The light of the fire rose from beneath her feet and quickly faded away.

This is the twenty-third exercise.

Failed again.

Sweat beaded on Anna's forehead, and she wiped it with the back of her hand, and the heat suddenly rose and made a sizzling sound.

She didn't pause for a moment and started her next practice. The witch's uniform was neatly folded and set aside, and if she hadn't insisted on doing so in the first place, the garment would have been reduced to ashes in the flames.

Fortunately, as the fourth prince, it is not difficult for Roland to get a few more spare items. He had Tyr bring a whole bucket of robes—all improvised from the maids.

The twenty-fourth exercise finally paid off, and the flames no longer rose from under her feet, but appeared in the palm of her hand out of thin air. She cautiously raised her arm to move it to her fingertips, but the flame shook twice, and suddenly a thud scurried up her arm, igniting the sleeve and engulfing the robe down the sleeve.

Anna put away the flames, and with a blank face, she tore off half of her blackened robe, turning her head to rummage through the bucket for new ones.

Whenever this happens, Roland would look away and let his eyes be fixed elsewhere - even though the other person didn't care about it.

In fact, if it weren't for Roland's strong request, she would probably have stripped naked to practice. But then Roland could not look at it properly, and he really could not calmly face a naked little girl, especially the figure of this little girl when she turned into flames.

Roland shook his head, leaving the distractions behind. At the moment, it is not easy to master this force. His goal for Anna was to emit flames from the palm of her hand or between her fingers, not to damage her clothes, and to keep it hot enough to melt the pig iron ingots in the pool.

When she failed the thirtieth exercise, Roland stopped her.

"Let's take a break. ”

Anna looked at him in a daze, unresponsive.

Roland had no choice but to walk over, take the girl's hand and lead her to the chair, and forcibly press her to sit down.

"You're tired, you should rest when you're tired, don't be too reluctant, we still have a long time," he helped her wipe her sweaty forehead, "Let's have afternoon tea first." ”

Roland knew that the nobles of the Grey Castle Kingdom were not in the habit of enjoying afternoon tea, and that the productivity of the world was so poor that it was difficult for people to have the leisure to taste exquisite food—three meals were not popular, let alone four. As for the idle gentlemen, they usually gather in bars or casinos at this time.

Without this habit, he created one, the dim sum was ready-made, and the tea could not be substituted with ale—knowing that he was going to a remote border town, the fourth prince brought his maids, servants, and cooks with him.

So in the simple wooden shed in the back garden of the castle, the first afternoon tea party was held.

Anna looked at the plate of delicate snacks and couldn't believe her eyes. Why does the food look so good?

Although she can't name the pastry, the combination of pure white appearance and bright red fruit makes people feel appetizing, especially the delicate patterns on the periphery of the pastry, which makes her worldview once again engraved.

Roland looked at Anna's bewildered expression proudly, isn't it the strawberry cream cake, look at the scare of your dirt buns. And this strawberry is still pickled in sugar, and the taste is not fresh.

What's more interesting than eating is admiring the witch's expression. Roland watched the other party carefully put the cake in his mouth, his blue eyes were almost shining, his hair was dangling, and the illusion of watching a food animation suddenly surged in his heart.

――Dishes that don't shine are not good dishes!

Well, this kind of character development feels pretty good.

So watching Anna practice and enjoying afternoon tea with her became the daily routine of Roland's life, and even if he didn't go to ask about government affairs, Barov would help him take care of it in an orderly manner.

Three days later, Barov sent the sorted out materials of the border town to Roland's office. This was an absolutely unbelievable event before, and the fourth prince actually had the patience to read such a large pile of cumbersome reports.

In fact, he doesn't have it now. Roland felt dizzy after only two lines, and said directly to Barov, "You read it to me." ”

After spending an hour listening to the assistant minister's report, he noticed that something was wrong, "Why is there zero tax and trade in the border towns every winter?"

In winter, the temperature is low, and the decline in various harvests is understandable, but what does it mean to go straight to zero, and do the local people have the habit of hibernation?

Barov coughed twice, "Your Highness, have you forgotten? Winter is the month of demons, and the border town has no ability to guard, so all residents have to move to the fortress of Changge. But rest assured, Your Highness's safety must come first. ”

"Demon Moon"?" Roland recalled, it seemed to be such a term - before that, he didn't take ghost legends and evil witches to heart at all, thinking that they were nothing more than nonsense in an uncivilized world. But now it seems that evil is not evil, and witches do exist. So...... What about other popular ghost legends?

When he was teaching at the court, the history instructor talked about the Demon Moon in detail. Every year when the first snow falls and the sun dims, the gates of hell in the Dragonspine Mountains open.

The evil aura from hell will corrupt living beings, turning them into slaves of the devil. Some animals will mutate into powerful beasts and attack humans. Witches are mostly born during this season, and they are far more powerful than usual.

"Have you seen the gates of hell," Roland asked.

"Your Highness, how can ordinary people see it!" Barov shook his head repeatedly, "Not to mention that the Dragon's Back Mountain Range cannot be crossed at all, even if you are close to the mountain range, you will be affected by the evil aura, the light ones will have unbearable headaches, and the heavy ones will lose their minds." Unless ......"

"Unless what?"

"Unless the man is a witch. Only witches can see the gates of hell, because they have fallen into the devil's minions, and naturally they are not affected by evil spirits. At this point, Barov also turned his head to look at the back garden.

"What about the beast, you've seen it before, right?" Roland knocked on the table in displeasure.

"Well, I haven't seen it. Like Your Highness, I am coming to the frontier for the first time. In the Grey Keep, the center of the kingdom, few people encounter true evil. ”

How can this place be developed if it is relocated once a year? Originally, he thought that the border town was just barren land, but there was still potential for development, but now it seems that it is a big hole.

"The fact that the Long Song Fortress can withstand the evil beasts means that they can also be killed, and they are not invincible!, so why can't we defeat them in the border town?"

"The fortress of Changge, with its huge walls and the elite troops of Duke Lane, is not comparable to a small place like Frontier Town," Barov explained, "From the very beginning, the purpose of establishing Frontier Town was to provide early warning to the fortress, which is why it was set up between the North Slope Ridge and the Chishui River. ”

Like cannon fodder, standing in the way of the enemy, Roland sneered.