Three days later, in the castle garden.

"Sister Anna..." Nana Walla tugged at Anna's sleeve.

"Hmm?" The latter turned her head.

"Do you think Nightingale is... acting a bit strange?"

"Strange?" Anna paused. "Are you talking about her clothes?"

Nightingale stood beside Roland, not wearing her usual bizarre patterned robe that never seemed to be washed or changed, but instead dressed in the strange outfit His Highness had invented, just like Anna herself. Although Anna didn't want to admit it, Nightingale's tall figure showed off the advantages of the outfit perfectly – her well-proportioned legs, slender waist, and long curly hair. Paired with the cloak and pointed hat, anyone would immediately be drawn to her.

"It's not about the clothes," Nana Walla muttered. "Don't you think the way she talks to Prince Roland, and the look in her eyes when she looks at him, are different from before?"

"Is it?"

"..." Nana Walla pouted. "Okay, Sister Anna, don't blame me for not warning you."

Feeling inexplicably confused, Anna shook her head, ignoring her, and instead focusing her attention on the two new witches.

The one named Lightning looked about the same age as Nana Walla, but her attire was particularly unique. Anna roughly counted, and there were at least twelve pockets sewn onto her ragged coat.

As for the other witch, Wendy, she wasn't wearing the same patterned robe as Nightingale either, but rather ordinary women's clothing. But something particularly caught Anna's attention – her chest... was truly magnificent.

"Now that you've all agreed to sign the contract, let's begin the first training session," Roland, having experience training the first two witches, was now more than capable. "Lightning, you go first."

"Okay!" Lightning raised her hand and walked out of the shed.

Outside, it was lightly snowing with no wind. The little girl easily floated into the air, waiting for Roland's next instruction.

"First, try your fastest flying speed!" Roland called out, looking up.

"Hehe, watch me," she made a thumbs-up gesture, adopted a running posture, and then quickly circled the castle.

Roland estimated the speed, roughly around sixty to seventy kilometers per hour, a conclusion he drew from his years of driving back to his hometown on the highway. In terms of flight alone, this speed wasn't particularly fast, similar to a common pigeon. But he heard that she could fly with Nightingale and Wendy on the way back, which was quite an exaggeration.

What was the concept of taking off with a hundred kilograms of weight? Roland's mind conjured up a piston aircraft hanging a hundred-kilogram aerial bomb...

But the following experiment shattered his beautiful fantasy.

When the load exceeded fifty kilograms (about 110 pounds), Lightning's flight altitude dropped sharply, plummeting from over a hundred meters to about ten meters. When she carried a load of nearly one hundred kilograms, she could barely fly two meters above the ground.

In other words, if he wanted to turn Lightning into a bomber, even a few kilograms of explosive packages would put her within range of the enemy's crossbows due to her altitude.

However, Roland quickly thought of a new use for the little girl – whether for reconnaissance or artillery correction, she was an excellent choice. The encirclement plan that had been bothering him seemed to have finally caught a glimmer of dawn.

While the Prince was testing Lightning's abilities, Wendy was quietly observing him from the side.

After leaving the monastery, during her fifteen years of wandering, she had seen many people, commoners, farmers, craftsmen, soldiers, nobles. They always seemed to be cut from the same mold. When they didn't know she was a witch, they revealed feelings of desire and admiration. But once they knew her identity, their desire and admiration would instantly turn into fear and hatred, along with a kind of vile desire that almost made Wendy want to vomit.

She originally thought she would only be accompanied by witches in this life and could never approach any man again. That's why she intended to reject Nightingale... not out of distrust, but out of inner fear.

But Roland Wimbledon changed her mind.

The way he looked at her was too ordinary – just like countless times she had witnessed before. When she first saw Roland in Nightingale's room, she thought he was hiding it extremely well, especially with Nightingale present. But in the following days, his expression remained the same.

Could it be that His Highness's standards were far higher than ordinary nobles?

There was also the contract. Wendy originally thought it was just a formality. But when she unfolded it and read it, she found that it was densely filled with clauses, not only stipulating responsibilities but also specifying her rights.

This was unbelievable! Taking witches under his command without depriving them of freedom was already extremely generous, but he was even telling them their rights in the contract?

For example, clause 2.1 (Wendy had never seen such a way of writing), she could have paid leave. According to the explanation below, it meant she could get money without working. The next clause stated that witches should complete the experimental projects arranged by the employer, but when a witch felt that some projects were difficult to complete or caused discomfort, she could propose changes or refuse to apply. The next clause stated that the employer should provide and guarantee the witch's safety, accommodation, food, and salary, and when these conditions were not met, the witch could unilaterally terminate the contract.

These clauses sounded a bit convoluted, but the meaning was clear. The witch who signed the contract was not the Prince's personal possession; she also had rights equal to her responsibilities. In this contract, she felt the other party's sincerity – if it was just for formality, there was no need to list the clauses in such detail.

Thinking of this, Wendy couldn't help but look at Nightingale. She was very clear about the other's experience and understood her deep-seated disgust for nobles. At this moment, when Nightingale was talking to Roland, her tone and expression already contained a different kind of emotion – a change that she herself probably wasn't even aware of.

It had only been two months since she left the main group to come to Border Town alone. In just two months of getting along, Nightingale completely trusted this man.

From the fact that she would rather sever ties with the Witch Cooperation Association to return to Border Town, it could be seen that in her heart, Prince Roland Wimbledon was more likely to bring witches true belonging than the Witch Cooperation Association. The mentor's approach was also heartbreaking. The creator of the Witch Cooperation Association seemed to have forgotten how difficult it was for any surviving sister.

Wendy knew that she could not go back. Since fate had brought her here, why not trust Nightingale's choice one more time? Just like she had trusted her countless times in the past –

"Wendy?"

"Ah..." Wendy came back to her senses and realized that Lightning's ability test was over, and everyone was watching her.

She gave an apologetic smile and walked towards the outside of the shed.

If she had made a decision, she couldn't lose to the younger generation, right?

Just then, the buzzing of a horn came again from the west, and the sound echoed in the mountains, breaking the tranquility of the town.