Release that Witch

“Right,” Rolland nodded, “Furthermore… I will also be going.”

“Your Highness!” The second the words had left his mouth, the three, Wendy, Scroll, and Nightingale shouted at the same time to stop him, “You can’t take this risk yourself!

“It’s not that I will be taking any risks,” Roland waved his hands to calm them down before explaining further, “If they had the ability to pass over the high mountain or the sea, they would already have spread all over the Four Kingdoms by now. However, the reason why they are still gathered in the land to the Far West is simply because they are not as fearful as in your imagination.”

Still, there was another reason he hadn’t mentioned, in regards to judging the level of development of a differed kind of civilization, he was far more experienced than any of them — if he could lay his eyes on the Devils and their city, it would be a great help in developing the path to follow in the future and also to come up with a tactic to repulse the enemy.

“But…” Wendy’s face was still filled with hesitation.

“Do not worry, we will just take a look from a distance,” the Prince said and showed a reassuring smile, “In case I came to the conclusion that a distant investigation was dangerous, I would never permit you to go.”

“Alright, but you have to take me along with you,” as she saw that their attempt to dissuade him was in vain, Nightingale was the first to change her tact.

Seeing his counterpart’s serious gaze as she declared her demands, Roland knew that it was impossible for him to reject her. So, after thinking about it for a moment, he announced: “In that case, the people who will come along on this trip besides me, are Anna, Wendy, Soraya, Sylvie, Nightingale, Lightning, and Maggie.

“The mission will be in one week. In addition to the necessary food reserves, I also will give each of you a revolver. Use the week to practice, so that even if you are a non-combat witch, you will still be able to fight back if you are facing an enemy.”

Since the hot air balloon’s speed of flight was far less than Lightning’s, Roland feared that they would need a whole day to travel a distance of more than 200 kilometers. They would therefore have to camp one night in the wilderness if they wanted to complete the investigation. Taking this into account, dry food, tents, and weapons were a must.

“Yes, Your Highness,” the witches said in chorus.

After the crowd had departed, Roland finally had time to look at the black stone that Lightning had brought back under such great effort.

“You said that this kind of stone was everywhere at the edge of the forest?”

“Yes,” by now Lightning had calmed down, but even while sitting at the mahogany table, her legs were still swaying, the red flush on her cheeks also had not faded. “Furthermore, the nearer to the foot of the mountain the larger the more black stones there are. Looking at it from high up, the area covered by these black stones is more than a dozen times bigger than Border Town.”

When Roland picked it up to estimate its weight, his heart jumped slightly.

With regards to its weight, it is much lighter than an ordinary stone, which makes it unlikely that it’s ore. Its external appearance is hard and lithe, and under the sunlight, it reflects with a metallic luster. Furthermore, it lays bare on the surface… Is it possible that this could be a coal mine?

Thinking of this, he quickly called Anna back.

As it burned down under her black flame, the black stone soon became bright red, looking just like an iron ore in the smelting furnace, but it soon began to dissolve. Even after Anna had taken her black flame back, the orange light exuded by the stone didn’t weaken in the slightest degree. Instead, they could even see how a blue flame was slightly rising from its surface.

With this, Roland had confirmed his guess that it was indeed a piece of anthracite with excellent quality.

“So, this is the original look of a coal mine,” Lighting said in surprise. “I always thought it would resemble fragile charcoal and be covered with dust, so that if you touched it with your hand, it would make your palm dirty.”

“Of course, only after going through a crushing and dilution process will it look like charcoal briquette and coal cake,” Roland explained laughingly. “Most of the extraction that comes out of a coal mine look like stones in general, and of course, the higher the quality of the raw coal, the stronger will its structure be. In the end, they will become just like these stones, showing a reflecting luster on their surface.”

This unexpected discovery made him exceptionally happy.