City ​​of Witches 776

Chapter 776 – #163_Seoul And The Witch (3)

#770

1.
After a minor commotion, Siwoo and Elroa returned to Gehenna without any further issues.
While waiting for the entry procedures, Siwoo asked his master, who was clutching the gifted brandy tightly.

“Master.”
“Hmm?”
“I had a strange dream when I was captured by Hexennacht.”
“A dream?”

To be precise, it was a dream he had after killing Rosie and being kidnapped by Lydia, left alone on her bed.
A lake, a tower, and a girl dancing under the moonlight.

He had been so busy with other big events that the impression had become hazy, but after some time, he suddenly became curious.
Elroa, having heard the explanation, nodded.

“It seems like a prophetic dream. It’s not uncommon, but it happens from time to time.”
“A prophetic dream?”

Elroa nodded and continued to explain.

“Did I explain about the prophecy institution before?”
“Yes, you did. If you immerse yourself in the lake, you can see the future, but you can’t see everything, and you can only understand the permitted prophecies.”
“That’s right. I don’t know the exact criteria, but a prophetic dream is an indication from the Witch of Revelation that ‘this information must be conveyed,’ telling you to visit the prophecy institution.”
“…Is that even possible?”

Siwoo didn’t know exactly where the prophecy institution was, but at the time of the dream, Lydia had been hiding him away.
How could they manipulate his dream while he was in a Hexennacht workshop?

“That’s just how they are.”
“Well, I don’t really understand, but it’s not an urgent matter right now.”

Siwoo understood it as something similar to a text message notification before a package arrives.

However, he couldn’t shake off his unease.
Given his tendency to get caught up in trouble just by breathing, he had a gut feeling that the prophecy wasn’t good news.

“What kind of prophecies must be conveyed?”
“Don’t worry too much.”

Perhaps noticing his expression, his master reassured him with a kind smile.

“The importance of the Witch of Revelation is, well, really different from normal standards. Most of the time, they try to convey a future in a dream that you can’t understand why they’re even telling you.”
“For example?”
“I’ve heard they show things like the cheapest apples you can buy in Tarot Town a week later. It’s not always like that, but… you can assume it’s like that ninety-nine times out of a hundred.”

If his master said it like that, he should have felt relieved.
But Siwoo still had a lingering sense of unease.

“I wish it were that simple…”
“Don’t worry too much.”

“Actually, that’s not all. She said something rather ominous. She looked at me and said, ‘My worship to the king hanging upside down’… I don’t understand it at all.”
“…What?”

His master’s reaction was more intense than before.
Looking to the side, his eyes were wide and trembling.

“The Witch of Revelation spoke to you?”

Siwoo was suspicious of the message itself.
But his master was shocked by the fact that the Witch of Revelation had spoken.

“Is that not okay?”
“As I said, the Witch of Revelation is different from us. She lives with a perspective from another dimension.”

“Another dimension…?”
“Unlike us, normal beings live on a continuous timeline, right? A fixed past, a progressing present, leading to an uncertain future. But the Witch of Revelation is different.
She observes thousands of changeable pasts, billions of branching presents, and trillions of possible futures simultaneously.”

Only then did Siwoo realize the meaning of ‘different’ that Elroa had mentioned.

The past is something you recall, and the future is something you imagine, but ultimately, the present is what performs both.
In other words, humans can only experience the present, and this is the general concept of time.

But what if there was a being capable of observing the past, present, and future simultaneously?
It would be like ascending to the observation deck of an omniscient god.
To the Witch of Revelation, anyone with a different perspective from her would be meaningless.

“That’s why she’s an observer. A thorough observer who doesn’t interfere with anything and silently watches.”
“Then why did she speak to me?”

“…I’m not sure either. Why don’t we go together? There’s still some time before the lunar eclipse, so let’s ask Professor Sua first.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind for now.”

As the conversation was coming to an end, the immigration officer appeared with new information.

“Duke Tiferet, how long are you planning to stay in Gehenna this time?”
“About a day.”

“Oh dear… There’s a gate inspection scheduled for two days starting at midnight today. Is that alright?”
“Two days? That’s unusual.”

“Recently, minor errors have been appearing more frequently, so we’re going into a major maintenance operation. If you have urgent business, we can postpone the start date.”
“Thank you, but there’s no need to be so considerate.”
“We are in your debt.”

The immigration officer bowed and retreated, but Elroa was secretly excited about the unexpected event.
She felt sorry for her lover waiting outside, but this meant she had more time to be alone with Siwoo legally.

“Acting like a child…”
“Yes?”
“It’s nothing.”

But her excited heart soon calmed down.

Strangely, when it came to matters related to him, she turned into a child.
The veteran Duke Tiferet disappeared, and Elroa from her immature, carefree apprentice witch days reappeared.

There were still many things to resolve, and unfinished matters, but as soon as she saw the hope of monopolizing him, her steps became lighter.

She had come here to extract Linne and Dorothy.
And to do so, she had to confront Duke Erelim, whose intentions were unknown.

She also had to thoroughly investigate why Erelim had secretly tried to smuggle Siwoo out by trading with Hexennacht.

Of course, without concrete evidence, she couldn’t hold her strongly accountable.
It was also unknown whether she had really plotted such a scheme to secretly possess Siwoo.

In the first place, Erelim had said that she was in a non-aggression pact with Hexennacht, hadn’t she?
Perhaps she had taken her own measures to avoid a direct confrontation between Hexennacht and Gehenna.

But in any case, she wouldn’t want to turn Tiferet into an enemy at this time.
In that sense, the release of Linne and Dorothy was a bargaining chip of equal value.

“I’ll go meet Erelim right away. You should wait at my Geminai mansion.”
“Is it alright if I don’t go with you?”

“I don’t want to show you to her unnecessarily. Whatever her intentions may be.”
“Understood.”

And so, Siwoo headed to the mansion, and Elroa headed to Duke Erelim.

2.
“Blanche, is it okay to concede so easily?”

Immediately after Duke Tiferet left.
Count Kohav, lying in bed with Erelim, asked as if surprised.

He couldn’t easily understand the decision of his beloved and respected lover.
To so easily admit her mistake and decide to concede.

“What do you mean?”
“Your plan was disrupted because of Duke Tiferet’s unauthorized actions. Hexennacht has also started to take a strong anti-Gehenna stance, and I think we could have formally protested to her.”
“From the perspective of the result, yes.”

Most witches in Gehenna do not want an all-out war with Hexennacht.

The most important thing for a witch is the development of magic, and they don’t care much whether public enemies and those with evil tendencies harm humans.

They dislike public enemies, but they don’t hate them enough to risk war.
However, if there were signs that they were trying to harm Gehenna, they would punish them, or so it could be said.

From that perspective, the rescue operation of Shin Siwoo was a bad move.

By preemptively striking Hexennacht, which had been divided into moderates and hardliners, she had provided an opportunity for them to unite.

Even if Duke Tiferet acted as a balancing force, if they protested on this point, they could have obtained a slightly better negotiation.

But Erelim had bowed her head and apologized too easily, accepting Duke Tiferet’s demands.

“Tiferet’s only demand is to release the two captured public enemies, the traitors of Hexennacht.”
“That’s true, but…”

“Tiferet will be able to obtain information about Hexennacht from them. And that information will soon be shared with us as well. I don’t think it’s an exchange where we only lose.
“……”
“Above all, I trust Duke Tiferet. She is a righteous and upright person. Even if it’s just a superficial cooperation, it will be much more helpful in the long run. It’s a cheap price to pay.”

As Erelim spoke, her gaze seemed to be reaching far beyond what Kohav could see.

“The apprentice witch of Keter… So, are you going to give up on Shin Siwoo like this?”

Erelim lit a cigarette instead of answering.
And then she started talking about something completely unrelated to the topic.

“What do you think about humans?”

Knowing that this was a silent expression that she didn’t want to talk about this topic, Kohav readily complied.

“Huh? Oh, well, I don’t think much about them. Humans are humans. If I had to add something, maybe a little pity?”

Most witches would probably agree with Count Kohav.

Humans are a separate species from witches, intelligent but inferior, and with clear limitations.
The word ‘inferior’ doesn’t include a negative subjectivity, but rather it’s an objective fact.

“I am afraid of humans.”

Therefore, Kohav doubted his ears at Erelim’s words.
She, who was arguably at the pinnacle of Gehenna now that Duke Keter was gone, was afraid of humans?
It was impossible.

“That’s a strange thing to say.”
“Is it?”

So he chuckled, taking it as a silly joke or a metaphor.