Release That Witch

Theo had informed Roland about the situation in detail, prior to Roland's meeting with the new witch.     

He had not expected that the long-lost Tilly Wimbledon would have become the leader of another witch organization. What was more, she had already recruited more than half of the witches in the Kingdom of Graycastle. And the more intolerable thing was, now she actually wanted to expand her power in his territory.     

Nightingale had informed him that this witch was an Extraordinary, and her ability was likely to be combat type.     

Any Extraordinary was worthy of careful treatment. Therefore, when he met with Ashes in the office, Roland had Nightingale standing by, invisible. He also arranged for Anna to be nearby, just in case. In front of the desk, there were several extremely slender Blackfires, it looked like a wall, undetectable to the naked eye. If she dared to rush at Roland, these fires would tear her into several pieces.     

When combat witches were not wearing the God's Stone of Retaliation they were not dominant in a civil war, but once they wore the stone, they possessed an unrestricted, destructive power. Fortunately, God's Stone was hated by the vast majority of witches. Ashes had probably taken this point into account, and was not carrying the church's iconic item when she came to Border Town to recruit witches.     

"Your witches?! Don't be so arrogant," Ashes said coldly, "They're living people, not your personal belongings!"     

Roland felt suddenly choked by her words. This was the first time he had suffered from a feeling of failure in eloquence since he had arrived here. He was used to saying words like "my subjects" and "my people", however, he was now being criticized unpredictably for his democratic speech. He felt extremely embarrassed. Although in the practice of this era, there was nothing wrong with words like "lord" and "territory", it was not wise to emphasize this point in front of Nightingale and Anna. It seemed that these words brought the wrong type of emotion.     

So he coughed twice, acting as naturally as he could and then he said, "I never thought that way. It's their will to stay in the town, and I believe that this is the best place for them. As for the Fjords, the weather there is unpredictable, and you suffer from storms and tsunamis all year round. Plus, the Fjords are very dangerous, so it isn't really a suitable place to live."     

"But at least the power of the church is minimal there. Witches are able to build their own homes, and using their power, they can resist natural disasters. There's no way to resist the church with the God's Stone of Retaliation, let alone resist God's Punishment Army," Ashes said without any mercy, "Do you know how foolish you are to do so? The news you spread will only lure the church to you. To be honest. I think that you have no chance of winning against God's Punishment Army. You should let the witches leave your territory, and avoid the tragedy that'll inevitably happen."     

Roland had heard about the intelligence of God's Punishment Army from Wendy. He knew that to persuade her with power would be much more efficient than any words could be. Of course, he could choose to completely ignore Ashes. If he were to do so, it would mean completely giving up the witches under Tilly Wimbledon. Although there was little hope, he still wanted to try.     

"How many God's Punishment Army soldiers can you fight at one time?" he asked.     

Ashes looked puzzled, but finally stretched out three fingers. "If there're three of them I think I can cope okay."     

"Then let's have a duel," Roland sat up straight and said seriously, "Let the results tell you if I could win against the God's Punishment Army."     

"What, what're you suggesting?" Ashes asked. She was shocked momentarily, but then her cold face finally gave way to a different expression.     

"A fair duel, one to one," he said, "If I can beat you, it'll prove that I have the ability to resist the church, OK?"     

Ashes' facial expression showed that she thought he was crazy. She asked, "Just you and me? Or do you want the witches to fight?"     

"No, of course not me. And not the witches either. God's Punishment Army would have the God's Stone of Retaliation," Roland said smiling. "Your opponent is an ordinary knight."     

Although it was regrettable that he could not personally fight in this battle, he knew that the opponent was an Extraordinary, with superb power. From the description he had gotten from Wendy, he knew that this Extraordinary had killed all her enemies in the cloister and escaped the God's Punishment Army's chase. Even if she held only a wooden sword or even without weapons, she would unleash her full lethality. Also, the actual effect of the pistol needed to be developed. For safety reasons, he decided he would give this glorious task to Carter. If he had been holding an AK47, he would fight her Ashes himself.     

"An ordinary knight..." Ashes said and then she recovered her original cold face. "If I win, will you let the witches go with me?"     

"Of course not. Just like if you lose, you would never force Tilly to bring her witches to Border Town, right?"     

"So what's the purpose of this duel?" asked Ashes.     

"It's not a battle but a test," Roland answered, "The purpose is to show you that I won't lose when I face the church. And if you lose in this battle, you'll naturally remember that when you're back, if you can't stay in the Fjords, there's a border in the west where witches can live comfortably. Of course, if you win, at least it'll be more convincing when you persuade Wendy and others.     

"I won't lose," said Ashes, "Tell your knight to come at once."     

"Not now." Roland waved his hand dismissively. "In a week, I'll finish the preparation for the duel. During this week, you can live in the castle, and experience life in this small town with the witches. Maybe you'll change your views."     

She stared at the prince for a while, then nodded. "Perhaps it won't take seven days. They'll change their views, and leave Border Town with me.     

Roland shrugged.     

When she turned back to the door, he suddenly stopped her and asked, "Wait... Have we met somewhere before?"     

Although he had never seen her face before, from the shape of her back, there was a sense of familiarity. Roland slightly recalled in his memory, this sense of familiarity seemed to come from the king's city.     

"Didn't the guards tell you?" She did not look back. "Back in the palace, if Tilly hadn't stopped me, I'm afraid that you would have only one hand."     

After the door to the office closed, Nightingale appeared whistling. "Did you grab her ass before too?"     

"What?" Roland was astonished. "I don't remember this kind of person being in the palace. And what do you mean by 'too'?"     

Nightingale made a face, he discerned it was "Tyre". To hell with her. Although he really had touched the maid's ass, it was a situation that he failed to see anything wrong with it, many others did it as well. Nightingale still owed him credit for her peeping.     

"Ahem." Anna interrupted their talking. "Are you sure that the knight will defeat the Extraordinary? If he fails, it may affect other witches' confidence in you."     

Fortunately, Anna looked calm, so Roland was relieved. "The self-strengthening type of witch isn't affected by God's Stone of Retaliation, but she can still fight based on her physical function. Compared to our weapons which can shoot rapidly, her defect is obvious. We have a 70 percent chance of winning."     

But he would have to complete the development of ammunition within a week.