Ash sits at the top of the castle, waiting for the day of the duel.

In the past few days, her persuasion has been fruitless, and the stubbornness of the Mutual Aid witches has greatly exceeded her expectations, whether it is the older book or the underage Lily, they have all refused her invitation, the only difference is that the way of refusal is different.

Some chose to stay because of Roland, while others didn't want to leave the Mutual Aid sisters, resulting in ten witches being like a monolith. As for Anna and Nanawa, who originally belonged to the border town, she was not even in the mood to try. Especially the former, when Ash stood in front of her, the magic she felt was very different from that of previous witches - the magic in Anna's body was like hard steel, smooth and dense, like an iron wall between the two.

Of the many witches Tilly gathered, no one had ever given her such feelings. As a result of asking other witches, Anna's ability is to manipulate fires in the most commonplace. Why the invisible flame made her feel like a physical barrier in terms of magic, and the ashes couldn't figure it out.

As for this town, it is also very different from the towns or villages that I have seen before. If I had to describe it, it's full of energy, and people seem to have endless things to do every day.

From the top of the castle, she could see a panoramic view of the town, where new houses were being built in the most densely populated areas of the town, and they had planned the square-squared plots into sub-districts, each with similar houses. The carriages carrying bricks from the north did not stop for a moment, and the stonemasons dug a dozen or so pits of the same shape at once, and then began to build bricks with an astonishing speed, which was almost a day to build a half-man's height fence.

And to the northeast, the billowing smoke rises into the sky—not a fire in the forest, but a brick kiln at work. There are also several particularly stout brick towers being erected, which at first glance look like piles of red giants that have been cut down.

On the banks of the river, several sailing ships arrive at the border town every day, and judging by the flags hanging on the masts, most of them come from the fortress of Changge. The cargo unloaded from the ship almost filled the yard, and around the yard, a team of guards with wooden guns patrolled. Unlike most of the city's garrisons, they did not lazily walk around for a while, or simply find a place to hide and take a nap, but lined up in a straight line from beginning to end, walking between the docks and the yards, and sometimes volunteering to help unload the goods, which was a completely unseen scene in Ash's memory.

What is it about Roland Wimbledon that could make these people so passionate about building a remote and barren town?

Just then, there was a cooing bird call overhead, and Ash looked up to see a huge fat pigeon descending from the sky and landing on her shoulder.

"Finally found you, Goo. The pigeon rubbed her cheek and said.

"Tilly sent you?" Ash pulled a handful of wheat from his pocket and threw it on the roof.

The pigeon fluttered and flew over, and suddenly it seemed to realize something, "I'm not a bird!"

"Then become a human and talk to me again. ”

"All right," said the pigeon's feathers, and the white light peeked through the cracks in the feathers, and then a head came out, and the swollen feathers shrank rapidly, turning into a long bundle of white hair.

No matter how many times you look at it, the ashes will be amazed. Maisie, a witch who can transform into all kinds of birds, has a beautiful detail except for her size. Sometimes she even envied the other person's abilities, and she longed to be able to travel quickly between the two places rather than the extraordinary magic of the Punishment Stone, so that whenever she wanted to see Tilly, she could go whenever and wherever she wanted.

"Even with the tracking sigil, it's not so easy to locate your direction," Maisie shook the fluff sticking to her body, "It's so far away that my magic stone statue can barely feel the sigil fluctuations." Fortunately, the Phantom knows your approximate whereabouts, and I have been flying over the Falling Dragon Ridge before this statue has some reaction. ”

In addition to her signature white hair, her biggest feature is that she is short, she is obviously an adult, but up to her waist, she also looks like a little girl. As long as the gray hair is untied, almost her entire body can be encased.

"Did Tilly arrive at the fjord safely?" Ash sat down and patted the tiles beside him. The other party came over obediently like a bird.

"Her queen has arrived, but the second Horn of the North Wind touched the reef as it landed, but no witches were killed, and the third and fourth were still at sea, and I flew over them when I came to you. ”

"That's good. "Ash is relieved, His Royal Highness the Prince may have an abominable face, but he is not wrong about one thing, that is, the voyage from Grey Castle to the fjord is full of danger. The climate of the sea is far more rapid and violent than that of the land, and a good day of clear weather can set off a storm in the blink of an eye, and the extraordinary power of the overwhelming waves is insignificant.

"You're all the same," Maisie said, "and the Shadow says you didn't go back together because you wanted to go to the Bordertown to get more witches, not because something was wrong, and Mistress Tilly's first words were "That's good." She paused, looking around, "Where are the companions?"

"They don't want to leave," Ash sighed, recounting the story briefly, "they trust the lord of this place, Tilly's brother, more than I do. ”

"Mistress Tilly is willing to accept us, and so is her brother...... Well, that doesn't seem like a bad thing," she said, tilting her head, "in that case, you should have set off for the fjord sooner." Without your help, Mistress Tilly would not be able to carry out the cleanup plan. ”

Ash shook his head, "I'm going to wait until after the competition to leave." ”

"But you just said that even if you win, the other party will not take the initiative to drive the witch away. Maisie muttered, "Are you going to finish the competition too?"

"I'd like to try it if I have the slightest chance," Ash said calmly, "The cleanup plan won't affect a few days at night, but if I can bring one more witch back, Tilly's power will be greatly expanded." ”

"Alright," Maisie nodded, "then I'll wait here for you to go back with me." However, there is one thing to note, when passing through the Falling Dragon Ridge, I saw a group of people holding the banner of the church, about ten people. ”

"There aren't many of them...... Raise the flag, it should be an envoyship," Ash snorted coldly, "Except for the border towns, I don't think there are any other places nearby that need the church to send an envoy." Their noses are as sensitive as dogs. Wait until I defeat his knight cleanly, and then tell him the news of the coming of the Church. At that point, Roland Wimbledon knew how wrong he had been. (To be continued.) )