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Chapter 899: The Witches From Afar (Part I)

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"I see the port!"

Molly's sudden exclamation immediately drew the attention of the witches on deck.

"Where? Where?"

"Sigh...We're finally almost there. It has been about half a month since we started to float around the sea..."

"That silver speck over there is another ship, isn't it?"

"Didn't somebody said that only the 'Charming Beauty' sails on this route?"

"Then it's probably a fishing boat."

Everybody went to the railing and stood on tiptoes to get a better look at where Molly was pointing to.

Seeing the witches all excited and cheerful, the old captain Jack "The One-eyed" shook his head with a smile. He turned to Camilla Dary, who unlike the rest of the witches, had a stern look on her face, and asked, "You don't look quite excited. What's wrong? Today is a good day."

"Good in what way?" Camilla replied indifferently.

"Good to be home." Jack shook his pipe and said, "Is returning to your homeland after so many years not worth celebrating? It is obvious that you guys never considered the Sleeping Island as your home. Not that I'm saying you dislike living at the Fjords, but after all, a refuge is still just a refuge."

Camilla didn't know what to say to that. She did not know whether Jack was right, but she knew that most of the witches who were willing to go to the Western Region of Graycastle had increased after the arrival of Princess Tilly's letter. Initially, only half of the witches wanted to go, but the number had risen to around 80% after. If the first batch of witches were able to properly settle in Graycastle, then it would be hard to say how many of the witches would still be left in Sleeping Island.

Sleeping Island should have been their home. It was a place where they wouldn't be hated for being who they are, and also where the church did not constantly threaten their lives. Although the island was relatively underdeveloped compared with the kingdoms on the continent and had a huge difference in terms of local customs and traditions, she believed that Sleeping Island would prosper given ten more years. Perhaps, it would not even take one generation before newly-awakened witches treated the island as their real hometown.

After a long silence, Camilla spoke in a low voice, "I wish what you said was true."

"Hmm." Jack stroke his beards. "You don't trust the new king?"

"How did you know?" Camilla looked up.

"it was written on your face." The old captain smiled. "Do you remember what you looked like three years ago when you sailed out for the first time?"

"Three years ago..." The steward of Sleeping Island contemplated for a while. That was when Princess Tilly started to gather the witches and encouraged them to leave Graycastle. As one of the few captains who did not discriminate against witches, Jack and the "Charming Beauty had smuggled a large number of witches from harbor cities to the Fjords with the risk of getting caught and being sent to trial. That was why Sleeping Island had built a long-lasting and intimate friendship with the one-eyed captain.

"Perhaps worn-out and frightened?" Camilla answered hesitantly.

"Worn-out and frightened?" Jack burst into laughter. "Just that? You were no better than a bunch of walking dead at that time, all beaten-up and desperate. Look at yourselves now. Don't you feel completely different? The past is the past. You should look ahead. Some of the witches had already been to Neverwinter several times. If it were really that miserable of a place, they wouldn't have such bright smiles on their faces right now."

"But the nobles are all two-faced..."

"But are you?" The captain interrupted her. "If I remember correctly, you're also from a noble family, aren't you? You were better dressed than anyone else the day you left Graycastle. Civilians can't afford silk fabrics. If I detested nobles like you do back then, what would have had happened?"

"..." Camilla opened her mouth, grasping for words that did not come.

Jack "The One-eyed" slowly blew a tendril of white smoke. "I don't think you can judge a person only by his background. Other than the Three Gods, who can choose their own family? The same goes for witches... Don't you think that you hating nobles because they are nobles is the same as people blindly hating witches?"

The words sent a faint shiver through Camilla's heart.

"Perhaps you could say that you understand what the nobles are because you were one of them. But don't forget that your prejudice could potentially harm someone innocent, as long as there exists a person that doesn't fit your mold." The old captain paused for a second and said, "Sorry, child... I am probably not the best person to lecture you on this, but I don't want to see you let your past cloud your judgment—what I said doesn't only apply to this matter. After all, people can't always live in the past."

"No, nobody else would say something like this to me," Camilla thought to herself. Princess Tilly must know that people should look forward to the future and not live in the past. That was why she had voluntarily traveled to Neverwinter. However, Camilla knew Princess Tilly would never be so open to her, and certainly would not criticize her hatred for the nobles. Their intimate relationship and the respects Tilly had for her prevented the princess from giving her further counsels.

Perhaps, the old captain was the only person on Sleeping Island who would view her as a child.

Camilla breathed out a long sigh and said, "You may be right."

"Right?" Jack chuckled. "I'm old and happen to have a lot of similar experiences. If I don't always keep optimistic, I wouldn't have been able to sail on the sea for this long. But the things are most likely going to get tough in the near-future."

"Why?"

"Who else would board the "charming Beauty once you witches all return to the main continent? I've heard from those big Chambers of Commerce that a new type of ship that doesn't require a sail will soon replace the current wooden boats and be used by the majority of the merchants at Fjords. Those new ships would be a lot faster than this old baby and can also carry a lot more. I bet nobody will ever use her again. Not even for transporting cargo."

"I can probably talk to Princess Tilly about this..."

"Talk about what? Do you want to support me for the rest of my life?" The old captain tapped his pipe. "That'll be a little too early. My legs haven't given away yet! In fact, I plan to join Sir Thunder's expedition team after you guys arrive at Graycastle."

"Expedition?" Camilla echoed in surprise.

"That's right. If I can find something in an unexploited sea across Shadow Islands, the money I can earn from that will be more than enough to let me build my own fleet if I wanted to. Not to mention supporting myself." Jack "The One-eyed" turned around and looked at the vast ocean spiritedly. "Although I'm getting old and my legs are no longer as nimble as they were used to be, I can guarantee you that no captain in the entire Fjords 's better at navigating the seas than me!"

"Really..." Camilla asked in her heart. She glanced at the Fjordian old man as if it were the first time she met him. His appearance was nothing extraordinary, but the current expression on his face perfectly demonstrated his fearlessness in facing the unknown future.

"Captain, we are nearing the shores!" The lookout perching on the mast yelled.

"Do I still have to tell you what to do next?" Jack looked up and stared at him. "Take in the sail and slow her down!"

Camilla looked toward the dock area and found there were red banners of different kinds everywhere, all of which read "Welcome to Neverwinter." Among the people who came to greet them, there were not only witches but also ordinary people. She even saw a column of children around 11 to 12 years old, each of them with a bouquet in their hands. The children were standing next to the trestle waiting for the witches' arrival.

"Such a marvelous reception." The old captain whistled. "Just for the way the King is greeting you, you should give him some more credit, right?" He then waved his arm at the busy sailors on the deck. "Lads, get ready to dock. We've arrived at Neverwinter!"

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Chapter 900: The Witches From Afar (Part II)

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"Is this really alright?" Wendy said quietly as she pointed to the ordinary people on the dock. "I mean, we hired random people to greet the witches from Sleeping Island... If the witches knew the truth, they surely wouldn't be pleased about it."

"Are you able to find any residents who truly welcome their arrival?" Scroll asked in an equally low voice.

"... No." Wendy hesitated for a moment and shook her head. Indeed, it was hard to find even one or two residents who would welcome the witches from the bottom of their heart, let alone a group of them. Although citizens in Neverwinter had gradually started to accept the witches under Roland's influences, and some witches were even adored by the public, the immigrants from Sleeping Islands were strangers to them. It was basically impossible to ask people to stop their work and greet a group of witches they had never met.

Without Kind Roland's presence, only the families of the First Army could be persuaded to do so.

"Therefore, there's nothing wrong with His Majesty's arrangement." Scroll shrugged. "All the expenses incurred in this welcoming has already been included in Neverwinter's budget, including the expenses for those big red bouquets, banners, and family greeting teams. If you don't use that part of the money, the other departments will. His Majesty originally planned to have the welcome reception on a much bigger scale than this."

"Well, you might be right..." Wendy swiped at the non-existent sweat on her forehead. His Majesty had been extremely excited ever since Princess Tilly had told him that the witches on Sleeping Island were coming here. Apart from what Scroll had just mentioned, Roland had also listed many other welcome events on his memo, such as ceremonial parades, a musical, and fireworks. Had the news from Hill Fawkes not prompted Roland to carry out his war plan immediately, Roland would have hosted the ceremony himself, which undoubtedly would have made things even more jubilant and spectacular.

Scroll said smilingly, "That's why directly hiring people is the best option. We don't just recruit random guys. Those selected ones are all families with good city hall records. You don't need to worry." She took a short pause and continued, "The witches are coming. Go meet them, Ms. chief of the Union."

"Scroll!" Wendy raised her voice, looking at the former reproachfully. Then she gave Princess Tilly a curt nod before walking up to the guests who came here all the way from the island.

"Nice to meet you!" As the two groups of witches met each other, Wendy opened her arms and greeted them with her most gentle voice while smiling. "I'm the superintendent of the Witch Union. Welcome to Neverwinter!"

...

According to the agreement, the witches from Sleeping Island were only considered as ordinary subjects of the Western Region and would not be under the management of the Witch Union. As such, Wendy decided to take them to the residential area first and have a rough head count so that the City Hall would know how much food to provide to the new group of witches. As for the subsequent tour and work schedules, she planned to discuss that with Lady Tilly only after everybody settled down.

The construction of the residential area exclusively for the use of the witches from Sleeping Island had been completed two months before their arrival. It was located close to the Miracle Building and was named Sleeping Spell, the same name used by the Bounty Guild.

Some of the witches gasped at the sight of the "magnificent building" which was now six stories' high.

They were especially impressed with the polished and glossy surface of the concrete.

"Are these real stones? Why do they look so smooth?"

"We're not going to be staying here, are we?"

"Stop dreaming. This must be the Lord's castle."

"The view from the top floor must be breathtaking."

Seeing everyone was burning with curiosity, Wendy took this opportunity to make a brief introduction. "The building is only half-complete at the moment. Once the construction is done, it will reach 55 meters, which is 180 feet and 5 inches. But His Majesty doesn't live here. His castle is only three stories' tall and is located in the center of Neverwinter."

"That's so tall... Aren't you afraid that it'll collapse one day?" someone questioned in surprise.

Wendy smiled. "His Majesty invented a special construction material that can convert fluid slimes to solid stones. This is simply a pilot project. He told us that we will be able to build architecture as tall as the mountains with this type of material. Of course, the whole project cannot be successfully completed without the help of the witches. In fact, this building is the result of the joint efforts of the witches and numerous construction workers. Am I right, Lotus?"

"Hey, did you really build this?"

"But isn't your ability elevating earth?"

All the witches rested their eyes on Lotus.

A little embarrassed, Lotus scratched her head and answered, "I just build slopes for the workers. When they need to add another floor, I elevate the surrounding earth to create a platform next to the building to make it a bit more convenient for the construction workers."

"Did... they hate or show disgust at you because you're a witch?" As expected, someone raised the question that everybody was most concerned about.

"I haven't come across anyone like that yet. I think they've already started to treat me like a normal person." Lotus waved her hand. "Sometimes, the workers will even share pancakes with me if I went to work early."

This was the exact effect Wendy desired to achieve. "Perhaps a lot of you are still cautious of the people here and wonder how you'll be treated in the future. That's perfectly normal, after all, Neverwinter to you is a completely foreign city. I don't think I have to go on about the miseries that had fallen upon us witches over this past century. However, I assure you that you'll feel at home here, just like the city name endowed by His Majesty suggests. I understand that you aren't a member of the Witch Union, but please don't hesitate to ask me for help if you encounter any difficulties. No matter how small it seems to be, I'm here for you."

"Good job." Scrolled gave Wendy a thumbs-up and whispered to her approvingly.

...

Wendy did not expect, however, that the first problem arose when she tried to gather the personal information of the witches.

"Why do you need such information?" A red-haired witch protested after Wendy distributed the forms. "Didn't you agree not to force us to stay here? I just plan to stay here for a couple of days, so I don't think it's necessary."

"Me too. Princess Tilly told us that we could leave Neverwinter whenever we wanted to. I want to go back to the Eastern Region right now."

"Since the church is gone now, I don't think it's necessary to disclose our personal information. It'll put us in a very disadvantageous position if the information leaks to someone with malicious intent."

There were quite a few witches who opposed to registering their personal information.

"I knew it... It's Azima and her little clique again." Ashes knitted her brows.

"Azima?" Wendy asked in surprise.

"A witch organization from the Eastern Region. Sorry, they don't really acknowledge my leadership," Tilly explained in a low voice. "But they're at least much better than the Bloodfang Association." Tilly turned to the red-haired witch and said, "I understand that you yearn to return to the Eastern Region, but this is not a good time. Although the church has fallen from power, the public is still unfriendly to witches, not to mention those nobles. The situation is particularly bad in the Eastern Region. Before Roland officially retrieves that area, the attitude of people toward witches would not change much over there."

"How do you know that if you haven't been there?" Azima persisted. "Or maybe you're just favoring your brother?"

"Mind your attitude." Ashes retorted coldly.

"Why? Are you going to pick a fight with me here, like you did to Heidi and Skyflare?"

Wendy bit her lip. She did not foresee such a bitter confrontation, but she could not find a proper way to ease the tension between the two parties.

Just at that moment, Scroll stepped forward.

"Mind if I ask you a few questions?" She asked.

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Chapter 901: The Witches From Afar (Part III)

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"What do you want to know?" Azima said as she glanced at her.

"Scroll..." Wendy held her hand, looking pretty worried. If what Tilly said was true, these people did not come to Neverwinter voluntarily. Their visit was instead due to internal conflict among the witches from Sleeping Island. If this problem was not properly resolved, not only would the Witch Union be involved in the mess, but would also lose the newcomers' trust. The would have defeated the whole point of getting the new witches to come here.

"Don't worry," Scroll raised one of her eyebrows and then turned to the witch who wanted to return to the Eastern Region. "You miss your hometown, which means that you most likely weren't abandoned by your family. Like other refugees who fled to Sleeping Island, you were forced to leave the Eastern Region under the pressure of the church. Right?"

"So what?" Azima cut in.

"Let me tell you about the current state of the Eastern Region." Ignoring the red-haired witch's provocation, Scroll replied indifferently, "That area has not been fully recovered by the King ever since Garcia the Queen of Clearwater plundered Seawindshire and Valencia. The area was first devastated by the demonic plague spread by the church and was then ravaged by the army of Timothy. Farmlands in all surrounding areas are deserted, and people can't sustain themselves. Many of those people have become refugees."

The witch showed a troubled look but was not willing to relent. "If we don't go take a look ourselves, who knows whether you're telling the truth?"

"Two years ago, His Majesty Roland started to take in those refugees. Now the population of Neverwinter has exceeded 100,000, 70% of which are from other cities, with the majority of them being refugees from the Eastern Region and the Southern Territory," Scroll spoke calmly. "Your family members are most likely amongst them. Can you tell me where you lived before? Name a town or a village, a specific landmark, or a local specialty."

"Do you plan to find her family only with those clues? She wasn't born in a big city where each street and alley has its own name and where people in the same community knew each other!"

Scroll did not reply to Azima but instead gently pushed her hair behind her ear. She looked on at that witch encouragingly like a teacher patiently waiting for an answer from her student in the class.

"My village... didn't have a name," after hesitating for quite a while, the witch answered in a low voice. "There were no other villages nearby, and it was very far from Valencia, so far that if you want to sell wheat, you would have to sell them to a merchant traveling there at a meager price. This isn't official, but some people call the village 'Sixteen.'"

"Six...teen?" Wendy echoed involuntarily.

"Because when they returned from Valencia, it's the sixteenth village that they would pass by."

Scroll closed her eyes and asked slowly, "Let me see... There's a branch of Sanwan River winding behind that village, right?"

"There're numerous branches of Sanwan River in the Eastern Region." Azima grunted. "How can a village survive without a river to irrigate their farmlands?"

"But that branch is different." Scroll waved her hand. "It isn't wide nor deep enough for boats to pass, and even the riverbed would show in a dry season. That's why the villages nearby can't transport food and supplies by ship. But the branch converges into a huge lake at the sixteenth village, which will never dry up even if the river water dried up. Because of this, the wheat in the village always grows better than those in others. Am I right?"

The witch's eyes were wide open. "Have you been there?"

"I heard from somebody else," Scroll answered after a short silence. "The one who told me this is currently in Neverwinter, but he wasn't a resident of the Sixteenth Village."

"What do you mean?"

"You should ask him yourself." Scroll turned to the City Hall clerk responsible for the registration. "Bring Watt here. His ID number is 0024578, and he's a furnace worker. He should be recycling slags in Zone 2 at the North Slope right now."

"Yes, Ms. Scroll." The clerk left to carry out her order.

Half an hour later, the clerk and a ruddy man showed up in the residential area.

"I don't know him..." The witch studied him and shook her head, denying their acquaintance.

"What else do you have to say now?" Azima sneered. "There're so many people in the whole Eastern Region. How can you just randomly pick one..."

"Ah, are... are you Tillan's daughter?" The big man blurted out in excitement, paying no heed to Azima. "Thank God, you're still alive and have grown into a big girl!"

The witch was stunned. "The 'Tillan' you're talking about... Is she my mother?"

"Who else could I be talking about? You've got her eyes. Especially for the mole underneath the corner of your eye, it's identical to your mother's!" Watt cried. "But you're much prettier than your mother. Hold on, you don't remember me? Well, not that it's your fault. You were just a little girl when I left the village. When I returned, you weren't there anymore. She called you... Little Orchid back then, right? Tillan loved to call you names after beautiful flowers."

"That was just a nickname when I was little..." The witch was embarrassed. "My name is now Doris."

"I see. Well, that's a nice name, too. You know, when I dug trenches in the Sixteenth Village, people talked a lot about you. They all thought witches had abducted you, and..."

As Watt rambled on, Wendy started to figure out what had happened gradually. The big ruddy man had been a resident of a neighboring village next to the Sixteenth Village. Based on the naming rule, his village should be called the Fifteenth Village. As the two villages were geographically close to each other, he had kept in touch with his neighbors. As he envied his neighbors for their water source, he had traveled to Valencia to learn trench digging. After he learned the skills, Watt had returned to his village and encouraged some villagers to help him expand the lake toward the Fifteenth village. He had thus lived in the Sixteenth Village for quite a long time because of this project.

"Are my parents and elder brother... still living in the village?" Watt had apparently convinced Doris. After Watt finally finished, she asked hastily, "Or they've come to the Western Region with you?"

At this moment, Scroll let out a short sigh.

The sparks in the ruddy man's eyes seemed to fade out at that instant. He replied in a sorrowful tone, "They didn't make it... The second prince's army robbed our food stock. By the time we got to the king's city, starving and thirsty, a huge plague broke out. The nobles in the city shut us out, leaving us crying for help at the foot of the city wall. A large number of villagers from the nearby lands had died due to the nobles' selfishness. By the time His Majesty's rescue teams arrived, there were just a few that were still alive." He paused for a second and said, "Your family members... weren't among them."

"No..." Doris cupped her hand over her mouth. She stood transfixed for a moment before she started to sob uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, child." Watt instantly panicked. He wanted to comfort her but did not know what to do. In the end, he came up to the girl and patted her on the head. "Tillan called your name over and over again before she passed away. If she knew you were still alive and well, she would definitely be happy. So... don't cry anymore, girl."

Doris bit her lips fiercely and nodded slightly but cried even harder after that.

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