Witches won't release me! Chapter 6

The sounds of the sea rang out as Garcia's single bright, almost glowing blue eye stared out of the balcony window towards the frigid sea of the Greywater Sea.

"My lady, news has arrived of our agents sent abroad." A man who had an eyepatch over one eye to keep the eye suited for the dark spoke as he approached the balcony.

Garcia gave a non-commital hum before she said coldly. "Speak then."

The man cleared his throat before he said with some clear frustration. "My lady... I am sorry to say ALL of our agents failed to kill your siblings."

Garcia exhaled before she said evenly. "I see... My brothers Gerald and Timothy, I didn't believe the assassinations would work. Gerald, because he is a strong warrior and general who is constantly surrounded by his loyal army."

"Timothy is a poisonous snake. He always was the best at plucking secrets from others and I woudn't be suprised he himself wasn't cultivating his own agents to take the rest of our lives."

Garcia was silent for a long moment before she said flatly. "But Tilly? And Roland? They were clearly set aside for the Royal Decree in zones where they couldn't raise up the power to take up the throne."

The acting Admiral of Garcia cleared his throat and said quietly. "The spy sent after Tilly was found dead... Her body was seemingly stomped in half by a horse or something. As for Roland... The deadly poison supplied to Tyre only made Roland rather sickly for an afternoon."

Garcia snorted. "Sleep Rot only giving that fool a mere stomach ache... Maybe his previous life of debauchery in the captain has its benefits!"

"Whatever." Garcia said, shaking her head as a grin came over her face. "I never expected those disposable tools to actually work anyway. Now... How is the haul of the Minon people from the south?"

The Admiral aptly named Ryan could only sag in relief at clearly not receiving the blame for the spies' clear failures to kill Garcia's siblings.

The conversation of troop and ship movements and such went on for a good while as Garcia pointed out the many other port towns and cities that her Black Fleet could attack with how the nation was at its weakest point due to the king splitting the nation up so much with the Royal Decree.

But with the conversation coming to a close. Ryan asked Garcia rather bluntly. "My lady, what do you wish to happen with the hostages used to keep the spies loyal in going after your siblings?"

The second oldest of the Wimbledon line gave her Admiral a cool look before she said simply. "Have them all carefully skinned alive before sowing their sea salt-packed skin back on their bodies. Then, they are to be left in the slave cages to hang over the sea for all to see what happens to those who fail me."

Ryan bowed his head low to show his obedience... And even for a brutal pirate, he couldn't come up with a worse punishment to deter failure for the people of Clearwater City.

-

A loud band rang out as I pulled the trigger on the large shotgun in my hands, and I couldn't help but grin as I saw the slug from the shotgun punching a thick hole into the covered target in the distance.

"The barrel is straight, the load is strong, but we made the shotgun itself heavy and thick so the recoil is more manageable... Yeah, this is a good build." I muttered as I hefted the heavy double-barreled shotgun that was going to be the main troop weapon for the army I was going to raise before this winter.

The monsters and demons we were going to face, to say nothing of the church forces and my own 'siblings' forces I was going to need to deal with. I needed the most powerful weapons that didn't use the most ammo.

Sure rifles would in theory, deliver the most precise damage if someone was so skilled in shooting said gun. But in reality... Demons came in all shapes and sizes so being able to shoot out a flying monster with shot, and then being able to easily switch to slugs to kill a large bear-like demon was for the best.

"Isn't the barrel too thick, though?" Anna asked with a small smile as she gently stroked the uncut and square barrels.

To which I shrugged and said with a wry smile. "You are right to an extent, but we don't have good grinders that can easily grind down a quarter inch of steel when I could instead have those same workers make five more guns in total."

That was the problem right now... Sure with Anna's help and the rich mineral resources around her I could make most simple firearms and even mass produce gunpowder itself due to the Saltpeter and sulphur deposits.

There was still a massive issue of the simple fact that ninety plus percent or more of the people of Border Town were uneducated peasants.

And trusting uneducated peasants around gunpowder... Yeah, no, that's why Anna and I were making all the gunpowder by hand.

"Anyway... Maybe we can make a steam powdered ginder and lathe." I muttered with Anna gently patting my shoulder before saying quietly.

"Roland, you are too spread out. Giving me and soon, even Nana lessons. You need to delegate as you can't help me with the forging along with building the wall, and even working on these machines."

I drew off with a sigh as she was certainly right... Thankfully, I had her and Barov and others to keep me on the straight and narrow but I needed to get something done, honestly.

"I know... But it is rather difficult to delegate making special chemicals and such to someone who can barely read." That and I knew from the original novel that, version of Roland basically stole the alchemist guild out from under the kingdom by showing off new chemical compounds.

And it was only when several 'alchemists' came here that Roland's production of chemical agents used in various industries finally took off.

"Once Winter rolls around. Things will slow down... Assuming we don't get eaten by monsters anyway." I said flatly at the end before I shrugged with a chuckle, leaving me as I stretched out.

Still, even with lacking hands to do the specialized labor, I was making great progress as even the uneducated people of Bordertown could fill in marked area's in building the wall that was going to surround the area.

"Why don't you go get Nana actually. With her power's, its time we did some life science lessons anyway." 

Anna's joy at learning new things came out in full force as she smiled more deeply and asked in a slight hurry. "Wonderful! And after our lessons, could we all have some ice cream as well? It would be good for Nana to speak with you in a more informal setting as well."

To which I obviously nodded, though I realized that as more witches came to Bordertown... It may not be gunpowder and high-grade weapons that keep me safe from the witches within my own faction. 

'When the witches face magical rejection within their bodies during their periods and birthdays and comfort themselves with ice cream... What has my life come to at this point?'