Chapter 285 Answer
Sleeping Island's living environment became better by the day. The further Tilly rose into the air, the more she could see of the coming and going crowd and the bustling market.
This place was no longer the secluded place where three hundred witches had all been living in isolation. Through negotiations and agreements, some of the Fjord's Islands like Crescent Moon Bay, Twin Dragon Island, Sunset Port and Shallow Water Town had all established trading routes with Sleeping Island. Even going so far, that some ordinary people from overcrowded island villages had decided to settle down on Sleeping Island.
Although they were currently living in the outer region of the island, far apart from the witches, Tilly believed that there would come a day where Sleeping Island would become one big city. The fusion was a slow-moving process, but it left one brimming with expectation to see the result. The best news however, was that no matter if the witches, were living on other islands or were already locals when they awakened, they would all become members of Sleeping Island. Which meant that Tilly and her migrants would be able to regularly obtain new supporters.
“Come down, the wind is rising,” Ashes shouted from below, “And be careful not to fall!”
“I'm fine!” Tilly waved her hand. But all of a sudden, her body dropped down. Only after falling a short distance was she able to stabilize herself again, “Oh… it is still a bit hard for me to control."
“I knew that your control isn't good enough to fly so high!" Ashes stamped with her foot, "Next time you will only fly at a lower height or go over to the sea! If you don't come down immediately, I will climb up the roof and catch you myself.”
“Alright, alright, I got it,” Tilly indeed felt the wind growing stronger and stronger. So she decided to no longer to show off or try to be brave, instead gathering her magic and releasing it so as to slowly land in the garden.
“Next time, if you want to do something like this, call Molly first.” Ashes' eyes were wide open as she reprimanded her, "At least her magic servant could catch you if you were to fall.”
“As long as I keep up the magic supply, it is impossible to fall. The worst that could happen is that I couldn’t control the direction,” she took the glove with the blue magic stone off and handed it to Ashes, “You also have to try it, next. The feeling of flying is simply incredible. When you overlook Sleeping Island from up high in the sky, it will feel as if the whole world has become something entirely new."
“I'd rather not,” Ashes waved dismissively, “From the beginning, I have always been unable to activate the lightning magic stone, so don't even mention continuously providing the stone with magic. Furthermore, there is also only one, even if I'm able to grasp the control skill, there is no way for me to fly with you.”
“Then let it be,” Tilly regrettably said, taking the gloves back. “I always believed that if we could figure out the principle behind it, there is the possibility that we can manufacture similar magic stones.”
“Do you think those stones are man-made?”
“Without a doubt,” she nodded without hesitation. “No matter if it is their polished exterior appearance or their particular applications, it is unlikely that those stones were formed naturally. It seems that the group who inhabited the ruins had a much deeper understanding of magic than we did, it's just a pity that they didn't leave any more clues than a bunch of incomprehensible scrolls."
At this moment, a huge white figure suddenly fell from the sky. Due to the speed at which it fell being too fast, it practically smashed into the ground with a thud, lifting out a circle of dust.
“Maggie?” Ashes lifted her eyebrows.
“Ooooh… that's extremely painful, goo,” The little girl that was lying on the ground said as she rubbed her head and stood up. “Just now, were my eyes playing tricks on me? Lady Tilly can actually fly in the sky! If it wasn't that you had the wrong color of hair, I would have believed you were Lightning."
“You were not mistaken, I just flew in the air,” Tilly said while rubbing her cheek with a smile, “how about… are the witches who went to live in Border Town doing well?"
“All fine, goo, they asked me to deliver a letter to you,” Maggie said, flipping her bag over to find some letters. “This is Lotus's, this is Evelyn's, and this one… is from His Highness."
For a moment, Tilly could only stare dumbfounded when she saw the one foot and half a finger thick letter which had been sent by the Prince. It was wrapped so tightly, that it resembled a parcel more than it did a letter. It was even so heavy, that it caused her hands to drop down a bit, which made it obvious that this wasn't just a simple letter.
“You've worked hard.”
Ashes took out one-half of a wheat cake, broke it into small pieces and handed it over to Maggie. However, the latter merely shook her head, put a dried fish into her mouth and vaguely said, “I'm off to play with Molly.” Then she turned back into the large white pigeon, flapped her wings and flew out of the flower garden.
“Why do I get the feeling, that after one month she's somehow become bigger?”
“I have the same feeling,” Tilly laughed, “Perhaps the life in Border Town is quite good."
Back at her house, she tore open Roland Wimbledon's letter. Within, she discovered that besides a sheet full of written content, the more than a dozen remaining pages were unexpectedly some vivid and lifelike pictures.
“What are those?”
Ashes’ question exactly reflected Tilly's own puzzlement. She shook her head, took out one of those painted sheets and spread it out - the content on top was somewhat hard for her to believe: The background resembled a wasteland in the evening. Under the bloody red light of the setting sun, two atrocious shaped monsters could be seen in a close quarter fight against a group of witches. The witches were clearly in a disadvantageous position; their best abilities didn't seem to show any impact, no matter if it were vipers or fireballs they none were able to stop this enemy. When she came to the last picture, she saw that several witches had fallen, forming pools of blood.
Tilly frowned, the scene was undoubtedly drawn by a witch, only magic would be able to create such a lifelike image. But… in the end, were these merely simple pictures, or were they a reminiscent of something which had happened in the past?
With a feeling of being on a knife-edge, she immediately snatched the letter and quickly skimmed over its content.
Soon, Tilly felt her stomach tighten, and her hands began to shake as she saw one word appear in the letter again and again: 'Devil.'
“What happened,” Ashes asked in concern, grasping Tilly's tight to support her, “What did the letter say?”
“It's the past of the Witch Cooperation Association,” She patted the back of Ashes’ hands, indicating that she was alright, “They were looking for the Holy Mountain in the wilderness… You should remember the Holy Mountain, right?"
“Yeah, it's the legendary destination of all witches. At the Holy Mountain, they can find real peace and serenity, but this is merely a vague rumor, there's nothing genuine about it.” Ashes couldn't accept it as correct, “Here on Sleeping Island, we can also live in peace, moreover, the demon bite is nothing more than a lie of the Church."
"But Cara was convinced that the Holy Mountain did indeed exist. In addition, she had also found an ancient book within the ruins inside a forest of the Eastern Region, fully believing that it could lead her to the gate of an uninhabited land in the forbidden area. She went so far as to lead the Witch Cooperation Association over the Impassable Mountain range. However, after entering the wilderness, they didn't discover the Holy Mountain, but instead met with a terrible monster.” Tilly said in a small voice.
“The one from the painting?” Ashes gasped.
"That's right,” Tilly confirmed, showing a somewhat dark expression. "The letter said, that they possess extraordinary strength, moved nimbly and can control demonic beasts. One of them could even release lightning from its hand… Just like a witch. From the more than forty witches in the beginning, only six people survived. Then in their desperate situation, they decided to rely on the help of the Lord of Border Town."
“Unexpectedly it was originally… like this.”
“Furthermore, the point that puzzles me the most is that the ancient book contained one paragraph which looked like a slovenly written essay, however it was written in the language of the Four Kingdoms.” Tilly turned her attention back to the letter, “Within, it mentions the Holy City, a fight with the Devils, and Alice's experiments of a God's Punishment Army. It should be the story of what happened four hundred years ago, but since they know the language of the Four Kingdoms, why should they use a very different language to record the documents and books?"
As she was still unable to get any results after thinking about it for a long time, the 5th Princess just put all these things aside and instead took out Sylvie's letter, intending to learn what the examination of the Lord of Border Town has shown.
In the end, the first sentence of the letter had already left her dumbstruck, even more so than the shock when she had seen the word 'Devil'.
“Lady Tilly, I was unable to find any sign of camouflage or magic on Roland Wimbledon's body. Also, besides the witches of the Witch Alliance, there are no other witches hidden in the town. So I think… he may be your genuine older brother.”