Release That Witch

Scroll taught in the hall ever night. It differed from the noble colleges in the big city in one key aspect, and the students who attended Scroll's classes were the witches of the Witch Cooperation Association.     

But she was not the first to arrive in the makeshift classroom. Evelyn who had arrived before her was sitting at the long table and waving to her.     

"Has His Highness given you any missions recently?" Evelyn impatiently asked as Candle just sat down.     

She still remembered that she had duly called Roland 'The Lord' when she first came here. Candle was secretly laughing at the bottom of her heart. "Yeah, he told me to cast my ability on some strangely shaped metal bumps and solidify them at the room temperature, but I don't know what their use is."     

"Is... is that so?" she said with her eyes dimmed, "His Highness hasn't asked me to do anything."     

"Even the practice content isn't specified?" Candle curiously asked.     

"No, I've just been simply practicing by myself." Evelyn shook her head and continued to say. "He only occasionally lets me taste a newly brewed white liquor."     

"Perhaps His Highness sees this. You used to serve in a tavern and you're very familiar with the tastes of different liquors. There aren't many witches like you."     

"However, liquor tasting doesn't really need a witch." She protested. "A gold royal is enough to hire a professional winemaker."     

"Uh..." Candle patted her shoulder. "I think His Highness certainly has his plans."     

"Scroll was also comforting me like this. But, even I myself... don't know what to do with my ability. I can't simply transform water into liquor... Unless His Highness wants to make the best liquor and sell it? But common people can only afford low-quality ale. The nobles have individual tastes..." Evelyn rested her chin on the table and depressedly said, "The liquor His Highness made... It's become more awful to drink, and I've suggested that he mix it with water or juice, but he seems to only want to make the strongest liquor."     

Candle did not know what to say for a moment. She was on the same boat with Evelyn regarding this. After going to Sleeping Island, they could only do some chores for most of the time. With the increasing abundance of the fish oil resource, consolidating candles had become dispensable and drinking was prohibited by Lady Tilly.     

On Sleeping Island, the materials were often allocated according to a witch's ability at a critical time. Candle sometimes only received a salt-free grilled fish for an entire day. She did not have a problem with this approach and was also willing to give more food to those witches that consumed more magic, but the witches had divided into groups accordingly and the vaguely exclusionary feeling made her feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, Lady Tilly took good care of them and she apologized for the distribution method, promising to adjust it when there were sufficient resources. As a result, those witches did not express their discontent at the exclusion too obviously.     

But the situation that she was experiencing in Border Town was something she had never seen before. Sitting at the same table as His Highness to enjoy a meal, what the witches wore and what they were allowed to use was also so different. Most importantly, they would receive the same treatment, regardless of their ability. It could be seen from how they got along in their daily life. She had deeply felt it even though she was only in Border Town for two weeks,     

The witches here treat each other like real sisters.     

It made Candle extremely envious.     

When all the witches were seated, Scroll came in with a stack of white paper. "I'm not teaching new content today, but I'll conduct a comprehensive test of what we've learned."     

"What's that?" Lightning was the first to raise her hand and ask.     

"Coo, coo?" Maggie followed her closely to ask.     

"You've been studying for almost three months now, and His Highness believes that it's necessary to test the results of your studies." Scroll laughed and continued to say, "All the questions are listed on these papers, and it's divided into three parts, Kingdom Language, Mathematics, and Natural Science, a total of 60 questions. You'll get a mark for each correct answer. Of course you're not allowed to raise your hands to ask if you don't understand a question. And, I believe you have a preliminary grasp of reading and writing, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to answer even if you know the answer." She paused. "By the way, His Highness has said that only those that answer more than half of the questions correctly may enjoy the ice-cream dessert on weekend afternoon. The rest would not be qualified for afternoon tea."     

Candle heard a noise at her back. She turned around and found Nightingale in shock, and her charcoal pen had fallen to the ground and broken in two.     

"His Highness has specially mentioned that the five witches from Sleeping Island aren't included. You all can either stay back to answer the questions with everyone else or you can take a rest today." Scroll looked at Candle, Evelyn and others before continuing to say. "No matter what scores you get, you would still be able to enjoy the delicious afternoon tea."     

"Phew," Evelyn patted her chest, turning around and whispered, "I don't even know all the words yet so I thought I would certainly have no ice-cream."     

Honey and Lotus happily stood up and bowed to Scroll before leaving the hall.     

Except Sylvie who was absent due to her unwell body, there were only Evelyn and herself from Sleeping Island.     

"Do you want to stay?" Candle whispered.     

"I want to try." Evelyn nodded. "Hasn't His Highness mentioned that knowledge could enable the evolution of our abilities?" "If I don't work harder in this aspect, I'm afraid that I'll never be comparable to them." She slyly smiled. "I've been practicing writing in my room after the classes. What's more, Lily and Mystery Moon have also taught me some common words."     

The frustration in her tone had dispersed and her eyes became shiny. Candle could not help smiling upon seeing this.     

"Is it? I'll try it."     

…     

"Your Highness, here are the test results." Scroll submitted a summary sheet to Roland.     

"You've worked hard." The recent discovery in the North Slope Mine area confused him, subsequently, it was difficult for him to even concentrate on his daily work, and thus he would rather simply concentrate on easier matters. "Oh, Nightingale actually passed?"     

"Yeah, her score was within the top three and she scored 100% in the Kingdom Language," Scroll smiled and said, "After all, most of the questions you asked were very simple. She knows how to read and write and that makes it easier for her than other witches."     

"Tsk tsk." Roland smacked. "I thought that the test could make her eat fewer desserts." Before he finished saying that, he felt a heavy pinch on his shoulder. "In short, the result looks pretty good. All the members of the Witch Union scored over 60. It seems that your education is very fruitful."     

"It's a testament to the efforts they put in."     

Roland looked down and said, "Only two of the witches from Sleeping Island participated in the test?"     

"Yeah. Evelyn scored five points and Candle scored 36 points. The latter should have a certain foundation. Most of her score had come from the Kingdom Language questions," she replied.     

They only joined two weeks ago and they were able to score on the written examination. Their individual qualities were indeed amazing. Witches indeed continuously improved both internally and externally. Their very own witches, such as Lily, Hummingbird, Mystery Moon and the others were equally excellent. They only took three months to learn from a being completely illiterate to being able to basically master both reading and writing, which was obviously better than the ordinary people.     

If the people could completely set aside their prejudices and work together with the witches to promote social and civilizational development, what would the future look like? Roland was full of expectations in his heart.