Chapter 44 (1/2)

Chapter 44 Hidden answers

It was already late when Roland went back to the castle. It was snowing heavily again.

He went directly into his bedroom, took off his coat and shook off the snow that got caught in its collar. Then, he hung it on a rack next to the fireplace.

“Your Highness, don’t you think that you have progressed much too quickly?”

Nightingale’s voice came out of nowhere, and then she became visible to the prince.

“You mean the situation with Nana?” Roland poured each of them a glass of wine. Although the wine was more bitter than he was used to, slowly he had become used to its taste.

Nightingale took the cup offered by the Prince but did not drink – she was waiting for the prince to give a longer answer.

“There will never be a more appropriate time than now,” said Roland. He drank his cup of wine all at once, only to fill it up once more afterwards. “I planned to let Nana play a big role with her ability during the Months of the Demons. So, it would have been impossible impossible to conceal her identity as a witch anyway. She can instantly cure fatal injuries! This is nothing close to what ordinary herbs or bloodletting can do, everyone will want this.”

“Border Town is in the most western part of the kingdom. Here, so far away the center, the church’s influence is very limited – if I were them, I wouldn’t be willing to spend so many Gold Royals for a place which could be abandoned at any time.” Roland continued, “We even don’t have a small town church. The missionary left with the nobility to Longsong Stronghold earlier. Knowing all this, what do you think Border Town is? It is an island, totally cut off from the outside world.”

“… This was your plan since the beginning?” Asked Nightingale, surprised.

Roland nodded, “The never ending snowfall will close the road to Longsong Stronghold, and the entire town will be in my hands. We have at least three months to reverse the “witches are evil” point of view. With only mouth-to-mouth propaganda, the effect will be very limited. So, we must rely on real life experiences in order to quickly eliminate the hatred caused by ignorance and misunderstanding.”

That was the reason why he wanted to let everyone think Nana was the cause of Brian’s rescue. He wanted to create a different image of Nightingale.

There existed a legend of a nurse who made an all-out effort to look after wounded people, resulting in the plummet of the wounded mortality rate, from 42% to 2%. Thus, the fighters conferred her the title of “Lady with the Lamp”, and the popularity of the whole nurse profession had been elevated to the rank of worship.

Nana’s ability to heal had more to offer than only heal the injured, as long as someone didn’t die on the spot, she could restore him completely like he was never injured. This would be more important and boost the morale more than any weapon upgrade he had presented.

At the same time, thanks to her family’s decline within the aristocracies ranks, her father had to deal deal with hunters and farmers often during the weekdays. Because of this, he had a very calm and kind attitude towards the normal civilians, and he even allowed Nana to visit Karl’s Collage and learn with them. This kind of act was absolutely unthinkable for even the lowest of Barons, they would never agree if their children had something to do with the peasants – in their eyes, these people were the so-called untouchables.

“This … can we really do this?” Even Nightingale, when facing such a big monster like the Church, felt extraordinarily small and weak.

“If we never try to change, we will never know the answer.”

Roland did not expect that he would be able to change the view of all the inhabitants of Border Town, but he at least hoped to plant seeds within the hearts of some and get a small team of supporters. Later, he wanted to relay on this seeds, to let them grow and let them spread.

Within three months, many changes could be achieved.