City ​​of Witches 1033

Chapter 1033 – #246_Count Cagliostro (7)

#1027

1.
Life’s ups and downs often force one to make gambling-like choices, but Siwoo never liked gambling.

He had never even touched stocks, let alone gambling, and if he hadn’t become a witch and had followed the path of a mathematician, he would have put all his salary into savings.

Even now that he was a witch, nothing had really changed.

A small, stable-oriented citizen who didn’t have big ambitions.
That was the lifestyle Siwoo pursued.

Therefore, if he had to step into a gambling game.
If he had to roll a die that would either come up 1 or 6.

Siwoo would be thorough and perfectly prepared.

“Hey, who are you?”

To get to the point of reeling in Count Cagliostro, or rather, the witch impersonating Count Cagliostro, and uttering this line, Siwoo had arranged three things.

First.

The honey trap.
Let me say in advance that this was a dummy mine intended to fail.

Judging from the fraudster’s actions so far, she was by no means a simple stand-in.

She had excellent political sense, and she tried to screw Siwoo over in a variety of ways.

That meant she was a prepared person, not just in terms of magical skill, but also in many other areas.

If Siwoo had presented the paper from the beginning, the Count would have looked at the paper with a more cautious attitude, as she had tried to provoke Siwoo to find out his true intentions.
If that had happened, she would have noticed something suspicious and been more careful in her words and actions.

That’s why he buried a dummy mine called ‘honey trap’ clumsily, and right below it, he buried a mine called ‘paper’.

As a result, the Count lost the caution she had shown at the beginning and laughed at Siwoo, stepping on the next mine as if to show off.

Anyone who thinks they have figured out one trick will become careless afterwards.

“Are you done talking? What kind of attitude is that?”

The Count glared at him, her eyes wide open.

Her anger at Siwoo’s outrageous attitude was enough to make even Siwoo, who already knew she was a fake, flinch a little.

“Nice acting. But you’ve already been exposed.”

But Siwoo was already certain.

Second.
The core that allowed him to figure out her identity, the paper he had kept hidden.

With the help of his magnificent mamas, Siwoo’s secret bait was…
A plagiarized paper made from Count Cagliostro’s research materials obtained from the secretary’s office.

It was so cleverly mixed that no one but the person herself would notice.
But it was made in such a way that the person herself would definitely notice.

Siwoo had experienced firsthand how sensitive the magical academic world was to plagiarism.

To see that with your own eyes and still pass it off without a word?

That was the most solid evidence that the person in front of him was a fake Count Cagliostro.

“What Count wouldn’t recognize a paper they plagiarized? Unless they have dementia.”
“What?”

As he said that, Siwoo stretched his right arm to the side, and a red branch was in his hand.
Black armor materialized in a flash with a clanking sound.

Distortion fields began to emanate around Siwoo, who had entered a perfect battle stance.

“Bloom.”

The last, third arrangement was coming now.

Count Yesod, Count Gemini, Periwinkle, and others had naturally made appointments with ‘Castle’ personnel and were waiting nearby, and he had sent a signal.

Now, all Siwoo had to do was deal with the fake while she was struggling after being exposed.

“Y-you, are you out of your mind…!”

A wave of distortion fields surged towards the pale and flustered Count Cagliostro.

-Zzzzzing!

A white barrier appeared in the air, shimmering in seven colors.
It was the necklace around the fake Count’s neck that reacted to the attack.

It was another defensive artifact that even Siwoo’s magic eye couldn’t see through.
With this level of output and power, it must be an artifact that the real Count originally possessed.

It was incredibly sturdy.

The iridescent colors became even more solid as they rubbed against the distortion field, perfectly protecting the Count from Siwoo’s attack.

Seeing that, the fake Count, who had turned pale, regained some composure.

“You’re completely insane. I’m going to call someone. Don’t think you can get away with this.”

As expected, the fake Count didn’t try to do anything using the artifact.

She was just relying on the automatically installed self-defense system to defend against Siwoo’s attacks.

If the situation ended like this, it would be a huge problem.
This was the heart of the Castle, and this was the Count’s mansion, so the Castle’s archmages would soon swarm here.

The evidence Siwoo had obtained was only circumstantial, while the fake Count Cagliostro was actually exercising power.

A small suspicion would be covered up by power, and Siwoo would at best be exiled to Gehenna, and at worst, he would be confined and imprisoned.

However, if he could just take off that ring, the ring of Nickele that could freely change its appearance, things would be different.

“Hoo.”

Siwoo quietly read the flow of magical power created by the seven-colored defense.
A defense that constantly changed its shape and formula, and was immune to basic interference.

But it was meaningless in front of Siwoo.

In front of Siwoo, who had read the enemy’s magic in much more urgent moments, in the blink of an eye where lives were at stake, the artifact’s defense formula, which changed according to an automatically installed algorithm, was no different from sitting down and solving a problem set.

-Clink clink

The necklace’s defense formula was released in an instant.
When the fake Count made a bewildered expression at the sight.

“Let’s see that pretty face of yours.”

Siwoo concentrated the gathered distortion field at the tip of the red branch and thrust it like a spear.

“Kyaaaa!”

The fake Count, startled by the threatening attack, instinctively covered her head and raised her hands.

-Ting!

A small sound was heard from her fingertips, and the broken ring fell onto the table.
It was a near-acrobatic spear strike that accurately hit only the ring on her finger.

“Ah… ah….”

The power of disguise that the ring had given her disappeared, revealing the fake Count Cagliostro’s true appearance.

“Huh?”

Golden hair in a curly, roll-like shape, and deep blue eyes.
Her tearful, sobbing appearance was not much different from Count Cagliostro.

If there was anything special, it was that her ‘atmosphere’ and ‘appearance’, which now looked youthful, seemed to be balanced.

“How dare you, how dare you do this…”

Even though the disguise artifact had been removed, Siwoo felt his back getting soaked with sweat at the sight of her, thinking, ‘If Count Cagliostro had an apprentice witch, wouldn’t she look like this?’

At the very least, he had expected a witch with a completely different appearance, or one of the public enemies to pop out.

“My mother won’t let this go…”

The fake Count Cagliostro suddenly started sobbing.

Mother?

This was completely unexpected.

He had personally investigated the Count, but he had never heard that she had an apprentice witch.
Moreover, there was no reason for her, a Count of Gehenna, to go through a stealthy succession like a public enemy.

“…Um, who are you?”
“Okay, that’s enough.”

When Siwoo turned around at the alluring voice from behind, the reception room was already filled with a dazzling light.

This dense magical power and the movement of the profound magic formula that seemed to have no end.
If someone could use this level of magic, it must be…

When he turned around, there was the real Count, who had a more mature atmosphere than the fake Count he had met so far.

“Nice to meet you, Baron Shin Siwoo. I am Tia Cagliostro. Ohoho!”

Now that he saw it, the fake Count was quite the actress.
Judging by how the real Count’s speech, tone, and unique atmosphere didn’t feel awkward at all when he first met her.

2.
By some trick, Count Cagliostro had sent back all the people Siwoo had called.

Thanks to that, Siwoo, the Count, and the fake Count were having a three-way meeting.

“Now, now, you have to introduce yourself properly, right?”
“I’m Cindy Cagliostro. *Sniff*.”

The identity of the fake Count, whose disguise had been removed, was none other than Tia Cagliostro’s apprentice witch.

She was glaring at Siwoo with red eyes and pouting her lips.
In contrast, the Count sitting next to her was smiling gently and stroking Cindy’s head.

“What on earth is going on?”
“I was originally going to keep it a secret. But now that it’s come to this, there’s no way to hide it anymore. As you can see, Cindy is my apprentice witch, and I had her lead the academic society before the succession. Hoho!”

To summarize what the Count had said, it seemed that she had been doing this kind of switch several times before.
Of course, she had never done a switch for such a long time as three months, like this time.

It wasn’t just a matter of succeeding as a witch, but also of taking over the position of head of the Emerald Tablet, a huge academic faction, so she needed separate lessons.

“I wanted to show my mother something before the succession…”

The excessive desire and ambition that Cindy, who had played the role of the Count, had shown towards the Hessed Society was, so to speak, a ‘proof’.

It was proof that she had successfully taken over the rising Hessed Society and had completed her preparations as the head of the society.

From the perspective of someone who was almost robbed blind, it was absurd, but it was a desire that came from filial piety.

“I made a needless misunderstanding.”
“No, it was a situation that could have been misunderstood… Above all, I admire your courage and execution in acting boldly for Gehenna.
Still, isn’t our Cindy really smart? Hohoho!”

“…Yes, she is.”

Honestly, he was almost cornered.
If Siwoo hadn’t figured out about the ring, he would have lost the society.

No matter how much he used Count Cagliostro’s information network, connections, and yellow journalism, her skills were so skillful that it was hard to believe she was an apprentice witch.

“Anyway, now that it’s come to this, I’ll have to deal with you from now on. Hohoho! The Baron is much more handsome in person, you know?”
“Huh?”

“Didn’t I say something about taming the Baron today? Ohohoho!”
“Mother…!”

Light jokes were exchanged, and the atmosphere was good, but…
Siwoo was not at ease.

In other words, this gamble was a move that could overturn everything.

However, now that it had been revealed that Count Cagliostro’s identity was not a spy, if the Count carried out the plan that Cindy had laid out, he would be cornered again.

Knowing that, the Count smiled leisurely and crossed her smooth legs as if to show off.

“Well then, shall we talk?”

Moreover, the opponent was the real Count Cagliostro, who was much more experienced than the apprentice witch.
It was like defeating a fake boss and then the real boss appearing.

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