Chapter 958 (1/2)
Chapter 958: A Heartbreaking Friendship
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“What happened there?” As Roland and Margaret were talking, Margaret uttered an exclamation of surprise. “What’s Joan… doing?”
Roland also noticed the commotion on the other side of the hall. He saw Margaret’s witch friend leave her spot and, escorted by her maid, slowly walk toward Lightning and the other witches.
Maggie, on the other hand, was flying back and forth, seemingly delivering messages for her.
At first, Joan was so nervous that she clung to her maid the whole time. She only poked her head out when Maggie was around. However, when she and Maggie gradually got to know each other, the situation soon changed.
She not only started to talk to the witches but even reached out her hands to touch Lorgar’s ears and tail in a gentle manner.
“Now I see.” Roland could not help smiling. “Lightning is indeed quick at making friends.”
“That’s… unbelievable.” Margaret clapped her hand over her mouth. “You know how long it took me to persuade Joan to come ashore? It took me a good two months, and I had to ask Ms. Camilla to help me.”
“How did she do that?” Thunder was also surprised.
“She doesn’t have to do anything, but just take Maggie and Lorgar with her,” Roland explained with a smile. “What Joan truly fears is the abhorrence with which people treat foreign races or people of different appearances. Perhaps, Joan views both the pigeon and the wolf girl as people of her kind.”
“Her… kind?” Margaret echoed.
“Yes. You’ve met Maggie before, but Lorgar bears more similarities to Joan than Maggie.” Roland then told Margaret about some of the animal features of Princess Lorgar of the Wildflame clan. “Anyway, you don’t need to worry whether she would be able to blend in.”
“Has the witch called Lorgar… never been rejected by anyone?”
“If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t have come to Neverwinter. Even in the Southernmost Region where witches are generally treated as Divine Ladies by every clan, one with a mishappened figure would still be regarded with evil forebodings.” Roland shook his head. “Of course, not everyone in Neverwinter accepts them, but the discrimination would be a lot more subtle than in other places. As for the Witch Union, nobody would ever discriminate another because of her look. Everyone has gone through the same pain and fully knows the nature of their abilities. They would be more than happy to have a new member.”
“People fear the unknown.” Thunder sighed. “What first motivated me to become an explorer was purely money, but now I want to cover as much untrodden land as possible before I die. There are so many mysteries in this world that await us. If people are just satisfied with the place where they were brought up, they would probably be bound by fear for the rest of their life.”
“This is also the reason I support you.” Roland raised his glass. “There’s an old saying: a person will eventually become as great as his thought. You’ll go down in history if you can think that way.”
“Thank you,” Thunder replied with a smile and clunk his glass. “I’ll try my best to not disappoint your expectations. You can count on me.”
Margaret gazed at Joan for a long time, as if she were lost in thought. After quite a while, she turned around and bowed to Roland, with her hand on her chest. “Your Majesty, I have a bold request.”
“Say it.”
“I planned to take Joan back to the Fjords and persuade her to settle down where she was born after this exploration is over,” Margaret said in a soft voice. “The life on the sea is too lonely and I don’t want to see her continue this way. But now I changed my mind…” Margaret paused for a second and then asked, “Your Majesty, can I entrust her to you?”
“You want her… to stay in Neverwinter?”
“If Joan stays at the Fjords, she would probably ground herself and speak to very few people. But she can make some true friends here.” Margaret nodded. “She left the ocean, which she is so used to, and followed me here. I don’t want to fail her trust. I truly feel nowhere is more suitable for her than Neverwinter.”
“That’s not a problem.” Roland smiled faintly. “This is exactly what the Witch Union was founded for.”
“Now that I have your promise. I’ll fully trust you on the matter.” Margaret dipped in a curtsy, relieved.
***************
Lily returned to her bedroom, yawning, and hung her wet towel on the rail. When she was about to read the biology book before going to bed, she heard Mystery Moon mutter behind her.
“We lost… we lost… we lost…”
Lily rolled her eyes, pretending she did not hear the repetitive mumble, and opened the book indifferently.
The murmur, as she had expected, grew louder immediately.
“The Detective Group lost… the Detective Group lost… the Detective Group lost…”
“Are you done or not?” Lily felt her temples throbbing. She sat upright and yelled, “Can’t you just go to sleep?”
“But we lost.” Mystery Moon buried her face in the pillow and grumbled resentfully. “Aren’t you sad at all? I already had a plan on how to make her side with us. I was so close! Look at the way they communicate. It doesn’t seem that they understand each other. How did they do that? Did they know each other from before? Now the Exploration Group is equal to the Detective Group in number, and we’re no longer the biggest organization…”