Release That Witch - Chapter 709

Chapter 709: A Different Key

ne night passed quickly, and Phyllis stayed up for almost the entire night.

She shut herself up in the room and silently waited for the result. Calm as she appeared, she made countless conjectures about the reasons for the disappearance of the Chosen One; she even suspected that Roland secretly imprisoned the witch as a plaything and concealed the truth from the Witch Union.

When Wendy and Agatha came to the Foreign Affairs Building the next morning, Phyllis showed a rare tiredness—mental consumption was overwhelming for the soul and she knew that her control of the body was declining. Even her hands and feet had lost their usual flexibility.

However, she knew that she would not be able to close her eyes anyway until she heard the result.

Through cutting off consciousness, she could temporarily get rid of the shackles of the body, but her soul would still remain awake. Unless her soul could be transferred to the magic container, otherwise hiding within the consciousness would just be a way of deceiving herself. Phyllis even faintly missed the “long sleep” now. “The result is…”

“We found the beams of light that you mentioned.”

She did not expect the first words of Agatha to crush the burden in her heart. Phyllis blinked her eyes and whispered again for fear of missing the words, “like a light wall?”

“That’s right, like a light wall. It does exist in the castle,” Wendy said. “But we can’t be sure whether he’s the Chosen One you said.”

In other words, she was not mistaken.

They found the owner of the orange light!

“No… it can’t be wrong,” said Phyllis, hearing a voice in her heart cheer. “Praise the deities! Praise the Holy City of Taquila!” “If she can emit such a beam of light, then she must be the Chosen One we’re looking for! Is she a Senior Witch? What’s her name?”

Instead of answering her, Wendy gave her an odd expression—it seemed that she was withholding her laughter and also feeling sorry for her.

“Well, this… I’m afraid that I’ll have to disappoint you.” Wendy covered her mouth and gently coughed.

“Could something be wrong with the Five-Colors Stone?” Agatha returned the ring to her and said, “I think you’d better contact Pasha quickly.”

Something was wrong? What on earth happened?

“Hold on…” Phyllis suddenly felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

What did Wendy say before?

[“But we can’t be sure whether he’s the Chosen One you said.”]

He?

Phyllis could not believe what she had heard and gasped. “Is that orange light…”

“It’s from His Majesty Roland Wimbledon,” Agatha said with a shrug. “Besides me, Nightingale, Anna, Wendy… all the witches living on the second floor of the castle saw it. I also tested him with the Stone of Measuring and he had no magic power as usual.”

“The weapon you mentioned to defeat the demons… must its manipulator be a witch?” Wendy finally could not resist chuckling. “It would sound good if His Majesty could become a hero who defeats the demons.”

Phyllis’s heart suddenly sank. “Although the instrument of Divine retribution doesn’t require much magic power of the Chosen One, it doesn’t mean that it can be activated without magic power. After all, it’s a type of magic core, and the total amount of magic power of its manipulator determines how many times it can be used.”

It’s impossible… maybe something is wrong.

“But yesterday I didn’t see the orange light above his head…”

“It’s strange indeed. The beam of light disappeared after Roland woke up,” said Agatha, stroking her chin, “and that’s why you could only see it at night. Of course, we also asked His Majesty about it. His answer was that Zero’s Soul Battlefield led him to another fictional world in his dream, just like an extra part of his memory.”

“Zero? Soul Battlefield?” Phyllis asked hastily, “What’s that?”

“The last Pope of the Church of Hermes,” Wendy briefly explained the battle in which Roland defeated the church, “perhaps this caused the misjudgment of the magic stone ring. His Majesty was also quite surprised by the result. He also said that if you wanted to verify it, you could do so again at noon.”

After a long silence, she gritted her teeth and said, “Yes, I want to see it again.”

…

Agatha and Wendy did not deceive her. Under the supervision of the witches and guards, Phyllis once again saw the beam of orange light as wide as a city wall, and its source was the sleeping king of Graycastle.

At that moment, she felt all her energy was drained and a strong dizziness hit her. She trembled and fell on the floor, leaning against the door frame. She had already been mentally exhausted, and in an instant, the boundless darkness engulfed her.

When Phyllis regained consciousness, she found herself lying in bed. She saw darkness outside the window but did not see any stars or moonlight. The north wind hit the glass rhythmically and caused intermittent tremors of the window frame.

“Are you awake?”

A familiar voice emerged next to her ears.

She turned her head and found that Agatha was sitting at her bedside.

“How long was I in a coma?”

“For about half a day or so,” said the Ice Witch, reaching out to smooth down her hair on her forehead, “your reaction really shocked Nightingale.”

“Sorry, I’m fine now…” Phyllis whispered.

Though she tried to comfort herself, she did not feel better at all. She had finally found the so-called Chosen One, who turned out to be a common person. It was no less shocking than the fall of both Natalia and Alice.

The belief of Lady Natalya, the persistence of Taquila survivors… and plan of the Chosen One, were the reason all of them had been preparing for hundreds of years, yet it all finished in such a dramatic manner. Even though there were hundreds of witches on the Sleeping Island and Leaf’s quality was close to the requirements of the Chosen One, she could predict that it would still be an insurmountable gap.

Perhaps their choice was not much better than that of the Starfall City.

“I don’t quite understand how you view the Chosen One, but… even without such a witch, we have fought the demons for hundreds of years, haven’t we? I thought witches who have survived such disasters would be able to handle any situation,” Agatha said slowly.

“But we have failed twice, and we were forced to retreat from the Land of Dawn to the corner of the Wild. If we lose again…”

“Then let’s defeat the demons,” Agatha interrupted her. “I don’t know what you have found in the maze ruins and why you devoted all your hope to it. However, I think if it’s really effective, it shouldn’t be a part of the ‘ruins’. During these 400 years, the common people outside haven’t stopped making progress, and there is more than one way to defeat the demons. Just like Roland said, common people could also defeat the demons by reasonably using the hidden forces of the world.”

Phyllis looked at Agatha with tangled feelings. She was about to present her doubts but could not bring herself to do so in front of Agatha’s confident demeanor.

“By the way, he added that there was more than one key to the deities, and that he had one as well. Maybe you should have a look before you contact the witches of Taquila.”

“His… key?” Phyllis was shocked.

“Well, the key of ‘art’,” Agatha replied.

…

Chapter 710: Elimination and Innovation

n retrospect of what happened in the morning, Roland still felt incredulous.

How could an ordinary time traveler suddenly become the Chosen One? Should he recite some poems now to express his surprise?

When he woke up in the early morning and Agatha reported the observation to him, he thought there was something wrong with his ears. Since the witches all confirmed this, he decided to agree with them for the time being. Meanwhile, he knew the Taquila survivor would certainly not expect this result, so he invited her to visit him during his afternoon nap, as a way to strengthen the trust and credibility between them.

He probably grew calmer since he became a king, or he was simply lazy… anyway, after lying on the bench in the office and reading a few pages of Advanced Mathematics, he fell asleep easily. When he was awakened, the first scene he saw was Nightingale pulling out her pistol and Phyllis falling down unconscious.

However, Roland did not believe that the so-called “Chosen One” was really chosen by the deities. It was just because the Taquila survivors had devoted too much hope to what they had found so that they regarded the witch who could activate it as their savior.

Undoubtedly, what they found in the ruins must be extraordinary, for it made the Three Chiefs of the Union oppose each other in times of the tremendous disaster. However, he doubted whether it possessed power comparable to the deities and could destroy the demons in one fell swoop. After all, if it was really as powerful as the creation of the deities, how could its creator quietly disappear in the underground maze?

Of course, he had to communicate further with the survivors for more details.

And the fact that his dream could be observed indirectly proved his assumption. The Dream World was indeed not entirely created by his consciousness. Its profuse details were far beyond the capacity of his brain. Someone else created the world based on the abundant material he provided.

He had assumed that the witches were the terminals of magic power transforming. Now it seemed that there was a barrier between the terminal and the magic power. This barrier caused the amazing changes of the magic power. It was like a mysterious black box which carried out the orders of the witches. In other words, the realization of the witches’ ability was similar to his Dream World. The only difference was that he did not have the magic power to visualize it.

It reminded Roland of the relationship between the wizards and the Magic Net. The wizards could connect with the Magic Net through gestures, incantation, and reagents so as to acquire the power they needed. Comparing the barrier with the Magic Net, he could see lots of similarities between them.

After he defeated Zero, he unexpectedly gained access to the barrier, but nothing more. The complexity of the orders was probably determined by the difficulty of visualization, rather than the strength and usage of the ability. On the contrary, the closer the abilities were to the essence of the magic power, the easier its transformation would be. For example, the direct conversion of the magic power into light and heat was certainly much easier than creating things, but its power was absolutely earth-shaking.

This was also one of the major reasons why Roland was full of interest of the ruins. The beams of light presented by the Five-Colors Stone was a special means to “send orders” in his opinion. An artificial thing was used to replace the witches and forge orders… the study of the magic power reached a level beyond that of the Union. Besides the divine titles such as “the Chosen One” and the instrument of Divine retribution, it might mean the seeds of new technology.

This alone was enough to prompt him to communicate with the Taquila witches.

Considering the fact that “the Chosen One is actually a common person” might give a heavy blow to their confidence in the fight against the demons, Roland decided to invite Phyllis to visit the forces of the new era before going into further negotiations .

In order to achieve a better “persuasive” effect, he summoned Iron Axe to his office.

“How is the situation of the demonic beasts recently?”

“Your Majesty, there are just scattered demonic beasts. They can be easily solved by the patrol team on the city walls.” The man of Sand Nation replied after a standard military salute.

“Well, I intend to stage a cannon exercise in the city wall area soon. It needs to be impressive, yet also minimize waste.”

The commander-in-chief of the First Army pondered for a while and asked, “Are you saying… a false one?”

Roland could not help laughing. It seemed that Iron Axe had more and more knowledge of the gunpowder now. He said, “To be more accurate, it needed to be half true and half false. When you display accurate shooting, use real bullets; when displaying fire coverage, use embedded black powder. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Iron Axe nodded immediately.

Empty ammunition was commonly used in exercises, for it was not necessary to waste the precious howitzers just to impress the audience. The embedded explosives ignited by electric wires could also create a shocking effect or even a better one.

Roland briefly outlined the idea in his mind. “I hope the final explosion is dramatic enough. For that you can prepare more black gunpowder.”

“Your Majesty, this may affect the operation of the artillery battalion…”

Roland shook his head and said, “It doesn’t matter. In fact, I intend to phase out the black powder weapons, such as the 12-pound field artillery, which is no longer suitable for the fight in the future.”

Its heavy barrel, slow launch speed, and small power of the solid balls had restricted its further usage. The battle under Coldwind Ridge fully demonstrated the limited lethality of the field artillery, especially in the face of dispersed-attacking and quick-moving enemies. Most of the soldiers of God’s Punishment Army were killed by machine guns and Longsong Cannons, while only about 100 unlucky ones were smashed by the iron solid balls.

In addition, it was so difficult to transport the cannons that they could not be used to coordinate with the infantry attack or urban warfare, which further restrained its usage. The revolving rifles could still be used for a while. After all, the gunpowder consumption of the bullets was much smaller; even if they used half of all the bullets, it would not have much effect on the total stock of the gunpowder.

With the help of the Dream World, Roland’s new chemical reform plan was already in preparation. The steady increase in the production of double base gunpowder had enabled him to eliminate the black powder weapons.

Iron Axe’s eyes brightened and he said, “Have you designed a new alternative weapon?”

Roland smiled and took a piece of paper out of the drawer and spread it on the desk. He explained, “It’s a type of rigging-angle cannon which can shoot at short distance or long distance. It can be disassembled to be carried by several people, and has excellent power. It’s also easy to manufacture and operate. What do you think of it?”

Iron Axe bent down to carefully read the drawing for a while before he said, ‘Er… I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I can only figure out its appearance… it looks like an iron pipe, but can it really launch shells with such a thin wall?”

“Of course, the key is the specific shell. However, it’s still much easier to manufacture than a 152mm howitzer.”

“Does the new weapon have a name?”

“You can call it a mortar,” Roland replied.

Chapter 711: Bare Heart

uring the cannon’s research, he had considered many possible plans.

There was a saying that there was no perfect weapon but only the most appropriate. After taking into consideration his opponents, the battlefield environment, and the manufacturing capabilities of the City of Neverwinter, he finally decided to use the mortar to replace the obsolete field artillery. The mortar could be used in both short and long range combat and had a relatively low manufacturing cost.

Its shooting range could effectively reach 200 to 3,000 meters. It could cover the blank space between the HMG (heavy machine gun) and the Longsong Cannon, while at the same time strengthening the firepower of short-range attacks

Due to the existence of defense lines, the most important function of the mortar would be to cover those blank areas. One of its advantages over other similar weapons was that it could be easily carried by soldiers across all kind of terrains. They could set up an artillery station anytime it was required. Furthermore, the gaps in the heights of the mountains were quite common and this allowed the mortar’s rigging-angle to be as effective as possible

But the biggest reason that made Roland decide on creating mortars was the production level of Neverwinter.

The construction of the mortar was much simpler than that of the howitzer. The artillery shell of the mortar could be made by pig iron and since it didn’t require rifling, it was much easier to produce without affecting the production of the 152 mm cannon. On the other hand, if he were to develop a smaller field artillery, no matter if it was the duplicator, the rifling cannon barrel or the artillery shell, they would all come into conflict with the Longsong Cannon that was currently being produced.

Before the new machinery tools and technology could be used, they had to pass all the required tests. Even if they failed in the attempt, Anna could still act as an emergency option and make up the key components of the Longsong Cannon with Blackfire without causing too much impact on production. But coupled with the new field artillery, the production needs would inevitably rise and the First Army would be at risk of not having enough cannons to use.

Roland also considered the development of individual grenades as a supplementary weapon and had even made a few prototypes for testing, but the performance of the prototype filled with black powder was extremely poor. It might have been useful in the city fights when unifying the Kingdom of Graycastle, but when it came to fighting against evil beasts and demons, its power was far from being enough.

Considering that the chemical industry production capabilities of Neverwinter were not sufficient to put a double based gunpowder grenade in every soldier’s hands, he could only give up on this idea.

…

When night fell, Roland descended to the second floor and knocked softly on Anna’s door.

Upon hearing the knock, Anna opened the door, a look of surprise crossed her features when she saw it was him.

Her surprise only lasted a few moments and soon her cheeks turned red.

After Roland entered the room, he hugged her from behind and brought her to the bed before lying on their back.

“Why did you come today?”

Anna’s blue eyes were shining like gemstones in the night sky.

She usually went to Roland’s bedroom two to three times every week as she believed a frequency like that would not affect their work routine. Of course, if Roland insisted, she would also not turn him down. Since confessing his feelings for Nightingale to her, Roland had been feeling guilty and had been avoiding asking anything of Anna.

This was also the first time that he had visited Anna’s room. She was the only witch living alone, but due to the poor insulation and the fact that Leaf and Scroll lived next door, they would usually only meet upstairs.

“I want to talk to you about the Dream World,” Roland said softly in her ears, “I didn’t have the time to talk in detail this afternoon. You must also want to know more… about my past experiences.”

“You dreamt of a different world?” Anna quickly guessed the truth.

“You’re right. The world was created in accordance with my memories, but it also contains special elements, such as the Force of Nature which resembles magic power.”

The night that he told the truth to Anna, Roland found out that she was not ignorant of his feelings for Nightingale, but rather she had been waiting for him to bring it up first. Since that moment, he finally understood Anna’s way of handling things. She would not normally hide her emotions or thoughts in front of him, but for some things, she would wait patiently because she did not want to embarrass him.

This caused Roland to feel a little worried as he did not know where her boundaries were. If one or two things kept accumulating, she might eventually become more close-lipped and would wait for the outcome in silence. Compared to being silent because she was afraid to hurt him, he much preferred this version of Anna. This version of Anna spoke her mind and believed in him with all her heart.

So, Roland decided never to hide anything from her, even if she didn’t ask him herself, he would tell her everything.

Anna, who apparently understood his thoughts, smiled and said, “I know. Let’s start from where you live. In the dream, do you also live in a castle?”

“No, it is a tube-shaped apartment, just like an apartment house where everyone owns a regular size studio. Also, guess who is living with me.”

“Hmm… don’t tell me it’s Zero?”

“Oh—ahem, why?”

“It’s simple. You said that you started having this dream after you defeated Zero in the Soul Battlefield, thus the dream’s existence must be partly attributed to you and partly to her. In a world created by both of you, it’s not strange that you and her appearance in one place. But…she did not attack you anymore, did she?”

“No, she didn’t. She had lost all her memories before awakening and has become a ten-year-old kid. The kind that even though she knows nothing, she still acts like a know-it-all.”

“10 years old plus living together… did she become your family?”

“Um, Zero has been left to me by her parents. She is more like a tenant.”

“Is that so? Then you should take good care of her.”

“Why? That is just a dream.”

“But didn’t you say that it’s not different than the real world? If that’s the case, why do you differentiate it?”

Roland was once again surprised by Anna’s unique way of thinking. The discussion was seemingly taking a different direction, but he didn’t mind as he saw Anna’s radiant look and tone that were full of interest.

They talked from the Apartments of Souls to the memory fragment, and from the Force of Nature to the Martialist Association. As they were about to finish, Anna’s voice began to lower and she leaned over Roland’s arm, her chest moving lightly, her breathing calm. Even though she was asleep, her other hand was firmly grabbing his waist as if she didn’t want him to go. This being the case, it was impossible for him to go back to his room without waking her up.

“Nevermind.” He decided he would spend the night here and hope that no one would notice him leaving Anna’s room the next morning.

Roland kissed Anna’s forehead and closed his eyes with her in his arms.

Chapter 712: Parade Plan

p>On the second day, Roland got up late as usual. When he woke up, he found Anna was nowhere to be found. What was left of her was only a few flaxen hairs on his elbow, with a hint of a relaxing fragrance.

Lying on the bedside table was his breakfast which was obviously brought up by Anna from the kitchen. Beside the dish, there was a note with a short line written on, “I know that you like sleeping. I’ll leave you alone for your breakfast.”

“Even on this occasion, she can’t forget about her work and got up on time… She is a serious about her work.”

Roland shook his head helplessly and got off of the bed. Even though the castle was supplied with heating, it was not easy to leave the cosy quilt in winter. The water in the wooden basin Anna used to wash her face was still warm. Roland used it to wash his face too, then carried the breakfast and walked up to his office on the third floor.

When he pushed open the office door, he saw Barov and Edith were already waiting for him. Nightingale was at her usual place, her exclusive lounge chair by the fireplace. She was reading a picture-book about witches while chewing dried fish. The relaxing expression on her face looked no different than usual.

“Oh, you came early.” Roland casually greeted them as if there was nothing out of ordinary. “Sit down before you tell me what you came for.”

“Ahem.” The City Hall Director cleared his throat, which looked as if he was used to Roland’s reaction. “Your Majesty, the logistics preparation for attacking the Southernmost Region has been completed. The recruitment work for reserve soldiers is going smoothly. The scale of the First Army will reach 7,000 soldiers next spring, which is unparalleled in the Kingdom of Graycastle.”

“It’s only in the Kingdom of Graycastle,” Edith interrupted unexpectedly. “The forces His Majesty has to deal with aren’t those stupid knights and nobles.”

Roland smiled. He opened the report on his desk and said, “Indeed, if we were to fight against the demons, neither the work of population proliferation nor army construction can be stopped. On the premise not to affect production, the First Army should have as many soldiers as possible.”

Although unwilling to submit, since the king had given his order, Barov had to obey while staring at the Pearl of the Northern Region.

Normally, things like soldier recruitment and logistics for combat readiness should be done by the First Army. But Iron Axe and the few generals under his leadership were lowborn, which meant that they might be good at leading troops for military operations, but they lacked the slightest knowledge of financing and administrative management. So when it came to the issues of money and food, Barov had to offer a helping hand to get things done.

As the scale of the First Army further expanded, such staffing issues would obviously prove difficult. The simple management structure that Roland impetuously established would not meet the requirements for future development. Maybe it was time to make a new round of reform of the military system.

Roland resumed his focus on the report. According to the plan drawn up by Iron Axe, 1000 soldiers were to attack the Southernmost Region. 500 veterans set off from Neverwinter and met with 500 new recruits stationed at the Fallen Dragon Ridge. They then charged toward the Iron Sand City along the Silver Stream Oasis.

As long as they took two 152 mm Longsong Cannons with them, there should be no problem for such a force to conquer the Iron Sand City. But the key to conquering the Sand Nation did not lie in seizing the territory, but in the holy duel, so the role the First Army played was more to escort the leader and maintain order.

The City Hall could manage the logistics work of 1,000 soldiers with high proficiency, and the details involved were getting more and more sophisticated. The situation that the leader had to personally attend to everything had long gone. The preparations were so sophisticated that they were often beyond Roland’s expectation, which was obviously a result of accumulated experience after several actual battles.

“Alright, that’s settled.” Roland closed the report and looked at the Pearl of the Northern Region. “Do you have anything else to say?”

Roland thought that if she was only there to report about the logistic matter, Edith should not have come with Barov,

For she was never that kind of person who liked to grab credit.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Edith replied, nodding. “I heard from Iron Axe that you’re planning for a cannon exercise?”

“That’s right.”

“I wonder… can we involve the civilians of Neverwinter as spectators.” Her words triggered Roland’s interest. “If your subjects could witness such a spectacular scene, it might greatly increase their enthusiasm for joining the army and their confidence of fighting the demons in the future.”

“How could you involve the civilians in such a matter?” Barov said, frowning, “Haven’t you seen the explosion scenes? What if they’re frightened and think of it as a God’s Punishment?”

“It would then be a God’s Punishment under His Majesty’s control. As long as the propaganda work is well carried out, the fright could be minimized,” Edith said bluntly, “Even a fief lord might occasionally hold public traditional martial arts competitions to decide which knight is more brave and resourceful in battle. Besides offering some entertaining activities to the nobles, it could also demonstrate military power to the subjects.”

“But cannons are nothing like the wooden guns in knights’ hands.”

“We could mark off the viewing territories on the city wall and dispatch police to maintain order. Considering the limitation of space, selling admission tickets could be a sound choice… Two silver royals for one ticket could not only prevent the civilians swarming in but also bring in extra income.” Edith talked with ease and confidence, which obviously showed that she had given thorough consideration to her proposition.” Besides, even the spectators should be sifted. Those who’re qualified to purchase tickets should be between the age of 15 and 30, who would be the main force in every walk of life in Neverwinter in the future. Increasing their faith is helpful in fighting the Battle of Divine Will. For people in some critical departments, such as the City Hall officers, I think watching the exercise should be mandatory for them…”

Roland was very surprised. “Isn’t this exactly a parade? Such a proposal not only connects a live ammunition parade with performance activities, but could show polical sensibility and earn funds. The talent required for the military reform could be right in front of me.”

At this thought, Roland nodded and said, “This sounds good. Do as you proposed.”

“Indeed, Neverwinter needs some inspiring news.”

*

When May passed through the square with a basket full of Bird Beak Mushrooms in her hand, she found that there was a crowd in the square. Although it was snowing lightly, it did not affect people’s enthusiasm for surrounding the noticeboard.

She walked up out of curiosity. A publicity agent was shouting in the crowd, “His Majesty the king is going to have an open cannon drill three days later, on the west side of the city wall which is the first line for fighting against the demonic beasts. Do you wish to see with your own eyes how the newest and most advanced weapons explode the demonic beasts into pieces? Do you want to sense the shock as a heavenly rage? Go and sign up in the City Hall! As long as you’re qualified, with your ID card and two silver royals, you could get yourself a chance to appreciate the heroic fighting bearings of the western region soldiers. The seats are limited. The opportunities are rare. If you miss it, you’ll have to wait until next winter!”

“Is this a new idea of His Majesty? Even the propaganda wording is so unique.” May twitched her mouth. “Carter probably will be very interested by it. But he doesn’t need to buy a ticket in City Hall. As the Chief Knight, he surely would accompany His Majesty and attend this drill.”

As to herself, she never fancied such stuff related to fighting and killing.

Chapter 713: A Better Performance

ot long after May left the square, she heard a sound of soft footsteps coming from behind her.

“Mrs Lannis, please wait, Mrs Lannis!”

It took her quite a while to realize that it was referring to herself. When she turned back, she saw a girl, aged 17 or 18, running toward her.

The girl’s hair was tied up like ram’s horns, and her cheeks had gone red in the freezing wind, but her cotton-padded clothes and leather boots were brand new with good quality. If it were two years ago, May would have imagined the girl as someone’s daughter from a rich family. But now more and more civilians could afford new clothes, it was not such a safe bet to judge a person’s status from one’s appearance anymore.

The girl ran to May’s side and handed May one of her two salted fishes while gasping the cold air.

“Mrs Lannis, this is a little token of my gratitude. Please do accept it.”

May was stunned and then asked, “A token of gratitude?”

“I’ve always wanted to meet you. If my father had watched your show, he would have been very gratified!”

“But I don’t know you or your father… Can you tell me exactly what this is about?”

It took the Star of the Western Region half an hour to roughly understand the whole story.

The girl’s name was Jasmine. She was on her way back from the Convenience Market when she happened to recognize May from behind. Giving May fish was only a hasty decision to express her gratitude.

Jasmine’s father was a former soldier of the First Army who was accidentally killed during the battle against the church and left Jasmine and her mother behind. The generous compensation from City Hall and the recruitment priority policy relieved them from worrying about their livelihood. Jasmine grieved for her father’s death for quite a long time. It was not until the staging of the new play “The Hero’s Life” did Jasmine pull herself together.

In the play, all those soldiers who bravely sacrificed their lives for protecting their families and the kingdom were bestowed with the title of Hero by His Majesty.

“Mother said that father used to be a common hunter. She never expected him to gain such an honor after death. She told me to thank you if I ever got the chance to meet you.” Jasmine deeply bowed to May. “Now people call me the daughter of a hero, which makes me feel that father actually didn’t leave me. If not for the rule that the First Army doesn’t take in females, I’d have carried a flintlock and fought against those hostile enemies.”

“…” May remained silent for a while, then asked lightly, “But you might be killed on a battlefield. Aren’t you afraid of death?”

Jasmine nodded, then shook her head. “In former winters, every family in my area would migrate toward Longsong Stronghold. Many people died on the way there and had their bodies were cast into the Redwater River. Every sound of something dropping in the water meant a person had died. When we reached the slum, death became more frequent. After heavy snow, the streets were always filled with frozen bodies. At that time, I often shivered out of fear. I feared when I closed my eyes, I could be the next victim.”

“Since I don’t want to live like that again, there needs to be people to stand out and fight for a new life,” she said word by word.

That was a line in the play.

Suddenly, May felt that something soft, deep in her heart was touched.

She reached out her hands to touch the girl’s hair. “Even if you’ll lose everything?”

When this line of narration sounded in the theater, May vaguely remembered the whole square was in silence, the audience were holding their breath and waiting for the impersonator of the hero to answer.

At this moment, Jasmine’s answer was as powerful as the “Hero” in the play, “Because it is worth fighting for.”

“I accept your gift.”

“Mrs Lannis, please take care!” The girl waved her hand happily, turned around and then ran toward another street.

May stared at the heavy salted fish in her hand and recalled the time when she consulted the drama master Kajen Fels when she played in the grand theater in the former king’s city.

“What’s the best performance?”

“To firmly attract the audience’s attention on you and make them think that you’re the character you play. What they’re watching isn’t a drama, but your whole life… If you can achieve that, it’ll be the best performance.”

To that end, May practiced hard at acting, thought over the character’s mood and manner, put herself into the story in the script whole-heartedly and tried to present every detail flawlessly. When she was 25 years old, her hard work paid off, she became an actress known to all. As a person from the western region, she gained a firm foothold in the king’s city. During her prime time, even the famous actors in King’s City’s Grand Theater could not overshine her.

However, her opinions changed.

When “The Hero’s Life” was shown, was her performance perfect? Not at all. His Majesty’s script came out so fast that the actors and actresses only had two to three weeks to rehearse before putting the show on stage, during which, remembering the lines took her one week. Very often the crew had to improve themselves during the performing process. For example, when she played the Hero’s wife, she sometimes forgot her lines or used the wrong facial expressions. And it was not a love story in which she excelled in acting, so she had to conjecture many things, making the show far from perfect.

But was the response to the play not good?

Judging from the audience’s applause, “The Hero’s Life” was nearly as popular as “The Memoir of a Prince’s Search for Love”. When the leading actor said the line “because it is worth fighting for”, the audience’s shout of agreement almost shook off the snow covering the mountain tops.

“Maybe that was the best performance…” May thought, “In King’s City’s Grand Theater, such a scene would never appear. Nobles might drop tears for the characters in a play, or clap out of joy, but their focus was on her, an outsider’s life. But here, the audience saw themselves through the characters, through the play… People see the future they want.”

…

When May returned to her residence, she coincidentally met Irene and Morning Light.

“Ah… May, you’re back right on time.” Irene instantly stood up from the chair and grabbed at May’s shoulder. “I was just asking Lord Carter to preoccupy some good seats for us. Let’s go and watch together.”

“Go to where?”

“What’s the problem? Why everybody is talking perplexingly?” May rolled her eyes, pushed away Irene’s hand and put the Bird Beak Mushrooms and salted fish in the kitchen.

“The cannon exercise, of course,” Irene followed her and said impatiently. “I heard this exercise will be the largest scale exercise since the establishment of the First Army. There is already a long line in front of the City Hall. Aren’t you interested?”

“Not at all.” May shrugged. “If I had that time, I’d rather read my script a few more times.”

“How about just accompanying me… will you?”

This little girl was really sticky, but May could not bring herself to scold Irene, because she knew, different from others, Irene showed her affection to others out of genuine emotion. May had learnt that when they were in the Longsong Theater.

May intended to refuse the invitation, but she swallowed the words she was about to utter. Indeed, she did not like things related to fighting and killing, but fighting and killing were not always terrible and unbearable. Maybe taking a look at it would help her to experience how the soldiers truly felt and she could better put herself into the next play?

Of course, she definitely did not agree with Irene for her begging.

“Okay.” After a moment’s hesitation, May sighed. “If you insist.”

“Haha, really? Wonderful!”

Looking at Irene full of spirit, May shook her head helplessly. “Alright. I’ll just take it as a sacrifice for a better performance.”

Chapter 714: A New Life

p>After the couple left, Carter approached her to ask, “Do you really intend to go there? You can stay at home if you don’t want to.”

“Why? Are you unwilling to have my company?”

“Of course not!” He shook his head wildly, completely not like a grim-faced knight, “I want to be with you all the time.”

Even in those tragedies of love and death where actors and actresses expressed love to each other, their lines would not be more exaggerating than that. She had never expected to meet such a dramatic person in real life. She glanced at him and asked, “Oh, who do you want to stay with, His Majesty or me?”

“Uh… Well,” Carter did not know how to respond. Probably he had never considered how to choose between responsibility and love.

May was amused and gently patted his cheek. “OK, it seems that I’m as important as the king.”

The Chief Knight was relieved and hugged his wife with his arms. His hands, in the meantime, started to move down.

“Stop! It’s still during the daytime,” she tried to stop him when she suddenly felt like throwing up, “Ugh…”

Carter immediately stopped and asked with concern, “What happened? Do you feel uncomfortable?”

May shook her head, pushed the knight away and took a deep breath. Although she knew she was not sick, she still felt nauseous as if her stomach were turning. She walked to the bathroom and retched, but nothing came out except for some saliva.

“I’ll go to call Miss Lily.” Seeing this, Carter became more worried. He put on his jacket and was ready to leave.

“Wait… Wait,” May stopped him. “I didn’t catch a cold.”

“But you’re so ill… His Majesty’s textbook mentions that the early symptoms of a cold are vomiting and diarrhea. Miss Lily’s ability can cure the disease quickly. It’ll become more serious if we don’t receive treatment now.”

“Maybe I’m not sick…”

“Not sick?” Carter frowned. “Why do you vomit?”

“This fool doesn’t have any common sense,” May thought, her cheeks flushed. She heard from people that when a woman was…, she might have similar reactions. But she had no experience of it. If she was wrong, she was afraid that she might be mocked. She was delighted to see her husband behave in a funny way, but she could not make mistakes on such an important issue, otherwise she would be teased by him for the rest of her life.

“In the Witch Union… I remember there’s a green-haired girl who can see through things?”

“Do you mean Miss Sylvie?” Carter nodded. “She does see hidden things that ordinary people can’t see… But she can’t treat illness.”

“Can you ask her to come?” May slowly returned to the bedside. Though she was just guessing, she still sat down slowly as if she were scared to disturb the little life in her. “Maybe Miss Sylvie knows the reason.”

“You mean…” Carter also realized it at this moment. He opened his mouth with surprise and his eyes lightened up, and then he firmly clenched his fist and said, “I’ll go to find Lady Wendy. If she’s in the Inner City, there should be no problem. ”

…

After the door was closed, May gently breathed out. This feeling was really wonderful as if the meaning of life had become different just in an hour. The possible new life warmed her whole body up. She closed her eyes, and could not help recalling the look of Jasmine when she had handed her the salted fish.

“This is probably… the taste of hope.”

On that night, her guess was confirmed by Sylvie.

She was pregnant.

*

Roland got the news the next day and patted the shoulder of Carter Lannis who was extremely excited, “Congratulations! The baby should be born in several months, so you still can’t forget about your work. When she’s about to give birth, I’ll give you a long holiday so that you can accompany her.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Carter saluted, one hand pressing his chest.

“By the way, how do women give birth to children?” Roland suddenly thought of a very important thing and asked, “Is there any midwife in Neverwinter?”

“Midwife?” the Chief Knight asked in confusion, “What’s that?”

“It’s a person who helps the delivery. When the child is born, there has to be someone… um, help to deal with it.” While answering the question, Roland also searched Prince Roland’s memories but found that the palace mentor did not teach any relevant knowledge. “We can’t expect the mother to cut off the child’s umbilical cord by herself, right?”

“Ah, it’s usually done by the elders. Most of them have had similar experiences.”

“What if there is no such an elder?”

“Well…” Carter was dumbfounded, “I’m not too sure.”

Aristocratic families would naturally not suffer from the shortage of manpower, but civilians certainly had no such privileges. Neverwinter had been established for a year now, and most residents came through recruitment and immigration. So, not many people had babies yet. However, once the lives of residents had stabilized, the fertility rate would definitely rise sharply. It was foreseeable that a large number of new lives would come to this world every year from the following year.

The problem was that there had not been any reliable medical system in Neverwinter up to now.

Roland could not be blamed for being careless, as there were no midwives in other cities, either. Sick people could only pray to deities, or buy some weird herbs from pharmacists with several silver royals. Thanks to Nana and Lily, disease and pains were almost eliminated in Neverwinter, which was the reason he had delayed the establishment of the medical system.

He initially had thought if the science and technology advanced by leaps and bounds and that they directly entered an information age, highly advanced modern medical science would still be nothing compared with the two little girls’ abilities. That was why he kept postponing the matter.

Yet Roland now found it absolutely necessary to have a medical system for a city of over 100,000 people, no matter how underdeveloped it might be.

For example, it was impossible for Nana and Lily to handle childbirth… They would be too busy, and once the war with demons started, they had to rush to the front. In that case, residents had to deal with patients in the city themselves.

After Carter left, Roland opened his notebook and recorded his idea of a primary medical institution.

Anyway, since it was a blank area, maybe he could start from childbirth.

Establishing hospitals, cultivating medical staff, democratizing health knowledge and the most basic means of treatment… Fortunately, the First Army had already had a basic understanding of these matters, so he only needed to make minor changes to the brochure used in the First Army and use it as a part of the teaching material for the public. He could also choose the first group of medical teachers from the First Army.

Though knowing nothing about modern medicine, Roland clearly remembered what an important role sterilizing medical instruments and the prevention of wound infections would play in child delivery in the future.

As for other parts of medical science, he could conduct further research in the future.

In the afternoon, he received a piece of good news.

Tilly Wimbledon was coming to the Western Region with Ashes and some other witches.

Chapter 715: The Feelings of Combat Witches

he sky was overcast as if covered with a thick layer of curtain. Numerous tiny white dots drifted down along with the wind as if they had wanted to fill the entire world. Yet the blizzard appeared insignificant before the great sea embracing the sky.

The Charming Beauty gradually approached Shallow Beach in the heavy snow and wind.

Roland had waited here for a long time. Standing in the chilling sea wind, he opened his arms to Tilly who stepped on the pier and said, “Welcome back, sister.”

She took off her hood to reveal her soft gray hair, smiled and gently embraced him. Everything seemed so natural. She said, “The Months of Demons seem to have arrived earlier than I expected. I hope I’m not too late.”

As their conversation continued, the pier became more bustling instantly.

“Your Majesty, there will be a welcome dinner at night, right? Can you arrange a hotpot again?” Andrea approached him to ask, her voice full of expectations.

“Ahem, mind your manners,” Ashes reminded her.

Maybe she got to know him better, or she was influenced by Nightingale, her elegant noble demeanor seemed to escape her little by little. Of course, her beauty was so impressive that she still appeared graceful and pretty even when she was eagerly asking what to eat in the evening.

“Of course,” said Roland, nodding. “In fact, winter is the best season for hotpots.”

“That’s what I’m thinking too,” said Andrea, her eyes sparkling, “you’re indeed a royal noble and indeed the man Nightingale is interested in… ” Before she finished her words, her mouth had been firmly covered by a pair of invisible hands.

Ashes put her hand on her forehead and turned around as if she had seen nothing. Instead, she started to talk to Wendy.

Tilly seemed a bit surprised. She glanced at Roland and then looked at the where Nightingale stood thoughtfully.

Roland also blushed. Before Tilly started to ask, he coughed and said, “It’s windy here. Let’s go back to the castle and have a talk then.”

…

Along with Tilly, the witches coming to Neverwinter were the card-playing three, Iffy, Softfeathers, and Nightfall, the former members of Bloodfang Association. It was not the first time they came to the Western Region, so it saved Roland time to arrange their accommodations. After they put away the luggage, Roland summoned everyone to the living room and then told them what had recently happened in the Kingdom of Dawn.

As their partner, he believed that he should share information with the Sleeping Island witches and let them know the Taquila survivors as soon as possible.

In the end, all the witches could not help laughing. Ashes even asked him bluntly, “So you are the witch that Taquila witches are looking for… The Chosen One?”

“Or the first wizard in history,” Tilly said jokingly. “My brother is always so different.”

“I don’t have any magic power, so you can save the title of witch or wizard,” Roland said, shrugging, “The Chosen One is just what the Taquila witches refer to. We won’t know what the Instrument of Divine Retribution is until we have further communication with them. Before that, I plan to hold an artillery exercise outside the city wall of the Western Region so as to help them regain their confidence.”

“At the same time, it’s also a kind of deterrence, right?” Ashes, though not as reckless as she appeared at first, still spoke straightforwardly, “just like the defensive battle of demonic beasts you had shown to us.”

“I just don’t want to have any misunderstanding between each other,” Roland replied, without saying yes or no. “And the exercise is not just for the Taquila witches. It’s also open to the public so that Neverwinter subjects can see the power they have. Then they’ll be full of courage even when facing demons.”

No misunderstanding meant to let them clearly know his strength so as to dispel some unnecessary ideas. This was also the basis for diplomacy in the new era.

“Since it’s an exercise, I don’t think we are going to conduct it when demonic beasts attack us, right?” Andrea suddenly said, “I have a good idea.”

“What’s it?”

“How about using demonic beasts as the targets of shooting?” She raised her eyebrows and said, “Compared with simple wood targets, real demonic beasts will be more impressive.”

Roland was a little surprised and agreed that it was a good idea. If he wanted to organize the public to watch the exercise, naturally he could not wait until demonic beasts came and then arrange them to stand on the city wall. It might cause a lot of chaos, and the demonic beasts would have reduced to meat sauces under bombards by the time everyone arrived. So he originally intended to use some wooden targets for accurate shooting and asked Soraya to paint some fake targets.

Andrea’s proposal was obviously more enjoyable. Nothing was more exciting for the Neverwinter residents than watching evil enemies, who had troubled the Western Region for so many years, be bombarded and turn to ashes.

“Those demonic beasts as the targets…”

“Just leave it to us,” said Andrea, patting her chest.

“Ah, why not stay in the room playing cards?” Shavi responded with a bitter look.

“I’m also willing to help,” Iffy echoed. As long as it was related to a battle, Iffy would always like to participate willingly.

“But will it be dangerous to catch demonic beasts?” Wendy said, appearing to be quite concerned.

“If we choose to catch them in the Misty Forest controlled by Leaf, there should be no safety problem,” Nightingale said eagerly. “She can monitor the movements of all witches and demonic beasts in the area and drive away powerful demonic hybrids. Even if we meet a Fearful Beast of Hell, we have the Sigil of God’s Will anyway.”

“Then how about a competition to warm ourselves up before the artillery exercise?” Tilly laughed. “Let’s divide the sisters in Neverwinter into three groups to see which group can catch more demonic beasts.”

“Divide into… three groups?”

“The witches of Sleeping Island, the Witch Union, and Taquila,” she grinned and said, “The reward can be a month’s Chaos Drinks. I’m really curious about how delicious it is since you said it’s far better the taste of ice cream bread.”

“Wait… Will Phyllis join us too?” Roland said in surprise.

“This will visualize the power of gunpowder weapons and help her have a better understanding of it, isn’t it? Killing a demonic beast may be easy for a God’s Punishment Warrior, but if she sees a common person can also do it easily and more efficiently, she will definitely have more confidence in the power of Neverwinter.”

“Of course, if she doesn’t want to participate, it’s ok,” said Andrea, shrugging. “Since it’s a competition, it’s based on her personal will.”

“So that’s why…” Roland looked at Ashes and the others who had an eager look, and roughly figured out why they made this proposal. Although Tilly’s statement was somewhat sensible, their original intention was more to satisfy themselves. After all, they came to help them peacefully go through the Months of Demons, but they could do little since the First Army was sufficient to handle the situation. For most of the time they could only stay in the castle, playing the “Fight the Landlord” card game. Compared with busy assistant witches, they seemed to be useless.

They were combat witches after all.

In this mass production campaign, he might have indeed ignored these witches’ feelings.

“Then let’s do it.” Roland gave a nod of approval.

Chapter 716: Seeing Annie Again

p>After finishing the proposal for hunting the demonic beasts, the witches went back to their rooms for a short break and waited for dinner to begin. Before Iffy wandered off, Roland pulled her aside so that he could speak to her alone.

“I have something to tell you now so you won’t be too shocked later on.” He spoke as softly as possible, “I remember you once said that you had a friend named Annie before you were taken to the Bloodfang Association, right?”

“Yes… Your Majesty.” Iffy blinked and was unsure as to why he suddenly raised that topic.

“Among the witches who arrived at Graycastle from the Kingdom of Dawn, other than the Taquila survivor who disguised herself as a maid, the rest all came from the Kingdom of Wolfheart.”

Iffy’s eyes opened wide. “Your Majesty, you mean…”

Roland nodded and said, “One of them was called Annie and she had also been rejected by the Bloodfang Association.”

She was stunned and only managed to mutter after a long silence. “Is this true?”

At that moment, Iffy’s face portrayed joy and yet it also reflected worry and guilt. She still blamed herself for not choosing to leave with Annie back then.

This was why Roland did not intend to surprise both of them at the same time. He could not be sure how Annie felt towards Iffy and if she still had a grudge toward the girl that had deserted her, it would be very awkward if an intended happy reunion turned into a confrontation.

“3009,” said Roland.

“What?”

“3009. That’s her room number,” he exhaled and said, “at least for the time being. She’s like the one you described and if you want to know the answer, you can go by yourself to take a look.”

Iffy was silent for a moment then bowed her head to thank him. “I understand, Your Majesty. Thank you!”

“Go on. Sometimes time is the best cure for everything.”

“Yes!”

Roland touched his chin as he observed her running hurriedly out of the living room. “This is as far as I can help you,” he thought.

“Room 3009, room 3009…” Iffy was silently chanting the room number while running toward the Witch building. She didn’t even bother answering the questions of Softfeathers and Nightfall asked her along the way. She passed through the snow-covered castle backyard and the white-capped olive groves, went up the stairs, and quickly reached the third floor.

However, once she got closer to her destination, she began to slow down.

She began to feel more and more uneasy.

Back then, Annie took care of her throughout their journey to Archduke Island. When she learned that Annie could not join the Bloodfang Association, she did not insist on staying. The guilt had always been torturing her. It got even worse after she thought that Annie had died in the Kingdom of Wolfheart. There were many sleepless nights that followed. In the end, she vented her hatred on the nobility and presented a mask of power and fearlessness as a shell to cover up her remorse.

But now, this shell could no longer protect her.

She was instinctively fearful.

If Annie refused to forgive her, what should she do?

Iffy stood in the doorway but did not dare to reach out to knock on the door.

“I knew you would do that,” a voice came out of nowhere and shocked her. She bowed down only to find out that the small figure of Softfeathers had appeared beside her and a breathless Nightfall was in the corridor.

Iffy could not help but be touched that they had caught up with her because they seemed worried about her.

“Every time you encounter something that concerns Annie, you always behave like a completely different person.”

“Did you… all hear that?”

“Of course. His Majesty was speaking to you alone. How could we not eavesdrop?” The little girl curled her lips, “In the case that he wanted to coerce you, we could help to stand guard at the door, right?”

“What kind of help is that?” Iffy did not know whether to laugh or cry, and her nervousness started to diminish a little. “You actually came to see me be embarrassed!”

“Something like that.” Softfeathers shrugged her shoulders. “Are you ready?”

“Ready… for what?”

Knock! Knock! Knock! Before she could react, the little girl had already struck the door a few times before running toward Nightfall. “Remember just say what your heart really feels!”

“No, wait…”

However, it was too late as the sound of footsteps could be heard behind the door. In a flash, Iffy felt herself tense up all over.

With a click, the door was pushed open, and a tall witch appeared in front of her.

It happened to be Annie who opened the door.

She will never forget this face.

Annie’s eyes had a sharp gaze and her brows were slightly raised. Her compassion for her companions was hidden under her face of perseverance. Iffy had thought that she would never meet Annie again and had been afraid that she would soon forget Annie’s appearance. When she saw Annie again, she realized that everything was just like before and that her memory of Annie’s figure was just temporarily covered in dust and now it was brand new again.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

“Annie, I’m tired…”

“Annie, you should go.”

“Why can’t Annie stay?”

“No… I want to be with Annie…”

Fragments of memory continued to emerge in her mind and her outer shell collapsed. She seemed to have returned to the past and once again became that helpless and bewildered girl. She wanted to greet Annie, but somehow she could not make a sound. As soon as she opened her mouth, her eyes felt a stinging sourness.

Iffy could not control this herself. She embraced Annie and then sobbed softly before bursting into full on tears.

“I’m sorry… woo… Annie… I’m so sorry…”

Beasts did not cry.

From this moment on, she was no longer a beast.

Annie remained a little dumbfounded.

When she opened the door, she did not remember who the witch standing outside was and yet she felt some form of familiarity. Only when the witch clutched Annie and apologized while weeping, did she recall the journey to the Bloodfang Association.

It would be a lie to say that there was no resentment in her heart. When the Bloodfang Association tried to sell her to the nobility, a part of her anger from the betrayal also transferred onto Iffy.

However, seeing her crying so uncontrollably, Annie suddenly felt all the anger vanish. Back then, Iffy was as thin as a monkey with a muddy face and a permanent timid look. It would have been impossible for Iffy to resist the orders of Bloodfang Association and stay above of everything.

Annie gave a deep sigh, extended her hands, and gently held Iffy. “… I don’t blame you anymore.”

Upon hearing this, Iffy shuddered and started to cry even more loudly.

…

Over the next half an hour, Iffy was able to gradually pull herself together.

Throughout this time, Annie learned the whole story of the Bloodfang Association. When she learned that Earl Morgan was dead and the other witches were out of the control of the Bloodfang Association, the twisted knot in the heart finally unraveled. And it was all due to Roland Wimbledon and his sister, Princess Tilly.

Things seemed to be moving in the right direction.

Annie made up her mind after looking at Iffy, who was sleeping in her arms after crying and a curious Amy, who was there with the other witches.

“Let’s sign a contract with Wendy and serve the king.”