The day after Maxi left, Roland and the witches began assembling the next-generation hot air balloon in the courtyard.
With the back garden and Witch Dormitory under expansion, Ye Zi had relocated the plants to the front courtyard. A variety of vines now draped the walls, wooden frames, and corridors, evoking a prehistoric forest atmosphere. The dense foliage provided excellent shade, allowing sunlight to filter through the gaps and cast scattered patches of light on the ground.
Roland handed the witches a stack of white paper, instructing them to spread it out into a massive canvas. Soraya then applied the lightest blue coating. Unlike the original hot air balloon's combination of cowhide and canvas, this pure coating fabric was significantly lighter, exceptionally resilient, and seamless at the seams—making it indestructible even when inflated.
"Did Lightning say there might be a Witch coming to the fjord?" Wendy asked curiously.
"If all goes well," Roland recounted the reply from the Fifth Princess, "we'll need Tilly Wimberton's confirmation." "The Ashes seem to have succeeded," she mused, "with so many Witches gathering on the Sleeping Isle." "Indeed," Roland shrugged, "Tilly must have been planning this relocation for years. She sent Witches to secretly contact not just Graycastle but all three other kingdoms. The Council must have received her invitations too. That's probably why the Imperial Guards spread rumors for so long without any Witches showing up—she's always one step behind." "But Hakkara never mentioned this to us," Wendy rubbed her shoulders.
"If she'd told you about Tilly's invitation, you might've stopped chasing the Holy Mountain by now." "That's true, but then we wouldn't meet at Border Town," she said with a smile, shaking her head. "So... this works." "I think it's a good idea too," Lightning chimed in.
"Who knows, maybe the fjords would be better," Lily pouted. "After all, it's all witches there—no need to be as cautious as you are in town." "It's much better now," Anna said earnestly. "Back then, I wouldn't even dare step outside." "Exactly," Myster Moon muttered. "Some people are just like that. Ash refused the last time they invited me, and they even acted all high and mighty, claiming they weren't traitors!" "You..." Lily's eyes widened. "Idiot!" "Traitor!" The other witches couldn't help but laugh.
"I feel the same way," Roland thought, a surge of accomplishment suddenly filling him. Though he couldn't match the Fifth Princess's wit and agility, nor the decisiveness of Tefiko and Jiasia, he could at least provide these witches with a free and comfortable living environment, and bring a better life to the people under his rule.
"This hot air balloon... must be several times larger than the last one," Nightingale observed the sections Soloya had sketched. "You intend to use it to transport the Witch?" He nodded. "This is the only way to bypass the harbor city and reach the territory directly from the southern coast of the town. Besides welcoming new visitors, it's also a novel experiment." When the paper was coated on both sides, it became interlaced fabric, each piece measuring nearly six meters in length and width—hardly manageable with one hand if it were regular canvas or linen, yet nearly as heavy as a stack of paper for the lightweight coating. By stitching together over a dozen pieces of fabric and bonding the seams with the coating, they created a colossal balloon of astonishing size.
Roland was determined to test the adhesion of Soroya's coating. The memory of the half-drawn "thick bark" on the table remained vivid when he first witnessed her new ability. The coating and substrate bonded so tightly that pulling upward could lift the entire square table. His questions focused on how firmly the paint adhered to the base, whether it could support a massive airbag, and maintain its structural integrity and airtightness after inflation.
While hot air balloons still require Anna for inflation, hydrogen balloons can now be operated by anyone. With modern DC motors capable of producing hydrogen through water electrolysis, the legendary Zeppelin airship seems within reach. Once lightweight frame materials are developed, these colossal aerial marvels could soar at 2,000-3,000 meters with virtually no natural predators. Moreover, their technical complexity is significantly lower than that of aircraft.
Though the bombing accuracy at such altitude is impressive, the enemy can only take the hits without retaliating—just wandering around their territory daily would drive any opponent to the brink of collapse.
Imagine this: when advancing on the Holy City of the Church, four or five airships would hover side by side overhead, bombs raining down like a storm, while light artillery ships in the river channel bombard enemy gates and strongholds. With infantry armed with rapid-fire muskets poised in the rear, the combined forces of land, sea, and air would engage in a three-dimensional coordinated assault. Just imagining it makes your heart race with excitement.
"Your Highness, what are you still grinning at?" Anna sighed, covering the corner of his mouth with her hand.
"Must be fantasizing about those new witches," Lily rolled her eyes. "Men, you know..." The next-generation hot air balloon was finally completed after attaching a massive vine basket to the airbag with hemp ropes. Nearly four times larger than the original, it now accommodates ten members. A sunshade canopy was installed above the basket to block direct sunlight, though Anna needed to leave an opening for hot air replenishment.
Roland christened the balloon 'Yao Wang Hao' (meaning 'Looking Away'). After completing the weight balance test on the open ground in the courtyard, it embarked on its maiden voyage the following day. The crew included five witches—Anna, Wendy, and three others—alongside Prince himself.
The entire voyage proceeded smoothly. The witches chattered incessantly in the air, marveling at the breathtaking aerial views—this mobile sightseeing tour clearly piqued everyone's interest far more than the previous fixed-point observation. Under the steady winds of Wendy, the Voyager sailed southward, reaching the mountainous region by noon. It then crossed the flag-bearing peaks and finally hovered above the coastline.
After circling near the shoal, the group returned to Castle aboard the Voyager. Roland noticed Wendy, the directional control officer, occasionally slapping her own shoulder, clearly exhausted.
He had heard that women with fuller figures were prone to shoulder pain, and undergarments were designed to address this issue. Though unverified, it was worth a try. As Anna grew older, her body developed further, and Roland decided to craft a small gift for every adult Witch.