Snow in Fall
Snow in Fall
Anna replied thoughtfully, "Are you saying she may be a witch? If she's still alive, we can probably learn more about what happened over 400 years ago from her."
"She may not be a witch as well, or even not belong to this era," Scroll said hesitatively, "plus..."
"She may not necessarily stand on our side," Leaf continued.
Leaf's comment took Roland by surprise. If the relic was left by the church, the woman down there was very likely a member of the church. From her splendid dressing Lightning had described, she might even have been one of the senior executives in the church. If she was just an ordinary person, it would not be too big a problem. If she, unfortunately, was indeed a witch, then she might be a difficult person to deal with.
Based on the battle between Ashes and Nightingale, and the attack from Faceless, Roland concluded that there were no specific guidelines to grade a witch's fighting capacity. An Extraordinary without a God's Stone of Retaliation might, in some cases, be defeated by an ordinary witch who had a unique ability. Likewise, a combatting witch could also put herself in a difficult position if she was caught unprepared by an assistant witch.
If the woman, by any chance, harbored malicious intent, nobody would then be able to guarantee that her ability would not pose a threat to the Witch Union... unless she was awakened under the influences of a God's Stone of Retaliation.
"Are you guys all crazy to debate whether she was on our side?" Lily put her hand on her forehead. "How could she possibly be alive? At any rate, she was a person living over 400 years ago. Witches have a short lifespan. Even a strong Extraordinary can live no more than 100 years. You guys worry too much. In my opinion, she would probably shatter like that demon upon a gentle touch."
Roland corrected her. "Witches don't live long is because of Demonic Torture. Witches are physically stronger than normal people, so they should have a longer lifespan."
"Normal people live no more than 40 to 50 years." Lily let out a snort. "Do you think everybody lives as long as a turtle?"
A life expectancy of 40 to 50 years was primarily caused by insufficient food and poor medical care. Once people's living standard improved, this number would increase by 20. Nevertheless, Roland thought Lily was somewhat right. Even if people did have a longer lifespan, they could not possibly live for 400 years. Even a turtle could not live that long.
"But she's alive indeed." Lightning retorted. "You'll see once you get there. She's different from that dead demon. Her skin is radiant and her lips are plumped. Maggie!"
"Coo! Lightning is right!"
"Well, stop arguing," Wendy spoke up, "Whether she's alive or dead, it's worth taking a look."
"Are you sure?" Scroll frowned.
"If she's really a witch working for the church, we'll just put a God's Stone of Retaliation on her after she wakes up. That should do. Plus, we have Anna and Nightingale here. That shouldn't be a problem." Wendy said placidly, "The key lies in the fact that she may know something about the battle over 400 years ago. We need to rescue her even just for that."
The information about demons, which the church endeavored to cover up, was truly important for the town, and most likely it was not going to be a piece of good news. If they could learn it in advance, they would probably be able to gain a prevailing position in the future battle against the church.
As both Anna and Nightingale held the same view, Scroll conceded unwillingly. An agreement had thus been reached among the Witch Union.
"What about the First Army?" Roland looked at Iron Axe.
"I can dispatch 50 people at most," Iron Axe replied, "Your Highness, you sent out a few units to help City Hall to recruit refugees. There're currently 500 soldiers garrisoning the town approximately. Although Timothy received a God's punishment, there's still a chance that he makes a desperate effort to wage an aggressive war against the Western Region. In this light, we must retain a certain number of soldiers in the First Army to defend against a possible attack from the king's city."
"I see." Roland nodded. A military force of 50 soldiers was decidedly a little too thin. They would possibly suffer a great loss if demons speared them far away from somewhere out of their sight. In order to prevent this happening, Roland would need Lightning and Maggie to scout around in the air. Meanwhile, he had to also rely on Sylvie's perspective view. The ideal combination would be a hot air balloon in concert with ground forces, a few witches responsible for close-range combatting and guarding, and a flintlock squad in charge of long-distance attacks.
In that case, however, witches on Sleeping Island would also know there was a sleeping beauty in the relic. After a thorough reflection, Roland decided to include Sylvie, since the most important thing for this rescue operation was personal safety.
When Roland was about to turn the subject to the details of the rescue plan, Mystery Moon cried out in a low voice. "Heaven... what's that?"
Everybody was stunned when looking outside the window.
Roland pushed the window open in disbelief. The sullen sky had been covered with "white elves" which swirled and drifted down silently to the ground. Roland stuck out his hand. He felt a cold sensation as the little white dot of feather descended on his hand.
It was snowing.
This was out of usual... As far as he knew, it only snowed once in winter in the Western Region, and it was not even winter yet!
"Would it normally snow in the second month of fall?" Roland eyed Iron Axe who also looked at the snow sternly. Iron Axe slowly answered, "During my stay at the town over the past seven or eight years, I've never seen this."
Snow meant the arrival of the Months of Demons. At that time, the sun would be overspread by dark clouds. Before it once again peeped through the clouds, the entire Western Region would be under the attacks of demonic beasts. The whole Misty Forest would be filled with these fierce monsters. It would thus be pretty dangerous to travel somewhere beyond the city wall and almost impossible to transport witches with a hot air balloon, not to mention sending out the First Army.
In view of the above-noted factors, Roland had no choice but to suspend his rescue operation for now until the sky cleared up.
As the temperature in fall did not normally drop that fast, Roland truly thought the heavy snow was just temporary and would cease in no time.
To his disappointment, however, the town was wiped out by snow three days later. The forest and distant mountains were all covered with a thick layer of white muslin. It would definitely be a breathtaking view in the modern world. Unfortunately, at this point, Roland did not have the slightest intention to appreciate its beauty.
Although the snow had become noticeably less heavy than earlier, snowflakes still sprinkled here and there. The First Army was currently on a full alert and patrolled upon the new city wall regularly every day. Tents were pitched at the foot of the city wall so that soldiers could get prepared for the upcoming war in a timely fashion. As the temperature decreased almost on a daily basis, soldiers had changed their attire from shirts to winter jackets.
Roland's heart sank on the fourth day when he received the news from the front.
The west wall was attacked by demonic beasts.
That meant the Months of Demons arrived one month earlier than usual.