Release that Witch

Molly nodded her head heartfeltly.

In the past month, she had been deeply touched by the Neverwinter citizens’ attitude towards witches. They acted neither overly familiar nor discriminatory, and instead seemed a mix of curiosity and accustomedness.

While strolling around the Harbor District a few days prior, she saw a fierce gust of wind blow down a pile of empty wooden crates on the pier. Her subconscious reaction was to summon her magic servant to catch the falling crates. Instead of screaming and fleeing, the working crowd expressed their great interest in the transparent and legless giant.

This was an experience Molly never had before. Even the migrants on Sleeping Island had never been so close to witches. Although they abided by Her Highness Tilly’s command on the surface, they still considered witches to be a different species from themselves. The customary practice of most Fjord islanders was to maintain a respectful distance - only the explorers and some merchants did not mind the powers that the witches possessed.

This was not to mention how terrible the situation was on the continent where the Church had had deep influence.

The first time Lotus brought home news from the Western Region, Molly only half-believed it. Only when she personally came over did she discover that Lotus’ stories merely scratched the surface.

Now, she felt a glimmer of envy seeing Lotus leading a large number of people up and down the tall buildings, Evelyn running a perpetually bustling tavern, and Candle, who used to be seen as useless, being warmly welcomed by the factory workers.

It was only because Molly did not want to disturb Her Highness Tilly that she had not actively sought employment.

She was never one to remain idle, even when in Sleeping Island.

”And, let’s not forget that we still have the biggest enemy to take care of - the demons.” Tilly looked around the audience. ”All of you already know what the Battle of Divine Will means - even the Church of Hermes is nothing compared to them, and therefore, work shouldn’t only be for your own enjoyment. Every note represents your contribution to Neverwinter and the entire human world. This brings glory to the witches as a whole because through this, we can prove to the world that witches are an indispensable and decisive part of the human race!” She raised her right hand with her fist clenched. ”Sisters who accept recruitment, please walk up on stage now...”

...

”Out of 86 jobs, 69 have received responses. This is a fairly good result.” Tilly handed the name list to Wendy after the meeting was over. ”And most of the non-repliers are just hesitant. I believe that more will accept recruitment after some time.”

”It’s more than just fairly good,” Wendy quipped excitedly, ”This is way beyond His Majesty’s expectation.”

”Oh?” Tilly seemed curious. ”How many did he guess?”

Wendy laughed and extended three fingers.

”30?” Tilly became somewhat peeved. ”He belittles the Sleeping Spell way too much.”

”Rather than saying that he underestimated the witches’ enthusiasm, you can claim credit for it.” Wendy dropped her smile and bowed earnestly towards Tilly. ”Your Highness, your last statement wasn’t necessary.”

If it was a normal recruitment talk, 30 people might already have been an optimistic prediction. It was Tilly’s rhetoric about working for the sake of all sisters and bringing glory to witches which moved the majority of the crowd. As the former custodian of the Witch Cooperation Association, Wendy naturally understood what her compatriots most lacked in aside from a stable home: recognition from other people.

After all, having lived as normal people for more than 10 years of their lives, it was not easy for them to cut clean from their past.

”The way I spoke during the meeting was also for my own sake.” Tilly smiled and shook her head. ”Roland has allowed me to see a wide range of interesting things and understand what an incredible city this is. If we lose the Battle of Divine Will, all of these will disappear, and thus I have to put in effort so that I’ll be able to see more wonderful stuff. It’s wise to cuddle together for warmth before doomsday winter arrives, right?”

”... Your Highness is right.” Wendy began to laugh.

”It’s a pity that not everyone agrees with me.” Tilly shrugged her shoulders resignedly. ”Like the Eastern Region witches, who may never accept recruitment even until the end.”

”Your Highness, you mean the small group led by Azima?” Wendy asked puzzledly. ”If she doesn’t get along with you, why did she go with you to the Fjords?”

”It didn’t start out this way.” Tilly let out a sigh. ”Before they arrived in Sleeping Island, they’d already became acquainted with Bloodfang Association. The latter assisted them many times to fight off the church’s chasing army during the escape, and therefore Azima and her people came to trust Heidi Morgan. This was nothing at first, but later on, when tensions broke out between Bloodfang Association and Sleeping Spell, our relationship fractured.”

”So that’s what happened...”

”And when I fought against Heidi without informing everyone, I incurred even more of Azima’s disgust. I thus consented when they asked to leave Sleeping Island on Sleeping Beauty.” Tilly continued slowly. ”In fact, if Scroll hadn’t dissuaded them, they probably wouldn’t have remained in Neverwinter.”

”That’s not your fault,” Wendy said consolingly. ”Heidi Morgan deserved it for deceiving the Wolfheart witches.”

”But she’d certainly helped Azima.” Tilly seemed disinterested in pondering any further over this issue. ”If I was in their place, I would probably be peeved as well. They aren’t bad people at heart.”

”Oh...” Wendy remained silent for a brief moment. ”I may have a way of persuading them, but...”

”But what...?”

”It may cause them to break away from Sleeping Spell.”

”That’ll be no different from how it is now.” Tilly replied without any misgivings. ”If your idea can benefit Roland and them, go ahead.”

***************

”Is this... really okay?” Doris revealed a worried look upon returning to her residential building. ”We’ve already offended Lady Tilly. If we refuse the lord’s employment this time and thus further displease her, we might...”

These words received agreement from several other Eastern Region witches.

”I think Doris is right. Roland Wimbledon isn’t a typical lord, and is currently the king of Graycastle. Even if we manage to return to the Eastern Region, it’s also his territory.”

”Plus we aren’t combat witches. If they use force against us, we won’t have any ability to resist.”

”Come on. Even if we fight, how can we beat a lunatic like Ashes? I dare bet that she has long disliked us.”

”Actually... I feel that the Witch Union has treated us pretty well.”

”Forget about it. They’ll certainly side with the king over this. It would be good enough of them if they don’t help His Majesty to arrest us.”

”Hold your tongues.” Azima cut short the ongoing arguments. ”Roland Wimbledon would never use hard methods, or else the image he has built up would be completely undone. If we accept the recruitment order, what would all our earlier persistence be for? We’ll be forced to rely on Sleeping Spell in the end. To outsiders, we’ll be no different from the other witches.”

She said these words with some reservation. In all honesty, the Witch Union had, for the past half a month, provided them with assistance instead of the expected oppression, and treated them as equals. The witch named Wendy even came several times to discuss this matter with her. In fact, Wendy’s friendly attitude caused her to feel a long-lost sense of home.

However, Azima knew that she had to continue acting indifferent. She forebode that once she relented, it would become difficult to pull away from the Sleeping Spell ever after.

Right at this moment, someone knocked on the main door of the building.

”Who’s it?” She turned her head with some annoyance.

”It’s me, Wendy.” A familiarly gentle and calm voice was heard from outside. ”Miss Azima, I have something to discuss with you.”