Chapter 28: Nightingale's return
Roland informed Anna and Carter about him leaving the town with the exception that he made up a good excuse to tell Carter while he said the whole truth to Anna. He knew that Anna would probably be against it but at least she would let him go if he were adamant about leaving.
"Can't I really go with Your Highness?" As Ren and Nightingale were getting ready to leave, Anna tried to convince Roland to take her with him.
"Listen to me, Anna. I need you to be here in my absence. If any other large demonic hybrid attacks this city, you have the power to take care of it. With you here, the recruits' morale will be very high. You must do this for me, please." Roland put his hand on her shoulder and said with a helpless expression.
"...I will do this for Your Highness. I will make sure none of the demonic beasts get inside the town, therefore, please be careful out there!" Anna clenched her hands into fists while looking down.
'I think that if Anna was truly adamant on tagging along, he wouldn't be able to just order her to stay here...Perhaps even she knows it but decided to do as he told to please him.' Their conversation once again surprised Nightingale.
"I will be away only for a few days, you be careful too!" Roland said and quite uncharacteristically pulled distressed Anna into a gentle hug. Anna didn't hesitate at all and returned the hug with a smile on her face.
"If by any chance someone comes here, looking especially for me, try to delay them for a few days before I can return." Roland said and added a few more excuses she can use before going to Nightingale's side who put her hand on his shoulder and both of them disappeared from Anna's sight.
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When they were outside the town and were about to enter the wilderness, Roland turned around and looked at the town. He was quite surprised how much this small town has grown close to his heart. Maybe it was also due to his ambition to make this town the most developed and prosperous town on this earth.
"Already feeling like going back?" Nightingale asked in a teasing tone however, she, herself knew how she felt leaving this town. She made friends with Anna, Nana, and Roland. For her, it would be like leaving one life for another. That's also one of the reasons why she wants to tell her sisters about this place.
"Say that again with a straight face and I might answer you." Roland replied teasingly with a grin.
While they were traveling through the forest towards the mountains, Roland used every chance to experiment with his magic right behind Nightingale's back. During the first day, he tried to wrap his feet in magic to lighten the weight of his steps and he succeeded in making minimal footsteps.
When they reached the mountains, they had to move on a very narrow path. They weren't moving in Nightingale's fog since she couldn't maintain it for the whole day and even inside that fog, the temperature was the same so there was no reason to do so.
Roland noticed that Nightingale was slightly shivering despite holding a torch right next to her which made him feel slightly guilty since while using his magic to protect him from the snow, he was feeling as if the room temperature was all around him.
"Let's rest for a bit in that small cave" Roland said while pointing towards the cave ahead. During this journey through mountains, he tried directing his magic to his eyes. His eyes became sharper and he could see better in dark, however, it wasn't as good as night vision. He also had to keep his training and experiments in moderation since his magic capacity wasn't exactly great. It was thanks to him just performing small feats that his magic wasn't fully exhausted instantly. He reckoned if he tried to use his magic as Anna, he wouldn't last even a minute.
"We shouldn't, the temperature inside won't be much better plus there could be some creatures lurking inside. We must press on." She replied with a slightly apologetic tone.
"It's not about my rest, come on, use your fog to hide us." Roland stopped her by grabbing her shoulder and said with a serious tone.
Although she didn't understand what he was trying to do, she did as he asked. When they were inside the fog, Roland put his arm around Nightingale's slender waist, dragging her towards the cave even if she were to resist.
"W-wait! I can go there on my own!" Quite uncharacteristically, she sounded a bit embarrassed.
'Why are his clothes so warm?' She finally realized this fact once they arrived inside the cave but Roland was still holding her.
He suddenly sat down against the cave wall, dragging Nightingale to sit down right next to him.
"Why are you doing this? If it's about me, I don't need a rest." She was really surprised by his actions as he was never so forceful.
"Let's keep this a secret between the two of us, alright?" Roland put his arm around her shoulder and started using his magic, trying to see if he can even affect the others.
"?! Wha-!" And as he expected, it worked but it only shocked Nightingale since she could see the faint magic inside Roland's body. Her cold body regained its warmth as if Roland was a campfire.
"Shh, just rest for a bit. We can move out in an hour." Roland put his index finger over his lips while winking at her.
If it was any other situation, she would perhaps want to ask more questions but she felt too comfortable to ask anything. She even snuggled closer to him while keeping her head down as if to hide something.
'I doubt we need to be so snuggled up for my magic to work...Well, it would be too cruel to say that aloud. I probably don't want to embarrass her too much.'
An hour passed quickly and both of them moved on but Nightingale was relatively quiet even though it was her chance to ask questions. Roland couldn't see her expression since she was walking in front of him therefore he had no idea what was wrong with her.
When they finally spotted a faint light inside a distant cave, Nightingale stopped.
"That's the hideout. I think you should find a hiding place nearby and wait until I can talk a bit to my sisters first." She said with an apologetic smile.
"Of course, appearing right away could give them a bad impression. I can only rely on you warming them up a little so they would listen to my words. I have no idea about what kind of suffering they had to go through to get here but I doubt they like nobles. Don't worry about me, you already know me, right?" Roland said with a faint smile, indicating that he can survive in the mountains alone.
Nightingale nodded her head and disappeared into the fog. Roland leaned against one of the trees and waited with his arms folded. Roland with his enhanced eyes noticed a black smog appearing in front of the cave before disappearing again.
'Invisibility, huh?' Roland tried a few times to do the same thing as Nightingale but in vain, however, now he thought of a new type of "invisibility"
'I don't need to completely disappear, I just need to adapt to my surroundings and become invisible in a visible.' Unfortunately, for this, he needed Nightingale's help to tell him if she can notice him or not, however, he was too impatient so he decided to buy a small mirror and hang it on the tree before practicing.
'She is taking her time...'
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Nightingale returned to the camp and started chatting with her best friend.
"Are you really sure he was telling the truth, Veronica?"
"Yes, Wendy, I have been observing him for a long time. At first, he might have seemed like a manipulative person but not in the wrong way." Nightingale replied with a slightly excited expression as she was recalling her time in Border Town.
"How is he a manipulative person but in a good way?" Wendy asked, this time truly skeptical but at least it looked like Nightingale wasn't fooled by him if she saw through that.
"Easy, he uses it only against his enemies. He is nothing like other nobles, to be honest, he seems more like me than a prince who grew up in a palace." Nightingale replied with a smile before her smile disappeared when she likened his behavior to hers.
"Do you mean...?"
"Yes...It's really hard to explain it unless you meet him in person. You know about my ability, he didn't lie at all when he said that in his eyes, witches are completely normal people only gifted with wondrous powers. Anna, the first witch to make contact with the 4th prince actually had her day of adulthood just recently and she actually slept through it yet her magic power rose by a lot! Airy and Abby will have their day of adulthood in a few days, I believe the 4th prince Roland can save them!" Nightingale explained, once again with an excited tone.
"W-what?! Did she really sleep through it? Is that really possible?" Wendy was clearly affected by her words.
"It is, I have been together with her when it happened. Even the 4th prince was there with her the entire night." She said firmly, however, she decided to leave out the details of Roland falling unconscious.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
aadw
aadw Guys, give me some ideas for new powers of new witches. Some that are not overpowered, might seem to have no use in other's eyes. Give me everything you have. I already have one which is the extraction of H2O, be it from living creatures or liquids but I am not sure if it isn't too overpowered. xD
Weekly Power Status
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