Release that Witch

”Look, that’s him, Morning Light!” shouted someone at the roadside.

”Where is he?”

”He’s the one there in front!”

After a girl pointed out where Ferlin Eltek was, the crowd started to get excited.

”It is him! I thought I would never see him again after he left his teaching job.”

”Wow, he looked at me!”

”Come on, Mr. Eltek!”

Many people cheered for this tall handsome man, Ferlin Eltek, who still maintained a steady pace during the final leg of the race. Although he looked tired, he still smiled back at the people who cheered for him along the way, and he even waved to his former students. All his fans were completely smitten by him.

Seeing this, Honey, who followed the Border District participants all along way, started to think about her race report.

Ferlin Eltek, widely known as the Morning Light, works in the General Staff Department. He was a very popular knight and then a very popular intermediate teacher. Now, it seems that he’s about to become the champion of the long-distance race. If that happens, how should I write the report title?

”’Today, Thousands of Girls in Neverwinter Fell for a Man’, how do you like this title?”

”Ugh... Are you asking me?” Vader, who was riding a bicycle, carrying Honey, panted and said, ”Thousands of girls? Doesn’t that sound too exaggerated?”

Though Honey looked like a little girl, Vader dared not to look down upon her, since she was in charge of the Ministry of Public Relations and Communications and reported directly to the king. He also knew that she was a close friend of Wendy, the manager of the Witch Union.

He had worked at the bottom of a patrol team for several years and had learned his lesson. He would never offend a person in such a high position.

Given that, he had warmly received Honey and had immediately agreed to her request to take a ride on his bike. Since Carter took part in the race, Vader was in charge of security for the race. He often acted on Carter’s behalf to handle matters in the police force when the Chief Knight was away.

As an experienced policeman, he clearly understood the importance of intelligence. If the Security Bureau wanted to eliminate all the hidden dangers and threats to His Majesty and the kingdom, they needed the best information service in the country, which could only be provided by Honey.

Therefore, he decided to try his best to impress this witch.

”You don’t worry too much about the details,” Honey smacked her lips and said. ”Would you want to immediately read the whole story if you came across a title like that?”

”Yes, I would,” Vader replied honestly.

”So that’s why,” The little girl said and then whistled cheerfully.

At that moment, they heard different voices cry out from the crowd.

”Don’t you think the second runner is also very... handsome?” a lady said while covering her mouth with a hand.

”You noticed him too? I think he looks even better than the Morning Light.” Another woman echoed and so did lots of people around them.

”I know him! He’s the king’s Chief Knight, Carter Lannis! Look at the royal emblem on his cloak!”

”Oh, the king’s Chief Knight! No wonder he looks so great!”

”But he’s cold toward everyone, as if we owed him a big debt...”

”Alas, you’re just too young to understand it. Cool and talented men are more attractive.”

”Look, he’s catching up!”

”Come on, Chief Knight—”

Carter Lannis had served in the knightage of the old King’s City. He followed Prince Roland to Border Town and was among the founding members of Neverwinter. It was said that he could compete with an Extraordinary witch. Scroll thought this outstanding warrior was one of the favorites to win the race.

Honey wrote down all the messages brought back by her birds.

Carter increased his pace, rapidly shortening the distance between him and Ferlin.

The cheer he received was as loud as any given to Morning Light.

Honey found that she needed to change the title of her report.

After a moment of thinking, she began to write cheerfully.

—”Who’s the Final Winner? The Battle Between Two Handsome Men”

...

Carter had a burning feeling in his chest.

In order to let May spot him easily, he had put on a bright ribbon and a knight’s cloak. He had thought that these things were as light as a feather, but now he felt that they were as heavy as a mountain. He felt as if they were pulling him backward while was running against a wind.

Despite that, he still refused to take them off.

Because they were hand-made by May.

Carter hoped to cross the finish line in this outfit before Morning Light.

He had heard some rumors about Ferlin and May from the troupe members. Morning Light had become a household name in the Western Region long before Prince Roland came here. Back then, everyone had thought that he and the Star of the Western Region could not be more perfectly matched. It was said that May had feelings for Morning Light, but Ferlin had already fallen in love with a new actress, Irene.

Carter had never heard May mention it, but he somehow still held a grudge against Ferlin.

What’s so great about Morning Light?

May liked you just because she didn’t have a chance to meet me back then.

Carter wanted to prove to everyone that he was the best for May!

That was why he wanted to overtake Ferlin Eltek so badly.

Carter tensed his muscles and quickened his pace. Ferlin was only half a step ahead of him.

And he could see the stand beside the finish line now.

It was time for a final push!

Suddenly, he heard someone else rapidly approaching behind him.

Is there someone who can catch up with us?

How is this possible? In the first hour of the race, Ferlin and I left all the other participants in the dust. No one should have been able to catch up with us. Even if he deliberately saved energy at the beginning of the race, he should’ve started to speed up little by little a long time ago.

Sprinting consumes much more energy than running at a consistent pace!

Carter could not help looking back.

”Wait... What’s that?”

He saw a strangely dressed man approaching him at an incredibly fast speed. From the man’s skin color and tattoos, he could tell that he was a Mojin, but he had never seen a Mojin man with a tail and a pair of long ears on his head.

Is he trying to gain strength by imitating some wild beast?

He shuddered at the thought, and then dashed toward the finish line as fast as he could, as if a dreadful monster was after him.

Ferlin, Carter, and Rohan crossed the finish line at almost the same time. The spectators burst into cheers.

Did I... win?

The Chief Knight thought while panting heavily. Because of inertia, he continued to run several dozens of meters before he finally stopped. After he stopped, he immediately looked up toward the stand.

Roland Wimbledon stood up.

”Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed the long-distance race and achieved great results!” the king spoke to all the people through the loudspeaker. ”The game is not over, but we’ve got the top three runners now. They are—”

Carter swallowed hard.

”Carter Lannis, who finished in third place.”

Hearing that, the Chief Knight closed his eyes in great disappointment. Oh, hell, was I still a little bit slower than Morning Light?

”Rohan Burnflame, a Mojin man, who finished in second place.”

Roland paused for a moment, giving the spectators a moment to cheer. When the crowd quieted down, he raised his voice again.

”And the champion is Sunflower from Longsong District! Let’s give them a warm round of applause!”

”Huh... who’s she?”

While everyone else was shouting and clapping their hands, Carter, Ferlin, and Rohan stood agape.

On the side of the street, Honey closed her notebook and hopped off Vader’s bike. ”I’ve finished today’s report. Thank you very much.”

”Did you decide on the headline?” Vader asked.

”Yeah, I did.” She smiled before adding, ”I’ll just directly write out the results.”

It was already eye-catching enough.

—”The First Victory Day Games Concluded Successfully: A Twenty-year-old Girl, Sunflower, Won First Place.”