After Roland ate the last piece of fried egg from his breakfast, he took a napkin and wiped his mouth before saying, "So, are you saying that you're worried that the Witch Cooperation Association will try to rescue the witch when they hear the news that she did not die?"
"It's as Your Highness says." Barov stamped his feet and exclaimed. "I hear that they're in a hurry and probably on their way to somewhere. Had that prisoner died, and then it can't be helped, but she's still alive! If those witches are crazy enough to steal babies, I'm afraid that they won't forsake a degenerated companion."
Roland was somewhat confused, and he could not help but feel that there was something amiss about the situation. Why is it that my Assistant Minister and Chief Knight speak of witches as if they're a forthcoming and formidable enemy?
The woman who's to be executed is a witch, right? She's so thin that even the wind seems like it can blow her off her feet. If she truly possessed frightening power, why would she be standing there and awaiting her death? No, she wouldn't even be caught. According to the Church's explanation, she's a Devil incarnate, and therefore the Punishment Army and other military troops would suffer losses if they fought her. Yet, she was caught by the normal citizens of Border Town, and was tortured by every means possible up until she was led to the gallows, but there was still no sign of her frightening power.
"How did she get caught?" Roland queried.
"I heard that when the North Slope Mine Area collapsed, she revealed her identity in order to escape, and was then captured by angry villagers," Barov answered.
"I've a certain impression of this matter, and it happened right on the day before I travelled through time," Roland thought.
"How did she reveal herself?" The prince asked aloud.
"I, well… I'm not sure." the Assistant Minister shook his head and said, "The situation was very chaotic, and it could be that someone saw her using witchcraft."
Roland frowned as he asked, "Aren't you able to investigate the situation properly?"
"Your Highness, our priority is to restore the production of the mining area." the Assistant Minister retorted. "Half of our revenue is derived from the iron mine, and what's more, the guards have confirmed that someone at the scene was killed by witchcraft."
"What kind of witchcraft?" Roland asked, becoming more interested than before.
"The head and a large part of the body were spread out on the ground, as if they were melted. They reminded people of burnt-out black candles." Barov's face was filled with disgust. "Your Highness, you wouldn't want to see such a scene."
Roland played with his silver fork as he pondered over the issue. Historically speaking, most of the victims who were hunted by the Witch Cooperation Association were innocent people, and thus, the witches bore the brunt of the Church's and the ignorant people's anger. In truth, a small percentage of witches had sought their own deaths. This group of witches dressed bizarrely, and spent their days mixing all kinds of materials in large pots, claiming that they could predict the future and knew the conclusion of life and death. They based their legitimacy around a few tricks, for example, making use of a natural flame reaction to 'prove' that they had obtained the power of God.
To a modern person, these were nothing but some simple chemistry tricks, but in medieval times, it was easy to mistake them as godly phenomenon.
As for melting people, the first thing that Roland thought of was a chromic acid solution. However, the preparation for this was tedious and the process itself required the entire human body to be immersed in the chromic acid. Furthermore, the melting effect was definitely not as strong as the melting of candle wax. And chromic acid was the strongest of the known acids.
Then how did she do it?
If she relied on alchemy, that meant she could have been a chemist, which was very rare in the whole territory, but if not…
Roland thought until here, and then said in a determined tone, "Take me to see her."
The Assistant Minister stood up in a flurry and accidentally knocked over the cup of milk that he had not drank. "Your Highness, you want to see the witch?"
"Yes, this is a command." Roland looked back and smiled at the Assistant Minister. In a way, he was thankful for Prince Roland's unreasonable style.
As Roland walked over to the door, he suddenly paused and asked, "Right, I always wanted to ask why we use the gallows."
"What?"
Roland reiterated his question, "Why the gallows? Shouldn't witches be burned at the stake?"
Barov seemed puzzled. "Is that so? But she's not afraid of fire."
There was only one dungeon in Border Town because such a barren land could not afford to upkeep too many prisoners. Most criminals would face trial within a few days and either be released or executed.
In addition to Barov, the prince was followed into the dungeon by the Chief Knight, the prison warden, the castellan and two guards.
The dungeon had a total of four floors and its walls were made of hard granite blocks. It was Roland's first time in this kind of place. He noted that the deeper down he went, the narrower the hallway became, and the lesser the number of cells. He imagined that the builders probably dug a pit in the shape of an inverted cone first, and then piled it up with layers and layers of stone..
This type of crude engineering project would naturally not provide for a good drainage system. The ground was always very wet and muddy flowed down the stairs, all the way to the last floor.
The witch was imprisoned in the bottommost floor of the dungeon. Every floor down they went, the stench in the air became thicker.
"Your Highness, you're risking too much by doing this. Even though she's sealed with God's Locket of Retribution, it isn't completely safe."
It was Carter Lannis, the Chief Knight, who spoke. As soon as he learnt that the prince was planning on visiting the witch, he immediately rushed over and pleaded with the prince to turn back... He did not accept the prince's command and refused to leave—not when the prince seemed to blatantly disregard his own safety. "How could such a tall and handsome man be such a bugbear?" Roland thought. He wished that someone would just sew Carter's mouth up. "If you don't even dare to look evil in the eye, how will you have the courage to defeat it? I thought you knew that," he said.
"Before fighting evil, one must know one's strength. Reckless behavior is not courageous." Carter rebutted.
"You mean to say that you'll uphold justice against an inferior enemy, but turn a blind eye to a superior enemy?" Roland challenged.
"No, Your Highness, I mean …" Carter stammered.
"Before this, you were afraid of a witch raid, and now you're even afraid to see a little girl, my Chief Knight is indeed one of a kind."
Although the Chief Knight was talkative, he was not proficient in debate, and thus was helpless against a smooth talker like Roland. Soon the party reached the bottom floor of the dungeon.
This floor was many times smaller than the ones above, with a total of only two cells. The castellan lit the torches on the walls, and as the darkness faded, Roland saw the witch curled up in one corner of her cell.
It was already late autumn and the temperature in the dungeon was low enough for people to see white fog when they exhaled. Roland wore a fur coat with silk lining inside, and thus he did not feel cold, but the girl only wore a thin garment that did not fully cover her body, and hence her exposed arms and legs were frozen white.
The suddenly lit up torches made her turn away and close her eyes. But soon, she was able to open her eyes and looked straight at the party.
It was a pair of pale blue eyes that resembled a calm lake before the onset of heavy rains. There was no fear on the witch's face and neither was there any sign of anger or hatred. For a moment, Roland had an illusion that he was not looking at a weak little girl, but instead a shadow that devoured flames. He felt as though the torches became a little dimmer.
The girl tried to stand up against the wall, but her sluggish motion made her seem as if she could fall down at any time. Eventually, she was able to get on her feet and hobbled her way towards the light.
This was enough to make most of the party members gasp in horror and take two steps backwards. Only the Chief Knight held his ground and shielded the prince.
"What's your name?" Roland patted the knight on the shoulder to indicate that he did not need to be so nervous.
"Anna," she replied.