358 – Rejection

Disclaimer:

I don’t guarantee a 100% perfect translation. Feel free to correct me in the comments..

Not much to say today. In a little hurry atm so i guess just enjoy the chapter 🙂

Ohh, there’s still 1 chapter i owe you, not sure if today or tomorrow will be posted, and the 2 bonus patreon chapters will come out 2 days from now, on the 5th.

Probably would have posted them earlier if i havent gotten sick.

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This was not a wild guess, the human civilization was perfect proof of that.

From the Stone Age to the Iron Age, humanity had spent nearly 1 million years, but the time it took from the Iron Age to the Steam Era was less, only 3,200 years. Then from the Steam Era into the Electric Era it only took humans 150 years, and it became progressively less, requiring only a mere 50 years until they directly arrived at the Information Era.

From what Agatha disclosed, the Devils were not a stagnated group. Over 800 years ago, they and humans had a similar mode of fighting, bringing bronze and pig iron shields into close combat, and to fight witches, some high rank Devils also wore God Punishment Stones. On the siege warfare side, when facing against the wall-mounted ballistae, the Devils basically had no effective methods to cope with these long-range attacking weapons other than trebuchets, and often had to pay with heavy casualties to conquer a city. If not for their natural monstrous strength, he was almost certain that the ultimate victor of the first War of Divine Will would have been humanity.

But by the time of the second War of Divine Will, the other side had already developed a method to mass produce magic stones. Different ethnic groups had been created among them, with different types of Devils to serve various tasks, now even a large number of Devils possessed the means to attack from long range. Listening to what Agatha explained, they even made use of magic stones to power transport tools and engineering equipment! And now that more than 400 years have passed, what would they have evolved into?

Roland had originally thought Agatha could bring him close to the magic stone technology from the Exploration Society, and thus, opening a new road of industrial development. But he didn’t expect this new technology would come from the enemy. So, the upcoming battle against the Devils was likely to turn into a war of industrial science versus magic stone science.

Whoever develops faster will achieve the final victory.

Reaching this conclusion, Roland couldn’t help but to sigh, it seemed he and Tilly needed to discuss things as well.

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After having dinner, Roland invited Tilly Wimbledon into his office.

Seeing the other party arrive alone, he felt quite happy that at least in terms of trust, there had been considerable progress.

“I heard from Nightingale that you wanted to talk with me about something.” she said as she sat down, going straight to the point.

“Yes.” Roland poured a cup of tea and handed it over to her, “The main point is how to deal with the third War of Divine Will, as well as our future.”

Tilly received the cup and stared at him, as if asking him to continue.

“From the words of Agatha, the Four Great Kingdoms are nothing but a small corner of the land. In the formerly prosperous Fertile Plains, mankind has already lost twice at the hands of the Devils, and had to retreat to this narrow place. And according to the time left before the Stone Gate opens again, the third War of Divine Will is not far off.” Roland hesitated for a moment, then frankly said, “I was hoping you could stay here.”

Tilly was startled, but then with a light smile she said, “I didn’t think you would say that.”

“The Devils’ strength is unpredictable, we must gather all the power we can get our hands on if we hope to have a chance at winning this war. Although Agatha said that the first War of Divine Will was fought with the collaboration between humans and witches, it was likely just a collaboration on the surface, and was not much different from the second War of Divine Will, if at all.” He then continued with a sincere tone, “You also noticed, some of the memories that are in my mind have the knowledge of weapons capable of defeating the Devils. So once these ideas are transformed into reality, the strength of humans will burst beyond your imaginations. If the witches are responsible for building revolutionary machines, then it is the right choice for ordinary people to go fight in the war. After all, in the impending war that is coming, every one of them would be equally strong.”

“… …” Tilly slowly drank a sip of tea but did not reply, causing Roland’s heart to sink.

But it was useless to worry about this, so with a composed expression, he quietly waited for the other party to open her mouth.

Almost half a minute later Tilly finally sighed, breaking the silence, “If I choose to stay, what would the witches of Sleeping Island do?”

Does this means… You agree? Roland was trying to contain his excitement, “Have them all come to Border Town, they will be gladly accepted here. I will assign a special territory for the witches’ housing, and their treatment will be the same as those in the Witch Union– Oh, I won’t force them to join the Witch Union, they will still be led by you, and the assigned area will be equivalent to a self-governing zone in the western region. This would facilitate cooperation while also improving our mutual understanding.”

“The treatment will be the same for everyone?” she could not help to laugh slightly, “Even if you don’t ostracize them based on their abilities, you must know that not all of them have a way to fight for you.”

“No, no,” Roland waved his hand, “in the cooperation model I envision, the support witches can play an even bigger role than combat witches. They might not strengthen themselves, but in return they can increase the power of millions of common people– no, it’s not like they lack in combat power, they only lack the knowledge to use their strengths. In this regard, the abilities of the support witches are extremely high.”

“So that’s what you were really up to?” Tilly shrewdly asked.

“Uh–”

“Indeed, a condition with many merits,” Tilly smiled as she shook her head, “publicly, I cannot refuse to fight against the Devils with you, and between us, I’d like to stay here too and learn all that interesting knowledge… But right now I can’t promise you that.”

This surprised Roland and subconsciously asked, “Why?”

“Since I am the leader of Sleeping Island witches, they cannot move based only on my personal preferences. Once we relocate to the western region, this organization is bound to lose its independence, and in the face of any change, they will be powerless to resist it. And let’s say one day some conflict arises, would all the witches be able to pack their bags and go back to Sleeping Island again?”

“No, how could there possible be–”

“I cannot place their future on a simple vocal promise.” Tilly said, interrupting Roland. “If you were me, based purely on an allies’ relationship, would you leave them all completely on their own?”

Roland suddenly stiffened, the answer hardly needed any thinking. If he were to encounter such a choice, it would not be easy to agree. Most of the time, the closer one gets, the easier it is for conflict to appear. Like the saying goes: befriend those far away and attack those close nearby. Even emotional relations were the same.

“Look, your concerns are the same as mine.”

“But… you are my sister, I would never harm you.” Roland had to make one last effort.

“I am… but I still cannot trust in your reasons,” she wore a sad expression as she closed her eyes, “that’s why I can’t promise it right now.” She paused, trying to abandon these thoughts, “Let’s get along as allies for the moment– I’ll fully support the expansion of Border Town, if there is a witch you need, I’ll try to meet your request as soon as possible… And if the time comes when it is hard to resist the attacks of the Devils, you can always come to Sleeping Island and spend the rest of your days living a peaceful life. This is all I can promise you right now.”

 

 

 

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