City ​​of Witches 1046

Chapter 1046 – #249_Overwork (2)

#1040

1.
I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling.

The sickroom of the Jemernai County.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t originally a sickroom, but a room where Siwoo lay whenever he collapsed.

It would be better to describe it as a VIP room exclusively for witches, providing patients with pleasant air, room temperature, and stable magical power.

“Ugh…”

A throbbing headache brought back the last scene before I collapsed.
It seems I just fell flat on my face…

“Siwoo, are you awake?”
“Huh?”
“Say ‘ah’.”
“Oop.”

As I was gaping stupidly, a bite-sized piece of apple slipped into my mouth.
The sweet and sour juice spread through my dry mouth, and I finally came to my senses, realizing that the sun was already high in the sky.

When did so much time pass?

Wait a minute.
Time passed?

“I’m screwed…!”
“No! Lie down, lie down, lie down.”

I tried to jump up, but Sharon pressed my forehead down, forcing my head back onto the pillow.
She wasn’t particularly strong, but my current physical state was even more feeble than Sharon’s delicate wrist strength.

“No, if I’ve been sleeping this long, you should have woken me up…”
“So you could collapse again? Do you know how worried I was?”
“Overwork?”
“If you’re having a hard time, you should say so. You dummy, dummy, dummy.”

Siwoo, noticing that Sharon’s eyelids were particularly red, deduced what had happened.

“Oh, dear… I’ve made you worry again.”

Sharon pretended not to hear and continued.

“The Duke went out and explained about your appointment. You absolutely have to rest for a week.”

Canceling an appointment abruptly would be against etiquette, and it wouldn’t be good for rumors to spread that the head of the academy had collapsed from overwork, so Elloah had to step in.

After all, Elloah was also a senior member of the Hessed Academy, and her reputation and understanding were more than enough to cover the cost of postponing the appointment.

“I can’t rest for a whole week.”
“No way! I wanted to tell you to rest for a month, but I held back.”

Sharon stated firmly, but then she pushed another piece of apple into my mouth.

Even though she said that, Siwoo couldn’t even think about getting up and working.

According to Sharon’s explanation, it was a kind of mental burnout that manifested as overwork in the spirit body.

Well, it’s not surprising.
I’ve fought for my life countless times, so it’s about time I crashed.

“I’ll take care of what I can. You just need to recover quickly and think about getting up. Okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”

The drowsiness that had been lingering since a while ago.

As Siwoo yawned widely, Sharon placed a new wet towel on his head.
My body was sore and uncomfortable, but being cared for so cheerfully made me feel strangely good.

Is this why they say you shouldn’t live single and get married?

“Thank you.”
“Of course, you should be thankful. Where else would you find a pretty, cute, kind secretary who also nurses you? Our academy head is blessed.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
“Sleep well, my beloved academy head.”

Before falling asleep, Sharon responded to Siwoo’s words with a playful kiss.

2.
The Hessed Academy, which had begun to grow like bamboo shoots in the rainy season.
The rumor that the academy head, Shin Siwoo, who was like its pillar, had collapsed was not good timing.

Siwoo’s hospitalization was kept secret, but rumors spread quickly in the Jemernai County.
It didn’t take even an hour for Odile and Odette to learn the secret that had been passed from servant to servant.

However, the twins were busy primping, looking at each other like mirrors.

“Sister, how do I look?”
“Pretty, pretty, Odette, how about me?”
“Like a beautiful black swan. But let’s change your shoes.”
“Why? What’s wrong with my shoes?”
“Look, sister, the tone doesn’t match.”

The twins, who had turned pale at the news that their assistant had collapsed during class, were ready to rush to his side, but there was a limit to how much they could worry.

Their assistant had his brain pierced by the vicious public enemy Aea who came from outside Gehenna, and he had been in a coma for months, and he had also challenged ridiculous opponents to duels, and he had suddenly disappeared and been kidnapped, losing contact more than once or twice.

Since they had heard from their teacher that it wasn’t a big problem, they were more concerned with the issues that would follow than with simple worry.

In other words, this wasn’t a serious problem, but rather an exciting hospital visit event.

“Hmph.”

Next to them, Luelie, perched on a box full of shoes, was snorting.
She didn’t have classes like the twins, so she could have gone to visit him earlier, but she had been sitting there the whole time.

“Luelie, what are you complaining about now?”
“They said the assistant collapsed. You should at least go and show your face.”
“I will take care of it. More importantly, aren’t you two not very worried either?”

Luelie answered in a sulky voice.

“Oh, you wouldn’t understand.”
“For the assistant, collapsing from overwork is like falling and scraping his knee. If you don’t brace yourself, you’ll be crying soon.”

“We should calmly move on and prepare for the event. Our plan is to make a nutritious, energy-boosting soup and bring it to the assistant.”
“When the body is weak, the mind also weakens, and then our sincerity will look more admirable, right? To achieve a fatal seduction, you have to exploit weaknesses! Hehe.”

“How about it? Do you want to join us?”
“He’ll be so touched that he’ll give us kisses, right?”

It was a somewhat clumsy plan, but the twins were generous enough to include Luelie in this brilliant plan.
They had received unexpected help from her, and even if they hadn’t, she was a close friend.

“Me? Hmph! I don’t have the time to worry about such a shameless person.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Did something happen?”

It wasn’t hard to tell that Luelie was sulking, as she didn’t usually care about what others thought.
It was clear that something was wrong when her usual title of ‘the nation’s queen’ had changed to ‘such a shameless person’.

“Aren’t you two bothered at all? I heard he went to the seaside villa with a novice witch I don’t even know the face of!”
“Ah, that’s…”
“It’s because of the irregular succession, so it can’t be helped, right?”
“Huuuup…!”

Luelie, with wide eyes, shouted loudly.

“It can’t be helped!!!”
“W-whoa, you scared me!”
“Did you swallow a foghorn or something…”

But it didn’t make sense.

Luelie Nukelavi was the self-proclaimed queen of the sea.

She didn’t seem interested in lovey-dovey fights, and even when the assistant had more lovers, she would show a baseless confidence, saying things like, ‘My charm is as vast as the sea, would I be afraid of rivals?’

It wasn’t that she didn’t feel jealous at all, but rather that her noble self-consciousness wouldn’t accept ‘herself being anxious about a rival,’ so she acted like it was nothing.

“Why are you suddenly like this?”
“You’re so weird, really.”

What’s more?

Although it was a bit off, she had even shown an unexpectedly mature side and willingly rolled up her sleeves to help with the twins’ scheme to connect the little teacher and the assistant.

A foolish but good person, arrogant but secretly considerate, that was Luelie.

But why was she so angry about this?

“Do you still not understand? I guess I can’t communicate with children.”
“What are you talking about? You’re a kid too.”
“The sea! The sea!”
“Huh?”

Luelie, who was pounding her chest as if she was frustrated, vented her anger.

“If there was a seaside villa in Gehenna, shouldn’t I have gone with him first? I miss the sea too! I’m a deep-sea witch, a deep-sea witch! Shouldn’t a man have that much sense?!”
“……”

The twins looked at each other and had a silent conversation.

So, the reason she was angry wasn’t because he went to play with another woman, but because he didn’t take her to the seaside villa?

There were times when Luelie got angry about strangely odd things, and this seemed to be similar.

“Oh, I thought it was something serious. Odette, how’s my hat?”
“Pretty, pretty.”
“Didn’t you ask me first! Listen carefully!”

Luelie was complaining to the twins, who were quickly changing the subject.

3.
The central market of Tarot Town, with its roads carefully paved with red bricks, was always bustling with people and demons.
After all, it was the best market in Gehenna and the foundation of the lives of Gehenna citizens.

“Hey, you! How can the price of a box be two silver coins higher after only a few days?”
“Old man, this is the lowest I can go. You should have bought them when I gave you a discount last time. I told you repeatedly…”
“Furs! Soft weasel furs! People, look here! If you buy them in the summer, your wife will love you in the winter!”

The merchants who had set up stalls widely around the central fountain were constantly haggling, and the shouts of the loud hawkers, like the melodies of songs, echoed throughout the streets.

However, at 3 o’clock, one side of the market became quiet as if by magic.
It was a strange silence, filled with anticipation, like just before the actors appeared on stage in a theater.

A young man wiping sweat from his forehead stared intently at one side of the road, and a shimmering golden silhouette appeared.

A woman who had been visiting the market at the same time every day for the past few days.
She was a witch with bright blonde hair and noble blue eyes, wearing a large cloak despite the hot weather.

“Oh, she’s coming again today.”
“She’s so beautiful…”

As the witch passed by, leaving a trail of pleasant fragrance, the people in her wake flared their nostrils to catch the scent.

“Wow, she’s the epitome of nobility.”
“I wish she would smile at me just once…”

As you could see from their everyday appearances, most of the citizens of the Tarot Town market were ordinary people, as witches rarely visited.

In this situation, Amelia’s beauty and the pleasant fragrance she emitted had become a spectacle for people of all ages.

Amelia, feeling embarrassed, stepped into a secluded fruit store.
An old woman with wrinkles that showed the passage of time greeted Amelia with a gentle smile.

“Have you come again today, beautiful witch?”
“…Yes.”

The old woman, who had been running a fruit store in the market for a long time, knew that this seemingly cold young lady was very shy.

“Do you have any strawberries?”

Just by seeing how embarrassed she was about coming to buy strawberries at the same time every day, she could tell.

The old woman presented plump, red strawberries with a warm smile.
They were high-quality fruits with a sweet fragrance that wafted even though they were in a basket, not held up to the nose.
It was hard to believe that they had grown in a glass greenhouse since it wasn’t their season.

“I knew you would come, so I set them aside for you. The price is the same as always.”
“I can’t do that. There’s more than last time.”
“Then let’s say it’s the store owner’s way of showing appreciation to a regular customer.”
“……”

I was planning to buy a little more to give to Siwoo anyway…

Amelia nodded and placed a shiny silver coin in the old woman’s hand, then hesitated for a moment.
There was warmth in the brief touch of their hands and in the old woman’s gaze.

This was a kindness that even a fool could recognize.
What would Sharon do in this situation?

“Thank you.”

Amelia took off her hat, bowed her head, and gave a soft smile.
Since she was much younger, she thought it would be more comfortable for the recipient if she used this instead of formal language.

“In my life, I’ve never been greeted by such a beautiful witch.”

The old woman, who had widened her eyes, laughed like a girl and waved her hand.
Amelia also smiled back a little awkwardly.