Release that Witch

...

Five days later.

Rex saw Simbady again.

In the hospital at the encampment of the First Army.

Coming with Simbady was a bright, dainty Mojin girl.

”How are you feeling?” Mulley said as she placed a bouquet of seaweed on the windowsill. ”This is the only thing I can get here. There are no pretty flowers, but at least they are plants, which is better than muddy sand, isn’t it?”

”Ah... thank you,” Rex said as he straightened up. ” I feel... much better.”

”That’s good. You scared me when you came out of the water. Your face went livid, your body spasmed violently, and you kept coughing out water,” Mulley said, smiling. ”Then you got a fever after arriving at the encampment. Simbady and I came to visit you twice, but you had yet to regain your consciousness when we paid the visits.”

Rex said with a bitter smile, ”I’m too weak.”

”But you made it and went beyond your limit,” Simbady encouraged, grinning. ”Mr. Explorer, in fact, your desire to live is even stronger than I anticipated. I was about to shut down when we were almost there, but you clutched me with your arms and forced me to keep going.” With these words, Simbady lifted the bottom of his clothes and said, ”Look, I got bruises from your grip.”

”Sorry,” Rex said, a little embarrassed. ”I don’t remember what happened after we got out of the cave.”

”You must be thinking about something at that time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have held Simbady so tight after you blacked out, right?” Mulley remarked.

”Probably...” Rex muttered while nodding. ”A lot of things came to my mind before I passed out, such as my invention, the Society of Wondrous Crafts, and my two wives who were waiting for me at home...”

There was suddenly a strained silence.

After a while, Simbady asked testily, ”What did you say?”

”Two wives...” Rex answered with a look of dawning comprehension. ”Ah, I forgot to tell you. The customs in the Fjords Island are different from each other. On the island where I grew up, you can marry as many people as you want. It’s perfectly normal that you didn’t know about that.”

”I suddenly regret taking you out of that cave,” Simbady replied, a muscle twitching in his face.

”Same here,” Mulley rejoined with an expression of utmost seriousness.

”Oi, you don’t have to be that straightforward...” Rex protested in a bit hurt tone and immediately changed the subject. ”What about... that ruin?”

Simbady instantly tightened his manner into formality when they started talking about businesses. He said, ”Nobody is allowed to enter that area anymore. The First Army put out sentries near the cliff to keep an eye on the Giant Armored Scorpion. I went back to the cave when the water was low at their request and retrieved your bag.” His voice lowered to barely a whisper. ”But I handed it in to the First Army... Sorry.”

”No, you did the right thing,” Rex said while shaking his head after hearing the account of Simbady’s story. ”Since the First Army took me to the hospital, they would eventually know about the cave. Plus, I’ve never thought of keeping the entire ruin to myself. I just feel a little sad about that two diving suits. Even if you tell people the diving suit does work, few would believe it now. But there’s nothing you can do about it... You did that to save me.”

Simbady was silent. He knew how much time and effort Rex had put into these two diving suits. It had taken him half a year to make one and probably more time and money to conduct research before he had succeeded.

The loss must have given him a heavy blow.

Simbady asked quietly, ”What are you going to do then?”

”Return to the Fjords and come back later,” Rex answered quickly.

Both Simbady and Mulley were slightly surprised.

”Well, do you think that I’ll lose heart because of the loss?” Rex said smilingly while looking at the bemused couple. ”I probably would have quitted this job had I not escaped such a narrow death.” He clenched his fist and then spread out his hand, in an attempt to feel something. ”But now I understand I can do better than this. I don’t mind spending another half a year making a new diving suit. At least, this time I know what I’m doing, and I’m sure it will be a great success!”

”Rex...”

”Don’t worry. I’ll come back with brand new diving suits within two years,” Rex said slowly. ”By that time, you and I — ”

Simbady was now positive that Rex was fine. He was about to reply when the door was suddenly thrown open and an officer-like man strode in.

”Rex? Simbady?” he asked inquiringly.

”Yes, we are. Is there anything we can do for you?” Simbady said immediately.

”New instructions from Neverwinter with respect to your discovery,” the military officer replied curtly with a nod. ”His Majesty wants to see you.”

”Are you saying the King of Graycastle?”

”The, the chief?”

The two men blurted out almost together. It was unbelievable that within five days, the news had spread from the Festive Harbor to the new king’s city of Graycastle, and it was even more incredible that the king had summoned them. He could have just sent for a messenger to inquire about their discovery. Did that mean that the ruin carried more significance than they had initially anticipated?

”That’s right. His Majesty will dispatch a ship here, which will be arriving at the Festive Harbor two days later,” the officer said, smiling. ”Before then, please take a good rest at the barracks.”

In Neverwinter, Graycastle.

Roland was sitting behind his desk reading a report sent from the front.

The ”Torch” project seemed to go well. No demons had been lurking around since May. The railroad was steadily stretching on toward Taquila. Based on this rate, Roland judged the Holy City would be within the shooting range of the First Army by mid June, more than ten days earlier than planned.

However, the news did not make Roland feel any better.

The demons were the mortal enemy of the mankind. They had slaughtered the human race during the first two Battles of Divine Will and forced human beings to retreat to the Land of Dawn. The only territory the demons had yet to conquer was the Fertile Plains. Once the demons erected their Obelisks, the Red Mist would soon prevail the whole continent.

His eyes darted from the report to the map, straining to find some sort of clues but to no avail.

After the night raid, Roland had perfected the defense of the railway stations. It would be now a lot harder for the demons to destroy the encampment. Although the railway seemed to be the most dangerous place at first glance, the First Army actually had a greater chance to win if the demons chose the railway to launch their battle.

The railroad that stretched hundreds of miles was the demons’ second major obstacle. In fact, the report showed that this was where most battles had occurred. There had been 46 battles in total so far around this area. Had Roland not read the report, he would have thought the demons had abandoned the idea of harrassing the Ministry of Construction and withdrawn from the Fertile Plains. Nevertheless, it was essentially not easy for the demons to completely cut the First Army’s supplies right under the witches’ noses and the scrutinies of the armored trains, as the ”Torch” project was designed to keep the demons away from the railway. In fact, after the third ”Blackriver” came into use, even demonic beasts had ceased to approach the railroad.

The last possible point of contact was the terminus station at the forest, which was also the one he worried the least. As long as Leaf did not provoke the demons, there was little the demons could do about it. The forest was too far away from Taquila, so it was impossible for just a small group of demons to hinder the construction. Plus, the forest had just caught a fire, so the First Army was now paying extra attention to that area.

As the frontier kept expanding, Lightning was now able to see the Taquila ruins. There had been no sign so far that showed the demons would send for reinforcements. Instead, their Red Mist seemed to be fading into thin air.

Every piece of evidence was now pointing to a fact that human beings would gain the eventual victory of this battle and have a chance to dispel all the demons from the Fertile Plains before the arrival of the Bloody Moon.