[Snake Witch] Cara
[Snake Witch] Cara
"He did, and he had already saved Anna and Nana before I even got there. The prince has never believed that our power is given by demons. On the contrary, he said the power belonged to our own..." Nightingale stopped abruptly, realizing that they did not believe what she was saying.
Well, she thought, it was not Wendy's fault. Neither was she convinced of the subsequent new life by merely one witness. Long had they been bullied and oppressed during their journey from the Eastern Region to the Impassable Mountain Range. It was not rare for them to be sold and discarded, and with the bloody samples in front of them, they had long ago lost their trust in people.
She calmed down at the thought. Things had turned a little more complex than she had expected.
"Wendy, you know that my derivative skill, besides being able to see the flow of magic power, it enables me to tell if people are lying," Nightingale said seriously. "I asked him why he had risked so much for the sake of witches, and 'we don't care about what you're at Border Town' was the answer he gave to me. He hopes that all witches will have freedom."
"If he did what he said, he would be targeted by the church." Wendy frowned. "Granting that the prince hasn't realized what it means to protect witches, you've known no better."
Nightingale could not hold back her smiles and said, "At first I had almost the same opinion, and you know how he answered me when I asked him 'can you really do that?'." She paused and stated word by word, "He said 'you'll never know the answer if you don't try.'"
"He wasn't lying?"
"He wasn't lying." Nightingale assured.
"That sounds incredible." Wendy softened her voice. She could not think of any reason that Nightingale, an old friend, would lie to her.
"It is." Nightingale shared her feelings. She would have never made up her mind so quickly without witnessing with her own eyes. And it was proven by her power. In retrospect, Roland barely lied, as he had said to her when they were on the wall. During the two months that she had spent with him, Nightingale had been very pleased. The only thing he had hidden from her was the actual use of the ice.
She hardly cared about the hiding. It would be weird if Roland unveiled all his secrets to a witch he had just met.
"I'll share the news with everyone tonight when they're all back at the camp!" She looked at Wendy and said in a deep voice, "I hope you'll help me to persuade them."
When night fell, the witches who had spent all day working outside returned to the camp. Seeing that Nightingale had come home safely, they were extremely glad and surrounded her to ask all about her journey. The white bandages tied around their injured arms weighed heavily on her heart. After answering a few questions thoughtlessly, she raised her hands to silence all witches.
It took her some time to tell them everything. She began by telling them about the time she snuck into Border Town, the acquaintance of Roland, Anna, and Nana, then the construction of the wall, the assembly of the steam engine, the fighting against the demonic beasts, and finally Anna who had just passed through to her adulthood. Nightingale even took out the design of the steam engine to convince others that it was true.
Most witches had been cocooned in an isolated world since they joined the Witch Cooperation Association, so it was hard for them to imagine the outside world. They seemed charmed by the stories, and when Nightingale came to the part about Anna passing through the Day of Adulthood unscathed, they were abuzz. The Demonic Torture had haunted them all their lives. All these years they had suffered from hunger and cold, leaving behind the secular world and secluding themselves to the Impassable Mountain Range in order to seek the legendary Holy Mountain. If what Nightingale had said was true—a land where the lord would accept them and a method that would protect them from Demonic Torture, Holy Mountain seemed less worthy to pursue.
Just then, the audience moved to clear a path for a green-haired witch who had half her face tattooed with serpentine. She walked towards Nightingale.
"Hello, my respected mentor," said Nightingale, as she bowed to the witch, "Snake Witch" Cara, founder of the Witch Cooperation Association. The witches in the association addressed her as mentor.
"I've heard your stories," she said with a hoarse and hollow voice, "and you mean to tell us that all we have done is wrong?"
"No, mentor, they aren't just stories. I mean..."
"Enough." She waved her hand impatiently. "I don't know what adventure you have been through, weaving your stories. A highborn prince who pities the poor witches? It's as silly as pitying a frog." She sneered as she turned around. Spreading her arms, she shouted, "Sisters, don't forget all of what the common people have done to you!"
She went on without waiting for Nightingale's explanation. "There's no doubt that the common people, the incompetents, have targeted us with blades and whips in the name of gods. Without God's Stone of Retaliation, they have no authority to oppress us. It's deities who grant us the power, not the evils. It should be us who work on the behalf of deities, not the church. It should be us, the sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association! Holy Mountain, told in old books, refers to the quarters of deities."
What?! Nightingale could not believe her ears. She had known that the leader of the Witch Cooperation Association was kind of eccentric, and although she was hung up on searching for Holy Mountain, she was far from mad. Despite not being as approachable as Wendy, Cara still sincerely cared for them. What Nightingale had not expected was that she would have such hostility toward ordinary people.
Had Cara secretly buried her anger and hatred all these years? And what she had claimed, about being detached from worldly affairs, was this really a way to save power for striking vengeance without warning one day? What had made her uncover her disguise now? Maybe...
"We've found the clue to the opening in Holy Mountain, the same as what we read from the old books! All we have to do is wait. In twenty days, when the blood moon rises in the sky, through a huge gate emerging from underground, we shall reach our final realm." She turned back, looking straight at Nightingale. "The common people have deceived you, and we've lived in a big fraud since we were born. What we've suffered in the Day of Adulthood is the test given by deities. One who is determined and resilient will obtain the true power. The church..." She sneered. "It's just a gang of common people who want to work in the name of deities. Sooner or later, all of them will go to hell."
"And you, child. There's time for you to stop this." Cara paused. "I'll forgive your ignorance and fault if you forget your stories. We'll retake you as one of us, and together we'll find peace in Holy Mountain."
Nightingale's initial excitement had cooled. The suffering was a test? The ones who did not make it through the torture on the Day of Awakening were simply worthless losers? The statements were exactly what the church was advocating. But no one stood out against these ideas, and instead, they wore a face of agreement. Even Wendy did not make a comment. Suddenly all turned dull and boring to her. Standing in front of her, the witch who was the founder of the Witch Cooperation Association and the leader of the witches seemed so unfamiliar.
She shook her head. "In that case, I'll take those who're willing to go, and good luck with those who decide to stay."
Just as Nightingale was about to take her leave, she felt a faint sting on her leg. She looked down and found a black snake with sparkling blue stripes biting her flesh. The Snake of Magic, which bore various venoms and was able to strike the target in silence, was often used by "Snake Witch" Cara.
The paralysis struck her hard and quickly. Nightingale moved her lips and struggled to say something, but the darkness overwhelmed her.