Chapter 156 (1/2)

Chapter 156 Putting the picture together

Theo ascended a small hill, from here he could vaguely see the edge of Border Town and also the outline of the Lord’s Castle.

Finally, I’m back, he thought, previously in order to reach Silver City he had needed half a month, but the way back they only needed seven days, the longest time of which was spent on the road between Silver City and Redwater City. Although it seemed that Ashes didn’t care for it herself, Theo still chose scarcely used trails to reduce the possibility of being caught by the Church.

Ashes was the name he had gotten from his witch companion, but even after all this time Theo didn’t know if that name was her real one or not. During their travel, she was always dressed in a black robe and a great sword was wrapped in clothes on her back.

Her long black hair was tied into a simple tail, dangling down to her waist. Whether it was during the ride or their travel on a boat, she rarely put her focus on Theo. She always walked alone at the front, taking in the surrounding scenery. Probably for her, this trip to Border Town was just a relaxed and comfortable stroll sort of like a sightseeing tour.

Sometimes Theo would doubt his own judgment, was she really a soldier? She could easily stumble over the robe she wore, to keep such long hair was equivalent to showing plenty of holes in her defenses. Furthermore, from the beginning of their journey Ashes never seemed to be afraid of presenting her back to him, the part of her body that he saw from her the most, was always her back.

He didn’t believe that a witch would be able to trust other people so quickly, only letting him guess that she might be confident enough in her own abilities, that even a God’s Stone of Retaliation wouldn’t be a threat to her.

Theo circled the hillside, soon finding his goal, a flagpole with a red flag hanging on it. He went to the flagpole and dug a bundle out from the mud. Folded within it was a blue flag which was used as a replacement for the red flag. Afterward, he sat down on the ground and clasped his hands.

“That’s all you have to do?” Asked Ashes.

“At least that was what they had said,” Theo wiped away the sweat that had appeared on his forehead. “Go to the foot of the hill on the northeast side of the town. There you have to follow the stone trail until you reach a flagpole. When you arrived at the pole, you only need to replace the flying flag with the blue one buried beside the pole. We will see the flag and soon arrive at your location, so from then on you will only need to wait and we will come.”

Ashes nodded and then began to look for a relatively clean place to sit, she then reached out her hand in Theo’s direction, “Eat.”

“Uh…wait a moment!” Theo unlocked his backpack and took a piece of dried meat from inside it. He first tore it in half and threw one piece of it into his own mouth, while throwing the rest of the meat to Ashes.

Theo sighed when he saw the witch put the meat into her small mouth and began to chew. Who could have thought that in addition to her great sword, she did not even have one copper royal on her whole body. Even though she was totally penniless she still dared to swagger so much during their rush back to Border Town. During the whole way, all the accommodation and meals had been paid for by himself. The room’s in the inns had to be single bedrooms of the finest quality, and when they ate it could only be meat, dry food and things like portable foods. Furthermore, always had to eat the first half of it by himself before she would eat her part.

Probably with the exception of the time she was on the field, she was a very cautious person. However, wouldn’t the most prudent approach to safety be to prepare her own food?

“You always wanted to know where we are going; it is to the opposite part of the channel.” After swallowing the meat, Ashes suddenly said, “I am not sure if you’ve ever heard the rumors about the Fjords, but there are countless islands there. Some of them have a very dangerous environment, so those are always scarcely populated. We are going to settle on one of those islands and build homes on it that only belong to witches.”

“…” Theo was stunned, no matter how he had tried to inquire from her before, she had always been silent, so why had she suddenly taken the initiative by herself to bring up this matter?

“Are you surprised, are you asking yourself why I didn’t bring up this subject before?”

Ashes began to explain seriously. “There was the possibility that you were a liar, who would pretend to sleep but at night would instead run to the Church. But now the girls should have already reached halfway to their goal; they should already have entered the merchant ferry to the Fjord. So even if you tell them now, the Church will be unable to stop them. Also, I came here to take the other witches of the Witch Cooperation Association with me, so sooner or later the news will have already reached your ear, thus continuing to hide it has already become meaningless.”

“Even though I’ve already brought you to Border Town, you still cannot rule out the possibility that I’m a liar.”

“Yes, that’s true,” said Ashes, stressing every word, “But in the end, if we are unable to meet another witch, you will die here, together with everyone else who is trying to harm us witches.”

“All right,” Theo took a deep breath. “Can I ask you some other questions?”