Release that Witch

”Don’t bet on it.” Agatha shook her head, ”Based on what we experienced during the second Battle of the Divine Will, if they wanted to investigate a human town, they wouldn’t act this carelessly.”

”What does that mean?” asked Prince Roland.

”To make sure information makes it back to Red Mist tower, this type of reconnaissance would be conducted by two or even three platoons. Quite often the soldiers rode demonic beasts and acted as a unit, under the protection of Spear-wielding Demons,” she said slowly. ”In order to destroy the investigative platoons, the Union would often send out flying witches to block their rear and they would send out twice as many Blessed Warriors as there were demons for a head on assault. In the last war, the investigative platoons just kept growing in numbers and even Fearsom Demons and Flying Demons joined the recon. It would be odd for them to send out only two ordinary Mad Demons to investigate. Not to mention they were unprotected and really poorly equipped.”

”Maybe they don’t think it is necessary to send large platoons to investigate Border Town and that only two ordinary demons would be enough?” Ashes suggested.

”That doesn’t make sense,” Agatha said after a thought, refuting Ashes’ theory. ”During the time of the Union, every town near the border, no matter how small it was, would be protected by witches. Since the demons couldn’t possibly know of the changes that have happened in the human world over the past 400 years, they would have been more cautious and investigated like they had done previously.”

”So you think... they were not here deliberately but found the town by accident?” Roland couldn’t help but relax at the thought.

”Very likely.” she frowned and seemed to be pondering something. ”The demons probably had no idea the town was even here, but it’s more likely they were scouting the area surrounding their camps. It’s unlikely they thought they would meet anything more than a few demonic beasts. That would explain why they only carried Stones of Lightning for protection, instead of Stones of Unifying Strength which manifest spears that can not be used continuously.”

”Wait... ” Roland was startled, ”You think there are demon camps near by?”

”Of course. What other reason would cause them to be out this way?” Agatha stated simply. ”They must have established strongholds on the Fertile Plains and from there spread into the Barbarian Land... Oh, I forgot it is now called the Four Kingdoms.”

’Awe, Hell, that’s a big problem! If the enemies establish themselves under my nose, how will the town survive?’ The prince worried to himself. He then asked aloud, eyebrows raised, ”Are they like the camps behind the snow-capped mountains?”

”Yes, they are pretty much the same. During the war, there were several storage towers to store the Red Mist at each outpost. Each tower was guarded by 100 to 200 demons.” Agatha stated while nodding, ”Considering the Bloody Moon hasn’t arrived yet it is not likely that they have built a new Towering Stronghold on the Fertile Plains. Since it isn’t easy to transport Red Mist the camps are probably small.”

”What are you going to do?” Tilly asked, looking at Roland with concern.

”First, we find the camp—see if it really exists,” he paused and said, ”then... we wipe it out.”

”A decisive choice,” said Ashes, smiling. ”That’s indeed a lord’s decision, and don’t worry, we’ll help too.”

’If Agatha is right, before the third Battle of the Divine Will officially starts, demons are unable to spread their influences to the whole Fertile Plains. Given that, once the camp near the Western Region is eliminated, there will be at least a few years’ peace during which demons won’t have the ability to strike back even if they wanted to.

However, this plan could be risky due to the fact it would inform the demons that there are humans who live to the east of the Misty Forest and reveal that they have the ability to take the initiative and attack the demons.

If I leave the camp alone, it’ll expand and cause me even bigger trouble. First, they’ll probably send out more demons here after they realize those two Scout Demons are missing, and after that, it is just a matter of time before they find the town. Second, if it is a larger camp, the demons will just increase in number and attack the town whenever they desire. Even after the Months of Demons has passed, which is very dangerous. How can I expect the First Army to complete their spring plan of attack if they are trapped in the town, busy constantly fighting demons?’

When Roland returned to his office, he immediately sent for Lightning and Maggie and quickly gave them a task,

”Please remember that you are never to act without authorization. Once you find the camp, fly back here immediately. Don’t engage the demons in battle, they may have flying beasts on hand. Your first priority is to keep yourselves safe.”

”Yes!”

”Coo!”

He paused before adding, ”If you do find the camp, you’ll be rewarded with ice cream bread for dessert after every meal this coming week.”

Maggie stretched her neck and said, ”You can count on us, coo!”

...

Three days later, Roland received Lightning’s report. Out in the Barbarian Land, there was a place suspected to be a Demon’s Town, it was located about 130 kilometers away from Border Town.

After roughly mapping out its position, he noticed that it was right in front of the route that the Witch Cooperation Association used to follow. This was less than ten kilometers away from the place where the Association was attacked by demons.

”What do you mean when you say ’suspected’?” he asked Lightning. ”Have you not seen their black stone towers?”

The little girl shook her head, her expression perplexed, ”I have only seen what appears to be... wreckage.”

”What?”

”What I saw was crushed black stone, broken fences pieces, and... a huge hole in the ground,” she continued while rubbing her forehead, ”the place looks like the one where Agatha found the relic. I didn’t track any demons though. After surveying the destruction, I flew back here immediately.”

”’Another hole?’ Roland was stunned, ’Are there giant maggot-like beasts inside this hole too? Last time, there were maggot-like beasts with the relic and they devoured the stone towers remains, this time... did they swallow the demon camp as well?

Did I miss some important clue that links those two events?’

He shook his head and pushed aside the puzzling pieces and asked, ”Did you find anything else?”

”No... the camp was deserted. There were no demons there.” Lightning replied.

”And no sparkling magic stones either, Coo!” Maggie added.

”I see,” Roland mulled over the information he had been given and then quickly began to make arrangements. He looked over at the white haired girl and said, ”You take Nightingale and Soraya to the suspected camp site and get pictures of the scene. Then escort Nightingale and Sylvie there so they can check it out further.”

”Why not just let Soraya and Sylvie go there together?” asked Lightning.

”Just in case the demons have flying beasts that Maggie can’t get rid of,” Roland explained briefly. ”Nightingale can use her Mist to help you escape. In any dangerous situation, you just get out of there as quickly as possible.”

...

Soraya’s ”photo” of the scene was soon placed in front of Roland.

Just as Lightning had described, there was a massive crater in the ground, stretching five to six meters across, with broken debris scattered around its edge. The fringe of the hole looked almost like the earth and been churned from below. The snow and dirt were mixed, along with various pieces of the crushed black stone and that was exactly how it looked, like it had been crushed by a massive creature.

Sylvie’s findings made him even more uneasy—the underground passage there led towards the snow-capped mountains, the same direction as the one relic they found in the Misty Forest.

Both tunnels led to the same place.