Chapter 900 – #196_Cataclysm(3)
#894
1.
Until external communication through the gate is restored, everything is just theoretical discussion.
The conference, which lasted for about eight hours, ended vaguely without clear guidelines or conclusions.
Not everyone fully agreed with Duke Erelim’s words.
Count Kohav was no exception.
Just because they are lovers doesn’t mean they have to be completely honest with each other.
Moreover, there is a significant gap between Yvonne Kohav and Blanche Erelim.
In age, in their roles within the witch society, and in hierarchy.
“Blanche.”
“What is it?”
“I didn’t know you were thinking like that, Blanche. I wish you had told me…”
Even knowing that, it was inevitable that a sense of disappointment followed the shock.
“I would have told you before.”
“But… I thought you were joking back then.”
“I don’t think it’s my fault.”
Blanche, who had brought a pile of research materials to reset the ‘gate’ as soon as the conference ended, replied lightly.
It was clear that she didn’t want to delve deeper into the topic.
However, very rarely, Count Kohav ignored the implicit signal Blanche was sending.
“…So, you hid the prophecy?”
“……”
“There are ways to fix this situation, two of them.”
Yvonne is practically Blanche’s secretary.
As she takes care of everything, she also knew the contents of the prophecy that Duke Erelim had smuggled out of the prophecy institution.
They were the two most efficient ways to fix the chaos now that the rules created by Keter were collapsing.
But Blanche did not mention the prophecy at the conference.
She had heard the reason.
Blanche was said to fear human development.
This incident would greatly suppress human development and provide an excuse to control them.
“Come to think of it, there was something like that.”
The tone of Duke Erelim, who put down her pen, was flat, but Yvonne, who had spent a long time with her, knew.
Blanche was very uncomfortable and did not want to talk about this topic.
“I understand your thoughts, Blanche. But, is it necessary to go this far?”
“This far?”
“Not only humans but also witches will die. I…”
“Yvonne.”
She knew which of the two lovers was superior.
Power differences also occur in relationships.
But it was the first time Blanche had cut her off so decisively, as if she was aware of that power difference.
“Please discard the two prophecies. And all the data that deciphered the codes.”
“……”
“If it’s for me. You’ll do that, right?”
At the soft request that followed the business-like order, Kohav closed her eyes and then opened them.
“I understand.”
2.
She had never thought of herself as a good witch.
She was born as a villain and lived as she pleased, so it was inevitable.
A messy life where she just prolonged her life because there was no reason to die.
Therefore, life was nothing more than inertia to Dorothy.
The fact that she wanted to change herself was probably because of one man.
Whether it was organizing a business that had been a means of accumulating huge assets every year with minimal management, showing her weak side honestly, or risking danger to investigate the king of homunculi.
All of these incongruous actions must have come from the desire to ‘change’.
[If that is your will, I will not stop you…]
“Okay~ Duke, I’ll be careful enough.”
[Please be careful]
So, accepting a dangerous side quest from the cute pink duke to save her subordinate Salome, who was in danger, was also in the same context.
Dorothy had been running an international arms trafficking organization.
But no matter how capable Dorothy was, it was impossible to lead such a business alone.
She had trusted humans or exiles as middle managers, and among them, Salome was a capable secretary.
Although their sexual preferences were clearly different, they had known each other for over 120 years.
It was a relationship between a friendly boss and a loyal subordinate who often shared drinks.
As soon as Dorothy arrived at her villa, she received a radio message.
Salome said the following:
[Ever since Dorothy-nim smuggled a male witch out of Hexennacht, Hexennacht’s retaliation has begun]
[Of course, I’m not trying to blame you… I was hiding in the B-32 hideout, but the tracking network was getting tighter and tighter, and I was eventually discovered]
[Fortunately, I shook off the pursuit and hid in another hideout, but I was injured and can’t move…]
[I don’t know when I’ll be discovered, and if I am… you’re the only one I can ask for help…]
Although her abilities as a witch were not outstanding, Salome was capable and loyal.
She also had a diligence that was hard to believe for an exile.
It was not for nothing that Dorothy entrusted her with full authority over the business reorganization and went on a leisurely vacation.
If Salome was in such a predicament, there were three possibilities.
Either she was incredibly unlucky.
Or Hexennacht had released their dogs that thoroughly.
Or this itself was a trap.
After a few simple verification questions, Dorothy made up her mind.
She had already told the cute pink duke that the mission might take a little longer and had received confirmation.
“Haa~ I’ve become a fool~”
No matter how many times she thought about it, it was a foolish thing to do.
She lacked information, time to obtain additional information, and confirmation from existing information.
The best option in this situation would clearly be to ‘pretend not to know’.
But the more she tried to ignore Salome, the more Siwoo’s face came to mind.
If he were here, what would he do?
Siwoo had managed to escape from Hexennacht, even dragging three burdens with him.
If the person to be saved was a loyal subordinate who had been loyal to Dorothy for life, there was no need to even mention what choice he would make.
“Well~ he’d say with a foolishly honest face, ‘Let’s try to save her first’…”
It is said that when you love someone, you become like them.
But that is not a phenomenon that happens naturally without doing anything.
As love deepens, the desire to ‘be like that person’ grows stronger, and that’s why you change.
Dorothy, wary of being watched, slipped through the buildings built in the old Spanish architectural style.
Although the entire South America had suffered from measles due to the legion not long ago, Bogota, the capital of Colombia and the location of the hideout, seemed to have escaped the disaster.
The streets were lively, and on one side of the street, locals of various skin colors were selling fresh fruits and vegetables, and food with spicy peppers that looked spicy.
Traditional hand-knitted crafts and handmade products that only tourists buy at inflated prices caught her eye.
She passed through houses built with colorful bricks and tall buildings and headed to the underground tunnel.
The tunnel, which had no natural light, was filled with stagnant rainwater that may have fallen a few days ago.
As with any major South American city, next to the skyscrapers built with extravagant wealth, there are slums where people live with only their basic needs met.
The B-32 hideout where Salome had hidden was also in a slum created in an old underground tunnel.
Witches, thanks to their noble nature, even care about the quality of their hideouts.
Dorothy’s villa alone is a luxurious villa, isn’t it?
Therefore, unless they are desperate, no one would use a semi-basement infested with rats and cockroaches as a hideout.
Rather, it would have been a good disguise.
After checking her surroundings one last time, she opened the slate door that seemed to be tightly locked, revealing a hideout disguised as if it was about to collapse.
“Salome~ I’m here?”
As she tapped the floor with her heel to make her presence known, the old wooden floor shook.
“Dorothy-nim? Is that really you, Dorothy-nim?”
“Was there another boss as pretty as me?”
Salome, who had poked her face out like a mole from the entrance to the basement, appeared limping.
Her face was very haggard, as if she had been through a lot of hardship.
“You really came… I, honestly, didn’t have high expectations…”
“I know, right~ If it’s a childish trap after I came all this way, it’ll be no fun.”
“Please come in first.”
Following Salome, she entered the hideout through a steep staircase.
Even if the location was poor to minimize suspicion, it was still a hideout.
There was a comfortable bed, shower facilities, a sofa and table, and a laptop that could connect to the company’s internal network via a dedicated satellite.
It was a studio apartment, but unlike the surrounding scenery that was falling apart, the interior of the shelter was still of a quality comparable to a 1-star hotel.
“The surveillance is more lax than I thought?”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, either you shook them off well, or you were too scared and hid too much, weren’t you?”
Dorothy took off her cloak with a magic seal for hiding and took a breath.
In fact, she didn’t see any other witches.
She had expected an infiltration mission, but it was too easy?
“How’s the injury?”
“It’s bearable.”
“Show me.”
She had noticed her limping since earlier.
“……”
Dorothy frowned slightly.
When Salome lifted her clothes, she saw a bloody wound that had barely been treated and a thigh bone that was twisted and protruding out of the skin.
“Oh my, even if it hurts, bear with it.”
“Yes… Ugh!”
She tore the flesh that had healed with the bone protruding and used telekinesis to fit the bone fragments together.
When she used healing magic, the wound healed as if time had been turned back.
Watching the scene intently, Dorothy asked.
“Now, let’s hear the reason. Why did you sell me out?”
“Y-yes…?”
Dorothy had been half-doubtful, but the moment she faced Salome in the hideout, she was convinced.
She had never been good at lying, so it was inevitable.
Even deceiving Dorothy over the radio must have taken a lot of effort.
“I’m asking because I don’t think you would have dragged me into a trap just to get some pocket money.”
Salome’s eyelashes drooped heavily.
Her eyes, which had been moving around, seemed to realize that lying in front of Dorothy was meaningless.
Eventually, she confessed her betrayal in a thin, trembling voice.
“The person I love… was taken hostage.”
A blurry face of a man passed through her mind.
He was one of the executives of Dorothy’s company.
“Ah~ Was it Carlos? I think he was in charge of customs. I should have banned in-house dating.”
Indeed, love makes people fools.
Realizing that fact again, Dorothy took her hand off Salome’s wound.
It had healed cleanly as if nothing had happened.
“The treatment is over. Go out.”
“I’m really, really sorry, Dorothy-nim…”
“That’s why you should only do what suits you~”
With a bitter smile, she sat alone in the shelter and lit a cigarette.
“Hmm~ This isn’t bad.”
It was a great choice to have brandy in every hideout.
As she poured the liquor into an on-the-rocks glass and savored the bitter taste of betrayal, another witch came down not long after.
Golden eyes and golden hair as if made by melting gold bars.
An elegant atmosphere that makes you mistake this musty underground hideout for a palace.
Lydia Magnus, the ‘Golden Coin Witch’ who leads the Solidus Merchant Guild.
“Dorothy, it’s been a long time.”
“Yeah~”
“What’s with this sofa? It’s cheap mesh, isn’t it? The fabric will get all worn out.”
Lydia, who sat on the sofa opposite Dorothy after laying a handkerchief, held out her glass as if asking for a refill.
“Let’s calculate. How much compensation do you need to pay for screwing me over?”
“Well~ I guess a glass of liquor won’t be enough?”
The two enemies looked at each other and smiled fiercely.
