Chapter 541: The Mists of Bloodfang Association
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Two days later, Roland met Iffy in his office again.
Her complexion was much better now. In her eyes, they seemed to have more complex emotions, which made her look more fresh and alive, more "human".
"Heidi Morgan wants to see you, but she's not able to come over, so she asked Tilly Wimbledon to send us here." Iffy bowed to Roland, and her opening remarks surprised Roland slightly. "Lady Heidi doesn't like Her Highness, Tilly. She believes that combat witches are the real core of Sleeping Island, so the Bloodfang Association shouldn't just be treated as an ordinary witch organization. She wants to make a breakthrough with your help, and she promises to offer more than what Tilly offers. Of course... I know Your Highness doesn't need them."
"Tell me the details of the Bloodfang Association," said Roland with a hand propping up his chin.
"Yes..."
Her storytelling lasted about an hour, while Roland was frowning more and more. In the end, Roland could not help but ask, "Does Tilly know about all of this?"
"I don't know." Iffy shook her head. "Lady Heidi forbids us from revealing the past of the Bloodfang Association, and seldom talks with Her Highness."
"How about the other witch organizations in Sleeping Island?"
"They're closer to the witches from the Kingdom of Graycastle, especially after the building of the Sleeping Spell. Although some combat witches agree with Lady Heidi secretly, most of them don't want to confront Ashes."
"It turns out the pressure on Tilly's shoulders is not much lesser than mine." Roland felt impressed. "Different from the situation that I'm the perfectly justified ruler of the Western Region, witches of Sleeping Island are more like in a loose organization based on covenants. Although Tilly is the organizer, she actually doesn't have the authority over those small groups who came to join her." Especially because of this, it showed Tilly's merits were superior to others—uniting most of the assistant witches, and positively establishing connections with the secular rulers of other islands. In particular, the invention of the Sleeping Spell gave her a chance to manage all the other witches.
After all, "Assistant witches are equally important" should not be just a slogan. The witches' bounty guild just offered those assistant witches with various odd abilities an excellent stage to present themselves. When they completed missions and obtained a large amount of remuneration, they could then use it to improve the quality of their lives on Sleeping Island. Such a mindset would be formed gradually. After all, no powerful combat witch would like to spend her days chewing salted fish. Especially when the assistant witches had their status promoted, they would naturally favor Tilly. When the time came, as the leader of the guild, Tilly would undoubtedly gain a great power of speech.
This was probably why Heidi Morgan could not wait any longer.
In addition, the Bloodfang Association was full of doubtful points. As the daughter of Archduke Morgan, how could Heidi not be able to afford a group of non-combat witches? It was only fair to say that she did not intend to take those "useless" people in from the very beginning. Different from the fact that witches from the Witch Cooperation Association wanted to be united to help each other, all that she wanted was a team which could fight for her benefits.
Plus her obsession towards the Kingdom of Wolfheart, all of these made Roland vigilant against her.
He should probably write a secret letter to Tilly, telling her to carefully watch out the moves of the Bloodfang Association.
"Didn't Heidi forbid you from revealing the secrets of the Bloodfang Association?" He lightly knocked on the desk. "Don't you want to follow her instructions anymore?"
Iffy bit on her lips. "I want to join the Witch Union."
Roland stopped knocking and looked at her in surprise. Although he knew that the exhibition of the powers of the thermal weapons would greatly strike the powerful and arrogant combat witches, he did not expect the effect would be so... extraordinary.
"But you hurt Maggie." He contemplated for a while. "Right now I can't..."
"About that, you can punish me as you wish."
Iffy unbuttoned her robe.
Almost at the same time, a pair of hands covered Roland's eyes from behind. But Nightingale seemed to have forgotten that she was in the mist and that her transparent fingers could not block Roland's vision.
Iffy lowered her robe and turned her back to Roland.
Roland could not help but gasp.
He could see, on Iffy's back there were all sorts of whip scars. The restored wounds looked like numerous earthworms lying crisscross on her back, forming a sharp contrast with the surrounding delicate skin. As the wounds had been healed, even Nana could not do anything to them with her healing ability. Those scars remained as they were.
When Iffy talked about the rigorous fighting trainings in the Bloodfang Association, she only used very brief words. Now when Roland thought back, he could vaguely smell the bloody atmosphere in her words.
"Put on your clothes," he said with a low voice.
"But, Your Majesty..."
Nightingale had shown herself and pulled up Iffy's robe to the shoulders.
"If you want to join the Witch Union, then don't bring the Bloodfang Association's ways of handling things here." Roland suddenly felt a suppression in his chest. "You can apply to Wendy. As to whether the other witches would accept you, it'll depend on your performance." He paused. "Anyway, City of Neverwinter is the home to witches. Even if you don't join the union, you can settle down here."
Upon hearing this, Iffy's shoulders loosened. "Thank you... for your kindness."
...
After watching her leave, Roland stood up, walked to the French window, and let out a deep breath.
Till now, his team for arresting demons was fully assembled and yet he could not feel relaxed.
"Actually, she's very lucky," Nightingale walked to him and said.
"Can that be called lucky?"
"Compared with her friend Annie, at least she survived. If the Bloodfang Association is really the only witch organization survived in the Kingdom of Wolfheart, then its members will end tragically in case they get caught by the church or the noble. That's also why the member witches yearned so much for the Holy Mountain."
A doubt suddenly emerged in Roland's heart. "Were those non-combat witches really sent to other witch organizations by Heidi Morgan? To avoid the exposure of their whereabouts, the witches seldom contacted one another, and their gathering places changed frequently. How did Heidi gathered such information? After all, the foothold of an organization is a matter of life and death. If not to particularly trusted persons, the organization leader probably won't tell other people of their gathering sites easily."
Even if Heidi knew all that, sending the witches to other organizations was highly risky of an exposure. Would the other organizations willingly accept whatever she threw at them?
The more he thought about it, the more he found it weird.
But Nightingale confirmed that Iffy was not lying.
Obviously, the problem lay within the founders of the Bloodfang Association.
In conclusion, Heidi seemed more dangerous now. Roland realized that he should convey the information to Tilly as soon as possible so that she could carry out an investigation and make some early preparations.
The daughter of Archduke Morgan was most likely not royal to witches.