39 Red Pepper

"How is that even possible?" Wendy was the first one to ask a good question.

"Um...Will the answer 'I don't know' suffice?" Roland asked with a forced smile while scratching the back of his head.

Upon hearing his answer, all the witches folded their arms and frowned at him.

"Look, I am not sure myself. I have been able to use it ever since Anna's Day of adulthood. However, I don't have any of your powers. I can't control flames, wind, or become completely invisible." Roland said and explained that earlier he just blended with the surroundings so he was still perfectly visible.

"Then how does Your Highness use your magic if you don't have any of those powers?" Wendy asked.

"I am using it on my body. To blend into my surroundings, I cloak myself with the magic and try to imitate my surroundings. I can also use it as magic armor, look" Roland said before drawing a dagger from his belt and trying to cut his palm but the blade just slid across his palm without hurting him.

"Oh?!" Everyone looked at his palm with wide-open eyes.

"So that's how Cara's snake didn't apply poison to you?!" Wendy just remembered the time when Roland fought with Cara.

"That's right, her snake's fangs were unable to penetrate the magic armor around my legs. I call this ability aura hardening because magic is something we can't exactly see unless we have a special ability to do so. Therefore magic is most likely a gaseous form of energy, I am turning that gas into a solid-state and manipulate it." Roland explained while looking at Nightingale.

"Does it work on the same principle as written in that physics book? If I remember right, the process of transforming gas into solid-state is named deposition." Anna asked with an excited expression.

"You are right, however, I still have no idea how exactly it works. Gaining complete control over your powers is not the hardest part of mastering your powers." Roland shook his head in disappointment.

"Then what is the hardest part?" Wendy asked since in her opinion, gaining complete control over one's powers is the same as mastering it.

"Nightingale is the one who knows this the best." Roland said which made everyone turn their heads at Nightingale.

"Eh? Huh?! Why would I know that?!" Nightingale asked in confusion.

"You are spending a lot of time inside the fog, you are even comfortable using your powers. One could say that you have fully mastered it, however...do you know how it works? Do you have any idea if you can advance your powers to another level and if so, how?" Roland started asking which made everyone realize what he meant.

"For example, until now, I could use my magic only for a few things but recently I discovered one more use for that aura hardening, look..." Roland said before he put his dagged on top of his palm without clenching his hand and then he turned his hand with his palm facing the ground.

"Oh!" The witches immediately started inspecting the dagger stuck to his palm. Anna looked at Roland and he nodded his head so she tried to take the dagger off his palm. When she pulled it down with all her strength, the only thing that moved down a bit was Roland's hand.

"My powers are now bending the rules of gravitation I told you about before. Do you still remember, Anna?" Roland asked and two of them started talking about things the other witches didn't understand. Lightning, Nana, Red Pepper and Nightingale immediately fell asleep while Wendy continued watching Abby and Airy. Even though she couldn't understand what Anna and Roland were talking about, she attentively listened to the two of them.

In the morning, Airy and Abby woke up feeling refreshed. Roland immediately started testing their powers and as he thought Abby now could control the volume of the sound. She could make something louder, quieter or she could also completely silence the noise. Airy on the other hand felt like her communication with insects improved and Roland told her to try commanding spiders and all other small animals. She couldn't exactly command small birds but she told Roland that she feels as if they want to communicate with her.

Roland gave them some tasks to practice their magic. A few days later, several boats from Willow Town arrived and some craftsmen with them. After questioning them, most of them had a hard time at Willow Town due to various reasons but usually, it was for offending nobles. There is corruption everywhere and nobles are taking whatever they want even someone else's wives. After making sure that none of them are just spies sent by any of his siblings, he hired all of them with quite extravagant pay which immediately made their eyes lit up.

He instructed them to start building a large ship made of steel, wood, and concrete based on his design. With the steam engines working down in the mines, he had more than enough ores to make such a ship.

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Right now, Roland was sitting in his office, waiting for the afternoon when he is supposed to show off a cannon that has been finally finished. With Anna, Red Pepper, and blacksmiths' help, Roland also managed to build his first mortar, unfortunately, he still couldn't mass produce mortar ammunition therefore it was his trump card for now. And even if he could, Roland was now focused on the production of muskets which was going quite well. All the hunters under his command already had muskets and even a few recruits with outstanding merits were given one. He also started giving out bayonets to them since he thought it would be more efficient than drawing a sword or knife.

The recruits also finally started some close-quarters combat training with spears under Carter's guidance since they can use muskets with bayonets as spears in the future.

*Knock* *Knock* Someone knocked on the door and entered Roland's office. It was a young woman with fiery red hair tied in a high ponytail.

"Have you called for me, Your Highness?"

"Ah, Red Pepper. Yes, I wanted to take you with me to show you the creation which you have helped us create. However before that...I wanted to ask you how are you." Roland said, slightly confusing Red Pepper.

"Um, I am feeling very good, thank you for asking." She replied awkwardly before slightly bowing to him.

"No, no, I wanted to ask you what you think of Border Town and how are you faring here." Roland said with an indescribable mysterious smile making her wonder what he is thinking.

"I-I think it's a bit too much for me to absorb at such a short time. I know you have been suspicious of me all the time yet you let me do as I wished and walk anywhere I wanted which greatly confused me. That day inside the cave when you told me to think it through, I thought that you are actually going to keep watch over me or even kill me the instant we arrive at Border Town but nothing like that happened. I have been thinking and experiencing life here and I can say that it's definitely very nice to have a warm bed and food every day, however, I was still skeptical...that is until Airy and Abby had their day of adulthood and...y-you revealed that you can also use magic." She said, holding her hands in front of her while looking down.

"It's still a lot for me to take in, after all, you are the first male to use magic, however, it also made me think...why would you want to cause us any harm when you are practically one of us. There is absolutely no reason to have a bad relationship with each other...mentor said that we should be careful of nobles but Your Highness isn't just a noble. I am still not sure whether I will leave, however...I guess I won't be much welcomed if I come back empty-handed. I might even end up the same way as Nightingale and I don't exactly expect a prince on white horse to come to my rescue." She said with a bitter smile.

"If you will go back with the same intentions as Nightingale, you can expect one to come to your rescue, however, I doubt a horse would survive in the mountains, haha" Roland said before releasing a light laugh to ease the atmosphere.

"...Haha" Red Pepper stared at him with wide-open eyes in shock before she started giggling with a genuine smile.

"Shall we go take a look at what you have helped us create? Everyone should already be waiting outside." Roland stood up and asked her with a faint smile as he approached her side.

"Yes!" She nodded her head, this time with a more at ease smile.

'His Highness was right...Holy Mountain became Cara's obsession instead of a goal. Even if I were to return, there is no telling whether Cara would believe me if I were to return empty-handed.'