She's a Real Witch!

Morning.

Roland woke up and had his maid Tyre wash his face and dress him. While at it, Tyre repeatedly reminded him that Assistant Minister Barov wanted to see him.

Since Roland also wanted to talk to Barov, he told his maid to inform Barov to wait in the drawing room.

The moment Roland appeared in the drawing room, Barov immediately walked over and asked, "Your Highness, why didn't you order the execution yesterday?"

"Postponing for a few days, what harm could it do?" Roland said carelessly.

"A- A few days?! Your Highness! This is not a joke! Just one more day may be enough for other witches to appear! This isn't like any other trivial matter, you cannot act as recklessly as before!" Barov almost screamed.

"I wish real witches would really come..." Roland thought to himself "Though hopefully not with enmity" Because Roland could still cast rank 1 and rank 2 spells in his soul form, he had some protection if the witches were to come with ill intentions. And in the Wizard Realm, rank 2 wizards were alot harder to come than rank 1 wizards, you could say that for every 100 rank 1 wizards there will be 1 rank 2 wizard. So he wasn't too worried about being assaulted by stronger witches. Thus Roland acted fearless.

"Don't worry Barov, since I've purposely postponed the execution, it can be seen that we're showing the witches 'good will', if they really come, they will just take the witch and leave. They have no reason to attack us" Roland reassured Barov.

At this moment a maid arrived and brought breakfast to Roland and Barov.

"Let's have breakfast first." Tyre told Roland that Barov had been standing outside since dawn, so he took the opportunity to change subject.

The breakfast consisted of fried bread, fried eggs and a jug of milk. Roland poured himself a glass of milk and took a sip. Then started eating his breakfast while Barov was simply looking at Roland anxiously.

"Barov" Roland said, "help me buy some aluminum, cobalt, titanium, gold, arsenic and quicksilver." Roland started describing the materials he needed as well as the amount.

Barov didn't answer Roland and instead anxiously said.

"Your Highness, we have a problem. Three days ago, guards reported that a camp suspected to be inhabited by witches has been discovered in the western forest. They left in a hurry and didn't clean up their traces. A guard found this in the camp."

He took out a coin from his pocket and put it in front of Roland. This was not a common currency seen in the kingdom, at least according to Roland's memories, and he had never seen such a coin. In fact, it did not appear to be made of metal. He pinched the coin in his hands and was surprised to feel that the coin was becoming warmer. The heat definitely did not come from the Assistant Minister's body, as it was above 40℃ at least. Roland quickly had his soul come out to inspect the coin, since his body had yet to adapt to mana, he couldn't use the spell Mana vision, to check the traces of mana with his eyes.

In his soul form, Roland saw a tiny amount of magic power swirling in the coin. Magic power was refined mana fused with magic element, it was like a ready processed magic spell fuel, all it needed was to pour correspondent magic power with the correspondent magic formation to cast a spell. And even without a magic formation, since magic power is refined mana fused with magic element, it still could be used raw as magic. Like Magic Hand spell which consisted of concentrated magic power to act like a hand. Or wind element magic power could be directly generate strong winds. In this case the magic power in the coin looked slightly red. Indicating that the magic power contained fire element which is why it generates heat.

"What is this coin for?" Roland asked, since it had a tiny amount of magic power it could have some uses.

"I thought it was just some foul trinket that a witch made, but it's actually more serious than that." Barov had to pause to wipe his forehead. "The printed pattern is known as the Insignia of the Sacred Mountain and Magic Eye, which is the emblem of the Witch Cooperation Association."

Roland looked at the coin and saw that in the center of the coin was carved a mountain-shaped pattern, itt was formed by three juxtaposing triangles, and the image of an eye was placed in the space between the triangles. The pattern's contour lines were very crude, and therefore he judged that it was polished by hand.

Roland searched his memories of the two terms "Insignia of the Sacred Mountain and Magic Eye" and "Witch Cooperation Association", but did not discover any relevant information. It seemed that Prince Roland knew nothing about these.

Neither did Barov expect Roland to have any knowledge about this. He continued, "Your Highness, you haven't seen a real witch before, so it's understandable that you're unimpressed. Like us, they can be hurt. They bleed, and aren't any harder to kill than the rest of us, but that's only for witches who don't have resistance. The lifespan of witches who receive the Devil's power would shorten greatly, but they would obtain a terrible amount of power which ordinary people are unable to rival. Once the witches are fully developed, our armies will suffer greatly. Their appetite for disaster is extremely difficult to restrain or suppress, and they've already degenerated into the devil's minions. The Church therefore formed a Punishment Army, which would arrest and execute any woman who was discovered to have the slightest chance of transforming into a witch. The King has approved of this decree, and in fact, these measures have been highly effective and the incidents of witches wreaking havoc have greatly declined in comparison to a hundred years ago. Rumors about the Holy Mountain, or rather, the Gates of Hell, were derived from an ancient book of that era."

"Their lifespan is shortened?" Thought Roland disbelievingly, since wizards all have their lifespans greatly enhanced the farther they advance on the path of wizards, and if they successfully become demigods, their lifespans would be indefinite. As for witches being the devil's minions, Roland just believed it to be the Church's propaganda, he didn't believe that the Church wouldn't have any spell casters. Otherwise the Church wouldn't even have survive a single day after denouncing the witches. But the problem is that the Church is fine after so long, that must mean that the Church is very powerful. Roland continued listening to Barov's explanations of the Holy Mountain and the Witch Cooperation Association.

Unaware of Roland's thoughts Barov continued, "It's recorded in ancient books that witches can only find real peace in the Holy Mountain. There, they wouldn't be reverse bitten by their magic powers, and wouldn't be troubled by burgeoning desires. There's no doubt that the so-called Holy Mountain is the birthplace of evil and an entrance from the human world to Hell. I think that only Hell won't punish this bunch of degenerates."

"How about the Witch Cooperation Association? What's their relationship with the Holy Mountain?" Roland enquired.

Barov explained with a grimace, "In the past, witches acted solitarily, whether it was to flee or to live in seclusion. But in recent years, the Witch Cooperation Association appeared and made a difference. They wanted to gather all witches and find the Holy Mountain together. For this purpose, the Witch Cooperation Association would even lure other people to become witches. In the Port of Clearwater, there have been many cases of female babies disappearing in the past year, and there are rumors that they were the doings of witches."

"Just where is this place... If only I could find teacher..." Roland sighed inwardly. If only he knew where his teacher was, he would have easily have traveled there with an escort with his identity as a prince. Otherwise he wouldn't now have to worry about using magic in front of others, he didn't want to be on the run like the witches, fearing to be burned alive on stake. Thinking of being burned alive on stake, why didn't the witch get burned alive and instead stood on the gallow? Curious as he was Roland asked Barov.

"Barov, why wasn't the captive witch burned on stake? Isn't that how witches are normally executed?"

Barov seemed puzzled. "Is that so? But she's not afraid of fire."

Remembering that he had no actual information about how witches are executed in this place, Roland decided to not ask more about how witches are executed, but instead got piqued about the fact that she's not afraid of fire.

"Could she be a real witch?" Roland thought, "Maybe I should visit her." He decided to visit the witch, since he might find some useful information.

"How did she get captured?" Roland asked the most crucial point. If she was a real witch, how could she possible be captured.

"I heard that when the North Slope Mine Area collapsed, she revealed her identity in order to escape, and was then captured by angry villagers," Barov answered.

Roland quickly confirmed with his memories, it happened on the day before he took over Roland's body.

"How did she reveal herself?" Roland asked.

"I, well… I'm not sure." the Assistant Minister shook his head and said, "The situation was very chaotic, and it could be that someone saw her using witchcraft."

Roland frowned as he asked, "Aren't you able to investigate the situation properly?"

"Your Highness, our priority is to restore the production of the mining area." the Assistant Minister retorted. "Half of our revenue is derived from the iron mine, and what's more, the guards have confirmed that someone at the scene was killed by witchcraft."

"What kind of witchcraft?" Roland asked, becoming more interested than before.

"The head and a large part of the body were spread out on the ground, as if they were melted. They reminded people of burnt-out black candles." Barov's face was filled with disgust. "Your Highness, you wouldn't want to see such a scene."

"Melted!" Roland almost shouted while he shot up on his feet with his eyes gleaming.

"Is is heat magic or corrosive magic? Or maybe corrosive potion?" Roland quickly thought of possible answers to the melted body.

"she's a real witch!" Roland mumbled.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Barov stamped his feet anxiously, not knowing why this stupid prince had only just now understood that the witch was real and exclaimed. "I heard that the witches discovered at the western forest are in a hurry and probably on their way to somewhere. Had that prisoner died, and then it can't be helped, but she's still alive! If those witches are crazy enough to steal babies, I'm afraid that they won't forsake a degenerated companion."

"Take me to see the witch" Roland said with his lips slightly curved upward in excitement.

"Your Highness, you want to see the witch?" Barov asked with his eyes almost popping out.

"This damned prince is going to cause more trouble again!" Barov thought inwardly.

"Yes, let's go" Roland walked out with quick steps.

There was only one dungeon in Border Town because such a barren land could not afford to upkeep too many prisoners. Most criminals would face trial within a few days and either be released or executed.

In addition to Barov, the prince was followed into the dungeon by the Chief Knight, the prison warden, the castellan and two guards.

The dungeon had a total of four floors and its walls were made of hard granite blocks. The deeper down they went, the narrower the hallway became, and the lesser the number of cells. Roland imagined that the builders probably dug a pit in the shape of an inverted cone first, and then piled it up with layers and layers of stone..

The witch was imprisoned in the lowest floor of the dungeon. Every floor down they went, the stench in the air became thicker. Roland wrinkled his nose from the stench.

"Your Highness, you're risking too much by doing this. Even though she's sealed with God's Locket of Retribution, it isn't completely safe."

It was Carter Lannis, the Chief Knight, who spoke. As soon as he learnt that the prince was planning on visiting the witch, he immediately rushed over and pleaded with the prince to turn back.

"God's Locket of Retribution?" Roland asked curiously what they meant by sealed.

"God's Locket of Retribution is a locket with a crystal called God's Stone of Retaliation. that is able to seal all magic in a small area around it, the more expensive and larger the crystal, the more effective they are. They are sold by the Church." Carter answered.

"But it's said that not all witches are completely sealed, there are cases of witches being immune to God's Locket of Retribution." Carter hurriedly said, in hope to dissuade the prince from meeting the witch.

"Hmm... Interesting, get me a God's Stone of Retaliation later" Roland commanded.

"Please wear this, Your Higness." Carter gave his God's Locket of Retribution to Roland. God's Locket of Retribution were expensive, but as the Chief Knight, Carter was able to get one. And without care of his own safety, he immediately gave his to the prince.

Roland happily received it, he wanted to inspect it in his soul form to find out why that crystal in the locket could seal magic, but as they were walking, it would be troublesome if he suddenly stopped walking or collapsed.

"Carter is quite loyal, for him to give up his own protection against witches for me, he's worth keeping." Roland thought, as he was still weak and it would take a long time for him to recover his strength, he would need to form his own army to protect himself. Which suited his identity as a prince well.

The party reached the bottom floor of the dungeon.

This floor was many times smaller than the ones above, with a total of only two cells. The castellan lit the torches on the walls, and as the darkness faded, Roland saw the witch curled up in one corner of her cell.

It was already late autumn and the temperature in the dungeon was low enough for people to see white fog when they exhaled. Roland wore a fur coat with silk lining inside, and thus he did not feel cold, but the girl only wore a thin garment that did not fully cover her body, and hence her exposed arms and legs were frozen white.

Seeing the witch, as a fellow spell caster being mistreated in such a way made Roland frown.

The suddenly lit up torches made her turn away and close her eyes. But soon, she was able to open her eyes and looked straight at the party.

It was a pair of pale blue eyes that resembled a calm lake before the onset of heavy rains. There was no fear on the witch's face and neither was there any sign of anger or hatred. Roland thought those eyes looked really clear and pure.

"Beautiful eyes..." Roland mumbled.

The girl tried to stand up against the wall, but her sluggish motion made her seem as if she could fall down at any time. Eventually, she was able to get on her feet and hobbled her way towards the light.

This was enough to make most of the party members gasp in horror and take two steps backwards. Only the Chief Knight held his ground and shielded the prince.

Roland tried to push Carter away, but noticed that his strength was too weak, helplessly he had his soul come out and push Carter aside.

"Wha-" Carter wasn't expecting the sudden push after the prince's soft "nudge" and had to take several steps aside to balance himself. The rest of the party were also dumbfounded by the prince's strength as normal beings were unable to see souls with their naked eye.

"Relax, can't you see how weak she is?" Roland said to his Chief Knight.

"What's your name?" Roland asked the weak girl in the cell.

"Anna," she replied.