Roland swallowed the last slice of fried egg and wiped his mouth with a napkin, "Having said so much, it turns out that you are worried that the Witch Aid will hear the news that she is not dead and will run over to save her?"

"That's right, Your Highness," said Barovton, "they are in a hurry, they must be on their way, and it would have been fine if the witch had died, but now she is alive! ”

Roland was a little confused, he always felt that something was wrong. Why do assistant ministers and chief knights feel like enemies when they talk about witches?

The woman who was going to be hanged was a witch, right? so emaciated that she seemed to fall down at the slightest blow. If she has terrible powers, why should she stand there and be slaughtered?No, she will not be caught at all, according to the Church, she is the embodiment of the devil, and in addition to the Inquisitors, the mortal armies will pay a heavy price in front of the witches. However, this devil was caught by the inhabitants of the border town, and tortured in every way until he was sent to the gallows, and the terrible power was nowhere to be seen.

"How did she get caught?"

When she heard that it was a collapse in the Beipo mining area, she revealed her identity in order to escape for her life and was caught by angry villagers. ”

Roland thought for a moment, well, this incident has the impression that it happened the day before he crossed over.

"How was it exposed?"

"This ...... I don't know," the assistant minister shook his head, "it was confusing, and someone must have seen her use witchcraft. ”

Roland frowned, "You don't investigate this kind of thing?"

"Your Highness, the resumption of production in the mining area is a priority," protested the assistant minister, "and half of the revenue of the border town depends on this iron ore, and the prosecutor has confirmed that someone died of witchcraft at the scene." ”

"What kind of witchcraft?" Roland was intrigued.

"As if it had been melted, his head and most of his body were spread flat on the ground, reminiscent of a burned-out black candle," the other man looked disgusted, "Your Highness, you don't want to see that kind of scene." ”

Roland played with the silver fork in his hand, thoughtful. Historically, most of the victims of witch hunting have been innocent people, who have been used by the church and ignorant people as a tool to vent their anger, and a small number have died for themselves. These people dress themselves up in strange shapes, throw all sorts of strange materials into the pot all day long, and claim that they can predict the future and decide life and death.

And they did figure out some ways, such as using the flame reaction to claim that they had gained the power of the gods.

To modern people, this is all a chemical trick, but at the time, it was easy to misrepresent it as an incredible phenomenon.

As for melting people, Roland immediately thought of chromium pickling liquid, but this thing is troublesome to prepare, it needs to completely soak the human body to use, and the effect of corpse transformation is far from that of a candle, let alone other strong acids.

So how did the witch do this?

If she relied on alchemy, it was a rare chemist in the territory, if not......

Roland thought of this and made up his mind.

"Take me to meet her. ”

"Wait...... Wait, Your Highness, you're going to see a witch?" Barov stood up in a panic and knocked over the undrunk glass of milk.

"That's right, it's an order. Roland looked back at the assistant minister and smiled, he was really grateful for the fourth prince's unreasonable style now.

When he walked to the door, he suddenly paused, "By the way, I've always wanted to ask, why hanging?"

"What?"

"Why hanging? Shouldn't all witches be tied to the stake and burned?"

Barov's face was full of inexplicability, "Yes, but she is not afraid of fire." ”

There is only one dungeon in the border town, and the barren land cannot support too many prisoners, and most of the criminals face trial - either release or death within a few days of moving in.

In addition to Barov, the prince was followed into the dungeon, along with the chief knight, the warden, the cell head, and two guards.

The dungeon has four floors, and the walls are all made of hard granite. It was the first time Roland had returned to such a place, and he noticed that the passage was getting narrower and the number of cells was shrinking as he went. Probably digging a large pit with an inverted cone, and then building it up with stones, he thought.

Naturally, there would be no good drainage measures for this kind of rough work, and the ground was damp, and the muddy sewage flowed like this, seeping down the stairs.

The witch was kept at the bottom of the dungeon, and the smell of the air grew stronger with each floor.

"Your Highness, it is too dangerous for you to do this, even if she is trapped in the Divine Punishment Lock, there is no guarantee of safety. ”

The man who spoke was none other than Carter Lannis, the chief knight who rushed to dissuade him as soon as he knew that the prince was going to visit the witch. Moreover, the king's command was ineffective against him—he refused to accept any command that risked the prince's life, and could not get him to leave.

Obviously he has a cold and handsome male god face, why is it a chatter? Roland really wants someone to sew his mouth up. "If you don't dare to face evil, how can you have the courage to defeat evil? I thought you understood that. ”

"To fight against evil, you must also do what you can, and recklessness is not the same as bravery. ”

"That is to say, if you encounter an enemy weaker than yourself, you can do justice, and if you encounter an enemy who is stronger than yourself, you should turn a blind eye?"

"No, Your Highness, I mean ......"

"I was afraid of witches robbing prisons, and now I am afraid of seeing a little girl, my chief knight is truly unique. ”

Although the knight talks a lot, he is not good at strong arguments, and he is naturally powerless to resist Roland, who is a strong mouthpiece. Taking advantage of this, the group has come to the bottom of the dungeon.

It is much smaller than the upper floors, with only two cells in total.

The cell boss lit the torch on the wall, and the darkness faded, and Roland saw the witch curled up in the corner.

It was late autumn now, and the temperature in the dungeon was so low that people could see the white breath he exhaled, and he was wearing a fluffy coat with a silk lining inside, so he naturally didn't feel cold. But the other party only had a single coat, which could not completely cover the body, and the exposed arms and soles of the feet were frozen to the point of no blood.

The sudden flash of the fire made her turn her head sideways, her eyes slightly closed. But soon, she opened her eyes again and looked straight at her.

It was a pair of pale blue eyes, as calm as a lake before a rainstorm. There was no fear on her face, and there was no anger or hatred in her face.

Roland had the illusion that instead of seeing a weak little girl, he was devouring the shadow of the flames. For a moment, he felt the light of the torches on the wall dim a little.

She struggled to stand up against the wall, moving as slowly as if she were about to fall. But eventually she got to her feet completely, and staggered from the corner to the place where the light could be covered.

It was just such a simple action, but it made a group of people gasp, and they all took two steps back, and only the knight dodged in front of him.

"What's your name?" Roland patted the knight on the shoulder, signaling that he shouldn't be so nervous.

"Anna," she replied.