Release that Witch

A storm was brewing on the sea to the east of the Fjords islands.

Every now and then, lightning struck through the gray clouds that hung low in the sky. Muffled thunders like the angry roars of the gods in the sky sounded as if they came from far away.

Heidi Morgan’s mood was no better than the weather.

She had not received any news since she sent Iffy and Softfeathers to the western region.

She understood that the long distance would make it difficult to send any message back, but she also knew that Honey was there in the western region of the Kingdom of Graycastle. That meant that they could threaten her and seize one of her animal messengers to send a message.

”What’s really going on in the domain of the lord?”

Heidi thought and irritably shut the window to block the howling wind.

The situation on Sleeping Island was getting worse and worse for her. Since Tilly started the Sleeping Spell, all non-combat witches were on her side and facts had also proven that the ordinary people of the Fjords showed a greater need for assistant witches. As this place did not face any enemy now, the local chambers of commerce hired witches mainly for commercial purposes or opening new water channels.

Under such circumstances, the status of the weak witches was raised rapidly and now seemed on equal terms with the combat witches.

Besides, there were common people.

”Damn it, how come I didn’t think of this,” Heidi thought bitterly. She had thought that if she represented the combat witches all the time, she would not lag behind Tilly, as there were only two groups of people on the island. However, as more and more ordinary people immigrated to the island, the third group formed. Those people recognized and trusted only Tilly since they were only influenced by the local chambers of commerce. As a result, Tilly left the island almost routinely to visit the other islands as a distinguished guest, especially after she gained Thunder’s support.

The thought drove of this drove Heidi into a blind rage. She believed that Tilly made friends with ordinary people in the name of promoting integration only for the purpose of increasing her own influence.

Heidi thought Tilly was deceiving everyone.

Tilly was selling the home of witches to the ordinary people bit by bit.

If things went on like this, she would never be able to replace Tilly Wimbledon.

This was the first time that Heidi found there was little she could do about a 20-year-old girl. Heidi’s intention of leaving Sleeping Island with the combat witches was stronger than before. She wanted to ask Camilla, the Chief Butler of Sleeping Island, when could the Charming Beauty take them to the western eegion. But just at the moment, her door was pushed open.

”My lady, I’ve something urgent to report!” Skyflare rushed in and said, looking anxious.

”What’s going on?”

Seeing the look on her face, Heidi could not help but feel surprised, as Skyflare was the best and had followed her for the longest time among the witches of her association.

”There’s a new witch here on Sleeping Island. I heard that her name was Annie!”

”So what?” Heidi said in confusion. It’s not a rare thing that wild witches came to Sleeping Island after the merchants got the news out.

”She’s from Kingdom of Wolfheart!” Skyflare said in a muffled voice, ”I’ve met her before!”

Thunder suddenly crashed in the sky!

Heidi’s heart skipped a beat and soon realized what Skyflare meant by ’urgent’, saying, ”you mean she’s the one Bloodfang Association has rejected. It’s impossible! She may just be her namesake.”

”I thought that way at the beginning, but she looked very similar to the Annie I had met several years ago. I hid in the crowd to steal a glance at her when she was carried into the palace.”

”Are you sure?”

”My lady, I’m not sure about the other witches but Annie is different... Back then, she brought a friend with her. That was Iffy.” Skyflare grated and continued, ”Iffy cried all the way for Annie, wanting to go back, so I remembered her appearance.”

”How could this happen? They should be...” Heidi grabbed Skyflare by collar and asked, ”did you let her go?”

”No, my lady, I did what you ordered me to do! Please believe me. I’ll never betray you!” Skyflare argued.

Heidi looked into her eyes and then slowly released her, asking, ”what happened to her? You said that she was carried into the palace just now.”

Skyflare took a breath and said, ”she seemed to be infected with a cold epidemic and was seriously ill. The keep has already sent someone to invite Della.”

Della cannot cure a cold epidemic but she could calm a patient down by cutting off the pain. Heidi paced back and forth in the room for a while and asked, ”Tilly isn’t here on the island, right?”

”Yes, she went to Twin Dragon Island two days ago. She seemed to be busy with the preparation for the exploration of the sea.”

Heidi stopped and said, ”bring Nightfall here and let Shaji go to get more information. Shaji has never seen Annie, so she won’t be recognized.”

”Yes, my lady!”

...

It began to pour. Raindrops pattered against the window, and Heidi sat by the table speechlessly. Skyflare and Nightfall stood aside, waiting for Heidi’s order. The atmosphere was quite tense.

A burst of rapid footsteps broke the silence.

The door was opened and then shut again. Shaji returned and leaned against the door. She took off her wet clothing and straw hat and then heaved a long sigh. ”That witch called Annie is already asleep. According to Della, her condition is not good, as the cold epidemic has already infected her lungs. She must have been ill for quite a long time.”

”Is it? So what’s Camilla planning to do?” Heidi said in a grave tone.

”She said there’s a witch in the western region of the Kingdom of Graycastle who could cure all kinds of diseases. She’s going to send Annie to the western region when the rainstorm stops.”

Heidi felt so irritated that she wanted to laugh. Hiring One-eyed Jack for a round trip in the Fjords would cost nearly 100 gold royals. Camilla always found excuses to refuse her requests for traveling to the other islands or to the Kingdom of Graycastle, but now for a useless, strange witch, she was willing to send out the Charming Beauty?

There was another thing she found completely intolerable. If Annie went to the western region and met Iffy, what she had done before would be exposed.

No matter what, she had to make Annie stay on the island or shut up forever.

Heidi contained her anger and turned to Nightfall. ”You can make her sleep forever, right?”

Nightfall winced and said, ”you mean... Seed of Peaceful Death? Yes, I can, but why...”

”Because she’s a traitor of Bloodfang Association! You don’t have to know the details. Just remember she can’t be excused.” Heidi impatiently interrupted.

”Is she also a combat witch? Why not wait for Tilly before making the decision? If it’s found out, we’ll get in trouble.” Nightfall questioned.

Heidi squinted, saying, ”Bloodfang Association will ’take care’ of its traitors. If we hand her over to Tilly, will the naive girl punish her? What’s wrong with you? Do you want to disobey my command?”

”Of course, no... My lady, I’m willing to take care of this traitor for you.” Nightfall shivered and promised.