Roland then spread out a new piece of parchment and began to write his reply.
“My dear sister, I am very glad to have received your letter.
“I am excited and pleased with your decision, with your assistance, I now have a bigger chance of blocking the Church’s assault.
“The reason I could obtain the witches’ trust and support, is because of this: within the entire Kingdom of Graycastle, only Border Town has completely erased the influence of the Church. Not only do the natives accept the witches, they even fight together, side by side. Beginning from the battle against the demonic beasts upto the confrontation with the Church, my people and witches have come to form an inseparable whole. Nowadays, the figures of witches can be seen everywhere within the town participating in the construction. The steam engine that makes you wonder was also only possible to achieve due to the help of a witch. All this is already a good start, and all I have to do is to extend this situation to the whole of the Western Territory, until it spreads through the entire kingdom.
“Therefore, I have to destroy the entire Church, and turn their statement that the witches are the Devil’s messenger into dust. However, rescuing all the people from their ignorance and stupidity will be a long and slow process, for which I will need even more help from you.
“Concerning, what would lead to this decision, what caused me to no longer so indifferent to everything as I was in the past, are trivialities that can slowly be elaborated on when we have the time, but the ability to express oneself in a letter is limited, so I won’t say more than is necessary.
“Concerning the witches’ visit next month, I’m very much looking forward to it. There is no reason to be anxious about their safety, I have already planned a direct route to Border Town for them, which will also allow you to avoid the eyes and ears of the Church completely and which doesn’t need the support of a harbor. The only risk will be the navigation, however, if you let Maggie fly in front of you to show you the way, there will be only be a tiny possibility losing your way. I will attach a map with the specific route to Maggie when I send her to Sleeping Island.
“When these witches arrive at Border Town, they will naturally be able to participate in the lessons of Basic Knowledge — the so-called knowledge which boosts the evolution of the witch’s ability. However, I am more inclined to the idea that it actually a deeper understanding of the world itself that leads to their transformation, whether it was regarding nature, magic, not excluding the understanding of their own person. I have not the least doubt that our odds of winning in a fight against the Church increases with every witch able to evolve her ability, on this point your opinion and mine are completely in line.
“Finally, I will now list the five selected witches and I hope to see them as soon as possible.
“Land Shaper — Lotus.
“State Preserver — Candle.
“Winemaker — Evelyn.
“Beast Tamer — Honey.
“As well as Eye of Truth — Sylvie.
“I wish you all the best. Your brother, Roland Wimbledon.”
A week later, the expedition of the First Army and witches finally returned to Border Town. From the date of their departure until their return, the mission had almost lasted half a month, five days longer than expected.
The main reason for the delay was that on the day the fleet had set out on the way home, Longsong Stronghold Acting Duke Petrov’s messenger arrived in Border Town, reporting the outbreak of an unknown plague in the stronghold.
Due to Roland’s previous warning, the moment when Petrov became aware of the disease, he took measures to isolate the patients as well as possible, and completely closed down the city, then immediately send a messenger over to Border Town.
After receiving the report of an outbreak, Roland sent Maggie out, and had her fly with great speed eastwards along the Redwater River, looking for the fleet carrying the First Army, to give them the order to change their route and take the fork to Longsong Stronghold. Later, after the eradication of the demonic plague, once more set out to return home.
On the day of their return, Roland led all the other members of the First Army and the families of the expedition members to the docks to celebrate their smooth return. Accompanied by the sound of the familiar army march, the soldiers excitedly saluted the Prince, while many other people imitated the knighting ceremony and went down on one knee to loudly shout out ‘Long live His Highness’. After they had walked down the pier, they fell into the arms of their loved ones and tightly hugged them, accentuated by Echo’s timely gun salute. The atmosphere of the scene became so lively that it attracted the refugees and the serfs to soon come join them.
Back in the castle, Iron Axe gave a full report on the mission.
