Release that Witch

The decision to have the Ministry of Agriculture farm rubber worms was not Roland’s latest flight of fancy. In his opinion, farming rubber worms was as important as exploiting oil, so he naturally wanted to have that industry under his control. If it was not for the potential threats the worms might bring to people, he would not have any intention to place the feedlot in the Third Border City.

After discussing with Barov, Edith and other people, he decided to adopt the explanation of ”her ladyship and the fallen city”, which would be more acceptable to people than the saying of ”the witch empire”. As now, only the City Hall’s senior officials and the main force of the First Army knew the truth of the Battle of Divine Will and Taquila, so it was very difficult to make the upcoming war known to the world. However, they worried about a blunt announcement would make people panic, so they had to rephrase their proclamation before unveiling the truth to the public. A good way to do so was to slowly send the reworded information out to minimize subsequent shock created among the public.

Roland would rather keep the dark history of the witch empire covered forever for the sake of the stability of the united front. If humans were fortunate to win the Battle of Divine Will, it would be easier to make them accept that unique period of history by the time archaeologists unearthed the lost record.

Knight Elk was left alone in the wormhole to do the research on his own, while Roland, invited by Pasha, entered the subterranean hall.

”They’re back, Your Majesty.”

”Who?” Confused by the random words, Roland could not help raising his eyebrow,

Pasha did not reply. She raised her tentacles and pointed at the deep, secluded passage on the other side of the hall, looking enigmatic.

He looked over his shoulder at the dark passage where there was a flash of white shadow swinging by. Moments later, two giant devouring worms crept out and crawled towards him, wriggling, their mouths wide open, revealing tusks and fangs.

”Your Majesty, do you remember us?”

One of them greeted Roland merrily.

Roland, slightly surprised, asked, ”Are you Jasmine... and Lyra?”

How could Roland forget them? He could still remember the moment they had bade farewell and the calm look when they had said that they harbored no regrets before boarding the concrete boat heading to Great Snow Mountain. Even now, Roland could still feel their unfailing determination in their tones.

”Yes, we are. You do remember us!”

”Mind your manner!” Another worm poked her companion with its tail. ”Whatever we looked like, do remember we are the Taquila...”

”Worm?” Jasmine finished the sentence for Lyra deliberately.

”Witch!” Lyra cried.

”They just arrived at Neverwinter. They persist in seeing you before their dormancy, so I have to keep them waiting beside the hall. I hope I didn’t frighten you.” Pasha drooped her main tentacles. ”Thanks again for your assistance.”

”No, you didn’t frighten me. Honestly, I’ve been waiting for the good news of the successful transfer too.” Roland waved one hand and did not take it seriously. ”Why... do they have to go dormant?”

”For we couldn’t afford to sustain the worm carrier, Your Majesty,” Lyra said solemnly. ”Fran alone is capable of handling the daily tunneling and transportation. There‘s no need to keep all three carriers awake. Even Fran was dormant for the most of her time before coming here.”

Roland remembered that Lyra had the same bright and bubbly personality as Jasmine’s before her transfer. But now she gave him an impression of maturity as if she really grew up instantly after the Soul Transfer.

After staying with Phyllis and the other witches for a long time, Roland learned that not all Taquila witches had lived a long life. At the very beginning, due to the lack of carriers and God’s Punishment Warriors’ shells, they were forced to either to merge with Eleanor, one of the Three Chiefs, or to be transferred to a soul container and enter a state of dormancy.

In other words, only a few witches had lived for centuries. Most witches waited for a long time until the church was established in the Starfall City that could provide shells for them. Phyllis had changed two shells so far and had stayed awake for merely 150 years. The actual time when she was conscious was indeed shorter as there was a period of time at the very beginning when she felt bewildered and had to adjust herself to the new environment. Still, she was regarded as ”the elder” among the Taquila survivors.

Jasmine and Lyra were among the youngest transferer. Apart from the time they spent in getting familiar with their shells, they were often asleep. So, their mental age was close to their real age. Roland was really impressed with the change in their mentality.

Moreover, the most estimable thing was that they still kept their spirits up even in the shells of devouring worms, which, as far as Roland could see, exceeded many people.

Now it seemed that there was a good reason for the Union to unify the continent. Apart from its absolute power, they had many other merits worth noting as well.

”If I intend to turn the Impassable Mountain Range into a defensive barrier, three worm carriers aren’t a lot,” Roland said while looking at Pasha. ”Keep them awake. They’ll be very helpful to the upcoming new project. In addition, there’re also many places in Neverwinter that need reconstruction. No need to worry about food. The City Hall will take care of it.”

”Really?” Jasmine yelled excitedly.

No one liked to spend most of their time sleeping, especially the Taquila witches. They had slept too long.

”As long as you don’t ask for meat for every meal.” Roland spread out his hands. ”If they have Fran’s stomach, I estimate they would just need the same amount of food as those for 100 people.”

”Now that you’ve got a plan, I will leave them to you.” Pasha, who seemed to have already known the answer, said with a smile.

...

Roland felt more relaxed after the encounter with Jasmine and Lyra. As he returned to the castle, he received a message from the First Army.

They had successfully accomplished the task to blow up the snow mountain. The passage that connected the underground river and the sea had been blocked completely by the explosion, and the rising water would head to the west after the ruins submerged. Most of the men would return to Neverwinter shortly except the Gun Battalion, who would stay at the snow mountain and monitor the change of the watercourse.

Things had turned out as Roland had expected. As the Taquila witches finished searching the underground ruins and gained the devouring worms, their exploration was approaching an end.

Thus, there was nothing Roland needed to worry about as far as the Western Region was concerned for the time being.

When Roland unsealed the other letter, the content surprised him.

It was from the Northern Region, not sent by a carrier pigeon but by a rider under Duke Kant’s order entrusted by the garrison. With full four pages, it detailed what had happened in the Holy City of Hermes and the collapse of the Tower of Babel. Eagle Face, the commander of the garrison believed it was the perfect time to launch an attack. After taking the thick wall around the city and the huge mangonel into account, he asked for an reinforcement from one or two cannon teams. He wished to gain the first victory in the new year for his King.

After Roland finished reading the letter, he could not believe that the church jointly built by the Union and Starfall City had come to its end like this.

Roland could not help wondering whether this information was true or false.

Doubtlessly, the church still had a number of God’s Punishment soldiers, and it might make a desperate attempt to save itself by involving the First Army in a street battle. Roland had planned to let the God’s Punishment Witches participate in the battle to provide close-range attacks that the First Army was in lack of. In the meantime, the new mortar would be put into use as well to further drive enemies into a corner. Although it was advertised that the goal of the war was to unify the whole kingdom, the real purpose was actually to exterminate the church.

But now came the signs that the Holy City was fraying at the edges from inside.

Just as he was about to summon people to have a discussion, he heard a tapping sound from the French window behind him.

He turned around and saw Nightingale pull the bird directly through the glass into the room.

Roland took the letter off the carrier pigeon’s leg. The bird was apparently at a loss. When he spread the letter out and glanced at the content, he immediately stood up.

”How dare he?”

There was only one sentence on the paper.

”Appen, the King of Dawn, schemes to disturb the Eastern Region of Graycastle. The situation in the Holy City is volatile. Otto Luoxi has been imprisoned.”