Finally, Roland could not stay in his bedroom all day and he had to go to the office.
It was almost dusk when Nightingale informed him that Tilly wanted to meet him.
Roland had to put on a coat, comb his long hair, and take a pile of writing papers to the office. He opened the door and found that Tilly and Ashes were there waiting for him.
Seeing Roland holding heavy stuff, Ashes immediately took the thick stack of papers. This left Roland feeling quite surprised as he never expected that Ashes, who had always been dissatisfied with him, would help him one day.
The sunset pierced through a French window, dying the walls orange-red. At the same time, it also left a ray of gold on them. All of this somewhat gave them a sense of parting.
Roland had already guessed Tilly"s intention.
Though Roland did not want them to leave, he knew that this day finally would come. Besides, it was very sincere of them not to leave when he was in a coma.
"I"m here to say goodbye to you," Tilly said calmly, "I have to go back to Sleeping Island to resolve the Bloodfang a.s.sociation issues."
Roland stared at Tilly"s dainty face and eyes which reflected the sunset. After a while of silence, Roland said, "I see. When does the Charming Beauty arrive in the western region? I"ll make a farewell dinner for you. Wait a moment..." He was suddenly stunned and asked, "You mean that you"ll come back?"
Ashes could not help but cover her mouth.
Tilly directly chuckled and asked humorously, "Well, won"t you welcome me? Brother."
"No, I mean... Why do you..." Roland opened his mouth in surprise but had nothing to say. After a while, he asked, "Is it because of the Months of Demons?"
"Could it not be for something else?" Tilly stretched her hands and said, "Don"t you have higher expectations for me?"
He was completely astonished.
"Will you..."
"Yes, what you thought is right." Tilly outspokenly said, "I"ll take the news to Sleeping Island that you won the battle against the church. I"ll also tell them they needn"t live a troubling life and hide on the small island any longer, because the church has completely lost control of City of Neverwinter of Graycastle in the western region. When you"re ready, I shall bring the witches who would like to come to the western region to settle down here. At that time, I hope you won"t to complain that they eat too much."
Roland"s heart was filled with indescribable excitement as he said, "They"re welcome in the western region at any time!"
"But your castle isn"t big enough to accommodate so many witches. If only half of them would like to come, the number is still several times bigger than that of the Witch Union. What"s more, most of them aren"t combat witches. I"m planning to hire s.h.i.+ps to deliver them when the Months of Demons are over, for the routes are much safer at that time." Princess Tilly revealed a sly grin.
He promised without any hesitation. "There wouldn"t be any problems, for Karl will build enough accommodation before the next spring."
Tilly stretched out three fingers and said, "In addition, I hope that you can promise me three extra conditions, brother."
Tilly was so serious that Roland subconsciously sat upright. "Go ahead."
"Firstly, you can"t constrain them if they want to leave City of Neverwinter for other towns."
"No problem," he replied instantly, "but at the moment, the Kingdom of Graycastle isn"t unified and I can"t guarantee that people in other domains will treat witches equally. Thus, for the sake of safety, I advise them to just settle in the western region or upon Sleeping Island temporarily. It won"t be late for them to leave the western region by the time I"m able to control the entire kingdom."
"It"s just a hypothesis." Tilly nodded with satisfaction and continued, "Secondly, you can"t force them to work for you if they aren"t willing to."
Roland poured two cups of tea for them and said, "Can I allure them to work for me?"
Tilly gave him an affirming look and said, "It"s okay if you don"t use forcible methods."
"Deal." He could not help smiling.
Since they were busy seeking shelters after basically awakening, it was quite easy for Roland to make those naive little girls plunge themselves into the waves of industrialization. He had a ma.s.sive rewarding mechanism to absorb them. Except for salaries, it would be attractive enough for them to work for him if he set the rule that only working witches had the rights to enjoy scented soaps, delicious wine, and ice cream.
Capital sugarcoated-bullets were far more compelling than pure violence.
"Lastly, I hope that Sleeping Spell can exist independently." When speaking of this point, Tilly appeared to be somewhat hesitant because she thought that this condition was a little harsh. "Of course, I"ll hand over a part of the money earned by Sleeping Spell to City of Neverwinter."
"The Sleeping Spell?" Roland was in a daze. He remembered that this bounty organization was formed to resolve the conflicts between combat witches and a.s.sistant witches while making profits for Sleeping Island. In other words, almost all of the witches on the island belonged to the Sleeping Spell. If the organization became independent, it meant that Tilly got the control of all witches in it.
He soon realized why Princess Tilly had been hesitant to say the words. If the Sleeping Spell settled down here as an independently self-administrative organization, it was the Sleeping Spell that would still decide to accept bounty missions or dispatch witches to the Fjords. So what Tilly had asked for looked like she was taking precautions against him.
However, Roland agreed instantly. "Of course it can. Though only if they abide by the internal laws of the western region."
"Isn"t the Sleeping Spell like a private company?" Roland thought.
Actually speaking, the minute he realized that the witches on Sleeping Island would settle down here, he had mixed feelings of joys and worries, not knowing whether he should conscript them into the Witch Union or not.
As one of the three major administrative agencies along with City Hall and the First Army, the Witch Union must be controlled by Wendy who was loyal to him, so that he could rest a.s.sured. But there were too many witches on Sleeping Island. Once all of them joined the Witch Union, Wendy"s control would be abated and it would be less righteous for him to intervene and manage at that time.
But if they did not join the Witch Union, he did not want to seem callous towards those witches. As such, with Tilly"s condition, Roland now felt relieved. In addition, it was normal for Tilly to feel a little worried, for trust itself needed time to build. Tilly gave more trust to him than before, which was huge progress.
"Really?" Tilly felt somewhat surprised at his quick answer.
"Don"t worry. I always keep my word." Roland smiled.
"Well..." Tilly now felt relaxed, saying, "Then I shall go back to my bedroom to pack my stuff. The Charming Beauty will arrive in three days. Except for the combat witches who followed me, I"ll take Iffy and Softfeathers with me. Once the Bloodfang a.s.sociation issues are resolved, I"ll send them back."
"You won"t come back until the Months of Demons are over?"
"You"ve asked me whether it was because of the Months of Demons, and I"ve also said that I don"t deny that." She blinked her eyes.
"That means you"ll come back in advance?" Roland asked her closely.
Tilly nodded and said, "Just like last year, brother. I"ll fight with you against demonic beasts until the heavy snow stops."