Er Mu - Release that Witch

“You do not want to stay here…” Wendy froze for a moment. “Why?”

“As long as we live on this continent, we will always be threatened by the Church. Because of this, Tilly had gathered the majority of the witches living in the Kingdom of Graycastle and has taken them with her to the Fjords. That is where she intends to build her own country.”

“Doesn’t the Fjord also have Churches?”

“Because of the special topography of the archipelago and its separation into many islands, their influence can only be maintained on some of the bigger islands, and also…” Ashes twisted her mouth, “there aren’t any soldiers of the God’s Punishment Army on these islands either.”

And if they found themselves there, they would soon have to face the wrath of the witches. Going from one island to another, the Church’s forces would be uprooted, just like when they had hunted us witches.

“You and your sisters must also leave, Wendy,” she continued to try persuading her. “It was a mistake to spread those rumors, you should get rid of them as soon as possible. When I could hear them, the Church definitely has also heard of them, and they will never allow the witches to organize themselves. I don’t think that it will be long before the Church’s Army of Judges destroys the Kingdom of Graycastle. When you have to face the God’s Punishment Army, do you really believe that the 4th Prince will protect you? No secular Lord will ever be willing to spend his own life to save a witch’s. Right at this moment, he may still be good to you, but in times of distress, he won’t hesitate for even a second before abandoning you.”

After Ashes’ speech, Wendy kept silent for a long time, before opening her mouth and declaring: “I do not know what the thoughts of my other sisters are, but I won’t leave Border Town!”

“At the moment, you’re standing at the edge of an overhanging cliff,” Ashes frowned, “and with every day you wait it will become even more dangerous.”

“If you want to avoid the impending danger, leaving the town, leaving His Highness, what difference would there be between your approach and when he would leave us? I do not want to be such a person, and…” She took a deep breath, “Furthermore, in the case that His Highness ever had to face against the pressure of the Church, I do not believe that he would ever act as you’ve predicted. Nightingale has already asked him the same question, and His Highness’s then answered, ‘I will make this town a place where every witch can live a life of an ordinary person, even if I have to become the enemy of the Church.’ ”

“…” Ashes was unable to respond, she didn’t know what to say, she had already heard too many promises such as this, and even if the other party really was willing to protect the witches, in the end, what would that even change? In the face of such an overwhelming power, it would only end up increasing the number of sacrifices.

Until now she still had to grasp the situation regarding the Witch Cooperation Association, more accurately the death of the Snake Witch Cara. It seemed that the surviving members of her former group have all been fully integrated into Border Town by the Lord. Spreading the news of a safe heaven up to Silver City wasn’t done by one of the surviving witches, but rather by one of the Lord’s own guards. Although she did not know what cunning plans he had, and how he had managed to make the witches trust him, but under the threat of her greatsword, his carefully constructed camouflage would all soon fall apart, most likely.

“I want to talk to your Lord, Roland Wimbledon,” Ashes finally said.

…

Her appointment to see the Prince was scheduled for the next morning.

By that time, Ashes was brought into the office by Nightingale, now having to face this disgusting man once again.

Although she didn’t want to admit it, it was clearly visible to her that Tilly and the Prince both shared the same blood. They both had the same long gray hair with a simple beam in the back of their head that during the sunlight of dawn would have a small touch of silver to it. The symbol of the royal family of the Kingdom of Graycastle. His forehead and nose were also somewhat similar to Tilly’s and the more similarities Ashes found, the more she disliked him.

Comparing his previous appearance at the courts with the normal appearance he showed now, she had to say that his dress today was unusually clean. Furthermore, in addition to well-fitting clothes, she could detect almost no signs of wealth, such as jewelry, earrings, necklaces, rings, and bracelets. Even though he was just simply sitting on his chair, Ashes still had the feeling that he was looking down on her.

The aura of a leader.

She couldn’t stop this thought from appearing.

Well, if only taking his outwards appearance into consideration, he really seems to have taken a step in the right direction, Ashes thought coldly in her heart. But it won’t be much longer that you will be able to maintain such a posture.

“Welcome, I heard your name is Ashes?” The other side took the initiative to start the conversation, “You are a messenger sent by my sister, aren’t you?

“It was my own decision to come to Border Town.”

“But you can still be called her messenger, right?”

“…” Ashes frowned, why was he so emphasizing on her role as a messenger? She did not want to be entangled in such insignificant banter, “I could.”

“Well, Ashbringer,” he said, revealing an unrecognizable smile, “I hear you want to take my witches away?”

Before Roland had agreed to the meeting, he had already heard every part of the talk between Wendy and Ashes.

He didn’t expect that the long-lost Tilly Wimbledon would suddenly become the leader of another witch organization. Not only that, but she had set all of this up right in front of all of them. No, she had even gathered most of the witches in the whole kingdom. What was even more intolerable was, that she was now actually wanted to put her claws into his own territory.

According to the information gathered by Nightingale, the witch in front of him was an extraordinary, and her ability most likely belonged to the combat type.

Any witch who belonged to the kind of extraordinary had to be treated with the utmost care. So, when Roland was meeting with Ashes in his office, not only was Nightingale hiding in her fog, no, even Anna was standing by his side. She had placed several tiny black fires around his desk, all of which were completely invisible to the naked eye. Cutting off the area between the two sidewalls. As long Ashes dared to rush towards him, she would definitely end up cutting herself into many thin pieces.

Even so, Ashes was an extraordinary witch, she still wasn’t wearing the God’s Stone of Retaliation, but once she put on one of those stones, she would then turn into an unrestricted destructive power. Fortunately, the God’s Stone of Retaliation was hated by the majority of witches, and she was most probably also taking this aspect into account. So Ashes didn’t carry such a stone when she was trying to win over the witches in Border Town.

“Your witches? Don’t be so arrogant, they are all living people, they aren’t your personal belongings!” Ashes declared coldly.

Roland got shocked by her unexpected words. This was the first time that he had to feel the feeling of defeat during a battle of words. He had already become used to calling them my people, my subjects and the like, but now he had unexpectedly face democratic criticism, letting him feel extremely embarrassed. Although his words were in accordance with the usual practice of this era, the people or items in the Lord’s territory, after all, belonged to the Lord, so calling them his wouldn’t bring any problems. But if he was to now stress this point in front of Nightingale and Anna, it would only show that his EQ was low, and he’d just be jumping into an already prepared pit.

So, he coughed twice, and tried to get the flow of the conversation into a positive direction for himself: “I never thought of them like that, they only stay in the town because they want it. But I have to point out, that I myself believe that this place is still the best place for them to live on freely. As for living in the Fjords as you have offered, not to mention that the trip itself would already be very dangerous, crossing over the whole Kingdom — no, the Fjords climate is also unpredictable, always having to fear tsunamis or perineal storms. That is simply not a suitable place for people to live in”.

“But there at least, the power of the Church would be at a minimal. Furthermore, the witches can rely on their powers to transform their homes, making them safe against any natural disasters. But there is no way in which you could shield them against the strength of the God’s Stone of Retaliation, not to mention the God’s Punishment Army.” Ashes mercilessly countered, “Do you know how foolish it was for you to do what you have done? Spreading the news of your witches will only lead to a visit from the Church.

“With respect, you have no way to win against the God’s Punishment Army. Now, the right choice for you would be to let your witches leave your territory so that you can all avoid the tragedy that your actions is leading you towards.”

Roland had already heard her telling Wendy about the God’s Punishment Army, so he knew that using force to persuade her would be many times more effective than him using words. Of course, he could also simply ignore Ashes, but in that way, he would already be giving up the fight for the witches that are under Tilly Wimbledon’s influence. So, despite only having just a small hope of achieving his goal, he still wanted to give it a shot.

“Are you able to fight against several soldiers of the God’s Punishment Army at the same time?” Roland asked.

Ashes facial complexion became clearly puzzled, but in the end, she still stretched out three fingers, “Three soldiers, I’m able to defeat.”

“Then let’s have a fight,” Roland said, sitting straight and becoming seriously. “Let the test tell you if I’m able to win against the God’s Punishment Army or not.”

“What do you mean?” Ashes became stunned for a moment, her cold face finally showed a different expression than her usually cold face.

“A fair test, a fight one-on-one,” Roland said, stressing word for word, “If I’m able to beat you, you have to accept that I have the ability to resist the Church.”

“You and I? Or… or do you want one of your witches to take your place?”

“Of course it won’t be me, but it won’t be a witch either. The soldiers of the God’s Punishment Army will all be wearing a God’s Stone of Retaliation,” Roland smiled, “Your opponent will be an ordinary knight.”

Although he regretted it a bit that he would not personally be taking part in it, the other side was a witch with a military strength completely off the charts, from the description he had heard from Wendy, she alone was powerful enough to make her way through a whole monastery, and in the end, was even able to escape from the pursuit of the God’s Punishment Army.

Even fighting empty-handed or with only a wooden sword, she would still be extraordinarily lethal. The actual effectiveness of a revolver was still unknown. And for the sake of safety, he had decided to give this great task to Carter. If he had been able to lay his hands on an ak47, then Roland would have tried to take her on by himself.

“Ordinary Knight…” Ashes face once more turned back to her original expression of indifference. “If I win, you will let the witches follow me?”

“Of course not, after all, you cannot offer the same. In the case I would win, you surely wouldn’t go back to Tilly and bring all of her witches to Border Town, right?”

“In that case, what would be the significance of your suggested duel?”

“I already said it previously, it’s not a duel, it’s a test,” Roland corrected her, “the significance lies in the fact that you will know, that in the face of the Church’s power I’m not without any possibilities to resist. Furthermore, when you later go back to the Fjords you will remember, that outside of the Fjords, there is also the Western Territories, and more precisely Border Town, that can provide a place for witches to live. Of course, if you win, it could be that Wendy will start to persuade the others, which would be many times more efficient than you doing it by yourself.”