The Witch's Anatomical Notes

Chapter 146

Brotherhood

Algernon had originally thought it was merely a personal vendetta, or perhaps a murder born from the struggle for the position of bishop.

But when he led his men to the cathedral and saw the flames rising from the archbishop’s bedroom, he knew something had gone terribly wrong.

As the commander of the Nightmare Faith’s knight order, no one knew better than he what was hidden in the archbishop’s quarters.

It was the core and key to the church’s development—also a sacred relic bestowed upon the Nightmare Faith by the Lord of Desires.

If anything happened to it, responsibility would be unavoidable and as the knight commander, he would bear the brunt of the blame.

“Morris!” he murmured under his breath. “Catch him—I want him alive!”

“Found him! He went that way!”

“After him, quick!”

...

Brotherhood Headquarters.

In the dimly lit meeting room sat over a dozen individuals.

They varied in age and gender, but without exception, they were all leaders of different camps—core pillars of the Brotherhood.

Meade’s gaze swept across everyone, eventually settling on one particular spot. His hawk-like eyes locked onto the unfamiliar girl seated beside Hawke.

“Seems like the Anvil Brotherhood has a new face this time?”

Hawke stood up with casual boldness. “This is Olivia, a partner absolutely worthy of trust. It was her tactics we relied on during the assault on the Blackrock Mine—”

A hearty laugh burst forth from within a thick beard. “Don’t let her appearance fool you—this girl led thirty brothers and used explosives to blow those tin-can knights sky-high!”

“If it weren’t for her, we might’ve run into serious trouble this time.”

Olivia didn’t speak. She simply looked around at everyone present before her gaze finally rested on Meade, seated at the head of the room.

For some reason, this leader of the Brotherhood felt oddly familiar to her—though she couldn’t quite place where she had seen him before.

Meade nodded slightly.

“I said each camp may nominate outstanding talents—so let us welcome Miss Olivia.”

Scattered applause echoed through the meeting room, as several leaders exchanged glances.

Clearly, the sudden appearance of a teenage girl in a Brotherhood composed mostly of miners and farmers made everyone feel a bit uneasy.

Only a one-eyed woman seated across from Hawke offered her a warm smile.

“That’s Leader Zorna of the Waterwheel Brotherhood—a real hard hitter,” Hawke whispered in a low voice by way of introduction.

Olivia gave a slight nod.

In truth, there was no need for him to explain. From Zorna’s terrifyingly muscular build, sun-kissed skin, and densely scarred flesh, it was already clear—this was a woman of great strength and fortitude.

Moreover, her smile reminded Olivia of her aunt Gwynnie from the Principality of Kolo, which naturally stirred a sense of familiarity toward Zorna.

“Everyone.”

As murmurs spread across the meeting room, Meade clapped his hands to draw their attention. “I didn’t gather you here today for small talk.”

At his words, the crowd’s attention returned to their leader.

It was rare for over ten camp leaders to gather even once a year—this meant something big was coming.

Meade unfurled a hand-drawn map of the kingdom. His silken sleeve brushed over black mines marked in red ink before finally pointing to a large crimson circle.

“The reason I’ve brought you all together is simple,” Meade said, eyes narrowing. “I plan to gather the Brotherhood’s main force and take Blacksmoke City!”

Take Blacksmoke City?!

Everyone froze in shock at Meade’s declaration.

Although Blacksmoke City wasn’t a major stronghold, it was still a key city with both a knight order and garrisoned troops.

Why would the Brotherhood, long accustomed to hiding and fleeing, suddenly decide to lay siege to a city?

“Take Blacksmoke City?” Zorna slammed her hand on the table, a sharp glint flaring in her single eye. “Are you out of your mind? We’re already losing lives just trying to take guarded mines!”

Hawke’s thick beard trembled. “Last year alone, we lost over seventy brothers just raiding supply convoys and now you want to storm city walls?”

Although Blacksmoke City was merely a small coal-producing city, it was garrisoned with both a knight order and regular troops.

“That’s why we need to lure the garrison out,” Meade said suddenly, grabbing the map. “The Millstone Brotherhood and Nail Brotherhood will launch simultaneous attacks on the nearby mines. Blacksmoke City’s soldiers will definitely leave the city to reinforce them.”

“Then we disguise ourselves as miners and sneak into the city. With coordinated attacks from inside and out, we’ll seize the key locations before the garrison can react.”

Hawke instinctively glanced at Olivia beside him.

Meade’s plan was nearly identical to the strategy used in the previous mine assault.

And that had resulted in a resounding, unprecedented victory. Could it be...

Olivia thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“You think it won’t work?” Hawke asked in a low whisper.

Olivia nodded.

“The environments of a city and a mine are entirely different. The same tactics can’t be applied to both.”

Even the most complex mines usually had only a few key entrances. As long as those were under control, the explosives in the Brotherhood’s possession could exert overwhelming deterrence.

But in a city, there were at least five or six major entrances alone—plus hidden passageways that couldn’t be secured quickly.

Moreover, the complex urban layout made the use of explosives much more difficult.

Most importantly...

Her gaze turned to Meade, who was still speaking confidently.

Blacksmoke City’s location was particularly delicate.

Although not close to any one city, it sat equidistant from several major cities in all four directions.

If the Brotherhood actually managed to capture it and use it as a strategic stronghold, it might seem like a smart move—able to exert influence in multiple directions.

But upon closer inspection, it was easy to see that the Brotherhood would be encircled—trapped between returning knight orders and troops from the surrounding cities.

It felt almost like a carefully orchestrated encirclement operation.

Olivia narrowed her eyes as she watched Meade.

She seemed to have figured out why this man felt so familiar.

Years ago, a rebellion erupted in the Principality of Kolo—one powerful enough to threaten the ruling class. Her father, Grand Duke Phoenix, had secretly summoned the rebel leader.

Not long after, the entire mid-tier leadership of the rebellion had been swept up in a massive purge, and the uprising dissolved on its own.

The root cause of it all was that the rebel leader had been bought off with a hefty sum by Grand Duke Phoenix.

And now, in Olivia’s eyes, Meade looked almost identical to that traitorous leader.

“Ol... Olivia?!”

Lost in her memories, the princess was startled back to reality by Hawke’s voice.

She looked up—only to meet Meade’s amused, half-smiling expression.

“The little girl’s been staring at me for quite some time. Could it be she has a different opinion about my plan?”

“Don’t worry. Our Brotherhood has always been fair. You don’t need to hold back just because I’m the leader. If you’ve got something to say, go ahead and say it.”

Meade offered what he thought was a friendly smile to the black-haired, black-eyed girl. But just as he turned away, preparing to resume organizing the offensive—

“Well, since you’ve given me permission... I believe Lord Meade’s plan is utterly terrible, completely unworkable. And I suspect you lack the ability to lead the Brotherhood at all.”

Her words dropped like a stone, followed by a sharp collective intake of breath across the room.

Hawke looked up in disbelief at Olivia, who had stood to her feet.

Though her build was slim and slight compared to the other leaders present, the aura she projected was in no way inferior to any of them.

“What are you saying, Olivia? Hurry and apologize to Leader Meade.” Hawke stood, blocking two incensed leaders, then turned to Olivia.

“No need to apologize.”

Meade’s smile didn’t falter. He motioned for the two most loyal leaders at his side to sit down. “I’m rather curious to hear what this Miss Olivia has to say in order to dismiss all I’ve contributed to the Brotherhood.”

Hearing their leader speak, the others in the room quieted down.

Only Hawke wore a face full of regret, cursing himself for the whim that made him bring Olivia along in the first place.

Yet under all their gazes, the princess Olivia showed not the slightest sign of retreat.

“Before that, I’d like to ask Lord Meade a small question first.” Her gaze locked firmly onto Meade. “Since the founding of the Brotherhood up until now—what exactly have you accomplished?”

Meade, who had been momentarily unsettled by Olivia’s presence, immediately relaxed upon hearing this question.

If she had asked about his recent activities, he might’ve grown nervous. But accomplishments...

After all, as one of the Brotherhood’s founders, he had indeed devoted himself to the organization—at least during its early years.

He cleared his throat and said, “You might not know this, but I’m one of the founders of the Brotherhood. Half of our camps were established by me, and I’ve rescued over a thousand miners.”

“And then?”

Meade blinked. “And then what? Are you saying all that’s not enough to prove my contributions?”

Olivia slowly exhaled a deep breath.

“With all due respect, everything you just listed could have been done by anyone else in this room.”

Meade grew indignant, his voice rising unconsciously:

“I’m the one who created the Brotherhood!”

Olivia replied calmly, “Sorry, but as far as I know, the Brotherhood was founded by nine people. You were just one of them. Oh, and yes—you’re also the only one still alive.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Meade narrowed his eyes. “Are you implying I schemed my way into the leader’s seat?”

The fact that he was the sole surviving founder of the nine was hard to ignore and it easily stirred suspicion, especially given that Meade himself knew his past was far from clean.

Olivia shrugged. “Alright then, let’s look at the present. Let’s talk about why we even joined the Brotherhood.”

“It’s simple—we wanted a better future. We wanted our lives to improve. But in all these years under your leadership, what has the Brotherhood actually accomplished?”

At this point, Olivia paused—giving the assembled leaders time to digest her words.

Just as Meade looked up, preparing to refute her, she once again seized control of the conversation and pressed on:

“Attacks! Destruction!”

“Attacking mines, destroying buildings.”

“It’s all senseless destruction. You have no idea how to steer things toward a better future.”

“The number of Brotherhood camps has indeed increased, but have their lives truly improved?”

“No! All I see is hunger, sickness, and the pain of losing loved ones.”

“I don’t want to dismiss everyone’s hard work here, but I honestly can’t find the words to praise what the Brotherhood has done. If I had to choose a word, only one comes to mind—futility.”

Meade was already struggling to maintain his composure. His expression had begun to contort.

But Olivia had no intention of giving him a chance to recover. She continued:

“You say you’ve done so much for the Brotherhood, but let me ask—have the greedy mine owners shown mercy because of your efforts? Have the corrupt bureaucrats been demoted? Have the blood-sucking nobles been dragged to the gallows?”

“If none of that has happened, then tell me, Lord Meade—can you really claim to be a qualified leader?!”

The room fell into a dead silence. All eyes turned toward Meade, who was still standing.

Most importantly, the Brotherhood camp leaders began to realize—the words of this black-haired girl actually made a lot of sense.

Many of them had long noticed that something was off about the Brotherhood’s way of doing things, but they couldn’t quite pinpoint the problem. They followed orders out of habit, believing that enough destruction would eventually force the nobles to the negotiation table, bringing benefits.

But after all these years, the nobles didn’t seem to care what was destroyed.

Even the mines that were sabotaged would be quickly repaired and returned to operation in no time.

“You—you mustn’t let her deceive you!”

Seeing the change in the room’s atmosphere, Meade began to panic. Realizing he couldn’t outargue Olivia, he immediately switched tactics.

“She’s just a teenage girl—how could she possibly understand any of this?”

“Hawke, did you even look into her background? She could be a spy sent by the nobles!”

At Meade’s words, everyone instinctively turned their eyes toward Olivia again.

He wasn’t wrong. In the Kingdom of Atley, where basic education was scarce, how could a girl of sixteen or seventeen possibly know so much?

What’s more, Olivia’s bearing and manner of speech hardly resembled that of a commoner.

Especially for Hawke.

He remembered the place where they had mistakenly captured Lucy and Olivia—it was at the airship port near the Wizard Tower, wasn’t it?

Aside from wizards and nobles, he truly couldn’t imagine what business a commoner would have in such a place.

“So my weakest point turns out to be my age…” Olivia sighed inwardly.

Had she known, she might’ve had a wizard alter her appearance slightly.

But now wasn’t the time for idle thoughts. She had to press her advantage and not give the other side a moment to breathe.

She sighed aloud, a look of disappointment appearing on her face. “Lord Meade, even now, you still haven’t realized where your problem lies.”

“There’s no need to attack or discredit me based on age or appearance. I admit I’m not from the Kingdom of Atley but I stand with the workers and farmers.”

“And you, on the other hand, don’t even understand who your true enemies and allies are.”

Her words successfully steered the focus back to the issue of Meade’s leadership.

“Our enemies are, of course—” Chapters fırst released on novelFɪre.net

“Nobles? The royal family?” Olivia nodded. “You’re not wrong. Our enemies are certainly the oppressors. But what about our allies?”

“The... the miners?” Meade replied instinctively.

“Exactly,” said Olivia. “If the Brotherhood truly wants to change the Kingdom of Atley, we can’t do it by blindly destroying everything and turning the world against us.”

“What we need is to rally workers and farmers to our side, to let them see the change we can bring to their lives—only then can we unite greater strength against the oppressors.”

Having been interrupted again and again with barely a chance to fight back, Meade finally seized on what he thought was a flaw in her reasoning. He sneered and spoke loudly:

“You expect a bunch of miners without life seeds implanted to stand against knights?”

“You mean to say... we’re doomed to fail?”

Meade’s heart lurched—he instantly realized he had misspoken.

Now, the looks in everyone’s eyes had shifted to disbelief.

He quickly tried to recover: “What I meant was, we need to avoid confronting those knights head-on...”

“You were right about one thing—knights are powerful. But I have a question for you.”

“Lord Meade, do you know how many workers and farmers there are in the Kingdom of Atley?”