Release that Witch

When the last statistics report was handed over to him, the City Hall Director finally let out a deep breath and waved his hand toward his subordinate. ”You can leave now.”

”Yes, my Lord.”

The latter bowed respectfully and closed the door of the office on his way out.

The only person left in the room was Barov.

He opened the drawer and removed more than a dozen forms from inside, flattened them on the table, and neatly stacked the newest one on top.

As a result of this recent addition, all the necessary supplies for His Majesty’s expedition were now fully prepared.

Barov gently rubbed the paper, as if he were stroking a girl’s tender, smooth skin. The rows of numbers seemed like a complex password to ordinary people, but in his eyes, it was a wonderful music score.

It took only a week and a half, for Neverwinter to complete a large-scale logistics transfer. Whether it was food or gold royals, they had surpassed the quantities of any previous expedition. Through his proposals and statistical tables, he could see ships carrying wheat flourishing from the inland river to the Northern Region. And he could hear the melodious sound of gold royals colliding with each other.

He was unable to control this feeling of indulgence.

If he wanted to name this score, ”power” would undoubtedly be the most appropriate name.

Now, the power lay in his hands, and he could play in any manner he wanted.

After only three years, Neverwinter’s prowess had reached an incredible level—not just in terms of military might, but also in all other aspects. When he had been an assistant to the Treasurer in the old king’s city, he had known a great deal about the financial situation of Graycastle. And it was precisely because of that, he realized how amazing Roland Wimbledon was.

Now Neverwinter’s resources were probably equal to all the other cities’ strength in Graycastle combined.

Unfortunately, no one could share this joy with him.

Barov removed his monocle and glanced at the empty table opposite him.

There was only one other person who could understand these figures and experience the joy that came with it: the Pearl of the Northern Region. Sometimes he felt that the latter was the same type of person as he was.

However, this regret dissolved very quickly. Compared to the option of possessing exclusive power, everything else paled in comparison.

He stood up and walked to the window. He pulled out a peculiar coin from his breast pocket and flattened it in his palm. Engraved on the coin’s surface was a mountain. It glittered in the late spring sun.

This was the emblem of the Witch Cooperation Association. He had found this coin three years ago in the forest of the Western Region.

He secretly retained it. He originally wanted to use it as evidence of the Lord colluding with witches in return for his own safety, when the church attacked the Western Region. But now, this emblem had become his lucky charm.

His Majesty, who protects, the witches is evil? Of course not! The evil ones are those who were defeated by His Majesty. They had no strength, but they still acted arrogantly. This was the biggest crime as even the demons in the Barbarian Land were not as bad as them.

Fortunately, this situation would not last too long.

Although His Majesty’s plan to attack the Kingdom of Dawn was delayed by a little, he had already waited for two decades, so waiting for another year was not an issue at all.

Graycastle should be handed over to a more capable man.

Barov knew that the day His Majesty unified the kingdom and was officially crowned as king, he himself would also climb to the pinnacle of power.

He touched his beard and could not help but laugh.

***************

”Today’s test will stop here. Have you packed your luggage?” Agatha asked while sorting out the experimental data, ”Tomorrow is the day of departure, so don’t forget anything.”

”I don’t have many clothes and I don’t need to carry any items,” Isabella shook her head and replied calmly. Living in Neverwinter was much simpler than she had imagined. With the exception of repeatedly displaying the god stone to allow the ice witch to observe the records, she controlled the rest of her time as long as she did not leave the diplomatic building. She was neither harassed nor humiliated. She had thought that the witches would have treated the Pure Witches very differently. However, sometimes she felt that Agatha’s attitude toward her was the same as the other witches. There was hardly any difference.

”By the way,” she said and added another sentence, ”about what happened last time... thank you for telling me.”

”You mean the news about the church?” Agatha shrugged. ”If it were me, I’d still think of going back and taking a look, whether it’d be a farewell or a break. But let’s not talk about that now. You can’t go on your journey like that... This is certainly due to my negligence as I’ve just found out that you’ve been wearing the same thing all this time.” She dropped the notebook and frowned as she walked over to Isabella. She grabbed Isabella’s sleeve and felt it. ”It’s gone all white, and it’s winter clothing. When the weather turns hot, aren’t you going to get overheated?”

”That’s nothing.” Isabella wanted to say that she had been subjected to more rigorous training, but thought for a moment and decided to hold her tongue.

”This expedition isn’t just a matter of a month or two. Let’s not mention the fact that you might not be able to wash your clothes daily on the road and even your companions won’t be able to stand it.” Agatha said decisively, ”Now that we still have time, I’ll take you to the convenience market and we can pick a few pieces of clothing.”

When she heard the words ”companions”, she became slightly surprised and hesitated for a moment before answering, ”But... I’ve got no money.”

She was atoning for her misdeeds, and naturally, she would not get a monthly payment like the members of the Witch Union.

”Well, I do,” said Agatha nonchalantly. ”You can think of it as a loan,” she said.

”But it’ll be after five years...”

”Five years is a short time compared to the Taquila witches waiting for hundreds of years, isn’t it?” The Ice Witch interrupted by saying, ”The Battle of Divine Will won’t end that easily. You won’t always remain like this unless this is what you want.” She placed her hand out. ”So what’re you hesitating about?”

Isabella did not answer. She suddenly felt that the sunset rays were a little dazzling.

Through the golden rays, Agatha’s body gradually faded away, and only her hand could be seen.

Isabella lowered her head and took the latter’s palm.

At that moment, the sun seemed to be linked with her.

*******************

”Are you sure it’d be alright for me to come with you?” Anna asked while she was lying in Roland’s arms, blinking her lake blue eyes.

As he had been busy settling the God’s Punishment Witches recently, it had been a long time before the two could spend some quiet time together. It was exactly for this reason, that even late at night, the two were still whispering, trying to catch up on all the words that they had missed during their absence.

”We’ve been preparing this for such a long time, and besides, it’s alright to take a rest at times,” said Roland, stroking her smooth back, ”furthermore, this expedition isn’t just for the sake of combat. Propaganda is also very important. For example, when socializing with everyone and attending banquets, it would be unacceptable if I weren’t accompanied by a female companion.”

Anna nodded in agreement and buried her head shyly. Roland saw a touch of pink on her cheek due to the bright moonlight.

It was clear that Anna was intelligent enough to understand the meaning of this remark.

In formal occasions, appearing as a king’s female companion was a statement.

”I said that one day, all the subjects of Graycastle will know who you are, even if you are a witch,” he said earnestly.

Anna did not ask questions such as ”Is this really alright?” or ”What if everyone opposes it?” Instead, she replied in the same earnest tone, ”Even if I’m a witch, I want to be with you, no matter what happens in the future.”

Roland lifted the corners of his mouth. This answer was really in her usual style.

”So we’re both in agreement.”

...

The next day, the Neverwinter port was crowded with concrete boats that shipped the First Army and their war supplies. They were arranged neatly in a column before slowly leaving the Redwater River.

At the front of the fleet was ”the Roland”. At the top of the flagship, the symbol of the Graycastle, a High-Tower and Spears flag, was waving in the wind and attracting everyone’s attention. Everyone in Neverwinter knew that when their Lord returned again, he would become the only king of the land.

Someone shouted ”long live the king”, and the whole pier continued to shout out in unison.

It sounded like thunder rolling over the sky, or the horn of departure.

The war began in the midst of the lively voices of the people.