Chapter 341 – #74_The Lazy Witch (6)
#339
1.
As soon as Diana left the host bar, she bought a location board from a nearby store.
Then, after ordering ice cream at the cafe she had her eye on yesterday, she began to review the game.
She was remembering all the moves they had made, taking turns to place them one by one.
“Hoo…”
Siwoo had blocked all of Diana’s attacks as if they were a joke.
The messy moves that had shaken Diana from the start.
After carefully and calmly going over them, one thought suddenly popped into her mind.
“I think I could just win if I played by the book…”
Looking back on her matches with him, they were always similar.
Siwoo would make unexpected moves, and Diana would get caught up in them.
When Diana, feeling impatient, tried to do something, she would be sunk by a surprise brilliant move.
And the most infuriating thing was.
“Why did it have to be a dispel pin…?”
The dispel pin is a very inefficient strategy even on the location board.
It is generally difficult to succeed, and even if it does, the merit is not that great.
It’s a high-risk, low-return tactic where the person who succeeds feels great and the person who suffers feels extremely annoyed.
In other words, it’s a kind of taunting, bad-mannered play.
However, Diana had suffered more dispels from Siwoo in one day than she had in all her time playing location board.
It was only natural that she was furious.
“Still…”
Thinking calmly, it wasn’t something to just get angry about and end there.
Regardless of the process, he had seen through Diana’s intentions and achieved victory through strategic planning.
However.
“Ugh…!”
No matter how much she thought about it, she was angry.
“How dare…”
An amateur who doesn’t even seem to know how to study the basics properly!
“Using such bizarre tricks and cunning…”
But in this feeling of having her victory stolen, a calm assessment was impossible.
It was absolutely impossible, even for her pride.
“He’s really dead tomorrow…!”
A strategy as distinctive as Siwoo’s couldn’t be used multiple times.
It was a joker card, so to speak.
It would only be effective once or twice if it worked well.
She firmly believed that today was just bad luck and she had been caught off guard, and she prepared for tomorrow.
2.
“Welcome, Diana.”
“Please prepare the location board. I’ll order some drinks.”
6 a.m. the next morning.
Diana, who had skipped even breakfast today and come to the host bar, repeated to herself that she was confident this time.
Her strategy analysis and countermeasures were perfect.
To return the humiliation she had received yesterday, she stepped into the bar with a spirit of no retreat and immediately prepared the board.
“You’re in quite a hurry. Do you have an appointment today?”
Seeing Siwoo, who was smiling as if he knew nothing, Diana felt her heart pounding.
People’s hearts beat when they are angry.
His always cluelessly smiling face, his nonchalant attitude, his annoying way of playing, and the fact that he was a male witch—she didn’t like any of it.
“Hoo…”
It was not elegant to reveal one’s emotions directly.
Even if there was a complaint, it was natural for a noble lady to gently point it out so that the other party could notice it themselves.
But this, she had to say.
“I don’t like you.”
“Is that so? You’ve been coming every morning lately, though?”
Diana, without realizing it, pouted her lips and spoke sharply in a dissatisfied voice.
Siwoo, in host mode, calmly accepted it.
“I especially don’t like how you’re so slippery.”
“I’ll be careful from now on.”
“Hmph…!”
After snorting at his attitude of not giving in until the end (that’s how it looked in Diana’s eyes), she sat down on the sofa rather roughly.
The current overall score was 2 to 2.
If Diana lost this game, it would mean that she had allowed a beginner at location board to reverse sweep her.
Before the game officially started, Diana spoke first.
“I guess the dispel pin is your specialty?”
Siwoo, who had paused for a moment, answered sincerely.
“I don’t know much about magic, but I have some knowledge of magical formula analysis and deciphering.”
“It won’t work this time.”
“I look forward to it.”
Diana sharply raised her eyebrows and put strength into her eyes.
The arrangement of mana sources between the two was the same as usual.
Diana, the orthodox, righteous faction.
Siwoo, the unorthodox, demonic cult.
But today, there was a slight difference.
Diana, who had always laid the groundwork and carefully built up her foundation before preparing to attack, began to unleash aggressive moves from the start.
To use an analogy, Siwoo’s way of placing dispels was like ‘laying landmines.’
Unexpected ambushes from meaningless moves scattered in all directions.
Until now, Diana had been so busy building up her foundation that she hadn’t checked for that landmine-laying work.
As a result, wasn’t she caught off guard at the moment she thought she had won?
“Hehe…”
Then.
She would revise her strategy.
If she induced constant small-scale skirmishes, making it impossible to make other moves by applying tight and dense pressure?
It would become difficult to use tricks like dispel.
Diana’s habit.
When things went according to plan, she would subtly twist the corners of her mouth into a smile.
Right now, the corners of her mouth were raised high.
It was because she could clearly see Siwoo’s flustered appearance as he struggled to respond to Diana’s changed style overnight.
“Hmm…”
As proof, the time Siwoo spent pondering had increased.
It was understandable since his only strength, the dispel, had been blocked.
This was the difference between a witch who only used unorthodox tactics and an apprentice witch who had steadily built up her basics and followed the orthodox path.
A person who relies only on tricks can never beat the model of orthodoxy.
“Hmm, you’re sharp. Did something bad happen today? You’re being very aggressive.”
Look at that.
How cornered must he be to say such a thing?
It was against the rules to talk about the game during a match, but Diana felt a sense of smugness and lifted her chin.
“You seem quite frustrated. Do you have no other tricks besides the dispel pin?”
“It certainly seems difficult to use dispel. Then I’ll have to do this.”
“Try to struggle. I’ll show you what real magic is.”
With those spirited words from the two, the fierce battle began to spread.
Siwoo’s momentum, which had been focused on defense, changed.
He began to engage in small-scale battles, launching a counterattack against Diana.
“You’re putting up a fight. That’s a good choice. Are you confident?”
Even at this point, Diana didn’t think much of it.
Continuing to induce these small-scale skirmishes was also orthodox, in a way.
She didn’t think she would lose.
A back-and-forth, endless battle unfolded.
Stealing runes, stealing the stolen runes again, and stealing the stolen runes again in a chaotic fight.
“……”
After a little while, Diana felt her head getting hot.
Originally, a chaotic battle was bound to be a headache.
Because it was small-scale, less effort was needed for calculations, but the situation could change with just one move.
Even a moment of wavering could lead to defeat in that battle.
“Th-th-this…”
That’s why, in location board, chaotic battles usually only occur in 5 to 6 sections.
But this man, as if showing off, was further accelerating the battle, inducing the flames of battle to spread to 10 sections, 15 sections, and 20 sections.
To Diana, who was taking an aggressive offensive.
He had started a mud fight that was even more aggressive, one that even he couldn’t handle.
“What on earth is he thinking….”
It was another strange thing.
A dogfight where they grabbed each other’s hair and shook it wildly.
Diana, while internally shouting, ‘He’s playing the game so dirty!’ countered Siwoo’s attacks.
Now that the game had started, the one who backed out first would be at a disadvantage.
“Ah…”
Diana, who had been completely distracted by the battles that were taking place in a coordinated manner in various places, was finally able to take a breath when Siwoo seemed to stop his offensive and wrap up the battle.
Diana, who finally had the space to look at the board broadly, beyond her narrow vision, vaguely felt it.
“Huh?”
At first, she thought she had seen it wrong.
But even after washing her eyes and looking closely, it was the same.
She had already lost the game.
She had thought that they had been fighting back and forth similarly.
If she was hit once, she would hit back once, and if she hit once, she would be hit back once.
Even though it was a brawl that wasn’t in the textbook, she had been secretly acknowledging Siwoo’s skill in putting up such a fight, and she had thought that she had fought well enough.
But looking again, the victory had already tilted.
The number of runes they had occupied was similar, but the essential runes had somehow been taken by Siwoo.
Compared to Diana’s camp, which was in tatters after the chaotic battle, the opponent was ready to change his system and make a comeback at any time.
This would lead to a difference in the order of organizing the magic formulas.
While Diana was applying medicine, wrapping bandages, and getting back into the ring, her opponent would be wearing full plate armor and holding a warhammer.
From here, she couldn’t guess what she needed to do to win.
She had lost.
Even though her mana sources were still alive, Diana sensed defeat.
Just as Diana had been distracted, so had her opponent.
But he had naturally prepared even after the chaotic battle had ended?
Was this even possible?
If this was really intentional….
That was already beyond the realm of humans.
He was a monster.
Just as Diana was shocked by the unimaginable result.
-Clack!
Suddenly, a way out appeared.
If Siwoo had wrapped up and solidified his position as it was, Diana would have been trampled without being able to resist.
But he recklessly tried to continue the chaotic battle.
Moreover, it was in a place where Diana already had the upper hand.
This mistake was an opportunity.
Diana quickly responded to Siwoo’s attack while gathering her momentum.
It often happened.
Just like Diana had done, her vision would become narrow, and she would fail to read the overall flow of the game.
She would fail to realize whether she was at an advantage or disadvantage.
Siwoo’s moves right now were proof of that state.
He wasn’t laying the groundwork for a dispel, and he was wasting moves by showing excessive obsession in an area that didn’t affect the outcome of the game.
Diana desperately engaged in the battle.
She caught up with the gap that had opened up while her opponent was making useless moves.
The conviction that the previous defeat was not due to skill but ‘luck’ brought a sense of ease to Diana’s mind.
“I won. I did.”
Reversing the unfavorable situation and achieving a great victory.
She had grasped the sweet fruit that was fittingly called the final round.
Diana clenched her fist timidly and trembled with the thrill of victory.
“You’re amazing. I can’t possibly beat you.”
“That’s because you were waging a chaotic battle all over the place. You couldn’t clean up what you had started, could you?”
“The score is 3 to 2 now. I lost.”
Diana was excited.
Although she didn’t show it, just by looking at her constantly twitching lips and fluttering cute nostrils, she seemed very, very excited.
Therefore, she humbly acknowledged it.
Even though he was a quirky person who only used strange strategies like a cheat, she knew that he had some ability.
“But you’re amazing too. If it had been another apprentice witch instead of me, they would have lost helplessly. I can’t help but praise you for reaching that level as a man.”
“Is that so?”
“But if you had done this here, I would have lost. Look here.”
Diana, who had become more generous after her final victory, even gave Siwoo advice and praise.
“Anyway, you did a good job. I almost lost because I was careless.”
“You flatter me. I think it was also a time when I could learn a lot from you, Diana.”
Diana got up from her seat.
“Then, I’ll come again if I have the chance.”
“Huh? Aren’t you coming tomorrow?”
“Why would I? I already won?”
There was no mention of a best-of-five series, but Diana had arbitrarily decided it.
She smiled at Siwoo’s flustered expression.
This time, she couldn’t hide her lighthearted smile, and even her white, even teeth were visible.
“Unfortunately, I don’t like bullying people who are worse than me…. Well then, it was quite fun.”
Diana, who had even delivered the final, exhilarating line, left the host bar with a wind-like stride.
It was a beautiful sunny day.
2.
Siwoo stared blankly at the location board.
He also stared at the door that Diana had rushed out of, not even bothering to see him off.
“Something went wrong.”
The situation had gone wrong.
Siwoo’s goal was to get closer to Diana and get help with his mana field research.
To do that, it was good to see her as often as possible.
“Should I have just won instead of letting her win….”
But Diana was the type who clearly hated losing.
He had subtly let her win because he was worried that if he had thoroughly crushed her, her pride would be too hurt and she wouldn’t come back.
He never imagined that she would be satisfied with that and leave.
Besides, when you think about it, wasn’t Diana’s one point a win against Siwoo when he didn’t know anything?
If it had been Odile or Odette, they would have said, ‘That wasn’t a fair fight!’ and challenged him to another round.
As expected, apprentice witches had a way of being like unpredictable balls.
Actually, full-fledged witches were similar, but in the case of apprentice witches, it was almost like a rugby ball….
In Siwoo’s eyes, the difference in skill between the two was already significant.
After his first victory against Diana, he was confident that he could win no matter what Diana did.
This game was ultimately a game of who was better at magical formula analysis and composition, and that was a field that Siwoo was confident in.
If he even took off his eyepatch, the gap would have widened to an incomparable degree.
Still.
“It was fun in its own way.”
It felt like he had thoroughly enjoyed a game that suited his taste.
Siwoo stretched and headed to the dressing room to prepare for business.
And perhaps.
She might come looking for him on her own soon.
Siwoo thought quietly.
