"What happened when the mine collapsed, you have to tell me again. ”

Anna nodded, and began to narrate.

Roland was a little surprised.

He thought that the other party would be silent, complain, or curse, but she just cooperated with her own questions and said whatever she asked.

The story isn't too complicated, Anna's father is a miner who was working in the mine at the time of the collapse. Anna, who got the news, immediately went into the mine with other miners' families to rescue her. The North Slope mining area is rumored to have been a lair of underground monsters, with many forks in the road. Since there was no unified command of the rescuers, they scattered after entering the cave and searched for themselves. When Anna finds her father, only Aunt Susan and Uncle Angk, who are from the neighborhood, are present.

She found her father unable to move because his leg had been crushed by a cart full of ore, while a famous miner was squatting next to him to loot his coins. Seeing that his robbery was broken, the miner rushed up with a hoe and knocked Uncle Onk to the ground, and just as he was about to kill him, Anna killed him first.

The couple next door vowed not to tell her about her, and together they rescued Anna's father. But before dawn the next day, Anna's father went out on crutches and reported to the patrol guards that his daughter was a witch.

"Why?" Roland couldn't help but turn his head when he heard this.

Barov sighed, "Probably for the bounty." Discover and report a witch to get 25 golden dragons. For a person who breaks his leg, these 25 golden dragons are equivalent to the guarantee for the rest of his life. ”

Roland was silent for a moment, "The other party is a strong and powerful adult man, how did you kill him?"

Just then, Anna smiled. It was like a lake with waves, and the tips of torches swayed.

"That's what you call the power of the devil. ”

"Shut up, enchantress!" the warden shouted, but anyone could hear the tremor in his throat.

"Really? I want to see it. The fourth prince was unmoved.

"Your Highness, this is no joke!" the chief knight said, turning his head and frowning.

Roland stepped out from behind the knight and walked towards the cage step by step, "If you're afraid, you can leave first, I didn't ask you to stay here." ”

"Don't panic, she still has the Divine Punishment Lock around her neck!" Barrow said in a loud voice, as if to comfort himself, "no matter how powerful the devil is, he can't break God's protection." ”

Standing in front of the prison bars, Roland and Anna were only arm's length apart, and he could clearly see each other's dusty and scarred cheeks. The immature facial features mean that she is not yet an adult, but there is no trace of childishness in her expression. Not only that, but even anger is hard to find - this sense of incongruity Roland has only seen on television. That's what a homeless orphan who has suffered from poverty, hunger, and cold looks like when he is interviewed. But it's not exactly the same, the homeless orphan always slumps over and bows his head when facing the camera, but Anna doesn't.

Until now, she still managed to stand up straight, her gaze slightly raised, and she calmly looked directly into the prince's eyes.

She wasn't afraid of death, and Roland realized that she was waiting for it.

"Is this the first time you've seen a witch, my lord, your curiosity might kill you. ”

"If it is the power of the devil, it will lead to misfortune at the first glance," replied Roland, "and it should not be me who will die, but your father." ”

The light of the cage suddenly dimmed, this time it was definitely not an illusion, the flames seemed to be suppressed by something, and soon only a small cluster remained. He heard rapid breathing and prayers behind him, as well as the muffled sound of someone falling as they panicked back.

Roland's heart was beating faster, and he felt that he was at a wonderful demarcation point, on one side was the world of common sense, operating meticulously according to the planned constants and laws. On the other side is the incredible world, full of mystery and unknown. He now stands at the gates of this new world.

Was it the Divine Punishment Lock that hung around her neck? What a rudimentary chain, a red-painted chain with a crystal clear pendant that could have been destroyed with a pull had it not been for the witch's hands firmly handcuffed behind her back?

Roland glanced back at everyone, and while everyone was still praying in a panic, he quickly reached into the cage, grabbed the pendant and pulled it hard, and the buckle between the pendant and the chain broke in response to the sound - even Anna was stunned by this action.

"Come on. He whispered. Are you a liar, a chemist, or a real witch?

If you pull out the bottles and cans now and start configuring strong acids, I'll be disappointed. He thought to himself.

Then Roland heard a crackling sound, the sound of water vapor expanding as it heated - white fog rose from the ground, and the temperature around him rose sharply.

He saw that flames were rising from the other party's feet, gently ****ing the girl's bare calves, and then the ground where she was standing was burning. The torches behind him exploded at the same time, as if they had obtained pure oxygen, and burst into dazzling light. The entire cell was like daylight for a while, accompanied by the screams of terror from everyone.

The witch stepped forward, the flames swimming with hers, and when she reached the edge of the cell, dozens of iron bars turned into pillars of fire.

Roland had to retreat, the scorching air biting at his skin, causing him excruciating pain. In just a few breaths, it was as if he had returned from late autumn to midsummer, no, unlike the heat of summer, the heat of flames alone did not envelop him in all directions. The side facing the flames was a heat wave, while the side facing away was cold. He even felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat.

- She's not afraid of fire.

Roland remembered the words of the minister's assistant. It was only at this moment that he deeply understood the meaning of this sentence.

She is a flame herself, how can she be afraid of herself?

Soon, the iron railing turned from crimson to bright yellow and began to melt and deform. This means that they have been heated to more than 1,500 degrees, and this step has been done without any insulation, which is much more than Roland could have imagined. He, like the others, was already far away from his cell, clinging to the stone wall at the farthest point.

If this is not done, the heat generated by the molten iron can cause the clothes to burn even without direct contact – Anna, for example, whose prison uniform has long since been reduced to ashes and her body is surrounded by raging fire.

I don't know how long it took for the flames to fade away.

Only a small section of torches burned silently on the wall, as if nothing had happened. But the sweaty clothes, the hot air, and the bars of the prison burned like devil's minions all told everyone that this was not a dream.

Except for Roland and the knight, everyone else had collapsed to the ground, and the warden peed his pants in fright.

Anna, naked, was standing outside the cage at the moment, the shackles that had trapped her arms were gone. She didn't cover her body, her hands naturally hanging at her sides, and her lake-blue eyes returned to their previous serenity.

"I have satisfied your curiosity, my lord," she said, "can you kill me now?"

"No," said Roland, stepping forward, wrapping his coat around her, and speaking in the gentlest tone possible, "Miss Anna, I want to hire you. ”