Chapter 715: The Feelings of Combat Witches
The sky had closed over completely, a low ceiling of grey pressing down on the harbor. Snow came sideways on the wind in thin white streams, not enough to obscure the shape of the Charming Beauty as she eased toward Shallow Beach — only enough to make standing on the pier feel like a small decision rather than an inevitable one.
Roland had been waiting.
When Tilly stepped onto the pier, he opened his arms and she walked into them without any ceremony, as if it were simply the next thing to do. The grey of her hair had lightened slightly, or perhaps that was the snow. She had gotten thin.
“Welcome back, sister.”
“The Months of Demons came earlier than I expected.” She pulled back and studied his face. “I hope I’m not too late.”
“You’re here now.”
The pier came alive around them. Crates and trunks being handed down, witches calling across each other over the sound of the wind. Andrea Quinn was already moving toward him with the particular expression of someone who has identified a priority.
“Your Majesty — there’s a welcome dinner tonight, isn’t there? Could you arrange hotpot again?”
“Mind your manners,” Ashes said, from behind her.
Andrea appeared not to hear this. Her eyes were bright with expectation in a way that her noble bearing hadn’t quite managed to extinguish. Nightingale’s influence, Roland had come to suspect — the same casual dissolution of formality, the same cheerful prioritization of things that mattered.
“Of course,” he said. “Winter’s the best season for it, actually.”
“Yes.” Andrea’s expression resolved into pure satisfaction. “You’re absolutely what Nightingale says you are—”
Her voice cut off. Invisible fingers had found her mouth.
Ashes put her hand over her eyes and turned deliberately toward Wendy, beginning a conversation about something else entirely.
Tilly glanced at Roland, then at the empty air where Nightingale wasn’t visible. Her expression was thoughtful and slightly amused.
Roland felt the color rise in his face. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go inside.”
The witches who had come from Sleeping Island were familiar with the castle by now — the Wolfheart four had made the crossing before, and Iffy and her companions had developed their own preferences for which rooms and which routes. The settling-in required less management than it once had. When everyone had shed their coats and found their seats, Roland told them what had happened since they last met.
He left nothing out. Taquila’s survivors, the cave beneath the Kingdom of Dawn, the maze of coffins, the Five-Colors Stone ring and what it measured. Phyllis’s journey to Neverwinter. What the beam had illuminated when Agatha brought the ring to the castle.
When he finished, the room was quiet for a moment.
Ashes asked the question first, in the direct way she had. “So you’re the witch Taquila was looking for. The Chosen One.”
“Or the first wizard in history,” Tilly said. The amusement in her voice was fond rather than mocking. “My brother has always been uniquely positioned.”
“I don’t have magic,” Roland said. “The title belongs to Taquila’s framework, not mine. What the Instrument of Divine Retribution actually is — we don’t know yet. That requires more conversation with the survivors than I’ve had time for.” He spread his hands. “In the meantime, I’m planning an artillery exercise outside the western wall. Partly for Phyllis’s benefit — she needs to see what Neverwinter’s weapons can do. The exercise is also open to the public, which serves its own purpose.”
“Deterrence,” Ashes said. Not a question.
“I prefer to call it clarity. If people understand what they’re part of, they act differently.”
“Sounds like the same thing.”
He didn’t argue. She wasn’t wrong.
“Since it’s an exercise—” Andrea had been tracking the conversation with the particular attention she gave to things that might involve her, and her moment had arrived. “We don’t have live targets yet, do we?”
“Wooden frames and painted shells, originally. Soraya was going to—”
“Use real ones,” Andrea said. Her chin lifted slightly. “Use demonic beasts.”
He paused.
“Nothing’s more convincing than what’s actually destroyed,” she said. “If you want the audience to believe in the artillery, show them what it does to something real. Something they’ve been afraid of.”
He had to admit she was right. The theatrical precision of it — the actual creature dissolving under a weapon the crowd now understood belonged to them — was something painted wood couldn’t replicate. He’d planned for the practical and she’d spotted the difference between practical and effective.
“We’d need to catch them first,” he said.
“Yes.” Andrea looked satisfied. “Leave that to us.”
“Us?” Shavi’s expression was the expression of someone working out how a vacation had been restructured. “Why can’t we stay inside playing cards?”
“I’m in,” said Iffy immediately. Anything involving a fight, and Iffy was already moving toward it.
“Will it be dangerous?” Wendy asked.
“If we work within Leaf’s range, there shouldn’t be a problem.” Nightingale had materialized somewhere behind Roland’s shoulder. “She can track everything in the forest and keep the worst of the hybrids away. We’d have the Sigil as a failsafe.”
Tilly’s eyes were bright. “Then make it a competition. Three teams — Sleeping Island, the Witch Union, Taquila. Whoever captures the most demonic beasts wins.” She looked at Roland. “The prize can be a month’s supply of Chaos Drinks. I’ve been told it surpasses ice cream bread.”
“You’ve been told correctly.”
“Will Phyllis join?”
“She can choose.” Roland considered. “But there’s something to what you’re saying — if she sees common people controlling weapons that can do what the First Army’s artillery does, it matters more than any description I can give her.”
He looked around the room at the faces turned toward him — Ashes patient, Andrea already calculating, Iffy alert, the Wolfheart witches uncertain, Wendy quietly thoughtful. The Sleeping Island contingent had come to help Neverwinter survive a Months of Demons that the First Army was already handling. They were combat witches sitting through a siege that didn’t need them, waiting in rooms that were too warm, playing cards.
He had, he realized, given almost no thought to that.
“All right,” he said. “Competition it is.”
Chapter 715: The Feelings of Combat Witches
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
The 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.