Release That Witch

"Damn it, these women are ruthless." He opened his eyes and tried to move but found his hands were tightly tied behind him and that his feet were tied to the chair.     

"He's awake." He heard the voice of a woman.     

"Your name?" One of them came to him and lifted his chin. "I suggest you not lie, or your corpse shall be found in the city moat tomorrow."     

Theo blinked. The woman was wearing a veil over her head and her body was covered in a robe. She obviously did not want to reveal her appearance.     

"Theo," he replied truthfully while looking around.     

It was a narrow room surrounded by dusty plaster statues. Some of the statues had been completed while some appeared to be only carved halfway. The accumulation of dust dyed the plaster gray and it looked like the place had been abandoned for a long time. There was no window in the room and so it was impossible to speculate the time, and the only light source was from an oil lamp on the wall.     

"You've been relentlessly looking for us from Fallen Dragon Ridge to Silver City," the woman coldly said, "Why are you looking for us?"     

"I'm not the one who's looking for you, and it's the Witch Cooperation Association."     

"What's the Witch Cooperation Association?"     

"A witch organization just like yours. I was sent by them to spread the news."     

"Nonsense." She snapped. "I don't know where you heard the name, but the Witch Cooperation Association was far away at Seawindshire in the Eastern Region. You think we would believe you simply because you recited a name?" The woman drew a dagger out from her waist. Theo noticed that it was exactly the dagger he used earlier on. "I'll give you one last chance. Don't test my patience!"     

"I'm telling the truth!" he said in a suppressed voice as he wanted to shout but did not dare, "They intended to go to the Impassable Mountain Range to look for Holy Mountain. They had not only found Holy Mountain but also settled down in Border Town. The Demonic Torture has also disappeared and therefore, they want to save more witches. I swear I'm not lying!"     

"Why did they look for you?"     

"It's because I helped them before. A member of the union was besieged by the Judgement Army of the church, and I helped her to distract the soldiers. Their mentor was Cara. It was Wendy and Scroll who asked me to come here!"     

The masked woman kept quiet for a moment after listening, and then she put the dagger back into her waist and walked behind him. Soon, Theo heard the whispering sound of two people behind him.     

"Newbie," he thought, "These two women are pretty accurate on the sneak attack, but the trial is completely and utterly the work of a novice."     

The taboo of a trial was to get only one chance to choose. If there was no answer given, it could easily give the interrogator nowhere to go. To kill or not to kill? If it was to kill, the possibility of getting the information was lost. If it was not to kill, it was equivalent to failing to achieve the threatening effect the interrogator mentioned. It would seriously damage the majesty of the interrogator, and the effectiveness of the next threat would also be significantly reduced.     

If it were for him to interrogate, he would certainly start with finger torture. A finger would be cut off for every lie, so even if there was a mistake, it would not be a big problem. The threat that was acted upon accordingly would quickly collapse the will of the enemy. It would be hard to carry out such a trial for those that had not been professionally trained.     

The other party was in doubt as soon as he acted frightened. That exposed the fact that they simply could not identify whether or not he was lying.     

The information of Cara, Holy Mountain and the Witch Cooperation Association were all true and reliable, which would further strengthen his position.     

After a while, the masked woman appeared before him. "When did they go to the Western Region?"     

"Two or three months before the Months of Demons. After the winter, they returned to the town and announced that they had found Holy Mountain."     

"How many... of them?"     

"About 40 of them? I'm not sure, except Cara, the other witches did not appear very often." Theo decided to add a little more bargaining chips. "'The Snake Witch' Cara, did you hear about her? Her ability is to summon the Snake of Magic, and one kind of it called 'Nothingness'. It can quickly remove any toxins. I have seen it myself and it was so magical."     

"You're not afraid of the witches?" The woman sounded a bit puzzled.     

"Why should I be afraid? The witches in the Witch Cooperation Association are all... beautiful! They aren't the demonic beasts with bare fangs and brandish claws that people have said they are and they don't hurt ordinary people. If I'm afraid, I wouldn't come this far to help them spread the news."     

"If someone went to Border Town, how should they contact them?"     

"One of them can sense magic power, and then they'll find any witch once that goes there."     

"Shadow, what do you think?" The masked woman looked behind him.     

"I don't know," said the witch called Shadow, "Let's wait for sister to come back and make the decision. She would definitely know what to do."     

"...Yeah." She nodded. She found a chair which could be considered clean and sat in front of Theo.     

"Who's your sister?"     

"The guide." The masked woman's attitude had softened a lot compared to before, and it was probably due to him saying that he was not afraid of witches. "She'll take us out of here."     

"Leaving? Where are you going?"     

The other party shook her head and did not answer.     

"You're not the witch from Silver City, right?" Theo continued, "Your accent doesn't sound like the people from the king's city." Silver City is close by, so the people here are proud of imitating the accents of the king's city."     

She hesitated for a moment, "I... am from the Southern Territory."     

"The witches from all over the kingdom have gathered here and are soon to be led by the guide to go somewhere else..." Theo thought to himself, "I have no doubt that this is a witch organization, and they're recruiting companions, just like the Witch Cooperation Association. But, where are they going?"     

This was when footsteps came from outside of the shed again.     

"Sister is back!" Shadow cheered as the wooden door squeaked opened. Theo held his breath in his heart.     

"Is he the one that had been using the underground channel to spread the message?" The voice of the newcomer was mature and steady. "What information did you get from the interrogation?"     

"He seems to be telling the truth." The masked woman repeated the investigated content and stated her thoughts, "It's not possible for him to know so clearly if he did not have a lot of contact with the Witch Cooperation Association."     

"Well, that's true." She walked past Theo and stood in front of him. Different from the masked girl, and she did not cover her face. Her long black hair almost reached her waist and she looked around 25 or 26 years old. The most interesting part of her was her eyes. Theo found her pupils appeared to be gold in color, and her star-like eyes could be seen so clearly that even when she was standing in the dark they were visible.     

Theo thought that he had seen many witches around His Highness, but the appearance of this woman was still considered as one of the best. There was a deep scar that went across her eyebrow and extended down to her cheek. The scar did not destroy her beauty but added a sense of seriousness to her look. Since seeing her face, Theo felt that this woman was a warrior.     

"If the Witch Cooperation Association really found Holy Mountain, they should not send people to spread such a message." She shook her head. "This will only bring the church. If they don't leave Border Town as quickly as possible, I'm afraid disaster is around the corner."     

"Then... what should we do?" Shadow asked.     

"The ship will arrive at midnight. There'll be other witches on board and so you, have to leave," she said without hesitation. "I'll escort you on board." As for the Witch Cooperation Association..." the black-haired woman looked at Theo who was tied to the chair and said, "Please help me to get a message to Tilly. Tell her that I'll be there a few days later. Perhaps I can bring more companions."     

"Are you going to Border Town with him?" Shadow said in shock, "What if this is a scam..."     

"So, he'll only kill himself." She smiled, her words full of confidence.