swifter than he had expected. He had expected that Nightingale would bring him more witches that would help him strengthen all branches of technology, such as chemistry, agriculture, and biology. But he had underestimated the hostility that the leader of Witch Cooperation Association harbored against nobles. Witches who were neutral, like Nightingale and Lightning, were rare exceptions. As for Wendy, Lightning explained she had no intention to leave the Witch Cooperation Association. But after Wendy was attacked by the Snake Witch Cara while trying to rescue Nightingale, she was forced to.</p>
<p>[If there are only two witches, then so be it,] Roland thought, as he knocked back his ale. [It's better than having none.]</p>
<p>During the dinner, Roland had inquired about Lightning and Wendy's abilities. He learned that Lighting had the ability to fly like a bird, while Wendy had the power to manipulate the wind. These abilities, Roland believed, would contribute little to the development of technology. However, they would be a great help in the upcoming war if used wisely.</p>
<p>Moreover, he found out that the powers of the other witches at the camp were varied and random. He could still come up with scientific explanations for some of those powers, but the rest was completely inconceivable.</p>
<p>Take the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association, the Snake Witch Cara, as an example. She could condense her magic power and mold them into snakes. The snakes were not only tangible but also aggressive. The different snakes carried different venoms. As far as Lightning's knowledge went, those venoms were enough to either paralyze or kill.</p>
<p>However, be it Anna or Cara, witches' powers were confined to a close fight. Anna's green fire could only reach as far as five meters, while Cara's snakes would lose their power if they strayed too far from their master. Nightingale and Lightning's powers were even more restricted—they were effective only through physical contact.</p>
<p>Thus, facing the army of the church equipped with crossbow bolts and God's Stone of Retaliation, all they could do was to scatter and run.</p>
<p>Having spent most of the night in his office, the flame in the hearth gradually dimmed as it reached midnight. Roland sneezed and was about to go to bed.</p>
<p>When he opened the door, something unusual caught his sight—like the last time, he saw a girl sitting by his bedside. Half of her figure was enveloped in darkness, her shadow reflected on the wall like a mural. But it was different this time. Instead of her usual robes, she was dressed casually. And unlike the first time he met her, he now knew her face enough to tell who she was at a glance.</p>
<p>It was Nightingale.</p>
<p>Roland became nervous. Could it be that his good fortune was here?</p>
<p>Noticing the prince's entry, Nightingale stood up and walked over to him. She had recovered a lot in the brief time she had rested. Rosiness took over the paleness in her cheeks, and her hair had recovered its shine. He had to admit that the ability of witches to heal themselves was extraordinary.</p>
<p>"You've suffered." Roland coughed, breaking the silence. "Why don't you take more rest? I've heard everything from Lightning."</p>
<p>Nightingale shook her head.</p>
<p>Roland could tell something was off, for her face was solemn and her eyes were full of indescribable persistence. The resoluteness that was rare even on a man's face made Roland realize that she seemed to have made a decision. He hid his other emotions and waited for her to speak.</p>
<p>Yet Nightingale remained quiet. She drew a deep breath and kneeled, raising her dagger in her palms above her lowered head. This was the greeting manner of knights and nobles who wanted to pledge their fealty to their superior.</p>
<p>"Prince Roland Wimbledon, I swear an oath to you in the name of Nightingale and Veronica," she said bluntly. "As long as you treat witches well, I swear to serve you, whether as a shield against demons, or as a blade piercing the darkness. I swear my loyalty from this day to the end of my life, without fear and regret."</p>
<p>[I see,] Roland thought. [After the Witch Cooperation Association disappointed her, she's hoping I would lead the witches.] As a time traveler, Roland ought to reject her. He preferred working together via employment or partnership, or even better, comradeship with the same dreams and ambitions.</p>
<p>Yet he knew it was pointless to harp on equality and freedom. Without soil suitable for growth, planting seeds was a worthless act. As a prince, he could never deviate from his aristocracy before he united the entire kingdom.</p>
<p>After a moment of silence, Roland took the dagger and tapped her shoulder three times with the flat side of the sword. "I accept your fealty."</p>
<p>Nightingale's shoulders trembled slightly, as if she could finally relax.</p>
<p>Roland reached out his right hand to her.</p>
<p>Nightingale took his hand and kissed it gently. Thus, the accolade came to an end.</p>
<p>Although it was strange for a witch to swear her loyalty, Nightingale's ability to do so showed that she was at least not lowborn. She had even mentioned the name Veronica... "Is that your true name? Without your family name?" Roland asked, pulling her up.</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Highness. I don't mean to hide it from you. I left the Gilen Family five years ago and have nothing to do with them since," Nightingale answered calmly. She had let down the last of her walls around Roland and gave him a brief explanation of her past.</p>
<p>She was born in Silver City, named after the silver mine there. Her father was a viscount while her mother was a lowborn. Though such a marriage was uncommon, they lived a happy life together. Nightingale had a younger brother named Hyde. She grew up in Silver City, where she spent the happiest time of her life.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 63 - The Story of Nightingale's Past</h2>
<p>Before long, things changed. When she was 14, the refugees rebelled in Silver City while her parents were out doing charity work. Her parents never came back. Nightingale and her younger brother were sent to his father's brother, another branch of the Gilen Family.</p>
<p>In the winter of the same year, Nightingale awakened and became a witch.</p>
<p>With great care, she hid her power, but yet the old Gilen discovered it anyway. He took her brother away, and with her brother's life, he threatened her to follow his command.</p>
<p>Nightingale had no choice but to obey. After being trained by the members of the Thieves Guild invited by the old Gilen, she had to do illegal things for him, which included stealing the contracts and papers from the houses of his business rivals, eavesdropping on the meetings of the City Hall, and, what was worse, even poisoning the water in wine glasses or water tanks of his potential rivals.</p>
<p>The business of the Gilen's boomed, but yet the old Gilen treated her worse. He beat her whenever he felt bad. She was often locked in a room closed with steel bars and was forbidden to go out unless she was outside under his order. What confused and hurt her most was that her younger brother barely visited her. She started to suspect that her younger brother had been murdered by the old Gilen.</p>
<p>As Nightingale pleaded over and over again, the old man finally brought Hyde over, who, on the contrary, despised her and wished that they were not siblings. He told her to go to hell and live with demons as a witch should do.</p>
<p>Nightingale was shattered to hear it, yet the nightmare wasn't over. The old Gilen told her a truth that hit her harder — it was Hyde who informed him that she was a witch in order to get away from her, the farther the better.</p>
<p>After sending Hyde away, the old Gilen warned her grimly that whenever she disobeyed him, he would secretly kill her younger brother, who would inherit their father's title when he came of age.</p>
<p>In despair and deep grief, Nightingale became a puppet of the Gilen Family. In the year when she was going to pass to her adulthood, she came across Wendy who, perhaps, had found her on purpose.</p>
<p>Nightingale's broken heart, in little sparks, began to light up again when she heard of the Witch Cooperation Association that had witches who suffered as much as her and yet still fought for a better life.</p>
<p>It did not take her long before she transformed from confusion to determination. A week after they had met, she survived the torture on the Day of Adulthood, and her power improved tremendously. She found out that the Mist was more than a form of concealment and no bars would block her way anymore.</p>
<p>One night after she healed from the torture, she walked into the old Gilen's chamber like a ghost and cut his throat with a dagger. Seeing the blood spurting out and his breath turning staccato, she was surprised to find herself more peaceful than she had imagined.</p>
<p>After that, she left the house with little concern for her younger brother, Hyde.</p>
<p>She and Wendy started their quest for the Witch Cooperation Association.</p>
<p>After the story was finished, Nightingale waited a moment, and seeing the prince was still deep in the past story, she took off. It took Roland a long time to revive. Indeed, every witch had a long story of suffering, and those who survived to reach their adulthood must truly be the best.</p>
<p>How lucky he was to become a prince through time travel.</p>
<p>The next morning, Roland visited Wendy in Nightingale's chamber.</p>
<p>Wendy looked much better after a night's recovery, and her reattached arms also regained color. She struggled to bow to the prince regardless of the weakness.</p>
<p>"I've learned of your story. Thank you for saving Nightingale's life." Roland pulled out a piece of parchment and came straight to the point. "There's no doubt that Cara would never accept you as one of them again. I hope you can settle in Border Town and serve me. Please sign the contract if you agree. Your payment is the same as Anna's, one gold royal per month."</p>
<p>"Your Highness..." Nightingale blinked trying to say something, but she held back.</p>
<p>Roland knew what she wanted to say. Nightingale did not want him to push Wendy to make the decision so hastily, for Wendy had changed her life and saved her once again in the Impassable Mountain Range. She believed that Wendy would certainly change her mind and back Roland after living in Border Town for some time.</p>
<p>"I didn't want to raise this subject so hastily, but danger grows as things delay." Roland paused for a moment. Wendy did not interrupt, waiting for him to go on. "I guess, maybe I know the method to help witches detach themselves from the torture of the Day of Awakening."</p>
<p>Their expressions changed, at the same time. They asked, "What?"</p>
<p>"It's just a guess with no firm proof," Roland said, waving his hand. "Witches suffer less at the camp than in exile. The only difference between them is when in exile the witches hide their identities and powers for the fear of being revealed, and when at camp they have to keep using their power to run the camp."</p>
<p>Wendy nodded. "You're... right."</p>
<p>"Anna has trained herself every day since she lived in the castle. She even exhausted her power and sank into a coma before the Day of Adulthood. She passed through the hardest barrier safely before waking up, unscathed."</p>
<p>"So I believe that this is the key to dispose of the Demonic Torture. If we liken a witch's body to a vessel that holds her power, the power grows with her, and when the gross power exceeds the volume of the vessel, it'll counteract and harm her body. In the Months of Demons, the power in the body hits the top."</p>
<p>"So if a witch can constantly release her power and keep it on a safe level, the torture will ease a lot or diminish on the Day of Awakening." Roland paused, and then went on. "As the Lord of Border Town, I can offer witches the places, where you could release your power freely without being arrested, charged, or being executed directly. If I'm not wrong, there's no doubt that Border Town is the Holy Mountain you've been seeking for so long."</p>
<p>Since they were born, witches were taught that the dangerous power was given by demons. Some slightly enlightened witches viewed the power that would bite the owner as a curse. It was an infinite loop, which meant that the less time you use the power, the more serious the feedback damage became. But Roland, who had traveled back in time, viewed the power in an opposite way. Having learned from the memory of Prince Roland and excluded the existence of true god, he simply treated the power as an energy that the witches could control with their own will.</p>
<p>Wendy was silent for a long while before she asked, "What do I need to do... if I sign the contract and come to your service?"</p>
<p>During centuries, due to their unique powers, some witches were secretly chained and used as consumables by some men of ambition. The stern ban on it enforced by the church did not hold back those men's claws. They enslaved the witches with no mercy, and what happened to those who were no longer valuable was appalling.</p>
<p>Roland certainly heard about those things, but he had a long-term view and wanted more. He wanted a win-win sustainable development system. He smiled and answered, "The first thing you need to do is train your power over and over again until the moment you could fully control it. Just like Anna."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 64 - Curiosity</h2>
<p>Three days later, in the castle garden.</p>
<p>"Sister Anna..." Nana pulled Anna's sleeve.</p>
<p>"Yes?" Anna turned her head.</p>
<p>"Did you notice Nightingale... has been acting a bit strange lately."</p>
<p>"Strange?" Anna paused for a bit. "Are you referring to her dress?"</p>
<p>Nightingale stood beside Roland. She was not wearing her usual strangely decorated cope which she did not seem ever to wash or change. Instead, just like Anna, she was wearing the bizarre outfit that Prince Roland invented. Although Anna did not want to admit, Nightingale's slim and tall body indeed amplified all the merits of that outfit—her well-proportioned legs, skinny waist, and that long curly hair. Collocated with the clock and peaked cap, she would have caught everyone's attention.</p>
<p>"I'm not talking about the clothes," Nana mumbled, "Don't you feel that the way she speaks to Prince Roland and the way she looks at Prince Roland are very different now?"</p>
<p>"Is it?"</p>
<p>"..." Nana quirked her lips. "Alright, Sister Anna, don't blame me for not warning you."</p>
<p>[What the hell?] Anna shook her head and paid no attention to Nana. Instead, she focused her attention on the two new witches.</p>
<p>The one named Lightning looked about similar age as Nana, but her style of dressing was distinctly different. Anna roughly counted that there were at least 12 sewed pockets on Lightning's coat.</p>
<p>As of the other witch Wendy, she was wearing casual outfit instead of the same decorated cope of Nightingale that Wendy wore on her first arrival. There was one aspect of Wendy that especially caught Anna's attention. It was that the size of Wendy's breasts was rather... impressive.</p>
<p>"Since all of you agreed to sign the contract, then let's begin our first training." Roland was now doing the tasks with ease as he had the experience in training the previous two witches. "Lightning, you first."</p>
<p>"Okay!" Lightning raised her hand and walked out of the shack.</p>
<p>There were flurries of snow outside with no wind, the young girl easily floated to the midair and waited for Roland's next instruction.</p>
<p>"Try to fly as fast as you can!" Roland raised his head and said out loud.</p>
<p>"Aha, here we go." She made a thumb signal, positioned into a running pose, and then started to run around the castle swiftly.</p>
<p>Roland estimated that the speed was about 60 to 80 kilometers per hour, based on his experience of driving on the highway every year when he went back to his hometown. The speed was not fast, similar to the airspeed of pigeons. However, it was impressive that she was able to carry both Nightingale and Wendy along when she flew to Border Town.</p>
<p>What was the idea of being able to carry 100 kilograms of weights when taking off? Roland imagined a piston engine that was carrying 100 kilograms of aerial bombs.</p>
<p>However, the following experiment broke his wonderful illusion</p>
<p>As the weight was exceeding 50 kilograms (about 110 pounds), Lightning's flying altitude drastically dropped from the previous flying altitude of 100 meters to only about 10 meters. When the weight was added to approximately 100 kilograms, Lightning would barely fly up to 2 meters.</p>
<p>This meant that if Roland wanted to transform Lightning into a bomber, even with explosive bags that weighed only a couple of kilograms, she would have still run into the enemies' crossbow range due to her flying altitude.</p>
<p>However, Roland soon discerned the new capability of the young girl—she would be the perfect candidate for either investigation or firing. The annihilation plan that had been bothering Roland seemed to have a possibility now.</p>
<p>When Roland was testing Lightning's power, Wendy was quietly watching Roland from aside.</p>
<p>After Wendy's departure from the cloister, she had seen countless people in her 15 years of wandering life: plebeians, farmers, artisans, soldiers, and the noble. Those people had all acted the same. They expressed their admiration and amorous feelings to her when they did not know that she was a witch. When they found out, all of their previous adornment to her would turn into abhorrence and fear, at the same time with a despicable lust that made Wendy want to puke.</p>
<p>She thought that she would have only accompanied witches in her life, and would no longer approach any men. This was the reason that she rejected Nightingale... It was not due to distrust, but rather the fear that obsessed her.</p>
<p>However, Roland Wimbledon changed her views.</p>
<p>The way he looked at her was too normal—as if he had seen for countless times. The first moment that Wendy saw Roland in Nightingale's room, she thought it was because that Roland was hiding his emotions very well. Besides, Nightingale was there too. However, in the following few days, he also had carried the same expressions.</p>
<p>Perhaps Prince Roland's standards were higher than the ordinary noble?</p>
<p>And for that roll of contract, Wendy thought that it was merely a pretentious act. However, as she was reading it, she discovered the numerous provisions that not only regulated responsibilities but also clarified her granted rights.</p>
<p>How incredible! Prince Roland was willing to take the witches. It was already very generous of him not to deprive their freedom, but he even notified their rights on the contract?</p>
<p>For instance, Art. 2.1 (it was the first time that Wendy saw such written articles), she was granted with paid vacations. According to the following definition, it meant that she could receive remunerations without having to work. The following article stated that the witch should complete the project assigned by the employer, but if the witch felt difficult in completing the project, she could propose to switch or reject it. The next article said that the employer should guarantee the security, housing, food, and remuneration for the witch. If this portion of the conditions was not satisfied, the witch could terminate the contract on her own.</p>
<p>These articles were a bit difficult to read but fully expressed their meanings. The contracted withes were not the prince's belongings. Wendy was granted with responsibilities in accord with her rights. In this contract, she felt the sincerity of Prince Roland—if it were merely a pretentious act, there would be no need to list such detailed articles.</p>
<p>Coming to this conclusion, Wendy could not help looking at Nightingale. Wendy knew very well Nightingale's personal experiences and knew her deep loath toward the noble. However, as of this moment, when Nightingale was talking to Roland, her tone and expression showed a different kind of emotion—a change that perhaps even herself was unsure.</p>
<p>It was only two month after Nightingale left the witch group and went to Border Town. Through the two months, Nightingale developed a complete trust toward this young man.</p>
<p>She would instead end with the Witch Cooperation Association to return to Border Town. In her heart, Roland Wimbledon had more possibilities than the Witch Cooperation Association in bringing the witches to their true sanctuary. The act of her respected mentor was also heart-breaking. That founder of the Witch Cooperation Association seemed to forget how hard it was for every surviving sister.</p>
<p>Wendy knew that she could not return. If fate brought her to the place, why would not she trust Nightingale's decision? Just like how she trusted her for numerous times...</p>
<p>"Wendy?"</p>
<p>"Ahh..." Wendy came back to the reality from her thoughts. She found that Lightning had already completed the capability test and everyone was looking at her.</p>
<p>She showed an apologetic smile and headed to the outside of the shack.</p>
<p>Since she had made her determination, then she should not lose to the younger generation, right?</p>
<p>At that moment, the buzzing noise of horn came from the west side. The sound reverberated among mountains and broke the serenity of the town.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 65 - The Inauspicious Omen</h2>
<p>He had heard the horn go off several times before. In most cases, it was when dozens of the demonic beasts came to assault the border. The Militia now could handle such situation with ease.</p>
<p>Therefore, Roland did not panic at all. He announced to suspend the training for today, asked Wendy and Lightning to go back to the castle for rest and Anna to escort Nana to the medical center for patients, and he himself rushed to the city wall with Nightingale.</p>
<p>Unexpectedly, Lightning opposed. "As an explorer, I have resided in the Western Region for so long but haven't even seen a large scale assault of demonic beasts. That's disgraceful and humiliating. I request to come along!"</p>
<p>Without a second thought, Roland rejected Lighting's protest and told Wendy to keep an eye on Lightning, strictly forbidding Lightning to run around at a time when the demonic beasts were assaulting.</p>
<p>He then looked at Nightingale. The latter nodded her head, grabbed his hand, stepped into the Mist, and went straight to the city wall—when Roland found out that Nightingale was able to bring any objects with her into the Mist, he soon addicted to such a transportation method. Traveling straight through roadblocks and ignoring the topography, with several meters in one step, this gave Roland the pleasure as if the world was his camp.</p>
<p>After arriving at the foot of the city wall, Roland found a vacant corner to step out of the Mist and went on the defensive line alone. The wilderness from the far side looked snowy white. He did not see a large scale assault of the demonic beasts. Was this a mistake? Not only Roland, the Militia that came afterward also had an internal discussion.</p>
<p>The prince found Iron Axe and noticed that Iron Axe was staring afar with such a solemn expression while his hand was still tightly holding the horn.</p>
<p>"Did you set off the alarm?"</p>
<p>"Yes Your Highness, please take a look..." His voice sounded much dryer than usual. "That thing is coming."</p>
<p>That thing? Roland looked afar but could only vaguely see a small black dot. It was hard to spot it even in a pure white background. According to the rules, the horn alarm would only go off when the patrol team could not adequately handle the situation. However, as an experienced hunter, Iron Axe must have had his reasons.</p>
<p>"It's a demonic hybrid." Iron Axe swallowed. "I met it six years ago."</p>
<p>[Really?] Roland frowned. Theoretically, demonic beasts would keep assaulting Longsong Stronghold until they died—they did not have intelligence so they had no idea of retreating. Longsong Stronghold had never been conquered, but it did not die and even lived till six years? An inauspicious feeling arose in Roland's heart.</p>
<p>However, the distance was so far to the point that he could only saw a black dot, but Iron Axe was able to decipher the type of the demonic beasts. That was a shockingly good eyesight. Or perhaps, Iron Axe misjudged, Prince Roland thought.</p>
<p>The demonic beast did not make Roland wait for too long. It started to move toward the city wall. Soon, everyone noticed the unique physical features of that target.</p>
<p>Unlike the massive body of the previous demonic hybrid, it looked like an enlarged feline at a glance. However, it had wings on its back that covered the sides of its body when the wings were not expanded. Its head was similar to lion's but had two pairs of eyes—if the extra pair of eyes was not for decoration, then it could notice any movements from its back without turning its head.</p>
<p>Carter and the other hunter had already loaded ammunition and prepared for combat.</p>
<p>However the lion type demonic hybrid did not rush to attack. It stopped outside of the shooting range of crossbow bolts and looked around.</p>
<p>That distance was within the effective shooting distance of flintlock, but the hit rate was almost zero.</p>
<p>After a moment, it suddenly jumped to the left side and expanded its wings, making the whole body flying to the midair. Just like what Iron Axe said, it could fly for a short distance to glide. After it got over the roadblocks, the demonic hybrid quickly ran to the west side of the city wall where nobody was guarding.</p>
<p>Roland's trepidation grew, the inauspicious omen came true. From how it observed the weakness and strength of the opponent and chose to attack the weak side, it proved that it had intelligence—that was what the wild beasts lacked. The wild animals sometimes would attack the weak side of their pray. However, such was instinctual act through years of inheritance. When facing an unknown opponent, it was impossible for the wild beasts to judge, not to mention to make a comprehensive analysis.</p>
<p>What did it mean by owning intelligence? Humans relied on the exceptional brain and outstanding resilience to climb to the top of the food chain from the cruel ecosystem. Roland was afraid to think furthermore. He waved his hand to have Chief Knight Carter accompany him. The rest of the hunters would follow Iron Axe to attack the demonic beast.</p>
<p>It ran to a vacant area, jumped and got over the city wall with ease. It moved straight to the residential area, wholly ignored the Hunter Squad.</p>
<p>"Bastard?" Roland cursed. "The Militia members from the second range of the city wall, follow me. The substitute members shall go on and guard the city wall!"</p>
<p>At this point, he could not bother to care the fact that the Militia only had fencing training. The team would most likely come apart during the movement and would be attacked by the demonic beasts. Carter led the guards to follow the prince. Every one of them had the strongest fighting capacity, and they could substitute any possible lacks. At the end of the team was the flintlock team led by Iron Axe.</p>
<p>As they entered the Old District, their views were blocked by flat houses. Besides, the roads were narrow and covered by snow, so the team had limitations on their movements. Roland had to separate the team and move around in the crisscrossed ally, hoping to find the demonic beast.</p>
<p>Roland regretted not bringing Lightning. If he had a witch to investigate in the air, then the team would not need to run around the allies with no directions.</p>
<p>They searched for about eight minutes and all of a sudden the screams of the town resident came from the deep end of the alley.</p>
<p>The team immediately adjusted their direction and moved toward the sound. Fortunately, many of the Militia members were residents of the Old District. After knowing the destination, they swiftly moved around in the narrow alley and even walked across the backyard of someone's house. When they reached the place, Roland saw someone was bitten into two pieces, and the intestine was scattered and apparently dead.</p>
<p>"Jesus... this is Iron Fork, I know him!"</p>
<p>"Damn it, did it run away?"</p>
<p>"Watch out! To your right side!" Someone called suddenly. As soon as the sentence finished, a black shadow whipped across from the right side of the wooden house with the scattering wooden fragments. It came straight through the wall of the wooden house, flew into the group, and pushed down a militia member with its claw and bit him.</p>
<p>Iron Axe was the first one to react. He raised the gun and was about to shoot, but found that the diffused Militia members blocked the alley. He had no chance to fire, so he had to squeeze through the crowd and walked to the target step by step. All the other hunters noticed this problem. They all clung their gun under their arm and jumped onto the roof of the houses.</p>
<p>Demonic hybrid did not care about the guns that were pointing at it. It expanded the wings, blocked the stabs from the crowd, and picked up the militia member that was covered in blood. However, the gun was fired when it was about to leave.</p>
<p>There were drips of dark blood on its body.</p>
<p>The demonic hybrid roared in anger after being attacked by the gun. It threw off its prey, opened wings and was about to fly into the hunter that was standing on top of the roof. At the same moment, Iron Axe squeezed out of the crowd, aimed at the demonic beast and fired.</p>
<p>The near front shooting was impossible to miss. The hot gas of the gunpowder even sprayed to the nose of the monster. The bullet went straight through the eye of its target and all the way into the monster's brain.</p>
<p>The demonic hybrid stiffened and collapsed.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 66 - The Battle of Hermes (I)</h2>
<p>...</p>
<p>Icy rain trickled down and diluted the blood-smelling air in Holy City. Alicia panted heavily, leaning on her longsword.</p>
<p>It was not the first time for her to have taken part in the defensive battles of Hermes. But it had never occurred to her that they could ever possibly lose New Holy City.</p>
<p>The city wall was completely destroyed.</p>
<p>Alicia had never seen so many horrific monsters in her life. An enormous worm-like hybrid beast scuttled from underground, with its body close to the glacial cliff and its bony claws deeply embedded into the city wall. When it had climbed to the top of the city wall, its whole body had not even fully emerged from the ground.</p>
<p>Enormity alone would not matter so much. But to everyone's surprise, the beast opened its wide mouth and spat out countless demonic hybrids, which instantly created chaos on the city wall.</p>
<p>The army that had been in order soon turned into a state of commotion under the attack of demonic beasts. The vanguard of the Judgement Army, to which Alicia belonged, were also scattered in this commotion. She saw how her companions were devoured one after another by demonic beasts, unable to help them. Warm human blood mingled with the black blood of the monsters, flowed along the cracks on the flagstone pavement.</p>
<p>As the retreat bugle call was heard, the mangonel in Holy City was also started. Stones as large as a table were hurriedly thrown down, regardless of the soldiers that still fought on the city wall.</p>
<p>Alicia remembered how a huge stone had hit Captain Dicarto right beside her. When she got up and stood on her feet again, she saw that he, along with his armor, had been crashed into the cracked pavement. His whole body looked like a creased parchment. His smashed bowels had flown out from his belly, whereas hot steaming blood had collected and formed a small puddle beneath him.</p>
<p>If she had not escaped the attack of the stone before it was too late, she thought, her end would be just like that of Captain Dicarto.</p>
<p>As for how she had escaped and retreated under the city wall, Alicia could not remember clearly. All she could remember was screaming and cursing. Everyone stabbed and chopped anyone and anything with their weapons in madness, not knowing whether they fought with demonic beasts or their own companions.</p>
<p>Out of around 100 soldiers of the Judgement Army, there were only 12 left including herself.</p>
<p>"What should we do next, Captain!"</p>
<p>"Captain Alicia!"</p>
<p>Alicia came back to her senses. Right. According to the ordinances of the Judgement Army, when a captain dies in battle, then the duty of the captain naturally fell on the shoulders of the deputy captain of the same platoon, who should lead the platoon in following battles.</p>
<p>She bit her lips until she tasted her own blood. "We'll go to the North Gate of Holy City. If demonic beasts want to attack New Holy City, they'll have to pass from there." This command meant forsaking the city wall and the populated area of the inner city, but she had no choice, for nowhere else could be more important than the pivot of the church—the Hermes Cathedral.</p>
<p>What she did not say out loud was a question that lingered on her heart, [What could she and the other 11 people do, if the glacial cliffs were incapable of stopping these monsters?"</p>
<p>[Perhaps today is the day for me to sacrifice myself for God's kingdom. May the Lord have mercy," she prayed silently and shouted at the same time, "The Judgement Army never gives up! Let's move!"</p>
<p>"The Judgement Army never gives up!" her companions echoed her.</p>
<p>The 12 ran to the North Gate in a trail formation, while the noises of fighting from the city wall died down in the sounds of wind and rain.</p>
<p>When they arrived at the North Gate, Alicia saw that quite a lot of soldiers from the Judgement Army had gathered before the drawbridge. It seemed that everyone shared the same idea, the thought of which made her feel a little better.</p>
<p>However, the drawbridge was let down even at this moment of crisis. Alicia could not help but frown. She walked to a handsome warrior in the red robe of the chief justice and saluted him. "Your Excellency Chief Justice, I'm the Captain of the 4th Platoon of the vanguard, Alicia Quinn!"</p>
<p>"I'm Tucker Thor in charge of the defense of North Gate. You have all my regard." The man nodded to her. "We've set up a rescue center behind the North Gate. If any of your soldiers are wounded, you can send them to the center."</p>
<p>"Sir, I don’t understand why we don’t raise the drawbridge. The demonic beasts on the city wall could swarm here at any minute. We must make sure that we don’t lose the inner city."</p>
<p>"Calm down, Captain. I know you and your men are unafraid of making sacrifices. But you should not sacrifice in vain. The situation is far from desperate for the church." He wiped the raindrops away from his forehead. "Await orders now at the gathering point. If Cold Expelling Pills are used up, remember to ask for them from the Supply Officers."</p>
<p>Upon hearing what Chief Justice Tucker Thor had said, Alicia found herself chilling in the wind. After the battle, sweat and cold rain had mingled and made her body freeze. Piercing wind blew in her direction and sent her trembling.</p>
<p>She took out a sheepskin pouch from her underclothes' pocket and shook the pouch with its opening down to her palm. Yet only some thick fluid dripped down. It seemed that she had crushed the pills in battle. She sighed and raised her head, only to find a Cold Expelling Pill in reddish brown color being handed to her.</p>
<p>"You should take mine." Tucker Thor smiled to her. "You can give it back when you have one."</p>
<p>Alicia did not refuse his kindness. She took the pill, bit and swallowed it. "Perhaps we'll never have the chance to eat this thing once again."</p>
<p>"Yes, that way it wouldn't be too bad." Tucker went so far as to nod in agreement. "This thing tastes way too bad."</p>
<p>Upon these words, a strong fishy smell rose from the stomach of Alicia and gushed to her head. Even battlefields with all their corpses would not smell so repelling. She felt as if what she had swallowed down was no pill at all, but a mixture of long-rotten flesh and blood. Unbearable numbness gradually came to every part of her body from the stomach. Chills were suddenly repelled. Instead, glowing warmth started to flow in her veins. Her body resumed its normal temperature while frozen sweat ran down. Her head was steaming. Her numb toes went nimble again.</p>
<p>"But it should not be today." Seeing her have swallowed the pill, Chief Justice Tucker Thor waved his hand. "God's Punishment Army is coming from the cathedral. The demonic beasts can't pass through the North Gate. Take your men to the gathering point. Remember to check if they all have the pills. They aren't supposed to follow your example and to find there's none when the pills are needed."</p>
<p>God's Punishment Army, the crack troop of the church! Alicia had heard about it for long, though she had never seen it with her own eyes. But no matter how powerful God's Punishment Army was, it could only be composed of humans. With human's bodies, no matter how hard they had been trained, there could be no chance of their beating numberless demonic hybrids easily.</p>
<p>But since Tucker Thor said so, she could only leave the North Gate with her platoon of 11 men and approached the gathering point to the west.</p>
<p>Here hundreds of retreated members of the Judgement Army had gathered. They stood dispersed in the field and let rain run down their faces. Some of them even sat on the ground in low spirit. Only a small number of them stood in formation and awaited the enemies that could appear at any minute.</p>
<p>If it had been a few days ago, Alicia would have scolded these people. But now she was confused herself. In order to build this New Holy City, countless believers had died. Every stone in this city had the blood of believers and Judgement Army spilled for it. The bishop always said that to own Hermes meant to own Kingdom of God on earth.</p>
<p>However, on this day the Kingdom of God seemed soon to fall into the hand of demon's minions.</p>
<p>"Demonic beasts are coming!" Someone yelled. "Be prepared to fight the enemies!"</p>
<p>Alicia gathered herself together and held up her long sword. Gazing at the shadows in the sky that were approaching, she shouted, "For Hermes!"</p>
<p>"For New Holy City!"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 67 - The Battle of Hermes (II)</h2>
<p>But the expected final battle did not happen.</p>
<p>Someone walked to the female warrior and lowered her sword handle.</p>
<p>"Step back," he spoke in a soft and clear voice. Alicia noticed that the other party was one of the soldiers who remained in formation. On his arm, he wore the band of Regimental Commander. "The God's Punishment Army has come."</p>
<p>She turned her head and saw a platoon of tall warriors, one after another, all clad in shiny armor from head to toe which reflected a silvery tone in rain walking through the North Gate. They all wore crimson cloaks on their backs and carried various weapons in their hands. Some held swords and shields in their hands, and others held halberds, spears or iron axes. They did not resume formation after crossing the drawbridge but joined the fight against the attacking demonic beasts directly.</p>
<p>[What kind of strategy is that! It's child's play! When faced with demonic hybrids whose strength and speed far surpassed humans, the only way to beat them is to keep the formation and fight them collaboratively. Do they want to fight the demonic hybrids individually in this way? Should I just wait aside and do nothing while the God's Punishment Army fights the monsters?] Alicia thought.</p>
<p>"We have to give them a hand!"</p>
<p>"It would be no use." That man shook his head. He looked gloomy. "We should just watch. If we step in too rashly, we can only make things worse."</p>
<p>"Make things worse?" Alicia stared at the man, exasperated. "Did I make a mistake about the man? Is he only a coward?" She held her sword handle tight and walked past him, ready to join the fight. However uncertain she felt about the future of New Holy City, all she could do was fight the enemy until the end of her life.</p>
<p>Before she took another step, the female warrior saw an incredible scene.</p>
<p>A flying demonic hybrid was swooping down from the sky. With its gigantic gray wings that stretched nearly 4 meters wide, it seemed to have come directly out of hell. It had the head of a bird with ram's horns on it and two claws with barbs that could penetrate the cuirass of any warrior.</p>
<p>They were used to attacking by vertical fall, which was covert and made defense extremely difficult. The heavy shield was defenseless in face of the pouncing force. The strong force of impact would crash the arm as well as chest bones of the one who held the shield. There would be no way to survive under that condition. The only way to deal with the fatal attack was to dodge it by rolling aside before the hybrid landed.</p>
<p>But no one from the God's Punishment Army ever dodged. A warrior in silvery armor reached out both his hands the minute before the hybrid pounced on him, he hit the hybrids claws with his own hands. The pouncing force was so great that it sounded like firecrackers. Mist rose from him and the monster. His armor also groaned under the force.</p>
<p>He lowered his body by bending his right leg and kept his back straight. The hybrid was unable to crash him at that moment. Another warrior soon aimed his javelin at this flying hybrid and a silver light darted before Alice's eyes—she saw the shattered head of the monster.</p>
<p>The former warrior tossed the dead body of the hybrid to the ground. His arm was in a crooked unnatural position. It seemed he had taken damage from the previous attack. Despite the broken arm, he took out an axe from his belt and threw himself toward the other demonic beasts.</p>
<p>Alicia could not believe her eyes when she saw how humans had been successfully resisting these monsters. Hundreds of God's Punishment Army warriors had sprung to the herd of demonic beasts. Their crimson cloaks looked like a river of blood that prevented the enemies from taking one more step. She now understood what the regimental commander meant by "making things worse". Every one of these warriors had the power to fight ten demonic beasts, for their strength, agility and speed could be compared to those of demonic hybrids—No, even better than them. Common demonic beasts would mean nothing in front of them.</p>
<p>"They're just wonderful!" Alicia beamed with happiness. With these powerful warriors, Hermes Cathedral could not be lost to the enemies. "Ah. I haven't known your name yet. I'm Alicia Quinn, a Captain in the Judgement Army. You seem to have known about the power of the God's Punishment Army?"</p>
<p>The other party looked at her with his eyes that were as cold as the icy rain. He did not tell her his name but said, "My brother is a warrior in the God's Punishment Army."</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>"We seem to have won," at the dome of the cathedral, Archbishop Mayne said with a telescope in his hands. Here was the pivotal point of New Holy City. One can easily overlook more than a half of the battlefield from here with the spyglass of fjords merchants. "Make the mangonel stop. The God's Punishment Army will soon arrive at the top of the city wall."</p>
<p>"Isn't the victory a sure thing?" the other answered. He wore the same golden archbishop's robe as Mayne. Yet his voice sounded hoary. "The most important thing is the armies of the four kingdoms are all crashed."</p>
<p>"Right. In this way, their defensive force on the border would be weakened so much," the last one among them said. She was the youngest among them, no more than 30 years old, and the only female among the three archbishops. "A standing army of 5,000 well-equipped and well-trained men plus nearly 1,000 knights. Even if one set off replenishing the force immediately from now, that would still take four to five years. Um..." She exclaimed, "What a wonderful and malicious scheme!"</p>
<p>"But to reach this end, we've lost many men of the Judgement Army. They're all core forces of the church." Mayne sighed. "If any other plan could have worked as quickly as this, I wouldn't have tossed them into this hell."</p>
<p>The old man touched his beard and said, "We have no other choice. Just like our Holy Book has told us, Wilderness Beasts have emerged. There's little time left. If we can't unite the whole continent and integrate all the forces, only doom awaits us."</p>
<p>"Doom isn't bad at all." The woman smiled provocatively. "Humans are greedy, malicious, and short-sighted. They do things which are more horrible than what demonic beasts have done. The devil in hell may be kinder than us."</p>
<p>"Heather!" The old man bristled with anger. "What you've said was heresy! Are you trying to disobey God's command?"</p>
<p>"You don't have to worry about that, Lord Tayfun." Heather shrugged her shoulders disapprovingly. "I'm the one who's in charge of the Tribunal, not you! Besides, does God command that we should survive? How do you know whether or not he would care more for the devil?"</p>
<p>"You…!"</p>
<p>"That's enough! Tayfun! Heather!" Mayne said scathingly, "That's enough for today. Later on, I'll report the whole situation to the pope. Now you should both finish your own business."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>When the two had left, Mayne stood before the French window and looked toward the north. Behind the fracture of the Impassable Mountain Range lay the snow-covered Land of Everwinter and to the west of it was the Barbarian Region, where everything began.</p>
<p>He knew that Archbishop Tayfun was right. God's Punishment Warriors were too rare. They were only chosen and trained from the ones who were most faithful to the church and had the strongest will. With almost 100 years' of efforts by the church, there were still no more than 1,000 people in this army, whose number was far from enough to fight against the demons.</p>
<p>But those were all that the north could provide. If they wanted more forces, there was no alternative to uniting the continent.</p>
<p>Of course, what Archbishop Heather said was also right. She had brought ten thousands of criminals and witches to trial. But all the trials that the criminals and witches had gone through were not half as cruel as the deliberate Pyrrhic victory of today.</p>
<p>The higher one's status was in the church, the more one could feel that God was neither good nor evil.</p>
<p>"How do you know if he would care more for the demons?" Thinking of Heather's words, Mayne could not help but laugh out loud. Only she could make Lord Tayfun sore and speechless. "It was only that", he thought to himself, "God didn't care for the people on earth, as he didn't care for the devil."</p>
<p>"He only cares for the one who wins."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 68 - The Funeral</h2>
<p>The funeral was held on a wasteland on the southwest side of Border Town.</p>
<p>It was not appropriate to call it a wasteland. Yet this piece of land that no one cared about was already surrounded by a small fence of rubble, and the wall covered with thick snow. From far, it looked like a silver lining. Although one could cross over with one foot, yet looking at it, Van'er still unwittingly thought of the border city walls - they were the same color, the same shape.</p>
<p>He heard of this ritual from traveling businessmen. When a great noble or member of the royal family member died, the deceased's family would gather at the cemetery, where sad tunes were played and people mourned before the coffin was finally buried underground. The higher the status, the more pompous the occasion would be.</p>
<p>The dead got more attention than the living. He thought enviously at the time. What happened when someone from Border Town passed away? Probably a pit would be dug and filled at the edge of the Misty Forest. Who could know if the demonic beasts would dig out the corpse and eat it during the Months of Demons?</p>
<p>Death was always familiar to the inhabitants of Border Town, especially every winter on the way to seek refuge in Longsong Stronghold. Everyone would cram together in the shacks of the slums. Dying of hunger and cold, or illness and pain, was quite normal. No one had time to be sad. It would make more sense to save this energy to beg for more bread in the city center when the dawn came.</p>
<p>But today, His Highness went so far as to arrange a funeral for a soldier!</p>
<p>It was rumored that the soldier was in the pursuit of a hybrid demonic beast when he was thrown to the ground and had half his head bitten off.</p>
<p>Van'er knew this unlucky guy, who was considered a familiar face at the Old District. He had no name and everyone just called him Ali. He had a wife and two children. The older one was about six years old and the younger barely started walking.</p>
<p>In usual cases, this family would be over. The woman could find another man. But who would be willing to take care of the two children? The two little ones could be stranded on the road so that they could learn to feed themselves. Or the mother would still keep them by soliciting clients at a bar and finally die of a variety of strange diseases.</p>
<p>But His Royal Highness seemed trying to honor his commitment when he recruited the Militia. In case of sacrifices during the war, one would not only receive all the pay, there would also be an additional compensation. What was it called again? Van'er thought, ah... yes, the pension. And this money was worth five gold royals.</p>
<p>In addition, provisions of food and charcoal would be issued every month. This meant that Ali's wife could take care of the two children even if she did not work. Well, these benefits could hardly be counted upon, but the gold royals were undoubtedly real. He saw His Royal Highness place the pensions into the hands of the chief knight, who then transferred it to Ali's wife.</p>
<p>Hell, why did he suddenly feel a little envious of Ali? No, no, Van'er shook his head repeatedly to expel these silly ideas. He did not want his wife to benefit from his death... and she most likely ended up as someone else's wife.</p>
<p>After distributing the money was the address of His Highness. It was very short, but it touched Van'er. Especially the phrase "We'll never forget those who have sacrificed their lives to protect loved ones and the innocent". After hearing this, he felt a surge of warmth in his heart. That was why recently, in addition to the bread and silver royals, he always felt he had some other pursuits—at least this winter, they survived, relying on their own hands, and not the charity of Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>The last part was the burial. Ali's coffin was placed in the dug pit. Chief Knight let everyone queue up, and every member of the Militia, whether he was a formal member or a substitute, stepped forward with a shovel to fill in a row of soil. As for queuing up, everyone was familiar with it so more than 200 people immediately formed four columns. When it was time for Van'er, he suddenly felt that the shovel became slightly heavier. The attention of his platoon members around him also slowed down his every action.</p>
<p>After he stood aside, his eyes transferred this feeling to the next in line.</p>
<p>The tombstone of Ali was a pure white rectangle stone, and Van'er did not understand a single word on it. Ali was not the first person to take residence in this wasteland. Next to Ali's was a tombstone of the same design, the top of which was covered with snow. When everyone left, Van'er saw the new Captain, Brian, pour a pot of ale slowly on the tombstone.</p>
<p>If this was his own destination, it did not seem bad. He could not help but think so.</p>
<p>"Your Highness," on the way to the castle, Carter suddenly spoke. "You did that to..."</p>
<p>"Was that inappropriate?"</p>
<p>"No." He thought and finally shook his head. "I can't tell, I just think that no one has ever treated the recruited subjects like this—they have neither title nor family background, not even surnames or names."</p>
<p>"But you still felt good, right?"</p>
<p>"Uh..."</p>
<p>Roland smiled. Of course, he knew how strongly this idea would appeal to Carter, who also saw honor in fight and guardianship. When people start thinking about for whom and why they were fighting, the platoon would undergo unimaginable changes. There was a deep significance for Carter: once honor was no longer the privilege of the noble alone, and through his training and teaching, the civilian population who had nothing could also obtain honor by defending their homes, his doubled sense of accomplishment was simply indescribable.</p>
<p>Of course, the public funeral was just a beginning, Roland thought, he still had many means that could be used to enhance the collective sense of honor, such as the design of a military flag, the composition of a military song, the choice of a model hero and so on.</p>
<p>Every kind of spirit had its own origin. Only the relentless practice day after day would instill the idea and gradually achieve results. In order to ensure the reliable operating system in the future, he even arranged a small team consisting of himself, the City Hall, the Militia team to ensure that the follow-up food and charcoal were continually distributed.</p>
<p>As things progressed, Roland felt that his burden was getting heavier. Border town was still too backward, though people's livelihood had started to get on track. There was adequate food reserve, and so far no one had starved or frozen to death. This would have been a miracle in other cities. Even in the king's city, the capital of the Kingdom of Graycastle, the winter wiped out many refugees or orphans every year.</p>
<p>But he wanted far more than that, the City Hall's operating load had already reached the limit. All financial and administrative management relied on Assistant Minister Barov and his dozen apprentices. If he wanted to further expand the department, he had to recruit some managers. He had once asked Barov if there were any capable students or colleagues left in the king's city, but he received a cold reply: "Even if there were, they wouldn't be willing to come. Your Highness, do you realize how bad your reputation is in the king's city?"</p>
<p>[Well, that sounds reasonable,] he thought unhappily.</p>
<p>Back at the castle backyard, Nightingale stepped out of the Mist and gave a warm embrace to Wendy, who was waiting outside the wooden shed. Lightning hung around the unfinished steam boring machine and once she saw Roland, immediately insisted she wanted to help assemble this automatic machine.</p>
<p>Looking at this scene, he suddenly felt that his efforts had been worth it.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 69 - Producing Cannons</h2>
<p>Four days later, a firing room was built in the backyard at North Slope Mine.</p>
<p>Two deep holes were dug in the yard, each one was round, with a narrow top and a wide bottom. The front diameter was about 20 centimeters, while the rear end was enlarged to 26 centimeters. Roland intended to use these holes to cast the mold. The hole had already been baked by Anna, and the surface of the soil was sintered into a whole like an outer shell. The chamber faced downwards so that a better wall quality could be achieved during casting. If the chamber were placed higher, more dross and bubbles would be produced. All the cave sizes were calculated by shells as he vaguely remembered that the so-called six-pound and eight-pound cannon were named according to the weight of their shells. So a few 12-pound iron balls were poured out, and the ball diameter plus barrel wall thickness were used to calculate the mold diameter.</p>
<p>Roland decided to customize the standard himself since he had no measurement tools. He intercepted a section with his own ring finger and set it as a centimeter. He then used this method to produce other sizes of iron bars and engraved the section lines.</p>
<p>A 12-pound iron ball diameter roughly measured about 12 centimeters. He set the thinnest wall with a thickness of four centimeters. The back of the chamber had its wall thickness expanded to seven centimeters, in order to prevent bombing. Thus the mold diameter could be obtained in this way. As for its length, although he knew that the cannon was measured by its caliber, he could only remember the caliber of battleships and cannon tanks. As for antique-like guns, he really had no idea.</p>
<p>He also took into account that a shorter tube, would not only be lighter but would also be cost-effective and reduce the amount of material needed. So Roland casually came up with the figure of one and a half meter, knowing that if the test results were not satisfactory, this figure could still be adjusted in the future.</p>
<p>When the cannon was first invented, it was made of iron on the wooden core and sealed with iron powder. Then it was reinforced with iron hoop, before the core would be burnt away in the borehole, just like the barrel storage. Roland knew that this type of cannon had a high risk of bombing due to gas leaking, so he decided to use the overall casting and the boring machine drilling process. As for the steam boring machine, whether it was drilling a 6-pound cannon or a 12-pound cannon made no difference in the level of difficulty.</p>
<p>He also believed that the caliber equated to justice, so he chose the 12-pound cannon which had a larger muzzle and a thicker barrel. If it got any bigger, it would not be easy to use as a field artillery. As for the weight of the shell, whether it was calculated as a shot or an iron ball was not important, as long as it could shoot out. After all, he was just drawing on the experiences of history, and not imitating everything.</p>
<p>"Let's start," said Roland taking a deep breath, facing Anna. The latter nodded, grabbed a piece of steel ingot, and hung it over the top of the hole. Green flames ignited. The ingot quickly turned red, and then melted, forming a small molten waterfall, which flowed into the hole. The steel surface was red and orange, the core became incandescent, and its brightness was difficult to look at directly. In order to protect the witch's eyesight, Roland also deliberately set up extra support for her in the hole. She only needed to determine the location in advance and place her arm on the support pad, then she would not need to stare at the liquid steel to observe whether it flowed into the hole.</p>
<p>These steel ingots were slowly accumulated over time. Anna alone would not be able to kick start the great steel making era, but producing a small batch was easy for her—once the temperature issue was solved, frying the steel would be able to produce more high-quality steel.</p>
<p>This was also why Roland dared to customize the size of the barrel. Compared to pig iron or bronze barrels, steel cast barrel was obviously stronger. Even if the size was not right, the cannon would still not bomb easily.</p>
<p>The liquid steel gradually increased, while the steel ingots were swiftly used up. Roland felt some heartache as he saw this. How long would it take before he could build a pile of chimneys and blast furnace on his domain so that he could refine an endless amount of steel? For a long time, steel production was one of the criteria to measure the power and strength of a country. He finally understood the reason for that now.</p>
<p>Anna's cheeks became glowing red after filling the two molds. Roland saw this and took out his handkerchief to dab the sweat from her nose. At the beginning, Anna showed a little resistance towards Roland's touch, but now she would stand still and allow Roland to do so with her eyes closed.</p>
<p>Her falling bangs looked red on the edges as they reflected the liquid steel, while the softness of her neck seemed to invite a nimble. As he was much taller, he could see the exposed half of her delicate clavicle. When they were close to each other, he could get a whiff of the fragrance from her body.</p>
<p>"Well, okay..." Roland put away the handkerchief and suppressed his passion. "Let's call it a day. You did well, and I'll inform the kitchen to reward you with an extra slice of black pepper steak."</p>
<p>[Not now,] he thought, [this will look like I'm taking advantage of her. Wait till she's really free...]</p>
<p>Anna opened her eyes. Although the sweat had been wiped away, her face seemed redder than before. She nodded towards Roland and gently said, "Yes."</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Over the next few days, Roland traveled between the castle and the North Slope Mine.</p>
<p>In addition to the barrel, he also needed to produce a sufficient amount of boring knives.</p>
<p>This tool for drilling was produced in the same way as barrels. The diameter and shells were exactly the same. Once removed from the mold, Anna would heat it again, and rely on hammer processing to mold it. It was very different from the shape of a screwdriver and it looked more like a blunt iron bar. The only difference was that the head had a gap knocked out for the discharge of metal debris. Finally, quenching was used to improve the hardness of the boring knife.</p>
<p>Unlike modern high-precision boring machines, Roland only needed a rod that could drill holes. Taking into account the high wear and tear rate, he and Anna made five of these simple boring knives in a week. Prior to this, the steam boring machine had already proven its ability—the production of pig iron barrels increased rapidly from 2 per month to 10 per day.</p>
<p>When everything was ready, the cannon was mined by the miners from the pit, cleared of surface scum, and transported to the blacksmith shop.</p>
<p>The two cannons almost exhausted the rolled steel accumulated by Roland. Steel was definitely a priceless commodity. During transportation, the prince ordered Carter and two knights to guard them the whole journey. Chief Knight felt arranging the extra security was not necessary. Who would steal such a heavy thing?</p>
<p>The blacksmiths carried out leveling and polishing of the appearance of the cannons at the request of the prince. After polishing, it was transported to the castle backyard. At this point, the two rounds of solid steel stick appeared dark gray and emitted a thick metallic luster.</p>
<p>Roland could not wait to put on the boring tool and put the cannons in place together with Carter. The top of the knife needed to be in the center of the steel bar.</p>
<p>Roland pulled off the steam engine door at this historic moment. The boring knife began to move slowly and it did not take long to rise to a stable speed.</p>
<p>"Come on!" the prince shouted.</p>
<p>The chief knight activated the sliding base to control the amount of contact between the cannon and the boring tool. When the head touched the barrel, the harsh noise suddenly overshadowed the roar of the steam engine. Lard was used as a lubricant and squeezed into the hole, before black foam and the metal curls gushed out. The witches there started to withdraw from the wooden shed, but only Lightning insisted on remaining. She felt that these swarthy machines were more beautiful than any scenery.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 70 - The Spy (Part I)</h2>
<p>"Groundhog" Cole looked anxiously out the window.</p>
<p>Once it started snowing in this forsaken place, it would not stop. Though the sky looked like his grandmother's unwashed bed sheets, both dirty and gray, he still had other ways to tell the hour.</p>
<p>It was the training of the Militia. As long as the weather allowed, they would run through the square in the town center every morning when the birds chirped (at 8 o'clock). This bunch of fools was doing so before the Months of Demons arrived, and continued to do so even now. Did not they know the most important thing in winter was to save their strength? When the time came for them to run for their dear life, they would probably have to ask gods to give them an extra pair of legs. But thanks to this gang of fools, he was able to estimate the time when he should depart.</p>
<p>Yes, he wanted to flee this devilish town! Although the orders of Prince Timothy were for him to keep lurking in Border Town, so as to observe the movements of Prince Roland Wimbledon and pass the information to Valencia, he did not want to stay any longer.</p>
<p>He was afraid that after half a month, he would join the residents here to become the demons' sacrifice.</p>
<p>This was not an exaggeration!</p>
<p>Since winter arrived, strange things kept happening, which the others might not have been aware of—it was not surprising as most of the town people were country bumpkins. Other than food, they did not care about anything, and they did not even care about the deities. But he was different. He was "Groundhog" Cole! Inquiring about the news and stealing intelligence was his special skill, so that was why His Highness Timothy hired him for such a job.</p>
<p>As for the city wall that came out of nowhere overnight, or the iron stick that made loud strange noises but could also defeat demonic beasts, of course, this was not the most amazing discovery he found.</p>
<p>Prince Roland was openly keeping witches!</p>
<p>Merciful God, was there anything more exaggerated than this? The prince had to be controlled by demons, otherwise, he could not think of any other explanation!</p>
<p>Even if the prince wanted to dally with the witches, he could lock them in the castle and have fun anytime. This was not the first time that Cole heard about the noble secretly hiding witches—those wanton sorceresses who nobody would care about if they died suited the strange tastes of some nobles. However, openly admitting it was another thing.</p>
<p>This was not his delusion, for he actually saw it with his own eyes!</p>
<p>Following the principle of "You worked for whoever gave you money", if the snow was not too heavy, Cole would stroll around the city wall, where he could often see the figure of Prince Roland. Originally he was surprised, what made this incompetent prince have the courage to stay in Border Town, rather than rush back like a scaredy-cat to Longsong Stronghold. But now he fully understood, Roland Wimbledon had long been possessed by the demon.</p>
<p>He saw with his own eyes that the city wall was penetrated by huge demonic beasts, the demon used thunder to attack it, then the demonic beasts that flocked forward was engulfed by the hell flames summoned by a witch. Finally, this witch also fell into the prince's arms, yet the entire Militia did not seem surprised!</p>
<p>He then heard the rumors of the neighborhood, saying that there was a witch with healing power. She cured someone's injured son and also cured some old lady who broke her leg. What blasphemous words! How could they accept the treatment of a witch? How was that different from accepting the demon's corrosion?</p>
<p>What made Cole determined to return was the incident that happened two days ago. He saw a witch fly out of the prince's castle, flying around the castle twice and flying back. The priest of the church often said that after the witch was tempted by the demon, she could get only one power. He had already seen flame and flight. Coupled with the rumor about the witch that could heal, it meant that this small town actually had three witches!</p>
<p>There was no doubt that the demon had already turned the lord's castle into the demon's party nest, and the inhabitants of the land were gradually being controlled by him. Cole had to flee as soon as possible. Anyway, he knew the secret about the rapid construction of the city wall. As long as he passed this information and the stolen alchemy powder from the city wall to Prince Timothy, he would most likely not be punished, but would even be rewarded.</p>
<p>The more he thought about it, the more he regretted not evacuating with the nobles and returning to Longsong Stronghold at the start.</p>
<p>Now that he wanted to leave, road traffic would not work, as the snow throughout the winter would cover all the roads. His only chance was by the waterway and using the merchant ships of Willow Town.</p>
<p>According to Cole's observation, on the first day of each month, ships from Willow Town would bring food over. After two to three hours of unloading and loading, it would sail away from the pier. He had to use this time to infiltrate the boat, or he would have to wait till the next month.</p>
<p>Today was exactly the first day of the month.</p>
<p>"One, two, three, four, one two three four." Right at this time, Cole heard the familiar slogan. Outside the window, a platoon of young men dressed in brown leather vests was running. If he had not long seen through the demon's plot, he would also be deceived by their youthful vigor.</p>
<p>[It's time to go,] he thought.</p>
<p>He put on his fur coat, tightened his belt and walked out of the hut. Neighbors were outside collecting dried fish, and they even greeted him. "You're going out so early?"</p>
<p>He had to say, although the Lord of Border Town was controlled by the demon, these fools' lives actually changed for the better indeed. They even dared to dry fish outdoors—if people were famished, even the dried fish that was frozen like stone, they would be able to swallow it whole.</p>
<p>Cole did not have time to reply. He looked at the disappearing Militia in the west and went straight towards the direction of the pier. Here the inhabitants took him for the brother of Iron Paddle, who came from Fallen Dragon Ridge to visit his loved ones—of course, that was all lies spun by him. Before he got rid of Iron Paddle, he asked for his name and address and pretended to be his brother to lurk in the town. As for his casually fabricated identity, he did not care if those fools believed him or not.</p>
<p>The snow on the slated road was swept a few days ago, and now it almost covered the top of the shoes. He kept a firm pace as much as possible to conserve energy—he did not worry about leaving his footprints, for it would take just one day that the snow would cover them again. Maybe after he reached Valencia, they would still be kept in the dark.</p>
<p>When he was approaching the pier, Cole saw the long-awaited sailing ship of Willow Town.</p>
<p>Bags of wheat were being moved out while cabin guards watched the area. He touched his pocket, and inside there were two gold royals and six silver royals, which was his entire belongings. There were six guards, who would not bother about the silver royals, and yet he did not have enough gold royals to share. So he had to target the porters. The stacked goods provided a blind spot; besides, he was good at knocking out and replacing a porter. If he could smuggle onto the boat, he believed that with the temptation of the gold royals, the captain would very likely be persuaded to harbor him and take him away.</p>
<p>Just as Cole was ready to act, uproar came behind him.</p>
<p>His heart secretly assumed the worst. When he turned back, he saw a few members of the militia team coming toward him while people around were moving towards him. Apparently, he had been surrounded.</p>
<p>Seeing that the attempt to escape was hopeless, Cole immediately held up his hands and knelt on the ground. In his line of work, it was important to not stubbornly resist. As long as he spilled the beans about his employer, he would generally be safe and sound, or... they would even pay a higher price to hire him instead.</p>
<p>"Do as much work as you're paid for" was also "Groundhog" Cole's principle.</p>
<p>But he did not understand how he was exposed?</p>
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<h2>Chapter 71 - The Spy (Part II)</h2>
<p>In addition to the flame in the fireplace, there was also a mahogany candle holder on Barov's table. The top was divided into four fork branches, with the one in the middle being the highest and the other three in a triangular shape. Each branch had a burning candle on it, with their quiet light like bright icy mountaintops.</p>
<p>The room was filled with the smell of pine oil. The scent of sweet and moist rotten wood made him sleepy. But in Border Town, he could not ask for more. Elegance had nothing to do with this poor land and having a house for shelter was already very good, not to mention that he now had a large group of houses.</p>
<p>His office was located in a compound not far from the castle, where the City Hall initially built by the former lord lay. Of course, the lord took all his men when he left, and now it was the assistant minister's territory.</p>
<p>The continuous rustling sound of writing and the whistling winds outside the window constituted two different worlds. Barov was struggling to write on a wooden table fully covered with books and old scrolls. There were two low-lying long tables beside him, which were hardly used and just for placing manuscripts. When it was necessary, he would call his disciples to work at the low table to arrange information or compose drafts.</p>
<p>The candle on the mahogany holder had already been changed three times. Apart from getting up to replace them, Barov did not stop writing. Time was precious for him. There was a pile of documents waiting for him to deal with, and His Highness' financial expenditure also needed to be carefully reviewed.</p>
<p>Now Barov worked an average of 10 hours a day, but he did not feel tired at all. Instead, here he was able to work freely and had unending vigor. [This was the taste of power,] he thought. He no longer had to ape his tutor's footsteps. All the disciples had to obey him. No one dared to hinder him or cause problems. As long as he completed the orders of His Royal Highness, the specific process of governance could be decided by him.</p>
<p>It would be perfect if the prince's order could be slightly more normal. Barov pouted regretfully. For example, the document in front of him that had Roland's personal seal had a request to send staff to Willow Town to recruit management personnel and also to purchase a double mast ship. The second article also specifically wrote: In view of the price, you can do without the captain, helmsmen, and sailors.</p>
<p>He did not know whether to laugh or cry after reading it. [Without these people, who will drive the ship back? Do you expect them to walk back after buying it? Why do you need to buy a boat? This is the most critical point. The trading between Border Town and Willow Town was very stable. If you want to expand the ore trade after winter, you can just ask them to increase the number of boats. Buying boats isn't a wise choice, not to mention the town's port can only be used for docking. Without any shipyard protection or sailors to manage them, it will be abandoned before long. Probably His Highness was up to his crazy ideas again, right?]</p>
<p>As for the first request, he could understand its motive.</p>
<p>Currently, everyone in the City Hall was busy. The dozen staff that Barov brought was responsible for the regulation of commerce, statistical reports and income and expenditure settlements. He himself handled the administrative and legislative services, which was obviously unreasonable. If His Highness wanted to separate these departments, he needed to increase the employees in the City Hall. This was a very normal reason, but yet Barov did not want to let go of his power so soon. Having all the power in his own hand was just too satisfying. He thought that even his teacher, the kingdom's Treasurer, was only responsible for the finances of Graycastle. But he, Barov, was the Hand of the King.</p>
<p>[Ahem, well, only effective in Border Town,] he added in his heart. Although His Highness Roland had promised this, there was still a long way to go before he could ascend the throne. Barov found that he subconsciously included Prince Roland again as a contender for the throne. In the past, he would not have thought that this noble son with bad character and lack of any learning or skills could be crowned king.</p>
<p>Since coming to Border Town, he had no end of surprises. Up till now, Border Town was under the protection of the Militia. It was standing firmly in the Western Region and looked like it would persist for a long time. This was already good enough. Coupled with His Highness' new inventions, and a good understanding of the people's hearts, he was completely different from Prince Roland back in the Kingdom of Graycastle. He resembled more a demon who had an insight into everything.</p>
<p>At this time, there was a sound of knocking at the door. Barov reluctantly stopped the business at hand, and said, "Come in."</p>
<p>Coming through the door was one of his favorite disciples, "The Writer" Jaaro.</p>
<p>"Teacher, another 'Rat' was caught."</p>
<p>"Yeah? Did you manage to find out anything?"</p>
<p>"He said he was sent by the Second Prince. We found a package of cement powder on him, some coins and a letter." Jaaro came forward, handed Barov a leather-wrapped envelope. "We're still interrogating him to get more information. Teacher, how should we deal with him..."</p>
<p>"Just like before. After interrogation, compile all the information into a book. Then sentence him as guilty and hang him," Barov said nonchalantly.</p>
<p>"Yes," said Jaaro with a bow, "In that case, I'll take my leave."</p>
<p>The door was closed again, but Barov did not go back to his work immediately. Instead, he went back to the table and used an envelope opener to take out the letter.</p>
<p>[The fourth one...] he thought.</p>
<p>Way before the Months of Demons arrived, Roland Wimbledon had called him to discuss this problem.</p>
<p>His Royal Highness believed that when the cement, new snow powder, and witches were disclosed, the spies sent by his siblings would not be able to retain their patience and would come out from hiding. This would be the best time to remove the Rats. Barov agreed with the first half of the statement but did not agree with the latter part. In his view, Border Town had more than 2,000 people, so it was impossible to monitor everyone. They did not have the manpower or time to prevent this sort of small offense.</p>
<p>His Highness refuted. "How could there be no one? Every subject of Border Town can be our eyes."</p>
<p>At that time, Barov felt it was wishful thinking on the prince's part. He wanted to let these ignorant and dull civilians monitor the possible emergence of Rats? It was completely impossible!</p>
<p>It turned out that he was wrong.</p>
<p>At the first census conducted in winter, Roland deliberately mentioned to all the indigenous people that stayed here for more than five years: Longsong Stronghold's conspiracy to burn the grain failed, but they still did not give up. They already sent enemies to lurk among the people. Most of them were disguised as relatives of the town people or businessmen that did not evacuate in time. These spies would find any opportunity to scourge everyone. If anyone saw any suspicious characters, they should report it to the City Hall immediately. Once verified, they would receive a reward of 25 silver royals.</p>
<p>This trick turned out to be surprisingly effective.</p>
<p>Although there were some false reports, it was not long before that the first Rat got caught this way.</p>
<p>At that time, Barov also remembered that Roland proudly said something quite awkward.</p>
<p>What was it? He tried to think, that's right... "Let the enemy get drowned in the sea of the civilian battles."</p>
<p>Really weird wording and syntax. Barov shook his head and spread out the letter.</p>
<p>The guy, known as the "Groundhog", repeatedly stressed in the letter that many factors proved that Prince Roland Wimbledon had been replaced by a demon. Barov could even read his fears through the lines. Associating this with His Highness' manipulation of human sentiments, Barov could not help but agree. He took a deep breath, moved the letter to the candle, and soon the paper was engulfed by the flame and turned into ash.</p>
<p>[Even it's true, he's a demon who was not afraid of God's Stone of Retaliation and able to endow him with power, right?]</p>
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<h2>Chapter 72 - The Palace Discussions in the King's City</h2>
<p>Timothy Wimbledon was sitting on the throne, with a red gemstone scepter in his hand, looking down at the ministers in the palace hall.</p>
<p>He thought this feeling was what he wanted, instead of staying in Valencia, entangled with businessmen for trivial matters.</p>
<p>When he knocked the tip of the pure gold scepter on the polished marble floor, a crisp sound reverberated. He nodded when the attention of the people was on him. "Let's begin."</p>
<p>"Your Majesty, I have something to report," Knight Weimar spoke first. He was nicknamed "Steelheart Knight", responsible for the defense of the king's city.</p>
<p>"Go on."</p>
<p>"Can we suspend the manhunt of witches? Your Majesty, the hunt is getting out of control. Yesterday, I heard that some girls from civilian families were arrested and interrogated in the dungeon. One of them actually died there. Later, it turned out that they weren't witches. Now people in the outer city are panicking. If this continues, I'm afraid people will be fleeing in droves."</p>
<p>Timothy frowned. It was him who had ordered the hunt of witches. King Wimbledon III's true cause of death was still unascertained so far, but he did not think his father would commit suicide. In particular, the strange smile prior to his death gave Timothy the creeps. The church also confirmed that the God's Stone of Retaliation on his father's wrist was not switched, making it still effective. But these things alone could not completely exonerate the witches.</p>
<p>When it came to oddness, no one was better at it than the witches.</p>
<p>He shifted his gaze to Langley, the person leading the witch-hunt and namely the minion trained by him. The latter stood up. "Your Majesty, it was just an accident. I've severely punished the personnel involved." He counted with his fingers. "The warden, the castellan, and the guards have been sentenced to 10 lashings and fined 25 silver royals."</p>
<p>"One person is dead and three cruelly tortured. But the villains are getting off with just a few whips and some fines?" Knight Weimar said coldly, "and who gave you the right to make that sentence? His Excellency Prime Minister Wyke, or Minister of Justice Lord Pilaw?"</p>
<p>"Your Majesty! At the unusual time, I have to act unusually." Langley knelt down on his knees, crying out his grievances. "Despite some negligible setbacks, the witch-hunt has been very successful. We've caught at least 15 witches lurking in the king's city. The witches are being tortured. We'll soon be able to know whether they have anything to do with your father's... no, I mean, whether there's a conspiracy."</p>
<p>Timothy glared at him. The fool had almost exposed his own intentions. Although the ministers in the hall could guess his real purpose, the word to the public should be that the first Prince Gerald had killed the king. He would not allow this point to be overturned.</p>
<p>"15 witches?" Steelheart Knight scorned in a contemptuous tone. "Very well. Originally the king's city had become the witches' battalion. A few years ago, the church captured only six members of the Witch Cooperation Association during the rounded-up hunt at the forest east of the king's city. It seemed your minions are stronger than the Judgement Army of the church."</p>
<p>"You…!"</p>
<p>"That's enough!" Timothy said. He was annoyed with the fool Langley, who had equally foolish subordinates. If he did not lack talents at the start of his throne ascension, he would not have promoted this fool. Even if he had wanted the credit, he should not have faked the numbers. These 15 people were probably the same as those hapless civilian women. He did not want the church to intervene, but there was no other way. "Go to the church and ask Priest Ferry to confirm the identity of those 15 people. Stop all the inquisition and torture. Whenever you arrest anyone, a priest's verification is required from now on. If I find out that you've failed to keep your subordinates in line again, I'll throw you into the king's city moat as fish feed."</p>
<p>"Well, yes, Your Majesty."</p>
<p>"Do it now!"</p>
<p>After asking Langley to leave the hall, Timothy turned to his treasurer. "If anyone of them is wronged, please compensate each with two gold royals, including the previous three persons. Compensate the family of the one who died in prison." He paused and added, "Give one more gold royal."</p>
<p>"As you wish." The treasurer nodded.</p>
<p>"Your Majesty is merciful." Knight Weimar also remarked, saluting.</p>
<p>"Let's move on to the next item." Breathing out turbid air, Timothy noticed his ministers were silent. "Since no one has anything to add, I'll speak." He turned towards to "Umbrella" Sir Bullet, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and said, "The recall has been issued for more than a month, but no one has returned to the king's city. What's going on?"</p>
<p>Sir Bullet was from the Flynn Family and had remained in his position for three decades. He was old with a head of gray hair, an age where one of his feet was in the coffin. He cleared his throat. "I'd like to report to Your Majesty. I've heard nothing about your third younger sister, Garcia Wimbledon. Your fourth younger brother, Roland Wimbledon, has replied with a letter. His letter said he'll consider returning after the Months of Demons ended, when his subjects are safe and sound." "But..."</p>
<p>"But what?"</p>
<p>"He addressed you as His Highness on the envelope, not His Majesty or the king."</p>
<p>Timothy could not help sneering. His hopeless brother was still as stupid as ever. If Roland would return and serve him as the king, he could give him a good fief, where Roland might enjoy wealth and honor as a prince. If he did not come back, he should prepare his deathbed as soon as possible. No matter what Roland did, he would be prepared. Roland wanted to return, but did not want to bow his head in submission. What was the use of having a silver tongue?</p>
<p>"Let him do as he likes." Timothy waved. "How about my fifth sister?"</p>
<p>"Your Majesty, she's... missing."</p>
<p>"What? What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"She initially agreed to leave with the messenger I sent. But a week later, she's gone missing along with her butler and two maids. I've ordered people to look for her. So far there's no information on her whereabouts."</p>
<p>[How did this happen? Why are they so unwilling to believe me!] Timothy felt like his heart was blocked. Originally, he had had great expectations of this sister, hoping that she would be able to assist him. After all, Tilly had performed extraordinarily smartness from her childhood, even more brilliant than him. Compared to him, she was at a disadvantage to him only in one aspect—she was a girl.</p>
<p>At first Timothy had been confident in her. From his father's arrangements, he did not intend to involve Tilly in the succession turmoil. She was to be given the domain in Silver City, near the king's city. The business and trade there were ordinary, without condition to keep soldiers. It was strange that his fifth sister would unexpectedly go missing.</p>
<p>Was this the choice of a smart person?</p>
<p>"Since she's missing, let the former lord take charge of Silver City. Keep looking for her. I can't let royal blood be stranded with ordinary folk." Gritting his teeth, he tried to suppress his upset. "Then, is my third sister the only one left to refuse to obey me?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Your Majesty."</p>
<p>"Since she's so stubborn, then I'd to take some tough measures." Timothy looked to Prime Minister Marquis Wyke. It required the agreement by both the king and prime minister to issue an order on the war. As the prime minister was his largest supporter, it should not be a problem. Timothy said, "I plan to ask Duke Joey in the Southern Territory to dispatch their troops, force Garcia to give up the Port of Clearwater, and escort her back to the king's city."</p>
<p>Sure enough, Marquis Wyke replied, "The matter shall not be delayed. Your Majesty, please issue your order as soon as possible. The minister for diplomacy will be responsible for executing it."</p>
<p>Timothy nodded with satisfaction. He was about to call the clerk to draft the document, when they heard the sound of hooves outside the hall. After a burst of noise, a knight in a blue-stripe cloak pushed the door open and marched inside.</p>
<p>Timothy recognized him, Naim Moor, the famous "Frostwind Knight". He went straight to the center of the Palace Hall, and knelt down on one knee. "Your Majesty, I've just received the news from the south." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Garcia Wimbledon, your sister, defeated Duke Joe Kohl in the Southern Territory, and occupied Eagle City! And... she declared herself as Queen of Clearwater. All the lords have responded in support to her. The Southern Territory's independent!"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 73 - The Cannon Test</h2>
<p>On the bank of the Redwater River, the west of Border Town.</p>
<p>The snow made it difficult for the carriage to move a single step. They spent half a day hauling their first field artillery out of town.</p>
<p>"What's it this time?" asked Carter, who had been accustomed to the new inventions of the prince. "A larger flintlock?"</p>
<p>"Kind of," Roland answered, and then commanded his people to remove the hook. He adjusted the angle of the gun carriage in person to keep the cannon flat and put the pole in the snow.</p>
<p>The principles of the cannon and flintlock were exactly the same, so it was very appropriate to call it a larger flintlock. The cannon could load 12-pound, solid iron balls, with the shells and gunpowder put into the front chamber and ignited with fuses. Referring to the mature designs in history, Roland instructed the carpenters to build a wooden gun carriage for it. In order to improve the durability, they also wrapped the edges of the parts with iron sheet which bore more friction with the ground and more forces when launching.</p>
<p>To make the carriage and wheels, Roland spent almost the same time as drilling the cannon bore. It took three carpenters one full week to complete them. Especially to make the wheels, with a diameter of half the height of a man, the carpenters first shaved four square timbers of equal length, and then infiltrated them and baked them with fire to bend them. Next, they whittled the groove for joggle jointing at the ends. This entire procedure alone took four days.</p>
<p>Therefore, in Roland's eyes, this handmade, 12-pound field artillery of a limited quantity was giving off a dazzling light. When the cannon was dragged out for a test, the prince made special arrangements. Besides Chief Knight Carter and Militia Commander Iron Axe, all the guards and knight apprentices also went along. 12 members of the Militia were sent to empty the venue and keep alert. In addition, he brought Nightingale and Lightning for the first time. Thanks to Nana, the prejudice towards the witches had reduced significantly and Nana herself became the person who was second only to the prince in stature.</p>
<p>"Do it according to the process, and clean the bore first." Although Roland was quite clear about the structure of the cannon, he knew nothing about the operation. He was racking his brain trying to recall the scenes of operating the cannon in various medieval movies, trying to figure out a process. However, only God would know what the actual result would be.</p>
<p>Lightning was in high spirits. She pulled out a mop-like cleaning rod from underneath the gun carriage and poked it into the muzzle. Different from the other witches' contracts, Lightning proposed that as long as she was allowed to manipulate all kinds of novelty inventions, she would like to work for Roland with no salary. In the face of this money-saving condition, Roland naturally agreed. Anyway, when it came to a secret project, he would study it secretly. There were many ideas in his mind waiting to be realized, and there would be enough for Lightning to study for a long time if he casually tossed out a few ideas.</p>
<p>She fiddled a few times, but the mop did not bring out any debris. However, according to the process, she had to clean it a second time. She took another mop and fiddled a few times again. Then the bore cleaning was done.</p>
<p>"Do you see it clearly?" asked Roland, looking at the knights and the militias. The test was also an exercise. Since the production of the flintlock had increased significantly, the Militia was bound to evolve into a regular infantry while wooden spears would be replaced by flintlocks and cannons. This required a lot of shooting training, so they would skillfully operate these two hot weapons on the battlefield.</p>
<p>Seeing that everyone nodded, he let Lightning move on to the next step.</p>
<p>Lightning took out a package of gunpowder wrapped with paper, and stuffed it straight into the end of the cannon bore with a wooden pole. Then she put a shell into the end. After that, she took out a drill pipe and put it through the fuse hole in the rear of the cannon barrel, stabbed the gunpowder package and then inserted the fuse. Thus, the launch preparation was complete.</p>
<p>To prevent accidents, everyone withdrew 30 steps and hid behind the bunker. After Lightning put the torch close to the fuse, the spark shone immediately and soon drilled into the cannon barrel in a short time.</p>
<p>Then there was a loud noise...</p>
<p>The high-speed airflow from the muzzle brought up the snow and raised a snow fog above the ground. The 12-pound cannon had a valid range of more than 1,000 meters in theory. Even if there was no rifling, the front shell would go in a straight line. The armor target, placed about 100 meters away, clanged and flew up when it was hit by the 12-pound iron ball. The speed of the iron ball did not reduce and it bounced back immediately when falling on the ground, stirring up more snow.</p>
<p>When the smoke of gunpowder cleared, Carter and Iron Axe were the first to run to the target. They found that the front of the armor target completely sunk, and the front deck was attached to the rear deck, with a palm-sized hole in its center. Obviously, the shell continued to fly forward about 100 meters after penetrating the target. Even when it fell on the ground, it kept rolling forward, showing the amazing power it contained.</p>
<p>"What a terrible penetrating force!" Carter exclaimed. He could imagine the horrors of the enemies when they gathered together and then became broken down by several shells.</p>
<p>"By the name of Three Gods." Iron Axe began to believe that Roland was the messenger of the Goddess. Except for the messenger of the Goddess, who else could play the power of the flame to such an extent? The gunpowder particle, which he had repeatedly studied, was a common flammable material as long as it was ground up into powder and ignited. The flame was the Goddess' surging anger, as well as her most powerful weapon. Thinking of the never-ending, orange fire erupting from the hole of the Southernmost Land, he had an impulse to worship the prince.</p>
<p>Roland was not surprised at the results, for the 12-pound field artillery could be described as a classic cannon. Especially the famous Napoleon Cannon, which shone in the American Civil War, fully proved that the large caliber was the beautiful truth.</p>
<p>Next, he tested the cannon's strength with different doses of gunpowder. Although he knew that it could cause damage to the cannon, it was necessary to do the tests.</p>
<p>When shooting with three parcels of gunpowder, the cannon muzzle rose and the carriage moved, but the barrel showed no obvious deformation. It seemed that the steel barrel was excellent in strength. Finally, Roland determined the standard amount of powder should be 1.2 times the amount used in the test. All that was left was to select the cannoneers and practice it over and over again.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, this weapon is powerful, but it's too heavy. If it were to run into a pit, it could hardly move," said Carter, who immediately found the shortcomings of the new weapon. "Moreover, the cannon barrel should be cleaned every time before loading. Since the cannons use more gunpowder and shells than the flintlocks, I'm afraid we need five or six people to operate one cannon."</p>
<p>"Yes, but everything is worth it. As long as we're equipped with two or three cannons, the duke... no, I mean the demonic beasts, like giant turtles, will be impossible to break through the city wall." Roland coughed and felt that was close. As for the shortcomings of the 12-pound cannon, he intended to solve that by shipping. It would be a complex and huge mechanical system to apply steam engines to steam-powered boats, even to the most primitive paddle steamer.</p>
<p>Instead of transforming them by himself, it would be better to buy two-masted sailing ships, and then quickly transport the Militia and the cannons behind the duke's troops with Wendy's control of the wind. With this, he would attack from both sides and annihilate the duke's forces.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 74 - The Shipbuilding Program</h2>
<p>"What? What do you mean we can't afford it?" Roland sat in the office, looking at the request documents to recruit more administrators and purchase sailing ships.</p>
<p>Barov cleared his throat and answered, "No, Your Highness, we can't. The price of a two-mast sailing ship is between 80 to 120 gold royals, but that's just the cost of shipbuilding. The price may be higher with crew costs. The total price is estimated at over 200 gold royals."</p>
<p>"Didn't I say that we don't need sailors or helmsmen? We also don't need a captain. We just need a ship," Roland said, hammering on the table. With Wendy onboard, he would not need so many people to operate the sailing ship. Most of the inland river boats sailed straight. It was as easy to operate as raising and lowering a flag. So the oarsmen and sailors were redundant, and any helmsman could handle that. Anyway, with the vector of wind, did he have to worry that the boat would not go forward?</p>
<p>"Your Highness, there's no such business, at least not in Willow Town," Barov explained carefully, "You may not know much about the industry. Generally speaking, the owner of the ship is also the captain, maybe a businessman, or a noble. The former will recruit the crew himself and do business or transport goods between the major towns and docks. The latter will normally recruit a deputy captain to live on the ship instead of himself. Employees aren't paid on a monthly basis, but once every one to three years."</p>
<p>"Most of the time, the ship and the crew are tied together. If you purchase the ship from the captain without the crew he hired, then he loses the hiring salary. Even for the great nobles, 80 gold royals isn't a paltry sum that can be freely shed. Including the rough gemstone trading with Willow Town from the beginning of this month, City Hall now has a total of 315 gold royals. If you spend most of it purchasing the ship, you won't be able to pay the Militia next month." The assistant minister said this without pausing, and then lifted his cup to drink his ale.</p>
<p>"You said most of the time..."</p>
<p>"Yes." he nodded. "There are two cases when the ships will be sold without the crew. The first case is that the merchant is in desperate need of money so that he'll sell his property. He'll also dismiss all the crew and then sell the ship as soon as possible. The other case is that the owner wants to buy a new ship. It's easy to understand. But I have to say that both cases are very rare."</p>
<p>"Wait." Roland frowned. "You said to buy a new ship. Where do these ships come from?"</p>
<p>"Port of Clearwater, Seawindshire, and Farsight Point. Only seaports have shipyards and can produce new ships."</p>
<p>So, this was what he had meant when he said there was no such business, at least not in Willow Town. Roland was silent for a moment. It was too far away to go to seaports to buy ships. And if he did not hire a crew, who would help him to get the ships back? "In that case, l' will think it over."</p>
<p>When the assistant minister left, the prince was lost in thought.</p>
<p>Shipping was an irreplaceable part of his strategic plan. Without fast and convenient shipping, he would not be able to use cannons in the battle. The Duke of Longsong Stronghold usually recruited farmers, knights and mercenaries and the marching speed would be slow. However, their speed was slower. As Carter had said, by land, a mud pit could make the cannons difficult to move, even one step. There were no asphalt roads in this era, not even any stone roads. There were so many people walking that they formed trails. The road was fine during sunny weather, but it got muddy on rainy days.</p>
<p>Would he have to build the ship himself?</p>
<p>Roland spread out a piece of paper and wrote down the specifications he needed.</p>
<p>Firstly, the ship would need to transport one or two cannons as well as about 30 people. Ships in this era were driven by sails and not equipped with a power system. Secondly, the ship would only be sailing on inland rivers. It would need to be stable and reliable. With a shallow draught, it would not be easy for it to capsize or sink. Thirdly, it would need to be easy to operate so that the Militia could handle it quickly after minimal training.</p>
<p>Considering all these points, there was only one solution—a barge.</p>
<p>In the world where Roland used to live, this kind of ship, with its extremely shallow draught and low center of gravity, could be seen everywhere along almost all the river routes. In the old days, the ships stacked with sand or gravel, almost flat with the surface of the water, were all barges. As long as there was a tugboat, it could pull several barges forward like a train.</p>
<p>After the ship type was determined, the next key point was to determine which material should be used to build the ship.</p>
<p>Roland wrote down three options: wood, iron, and concrete.</p>
<p>Men first made ships with wood. From rafts to the Ship of the Line, from sailing in the rivers to sailing in the seas, wooden ships could always be a good choice. It was a pity that Roland did not know how to make a flat boat with logs, and there were no craftsmen. If he relied on the few carpenters, he could only make a large raft which could fall apart at any moment.</p>
<p>Iron ships were built similarly to houses. The keel was made up of the primary and secondary beams put in a crisscross and covered with iron sheets. If Anna could do the welding, then the overall stiffness would be guaranteed. However, it would deplete the reserves of the iron ore which were already small. It was clearly a better choice to use these iron ores to produce steam engines and barrels.</p>
<p>The concrete boat became the final option. The construction of the city wall had been finished, and there were still some raw materials left. As long as Anna calcinated them once or twice, they would have enough concrete. The construction of the concrete boat was much easier than that of the iron boat. They only needed to make a wooden template reinforced with iron bars, and then fill it with the concrete. Even in his rural village, people could build several concrete boats for fishing. The iron boat would need regular rust cleaning and painting, while the concrete boat would not require much maintenance. It could be built at a low cost, but still be strong and durable. Even if he had not learned how to build an ocean ship, building an inland concrete barge with a relatively low level of technology would not be too hard, would it?</p>
<p>Roland picked up a quill and quickly drew the draft of the barge.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>A shed with walls was put up along Redwater River.</p>
<p>In order to facilitate the launching of the ship, Roland located the shipbuilding site as close as possible to the river bank.</p>
<p>Sheds could keep out the wind and snow. At the same time, two pots of charcoal were put in the room to avoid the impact that low-temperature had on the hardening effect of the concrete.</p>
<p>The carpenters created the basic template of the hull. The round bow would reduce the forward resistance, and the square stern would increase the loading area. The width of the boat was about 8 meters and its aspect ratio was 3:1. Compared with the conventional ships whose ratio was 8:1, it was quite bulky. In the center, they set up two masts. The masts were inserted into the bottom of the ship and connected to the iron beams passing through the centerline of the ship. At the stern, they set up a stake reserved for the rudder. Other places were crisscrossed with iron bars.</p>
<p>It did not matter that there were no iron wires for banding. All the intersections of the iron bars were personally welded firmly by Anna, forming an iron net over the bottom of the ship.</p>
<p>Once the template and rebar were ready, Roland ordered the workers to start the pouring operation.</p>
<p>The well-mixed concrete was poured into a template. The middle of the template was flat, and the walls were one and a half meters high, forming the cabin walls. At first sight, it looked like a very large bathtub.</p>
<p>Everyone involved in the construction, including Anna, had never thought that this strange thing made out of the same material as the city wall would eventually be a ship.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 75 - The Holy Mountain (Part I)</h2>
<p>Cara noticed that the witch who was carrying her was breathing rapidly.</p>
<p>"Get someone else to carry me," said Cara loudly, "Leaf, you carry me instead."</p>
<p>Walking in the cold of the Impassable Mountain Range was very exhausting, especially in the snowy winter. Every day, the 42 witches had to find a suitable camp after walking a short distance and re-energize their medallions to withstand the sudden drop in temperature at night.</p>
<p>"Yes, Respected Mentor." A witch squatted down in front of Cara. Cara summoned the demonic snake and made it wrap around the witch's arms and pull herself up. Cara observed that the witch could not help trembling slightly.</p>
<p>"Damn Nightingale!" Cara thought bitterly. If Nightingale had not repeatedly refused her kindness, she would not have been cruel to her sister. At this crucial time in their search for Holy Mountain, Cara could not afford to take any risks.</p>
<p>And what was the result? After the damn traitor escaped, she was ready to stab her to death without hesitation. This was the result of her kindness! Cara's thoughts were filled with anger. Nightingale had damaged her spine. Although Leaf quickly healed her wounds with herbs, Cara's lower body was already paralyzed, and her feet had completely lost consciousness.</p>
<p>"Wait until I reach the Holy Mountain. I will call up more witches and cut you into pieces one day!" Cara thought.</p>
<p>"Respected Mentor, there are demonic beasts ahead of us."</p>
<p>Scarlett, who was in charge of investigating, reported. She could see through obstacles, shelters, and all traps. Nothing could be hidden from her. At the same time, she even had the ability to see fast moving objects clearly. She had been able to knock off the Judgement Army's bolts once, during a confrontation with the church.</p>
<p>"Put me down. Leaf, you go to help them."</p>
<p>The witch nodded as she squatted and placed her on a stone. Her hands supported her body as she fell into the snow. She felt the cold come through her palm. Cara thought unpleasantly, "Couldn't you at least wipe the snow away before letting me down?"</p>
<p>But she did not say it. Leaf was an irreplaceable member of the association. If it was because of Wendy and her good temperament that the witches had gathered and established the Witch Cooperation Association, then it was because of Leaf that everyone had the courage to follow her. Without her ability, most witches would have died along the way, hunted by the church.</p>
<p>Thinking of Wendy, Cara could not help feeling hurt. She had never expected that Wendy, who had established the Witch Cooperation Association with her, could betray her for Nightingale.</p>
<p>Even when Wendy blew her away, she had not wanted to kill Wendy. The venom secreted by the Snake of Magic "Suffering" would be painful and take effect slowly, but not lead to death immediately. The toxin could only be removed quickly if "Nothingness" bit her. She just wanted to give Wendy a lesson. If left alone, the toxin would invade her head and could not be cured. It was the wrong decision for Nightingale to take her away. Without the antidote to "Nothingness", Wendy would not survive for more than a day.</p>
<p>Could it be that she, as a church nun, had no chance to go to the end with her sisters?</p>
<p>As for the other betrayer, Lightning, Cara did not care too much. She had joined the Witch Cooperation Association recently, and her ability seemed to be flying. She always put forward different views in the search for Holy Mountain and even openly questioned the Holy Book. If it had not been for the ideals of the Witch Cooperation Association, she would have killed the talkative little girl and tossed her aside in the snow.</p>
<p>Two wolf-shaped demonic beasts emerged from behind the hillside. The sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association were skilled at dealing with them. The sisters who were not able to fight moved backward. Leaf drove her magic first, causing weeds to grow rapidly. The green leaves suddenly broke through the snow and entangled the demonic beasts' feet. Another witch, Windseeker, dried up the air around the demonic beasts. The two monsters suffocated quickly. Foaming at the mouth, they fell to the ground in convulsions.</p>
<p>"This was the power of the witches," Cara thought. Common people who relied on swords alone would easily lose their lives in the face of two demonic wolves. Only the witches with magical powers were the darling of the deities. If there was no God's Stone of Retaliation... bah, it should be called the hell stone, how dare the church ride on their heads? She spat on the ground.</p>
<p>"Respected Mentor, please come up." Leaf came back to Cara and bent down.</p>
<p>"Get someone else." Cara sighed. "You're tired."</p>
<p>They continued on the road. By noon, the snow was falling less. Stone, who was responsible for the camp layout, found a leeward place. They decided to take a break here and eat something to renew their strength.</p>
<p>Stone quickly transformed the land. The snow transformed into fresh soil. The ground seemed to come alive, weaved and wriggled, and soon became smooth and dry. All the witches performed their duties and soon set up the pot to make porridge. The snow was boiled in a cup, mixed with some herbs strengthened by Leaf, and immediately sent out strong fragrance.</p>
<p>"Give your badges to Shino," cried the little girl with extraordinary red hair like a leaping fire. Her ability was also related to fire. She could inject temperature into an object and make it glow for a long time. The badges of the Witch Cooperation Association, the Coin of Holy Mountain, were made by her alone.</p>
<p>The ability seemed insignificant, but it was helpful to the Witch Cooperation Association, especially in the march through the Impassable Mountain Range. If there was nothing to hold heat, it would be easy to lose temperature and fall into a coma in the cold wind and heavy snow.</p>
<p>After eating the oatmeal, the witches packed up and continued on their way. According to Cara's conjecture, the so-called Gates of Hell, was actually the key to Holy Mountain. The church deliberately called it the land of evil, hoping to prevent witches from reaching Holy Mountain. According to the records in ancient books, they needed to go through three Stone Gates, and the last one was in the Barbarian Region. The Stone Gates were usually hidden under the ground, and would only rise to the surface when the Bloody Moon appeared in the sky.</p>
<p>They had set out from the camp and been walking in the Impassable Mountain Range for about half a month. Soon they would leave the range and enter Wild Places. Recently, the demonic beasts had been appearing more frequently.</p>
<p>"Quick! Quick! Look! What's that!?" Suddenly someone shouted in horror.</p>
<p>Cara raised her head and was dumbfounded.</p>
<p>There was a city in the sky!</p>
<p>It was still snowing in the dusky sky, and the clouds were low. The silhouette of a city loomed through the clouds.</p>
<p>She had never seen buildings like this before. They looked like spires standing side by side. If the black dots above were the windows, then these spires were about 333 meters high! This was definitely not something human beings could create! Even the church's proudest cathedral, the Hermes Cathedral, was only 50 meters high!</p>
<p>Since it was not built by humans, then there was only one answer: the city was built by the deities!</p>
<p>Cara was so excited, a voice pounding in her heart relentlessly...</p>
<p>She had found Holy Mountain!</p>
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<h2>Chapter 76 - The Holy Mountain (Part II)</h2>
<p>"Sisters, that's the Holy Mountain! We've found it!"</p>
<p>Cara screamed to let out her overwhelming joy. Many of the witches stayed in place, frozen in wonder. Others embraced their companions around them.</p>
<p>However, Scarlett wrinkled her eyebrows. "Is that really Holy Mountain?"</p>
<p>"What's the matter? Is there anything wrong?" Asked Leaf, whispering. The same question echoed in her mind. The city in the sky looked unlike those in the ancient texts, which were glittering and magnificent. Although the spires were spectacular, the whole of it was gray and black, and even in the day, it was dull. Not to mention the city was filled with a thick red mist akin to blood.</p>
<p>"There is something... crowding in those caves." Scarlett's voice was a bit dry. "I can't see it clearly, but those things don't resemble gods..."</p>
<p>A layer of goose bumps rose all over Leaf. Scarlett could see the farthest out of the members of the Witch Cooperation Association, and the way that she spoke made Leaf uneasy. Unfortunately, Lightning had left with Nightingale, or else she could have flown closer to look.</p>
<p>"Sisters! Holy Mountain lies before us." The mentor waved her hands as she shouted. "Just a bit further, and we'll find our eternity!"</p>
<p>She immediately urged Stone to move her forward. Leaf wanted to step forward to stop them but her feet stopped her. She remembered what happened to Wendy two weeks ago. She was afraid that if she discouraged them, it would not make sense to the Respected Mentor, and she would not stop.</p>
<p>The walking women began to speed up. After leaving the foot of the mountain, the snow seemed to get lower and the surrounding temperature also raised. "This is what was forbidden in legend, a place where humans can't step," Leaf thought, "but there're footprints in this no-man's land. If Lightning was here, would she be joyful?"</p>
<p>Looking back, the towering mountains behind her rose and fell, like a barrier that could not be crossed. Leaf could not help but guess that it was precisely because of the Impassable Mountain Range that the demonic beasts could not directly attack the hinterland, but rather must pass through the northernmost regions.</p>
<p>If they could somehow find Holy Mountain, no matter the method, they would not have to wonder any longer and could have peace... She gently sighed. To tell the truth, she was moved when Nightingale spoke to the cooperation about all that she had seen and heard in Border Town. When Wendy asked who wanted to leave with Nightingale, she could not help but try to move forward and tell her name. But until the end, she still failed to cross the heart of the threshold, and she was left as a shadow of the past.</p>
<p>Leaf shook her head, she did not want to think about things that had already passed. She moved to keep up with the group and crossed the yellow and white line into the wilderness.</p>
<p>However, it was not long before strange things began to happen. No matter how they sped up, the city retreated at the same speed. After two hours, the "Holy Mountain" was still in the clouds, neither smaller nor bigger. It was as if... they had not moved at all.</p>
<p>"Respected mentor, let us rest, our sisters are tired," said Stone. Over this period, a number of women had carried the mentor, but Stone had kept it up the longest.</p>
<p>"No, how could we stop now!?" Cara refused the suggestion without hesitating. "This is the test from the deities, sisters. If there's no firm will, we can never reach Holy Mountain! We can't stop. We must continue until the gates of Holy Mountain appear before us!"</p>
<p>Seeing that persuasion was futile, the women marched forward.</p>
<p>However the situation did not change, and while wandering the witches also encountered two waves of demonic beasts. The second wave consisted of two deformed beasts. Leaf created long weeds to trap the beast, but it could not stop one of her sisters from being hurt and bleed.</p>
<p>The monsters were finally killed and the crowd found that the sky was gradually darkening. Twilight had approached. The city remained in front of them, but the silhouette seemed to fade, like the city itself was disappearing.</p>
<p>According to their past experience, they must find suitable camping place to set up a camp. However this area was completely different from the Impassable Mountain Range, which seemed to be almost flat and was littered with the occasional demonic beasts. They simply could not stay there overnight.</p>
<p>"Respected mentor, we must return to the foot of the mountain! Let Scarlett lead the way, with Red Light lighting the path. Then maybe we can make it back by midnight."</p>
<p>"No!" Cara shouted, "We've spent all the afternoon coming here without stopping. At this point, we've spent more than half of our strength and it'd be impossible to return at the same speed. Sisters, let us move on. We'll rest once we've reached Holy Mountain."</p>
<p>"How about Sherry?" People asked, pointing to a witch who had collapsed lifeless on the ground.</p>
<p>"We've no time to bury her," the instructor shook her head and said, "Leave her here. The earth will take her."</p>
<p>Leaf closed her eyes in sadness. A sister had left them. If she had had more strength, then she would not have needed to die in this desolate land where even a tombstone could not be left.</p>
<p>As the crowd sat there undecided as to whether they should move on or retreat, Stone suddenly exclaimed, "Look at the sky, the city is gone!"</p>
<p>Leaf opened her eyes, looked up, and saw that the sky had become gray-black. The clouds had hidden in the night, and with them, the city had disappeared without a trace. It was as if it had never existed.</p>
<p>Everyone stood still, and for a while, there was a terrible silence.</p>
<p>There was the city you could never get, for it was an image floating in the air, and when the sun fell the illusion vanished... Leaf suddenly remembered a story from Lightning's adventures about those at sea who saw bizarre fantasies. She shivered. "We were cheated..." she whispered before shouting, "We were cheated, it was not Holy Mountain! What we saw was a mirage!"</p>
<p>"A mirage?" Cara looked back, her face terrifyingly ferocious. "What's that?"</p>
<p>"Lightning mentioned in a story that this phenomenon often occurs on voyages, but on the land is much rarer. All we saw was a phantom. The real city may be far away from us if it's not even there at all!"</p>
<p>"Does that mean that it does exist and just teleported?"</p>
<p>"I..." Leaf was stifled. "I don't know."</p>
<p>At this point, Scarlett suddenly called out, warning them, "Be careful! Something is coming!" She stared at something moving on the left, and her face was disgusted.</p>
<p>"Are they demonic beasts?" Windseeker crouched, ready to fight. "How many are there?"</p>
<p>"No..." Scarlett took two steps back, "I don't know what it is..."</p>
<p>As she spoke, a shadow closed in at lightning speed directly towards Scarlett. Although she saw the light enclosed by shadow, she could not dodge the bolt. It was just too fast.</p>
<p>In the blink of an eye, the shadow pierced through Scarlett's chest, making her fly backward. She was nailed to the trunk.</p>
<p>It was a spear.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 77 - The Holy Mountain (Part III)</h2>
<p>Leaf felt her whole body was frozen.</p>
<p>On her left two shadows came out from the night, bulky and peculiar, different than the normal visage of a demonic beast. And then Leaf saw that there were two figures riding on the backs of the mixed species. They were tall, twice the size of a normal person. They wore no armor but the clothes of some indescribable material. No, one would be reluctant to call it clothes. It was as if they were wrapped from head to toe in a swollen animal skin, bulging in many places.</p>
<p>And yet the most striking thing about the two figures was the two masks they were wearing—they were obviously transformed heads of demonic beasts, ferocious and terrible. Their eyes with reddish brown crystals dug into their skulls. A full patch of leather on their heads seemed to be peeled back, running down their back in shells. One man was equipped with a few spears on their mount, another with strangely shaped iron gloves. From the look of it, the iron glove only had three fingers.</p>
<p>Only one word hung in Leaf's head, "Demon".</p>
<p>"Enemies!"</p>
<p>Cara's harsh screaming pulled all the attention back to the enemy. Stone placed her hand on the ground, turning the snowy land in front of them into a large swamp. This was the correct response. The mounts were hybrid wolf beasts with wings. They were not only fast but could fly for short distances. However, these two obviously could not, their wings had been cut off, hemp rope was tied onto their bare bones, which were held but the demons riding them. Therefore they could not fly over the swamp but would have to cross over it. This would give the sisters time.</p>
<p>However, the enemy did not act as expected. Rather, they drove the mounts forward, entering the swamp. Then, by the impulse, the demonic beast leaped into the sky, jumping across the remaining distance, right to the place where the non-combat type witches were gathered.</p>
<p>"Spread out, quick!" Leaf's voice had not fallen before the ironhanded demon wearing the three-fingered iron gloves was already killing the witches in the crowd. His degree of agility did not match his body at all. The witch close to him did not have time to react and was punched in the head. Then there were another two sisters that the ironhanded demon pinched on the neck. The others were alerted and ran about in panic. It was only Shino that stood still. Even though her ability was not suitable for fighting, she did not turn away, but rather drew the crossbow from her back and took aim at the creature. The ironhanded demon dodged to the side lifted its feet to send her flying. Along with the rush of power came a muffled sound. The little girl was sprawled on the ground and clotted blood flowed through her mouth.</p>
<p>The spear-wielding demon turned around, walking towards the terrified Stone. Right when he was about to pierce the witch through the chest, flames erupted in front of him. Red Light rolled between his legs, grabbing Stone's hands and running. Their opponent attempted to catch up but was stopped by a black wall of gas.</p>
<p>Leaf poured all of her power into the earth causing all sorts of plants to appear out of it. Thorny vines wrapped around, climbing the ironhanded demon. Cara summoned the demonic snake "pain" that bit into the ironhanded demon's arm. When he waved his hands to get rid of the snake, the vines fluttered and captured his feet, tugging them backward and causing the heavy body to crash to the ground.</p>
<p>"Run, sisters, run!" Shouted Leaf, her voice shaking in fear. "Escape, fast! Hurry away from these terrible monsters! They are recorded in the ancient texts as sources of evil, demons that have appeared out of the Gates of Hell!"</p>
<p>The poison from the demonic snake seemed to be ineffective. The ironhanded demon fell to the ground, who seemed to want to grab the vines that had scratched at him. The spear-wielding demon saw his companion's difficulty and was soon focused on Leaf, who was controlling the vines. He lifted a spear, getting into position to throw it, his arms quickly swelling. The original bulging skin was stretched to a thin layer, and even through it, one could see blood vessels and dark bones.</p>
<p>"Leaf, watch out!" Stone once again turned the ground into a quagmire, this time directly casting herself at her opponent. The spear-wielding demon suddenly sank down, and the spear he had thrown instantly changed direction, inserting diagonally into the ground in front of Leaf. A section of the spear as tall as a person was submerged into the ground. Leaf burst out in a cold sweat.</p>
<p>After throwing the spear, the swollen arm shrunk rapidly, quickly becoming something similar to a dry wood.</p>
<p>The spear-wielding demon could not throw spears now! She immediately realized that it was a good time to escape. She was not alone in this. Stone, Red Light, and Windseeker, who had been struggling with the ironhanded demon, ran to the careless Cara. They wished to bring Mentor Cara to leave with them. Only Leaf saw the ironhanded demon pull at the vines to reach out to the three women.</p>
<p>"What is he trying to do? Wait!"</p>
<p>"No..." But she was too late to warn them, as a line of blue light came from the ironhanded demon's hands. It was like a bolt of lightning piercing the sky and twisted to hit the three sisters. The blue bolt jumped between the three women, crackling. Their bodies went up in white smoke, and they fell to the ground, with their robes burning behind them.</p>
<p>The attack seemed to consume the great effort of the enemy, and with heavy breathing, he stopped moving. At this time, Leaf's magic power had hit its limit. The vines disintegrated and changed, turning quickly into withering weeds.</p>
<p>"Everything is over," she thought. The mentor's desperate shouting faded as if she had grown far away as the strength of her body faded like a tide. She fell to the ground helplessly.</p>
<p>After resting for a mere moment, the ironhanded demon slowly climbed up from the snow. No one could stop him this time as he went to stand in front of the horrified Cara. The demon stretched out his hand to choke the throat of the mentor, who wanted desperately to break free from the creature's fingers, but it was meaningless in this desperate state. Struggling, she sent the demonic snake out and it bit the enemy's arm and neck, but the ironhanded demon was unmoved but continued to grip tighter.</p>
<p>As this was happening, one demonic snake bit the ironhanded demon's leather hose under its head. Red mist sprayed from the fissure, revealing tendons and bones. The ironhanded demon issued a terrible scream, the skin quickly fouling under the red fog, revealing tendons and bones. Even though he released his iron hand after this and tried to block the tube in panic, the fog quickly dissipated and his body began to tremble. He fell to the ground, motionless.</p>
<p>The spear-wielding demon with half its body buried in the swamp shouted. Leaf had never heard such a voice. It was like a sharp scream and a low roar together, and it hurt her ears.</p>
<p>But the enemy's roar did not make Leaf flee, rather it gave her the will to win.</p>
<p>Biting her lips, she struggled to stand up and picked up the crossbow that Shino fell. Re-loading it, she went in front of the spear-wielding demon. The spear-wielding demon obviously understood what she wanted to do, its two arms desperately waving. But in the swamp, the more you struggled, the faster you would sink. He tried to block it from entering his lungs, but the part of his windpipe that extended into his shell was exposed.</p>
<p>"This is for my lost sisters," Leaf thought, aiming at the tube she pulled the trigger.</p>
<p>The crossbow bolt hit its mark, and red mist spurted out where she had hit. When it sprayed, the opponent's head fell.</p>
<p>She had killed the demon.</p>
<p>Leaving the crossbow, Leaf looked back at the more than a dozen of her sisters that had lost their lives. She fell to the ground and burst into tears.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 78 - The Companionship</h2>
<p>Wendy opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling above her. There were cobwebs draping from the wooden beams. The ceiling was made up of gray bricks and had an unlit, circular chandelier. Slowly, the image turned from cloudy to clear until she could see every detail.</p>
<p>[It's not a cold rocky roof or narrow tent. Oh right, I've left the Witch Cooperation Association for more than half a month. I wonder if Mentor had successfully led the sisters to the discovery of Holy Mountain.] Wendy thought.</p>
<p>She took a deep breath. Although the air in the room was not as clean and fresh as that in a cave, its dullness and warmth made her comfortable. Her body was wrapped in a soft velvet quilt, and the layers of cotton blankets under her sank slightly every time she lay on them. Even if she stretched her body fully, her toes wouldn't be exposed.</p>
<p>She felt a little guilty at the thought of lazing on the bed. Even though she had only arrived for half a month, she felt a sense of peace. It was something that she had not experienced in a long time.</p>
<p>In the castle, no one would disturb her no matter how late she got up. Just like today. Wendy turned to look out of the window and noticed that the gray sky was a little glaring. It seemed over 10 a.m. In her past wandering life, she did not have such a comfortable sleep before. She would be woken by the faintest sounds and had to prepare food before dawn. During that time, the witches had lived in the fear of being discovered by the church or dying in the next Demonic Torture.</p>
<p>Even while hiding in the Impassable Mountain Range, Wendy was always busy with the many chores. She had to help with seasoning the dried food and herbs, drying her sisters' laundry, or cleaning the camp and so on.</p>
<p>Wendy did not mind doing these works and felt happy when seeing the smile on everyone's faces. Yet, she could not resist the lazy life now. Unexpectedly, she was enjoying it.</p>
<p>[No, I shouldn't be lazy anymore.] Clapping her face, Wendy pushed herself up and tried her best to get out of the bed. When she was in the convent, mother superior had always warned that God would never bless those who were lazy.</p>
<p>[In a while, I'll go to the castle backyard to practice controlling the wind and I'll clear the snow along the way.] Wendy could not hold back her smiles whenever she thought of His Highness' requirements for her training. These were odd and eccentric requirements, such as asking her to control the wind 10 meters above her head after he had seen her performance. However, a witch could never extend the power as far as he required. Nevertheless, the prince wasn't angry when she had admitted that it was beyond her abilities. Instead, he had come up with a strange idea—standing on a stool and blowing the wind from the top and the bottom at the same time. After trying, Wendy found this a practical solution. The test result pleased His Highness very much. In addition to asking Wendy to practice more, he also asked her if she was afraid of heights.</p>
<p>Just as Nightingale described, Roland Wimbledon was indeed an unpredictable person. Yet, he was also a prince who cared about witches.</p>
<p>Wendy sighed softly at the thought.</p>
<p>[Mentor, you're wrong. There exists a prince who doesn't hate witches.]</p>
<p>After she put on the new robe, she felt that it was a little tight at the chest—Wendy had been accustomed to it. When she was looking for the sewing kit to mend the cloth, there was a knock at the door.</p>
<p>"Come in."</p>
<p>It was Nightingale. Wendy was somewhat amazed and laughed. "Is His Highness still in bed? It's surprising that you have time to see me."</p>
<p>"What're you talking about? I don't have time to follow him all day." Nightingale lifted the basket in her hand. "I've brought you some breakfast."</p>
<p>Usually, it was the maid who served the breakfast to her room. Wendy had barely seen and talked to Nightingale except when the prince was asleep. She smiled in her heart. Wendy knew that Nightingale must have sneaked in to check if she had woken up and came in as soon as she was out of bed.</p>
<p>"Go ahead, what's up?" She took over the basket and put a piece of bread filled with cheese into her mouth.</p>
<p>"Hmm..." Nightingale walked to the bedside and sat down. "Today is... the day for Nana."</p>
<p>Wendy was speechless. She knew that although the first bite of magic power was not as fierce and long as the one in the Day of Adulthood, the witch was not completely safe. The younger a witch was, the less the pain she could endure. Wendy placed the basket on the bedside cabinet and walked to Nightingale. She clapped her shoulder and comforted her. "Didn't His Highness say that as long as the witch released her power every day, the torture would minimize?"</p>
<p>"It was just a hypothesis."</p>
<p>"At least it sounds reasonable." Wendy went on. "Anna has been through it this way, hasn't she?" "She was safe even on the deadliest Day of Adulthood, and you've seen it with your own eyes," she paused and continued, "Where is Nana?"</p>
<p>"She is at the hospital." As she was talked, Nightingale could not hold back her smile. "I heard that her father, Baron Pine, has bought a lot of hares from hunters and send them to the Medical Centre. Nana will get to practice with them until tomorrow."</p>
<p>"It's nice to have such a father," Wendy said enviously. "I don't remember anything about my childhood... which is very strange. It was like a memory gap. I don't have father or mother, and all the memories begin with the time when I was in the convent."</p>
<p>"Looks like I'm a little more fortunate than you."</p>
<p>"Yeah, much more fortunate." Wendy sat close beside her. "Are you nervous?"</p>
<p>"..." Nightingale remained silent for a while and nodded.</p>
<p>Of course, Wendy knew what she was nervous about. Today was not only of paramount importance to Nana but also a vital turning point for the fate of all witches. If she could get through the bite safely, it meant that all witches would be free from being called the devil's minions, and Border Town undoubtedly would be their Holy Mountain. A day would come where all witches would gather here, living a life just like ordinary people without a need to move around to hide from the church.</p>
<p>"There's no use worrying. Let's take a day off to stay with Nana."</p>
<p>"A day... off?" Nightingale looked at Wendy with wide eyes.</p>
<p>"Yes, telling me the news so early is making me as nervous as you," Wendy said bluntly. "Since we're not in the mood for training, let's go and see Nana. Isn't that written in the contract? It's called a paid leave."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>After dinner, Nana's chamber was crowded with people—Anna, Lightning, Nightingale, Wendy, Tigui, and Roland. Seeing all these people, the young girl looked bewildered. "Er... am I going to die?"</p>
<p>"Of course not!" All of them shook their heads.</p>
<p>"The intensity of bite at the first time will be not very strong." Wendy held Nana's right hand and said, "Stay focus, you can manage it."</p>
<p>"Grasp my hands when it hurts." Tigui shook her daughter's left hand and said, "You've grown much stronger at the hospital. I'm so proud of you."</p>
<p>The young girl nodded. She looked through the crowd until her eyes fell on Anna.</p>
<p>Anna walked over and kissed her forehead. "Stay alive, okay?"</p>
<p>"... Yeah."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 79 - The Answer</h2>
<p>All the curtains were drawn, and the fire blazed in the hearth, keeping the temperature in the chamber warm.</p>
<p>Unlike Anna, Nana was awake on her Day of Adulthood. To help her focus more quickly before the pain fell on her, everyone stayed with her, telling stories or playing simple games, to keep her awake.</p>
<p>Roland showed off some coin magic tricks, surprising everyone, especially Nana who stared at his hands without blinking. On a normal day, she would have asked him to teach her.</p>
<p>The magic of this age was vaudeville. Roland had watched it in the palace. It included the snake dancing to the flute, fire-breathing, crushing a stone plate on one's chest and so on. It seemed less appealing compared to the elaborate modern magic that focused on camouflage and tricks of the fingers.</p>
<p>Lightning shared her adventurous sailing stories. She talked about sailing with her father, Thunder, through isles and fjords, crossing vortexes and reefs and hunting deep water sharks and octopuses. Everyone was charmed by the stories, despite knowing that a large part of it was made-up. Roland could not help dreaming of it. In his imagination, the sailing ship turned into an ironclad battleship that sailed through the open sea and approached new land.</p>
<p>In fact, he lacked in understanding the history of this world where the clear record only went back to four hundred and fifty years ago. He had never caught any reason for this from the knowledge that the prince had learned from his court mentor. Maybe he had not paid any attention to it during class, Roland thought. Moreover, there was no archive or library in Border Town. He decided he would ask some maesters once he had taken Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>When Lightning's story was finished, Roland could not help yawning. He turned his eyes to Nightingale who shook her head, meaning the magic power had not changed. The lack of timepieces made it incredibly inconvenient to track time. Roland poured himself some warm water, sat down and continued to wait.</p>
<p>But as time went on, all of them sensed something unusual. The process was taking too long. Nana had been yawning all night, too tired to keep awake. Anxiety grew in Nightingale who touched the young girl's forehead, as she watched the flow of magic power in her body.</p>
<p>..</p>
<p>To his surprise, a glimmer had emerged on the horizon of the dark sky.</p>
<p>"Look!" Roland drew back the curtain, everyone turned at his shout. Looking at the dim light far on the horizon, they all realized that a new day had come.</p>
<p>Nana had passed her day of the bite of magic power safely.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Roland stretched himself and headed back to his chamber where he found two unexpected visitors.</p>
<p>It was Nightingale and Wendy.</p>
<p>Their faces were not sleepy at all but filled with excitement.</p>
<p>"Are you really sure that today, no, last night was the 'day' for Nana?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>"Yes, but the change was too small for me to confirm the vital moment of the bite," Nightingale said firmly, "your Highness, you're right! By regularly releasing power, the gross power will increase, but the pain we suffer will be less. If we keep training for a specific number of hours every day, all witches will stand a chance to survive their Day of Adulthood."</p>
<p>"In the entire Kingdom of Graycastle, your land is the only place where witches can use their powers freely. This means, in a sense, that this is Holy Mountain we've been pursuing." Wendy went on. "I want to beg you to inform more witches of the news and bring them to this holy land. I'm sure they'll be glad to serve you."</p>
<p>"This is what I intend to do." Roland nodded. "My subjects will partially understand and have contact with witches after the Months of Demons. That'll be the right time to spread the news—by way of spreading rumors. You should know that I can't publicly recruit witches in an open and expansive way. It would provoke a great disturbance in the realm." He paused for a moment. "Unless the church becomes extinct or I take the throne."</p>
<p>"Then I'll assist you to take the throne." It seemed that Wendy had been waiting for those words, and she kneeled to pledge her fealty. Roland could tell from her unskilled movements that maybe she had just learned the curtsey. Yet none of the details mattered, he accepted her fealty in the same way that he had accepted Nightingale's.</p>
<p>Wendy stood up and smiled at Nightingale. "How am I doing?"</p>
<p>Nightingale curled her lips. "After a fashion."</p>
<p>Roland could not help but shake his head. "You should go to bed. You've been up all night." "</p>
<p>"Your Highness, I want to ask for one more thing." Wendy who had just stood up and kneeled again.</p>
<p>"Go on," Roland said seriously, his smile fading. He could tell from her stance that it would be a difficult promise for him to make.</p>
<p>"I want to go back to the camp again."</p>
<p>"Wendy!" Astonished, Nightingale stared at Wendy, whose eyes were filled with determination.</p>
<p>"I don't know whether they've found Holy Mountain. Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. I hope to leave for the Impassable Mountain Range after the Months of Demons. If Cara can't find Holy Mountain, they should be back in the mountains by then."</p>
<p>"That would be most perilous." Roland frowned. "Your respected mentor attacked you with no mercy."</p>
<p>"If she had really wanted to kill me, I would be dead," Wendy said, "she summoned the demonic snake of 'Suffering', not that of 'Death'. Maybe few or even none will come back here with me, but at least I can bring the news to my sisters that releasing power every day will save them from the dreadful pain." Her voice softened at this point. "Your Highness, as long as you treat witches well as always, my life belongs to you. I'll never treat my life lightly. I'll keep safe. Please promise me."</p>
<p>Roland remained silent. He should turn down Wendy's request for her safety. But he knew what the request meant to her. She would risk anything to save more witches. If Roland turned her down, she may still obey his command, but yet the death of her sisters, caused by his refuse, would scar her.</p>
<p>"I promise you." Roland nodded at last. "Go with Lightning two months after the Months of Demons has passed. Just in case, I'll offer you the flintlock and God's Stone of Retaliation. Promise me that you'll wear it when negotiating with Cara or other witches. And Lightning will stand by too so that they can't hurt you with their power."</p>
<p>"Your Highness, please let me go with her!" Nightingale said.</p>
<p>"No, Veronica. His Highness' safety is far more important. All witches' hopes now lie with him." Wendy smiled. "Take good care of him."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 80 - The Artillery Squad</h2>
<p>A week after the concrete ship was placed in the curing room, the day to launch the vessel finally arrived.</p>
<p>All the workers were left stunned when the prince ordered to put this oversized bathtub that had taken them a lot of work into the water, making everyone wonder whether they had misheard him.</p>
<p>However, that was indeed Roland's order.</p>
<p>He had people temporarily dismantle the shed and had them dug a slope below the concrete boat, leading into the river. This part had to be handled with great caution because of the weak tensile strength of the cement products. A few cracks would not cause a problem, but in case it hit the ground that would be enough to destroy the whole vessel.</p>
<p>The ship was placed on top of logs and the speed at which it slid would be controlled by ropes. When everything was prepared, the workers let the wrist-thick rope slowly slide through their hands, making sure that it would always point in a straight line. While the workers were shouting their slogan in sync, the vessel slowly slid over the logs, creating an intense sound of friction.</p>
<p>Fortunately, everything went well, and Roland could see the boat slowly slipping into the river. The boat sank nearly half a meter into the water, with more than one meter staying above the surface. The workers were extremely surprised to see that this massive stone and metal made construction would not directly sink into the riverbed with a loud noise, but instead it floated on the surface like a leaf.</p>
<p>"Hurry, take the ropes and tie them tight around the bollards!" Roland ordered. If the ship was not tied to the bollards, the current of the river would carry the concrete boat southwards.</p>
<p>Although Nightingale did not show herself, she still was not able to stop herself from asking in a voice full of surprise, "Why does the boat float?"</p>
<p>"Well… it's quite simple. The boat's average density is lower than that of the water, and this is the reason it can float on water," explained Roland and after a moment of thinking, and he added, "The fact that the boat is built out of iron and concrete doesn't matter. In fact, you must have understood it from the sailing ship that was huge and weighed much more than a stone."</p>
<p>Since he did not hear her voice again, Roland assumed that she was still comprehending what he had said. Even Anna was not able to immediately understand the concept he had just explained. Roland smiled and continued to direct the workers to move on.</p>
<p>The subsequent hardening of the concrete took a lot of time, and by the time it began to snow heavily, the work had to be stopped. Only when the snowfall was minimum, were they able to continue their work. The most time-consuming task was the construction of the deck, which was built out of many wooden planks, and supported by many small stakes which were placed between the bottom and the deck. Although this was a waste of space, taking into account the primary purpose of the concrete boat, it did not matter much.</p>
<p>Next, it was time for the corrosion proofing. The carpenters knew very well how to do this. First they brushed a layer of oil with a pungent smell onto the deck. When the oil had dried, they repeated this procedure with red oil several times until it was finally coated with a red paint. Once the deck construction was completed, the installation phase of the upper building began.</p>
<p>As for the so-called upper part, it was just a wooden shed which was placed between the two masts, and which later would be used to store cannons and ammunition. In case of a rainy day, the shed could also be utilized by the crew as a shelter. A platform was added at the top of the roof where a person could stand, obviously created for Wendy. As long as she stood on the roof, the range of her magic ability would be enough to cover the entire sail.</p>
<p>The stern rudder was made of pig iron, and its installation was a bit troublesome. The tiller had to go through a reserved hole under the water, and then appear again on the deck, where an iron ring would be put on it. The buckle was a right-angled triangle plate, with the long side welded on the tiller, and the short side could freely rotate in the groove of the iron ring.</p>
<p>The welding was naturally done by Anna, who was also astonished and puzzled by the fact that a stone bathtub could float on the water. Thus, she also asked the same questions as Nightingale.</p>
<p>So Roland repeated his answer and watched Anna went aside and sat down to think about it.</p>
<p>Well… The task of universal education still had a long way to go.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>On the other side, Van'er was still trying to decide whether to join the Artillery Squad or to stay with the Flintlock Squad.</p>
<p>Everything started with that order three days ago.</p>
<p>His Highness decided to transfer out some members of the first and second militia team, who performed exceptionally, to build a new elite force. When Van'er's name was called, he felt very pleased. But when Iron Axe asked him if he wanted to join the Flintlock Squad or the new Artillery Squad, he felt confused. He was aware of the new flintlock, which was effective in the fight against the demonic beasts, with its penetrating power much stronger than that of a hand crossbow. Currently, only Iron Axe, the Chief Knight and a number of senior hunters were allowed to use this deadly weapon. Van'er was supposed to join the Flintlock Squad without any hesitation, but instead, he could not help himself asking, "What's a cannon?"</p>
<p>When he found out that a cannon was ten times larger than a flintlock and that its power was a hundred times stronger than the strength of a flintlock, he fell into a dilemma.</p>
<p>Apparently, the ability to use a more powerful weapon could prove one's own value for His Highness. So joining the artillery seemed to be the better option of the two, however, the advantage of carrying a flintlock was that it was possible to carry it while walking through the town, attracting the eyes of the people, which was always Van'er's dream. Even though the cannon's power was ten times that of a flintlock, surely it would not be possible to carry such a powerful weapon while walking through the streets, right?</p>
<p>By the last day of the deadline, he finally decided to join the Artillery Squad. The last point that affected his decision was that the salary of an artillery soldier was five silver royals higher.</p>
<p>Afterwards, began the rigorous training.</p>
<p>The operation of a cannon requires five people, and Jop, Cat's Claw, Nelson and Rodney were assigned to Van'er's team. Since Van'er was previously a vice-captain within the Spear Squad, he was now appointed as the artillery captain.</p>
<p>Compared to flintlocks, the cannon was ten times more troublesome! For almost a month, Van'er had secretly observed how Iron Axe operated his flintlock, he was sure he was able to memorize the operation of a flintlock without mistake. As for the cannon, a series of complicated operations were required in order to switch it from transportation mode to firing mode.</p>
<p>Stopping the horse, pulling out the pin, pulling the hook, moving the cannon cart, pushing it towards the shooting spot, putting down the crutch, all these processes required five people to cooperate in tandem. For example, when pulling the hook, the other ones had to push the support cart right away from the cannon, turning it from a four-wheel vehicle into a two-wheel vehicle, so that the cannon's crutch would drop to the ground. During the process the cooperation should be perfect or else it would be hard to separate the heavy cannon from the cart.</p>
<p>After settling the position came the load of ammunition, and ready to fire. The firing process was quite similar to the flintlock, but the clean-up of the cannon after its usage requires two different mops. The ammunition would also be packaged properly and could be inserted directly in the cannon. The firing method was done though gunpowder line ignition. It would be hard to display its power when it rained, Van'er thought.</p>
<p>Fortunately, as an artillery captain, most of the time he just stood aside and ordered the others to do the job, which saved him a lot of energy.</p>
<p>For the first three days, the four newly selected artillery teams had only one cannon to train with. So under the command of Iron Axe, all the groups had to go through the process of stopping the mount, unloading the cannon, preparing it to shoot, loading the cannon on the cart and then restart the whole process. These steps were always repeated, and Van'er even suspected, that with the continuous cleaning of the cannon, the cannon would be even cleaner than his own face.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 81 - The Artillery Training</h2>
<p>Every day Van'er's group had to train for two to three hours with the new weapon, and even after the training was finished, Van'er had to return to the city wall to continue his old, boring job. One of the men from Van'er's dormitory had signed up for the Flintlock Squad, and now he had a brand-new flintlock and stood behind him to show off the weapon. If it was not for the rules that forbid infighting, Van'er would have already made him shut up.</p>
<p>But he also noticed something was not right.</p>
<p>[Didn't my compatriots join the Flintlock Squad only a few days ago? Yet, they were allowed to directly start their shooting training through fighting against the demonic beasts, but what about our Artillery Squad? We aren't even authorized to shoot a shell. Moreover, the cannons are so heavy that it's actually impossible to transport them onto the city wall,] thought Van'er.</p>
<p>When he looked at the top of the wall, he could see that the wall-walk was almost full with people standing side by side in pairs. Usually, everyone was used to running on the inside of the wall-walk. Even if it was steep, it was still better than interfering with teammates' fighting movements. As for the cannons… the two wheels alone were wider than the whole wall-walk, and using a cannon to shoot downwards did not seem very practical.</p>
<p>Could it be… that the cannon would not be used to fight against the demonic beasts?</p>
<p>The next exercise further confirmed his suspicions.</p>
<p>Iron Axe brought the four artillery teams to the river. There, Van'er discovered that, without realizing when it had happened, a huge "boat" appeared in the Redwater River. No… he was not even sure if it was correct to call it a boat. The shell seemed to be made out of the same gray stone that was used to build the wall, and its dimension was very wide but short. Other than two bare masts, there was actually no other similarity with a boat. This even caused a heated argument between his team.</p>
<p>"This is clearly a floating bridge." The first one who came up with a conclusion was Jop, who previously belonged to the team with the sailing ships transporting the ore to Longsong Stronghold, and he always thought of himself very well-informed. "They built the deck so wide to make it more stable! During my traveling all over the realm, I've seen many of them, and if this is a boat, then how can it be moved without the wind? After the former wooden bridge of over decade old in Longsong Stronghold was washed away by a flood, people in Longsong Stronghold replaced it with a floating bridge. They just placed several of broad planks side by side on a boat and connected them with an iron chain to make it more stable!"</p>
<p>"The furthest place you have traveled to is Longsong Stronghold, and yet you call yourself knowledgeable." Rodney sneered. "If this is a floating bridge, why would it have two sticks? Wouldn't they be blown away by the wind?"</p>
<p>"And look towards the end, don't you see the steering wheel? Floating bridges don't need this." Nelson directly broke in to help Rodney. These two brothers were always at the same side. "In addition, looking at the construction between the two sticks, it looks like a cabin, and it's just not finished yet. This is a boat, no doubt."</p>
<p>Van'er was not interested in the boat, he was only concerned about the next training's content. Luckily, he soon found out. Iron Axe asked them to drive the horses that dragged the cannon towards the Littletown—yes, that was the boat's name, personally named by His Highness the prince. After listening to Iron Axe's introduction, Jop's face suddenly became stiff, while the two brothers showed a triumphant expression instead, and then they began to tie the wheels of the cannon cart onto the deck of the boat.</p>
<p>On the deck, there were two groups of stopping poles, each group consisting of four poles. They were located in the middle of the deck, one behind the other. This apparently indicated that the deck could fit two cannons.</p>
<p>Well, with this, Van'er could confirm that they would not be dealing with the demonic beasts—the Redwater River flowed from the north to the south, and there was no large river in the Misty Forest.</p>
<p>When they embarked for the first time, Van'er immediately felt the outstanding stability of the boat. As the river was flowing beneath it, the boat remained motionless; it felt just like standing on solid ground. Only when the horses came on the deck did they feel a little swing.</p>
<p>He also noted that every time a team finished their firing practice, Iron Axe would count the time and note it down. Considering that there were only two spots for cannons, it was clear that only the two fastest teams would get a place on the ship. Van'er secretly told his discovery to the rest of his team who were immediately inspired and were bursting with energy, and each of them put as much effort as possible into the training. If they were not chosen for the artillery team they would be sent back to the Spear Squad. Losing their face was a small matter, and the most important matter was that they would not get a pay rise!</p>
<p>Van'er had to wait until the seventh day to finally receive his first live firing training.</p>
<p>On that day, His Highness also came to visit the scene, watching the artillery exercise. Everyone in the four groups walked with a broad chest and was full of enthusiasm.</p>
<p>Because of their training, everyone was quite familiar with the loading of the ammunition, so it did not take long until the first shot was fired by Van'er's team.</p>
<p>It was the first time he saw the power of a cannon. With a deafening roar, the cannonball was shot and landed around 500 meters away in the snow, blasting a lot of snow and mud into the air, and then bounced even further. It was impossible for Van'er's bare eyes to track the iron ball.</p>
<p>The scene made Van'er both excited and a bit frightened, wondering how His Highness had managed to make such a terrible weapon. If he had to face an artillery attack, even with a full body armor, it would be to no avail.</p>
<p>After a round of firing, His Highness the prince would order someone to mark the landing position with a flag. And at the same time, he let someone measure the distance between the muzzle and the flag. After four rounds came the turn of Van'er's team again, he heard the command to change the cannon' angle.</p>
<p>A scale, marked with 0, 5, 10, 25, and 30, was placed on the joint of the two ends of the cannon and the cannon mount. Although he did not understand what this meant, as long as they just followed the instructions, everything would be alright. Iron Axe shouted, "Shoot at the angle of 5!" Jop, who was the strongest, took the ramrod, inserted it into the muzzle, waiting for Van'er to tight the screws, and pressed it upwards until the white line was inserted in the hole and then he let it go.</p>
<p>Compared with the angle of the barrel at the beginning, the angle now was a bit lower, and when the cannon was raised, it showed exactly 5 on the scale.</p>
<p>What followed next was again four rounds of firings, putting flags, measuring the distance, adjusting the angle.</p>
<p>Van'er slowly started to understand the reason behind His Highness the prince's actions.</p>
<p>He was recording the distance of every shot, and the higher the angle of the cannon, the further the iron ball would fly.</p>
<p>This was something that Van'er could understand from his experience of using a bow, the higher up the aim, the further the arrow would fly. If the arrow was shot horizontally, it would hit the ground very fast. He never thought that this was the case with the cannon too. The flying distance would be so much further because of its bigger velocity. Suddenly, he got this crazy idea—what if the iron ball got faster and faster, would it be possible that it would never land?</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>At the Redwater River, the testing of the Littletown was also underway.</p>
<p>Considering that Wendy would act as the boat's driving force, the boat's crew needed to be absolutely reliable. So, Roland picked some people who already knew about the witches as the first crew of the Littletown. Chief Knight Carter became the captain; the helmsman was Brian; the sailors who had to set the sails were Carter's men, and the task of communication was left to Tigui Pine, Nana's father. These people often came into contact with the witches, so coupled with their ideological transformation with which they got rid of their prejudice against the witches, there should not be any problem. In the case of Tigui Pine, it was even less the case, since his own beloved daughter was a witch.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 82 - The Initial Sail of The Littletown</h2>
<p>As the only one professional with sailing experience, Lightning was honored to be the navigator.</p>
<p>In fact, she was also very interested in the weirdly-shaped, peculiar barge. Although it looked very ugly, it had all of the basic parts that a ship should have. However, she was unsure about whether it would sail. After all, she was mostly just a bystander on the sea as her father always refused her requests of steering or hoisting the sail.</p>
<p>In accordance with the tradition, Lightning smashed a bottle of ale on the bow and ordered to raise the sail for the barge's maiden voyage. Carter, as the commander, surely did not want the little girl to take over the position and thus, the knight always followed with the same command after her.</p>
<p>The sail of the Littletown was made of animal skin. It was mostly calf leather and sheepskin with a mix of some Border Town's specialties, such as wolf skin and bear skin. It looked like a rag, patches mixed with different colors and shading, with brown, white and gray colors. The sail was leader-shaped and was separated by four sticks of beams in which the cable passed through the iron ring on the top and fell onto the deck. The entire sail could be raised by simply pulling the cable.</p>
<p>Both the sails at the front and the back of the Littletown were single sail that ran parallel to each other and perpendicular to the center line for easy operation. If the normal brigantine was set in the same way, it would cause one sail very little wind consumption and would almost make it useless. However, the design would enable the power to be evenly distributed on both sides of the central line with Wendy's ability to control the wind, and would be more convenient for the helmsman to operate a direct.</p>
<p>Lightning commanded the men on the shore to untie the rope once the sail had completely risen up. The weather was still fine at the time with occasionally falling snow. The boat was slowly leaving the shore, driven by the breeze and water flow.</p>
<p>The little girl landed beside Brian and shouted, "Full rudder towards the right!"</p>
<p>Carter also shouted, "Full rudder towards the right!"</p>
<p>"Uh, what do you mean by full rudder to the right?" Brian scratched his head and asked, "How many circles should I steer towards the right?"</p>
<p>"No, turn it all the way to the left," Lightning hit her forehead with her hand and said, "Forget it, I'll do it."</p>
<p>She forgot that it was the first time for the crew to operate a two-masted sailing ship, they did not even understand basic commands. The sails of a standard brigantine would not have unfurled so quickly. The design of the Littletown was indeed so unique that the cement boat had smoothly left the shore with less than a 10 man crew.</p>
<p>She held onto the steering wheel which was taller than she was, and lifting her feet off of the floor, she rotated it towards the left. The huge steering wheel was very heavy for an ordinary woman. It was hard overcoming the water resistance in order to direct the iron rudder at the bottom of the boat in the absence of mechanical assistance. However, all these were not a problem at all for Lightning who could fly. She noticed the block that was set to prevent the turnaround at the bottom of the steering and wondered, [I heard that this ship was designed by His Highness, Prince Roland himself. How come he could be so clear about all these little details? Even experienced sailors who were out on the sea all the time may not how to design a ship.]</p>
<p>"Sister Wendy, the wind."</p>
<p>Wendy was amused, standing on top of the roof. [This is the reason His Highness asked whether I have acrophobia... to let me activate the sailing ship?] She suddenly felt a subtle sense of contrast, thinking of her usual chores like drying the meat and clothes, she opened her arms to get into the state of her usual practice. She let the wind evenly blow beneath her feet and over her head in order to make sure both sails received equal wind resistance.</p>
<p>Honestly, Wendy did not expect the seemingly simple request to be so difficult.</p>
<p>Although she had awakened as a witch 15 years ago, she had never tried to understand and control her strength thoroughly. Both summoning a swift current that wrapped around the rocks to attack the enemy or summoning a storm to wipe out the enemy required her to release a huge amount of magic power at once. While dealing with the chores in the campsite did not require the wind power to be constant as long as it achieved the purpose. Wendy suddenly felt ashamed of herself while thinking back to Anna's serious look during the practice.</p>
<p>"The first thing you have to do is to practice your ability repeatedly until you can completely master it... just like Anna."</p>
<p>It turned out that the prince meant it when he said so.</p>
<p>[In this case, let me start from now...] She took a deep breath and concentrated all of her attention on sensing the wind.</p>
<p>Although the wind was not completely balanced, the sail was still bulging up and the continuous thrust had caused the mast to make a squeaking noise. The bow started to swing rightwards.</p>
<p>"It's really moving." Carter exclaimed.</p>
<p>"His Highness made a cement boat that floats on above the water," Tigui smiled and said while touching his stubble. "Is there anything he can't do?"</p>
<p>The Littletown was going further and further away from the shore and gradually moving into the center of the river.</p>
<p>Wendy could create wind from nothingness, but she could not make the existing north wind disappear. The ship was not sailing forward in a straight line due to the effect of both winds, it needed to rely on the steering wheel to adjust accordingly. Brian could only experience it personally as Lightning was not able to clearly state the point. In order to let Brian master this feeling as soon as possible, the little girl had commanded him to implement a few big changes of steering direction to feel the relationship between the turning angle of the steering wheel and the swinging amplitude of the bow before making further little adjustments.</p>
<p>Wendy was the first to be worn out after sailing on the Redwater River for over an hour.</p>
<p>It was not because of the exhaustion of magic power but that her body had hit the limit.</p>
<p>Although her body was wrapped up like a dumpling, she still could not resist the cold wind. There was a thin layer of snow gathered on top of her cotton-padded cap, and her frozen hands and feet were almost numb, her body was shaking unsteadily on the platform. She would probably persist until she passed out if Lightning did not notice anything unusual when she was patrolling in the air.</p>
<p>Lightning quickly flew beside Wendy and tightly held onto her body while shouting for Brian to pull in to shore.</p>
<p>Brian steered the helm to the right and the bow deviated to the left. Lightning flew down with Wendy, although she could only stir a sail from the deck, at least she could temporarily avoid the cold and prevent the excessive loss of body temperature. As pulling into the shore required fine controlling, Lightning did not dare to entrust it to be operated by someone who just learned to steer, although she was not very experienced herself either.</p>
<p>The Littletown finally landed after tossing around for a while. Everyone's heart was raised when it collided with the river bank. The hull made a dull noise when hitting the land, but fortunately, it looked just fine. The men quickly gathered the sail and put the springboard up to the shore.</p>
<p>Luckily they did not choose a straight path for the trial but instead chose to practice, sailing back and forth in the spacious area of the river way. Thus, the Littletown was not too far off from the dock of departure.</p>
<p>Lightning flew straight towards the castle with Wendy at her back. Carter looked at the stone boat and sighed as it was not possible to sail the boat back to the dock themselves without the witches help.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 83 - The Cart Driver from the Northern Region</h2>
<p>Winter was not a harvesting season for most people in the Northern Region, especially in the town around Hermes highlands. The Months of Demons did not only bring the non-stop rain and snow but also severe cold, hunger, and death. However, it was different for "False Leg" White. The emissary of the church would look for him every winter and get him to drive up to the Kingdom of Wolfheart for a trip to fetch the suffering orphans to Holy City with his carriage.</p>
<p>It was a good deal for him, for he could make around 20 silver royals per trip and it was a good deed. The Months of Demons this year was almost ending and this trip should be his last one for the year.</p>
<p>"My lord, why don't you stay in the carriage? The snow out here will continue for a while. We're accustomed to the wind and the snow, but you'll be freezing."</p>
<p>"This is nothing to me." The emissary took a gulp of wine from his flagon and said, "It's much colder in New Holy City than here. The leather clothing and armor won't keep out the cold on the highlands. They're like a pervasive demon, piercing through each part of the body. Normal human beings may not survive that place without the Cold Expelling Pill."</p>
<p>"That's true." White continuously nodded. He had not been to New Holy City, nor did he want to. [Why should I go such a place where there's only frozen ice and demonic beasts?] However, as an experienced cart driver, he could always find a new topic to talk about. Plus, the current emissary was friendlier than the previous emissary. "Your gloves are specially made with the wolf skin from the Kingdom of Graycastle in the Western Region, I suppose?"</p>
<p>"Oh? How do you know that?"</p>
<p>"Hey, I've been working as a cart driver for almost 30 years, my lord," White proudly said, "I started driving for the Baron, followed by the countess, and even the little princess of Kingdom of Wolfheart. If I did not break my leg in an accident, I would probably still be staying in the house of the earl. They have nothing more than the gold royals. The leather and silverware of the Kingdom of Graycastle, the jewelry of the Kingdom of Everwinter, the artwork of the Fjords were the topics they couldn't stop talking about once they were aboard, and I almost get sick of them."</p>
<p>"I see," the emissary nodded and said, "Was that where your nickname came from? What kind of accident was it?"</p>
<p>"Aye, it was the riot of refugees. The bullies would do anything for a living," White spat and said, "They had surrounded the carriage at that time, and I had to urge the horse to escape in order to protect the countess. As a result, the startled horse threw me off and the carriage was overturned."</p>
<p>"So, you broke your leg?" the emissary curiously asked, "What about the countess?"</p>
<p>"She was much better than I was. There were cushions and thick quilts in the carriage, so she was just badly bruised," White angrily said, "She climbed out from the carriage and ran away, leaving me alone on the road. I crawled home with my broken leg and spent all my savings on a fake leg," he knocked on the copper stick that was sticking out of one of his trousers and said, "However the house of the earl kicked me out with the excuse that I wouldn't be able to drive a cart anymore. The damn nobles!"</p>
<p>"What a pity," the emissary paused and said, "However, Gods didn't abandon you, and you're now driving for the church. Praise God."</p>
<p>"Indeed, my lord. Praise God." While saying so, White thought to himself, [No. If God is really kind, I shouldn't have experienced such a tragedy. God didn't save me when I needed him the most.]</p>
<p>Right then, they heard a girl crying inside the carriage.</p>
<p>"Stop for a moment," the emissary ordered.</p>
<p>White pulled the rein tightly to make both of the horses stopped gradually. The emissary hopped off the carriage and walked around to the back of the carriage. Soon, the sound of whipping was heard from the carriage.</p>
<p>"Poor child." He sighed. "Just bear it, he's your savior. You won't even survive the winter and probably become an unattended dead body along the street without Lord Emissary."</p>
<p>The emissary returned and climbed back up to the shafts after a while and said, "Let's go"</p>
<p>"Sit tight. Drive!" White shook the reins and the cart started moving again. "They're all from the Kingdom of Wolfheart?"</p>
<p>"More or less. The churches from each of the town in the kingdom would take in some orphans. The number of people we take in will increase by a few times especially during the winter when there's a shortage of food and clothing. It would not be sufficient depending only the friars from the churches, so they have entrusted the cart dealer to hire some trust-worthy driver to assist in delivery. You've done a very good job, White. My previous colleague has highly recommended you."</p>
<p>"It's my pleasure to be able to participate in such good deeds," White said with a grin, "My lord, are they all being sent to the cloister? Forgive me, although they're all orphans, they have very different characteristics. Even though some of them are still young, they would have done almost anything. Won't they stain Holy Land?"</p>
<p>"God will judge them, although they're guilty, they'll be given a chance to redeem themselves."</p>
<p>"Is that so? That's a good thing." White looked up to the sky. "It's late, my lord. Do we need to spend the night in the next town? If the weather is good tomorrow, we'll arrive the old Holy City by noon."</p>
<p>The emissary yawned and said, "Let's find a hotel with a yard to park the carriage. You may go to prepare food for them."</p>
<p>"Okay!" White answered.</p>
<p>The town was the only way to the old Holy City from the Kingdom of Wolfheart, and it was not his first time here. He was so familiar with the places here that he quickly found the hotel which he used to stay. After he parked the horse cart at the yard, he went to buy some food for the orphans with the money the emissary had handed to him. As usual, sweet potato porridge was the most suitable choice as it was cheap and delicious. After he watched them distributing the porridge, he limped back to the hotel, ordered himself a loaf of butter bun, and started eating while sitting at the bar. As for the emissary, he must have gone to a better place.</p>
<p>If it was 10 years ago when his leg was good, he would have gone to the tavern to drink some wine and find someone to play a few dices with—he was pretty lucky back then. As for now... he thought it was better for him to go back to his room and have an early rest when he touched his purse in his clothes.</p>
<p>In the evening, he heard some noises in the yard. He woke up and opened the curtain to take a look, White saw the drunk emissary unlocked the carriage and went in. After a while, he came out with two orphans, and there were two men standing behind him, who looked like the nobles from the way they dressed.</p>
<p>White drew the curtain and went back to his warm bed.</p>
<p>This was not the first time he witnessed it, and the previous emissary always did the same. [Surviving is the greatest luck,] he thought, [Comparing to the temporary pain, tolerating is the only way. When you arrive in Holy City, you'll have a brand new life. At least, there won't be worries of starvation and cold in the cloister.] White yawned and fell asleep.</p>
<p>As soon as the sun rose, he was moving forward with the emissary. It was a smooth journey and they had reached the old Holy City an hour earlier than the time they predicted. There was already a church carriage waiting for them, and it looked like the poor kids still had a long journey to go. But it had nothing to do with White.</p>
<p>"This is your payment." The emissary threw him a sack.</p>
<p>White poured the money out onto his palm after he caught the sack and counted them twice, and it was indeed 20 silver royals. He nodded and said while bowing, "I'll see you next year."</p>
<p>The emissary did not answer but waved him away.</p>
<p>White noticed that there were a few other carriages that did the same job. [Perhaps they're coming from another kingdom?] He thought, [However, something is strange. They're all little girls who came out from the carriage. The church only adopts girls?]</p>
<p>He shook his head and left behind these questions, and drove back home.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 84 - Hermes' Underground Castle</h2>
<p>Archbishop Mayne stepped across the annular stairs and walked down towards the underground.</p>
<p>The staircase, with a depth of at least of four times that of the cathedral's highest tower and a diameter of about 20 feet, was built in a natural doline and led directly into a strategically-positioned and spacious castle. The beginning of the staircase was well lit by skylight pathing through the windows of the high dome above, giving the twisting and turning stone walls an icy color.</p>
<p>As the archbishop descended, the speckles darkened and merged with the stone surface. Yet the center of the sinkhole reflected a faint blue light. The deeper it went, the brighter the light grew. Even if one was without a torch, there would be no difficulty in seeing things.</p>
<p>The stairs were like a little snake that wound around the sinkhole and snuggled up to the stone surface.</p>
<p>The stair pavements were granite and were cut rectangular in shape and were around four centimeters thick. The width was enough for three people to walk on side by side. One side of a stair was deeply embedded into the stone surface, while the other side stretched into the thin air. For safety, there were wooden handrails that were connected with cords on the other side.</p>
<p>He had not counted how many stairs there were, but he knew for certain that every slate was laid with tremendous effort. The masons in the church were suspended on ropes so that they could chisel deep enough grooves and embed the slates in them one by one. Every movement had to be made with care. More than 300 people had died from merely their ropes breaking or slipping.</p>
<p>If the Hermes Cathedral above symbolized the unyielding spirit of the church, then the underground castle deeply hidden in the sinkhole served as the real core of the church.</p>
<p>On the stone surface directly above the stairs, God's Stone of Retaliation glistened. Every hundred stairs there was a guard from the Judgement Army. Within the castle, a platoon of God's Punishment Army was ready to meet the invaders head-on. In the mezzanine between the dome of the castle and the floor of the cathedral, there were numberless sandbags and crushed stones. In the case that Holy City was lost and everyone had to leave, the pope would start the trap and bury this place in gravel and crushed stones.</p>
<p>It was not the first time for Mayne to go to the Hermes' underground castle, but walking in the thin air still made him dizzy, especially when he looked out from the handrail. He felt as if he were falling.</p>
<p>He only calmed down a little when his feet were on the solid ground again.</p>
<p>At the bottom of the sinkhole there lay a gigantic round white whet slate whose surface was as smooth as a glass. One could easily see their own reflections in it. With the genius design of the craftsmen, this whet slate could reflect the light from the dome that converged on it from the surface. The bottom of the sinkhole was not pitch dark even if there was no torch.</p>
<p>At the bottom of the sinkhole one could find that the sunlight was not colorless. The whet slate reflected faint blue light which illuminated the whole sinkhole in a cool shade. With a closer look one could notice that there was an infinite number of dust particles swirling in the brighter spots, as if they were the tiny beings recorded in ancient books.</p>
<p>The church used the natural openings at the bottom of the sinkhole along with the rock surfaces and connected them further to create Hermes' underground castle. And thanks to the openings that led in all directions, the air was never stale.</p>
<p>As soon as Mayne stepped into the gate of the castle, the guardian force became intense. A group of five Judgement Army soldiers guarded every barrier. They were all the most loyal warriors of the church. As long as they accepted this duty, each one of them would spend the rest of their life in the castle, not being able to return to above ground anymore.</p>
<p>In fact, only he and the pope could enter and leave the castle freely. Archbishop Heather and Archbishop Tayfun were not even able to step into this place.</p>
<p>But Mayne did not know how many forks of a road there were in the castle himself. Except for this main road on the south, there were many narrower roads on the sides. If one walked along one, there would be more forks in the road afterwards. Some of the roads were used by the church, while the others were sealed up. He had heard that when the castle was built, a few craftsmen lost their way in the unmarked forks and never found their way back.</p>
<p>The straight main road led to the depths of the mountain. There was a barrier every 100 meters. Mayne knew that every district between two barriers served a different function. The outermost district was a living quarter for the warriors who guarded the underground. The second district was the home of the archive for documents, manuscripts, and where the surviving volumes of ancient books were located. The third district was the prison, which kept prisoners who could not be seen and... the innocent.</p>
<p>When he walked past the third barrier, Mayne stopped. If he walked further, he would reach the Pivotal Secret Area of the castle, from which all the discoveries and inventions of the church originated. He had only been there once since he became the archbishop three years ago and he could not take the liberty to go there without the permission of the pope.</p>
<p>Mayne turned left from the main road into a narrow lane.</p>
<p>The lane was short. Before soon he reached its end. The guard at the door soon saluted him saying, "My lord."</p>
<p>Mayne nodded. "Open the door."</p>
<p>There was a corridor inside the door. On the walls, burning rosin torches were hung like infinite leaping light spots in the dark that stretched to the end of the corridor. At the sides there were numerous thick wooden doors with a number plate hung on each door.</p>
<p>The Judgement Warrior held up the torch and led the way, while Mayne paid his attention to the change of numbers. When he saw the number plate with 35 on it, he stopped and opened the door with a key. The door emitted a piercing sound in the silent hole bottom and the sound continued to echo in the empty corridor. Behind many doors came the cries for help, from both men and women. If one listened more closely, the content was mostly bitter entreaties like, "Let me out!" "Save me" or "Please kill me!"</p>
<p>Mayne was not moved at all. He ordered the warrior to guard the door, walked into the room and closed the door himself, shutting out the noise.</p>
<p>Behind the bars, the archbishop saw an old man sitting on his bed. Maybe he was not so advanced in age, but his hair was grizzled and his forehead was covered with wrinkles. He might not have shaven for a long time for his beard was long enough to reach his neck. His skin was astoundingly white and his limbs were thin and shriveled like dried branches.</p>
<p>Mayne took a look at the food box beside the bars, in which the food remained untouched. He sighed and said, "You should have been kinder to yourself. The church isn't short of food. Your meals are prepared according to the standard of a king, except that there's no wine. Even the fish is the best cod from the Port of Clearwater. You should be familiar with its taste, shouldn't you, Your Majesty Wimbledon?"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 85 - The Road of Thorns</h2>
<p>The old man did not react until a few moments later. He lifted his quilt slowly, moved to the edge of the bed, and looked the archbishop in the eye.</p>
<p>"If you were locked up in this goddamned place, could you eat anything?" When he spoke, his voice was obscured, as if his throat was tight. "Half a year has passed, and I've been locked here for half a year. Without a word from the outside. How're my sons? What about my daughters?"</p>
<p>Mayne noticed that there were dints all over the wall, which seemed to have been scratched with nails. Did the old man count the days this way?</p>
<p>He pulled a chair in front of the king. "Do you have to ask about these unpleasant things?"</p>
<p>The other party remained silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I'm of no use anymore. Are you coming to finish me off?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>"Then as a dying man, I care nothing about my pleasure or displeasure! I only want to know how they're before I die!" As Wimbledon was finishing this last phrase, his words almost transformed into a wail.</p>
<p>[He can't take it anymore,] Mayne thought. The old man had shown his dignity and honor as a king. He had tried many times to escape on the way to Hermes after he had been replaced by the believer. He had not gone insane, and instead, he had tried to free himself by negotiating. He did not curse or howl hysterically, which was rare in the castle prison. If it were not for the unchangeable plan, Mayne would not have wanted to end such a life in this way.</p>
<p>He came up with the idea in the back of his mind that he could tell the old man what he wanted to know. Otherwise, an order for a soldier in Judgement Army to end the king's life for him would suffice.</p>
<p>"Your oldest son, Gerald Wimbledon, has died," Mayne said slowly. "He was sentenced to beheading by your second son Timothy Wimbledon in the name of treason and murder of the king. Your daughter Garcia Wimbledon has declared independence in the Southern Territory and given herself the title, Queen of Clearwater. A war between her and Timothy is unavoidable. As for your youngest son and daughter, we have no news. Maybe they're still alive."</p>
<p>"What did you say? Treason? Independence? What have you done?"</p>
<p>"Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince," he pronounced every single word of the phrase clearly, "we assigned your children to different places and declared that the one who ruled best would be the next king or queen."</p>
<p>Wimbledon closed his eyes in pain. After a long pause, he asked in a low voice, "Why? You grabbed the chance on the Day of Prayer, taking me into a chamber and stripping off my clothes and God's Stone of Retaliation. You made a witch replace me with some other person. You could have taken charge of this kingdom slowly and built a church in every town. Why did you have to issue something like the so-called Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince? I, I couldn't have... Achem." Wimbledon had stirred himself up so much that he curled into a ball, coughing violently.</p>
<p>[I'd never have issued such an order to set my children against each other.] Mayne complemented the sentence in his mind for the king. "Maybe you would not, but your children may not act as you wish. As they're getting older, they each have their own mind. For example, your oldest daughter, Garcia, seized Port of Clearwater five years ago. Even without the Royal Decree, or if you were to die a natural death, would she watch Gerald ascend the throne without doing anything? The most important fact is we don't have time to do it slowly. You may have noticed a witch's power can't last forever."</p>
<p>"Damn. What's the benefit for the church if they fight each other? The church will also be engulfed in the flames of war while the believers will die in battles. The whole kingdom will be in chaos..." Wimbledon suddenly paused and raised his head in disbelief. "Do you intend to..." A more violent cough interrupted the king's words. When he recovered his voice, the voice became so soft, as if the fit of coughing had drained all the energy from him. "you want to eliminate the royal family."</p>
<p>"Exactly. But to put it more precisely, it's the kingship that we'd like to eliminate." Mayne could not help but be amazed by the acute judgement of the king. The number of people who had stayed in a dark cell for almost half a year and retained their clarity of mind could be counted on a single hand. "Kingship hinders the development of the church. No matter how weak the kingship is, it'll grow like a sapling. The only way to get the kingdom for real is to root it out.</p>
<p>Wimbledon's face looked much older now. He may have seemed aged before, but now his spirit was broken too. His eyes were dimmed.</p>
<p>"The Kingdom of Graycastle is the largest kingdom and has the strongest army on the continent. A war against it would be unfavorable for the church. We've planned so long for this. Your kingdom will lose countless soldiers and mercenaries in the civil war. In two or three years, our Judgement Army will be able to take over the whole territory of Graycastle easily. You don't have to grieve so much, for you'll not be the only king who loses his kingdom. It'll be the same for the other three kingdoms. After that, there'll be no difference between the four kingdoms. Kingdom of Dawn, Kingdom of Wolfheart, Kingdom of Everwinter, as well as Kingdom of Graycastle will all vanish. There'll be only one sovereign in the vast land. That's to say, the church."</p>
<p>Wimbledon was silent. The man who had taken the crown from his brother by force had lost his spirit. Mayne even felt a little sympathy for him, though he did not feel the slightest regret in his heart. The church had paid a great price for this. Countless remarkable believers had been willing to sacrifice and serve as pawns in this carefully-schemed chess game.</p>
<p>The man who had played King Wimbledon III was actually a pious chief justice in the Judgement Army. His faith and loyalty to the church were undisputable. He could have gone through the incarnation ceremony of God's Punishment Army. But for the sake of the mission, he was given the king's image by the witch and died an honor-less death in the chamber room in the king's city of Graycastle. He could have had his name carved out on the monuments of Hermes Cathedral. Yet now the church could only bury his name forever.</p>
<p>Mayne did not expect Wimbledon would speak and took out a small porcelain bottle to make the old man drink its contents, but the king suddenly spoke, "Curse!"</p>
<p>"Huh?"</p>
<p>"I curse you. I'll wait for you in the abyss of hell." His voice grew weaker and weaker. Mayne could only hear what the king said when he concentrated.</p>
<p>"Sorry. There's no hell in this world. If there's one, it doesn't belong to us. What we've done is for survival only. Only by uniting the forces of all the four kingdoms can the church generate the utmost power to defeat the real enemy. Otherwise..." The archbishop stopped because he had seen Wimbledon's hands fall down powerlessly. His head turned to one side, and the movements of his chest died down.</p>
<p>[This is the end of a king, and yet at the same time, a brand new beginning for us,] he thought.</p>
<p>Mayne put the porcelain bottle back into his pocket and left. When he pushed the wooden door open, the corridor was quiet, as if the wailing had never been there. He said a few things about the ensuing arrangements to the warrior of the Judgement Army at the door and walked out of the castle with determination.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 86 - The Choice of the Witches</h2>
<p>Leaf did not know how she managed to get through these days.</p>
<p>It took her nearly half a month to return to the camp in the Impassable Mountain Range from the Barbarian Region. In order to avoid the demonic beasts, she had to carefully hide between sturdy tree trunks and confirm there were no demonic beasts before running to the next hiding place. Though her heart was burning with anxiety, she had no other choice but to march slowly in this way. Once she was detected by the demonic hybrids, she would not be able to escape by herself.</p>
<p>More than a dozen sisters had been ruthlessly killed by the demon. The other sisters, who belonged to non-combat type, fled in all directions when the demon Ironhand jumped into the crowd and began his massacre. But Leaf did not know how many of them were able to survive and return to the camp. She dared not to even think about it at all.</p>
<p>As she always had to hide herself during her journey, she consumed her magic power quite quickly and was only able to walk about a dozen miles every day. In addition, she had to save some magic power to survive the night. Since she ate up all the food she brought, she had to transform some wild fruits to make them edible. The emblem of Witch Cooperation Association had run out of power and stopped to give warmth, so she had to wrap herself up with barks. Thinking of young Shino who died before her maturity, Leaf could not stop her tears from falling.</p>
<p>What's worse, on the evening of the fourth night, she suffered the Demonic Torture in a trunk. She completely forgot about it after the continuous attacks these days. A terrible pain quickly spread from her chest to her whole body, as if she were being torn apart. For an instant, she nearly became unconscious, and she had to bite her tongue hard to resist the pain. Under the constant torture, Leaf thought of giving up several times. However, she thought about the 20 sisters who might still be alive, or be waiting for her at the camp. She also thought about those that were seriously wounded and could only be cured by her. All of these made her grit her teeth and persevere on.</p>
<p>Luckily the Demonic Torture did not last long this time. When she finally struggled from the torture, she found there were bleeding cracks all over her body, and her blood had wetted the trunk. Afraid that the smell of blood would attract the demonic beasts, she had to take off her clothes and rush to hide in another tree despite the pain and fatigue. At the same time, she made green leaves grow on a bare branch with her magic power and made clothes out of leaves to keep warm. With the magic power, the branch became her needle while the leaf veins were her threads.</p>
<p>On her way back to the camp, she did not get to eat any cooked food or drink any warm water. When she entered the Impassable Mountain Range, even though she added two more layers of green-leaf clothes and tightly wrapped her hands and feet up, her toes still suffered frostbite. This was due to the rapidly falling temperature and the heavy snow that went up to her ankles. She walked and paused all the way, dragging her feet which could not feel anything, and finally arrived at the camp.</p>
<p>When she saw the familiar figures of the sisters, she fell head down and fainted.</p>
<p>When she woke up, it was already two days later. Having been exposed to low temperature for a long time, her feet were too severely injured to be healed by herbal medicine. The sisters had no choice but to cut off two necrotic toes from each of her feet to stop the spreading of gangrene.</p>
<p>Leaf did not care much about it. She was lucky enough to be alive, compared with those sisters who could never return. But seeing the white bandages on the arms of those wounded sisters, she could not help but feel extremely sorrowful.</p>
<p>When they started off, there were 42 sisters; but now, only six of them survived.</p>
<p>The sisters tried to comfort her, and then Scroll, the oldest witch, told her what happened to them after they had fled.</p>
<p>When Leaf was fighting the demon, the non-combat type of witches seized the opportunity to escape toward the camp. On that night, they were attacked by the demonic beasts—a group of demonic boars. Unable to resist, they had to flee again. Those sisters chased by the demonic beasts had little chance of survival, but they could do nothing about it. The next morning, under the attack of another demonic hybrid wolf, only eight witches escaped successfully. Fortunately, when they entered the Impassable Mountain, the beast finally left.</p>
<p>A few days after they returned to the camp, two sisters began to suffer the bite of the magic power. Maybe because of the terrible experience and the bleak future, neither of them were able to survive. Since none of the combat witches came back, everyone thought that they must have died in the hands of the demon, so no one expected that Leaf would come back.</p>
<p>"So... where are the other sisters? Red Light, Windseeker, and Respected Mentor, what happened to them?"</p>
<p>Leaf shook her head, "I'm the only one who survived."</p>
<p>"Is that so..." Scroll replied softly, having already guessed the answer. "Have a good rest, and..." she hesitated for a moment, and then she said, "Leaf..."</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Before you woke up, we had a discussion. In case Cara won't come back, I hope you can take the position of our mentor."</p>
<p>Leaf was stunned for a moment and closed her eyes to consider. Well, after these heavy blows, the Witch Cooperation Association would probably fall apart immediately if there was no new mentor. The dream of the association was to seek the Holy Mountain, a place of freedom and peace. But now the dream was broken. No, even "Holy Mountain" was a lie, as it did not exist in the Impassable Mountain Range, or in the Wild Places. In this case, should the association still exist?</p>
<p>Those thoughts were getting on her nerves. Even without looking at the sisters, she could feel the expectations in their eyes. They needed someone to tell them what to do and to lead them on their journey.</p>
<p>"Let's... go and look for Nightingale," said Leaf, after a long silence.</p>
<p>"What? Nightingale?"</p>
<p>"You mean we are going to Border Town?"</p>
<p>"What if she lied to us?"</p>
<p>"Wendy is also there."</p>
<p>"Maybe she's been dead for ages."</p>
<p>Hearing what Leaf said, the sisters raised questions eagerly. Scroll clapped her hands to calm them, and then asked Leaf, "What if Nightingale also lied?"</p>
<p>"You can wait outside the town, in some safe place." Leaf opened her eyes, "Let me go first to find out whether Nightingale was telling the truth. If she lied, I will take over the position of the mentor. But if... I die in the town, Scroll, please lead the sisters to seek freedom."</p>
<p>"But, I..."</p>
<p>Leaf forced a smile, "I know your ability is unsuitable for fighting, and not very helpful for the daily operation of the camp. But now I understand that the strength of the ability is not the most important standard for the position of the mentor." The mentor should be a guide, instead of being the strongest one. Unfortunately, it was too late for her to understand it. If Wendy, who was patient and cautious, was their mentor, would the result be different? "You, as well as Wendy, were the first witches to join the association, and also the elder sisters. When we came to the Impassable Mountain Range from the eastern part of the kingdom, you behaved in an experienced manner and were cautious. No one is more qualified than you to become our mentor."</p>
<p>Scroll fell into silence for a while, and then said, "What if Nightingale was telling the truth?"</p>
<p>"Then the Witch Cooperation Association should not exist anymore." Leaf slowly said, "Border Town will be our new 'Holy Mountain'."</p>
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<h2>Chapter 87 - The Winter Twilight (Part I)</h2>
<p>"Ready—! Stab!"</p>
<p>Van'er exerted himself to stab forward with his spear. Holding it with both hands, he could feel the violent tremble and hear the crackling of the spear. At the end of the spear was a demonic wolf. That beast had fluffy fur and blood-red eyes bulging like bells. In its wide-open mouth were two rows of fangs, and the largest one was as big as his thumb. This was his first time to face a demonic beast so closely. It was trying to attack him with its claws and the snowflakes were spattered all over on his face.</p>
<p>Van'er felt his mind was a blank. He was only driven by his instincts learned during the training, while subconsciously holding tightly the shaft of his spear and continuing to attack. Time seemed to flow slowly, and the shaft was bent to its maximum. The spear was stabbed deeply into the belly of the wolf, and he even thought that the sharp claws would tear his cheeks open in the next moment.</p>
<p>"Bang!" Unable to withstand the force of the wolf any longer, the shaft finally broke into two pieces. The sound also made time flow normally again, as he could saw the wolf falling down, just like it jumped on the wall earlier on. Its claws failed to clutch the city wall, scraping flakes along the wall, and then smashed on the ground, with half of his spear still in its belly.</p>
<p>"Flintlock Squad, finish loading!"</p>
<p>"Fire!"</p>
<p>Two gun barrels immediately stretched out beside Van'er. He hurried to take a half step back and raised his head to avoid the scattered fragments and the smoke of the gunpowder. As for his ears, he had no time to cover them.</p>
<p>Soon after the guns fired, Van'er stepped back to the front, where he discovered a variety of demonic beasts dead at the base of the wall. Someone poked him in his back. He turned around and saw his roommate grinning proudly at him.</p>
<p>Van'er thought, "You have just got the opportunity to touch the gun for a week. You have nothing to be proud of." He cast a stern glance at him and turned back to look at the battlefield. "When His Highness's cannon platoon is ready, you'll know the gun in your hand is just like a stick."</p>
<p>"Gunner, here is your spear." Cat's Claw handed Van'er a new wooden spear. "Are these demonic beasts crazy? They've been attacking us for nearly two or three hours, right?"</p>
<p>"They were already crazy," answered Van'er. He took the spear and placed it properly, waiting for the next attack. "What time is it?"</p>
<p>"It was almost noon." Cat's Claw sighed. When the hunter was not looking at him, he took a quick glance at each side and asked," Where is Jop? And the Rodney Brothers?"</p>
<p>"Don't turn around. Do you want to be torn in two by the demonic wolves?" Van'er snapped, "They were assigned to the other section of the city walls, maybe in the third or the fourth group. By the way, why are you in group one?"</p>
<p>"I belong to the auxiliary force." Cat's Claw laughed and said, " Wherever there is a need, I'll come to help. Just now an older soldier was wounded, so it was my turn to..."</p>
<p>"Ready—!" The order of the hunter observer interrupted Cat's Claw's words. Van'er saw a dozen of demonic beasts rapidly approaching. Now he could also quickly distinguish the types of demonic beasts. He discovered there were only two demonic wolves, while the rest were demonic boars, demonic foxes, and a demonic bear, which were no big threat to the city wall.</p>
<p>"Stab!" In spite of that, he still obeyed the order and stabbed forward in unified action with his group members. As expected, his spear stabbed into nothing but thin air. After withdrawing his spear, he saw from the corner of his eyes that the demonic wolves were killed by other soldiers from group one. When the slower demonic beasts gathered around the city wall, the Flintlock Squad squeezed by his side again, shooting downwards.</p>
<p>They had repeated these fixed actions from daybreak until the present. When the horn was first sounded, most people were still sleeping. Van'er yawned. This time, the attack of demonic beasts was more intense than ever before. Usually, they just needed to resist one or two waves of demonic beasts, but today, the corpses of beasts were almost piling up along the wall. They had been replaced by the second Militia halfway so that they could have a short rest and a bit to eat, after which they returned to the city wall.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, Van'er found that he behaved more calmly than he had imagined. He would withdraw his spear when he heard the order, leaving the rest to the Flintlock Squad, just as he had practiced in peacetime. Those regulations and actions, which originally seemed to be strange, came in handy and were incredibly effective.</p>
<p>Other soldiers behaved just like Van'er, firmly grasping the spear and having a serious look on their faces. Some auxiliary soldiers were very nervous, but still stood upright and no one stepped back.</p>
<p>Van'er knew that the daily repetitive training gave them confidence, but the morale was boosted mainly by His Highness. Only after the Flintlock Squad fired, Van'er would steal a glance at the lookout tower in the middle of the city wall—that was where the prince stood.</p>
<p>Since the horn sounded, His Highness immediately came to the city wall and stood there to overlook the battle without any rest. Even when Van'er was replaced to have his meal, he found that the prince remained on top of the lookout tower. Even his breakfast was sent there by the chief knight.</p>
<p>Van'er recalled that the last lord would always withdraw by ship as quickly as possible before the beginning of the Months of Demons. Then the other nobles would also go on board. The civilians would be the last ones to leave. If they could afford some silver royals, they could leave with the ships. But if they had no money, they had to walk to Longsong Stronghold by themselves. Thinking about that, Van'er felt that he was full of energy again.</p>
<p>Yes, they belonged to the Graycastle prince's Militia, totally different from the patrol team of Border Town in the past. With armors and weapons, those members of patrol team often bullied civilians in the New and Old District and blackmailed the foreign businessmen. In Van'er's view, except the two captains, the rest of the patrol team were nothing different from rogues. But the Militia, led by His Highness, was a strong team, which was able to block the terrifying demonic beasts outside of Border Town, making it impossible for them to advance. In the past, only Longsong Stronghold was able to do this.</p>
<p>Just look at Fish Ball, the famous coward in the Old District, who used to be ridiculed by others. Since he joined the second Militia, he was brave enough to fight the demonic beast with his spear. And Fermi, tall in stature but slow in action, was often teased by the people of the Old District. But now he was able to fight with his spear in a quick and firm way, and he was even more skilled than the others. Van'er knew that Fermi would always thrust out another one hundred slashes after the others had finished their training, just because His Highness once said to him, "Clumsy birds have to start flying early. To be successful, you have to keep one step ahead of everyone else to be able to surpass them."</p>
<p>Originally Van'er came here for the two eggs, but now he felt lucky that he had joined the Militia. Every day there was some subtle change, and every day he made progress. Van'er believed that he was definitely not the only soldier who felt it. He did not know how to describe his feelings. Maybe he could use the words which were often said by His Highness during the training—"You're a team that's out of this world".</p>
<p>"Hoot— Hoot—" Van'er suddenly heard two short horn blows, which was the warning sign for the demonic hybrid. He looked into the distance and discovered a demonic hybrid with a lion's head and two wings, which was similar to that beast which broke into the town last time. "This was the second one," he thought. But this time was different. Besides the Flintlock Squad, we had more help.</p>
<p>Van'er turned around slightly, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw a girl with short blonde hair floating beside the prince.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 88 - The Twilight of Winter (Part II)</h2>
<p>"Take it easy. It hasn't come yet." Roland sighed as he watched the eager Lightning.</p>
<p>God only knew why she was so interested in challenging demonic beasts. Obviously, she was not cut out for battle, but yet she was hardly frightened of the demonic beasts that scared most people. "Do it the same way you dealt with the first one. Leave your bravado behind. Your job is to draw the beast's attention and lure it here. Watch the height you fly at in case the beasts pounces up to strike you."</p>
<p>"I know. I know," Lightning said, brimming with confidence, "I've learned all the details from the fight against the first beast. Give me some credit. I won't let this one touch me at all."</p>
<p>While they were talking, the demonic hybrid beast was approaching the wall. It crossed the obstacle belt and sprung over the city wall towards the unguarded area. This time, the Militia members did not respond but stayed where they were deployed, waiting for the instruction from the hunter observers.</p>
<p>"Now the fight begins against the demonic hybrid beast!" Roland said in a deep voice.</p>
<p>Lightning, who was already on her way, stopped and looked back at Roland.</p>
<p>"What's the matter?" Roland asked.</p>
<p>"What you just said was..." Lightning thought for a while and shook her head, "A little strange... Anyway, forget it. I'm leaving."</p>
<p>Watching her fly away, Roland laughed awkwardly and asked Anna and Nightingale behind him, "Did it sound strange to you both?"</p>
<p>"Yeah." Both of them nodded.</p>
<p>[Well then... It seems that the bumptious line will keep its feature wherever they are,] thought Roland. "Off you go, and keep safe," Roland said.</p>
<p>"Same to you, Your Highness." Nightingale bowed and took Anna's hand before walking into the Mist.</p>
<p>The wind blowing against him, Roland stood with his hands behind his back, endeavoring to cast an impression of a big boss. Knowing that a lot of men watched him secretly during the break of the war, he kept standing firmly on top of the wall, letting everyone see the sign at any time that their prince would always stand with them. Since he could not fight in the war personally, this was the best he could do to inspire his men.</p>
<p>The attack of the demonic beasts this year was the strongest on record. According to Iron Axe, in previous years, there had been only one or two demonic hybrid beasts during the Months of Demons. This year seemed very unusual as the number of the intruding demonic hybrid beasts was up to four, and the war lasted longer. The demonic beasts constantly emerged from the Misty Forest and marched unceasingly towards the town in a pack of ten or so.</p>
<p>Fortunately, last month they had prepared enough flintlocks to arm the Flintlock Squad of 100 men, otherwise they would not be able to guarantee such an efficient killing speed. If they used crossbow bolts, it would be very hard to keep up the loading speed by now. In a protracted battle, the advantage of the flintlock that cost less labor was standing out. Of course, the high consumption of gunpowder did bother Roland, hence he was planning to unpack all the gunpowder reserves in the warehouse, more than 20 packs of them, to supply the Flintlock Squad.</p>
<p>On the other side, Lightning had approached the place above the demonic hybrid beast. She took a stone out of her pocket and cast it to the beast. The stone hit right on its head. The unexpected attack made the beast step back immediately before it saw that the attack was from the sky.</p>
<p>Lightning lowered her flying height to challenge the beast and flew by it, keeping close to the ground as she began heading to the center of the town. Though the beast could think, it seemed to the beast that the little flying girl was weak and non-threatening. So it pounced on her immediately, its wings spreading open to strike the air, and with only a few bounces, it glided forward almost 100 meters. Lightning flew higher at once and turned around in the sky, passing by some houses and turning in to another street.</p>
<p>Through the perplexing paths, she lured the enemy to the square in the center of the town where she would launch an attack on the beast with Nightingale and Anna as they had planned. Since the beast was sensitive enough to discover Nightingale even when she was hiding in the Mist, it was critical for Lightning to catch the beast's attention before Nightingale and Anna launched their attack.</p>
<p>The trick worked perfectly. Now the beast was clearly furious and mad, and its nature got the better of it. With mouth wide open, it kept leaping up to catch Lightning who, without any burdens, was far agiler. She went up and down to fool the beast and made it miss the target every time it attacked.</p>
<p>From the other direction, Nightingale had arrived the square, and unlike Lightning, she walked straight here in the Mist where no obstacles like houses and barriers would stand in her way. Anna's fire could reach as far as five meters, and in order to lower the chance of the beast cottoning on, they had to be as close as possible.</p>
<p>Having learned a lot from the mistake of dealing with the first demonic hybrid beast, now Nightingale was familiar with how Anna attacked. When they were 30 steps away from the beast, she sped up to the limit. Within a split second, the distance seemed to be cut down to one step and then they strode over it. It happened so fast that when Anna came to her mind, she found that their face was right by the beast's tail.</p>
<p>"Now!" Nightingale shouted.</p>
<p>As the white and black world faded away in the blink of an eye, Anna came back to the familiar square. A green fire burst out on her fingertip and enlarged into a fire cage that trapped the entire beast.</p>
<p>Nightingale retreated quickly to dodge the heat wave that made her painful.</p>
<p>Before the demonic beast could react, the fire that had reached a temperature high enough to melt steel, became a fireball, and finally, the beast crushed.</p>
<p>"Looks like they've made it," Wendy who worked as a guard in Nightingale's absence curled her lip and said when she saw the green flame far away. "It seems that I didn't have to do much work..."</p>
<p>"I'd hope that none of you step foot onto the battlefield if possible," said Roland in a faux-sprightly voice, keeping his posture with his hands behind his back. But he knew in his heart that without the help of the witches, the Militia would definitely reel from the demonic hybrid beasts, which were able to fly over the city wall.</p>
<p>Even Nana, protected by Baron Tigui, had come to the city wall and was busy healing the wounded soldiers. Roland was very gratified that the first time demonstrating the power of witches in front of the Militia had turned out so well. Nana, who was nicknamed 'Healing Angel', apparently boosted the reputation of the witches to a new level. Moreover, the victory Anna and Nightingale had achieved in the battle against the demonic hybrid beast also earned them cheers among the crowds.</p>
<p>He certainly understood that it was impossible for everyone to accept the witches, but as far as he was concerned, the current situation was already an improvement. After the initial interaction between the Militia and the witches, his following plan would be carried out more smoothly.</p>
<p>All of a sudden, the sound of gunfire became sporadic, and Roland noticed that the beasts were abandoning the city wall. [The enemies are in retreat?] Roland could not believe his eyes. At that moment, a shaft of sunlight burst through the thick clouds, shining on the battlefield, and then the second shaft, the third... soon the gray sky was riddled with thousands of shafts of light which bled one another to become a single most dazzling one. Suddenly, the land was brightened up.</p>
<p>"When the sun finally rose up again, it signaled the end of the Months of Demons"</p>
<p>After a short moment of silence on the city wall, the wave of cheers swept across the border defense line. One after another, the townspeople came out of their houses, and following the wave of cheers, they sang and shouted. Cheers for the long-awaited sunshine, cheers for surviving the winter, and cheers for their prince. All the cheers came together, echoing throughout the small Border Town.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 89 - The Celebration (Part I)</h2>
<p>For Border Town, this year was different from previous years.</p>
<p>In the past, after the Months of Demons ended, the refugees had to wait in the slum of Longsong Stronghold for one more month, until the snow had melted completely, before they could return to their home. What awaited them in Border Town was a mess. The houses that had been unattended for months would be in ruins. Sometimes fragile cabins would collapse from heavy snow. Demonic beasts often lingered in houses. Cabinets and tables had been bitten and broken into parts, and the pallets and rags had been moved to fill in the corners. Apparently, they used these shelters as their lairs. House owners had to spend a week repairing their houses and changing their mildewed furniture. And the rotten stench always lingered in the air. The residents had grown accustomed to it.</p>
<p>This year, however, Border Town was renewed. After quickly cleaning the snow, people started to hang colorful paper flags on their doors. These had been granted by His Highness. From afar, with the flags of various colors mixed together, the dull and shabby, little town became vibrant, like a sea of flowers. All the people went around spreading the news that on the first day after the end of the Months of Demons, His Highness would hold a grand celebration party in the square! Everyone was allowed to attend it for free! It was told that there would also be a free meal!</p>
<p>A party? In the past, these were only for the noble to attend. Most people simply heard about them from the knowledgeable businessmen who came from big cities. But even the experienced businessmen were not allowed to attend a party, and money could not buy them a ticket. Yet, to everyone's surprise, His Highness was allowing all of them to attend.</p>
<p>"Your Highness, I'm afraid this is not a good idea." Chief Knight Carter tried to change his mind. "Without a band or a lead dancer, who'll control the pace of the party? Besides, in a remote place like this, the noble won't even dance. Your subjects will ruin everything."</p>
<p>Carter had only been to one party in the capital, which had been held by a marquis for his daughter's birthday. The sounds of elegant strings and passionate drums had interlaced. Ladies had danced to melodious music while men drums, their steps fast and vigorous, and with rotating and tapping they combined the movements and the rhythm of drums. During the break, attendants would serve drinks and desserts among the people. Men looked for lovers and when the last song was played, they plucked up the courage to ask the object of their admiration for a dance. The one who won a lady's heart would continue his romantic night.</p>
<p>Carter sighed. Though he had not won over the admired girl at the time, the elegant, romantic atmosphere of the party still left an impression on his mind. Now the prince intended to replace the graceful noble with peasants who dealt with stones and beasts every day? Goodness, he dared not imagine it.</p>
<p>"The lead dancers? We have them." Roland had commanded the Militia to remove the stone sculpture and gallows in the square. "They're Iron Axe and the Militia."</p>
<p>"The man from Sand Nation?" Carter asked in shock. He had accepted Iron Axe, who as the Captain of the Flintlock Squad, had performed very well during the Months of Demons, and did not call Iron Axe's foreign title anymore. Yet this did not change what Iron Axe was. How could a man from the Mojin Clan understand the manners of the kingdom?</p>
<p>Roland laughed secretly. "This is not a usual party. You'll understand when you see it."</p>
<p>There was not much preparation needed, except removing the obstacles in the square and piling up the firewood in the center for a barbecue. Yes, this was Roland's idea of a celebration party, a bonfire party and outdoor barbecue.</p>
<p>Roland had been thinking about how to improve his people's identification with the place they lived. For the uneducated peasants who had spent their whole life serving their lords, the concept of nationalism was too deep to understand. What they really cared about was their properties and families. The further they fell behind, the more shortsighted they were. This was the law of developing civilization. It was written, "Civilization will eventually become as big as its mind." And Roland could not agree more.</p>
<p>However, it did not mean that he should ignore constructing community spirit, and a victory celebration was the best way. He did not understand why there was currently no celebratory party after the end of the Months of Demons. The invasion of demonic beasts was like an annual natural disaster. There was no doubt that defeating the demons deserved to be written a great deal about.</p>
<p>Therefore, he decided to name the first day after the Months of Demons Victory Day. On that day, all the people in his land would rest, and all kinds of celebrations would be held. Once this celebration was held for three or four years, it would become a tradition and pass on to future generations. As time went on, his subjects would recognize the difference between themselves and those people who were under other lords' governance.</p>
<p>Though it was not yet noon, the square was filled with people. The members of the Militia stood in a circle keeping everyone away from the pile of firewood.</p>
<p>It seemed to Roland that free food had a strong appeal to the residents. At least half of the town had attended the party. Everything was perfect, except that the square was a little too small. Apart from the clearing for the firewood, the rest of the square was barely enough to include a thousand people, who stood nearly shoulder to shoulder and had difficulty moving around. He noticed some children had climbed up to the nearest roof to have a better view of the center of the square.</p>
<p>To Roland, it was acceptable for his first celebration party to have some defects. When the time came, he walked on stage to give his speech.</p>
<p>This was his second speech in the square, and he was much more composed this time.</p>
<p>"Good afternoon, my people. I'm Prince Roland Wimbledon of Kingdom of Graycastle." He started the same as he had with his last speech, but this time it produced a totally different result. People greeted his opening with enthusiastic cheers. "Long live Prince Roland!" "Long live Your Highness!"</p>
<p>Roland was touched by the cheers. The spontaneous cheers were from the Militia and the crowds, not from the plants like he had arranged during the first speech. A sense of achievement and contentment filled his heart.</p>
<p>When the cheers faded, he pressed his hands down to silence the audience. "The Months of Demons have ended. The Militia fought hard and bravely to keep the demonic beasts away from the city wall. We've achieved victory in the battle against the fearful enemies at a very low price. It proves that if only we pull together, we could live well, independent from Longsong Stronghold, who intended to threaten us with food and force us to yield to hunger and cold. The victory of today has told them that their schemes have failed and all that they've planned is a futile effort.</p>
<p>"Exactly. I don't want to go back there anymore!"</p>
<p>"We'll never suffer hunger again if we follow our prince."</p>
<p>"His Highness has mercy! Finally, we don't have to put up with their extortion."</p>
<p>While everyone was in an ebullient mood, Roland continued his speech. "Let us celebrate this glorious and honorable triumph. This is a day to remember! I hereby proclaim that from this day forward, the first day after the end of the Months of Demons will be named 'Victory Day'! This is the reason for our celebration! Enjoy it, my people! Now, let the party begin!</p>
<p>A torch was tossed into the pile of firewood that had already been daubed with oil. The fire boomed and soared high, lighting the atmosphere of the whole square instantly.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 90 - The Celebration (Part II)</h2>
<p>Six marinated cattle were transported next to the bonfire by carts—if they weren't escorted by the Militia, Roland suspected that on their way through the crowd, the cattle would have already been cleared by the overzealous masses.</p>
<p>This was all of the food reserves the castle had left in the basement. So he would not eat any meat until the arrival of the next merchant ship. The thought of this made Roland cry silently. To organize this celebration successfully, he had used up everything he had.</p>
<p>The royal chefs brought over from King's City were only responsible for brushing the meat and controlling the heat. The task of barbecuing was handed over to six strong members from the Militia. An iron bar was inserted into the cattle's body through its mouth and then placed next to the fire on a brick hearth. The flames were so hot that the heat waves could be felt even at two to three meters away. Soon the cattle's skin generated a sizzling sound, oil emerged out of its pores, emitting a succulent scent.</p>
<p>Of course, the crowd couldn't be left waiting during the barbecue, so on Roland's signal, Iron Axe led a team of militia to the stage.</p>
<p>The extravagant and complicated court dances weren't appropriate for an occasion like this, for there was no time for practice, and they wouldn't even be able to remember all the essentials steps, not to mention displaying a perfect dance move. To display a dance that was both enjoyable and easy to understand, the dance of Sand Nation was clearly a better option for the taste of the civilians.</p>
<p>The dance started with Iron Axe and the others placing both of their hands on their waist, and they interlocked each other's arms, creating a chain-like formation, forming two rings around the bonfire. Accompanied by the sounds of horns, they began to move clockwise, and with each step, they would kick in the air while shouting "Ha hey"!</p>
<p>"Is this the lead dance you talked about?" Carter asked in a startle. "Is this even considered as a dance?"</p>
<p>"Of course, it is, and it's very easy to remember. The militia members only needed to practice fifteen minutes last night to master the steps," Roland answered laughingly, "Would you like to have a try?"</p>
<p>Carter shook his head and refused the offer. He felt as if something in his heart broke with a bang—goodbye, the beautiful girl that melted his heart. Goodbye, the sad memory of youth.</p>
<p>The other militia members were clapping with their hands in the rhythm of the dancer's footsteps, accompanied each time with an applause. The extremely dynamic rhythm moved the masses, who, one after another, followed them. As the clapping got faster, the circling speed of Iron Axe and his men became faster as well. Soon the ring began to show signs of coming apart, and it did not take long until one of the dancers accidentally fell, taking down more dancers with him. The crowd was left startled, but the militia members did not stop the clapping, but instead, they clapped more wildly like a rainstorm.</p>
<p>Iron Axe helped the men that had fallen down, and asked the crowd loudly, "Do you understand the dance? Anyone wants to try? Every dance will end with members falling down! If you join the dance, you'll get a piece of sweet and delicious honey meat. The longer you dance, the more meat you get!"</p>
<p>If the noble or the rich families were to invite them, the normal townspeople would never have been involved—subconsciously, they gave them a feeling that they were superior to them. It was also common for them to go back on their promises. But seeing the militia members, who were their familiar townspeople, waving at them, they were unable to hold themselves back.</p>
<p>After the first person soon followed a second and then a third one. A new round of dance started, but this time most of the dancers came from the crowd. Although the dance was simple, everyone was very happy, and plus the reward of the honey meat, the participants tried their hardest to show the best possible performance.</p>
<p>This was exactly what Roland wanted to see.</p>
<p>Apart from the barbecue, there were also bread, fishcakes, and ale that was distributed to the crowd. The celebration would last until the night, but Roland did not plan to stay all night. He arranged for Carter to be in charge of the security of the town square and the assistant minister to be responsible for the closing speech before he left.</p>
<p>He also had a private party to attend at the castle backyard.</p>
<p>The backyard was still brightly lit when the night fell.</p>
<p>Just like in the town's square, there was also a bonfire here. The difference was that the chicken used for the barbeque was cut into pieces. The seasoning and the oil were done by themselves, completely imitating the atmosphere of an outdoor barbeque. The witches fell in love with this kind of novelty of self-service. Of course in Roland's eyes, this was also a rare spectacle—for example, Anna directly wrapped the chicken into her green flame after seasoning it, which would soon give off a delicious scent. As for Nightingale, she showed off her incredible knife skills. The knife in her hand was flying and dancing on the chicken causing all of its bones being completely cut off.</p>
<p>And of course, there was red wine, brought from Willow Town, and it was much more suitable for the tastes of women than ale. Before Roland could say that minors were prohibited from drinking, Lightning had already emptied half a bottle by herself, and since she was holding the bottle and floating in mid-air, it would be difficult to stop her, so he gave up the thought.</p>
<p>At the half-way through the barbecue, Roland started to feel slightly tipsy. He leaned against the chair, and while watching the group of happy laughing girls, Roland felt very pleased. This was the perfect life for a prince, he thought, and also for the witches. With their extraordinary abilities and appearance, they should not be the object of hunting. If they lived in the world of his previous life, they would have become the dazzling focus where they were. The only thing he could do now was to let them live a normal life here in his territory.</p>
<p>At this moment, Lightning flew down, directly landing on Roland's lap, and before he could react, she planted a kiss on his cheek.</p>
<p>Although this action was done very quickly, it was still captured by other witches.</p>
<p>As Lightning grinningly flew away and saw Anna, Nightingale, and Wendy looked at her in surprise, she waved her hand, explaining, "According to the rules of the Fjords, during a victory celebration, women can take the initiative to kiss the leader. Dad would always let me kiss him. Is it the same in Graycastle?"</p>
<p>"Of course not." Roland instantly woke up from his half-drunken state. "Uh… ahem, Lightning, you're drunk, go back to the castle and sleep now!"</p>
<p>"How could I be drunk." Lightning protested. "When I was sailing, I often had drinking battles with the crew and I never lost one."</p>
<p>Roland could only ask the witches for help, and he turned to Wendy, who nodded and then used her power to softly blow Lightning down. As she was landing, Wendy stepped forward and caught the girl in her arms. Disregarding her struggling, Wendy walked straight to the castle.</p>
<p>"Don't worry about her, she just drinks too much. Please continue, and soon the dessert will be served." Roland suddenly felt that the atmosphere had turned a little awkward, especially the way Anna was looking at him, which made him feel a chill starting from his feet. The only one who was completely unaffected by what had happened was Nana, and she was still concentrating on her chicken wings like nothing had happened at all.</p>
<p>After the bonfire was gradually extinguished, Roland asked Nightingale to escort Nana home. Then he went to the well and washed his face with the cold water, getting ready to go to bed. Roland did not take the former episode seriously. In his view, Lightning was still a little child.</p>
<p>But when he arrived at the third floor's bedroom, the prince's heart suddenly leaped.</p>
<p>He saw Anna leaning against his door.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 91 - The Heart Prison</h2>
<p>The moonlight was coming in from the corridor's window, shining on half of the girl's face. Her eyes reflected a faint blue light, looking like two stars in the dark. Anna's body was leaning against the door, with most of her body hidden in the dark, but her silhouette was still visible—good nutrition had completely changed her previous thin and skinny body, and as a woman who recently became adult, her body was just perfect, containing the right curves of her age and the unique charm of youth.</p>
<p>Roland put on a calm face and walked slowly towards her until he was spotted by her. She stood straight and they looked each other right into the eyes.</p>
<p>"It was just an accident, and I didn't know she would..." Roland said.</p>
<p>"I understand."</p>
<p>"She's still a child, so I didn't take it serious..."</p>
<p>"I got it too"</p>
<p>Anna reacted completely differently than Roland had expected. It did not seem like Anna wanted to argue, and he could not detect any trace of displeasure on her face but only a serious look. There was no motion within her lake-like blue eyes. Roland realized that she was a straightforward woman, and she neither liked to hide nor she had to hide anything. As expected, she took the initiative and said, "I dare not do such a bold thing... in front of so many people, like what Lightning had done, so I have to wait for you here."</p>
<p>Upon finishing, her cheeks clearly showed a sign of blush, but even so, she did not shrink back and her eyes remained focused on Roland's. Her expression could not be more serious.</p>
<p>Roland's heartbeat gradually slowed down, wanting to say something, but he felt that saying anything right now would be meaningless. Maybe she did mind Lightning's behavior, but complaining was not her style, and she would simply express her own feelings.</p>
<p>Honest and hard-working children should not be rejected, he thought. Roland bent down, leant towards Anna's cheek. He could even feel her breath on his face, like a spring breath fiddling his heartstrings. It was so quiet that they could clearly hear each other's nervous breathing in the quiet corridor, and then, a pair of soft lips slightly touched Roland's cheeks.</p>
<p>"Good night, Your Highness," Anna whispered.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>Wendy was sitting on the bed and reading some books.</p>
<p>For her, times like this were very rare. During her time in the Witch Cooperation Association, she would have never dared to think of having such a life.</p>
<p>Not long after she came to town, she developed such a habit: Before going to sleep, she would clean her body, put on a silk gown, which was not fastened around the waist or was it buttoned up, sit cross-legged in the bed, with a soft pillow between her back and the wall, and read the books she had borrowed from His Highness.</p>
<p>It had taken her a lot of time until she got Lightning to rest, so she did not plan to return to the castle backyard, and instead, she washed up and went straight to bed.</p>
<p>She was now reading a history book about the origin of the church.</p>
<p>Although she grew up in a cloister, yet she did not know much about this subject. The nuns had always warned them to obey the teaching of God, but they never mentioned God's name—during her childhood this discrepancy had always puzzled her. Everyone had a name, so why the highest deities did not have one?</p>
<p>What was recorded in the history book was mostly the same with the rumors she had heard. At the beginning, there were three major churches, which thought of each other as heretics and believed that their own God was the true one. This battle of faiths lasted for nearly a hundred years, and in the end, the church nowadays claimed the final victory. They declared that the heretics had been destroyed, and God has only one name that was the word of God itself.</p>
<p>The following pages described the glory and immortality of the church, including the construction of Old Holy City and New Holy City and their victory over the evil witches. This left Wendy very puzzled. She had previously borrowed the books, "The History of the Kingdom of Graycastle" and "A Brief History of the Mainland" from His Highness. The first one almost unequivocally recorded the kingdom's establishment, development, and major events. For example, names of each king, their marital status, and information about their children. The family with all their branches were described in such detail that it almost represented a detailed genealogy.</p>
<p>"The Brief History of the Mainland" focused more on the evolution of the Four Kingdoms, their alternations in handling their powers, and their political struggles. However, the content still focused a lot on the ruling families.</p>
<p>Yet within the history book of the church, there was no mention of any of the popes' names, or could it be that it was the same case with God's name. They just replaced their former names with the title pope. By the first look, it seemed like there was only one pope during all of the hundreds of years of history. This was not logical, and instead of calling it a record, it would be better to call it deliberate delusion.</p>
<p>At this moment, Nightingale suddenly appeared within the room. Wendy put down her book and looked at her with interest. "It's been late. You still have time to come here?"</p>
<p>Nightingale rubbed her neck and sat beside the bed. "I just finished escorting Nana home. How is Lightning?"</p>
<p>"She immediately fell asleep once I put her in bed, and she wouldn't stop murmuring about her father." Wendy shrugged. "She always acts like she is already a brave big girl, but in truth, she's still a little child."</p>
<p>"In your eyes, everyone is still a child," Nightingale replied and took the book from Wendy's hand. "His Highness had said that you shouldn't read at night, especially while sitting in bed. You'll hurt your eyes if the lighting isn't strong enough."</p>
<p>"Yes, His Highness did say that."</p>
<p>The two of them chatted for a while. They talked about their travel from Silver City to the Impassable Mountain Range, about the time they heard the news that a witch was soon to be killed in town and how the prince fought off the Months of Demons. Nightingale had a lot to say and Wendy would also occasionally throw in one or two sentences. During the past five years, these two had developed such a great chemistry and understanding between each other. The time passed slowly until finally, the candles were about to extinguish. At that time Wendy began to smile and asked, "So? You can't sleep because of Lightning's actions today?"</p>
<p>"What're you talking about..."</p>
<p>"What else can it be." Wendy smiled and shook her head. "Veronica, we're witches. You should know better."</p>
<p>"..." Nightingale remained silent, and after a long time she replied, "Well."</p>
<p>This was fate that no witch could escape from it. Wendy sighed and then said, "Roland Wimbledon is the kingdom's fourth Prince, and we have to do everything necessary to ensure that he'll take over the throne of Kingdom of Graycastle. He'll rule the kingdom well and he'll be able to create a place for us sisters to live in."</p>
<p>"But at that time, he must do what a king needed to do, and when the time comes, he'll have to marry a duke's daughter or the princess of another kingdom in order to give birth to one or many heirs. If it's a boy, he'll inherit the throne, and if it's a girl she'll be married to another noble family."</p>
<p>Here, Wendy paused for a moment, and then spoke aloud what Nightingale, or actually what all witches did not want to hear. "Veronica, we're witches, who can't give birth to children."</p>
<p>"Even by thinking most optimistically, after His Highness has ruled for many years, and our sisters can finally walk in the streets of the kingdom freely. On some occasions, outstanding witches would be able to join the upper ranks of society, and maybe even get canonized as nobles. But the fact that witches can't give birth will never change. And without the ability to bear any descendants, we'll be unable to continue the family's glory. Thus, the nobles would never consider marrying a witch. We have been given a gift, but at the same time, something was also been taken from us. This is our fate." Then she whispered, "May God be merciful."</p>
<p>"I see," she whispered.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>After Nightingale had finally left, Wendy felt upset. But she was confident that Nightingale would be able to overcome this, after all, she had already overcome so many hardships, and she surely would not stumble on this one.</p>
<p>She was sure about it.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 92 - The Regrouping of the Platoon</h2>
<p>"This is the end of our task, right?" In the square, Cat's Claw cleaned up the burned debris from the bonfire and regretfully said, "I really don't want to go back to the mine to work. To be honest, I kind of miss the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I don't want to deal with those stones," Jop replied. "The most important thing is the pay is too different from the previous one. Where else can we get work like this in the Artillery Squad? Where can we get to eat meat every day and have a monthly salary of 15 silver royals."</p>
<p>"What a silly thing to say," said Van'er, who was holding a torch on the side. "This time His Royal Highness distributed a lot of grain, so no one starved to death during the Months of Demons. Do you remember two years ago in the Old District, half of the people did not survive the winter! Do you miss that? Anyway, the platoon won't be disbanded. Do you think His Royal Highness recruited us into the Artillery Squad and burned so much gunpowder, just to hear the 'bang' of the explosion?"</p>
<p>"But there are no more demonic beasts. Why would His Royal Highness still need the Artillery Squad?" Rodney asked, clutching the broom.</p>
<p>"The Artillery Squad isn't prepared just for the demonic beasts." Van'er pondered but ultimately did not say it. "Anyway, we'll know the answer tomorrow." He yawned and waved his hand impatiently. "Clean this up quickly, I'd like to go back to sleep early."</p>
<p>The next day early in the morning, there was an order to gather at the battalion camp, thus confirming Van'er's saying.</p>
<p>After all the people were gathered, Iron Axe stood before them and announced, "You have completed the first stage of the task—to protect Border Town against the invasion of the demonic beasts. After three months and six days of fighting, you've received the acknowledgment of His Royal Highness! The Militia will be regrouped to form the regular corps of His Royal Highness. If you do not want to continue fighting, you can step out now. His Royal Highness also said, those who decide to leave the Militia now, will get the full salary and an additional 25 silver royals as..." He thought about the words of His Royal Highness. "Well, the retirement pension."</p>
<p>None of the three hundred people moved, only Cat's Claw raised his hand. "Report."</p>
<p>This was also one of the weird rules developed by His Royal Highness during the training. The platoon members were not allowed to whisper in private. If they wanted to inquire about something, they had to first shout "report".</p>
<p>Iron Axe nodded. "Speak up."</p>
<p>"What is the meaning of the regular corps, does that mean we become knights?"</p>
<p>Van'er could not help but laugh, but he soon returned to his serious demeanor.</p>
<p>Knights? But that would already be considered as the nobility. Not only would that include property and squire, but would also include the conferral of land. Asking this type of question was really an embarrassment to the Artillery Squad.</p>
<p>"No," Iron Axe patiently explained. Apparently, he had also asked his Royal Highness before. "The regular corps is a full-time platoon, used to protect His Royal Highness and his domain. In other words, while the workers are mining, you're training. When the farmers are harvesting the wheat, you're still training. When the merchants are selling the goods, you would still be training. All the training is in preparation for future victories, just as you did during the Months of Demons."</p>
<p>"So how is that different from the Militia?" Cat's Claw continued asking.</p>
<p>"More frequent training, a more rigorous system, and a more lucrative return."</p>
<p>"Report!" This time it was Rodney. As soon as Iron Axe nodded, he asked eagerly, "What's the more lucrative return?"</p>
<p>Van'er sighed. Why was each of the young men in their team so impetuous? In fact, he would also like to know the answer to this question.</p>
<p>"The regular corps follow the army system. They complete designated missions during combat and for those with excellent performance, they can be promoted to officer," Iron Axe said loudly, "For example, be promoted to my position."</p>
<p>"Was this what His Royal Highness said..." Van'er secretly thought. "If this was really carried out, wouldn't this be encouraging everyone to go against their superiors?" He quietly looked around, but it seemed others were unaware of this problem and were still listening with relish.</p>
<p>"Officers can get higher pay, and... own land."</p>
<p>The last sentence resulted with a burst of voices. Van'er was no exception, he even doubted whether he heard the wrong thing. If they could get land as well, then how was that different from a knight?</p>
<p>"But remember that once you choose to become part of the regular corps, you need to follow a system that's completely different from the Militia. Failure to complete tasks, fleeing, mutiny and other violations of discipline, would be severely dealt with. I'm not talking about eating one egg less. The punishments include hard labor and even imprisonment. The positions and rewards that were received would also be withdrawn." Iron Axe paused. "It's still not too late now to quit."</p>
<p>The crowd was dead quiet and after Iron Axe silently counted to ten, still no one moved. He could not help but grin. "Well then, from today onwards, you have become a regular corps of His Highness Prince Roland Wimbledon!"</p>
<p>Van'er himself thought that was incredible. If it were three months ago, hearing about those terrible punishments he would have slipped away long ago. What was the use of promotion, of land, compared to keeping their own lives? But now, he chose to stay without hesitating much. Compared to breaking North Slope Mine's stones, or living aimlessly in the Old District, Van'er preferred to stay here.</p>
<p>"You have good powers of observation. What's your name?"</p>
<p>"Mr. Van'er, keep up the good work."</p>
<p>Thinking about the encouragement from His Highness, he once again confirmed his plan—he belonged to the Militia. In the future, he would also be a member of the regular corps, and continue to fight for His Highness.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Iron Axe soon announced today's first training: field training.</p>
<p>At the beginning, Van'er disapproved of running as a training method. Even during the Months of Demons, the training was rarely interrupted. After eating breakfast, depending on the weather conditions, they had to run two laps in the town unless it was snowing heavily. According to His Highness, this was conducive to exercising the bones. When defending the city wall, they would be agile and not have stiff hands and feet or be unable to stab the spears.</p>
<p>But when the platoon ran out of Border Town, he immediately felt the difference between the two.</p>
<p>At this time the wild snow was still far from melting. Three months of on-and-off snow now covered the knees. Rather than running, they might as well be climbing. The platoon suddenly became scattered. Once a foot sunk in, it took a lot of effort to pull out.</p>
<p>There was no doubt that this type of special training to torment them was His Highness's idea. Van'er had already figured out His Highness's ideas. At this point, protesting was basically futile, and the only thing that could be done was to persist until the end.</p>
<p>A back-and-forth trip took the whole morning. When the platoon returned to the town, Van'er could hardly feel his legs.</p>
<p>The snow that seeped into the boots turned into water. Even if standing under the sun, most people would still be trembling from the cold. A huge physical exertion exacerbated this chill, and even Iron Axe felt it was too much. He announced the dissolution of the platoon for noon and postponed lunchtime to one hour later. This gave everyone time to change out of their wet shoes and pants.</p>
<p>Everyone was pleased that the afternoon training was canceled.</p>
<p>Of course, they did not know that Lightning had been tracking their field training, and this was also the little girl's daily training content—precise control of the magic power of uniform flight. When she reported the information to Roland, the latter did not know whether to cry or to laugh.</p>
<p>The total mileage of the platoon in the morning was four kilometers.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 93 - The Corps Framework</h2>
<p>A few days after the victory celebration, Roland continued to devote his energy into the great farming project.</p>
<p>Sitting in the office, there was a non-stop ticking sound outside the window as if it were raining. It was the sound of melting snow. When he was in the countryside during New Year, he loved crouching on the window and looking at the long ice icicles melting into transparent water droplets and slowly dripping down. At the moment, he did not have time for such leisure. But it was still enjoyable to listen to the voice of the earth recovering while writing a plan.</p>
<p>According to previous years of experience, the snow took about a week or so to melt. But a month would still be needed before it was possible to pass through the road between the town and Longsong Stronghold. It was not hard for Roland to imagine what the muddy road would look like without the surface hardening or proper drainage measures. If he could successfully take over Longsong Stronghold, his first action would be to build a hardened road suitable for horse carriages to pass through.</p>
<p>But now the priority was to solve the problem of building the corps. Without a reliable and powerful army, it would not be possible to defeat Longsong Stronghold corps if they had fewer soldiers. Converting the Militia into a regular corps was only the first step. The specific preparation, discipline, punishment and reward system was a real headache.</p>
<p>Although he played military chess as a child, at this moment he had long forgotten everything. After some deliberation on his part, Roland simply decided to create his own system. Anyway, he was the creator of the new corps, and no one would notice even if he set up an unreasonable system.</p>
<p>So the First Army of Border Town was created: consisting of corps, division, battalion, platoon and team as the framework; 5 people formed a team (considering a cannon required at least five people to operate), 10 teams a platoon, and 10 platoons a battalion. As for the number of the division and the corps, he would deal with that later. In view of the overall level of combat in this era, as long as there were two or three battalion forces, it would be enough to defeat the vast majority of opponents in the field.</p>
<p>After setting out the most basic framework, Roland let out a long breath.</p>
<p>The next rules and regulations would be much simpler. These included obeying the military order, obeying the superior, no escaping, betrayal and other similar cliches. But Roland's first set of discipline was the prohibition of looting and disturbing the peace.</p>
<p>Allowing the military to loot as they wished had too many cons, and it would take several years to reverse the damage it would cause for the local people. This was why he insisted on using civilians as military personnel.</p>
<p>When the noble responded to the lord's recruitment, choosing not to loot after defeating the enemy was simply a fairy tale. It would be more appropriate to say the main reason they were willing to follow the lord was that they could wantonly plunder the opponent's wealth and territory, including the innocent civilians on the domain.</p>
<p>As for mercenaries and bandits, that was better left unsaid. They looked sturdy and vicious, but in fact, they were useless at a real battle. Stealing was a big source of their income, so military discipline for this group of people was meaningless.</p>
<p>Only an army formed by civilians would not see other civilians as slaves to be slaughtered. Of course, just depending on discipline and punishment was not enough. As time went by, greed would increase with every winning victory. So the reward system had to keep up with the pace, in order to fundamentally eliminate looting and other disciplinary behavior.</p>
<p>In order to make the reward tempting enough for the people, Roland decided to release the ultimate weapon—military land as a reward. Whoever made great achievements during battle, could be granted a piece of land. Roland had already thought of the source of land. That would be the reclaimed land between Border Town and Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>In this era when 90% of the land belonged to the noble, it was considered a generous prize. Once they had titled land, these people would be closely attached to his side. Any person who wanted to overthrow him would meet the most intense resistance from his army.</p>
<p>Motivating the people did not rely on words or whips, but real measurable interests. In other words, as long as he could always represent the fundamental interests of the people, his rule would be stable.</p>
<p>Unlike traditional fiefs, Roland limited the land from several acres to about a dozen acres. It could be used for self-built residences, to purchase slaves or hired farmers to take care of the land, but not to build industry. In contrast, a knight's domain was close to two thousand acres, equivalent to a small village. The industrial income of the above operation could provide the necessary operations for knights and attendants, such as the purchase of weapons, armor, and horses.</p>
<p>Such a small area of land reward, would not cause a strong conflict between the noble interest groups, and yet it weakened the independence of the recipients. In Roland's opinion, it was similar to a retirement pension, and you could ensure that soldiers still had a stable income after retirement.</p>
<p>At the same time, in order to strengthen the centralization of authority, and to avoid the situation that "the servant's servant was not my servant", the person who was conferred the land had ownership but no autonomy. In other words, this land was still under the lord's laws, regulations, and systems. In a sense, they were more like the future generations of farm owners.</p>
<p>After transcribing these preliminary ideas, Roland stretched out. Next, he could finally devote himself to his field of expertise—R &amp; D weapons.</p>
<p>Since the speed of flintlock manufacturing was increasing, continuing to equip the riflemen to protect the flintlock shooters would be a waste of manpower. The latter needed to have the ability to fight independently in close combat.</p>
<p>The solution was simple, that was to install bayonets on the guns. Roland did not expect his troops to take the initiative to start a hand-to-hand combat, but just as the opponents were trying to escape and the cannon could not completely destroy the enemy's courage, they would at least have the strength for battle.</p>
<p>A bayonet was not difficult to manufacture. It was simply a sharp cone. The key was the connection between the bayonet and the gun: the original bayonet was the knife handle wrapped around thin wood. The wood could be directly inserted into the barrel. The advantage was it was simple to create, while the disadvantage was also pretty obvious. During the hand-to-hand combat, the barrels would be unavailable, and pulling the bayonet out after the fighting was also particularly laborious.</p>
<p>Roland was planning to produce the second-generation bayonet—the casing bayonet. The end of the shank had a corner and was connected to a casing. The casing diameter, which was slightly larger than the barrel, was attached to the Z-shape tongue and groove joint. The barrel only needed to be welded with a small iron bar, so that the tongue and groove joint could be embedded in to fix the blade. The blade was a triangular iron, its cross-section similar to a V-shape. With all three sides of the blade piercing the body, this did not affect the pulling out, yet leaving a wound that was difficult to heal.</p>
<p>The casing bayonet after installation was slightly higher than the gun, and this had a certain impact on filling the ammunition. But compared to the folding bayonet, it was easier to facilitate mass production. All it needed was a sample that could be replicated by the blacksmith.</p>
<p>To make the bayonet play a role in combat, the key was to train the soldiers on how to use it.</p>
<p>Roland knew nothing about it. Fortunately, he remembered Chief Knight used to boast that he could use any military weapon. He might as well be in charge of teaching the Flintlock Squad on how to fight with a bayonet.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 94 - No Reason for the Demolition</h2>
<p>The production of cannon was steadily progressing. The second cannon was undergoing a period of chamber expansion, while the third cannon was stockpiling the materials.</p>
<p>They would have four twelve-pound cannons a month later if they were lucky enough. It was without question that they held an unprecedented superiority in firepower. But, what Roland concerned about that was how to ensure that the advantage would turn into a victory.</p>
<p>As a mechanical engineer, before finding himself in this era, his understandings of war, like most people, was from history, movies, and games. If it was just hand-to-hand combat, he would give Carter and Iron Axe free reign to command. However, this was a totally different war and none were more familiar than him with the combat mode of the hot weapon war.</p>
<p>In this case, all he could do was to use all of his knowledge to make a detailed plan of action.</p>
<p>In order to ensure that his forces would be winning the war, Roland ordered Lightning to shuttle between Longsong Stronghold and Border Town every day. Her purpose was to observe the road situation and calculate the accurate distance. As for Roland, he firmly believed that the prerequisites for winning the war were plenty of calculations and reconnaissance. No matter whether tactical decision or game deduction, both were heavily dependent on these two points.</p>
<p>Using the size he had set when casting the cannon last time, several sticks of gavelocks and poles of hemp ropes were made, which were one meter and one hundred meters long respectively. Then, about one-thousand-meter long runway was marked out on the cannon test field in the west of Border Town according to the shadows of the hemp ropes and gavelocks. Lightning, at the same time, was herself practicing on controlling the consumption of magic power so as to pass through this 1,000-meter distance between Longsong Stronghold and Border Town at a fixed speed.</p>
<p>After she had a good command of magic power output on such a level, Roland set about measuring the distance between Longsong Stronghold and the small town. He figured out that the distance between the two places was approximate 54 kilometers by using a sundial to calculate the round-trip duration.</p>
<p>Of course, that was only in a straight-line distance. In reality, they would need to pass through two sharp bends to avoid the stretched foothill from the Impassable Mountain Range. Anyhow, it would take at least three days to arrive at Border Town if the duke chose a land march.</p>
<p>The strategic location and the tactical operations of the enemy would be clearly assessed by Roland when Lightning acted as an investigator.</p>
<p>The signifiers with distance marks were bestrewed everywhere within two kilometers in the west of the small town. As long as the enemies came into sight, the Artillery Squad could quickly adjust the corresponding angle of the muzzle.</p>
<p>He was now concerned about what to do if the enemies did not come.</p>
<p>Right at this moment, he heard someone knocking on the bedroom door.</p>
<p>Nightingale, who was lying on the sofa chair and eating dried fish, went invisible instantly. Roland coughed twice and said, "Come in."</p>
<p>It was Assistant Minister Barov, who opened the door and said, "Your Highness, a noble from Longsong Stronghold wants to meet you."</p>
<p>"Who? Did they send a messenger again?" Roland asked, seeming a little confused.</p>
<p>"No, not a messenger. It's Baron Cornelius who left before the Months of Demons and has come back now," Barov shook his head and answered.</p>
<p>Roland remembered after a moment that there were indeed some nobles of Longsong Stronghold who lived in Border Town. "Did they dare to come back? It was just the beginning of the spring. Didn't they experience the strong hand of the royal dictatorship?" Roland thought. "Why does he want to meet me?" he asked.</p>
<p>"His house, which hindered the defending of the city wall, was demolished. If you're reluctant to meet him, I shall let him go," The assistant minister threw up his hands and said.</p>
<p>"Usher him into the reception room," Roland said, who would have wanted to reject him but suddenly changed his mind.</p>
<p>"It was possible to put some pressures on Longsong Stronghold through him," the prince thought.</p>
<p>Roland came to the reception room after a moment of delay, while the man with a chubby belly was walking back and forth impatiently by the long table, and the flesh on his face was trembling with his steps. Seeing Roland walk in, the baron stopped to reluctantly give a bow toward Roland.</p>
<p>"Sit down," Roland said, and then went to the seat of honor. Usually, even though it was not the time for a meal, he would let the cooks offer some dessert. But not even a cup of tea was prepared today.</p>
<p>"Respectful Highness," Baron Cornelius said hurriedly without sitting on the table. "How could you let those foolish stonemasons tear my house apart? It was a superior residence with the brickwork parapet wall as the foundation. The beam column and the roof were built in logs of the best quality. I remembered it took me 100... Oh no, 150 gold royals when I built it!" he said and gesticulated with fingers.</p>
<p>"150 gold royals! When Roland first got to Border Town, he probably would have believed these words if he was reliant on the prince's memory. So..." Roland thought and smiled. "You mean the residence in the westernmost part of town?" he asked.</p>
<p>Cornelius nodded and said, "Yes! Yes! It was that house which was only inferior to the residence of Baron Simon."</p>
<p>"What a pity! The house was too close to the city wall and was in the way of my soldiers. "But City Hall has made compensation to it," Roland paused a moment and said.</p>
<p>"So... how much?" Cornelius asked.</p>
<p>"20 gold royals," Roland said and gestured with two fingers.</p>
<p>Your Highness... It's too little!" Cornelius opened his mouth and seemed to say something, but nothing came out. He took his handkerchief out, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then said, "Okay, 20 is okay! Where should I go to get the money?"</p>
<p>"Get the money? The money had been granted to the owner of the house long ago," Roland said, pretending to be confused by the baron's words.</p>
<p>"What? Wai-wait... I'm the owner of the house!"</p>
<p>"No! It's not you! The owner of the house is Brian, the Captain of the Second Militia Squadron."</p>
<p>"Who's he? Your Highness, you've got it wrong! I'm the owner of that house!" The Baron yelled.</p>
<p>"Uh? But I didn't see you in the winter. How could you say that house was yours?" Roland frowned and asked.</p>
<p>"I most certainly went to Longsong Stronghold. Who would stay in this damnable place? It was possible to be killed by the demonic beasts at any time?" said the baron.</p>
<p>"Idoit!" Roland thought, but he still said calmly, "So, what you want to say was that you were frightened by the demonic beasts and left your lord to escape by yourself, right?"</p>
<p>"Uh, I..." The baron was speechless suddenly.</p>
<p>"Come in, guards," Roland clapped his hands and said. Two guards came in immediately from the outside of the reception room and caught Cornelius in the center.</p>
<p>"Your High-High-High-Highness, what... does that mean?"</p>
<p>"It's easy. Now you have two choices. The first one is that you admit that you got it wrong and the house was not yours. I could just take it as a joke and let you go. The second one is that you admit that you betrayed your lord and left your domain to flee to Longsong Stronghold without permission. I would put you in jail and you'd be sentenced to the crime of defection, to be hanged," said Roland, who stood up and looked at the baron contemptuously.</p>
<p>The sweat dripped continuously from Cornelius's forehead, he swallowed and said after a moment of hesitation, "Your Highness, I, I got confused. It's not my house."</p>
<p>"So, you mean it's a misunderstanding. Send the baron out." Roland shrugged his shoulders and instructed the guards.</p>
<p>The prince called Cornelius out when he walked to the door and then said, "Oh, yes, I have a message for you to take with you when you return to Longsong Stronghold by boat, tell those... eh, those nobles who have the same misunderstandings as you, that if they won't admit that they've betrayed their lord and fled to other places without permission, they don't have to come back here again. It's a waste of time."</p>
<p>"As... you wish," Cornelius said, smiling reluctantly. But having turned back, Roland saw Cornelius gnashing his teeth.</p>
<p>"By delivering my message... The chaos, presumably, would be inevitable in Longsong Stronghold," he thought.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 95 - The Encounter</h2>
<p>"Damn it! Damn it! What a f*cking prince! A poor fish that deserved to be exiled in such a barren wasteland!" Cornelius thought angrily. But the guards with swords in their hands frightened him and he could only swallow his hatred.</p>
<p>Walking out from the gate of the castle, the baron sighed in relief as he saw the guards turned to leave.</p>
<p>He took the wet handkerchief in order to wipe his forehead, spat on the ground and imagined that he had spat on the face of the prince. It seemed that spitting was not enough to comfort him and he trod on his spit as if he were treading on the prince.</p>
<p>"Even though you warded off the demonic beasts, do you think you could gain a firm foothold in the Western Region? I'll let you have your moment. Let's see for how long it'll last! If I were not receiving reliable information, I wouldn't have come to Border Town so early," Cornelius thought to himself. Generally speaking, the nobles would come back to the town later than the civilians. After all, the strenuous work of mining and hunting were not their responsibilities. All they needed to do was to monitor the production progress every now and then, and wait for the date of the ore delivery. In their spare time, they would also go to the hunter's family to purchase some furs of superior quality.</p>
<p>But something changed this year. Cornelius heard from the financial director Sir Reynolds that Duke Ryan prepared to expel Prince Roland from the Western Region. It was not in betrayal of the Kingdom of Graycastle but in obedience to the will of the new king, Timothy Wimbledon. "Roland Wimbledon would no longer be the Lord of Border Town, and the new fief would be conferred upon after he returned to the king's city to report his work."</p>
<p>As the superstar of the duke, Sir Reynolds spent only five years to be promoted from the municipal administrative governor to the financial director. Had he not relied on his connections with distant relatives and bribed them with furs, he would not have known the intention of the hierarchy of the Western Region.</p>
<p>It was just an excuse going under the name of 'conferring with new a fief after returning to the king's city to report his work'. Even Cornelius knew that the prince would be guillotined without opportunities to explain his behavior. If Prince Roland went back, he would be at the mercy of the new king, Timothy Wimbledon.</p>
<p>Without any doubt, the Western Region would still be under the jurisdiction of the duke. If it was only His Majesty Timothy who gave the order, the matter may be under debate. If Duke Ryan handled the matter in person, Roland Wimbledon would not be any different from a stray cur.</p>
<p>That was why Cornelius came to Border Town in haste. On the one hand, he wanted to purchase some furs of superior quality, on the other hand, he planned to sell his house. Over the past years, the common people would take refuge in Longsong Stronghold. It was understandable that there would be no furs in stock. But it was totally different this year because they did not leave here. Anyhow, they would stock some good furs. He could not only make some money by reselling the furs but also choose some superior furs to please Sir Reynolds.</p>
<p>The second reason was to thank Sir Reynolds for helping Cornelius arrange a job in the City Hall. Even a sinecure would be better off than staying in this poor area. The house was useless to him and therefore he wanted to sell it as soon as possible. No one knew when the duke would take action to deal with Roland. If these lowlifes made a last-ditch struggle and burned his house into ashes, it would be not a good deal.</p>
<p>But what he did not think of was that his house was torn apart by Prince Roland instead of being burned down by those lowlifes. Cornelius would be mad as a wet hen with the thought of this. What a good house! Although one hundred and fifty gold royals was a little expensive, it valued at least 30 gold royals.</p>
<p>In order to get the compensation of the house as soon as possible, he had made the compromise to receive only 20 gold royals. How could His Highness treat him like this? He paid nothing for it but also threatened that he had committed a crime of defection. Did not he know all the nobles would withdraw from here every Month of Demons?</p>
<p>Hold on... Cornelius slowed down and suddenly felt there was something different with the prince. He had heard that Prince Roland was of evil nature and was whimsical. His behavior of deliberately molesting Mrs. Simon when he first arrived at Border Town was regarded as a joke among the nobles. His impression, however, was that the prince was not as he had heard before. The prince did not fly into a rage or reject to the value of the house but used another seemingly reasonable excuse. He spoke in a calm voice all the way, but Cornelius was so scared that he obediently gave up his ownership to the house. Would the prince have killed him if he insisted that he was the owner of the house?</p>
<p>At the thought of his talk with the prince, Cornelius could not help but shiver. He had a feeling like he was talking with the duke.</p>
<p>Cornelius shook his head and put this unhappy memory behind him. Anyhow, Prince Roland would be in trouble soon. He would absolutely laugh at him when Duke Ryan took over Border Town and remanded him to the king's city. Perhaps he could turn to the duke for justice at the cost of 20 gold royals.</p>
<p>He felt relieved at the thought of this. Now that he had collected several furs of superior quality, and his house had been occupied by others, he thought that he would better go to Longsong Stronghold. "It was really a brazen to say 'tell those nobles who had the same misunderstanding as you'. When I go back to Longsong Stronghold, I'll be certain to tell others how pretentious Roland was!"</p>
<p>Cornelius brushed against a lady in a hood when he left the castle district and walked down the long slope.</p>
<p>He should not have felt so surprised. The women were all dressed in this way among the townspeople in the town. It was in the king's city that he could see beautiful girls or ladies. Cornelius was really stunned when he saw the wind blowing a corner of the hood as if the air around had frozen.</p>
<p>Oh my god! What a beautiful lady she was! She had aquamarine eyes and long hair. Her beauty was incomparable, even if he just had a glance at her. She would take the shine off from those princesses and debutantes. Why would she be in Border Town?</p>
<p>He looked back and wanted to catch up to her, only to find that she was walking towards the castle district.</p>
<p>Was she the girl of His Highness? After a moment of hesitation, the baron finally gave up on catching up with her. He did not want to have to be connected with Prince Roland anymore. The duke would punish the prince, and instead, he was more concerned that he should return to Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>He went on board to a single-mast boat berthing in the wharf. The boatman pulled the sail, and the boat undocked from the wharf. Soon, he was underway towards Longsong Stronghold.</p>
<p>Another extraordinary view came into the eyes of Cornelius, who was enjoying the sunshine at that moment.</p>
<p>About five meters away from Border Town, he saw a crowd of people who wore the same dark brown leather armor with long wooden guns on their backs. They were standing in rows and moving forwards on the snowy ground. He could not see the overall picture of the entire line because the trees blocked his sight, but he guessed there were at least more than a hundred of them.</p>
<p>Could it be… farmers that Prince Roland used for fighting against the demonic beasts?</p>
<p>Cornelius could imagine how cold they were, even though he had never experienced it. However, they did not stop but continuously moved forward, as if the snow, at a thickness of one foot deep, had no influence on them...</p>
<p>He really wanted to laugh at them but he failed. A question, unwittingly, came to his mind. "Could the knights in charge by Duke Ryan make it?"</p>
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<h2>Chapter 96 - Leaf</h2>
<p>Leaf would have never thought that she would have the opportunity to set foot in this real-world town. She could see many people hustling and bustling about.</p>
<p>The cluster of brick bungalows unlocked old memories that came to her as she neared the boundary of Border Town. She had fled to the Impassable Mountain Range less than half a year ago, but the scene in front of her made her feel as if she were in a strange new world.</p>
<p>The Months of Demons had just ended. The people had just lived through the winter lacking in food and clothes, and they should have been in bad mental and physical shape. Leaf remembered that the Witch Cooperation Association had once passed by the slum of Silver City, and it had been awash with dead bodies. Those who were still alive appeared to be like the dead, with numb faces and awkward movements.</p>
<p>To her surprise, the people she saw here were full of energy. Some were airing dried fish in front of their doors, and some were repairing damaged tiles on their roofs. Many virile men were talking happily and moving towards the north of the town with hoes and hammers on their backs. Under such circumstances, Leaf would pull her cap brim down over her eyes and try not to look them.</p>
<p>As the castle was located on the hillside in the southwest corner of the town, it was very easy to find. There were no plants camouflaging it, so it would be difficult to sneak into the castle. She considered hiding in a tree trunk to avoid her enemies. However, it would draw attention if the trees were to suddenly grow and send her in.</p>
<p>She was not skilled at the art of invisibility. After thinking it over, Leaf decided to walk into the castle above rather than hiding herself from place to place.</p>
<p>If she were to walk directly into the castle, she would still be safe as long as Nightingale had told the truth.</p>
<p>Even if Nightingale had lied to her and the other witches in the Witch Cooperation Association, she felt confident that she could escape the chase of the two guards defending the gate.</p>
<p>Of course, it would be worse because that would mean that Nightingale had betrayed all the witches, and worked for the prince by capturing her partners. If this was the case, it was likely that she would die here. As one of the most excellent combat witches, few people could escape from Nightingale. Even the formidable Cara had no confidence to defeat Nightingale.</p>
<p>Anyhow, Leaf had prepared for the worst. Scroll would take over her position as supervisor and lead the rest of the witches to move on. No one knew where they would go or where their homes would be.</p>
<p>She walked slowly to the hillside and got close to the gate of the castle. The guards soon noticed her. "This is the palace of the prince. Don't approach. Stand back!" They shouted. After pausing a moment, they added, "If you have something urgent to report, please walk along the road and turn left at the City Hall. You'll be received by the people there."</p>
<p>Leaf took a deep breath and took off her cap. As expected, she saw a look of surprise on their faces. "I'm a witch," she said bluntly, without waiting for them to realize this.</p>
<p>She was prepared to fight against the guards the moment she revealed her identity. However, the guards just looked at each other, and no disgust, which was commonly seen in the common people's eyes at the hearing of witches, was on their faces. One of the guards even asked Leaf with great interest, "Can I help you, witch?"</p>
<p>Such reaction really shocked Leaf. She repressed the outburst of excitement and said as calmly as she could, "I want to meet with Nightingale. Or, Anna and Nana would be okay too."</p>
<p>In Nightingale's tales, witches were regulars in the castle. His Highness did not restrain the freedom of the witches, and the guards defending the castle did not discourage them from entry at the behest of Prince Roland. If what Nightingale said was true, it would be impossible that the guards did not know about them.</p>
<p>The guard, who had queried Leaf, clapped the shoulder of his partner and said, "You keep an eye on her, and I'll go to inform His Highness."</p>
<p>Leaf saw him walk into the gate and vanish from sight.</p>
<p>She wondered what would be waiting for her. Her sisters' greeting? Besieging from the guards? Or a backstage fight?</p>
<p>She fell into self-contradiction. She wanted to believe Nightingale, but the closer she came to the truth, the more she was afraid that Nightingale would disappoint her. "Is it possible that Nightingale has changed her name here? Or Anna and Nana are just concocted names? Or..."</p>
<p>She waited for her fate quietly. She had never felt time go by so slowly. It felt as if she were waiting for centuries.</p>
<p>She was not sure how much time had passed when she heard Nightingale's voice. She thought there was something wrong with her ears.</p>
<p>A familiar figure appeared from the doorway. It was Nightingale who rushed to embrace her and then took her into her warm arms.</p>
<p>"Welcome home, Leaf!" said Nightingale.</p>
<p>*******************</p>
<p>"These're my spare clothes, and you can wear them," Nightingale said, rummaging through her closet. "Here's a coat, shoes... Yes, you also need a night-robe and bath towel," she added.</p>
<p>"Don't get so excited. She'll get settled when His Highness wakes up," Wendy said with a smile and shook her head.</p>
<p>Leaf was deeply touched at the sight of Nightingale helping her to settle in. She sniffed and wiped at the tears that flowed out. She was afraid that she could not help crying once she spoke.</p>
<p>Nightingale had not lied to her. There really was a prince who was kind to witches.</p>
<p>"How about taking a hot shower? You must feel tired. It's a really long distance from the camp to the castle. His Highness is taking a nap. He'll be glad to see you when he wakes up. Have you found Holy Mountain? How about the other sisters?" Nightingale asked. She put the bath towel and other clothes around Leaf.</p>
<p>Tears blurred Leaves' vision after this battery of questions. She could not help sobbing in Nightingale's arms to release the sadness burning deep within her heart.</p>
<p>Leaf did not calm down until her tears had soaked Nightingale's clothes.</p>
<p>Then, she told of their experiences after the three witches had left the Witch Cooperation Association. She could feel Nightingale clenching her fists when she heard about many witches dying in Barbarian Land.</p>
<p>"I didn't expect Cara to bring the Witch Cooperation Association into an impasse. Only seven sisters survived among the 42 witches? I'm to blame for the matter. If I had stood firmly at Nightingale's side, they might still be..." said Wendy after Leaf told the whole experiences of the witches, with an extremely sad and serious look.</p>
<p>"You're not to blame. No one could foresee the future, what's important now is what to do next," said Nightingale sadly. She looked at Leaves and asked, "Six sisters survived? Where are they?"</p>
<p>"They're waiting for my message at the entrance to the canyon. We've made a plan that Scroll would lead them to leave for the southern horn or go across the straits if I weren’t be able to return."</p>
<p>"We should take them back right now. I'm on my way. Wendy, please, take care of Leaf," said Nightingale.</p>
<p>"But, what'll you do if they don't believe you? You should go with Leaf and Lightning, she's practicing flying in the western part of the town. You can ride on horses, so the sisters walk less." Wendy suggested carefully.</p>
<p>"But isn't the prince sleeping? Shouldn't you ask him?" Leaf asked with confusion.</p>
<p>"Take it easy! His Highness will be happier if he knows." Nightingale assured her.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 97 - New Witches, New Abilities (Part I)</h2>
<p>Roland walked into the office and was surprised to find that Wendy, instead of Nightingale, was waiting for him.</p>
<p>"What happened?" He poured himself a cup of warm water and said, "Where is Nightingale?"</p>
<p>"She went to meet our sisters."</p>
<p>"I see," said Roland, about to drink, but suddenly he felt something was wrong. "Wait a minute, what sisters?"</p>
<p>"The sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association. They are coming to Border Town." Wendy replied.</p>
<p>"Weren't they going to look for the Holy Mountain?" He stood up abruptly, "How many of them are coming? And what about that witch who wanted to hurt Nightingale... I remember she was called Cara 'The Snake Witch'. Is she also coming?"</p>
<p>"No, Your Highness... They failed to find the Holy Mountain. In the Barbarian Region, they were attacked by terrible monsters, and only seven of them survived." Wendy reported Leaf's words and bowed to apologize. "You were taking a nap at that time. Please forgive me for taking the liberty and deciding that Nightingale and Lightning should go to greet them."</p>
<p>"That's all right." Roland waved his hand to signal that it did not matter. "You know I won't blame you for such a thing. What are their abilities?"</p>
<p>"I don't know yet, but Leaf told me that they are non-combat witches. Maybe..." Wendy hesitated and said, "They're not very useful for you."</p>
<p>"Non-combat witches?" Roland was immediately full of expectations. Due to the restraint of the God's Stone of Retaliation and the short range of magic power, the fighting abilities of witches were actually limited. So productivity should be their strongest ability. If there was a witch who specialized in shaping objects, then he could make more sophisticated parts of machines, thus leading the town into the era of massive mechanical production. If there was a witch who was able to generate electricity, the evenings in Border Town would be as bright as daytime. Then he would become the king, marry with a witch, and attain the peak of his career. He would lead people to realize the modernization of agriculture, industry, national defense, science, and technology. How exciting that was!</p>
<p>"Your Highness, if you don't need them..." Wendy whispered, as Roland's long silence made her feel nervous.</p>
<p>"No, of course not," Roland came back from his thoughts, and said, "All witches are welcome in Border Town."</p>
<p>At sunset, Nightingale returned to the castle with the sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association. And then they enjoyed a sumptuous feast prepared by Roland in the hall.</p>
<p>Though obviously hungry, they were acting very reserved, since it was their first time dining in such a grand environment. Most of them had never met a lord before, let alone the lord here was a prince.</p>
<p>Fortunately, besides Roland, there were also two local witches, Anna and Nana, who were demonstrating how to act properly. Lightning, the lively girl, also helped to break the ice. In the end, they were finally able to relax a little, and the conversation started to flow at dinner.</p>
<p>Chewing a piece of toast, Roland observed the witches with interest. They were all beautiful girls with different styles, which was a gift of the magic power. Even if they were unable to contribute to the development of technology and science in the future, their beauty would be a never-fading scenery.</p>
<p>Since Karl had not finished the construction of the houses for them yet, they had to live temporarily in the castle. There were four unoccupied rooms on the second floor, so Roland arranged for two of them to share a room. After all, the large beds, which were originally prepared for the visiting nobility, were wide enough for them.</p>
<p>After dinner, Roland finally asked the long awaited question—what were their abilities.</p>
<p>With the company of Nightingale, the witches walked into Roland's office one by one. Roland asked and recorded their abilities, and also tested the effect of their abilities by using the God's Stone of Retaliation, which was just like a modern interview. When the interview with the last witch was finally completed, he took a deep breath and stretched out. He was afraid that Nightingale would secretly stay in the office, otherwise, he would have liked to hum the song "Super-Star".</p>
<p>These witches could not shape objects or generate electricity, so they could not help speed up his plan of modernization. However, they still gave him lots of pleasant surprises.</p>
<p>The first and most important witch was Leaf.</p>
<p>From the parchments of records on the desk, Roland picked up hers.</p>
<p>Before adulthood, Leaf's ability was limited to speeding up the growth of plants and fruits. After she came into adult life, her ability had greatly improved, and she also attained a derivative skill: She could manipulate the plants.</p>
<p>Her main ability could be used to improve the yield of the fruits and seeds and enhance herbal effects. Her derivative skill enabled her to change the shapes and traits of the plants. According to her description, if she poured her magic power into the plants, she could make green leaves grow on the withered branch, manipulate the weeds to bind up the enemy, and also integrate herself into a tree.</p>
<p>The larger the plant was, the more magic power she consumed. So she would prefer to use weeds in combat, as they came into effect more quickly and cost less magic power.</p>
<p>Her magic power was released through touching the objects, and it was able to be transmitted through materials (for example, the earth), with the range of about five meters.</p>
<p>There was no doubt that the witch with green long hair would be a good helper at developing agriculture, and her importance was self-evident. To realize industrialization, a large population was required, which depended on an adequate supply of food. The food should be either produced in his domain or imported from other countries. If they did not invent an effective way to cultivate crops, then most of their labor would be tied to the land. As for the latter option, it was difficult to import food due to the poor condition of transportation in this era.</p>
<p>But now that he discovered a Druid, he had the hope to support a large industrial population with the labor of only a few farmers, and therefore, accelerate the industrialization in his domain.</p>
<p>With this in mind, he decided to make Leaf practice more on improving the quality of wheat and barley seeds. If their yield was enhanced, then it would be a great help to increase the upper limit of the population in his domain. In addition, he heard that there were some unique crops in Fjords, much likely to be potato and corn, according to Lightning's description. If that was true, then introducing these crops should be placed at the top of the agenda. After all, wheat and barley were not high-yield crops.</p>
<p>Roland wrote down a practice plan for Leaf, put her record aside, and drew the second parchment from the desk.</p>
<p>The second witch who came to answer his questions was called Scroll. She was the oldest one among the seven witches, nearly 40 years old.</p>
<p>This was a really rare age for a witch. The older they were, the more difficult it was to resist the bite of magic power. But hearing her description of her ability, Roland could understand why she had been able to reach the age.</p>
<p>Her ability was having an extraordinary memory. After she entered adulthood and her ability became stable, she could remember almost anything she saw. At the same time, she developed an interesting derivative skill: She was able to materialize any book she had read for a short period. Roland named this skill as "Book of Illusion".</p>
<p>Since she used her main ability almost all the time, she could easily go through the Days of Awakening. And that was also why she became so knowledgeable, even though she came from a poor family. The ability greatly strengthened her learning, especially the reading of books which required a good memory. To use her derivative skill, most of her magic power would be consumed, and when the remaining magic power ran out, the Book of Illusion would disappear, usually in half a quarter to two hours.</p>
<p>Obviously, Scroll was a natural teacher. If in the future he wanted to make education universal, she would be a teacher who could teach any subjects. As for now, Roland thought, she did not need any special practice. So he would teach her some primary knowledge of mathematics and physics when he had spare time. When the time came, she would make a great contribution to the field of education.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 98 - New Witches, New Abilities (Part II)</h2>
<p>The third witch was Hummingbird. She was small, just as her nickname depicted. She acted more reserved than the other witches when Roland asked about her ability. She just reached adulthood this winter and was a cute girl with symmetrical dimples, a delicate face and a sweet soft voice.</p>
<p>Her ability was Object Lightening, which meant that she was able to greatly lower the weight of an object once she put her magic power into it. According to her description, the weight of an object would be close to zero. Roland asked her to demonstrate it with his teacup and found that the teacup almost floated in the air—that was to say, its weight was close to that of air. Of course, in the eyes of people in that era, air was weightless.</p>
<p>That was the reason why the Witch Cooperation Association was able to cross the Western Region of Graycastle without worrying about food supplies. With the magic power of Hummingbird, bags of wheat and dried fish would become light enough for the witches. In that way, they could easily take a lot of food with them, which significantly relieved the pressure on supplies.</p>
<p>Though Hummingbird had entered her adulthood, she still had not developed any derivative skill. Her magic power would come into effect only when she touched the object, which could not be a living entity. The larger the object was, the more time and magic power it consumed. However, once she successfully reduced its weight, the effect would last for several hours.</p>
<p>The ability seemed to be perfect for transportation, and it would also be a large advantage in the coming war. Anyway, there were still too many unknown factors, and he needed to conduct further research.</p>
<p>Roland wrote at the bottom of her parchment: Practice with stones of different weights and control the output of magic power so as to determine precisely the effective time of the magic power.</p>
<p>After completing the first three practice plans, he ordered his attendant to bring another candle, making the room brighter. But even with this, in the waving orange candlelight, reading and writing were very tiring for his eyes.</p>
<p>Roland made a yawn and flattened the parchment with the information of the fourth witch.</p>
<p>She was different from other witches as she had a surname, and her full name was Soraya Zoen. She was born in a merchant family from the king's city of Graycastle. She had short brown curly hair and a pair of slender eyes. The freckles on top of her nose did not destroy her beauty; instead, they added a unique youthful vigor to her.</p>
<p>Soraya just turned 19 and she also had a special ability. After she became an adult, she was able to paint everything she saw or imagined. With her derivative skill, the Magic Pen, she was able to paint without pigment or paper, and her painting would be exactly like a photo.</p>
<p>Roland could list hundreds of ways to use this ability. As for her practice, he would ask her to paint several pictures every day.</p>
<p>He then picked up the next parchment.</p>
<p>The fifth witch, Echo, came from the Southernmost Region. She was a tall girl with a brown complexion, and her eyes and nose, which showed that she was a typical citizen of Sand Nation, gave her a very exotic charm. According to her description, she could imitate the call of any animal when she just awoke as a witch, and after she entered adulthood, she could skillfully imitate any sound in the world. She did not have any derivative skill.</p>
<p>Roland named her ability as "Magic Sound", but did not figure out its usage yet. As for her training plan, maybe... she could shout as loudly as possible.</p>
<p>The sixth witch was Lily, a 16-year-old girl with two ponytails and a doll-like delicate face. When she sat in front of Roland, she was quite nervous. Her ability was to prevent food from rotting, so she had become the most popular role in the Witch Cooperation Association since she awoke a year ago. Without food preservation, a lot of food would become sour and moldy during the journey. Lily, as well as Hummingbird, guaranteed the food supply of the Witch Cooperation Association.</p>
<p>Whether she killed the bacteria by her magic power to keep food fresh or not was still to be confirmed. Roland decided to ask her to practice on all kinds of meat and fruits, and to confirm the duration of the preservation effect after the magic power ran out.</p>
<p>Rubbing his stiff neck, he piled up the previous parchments. Only one parchment was left on the desk.</p>
<p>And that was another pleasant surprise for Roland.</p>
<p>The seventh witch was called Mystery Moon.</p>
<p>She was obviously nervous when she walked into the office. Nightingale reassured her for a while and later whispered into Roland's ears to simply explain her situation.</p>
<p>Among all the witches in the camp, Mystery Moon had the worst ability, which could be described as useless. Because of that, she was only able to do some chores which could also be easily completed by manual work. In addition, she was often blamed by Cara, so she had become very timid. She was afraid that Roland would also think that she was useless and hence drive her away from Border Town.</p>
<p>Her ability was magnetizing objects. Before she entered adulthood, she could only magnetize metal objects, but now she was able to magnetize any object. She did not have any derivative skill. She had to touch the object to magnetize it in an extremely slow way. As she described, it cost her half a day to magnetize a stone of about a cubic foot.</p>
<p>Her ability was indeed useless for the Witch Cooperation Association. The magnet was not rare in that era. For example, every huge ship sailing between the Fjords and the continent was equipped with a compass for navigation. On the continent, people did not need any compass to tell the direction as they could easily find other references. On the contrary, the magnetized objects would cause trouble to others. For example, the metal pots which were lightened by Hummingbird would accidentally fly toward the magnetized objects of Mystery Moon. For this reason, she was forbidden by Cara to use her ability in the camp.</p>
<p>But for Roland, this silent girl was a priceless gift.</p>
<p>That was why he would like to hum that song, "Super-Star"—was there any words more appropriate than the lyric of "You are electricity, you are light"?</p>
<p>Electricity would be generated in the magnetic field, and electricity would also create a magnetic field in reverse. It was known by every student who had learned physics. Roland expressed his sincere gratitude to Faraday, Gauss, Ampere, and Maxwell in his heart. With electricity, there would also be light. Maybe he did not have to wait for long to create another miracle in his domain.</p>
<p>As a witch who was forbidden to use her ability, Mystery Moon was still able to survive from the Demonic Torture. It showed that she was not mentally fragile though she appeared timid. At least she had more desire to live on than others. Roland was secretly thankful that she had just joined the association for nearly a year, or she might be ruined under Cara's rule if she had been restrained for a longer time.</p>
<p>With these thoughts, he wrote down Mystery Moon's practice plan for the following days. She would magnetize a variety of objects to confirm the relationship between the consumption of magic power and the strength of their magnetism.</p>
<p>After adding these seven witches, Roland now had a total of 12 witches working for him. Through inquiring about their abilities, he got a fair idea of the magic power. The traditional classification of combat type and non-combat type was unreasonable, and he preferred to classify them according to the characteristics of their abilities. In general, the main abilities of the witches could be divided into three types.</p>
<p>The first type was the self-strengthening type, which was very rare. Up to now, he only knew Scroll belonged to this type. Her ability would come into effect automatically, so it would not be influenced by God's Stone of Retaliation. Even if she was forced to wear the stone, she could still have a photographic memory.</p>
<p>The second one was the summoning type, and Anna, Nightingale, Nana, Lightning, Wendy, Leaf, Soraya, Echo, and Lily all belonged to this type. Their magic power could be summoned outside of their body within five meters. With various abilities, this type of witches was also most restrained by the God's Stone of Retaliation. Once they stepped into the Forbidden Area where their magic power was suppressed, any magic effects would disappear. However, before the magic power was suppressed, the results it caused would be everlasting and irreversible.</p>
<p>The third one was the attaching magic type. For example, Hummingbird and Mystery Moon fell into this type. They had to get contact with their target to complete the slow conversion, which consumed lots of magic power and could be interrupted by God's Stone of Retaliation. But once the conversion was completed, the added properties would become inherent, which meant that they would still be effective even within the Forbidden Area. The duration of enchantment depended on the size of the object and the amount of magic power.</p>
<p>"Maybe this was why the God's Stone of Retaliation could not relieve the bite of the magic power," he thought. God's Stone of Retaliation was unable to affect the gathering and flowing of the magic power; instead, it affected its transformation of magic power into ability. Described in computer terms, it affected the fore-end of clients instead of the backstage data.</p>
<p>Roland put down the quill pen and rubbed his eyes. Anyway, he knew he would become even busier in the future.</p>
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<h2>Chapter 99 - The Night Chat</h2>
<p>The witches were still awake. After having suffered for so long, they still couldn't believe that they were being accommodated by the prince and that there were neither shackles nor guards. The prince even allowed everyone to enter the castle and live in such spacious and comfortable rooms.</p>
<p>Wendy probably guessed the anxiety of the sisters. Together with Nightingale, she called everyone to gather in her room and sit around the bed in a circle. They would have a chat to calm down their emotions.</p>
<p>"This is the style of a leader," Leaf thought. If it was Cara, she would never be so attentive to the needs of the sisters. Even if she had noticed, she would never have bothered to comfort them.</p>
<p>"Sister Wendy, what will His Royal Highness... ask us to do?" Hummingbird timidly asked, "Our abilities are far worse than you and sister Nightingale."</p>
<p>This struck a chord with the other sisters, and they all nodded in support.</p>
<p>Wendy began to laugh. "Let me think about it, uh... the first thing you have to do is to practice your abilities."</p>
<p>"Practice our abilities?" Soraya asked hesitantly, "Will His Royal Highness ask me to draw paintings all day long?"</p>
<p>"It's quite possible." Wendy patted Mystery Moon on the head. "Although Cara forbids you to use your abilities in the camp, His Highness won't. On the contrary, he'll encourage you to practice and master your abilities."</p>
<p>"My ability will only bring troubles to my sisters," said Mystery Moon.</p>
<p>"Even so, you must still practice," said Wendy, "and it's a matter of life and death."</p>
<p>"Life and death?" Leaf could not help but ask.</p>
<p>"Yes, His Highness discovered the way for witches to safely get through the day of Awakening," said Nightingale, who continued after Wendy. "From now on, we can say goodbye to the pain of the demonic bite and all sisters can live to adulthood."</p>
<p>All the witches were now staring at Nightingale. At that moment they couldn't believe their ears. Scroll asked in surprise, "Are you speaking about what happened to Miss Anna? But last time, you told us that you did not know the specific reason."</p>
<p>"Yes, at that time it was only the speculation of His Highness, but Nana's Awakening Day verified this. She also didn't suffer any harm."</p>
<p>"So the method is..." Scroll could not help but hold her breath.</p>
<p>"You just need to expend your magic power every day," Nightingale said slowly word by word, "I can see the changes of the magic power in the Mist. Regular use of it will increase the total capacity of the body. At the same time, the suffering during the demonic bites will also be reduced. As it draws close to the Day of Awakening, as long as the magic power is exhausted, it'll almost cause no harm to the body."</p>
<p>"I think everyone can sense it faintly as well," Wendy added, "During the days when we were hunted by the church, we would carefully hide in the corners of town and did not dare to use our abilities. Therefore, we lost many sisters every winter. But this year, while living in the camps in the Impassable Mountain Range, besides for Airy and Abby, everyone else was able to survive the Months of the Demons."</p>
<p>"So that's the reason." Thinking about this, Leaf took a deep breath. When she had encountered the Demonic Bite while traveling through Barbarian Land, its duration was exceptionally short. "In other words, Holy Mountain isn't in that barren land…"</p>
<p>"That's right, the Holy Mountain isn't a specific place." Wendy nodded. "Any place where people can accept us, without seeing the witches as the devil or limiting the sisters practicing their abilities, will be Holy Mountain."</p>
<p>"Wendy had even asked His Highness if she could go to the camp when the Months of the Demons had ended to tell you the news." Nightingale glanced at Wendy and said gently, "In this case, even if you hadn't found Holy Mountain, you could still live well in the mountains."</p>
<p>"Since everyone has come back, there's no need to mention this." Wendy smiled and shook her head. "Regardless of whether you're needed by His Highness or not, you should still practice every day for safety."</p>
<p>"If this is the key to resolve the bite of magic power, shouldn't there be other witches who would have been aware of this?" Scroll thought for a moment and said, "We're not the first witch organization. There are other witch organizations in Kingdom of Dawn and the Kingdom of Wolfheart. I have sent them letters to invite them to find Holy Mountain together. However, we have never received a reply.</p>
<p>Leaf sighed gently, and she knew Scroll held back on what she wanted to say. Ever since Cara found the ancient book in the ruins at the forest at the eastern border, she firmly believed in Holy Mountain and took everyone on her endeavor. At this point, the Witch Cooperation Association started their long journey of exile, almost across the entire Kingdom of Graycastle. During the journey, they met many new sisters but also lost many of them. If from the beginning they had decided to hide in the ruins, would they have discovered this key?</p>
<p>"We can try to contact the hidden witches in other cities," said Nightingale, "and it's part of His Highness's plan. He also wants to let the witches notice this remote town by spreading the rumors. If we become the middle person, it would no doubt greatly reduce their suspicion."</p>
<p>"However, I still don't understand why His Highness wants to accommodate us?" asked Echo, looking confused. The witch from the southernmost region had suffered more than most of the other witches. First, she was sold by the people of Sand Nation to a businessman from Port of Clearwater, who then took her all the way to sell her again in King's City. She was forced to learn dancing, royal etiquettes, and even the skills to please a man. If she wasn't coincidentally rescued by the Witch Cooperation Association, she would probably have been sold for an exorbitantly high price to a duke or minister. Until now, she still had her foreign accent when speaking.</p>
<p>"Maybe just like those who wanted to buy you." Lily sneered. "Man..."</p>
<p>"Don't speak nonsense, Lily," said Nightingale in a stern voice. "His Highness is clearly different from all those people that you talked about. As long as you stay here for a while, you'll understand."</p>
<p>"It's true, I have experienced it deeply," Wendy said while wearing her kind smile, "It's already late, so everyone should go back to their rooms and try to get some sleep. Don't worry even if your ability isn't useful to His Highness. He said that he wants all of you to be able to live a normal life in Border Town. If you want to know what His Highness will ask you tomorrow." She deliberately paused for a moment. "I guess, it'll start from the signing of a contract."</p>
<p>After Leaf and Scroll returned to their room and closed their door, the latter said, "We should sleep as well."</p>
<p>When His Highness had asked about her ability earlier, he arranged for her to stay in the same room as Scroll. He also mentioned that this was only a temporary arrangement, and in the future, she could have a brand new room for herself. But in her view, the bed was already spacious enough for three people.</p>
<p>She took off her coat and got under the quilt. It was hard to describe the softness and comfort that wrapped around her body. Leaf could not help but moan gently with her head buried in the pillow. After a long time, she softly asked, "Do you blame Cara?"</p>
<p>"..." Scroll sighed. "No one can predict the future, no matter what she did at the end, at least in the beginning she was really genuine in wanting to find a home for the witches to live in peace. Now there's no point mentioning this. Sleep well, my girl."</p>
<p>She closed her eyes. "Good night."</p>
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