Release that Witch

The sky was overcast as if covered with a thick layer of curtain. Numerous tiny white dots drifted down along with the wind as if they had wanted to fill the entire world. Yet the blizzard appeared insignificant before the great sea embracing the sky.

The Charming Beauty gradually approached Shallow Beach in the heavy snow and wind.

Roland had waited here for a long time. Standing in the chilling sea wind, he opened his arms to Tilly who stepped on the pier and said, ”Welcome back, sister.”

She took off her hood to reveal her soft gray hair, smiled and gently embraced him. Everything seemed so natural. She said, ”The Months of Demons seem to have arrived earlier than I expected. I hope I’m not too late.”

As their conversation continued, the pier became more bustling instantly.

”Your Majesty, there will be a welcome dinner at night, right? Can you arrange a hotpot again?” Andrea approached him to ask, her voice full of expectations.

”Ahem, mind your manners,” Ashes reminded her.

Maybe she got to know him better, or she was influenced by Nightingale, her elegant noble demeanor seemed to escape her little by little. Of course, her beauty was so impressive that she still appeared graceful and pretty even when she was eagerly asking what to eat in the evening.

”Of course,” said Roland, nodding. ”In fact, winter is the best season for hotpots.”

”That’s what I’m thinking too,” said Andrea, her eyes sparkling, ”you’re indeed a royal noble and indeed the man Nightingale is interested in... ” Before she finished her words, her mouth had been firmly covered by a pair of invisible hands.

Ashes put her hand on her forehead and turned around as if she had seen nothing. Instead, she started to talk to Wendy.

Tilly seemed a bit surprised. She glanced at Roland and then looked at the where Nightingale stood thoughtfully.

Roland also blushed. Before Tilly started to ask, he coughed and said, ”It’s windy here. Let’s go back to the castle and have a talk then.”

…

Along with Tilly, the witches coming to Neverwinter were the card-playing three, Iffy, Softfeathers, and Nightfall, the former members of Bloodfang Association. It was not the first time they came to the Western Region, so it saved Roland time to arrange their accommodations. After they put away the luggage, Roland summoned everyone to the living room and then told them what had recently happened in the Kingdom of Dawn.

As their partner, he believed that he should share information with the Sleeping Island witches and let them know the Taquila survivors as soon as possible.

In the end, all the witches could not help laughing. Ashes even asked him bluntly, ”So you are the witch that Taquila witches are looking for... The Chosen One?”

”Or the first wizard in history,” Tilly said jokingly. ”My brother is always so different.”

”I don’t have any magic power, so you can save the title of witch or wizard,” Roland said, shrugging, ”The Chosen One is just what the Taquila witches refer to. We won’t know what the Instrument of Divine Retribution is until we have further communication with them. Before that, I plan to hold an artillery exercise outside the city wall of the Western Region so as to help them regain their confidence.”

”At the same time, it’s also a kind of deterrence, right?” Ashes, though not as reckless as she appeared at first, still spoke straightforwardly, ”just like the defensive battle of demonic beasts you had shown to us.”

”I just don’t want to have any misunderstanding between each other,” Roland replied, without saying yes or no. ”And the exercise is not just for the Taquila witches. It’s also open to the public so that Neverwinter subjects can see the power they have. Then they’ll be full of courage even when facing demons.”

No misunderstanding meant to let them clearly know his strength so as to dispel some unnecessary ideas. This was also the basis for diplomacy in the new era.

”Since it’s an exercise, I don’t think we are going to conduct it when demonic beasts attack us, right?” Andrea suddenly said, ”I have a good idea.”

”What’s it?”

”How about using demonic beasts as the targets of shooting?” She raised her eyebrows and said, ”Compared with simple wood targets, real demonic beasts will be more impressive.”

Roland was a little surprised and agreed that it was a good idea. If he wanted to organize the public to watch the exercise, naturally he could not wait until demonic beasts came and then arrange them to stand on the city wall. It might cause a lot of chaos, and the demonic beasts would have reduced to meat sauces under bombards by the time everyone arrived. So he originally intended to use some wooden targets for accurate shooting and asked Soraya to paint some fake targets.

Andrea’s proposal was obviously more enjoyable. Nothing was more exciting for the Neverwinter residents than watching evil enemies, who had troubled the Western Region for so many years, be bombarded and turn to ashes.

”Those demonic beasts as the targets...”

”Just leave it to us,” said Andrea, patting her chest.

”Ah, why not stay in the room playing cards?” Shavi responded with a bitter look.

”I’m also willing to help,” Iffy echoed. As long as it was related to a battle, Iffy would always like to participate willingly.

”But will it be dangerous to catch demonic beasts?” Wendy said, appearing to be quite concerned.

”If we choose to catch them in the Misty Forest controlled by Leaf, there should be no safety problem,” Nightingale said eagerly. ”She can monitor the movements of all witches and demonic beasts in the area and drive away powerful demonic hybrids. Even if we meet a Fearful Beast of Hell, we have the Sigil of God’s Will anyway.”

”Then how about a competition to warm ourselves up before the artillery exercise?” Tilly laughed. ”Let’s divide the sisters in Neverwinter into three groups to see which group can catch more demonic beasts.”

”Divide into... three groups?”

”The witches of Sleeping Island, the Witch Union, and Taquila,” she grinned and said, ”The reward can be a month’s Chaos Drinks. I’m really curious about how delicious it is since you said it’s far better the taste of ice cream bread.”

”Wait... Will Phyllis join us too?” Roland said in surprise.

”This will visualize the power of gunpowder weapons and help her have a better understanding of it, isn’t it? Killing a demonic beast may be easy for a God’s Punishment Warrior, but if she sees a common person can also do it easily and more efficiently, she will definitely have more confidence in the power of Neverwinter.”

”Of course, if she doesn’t want to participate, it’s ok,” said Andrea, shrugging. ”Since it’s a competition, it’s based on her personal will.”

”So that’s why...” Roland looked at Ashes and the others who had an eager look, and roughly figured out why they made this proposal. Although Tilly’s statement was somewhat sensible, their original intention was more to satisfy themselves. After all, they came to help them peacefully go through the Months of Demons, but they could do little since the First Army was sufficient to handle the situation. For most of the time they could only stay in the castle, playing the ”Fight the Landlord” card game. Compared with busy assistant witches, they seemed to be useless.

They were combat witches after all.

In this mass production campaign, he might have indeed ignored these witches’ feelings.

”Then let’s do it.” Roland gave a nod of approval.