Chapter 202 – #45_Those Who Almost Lost
#200
1.
Sharon was huddled in a corner.
Her appearance was reminiscent of the day she had been kicked out of her rooftop room and came to Siwoo.
No, she looked much more depressed than that.
Even her once-shiny hair was dry and withered.
“…Siwoo…”
Sharon called Siwoo’s name in a cracking voice.
She was so weak it was pitiful.
“I heard you almost got hurt because of me… Are you okay?”
It had been a long time since I had seen Sharon so drained.
Although she had a slightly quirky side, Sharon seemed to live with the motto of being cheerful and energetic.
I sat down gently on the bed to comfort her.
Sharon shook her head vigorously.
“I’m okay, I wasn’t hurt… But… But…”
Sharon, who had been stammering for a couple of times, trembled as if she remembered the shocking scene from earlier.
With a trembling voice and gestures like a patient with hypothermia, she tightly grasped Siwoo’s hand.
“I… I… thought you were going to be hurt… I thought you were going to die… hic… hic….”
Tears welled up, and soon Sharon was almost sobbing as she crawled into Siwoo’s arms.
The refreshing scent and soft touch of her body.
I hugged Sharon’s head, which was shaking as if her shoulders would break, and patted her back.
“It was so, so scary… It was so scary… Waaaaah…!”
“It’s okay, why are you crying over something like this? It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“I couldn’t do anything… I couldn’t do anything…!”
Relief and helplessness, the fear and despair of that moment all fed back at once, and Sharon clung to Siwoo as tightly as she could.
Just the fact that Siwoo, whom she had feared losing forever, was in her arms brought relief.
She was reminded of her own helplessness at the moment when he was about to die, and she couldn’t do anything.
Faced with those complex emotions, Siwoo also felt a lump in his chest.
It was a mix of anger at Duke Tiferet, who had made Sharon cry so much, and gratitude for Sharon, who had worried about him so much.
“Look here, I’m fine. It seems like my injuries are all healed, calm down, Sharon.”
“Okay… Okay, I’ll calm down… Okay…”
Meanwhile, the twins, who had followed Siwoo and were watching the scene from behind.
“………”
“………”
Odile poked Odette in the side, then grabbed her wrist and quietly closed the door.
Odette, who felt like she should be quiet for some reason, stayed still and then finally opened her mouth.
“Why, sis?”
“Let’s just give them some space. She’s crying so much.”
“I want to be hugged by Assistant too…”
“You were hugged yesterday!”
“Like I said before, you were the one who betrayed me first, right?”
The twins sat down on the living room sofa, looking dejected.
It had been a day with so many things happening.
In fact, their hearts still sank when they thought of Siwoo lying dead on the rooftop.
It was a re-experience that followed exactly what happened when the Aquarius Witch attacked Gehenna.
“Anyway… Still, it seems like that sister needs Assistant more right now. We’re mature, aren’t we?”
“I feel uneasy somehow. It’s frustrating.”
“Me too. But what can we do? Assistant is someone who helped us and will help us while he’s in this world.”
They had heard from their teacher about what state Siwoo was in when he came to the present world.
He was in a lonely state where his connection had disappeared, making it impossible to form normal human relationships.
Moreover, he was in a precarious state where Homunculi and Exiles could target him.
So when they first saw Sharon, they felt betrayed and angry at Siwoo, but they also felt grateful.
Seeing her rush over with her eyes wide open as soon as she heard that Siwoo was left alone on the battlefield, they were convinced that she was the one who was there to make sure he wouldn’t be lonely.
“This is what they call the magnanimity of an adult.”
“Hmph….”
“Shall we try on the new pajamas we bought?”
“Okay, sis.”
While Siwoo was calming Sharon down, the twins changed their clothes and sat on the sofa, chatting.
2.
The Gwanghwamun branch of Witch Point was extremely busy.
It was the busiest it had ever been since the establishment of the Gwanghwamun branch.
A summons was issued to witches belonging to Witch Point, as well as to general Exiles, offering huge rewards.
“What a chaotic mess…”
Branch Manager Sua lamented, pressing her temples.
She felt like she had used up a year’s worth of mental strength, having to respond to and direct the constant protests on the hotline that had been ringing like crazy until just a moment ago.
In just one day, and not even in the Otherworld, about 3,000 casualties had occurred.
The number of survivors whose memories had to be manipulated was more than five times that.
The South Korean government had issued a media blackout and temporarily isolated witnesses, including the military and police in the area.
Unlike the old days when rumors spread by word of mouth, the modern world was spreading information like wildfire through data and networks, so it had to be dealt with even more quickly.
A total of 10 witches were working tirelessly to erase and manipulate memories through mass hypnosis, and they had also requested help from other Witch Point branches.
It felt like trying to put out a massive wildfire with only buckets.
Still, to conclude, they barely managed to stay within the deadline.
It was a miracle made possible by the rapid response immediately after the incident, combined with the national administrative power and magic.
The accident at the COEX Mall would be concluded as an accident caused by a gas leak.
In this case, the architect or the company that owned the building would take the blame, but it couldn’t be helped.
The leaders of South Korea, as well as those of major powers such as the US, China, and Japan, were reluctant to let the existence of witches become known to the public.
In other words, the truth would not be revealed through foreign media.
Of course, it was nearly impossible to perfectly control all data and information.
There were bound to be several people who would question the suspicious aspects.
Some people would try to reveal the truth.
However, the scientific supremacy born from the development of science worked conveniently in this regard.
People would trust the data officially released by the government and credible foreign news articles more than eyewitness accounts of monsters appearing and munching on people.
Also, as time passed, interest in the incident itself would fade.
Even if voices came out later, they would be dismissed as conspiracy theories and lose their power.
In fact, quite a few major historical disasters had been caused by Homunculi or public enemies, but the existence of witches had not been revealed due to appropriate scripts and responses.
“Countess Deneb, this is Branch Manager Sua.”
[Yes, please speak.]
Despite the terrible accident, there was a silver lining.
Countess Deneb, who was skilled in large-scale mind manipulation, happened to be in Korea on business.
Her magnetic magic could work on thousands or even tens of thousands of humans at the same time, as long as they had no magic resistance.
“What is the current progress?”
[The treatment of the survivors inside the building is complete, and we are currently treating the injured. Let’s see… I’ll need about 12 more hours.]
“I deeply appreciate your assistance.”
[That’s enough. Let’s discuss this matter later.]
Sua hung up and contacted Duke Tiferet.
The second stroke of luck was that Eloa, who was tracking the Red Knight, was also in Korea.
Although she had temporarily lost her sight due to the price of the contract immediately after the accident, she searched for the culprit of the incident and prevented further accidents.
“Your Grace, can you hear me?”
[….I’m listening.]
“How about taking a little rest?”
However, the fact that Eloa, who possessed tracking skills from long experience, had not found anything yet, proved that the mastermind had already disappeared far away and that there was no continuous threat.
Sua, who knew that Eloa was in a difficult situation in many ways, repeatedly urged her to rest, but the answer she received was the same.
[I’ll keep looking as much as I can.]
“Yes, as Your Grace wishes….”
The communication was cut off with a curt and tired voice.
3.
Eloa was looking around with a blank face.
The rural area in the east, which was nothing but mountains and rice paddies 100 years ago, had prospered so much.
Dozens of skyscrapers that clawed at the sky overlooked the land, and ten million people lived in the complex urban areas like spiderwebs.
However, she had no time to feel any new emotions, nor did she have the energy to desperately search for the culprit.
She was just hiding her true feelings by imitating familiar actions as her body was used to.
“……….”
She thought she had found Aea Sadalmelik.
It was a situation that anyone would have to suspect.
More precisely, she had not yet resolved her doubts about the man who was still called Siwoo.
However.
Even though the purpose of her crumbling life had reappeared before her eyes, she was surprisingly unmotivated.
Several sharp voices echoed in her ears through the gaps in her heart, which felt as if they had been carved out.
[It’s not… It’s not much, but I’ll give you everything… Siwoo is definitely not someone who would do bad things… I knew the Duke was a good person too… You’re thinking wrong right now… You’ll regret it later…]
The green-haired Exile who offered her entire fortune to save him.
[He is a guest of our family! Of course, he has nothing to do with this! He’s not the kind of person who would do such a thing!]
Deneb, who rarely got angry, raised her voice at Eloa.
[Did you do this?]
A novice witch who was scolding Eloa with angry eyes.
Even her own reflection in her eyes was vivid.
Eloa could not deny that the person who overlapped with the novice witch at that moment was Lapi.
The villain who almost took away someone’s precious person was here.
“I… I….”
Eloa sat down on the spot and hugged her body.
She thought she was doing the right thing.
She thought that she, at least, should reach out to those who were losing their loved ones in the chaotic world, in places where no one else was looking.
But now she didn’t know what was what.
The boundaries were blurring.
Right and wrong.
What should be done and what should not be done.
Justice and revenge.
Victims and perpetrators.
Insight and stubbornness.
Altruism and selfishness.
Everything was tangled and regurgitated onto her chest like vomit.
She felt like she was going to collapse.
She wanted to run away from everything as it was.
There was no need to pass on the stigma.
Eloa’s novice witch was only Lapi Tiferet.
‘Tiferet’ was going to end here.
“No.”
Eloa slowly got up.
She pieced together her broken heart and forced herself to muster her will.
It was as futile a task as tying a rope to a corpse.
There was still something she had not finished.
It was not too late to finish after confirming everything.
Not all the doubts had been resolved yet, had they?
Let’s find that man.
Eloa flew into the night sky of Seoul.
To find a clue to finish everything.
The crooked moon was crying coldly.
