Seeing the busy people around her, Leaf never thought that she would be so close to a town in the secular world one day.
After entering the boundary of Border Town, the low brick bungalows, like a dusty memory, appeared in front of her one after another. Obviously, she had escaped to the Impassable Mountain Range for less than half a year, but she felt that the scene in front of her was so strange that it was like another world.
The Months of Demons had just passed, and the townspeople had gone through a winter of lack of food and clothing, so their complexion and health should be very bad. Leaf remembered that the Witch Cooperation Association had passed through the slums of Silver City in the winter – there were starving and frozen bodies everywhere, and the people who were still alive were like walking corpses, numb and sluggish.
But here, most of the people she saw were full of energy, some were drying dried fish in front of the house, some climbed on the roof to repair broken tiles, and most of them were strong men carrying hoes and hammers, talking and laughing with each other as they walked north of the town. In such a situation, Leaf would pull down the brim of her hat and try to avoid them as much as possible.
The location of the castle was very eye-catching, it was on a high hillside in the southwest corner of the town. There were no usable plants around, so it would be very difficult to sneak in quietly. Hiding in the trunk of a tree to avoid the enemy was possible, but to let the tree climb up and send her in would make too much noise.
She was not a witch who was good at hiding, so after thinking it over, Leaf felt that instead of hiding, it would be better to walk into the castle openly.
If Nightingale did not lie to her, even if she walked through the front door, there would not be any problem.
If Nightingale lied to her, and lied to the sisters of the Witch Cooperation Association, she was sure that she could escape from the two guards in front of the door.
Of course, the worst case scenario was that Nightingale completely betrayed everyone and relied on hunting witches to work for the Prince. In that case, she would most likely die here. As a top combat witch, few people could escape from Nightingale's pursuit. Even someone as strong as Cara did not have the confidence to win.
Leaf had already prepared for the worst. If she could not return alive, Scroll would take over the position of a mentor and lead the sisters to continue on their journey – as for where their destination was, no one knew the answer.
She slowly walked up the hill and approached the castle gate. The guard quickly noticed her. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and shouted, "This is the prince's temporary imperial residence. You shouldn't be here. Back off!" He paused, then added, "If you have something urgent to report, go straight down this road to the left, and go to the Town Hall. There will be someone there to receive you. "
Leaf took a deep breath and took off her hood. Unsurprisingly, she saw the two of them show a surprised expression at the same time. Without waiting for them to recover, she bluntly said, "I'm a witch."
The moment she said this, she was prepared for the guards to draw their swords. But the two guards just glanced at each other. They didn't show any of the disgust that ordinary people would show when they heard about a witch. One of them even asked with interest, "Witch, what can I do for you?"
This reaction made Leaf's heart beat faster. She suppressed the excitement that was about to burst out and said as calmly as possible, "I want to see Nightingale. Or Anna and Nana can do it. "
In Nightingale's story, witches were frequent visitors to the castle. His Royal Highness didn't restrict their freedom, and the guards who guarded the castle turned a blind eye to them coming in and out of the castle under the instruction of Prince Roland … If what Nightingale said was true, it was impossible for the guards not to have heard of their names.
The guard who asked the question patted his partner on the shoulder and said, "You stay here and look after her. I'll go inform His Royal Highness."
Leaf watched him walk through the gate and quickly disappear into the garden.
What would be waiting for her? Would it be a welcome from the sisters, or would it be a siege by the guards, or would it be a sharp blade from the shadows?
She found herself caught in a strange contradiction. She obviously wanted to believe in Nightingale, but the closer she got to the answer, the more afraid she was of being disappointed. Could it be that Nightingale had changed her name here and was not called this at all? Could it be that Anna and Nana were made up by her? Or …
Time had never moved so slowly before! Every heartbeat seemed to cross a hundred years. In the long time, she quietly waited for her fate.
She didn't know how long it had been, or maybe it was just a short moment, but she heard Nightingale's voice — in a trance, she thought she had heard wrong.
A familiar figure appeared from behind the door and rushed toward her, arriving almost at the same time as the voice. Then, she was embraced by a warm body.
"Leaf, welcome home!"
*****
"These are my spare clothes. You can wear them first," Nightingale rummaged through the wardrobe. "And a coat, shoes … Well, a nightgown and a bath towel."
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Vendy shook her head with a smile. "When His Royal Highness gets up, he'll take care of her."
Looking at Nightingale, who was busy, Leaf's eyes became warm again. She sniffed, bit her lips, and wiped away her tears. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would be unable to hold back her tears.
It turned out that Nightingale hadn't lied to her. A prince who was willing to be kind to witches really existed.
"Do you want to take a hot bath first? You must be tired from rushing over from the camp. "Nightingale put the bath towel and clothes beside Leaf." His Royal Highness is taking a nap. When he wakes up, he'll be very happy to see you. By the way, have you found the Holy Mountain? How are the other sisters? "
As soon as this question came out, Leaf's vision suddenly became blurred. She couldn't bear it any longer. She hugged Nightingale and released all the pain she had been suppressing in her heart these days.
She cried until Nightingale's chest was completely soaked. Only then did Leaf gradually calm down.
Then she told the story of what had happened to her sisters after the three of them left the Witch Cooperation Association. When she talked about how many of her sisters had died in the Barbarian Land, she felt Nightingale involuntarily clench her hand.
When Leaf finished her story, Vendy's expression became extremely heavy. "I didn't expect that Cara would lead the Witch Cooperation Association to a dead end. Only seven of our forty-two sisters were left … I also have an unshirkable responsibility. If I had stood firmly on Nightingale's side … "
"It's not your fault," Nightingale said sadly. "No one can predict the future. The key is what to do next." She looked at Leaf. "You said that there are six sisters who survived. Where are they?"
"They are waiting for my news at the entrance of the canyon. We agreed that if I couldn't return, Scroll would take them away from here, or to the Southernmost Corner, or across the strait …"
"Then we have to hurry and bring them back," Nightingale immediately said. "I'll set off now. Vendy, I'll leave Leaf in your care."
"Wait, what if they don't believe you? Leaf also has to go and call Lightning. She should be practicing flying in the west of the town at the moment. You can take a few more horses with you so that the sisters can walk less. "Vendy carefully said.
"But His Royal Highness … isn't he still sleeping?" Leaf was stunned. "Don't you need to ask him?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
