City ​​of Witches 1061

Chapter 1061 – #252_Hunter(2)

#1055

1.
A week had passed.
The script was perfect.

The planned events unfolded as scripted, and Siwoo grew more accustomed with each trial and error.

He had become accustomed to two things.

The ability to write scenarios.
And the ability to execute them.

Four teams belonging to the Lehar Group.

A total of 10 lives became nourishment for the lotus.

2.
The main base of the Solidus Merchant Guild, which divided Hexennacht, was the Almak Club.

Its exterior was stuffy, dull, and crude.
It resembled an armory bought by a suspiciously SM-obsessed porn company.

There was a reason for this.

The Almak Club occasionally hosted auctions, parties, plays, and other entertainment, but it was primarily Lydia’s workshop.

Lydia’s unique tastes were fully reflected in the design, so the members of the Solidus Merchant Guild were grateful that at least the interior design followed standard specifications.

“Can’t we take down the chandelier and put up a disco ball?”
“Uh, I don’t think that would be possible.”

“Isn’t it old-fashioned that the most luxurious decorations that can be hung on the ceiling for hundreds of years are crystal and gold candle holders?”
“I’m not sure…”

Lydia’s secretary was anxious that the guild leader’s quirky ideas might be implemented in practice, and trailed off.

The problem was that it was too obvious, and Lydia was not of a gentle nature.

Knowing rationally that it was impossible, she vented her frustrations about her unrealized desires on her subordinates.

“So? Are you saying that it looks old-fashioned only to me because I’ve lived too long?”
“N-no… but a disco ball…”

“Are you only thinking about following trends? Don’t you ever think about leading them? If there had been a disco ball in the Palace of Versailles, every luxury hotel lobby would still have one, wouldn’t they? Right?”
“I-I’m sorry! I’ve committed a crime worthy of death!”

But fortunately, the secretary, who had been suffering from the prickly boss’s dissatisfaction, was soon able to return to work.

A guest had arrived without notice.
And in a very uncomfortable mood.

“Madam Magnus.”
“I thought the payment was settled. What brings you here?”

Lydia looked up at the guest, who was a head taller than her even when seated.

The leader of the Lehar Group.
The Witch of War, Herja Valhiri.

She was a witch who was difficult to describe with simple modifiers like ‘unique’.

First of all, she was 190cm tall.
Her entire body was muscular, like a female judo athlete, and her mohawk cut with shaved sides made it impossible to guess her gender from behind.

She was a ‘strong woman’ who seemed capable of subduing even the roughest men with brute force rather than maternal affection.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Herja, who was about to sit down, couldn’t fit on the sofa designed for women and ended up perching on the table.

Every time Lydia saw Herja, she wondered what kind of crazy shit one had to do to their spirit body to create such a monstrosity.
Would injecting growth hormones and steroids to lethal doses make one look like that?

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

Herja, sitting like a gangster, bared her teeth menacingly.

“What the hell are you talking about, coming here out of the blue?”

The relationship between the Lehar Group and the Solidus Merchant Guild was quite close.

The Lehar Group, which solved troublesome matters for a fee, was an excellent contractor for the Solidus Merchant Guild, and the Solidus Merchant Guild was a reliable client that consistently provided lucrative work for the Lehar Group.

However, Lydia didn’t particularly like Herja.

Herja, who resembled a tribal chief’s wife, was rough, barbaric, and uncultured.
She was a different breed from Lydia, who was born the only daughter of a duke’s family in a kingdom.

Of course, the opposite was also true.

Herja disliked Lydia, who always acted sly and cunning.
She was eagerly waiting for the day she could smash her golden head and see what was inside.

“It’s you, Madam Magnus. Huh, the way you’re pretending is just right. You’ve always been like that.”
“What the hell are you talking about…”

Lydia’s face contorted.
She was dumbfounded that Herja had not only entered her workshop with muddy feet but was also spouting nonsense.

“Ms. Herja? I’m a busy woman. If you want to chase after pipe dreams together, I’ll charge you. Pay up.”
“Pay?”

-Thud!

At that moment, Herja’s arm, which shot out like a ray of light, grabbed Lydia’s neck.
Her twitching forearm muscles and the menacingly bulging veins made it seem like Lydia’s slender neck would be twisted like a straw.

“Let go. If you don’t want to die.”

It was a speed like a ray of light that was difficult to discern, but Lydia’s eyes were already glowing gold.

Before anyone knew it, moths were fluttering their wings, scattering gold dust, and the flames of annihilation, which seemed to wrap around her neck, were burning Herja’s palm instead.

It was Herja who backed down first, gritting her teeth.
Anger surged, and her hand moved first, but Lydia’s strength was real.

One of the three who could claim to be the strongest among the public.
The great witch who was on par with Duke Erelim during the Kliffoth’s invasion of Gehenna.

That was Lydia Magnus.

Herja, who had regained her composure with effort.

“Five teams from the Lehar Group. Thirteen people have suddenly gone out of contact. After your request, Madam Magnus.”
“What do you want me to do about it? The mother dog should control her puppies. Isn’t it because you’re such an asshole that they ran away?”
“It was a planned attack.”

Herja was straightforward but not stupid.
If she were, she wouldn’t have been able to serve as the leader of the Lehar Group in the public world, where scheming was rampant.

“They targeted places where contact within the group was infrequent. There were no traces of magical power left after the battle, and no one noticed anything strange until the situation reached this point.”

It was incomparable to the usual group deserters or disappearances due to personal disputes.
They had vanished too cleanly.

Therefore, Herja intuitively sensed a sense of incongruity in this series of disappearances.
The traces of artificial interference that were felt precisely because it was too natural.

It was the work of a systematic and professional hunter.

“In other words, the Solidus Merchant Guild is targeting the Lehar Group. That’s my conclusion.”
“You’re blaming an innocent person.”
“Do you have any proof?”
“Why would I provide it? You should be the one to provide it.”

“There’s no one who knows the Lehar Group better than you. You move our team members on trivial missions and then exploit the gap right after. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
“That’s absurd.”

“I also know that you sell witches, that you spread them around as gold coins, and that you’ve earned the nickname ‘The Witch of Gold Coins’.
I also know that you’re an ambitious person who sees the Lehar Group as a thorn in your side and has been trying to swallow it whole someday. Do you need more?
Moreover, you’re the only witch who can carry out such a clean job. Madam Magnus.”
“Let’s say that’s true. How does that become evidence?”

“I don’t need that kind of thing!!!!”
“You just told me to provide evidence.”

Lydia was beyond being wronged and was now appealing to absurdity.
But Herja slammed the table in a fit of rage.

“Talia has disappeared.”
“…The Witch of Tragedy?”

Lydia’s expression, which had been half-heartedly dealing with Herja, became serious.

The Witch of Tragedy was Herja’s closest aide and a powerful figure of the 21st rank.
Such a powerful figure had disappeared overnight on this continent, which was practically the public domain.

If Herja’s anger and bewilderment were not a skillful act, then it was certain that ‘something’ was happening.

“Don’t play dumb. It makes me want to tear your face apart.”

Lydia looked at Herja.
She was belligerent but reasonably cunning, and although she couldn’t read the entire situation, she could sense an imminent crisis with animalistic instincts.

That was the value Lydia had assigned to Herja.

For the sake of that value, she decided to engage in this conversation a little more.

“That’s speculation. Even if half of what you said is true, it must be the work of Gehenna.”

Prediction one.
Gehenna, which had been attacked at its location point, planned revenge.

“Ha, is that likely? All that happened was that one traitor died. He’s a traitor to us, but he’s also a traitor to those goody-two-shoes, you understand?”

That’s right.

That’s why they were targeted.
Moreover, the location point had a vague direct connection to Gehenna compared to its role.

Gehenna had always taken a nonchalant bystander stance, so it wouldn’t take action just because one public figure had died.

If they had been upset by this incident and wanted to make them pay the price, they wouldn’t have handled it so quietly.

They would have inflicted devastating damage on the Lehar Group in a blatant manner.
But they didn’t.

“Was there an internal conflict?”

Prediction two.
An internal conflict had occurred within the Lehar Group itself.

In fact, this was the most reasonable assumption in Lydia’s eyes.

It wasn’t uncommon for public figures to stab each other in the back, and if it was an internal rebellion, they would have a thorough understanding of the location and situation of their own team.

“……”

Herja paused as if she had been caught off guard, then became even more fiercely defensive.

“Don’t divert the issue.”
“Divert the issue? It’s your judgment that’s clouded.”

It wasn’t uncommon for a group’s leader to be consumed by their sense of belonging to that group.

She wouldn’t want to admit that there might be a traitor in the group she led.
Especially if the one pointing the finger was her nemesis, Lydia.

But Herja also knew that there was no point in dwelling on this, so she prioritized the measures that needed to be taken immediately.

“Secure a place for our group in the city.”
“Me? Why? Your troublemakers? Why would I?”

This was the decisive moment that caused Lydia and Herja to fall out.

Most of the public figures belonging to the Lehar Group had not been granted Hexennacht citizenship, and Lydia’s influence had played a role in this.

“What kind of mess do you think would happen if I let you brawlers into the city?”

Making a living through fighting meant that they had many enemies.
If they were brought into Hexennacht carelessly, the rules of absolute neutrality would be broken.

But weren’t public figures supposed to grow by fighting and killing each other?

Lydia outwardly presented this facade, but her true intentions were different.

It was inefficient to give work to a well-fed hunting dog.
If the Lehar Group became complacent with life in Hexennacht, who would take on the troublesome tasks in the future?

It was more convenient for Lydia if the hunting dogs remained hungry.

“You little bitch, seriously…!”

Several more arguments followed, but Lydia maintained a consistent attitude of ‘I don’t know, you guys figure it out.’

“I won’t let this slide.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Herja had no evidence, and the power difference between the two was clear.
Despite being enraged by Lydia’s sarcasm, she had no choice but to return empty-handed.

And the next day.

A logistics fleet of the Solidus Merchant Guild, heading towards the ‘gate’ of Hexennacht via the Panama Canal.
A Panamax-class logistics ship with a displacement of 80,000 tons sank for an unknown reason.

Down into the deep, dark blue sea.

“That little bitch?!”

Lydia was furious.