## Chapter 500 – #106_Perfume Tycoon (7)
#500
1.
Following his meeting with Count Kohab and then Duke Errelim, Siwoo immediately headed to Tarot Town.
There was no need to explain further; it was to see Yebin and have her check his physical condition.
He knew where she was likely to be.
It was also the place where he had spent two passionate days with her before.
A two-story stone house stood in a corner of the square, in an area where the commercial district wasn’t very good.
As soon as Yebin obtained her citizenship, she opened a free clinic for the citizens of Tarot Town.
If Lenormand Town had reproduced all the fantasies of the Belle Époque era, her clinic was a very Tarot Town-like building.
There were no particularly flashy parts on the outside, but instead, the traces of time could be felt deeply in various places.
However, upon arriving at the clinic, Siwoo sensed that his attempt had been in vain.
He knocked, but the door was firmly locked.
Even though it wasn’t that late, both the second floor where Yebin stayed and the first floor, which was the clinic, were dark.
Was he too late?
Or had she moved her lodgings elsewhere?
He spoke to an old man who was tidying up his stall next door.
“Excuse me, is Yebin Smirna not here?”
The old man, whose face was full of wrinkles but whose arms bulged with muscles as he organized fruit boxes, wiped the sweat from his forehead and answered Siwoo’s question.
“Yebin Smirna… Ah, you mean the Saintess?”
“Saintess?”
“Yes, the Saintess. Doesn’t she look after common folk like us without taking any money? That’s why everyone calls her that. The Saintess even fixed my back, which was bent like a shrimp.”
The old man smiled and patted his back.
Indeed, even Siwoo thought Yebin’s actions were unconventional.
Although she outwardly said she was also conducting magic research, treating minor illnesses wouldn’t be of much help to her magic research.
For citizens who had only seen witches with their noses in the air, lost in their sense of superiority, it was not strange for them to call her a Saintess.
“Do you know where she went?”
“Well, she said she was going on a trip to get some medicinal herbs. But that was already over two months ago.”
“Two months?”
It wasn’t an urgent matter, but it seemed they had missed each other by a long shot.
“If it’s urgent, I’ll let her know when she returns.”
“Thank you. Please tell her that Shin Siwoo was looking for her.”
2.
“Haa… This is frustrating…”
While Siwoo was striking out, Sharon, who had made the perfume and returned home, was groaning over the sudden and huge expense.
She could believe that this perfume was the regular price, based on Siwoo’s reaction.
But at the same time, she couldn’t believe it.
If 2.5 fl.oz of perfume were converted to the more familiar ml unit, it would be only 75mL.
“The standard amount of yogurt is 65mL… So it’s a little more…”
But the price was 122.2 pounds.
Even with installments, it meant a fixed expenditure of 10 gold coins every day for 12 months.
The gold coins she received from the Geminai mansion as maintenance support were 12 per quarter, and the gold coins she received for research were 12 per month, totaling 15 per month.
It was a lot of money.
Moreover, the Geminai mansion fully supported her rent, workshop rental fees, and food expenses.
However, due to the nature of Sharon’s magic, huge expenses occurred with each research project, so she was always walking a tightrope with a tight budget.
Thanks to Siwoo’s help, she didn’t have to pay installment interest, but it was still a painful expense for Sharon.
“I knew my luck was too good lately…”
Except for the brief crisis Siwoo had faced, it seemed that spring had finally come into her life.
After overcoming the incomplete succession, Sharon’s magic research was sailing smoothly.
It seemed that dropping to the 17th rank and re-establishing the basics had been a great help.
“Ugh… Should I look for a side job…?”
No matter how good the research situation was, if the budget was ruined…
The peridot set she was planning to buy at the end of this month would have to be given up, and two of the five research projects she was conducting simultaneously would have to be temporarily frozen.
Sharon slumped her head and picked up the crystal perfume bottle, which was clearly see-through.
She opened the lid, dropped a tiny bit on her wrist, and smelled the fragrance.
“Ssshh…”
At that moment, her heart became as peaceful as if she were walking in a happy dream.
When she smelled this perfume, her heart raced and fluttered as it did when she was first held in Siwoo’s arms.
Of course, she was always excited whenever she saw him, but it was more like looking back at a hazy, idealized memory of the past.
It was a comfortable scent that made her forget about her real-life money worries and the stress of various romantic entanglements for a while.
“Haa… How can someone make something like this?”
Sharon felt her lips loosen and leaned back on the sofa.
The separately applied magical effect was only to enhance a little vitality.
The rest was an effect derived purely from the beautiful fragrance.
Like a car-poor person who forgets their bitter worries while caressing a steering wheel with a Benz logo, Sharon wore a warm smile.
-Knock knock
“Huh?”
The sound of knocking.
Sharon’s heart also began to race.
This was because the only people who had ever come to visit her at such a late hour were Duke Elloa, who wanted to have a drink together, or Siwoo.
The Duke was on a business trip to solve a problem in the present world, so wouldn’t the person knocking be Siwoo?
Sharon sprang up like a spring and checked her clothes in the mirror.
It had been too long since she had been with Siwoo.
“…Then tonight, let’s be together in bed!”
Her nightgown, which was thin and looked appropriately seductive, was ready.
Her hair was not particularly disheveled and looked fine, okay.
Moreover, she had the secret perfume that Amelia had given her as a gift, so how about sharing the excitement of their first time together in a new way?
“I’ll be right there~”
She quickly finished her check and opened the door as if riding the wind, but.
She immediately froze.
“Ex…”
“I’m sorry for coming late at night. Do you have a moment? It won’t be long.”
It was Amelia who was waiting for Sharon at the door.
2.
In fact, she had forgotten for a moment due to the shock the perfume had given her.
Sharon had something to apologize to Amelia for.
Even though it was in a fit of anger, she had said things that could have hurt her, and she hadn’t even properly delivered the apology that was her original purpose.
Of the two people sitting across from each other with hand-brewed black tea in front of them, it was Sharon who spoke first.
“Um… I’m sorry for everything. I think I spoke too carelessly.”
“No, it’s okay. It can happen.”
“I’m not just saying it, I really mean it. If it weren’t for Amelia, I wouldn’t have even met Siwoo… It was wrong of me to say things like that.”
Sharon repeatedly bowed her head.
Meanwhile, Amelia didn’t take Sharon’s words to heart.
The reason she had closed her shop and come to see her separately was not to hear an apology.
“Sharon, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“…Yes?”
Amelia placed a thick book she had been carrying under her arm on the table.
“I understand how you feel, Sharon. You’ve actually been with Siwoo for a long time. You wanted to be together even longer, as much as it was hard to meet him.”
“…I understand.”
“This book is a list of names to kill that I received in exchange for treating Siwoo’s body. I received it from Duke Keter.”
Amelia stroked the cover of the book with a complex gaze.
The list of names to kill had not yet been fully carried out.
Half of it was waiting for Amelia to keep her promise.
“I plan to finish the list of names to kill in the present world as soon as the penalty is prepared. I won’t take Siwoo with me. So, please let me be with Siwoo a little longer, at least for the remaining time.”
“Do you… not need any help?”
“It’s my job.”
Her words were filled with a noble resolve.
It was a determination not to put Siwoo in danger no matter what.
“Can I take a look?”
When Amelia nodded, Sharon carefully took the list of names to kill.
It was heavy and thick.
Moreover, it was the list of names to kill of the mysterious witch Duke Keter.
She was worried about Amelia, who would be taking risks in the future, but she couldn’t help but be curious.
She was also curious about what kind of witch or homunculus might exist.
When Sharon opened the book.
She couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion.
“Amelia.”
“Yes.”
“Is this book really a list of names to kill?”
“Yes?”
Sharon showed Amelia the list of names to kill, or rather, the questionable book that she wasn’t sure was really a list of names to kill.
“There’s nothing written in it?”
No matter how many pages Sharon turned, the list of names to kill was just blank.
Amelia, who had taken the book back, flipped through the pages roughly, but even after looking through it from beginning to end, all that existed was a white blank page, as if it were new.
“Why… why?”
Amelia was bewildered.
It was the first time she had opened the list of names to kill since reuniting with Siwoo.
However, from the texture of the paper to the thick cover.
She couldn’t possibly mistake the book she had been with for a long time for something else.
As if her duty was over, or as if it was completely broken, not a single word was written on it.
Amelia had also noticed that this list of names to kill was no ordinary book.
To be precise, it was closer to a book of prophecy.
Even though the positions of the homunculus and the target were not always in the same place, it had accurately pinpointed their locations.
What did it mean that such a book had suddenly turned blank?
Perhaps it was not an ominous sign?
With an anxious heart, Amelia got up from her seat.
“Sharon, I’m sorry. I have to go somewhere for a moment.”
“Yes, yes?”
Amelia left without even properly receiving Sharon’s greeting.
It wasn’t someone else’s problem, it was related to Siwoo.
She had to meet Duke Keter.
