A week later, the first army expedition team and the witches finally arrived at Border Town. From the day of departure, the mission took almost half a month, which was five days later than expected.
The main reason was that when the fleet was on its way home, the fortress agent Pelor Hermon sent a messenger to report an unknown disease in Longsong Fortress.
Since Roland had already reminded Peiro, when the epidemic was discovered, he took isolation measures as much as possible, closed the entire urban area, and sent a message to Border Town as soon as possible.
After receiving the epidemic report, Roland asked Maisie to set off quickly, along the Chishui River all the way to the east, looking for the fleet carrying the soldiers of the First Army, and asked them to divert to the Changge Fortress at the fork of the Chishui River to fight the evil epidemic. Back to town.
Roland led the remaining members of the First Army and the family members of the expedition to welcome them at the pier for their smooth return. Along with the familiar army march, the soldiers saluted the prince excitedly, and many people imitated the knight's salute and knelt down and shouted long live. After walking off the pier, they hugged their relatives tightly, and the echo sounded the salute at the right time. The atmosphere of the scene was very lively, attracting many serfs and fugitives to watch.
Back at the castle, Iron Axe gave a full report on the mission.
"You mean, there are witches among the enemies who attacked the First Army this time?" Roland pondered for a moment, "It's unlikely that this person is a rat."
"Thassa thinks so too. He even thinks that the mice are also assigned by other forces, otherwise these scumbags rarely leave the nest. The only one left in the capital that can drive the mice and have witches is the church, except for Tifeko. ." Iron Axe said, "Even those big nobles can't come up with the bargaining chips that will make the largest local black street organization move in full force."
"But Tifeko himself is in the East, and since he dares to send witches to fight alone, I think the church is more suspicious." Roland thought of the encounter between Wendy and Ashes, and felt that the church had a group of secretly cultivated witches Not surprising. "Are you sure she's dead?"
"I was hit in the chest by Nightingale, and my chest was shattered." Iron Axe nodded, "We buried her in the wheat field, where the remains of the sentry soldiers were found."
The team of 300 people was attacked by a large number of mice at night on the last day. In the end, one was killed and four injured. The only victim was killed by the enemy witch. The four wounded were all shot with hand crossbows by the enemy who got close by luck. The wounded were also properly bandaged, and they were immediately treated by Nana after returning to Border Town. Due to the presence of Lily, the wound was hardly infected. As long as the crossbow arrow missed the vital organ, the wounded soldier had a very high chance of surviving after the bleeding was stopped. .
In general, the first expedition of the First Army has achieved such results, which has made Roland very satisfied. As for being infiltrated by someone touching a whistle, he didn't know much about it. He only knew that a light and dark whistle would be set up to monitor each other, but how to do it was left to Iron Axe to figure out.
"Thank you for your hard work. I will hold an award ceremony tomorrow in the central square of the town. You should inform all the members of the First Army."
After Iron Axe retreated, Roland let out a long breath.
"Good job," he took out a bag of charcoal-grilled dried fish from the drawer and put it on the table, "if it wasn't for you, I'm afraid they would be in danger."
Nightingale showed her figure and accepted the dried fish with a smile, "I said before I set off, everything is mine."
"How is the opponent's strength?"
"Agile and decisive, I must have been trained for several years. If she hadn't turned around and tried to resist, I would have entered the fog, and I might have been caught by the choking powder she threw." Nightingale shrugged. He recounted the fight in an understatement, but he knew that it was all between lightning and flint, "I didn't want to kill her... However, when I saw her piercing Wendy's eyes, I understood that apart from death, there is no such thing as death. What can stop her."
"..." Roland was silent for a moment, "Remember what you said to me when you came back from the fortress after defeating Tifek's militia?"
Nightingale thought for a while, "Isn't this your fault?"
"That's right," he nodded. "If she was a witch raised by the church since childhood, she would only see you as traitors and degenerates. Without a few years of getting along, it would be difficult to get her solidified thinking back on track... At least , you saved Wendy and the others."
Nightingale laughed, "Are you comforting me?"
"Uh..." Roland coughed twice, "I really think so."
"Don't worry, I won't feel sad for the enemy. Although she is a witch, the path she chooses is completely different from the future I hope to see. This point is the same for me on the boat back." Nightingale found a piece of fish. Dry stuffed into his mouth, "Knock down the enemy and protect my sisters, I'm just doing my duty."
"You can think so," Roland said with relief. It seemed that I still underestimated her. I thought she would feel lost and confused about killing the witch herself, but I didn't expect to be able to adjust in a short time. It seemed that both her mind and her beliefs, Nightingale had reached maturity.
"But there is one thing I want to ask you," she hesitated for a moment after swallowing the fish fillet before opening her mouth.
"what?"
"What have you and Anna been doing these days?" Nightingale kept her eyes fixed on the prince even though her voice was getting lower and lower, "...you know what I mean."
Roland almost knocked over the cup in his hand, "Ahem, why are you asking this... I've been busy arranging refugees these days, and I rarely have the chance to be alone with her."
Her eyes suddenly lit up, "You didn't lie."
"Of course not, I am"
Before Roland could say the second half of his sentence, Nightingale suddenly disappeared in front of him. Immediately after that, he felt a piece of soft lips pressed against his mouth. The touch was fleeting, leaving only a touch of the salty taste of dried fish. It took him a long time to realize what the other party had done.
"and many more"
In the end, he couldn't say this sentence, and two slender fingers sealed his mouth. Although he couldn't see each other, he knew that Nightingale was by his side.
"I know what you want to say..." she whispered in her ear, "I don't want to change anything, I don't plan to get in front of Anna, I just want to stay by your side, that's all. Please forgive me. I don't dare to show my body, because now I don't know what expression I should use to face you. Your Highness, you don't hate me, do you?"
"..." Roland opened his mouth. If it was impossible to hate Nightingale, the obstacle in his heart came from his knowledge of the past twenty years, not just his liking. On this point, he couldn't deceive himself. .
"In that case," she said softly, "then don't say anything. It's not your fault, I just did what I wanted to do." (., Your support is my biggest motivation.)