The New Civilization of Witches
Chapter 3: The Witch Named Anna
Roland swallowed the last piece of fried egg from his breakfast, took out a napkin and wiped his mouth before saying,
"So, you said that you were worried that the Witch of the Cooperation Association would hear the news that the witch was not dead and would therefore try to save her?"
As His Majesty said, Barov stomped furiously while exclaiming,
"If the prisoner dies, it's bad enough, but now he's alive!
If those witches were even crazy enough to steal a baby in the hope that they could become future companions, how far would you think they would go after someone who had become a stooge of the demons?
With how careless they were to behave, trying to save would not be surprising."
Roland was confused, he always felt that something was wrong with this situation. Why are the Assistant Minister and Knight Commander so afraid of witches?
The woman who was supposed to be hanged was a witch, right?
That extremely thin woman was as if she was about to fall when the wind blew?
If he really had such a terrifying strength, why would he have to stand there and wait for death? Nope,
he wouldn't.
According to church sermons, he was an incarnation of the devil, who would be executed without trial.
Even soldiers had to pay a heavy price when fighting witches.
However, these "devils" were captured by the ordinary townspeople in this border town, tortured, even rigged, but until now they had not seen any trace of such a terrifying force.
"How did he get caught?"
Roland asked.
"I heard that when the Northern Mine collapsed, in order to escape, she revealed her identity as a witch and was then captured by the angry villagers." Answer Barov.
Roland thought as he listened to Barov, Why do I get the impression that this happened the day before my reincarnation?
"How did he expose himself?" The prince asked loudly.
"l, well, I'm not sure," the assistant minister shook his head and said, saying,
"the situation is very confusing, it could be that someone saw him using magic."
Roland frowned as he asked,
"You didn't investigate the situation thoroughly?"
"Your Majesty, to continue mining is a priority,"
the assistant minister protested,
"The revenue from the iron mine accounted for half of the city's production, and the guards confirmed that someone at the scene was killed by magic"
"What kind of magic?"
Roland asked, interested.
"Head and most of his body were slapped on the ground as if melting. The body looked like a finished candle"
said the minister with a disgusted expression.
"Your Majesty, glad you didn't see such a sight."
Roland started playing with the silver fork seriously.
Historically, most victims of the inquisition witch hunts were innocent, a tool for the church to maintain control over the population or the possibility of ignorant townspeople to vent their anger.
Naturally, a small percentage of the defendants caused their own downfall.
The kind of people who dress strangely while mixing all kinds of strange materials, claim that they can predict the future and know the conclusion of life and death.
Actually the men found some tricks, such as the use of chemical reactions, but then they used them to claim that they had obtained the power of a god.
To the modern eye, these are just a few simple chemical tricks, but in the middle ages, it can be easily misinterpreted as an extraordinary phenomenon.
As for melting people, the first thing Roland thought of was an acidic solution.
But it will be troublesome to prepare such things, and you also need to soak the body thoroughly with it, but it will not look like a burning candle, either, because for other methods they are impossible.
Then how did he do it?
If he relied on alchemy, and it was rare, perhaps.....
Roland thought up to there and then said in a stern tone,
"Take me to see him"
The Assistant Minister was startled just before stuttering,
"Sir, you want to see that witch?"
Barov stood up in panic, dropping the cup with the milk he had not yet drunk.
"Yes, this is an order."
Roland went to the door but suddenly stopped, asking,
"Right, I have to ask, why are we using the gallows?"
"What?" barov.
Roland repeated his question,
"Why was he hanged? Shouldn't witches be burned at the stake?"
Barov's face looked puzzled as he asked,
"really? But he's not afraid of fire."
*
The dungeon was small, this barren land could not afford to have too many prisoners.
Most criminals will be tried after a few days and will be released or killed.
In addition to Barov, the Prince enters the dungeon along with the Knight Commander, the prison warden, and two guards.
The underground prison has a total of four levels and its walls are built of hard granite blocks.
This was the first time Roland had been in a place like this and he noticed the deeper he entered, the narrower the passageway was.
The number of cells is also reduced. He thought they might dig a hole in the shape of an inverted cone first, and then build up layer upon layer of rock.
This rugged project certainly does not have a good drainage system.
The ground was wet and muddy dirt was flowing down the stairs, down to the last floor.
Clearly, the witch was at the bottom of the dungeon. Each layer of them dropped, the foul smell in the air became thicker.
"Your Majesty, you risked too much by doing this, even though he was sealed with the God's Retaliation Pendant, it's not safe."
Carter is talking.
Once he knew that the prince was planning to visit the witch, he immediately chased after the prince, advising him along the way to stop going.
But it was all in vain, even repeating the king's direct order not to engage in any dangerous situation had no effect.
Clearly, not only was she a pretty face, she was also a chatty one. After experiencing this for some time, Roland only hoped that someone would sew his mouth.
"You must look into the evil eye before you face it on the battlefield and stand face to face. I thought you knew that." he said.
"You mean, if you meet a weaker enemy than you, you hold justice, but if he is stronger than you, you will turn a blind eye?"
Roland challenged.
"No, Your Honor, I mean." Carter stutters.
"Before you had been afraid of witch attacks, and now you were even afraid of seeing a little girl, my Knight Commander was indeed scary."
Even though the knight was a good speaker, he did not excel at debate, meeting a fluent speaker like Roland he was completely defeated.
Taking advantage of this effort, the group reached the bottom of the dungeon.
This floor was many times smaller than the one above, with a total of only two cells. The warden lit a torch on the wall and as the darkness faded, Roland saw the witch bowing in the corner of her cell.
It was already late autumn and the temperature in the basement was low enough to make people see the white mist as they inhaled.
She was wearing a fur coat with a layer of silk inside, so it did not feel cold, but the girl was just wearing a rough linen that could not even cover her entire body with her hands and feet sticking out and turning blue.
The torch that suddenly lit up made him cringe with his eyes closed.
But soon, he could open his eyes and stare straight at them.
It was a pair of pale blue eyes, like a calm lake before a heavy rain.
There was no fear on the witch's face and you could not see any anger or hatred.
Roland saw a vision, as if what he saw in front of him was not a weak little girl.
Instead, it looked as if he was in front of a raging flame.
He suddenly felt that the torch light from the wall was somewhat dim.
The girl tried to stand up while leaning against the wall, in a slow motion as if afraid of falling.
But in the end, he finally stood up and limped out of the corner, letting the light cover him.
It had been such a simple movement, yet it made his men inhale a few breaths of cold air as they even retreated two steps back, only
The Knight Commander could fight back and stand in front of Roland.
"What's your name?" Roland asked the witch and patted the knight on the shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to be too nervous.
"Anna" answered.
