Release that Witch

”What happened there?” As Roland and Margaret were talking, Margaret uttered an exclamation of surprise. ”What’s Joan... doing?”

Roland also noticed the commotion on the other side of the hall. He saw Margaret’s witch friend leave her spot and, escorted by her maid, slowly walk toward Lightning and the other witches.

Maggie, on the other hand, was flying back and forth, seemingly delivering messages for her.

At first, Joan was so nervous that she clung to her maid the whole time. She only poked her head out when Maggie was around. However, when she and Maggie gradually got to know each other, the situation soon changed.

She not only started to talk to the witches but even reached out her hands to touch Lorgar’s ears and tail in a gentle manner.

”Now I see.” Roland could not help smiling. ”Lightning is indeed quick at making friends.”

”That’s... unbelievable.” Margaret clapped her hand over her mouth. ”You know how long it took me to persuade Joan to come ashore? It took me a good two months, and I had to ask Ms. Camilla to help me.”

”How did she do that?” Thunder was also surprised.

”She doesn’t have to do anything, but just take Maggie and Lorgar with her,” Roland explained with a smile. ”What Joan truly fears is the abhorrence with which people treat foreign races or people of different appearances. Perhaps, Joan views both the pigeon and the wolf girl as people of her kind.”

”Her... kind?” Margaret echoed.

”Yes. You’ve met Maggie before, but Lorgar bears more similarities to Joan than Maggie.” Roland then told Margaret about some of the animal features of Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan. ”Anyway, you don’t need to worry whether she would be able to blend in.”

”Has the witch called Lorgar... never been rejected by anyone?”

”If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have come to Neverwinter. Even in the Southernmost Region where witches are generally treated as Divine Ladies by every clan, one with a mishappened figure would still be regarded with evil forebodings.” Roland shook his head. ”Of course, not everyone in Neverwinter accepts them, but the discrimination would be a lot more subtle than in other places. As for the Witch Union, nobody would ever discriminate another because of her look. Everyone has gone through the same pain and fully knows the nature of their abilities. They would be more than happy to have a new member.”

”People fear the unknown.” Thunder sighed. ”What first motivated me to become an explorer was purely money, but now I want to cover as much untrodden land as possible before I die. There are so many mysteries in this world that await us. If people are just satisfied with the place where they were brought up, they would probably be bound by fear for the rest of their life.”

”This is also the reason I support you.” Roland raised his glass. ”There’s an old saying: a person will eventually become as great as his thought. You’ll go down in history if you can think that way.”

”Thank you,” Thunder replied with a smile and clunk his glass. ”I’ll try my best to not disappoint your expectations. You can count on me.”

Margaret gazed at Joan for a long time, as if she were lost in thought. After quite a while, she turned around and bowed to Roland, with her hand on her chest. ”Your Majesty, I have a bold request.”

”Say it.”

”I planned to take Joan back to the Fjords and persuade her to settle down where she was born after this exploration is over,” Margaret said in a soft voice. ”The life on the sea is too lonely and I don’t want to see her continue this way. But now I changed my mind...” Margaret paused for a second and then asked, ”Your Majesty, can I entrust her to you?”

”You want her... to stay in Neverwinter?”

”If Joan stays at the Fjords, she would probably ground herself and speak to very few people. But she can make some true friends here.” Margaret nodded. ”She left the ocean, which she is so used to, and followed me here. I don’t want to fail her trust. I truly feel nowhere is more suitable for her than Neverwinter.”

”That’s not a problem.” Roland smiled faintly. ”This is exactly what the Witch Union was founded for.”

”Now that I have your promise. I’ll fully trust you on the matter.” Margaret dipped in a curtsy, relieved.

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

Lily returned to her bedroom, yawning, and hung her wet towel on the rail. When she was about to read the biology book before going to bed, she heard Mystery Moon mutter behind her.

”We lost... we lost... we lost...”

Lily rolled her eyes, pretending she did not hear the repetitive mumble, and opened the book indifferently.

The murmur, as she had expected, grew louder immediately.

”The Detective Group lost... the Detective Group lost... the Detective Group lost...”

”Are you done or not?” Lily felt her temples throbbing. She sat upright and yelled, ”Can’t you just go to sleep?”

”But we lost.” Mystery Moon buried her face in the pillow and grumbled resentfully. ”Aren’t you sad at all? I already had a plan on how to make her side with us. I was so close! Look at the way they communicate. It doesn’t seem that they understand each other. How did they do that? Did they know each other from before? Now the Exploration Group is equal to the Detective Group in number, and we’re no longer the biggest organization...”

Lily had no comment. Mystery Moon was not, evidently, very close to winning because the Exploration Group had literally defeated them before they had even started. ”Why do I have to feel sad about it? I have nothing to do with you.” Lily interrupted her never-ending whining. ”I reiterate. There were just three people in the Detective Group at the beginning and now you have lost the game and are outnumbered. You are flattened. You’d better dissolve the group before it isn’t too late.”

With these words, she returned to her book and was determined not to talk to her roommate anymore, no matter how hard she tried to get her into a conversation.

To her surprise, however, Mystery Moon stopped bothering her. For a moment, the room was unusually quiet.

This isn’t right.

Lily was a little worried and wondered if she had been too harsh on Mystery Moon. Although Mystery Moon could be a bit annoying sometimes, she meant well. If there had not been such a ridiculous competition, Joan would probably have never opened up to them so quickly. Although Mystery Moon should not have eavesdropped on His Majesty, it was, essentially, not a mistake with serious consequences... Maybe she had been a little too serious over the matter.

Suddenly, an idea formed in her mind.

Unlike her, Mystery Moon used to be very reserved and timid. Due to her ability, she had constantly been scolded by Cara back in the Witch Cooperation Association and everybody had treated her as an invisible person. Thanks to the Witch Union, she had finally become more outgoing and sociable. Lily wondered whether her reproach would make Mystery Moon slip back to her old ways and sink into a state of dejection again.

At this thought, Lily regretted yelling at her so severely.

She swallowed hard and slowly turned around, about to apologize.

But she was met with a ten dollar note in her face.

Mystery Moon was standing behind the bed, arms out. She thrust the note right under Lily’s nose.

”Wh-what’re you doing?” Lily was frightened.

”I beg you not to leave the Detective Group. I’m willing to offer you a bottle of Chaos Drink in exchange!” Mystery Moon screwed up her face. ”If you leave, there’s not a single chance for the Detective Group to turn the situation around!”

”I already said I’m not one of you. Can’t you listen?” Lily clapped her hand over her forehead, speechless but at the same time relieved. She was happy that Mystery Moon was not as fragile as she had thought.

After a long silence, Lily took the ten dollar bill from Mystery Moon.

”You agreed?” Mystery Moon’s face lightened up.

”No.” Lily tapped the desk. ”I have many things to deal with and have absolutely no time to play games with you. But I can give you a hint as a return for your 10-dollar note. I can also give you my counsel provided that it won’t take up my work hours. At least, my advice would be much more practical than befriending some random witch.”

”What hint?”

”I’m not the right person to help you expand your team. Not everyone in the Witch Union is as busy as Soraya. You can turn to those idlers.” Lily felt guilty for selling out those witches and muttered an inaudible ”sorry” under her breath. ”Think about it. Who else helped you find the clues in the arson of the Academy?”

”Um... do you mean Evelyn? No, I can’t ask her. Although the group activities won’t take a lot of time, she still needs to manage her own tavern.”

”Not her.”

”Um... then Amy?” Mystery Moon looked hesitant. ”But she isn’t from Graycastle and she has her own companions as well...”

”Isn’t that even better? Once she joins the Detective Group, all the other witches from the Kingdom of Wolfheart would follow.” Lily counted on her fingers. ”Annie can be busy, but neither Hero nor Broken Sword is. Plus, you have a joint project with Broken Sword... Does it really matter to you where they come from? Joan’s from the Fjords. Why don’t you have a problem with that?”

”I see!”

”And then there are the combat witches who previously belonged to the Bloodfang Association. They have a lot of free time and shouldn’t refuse if you ask. Now the Detective Group will have a lot more members than the Exploration Group. At least, you outnumber them. But remember not to bother His Majesty, nor should you challenge the Exploration Group at random.” Lily advised. ”I just feel that it’s impossible for you to beat them, although I don’t know why.”

”Because you favor them.” Mystery Moon pouted.

”No, I don’t! Anyway, that’s all that I want to say. Now go to bed and don’t bother me again.” Lily waved.

”Alright...” But Mystery Moon soon turned around again.

”What’s the matter?” After experiencing some mood swings, Lily found herself be more patient than before.

”Well, it would be better to get things straightened out now than have a problem later,” thought Lily.

”That ten dollar note is your reward if you join the Detective Group...” Mystery Moon said hesitantly. ”Since you’ve decided not to, can I have it back?”

At that moment, Lily heard something break in her heart.

” NO WAY! GET OUT OF HERE!”