Release that Witch

”Did you learn this from your parents?”

Sharon nodded and said, ”Yes, mainly from my father. He often told me that many things in the world were wrong because no one corrected them, and then people would get used to these wrong ideas as time went by. He taught me that many common things might be wrong and that if none of us stood out to fix them, we would repeat these mistakes and thus make the world worse and worse.”

Wendy said slowly, ”But unfortunately nobody would be willing to stand out unless the bad things happened to himself. Just like before, when the church persecuted the witches, most people only cared about the gold royals they could get from the church instead of thinking whether those hanged kids were really evil.”

Sharon said, ”What they did is wrong. They thought those mistakes would do no harm to themselves, so they could repeat them for their personal interests. However, the mistakes will make the world worse, and then it’ll become everyone’s problem.”

Surprised by Sharon, Wendy could not help but feel curious about her parents. She pretended to ask casually about them but instead got an unexpected answer. ”They’re not my real parents,” Sharon said.

”They’re not?”

As the girl began to talk about her parents, she started eating slower. ”Well, my parents are dead. The war destroyed Eagle City and the order of the Southern Territory. After that, homeless refugees and beggars were everywhere and so were robbers. My parents were members of the patrol team, fighting against them, one day, they just didn’t... return home. In the end, the lord of the town fled. Seeing that, all the townspeople left, too. Nowadays, Mapleflower Town had already become a deserted domain.”

”In other words, this tragedy was caused by the ’Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince’ .” Just as her father said, this absurd decree which seemed to be irrelevant to the people turned out to be a disaster for them.”

Wendy gently touched Sharon’s head to comfort her, saying, ”I’m sorry... for bringing up these things.”

The little girl quickly stopped mourning her parents’ death. She dispelled her sadness and recovered, saying, ”That’s alright. They were already prepared to sacrifice themselves... My father often said that since mistakes would cost us greatly in the end, we’d better pay the price to correct those mistakes in the first place, which was an honor actually.”

Wendy was moved, thinking, ”Honor... Most patrol team members wouldn’t give a damn. They behave like Rats, placing personal benefits above those of the public. When order and discipline stand in the way of personal interests, they won’t hesitate to break them. Given that, Sharon’s real parents were really rare and respectable.”

After a long silence, she said, ”Those people who came to see you...”

Sharon licked her fingers and said, ”they’re my father’s friends. He helped them before. In the past two years, I’ve lived with him, uncle Cormac, and his wife. They don’t have any kid and treat me like their own daughter.”

Wendy fell silent, thinking, ”They did do their best to take care of Sharon. That’s quite a rare thing for an ordinary family.”

After that, she did not say anything and just looked at Sharon eating her dinner.

The little girl finished her last deep-fried pork cutlet and heaved a long sigh of relief, looking satisfied. ’Thank you. This is the best dinner I’ve ever had.”

Now that Neverwinter was able to provide plenty of food for the people, no one in the city was worried about being hungry anymore. However, meat was still a rare thing on tables of ordinary families. People of which would feel greatly satisfied to simply have a piece of dried meat in their oatmeal. As for this kind of deep-fried half lean meat, only highly paid people such as the alchemists and officials in City Hall could afford them.

Wendy took out a handkerchief to wipe Sharon’s oily mouth and said, ”after you join the Witch Union, you can eat dinner like this everyday.”

Sharon’s eyes shined and asked, ”Really? I’ll be able to have meat every day?”

Wendy put the dishes back into the dinner box and said, ”of course, and you’ll have fresh boar meat instead of the cured meat in the Convenience Market. His Majesty prefers the streaky pork, but not every boar has that quality... Only the extra fat ones will have this kind of pork. If it’s steamed, it’ll be soft and tender and melt in your mouth. If it’s fried, it’ll be crisp and smell really good. Ah, by the way, he likes to call this kind of pork ’Five flower meat’... but I really don’t get why it’s related to some flower.”

Thanks to Lightning and Maggie who liked to hunt and toast their preys in the wild whenever they were on patrol. The Witch Union members could enjoy the tasty food every day. In the past, they could only bring back few toasted rabbits and bird eggs, but since Maggie had the ability to evolve into a Winged Devilbeast, the number of their preys had increased drastically. They could bring back boars and snow wolves now, and if Roland required them to bring meat back, they could fill the castle’s basement with their preys within a day.

Wendy once had wondered why His Majesty had called the Misty Forest a great treasure trove which had not been fully utilized yet, but now seeing the tasty food on the table everyday she believed what he had said.

”How come you know this sort of thing? Could it be...” Sharon asked surprised, with her hand covering her mouth.

Wendy could not help but smile. ”Yes, that’s right. As long as His Majesty isn’t very busy, he will always eat with the witches.”

”What about the one gold royal...”

”That’s also true.”

The little girl pointed to herself. ”May I...”

”Join the Witch Union?” Wendy chuckled. ”Of course, you can. The union will guide you to use and improve your ability and at the same protect and take care of you. We accept all the witches who’re willing to work for His Majesty and Neverwinter as our sisters.”

”After joining it, do I have to live in the castle?”

”It’s up to you. If you want to spend more time with your family, you can still live at home,” Wendy explained. She could tell that Sharon had already taken uncle Cormac and his wife as her family, though they were not related by blood.

”What about the school...”

”The union offers special courses for the witches. As we’re able to learn faster and need to learn more, the universal education doesn’t suit us.” Wendy paused to think for a moment. ”In your case, you’ll be required to practice your ability in the beginning, as you’re still very young. As for the courses for witches, they’re usually arranged in the evening. If you can manage to go to school at the same time, you’ll be able to finish your universal education and get a diploma.”

Without any hesitation, Sharon nodded vigorously, saying, ”I want to join the Witch Union. I want to become someone like Miss Nana.”

Even if she hadn’t said it aloud, Wendy could still see the answer from her eyes’ expression—Just like in her questioning before, the girl was certain about every decision she made.

Wendy thought, ”It seems that I can move up the date of her ability test and the contract signing.”