City of Witches

༺ Repayment (2) ༻

1.

“You’re much more dashing than this subject heard.”

Sua said so as she poured some tea into Siwoo’s cup.

The latter had never learned anything about tea etiquette or something of the sort, but just from the atmosphere alone made it feel very formal.

This made him see the twins in a new light considering that as a noble, they must have had learned about such things.

In any case, the overly formal atmosphere made him think about a lot of things concerning etiquette. Like, was it okay for them to sit face-to-face on a sofa like this? Wasn’t the proper etiquette to sit down on one’s knees? Similar questions kept popping up in his head.

And he found it rather burdensome.

“Y-You’re holding me in way too high regards.”

“That isn’t the case at all. The result spoke for itself. Had it not been for your bravery, catastrophes upon catastrophes would have befall this city. As someone whose duty is to protect this city, this woman could never treat what you had accomplished lightly.”

Sua bowed her head as she politely said as such.

If it was an ordinary person who spoke in such ways while bowing their head, it wouldn’t be a strange thing if someone were to deem them as a pushover.

But when this hanbok-wearing witch was doing it…

She looked like the personification of the saying, the more a rice ripened, the more it bows its head.

“However, you seem to be uncomfortable. How about this? I reckon this should be enough? Etiquette is all about being considerate to others, after all.”

“A-Ah, yes, this is enough, thank you.”

Sua let out a bright smile as she changed her tone from extremely polite to moderately polite.

Carefully sipping on his tea, Siwoo asked her a question that had been nagging him.

“Anyway, um, I heard that you want to meet me…? May I ask for the reason?”

“Of course. I wish to personally thank you, and I’m sure that you also wish to hear of Miss Evergreen’s condition, don’t you?”

That was when Siwoo remembered the thing that Eloa had told him. Sua was the one in charge of Sharon’s recovery.

He trusted Eloa enough to be assured that there wouldn’t be any mishap in that regard, but now that he was facing the person in question, he decided that he might as well confirm Sharon’s condition.

“Then, can I ask about her condition first?”

“I figured you would ask that.”

Sua closed her eyes and nodded her head.

Afterwards, she gave him an explanation regarding Sharon’s condition by laying out some kind of magic terms here and there, but because he didn’t know a single thing about recovery magic, he was lost in her explanation.

In the first place, Siwoo’s knowledge regarding magic was lacking. He never even received the basic knowledge that every apprentice witches took.

Still, because Sua explained it really carefully, he could manage to roughly figure out Sharon’s condition.

“I see…so her body has already recovered, but there’s still a problem with her mentally?”

“Exactly. She should be able to regain her consciousness now, but she isn’t. There is a little bit of a problem in her mental state. She refuses to wake up due to her fear and anxiety.”

Isn’t that a big problem, then?!

Siwoo remembered a saying, stab a body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts for a lifetime.

The words problem in her mental state carried a heavy weight to him.

Seeing his expression hardened, Sua spoke out in a soothing tone.

“You don’t need to worry. She will open her eyes in two weeks at the very latest.”

“Will there be any after-effects?”

“If her autonomous defense is fully established, there should be no serious after-effects. After all, the poison that dug into her body was magic.”

Only after hearing that did he feel relieved.

He glanced to the side to see Sharon lying down like the Sleeping Beauty.

Every time he saw her, he remembered the pointy tip of the harpoon that had pierced her delicate back.

At the same time, a burning hatred raged inside his heart.

Burning hatred toward the Cowardly Witch.

He wiped the cold sweat off his face and sipped his tea again.

Then one person suddenly came to his mind.

The witch who offered something to him when he was about to give up on everything.

Cybele Periwinkle.

Back then, he felt too helpless to even think about what he was doing, but he did remember that he made a deal to do her a favor in exchange for her to save his life.

The fact that he had only remembered about this important matter now made him realize how distracted he had been all this time.

“Moving on… May I ask you if you have a plan to move out of Seoul for a little while?”

“Huh?”

“As you can surmise from the consequent incidents, Seoul is not a safe place to be in at the moment. The danger of the incidents that the Cowardly Witch caused are gradually intensifying. If you were to stay here, you would definitely get involved in an even bigger incident than last night.”

According to Sua’s explanation, it seemed like all the incidents so far were caused by the Cowardly Witch.

She was the one who created the big Homunculus that could replicate itself, the one who staged the attack at COEX, and the one who spread the White Knights all around Seoul.

Sua also mentioned how four witches had lost their lives during the incident last night, making him realize the actual level of threat that the incident actually held.

What kind of being was a witch exactly?

In his eyes, they were transcendent beings, people who could escape from dangers as easily as turning their palm around.

But four such beings died in a single night.

It struck him that he was insanely lucky to have survived that ordeal.

“Under the request of Countess Gemini, I have reissued your pass and Gehenna citizenship. And I have also contacted the Countess, for the time being, the best course of action is for you to lay low in Gehenna, at least until the ordeal has passed.”

To run away from danger…

Her words were reasonable.

He thought that he was strong enough, but it turned out he was just being immature. The scale of the following incidents would be getting bigger and bigger, becoming more and more than he could handle.

To avoid all the danger and run away was a sound judgment, and perhaps the most correct thing to do in this situation.

But, he had already run away once.

He gave in to his fear and sat there, waiting for his death to come.

Just a few hours ago he vowed to Eloa to get stronger, and he just couldn’t accept it if he were to choose to run away again after all that.

And above all, it wasn’t the time to agonize over this.

Because there was a more important issue for him to take care of.

“Thank you for the suggestion, but what about Sharon? Can’t she go back to Gehenna with me?”

“While yes, the safest thing for her is to return to Gehenna, but… Miss Evergreen is an Exile and there are still witches back there that are hostile against her. Even if we were able to grant her a special permission, as long as her debt still exists, I’m afraid that it would only do her more harm than good…”

“Then, what about sending her to another country for a while?”

“That is, indeed, an option, but I don’t think it’s safe to get her somewhere else while she is still in this state.”

She couldn’t go back to Gehenna.

Neither could she go somewhere else.

When he was about to be depressed by the situation, Sua continued her words.

“That is why, I will continue to watch over her.”

Those words instantly put his mind at ease.

While he didn’t know what rank the witch named Sua Agatha had, she was a Branch Manager of a Witch Point.

For her to hold such a position, it was safe to assume that she was at least a grand witch.

“If that’s the case then… I don’t think I can go to Gehenna right now. Sharon is here, I can’t just leave her alone.”

Hearing his words, Sua didn’t seem to be surprised.

Instead, she just nodded her head, as if she already knew that he’d say something like this.

“Then, is there anything else you need to ask me?”

“May I ask the reason why you’re being so nice to me? Is it because of the previous incident?”

He was talking about the incident when the Dagon’s Flute was activated outside an interdimensional barrier.

Back then, Siwoo, who happened to be caught in the incident, moved quickly to kill the piranhas, destroy the flute and reduce the casualty numbers by half.

“Indeed, there is that too.”

According to Sharon, her guaranteeing his identity wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

It meant that she was assuming the role of his guardian, as well as declaring that I will take responsibility for any mistakes or misdeeds this person makes.

While this was an unlikely event, if Siwoo were to end up killing some random witch, she’d also need to be punished in the same way as he was.

That was why it was difficult for him to guess why she, someone who he had never exchanged a single word with, showed him such kindness.

“Do you know what is the one thing that a witch holds dear…even more so than her own life?”

Sua’s answer went in a rather strange direction.

“Is it…her brand…?”

“Correct. A brand is a legacy that has been passed down through generations. It’s a treasure that’s created by the karma and the life of a witch’s predecessors.

“This is the reason why they would be willing to throw their lives just for the sake of advancement.

“A brand doesn’t only carry a witch’s name, but also her mission and the unfulfilled wish of her predecessors.”

This was something that Siwoo already knew.

He knew that it was also the reason why witches would willingly commit mass slaughter for the sake of their magic.

“As a consequence, the self-essence magic inside a brand became something with a deep meaning for a witch. You are holding the self-essence magic of Ravi, the Duchess’ apprentice.”

Sua poured more tea into Siwoo’s empty cup.

“Ever since that tragic day, this is the first time I’ve ever seen her care about someone else. The first time she taught someone earnestly, the first time she talked about someone with such zeal, the first time he has ever shown a different emotion than regret and her desire for revenge…”

He was the only person whom Tiphereth could share her heart with.

That was what she was trying to imply.

Siwoo had already guessed long ago that Eloa saw Ravi in him.

“The Duchess is…fragile… She can handle thousands of adversaries all at once, but her heart is tired…”

This was the reason why Sua guaranteed his identity.

To help Tiphereth, who had been only living her life for vengeance, to regain a new purpose in life.

She found a hope for that in Siwoo.

“This might be presumptuous of me, but… Please take care of her well…”

“What can I—”

“Nothing special. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Sua recalled the time when Eloa was chatting happily about him.

How she had started cooking again, how she taught him how to use his body, and how she bragged happily about all the things he had done.

Eloa had no idea how happy Sua was when she saw the light smile on her face.

And Siwoo didn’t know how thankful she was toward him for what he had done.

“Moreover, I can always trust the person whom the Duchess herself trusts. She’s always a better judge of character than me, so there’s no doubt that you’re a good person.”

“I’m not that good of a person…”

Embarrassed, Siwoo touched the tip of his nose.

“Miss Sua? What were you two talking about?”

At that time, Eloa, who had been out for a while, returned.

Her pink hair, tied in a ponytail, shook as she tilted her head.

“This subject wished to check on Miss Evergreen’s recovery and also, there was something this subject needed to convey to him.”

“Is that so? He hasn’t fully recovered yet, so please don’t hold on to him for too long.”

“Coincidentally, our conversation is about to end.”

After hearing Sua’s words, the way he looked at Eloa changed.

Because of her fearsome martial arts, powerful magic and her title as a Duchess, he always felt that she was living in a different world than him.

But now he knew that she was the same as him, a weak person who needed a shoulder to rely on.

“I’m already okay, Master.”

After mulling it over for a moment, Siwoo finally used the word Master to refer to her.

Until now, he hesitated to do it out of fear that she might feel unpleasant due to her past and out of fear that he might step out of his boundaries.

But now that he knew this would help her a little, he was more than willing to do so.

“I’m already feeling better, so, why don’t we start our practice now?”

Eloa widened her eyes.

She never expected him to call her that.

While he was worried that he might have gone too far, Eloa’s eyes curved into crescent shapes.

“I see. But don’t push yourself too hard for today, okay?”

Just like blooming cherry blossoms, a bright smile bloomed on Eloa’s lips.