Release that Witch

...

In the lord’s office in the castle.

It took Sean two hours to recount his story.

Generally speaking, the plan had been successfully executed. Zooey and Betty had not only retrieved the ancient Magic Cube but also manipulated the God’s Punishment Warriors into looting the entire treasury of the Archduke Island. All the treasures, including jewels and gemstones, had been dumped into a vacant cabin. Henceforth, all the remnants the Church of Hermes were uprooted. Nobody on the Archduke Island would ever have any engagement with the church.

On the other hand, Kajen Fels took his leave right after the ship disembarked and returned to his hotel with his student. It was obvious that he could not wait to work on his new play.

Both Farrina and Joe were detained, awaiting for their trial which would be presided by the Graycastle Security Bureau.

”I’ll leave them to you,” Roland looked away and said quietly to Nightingale.

Nightingale gave him a pinch of comprehension on the shoulder.

”So, is the legendary treasure... the Magic Ceremony Cube in this lead box?” Roland asked as he cast a look at the gray box next to Sean. Based on the traitor, Hagrid’s description, the Cube was of the size of a palm and made out of a polished stone. In consideration of the lethal property of radioactive material, Roland had asked the rescue team to take full protective measures before they had set off for the journey.

”Yes, I kept it in my custody during the whole trip as you had instructed. Other than Miss Zooey and Miss Betty, nobody has touched it,” Sean replied. ”However, I found an unusual sign before putting it in this lead box.”

”What sign?”

”Your Majesty, do you remember in my encrypted letter, I talked about the reason Lorenzo had decided to send Hagrid to the Cage Mountain to investigate the treasure?”

Roland said thoughtfully, ”Because the treasure suddenly emanated blue light for the first time in the past 100 years?”

”Yes,” Sean confirmed with a nod. ”When Miss Zooey brought back the Magic Ceremony Cube, she said one thing that caught my attention. She said ’the blue light seems to be changing directions all the time’. So I took another look and noticed the light always pointed at me like a compass. To be honest, I was terrified at that moment and almost dropped it.”

Roland felt a chill running down his spine as he listened to Sean’s narrative. However, he still managed to keep a straight face and said nonchalantly, ”And did you find out the reason?”

”Maybe,” Sean said as he produced something from his pocket and placed it on the mahogany desk. ”After I calmed down, I gave it some thought and think it’s not likely that an ancient artifact would respond to a common person. It must be sensing something else. After a further examination, I discovered the light wasn’t pointing at me, but this coin.

It was the exact enriched uranium coin Azima had used to look for uranium mines, which she had given back to Sean after her return to Neverwinter.

In other words, the Magic Ceremony Cube illuminated because it sensed the coin.

This sounded interesting.

Roland spoke after a moment of reflection, ”I see. You did a good job. Off you go.”

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

After Sean retired from the room, Nightingale revealed herself from the Mist and studied the lead box up and down.

”Any luck?”

”This is a magic artifact,” Nightingale said positively. ”Although it looked like a crude rock, it contains power. I saw something similar to Magic Cyclone from the Mist, just like the Taquila Witches’ magic core.”

Roland came to realize that magic power shaped this world in a more subtle and fundamental way than he had originally thought. Unfortunately, based on the current information, he knew little about magic power except that different races viewed and used magic power differently. With insufficient analytical tools, it was hard for him to study it systematically.

However, Roland could still learn about magic power from his personal experience. Before the development of the classical mechanics theory, people used to create tools based on their own observations and daily practices. Now, since he had just observed a new phenemon, he simply needed to to do more research.

”Let’s go to the Third Border City,” Roland said. ”I wonder if Celine has set up a laboratory for me.”

Anyway, this cursed artifact should not be brought into the castle before he confirmed it was completely harmless.

...

”What brought you back?” Pasha said as she greeted Roland in the underground hall. ”Anything wrong with the new weapon?”

Roland shook his head and said, ”I asked Celine to dig a cave earlier. Is there any update on this matter?”

”Oh, are you talking about that secret metal chamber? Everything is pretty much good to go except the elevator. She’s now in the chamber. Do you want to take a look?”

After receiving an affirmative answer from Roland, Pasha said while bending her main tentacle, ”Please follow me.”

When Roland had decided to dispatch the God’s Punishment Witches to the Kingdom of Wolfheart a week ago, he had also instructed Celine to build a research facility — an enclosed laboratory deep down underneath the ground.

If the Magic Ceremony Cube was indeed radioactive, it would be very dangerous to conduct an experiment above the ground. Since he was still not sure whether Nana could cure injuries arising from radiation, it would be better to conduct the research underground.

As Roland followed the original carrier off to the laboratroy, he told Pasha about what had happened in the Kingdom of Wolfheart.

”I see,” Pasha said with a smile. ”Better to leave it to Celine than someone else. She’s a top researcher back in the Quest Society, and no one knows better about magic power and the repair and reconstruction of this artifact than her. After she changed her body, her skills have improved by leaps and bounds. I’m not sure about others, but I can tell you that Celine is the only person who offered to merge with the carrier before Taquila showed signs of a downfall.”

”Ugh...” Nightingale commented with a disgusted look. ”Do you mean she prefers to be a blob with tentacles over human?”

”If that would help her explore the world,” Pasha replied while shaking her tentacle. ”She complained a lot back in the Quest Society about not having enough hands to multitask and also about getting tired easily. If she could transfer her soul back then, she would probably make that choice.”

After they walked for about seven minutes, they reached the end of the passage where a big cave materialized in front of them.

”This is the entrance. It’ll take us a few days to install the elevator,” Pasha said as she dropped down her main tentacle. ”Come on.”

”Um... is this the only way to get down there?” Nightingale asked hesitantly as she stared at the numerous wriggly tentacles, a look of total distrust on her face.

”This is the fastest way,” Pasha said. ”Don’t worry. These small tentacles are pretty flexible and durable.”

Roland took a deep breath and clambered up the head of the original carrier. He had thought he would have to endure a really uncomfortable ride, but actually, those tentacles were as soft as a rug.

After Nightingale also scrambled up the original carrier, Pasha entered the cave and hurtled toward the bottom.

They dropped around 100 meters before Pasha slowly came to a stop. Then, Roland saw the gleaming metal door of the laboratory stand magnificently before him.