Release That Witch

A week later, the First Army and the witches finally arrived at Border Town. It had taken more than half a month to finish this mission, which was delayed five days more than they had expected.     

The main reason was that Petrov Hull, the agent of Longsong Stronghold, had reported the occurrence of an unknown epidemic that had appeared in Longsong Stronghold.     

Fortunately, because Roland had reminded him before, Petrov tried his best to take quarantine measures and closed the whole town when the disease occurred. They sent word to Border Town at once.     

Upon receiving the message, Roland sent Maggie east along Redwater River to find the First Army's fleet and inform them to change their route to Longsong Stronghold at the Redwater River fork. And they could not return to the town until the plague was stamped out.     

Roland led the rest of the First Army and the families of the expedition to welcome them back successfully. With the familiar military march, soldiers excitedly saluted the prince. Many of them imitated knights by getting down on one knee, and shouting hooray. After walking down to the harbor, they hugged their families tightly. At this moment, Echo made a salute sound. The atmosphere was lively and extraordinary, attracting lots of serfs and wanderers.     

Iron Axe gave the prince a comprehensive report about the task.     

"Do you mean that some of our enemies attacking the First Army are witches?" Roland thought a moment. "It's not possible that Rats and their men did that."     

"Theo thinks so too. He even thinks that other powers gave the Rats the order. Normally, these pariahs rarely leave headquarters. In the king's city, aside from Timothy, only the church is able to order the Rats and own witches," Iron Axe said, "as the biggest underground organization, even the nobles can't appoint them to come out of their headquarters in full strength."     

"What's more, they appointed the witch to fight alone and Timothy was in the Eastern Region. The church is more likely to do that." Thinking of Wendy's and Ashes' encounters, Roland thought it was not surprising that the church had developed a batch of witches secretly. "Are you sure she's dead?"     

"She was hit in the chest by Nightingale and shattered." Iron Axe nodded. "We buried her corpse in the cornfield, where the sentry's remains were found."     

A soldiers' troop of 300 had suffered a night raid made by a large number of Rats on the last day, causing one death and four injuries. The only casualty was killed by the enemy's witch. Four injuries were caused by the hand crossbows of the enemies who had drawn near accidentally. Because of the continuous shooting of the revolving rifles, the war was over before entering the melee stage. Their wounds were tightly strapped up. And they received timely treatment of Nana after coming back to Border Town. Because of the existence of Nana, as long as bolts missed the vitals and their wounds were not infectious, they were likely to be cured after Nana helped them stop bleeding.     

In general, Roland was very satisfied with the First Army's first warfare expedition. As for the night raid, he did not know much about arranging both converts and undercovers for keeping watch. Iron Axe would need to think it over.     

"Thanks for your hard work. I'll host an Award and Honor Ceremony in the central plaza of the town. You can tell all members of the First Army."     

After Iron Axe left, Roland let out a sigh of relief.     

"Good job." He took out a bag of dried fish from the drawer and placed it on the desk. "If it were not for you, I'm afraid they would have been in danger."     

Nightingale revealed herself and accepted the dried fish with a smile, "I told you before we left to leave everything to me."     

"How strong was the opponent?"     

"She was very decisive and had a graceful skill. I'm guessing she may have been trained for several years. If I hadn't entered my Mist the instant she turned around and tried to strike back, I might have been hit with the smoky powder." Nightingale shrugged and briefly described the encounter. But he knew it had all been a blur to her. "I didn't mean to kill her. But, when I saw her eyes when she stabbed Wendy, I knew that only death would stop her."     

Roland was silent for a moment. "Do you remember what you said to me when we came back from the stronghold after defeating Timothy?"     

Nightingale thought for a moment. "It's not your fault?"     

"It's true." He nodded. "If she was adopted by the church as a child, she'll consider you traitors and fallen people, and it would need to take years to change her mind. At least you saved Wendy and the others."     

Nightingale laughed. "Are you comforting me?"     

"Um… "Roland coughed. "I think so."     

"Don't worry. Even though she's a witch, I can't feel sad for enemies. The road she chose is quite different from the future I expect. I figured it out on the ship back to the stronghold." Nightingale put a slice of dried fish into her mouth. "Taking down enemies and protecting my sisters is my duty. I just do it."     

"That's an encouraging thought," Roland was glad to say. It seemed he had misjudged her. He had thought she would be lost and depressed because she had killed a witch. He had not expected her to recover in such a short time. Therefore, either her mind or faith had matured.     

"But I have a question to ask you." After swallowing a filet, she hesitated for a few moments before continuing.     

"What?"     

"Did you do anything with Anna during these days?" Nightingale stared at the prince, her voice growing lower and lower. "You know what I mean."     

Roland nearly knocked over the cup in his hand. "Ahem. Why would you ask me that? I've been busy arranging for the fugitives. I have no time to spend alone with her."     

Her eyes lit up immediately. "You didn't lie to me."     

"Of course not, I'm..."     

Roland did not get to finish his sentence, but Nightingale disappeared immediately. Then he felt a soft lip touch his. The sense of touch was fleeting, only leaving the saltiness of fillets.     

"Wait..."     

Two slender fingers touched his mouth slightly before he spoke. Roland could not see her, but he knew she was at his side.     

"I know what you want to say," she whispered in his ear, "I don't want to change the affection between you and Anna. I just want to stay with you. That's all. Please forgive me. I'm afraid to reveal myself right now, and I don't know how to face you. Your Highness, You don't hate me, do you?"     

Roland opened his mouth. It would be impossible to say that he hated her. The obstacle in his mind came from 20 years of knowledge, not just lust. At this point, he could not deceive himself.     

"Even so." She said slightly, "Don't say anything. That wasn't your fault. I just did what I wanted to do."