Release that Witch

“Excuse me, sorry. Excuse me!” Manfeld said as he elbowed through the crowd. The refugees who stirred up trouble immediately rested their eyes on him.

“Who’s this guy?” a man snarled. “I know you can’t wait, but you’ve got to until I’m done with her.”

He was the person who had just laughed. Manfeld soon figured out that he was the leader of the gang. It was almost impossible to rescue the woman from the hands of a dozen gangsters since he had no weapon. The only way was to beat the leader and take away the woman when the others were still in a shock at the resultant chaos.

Manfeld extended out his hands and walked a few steps forward as calmly as he could before he said, “I’m here to remind you that someone has already informed the guards in black. If you don’t run now, it’ll be too late.” In the meantime, he eyed the woman, in a hope that she would understand that he was not one of them. However, the woman was non-responsive. She simply tilted her head, looking utterly confused.

“Damn it. Doesn’t she know her situation?”

“Why’s she still so… composed?”

“What guards in black? Aren’t they just the patrol team?” the leader threatened, his face splitting into a nasty smile. “You never know whom they’d help in the end exactly. Hey, you little brat. You’re green, aren’t you?”

“Haha. From his look, he was probably a young lord.”

“So what? He’s now the same as us.”

“Get lost! Run as far away as you can before our boss loses his temper — ”

They roared with laughter. Just at that moment, Manfeld moved. He shouldered the leader abruptly and then punched him in the face. The leader soon fell to the ground.

Compared to Mick Kinley and his two trained servants, these gangsters were much easier to deal with. The leader did not even get a chance to struggle before he fell.

There was an uproar among the crowd.

“Sh*t! You f**k!”

“Save the boss!”

Manfeld got several hits in the back and legs but he did not care. He extended out one hand to the woman while using the other hand to block his face, and then yelled, “Come with me!”

Then, something extraordinary happened.

The woman immediately reached out her hand. Instead of holding his, however, she grasped Manfeld’s wrist and pulled him toward her.

“Oi, you…” Manfeld said irritably and suddenly saw an electric ray flashing across her body.

“Hang on… an electric ray?”

Before Manfeld realized what had happened, the flash became an arc that emanated an intense blue glow. It dashed toward the gangsters who rushed forward and, like a barbecue skewer, the electric arc went through them one by one. The mischief makers had no way to resist such an incredible force. Before they could even produce a short shriek, they all stiffened and fell backward to the ground.

“Now, that should work,” the woman said casually as she clapped her hands.

“Er… are you a…” Manfeld stammered as he gaped at the woman.

“Yes, I’m a witch,” the woman immediately admitted.

Manfeld had the impression that all witches should have been extremely beautiful and charming. However, when he studied this woman, he found her not remotely pretty. It was a very homely face, and she was as lanky as a little girl.

“Then, what should we do with them?” Manfeld asked as he pointed at the gangsters on the ground.

“I’ll call the police department and ask them to deal with them. Don’t worry. I only used 10% of my power, so they’ll wake up in half an hour, but they’ll be probably sent to the mine or the Furnace Area. I think they’ll probably stay there for half a month.”

Manfeld suddenly did not know what to respond.

He somehow had a feeling that she had planned this whole thing.

“By the way, I’m Sharon. May I know your name?” the woman asked and pulled Manfeld back to the present.

“Well, Manfeld…”

“You’re the first person I saw who came forward. Why?”

“Why what?” Manfeld returned as he rubbed where he had been hit. “Isn’t it a matter of course to stop crimes? I just didn’t expect that you actually didn’t need any help.”

“A matter of course?” Sharon echoed while twitching her lips. “If everyone thought that way, those onlookers wouldn’t have run away so fast.”

“But there’s always someone who understands it,” Manfeld said. According to the history book, all nobles used to be ordinary people. They maintained the order and developed the society.

“That’s right. There’s always somebody who knows right and wrong,” Sharon agreed with a smile. “You’re a new immigrant to Neverwinter, right? Are you interested in joining the police department?”

“Are you saying… to become one of the guards in black?”

“Yes. They crack down criminals and protect residents. I think it fits you. Also, they don’t always wear black uniforms. For example, like me right now.”

“Huh?” Manfeld was confused.

“Alright. I’ll have to report to the Administrative Office. Someone is waiting to receive you,” Sharon said as she waved her hand and then headed to the inner city.

“You know why I stopped you now, don’t you?”

Matt smiled to Manfeld after the latter returned to the team.

“What… what’s going on?” Manfeld asked, still quite puzzled.

“An effective way to deter criminals,” Matt said as he marched forward. “The residential area in the suburb wasn’t like that before, at least it wasn’t when I lived here. However, after more and more immigrants come here, this area becomes increasingly unsafe, and most of the crimes are targetting women. Of course, I’m not saying that you cause this because among them, there are also many migrants from the other parts of Graycastle. Since the number of refugees is overwhelming, the police can’t take care of everything. More importantly, if people only calls the police after the incident happens, the criminal may have already caused permanent injuries or harms to the victim by the time the police get there.”

“That’s obvious, isn’t it? With so many scumbags, no place can be safe,” someone muttered. “I think the King of Graycastle shouldn’t have accepted these shady people in the first place.”

Matt shook his head and said, “His Majesty hopes that everyone could be of use, especially when the Battle of Divine Will is coming. But this isn’t His Majesty’s idea but the witches’. They can use their power and kill time. In the meantime, they can also help maintain public order, so this method kills two birds with one stone.”

“K-kill time?” Manfeld thought in surprise and twitched his lips.

“Actually, it works pretty well. Any refugees could possibly be a disguised witch and attack people, and this deters those who want to commit crimes. Since the police department will punish all the criminals, chronic wrong-doers would probably think it over before taking action. With the help of the witches and the police, it’s much better than before.”

“I see…” Manfeld mumbled. It seemed that the men in black in Neverwinter were completely different than the patrol team. They were more like ideal knights that he wanted to be.

If Sharon had not lied to him, this was possibly an ideal job for him.

After they arrived at the temporary residence and got their own rooms, Matt said goodbye to the refugees. “I’ll come back tomorrow and show you around the Neverwinter city. It’ll be very helpful to get to know about the local culture. Also, please feel free to ask me if you have any questions.”

Manfeld wanted to ask how to become a policeman, but for some reason, he said something else intead. “On my way here, I saw some huge iron birds. I wonder if you could — ”

“Ah, I saw them too. If you stay in Neverwinter longer, you’ll know it’s not a big deal,” Matt interrupted him smilingly. “I was also very shocked at first, but you’ll get used to it. If you’re a talented man, you may be able to operate the machine yourself.”

“R-really?” Manfeld said. His heart skipped a beat.

“Naturally. Princess Tilly has put up a job post at the central square. She’s hiring new Aerial Knights.”