Release That Witch

In the newly built castle backyard, Maggie fiddled with her wings and tail, twirling around to show everyone.     

Roland, who had already heard what had happened from the other witches, was still stunned when he saw the "demonic beast form" of Maggie.     

She had become an enormous brown-feathered bird with a 10-meters-long tail and a wingspan of about 15 meters. When she fully spread her bat-like wings, the blood vessels and bones under the thin skin were quite distinct under the sun. She had limbs the size of an adult and talons instead of hands to support her long body.     

Her head was the most conspicuous, with three eyes lay triangularly on the top and both sides of the head. In addition, a fierce-looking mouth that was not the kind of common bird-like beak covered a large part of the face. Maggie's lips moved and revealed sharp teeth and a long tongue as she talked, making other girls cry out in astonishment.     

"This is the demon's mount?" Leaf said, "Fortunately, we didn't run into such monsters in Barbarian Land, or none of us could have escaped."     

"If she didn't evolve the new ability, I'm afraid I couldn't survive at that moment," Nightingale said, stroking Maggie's glossy neck, "I'll prepare a bag of small pieces of grilled fish for you every day."     

"Owh...!"     

"I know. I'll season the fish with more honey."     

The giant bird whisked its tail even more cheerfully.     

Those were his grilled fish pieces! Roland sighed inwardly. How could Nightingale reward others with food that she stole from the kitchen and talk about it so loudly?     

"Then, as usual, let's test your new ability."     

"Sure! Owh!"     

...     

After a morning of hard work, Roland gained a detailed insight into Maggie's ability after she shapeshifted into a beast.     

The change had followed the convention of enlargement. Her new form as the enormous brown-feathered bird was twice the size of the Devil's mount. Her loading capacity also saw a slight upgrade, so she was now capable of carrying two witches while flying. But her speed at full-load, which could be kept at about 80km per hour, was much slower than Lightning's.     

However, since any load would reduce Lightning's flying height and exhaust more of her magic power, Maggie's endurance was an advantage. As long as the giant bird was completely shapeshifted, the depletion of magic power was slow. The height she flew or the load she carried did not matter. The only concern was her physical strength.     

Maggie's magic power had also grown considerably, allowing her to climb from the bottom to a medium-ranked witch in the Witch Union. She had enough magic power to shapeshift seven to eight times a day.     

Roland also confirmed his previous hypothesis through Maggie.     

The understanding of their own abilities determined the evolution of the witches, whether they understood it through learning or sudden enlightenment.     

This also meant there was a possibility for the witches to evolve naturally. As time went on, a few of them would be lucky enough and eventually stand out. The new ability, which was miraculous enough to turn the foul into the ethereal, absolutely overtook the old one. Could this be the reason why the church fully suppressed the wild witches?     

After lunch, the lord's castle ushered in a great event.     

After nearly four months of construction and renovation, the Witch Building was finally ready for use.     

Roland marveled at the building with only three stories and less than 50 rooms. Though it looked like the ordinary self-built house in the modern world, this building represented the highest construction level of the mainland kingdom, not from its size, but technique-wise.     

It was the first brick-and-concrete structure built with concrete beams and pillars reinforced with bamboos.     

Roland remembered what Karl, overwhelmed with emotion, had said to him when he poured the first concrete earth pillar. "I never thought that cement could be used this way. After being mixed with pebbles, you can shape it any way you like and use it for any part of the house... Your Highness, I believe it won't be long before masons completely disappear from the masonry."     

In addition to the beams and pillars, the floors were all paved with the prefabricated cement slabs with holes dotting the center. It awakened Roland's childhood memories. These old building materials can only be seen by the post-80s as they were completely abandoned by the times and replaced by cast-in-place concrete slabs before he turned 20.     

Yet the "old" prefabricated slabs were reborn in Border Town.     

The Witch Building stood on the left of the castle, forming an L-shape with the castle. The open space surrounding the two buildings was the new garden. It was three or four times the size of the old one, enough for Leaf to improve the cultivation of grains and fruits.     

***************     

Evelyn, who was staying in the new home, felt uneasy.     

Having been in Border Town for a month, she seemed to have done nothing more than wine-tasting for His Highness. She was also in the bottom in the last test with only five points... Although Teacher Scroll did not publicly announce the test results, she could easily pry into the information.     

Even Maggie who could not complete a sentence got 61 points.     

She suddenly felt she was no better than an idiot.     

Still, His Highness treated her as usual without discrimination. From time to time, he sent for her and they would talk about wines produced in different regions and taste the newly made hot white liquor. She even earned a gold royal at the end of last month, which worsened her uneasiness. Compared to the other four witches, she seemed like a freeloader.     

"There's actually a kitchen next to the living room for cooking and a weird little white-painted room. Come and take a look," Candle said excitedly, opening the bedroom door.     

"Yeah..." Evelyn answered weakly.     

"What's wrong? Are you unwell?" Candle asked, looking a little startled. She crouched down to touch Evelyn's forehead. "It's not hot." She then laughed. "Are you reluctant to be part with the sisters of Witch Cooperation Association who have shared one bed with you?"     

Evelyn was silent for a moment before she whispered. "We've been here for more than a month, right?"     

"Almost."     

"Lotus is about to finish the new City Wall that she's responsible for. Honey has trained plenty of carrier pigeons for His Highness; Sylvie even dared to accompany His Highness to investigate those terrible monsters," she said in frustration, "I'm the only one who has done nothing. I don't even have any training arrangements and I also have the worst test scores... I really don't know why His Highness invited me here."     

"Well." Candle mused for a moment. "Why not ask him personally?"     

"Huh?"     

"Prince Roland is Lady Tilly's brother. And you've noticed that he treats witches with sincerity. Even Sylvie who used to tell us to stay away from Roland and to beware of Roland has changed her attitude. Yesterday, she couldn't help complimenting him." Candle shrugged. "He won't bite you if you ask him."     

Is that so? That seems reasonable.     

Evelyn thought for a moment and decided to take Candle's advice to get rid of the anxiety that had haunted her for so long.