City ​​of Witches 307

Chapter 307 – #68_Pre-Trip (4)

#305

1.
It was the dead of night, when even the moonlight hid behind the clouds and the insects were fast asleep.
In the dim room, the twins’ whispers mingled with the bubbling sound of a liquid boiling.

“Odette, check again. This isn’t it.”
“Huh? Oh, you’re right. Just a moment, sis…”

Odile and Odette were huddled together in the alchemy lab next to the old library.
It was a facility built by the chaebol chairman, Count Geminai, who said, “It’s good for our kids’ education~,” and it was filled with cutting-edge equipment and materials that would make even the most seasoned alchemists envious.
There were hundreds of alchemy tools, including complex distillation tubes, centrifuges, scales, magic heating plates, precision measuring test tubes, and reagents, making it a very serious setup.

The twins, cloaked in robes, had a book open under a dim lantern.
Odette was diligently preparing the necessary ingredients for the alchemy, while Odile was drawing a magic circle on a chalkboard to heat the witch’s cauldron.

The twins were constantly glancing at a thick, ancient book propped up on a stand.
It was the second volume of the ‘Forbidden Potion Recipe Book’ they had found in the old library today.

Odile and Odette were desperate.
Until now, they had been strongly focused on fighting each other to win Sharon’s love.
They had always treated her as an equal.

However, the relationship between Sharon and her assistant, who had shared a passionate night, was far beyond what the twins had expected.
Moreover, they had seen with their own eyes that Sharon possessed a seductive charm that the twins could never match, no matter how hard they tried.
They felt a sense of crisis so strong that they would have borrowed a monkey’s paw to turn the tide.

After meticulously searching the library for a game-changing move, they had finally found the potion recipe book they wanted.
Without hesitation, they immediately began the process.
They were now in the middle of brewing the potion.

The twins’ faces were backlit by the dim lantern light.
Their purple eyes, shining with a strange light, made them look like mad scientists or witches.

“Odette, the magic furnace I made needs to be activated for 3.3 seconds, five times.”
“Huuu, this is really hard, sis…”
“Give it here. I’ll do it.”

In fact, Geminai’s magnetic magic and alchemy were not closely related.
However, apprentice witches were like medical students.
Just as a surgeon or a plastic surgeon needs to have a basic knowledge and practical experience of the human body, the twins were studying various types of magic.
Learning elemental magic from Sharon was the same.

Among these, the field in which the twins excelled the most was potion making.
This was because it was a type of magic that was easy to use for pranks.

“This is harder than the potion that made our teacher grow a beard…”
“The potion that made us sleep for three days straight wasn’t this hard…”

The ‘Viking’s Potion’ that made beards grow as a prank.
The ‘Hibernation Potion’ that they made with the idea that if they didn’t want to go to class, they could just sleep all day without being woken up.

All of these were potions of considerable difficulty, but they weren’t this hard.
It felt like the difficulty had increased significantly because it was the second volume.

By carefully preparing and processing the alchemy ingredients, putting them in the cauldron, and heating them with magic heat at the right time in the right magic furnace, the potion would take on its mysterious properties.
After much struggle, Odile and Odette finally created a beautiful purple liquid.

-Sizzle!

“Huu…”
“That was a long battle.”

Odile cooled the steaming flask by immersing it in ice water, thus ending the brewing process for now.
Now, only one step remained.

“If a snowflake pattern appears inside after adding the reagent, then it’s made correctly.”

It was inefficient to check if a potion was made correctly by drinking it or feeding it to someone.
Therefore, most potion recipe books had a test reagent that could be used to confirm success through a reaction test.
Like the clear liquid in the dropper that Odette was holding.

“Okay, let’s do it.”
“We’ve failed three times already… This has to be the last one.”
“Odette! Don’t jinx it!”
“S-Sorry, sis…”

The twins swallowed hard and dripped a few drops of the test reagent into the flask.
At the same time, beautiful snowflakes bloomed inside the flask.

“Waaah…!”
“It worked…!”

As if to celebrate Odile and Odette’s efforts, beautiful crystals bloomed and faded inside the flask.

“Sis! If we give this to the assistant!”
“Yeah, we can give Sharon a taste of her own medicine.”

The twins hadn’t agreed to go on a one-night, two-day trip with Sharon without a plan.
Sharon herself might not be aware of it, but if she showed them such jealous-inducing scenes, shouldn’t they get their revenge?

What the twins had created was the male version of ‘Eros’s Potion’.
It was a ‘sweet potion’ that made the drinker fall in love at first sight with the woman they saw after drinking it.
The effect was slightly different from Eros’s Potion, which increased both lust and affection, but the context was the same.

What if they showed Sharon the assistant completely smitten with the twins in front of her?
There could be no better revenge than that.

“Odette, let’s light the fire of counterattack!”
“Yeah, sis! We’ll show her!”
“Hehe…”
“Hehehe…”

The twins, who had stayed up almost all night, had a sly smile on their faces, forgetting their fatigue.

2.
One might wonder why go to the beach in late autumn.

However, the Blue Strait, Gehenna’s only resort beach, has a typical Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, humid winters.
If you were to pick a place on Earth with a similar climate, it would be the California coast.
Anyway, Odile and Odette insisted that even though the seawater was colder than in summer, it was still perfectly fine to swim.

From early morning, the carriage carrying Siwoo, the twins, and Sharon arrived in front of Flora’s Dress Shop.
They had tried to visit their teacher in the morning to coax her into joining them, but Elloah hadn’t even opened the door.

She had only answered from behind the door in a groaning voice, “I’ll find my own way. Go on ahead.”
Since the picnic was hosted by the twins, and they didn’t want to make her wait any longer, they got on the carriage.

The reason they didn’t go straight to the Blue Strait and stopped by the dress shop was because they needed something to have fun at the beach.
That was, of course, swimsuits.

“Do we really need to go this far to get swimsuits?”

Siwoo was a little dumbfounded.
He had thought they would just wear something they had brought from Bordertown…
Swimsuits made to order, not even for a swimmer.

“Of course! Assistant. Swimsuits are a part of fashion, and it’s a skill that every lady should have!”
“We get our swimsuits made here every year! They’re very pretty and they do it quickly.”

The twins were already in high spirits.
They pulled and pushed Siwoo by the hands, running into the church-like dress shop.

He remembered coming here with Amelia to get a suit made.
Once during his slave days, and once when he had no memories.
The grand exterior, like a church, and the solemnity that didn’t seem like a clothing store, were still the same.

“Hello! Arabesque Witch.”
“Hello!”
“It’s been a while, noisy Geminai twins.”
“We’re here to get swimsuits made today!”
“I was wondering when you’d come.”

The twins greeted her cheerfully, raising their hands.
Flora, still with a languid expression, took a puff of her pipe and greeted them back.
They were more friendly than he had expected, as if they saw each other often.
Well, it wouldn’t be strange if the twins got all their dresses made here.
As Flora slowly looked around, her gaze turned to Siwoo.

“Oh my? So you’re that kid? The one who’s been famous lately.”
“Yes, you remember me.”
“I never forget the people I make clothes for.”

Flora tapped her head and acknowledged Siwoo.
What was a little unexpected was that Flora didn’t show as much interest as other witches.
Well, if she had given up on increasing her rank because she loved making clothes, it was understandable.
For Siwoo, who had to enjoy the feeling of being a rare Pokémon as soon as he returned to Gehenna, that reaction was quite welcome.

“So, you want one for everyone here, right?”
“Yes!”
“M-Me too?”
“We asked you to come with us first. Of course, we have to get one for you too!”
“T-Thank you.”

Sharon, who had thought she was just going to be a bystander, was surprised by the twins’ words.
She had thought she would have to pay for it herself.
Sharon was feeling a pang of conscience, as she hadn’t kept her promise with Albireo.

“Then, shall we start with the twins?”

3.
Siwoo was the last to go after the twins and Sharon.

Flora was definitely a master of clothing.
She had made clothes for three people in less than 15 minutes, which was quite impressive.
Even if it was easier to make swimsuits, which had less fabric (probably), she was still as fast as a factory manager.

As Siwoo entered the tailoring room, Flora smiled at him.

“You’re quite capable, aren’t you? A baron, a count’s apprentice witch, and a famous elemental witch, all on a picnic with you.”
“It’s not like that.”
“What do you mean, it’s not? All three of them asked me to make them look good for you. Especially the twins, they were so loud. They’re always rowdy, but I’ve never seen them this bad.”
“They’re very energetic.”

It was a slightly awkward topic, but Flora didn’t pry any further, as if it was just small talk.
Instead, she started making a swimsuit in the air without taking any measurements.
It was still a mysterious, almost surgical, precise telekinesis.

“I don’t need to take your measurements. Should I make it a little loose? Or should I make it cling to you like spandex?”
“Is it possible to make it like shorts?”
“Okay, you’re the first man to wear three outfits I’ve made, so be proud of it.”
“Yes, I’ll be honored.”

The Hawaiian-style patterns that began to be embroidered on the black fabric.
Siwoo, who was suddenly curious, asked.
As he remembered, she had given up on developing her magic because she loved making clothes.
Then, what kind of magic did she originally use?

“May I ask you one question?”
“Sure, I’m bored.”
“Is the magnetic magic that the witch uses to make clothes?”

Flora glanced at Siwoo.

“Why? Are you curious?”
“Well, magnetic magic has its own unique characteristics. I just wanted to ask.”
“I don’t mind telling you. I was originally a thread-weaving witch. I made clothes with threads created by magic.”
“Ah…”
“The clothes I make with my heart can defend against most magic. But I’d rather see pretty witches wearing pretty clothes than see them get torn up in a fight. Here, try it on.”
“It’s already done?”

It felt like a very short conversation, but a stylish resort swimsuit was already finished.
He had thought it would look a little frivolous, but even with all those floral and palm tree patterns, it looked very simple and neat.

“Men’s clothes aren’t much. The two witches’ swimsuits will be something to look forward to. I put a lot of effort into them.”

When he tried it on in the dressing room, it fit perfectly and hugged his groin warmly.
It was definitely more comfortable than most underwear.

“You have a good body.”

After getting his swimsuit, Siwoo carefully packed his clothes and got back on the carriage.