Release that Witch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”Why?”

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

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

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

”Really?”

She turned her head to another side and whistled.

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

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

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

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

The visitor was Agatha.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

”What?” Agatha was shocked.

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

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

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

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