Chapter 919: Repay the Great Chief’s Kindness
“Then you admit I’m qualified to fight demons?” Lorgar felt the energy return with the question — quick, clean, arriving before she had decided to feel it.
“I’ve never questioned your capability.” Roland held her gaze. “In this war, even a woman who has never lifted a weapon will eventually be involved — somewhere behind the main line. What I’ve always objected to is the idea of you going alone.” He kept his voice level. “If the Sleeping Island witches had been any later, without Nightfall’s Seed of Symbiosis, you would be in the Western Zone Cemetery right now.”
“But if I hadn’t gone as deep into the Barbarian Land as I did, Neverwinter wouldn’t have received the warning about the demon army.”
“I can reward a good result without approving the behavior that produced it.” He shook his head. “What I’m most glad about — in everything you did — is that you brought the intelligence back to Neverwinter instead of staying to fight alone. If you asked me again whether I’d want you to go by yourself, my answer would be the same. I’ll be asking the sentries to increase their vigilance, in case you come home more dead than alive again.”
“What?”
“That’s the great chief’s command.” The corner of his mouth moved. “Now. Your reward.”
Lorgar closed her mouth. The expression on his face was noticeably more serious than it had been when he was touching her ears.
“Three options,” he said. “Gold royals, Chaos Drinks, or a piece of equipment custom-made for you.”
The first two were clear. The third was a different kind of question. Custom equipment. Iron claws, perhaps? Steel tusks for the wolf form? She had considered something like that before — some of the Wildflame warriors had worn toothed metal wraps on their arms for exactly that purpose. But when she shifted back to her human form, weapons that belonged to the wolf were a burden to carry and impossible to conceal.
She said as much to Roland.
“I don’t have a finalized design,” he said, “but I can tell you the principle. It would be a firearm — a powerful one, designed specifically for God’s Punishment Witches, which means it’s also suited to someone in a half-animal form. Ashes told me that you can maintain partial transformation — wolf strength in a human body — and that this gives you roughly half the power of a God’s Punishment Warrior. The weapon is built around that.”
She recognized what he meant. The weapons the First Army had used to destroy the oasis watchdog. Lightning’s rifle. She had watched that weapon cut through things that should not have been cuttable. It was powerful, undeniably. But it depended on a particular kind of ammunition that only Neverwinter could produce, and the great chief would never trust her with a supply of it — not if his goal was to keep her within the city’s reach. Without the ammunition, the weapon sat on a shelf.
Besides, she trusted her teeth and claws over any manufactured thing. They were hers. They did not run out.
She turned the question over in her mind, and then arrived at the thought she had not expected to arrive at.
“Can I join the Witch Union instead?”
Roland blinked. It was, she thought, the first time since she had woken up that she had genuinely surprised him. “You can. But earlier you said—”
“I changed my mind.” She wagged her tail once, a small involuntary motion. “The gold royals and the Chaos Drinks get used up. I don’t have any other skills apart from fighting. If I join the Union, I get both every month. That seems more efficient.”
“That’s — yes, that’s correct.”
“And I promised Lightning and Maggie that we’d explore the Barbarian Lands together when the time came. They’re both Union members. If I’m a member too, it’ll be easier to coordinate with them.” She met his eyes. “Under those circumstances, you wouldn’t stop me from going into the wasteland, would you?”
He cleared his throat. “Technically, you’re correct. Though you’d still need to treat your own safety as a priority.”
“Then that’s what I want.” She paused. “I’m sorry I refused your offer before.”
“It’s your choice to make.” Roland spread his hands. “Wendy will go through the details with you. And I’ll have the kitchen send something up — you need to eat before you do anything else.” He stood. “The witches will have plenty of time for you to thank them later.”
He left. His footsteps faded on the stairs.
Lorgar let her ears droop and lay back against the pillow.
There was one thing she had not told him.
Not the drinks. Not the gold. Not even the appeal of exploring with Lightning and Maggie, though that was real.
She was Mojin, and Mojin believed in facts rather than words. From the first day she had come to Neverwinter, she had kept a specific account of Roland Wimbledon, tallying his promises against his actions, waiting for the moment when the account came up short. She had expected it. She had been certain it would happen. Northern nobles — powerful ones, kings especially — made promises to the Mojin that cost them nothing to make and nothing to break.
She had refused to trust him.
But then she had been lying in a bed with a Seed of Symbiosis keeping her alive, and the witches of Sleeping Island had been sending letters to the Northern Region asking for Nana Pine to be released from the campaign, and she had been calculating the distance — the full distance, Iron Sand City to Neverwinter, measured in days of flight for a creature the size of Maggie — and trying to determine whether it was possible that Nana could arrive before the Symbiosis ran out.
And Nana had arrived. Not after the campaign concluded. Not when it was convenient. First, the moment she landed.
An army healer. Probably the most irreplaceable one he had. Sent south ahead of everyone else, for a wolf girl who had asked him for nothing and given him only arguments.
A warrior of the Southernmost Region would have sworn herself to a lord for less. Lorgar was not precisely a warrior — she was a Divine Lady, which was something different and sometimes something more — but she was Mojin to the bone, and what she felt looking at the facts was the same thing a warrior would feel.
She stared at the ceiling.
Why not believe in the great chief a little more?
Roland came downstairs into the reception hall.
The guards at the gate opened the doors, and every person in the hall rose at once.
Lightning had brought his convening order back ahead of the army, and the hall had filled accordingly. He swept his gaze across the room: City Hall department heads; the garrison commander; representatives of the Witch Union and Sleeping Spell; the governor of the Longsong district; the Senior Witches of Taquila, their forms half-transparent on the light curtain at the far end of the room. More than fifty people, dressed in the particular solemnity of those who understand they are here for something real.
Their faces were different. Some held a measured blankness — the response to an enemy they had only heard of in rumors. Some showed a flat, unmasked hatred, the kind that has been building in a person for a long time and has finally found a direction. Most were simply serious.
The war was coming. Whether they were ready for it or not was, at this point, a secondary question.
Roland took his seat.
Chapter 919: Repay the Great Chief’s Kindness
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“Now will you admit that I’m qualified to fight the demons?” Lorgar felt refreshed all of a sudden.
“I’ve never denied your ability to fight against them. In fact, even an ordinary woman who’s unable to tie up a chicken will end up being involved in this mighty war, albeit behind the main defensive line.” Roland reiterated his concern. “I only objected to your desire to fight them by yourself. If the Sleeping Island witches had come any later, without Nightfall’s Seed of Symbiosis, you would have been buried in the Western Zone Cemetery by now.”
“But if I hadn’t gone that deep into the Barbarian Lands, Neverwinter would never have received the news about the incoming demon army,” Lorgar retorted.
“I can reward you for a good result but I still wouldn’t ever approve of your wrong behavior because of it.” Roland shook his head. “What I’m happiest about in your actions this time is your bringing the message back to Neverwinter instead of fighting the enemies alone in the Barbarian Lands. Even if you were to ask me this same question again, I would give you the exact same answer. No, I don’t want you to go to fight the demons by yourself. I’ll ask the sentries to step up vigilance from now on, in the case that you might someday come back to the city more dead than alive.”
“What?”
“This is the great chief’s command!” Roland remained unmoved. “Let’s talk about your reward first.”
“Well…” Lorgar found that the look on the great chief’s face was far more serious now than when he had been touching her ears. “That’s fine.”
“There are three types of rewards. You may choose between gold royals, Chaos Drinks, or a piece of equipment custom-made for you.”
“The first two choices are easy to understand, but what’s the last one? Is it some kind of iron claw or steel tusk for me to use in my wolf form? I had previously considered obtaining this kind of weapon back in the Wildflame clan. However, when I transform back into a girl, these weapons that are inconvenient to carry will become a burden for me.” Lorgar thought to herself.
She raised this question to Roland.
“I don’t have a specific design for the weapon in mind right now, but I can tell you that it’ll be a mighty firearm that can dramatically improve your combat capability,” Roland explained. “Ashes told me that you could transform selective parts of your body into their wolf form while in your human form, and that in this half-animal form you would have half of the strength of a God’s Punishment Warrior. Since this equipment is specifically designed for the God’s Punishment Witches, I think it’ll also suit you.”
This firearm mentioned by Roland reminded her of the fierce weapons used by the First Army to destroy the oasis watchdog. She remembered that Lightning also had such a weapon. It was indeed powerful, but it also depended on the operator’s skill. More importantly, she knew that it used a very special kind of “bolt” that could only be produced by Neverwinter. She believed that the great chief would never give her any of these “bolts”, as he would never allow her to leave the city on her own. Without these “bolts”, this firearm could only be placed at home as a showpiece and would not give her much help.
After all, it was just a weapon. Compared to this external force, she had more faith in her own teeth and claws.
After a little thought, Lorgar said, “Can I choose to join the Witch Union?”
This choice was completely beyond Roland’s expectations. He was surprised and replied, “Yes, you can, but earlier you told me that…”
“I changed my mind.” The wolf girl wagged her tail. “Both the gold royals and the Chaos Drinks will be used up one day and I’ve no other special skills besides my fighting ability, so I think I’d better join the Witch Union. As a member of the Union, I’ll get gold royals and free drinks every month, right?”
“Well… yes, that’s right.”
“In addition, I’ve promised Lightning and Maggie that I’ll explore all of the Barbarian Lands together with them. Since both of them are members of the Witch Union, it’ll be more convenient for me to take action with them after I join the Union. Under such circumstances, you wouldn’t stop me from going deep into the wasteland, right?”
“Ahem, you’re technically right, but you still need to place your own safety as your most important priority.”
“Then this is the reward I want,” said Lorgar. “I’m sorry I rejected your kindness before.”
“Well, it’s up to you.” Roland laid out his hands and shrugged.
“Now, do I need to sign a contract?” she asked with a solemn face.
“Of course, Wendy will tell you everything later.” Roland stood up. “I’ll ask the kitchen to send you something to eat. Have a good rest first. You’ll have many chances in the future to thank Nana and the other witches.”
Having seen Roland leave the room, Lorgar’s ears drooped and she lay back down on the bed.
There was one thing that she had kept a secret from Roland.
It was the genuine reason why Lorgar finally decided join the Witch Union. She had not been attracted by the free drinks and the gold royals.
As a Mojin, she was more convinced by facts than words. From the very beginning, she had doubted Roland’s promise to the Mojin people and had refused to trust a nobleman from a northern kingdom. She had believed that she would one day return to the Wildflame clan and become Roland’s enemy again when he ultimately betrayed the Mojin. Besides, Roland’s comments during their first meeting had indeed irritated her. She had never anticipated that he would show any concern for a Divine Lady of a Mojin clan. Even though the conflict between the Mojin people and the northern king had already been resolved, her suspicion of him still remained.
However, her opinion of him had begun to change.
During the Symbiosis period, the Witch Union kept telling her that she only needed to hold on a little longer to get Nana’s treatment, since they had already sent a number of letters to appeal to Roland Wimbledon for help. Back then, she would never have expected that the great chief, busy recovering his territory, would send Miss Nana back from the Northern Region of Graycastle only for her sake.
In Lorgar’s memory, it was an exceptionally long journey from Iron Sand City to the Endless Cape, and Roland’s kingdom was several times larger than the Southernmost Region. Given that, she had suspected that it would take at least one or two months for Nana to return to Neverwinter.
However, the great chief had sent Nana back in time. Surprisingly, despite being a healer of great importance to the army, she had turned out to be the first witch to be sent back from the north. With this in mind, Lorgar found that it was hard to doubt Roland’s sincerity.
Even Maggie had to fly for three days to take a round trip between the Northern Region and Neverwinter. If the great chief did tell her the truth, that meant Nana had come to her rescue the moment she had arrived at the city. Such kindness would make any warrior in the Southernmost Region willingly take an oath of allegiance to the lord.
Lorgar could hardly be regarded as a professional warrior, but she was a pure Mojin.
Faced with the facts, she wondered, “Why not believe in the great chief more?”
…
Roland left the bedroom and went downstairs to the reception hall on the first floor.
The guards at the gate opened the door, and all the people inside the hall stood up simultaneously at the sight of the king.
Before he arrived back at the Western Region, Lightning had brought his convening order back to Neverwinter. He steadily stepped into the crowded hall while taking a glance at everyone assembled before him.
There were more than 50 people here, including the City Hall department heads, the commander of the Garrison of the First Army, the representatives of the Witch Union and Sleeping Spell, the governor of the Longsong district, and the Senior Witches of Taquila. They wore various kinds of facial expressions. Some seemed to be bewildered by the unknown enemy and some showed unmasked hatred towards the demons, while most of them looked solemn and serious.
The war was close at hand, no matter whether they were prepared or not.