Chapter 254: The Alliance
Translator:Transn
Editor:Meh
The weather in the Fjords was very peculiar. Yesterday was sunny without any clouds in the blue sky, while today was gloomy with strong winds and thunders. A storm was coming.
Ashes walked into Tilly's home with her hair blown into a mess. She saw the giant pigeon crouching on Tilly's shoulder at first glance.
"Maggie?"
"Coo!" The pigeon looked up and its eyes became bright. It spread its wings and straightly flew to the door, but was easily stopped by Ashes. "Turn into your human form before we talk."
"Woo... Coo." Maggie thumped her wings and landed on the ground, shedding her feathers and exposing her original appearance. Then she twitched her lips and asked, "Do you hate pigeons?"
"I've always felt it's strange that a big bird can speak," Ashes said with a smile and pulled up the girl sitting on the ground, "when did you come back?"
"Just a moment ago. I was afraid of being caught in a storm, and my wings were almost broken," she patted her chest and said, "fortunately, I arrived at Sleeping Island before it rained."
"You flew back... like this?" Ashes put her hand on her forehead and asked, "why not become a petrel? It'll be much faster."
"Oh..." Maggie blinked her eyes and came to understand suddenly. "I forgot, coo."
Tilly could not help laughing, putting down the letter in her hand. "Well done. I already know the news of the other party. You can go and play with Lotus and Molly, and I'll inform you when I think of a good reply."
"Good, coo!" Maggie saluted and hopped outside the room.
"What did Roland Wimbledon say?" There were only two persons in the room. Ashes went to Tilly and sat beside her. In front of Tilly there laid a map, when Ashes looked closely, she found that it looked like a topographic map around Border Town.
"This is his letter." Tilly handed her a piece of paper. "I have to say, the witches he chose are really... special."
Ashes quickly read the letter and could not help frowning. "He actually chose Sylvie? Didn't he care about being exposed?"
"I don't know," said Tilly, not expressing any opinion, "Perhaps my notes about their abilities were so vague that he didn't go deeply into it. Or he didn't mind showing his identity in front of us to show his sincerity in cooperation? Of course, there's another possibility..."
"He's really your elder brother," Ashes continued, "so he doesn't care about Sylvie's ability."
"But it's a slim possibility." She laughed at herself. "Does anybody know him better than I do? If he was the real Roland Wimbledon, he would never choose to protect the witch and go against the church. Man and boy, he's been good at escaping, whether in the face of challenges or difficulties... Even when he was sent to Border Town under the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince, he had never made a protest against our father, even if it was symbolic."
Ashes lifted her eyebrows. "In a word, it's a good thing for us that he actively chose Sylvie. So you don't need an excuse to send an additional witch, but the other witches... Do you really want to agree with him?"
"Why not?"
"Lotus is one of the most important witches of Sleeping Island. If she left, who would fix the mud houses? If you want to build something or transform the island's terrain, it'll be extremely inconvenient without the ability to reshape the terrain. After all, we've only used less than 30% of the entire Sleeping Island, and there're many places remaining to be transformed." She gestured with her fingers. "So is Honey. She can drive the ospreys to fish for us, and all the delicious fish soup we enjoyed every day is her credit as well. As for Candle and Evelyn, there're not too many problems... Can't you refuse his request and exchange another two witches who aren't so useful?"
"What's useful, and what's useless? By sending the witches to Border Town, I hope to form an alliance with the other party, rather than abandon them." Tilly looked a little serious. "Whatever abilities they own, anyone choosing to come to this island is our sister. If we want to build Sleeping Island into the witch's home, how can we select them according to whether their abilities are useful or not?"
Ashes had ever seen such a look in the palace—this was the expression when Princess Tilly was really angry, so she could not help changing her address. "Sorry... Your Highness. I just..."
Tilly sighed and said slowly, "Moreover, it's difficult to measure everyone's ability by a certain standard. Roland selected five witches from more than 100, including Candle and Evelyn, who you said were useless. Are they really useless? Perhaps through this alliance, we can figure out whether Roland chose the two by chance, or he had seen something special that we haven't realized." She paused. "Anyway, we're the minority, so every witch is worth fighting for. They're not tools for building homes, but our partners with a common goal. So never say it again."
"Yes, Your Highness," Ashes said in a low voice.
At this moment, a lightning broke through the clouds, straight over the sea. As if it were the order of the deities, deafening thunders closely followed, roaring above Sleeping Island. Then it began to rain. At first, it rained sparsely, but then quickly merged into a hubbub.
Ashes stood up and closed the window to keep the rain from coming into the room. When she turned around, she saw Tilly sway for a moment with a haggard look on her face.
"Did you stay up all night?"
"Yes." Tilly yawned. "The books brought back from the ruins are all written in the same language, and I've found some common ground. As long as I have enough time, I'm sure that I can translate them all."
"Yes, as long as you have enough time... Since we've got rid of the church's entanglement and time is enough, you don't need to study it all through the night." Ashes frowned. "It's bad for your health."
"Don't worry, I'm an Extraordinary, so my body won't collapse so easily." Princess Tilly took a deep breath. "But I have some uncertain foreboding—I'm disturbed by the scenes of the ruins, so we'd better translate these books as soon as possible... By the way, when the witches go to Border Town, tell them to take an ancient book with them."
"If you can't understand it, then it's less likely for the witches of the Witch Cooperation Association to understand."
"Just take a chance," said Tilly, "I heard that there was an ancient relic in the forest east of the king city, and the origin of the Witch Cooperation Association is in Seawindshire, almost next to the forest. Perhaps someone of them has seen this language. If we can prove the two languages are the same, then it means that the relics are from the same group of people."
"Yes, I got it," Ashes answered.
"In addition, I didn't blame you, and what you said has some truth—but not the part about the significance of their abilities." She reached out to stop Ashes from speaking. "I've reached an agreement with the Chamber of Commerce in Crescent Moon Bay and they'll migrate some ordinary people to Sleeping Island in the next spring. If Lotus leaves for too long, it'll certainly affect the subsequent construction of the island, so I'll let them return to the Fjords before winter comes."
Ashes sighed in relief. "That'll be good."
"However, in order to avoid misunderstanding, I'll lead several combat type witches to Border Town instead to help the Witch Cooperation Association go through the Months of Demons." Tilly exposed a sly smile. "Then, are you willing to go with me?
Ashes froze for a moment, and finally had no choice but to reply, "Of course, Your Highness."