Er Mu - Release that Witch

May looked to the left side of the ship, there she saw rows of knee-high wheat swaying in the wind and farmers wearing straw hats were busying themselves in the fields as if they were standing within a green sea. The in the clear river water reflected wheatfields extended westwards, with no end in sight.

“Such a beautiful scenery, Miss May,” Rosia walked over, nodding her head in greeting.

“In such a remote place, I never expected that I would see such a vast farmland not inferior to the farmland around Longsong Stronghold.

“That’s nothing compared with the farmland around King’s City,” May disagreed. “There, the wheat fields are so large that they even connect between two cities, along the roads the only thing you can see are wheat fields, so the people soon become bored of it.”

“Is that so?” She smiled awkwardly, “I’ve never been that far away.”

Well, this is the response ordinary people should show, May thought, in case it was Irene who had heard these words, I am afraid she will just show an expression of envy and ask myself to tell her more. “Rest assured, you will have the opportunity to get there one day.”

“I hope so,” Rosia patted her chest, “Thank you for your encouragement.”

I mean you only have to spend some silver royals, with that you can take the caravan to King’s City, I never meant that you would ever have the chance to go to King’s City to perform, May rolled her eyes within her mind. But the other was still only one of Irene’s friends, so May didn’t want to bother herself to speak those words.

Rosia had joined the theater before herself, and her age also followed closely with her own, but because of her plain appearance and poor memory, she had never gotten the opportunity to officially perform on stage. In addition to Irene, there were only a few people who were willing to deal with her.

“Irene knows that we are coming today?” May asked.

“In my reply to her I informed her of the date, so I’m sure that she will be meeting us at the docks.

“Then it should be all right,” she nodded. “I do not want to be alone in a strange town, and have to look for lodging in an inn.”

“Can I ask you something, Miss May?” Rosia asked hesitantly, “Why was it important for you to leave together with us for the town, moreover, why did you also want to conceal this from the theater? Irene’s said that this was a small opportunity for those who won’t be started elsewhere, but you are not someone who lacks such opportunities.”

“In case I had told them the truth, do you think the theater would ever let me come to this place?” May curled her lips in disdain, “As to why I want to come here… I merely want to see if my theater comrade is having a good life.”

After all, I do not know why I have made this impulse decision myself! the Longsong Stronghold’s theater is performing a drama in the next two days. And now that I’m gone, I am afraid that the theater owner really have a headache. Although there are several backups who can play my part, without my name, the aristocracy may not be willing to accept it, they might even send a grave protest to the theater.

Honestly, this wasn’t a wise choice, May also knew this, her own reputation relied heavily on the theater in Longsong Stronghold. And if she annoyed the theater owner, he could simply turn it into a cold environment for her and start promoting another actress, if it came to that she would have no way of ever fighting back. It was important that she uncompromising acknowledged her mistake. Otherwise, she would have no choice than to leave right away and go to another theater and try to compete with their stars.

Or…I could also take the next ship back to the stronghold, the moment after I have met up with Ferlin, right? May thought.

“So that’s how it was,” Rosia nodded in understanding, “Irene will certainly be very surprised to see you.”

The scenery along the river bank gradually become richer, the closer they came to the Impassable Mountain Ridge the more tents and wooden houses that appeared. It was close to noon at this time, and the peasant women were all busy cooking porridge stew, covering the residential area with its smell, letting May also occasionally smell the floating over aromatic fragrance of wheat. Children had come together to the river to play, and those who were able to swim shed of their clothes and surrounded by the cheers of their companions jumped headlong into the river, only to triumphantly climb back ashore afterward.

Then May finally saw the pier.

After the Swan had landed, Ghent and Sam volunteered to handle all of the ladies baggage. And after a pedestrian had just left the ship, Rosia excitedly shouted: “Irene!”

May following the direction of her shout, on the pier she detected a woman wearing a white dress and weaving in their direction. And directly by her side stood a tall man. Even across the great distance, she could still make out his straight and vigorous body that was out of the ordinary.

Ferlin Eltek, the Morning Light.

The figure in May’s memory became clear once more.

The moment May spotted him, she immediately put away all thoughts of returning to the stronghold.

“My God, M-May!” When May came over, Irene exclaimed in disbelief. Irene grabbed her hands and pulled her towards the knight, “Darling, do you know who she is? She is the most famous actress of the Longsong Theater, Miss May! Whenever she performs, the people who want to see her play line-up from the theater’s lobby and into the streets!”

Although the phrase “darling” caused May’s heart jump, her perennial acting habits allowed her to reflexively smile and give a little nod, “Hello.”

“Ah, of course I know about her. You’ve even told me about her being one of the most famous actress in the West, there aren’t any nobles who do not know the name for the star of theater,” he sighed, then spoke in an apologetic tone to May, “My wife is a little lacking in her some manners. I’m Ferlin, welcome.”

He didn’t announce his name or his status, and even concealed his family name. May’s heart was filled with sadness, but on the surface she maintained her utmost elegant expression, “I’m familiar with you. Everyone in the West knows of the First Knight of the Western Territory, ‘Morning Light’, Sir Eltek. I must apologize, because of the stress of theater work, I was unable to attend your and Irene’s wedding.”

“That’s a thing of the past,” the knight said with a smile as he shook his head. “Nowadays, I’m just a teacher, and I no longer belong to the Eltek Family, so you really don’t have to be so polite to me.”

He then waved in the direction of the others and continued. “Let’s go back. We can talk later, but first you have to finish your application for temporary residence.”

Teacher? May was startled, does that mean he’s now a court tutor? The town’s Lord is indeed a prince, but the Prince would never lower himself to find a knight to take on such a role, ha. And what’s all this about applying for temporary residence? Shouldn’t Irene be taking the group of us to a local reliable, and safe inn to stay at?

“I really did not expect you to come here. If you were to play Cinderella, it would certainly cause a sensation!”

“Is that so?” May had some doubt about that. She had never heard the name of that drama, which indicated that it had probably been written by a new playwright. Moreover, it wasn’t like she had spare time for rehearsal, she’d only come here… because she wanted to see how Morning Light was doing, and if there was some way she could help him.

After entering town, May realised that there was definitely something wrong in this place. The town was located on the border of the kingdom and the only role it served was to be an outpost for the stronghold, so why did it now look like a newly built city? The road everyone was walking on was covered with dark gray gravel, and there was no mud to be seen anywhere on the whole road. Furthermore, the streets were too wide, practically allowing two carriages to pass each other side to side.

“What kind of road is this?” Sam asked the question that was in her mind aloud. “It looks strangely flat.”

“Hehe,” Irene smirked, “When I first arrived here it was still made of mud, but now it’s become like this. Furthermore, the road still isn’t finished yet; the masons have said that this is only the foundation for the actual road.”

“Then they’ve fooled you,” Rosia retorted, “Everyone knows, only houses need a foundation. Things that are already lying on the ground can’t collapse, so why should they need one ~ah?”

“Really, they mix a kind of fine, grayish powder together with stones and then they spread it out. Afterward, they sprinkle water on it and compress it with a stone roller until the road has become flat and smooth. In the beginning, I also thought this was the new sort of road, but the mason said that this was a practice developed by His Highness, it seems to be called… water whatever layer. In short, this is still only the foundation!” Irene turned around and continued leading the way, allowing her long plait to swing with each step, “In the future when more people and carriages start using it, the ground will be paved with slate. Only then will the true road be finished.”

Paved roads? May coldly laughed inside her heart. Other than the inner city of King’s City, which other city in this kingdom could cover its roads with slate? Having such a broad and flat road was already good enough. There were still many mud roads in Longsong Stronghold.

Along the way through the town, she saw how many houses on both sides of the road were being demolished, regardless of whether it was a clay-tile roofed house or a wooden house. Although they were clearly not new houses, they still a far cry from being called uninhabitable. “Did the Lord drive them away because they were blocking the road?”

“No, they’ve all moved to another district.”

“District?” May asked.

“It is the new residential area, where everyone gets exactly the same brick house to stay in,” Irene explained. “All the original residents had been assigned one, that means there will be no leaking or broken houses in town.

Everyone can be allocated to a brick house? May could not believe her ears, this was even more exaggerated than paved streets. Does she have any idea how much such an idea will cost? But since she was in front of Ferlin, she still had to swallow her words.

There were a lot of other pedestrians on the street, so they would occasionally be stopped by people who wanted to greet Irene or Ferlin. Thanks to this, May found out that Irene was also one of those so-called teachers.

“Aren’t you going to perform in the play?” She asked. “Why do the townspeople call you a teacher, Irene?”

“Because that is my job. I will only be performing part-time. After all, Border Town can’t have a theater.” Afterwards, Irene told the story of how had been summoned by His Highness, “Although it will be an open-air performance and the audience will only consist of civilians, the pay will be still calculated according to that of the stronghold. I think this is a good chance. At least, in this way I can still practice.”

“You are right, you are right. As long as I can go on stage I would be satisfied.” Ghent and Sam nodded again and again.

And open-air performance for civilians! May simply didn’t have the strength to retort. Compared with Irene, she could not understand why the Prince came up with this idea or what his intentions were in the end. Could those people whose purpose every day was only to have enough to eat and stay alive really comprehend the romance and its twist and turns of a drama?

In this manner, they finally came to a stop in front of a two-story building.

“This is the teachers’ building, right now Border Town only has nine teachers. Therefore there are still many vacant rooms left. Ferlin had already applied for you to stay inside the house and he’d also got the rights for you to temporarily stay in two rooms. So you will be living here during the show.” Irene handed out two keys, “Ghent, Sam, this one is for you. Rosia and Tina will get the other one, eh, Miss May’s…”

“I’ll stay with you,” May suddenly blurted.

“But…”

“I came here to see how the lives of my theater companions were,” she said with a smile. “After all, we have already been working together for such a long time, and you probably also will never return to the stronghold, so I want to talk some more with you. Are you going to hold this against me?”