Chapter 125 – #28_Solace
#123
1.
After shaking off Amelia, who tried to grab him several times, Siwoo entered the cabin, packed his things, and returned to the academy.
It was quite a distance by carriage, but using the coordinate teleportation formula in his head, he arrived in less than a minute.
Everything in the world seemed unfamiliar.
That was the feeling Siwoo had when he stepped into Amelia’s mansion.
The mansion as seen by Siwoo, who had lived as a slave and assistant, and the mansion where he had spent his childhood with Amelia.
Even though it was the same place, it looked so different.
It felt like his mind had turned into muddy water.
“………”
Without a word, Siwoo packed the remaining belongings in his room.
He had used up all his mana when fighting Eah, and all he had to pack were the suit Amelia had made for him, the music box, and some trinkets that the twins had prepared as farewell gifts.
He threw all the items onto the bed sheet haphazardly and wrapped them up like a bundle.
Amelia’s figure, sitting blankly on the floor, unable to stop him from leaving, suddenly came to mind.
Siwoo shook his head.
“Damn it! Why won’t this tie?”
Siwoo cursed as he tightened the knot of the bundle, but it didn’t go as he wanted.
His heart felt heavy.
All the fault was Amelia’s, but he couldn’t understand why he had to feel this guilt.
Should he have raged and gotten angry instead?
Should he have slapped her across the face?
Even when he tried to think calmly, the bubbling in his heart wouldn’t subside.
Anyway, the important thing was to leave the mansion before Amelia came after him.
His heart was so complicated that just looking at her made him feel suffocated, and he didn’t want to see her anymore.
After roughly packing his things, Siwoo took off his eyepatch and focused his mind.
“Bloom.”
His coordinate teleportation formula was derived from the dimensional teleportation formula he had been researching, and it was already completed when he clashed with Eah Sadalmelik.
Moreover, unlike then, there was no need for external mana replenishment.
At the same time as the incantation, Siwoo’s left eye, which had been hidden by the eyepatch, shone and absorbed the surrounding mana with fierce momentum.
To him, who could see the flow of mana, it looked like colorful threads being sucked in spirally.
Of course, even if he absorbed it so diligently, the amount of mana floating in the air was very insignificant.
But it was not a problem for Siwoo.
He could just amplify the insufficient mana.
As if he had been doing it for a long time, as if he had first learned to control shadows through the Gnosis egg.
Siwoo, who had regained his memories, was naturally using ‘repeated amplification’.
He had never learned this, nor had he been taught by anyone.
The mana, amplified three times, was enough for him to teleport.
He felt the gathered and amplified mana being stacked neatly in his left eye, as if it were being imprinted.
“Hoo…”
At the same time as he calmed his mind, a complex web appeared in Siwoo’s mind.
This web was a visualization of spatial coordinates.
It extended to any place he had ever set foot in.
Not only most places inside the academy, but also the distant Gulp Tree Forest, Tarot Town, Border Town, and even Ars Magna Town.
Carefully tracing the strands, Siwoo identified one coordinate.
He needed a place to unravel his complicated feelings.
Once the coordinates were identified, he had to calculate the corresponding formula.
Not only the distance to the coordinates, but also the weight, volume, and shape of the object to be moved.
Perhaps because he had done it once before, the calculation was much easier.
A brilliant golden circle rose beneath Siwoo’s feet.
The rising golden mana enveloped his body.
Siwoo disappeared like a phantom.
2.
Even in a city of witches, the sight of a man using magic would draw attention.
Therefore, Siwoo teleported to a dark alley in Tarot Town, where no one else could see him.
Siwoo, who appeared on the golden magic circle, shouldering his bundle, headed to a pub.
The White Whale Pub.
It was the first place that came to mind when he thought of a pub.
“Ah, it’s a holiday today.”
No wonder the streets were bustling. Siwoo, who had approached the pub, soon realized that it was a holiday.
Even though it was still daytime, the pub was full of people, and the noise was spilling out.
As he opened the door, he saw the usual sight of drinkers enjoying their drinks in their own ways.
There happened to be an empty seat by the window, so he put down his luggage and approached the busy owner.
“I’d like to order.”
“Yes! Welcome!”
The owner, who was wearing a bandana and sweating profusely, put down the beer glass he was wiping with a rag and put on a welcoming smile.
There was the best way to overcome the vexation and confusion in his head.
“Give me a bottle of the strongest liquor.”
“Excuse me?”
“And for the side dishes, prepare the most expensive ones, enough to break the table.”
The owner’s eyes changed subtly as he smiled.
Siwoo, who was wearing clothes that Amelia had made for him, was neat but not very fancy.
Moreover, in Gehenna, all Asians were slaves captured from the present world.
Siwoo didn’t have the energy for a pointless argument, so he took out two gold coins from his pocket and placed them down.
“I will repay you with the best dishes.”
“Give me the liquor first.”
“Yes!”
The owner, looking at the gold coins, quickly smiled broadly and answered energetically.
Well, as a shop owner, what did it matter if a slave was carrying such a large sum of money?
Siwoo sat down heavily, and soon the kind-looking owner came with a large bottle.
He personally opened the cork in front of Siwoo and took ice from an ice bucket and put it in an on-the-rocks glass.
He also brought out some chocolates wrapped in paper.
“This is our brewery’s whiskey. It’s made with the same barley as our beer, so I think you’ll like it. Hehe. I’ll bring out the food soon.”
The owner rubbed his palms together and returned to the counter.
It was just like people in the present world, treating even a slave like a king if they paid enough.
But honestly, he didn’t feel anything more than that.
It felt like his head was slightly numb, and he wanted to numb it even more.
Siwoo filled his glass with whiskey and gulped it down.
He wanted to get drunk quickly.
He didn’t want to think about anything, didn’t want to remember anything.
Siwoo was drinking like a divorced father who had just received a sudden notice of divorce.
By the time the owner brought out the first side dish, Siwoo had already finished a bottle of whiskey.
The owner, horrified, said,
“Young man, I don’t know what happened, but if you drink like that, you’ll die.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
But he didn’t have the leisure to listen to such words.
Siwoo, already drunk, fumbled in his pocket and took out another gold coin, placing it in the owner’s hand.
“Give me another bottle.”
The owner clicked his tongue, looking at Siwoo, who was drunk and had glazed eyes.
He seemed to know what had happened.
Usually, there were only two reasons why a young person would drink strong liquor from the afternoon and throw money around.
Either they were with a beautiful woman, or they had been heartbroken.
The owner brought out a new bottle of whiskey.
He had received more than enough money, and he couldn’t refuse to serve a customer who was paying for his drinks.
“Young man, drink moderately, and if you want to throw up, do it in that ice bucket. Don’t make the other customers uncomfortable.”
“Yes, yes… I understand.”
Siwoo waved his hand vaguely and filled his ice glass with new whiskey.
Every time the hot alcohol went down his throat, it felt like his insides were burning.
He felt like he was going to throw up.
But his head was getting hazy.
The complicated thoughts were forgotten, and the useless thoughts sank into the waves of alcohol.
“Damn it… damn it…. damn bitch….”
Siwoo dropped his head and finally shed the tears he had been holding back.
3.
“Sister, I’m bored.”
At the villa in Tarot Town.
In the twins’ outpost, which, in Odile’s words, was a place to learn about things they were curious about, Odette opened her mouth while aimlessly spending a lazy holiday.
“Me too.”
Both Odile and Odette were sprawled out on the bed, taking up one corner each.
If Galina the maid had seen them, she would have immediately scolded them for their unseemly posture.
But what could they do?
They were so bored.
“We came out because it’s a holiday. But there’s really nothing to do.”
“It’s not fun without our assistant.”
They had come to the outpost on holiday, as was their duty, but it was really, really boring.
In the past, they had fun just walking around Tarot Town together.
They would watch a man playing the flute at the fountain for two or three hours, or they would wander around every corner of Tarot Town with the sole purpose of stepping on every street.
It was fun to buy red apples at the market and munch on them while watching street performances, or even just to watch people passing by the window…
It felt like their energy had completely bottomed out just because Siwoo wasn’t there.
Odette, lying on the bed, tapped her outstretched feet together like clapping and asked.
“When will our assistant come back?”
“I don’t know… I heard he’s recuperating with the assistant professor.”
“Even if she’s an assistant professor, that’s an overreach! I have the right to play with my cute assistant too!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Odile nodded earnestly, as if she agreed.
“Our assistant was so cute back then.”
“I wanted to suck on his cheeks.”
“It was so fun when we went to the public bath together…”
They whispered about old memories that weren’t so far away, and when they glanced at the clock, it was already past 7 o’clock.
They had only taken a short walk around Tarot Town and then lay on the bed, but they still had to go back.
Odile quickly raised her upper body and tapped Odette’s thigh.
“Heave-ho! Get up, Odette. We have to go.”
“Really, I hate it so much…”
It was a sad thing that a precious holiday had been wasted.
Odile patted Odette, who had slumped her shoulders, and put on her clothes.
The twins, who had stood in front of the mirror to check if their dresses were wrinkled and their hair was messed up, trudged down the stairs.
Odette suddenly stopped when they reached the landing.
Odile pushed Odette’s back, slightly annoyed.
“Don’t dawdle, hurry up, Odette.”
“S…Sister…”
“What?”
“Can’t you see that?”
Odette, trembling, pointed to the living room on the first floor, where the lights were off.
There was someone there.
They were lying on the sofa, and their limbs were twisted in a very deformed position.
Thanks to that, Odile, who was startled, swallowed her breath.
“Hick!”
“You see it too, right? Right? It’s not a ghost, is it?”
“Let, let go! Don’t cling to me so much!”
Odette clung to Odile and trembled.
“Wait here, Odette. There’s no such thing as a ghost.”
“B…But… I didn’t hear any sound from the first floor…”
From Odette’s point of view, it was hard to believe that the shadow that had come without the sound of the door opening and was lying in such a position was human.
Odile, who had been tense for a moment, waved her hand, and all the decorative lights in the living room turned on brightly.
“Who are you! Reveal yourself!”
Odile gathered her mana and cautiously approached the sofa.
She was prepared to attack if necessary.
However, after confirming the identity of the uninvited guest, Odile quickly put away her mana.
“Huh?”
“Koo… koo…”
There was Siwoo, who was twisting his body like a yoga master and sleeping.
Moreover, it was not the appearance of a child, but the appearance of Siwoo as an adult.
“Assistant?”
“Assistant? Is that our assistant?”
Odette’s expression, who had been frozen on the stairs, brightened, and she ran to the living room.
She had heard that Siwoo was away recuperating with Assistant Professor Amelia, so she was very happy to see him so suddenly.
“Assistant!”
Odette, who was running towards Siwoo, stopped abruptly in the same place as Odile.
A terrible smell was wafting from him.
“Did our assistant come swimming in a liquor jar?”
“I think so?”
It was none other than the smell of alcohol.
Every time he breathed, the twins felt like they were getting drunk.
“Assistant, wake up. If you sleep here, your mouth will go crooked.”
“Assistant! Assistant!”
Siwoo, who was sound asleep, didn’t budge even when they carefully shook his body.
Odile and Odette were lost in thought.
“What should we do?”
“We can’t just leave him here. Let’s move him to the bed.”
“That’s true, but… are we going to go back like this?”
It was time for the twins to go home.
But in front of them was their assistant, whom they hadn’t seen in a month.
It was true that they felt a bit sad to just go home.
“Hmm… what should we do…”
“Let’s move him to the bed first and then think about it.”
“Okay, sister.”
Odile used telekinesis to float Siwoo, who was drunk, and took him to the bedroom.
