In the not-too-distant town, wooden fences stood around, typical for a small-scale settlement that was positioned between a village and a city.
This was sufficient and thus conformed to the economic capabilities of the small town.
Expensive city walls may suspend one's financial status as the cost of maintenance alone exceeds the public annual tax revenue of the town.
This indeed is a money-devouring beast.
Income drains into it, only to be wasted away.
City walls are incredibly useful during wartime, but they are nothing more than a fiscal drain during peacetime.
Behind these wooden fences, a wooden tower stands, equipped with a lookout and two archers.
Black Wolf lifted the curtain on his carriage and took a glance at the soldiers on the watchtower. "This town probably only has around two or three thousand residents; surprisingly, they also have a tower."
"They even have two archers up there, such a luxury! Maintaining an archer is more costly than maintaining three light infantry. This small town must indeed be affluent."
"Seems the head of this town knows how to make money."
"Hearthstone Witch, how do you plan to get in?"
"You're wearing a witch's robe, the city guard would be able to identify you immediately."
"If they find out a witch is trying to enter the town, I don't know if they would permit us."
"Even if we were allowed entry, we would be subject to numerous restrictions."
Unabashed, the old witch replies, "our kind keeps quite an honorable reputation."
"Your Majesty, it's time for you to cast your first spell."
"I need your help to enter the town! I've never learned charm spells, only you have the Ring of Desire that can conjure a charm spell."
Ivita willingly asked, "What should I do?"
The Old Witch replied, "Generally, it takes an ordinary wizard several years to learn a new spell, which involves a lot of knowledge."
"But with magical items, you can learn a spell within a few minutes, which is one reason why magic items are costly."
The Witch instructed, "Your Majesty, remove the Malsgo Desire Ring from your little finger, read the text on the inner side."
Ivita did as instructed, and indeed, on the inside of the black ink diamond ring, she saw a line of text.
The Old Witch added, "This is magic text, only witches and wizards can see it."
"And there is no need for studying, you will automatically know how to pronounce the words."
"The accompanying spells of magical items are generally engraved in magical text, but that doesn't exclude some wicked witches and alchemists that deliberately use difficult or even extinct dead languages as the activation code for their magical items."
The Old Witch said, "Of course, people like that are few."
"Because they face divine punishment."
The Great Witch confidently assured everyone that those who take joy in fooling others will face divine retribution.
Unable to bear looking anymore, Black Wolf turned his head away.
Just as Ivita was about to verbalize the enchantment inside the ring, the Old Witch quickly stopped her, "Your Majesty, you must not recite it in the carriage."
"Once recited, the spell will take effect."
Ivita nods, her lips pursed.
The Old Witch suggested, "When you cast this spell, you may want to add a small movement, such as rotating the ring twice with your thumb."
"My teacher once told me this might enhance the spell's power."
"BUT..."
The Old Witch hesitated, appearing lost, a rare expression for her, "I'm actually not sure if this is useful because I can't be certain my teacher wasn't tricking me at the time."
"She's been dead for far too long."
"So, I can't call her soul with necromancy magic to pry the truth out of her."
"....." Ivita stayed silent.
Everyone in the carriage fell silent too.
They all were pretty sure if she could, the Hearthstone Grand Witch would definitely dig her teacher out from her grave.
Ivita curiously asks, "Hearthstone Witch, how did your teacher die?"
"You're already over two hundred years old, your teacher must have been even older. How did such a capable person die? Was it of old age, or was she killed?"
The Old Witch sighed, "My teacher was a fourth-level witch, also known as a high-level witch, but she was killed by the Church."
Both Black Wolf and Rayli were rather surprised to hear this.
In their minds, the Church had not taken such drastic measures for quite some time.
The Old Witch sneered, "What's there to be surprised about? You never witnessed the Church going mad, so mad that I suspect they were all possessed by demons. Except for Your Majesty, the rest of you are just children. Have you heard of the Saint Purification Movement 800 years ago?"
"Even when the Church was not as powerful, they sought to establish their authority by hunting witches and wizards."
"Most of the victims were ordinary women as real witches were not easily found, let alone hunted."
"Usually, the Church has to pay a huge price to kill a true witch, so they became quite content hunting down fake witches. As long as the public can't tell the difference, it doesn't matter much."
"In your minds, the Church seems weak, but it's only because they've become too powerful."
"Having become powerful, the Church has also become more compassionate."
"They no longer wish to harm ordinary people, nor do they wish to combat witches at large cost, not even willing to fight all magic users to the death."
"There's no need."
"The Church has become the ruler and the Pope, the King of Thousands Kings."
"A ruler, well settled in power, must become gentle and kind to discourage rebellion among his subjects."
"Pretending to be a lamb."
The Old Witch mockingly stated, "This is nothing more than hypocrisy from the ones who rule."
Before the Old Witch could continue her blasphemous speech, Alicia, who was driving the carriage, artfully said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are approaching the town gate."
The old witch immediately shut up.
Blasphemies cannot be heard by the mindless soldiers. The witch may face rage from the true believers and could easily end up in a deadly fight.
Ivita prepared to rotate the Malsgo Desire Ring with her left hand. She was ready to give the ring two rotations before reciting the spell.
Better safe than sorry.
In any case, this action did not require physical strength and was not a waste of time.
She figured she might as well comply.
What if the Old Witch's master didn't actually deceive her?
Before their carriage, there was a group of small traders with ox carts loaded with agricultural products such as potatoes and beans.
These traders were being inspected by the guards, who were counting the value of the agricultural products.
As they needed to pay the border taxes.