Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Buffeted by wind and snow, Azima crossed the street and entered the Castle District.
Although it was strange to send for her at this hour of the night, as Azima trusted Wendy, she had agreed to follow her to the castle. Meanwhile, she had left Doris behind, who had insisted on coming with her.
This way, she could keep her friend out of trouble in case anything happened.
Shivering under her clothes, Azima held herself tightly as she reached the castle gate.
Are you cold?
Wendy glanced at her smilingly.
Don’t worry. You’ll soon need to take off your coat once you get in.
Hang on… take off?
Is His Majesty planning to…
Please enter, Ms. Wendy.
While Azima was still in a shock, the gate slowly opened and the guard ushered them in.
His Majesty is in the study. I’m afraid I have to stop here as I still have duties to attend to.
Thank you.
Wendy nodded. She held Azima’s hand and led her into the castle.
In a split second, wisps of warm air drove all the coldness away.
So… this is the heating system.
Although Azima knew that the castle was equipped with a brand new heating system and thus did not require wood heating, the actual experience was still very impressive.
The servants in the castle were all wearing light clothes. She could see people wearing shirts and dresses everywhere. At one corner of the dining room, she even spied some barefoot witches running across the hall on the carpeted floor. The castle was as warm as summer. Awestruck by the luxurious living conditions in the castle, Azima started to suspect that Roland was probably just a hopeless hedonist.
He just built Neverwinter for his own pleasure!
Azima thought to herself.
Wendy, on the other hand, had already taken off her coat. She winked at Azima and said,
You’ll start sweating if you keep your coat on. Plus, It’s freezing out there. You’ll catch a cold if you go back out all sweaty.
O-OK.
Azima unbuttoned her coat in a stiff manner. She peered down at her chest. Her chest was not flat by any means, but it was obviously incomparable to Wendy’s prodigious bosom.
If His Majesty really intended to seek out pleasures of the flesh… Azima believed she should be the last person Roland would think of.
With self-mockery, Azima followed Wendy to the third floor and into the lord’s study.
Your Majesty, Azima is here.
Your Majesty.
Azima bowed. She surveyed the people in the room out of the corner of her eyes, finally rested her gaze on the gray-haired man behind the desk.
Azima suddenly realized that the man opposite her was the King of Graycastle. She only had a glimpse of him at the banquet. At the time, she had still been working for the Sleeping Spell. Now that she had the opportunity to have a close look at the king, she was astonished at how young he appeared.
Azima doubted that a person under 30 was capable of defeating all his siblings, ascending the throne, uprooting the church, and conquering all the other kingdoms.
She could challenge Tilly’s authority but she obviously couldn’t speak to Roland in the same fashion. Once she left Neverwinter, she could not come back to the Sleeping Spell again. The whole kingdom was under Roland’s control. Everybody was under Roland’s rule, unless they fled Graycastle. Although she didn’t fear the power and authority of others, Doris and the other witches were not as fearless as her.
Please rise,
The king replied good-naturedly.
In fact, I’ve to see you for a long time. Sorry for asking you to come here at this late hour, but I couldn’t wait to meet you. Your ability means a great deal to the kingdom. Since the time has come, I didn’t want to wait any longer.
…
Azima looked up in surprise.
Are you saying that you’re going to hire me?
It seemed to be a special recruitment. For jobs which required witches’ abilities, the Witch Union would usually offer greater compensation.
Meanwhile, Azima wondered what the
time
that Roland was referring to was.
Yes… I would like to offer you a contract with very competitive compensation.
Roland raised his cup and had a sip.
Two gold royals per month until you complete your task. After the completion of the project, you’ll be paid an additional 50 gold royals. How does that sound?
Azima’s heart skipped a beat. Even without that additional 50 gold royals, the monthly salary was already as lucrative as the remuneration paid by the Sleeping Spell. She would not only be able to sustain herself with this income but could also help her friends! As for the extra reward of 50 gold royals, she could either use it to start her new life or purchase a bigger house for her relative Whitepear.
This was exactly what she needed at the moment!
However, years of vagrant life had also made her fully aware that there was no free meal in the world. Nobles were experts in games of deception. They usually provided their victims with empty promises of future rewards. Even if this noble was the sovereign of the state, Azima had to be careful. At this thought, she answered,
It’s a high compensation, but I want to know what you want me to do before giving you my answer.
Her ability was very helpful for wilderness survival, and she had relied on it a lot to locate water sources, animals’ lairs and fruit, none of which, however, were in shortage in Neverwinter.
Your job is very simple, I want you to find a stone for me
.
Roland produced a box from his drawer and opened it on the desk.
It shouldn’t be a problem for you.
Can I take a look?
Of course.
Azima walked up to the box and put the stone in her hand. It was about the size of her thumb, pretty thin, smooth and cold, more like a strange coin than a stone. Apparently, it had been carefully polished. In a color of a grayish black, it did not look special, so Azima did not understand why His Majesty showed so much interest in it.
She hesitated for a moment and said,
It’s hard for me to trace the origin of a stone. When I was on Sleeping Island, a Chamber of Commerce once hired me to look for the source of some gems, but my ability led them to Searing Flame Island. There was nothing except hot dry sand. Because of this, the Sleeping Spell didn’t earn anything but instead, had to compensate them for the expenses incurred on the trip.
I think the sand was bauxite. You can call it the origin of gems because they are made of the same material.
Roland chuckled carelessly.
As for whether you can find what I want, you can test it out now.
Azima wondered if the black stone was also a type of gem. She applied her ability to the stone fragment as Roland had instructed. Instantly, a jet of blinding green light escaped from her palm and almost entirely blocked her vision! The glow was as vibrant and bright as the lights in the castle!
Suddenly, another green flash burst forth from the king’s desk.
Azima stood agape.
The flash was only visible to her. It could tell her not only where the source material was, but also much there was. Most of the time, the green light was scattered around, flickering like fireflies. As the glints continuously merged, Azima could see where they led.
Azima understood that it was perfectly normal for Roland to hide the other part of the stone fragment in the desk, as a way to test her ability, but she was surprised at the intensity of the light beam. It meant these lusterless stone fragments were source class materials!
It was her first time seeing such a small source material!
How… can that be possible?
Before she had moved to Sleeping Island, she had found a gold royal on the street by accident. At the time, she had been thinking of using her ability to collect coins that slipped out of people’s pockets, but since it was a one in a million chance, she hadn’t had much luck. Although she had known people usually kept money in their pockets, she had had no way to get them However, she had learned where most of the money was stored.
At that time, she had sensed the strongest reaction from the treasury underneath the lord’s castle. The current green flash, nevertheless, was as intense, and blinding, as the light back then!
Is this stone… even more precious than gold?
Azima wondered.
