Release that Witch

Dusk was extremely charming.

It was not just her appearance; of course, her facial features were extremely beautiful, which was a common feature of the Witches. It went the same for Balshan, who constantly gave him the cold treatment. It was impossible to use the term ugly to describe them, so much that even her serious face actually… contained some sort of unique and distinct style.

But Charms would never say that out loud.

It would just bring about even more cold and deadly glares.

Dusk was adorable in many other aspects—her smile when she encountered happy things, her cries when she stumbled upon setbacks. She never hid her emotions or thoughts and was as pure as the clear spring in the snow. But she remained steadfast and dedicated in certain fields, for example staying at the station for an entire week and waited for Charms to appear just to thank him.

In short, she was perfect.

Dusk was unlike any of the other ladies he had encountered and was extremely unique. If everyone else was black and white, she would be red-orange, just like her short and curly red hair.

Comparing the two, Balshan was lacking greatly despite the fact that the both of them were Witches.

“Hey, don’t you think that I’m oblivious to what you’re planning.” Upon walking into the plaza, Charms found Balshan waiting by the door. “You should know that we are Witches, right?”

“From the very first day we met,” he retorted.

“So you admit you are harboring the thoughts to fool around?” Balshan raised an eyebrow.

“I do not know why you feel that way, but Dusk is so adorable, I do not have any reason to let anyone else be with her.”

If Dusk was present, Charms would have never dared say such words, but he did not wish to cower from Balshan. He was able to voice out anything—no matter how bold and audacious they were.

Not expecting him to admit his feelings, Balshan was dumbstruck for a moment. “Wh… what adorable, that’s not the point! She is a Witch, and you should know what a Witch cannot do!”

“So what.” Charms stuck his chest out and revealed the ‘war hero’ badge worn on his shirt. “I have an elder brother, so my father wouldn’t mind even if I don’t have any children! And this is a badge personally awarded by His Majesty; it is definitely enough to ensure her future livelihood, so what other doubts do you have?”

Balshan was stunned.

It took her a long while before she retorted, “Hmph, empty words count for nothing, I will keep my eyes on you before I expose you.”

“Whatever.” Charms shrugged. “Right, if you didn’t mention that you were a Witch, I would have forgotten about it. What power do you have? Why do I feel that you are purely using your strength to transport the supplies?”

For some reason, he sensed the other party’s expression worsen after asking the question.

“Are you thinking that I don’t belong here?”

“No… I was just curious.” Charms immediately waved his hands. He realized that his words came across as offensive and sarcastic. Strange… I’m usually careful with my words; when have I ever become so careless? Even if she is unreasonable, I will never stoop so low and be despicable.

Just when he thought that she had stopped answering, Balshan whispered, “My ability is to kill.”

Charms took a deep breath. “What?”

Balshan picked up a seed from the ground and placed it in her hand. Soon enough, the seed started withering at a speed visible to the naked eye. Eventually, it shrunk and turned into a brown lump.

“Any lifeforms that I touch rapidly wither like this seed… It doesn’t stop at plants or animals; even stones and metals are affected by my ability, just that the effect is much slower on them, and the magic power exhaustion is far larger. So it is mainly used on enemies.”

Charms took two steps back. “Then why aren’t you fighting against the monsters?”

“The Witch Union doesn’t approve of it. They are responsible for the delegation of work to the Witches, but my ability requires physical contact to be executed. They recognize that the risks are too great and there are very few places for me to execute my ability. In the end, they allowed me to choose what I wanted to do, aside from battle.” Balshan laughed out in self-mockery. “So verbal promises do not guarantee anything… and His Majesty Roland is no exception.”

“You lie!” Charm was unable to accept anyone slandering King Roland in front of him. “His Majesty has never failed to live up to his promises; even the most inconceivable thing to the Neverwinter citizens will definitely be… realized, as long as the King promises it…”

He looked at Balshan’s expression and suddenly felt his confidence wane. “Hold up, you’ve met His Majesty?”

“Yep.” Balshan threw the black lump to the ground. “The Witch Union arranges work according to abilities first before asking for their personal opinions. Then both sides will come to an agreement. Dusk is the perfect example. Those with abilities with no apparent use will be passed to His Majesty to handle personally. According to him, all types of abilities can and will be useful to Graycastle’s development, and that there are no useless abilities,” she paused for a moment, “I belong to the latter.”

Charms found himself in a dilemma and could not think of anything else useful for a purely destructive ability aside from battle, even after racking his brains. His Majesty must have been vexed back then. But Charms felt that it was not King Roland’s fault, and admitting this point was far worse than him not honoring a promise.

“What did His Majesty… say?”

“He said that in fifty to a hundred years, I will be able to add brilliance to visual effects and stage props.” Balshan’s lips curled upwards.

“Uhm… what are they?”

“Who knows. It seems to be related to Magic Movies, I’m not too sure as well. At that time, His Majesty said many things, for example, the extensive use of visual effects, and that it is a must-have in the industry…” Her excitement waned as she walked over to the platform. “A very crafty way of explaining my abilities, right? Even if he was telling the truth, it is a matter that can only occur many years later. But for now, I am truly a useless person…”

So that’s the reason, Charms suddenly realized the crux of the matter.

He finally understood why Dusk had stopped mid sentence before.

While the Witches were in hiding, Balshan was definitely the core of the team capable of fighting their pursuers, but after King Roland’s declaration that Witches no longer had the need to fight at close quarters and experience bloodshed, she instantly became useless. One can only imagine the great disparity between the two.

At that moment, Charms was able to empathize with her. When he found out that he was being transferred from the army. He, too, had felt the world abandoning him. Under that situation, it was extremely normal to have a bad temper.

Looking at the other party’s lonesome back, his heart softened.

Originally, he had thought of ways to chase Balshan away and to invite Dusk out alone, but he no longer felt that he was able to do so. If even Dusk was not around, wouldn’t Balshan be completely alone?

After coughing twice, Charms reached into his pocket. “Anyway….I have two tickets for the new play tonight.”

Balshan turned her head back and waited for his next sentence.

“But I have something on tonight, and doubt I can make it…” He hesitated. “Why don’t you enjoy the play with Dusk; it’ll definitely be better than wasting the tickets…”

Balshan revealed a look of surprise.

But before she could answer him, the sky suddenly echoed out with crackling sounds.

The two looked up and saw thousands of birds sweeping over their heads. It was Charms’ first experience in witnessing a flock of migratory birds that resembled dark clouds which blotted out the sunlight.

He had heard about migratory birds having a fixed period and trajectory of flight, but it was clear that it was not the time of the year for the migratory birds to move. The flock of birds consisted of all sorts of species, and Charms discovered that they looked hurried without the usual gracefulness while soaring with their wings spread open.

“What’s going on with them?” Charms raised an eyebrow. “Are they migrating en masse?”

“Hush!” Balshan placed a finger to her mouth. “Do you hear that sound?”

“I only hear their wings flapping; what other sounds are there?”

“No, the sound is even more distant” Her expression became serious.

Charms stopped his breathing and focused. This time, he heard a faint hum. It was low and turbid and sounded like a whistle mixed with the flapping of the birds.

His eyes widened.

That is… the warning alarm from the north!