Farewell
Farewell
Although he quietly wished that they would not leave so soon, upon hearing the news that Charming Beauty was still waiting at the shoal, he decided not to delay it further - at least this way, it would seem magnanimous of him and would not put Lady Tilly in a difficult position. Placing himself in her shoes, he thought that Lady Tilly had shown utmost sincerity in sending her important witches to Border Town at a time when Sleeping Island was in need of large-scale construction. It would not be right for him to make further demands of her.
To save the witches the trouble of a long journey through snow on foot, he asked Anna and Wendy to send them using the Cloud Gazer, which would take only an hour to reach the shore.
"We are grateful for Your Highness' care over these few months," the two witches bowed in front of Roland and said.
"No, I should thank you," said Roland, laughing. "You two have contributed greatly to the construction of Border Town, and for that, I have two gifts for you."
"G... gifts?" Lotus looked slightly surprised and her cheeks turned a bright red.
Honey touched herself on her bosom, casting a quick glance at Lotus', and asked eagerly, "Can we also have a gift?"
Taking two parcels from Nightingale and handing them over to the two witches, Roland said, "Yes, go ahead and open it."
Honey unwrapped her gift almost immediately and pulled out a long strap of cloth, saying, "What's this? Isn't it a corset?"
"Close, but it is actually a scarf," Roland walked up to Honey and tucked the fabric made of pure cotton around her neck. "With this, you will never need to fear the cold wind or snowflakes entering your neck. If you twine it a little more, you can also protect the ears."
"Ooh, it feels really warm," Honey exclaimed with an expression of satisfaction.
Sensing something, Lotus flushed more deeply.
"There is one more thing inside," Honey said after playing with the scarf, and pulled a square object out of the parcel. "Your Highness, is this also a gift?"
"Yes, open and see what it is."
"Wow, it's shiny!" Honey raised up the metal box and said excitedly, "Look, Lotus, my reflection is so clear in this!"
It was a small mirror embedded in a wooden box - actually a common item sold in the Convenience Market. As Roland's life experience had taught him, women were irresistibly fond of shiny objects.
Honey's shrieking caught the attention of other witches, and soon the Sleeping Island witches had gathered in the backyard, using the shiny mirrors to check out their own appearances. Adoration and envy were in the air - hand coated by Soraya, these crystal mirrors were vastly superior to silver mirrors in reflectiveness and accuracy. Indeed, they turned out to be a great gift idea by Roland.
Soon after the gift-giving session, Cloud Gazer was adequately inflated and ready to depart. Lotus and Honey stepped inside the basket and waved goodbye to Roland and the onlooking witches. They were evidently reluctant to be departing from Border Town.
"I have to say, this has been a truly good place to live," Tilly walked to one side of Roland and said softly to him. "There's already a convenient water supply and comfortable housing. It's unimaginable that you've transformed this poverty-stricken land into what it is now in only a year."
"Do you regret it?"
"You mean, sending the witches here?" Tilly laughed, "Why, they have a better life here. Don't forget that I am also a witch."
In the spotlessly white garden, Tilly's smile gleamed as white as a snowflake, beautiful and colorless. Roland thought that if he had a younger sister like Tilly, it would be impossible to bring her out on the streets without attracting admiring glances from everyone. Of course, he was aware that her relationship with him was more akin to a collaborator and a natural ally rather than a sister. As was evident from her decision the day before, she was willing to put herself at personal risk in order to deal with any possible threat.
"Are you certain about going to such a dangerous place?" Roland queried, "You may be an Extraordinary, but perhaps your abilities aren't suited for combat?"
"Rest assured, I am not without any ability to protect myself." Tilly held up her hands to display the ornaments she was wearing - on the ring finger of her left hand she wore a ring made of blue crystal, and on her right hand she wore a white silk glove that was embedded with red gems on its back. Frankly speaking, the mismatch of accessories appeared exceptionally odd, as if inspired by the mix-and-match style of catwalks of a later generation. Roland had been curious about the ornaments since the day before but did not ask Tilly about it in order to not be disrespectful.
"This is a Magic Stone that was discovered in ancient ruins," Tilly explained. "Imbuing it with magic power allows me to use several abilities. This ring grants me the ability to fly freely, just like Lightning does."
As she spoke, as if to prove her own words, her feet gradually lifted off the ground and her body suspended in the air as though it was weightless. The scene startled Roland.
"Can a stone really alter one's abilities?" He wondered.
He quickly realized the significance of this.
If abilities could be mass customized, the witches' work efficiency would be greatly enhanced - supposing every witch in the Union could possess a stone that allows them to acquire Lotus' abilities, it would require only one day to complete the construction of the temporary residential area.
As Tilly landed on the ground, she pointed her right hand at an open space on the ground, and a bright flash of lightning spurted from her fingertips, creating a hole in the ankle-deep snow to reveal the black soil lying beneath.
"Are you able to possess two abilities at the same time?" Roland asked, a look of surprise on his face.
"No," Tilly shook her head and said. "In most cases, the Magic Stone only allows one ability at a time, but if I try to imbue two stones with magic power simultaneously, there will be no effect." Then she smiled and said, "I wanted to keep this a secret from you at first, but after last night's discussion, I realized that I might have misunderstood you before... when you told me the truth regarding the ancient ruins, I felt delighted... and also a little sorry."
"No problem. I understand."
"By the way, there's something I noticed - what was the corset that Honey mentioned earlier?"
Roland nearly choked on his saliva. "Um, I am not too sure about it myself... you might want to ask Sylvie or Evelyn."
"Well," Tilly shrugged, "it seems that you still keep some things from me."
For a moment, the prince did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Let's change the subject," Tilly said, blinking a few times at Roland. "I was thinking about a question last night. If these ruins belong to the Church, why would they discard all of the Magic Stones? According to Ashes' experiences, it is highly likely that the Church is grooming its own witches, and therefore these Magic Stones could be highly useful to them. Even if they fled a losing battle against the demons and concealed the outcome of the battle, there would be no problem for them to continue using these stones - it just doesn't make any sense."
"Do these stones really not matter to the Church?" Roland pondered, but quickly shot down his own opinion. "That's not right. It is more likely that they were unable to mass produce the stones, or else the stones would have been used for hunting down members of the Witch Cooperation Association. If the Church's witches were able to fly, not many people would be able to escape from them."
"Indeed, I just recalled something strange about the palace library's books concerning the Church and its God... not only do the historical records go no further than four hundred years back, but also the origin of God is unclear and there isn't a prominent name or an epic legend for God. Apart from propagating the idea that God is omnipotent and omniscient, there are few other details. At least, compared to the Three Gods of antiquity, it appears to be much more abstruse and illusionary. Putting the two aspects together, one cannot help but feel strange.
"What do you mean?" Roland exclaimed, feeling shocked.
"The Church seems like it emerged out of nowhere."