A week passed quickly, and the scouting team was ready to depart.
Roland summoned Barov, Carter, and Iron Axe to the castle, informing them that he would be leaving town for two days and that all affairs in Border Town should continue to be implemented according to the established plans and regulations.
Of course, this statement was met with unanimous opposition from the three. Carter hoped to fulfill his duties as Chief Knight and guard the prince; Iron Axe requested a hundred-man squad to provide protection; Barov, on the other hand, used the reason that the decrees issued by the City Hall could only take effect after being reviewed and stamped by the lord, advising him to stay in the castle. In the end, he had to assert his authority as lord, demanding that everyone act according to his orders.
"Your Highness, I don't understand, what matter is so important that you must go in person?" Barov asked, puzzled.
"This matter concerns the Western Region... even the survival of the Kingdom of Graycastle," Roland said after a moment of silence, "and only I can make the best judgment."
"Can't you... tell us the specific reason?"
"Not yet, but you will know someday." He shook his head. "Also, this trip is a secret operation, and you must not leak the news to anyone."
The fact that the demons' main camp might be stationed more than two hundred kilometers away from the Western Region, and that these demons had once destroyed the Holy City of Taqila, drove the resisters to the edge of the continent, and turned the wilderness into a forbidden zone where no one dared to set foot, was too horrifying to say.
He was fine; he had seen too many doomsday movies and had become numb, but for them, they probably couldn't accept such a fact. Once the news leaked, it would be even more troublesome. If it caused panic among the people, it might lead to a large number of people fleeing the Western Region.
Therefore, now was not the right time to announce the truth.
After explaining the political affairs, Roland and the witches boarded the hot air balloon, took off from the castle's front yard, and flew towards the snow mountain.
"Your Highness, if the church was really resisting demons more than four hundred years ago, were they good or bad?" Ever since learning about the existence of demons, Sylvie had seemed preoccupied.
"Of course they were bad," Nightingale interjected before Roland could speak. "Have you ever seen good people hunt witches for no reason? If we were truly the claws of the demons, that would be one thing, but the sisters all know that witches have nothing to do with demons, and the demon possession is just nonsense."
But she kept staring at Roland, as if wanting to hear his answer.
The latter pondered for a moment, "First of all, whether the church was fighting demons is yet to be confirmed. If they really made such great sacrifices, why would they hide the news and destroy all past records? Publicizing this matter would be the best way to expand their followers. This question can probably only be answered after finding more clues. Also, good and bad cannot be so simply distinguished; it depends on which side you stand on." Saying this, Roland smiled. "You actually want to ask if I will side with the church in order to fight the demons, right?"
"I..." Sylvie opened her mouth, but did not deny it.
"Theocracy and kingship are inherently incompatible, even without witches, I would not side with the church," he spread his hands. "What's more, now I have you by my side."
"I told you," Nightingale said smugly, "Even if the church fought demons before, they lost, and they lost miserably. If it were His Highness, who knows who would win or lose? Why join the side of the losers?"
"...I understand," she nodded lightly, and the melancholy between her brows seemed to fade a little.
Thus, as dusk fell, the group could vaguely see the outline of the snow mountain.
It was indeed enormous, Roland thought. Even he had rarely witnessed such a majestic peak. It was surrounded by no matching mountain ranges, as if the earth had suddenly leaped up here without warning, leaving a path to the sky. The gray mountain walls occupied most of the field of vision, and it would probably take several months to bypass the foot of the mountain by land.
The campsite was selected on the top of a mountain ridge close to the sea, which could facilitate observation of the surrounding movements, and it was far away from the Misty Forest, which could ensure that beasts could not easily approach the camp.
After finishing the dry food, everyone began to set up tents. Since the carrying capacity of the hot air balloon was limited, only one large tent could be carried. Therefore, Roland promoted the spirit of high moral character and let the witches sleep in the tent collectively, while he slept in the hanging basket, and Maisie slept in the tree—anyway, after turning into a bird, she could fall asleep even while standing.
He found that his skin was still too thin, and he couldn't brazenly squeeze in with the witches to sleep, although Wendy and Soroya offered to let them go to the hanging basket and let Prince Roland sleep in the tent, but he refused them all.
Only Sylvie kept looking at Roland with a wary look during the accommodation arrangement, which made the latter feel dumbfounded.
After arranging the night watch personnel, everyone drilled into the tent. Since the bottom of the hanging basket was uneven, Roland had difficulty falling asleep for a while, so he simply sat on a rock facing the sea, staring blankly at the sea surface reflecting the bright moonlight.
Just then, there was a faint sound of footsteps behind him.
The prince turned around and found that the visitor was Anna.
When he was in school, whenever he encountered a group outing, he would always have expectations in his heart that something might happen, although most of the endings ended in delusion, but this still did not prevent him from having expectations for the next activity.
But when this scene really came, Roland found that his heart was beating faster. Pretending to be nonchalant, he raised his eyebrows, "What's wrong, can't sleep?"
"No," Anna said bluntly, "I just want to keep you company."
"Is that so?" He coughed twice, "Thank you."
"I'm the one who should say thank you," Anna smiled. The silver moonlight shone on her face, emitting a faint light; her deep blue eyes seemed to be deeper than the sea, "Those words you said to Sylvie... although she didn't say thank you, I can tell that she felt a lot more relaxed."
"Are you happy for her?"
"No," she shook her head, "I'm happy for my own choice."
Roland was stunned, "What... choice?"
Anna did not answer, but closed her eyes and kissed his face. After a long time, she whispered, "Good night, Your Highness."
This also counts as something happened... right?
Watching her return to the tent, Roland stretched contentedly and was about to return to the hanging basket to sleep when a pair of invisible hands held his face. There was obviously nothing in front of him, but he felt a soft touch on his face again, but this time, it was on the other side. "Me too, Your Highness. Thank you for doing so much for the witches."
…(。)