Release that Witch

”Thank you.” When there were just Margaret and Nightingale around, Thunder dropped his fake smile and said to Roland sincerely, ”I’m very happy about her current status. Now I know that I made the right decision back then. I’ll leave her in your care.”

”She’s grown up...” Margaret remarked impressively. ”The way she mimicked the tone of adults made you just want to press the poor little thing to your bosom.”

”Hey, that’s what you’re really thinking, isn’t it,” Roland said within himself. Then he said, ”But Lightning hasn’t given up on her undertaking. Although she lives here, she formed her own exploration group, despite that there are only three members. She would eventually catch up unless you lock her up now.”

”If that’s unavoidable, then it’s her destiny.” Thunder forced a smile. ”But not now at least. I hope she can live a happy and safe life before that day comes.”

Having said that, the Battle of Divine Will was right around the corner. Even Lightning stayed away from the ocean, she was not safe there. Once Neverwinter, which was at the very front of the battle, fell, the entire human race would be doomed. Roland did not tell Lightning about this greatest crisis that human beings would ever encounter, for he knew the war itself was the most magnificent adventure Lightning would ever run into. She would definitely not miss the opportunity to personally participate in it. Since he could not persuade her to withdraw from the upcoming battle, he did not want to burden her with such an unnecessary premonition of imminent disaster.

”Rest assured, I’ll take good care of her.” At length, Roland patted Thunder on his shoulder and said slowly.

...

”What did he say?” Lorgar put Maggie, who was perched in her arms, back onto Lightning’s head and asked, ”Did you hear anything about your father?”

The little girl shook her head and replied, ”As I expected, there’s nothing about his whereabouts. But don’t worry, I prefer to find him myself with my team. That would be more interesting!”

”I agree, coo!” Maggie flapped her wings.

”By the way, is Mystery Moon here yet?”

”Nope.”

”What the heck.” Lightning twitched her lips. ”Is she just going to bail on us? She promised us with such confidence before.”

”By the way... what’s the challenge she issued to us?” Lorgar was curious.

”I have no idea, coo!”

”Huh?”

”We, the Exploration Group, are ready to accept any challenge, no matter what they are,” Lightning said triumphantly.

”That’s right, coo!” Maggie chimed in while craning her neck.

”Ugh...” The Princess of the Wildflame Clan clapped her hand over her forehead, totally speechless. She started to wonder what a chaotic group she had joined.

”Sorry, I’m late...” Just then, they heard Mystery Moon’s voice coming from behind them. Lorgar turned around and saw Mystery Moon and Lily trotting toward them, followed by Summer and Sharon.

”I thought you weren’t coming.” Lightning folded her arms.

”Why wouldn’t I?” Mystery Moon cried. ”I was just tied up with some investigation work. This is also a necessary step for the contest to run smoothly.”

”Alright then.” Lightning shrugged indifferently. ”Now can you tell us what the contest is?”

”Of course I will. However, before that, I’d like to introduce my team first.” Mystery Moon opened her arms and pushed the other three girls forward. ”I announce that this is the date for the official establishment of Neverwinter Detective Group. These are the new members I just recruited!”

”Huh?”

”Detective... Group?”

”What’s that, coo?”

”No, I’m not a member!”

The witches reacted differently to the remark. Lorgar and Maggie both stood stupefied, having no clue as to what was exactly going on, whereas Summer and Sharon were clearly confused. Lily, on the other hand, yelled in annoyance.

”It was His Majesty! His Majesty!” Mystery Moon explained hastily. ”Wendy told me that His Majesty knows that we went to the academy to investigate the arson. He then taught me this word, which means uncovering the unknown and searching for truth. In addition, he gave me a special title as well.”

”Really?” Lightning looked incredulous.

”You can ask Wendy. I remember it’s called front-load... front-load washing machine.” Mystery Moon scratched the back of her head. ”But Wendy doesn’t know the exact meaning either.”

”Searching for the truth of a crime...” Sharon muttered ponderously. ”If it helps with the security of Neverwinter, I’d like to be a part of it.”

”Would there be any problems if I join?” Summer pointed to herself. ”Miss Nightingale said I’m already a member of Security Bureau.”

”It would be fine.” Mystery Moon gave a thumbs-up. ”Lightning also needs to scout for the First Army from time to time, doesn’t she? As long as we put priority on His Majesty’s orders, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

”Sorry, but please don’t count me in.” Lily rolled her eyes. ”There are tons of samples I need to record in the laboratory, and the size of the mushroom plant has to be doubled again. I really don’t have time for your game. Call me a traitor if you like, but it won’t change anything!”

”Traitor!”

”You...”

”Wait, my bad. Let me finish.” Mystery Moon nagged. ”I’m serious this time. You should all know that His Majesty received some guests from Fjords, right?”

”That’s quite obvious.” Lily snapped impatiently. ”What do you think this feast is about?”

”But my point is that there’s a witch among them.” Mystery Moon continued, ”I was inspecting the illumination at the port when they arrived...”

”You were just idling about, weren’t you? Nobody would turn on lights during the daytime.”

”Ahem, and then I noticed her.” Mystery Moon ignored the blatant flaw that Lily had just pointed out in her story and said, ”I’ve heard that the Fjord people will be staying at Neverwinter for quite a few months, and this includes the witch. So, she’ll be the very subject of our contest.”

”Oh, really?” Lightning was intrigued, ”Tell me about it.”

”The first team that successfully persuades her to join their group wins the game!” Mystery Moon proclaimed. ”The Detective Group is considered the biggest organization under the Witch Union because we have four members. However, since the Exploration Group was founded earlier, I would say we’re tied for now. The winner of this competition will thus decide which team is the stronger of the two!”

”Haha.” Lorgar almost bit her tongue. She could barely suppress her laughter. ”To team up with a stranger witch?” Although she knew the contest did not have to be as formal as a holy duel, she was both amused and astonished at the playful manner in which they set up the competition.

To Lorgar’s surprise, however, both Lightning and Maggie looked grave, particularly Maggie. She was apparently in a state of alert, as her tail was high up in the air.

Princess Lorgar cried in silence. She wondered if she could still withdraw from the competition.

”Although I don’t think you can judge a team by the number of its members, I accept the challenge!” Lightning patted her chest.

”Coo, coo!”

”Don’t ever take it lightly.” Mystery stuck out one finger. ”First, the witch named Joan can barely talk, so it’s hard for her to communicate with others. Second, she’s so frightened that the poor thing senses danger from any invitations from strangers, just like us back then when we were wanted by the church. So, it’s going to be a time-consuming project. As for the rules of the game, whichever team that first wins her over wins the game. How does that sound?”

”I have no issue with it.” Lightning nodded.

”Hang on... I have a question.” Lorgar made the last attempt to get herself out of the contest. ”If what you said is true, she would only be here for a few months. In that case, there’s no point to argue which group she would join eventually. Whether it’s the Detective Group or the Exploration Group, it’ll make no difference to her.”

”That isn’t true.” Mystery Moon refuted gravely. ”If we can help her walk out of the shadows and open up to us, everything would be worthwhile. Perhaps, it means nothing to an ordinary person, but to her, it will be the sunshine that lightens up her life, and this was also what His Majesty did for us in the first place.”

In an instant, Lorgar’s heart missed a beat. It suddenly occurred to her that these girls were probably not as juvenile as she had thought them to be.

”Hold on, who told you all this?” Lily drew her brows together.

”Well...” Mystery Moon was at a loss for words.

”Did you—” She cast a suspicious glance at Mystery Moon and then at Summer before she uttered an exclamation of surprise. ”Did you ask Summer to use her ability to eavesdrop on His Majesty?”

”No, no!” Mystery Moon explained quickly. ”We simply went back to the time when they visited the dock. It was nothing confidential, as His Majesty made a speech in front of everybody!” With these words, she stole an embarrassed glance at Lightning. ”I swear in the name of electromagnetic power!”

”You were way over the line this time. I’m going to report to Wendy!”

”Trai — no, I swear I’ll never do it again!”

”I don’t trust you!”

”I’m serious!”

”You always lie to me!”

”If I lie to you again, I won’t have any more Chaos Drinks. Hey, don’t go!”

While the Detective Group was experiencing an internal conflict, Maggie leaped into flight abruptly and flew to the other side of the hall.

Only Lightning and Lorgar saw her leave.

Lorgar saw the pigeon flit across the hall and descend on a round table. It picked up a piece of barbeque meat with its beak and landed on Joan’s shoulder.

The girl seemed to be startled at first, but she was soon attracted to the bird. Afterward, she even took the barbeque meat the bird offered her.

The wolf girl turned to Maggie and lifted up her ears.

Shortly afterward, she captured the conversation between them.

However, she could barely understand it.

”Coo.”

”Ya.”

”Coo, coo—coo!”

”Ya Ya.”

”...”

Around seven or eight minutes later, Maggie rose in the air and landed on Lightning’s head again.

”She agreed to join the Exploration Group, coo!” Maggie announced triumphantly.