Release That Witch

Although she was accusing Prince Roland of pursuing pleasure, she had to admit that the stuff in the bathroom was... incredibly great. She enjoyed the cold well water that fell on her body from the shower, which washed off the stuffiness and stickiness of the scorching hot sun, causing her body to feel refreshed after a busy day.     

However, she felt guilty after taking a comfortable shower and wondered. [Should I apologize to His Highness for being overboard without controlling myself?]     

"Traitor!"     

"What?" Lily lifted the hair that stuck on her forehead.     

"You obviously don't believe the spherule theory but you're now the first to evolve a new ability." Mystery Moon was kneeling on the bed upright while pointing her hand at Lily. "You're a big liar!"     

Lily turned and said, "I still don't believe it. How could it be that everything is formed by spherule?"     

"But sister Nightingale mentioned that your magic power had advanced."     

"It has nothing to do with spherule." She shrugged, climbed onto the bed and pressed Mystery Moon's hand down. "His Majesty said that evolution doesn't depend on acceptance of the spherule theory. As long as we deeply understand our ability, we can still transform the magic power."     

"Really?" Mystery Moon pouted.     

"That's what he said anyway."     

[Mystery Moon was neglected in the Witch Cooperation Association, which has caused her lack of confidence,] Lily thought. Unlike her, food preservation was very important to the Witch Cooperation Association which was facing a food shortage. And she could understand Mystery Moon's feeling as she noticed that her ability had become useless when she first came to Border Town. She was once afraid of being kicked out of the town, however, it ended up entirely different from what she was worried about. Even Prince Roland, His Highness did not give her extra tasks, he treated her the same as the other witches.     

It was probably the reason why Mystery Moon had become bolder instead of cowering and self- deprecating like before. Her fear was mainly due to Cara who never bothered to look at her and even prohibited her to use her magic power in the camp.     

"So..." Mystery Moon frowned and said, "what should I do to understand my ability? His Highness mentioned that the magnetic field is invisible and intangible, and even the microscope is useless."     

"Don't ask me. I don't know." Lily yawned. "In fact, I only know what my ability looks like. I don't even understand... those cells, bacteria, fungal that His Highness was talking about. He even said that he's going to write a textbook for me," she reluctantly said, "Pardon me! I can't even read all the words yet."     

"I also want to be more powerful," Mystery Moon rolled her body on the bed and said, "I would also like to do more for His Highness!"     

Lily sighed. [Mystery Moon is apparently older than I am, but she acts as if she's younger...] she thought. "You can always ask sister Anna."     

"Ask her?" Mystery Moon stopped rolling.     

"Yeah, aren't you afraid of delaying His Highness? Then, you should just ask sister Anna for advice," Lily said, "other than Prince Roland, His Highness, she knows the most in the entire town."     

"But, Anna is always busy. I heard that she's the one who makes all the machines in the town." Mystery Moon hesitated.     

"So, you can ask her when she's free. Such as after dinner, ask for her help to heat up the bath water, or even invite her to take a bath together. Then you'll have a lot of time to ask her," the little girl suggested.     

"What you've said... sounds really reasonable." Her eyes lit up.     

"Then, let's go to bed. We still have to wake up early tomorrow." Lily untied the towel on her head and wiped two more times before she lay on the pillow. "Go and blow out the candle."     

"Uh, okay." Mystery Moon crawled to the end of her bed and blew out the candle. "Good night."     

…     

Lily did not go to the kitchen or the wheat warehouse as she would usually do to practice her ability the next day but she sat in front of the table and started learning to use the microscope.     

It was the new task His Highness had arranged. She was to fully understand the types and shapes of various cells and bacterias and record their differences before the textbook was ready. It was not a problem she could not write them down as they could be drawn.     

His Highness mentioned that Anna was still trying to manufacture a microscope that could multiply magnification. She would be able to see the tinier microorganism. The magnification effect could reach up to 400 times.     

In the future, her tasks would not just be maintaining the freshness of things, but she would also need to learn how to duplicate things. Lily found it difficult to understand this point. Luckily, His Highness suggested several directions to practice, such as commanding them to imitate the appearance of a single cell or instruct them to destroy or improve the cells with consciousness. It, of course, had to be based on the complete knowledge of various microorganisms. Although Lily was not sure if she could achieve it, she would have to at least try.     

Not to mention that exploring the unknowns itself was an interesting matter.     

Mystery Moon came back disappointed that night.     

"What happened?" Lily curiously asked, "Did sister Anna say anything?"     

"She said a lot." Mystery Moon laid on the bed. "However, I don't even understand a word. She said that the magnetic field is everywhere, and the compass can clearly show the direction because we're located in a gigantic magnetic field. Does it mean that my ability is useless? Not to mention the principle of the magnetic field, some kind of motion-charged-spherule and magnetic force are interdependent and the magnetic field can produce electricity... Is it true that I won't be able to progress without understanding the theory of the spherule?" she murmured, "Tell me, am I too stupid?"     

"A little," Lily said with her hand touching her forehead.     

"Traitor!"     

...     

There was another sister from the Witch Union that gained new ability and it made Wendy really happy.     

Lily's evolution had increased the witches' learning passion and some of them were still asking Scroll questions after the evening course had ended. Even Maggie was conscientiously squatting on the hanging lamp, listening to the class after hearing that learning could improve her own ability.     

All except one person.     

When she returned to the room with the "Natural Science Theoretical Foundation" in her arms, Nightingale was lying on her stomach in front of the table, tidying something attentively.     

Wendy knew that it must have nothing to do with learning.     

"What're you doing?" she asked.     

"Dividing dried fish flakes, do you want some?" Nightingale vaguely said while chewing a piece of dried fish, "I just brought it from the kitchen."     

"So much?" Wendy looked at the table that was piled up with the golden-color grilled dried fish in shock; meanwhile, she could smell the rich honey flavor.     

"Uh, the chef noticed that I come here every day so he simply grilled all the rest since it could be kept for a while." She took out a sack and filled it up with the food. And there were five or six similar sacks which were filled on the table.     

Wendy suddenly understood what she was doing—it was dried food preparation. The dried food needed to be divided according to the appropriate quantity and filled it into the carrying sack whenever the Witch Cooperation Association was preparing to leave the town. No matter how hungry they were on the way, they could only eat the set quantity to prevent food shortage. None of the sisters was doing it anymore since they came to Border Town, with a stable three meals a day provided and afternoon tea often served.     

Of course, for Nightingale, it was more appropriate to say that she was preparing snacks instead of preparing food.     

"You don't read?"     

"I won't understand it anyway. My head spins even simply hearing those theories and theorems." Nightingale swallowed the dried fish and smiled. "And my ability is enough for me. It doesn't matter if it evolves."     

"I see."     

[Nightingale's eyes sparkled at that moment without showing any compulsion or hesitation. She looks incomparably natural compared to before. It's impossible for a confused person to reveal such an expression,] Wendy thought to herself, [she had found her goals.]     

[She displays her firmness once she understands the path she takes. She was like this when she left her noble family and confronted Cara.]     

However Wendy did not ask, and she believed that she would see the answer herself someday.