Release that Witch

”That’s not what you said when you handed me the hunting license,” Roland said to himself indignantly. He said, ”Why are you introducing modern martialists only? Normally, they should send more old-school martialists to kill Fallen Evils. Don’t you think so?”

”There are indeed more old-school martialists, but...” Garcia broke off and pointed at a knot of people whom, Roland had mistakenly regarded as irrelevant onlookers. ”I don’t have any detailed information about them. They work alone. Few Association members know where they normally go except for their agents. So, I practically have nothing to tell you.”

Abashed, Roland mopped his forehead involuntarily. He had thought those homely, disheveled middle-aged men were just assistants or chauffeurs to the celebrated martialists. Their unkempt image, which formed a glaring contrast with the refined, cultivated modern martialists, made Roland suddenly have an urge to convert to the opposing party. He really did not want to be the representative of a group of bedraggled, lulling middle-aged men.

Could he still register for the trials of the Martial Arts Contest?

Just then, a black bus pulled into the parking lot.

”That’s the bus from Prism City,” Garcia said. ”Let’s go.”

”OK,” Roland said as he patted his right shoulder, gesturing for the witches to follow him. As long as Faldi’s bug was attached to him, the witches would always be able to locate him.

Garcia and Roland went straight to the back of the bus.

”I like this seat best,” Roland said as he stretched his legs and leaned back in the chair unceremoniously. ”I feel like a king in this seat, as I can see everything that happens in the bus from here.”

”You just want to be a loner. I get it,” Garcia snapped.

”I didn’t beg you to sit with me,” Roland retorted, a little frustrated to notice that he and Garcia were always bickering.

”It’s your first time to participate in a mission. I, as your senior, obviously have to keep an eye on you.”

While they were glaring at each other, a rush of loud chatter caught their attention.

”Miss Fei Yuhan, over here.”

”Yuhan, come sit with me!”

As that genius girl got on the bus, everyone stood up and offered the seat beside them.

”It appears that even for famous martialists, they’re treated differently,” Roland commented.

”That’s right,” Garcia assented quite surprisingly.

However, to everyone’s dismay, Fei Yuhan did not accept any of the offers but walked straight to the back.

”Is there anyone sitting here?”

Fei Yuhan asked placidly while pointing at the seat next to Roland.

Garcia shifted her eyes between Fei Yuhan and Roland, trying to figure out what had happened between the two.

Having no idea what Fei Yuhan was up to, Roland coughed uncomfortably, realizing that all the eyes on the bus were locked on him. Finally, he said, ”No.”

”Thanks,” Fei Yuhan muttered, nodding, and took the seat matter-of-factly. ”Nice to meet you. Well, actually, we already met. Hello, I’m Fei Yuhan. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

”Er, me too. I’m Roland. This is... Miss Garcia.”

There was an awkward silence after this brief introduction.

Garcia fell silent and started to play with her phone. Fei Yuhan, on the other hand, sat upright in her seat, looking as aloof and frosty as ever. Roland, who was sitting between the two girls, suddenly found himself in the spotlight, under the curious scrutiny of all the passengers on the bus.

The bus slowly picked up the speed.

While he was planning to switch seats with Garcia, Fei Yuhan suddenly turned around and whispered tentatively, ”Your Majesty?”

Bang.

Garcia’s dropped her phone.

Momentarily stunned, Roland stared at Fei Yuhan in a daze before a proper response took shape in his mouth. ”You —”

However, before he could organize his words, a booming voice cut across him, ”Good afternoon, everyone. I’m the liaison officer C02 for this mission. I’ll be responsible for intelligence and logistic support. You can call me 02. In the next few hours, I’ll tell you about the details of this mission, including our target and operation plan. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions.” A man in a suit at the front was holding a microphone.

Roland fought down the words that were threatening to come out and averted his eyes to the liason officer.

”According to my intelligence, Fallen Evils have become increasingly active recently and started to act in groups, which, according to our historical records, means that the Erosion is around the corner. The Association learned from reliable sources that some Fallen Evils are going to congregate in an abandoned factory in the southern suburb. We still don’t know their motive, but we’re sure they’re up to no good.”

”Perhaps they just want to make some friends.”

Luo Hua’s comment caused a roar of laughter.

”I wish it was true,” 02 replied good-naturedly. ”Unfortunately, Fallen Evils are our biggest enemy. I would rather see them all die. There’s an underground highway leading straight to the factory. After it was shut down, the road was abandoned. The Association created a secret passageway two days ago that could take us directly to the headquarters of our enemies. To make sure that we don’t wake the sleeping dog, we are going to take action at 9:00 PM and distribute the necessary equipment when you get off the bus.”

”Also, the army will also assist us to prevent any Fallen Evils from escaping. However, only people with the Force of Nature can inflict an injury on those monsters. Therefore, we have to divide into two teams. One to attack the Fallen Evils while the other cuts off their retreat. There’s a list underneath your chair telling you which team you are in. If you don’t have any more questions, we’ll carry out the operation as planned...”

...

Fei Yuhan fumbled with the list expressionlessly. Her thoughts, however, had strayed away from the upcoming operation to Roland’s interesting reaction when she had called him ”Your Majesty”.

Normally, a person would feel abashed, furious and mortified in this kind of situation when he realized that someone had seen through his scheme. He might not necessarily reveal these feelings, but Fei Yuhan was confident that she could discern every single change in his emotion as well as his subsequent disguise, unless he had predicted that this would happen.

Nevertheless, what she had just seen was a look that contained a multitude of feelings.

There were surprise, alert, confusion, and even a little bit of delight. For a second, Roland’s lips had taken shape of a silent ”yes”, which he had quickly forced down his throat.

Fei Yuhan could not find a satisfying explanation to this reaction. Apparently, it was Roland’s first time meeting her, and there was no reason for him to give such a response.

She did not notice the faintest trace of embarrassment. Was he actually used to being called ”Your Majesty”?

Suddenly, she remembered the conversation between Roland and the three little girls at the party. She had thought it was just a juvenile game they played, but now she was not so sure.

Was he really... the king of two worlds?

Her initial interest in competing against Roland now transformed into an overwhelming curiosity about Roland himself.

Fei Yuhan thought she had made the right choice to join in this operation. Her master had once told her that the history of the Martialist Association was even longer than she had thought. The Association knew numerous secrets known by only a few people, some of which were even related to the origin of this world.

Was that the real reason that Roland had been granted the hunting license?

Seeing Roland looked anxious, Fei Yuhan suppressed her questions. She did not wish to create any hostility with Roland before knowing the answer.

She was certain that there would be plenty of time for her to get to know Roland in the future.

...

Two hours and a half later, the bus came to a halt at the end of the underground highway.

The martialists divided into two groups and moved into position according to the instructions on their map.

Roland and Fei Yuhan were both on the team responsible for attacking the Fallen Evils, while Garcia was on the other. She soon vanished from their sight into the night after reminding Roland to stay safe.

As Garcia had expected, Mr. Youlong, who was rumored to be almost as powerful as a ”guard”, had been elected as the captain of the assault team. ”Follow me, all of you,” he said while eyeing the rest of the team members encouragingly, and crawled into a ventilation duct.

The operation appeared to be more organized than Roland had thought. After they got off the bus, everyone received a pair of head-mounted, panoramic night vision goggles, a watch that could show their current location on the map, a vest equipped with identification and enemy recognition devices, and a headset for communication. Roland wished that the First Army could also have such advanced equipment, in which case, they would not have to fight so bitterly during a night battle.

He made a rough head count and noticed that there were 15 people in total in the assault team. Apart from Mr. Youlong, Luo Hua and Fei Yuhan, all the other members were old-school martialists. It seemed that the Association still trusted traditional martialists more than modern ones for this kind of mission. However, if the result of this operation turned out that modern martialists actually performed better, their confidence in traditional martialists might be shaken.

Roland had no intention of meddling in the affairs of traditional and modern martialists. In fact, he was simply curious how those celebrated martialists would cope with relentless Fallen Evils, wondering if they could still defeat them as effortlessly as they had done to their opponents during a match.

Through the night vision goggles, Roland could see everything clearly. They moved through the night soundlessly like ghosts and soon reached their destination.