Release that Witch

Roland shook his head with a smile as he watched Yorko excitedly bowed and left.

He did not mind helping the people who had helped Prince Roland in the past, as long as they did not have any bad intentions.

”Where’s Wendy right now?” He turned around and asked Nightingale after taking care of this matter.

”She’s probably on the top of the tower practicing her ability. Do you want me to summon her?”

”Yes, and get Sylvie, Lightning, and Maggie as well... we’re going to visit the astrologers,” said Roland. ”And we’ll be flying to them.”

”I understand.” Nightingale’s eyes lit up.

”Even if someone wants to attack me, they can’t pose a threat against a hydrogen balloon, so this is the best way to travel.”

Roland had learned via carrier pigeon that Kyle was on his way, so he postponed his visit to the Alchemist Workshop. He was very curious about the Astrology Association, the other main academic organization in King’s City.

Roland also had a great point of confusion that needed to be confirmed.

...

The Astrology Association was located on a mountain in the northern area of the outer city, and it was only the second in height to the twin towers of the palace. The Astrology Hall had a pretty unique design and it looked like a hexagonal stone tower with a flat top from above. It had a wide base and narrow top, and its silhouette was precisely symmetrical.

Roland knew what symmetry implied in that era.

Without advanced measuring and positioning methods, it was nearly impossible to build such a large yet perfect stone structure, a process even more difficult than building a giant city wall.

The guards had left earlier and surrounded the stone tower. As the hydrogen balloon released the air and slowly landed on the tower roof, its passengers were immediately greeted by Brian, Sean and Alva Taber.

”Your Majesty, this area has been completely sealed, and I promise that not a single rat will escape!”

”We have also confiscated all the astrologers’ God’s Stones of Retaliation, allowing Miss Sylvie to use her magic power, so you can interact with them freely.”

”Good job. Stay alert.” Roland nodded in approval and shifted his sight to the row of men in gray robes standing behind the guards. They were all aged over 30 years old, and they kept peeking at the hydrogen balloon in panic. They were obviously still rattled by his sudden appearance from the sky.

Roland turned to Alva. ”Who’s in charge around here? Tell him to come see me.”

”Yes, my lord!” Alva spoke briefly with two old men in robes, and one of them cautiously walked to Roland with him. ”Your Majesty, this is King’s City’s Chief Astrologer, Astrologer of Dispersion Star.”

”Your Majesty Roland Wimbledon, your honored presence makes all the stars shine brighter.”

”Why don’t you use your real name?” asked Roland, raising an eyebrow.

”It’s a tradition of the Astrology Association,” explained Alva hastily. ”Every astrologer dreams of naming themselves after a star image... and only people who discover new star images are allowed such an honor.”

”So you discovered... the Dispersion Star?”

”Yes, Your Majesty,” said the old man with his hand on his chest. ”It forms a Dispersion Star ring with three other Dark Stars, and it represents death and rebirth.”

”What about them?” Roland pointed at the other men in gray robes.

”These eight are star image masters of the Astrological Station, so they all made their own discoveries.” Dispersion Star respectfully described them one by one. ”They can explain the meaning behind anything from changes in the stars to dusk and dawn... of course, so can I.”

”I’m not here to have my fortune explained.”

The old man paused in shock. ”Then... Your Majesty, may I ask why you’re here?”

”I’m here to explore the stars.” Roland shrugged. ”Let’s continue this conversation indoors. By the way, bring the diagrams of all the star images you’ve discovered. You have records for these, right? Mark the brightest stars and connect them with a thin line—yes, those things.”

...

Stacks of parchment piled up on the table in the hall, some tinged with yellow due to their age.

Roland took a deep breath and used a pen to draw a ”spoon” and ”hourglass” on a piece of paper, and connecting the bright stars with lines according to the stars diagram.

”Your Majesty, what’re these?” asked the scholar confusedly.

”They’re two star images.” He picked up the paper and showed it to the group of astrologers. ”Have you ever seen images like these before?”

They all shook their heads.

”Search for similar images in all of these parchments,” ordered Roland. ”Everyone, takes a pile, and be sure to look at every single one.”

His great confusion was: ”Am I on a different side of the same planet?

It’s not surprising that this place also has a sun and a moon. The sun is just a regular fixed star. There’re billions of fixed stars in the Milky Way, and there’re billions of galaxies like the Milky Way in the universe, so it’s not unlikely that there’s another fixed star system in the infinitely large universe.

However, I’m not sure about species’ similarities. Biological evolution occurred by the coincidental outbreak, so there could be completely different organisms produced in the same environment. Whether it’s demonic beasts or demons, I don’t think they evolved from the same natural world as earth’s.”

He decided to use star images to address this confusion.

Fixed stars had life spans of billions of years, and their location barely ever changed, so they had always been used to determine the direction or hold symbolic meaning. Roland only remembered two star images: the commonly-known Big Dipper, and Orion. If he could find them among the constellations, he would be able to determine his location.

After an hour, no one had found the constellations.

Roland also used this time to ask Astrologer of Dispersion Star about a few of this world’s most famous star images, but he had never heard of any of them. The Kingdom of Graycastle astrologers also did not know of the Zodiac star images.

In general, the Bright Stars on these star images were far denser than the star images he knew, which meant he was closer to the center of the galaxy. This was because fixed stars were closer together towards the galaxy’s center.

Then it’s very likely that I’m not on Earth.

This answer slightly disappointed Roland. He sighed and glanced around the hall. ”How many members are there in the Astrology Association?”

”Your Majesty, there’re 9 astrologers, 156 apprentices, and 67 handymen and masons,” replied Astrologer of Dispersion Star.

”I plan to shut down the Astrological Station. Pack your bags and return to the City of Neverwinter with me.”

The words instantly changed the expression on everyone’s face. Alva said in a terrified tone, ”Your Majesty, how, how could you...”

”I don’t believe in astrology. I only believe in personal choice,” said Roland nonchalantly. ”And I’m the King of Graycastle, so I can shut this down if I wish to. You’ll learn the truth about star images in the Western Region, and you won’t see them as the meaningless pathways for fate anymore.”

”With all due respect, Your Majesty Wimbledon, you can’t do this.” The Chief Astrologer slowly rose and said, ”We have to watch the stars at all times without interruption—this order was passed by your ancestors.”