Release that Witch

”My lord, your guest is here, ” said a maid who pulled the curtain and poked her head in.

”Send him in,” Otto Luoxi handed a silver royal to the bar girl beside him and said, ”I need a private minute with him. I’ll call you later.”

”Yes, my lord!”

”Is this the covert place you mentioned?” The man who came in removed his hood and glanced around. ”If I hadn’t seen the Luoxi guards standing outside, I would think I’d come to the wrong place.”

”It isn’t easy these days to see you, I had to take extra precautions, ” replied Otto, grinning.

The guest was Hill Fawkes, a member of the emissary delegation who ”betrayed the King of Dawn, killed the guards and knights and escaped from the City of Glow with some fallen minions”. Ever since Yorko’s secret departure, Appen Moya, the King of Dawn became so furious that he claimed it was a blatant provocation to and contempt of the Kingdom of Dawn on Graycastle’s part. He also said that it was a witch that killed his father and he absolutely did not allow such an evil existence in his domain.

Of course, Otto knew far more than that. For example, that while Appen was searching for the witches, he also dispatched a group of knights to chase the emissary delegation. He ordered that any member of the emissary delegation, other than Yorko, could be killed on the spot, especially the witches who dared to collude with the neighbor country. At the same time, investigations were carried out in the King’s City. Denise, a businesswoman who had an intimate relationship with the ambassador, was taken to the palace several times for inquiries. Hill and the others who voluntarily stayed as contacts, on the contrary, disappeared.

Otto did not hear anything from Hill until a few months later when the event no longer received so much public attention.

This was their first meeting after their last departure.

”Would you like some drinks?” Otto patted the soft couch beside him and asked, ”I guess you usually have no chance to enjoy it.”

Hill did not sit down; instead, he walked to the window and looked around. ”We’re on the second floor. Where’s the reliable path you mentioned in the confidential letter?”

Otto, the eldest son of the Luoxis, sighed, stood up and opened a board under the soft couch, revealing the dark passage beneath it.

”Slide down from here, you’ll arrive at the back garden. In the yard, you’ll find a secret door and a dry well. You can choose either way to leave.”

”Nobody else knows this path?”

”Of course, both the back garden and the tavern belong to the Luoxis.” He said, shrugging, ”No wonder Sir Yorko said you’re a fox. You’re still as cautious as you were before.”

”If I were not like this, I’m afraid I would have been hanged on a gallow now,” replied Hill, who took a coin from his pocket and dropped it down the tunnel. After listening to the sound for a while, he closed the board. ”If you want to tell me any information in the future, write me an encrypted letter. It’s not safe to meet in this way.”

”But an encrypted letter is also not safe for me. If the information in the palace is leaked, King Appen will certainly suspect our families.” Otto sighed and said, ”He’s no more my good friend who talked about everything with me.”

Hill raised his eyebrows without denying. ”Does the King of Dawn have any new plan?”

”He intends to attack the Church of Hermes and avenge for his father,” Otto slowly told him what he heard during the court meeting, ”although the ministers tried to dissuade him, His Majesty still persisted. Now they start to collect grains in the City of Glow. When snows melt after the Months of Demons, he’ll immediately take actions. The royal knightage will go together with Duke Carb who is in charge of the Western Field.”

”No wonder the porridge is a bronze royal more expensive than before... Fortunately, the supplies in the Kingdom of Dawn are rich enough. If it were in Graycastle, the lord would not prepare for the war during the Months of Demons unless he wanted to trigger riots.” Hill said meditatively, ”Is there any problem with Hermes?”

Otto knew why he asked. Though the church and Graycastle had a battle on Coldwind Ridge and it was said that the Holy City was severely defeated, later it was reported that both of them retreated to their own domain. The ministers all agreed that the church might have suffered heavy losses, but had not been completely defeated. Otherwise, the King of Graycastle should have led the arm to loot the Holy City. As the core city of the church, it should be where all the wealth church had accumulated for hundreds of years was.

Maybe Appen was deeply impressed with the God’s Punishment Warriors brought by the Pure Witches. He just dispatched more scouts for further information without any further actions.

Since he changed his mind, it was possible that he had discovered something there.

As for whether it was to avenge for his father or take advantage of the chaos, it did not matter at all.

”His Majesty didn’t tell us many details. But I heard from the businessmen coming back from the west that many refugees appeared in the old Holy City.”

”Refugees?” Hill nodded while rubbing his chin. ”I’ll report this to Neverwinter.”

”There’s one more thing,” Otto hesitated for a while and said, ”in the court meeting last month, the Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned Graycastle. He said that Roland Wimbledon could not be counted as the real ruler of Graycastle, as he hasn’t either held enthronement or lived in the palace. What’s more, many nobles in Graycastle oppose him, especially in the Eastern Region. Since he trampled on the alliance of the two countries, the Kingdom of Dawn needs to be cautious of him and suppress his power. For example, We should support those nobles to resist the rule of Wimbledon.”

”Well,” Hill immediately became serious and asked, ”What did the King of Dawn respond?”

”His Majesty did not respond immediately, but his expression... showed that he has a great interest in the matter.”

Otto did not know why he told these things to Hill... or, to Roland. Judging from the current situation, he could see the relationship between Graycastle and Dawn was deteriorating. He should have stood on the side of Appen Moya, just as the family of Luoxi had assisted John Moore’s royalties for generations.

But he could not persuade himself to accept His Majesty’s policy. Killing all witches meant that Andrea Quinn should also be killed, who was definitely not evil as Appen described. He had tried many times to explain the differences between witches and Pure Witches from the church to His Majesty, but his explanations were futile.

Appen no longer regarded him as his hand.

Otto also found that although he still addressed Appen as His Majesty, he did not have the same respect as he had for the old king.

He had pondered over it for a long time. Maybe he admitted that he was unable to change the situation and had to put his hope on Graycastle. In Neverwinter, he met Andrea who had a free and easy life. In order to let her continue to have such a life, he hoped that Roland’s rule could continue.

”I see,” said Hill in a lower voice. ”Don’t worry. His plan won’t succeed.”

Otto nodded, took a deep breath and asked, ”Then... can you tell me how Miss Quinn is doing these days?”