“Do you think he would stay?”
After Thunder’s footsteps died away, Roland asked Nightingale.
“I don’t know,” Nightingale said slowly. “But he was serious about the last sentence he said.”
Roland nodded in silence. Apart from Lightning, Roland wanted Thunder, the most extraordinary explorer in the Fjords, to stay also because of a personal reason, that was, Thunder could attract many Fjords people to Neverwinter, and he was the ideal man to command the fleet.
According to Agatha, the Red Mist probably had already permeated half of the Kingdom of Everwinter by now and might had also reached the border of the Kingdom of Wolfheart. Under such circumstances, he had to carry out his rescue operation from the coast and attack the demons from sides. Judging from the battle at the Northernmost Port, he believed that a powerful fleet was absolutely necessary to alleviate the stress of the army.
Although there were many merchant ships traveling back and forth, it was impossible to rely on them to fight the demons in the area covered with the Red Mist. Roland could definitely build several large ships, but what he urgently needed were sailors and a commander.
If Thunder was willing to help him, all these problems could be instantly solved.
But Roland also knew that he could not force Thunder to stay. He would have to let him think it over.
Roland thus went back to his work. Suddenly, the telephone rang.
It was from the Witch Building in the Castle District.
“Hello?”
“Your Majesty, it’s Wendy,” Wendy’s voice came from the other end of the line. “We found witches at the checkout at the Shallow Port.”
…
“Sir, where are you taking us?”
Thylane asked gingerly while holding Momo’s hand.
Not a long time ago, they had been waiting in the line like any other immigrants to pass the security. However, when they entered the registration area, they were taken to a heavily guarded room separately by the guards in black.
They immediately turned nervous.
They had heard that a few refugees had to go through a series of “special interrogation” when they entered some cities and would have to bribe the examining officers to avoid being punished.
However, the officer did not do anything but simply leave them alone in the room. He asked them a few strange questions and released them. After that, another man in black took them to the inner city.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. My name is Joseph,” the man in black said mildly. “You’re witches, aren’t you?”
Thylane was startled. She did not expect that Joseph would soon see through their true identities. She did not know how he had figured it out, for she thought that she was in heavy disguise.
“Why… did you say that?”
“I don’t know anything about magic, but the witches told me,” Joseph said while scratching the back of his head. “I know they use a special stone to detect magic power. As for where I’m taking you, I’m taking you to the witches’ residential area, of course. You must be tired, right? Don’t worry. Ms. Wendy will take good care of you.”
Thylane and Momo exchanged surprised looks.
They were astonished that Neverwinter had so advanced technologies to detect witches. Had the church and the nobles in the Kingdom of Wolfheart also possessed such technologies, they would have been captured and killed years ago.
Also, it appeared that people in Neverwinter did not discriminate witches at all.
Their master had told them about this city in the far west of Graycastle as well as its ruler, Roland Wimbledon. They had also heard a lot of rumors before they had boarded the ship. Nevertheless, what they had heard from their master was very different from those rumors. Their master described the King of Graycastle as an arrogant and vile tyrant who hired witches to satisfy his own wicked desire, while people on the ship believed that witches were treated in the same way as ordinary people in Neverwinter.
That was the reason they had decided to move to the south.
As the Kingdom of Wolfheart was so far away from Graycastle, nobody knew what life in Neverwinter truly looked like. Therefore, they planned to conceal their witch identity and see what was going on first before taking the next move. They did not expect, however, that they were soon exposed.
Luckily, people here treated them just as normal residents.
When they reached the outer ring of the Castle District, a red-haired woman came up to them with two smiling little girls.
“I’ll take it over from here.”
“Yes, Ms. Wendy!” Joseph said and administered a salute. Then he waved at Thylane and Momo and quickly left.
Thylane started to study the woman named Wendy attentively.
“My name is Wendy. I’m the superintendent of the Witch Union of Neverwinter. These two are my assistants, Ring and Grayrabbit,” Wendy said with a smile. “Can I have your names? Although from the list I have, I see that your names are Thylane and Momo, I do want you to pronounce your names in person.”
Thylane instantly felt a lot at ease. It had been a long time since she had met such a nice person. To her, Wendy looked more like a noble than those true ones. She was mature and elegant, who reminded her of someone depicted in a portrait.
“I’m Thylane,” she replied in a low voice.
“Momo,” her companion also pronounced her own name.
“Good names,” Wendy commented as she held the two witches’ hands. “Welcome to Neverwinter. From now on, this will be your new home. Come. I’ll show you around and take you where you’re going to live in the future.”
They passed the fence and the yard before Thylane noticed that the Lord’s castle was actually not the highest building in the city. Behind that stood a more magnificent edifice. Between these two buildings lay a large, lovely garden carpeted with grass. Several beautiful ladies were chatting leisurely.
This was perhaps the dream life she had been longing for.
“Are they also… witches?” Momo asked involuntarily.
“Yes,” Wendy said with a nod. “You’ll see more when they’re off work.”
“Er… off work?”
“It means finishing working,” Ring explained. “In Neverwinter, witches, like everybody else, have work to do every day.”
“Then what about them…”
The little girl twiched her lips and said, “Like ordinary people, some are hard-working while some are lazy.”
“Didn’t your sister tell you that I have good hearing?” a girl with pointy ears said as she turned around and walked up to them smilingly.
“Ah… Lorgar, I was not talking about you,” Ring explained while waving her hand. “I was talking about — ”
“Hey, new members to the Union?” Another person joined the conversation as she ambled over. “Hello, I’m Mystery Moon, the captain of the Neverwinter Detective Group! Whatever ability you have, feel free to join us. How does it sound? Are you interested?”
“I was talking about her,” Ring said as she covered her face in embarrassment.
“Really? Were you introducing me?” Mystery Moon said while resting her hands on her hips. “Remember, the Detective Group is dedicated to solving problems using your brain. If someone asks you to join the Exploration Group, please ignore them. They only want people with great physical strength and never take personal qualities into consideration. This wolf girl is a perfect example.”
“Hey, do you want to have a taste of my fist?” Lorgar snarled while baring her teeth.
“Look, this is the proof!” Mystery Moon said as she hastily made an attempt to block Lorgar’s upcoming attack.
“So embarrassing…”
“Well, can I go back to my reading?” some other witches murmured.
Thylane gaped.
It appeared that the life here was a little different than what she had pictured.