Chapter 330 Farewell
The next day, Roland bid Lotus and Honey farewell in the castle backyard.
Even though the two women didn’t want to leave so soon, but when he heard that the Charming Beauty and its crew were still waiting at the beach he decided not to delay their departure any further. In this way he could show off his magnanimity, and keep from causing Tilly any further embarrassment. Putting himself into her shoes he had to recognize that even though she needed to finish their large scale construction on Sleeping Island first, the fact that they will continue to send the all important witches to Border Town still counted as a sincere gesture on their part. Since their situation was already like this he also couldn’t be too demanding.
In order to to avoid a long journey through the snow, Anna and Wendy would be there to send them off using Cloud Gazer, in so doing they could easily reduce the travel time to reach the beach to thirty minutes.
“Thank you for taking care of us these past few months,” the two witches said while bowing in front of Roland.
“It should be me thanking you,” Roland said laughingly. “You two have made many contributions towards the construction of Border Town, so I have gifts I would like to give to you.”
“G-gift?” Lotus said with her cheeks having turned slightly red from embarrassment.
While Honey touched her chest and looked over at Lotus’ and then excitedly asking: “Will we also get them?”
Roland took two bags from Nightingale and handed it over to them, “Yes you can have them.”
Unable to wait any longer, Honey opened the gift and pulled out a long white cloth, “Hey, what is this? It isn’t a corset.”
“Keke, it’s a scarf,” he stepped forward, took the fabric made of cotton from her before wrapping it around her neck, “This way, you won’t need to be afraid of the wind and snow pouring onto your neck. Wrap it around a bit higher and you can even cover your ears with it.”
“Hmm… nice and warm,” the latter cried out with a contented face.
It was unsure whether this was an illusion, but it seemed that Lotus’ face had became even redder.
“There’s more,” Honey said after having played with the scarf for a moment, she then took out a small box from the bag and asked, “Your Highness, is this also a gift?”
“Yes, open it and take a look.”
“Wow, it is so clear!” She jubilantly exclaimed after lifting up the top of the box, “Lotus, come and take a look, you can clearly see for yourself!”
It was a small mirror embedded in a wooden box, a gift which was also available at the convenience market. In Roland’s life experience, as long as they were women, there was no way they would be able to resist such a sparkling present.
Honey’s voice, which was filled with excitement, immediately attracted the other witches, and so the Sleeping Island’s witches clustered in a group. They used the mirror to look at their own appearance and couldn’t help but show an undisguised love and envy towards it. After all, the image reflected by the mirror made using Soraya’s reflective coating was far better than a silver mirror, which also allowed Roland to discover a new way he could bribe them.
After the gifts were all handed out and the hot air balloon fully inflated. The group boarded the basket and waved their goodbyes to Roland and the other witches. On seeing this scene, it seemed that now that they were about to leave town they have started to feel a slight bit reluctant to parting ways.
“I can’t help but admit that this is indeed a good place,” Tilly came over to him and whispered, “With a convenient water supply and comfortable rooms. It’s very difficult to believe that in just one year you were able to transform such a desolate place into its current appearance.”
“Do you regret it?”
“You mean that I’ve sent the witches to your town?” She laughed, “How could that be? As long as they can live a better life, how could I ever regret it? Do not forget, I too am a witch.”
In the white garden, Tilly’s smile was pure and beautiful, not a trace of color to be seen. If he had a younger sister like this in his previous life, he would have caused a 100% rate for turning heads if he were to bring her out. But Roland knew, compared to her identity as his sister, his actual relationship with her was more like a partner, a natural ally. From yesterday’s decision he could already see that she wouldn’t hesitate to take on personal risks to deal with any possible threats .
“Do you really intend to go to such a dangerous place?” Roland asked her, “Although you are an exceptional witch, in the end, your ability isn’t suited towards fighting.”
“Do not worry, it isn’t as if I don’t have any self-protection ability,” Tilly said as she stretched out her hands, showing him the ornaments she wore. On the ring finger of her left hand, she carried a blue crystal ring, while on her right hand she wore a white silk glove with a red gem embedded in the back. To be honest Roland had to acknowledge that this collection looked a bit strange clothing looked similar to the asymmetrical mix and match style of dress used by artist of the later generations. He had been very curious about this since yesterday, but out of courtesy had kept from asking.
“It is a magic stone. This one, in particular, is the magic stone we found within the ancient ruins,” she explained, “After putting your magic into it, it can display all kinds of abilities. For example, this ring allows me to fly like Lightning.”
After she spoke, as if to prove her words, her feet lifted from the ground. As if her whole body had turned weightless, she stayed suspended in midair which had given Roland quite a shock.
A witch’s ability can actually change through a magic stone?
He soon realized the significance this held.
If it was possible to order custom-made abilities in batches, a witch’s work efficiency would increase drastically. For example, Lotus’, if the Witch Union could have several magic stones with a copy of her ability the construction of the temporary residential area could be completed within a single day.
When Tilly landed back on the ground, she pointed at an open space with her right hand, and soon after Roland saw a bright light flaring from her fingertips. After hitting the snow it left an ankle deep bowl shaped hole which revealing the dark earth of the ground.
“Does this mean you can use both abilities at the same time?” Roland asked in surprise.
“No,” Tilly shook her head, “Within a certain range, the magic stone allows you to use one ability. If I push magic simultaneously into two stones nothing would happen,” she smiled, “Originally, I didn’t intend to reveal this information to you this early on, but after our conversation from last night, I’ve come to think that I might have misunderstood you… The fact that you’ve honestly told me about what had happened in the ancient ruins, made me happy… but also a little apologetic.”
“No harm, I can understand where you’re come from.”
“Oh that’s right, there is still something I want to ask you, what is this corset Honey just mentioned?”
Roland almost choked on his own saliva, “Keke, I have no idea… maybe you should go and ask Sylvie or Evelyn about it.”
“Well,” Tilly shrugged, “It seems you still have some reservation towards me.”
For some time, the Prince didn’t know what to say.
With a wink, she said, “Let’s not talk about this for now. Since last night I’ve had a problem I’ve been thinking something, it these sites really did belong to the Church why would they leave these magic stones behind? According to what happened to Ashes, it is most likely that the Church is raising their own group of witches. Thus, these items should also have the a similar importance to them. Even if they wanted to deliberately bury knowledge of the war after being forced to flee from the Devils, it wouldn’t hinder them from continuing to use these stones, it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Does that mean the Church doesn’t care about this loss at all?” Roland thought aloud, only to quickly reject his conjecture, “No, they should not be able to mass produce these magic stones, or it would have been completely impossible for the Witch Cooperation Association to flee. After all, if they had been able to fly, it would have been completely impossible to escape the Church’s witch hunt.”
“Indeed, I recall that I’ve found a very strange point when I looked through all the books in the palace library about the Church and their God… Not only does their historical records stop at around four hundred years ago, even their god’s origin is somewhat vague. He has no name, no epic legend, except for propagating his omnipotence there is nothing more, no more details. Compared with the Three Ancient Gods, he appears to be a vague notion with nothing to it. With those two points together, I can’t help it but feel that something is strange about all of this.”
“What?” Roland’s heart trembled with fear.
“It feels as if the Church just suddenly has appeared from out of nowhere.”