The Puzzles
The Puzzles
Finally, he had arrived back. It had taken him nearly one and a half month to go there, while it had taken only seven days to get back. Most of his time had been spent getting from Silver City to Redwater City. Even if Ashes did not care, he still chose the most secluded roads, to reduce the possibility of being found by the church.
Ashes led the way, but Theo could not be sure whether her name was real or not. She always dressed in a black robe, with a large sword wrapped in cloth on her back. Her long black hair was tied up simply in a ponytail, swaying on her waist. Whether it was riding or sailing, she paid little attention to him, walking alone in the front, looking at the scenery around her. It seemed that this trip to Border town was just a relaxed sightseeing tour.
Sometimes Theo would doubt his judgment. Was she really a soldier? The robe would interfere with her movements and the long hair was another disadvantage. Furthermore, it seemed Ashes was not afraid of being attacked from behind, during this time what he had seen most was her back. He did not think that the witch had a trustful nature. He could only assume that she had enough self-protection capability, that even a God's Stone of Retaliation would not pose a threat to her.
Theo searched around the hills and quickly found his target, a flagpole with red stripes on it. He dug a cloth out of the mud in the edge of the flagpole and replaced the red flag with blue cloth. Then he clasped his hands and sat on the ground.
"That's it?" Ashes asked.
"'Go to the foot of the hill in the northeast of the town, follow a stone road and find the flagpole at the top of the hill, then replace the flag with a blue one, and our people will notice.' That's what they said to do." Theo wiped the sweat on his forehead. "The Witch Cooperation Association will only take action at night, let's just wait here."
Ashes nodded, and sat in a clean spot, and asked if he had any food.
"Uh... wait." He untied his backpack, and took out a piece of meat. He ate half of it, and then gave the other half to her.
When Theo saw the witch chewing the dried meat slowly, he sighed. Except for her large sword, she had not even one bronze royal. Penniless as she was, she dared to rush to Border Town. Along the way the accommodation and meals were all paid for by him. She had to have the upper single bedroom and meat. Moreover, she was unaccustomed to portable food like dried meat.
Maybe the domain was strange to her, she was quite cautious. However, would not the most prudent approach be to prepare food by herself?
"The place we're going to is opposite the strait," Ashes swallowed the meat, and suddenly spoke, "I don't know if you have ever heard the rumors of the Fjords. There are countless islands, some of which are very harsh. We had to build a home suitable for a witch."
Theo was surprised, no matter how much he inquired, the witch had never said anything before. Why had she taken the initiative to mention this issue now?
"Are you wondering why I didn't reveal anything to you before?" she explained, "because if you were a liar, you would send a message secretly to the church when I was asleep at night. Then those girls would have likely been stopped halfway, but now they should be on the merchant ship to the Fjord. And the church is unable to stop them. I came here to take away the helpless witches in the Witch Cooperation Association. Sooner or later they'll know the news, so there's no sense hiding it."
"Even though I've brought you here, you can't rule out the possibility that I'm a liar."
"Yes, that's true," said Ashes, "and if people later coming here was not the witch, you would die here, with those who tried to kill the witches."
"Okay," said Theo, "can I ask another question?"
She thought a little and said, "If I can, I'll answer it."
"Do you come from the Kingdom of Graycastle? I've never seen such eyes before." Theo decided to start with her origin, for this topic was not sensitive, and it would decrease her suspicions.
"I was born in the Kingdom of Everwinter, but this has nothing to do with the color of my eyes. My eyes have been like this since I became a witch."
"The Kingdom of Everwinter? It's so far from the Kingdom of Graycastle. There are kingdoms in the middle, how did you come to Silver City?"
"I was sold to the church, and later..." She paused. "I wandered from the cloister in Holy City to the Kingdom of Graycastle until… I only stopped the vagrant life when I met her."
"Her?" Theo was curious.
"Tilly Wimbledon," said Ashes with warmth in her eyes, "she took me in."
The guard was suddenly startled when he heard the name. He had at first thought it was a duplication of the name, but the meaning was completely different adding Wimbledon. The person leading the witches to the Fjord was Roland Wimbledon's sister, Princess Tilly? His voice stuttered. "She, she's your leader?"
"The leader? You could say so." She nodded. "But for me, she was the most important person... No one could replace her."
As night fell, the two lit a bonfire on the hillside.
Ashes took her sword, and opened the cloth slowly. The blade of this terrible weapon had been close to her waist. It was covered with traces left behind from the collision. The dark gray blade did not have an edge, and it was clear that it killed people only by its weight. It was hard for ordinary people to lift this weapon, but in her hands, it was as light as a single-handed sword.
[How many blacksmith's shops had been robbed, in order to make up the necessary materials for this sword?" Theo thought, "and if His Highness' witch didn't show up, I might become a victim of the sword.]
"I heard that the Lord of Border Town is also called... Wimbledon." He decided to find something to say, otherwise, the wait would be particularly tough.
"Roland Wimbledon, Prince Roland of the Kingdom of Graycastle," she said quietly, "I've seen him before."
"What?" Theo was surprised.
"When I was taken in by Tilly and served as her bodyguard in the palace, I had the opportunity to meet her brothers and sisters." Ashes seemed to know Prince Roland very well. "Incompetent, arrogant, a man without knowledge or skills. It's hard to believe that he's Tilly 's brother, but in some aspects, he's quite daring."
Her tone became colder.
Theo could not help shuddering. He had heard a lot of rumors about His Highness when he served in the palace, his outspoken behavior, his flirting with the maids. Although he had never abused his power, it was inevitable to take advantage of others. He could not have...
At that moment, Ashes suddenly stood up and stared in the direction of the path. "People are coming."
Theo followed where she was looking, and figures of people gradually appeared in the night. The witch leading the way was the personal guard of His Highness, Nightingale.