"Now will you admit that I"m qualified to fight the demons?" Lorgar felt refreshed all of a sudden.
"I"ve never denied your ability to fight against them. In fact, even an ordinary woman who"s unable to tie up a chicken will end up being involved in this mighty war, albeit behind the main defensive line." Roland reiterated his concern. "I only objected to your desire to fight them by yourself. If the Sleeping Island witches had come any later, without Nightfall"s Seed of Symbiosis, you would have been buried in the Western Zone Cemetery by now."
"But if I hadn"t gone that deep into the Barbarian Lands, Neverwinter would never have received the news about the incoming demon army," Lorgar retorted.
"I can reward you for a good result but I still wouldn"t ever approve of your wrong behavior because of it." Roland shook his head. "What I"m happiest about in your actions this time is your bringing the message back to Neverwinter instead of fighting the enemies alone in the Barbarian Lands. Even if you were to ask me this same question again, I would give you the exact same answer. No, I don"t want you to go to fight the demons by yourself. I"ll ask the sentries to step up vigilance from now on, in the case that you might someday come back to the city more dead than alive."
"What?"
"This is the great chief"s command!" Roland remained unmoved. "Let"s talk about your reward first."
"Well..." Lorgar found that the look on the great chief"s face was far more serious now than when he had been touching her ears. "That"s fine."
"There are three types of rewards. You may choose between gold royals, Chaos Drinks, or a piece of equipment custom-made for you."
"The first two choices are easy to understand, but what"s the last one? Is it some kind of iron claw or steel tusk for me to use in my wolf form? I had previously considered obtaining this kind of weapon back in the Wildflame clan. However, when I transform back into a girl, these weapons that are inconvenient to carry will become a burden for me." Lorgar thought to herself.
She raised this question to Roland.
"I don"t have a specific design for the weapon in mind right now, but I can tell you that it"ll be a mighty firearm that can dramatically improve your combat capability," Roland explained. "Ashes told me that you could transform selective parts of your body into their wolf form while in your human form, and that in this half-animal form you would have half of the strength of a G.o.d"s Punishment Warrior. Since this equipment is specifically designed for the G.o.d"s Punishment Witches, I think it"ll also suit you."
This firearm mentioned by Roland reminded her of the fierce weapons used by the First Army to destroy the oasis watchdog. She remembered that Lightning also had such a weapon. It was indeed powerful, but it also depended on the operator"s skill. More importantly, she knew that it used a very special kind of "bolt" that could only be produced by Neverwinter. She believed that the great chief would never give her any of these "bolts", as he would never allow her to leave the city on her own. Without these "bolts", this firearm could only be placed at home as a showpiece and would not give her much help.
After all, it was just a weapon. Compared to this external force, she had more faith in her own teeth and claws.
After a little thought, Lorgar said, "Can I choose to join the Witch Union?"
This choice was completely beyond Roland"s expectations. He was surprised and replied, "Yes, you can, but earlier you told me that..."
"I changed my mind." The wolf girl wagged her tail. "Both the gold royals and the Chaos Drinks will be used up one day and I"ve no other special skills besides my fighting ability, so I think I"d better join the Witch Union. As a member of the Union, I"ll get gold royals and free drinks every month, right?"
"Well... yes, that"s right."
"In addition, I"ve promised Lightning and Maggie that I"ll explore all of the Barbarian Lands together with them. Since both of them are members of the Witch Union, it"ll be more convenient for me to take action with them after I join the Union. Under such circ.u.mstances, you wouldn"t stop me from going deep into the wasteland, right?"
"Ahem, you"re technically right, but you still need to place your own safety as your most important priority."
"Then this is the reward I want," said Lorgar. "I"m sorry I rejected your kindness before."
"Well, it"s up to you." Roland laid out his hands and shrugged.
"Now, do I need to sign a contract?" she asked with a solemn face.
"Of course, Wendy will tell you everything later." Roland stood up. "I"ll ask the kitchen to send you something to eat. Have a good rest first. You"ll have many chances in the future to thank Nana and the other witches."
Having seen Roland leave the room, Lorgar"s ears drooped and she lay back down on the bed.
There was one thing that she had kept a secret from Roland.
It was the genuine reason why Lorgar finally decided join the Witch Union. She had not been attracted by the free drinks and the gold royals.
As a Mojin, she was more convinced by facts than words. From the very beginning, she had doubted Roland"s promise to the Mojin people and had refused to trust a n.o.bleman from a northern kingdom. She had believed that she would one day return to the Wildflame clan and become Roland"s enemy again when he ultimately betrayed the Mojin. Besides, Roland"s comments during their first meeting had indeed irritated her. She had never antic.i.p.ated that he would show any concern for a Divine Lady of a Mojin clan. Even though the conflict between the Mojin people and the northern king had already been resolved, her suspicion of him still remained.
However, her opinion of him had begun to change.
During the Symbiosis period, the Witch Union kept telling her that she only needed to hold on a little longer to get Nana"s treatment, since they had already sent a number of letters to appeal to Roland Wimbledon for help. Back then, she would never have expected that the great chief, busy recovering his territory, would send Miss Nana back from the Northern Region of Graycastle only for her sake.
In Lorgar"s memory, it was an exceptionally long journey from Iron Sand City to the Endless Cape, and Roland"s kingdom was several times larger than the Southernmost Region. Given that, she had suspected that it would take at least one or two months for Nana to return to Neverwinter.
However, the great chief had sent Nana back in time. Surprisingly, despite being a healer of great importance to the army, she had turned out to be the first witch to be sent back from the north. With this in mind, Lorgar found that it was hard to doubt Roland"s sincerity.
Even Maggie had to fly for three days to take a round trip between the Northern Region and Neverwinter. If the great chief did tell her the truth, that meant Nana had come to her rescue the moment she had arrived at the city. Such kindness would make any warrior in the Southernmost Region willingly take an oath of allegiance to the lord.
Lorgar could hardly be regarded as a professional warrior, but she was a pure Mojin.
Faced with the facts, she wondered, "Why not believe in the great chief more?"
Roland left the bedroom and went downstairs to the reception hall on the first floor.
The guards at the gate opened the door, and all the people inside the hall stood up simultaneously at the sight of the king.
Before he arrived back at the Western Region, Lightning had brought his convening order back to Neverwinter. He steadily stepped into the crowded hall while taking a glance at everyone a.s.sembled before him.
There were more than 50 people here, including the City Hall department heads, the commander of the Garrison of the First Army, the representatives of the Witch Union and Sleeping Spell, the governor of the Longsong district, and the Senior Witches of Taquila. They wore various kinds of facial expressions. Some seemed to be bewildered by the unknown enemy and some showed unmasked hatred towards the demons, while most of them looked solemn and serious.
The war was close at hand, no matter whether they were prepared or not.