Read Webnovel Release That Witch: Chapter 525 - 531

Chapter 525: Return to King’s City

King’s City! After a year and a half, I’m finally back!”

Barov’s heart stirred as he watched the cyan stone wall gradually become closer and clearer.

In fact, he had been excited ever since he received the prince’s orders. Prince Roland had defeated Timothy smoothly and easily, as expected. This once again showed that no one was able to resist the army of Western Region’s Lord.

Of course, it was now rather inappropriate to call Roland the “Lord of the Western Region”.

He was now the only surviving son of King Wimbledon III, and thus was the bloodline inheritor and rightful heir of the royal family.

The obstacles to his ascent had been completely swept away.

It was a matter of time that Roland would be crowned king.

As for Barov, he would soon become the Prime Minister, second in power only to the king. This joyful thought made him become steeped in reverie. “When those ‘old friends’ of mine, who’re so concerned about me, see that I’ve attained a position that they can’t even dream about, how will they feel? Shocked? Jealous? Envious? Or gnashing their teeth while putting on a fake smile and trying to please me?” These imaginations gave him immense pleasure. It would be even better if his former mentor, Treasurer Lauren Moore, could witness the scene of his promotion.

…

The concrete boat slowly docked at the pier in the outskirts of the city. Barov sauntered down the trestle bridge together with Kyle Sichi and other companions. Under the escort of the First Army, they walked through the familiar streets and entered the inner city palace.

The Palace of Twin Towers was still as majestic as it was in his memory. In the past, he could only look at it from far away in a small room in the City Hall. This time, he could walk into the palace boldly.

He was led straight up to the study, where he once again met Roland Wimbledon.

In a state of excitement, he got down on one knee and greeted, “Your Majesty, Kingdom of Graycastle is now yours!”

“Actually, not yet. Eastern Region and Northern Region remain under Timothy’s control.” Roland laughed. “Get up you, there’s much for us to discuss.”

To Barov, Roland looked and acted exactly like he did before. He spoke in his usual calm tone and was warm and friendly. He did not seem to be affected by his upcoming coronation at all. Barov’s attitude thus became even more respectful. He stood up slowly, dusted himself and replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Our prior task at the moment is to maintain the administration of King’s City. I’d made this clear in the letter.” Roland poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of Barov. “Do you have a preliminary plan?”

Barov hurriedly received the cup of tea. “It won’t be difficult to maintain the existing order. Your Majesty, how about you let me handle the lower nobles? They’ll know what’s good and bad for them. Also, I’ve brought over 10 of my most outstanding students from Border Area. Some are proficient in business and some in tax administration. Even when I’m not around, my students will make sure that those noblemen don’t steal or do anything funny.” He paused before adding. “But, Your Majesty, I hope you’ll assign the left-behind soldiers of the First Army to assist in their supervision. Without military force as insurance, supervision alone may not have the right effect.”

Roland appeared a little surprised. “You don’t wish to remain in King’s City?”

“Of course not, Your Majesty,” Barov replied without the slightest hesitation. “The government affairs of City of Neverwinter are much more complex and important. As such, I can’t be away for too long. And it’d be too exhausting for you to go and handle these issues yourself. Please, Your Majesty, let me continue to manage the City Hall of City of Neverwinter for you. It has suited me well to serve under you.”

Barov had thought very clearly about this. His Majesty had confirmed that City of Neverwinter would become the new capital of Kingdom of Graycastle, and therefore, it was only a matter of time that it overtook this city. At present, the former’s population and development potential had already surpassed King’s City, and after the launch of the new batch of recruitment programs, its scale would be unarguably greater than any other city within the Four Kingdoms. Of course, he would get to listen to the mourns and wails of his “old friends” if he remained in King’s City, but over time, he would inevitably get bored and sick of them. Furthermore, such mourns and wails could not provide him with more authority and influence, and on the contrary, would gradually pull him away from the power center. He knew that it was only by appearing regularly in front of His Majesty Roland that he would be able to leave a strong impression.

Roland gleefully observed Barov for a long while until the latter lowered his head out of his guilty conscience. Then, Roland consented. “Alright. But my condition is that the change of city hall officials mustn’t cause King’s City to fall into disorder. You should know that every single person in this city is important to me.”

…

Subsequently, His Majesty enquired about the details of the situation regarding the mining and farming projects in Longsong Area. He paid particular attention to the latter. Barov had known about Roland’s preference beforehand and thus had obtained information about the farming projects from Petrov. He replied smoothly to every question, such that Roland continually nodded in agreement.

The afternoon passed quickly. After asking his last question, Roland patted Barov on his shoulder to show his appreciation. “You’ve done well. I won’t have to worry when I’m out leading the army into battle. Go and have dinner. We’ll discuss the development plans of Longsong Area tomorrow.”

“Yes…” Barov hesitated for a moment. He noticed that out of so many questions, Roland had not mentioned his coronation. “Your Majesty, may I know when you intend to be officially crowned and proclaimed King?

“Plans haven’t been made,” Roland replied calmly.

“What?” The City Hall Director could not believe his own ears. “These things should be arranged as early as possible! With it, your prestige will increase tremendously, and the people’s hearts will unite as one. There aren’t any downsides. Why don’t you…”

“It needs too much time.” Roland cut him short, stood up, walked over to the window, and looked down at the magnificent city under the dusk light. “I’ve asked the ceremonial officer. He says that a full coronation will require many months of preparation. Aside from making the gold crown and the gem scepter, invitation letters have to be sent to the church and the other three kingdoms. The ceremony can only begin after all of their emissaries have arrived. Even if we omit the Holy City of Hermes, Kingdom of Everwinter and Kingdom of Wolfheart, it’ll still require more than a month to contact Kingdom of Dawn. This will severely slow down our plans for the second half of the spring offensive.”

“Your Majesty, you can simplify this process…”

“That would lower the prestige of the coronation, such that it might even have an adverse effect.” Roland shrugged his shoulders in rejection of Barov’s idea. “Even Timothy pays heed to this process. I can’t appear to be more anxious and cheaper than him. However, my ambassador to Kingdom of Dawn will set off shortly. He’ll notify them about this. When we get a formal reply from them, it won’t be too late to consider this matter.”

After Barov took his leave, Roland could finally exhale a sigh of relief.

There was another reason that he had not mentioned. It was the deep and pervading notion of “Focus on amassing grains, while slowly becoming king”, in other words, “Become rich silently”. At present, he only occupied Western Region, which was not even a third of the land area that Timothy occupied when he was king. It was best to be modest before the church officially attacked Kingdom of Dawn, and it would be troublesome if Hermes made him the prior target. Though he was no longer afraid of falling out with the church, he did not want to draw aggro on behalf of others.

Shortly, Roland summoned Kyle Sichi to his study.

He was hoping that his Chief Alchemist had already thought of a way to intimidate the Alchemist Workshop of King’s City.

Chapter 526: The Alchemist Workshop

he Refining Hall located in the east of the city was Retnin’s favorite place to stay.

It was a place always full of vitality, often filled with students and apprentices constantly moving materials back and forth. He could see steam rising from various vessels and perceive the smells of sulfur and acid water. Occasionally, he could hear crashes of broken glass, usually accompanied by loud scoldings from alchemists.

Even though he was promoted to one of the three chief alchemists two years ago and had his own alchemical room, he preferred the busy and crowded Refining Hall for inspiration. Just like the Refining Hall where people of different kinds gathered and mingled, alchemy was a process of mixing various matters. Nevertheless, only a few, such as crystal glass and snow powder, could distinguish themselves from the ordinary and shine through the muddy mixture.

The charm of alchemy lay in the refining process, in which those grayish white sand and black charcoals could turn into such a splendor that nobody had ever foreseen. The same held true for people. The Alchemist Workshop accepted a large number of new apprentices every year, but only a very few of them would eventually stand out from the rest and become first-rate alchemists. Retnin was one of the very few. It had taken him 34 years to go from apprentice to chief. Although he was now nearly 50, with one foot in the grave, he felt content with his life, for having learned the aesthetics passed down from the sages.

The only thing that disquieted him was the recent round of incidents in the King’s City.

The biggest overturn was the change of the king. After Prince Roland hanged Timothy, he had indubitably become the successor of the King. The news should have had nothing to do with the Alchemist Workshop. They needed to be responsible for alchemical production whoever the king was. However, he was not sure if they could stay out of this trouble once Prince Roland found out they had provided Timothy with snow powder as a war material.

King’s City had gradually restored its peace. Yet the fact that the prince had visited the Astrological Station instead of the Alchemist Workshop gave Retnin an ominous feeling.

“Are you still worried about the Astrology Association?” asked a voice at his side. “Its not like you to sit here in a daze, brows furrowed.”

Judging from the unguarded tone, Retnin knew it must be another chief alchemist. He turned around and found Rayleigh, whose hair was as frosty as his, sitting next to him. “What on earth do you think His Highness is planning?”

“He’s thinking those fellows who only care about stars are wasting money. What else can he be thinking about?” Rayleigh said carelessly. “It’s a pity he didn’t stick to his opinion. Those guys shouldn’t be crowned as sages anyway. They should have been laid off a long time ago.”

As the two major academies in the Kingdom, the Alchemist Workshop hired spies to collect information about the Astrology Association. The Alchemist Workshop somewhat knew the purpose of Roland’s visit to the Astrological Station, but did not know what exactly the chief astrologer had said to Prince Roland in secret that made him change his mind about shutting down the Astrological Station.

“Are you worried that the Alchemist Workshop will be shut down as well?” He patted Retnin on his shoulder heartily. “Don’t forget the profit we bring to King’s City! Once the limit in the production of crystal glass and perfume is lifted, the gold royals we’ll earn can probably fill the prince’s entire bedroom. How can he resist such a lucrative business opportunity and shut the Workshop down?”

“But we produced snow powder for Timothy.”

“So what? Could we disobey the King’s order?” Rayleigh grunted. “Any reasonable person should know it isn’t us to blame. Besides, he also manufactured loads of weapons fueled by snow powder himself. I bet he must have gotten the formula from Boer, the traitor. In this light, we actually made a contribution to his victory. Perhaps he’ll even reward us if we hand in the advanced formula.”

“Hopefully.” Retnin nodded, feeling a little relieved. Like Rayleigh had said, the Alchemist Workshop was the largest gold production organization. The prince might have been stuck in the middle of something and therefore failed to visit them right after the war.

Just as Retnin was about to instruct a group of alchemists, a student dashed into the hall. Out of breath he shouted. “M-Mr. Chief Alchemist, His Majesty is here!”

“What? Where?”

Hearing Retnin’s exclamation, everybody in the hall was silent, looking at the student.

“Above the yard in the air.” The student swallowed hard. “His Majesty descended from the sky!”

Retnin and Rayleigh exchanged an astonished look. “Bring Chief Alchemist Archer here. Everybody else, follow me to greet His Majesty.”

“Yes, sir!”

…

A giant balloon that covered almost half of the sky was floating in the air outside the Alchemist Workshop. Soldiers armed with snow powder weapons surrounded the yard. After they had searched the Association thoroughly, making sure it was safe, the balloon started to land slowly.

“That must be the transportation device the prince used to visit the Astrological Station with the witches,” Rayleigh whispered in Retnin’s ear. “I didn’t expect it could truly make a person fly.”

“Anyway, he’s here.” Retnin felt alleviated. He grabbed Rayleigh’s shoulder and said, “It doesn’t matter how we address him in private, but you ought to show some respects in an official meeting. He is King of the Kingdom of Graycastle, even without an inauguration ceremony. Be serious.”

“Don’t worry. I know how to behave properly.” Reyleigh assured him with a smile.

After the basket landed safely, a beaming gray-haired man came up to them under the protection of the guards. He was bareheaded, not splendidly dressed, and held no scepter in his hand. He was not as marvelous as he was rumored to be, yet the prince’s every single gesture was majestic and dignified. Next to him stood an elderly man in a cope, who seemed surprisingly familiar to Retnin.

“Your Majesty, welcome to the Alchemist Workshop.” The three chief alchemists bowed, followed by all the other alchemists.

Roland smiled. “My father used to talk about you often when I was still in King’s City. He said both crystal glass and perfume are quite popular alchemical products, they have even been sold to the Fjord Islands. These products have brought great profits to the palace. So, I built an alchemical workshop myself after my father sent me to Border Town.”

“Pft—” Rayleigh almost burst out laughing upon hearing these words, whereas Retnin restrained himself and managed to conceal his amusement. “That must not have been an easy business, Your Majesty. Every alchemical workshop requires a large amount of gold royals to operate.”

“Really? But I didn’t invest a lot of gold royals. You know how deficient the resources are in Border Town. At first, I could only do the experiments in a few wooden sheds. But now I’m able to produce various products, including glass and perfume.” Roland continued casually, “So I’m wondering where those gold royals actually go.”

“Your Majesty, what… what do you mean by that?” Retnin’s heart sank.

“This is my Chief Alchemist, Mr. Kyle Sichi,” Roland replied, pointing to the elderly man next to him. “He’ll examine and evaluate your products. If there have been no innovations in recent years, I might as well shut down the Alchemist Workshop. After all, King’s City was just ravaged by a war, and I believe tons of gold royals are needed for reconstruction.”

The alchemists were outraged by the prince’s comment.

“Your Majesty, I can’t accept this!” Rayleigh was so angry that he couldn’t bear it and stood to challenge him.

Chapter 527: The Ultimate Goal of Alchemy

Huh?” Roland turned to him. “Why?”

“Well, Your Majesty… You’re likely to be deceived by someone since you may not know alchemy well.” Retnin interjected immediately. He knew Rayleigh took great pride in his work and sometimes even failed to pay due respects to Timothy. Certainly, he disdained the notorious Prince Roland. If Rayleigh accidentally enraged Roland, the rest of them would all have to suffer the King’s wrath. “Alchemy is a process full of changes. Every formula represents a potential product. However, not all products are as dazzling as snow powder. They may not instantly bring you gold royals, but they can help with the production of another extraordinary product.”

“Exactly.” Rayleigh rejoined indignantly. “Take snow powder as an example. One of its ingredients, ice nitrite, is converted from feces. The conversion itself is a sort of reaction. However, ice nitrite can also be mixed with other products and turn into snow powder. All these reactions and conversions are the result of long-term exploration and research. Even an experienced alchemy master can’t readily jump to the conclusion that one specific product is useless. Your Majesty, you can’t evaluate our work simply with gold royals.” Rayleigh stared at Roland’s chief alchemist with deepened brows. “If someone promises you that every single product can instantly bring you profits, he must be lying!”

“What’s your opinion on that?” Roland the man beside him.

The chief alchemist looked quite unperturbed. He stroked his whiskers and remained silent until nobody else was talking. “Your Majesty, they say this because they haven’t probed into the nature of alchemy. I can prove to you that their formulas are all outdated. I already know whether their products are useful or not.”

The alchemists all gasped at these words.

Retnin was speechless for quite a while. Did this man know what he was talking about? He’d just said he understood every single alchemy formula! What a terrible joke he was making! The Alchemist Workshop in King’s City had discovered more than ten new formulas in the past two years, and it would take several days just to read them through. How could he say there was nothing new?” Retnin was stunned but at the same time he was secretly delighted. It proved Kyle was completely insane. And if there was a single formula he didn’t know about, he would be accused of lying to the King!

Just then, Archer, the quietest chief alchemist, came forward. He asked sternly, “How do you want to prove it?”

“Very simple.” Kyle strode toward the three chief alchemists. Confidently, he suggested, “Give me the ingredients and I’ll tell you the formula. How does that sound?”

Rayleigh was so furious he was ready to burst. “Very good. There are all kinds of ingredients in the Workshop. Feel free to use them. If you name one formula wrong, His Majesty will know you’ve been lying!”

“What if I’m correct?”

“That’s impossible!” Archer shook his head. “A few alchemy formulas can be repetitive, but there’s absolutely no way formulas can exhaust. You take alchemy too lightly!”

Hearing this, Kyle suddenly had a strange look on his face, as if he were studying them with sympathy or other mixed feelings. “I’m not taking it lightly. The truth is that your perception of alchemy is mistaken.”

Retnin could feel his temples throbbing. “What did you say?”

“May I ask what you think alchemy really is?” Kyle remained undisturbed. “Do you think it is chaotic, volatile and too complicated to study? No. You’re wrong about alchemy all the way from the beginning—or rather you know nothing about the nature of matter.”

“Nonsense!” Rayleigh hollered. “Are you implying that the theories passing down from sages are simple and straightforward? If so, why are there so many derivations and why is every single rock different from another?”

To Retnin’s horror, a winning smile fluttered over Kyle’s face. “Ah, yes. It’s simple and straightforward, it is.”

“What are you…”

“As to the reason why the world is diverse and manifold, it’s beyond the scope of alchemy,” Kyle explained placidly. “In other words, it’s a higher realm that I just got a chance to set foot in.”

“Enough.” Retnin stopped Rayleigh who was about to explode. “Ask the students to prepare the materials. I’m sure all this monstrous absurdity will be refuted by facts later.”

If he let Rayleigh keep going, the latter might raise his voice and lash out at Kyle, and perhaps even start to criticize Roland who employed him.

The man was indeed crazy to think that alchemy is simple and straightforward, Retnin thought bitterly. He would definitely teach Kyle a lesson afterwards.

…

A long table was arranged in the Refining Hall, with three vials and three pieces of paper on the top. Each piece of paper contained the names of the ingredients.

After a heated discussion, the three chief alchemists each selected a formula for Kyle Sichi to prove his theory. In order to show fairness, as well as to stop Kyle’s blabbers, the three wrote all the ingredients’ names down. However, it would not be their business as to whether Kyle recognized them.

When everything was ready, Retnin turned to Roland’s chief alchemist and said, “You can start now.”

Kyle paced to the table and glanced at the first piece of paper confidently.

“Burn the mixture of saltpeter and green alum?” He was surprised by what was written on the sheet. “It seems you’ve also learned the double-stone acid-making method. The products of the reaction are multiple solids and acids, and the latter can dissolve metals.” He wrote a long list of symbols on the paper as he answered.

Archer, who wrote the question, suddenly was very embarrassed. “Correct.” He pronounced the word with gritted teeth.

The spectating alchemists started to exchange whispers. They had probably never expected Kyle could give the right answer to the first question within a second.

“Silence!” Retnin bellowed. “There are two questions left!”

“It was pure luck.” Rayleigh stamped about with indignity. “I don’t think he can answer the second question that easily. What is he writing on that piece of paper by the way?”

Retnin shook his head. His heart sank rapidly. To both Retnin and Rayleigh’s surprise, Kyle gave the answer to the second question a great deal of thought and even saw through the trickiness of Rayleigh’s question. “Green vitriol acid and copper? The reaction won’t start if the acid is in deficiency. With sufficient acid, the liquid will turn blue when heated, and it will bubble as well.”

When it came to Retnin’s question, Kyle did not linger either. “Just take out the Stone of the Netherworld?” He picked up the vial, shook it, and studied the white solid soaked in the water. “This is quite rare. It will burn on its own in the air and produce white smoke and white solids. Am I right?”

“Um…” Retnin was totally shocked. He had obtained this queer chemical substance from the alchemists in the Kingdom of Wolfheart. Few people had seen it before, and even fewer people could name its properties!

“Please feel free to raise questions.” Kyle turned around and glanced at the spectating alchemists. “I can prove to you that I’m not lying.”

The words stirred up the audience.

“What will happen when burning the mixture of ocher and charcoals?”

“Ocher is essentially a kind of special iron ore. If the temperature is high enough, we’ll be able to get iron from it.”

“Why are the colors of glass obtained via smelting different? Didn’t you say alchemy is invariable?”

“Because of the different impurities in it. We need the purest gravel to produce crystal glass.”

“Sir Kyle, I have a question!”

“Me too!”

To Retnin’s astonishment, the atmosphere in the hall was changing swiftly. The alchemists were gradually convinced by Kyle’s extensive knowledge and naturally started to show some respect to him. It suddenly struck Retnin that the alchemists were slowly accepting Kyle.

“Shut up, all of you!” Rayleigh cried abruptly. “These are all old formulas the Alchemist Workshop has known for ages. If you really understand all formulas, then write a new one that nobody has ever discovered. For example, the ultimate goal of alchemy!”

“That’ll be impossible,” thought Retnin, who swallowed hard. He believed all the alchemists here thought such a goal was as unrealistic as a mysterious legend.

However, he was astounded to notice a smile lingering on Kyle’s lips.

Kyle Sichi smiled to all the members of the Alchemist Workshop, who rested their eyes upon him. “Are you saying turning stones into gold? Of course, I can. Let me show you.”

Chapter 528: Turning Stone into Gold

Could it be that… you’ve extracted the Philosopher’s Stone successfully?” Archer asked in a trembling voice.

The hall suddenly fell into pin-drop silence; it was perhaps an answer that everyone wanted to hear.

The Philosopher’s Stone the culmination of alchemy and the rumors claimed that it had the ability to transform anything, which was the very reason why alchemy was called the art of philosophy. When used as a medium, it could transform a generic metal or lead into gold, creating unlimited wealth; it was also the origin of the term “turning stone into gold”.

“A stone that can transform everything… it was simply an invention of the ancient alchemist who wanted to be lazy,” Kyle waved a hand and said, “And, what I’m about to show you is the mystery of the world.”

He pulled out a strange-looking pipe, which was made of crystal glass, from his bag and generously displayed it in front of the alchemists.

Everyone, including Retnin, was stretching their neck to take a peek at it. The pipe was as thick as two fingers and was sealed at both ends. It contained some matte-looking, brownish-red powder that looked just like some dried soil at first glance. It was hard to imagine how that powder had gotten inside.

Kyle asked for a glass of clean water before he picked up a green alum stone from the table and used it to smash one end of the pipe, shattering it into pieces.

This caused a stir among the crowd.

Even Retnin was feeling greatly distressed; the immaculate transparent color showed that the tube was obviously made from first-class crystal glass, which must have taken the craftsman a lot of effort to make into such a symmetrical shape. Yet, Kyle simply smashed it to pieces. However, he realized that Prince Roland was not lying when he claimed that the domain had developed crystal glass since the Alchemist Workshop of King’s City would definitely not produce this type of strange vessel.

The water was quickly provided and Kyle poured the powder into the glass of water, and then the color of the water gradually turned into a yellow-green hue and the powder disappeared.

“Do you have any lead bars here?” he turned around and asked. “Give me two of the best quality.”

“Hang on!” Rayleigh said, “Since it’s an alchemic reaction, it shouldn’t matter who does it. I’ve seen some street performers who’re very good at covering-up; switching bronze royals into gold royals in front of a crowd… I’m not doubting you but it’s better to be cautious on such an occasion.” He looked at two of the other chiefs and said,”What do you think?”

“Indeed,” Archer slowly answered.

Retnin hesitated. It was obvious that Rayleigh was doubtful and comparing Kyle to the street performers was indeed quite disrespectful. However, he had to support the Alchemist Workshop in this situation. “I… agree as well.”

He was expecting the Chief Alchemist of Border Town to be furious. However, Kyle Sichi simply smiled and said, “Of course, there’s no difference if the last step is carried out by either the alchemist or the apprentice. Just as I mentioned, the essence of alchemy is simple, orderly and straightforward. Who would like to do it?”

“I’ll do it.” Retnin was so excited that he did not dare look at Kyle, but he was not able to resist his curiosity towards learning the art of turning-stone-into-gold. “Can the glass of yellow-green liquid really transform the lead into gold?”

The apprentice quickly presented the materials—some green-and-white colored refined lead rods which were usually kept in a cotton-lined wooden box. They would be considered the best of the inventories. Retnin picked one up and carefully put it into the glass. To his surprise, he saw a golden tint appear on the surface of the lead bar!

He could feel his hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Look! It looks like something is growing out of it!”

“It’s golden… Oh God, it’s gold in color!”

“Is that gold?”

“It could be copper as well!”

The sounds of discussion behind Retnin grew louder. He turned around and realized that all of the alchemists and students were staring intently at the changes happening in the glass on the long table, with eyes wide open. They sounded surprised and unconvinced. All the while, Archer was looking lost and confused.

He was feeling the same at that moment… “Perhaps Kyle was right—alchemy is truly constant itself, completely simple and concise; and any self-assumed chaos is simply caused by making a wrong choice.”

In that case, what’s all of the decades of study for?

When the lead rod was lifted from the glass of water, there was already some filament blooming on the surface, resembling coral.

“These are all… copper!” Rayleigh was biting his lips and yelling with his last-ditch effort, “It’s impossible for you to know the way to transform stone into gold!” It makes no sense! Otherwise, you’d have bought the entire Kingdom of Graycastle with gold royals, instead of simply becoming a Lord’s Chief Alchemist of a small town!”

“I’m choosing this path, not for the gold royals but to understand the world.” Kyle’s voice seemed to come from far away. “If you don’t believe, you can always examine it… I think as the Chief of King’s City, you would know the differences between copper and gold pretty well, so do you?”

However, there was no reversal to be incurred for a post-verification, a piece of the gold wire was sliced off and baked on a plate in the fire. It quickly melted indicating that it was gold. It was obviously not copper because copper would darken into an ugly solid mass under high temperature, while the flowing metal solution on the plate looked as bright and golden as the sun in the sky.

True gold fears no fire.

It was indeed real gold.

The hall already seethed with excitement!

“The alchemic formula for turning rock into gold does exist!”

“Lord Kyle, what were the symbols you wrote down on the paper just now?” Was that part of a higher-level formula?”

“Where exactly did you acquire all the knowledge from?”

“Lord Chief, do you still accept any student? I’m willing to start as an apprentice!”

Kyle Sichi extended his arms, intending to suppress the cheering noise. “Listen, everything you have seen today comes from a more ancient subject. It not only includes all the possible alchemy formulas but also discloses the mystery formed within the world! From it, you can even predict those alchemy formulas that have never been seen before, and turning stone into gold isn’t an exception! I could teach you all this, as long as you follow me to the Western Region!”

“To the Western Region?” Retnin became stiff, looking at Roland Wimbledon, His Majesty, who was sitting off to the side with a smile… “Is that the true purpose of why they’re here?” However, it was too late for him to realize how effective it would be. The enthusiasm on the scene had totally gone out of his control. Imagine that who wouldn’t want to work for the association if he could master the art of turning stone into gold? Perhaps, none of the alchemists in the hall would stay, and the hundred-year-old Alchemist Workshop of King’s City had unexpectedly crumbled within a day.

Retnin noticed that Kyle was slowly walking towards him.

“Do you still remember the apprentice who wanted to configure the molten gold solution 27 years ago?” He leaned forward and whispered, “After failing the test twice, you took away his money and banned him from ever passing through the door of the association… In fact, the failure was mainly caused by a lack of acid concentration, which should have been provided by you.”

“You were the apprentice who was audited by me…” Retnin said in shock—the pieces of memory in his mind were overlapping with the silhouette in front of him.

“That’s right.” Kyle nodded. “I’m just claiming what I deserve.”

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Chapter 529: The Returned Witch

Two days later, Kyle Sichi bade farewell to Roland.

“Don’t you want to spend a couple more days in King’s City?” Roland jokingly asked, “This is the center of Graycastle, the best place to have fun within the Kingdom. If you miss it now, it may not be here next time.”

“I’m not you; I don’t want to have an unfinished romance here.” Kyle rolled his eyes and said, “There’s still a lot of work to do in the laboratory and the plant. It’s best for me to return to the City of Neverwinter if you want the production line of gunpowder to run smoothly.”

His reply made Roland depressed. After the situation settled down, the atmosphere in the city was a little strange: First, many women claimed to be his lovers, followed then by their illegitimate children. Of course, he knew these were all rumors. Nevertheless, he could not stop the rumors from confounding the truth. Especially, when his history was so notorious. No matter how bizarre the stories were, they would still sound convincing to some… He could only get Theo to come forward and compel the Rats to eradicate the rumors.

“Alright.” He was speechless for a while before he nodded and said, “I’ll arrange a paddle steamer to send you back to the Western Region. Thank you for your hard work over the past few days.”

“As long as you know it,” Kyle said while shaking his beard. He left after paying respect by covering his chest with one hand.

“This guy’s really ungrateful.” Roland twitched his lips but didn’t take it personally. He even started happily singing.

“You seem very happy surrounded by so many women,” said a cold voice behind him.

“Ahem…” He was almost choked by his own saliva. “What’re you talking about?! They were just trying to get some money out of me by saying that. I’m sure you know that.”

“How, how would I know?” Nightingale said in a panic.

“Oh? You really don’t know?” Roland retorted. “I thought you’ve investigated everyone here.”

“… Okay,” Nightingale revealed herself. She turned around and sat on the table. Staring down at him, she said, “I have indeed gone on an investigation. It was, however, because I was worried about your safety and afraid you’ll let dangerous people into the palace. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” he said, trying not to laugh. But, the next words Nightingale said froze the smile on his face.

“Most of their statements were false. What about Miss Kingfisher and Mrs. Rother? They were not lying!”

“Damn Yorko, I didn’t expect her to actually keep it in mind after the last cover-up.” Roland silently cursed the “old friend” a million times. While staring seriously into her eyes, he said, “I didn’t lie to you… The Prince Roland whom they were talking about wasn’t me. You should be able to tell that I’m not lying.”

Nightingale was feeling slightly uncomfortable being stared at and averted her eyes. “So, it’s a misunderstanding? They thought it was you, but you weren’t there? ”

“Of course not,” said Roland righteously. “In fact, I haven’t seen them before!”

She looked slightly calmer and said, “So, you’re just going to let the ladies who claim to have slept with you continue to make a scene? Theo said you didn’t order them to shut up.”

“Of course, it’s exactly what they want—to be paid to shut up. It’s too much to be violent, and it’ll just increase the suspicion of the people.” Roland was still unable to kill for this reason. “It’ll be easier distracting people with bigger news than forcing those women to stop.”

“Bigger… news?” Nightingale curiously asked.

“Yes, something they’ll be discussing for weeks.” He said smiling. “For example, King’s City is to be renamed the City of Dawn; the City of Neverwinter in the Western Region is to be the new capital of Graycastle, etc. The rumors will subside after I leave.”

Of course, there was more news, such as that the king is not having a coronation, as well as the competitive plan for skilled craftsmen recruitment… Cumulatively, this news should be able to fill up the public’s leisure time. Currently, the Rats were slowly spreading fragments of the news to the crowd. This followed the posting of the announcement of the City Hall in order to achieve the best publicity effect. It was expected these would be the topics of discussions in pubs for a long time.

“So, you weren’t happily smiling because of them just now?”

“Not at all!” Roland patted the list of names on the table and said, “I was happy because of this.” The chemical presentation led by Kyle was a huge success. The effect was better than he thought—there were more than 320 people from the association who were willing to move forward to the Western Region, including alchemists, students, and the apprentices. The final number was confirmed at around 500, including the family members. “That’s the sum of employees in the five chemical laboratories and two plants in the Border Area. Now the number is doubled in a blink of an eye and most of them are the proficients who could be assigned to work after some slight training. It’s the biggest accomplishment after we conquered King’s City.” He paused and said, “It’s not, however, what I’m happiest about.”

“What’s the thing you’re happiest about?” Nightingale asked curiously.

“Take a look at this.” He spread the list, pointing out the names at the bottom.

“Retnin… Rayleigh… Archer, aren’t they the Alchemist Workshop Chiefs?”

“That’s right, Kyle didn’t refuse them,” Roland softly said. “He said he had already taken back what belonged to him.” Roland thought Kyle would have a serious initial retaliation after learning about the argument between the Chief Alchemist and the Alchemist Workshop of King’s City; without even meaning to continue the hatred, Kyle had received the consensus he deserved and accepted the three of them on behalf of the City of Neverwinter. It warmed Roland’s heart to see there was still a group of people taking the right path in a tough time; the kingdom would definitely be continuously improving by having them in the realm.

Right then, a rhythmic knocking sound came from outside the window.

Nightingale flashed out of the window and came back to the table in the blink of an eye with the messenger in her arms. “A secret letter is here.”

“You scared it.” Roland shook his head. He didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry while looking at the stunned gray falcon on the table. He quickly glanced through the content of the letter lifted and said, “Ah… it was sent by Scroll. I think we’ll have to leave as soon as possible.”

“Is there anything wrong in City of Neverwinter?” Nightingale frowned.

“No…” he twitched his lips and said, “Lotus and Honey are coming back soon.”

“The two little brats…” Somehow Nightingale sounded unhappy. “Do we really need to leave in such a rush? After all, there are only two of them. Lightning and Maggie can always go pick them up. They’re much faster than the hydrogen balloon. They’ll reach King’s City within a day.”

“We could definitely do that if it were just the two of them,” Roland excitedly said. “However, the letter says Tilly’s sending along new witches.”

Chapter 530: Lotus’ Concerns

he surface of the vast sea regained its former clear blue hue. The Charming Beauty sailed forward, riding the wind and waves. The hull moved up and down in the glittering waves, making rhythmic creaks.

“Set the sail full! Boys, move!” One-eyed Jack shouted, “We can make it to the Shallow Beach today.”

The sailors on the mast were singing a work song together and pulling the three-finger thick hessian rope, releasing the sail bit by bit. With the ever-changing weather on the sea, they had to repeat such release and roll-up movements several times a day. Lotus watched the sailors, as flexible as monkeys, climbing back and forth over her head.

“So troublesome,” the old captain walked towards the witches and said. “It would be so much easier if I had a boat such as those in Crescent Moon Bay, they can navigate without sails. What’s the thing called again?”

“Paddle steamer,” Lotus said, raising her eyebrows. “It was made by His Highness, Prince Roland himself.”

“Why don’t you ask His Highness to build one for you?” Honey asked, teasing the seabird on her shoulder, ” His Highness may not do others such a favor, but he may do it for you.”

“You little brat, you make it sound like I’m very close to him.”

“Well, you’re close to Lady Tilly,” Honey stuck her tongue out and said, “and His Highness Roland is very kind to Lady Tilly.”

Jack smoked his pipe heavily, feeling a pain in his chest. “… Never mind. I heard from those merchants that one paddle steamer costs more than 1,000 gold royals. That’s the amount I’d never have even if I were to sell all of you.”

“That’s not for sure,” Breeze said jokingly. “In Sleeping Spell, the reward for Lotus is counted by hundreds of gold royals. Besides, last time a merchant named Durat Kimshoe intended to employ her for a long term with 1,000 gold royals. That’s only Lotus, so the four of us would be worth much more.”

“Breeze!” Lotus punched Breeze angrily. “You knew what he was up to. I don’t want to hear that man’s name ever again!”

“Just kidding.” Breeze held Lotus into her arms and said gently, “How could I ever sell you. When Lady Tilly heard about Kimshoe’s proposal, she practically negotiated with the entire chamber of commerce of Crescent Moon Bay. After that no one would dare do such a thing anymore.”

“You two seem to get along well.” Jack spouted some smoke rings. “But the other two over there do not seem to have much to talk to you.”

On hearing that, the three of them fell into silence for a moment. A while later, Breeze broke the silence. “They were witches from the Kingdom of Wolfheart.”

The old captain felt confused. “Aren’t you all the same?”

“They support Heidi Morgan more than Lady Tilly.”

“Morgan…” The captain stroked his chin and thought for a while. “Is she a noble in the Kingdom of Wolfheart?”

“Only from a branch.” Breeze waved one hand. “Nothing serious. It’s just we haven’t been together for long, so we can’t open our hearts to each other yet.”

The old man seemed to have realized something, so he did not pose more questions.

Lotus did not know much about the nobles in the kingdom. She only knew witches from Sleeping Island were not as close as the witches in Border Town were. Among the witches in Border Town, most of them were from the Kingdom of Graycastle, and a small group of them were from the Kingdom of Dawn and the Kingdom of Wolfheart. Since Tilly was the organizer of the migration operation and had the noblest status, all of them, including the foreign witches, just regarded her as the leader. But after the church in Fjord Islands was eradicated, the situation had changed.

Lotus, who had returned to Sleeping Island after the Months of Demons, could clearly sense it. After only a few months’ time, the witches from the Kingdom of Wolfheart had moved in together, and they seldom talked to other witches when they ate in the dining hall. According to Molly, they were all members of the Bloodfang Association, an organization similar to the Witch Cooperation Association of the Kingdom of Graycastle, with Heidi Morgan as its leader.

In the beginning, there were just over 20 witches from the Bloodfang Association on Sleeping Island. They were a minority on the island, which was nothing special. The extraordinary thing was that 18 of them were combat witches. In other words, the Bloodfang Association had carefully selected its members before the enrollment, and only those witches who were powerful could join in, which was totally different from the way the Witch Cooperation Association and Sleeping Island enrolled witches. Because of this, the Bloodfang Association was very competitive. When Tilly had carried out her eradication plan, the small group of witches from the Kingdom of Wolfheart alone took care of the Twin Dragon Island cathedral which had the most believers.

And because of this, Heidi Morgan thought the Bloodfang Association was the core of Sleeping Island. Although Morgan did not express her opinion in words, Lotus could feel it. Lotus did not like the argument that combat witches had higher status than non-combat witches, and she agreed with Lady Tilly’s idea of “witch equality”. Unfortunately, not everyone shared her opinion. While Lady Tilly was away, Heidi had fought several times with Camilla Dary, Chief Butler of Sleeping Island. Luckily, Camilla, who was also a noble in King’s City, did not appear dwarf in front of Heidi and calmly quieted the conflicts.

At this thought, Lotus sighed helplessly. She was not worried about Lady Tilly’s safety. After all, Ashes, the most powerful witch from Sleeping Island, was a faithful supporter to Lady Tilly. Ashes was the only Extraordinary who could fight wearing a God’s Stone of Retaliation. In her presence, all the other witches from the Bloodfang Association would not stand a chance to win. What worried her was this trip. Honestly, she did not want to stay with the witches from the Kingdom of Wolfheart.

And also, the witches being chosen for this trip were a weird combination—except for herself and Honey, two of the other three witches were combat witches. Normally, Lady Tilly should have known that His Highness Roland preferred assistance witches because those bizarre weapons he owned were enough to enable the commoners to defeat the Judgement Army of the church. To what end did she send the witches from the Bloodfang Association?

She racked her brain but failed to find an answer, so she decided to put these distracting thoughts aside.

Maybe Lady Tilly had her own concerns beyond her comprehension.

…

As the sun moved to the west, the golden Shallow Beach shone in everybody’s eyes.

At the same time, a hot air balloon appeared, floating in midair along with a strange, giant bird.

“Oh God! What’s that?” The sailors on deck exclaimed when they saw the strange bird fold its wings and dive towards the Charming Beauty. As the bird drew closer, its sharp claws and bloody mouth became visible to the sailors.

“Is there an enemy?” Hearing the shouts, the Bloodfang Association witches rushed out of the cabin and were startled by the giant beast. “What’s that monster?”

“Whatever it is, just catch it!” The other witch soon calmed down. “A target’s size makes no difference to us.”

“Wait a minute… That’s not the enemy.” Lotus hurried to stop them. “It flew alongside the hot air balloon.”

A witch from the Bloodfang Association quickly glanced at her. “A hot air balloon?”

“It’s a vessel that His Highness Roland uses to transport witches.” Breeze stepped in front of them to stop their argument. “Relax. You can trust Lotus’ judgement.”

The horrible giant beast was getting closer and closer, making resounding roars. But Lotus could feel the roars were not for intimidation.

“Oh-oh-coo!”

The giant figure of the beast disappeared just as it was about to hit the sail of the boat, and a white pigeon landed steadily on Lotus’ head.

“You’re here finally,” Maggie rubbed her forehead and said. “Welcome back, coo!”

Chapter 531: The Romance

“Is this really okay?”

“What?”

“Sending Iffy, Softfeathers, and Lotus to Border Town,” Ashes hugged Tilly from behind while Tilly sat at the desk, and said, “It must have been Heidi Morgan’s idea, am I right?”

Ever since she had heard about the existence of the Sealine, Princess Tilly spent almost all her time in the study room. Stacked on her desk were piles of books, some of which were from Roland, and the others retrieved from the ruins. Seeing Tilly’s figure behind all these books, Ashes felt sorry for her.

“Um.” Putting down the quill, Tilly slowly leaned back. “Morgan didn’t want me to have connections with the commoners all by myself, and I had no reason to refuse her.”

“But the commoner is your elder brother. What makes her think she can choose for you?”

“Because she’s also one of the royal members.” Tilly shook her head, smiling. “The higher the status is, the looser the blood ties are. It’s true in every kingdom.” Heidi knew full well about it, and that was why she had made the decision.

“She intends to fight for His Highness Roland’s support with you?” Ashes frowned…

“Not just yet. This time I think she only wants to probe the situation.”

“Then why did you agree with her?!” Ashes loosened her arms and said with a low voice, “It seems like I need to talk to her.”

It was Princess Tilly’s affinity and leniency that won her the trust of the witches who used to be abused and suppressed by the church, and now they could bond together. But it didn’t mean someone could regard her lenience as weakness, and test her on the basis of her trust…

Ashes was about to turn when Tilly grabbed her arm. “Why not? As I said, I had no reason to refuse her. Sleeping Island is our home. All the witches here are freewomen. I won’t stop them from doing anything as long as they don’t harm anyone. And…” She let out a sigh. “Sending them to the Western Region isn’t a bad idea.”

“Not a bad idea?” Ashes asked with bewilderment.

“Have you ever thought about why the witches at the Bloodfang Association were initially the same as other witches, but gradually became different?”

Ashes pondered for a while. “Because their lives became stable?”

“Exactly.” Tilly nodded. “In the past, the church posed a heavy burden on their hearts. Everybody had to stick together in order to survive. But now the churches in the Fjord Islands have been eradicated and Sleeping Island has offered a relatively relaxing environment, so people think differently. This is quite normal. The Witch Cooperation Association is different. We’re a compound group made of several witch organizations, so blindly suppressing them won’t work. In order to let them cooperate like in the old times, we need a powerful enemy.”

Ashes frowned and asked, “Do you mean… demons?”

“The enemies deep in the Fertile Plains, the fiasco of the Union, the upcoming third Battle of Divine Will… they can learn all these by themselves, which will be more effective than me telling them.” Tilly smiled and said, “Besides, in Border Town, there’re much more to be seen.”

Princess Tilly stood up, and walked through the door towards the castle in the backyard and opened the door. “They’ll see that non-combat witches can play irreplaceable roles, commoners can be as capable as witches, and they’ll witness the amazing effects when everybody works together. Just like this door. When it’s pushed open, a broader world can be seen.”

Ashes quietly stared at this woman bathed in sunlight, and could not utter a word. Tilly’s gray hair flew with the sea breeze, reflecting the shining light. She was astonishingly beautiful even viewed from behind. Time stood still. What was left in this narrow study was only her and Ashes.

After a long while, Tilly turned and smiled slyly. “I have some special reasons to have chosen Iffy and Softfeathers. This must be perceptible to Roland.”

Anna nudged Roland sleeping beside her.

“Time to get up.”

“A moment.” Roland turned over, cuddled her, and smelled her hair.

After returning to the City of Neverwinter from King’s City, he had spent the whole night with Anna. The temporary separation had made their reunion particularly passionate. As a result, neither of them got out of bed the next morning. For the first time, Anna skipped her magic power practice, not because she did not want to, but because Roland would not let her leave.

Of course, she did not want to reject Roland’s wooing either.

From noon to the dusk, their bedroom was filled with romantic atmosphere. When taking breaks, they just sat in bed and talked about the things that had happened in the two cities recently, and their lunch was brought to the bedroom by a maid. Of course, when the maid came, Anna sank her head into the quilt. Lowering his head, Roland could see a pair of sapphire-like eyes sparkling at his chest area.

When he gently caressed Anna’s back, she involuntarily moaned as lightly as a cat purring. After a year’s growth, Anna was not the weak, thin girl he had met in prison a year prior. Now when curling up her body, she could perfectly embed into Roland’s arms. When he kissed her earlobe from the back, he could see her cheeks gradually flush and her eyelashes tremble. It made her look very cute.

After a long while, she pushed Roland away once again.

“Wendy and the other girls will be coming back soon. This time there’ll be new witches. You need to go wash up.” Anna turned around and faced him with a serious look.

“Mmm.” Roland briefly replied. He knew that he could not postpone anymore, so he kissed her lightly on the lips and rolled out of bed. First, he helped Anna get dressed, and then put on a coat for himself.

The basin of water on the table had already cooled down, but this was not a problem for Anna. A line of Blackfire shot into the water, and steam began to rise in the blink of an eye. After washing up, Roland sent Anna back to the bedroom and returned to his office on the third floor. At least he could make it look like he was working diligently, before the other witches came back.

Fifteen minutes later, Lightning and Maggie flew into his office through the French window.

“Your Majesty, they’re here.”

…

“Who could have thought that you’d become the king of Graycastle in only a month.” Breeze entered the castle hall first, followed by another four witches, among whom were Lotus and Honey. Roland was familiar with them, but he did not know the other two. “If Wendy hadn’t told me, I really wouldn’t have believed it. If Tilly finds out, she’ll be very surprised.”

Roland walked up to welcome them. “I haven’t held an enthronement yet, so it’s okay if you just address me with my old title.”

“But you’re indeed a deserved king,” Breeze said, bowing.

Lotus and Honey imitated Breeze’s move and bowed exaggeratedly, but yet the other two witches only greeted him by putting one hand on the chest. Two showed the joy of reunion, while the other two showed skepticism.

Roland felt surprised.

However, under these circumstances, he would not show his emotion. Making a gesture of inviting them, he said with a smile, “However, you had an arduous trip. Now enjoy tonight’s feast. Make yourself comfortable. This is your home too.”

Release That Witch - Chapter 525