Er Mu - Release that Witch

“There is also Honey, she can order the osprey to catch fish for everyone, the reason we can enjoy a variety of delicious fish soups every day is to her credit. As for Candle and Evelyn, sending them away, wouldn’t be such a big problem… In case you cannot refuse his request, can’t we just exchange those two witches for others who aren’t as useful?”

“What is useful, what is useless? By sending them to Border Town, I hope to obtain a new ally, rather than abandon our sisters,” Tilly’s expression turned grave, “No matter what kind of ability they have, by choosing to come to Sleeping Island, all of the witches have become our sisters. If we want to turn Sleeping Island into the home for witches, how could we afford to filter the already small number of witches according to whether their abilities are useful or not?”

Ashes had already seen her exposing this kind of expression during their time in the palace — it was the expression the 5th Princess would show whenever she was outraged, seeing this, Ashes couldn’t help but change her manner of address, “I’m sorry… Your Majesty, I just —“

Tilly sighed and then started unhurriedly, “Moreover, it’s hard to measure the ability of everyone according to some kind of standard. From among the more than one hundred witches, Roland has selected those five witches. Even including Candle and Evelyn, two that you have regarded as useless.

“Can you be really be certain that they are useless? Perhaps through this exchange, we will be able to figure out whether he choose the two by accident, or if he had seen something within them that we were just unable to recognize.” She paused, “No matter what, we are already such a small number of witches, every witch deserves to be fought for. They aren’t tools to be used, to build our new home. We are comrades holding the same goal in our sights, so you must never say such things.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ashes responded in a meek voice.

At this moment, lightning broke through the clouds, straight over the sea. As if it were a decree given by the Gods, it was immediately followed with an ear-splitting rolling of thunder. And together with the echo of the explosions, the rain also began to fall over Sleeping Island. At first, it fell sparse, but it then quickly turned into a hubbub. And the dense rain soon covered the outside scenery with a layer of fog and rain, even sometimes overshadowing the conversation between the two.

Ashes got up and closed the window, in order to keep the rain from drifting into the room. When she turned turning around, she saw Tilly sway twice, showing a somewhat wan and sallow expression on her face.

“Were you staying up all night?”

“Well,” Tilly called yawn. “All the books we brought back from the ruins were written in the same language. Moreover, I already found some common points, as long as I have enough time, I am sure that I can translate all of them.”

“Yeah, with enough time… now after getting rid of the nagging Church, there will certainly be sufficient time for you, you don’t need to study it all through the night.” Ashes knit her brow, “It could have a tremendous impact on your body.”

“Rest assured, I am a witch, my body won’t collapse so quickly.” The 5th Princess took a deep breath, “Moreover, I have a vague premonition — seeing the scene within the ruins gave me an uneasy feeling, so we have to decipher the content of these books as soon as possible… Oh, by the way, this time when the witches leave for Border Town, they will also bring one of the books along with them.”

“If even you cannot read it, the possibility that the witches from the Witch Cooperation Association will know it is even worse.”

“Well we will just have to take a chance,” Tilly said, “I heard that there have been ancient ruins found in the eastern forest. Furthermore, the origin of the Witch Cooperation Association is located in the Sea Wind Region, which is almost right next to the forest, we can’t say for sure whether some of them haven’t already seen this language. And if we can prove that they used the same language, it should mean that all those remains are from the same group of people.”

“Yes, I got it,” Ashes agreed.

“Also, it’s not the case that I blame you for your previous words, some of the words you said are reasonable — but that isn’t related to the part about the significance of their abilities.” Tilly reached out with her hand to stop Ashes from speaking, “I have reached an agreement with the chamber of commerce of the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan. They will start to migrate some ordinary people over to Sleeping Island by next spring. So if Lotus leaves for too long, it would affect the follow-up construction of the island, so before the winter comes I will have them all return to the Fjord.”

Hearing Tilly’s words Ashes said in relief, “Then everything should be fine.”

“But in order to avoid any kind of misunderstanding, I will lead several combat witches over to Border Town and help them to resist the attacks of the demonic beasts during the Months of Demons.” Tilly exposed a sly smile, “When that time comes, are you willing to go together with me?”

Ashes froze for a moment, but in the end had no other option than helplessly replied, “Of course, Your Majesty.”

The rainstorm left as quickly as it had come.

Two days after the rainstorm ended, the entire group of people who were leaving departed. The ship responsible for sending them back to Graycastle was The Charming Beauty.

Sylvie leaned against the edge of the ship’s railing, took out a slice of dried beef from a pouch, and held it above her head before shaking it.

“Goo —, Goo —“

A huge seagull which was flying alongside them chirped and dropped from the sky, the air current from its flapping wings caused her to squint her eyes. The meat she’d held in her hand was swallowed in one gulp, and by the time she looked up again, the seagull had already flown to the front of the sailboat, continuing with eagerly leading them across this boundless ocean.

This was something Maggie had asked her to do, because when she turned into a bird, there was no way for her to take out the meat on her own.

Even though her current body had looked no difference with an ordinary seagull (except for her body size), Sylvie could still see the magic surging within her and could also see her real from. And if she even took an even closer look, she could even also see the process of how the magic came from all direction to finally gather at a single point, turning into little spots before it disappeared completely.

“I heard that she cannot only transform into different kind of birds, but that she also receives their corresponding abilities?” Someone behind her clicked his tongue in wonder, “As far as I know, seagulls will never be lost at sea, and are also aware of any incoming storms ahead of time.”

“It is indeed like that, Mr. Captain,” even without looking back, Sylvie knew clearly the man who had come over, “Otherwise we wouldn’t had dared to choose a new route and bypass the Endless Cape, landing in the Southwest of Graycastle.”

Not only did her ability allowed her to observe the flow of magic and detect all magical changes, but it also gave her a vast field of view, which didn’t have any gap in its coverage. It gave her She had the ability to observe everything that was around her at all times — even ignoring the obstacles that were able to block her normal line of sight. Her ability was so powerful that she could even see the lazy sailors who were sleeping under the deck, as well as the shoal of fish that were swimming beneath the bilge.

“Does that place have any ports?” Captain Jack blew out the smoke. “I remember that there were once explorers who’ve traveled to the western side of the Endless Cape, but all they found were cliffs and shoals, there was nothing else.”

“It is even better if there isn’t anything there,” Sylvie said indifferently, “That way everyone can return on the previous route right away.”

“Isn’t that the same as going on a wild-goose chase?” The captain shook his pipe, “I anticipate that I might see something out of the ordinary on this new route.”

This time the long journey had been arranged by Lady Tilly so that they could come into contact with a gathering of witches that were staying at another place and in that way to help each other out. In addition to the five chosen witches, Ashes and Molly were also on the ship — but they wouldn’t stay ashore, they had only come along to ensure that this sailing trip would be absolutely safe. Molly’s magical servant could help the ship to withstand any possible storm they might face, while Ashes would make sure that every pirate who dared to fix their attention on their ship and decided to come over would be unable to make their way back.

But Sylvie herself was also carrying another duty on her shoulders, that was, to identify Roland Wimbledon’s true identity for Lady Tilly.

Before the trip, Lady Tilly had given her a detailed account of the story, and also how she was supposed to respond to every kind of outcome. In simple terms, she should do her utmost to reach an agreement with the Leader of the Witch Union, in exchange for Roland’s real body. But to be honest, Sylvie had always felt that this mission won’t be so easy for her to complete. In case the Witch Union did not agree and decided to put her and the other four in jail to prevent them from leaking any news, what should she do then?

Sylvie sighed as she looked through the cabin walls at Lotus, Evelyn, and the rest of the group happily playing with the magic servant.

I hope that the witches from the Witch Union are as friendly as Maggie had said.

…

After nearly a week of sailing on the sea, Sylvie finally saw Graycastle’s coastline.

“We will be arriving soon,” Honey shouted as she leaned over the ship’s railing, and the rows of swallows, ospreys, and seagulls standing beside her all followed her shout in a loud chorus.

“At last…” Candle said with a meek voice, and carrying a haggard expression, “I feel like I’m almost unable to keep going.”

“Child, that is only a temporary phenomenon, as long as you go ashore, you will soon be able to recover your previous strength,” Jack said while laughing, he then looked with one eye through the observation mirror. “I’ve been sailing for so many years, but I’ve never seen anyone dying because of the ship’s shaking.”

“Where is Maggie?” Honey Asked.

“She has already traveled to Border Town in advance so that she could contact the witches of the Witch Union,” Ashes replied. “I’m sure that they will send someone to pick you up soon.

“Sister Ashes, won’t you come with us?”

“Back at Sleeping Island Tilly is in even more need of my assistance,” Ashes laughed, “There is no need for you to worry, the witches of the Witch Union will see and treat you as sisters… In case you come across any trouble, it is the best to immediately look for Wendy, she will definitely try her best to resolve the problem for you. “

Wendy, Sylvie quietly engraved the name in her mind.

“Oh, that’s right, there is one other thing,” Ashes patted her forehead, “You must remember to always keep a far distant from Roland Wimbledon, and by no means should you be on your own with him.”

“Why, isn’t he the older brother of Lady Tilly?” Evelyn asked puzzled.

“He certainly is,” Ashes stated earnestly, “But that does not prevent him from groping a witch’s buttocks!”

Everyone inhaled a mouthful of cold air in fright.

In the end, the ship docked half a mile away from the shoal. After all, there did not exist any detailed charts of the area, and no one knew how deep the water really was at the edge of the shoal. Yet, going ashore was still quite simple, they didn’t even have to use the beach boat. Instead, Molly let her magic servant wrap up the five witches and herself, and in that way they floated above the sea surface all the way towards the shore.

The shoal was apparently a part of the mountain, and under the continuous erosion by the seawater, it had slowly become a soft and sandy beach. Not far from them there stood a towering mountain range which completely separated the coast from Graycastle and the rest of the mainland. It seemed that the mountain ridge was going on endlessly, and the further West they looked the higher it reached into the sky. At the end of their vision it almost became similar to the giant mountain peaks of the Impassable Mountain Range.