Roland unfolded the letter and handed Maisie a piece of beef jerky.

"Goo-goo!" The latter opened her mouth, snatched the jerky, swallowed it in two or three bites, and then obediently lay down on the table, burying her head in her feathers.

Greetings, dear brother, or should I say, "His Royal Highness Roland Wimbledon."

I have received your letter and deeply agree with your views. Although I am not sure why you suddenly changed your nature and abandoned your previous profligate ways, and are now willing to help witches, since you have already done so, then the Church has become our common enemy.

Perhaps you already know that I have become a witch, which is why everyone is willing to believe in me. But you are a prince, a true noble, and it is incredible that you can gain the trust of so many witches. Since hearing about you, I have often wondered how you managed to do it? If you were like other nobles, using witches as tools, then it would be impossible to gain Ashes' approval, and she would not have chosen to let Maisie stay in Border Town.

In addition, I am very interested in the steam engine mentioned by Maisie, and the idea that knowledge promotes the evolution of abilities. Especially the latter, and I hope to have the opportunity to discuss it with you in detail.

As for your invitation, after careful consideration, I find that I have no reason to refuse. The establishment of an alliance requires trust and dedication. If we are hesitant and timid, the Church will only take advantage of us. Therefore, I have attached a list of most of the supporting witches' abilities on Sleeping Island to the letter. You can choose the abilities you need most and inform me through Maisie. If all goes well, they will set off for your territory next month. For safety reasons, it is best not to exceed five at a time.

Also, please specify a reliable pick-up and drop-off plan and send someone to protect them. Losing a single witch is a major loss to both Border Town and Sleeping Island, and will cast a shadow over our cooperation. I hope you can take care of them as well as you take care of your witches. If possible, please also let them participate in the evening basic knowledge lessons. I believe that if any witch's ability can become stronger, it will be good news for us.

As you said, the Church has already shown its true colors, and annexing the Four Kingdoms is only a matter of time. I hope that when that day comes, you will be prepared to deal with it. If it is difficult to resist, Sleeping Island will be your safe haven. Of course, I will also provide as much help as possible in resisting the Church's invasion.

Finally, may we end the Church's oppression and build a new order – a new kingdom where not only witches, but anyone, will not be subjected to unwarranted pohài.

Your sister, Tilly Wimbledon.

Roland put down the letter, his heart filled with unspeakable joy. He happily put away the letter and took out another piece of beef jerky and held it out to Maisie.

She immediately stretched out her head and pecked the food away. "Goo, goo!"

He stroked the smooth feathers on the back of her neck, and the latter narrowed her eyes contentedly.

"Thank you for your hard work, but Lightning went to the capital with the fleet and won't be back for a few days," Roland said with a smile, "You can go play with Nana Watt or Leaf, or take a bath and go to sleep."

"Goo... Goo!" Maisie flapped her wings, then jumped off the table, flew out of the window, and quickly disappeared.

What she just said should be "I'm not tired, I want to go play with them." Roland realized that even when she spoke in pigeon form, he could understand the general meaning.

...Is this the power of habit?

Speaking of which, he never expected that Tilly would agree to his invitation and even attach a list of the witches' abilities. This is simply a treasure trove! Although the letter did not specify how long they could stay, it would take at least half a year to complete the entire elementary education course. If he added the "One Hundred Thousand Whys", extending the course to a year, how much of a change could these witches bring to Border Town?

Moreover, the benefits of their evolution far outweigh the disadvantages. Staying in the town can efficiently promote development, and even if they are sent back to Sleeping Island, they are living publicity icons. With these people spreading the word, more and more witches will be willing to go to Border Town, and Tilly will not be able to stop this trend. Roland believes that sincerity is the true long-term solution, rather than luring or coercion.

Overall, the surprise this reply brought him far exceeded expectations. Her openness and proactiveness gave him the feeling of meeting a godly teammate. In this way, he was no longer fighting alone against the Church. As for the safe pick-up and drop-off route, he had already considered it carefully: avoiding Clearwater Port or Seawind County, landing directly on the deserted outer beach south of Border Town. After reaching the highland area, they could then take a hot air balloon over the mountains, directly to the hinterland of the town, without having to pay attention to the forces of the Church, Timothy or Garcia.

The more Roland thought about it, the more excited he became. He restrained the urge to immediately browse the appendix and choose witches, and focused his attention on what he had to do now. After all, even if Sleeping Island sent witches as quickly as possible, it would still be next month, and the most urgent problem facing Border Town now was housing construction.

Since the First Army went to the capital, a steady stream of refugees from there had arrived in the town. To prevent the recurrence of the evil plague, Roland had arranged for them all to stay outside the western city wall, where a long line of wooden sheds had been erected to temporarily house the refugees. Together with the serfs who were farming by the Redwater River, the total number of people in the two groups had exceeded a thousand. If refugees were transported for a few more days, this number would likely break through the ten thousand rendà barrier.

Supplying these people with food was not a problem, after all, Border Town had never interrupted food imports since the Month of Demons, but the accommodation problem was obviously a dàma fan. It was summer now, and living in simple wooden sheds was acceptable, except for providing shade and rain protection, they were also very ventilated, just with a few more mosquito bites. But once winter came, the wooden sheds were no different from being outdoors, whatever the temperature was outside, the temperature inside the wooden sheds was the same. If they were not moved into brick houses, most of them would probably not survive the long winter. In other words, Border Town had to build residential houses and dormitories for ten thousand people in the remaining six months.

Roland spread out a piece of paper and began to write quickly.

He planned to transfer some of the workers building the Kingdom Avenue to housing construction. After all, delaying the road for ten or fifteen days was not a big problem, while people freezing to death in the territory was a complete stain on his political achievements. Even when he had just transmigrated, facing the difficult situation of having no money and no people, no one froze or starved to death during the first Month of Demons. Now that he had the Witch Alliance, the steam engine, and substantial income and manpower, he would naturally not allow such a situation to occur.

Just then, Carter suddenly walked into the office.

"Your Highness, there's bad news," he said with a serious expression, "Your chemistry laboratory just had an explosion." (jiuàiwang)