Release that Witch

...

By the time when Snaketooth and Tigerclaw came to the square, a huge crowd of people had already gathered up there. Snaketooth had never seen so many people get together in one place, even when Longsong Stronghold was distributing relief grains.

He counted roughly and estimated that there were probably over 5,000 people came to watch the play.

The square which used to be just a flat land was changed into a giant, sunken bowl in the ground, which was called an amphitheater. According to the locals, this was the third time that the square was rebuilt. Generally speaking, such a huge project would take one or two years to complete, but this amphitheater had been built in merely half a month and during the time, nobody had ever seen where the soil dug out went.

In this amphitheater, the audience could sit on the stone steps to watch the play, instead of standing until their legs were numb. It also enabled the audience to have a better view, as long as you could find a seat. As for those who came late, they could still stand on their tiptoes around the square to have a look.

Tigerclaw squeezed into the last row of the stone stairs and made a space enough for two people, saying, ”Not so bad. We still make it.”

Snaketooth clutched a cloth bag to his chest and sat beside his friend with great care. As the bag contained all his savings in the past two months, he had to be alert in such a crowded place. In the Longsong Area, at places like this one, Rats would be on the spree. Though the Border Area had no Rats now, he still felt that he needed to watch out for the Rats who were ”temporarily transferred to civilian work”.

When the last afterglow of the sunset melted into the darkness of the night, there were only several burning torches giving light to the square. The stage was still enveloped in darkness. Snaketooth could not help but feel quite strange when he found that nobody came to light up the bonfire and that there was no firewood in the center of the square.

He could not help wondering how they were going to play without firelight.

Suddenly, a bright beam of light shone on the stage. It was dazzling but Snaketooth soon got used to this pure light. Then the second and the third beam of light appeared, gradually lighting up the stage. Gasps of amazement that were produced by the audience reverberated over the square.

”They’re the lights used in the plants!” he thought.

”Oh, my goodness! Nightless light! They bring nightless lights here!”

Rumor had it that it was a magic light that trapped the lightning of the sky in an expensive crystal glass bulb. Snaketooth had only seen it several times when he passed by the industrial district.

”Nightless light? Come on, it’s called electric light and consumes electricity. It’s made by the machines created by the witches! His Majesty planned to have every household equipped with electric lights, but the witch who provided electricity was unable to support so many lights. That’s why only the plants are using this kind of lights now.” Someone nearby snorted and said.

”How do you know that?” Tigerclaw asked with interest.

That person shrugged and said, ”You aren’t official residents of City of Neverwinter, right? The City Hall has done propaganda about electricity to tell us how to use the electric lights safely. They’re like fire. If you don’t use them properly, it’ll cause disaster.”

”Not like thunder?”

”Uhm... almost the same. Don’t bother so much. When you become subjects of His Majesty and finish the primary education, you’ll understand.”

”Is there any way that I can become a formal subject faster? What’s the primary education?”

Snaketooth asked and wanted to ask more questions, but Tigerclaw suddenly grabbed him up when the crowd burst into deafening cheers.

The Star Flower Troupe stepped on the stage.

”Ms. May! Ms. May!”

”Ms. Irene!”

”Mr. Gait!”

The crowd cried out the names of the troupe members and the atmosphere reached a crescendo.

Seeing that, Snaketooth was filled with admiration suddenly.

He wanted to become someone like them, the focus of people’s eyes. He wanted the audience to cry out his name loudly... They were neither nobles nor sages. They were not out of reach.

After the cheers died down, the play began.

This was the first time for Snaketooth to watch a drama played by Star and Flower of the Western Region. He never thought that he would be interested in such an elegant event usually enjoyed by the nobles, but when the music started, he was absorbed into the story without noticing it.

The leading roles of the story were not the nobles.

Instead, they were just ordinary people like himself... a free citizen, a refugee and a Rat.

They had both dreams for their future and misfortunes in their own lives. They all fetched up simultaneously at the same city, Star City. They met and helped each other. They confided their thoughts to each other. They suffered from the pain of leaving their hometowns and the sense of loss in the new city. After that, they pulled themselves together and found their own ways.

Nothing could be heard except the lines of the actors and actresses on the square. All the audience held their breath, as they were deeply involved in the story played on the stage.

At last, the roles on the stage finally settled down in Star City and lived comfortably ever after. Strangers that had helped each other in the past became friends and lovers in the end. Snaketooth felt being touched when a moving music was played. He pretended to rub his eyes to hide his tears and meanwhile found out that Tigerclaw was all tears though he did not look sad.

He was not the only one moved that much. Everyone around was just like him, lost in that moving story. No one had risen to cheer until the end of the play.

Even if no one said it out, everyone knew it clearly that the ”Star City” was City of Neverwinter.

Snaketooth was lost in thought, [Even a Rat could have such a story?]

Right at the moment, a foreign-looking girl from behind the background plate stepped on the stage.

Like someone in a delicate painting, she was tall and had waist-length long bluish-gray hair, wearing a white dress which glinted.

She started to sing.

Totally different from the music played before, her song was powerful, praising the great and glorious workers. She sang in a way different from all the other female singers. She was inspiring and encouraging. Hearing her song, Snaketooth felt that he could even see his own sweats in the distant residential buildings and that all the foreigners who devoted themselves into the construction of this city deserved to be remembered.

The impact and emotions brought by the play were finally released at this moment. The audience flipped out and applauded with their greatest strength. The song promptly made their emotions run even higher!

They were all His Majesty’s subjects!

The glorious workers!

The builders of City of Neverwinter!

...

After the show, His Majesty left with the witches via a raised platform which was built for temporary use. Snaketooth opened his eyes widely but still failed to find Paper in the crowd. Surprisingly, he did not feel as disappointed as he expected, since the song still reverberated in his ears, filling his heart with hope.

He believed that they would meet again sooner or later.

Like those foreigners, they would meet again right in this city.