Roland swallowed the last piece of fried egg and wiped his mouth with a napkin, "After saying so much, it turns out that you're worried that the Witch Cooperation Association will hear the news that she's not dead and come to save her?"
"That's right, Your Highness," Barov said, "They were in a hurry, so they should be on their way. If the witch was dead then it would be fine, but now she's still alive! Those lunatics even stole babies, I'm afraid they won't let go of a fallen companion. "
Roland was a little confused, he always felt that something was wrong. Why did the Assistant Minister and the Chief Knight feel as if they were facing a formidable enemy when they talked about witches?
Was the woman who was going to be hanged a witch? She was so thin that it seemed like the wind would blow her away. If she had such terrible power, why would she stand there and let others trample her? No, she would never be caught. According to the Church, she was the incarnation of the Devil. In addition to the Army of Judges, the army of mortals would also pay a heavy price in front of witches. However, the Devil was caught by the residents of Border Town and was tortured until she was sent to the gallows. That terrible power was nowhere to be seen.
"How was she caught?"
"I heard that when the North Slope Mine collapsed, she exposed her identity in order to escape and was caught by the angry villagers."
Roland thought for a moment, well, he had an impression of this incident, it happened the day before he crossed over.
"How was she exposed?"
"This … I'm not sure," the Assistant Minister shook his head, "The situation was very chaotic, someone should have seen her use witchcraft."
Roland frowned, "You didn't investigate this matter clearly?"
"Your Highness, the restoration of production in the mine is a priority," the Assistant Minister protested, "Half of Border Town's revenue depends on iron ore, and the prosecutor also confirmed that someone was killed by witchcraft at the scene."
"What kind of witchcraft?" Roland became interested.
"As if melted, the head and most of the body were lying flat on the ground, reminding people of a burnt out black candle," the other side said with a disgusted face, "Your Highness, you don't want to see that kind of scene."
Roland played with the silver fork in his hand, thinking. In history, most of the victims of witch hunts were innocent people. They were used as tools by the church and ignorant people to vent their anger, while a small number of them were the ones who courted death themselves. These people dressed themselves strangely and threw all kinds of strange ingredients into the pot all day long, claiming that they could predict the future and determine life and death.
And they did figure out some tricks, such as using the flame reaction to claim that they had obtained the power of the gods.
In the eyes of modern people, these were all chemical tricks, but back then, it was easily misinterpreted as an incredible phenomenon.
As for melting people, the first thing that came to Roland's mind was chromic acid lotion, but it was troublesome to prepare. It required the human body to be completely soaked in water, and the effect of dissolving corpses was far worse than that of candles. As for other strong acids, it was even worse.
So how did this witch do it?
If she relied on alchemy, then she would be a rare chemist in the territory. If not …
At this thought, Roland made up his mind.
"Take me to see her."
"Wait … Wait a minute, Your Highness, are you going to see a witch?" Barov stood up in a panic, knocking over the glass of milk that he hadn't drunk.
"Yes, this is an order." Roland looked back at the assistant minister and smiled. He was now really grateful for the 4th Prince's unreasonable style.
When he walked to the door, he suddenly paused, "Yes, I always wanted to ask, why was she hanged?"
"What?"
"Why was she hanged? Shouldn't all witches be burned at the stake? "
Barov's face was full of confusion, "Is that so? But she wasn't afraid of fire. "
*****
Border Town only had one dungeon, the barren land couldn't afford to support too many prisoners. Most of the prisoners lived here for only a few days before facing trial – they were either released or executed.
In addition to Barov, the Chief Knight, the warden, the head of the prison, and two guards followed the prince into the dungeon.
The dungeon had a total of four floors, and the walls were all made of hard granite. This was the first time that Roland had come to such a place. He noticed that the deeper he went, the narrower the passage became, and the number of cells was also decreasing. It was probably after digging a big hole in the shape of an inverted cone, and then piling up layers of stones, he thought.
This kind of rough construction naturally didn't have good drainage measures, so the ground was very wet, and the muddy sewage flowed down the stairs.
The witch was locked in the lowest floor of the dungeon, and with each floor, the stench in the air became stronger.
"Your Highness, what you are doing is too dangerous, even if she is trapped by the God's Locket of Retribution, there is no guarantee of her safety."
The one who spoke was Carter Lannis, the Chief Knight knew that the prince was going to visit the witch, and the first thing he did was to dissuade him. Moreover, the king's order was ineffective against him – he refused to accept any order that put the prince's life at risk, so he couldn't leave.
Obviously, he has a cold and handsome face, but why is he so talkative? Roland really wanted to ask someone to sew his mouth up. "If you don't dare to face evil, how can you have the courage to defeat evil? I thought you understood this. "
"Even when fighting evil, you have to act according to your own strength, recklessness doesn't equal bravery."
"In other words, if you meet an enemy weaker than yourself, you can uphold justice, but if you meet someone stronger than yourself, you should turn a blind eye?"
"No, Your Highness, I mean …"
"Previously you were afraid of a witch breaking into the prison, and now you are afraid to meet a little girl, my Chief Knight is really unique."
Although the Knight was talkative, he was not good at arguing, so when he met Roland, who was a master of words, he naturally had no power to resist. Taking advantage of this time, the group arrived at the bottom of the dungeon.
The area here was much smaller than the upper floors, and there were only two cells in total.
The warden lit the torch on the wall, and as the darkness faded, Roland saw the witch curled up in the corner of the wall.
It was now late autumn, and the temperature in the dungeon was so low that he could see his own breath. He was wearing a wool coat with a silk lining, so naturally he didn't feel cold. But the witch only had a single coat, which couldn't completely cover her body, and the exposed arms and soles of her feet had been frozen to the point where no blood could be seen.
The sudden light of the torch made her turn her head sideways, and she closed her eyes. But soon, she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
It was a pair of light blue eyes, calm like a lake before a rainstorm. There was no fear on her face, nor anger or hatred.
Roland had an illusion, as if he was not looking at a weak little girl, but a shadow that was swallowing the flame. For a moment, he felt that the light of the torch on the wall had dimmed a bit.
She tried to stand up against the wall, but her movements were slow, as if she would fall at any time. But finally she stood up completely, and from the corner, she staggered to the place where the light could reach.
It was such a simple action, but it made everyone gasp, and they all took two steps back. Only the Knight moved in front of him.
"What's your name?" Roland patted the Knight's shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to be so nervous.
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