"What happened when the mining area collapsed, please repeat it carefully."
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 answered her own question and said whatever she asked.
The story is not too complicated. Anna's father was a miner and was working in the mine when the collapse occurred. Anna, who got the news, immediately went into the mine with other miners' families to rescue. It is said that the North Slope mining area used to be the lair of underground monsters, with many fork roads leading in all directions. Because the rescuers did not have a unified command, they scattered after entering the cave to search for themselves. When Anna found her father, only the neighbors Aunt Susan and Uncle Anker were present.
She found that her father was crushed by a cart full of ore and his leg was broken, and he couldn't move, while a famous miner was squatting beside him searching for coins from him. Seeing that his robbery was broken, the miner rushed up with a hoe and knocked Uncle Anke to the ground. Just when he was about to kill him, Anna killed him first.
The couple next door vowed not to tell her story, and the three rescued Anna's father together. But before dawn the next day, Anna's father went out with a cane and reported to the patrolling guard that his daughter was a witch.
"Why?" Roland couldn't help turning his head and asked when he heard this.
Barov sighed, "Probably for the bounty. Anyone who discovers and reports a witch can 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. Like waves on the lake, the flame tips of the torches swayed.
"It's the power of the devil you're talking about."
"Shut up! Demon girl!" the warden shouted, but everyone could hear the vibrato in his throat.
"Really? I want to see." The fourth prince was unmoved.
"Your Highness, this is no joke!" The chief knight turned his head and frowned.
Roland walked out from behind the knight and walked towards the cage step by step, "You can leave first if you are afraid. I didn't ask you to stay here."
"Don't panic, she still has the lock of God's punishment on her neck!" Barrow said aloud to comfort everyone, but also seemed to comfort himself, "No matter how powerful the devil is, it is impossible to break the blessing of God."
Roland and Anna, who were standing in front of the prison railing, were only an arm's distance away, and he could clearly see each other's cheeks covered with dust and scars. The immature facial features mean that she is underage, but there is no trace of childishness in her expression. Not only that, but even anger was hard to find—a feeling of incongruity that Roland had only seen on TV. That is the appearance of homeless orphans who have suffered from poverty, hunger, cold and other hardships in an interview. But it's not exactly the same. The homeless orphan always hunched his body and lowered his head when facing the camera, but Anna didn't.
Until now, she still tried to stand up straight, her eyes raised slightly, and she looked straight into the prince's eyes.
She is not afraid of death, Roland realizes, she is waiting for death.
"Meeting a witch for the first time, my lord? Your curiosity might kill you."
"If it is really the power of the devil, you will suffer misfortune at a glance," Roland replied, "then it should not be me, but your father."
The fire in 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 coming from behind him, as well as the muffled sound of someone accidentally falling as they retreated in a panic.
Roland's heartbeat gradually accelerated, and he felt that he was at a wonderful dividing point. On the other 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 is now standing at the gates of this new world.
Is the lock of God's Punishment hanging around her neck? What a rudimentary chain, a piece of red-painted iron chain hangs a crystal clear pendant. If the witch's hands are not cuffed behind her back, this kind of thing can be destroyed with a single pull, right
Roland glanced back at everyone, and while everyone was praying in a panic, he quickly put his hand into the cage, grabbed the pendant and pulled it hard, and the buckle between the pendant and the chain snapped—even Anna was stunned.
"Come on." He whispered. Are you a liar, a chemist, or a real witch
I would be disappointed if you took out the bottles and jars now and started making strong acids. he thought to himself.
Then Roland heard a crackling sound, which was the sound of water vapor expanding due to heat—white fog rose from the ground, and the surrounding temperature rose sharply.
He saw the flames rising from the other side's feet, gently licking the girl's bare legs, and then the ground she was standing on was burning. The torches behind him exploded at the same time, as if they had obtained pure oxygen, emitting a dazzling light. The entire cell was like daylight for a while, accompanied by screams of horror from everyone.
The witch stepped forward, and the flames followed her pace. When she came to the edge of the prison, dozens of iron railings turned into pillars of fire.
Roland had to step back, the hot air biting his skin, causing him to suffer unbearably. In just a few breaths, he seemed to have returned from late autumn to midsummer. No, unlike the scorching heat of summer, this high temperature simply generated by flames could not surround him in all directions. The side facing the flames was roaring with heat, while the side facing away was chilly. He even felt like he was in a cold sweat.
- She is not afraid of fire.
Roland remembered the words of the assistant minister. It was only now that he deeply understood the meaning of this sentence.
She is a flame herself, how could she be afraid of herself
Soon, the iron railings turned from dark red to bright yellow, and began to melt and deform. This means that they have been heated to more than 1500 degrees Celsius, which is far beyond Roland's imagination. Like the others, he was far away from the cell, clinging to the farthest stone wall.
If this is not done, the high heat from the molten iron can burn clothes even without direct contact—like Anna, whose prison uniform has long since been turned to ashes and her body is surrounded by raging flames.
I don't know how long it lasted before the flames all faded.
There was only a small section of torches left on the wall, quietly burning as if nothing had happened. But the sweaty clothes, the hot air, and the prison railings that were burned like the devil's minions told everyone that this was not a dream.
Except for Roland and the knight who were still standing, everyone else had collapsed to the ground, and the warden had even pissed his pants.
The naked Anna was standing outside the cage at this moment, and the shackles that trapped her arms were nowhere to be seen. She did not cover her body, her hands naturally fell by her side, and her lake-blue eyes returned to their previous serenity.
"I satisfied your curiosity, my lord," she said. "Can you kill me now?"
"No," Roland stepped forward, wrapped his coat around her, and said in as gentle a tone as possible, "Miss Anna, I want to hire you."