Devils

When the baron left, Roland decided to discreetly follow him just out of curiosity and as he thought...

*Bam!* After leaving the castle, the baron hit the nearby tree with his fist while looking at the 3 gold coins in his other hand, gritting his teeth in anger.

'To think he would dare to act this way! Even the new king told him to return to the King City, Duke Ryan will definitely help in this matter as it's in his own interest to retake this land even if it's practically a wilderness! Still, I can't believe "that" prince managed to build the wall around the entire town. Duke Ryan will certainly be thankful for his hard work once he retakes it.' The baron thought before he started walking towards the town's gate.

Roland who watched him from afar could almost hear his thoughts just by seeing his anger. He was watching this with a pleased smile before that smile changed when he noticed a suspicious-looking person pass by the baron, walking towards the castle.

What made him more aware of this person was the fact that they were looking around like some country bumpkin, clearly showing they weren't a local. Roland looked around and when he saw no one around him or around that person, he used his magic to blend in with the surroundings. Thanks to his training, he was practically invisible to regular people.

'The town has such a unique atmosphere. The winter just ended yet the locals are all smiles, getting rid of any remaining snow. Maybe he truly wasn't lying, I doubt he would be able to change the town so much by using money from selling witches to the church. Still, telling the guards my identity is a different matter altogether.' A cloaked person thought while slowly walking towards the castle while subtly looking around.

"Stop" The cloaked person froze in place when they suddenly heard a voice right behind them.

'Wha- How did anyone get so close to me without me even realizing it? It almost reminds me of Nightingale! Just keep calm, I haven't done anything wrong.'

"Yes? Can I help you?"

'A female? Aside from Tyre, none of the spies was a female...maybe she is just a merchant, still, she is acting suspiciously.' Roland thought as the person replied with their back facing him.

"You actually can, how about taking that hood off, you are acting too suspicious. Can't you see that a few people are looking in our direction?" Roland said with a smile, knowing that the people were most likely looking at him instead of the person in front of him.

"Very well...And I am not a suspicious person, my name is Leaf." A woman named Leaf said and took her hood off. When Roland saw her hair from behind, he felt like he already saw her somewhere.

'A female...and most likely beautiful judging from the voice, stature and that silky hair. I must have seen her back at the cave when I was meeting Nightingale's sisters.'

"Wait, I actually probably know you. Turn around."

Hearing his words, Leaf slightly trembled since no one should be able to recognize her here, still, she turned around, however when she did, her eyes widened.

"It's really you. I was intending to make a contact with your association but I never thought that you would come here on your own." Roland said when he remember briefly seeing her face at the cave.

"H-His Highness Roland Wimbledon?" Leaf muttered in disbelief since Roland had no guards around him and honestly she never expected to meet him right away outside his castle.

"That's me! Let's go to a more remote area, we are attracting attention" Roland said with a smile before walking off. It took her a few seconds but Leaf followed after him.

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"Don't be so suspicious, there is no ambush awaiting you. I just want to ask you why are you here. I thought that Cara said no one can return after coming here, well, probably aside from our little spy Red Pepper but I doubt she is planning to go back." Roland said, before sitting down on the trunk of the cut tree.

"Red Pepper?! What happened to her?! I know that she might not have had the best intentions but she is a kind person!" Leaf asked with a concerned and raised voice

"I didn't mean it that way. I doubt she would want to return to the one who only wanted to use her. She is living here happily, she has a well-paid job and free lodging. Anyway, please answer my question."

"*sigh* Cara is no more...that includes most of our sisters..." Leaf said with a downcast look on her face.

"?! What does that mean?" Roland's attention was stolen by Leaf's words since he couldn't imagine several witches losing to the demonic beasts even if they had close to no combat experience. He doubted whether hybrids would even be capable of killing several combat witches.

'Is there more into that mountain than what I am aware of?'

Leaf summarized what happened to them but left out that the others are waiting outside the town since she still had some doubts even if they were minor.

"Alright we can discuss this further inside the castle where you can tell me details with a warm cup of tea in your hands, however before we go there, I might have a small favor to ask for. Since my guards don't know you and no witch has ever arrived here before, I would like to test how would they react if you were to tell them your identity." Roland said and Leaf nodded her head since she was planning to do that since the beginning.

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'It's strange he doesn't mind that rumors of him taking in witches might start circling around...' Leaf thought as she approached the castle's gate where she was stopped by 2 guards. Upon telling her identity, the guards were slightly caught off guard before one of them went inside to inform the first witch he could find.

After a while of waiting, when Leaf started feeling slightly restless, Nightingale, Wendy, Abby, and Airy rushed out of the castle jumping on her. She could barely believe her eyes when she saw Abby and Airy.

The group talked for a while before Leaf told them about the situation and where the rest of the sisters are waiting. Roland in the meanwhile went to his office and told Nightingale to lead Leaf and the rest to his office once they arrive who in return nodded her head with a small smile.

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Inside Roland's office.

'Only 7 of them survived? Seriously...what did Leaf mean by "devils"'

"Well, it is nice to meet you once again. We haven't exactly talked to each other before but you must have seen me when I had that little dispute with Cara." Roland said with a smile and closed eyes, trying his best to look friendly and harmless.

"A little..." Every witch muttered with a dumbfounded expression, hearing Roland's way of explaining the situation where Cara tried to kill him.

"Haha, don't worry about it. I have had my share of people trying to kill me in my life, if I were to hold a grudge against the people that were present but didn't join in, I would be fighting the entire world by now, haha." Roland laughed while waving his hand back and forth to reassure them.

"Still, only 7 of you remained...That's a bit hard to believe, could you please explain in detail what happened, Leaf?" Roland asked and the moment Leaf heard his words, a frightened expression appeared on her face.

"T-They were devils! Their bodies were much broader and taller than regular humans and t-they could use magic just like us!" Leaf explained and upon hearing her words, both Nightingale's and Roland's eyes widened as they subtly exchanged looks.

'Shit, I wonder whether telling them about my ability to wield magic is a good idea. I should wait for a while with it until they think they can trust me.'

"I am sorry that you have to remember all of it once again but...could you please draw their appearance?" Roland asked, thinking whether they just met a rare type of demonic hybrid.

"I-"

"I can...my power allows me to draw whatever I saw or whatever I can visualize in my mind. I don't even need a pen." Another witch interrupted Leaf and said with a dark expression.

"Before that...can everyone please introduce yourselves?" Roland requested since he wanted to know at least their names.

Everyone nodded their head and one by one introduced themselves to Roland. Soraya the witch who volunteered to draw the devils finished her work and gave it to Roland.

"That's them, thanks to Soraya's power, their appearance is identical" Leaf said.

"Hmm"

'Looks like there is another type of civilization we have no idea about. Judging by their primitive clothes and that pipe leading to their faces, they aren't influenced by any evil miasma or whatever. Actually...they might be the source of it since there is no telling what they have inside that container on their backs but it looks like a primitive oxygen tank, however, what exactly are they breathing?' Roland thought while looking at the picture with a calm expression. The picture itself looked just as if he took it with a phone, he found Soraya's power quite interesting.

"You returned from there, does it mean you killed them? Was it perhaps done by cutting those pipes?" Roland asked, pointing his finger at the pipes on the picture which caused Leaf to widen her eyes.

"H-How do you know?" She asked with a surprised expression and everyone gave him quite curious stares.

"Judging from their stature, their skin must be thicker than human's and their tenacity must also be great. There exist humans that can grow frighteningly big, sometimes strangely too big, whenever those types of humans decide to get involved in violence, they are always tenacious. I doubt your expedition had any witch that could kill them on their own yet you somehow survived, successfully killing both your enemies." Roland explained and just from the picture itself, he guessed that those devils were much stronger than most witches.

Even he himself thought that the witches weren't exactly strong in combat with a few exceptions. Plus he knew that they weren't exactly trying to master their powers.

"That's right, we killed both of them by piercing those pipes. Cara was the first one to kill one of them but she immediately died when she made contact with red gas that leaked from those pipes." Leaf explained.

"Have you seen anything else before they attacked you? Anything suspicious."

"We saw a floating city in front of us but no matter how far we moved in its direction, it seemed like we weren't getting any closer to it. At first, Cara thought that it was the Holy mountain but... shortly after that we were attacked by those devils."

"Floating city, huh? In addition, those 2 devils riding some beasts...Considering their clothes and weapons, they look more like they were just a scouting party. Interesting, so they probably can't go outside that city without those tanks with a red gas." Roland said with a faint smile while observing the picture of devils.

"I-Interesting? Aren't you at least a little bit worried? After all, we haven't met them that far away from here..." Leaf asked with a shocked expression.

"Ah, I am sorry, I didn't mean to insult the deaths of your sisters. That's just the way I am, I am interested in completely new things." Roland apologized for his earlier words.

"B-but that's not what I meant..." Leaf muttered in a quiet voice, having a hard time figuring out Roland's way of thinking.