"Your Highness, please don't do this," Barov pleaded anxiously as we returned to Rolena's office within the castle.
"Why don't you all take a seat first?" Rolena said. She seemed oddly calm, almost in a good mood, as she settled into her chair and gestured toward us.
I nodded with a small smile and took Roxanne's hand, leading her to the sofa. Barov and Knight Carter, however, remained standing.
"Please don't ignore me, Your Highness," Barov said, stepping closer to the desk. "Until now, all the trouble you've caused has been… relatively harmless. But sparing a witch… worse, keeping her here with us, that's inviting disaster. You truly cannot continue acting as recklessly as before." He shook his head in agitation.
Rolena's expression flickered with discomfort. I could tell she understood that these reactions weren't aimed at her, but at the reputation the original Rolena had left behind. To the people under her, she was still nothing more than a troublesome, irresponsible princess.
"Please sit down first," Rolena said with a tired sigh. "Let's talk."
Barov hesitated, then finally composed himself and sat down. Carter followed suit.
"Now," Rolena said, resting her chin on her hands as she looked at them both, "present your concerns to me. One by one."
Barov immediately asked.
"Your Highness… are you truly planning to let that witch live?"
After Anna had demonstrated her power, we had secretly brought her back to the castle. Rolena had even paid generous hush money in gold coins to the prison guards to ensure that nothing of what happened below would spread. After arriving at the castle an elderly maid had been assigned to wash Anna and provide her with proper clothing.
"Yes," Rolena replied calmly, nodding. "That is my intention."
"But you can't!" Barov exclaimed, breaking into a cold sweat. "Hunting witches is law, a law passed down by the temples themselves. Even your father, the Emperor Gaius Principus n'Impera, supports it! If word spreads that you've gone against it, all the Guilds will oppose you as well. This is far too dangerous!"
'These temples Barov mentioned, do you know anything about them?' I asked Rolena through the party chat.
'Temples?' she replied after a brief pause. 'Not much, honestly. Just that even Father and the other nobles listen to them. Especially the Temple of Elen, it's the most influential one.'
Her answer sent my thoughts racing.
In the original Labyrinth novel, two temples were mentioned in passing: the Temple of Elen, which had granted the founding emperor the Job of Hero, and the Temple of Stella, which acted as a refuge for escaped slaves. They were little more than footnotes, Michio had never paid them much attention.
But in Release That Witch, the Church played a massive role as one of the primary antagonists.
And yet… there was no Church here, at least I haven't heard about one.
Were these temples filling that role instead?
If that was the case, then this situation was far more dangerous than it looked. The Church or whatever this world's equivalent was, had always been the greatest enemy of witches. I would need to tread very carefully going forward.
"Why does such a law even exist against witches?" Rolena asked aloud, genuinely curious.
"You've seen how terrifying their powers are, Your Highness," Knight Carter replied grimly.
"But in the end, she only used fire magic, didn't she?" I interjected, backing Rolena up. "At least from what I have seen, even Wizards can use magic, maybe not on that scale, but still it's similar."
"Exactly," Rolena said, her eyes lighting up. "Their magic shouldn't inspire fear, it should inspire awe."
"Your Highness," Barov said, shaking his head vigorously, "witches can't properly control their magic. They're walking disasters. And that's not all."
He swallowed before continuing.
"If the Witch Cooperation Association learns that there's a living witch here, they will come for her. Ancient texts say that when witches gather, labyrinths begin to appear and due to their witchcraft, demons emerge from those labyrinths in hordes, destroying everything in their path, as if answering the witches' call."
He visibly shuddered.
"Huh?" I froze, genuinely startled.
So there's a connection between witches and labyrinths…? I had never even expected that. Although I shouldn't take such hearsay as truth in the first place.
But still is that really the only reason witches are hated so much in this world?
"There isn't any labyrinth near Border Town," Rolena said with a wry smile. "The closest one is on the far side of Longsong City, so we shouldn't worry. And more importantly what exactly is this Witch Cooperation Association?"
"Allow me to explain, Your Highness," Knight Carter said. "Three days ago, we discovered traces of a camp in the western forest. It was suspected to have been inhabited by witches. I personally investigated the site, and this was the only thing left behind."
He placed a small object on the table.
Nightingale and Wendy had both mentioned a camp on the outskirts of Border Town.
So it had already been discovered.
I would need to warn them later that they shouldn't use that place anymore.
Leaning forward, I examined the object. It was just a small coin.
"What is this?" Rolena asked, lifting it between her fingers.
"This foul trinket bears the symbol of the Holy Mountain on one side," Barov explained grimly, "and the Magical Eye on the other, the emblem of the Witch Cooperation Association."
"Can I see it?" I asked.
Rolena tossed me the coin. I examined it closely, it wasn't made of some metal, maybe some kind of ceramic and it was quite warm to the touch. One side bore an eye set within a triangle, while the other had a mountain etched into its surface. My Appraisal identified it as nothing more than clay, but I was certain of one thing.
This warmth wasn't natural.
It had to be the product of a witch's power.
"Oh… it's quite warm," Roxanne murmured in fascination as I passed it to her.
"After the Witch-Hunting Law was implemented, the number of witch cases became sporadic compared to a hundred years ago," Barov said with a weary sigh. "But in recent years, witches who once acted alone or fled into seclusion have begun gathering again… all because of the Witch Cooperation Association."
He paused, then continued grimly.
"They seek to unite all witches in order to find the Holy Mountain, a place described in ancient texts as a sanctuary where witches can supposedly find eternal peace. I have no doubt that this so-called mountain is the birthplace of evil and an entrance from the human world to hell, as only hell won't punish such evil beings. To achieve this, the Association even lures ordinary people into becoming witches. In the port city of Clearwater, there have been cases of female babies disappearing over the past year. Rumors claim it's the work of witches."
I listened in silence.
From canon, I already knew how distorted those claims were, the Holy Mountain, the missing babies, all of it was twisted propaganda aimed at the witches. But exposing that truth wasn't something that could be done easily… not right now.
"If you're worried about the Association coming to rescue Anna," Rolena said with a sly smirk, "we could simply fake her execution. That would eliminate any immediate threat."
I couldn't help but smile wryly.
Two members of the Witch Cooperation Association were already in this town because of me.
"Hm. Hanging a criminal of similar build as the witch should be possible," Knight Carter said, nodding thoughtfully. "Their face would be covered so no one would know the difference."
"Still…" Barov hesitated, turning to Rolena. "Do you truly intend to offer that Witch a job? If you want her under control, wouldn't it be safer to make her a slave instead?"
His gaze flicked briefly toward Roxanne.
"No," Rolena said firmly. "If I want more witches working for me, then I cannot make them my slaves."
I had sensed it earlier, but now it was clear.
Rolena was deeply uncomfortable with the very concept of slavery.
And honestly… if I weren't personally benefiting from this system, I probably would have felt the same way.
"You want more witches here?" Barov asked in alarm. "Why?"
Rolena shot the question right back at them.
"What do you both think of this place, this Border Town?" she asked calmly. "Is it a good place to live?"
Barov and Carter exchanged glances before shaking their heads.
"Exactly. It's a shithole," Rolena snapped, frustration spilling into her voice. "Compared to the prosperous cities my siblings were given to govern, this place is the worst. There isn't even a single Guild here."
She clenched her fist.
"Under normal circumstances, I would never even dream of competing with them in the Royal Selection. But after seeing the power of a witch…" Her eyes burned with resolve. "I'm certain that if I have witches on my side, then I actually have a chance."
Roxanne and I stayed silent as Rolena continued speaking for several minutes, making many empty promises.
She tempted Barov with the position of Hand of the King.
And she offered Knight Carter the title of Head of the Royal Knights once she ascended the throne.
They even ended up discussing more ways to keep the prison incident under wraps. At one point, Barov even suggested eliminating all witnesses, his gaze briefly flicking toward me.
Though Rolena shut that down immediately.
Eventually, both men left the office, their expressions conflicted and uncertain. It was clear they still had little faith in their eccentric princess emerging victorious in the Royal Selection.
"You're quite skilled at this," I said with a small smile once we were alone again.
"I just copied the techniques my superiors used on us back on Earth," Rolena replied with a chuckle.
Then, out of nowhere, she asked eagerly, "By the way… do you know the second law of thermodynamics?"
"Thermo… what?" Roxanne asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Yeah… I've read about it a long time ago," I said, scratching my head. I wasn't great at physics, but given enough time, I could probably recall the basics.
"Heat can never pass from a colder body to a warmer one without causing other effects," Rolena said, counting as she spoke. "Or to put it another way, it's impossible to convert heat from a single source entirely into work. Entropy always increases in irreversible processes." She let out a frustrated sigh.
"It is surely one of the most annoying laws of the physical world."
Then her expression shifted—eyes lighting up.
"But here?" she said excitedly. "Magic makes all of that meaningless."
Roxanne wore a blank, absentminded expression as she listened, and for a moment I considered nudging Rolena to use party chat instead. But she was clearly too fired up to notice anything else. Yeah… she was definitely a hardcore nerd back on Earth.
"I get it now," Rolena continued, her smile widening. "Why you said Anna is so important. Wizards can barely manage fireballs or basic heat control through their so called magic, but her power? With that, we could bypass thermodynamical laws and manufacture things that should be impossible in a medieval world."
Her hands clenched in excitement.
"And if I gather even more witches," she said breathlessly, "I could trigger a full-scale industrial revolution."
Watching her like this, I couldn't help but smile. I had worried that since she wasn't the original MC, her mindset might diverge from canon, but it turned out her thinking ran on the same wavelength. She wanted to modernize this magical medieval world just as badly as the original Roland had.
"Still…" Rolena muttered, her excitement giving way to thought. "How do I attract more witches here? Rumors will spread eventually, especially since I kept the prison guards alive. Even with hush money, they'll gossip. That should surely help."
She frowned.
"Also the prejudice against witches is quite severe here. I'll need a way to make this place safe for them. Maybe… I should try contacting the Witch Cooperation Association."
"Well," I said, a small smirk forming, "if you want to meet a member of that group it's quite easy actually"
"Oh?" Rolena perked up. "How?"
Before I could answer—
A presence manifested behind her chair.
Cold steel pressed lightly against Rolena's throat as a sweet, low voice whispered into her ear:
"Hello… Princess."