Roland swallowed the last piece of fried egg and wiped his mouth with a napkin, "After all this, you are worried that the Witch Helper will come to save her after hearing the news that she is not dead?"
"That's right, Your Highness," Barov said, "they are in a hurry, they should be on their way. It would be fine if the witch died, but now she is still alive! Those lunatics even steal babies, I'm afraid not. A fallen partner will be spared."
Roland was a little confused, he always felt that something was wrong. Why do the assistant ministers and the chief knight feel like an enemy when they talk about witches
The woman to be hanged was a witch, right? He was so thin that he seemed to fall down when the wind blew. If she has terrifying power, why should she stand there and be slaughtered? No, she won't be caught at all. According to the church, she is the incarnation of the devil. In addition to the trial army, the army of mortals will also pay a heavy price in front of the witch. However, this devil was caught by the residents of Border Town and tortured in every possible way, until he was sent to the gallows, and that terrifying power was nowhere to be seen.
"How did she get caught?"
"When I heard that it was the collapse of the Beipo mining area, she exposed her identity to escape for her life and was caught by angry villagers."
Roland thought for a while, um, this incident has an impression, it happened the day before his time-travel.
"How was it exposed?"
"This... I'm not sure," the assistant minister shook his head. "The situation was very chaotic at the time. Someone must have seen her using witchcraft."
Roland frowned, "You haven't investigated this kind of thing?"
"Your Highness, the priority is to restore production in the mining area," the assistant minister protested. "Half of Border Town's financial revenue depends on this iron ore, and the prosecutor also confirmed that someone died of witchcraft at the scene."
"What kind of witchcraft?" Roland became interested.
"Like being melted, the head and most of the body lay flat on the ground, reminiscent of a burnt black candle," the other party said with disgust, "Your Highness, you wouldn't want to see such a scene."
Roland played with the silver fork in his hand thoughtfully. Historically, most of the victims of witch hunts were innocent people who were used as a tool to vent their anger by the church and the ignorant people, and a small number were killed by themselves. These people dress themselves up in weird looks, throw all kinds of strange materials into the pot all day, claiming that they can predict the future and determine life and death.
And they did figure out some ways, such as using the flame reaction to claim that they had obtained the power of the gods.
To modern eyes, these are chemical tricks, but at the time, they could easily be misrepresented as miraculous phenomena.
As for melting people, Roland immediately thought of chromic acid lotion, but this thing was troublesome to prepare, it needed to completely immerse the human body to use, and the effect of dissolving corpses was far from that of candles.
So how did the witch do this
If she relies on alchemy, then she is a rare chemist in the domain, if not...
Roland thought of this and made up his mind.
"Take me to meet her."
"Wait...Wait, Your Highness, are you going to see a witch?" Barov stood up in a panic, knocking over the unused glass of milk.
"That's right, this is an order." Roland turned back and smiled at the minister's assistant. Now he really thanked the fourth prince for his unreasonable style.
When he came to the door, he suddenly paused, "By the way, I always wanted to ask, why is it hanged?"
"what?"
"Why hang? Shouldn't all witches be burned at the stake?"
Barov's face was inexplicable, "Really? But she's not afraid of flames."
*****************
There is only one dungeon in Border Town, and the barren land cannot support too many prisoners. Most criminals will face trial within a few days of moving in—either released or executed.
In addition to Barov, who followed the prince into the dungeon, there were also the chief knight, the warden, the head of the cell, and two guards.
There are four floors in the dungeon, and the walls are all made of hard granite. It was the first time Roland came back to this kind of place, and he noticed that the passage became narrower as he went down, and the number of cells was shrinking. It must have been built with stones after digging a large pit with an inverted cone, he thought.
Naturally, this kind of rough project will not have good drainage measures. The ground is damp, and the turbid sewage flows like this, seeping down the stairs step by step.
The witch was kept at the bottom of the dungeon, and the stench in the air became stronger every time you went down.
"Your Highness, it is too dangerous for you to do this. Even if she is trapped by the lock of God's punishment, she cannot guarantee certain safety."
The person who spoke was Carter Lannis. The chief knight rushed over as soon as he knew that the prince was going to visit the witch, and discouraged him from resting on the way. And the king's orders didn't work for him - he refused to accept any orders that put the prince's life at risk, and it was impossible to get him to leave.
He obviously has a cold and handsome male face, but why is he a chatter? Roland really wanted to have his mouth sewed up. "If you don't dare to face evil, how can you have the courage to defeat evil? I thought you understood this."
"Fighting against evil should also be done within one's capacity. Recklessness does not equal bravery."
"In other words, if you encounter an enemy who is weaker than yourself, you can achieve justice, but if you encounter an enemy who is stronger than yourself, you should turn a blind eye?"
"No, Your Highness, I mean..."
"I used to be afraid of witches being held prisoners, 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 when he encounters the powerful Roland, he is naturally powerless. Taking advantage of this time, the group has reached the bottom of the dungeon.
This is much smaller than the upper floors, with only two cells in total.
The head of the cell lit the torch on the wall, 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 one could see the white air he exhaled. He was wearing a fleece 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 wrap his body, and the exposed arms and soles of his feet were already bloodless from the cold.
The sudden light of the fire made her turn her head sideways, her eyes slightly closed. But soon, she opened her eyes again and looked straight at him.
It was a pair of pale blue eyes, as calm as a lake before a rainstorm. There was no fear in her face, nor anger or hatred.
Roland had an illusion, as if what he saw was not a weak little girl, but a shadow that was swallowing the flames. For a moment, he felt that the light of the torches on the wall dimmed a little.
She struggled to stand up against the wall, moving slowly as if she was about to fall at any moment. But in the end she stood up completely and staggered from the corner to where the light could cover.
It was such a simple action, but the group of people took a deep breath and took two steps back. Only the knight stood in front of him.
"What's your name?" Roland patted the knight on the shoulder, signaling him not to be so nervous.
"Anna," she replied.