"What date is it today?"

The peasant soldiers and guards receded like a tide, and Catherine stood on the wall, wiping blood from her glasses with a handkerchief, and asked softly.

Around her, the crimson bloodsucking vines lay on the corpses, greedily sucking the blood.

"July 22nd."

Catherine's senior partner and the association's secretary, Elindor, bowed and replied.

"Four days left?" Catherine looked down at her hand, seeing double images of it, with strange spiral patterns swirling, crawling like little snakes.

After many days of continuously using spells intensely and occasionally being exposed to divine art, her mind began to show signs of strain.

It was as if she was back in those days of wandering; as long as anyone fell ill, she would be blamed as the source of the plague.

Refugees dared not defy her, nor lay a hand on her, it wasn't respect, but fear.

"I feel something's off." Catherine's voice had gained a lot more hissing sounds.

"Why do you say that?" Elindor handed over a hot towel.

"Today's attack ended particularly fast." Catherine wiped the sweat from her face with the hot towel, "Yesterday, they stopped the offense for a day, and today it was only a tentative attack."

"Perhaps they are tired." Elindor, standing half a step away, took back the towel from Catherine, draping it over his arm, "Or maybe the supplies are insufficient, which happens often."

Unlike before, he deliberately wore flesh-colored leather gloves this time, and when retrieving the towel, instinctively touched the side that hadn't wiped the face.

It was forgivable not knowing before, but now that he knows, he must take extra care.

Otherwise, if he accidentally got infected with the witch's disease, it would be fatal.

Serving beside Catherine, Elindor maintained a cautious posture, but Catherine could see that this cautiousness differed greatly from past cautiousness.

Just because I am a witch?

The few bloodsucking vines atop the corpses swayed, snaking across the ground like red serpents, seemingly about to devour someone.

Catherine forcefully closed her eyes, the vine, aiming at Elindor's back like a cobra, limply settled back onto the ground.

She wasn't sure if Elindor noticed, but a drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

"I just feel uneasy." Catherine stepped back two paces, sitting under a grass hut temporarily built on the wall, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Are they retreating? I heard that Valent Taylor made quite a scene."

"Impossible. The main force of Arman's church army hasn't been lost, and with Prince Kongdai above, they would never retreat haphazardly."

Sitting on the chair, thinking for a long time, Catherine put her glasses back on: "Call Mitney and have those wizards check around the city gates, catch all the traitors inside the city."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Elindor retreated a few steps facing Catherine before quickly walking down the city wall.

Sitting under the grass hut, Catherine, after watching Elindor leave, reclined in the lounger to rest her eyes.

She could feel different gazes sweeping over her body, and Catherine could even sense the fear and suspicion among them.

The shelter of the grass hut avoided direct sunlight, making it much better than other places under the blazing sun, its only drawback being its occupancy.

Originally, Catherine was unwilling to be treated differently, but the citizens and soldiers feared she might go berserk due to the hot weather.

So even if she disagreed, the grass hut was still erected.

This hut symbolized the entire attitude of Rapids City's citizens towards her.

She didn't believe she would berserk, but everyone in Rapids City thought she would, only a matter of time.

All of Rapids City speculated, wondering just how many quirky plant seeds were stored in the Meigedi Commerce Association's warehouse.

Speculated on what kind of Fire Prison Rapids City would become if Catherine went berserk.

But why? Just because I'm a witch, should all my achievements be erased?

She'd heard more than once, "So Catherine is a witch, what a pity," "If only Catherine weren't a witch."

If she weren't a witch, Rapids City would have fallen over a week ago.

The citizens of Rapids City feared both the church army outside breaking in and Catherine going berserk to destroy the city.

They dared not and could not express any opinions, only pretending to ignore the witch, burying their heads in the sand like ostriches.

In this spiritual world shaped by the Church, the Witch is a kind of original sin.

"Governor, the message to the Salvation Army has finally been sent." Amidst the clanging of armor, Carl's voice rang out.

"Just hope they don't emulate the allied forces of Xiaochi City." Catherine opened her eyes, her gaze full of fatigue, "I'd rather they arrive a bit late than mishaps happen again."

"If they can't arrive by July 22nd, they shouldn't boast." Carl looked up at the scorching sun, sitting heavily on the bench next to Catherine, "Weren't they supposed to arrive today? It's already midday, where are they?"

With greasy hair tied up, Catherine hadn't washed her hair for nearly seven days and could only endure for now: "Arriving too early would mean a forced march, which would only repeat the Xiaochi City mistake. Rapids City can't withstand a second decimation of reinforcements."

After saying this, silence befell the straw hut again, leaving only the increasingly jubilant sound of cicadas singing.

"Can you hold on?" Carl asked suddenly without much context.

Catherine glanced at Carl's face but didn't mention she saw two pairs of eyes.

"Maybe for another five or six days, if I really am to go berserk, I'd commit suicide in advance or jump down the city wall."

"How could you say such a thing?" Carl was startled by Catherine's words.

Catherine smirked self-deprecatingly, got up from the recliner, and walked to the city wall, where the Church's army still showed no signs of movement.

So far, after withdrawing from the battle, there hasn't been a second wave of attacks. If nothing went wrong, today's offensive should have ended here.

"When do you think they will actually arrive?"

"I estimate they set out on July 12th, expected to take 13 days to arrive, which means July 25th."

Gazing at the cloudless sky overhead, Catherine murmured, unsure whom she was speaking to: "Three more days..."

If only she could endure these three days, the last three days...

But what happens after enduring these three days? Her identity as a Witch has already been exposed; can she still manage the whole commerce association as before?

Will the City Council still accept her? Will the Meigedi Commerce Association still listen?

"Forget it, you should go back first." Catherine turned around, her pale face appearing even paler under the sunlight, "You go to the South City Gate and be more vigilant, as it's the second main attack direction."

"Okay... South City Gate?" Carl paused for a second as he was about to leave, "Isn't Hesperon guarding the South City Gate?"

"Hesperon? He's guarding the West City Gate." Catherine was also stunned, "Didn't Petier say so during the meeting yesterday?"

"But you gave me an order..."

"I never wrote you an order..." Before Carl finished, Catherine's face suddenly changed, urgently interrupting Carl: "Who gave you the order?"

"You didn't give me an order, but... Holy Father above! Riyal?" Carl exclaimed halfway through, "How could he?"

"Are you sure Riyal gave it to you?"

"Yes, he also said it was your handwritten order." Carl's brain was like a mess at that moment. Riyal was the least likely to betray.

If he wanted to betray, he should have done it when the Meigedi Commerce Association was nearly dismantled by the Church and the Temple Knight cut off three fingers of his.

If anyone betrayed, it couldn't possibly be him!

While Carl was still confused, Catherine felt her hair stand on end. The inexplicable order redirected the Grand General of the second main attack direction...

"Carl, Carl!" Catherine's stern shout pulled Carl back to reality from his daze.

"Riyal, Riyal is a traitor..."

"That's not important, talk about it later."

With a forceful punch to Carl's chest, the vampire vine beside Catherine seemed to scream: "You're not guarding the South City Gate, Hesperon is not guarding the South City Gate either, so who is guarding the South City Gate now?"

Carl seemed to grasp a lifeline: "There are three gatekeepers managing the winch and the gate; he couldn't act fast enough to..."

"Boom—boom—" A series of rapid and urgent bells rang out, the source of which was the South City Gate not far away.

After these five bell tolls, the entire city fell silent.

Carl's words tapered off as he stood frozen like a statue.

In the sweltering heat, Catherine felt cold all over, breaking out in a cold sweat.

She, of course, understood what these urgent bells signified; it's the signal she personally set, with a simple meaning—the city gate has been breached.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.