Chapter 1057 – #251_A Story After Death (3)
#1051
1.
The day I confirmed Dorothy’s body, I received a lot of comfort.
They took turns visiting Siwoo, who was quietly sitting in Dorothy’s room until late at night, and mourned with him.
“I’m sorry, I still want to gather my thoughts.”
But I pushed them all away with the excuse that I wanted to be alone.
It wasn’t because they weren’t helpful, of course.
If I had been alone, I would have surely lost my mind and it would have been much harder than it was now.
But if that kindness, that gentleness, that love that was so supportive were to seep in…
I felt like I would lose my way.
I felt like my firm focus would become blurred.
So, the next day, I sent my lovers away with various excuses.
Master and Amelia are too dangerous.
If those guys attack again, something really terrible could happen.
I’ll protect Rinne, who is still in bed, with Llewellyn and Sharon.
In addition, I half-forced them away with the lie that I wouldn’t have strange thoughts.
This will be the first and last lie I tell my lovers.
And perhaps neither Master nor Amelia believed this lie.
2.
The next night, at the morgue.
Siwoo brought in a guest from Gehenna.
It was the eccentric doctor who had checked Siwoo’s condition before, ‘The Soul Witch, Gretel Nephthys’.
Next to Gretel’s thigh, sitting at the table, was a heavy pouch full of gold coins.
“Can you smoke that here?”
“Don’t give me that look. I’m not going to smoke.”
She flicked the cigarette in her lips after listening to Siwoo’s long request.
It seemed she was the right person for this job.
She was a skilled professional, as recognized by Yebin, and even though she had a somewhat eccentric side, her skills were solid.
Besides, from what I’ve seen so far, she’s tight-lipped.
The fact that she hasn’t revealed Siwoo’s secrets anywhere shows that she has some sense of duty as a doctor.
“So, what’s your answer?”
Gretel sighed deeply and scratched the back of her head.
It was a rather unseemly action, but it suited Gretel, who had a somewhat gloomy side.
“That’s the second crazy thing you’ve proposed to me. First, you asked me to create a connection between your unconscious and conscious mind, which will obviously devour you someday. And now, you’re asking for this…”
“Just the conclusion.”
“I don’t care since I’m securing research samples. I also got paid. But since I’m a doctor, I’ll say this first… I don’t recommend it.”
Gretel’s reaction was naturally expected.
In fact, even Siwoo thought so.
“I’ll put aside the ethical issues like respecting the deceased. You were lovers with the Witch of the Path, right? It hasn’t even been a few days since the accident…”
“It wasn’t an accident, it was an attack.”
“…Okay. I’ll correct myself. Anyway, asking to see your lover’s memories after only two days. And the memories of the day of the attack… You’re not in your right mind.”
“It’s necessary, and it’s something I have to do.”
Gretel eventually lit a cigarette with a troubled expression.
She used telekinesis and airflow manipulation to gather the smoke and odor into a small ball and eliminate it.
“I know you’re in a tough spot. My deepest condolences. How about taking some more time to calm down? The human mind is much more fragile than you think.”
Gretel continued in a gentle tone, like soothing a child.
I know.
She was only trying to stop Siwoo’s reckless actions out of good intentions.
However, the surge of emotion that suddenly erupted was something Siwoo himself could not predict, and therefore could not control.
“Enough with the advice, just do it.”
A reaction like a beast rattling its throat, a volatile reaction that responded to the slightest stimulus.
“That’s what the money you gave me was for.”
Seeing Gretel flinch back and frown, Siwoo belatedly apologized for his mistake.
“Don’t talk to me like that. It’s scary.”
“I apologize. I was rude.”
“…Haa, it’s okay. It’s what you asked for, so don’t blame me later. Sit down.”
Gretel took out the pouch, scattered white powder, and drew a magic circle around it. Siwoo pulled a chair and sat next to Dorothy, who was covered with a white cloth.
The path was set.
Peeking into Dorothy’s memories was also preparation for moving forward.
Dorothy had said.
When she first met Gretel Nephthys, who was now preparing the magic,
After she had brilliantly repelled Gretel, who was trying to take advantage of Siwoo, she said this:
‘Your kindness and gentleness definitely have the power to attract people. Even I, for one, have fallen head over heels for Darling’s harmless charm.’
Dorothy had called Siwoo a kind, gentle, and harmless person.
In my opinion, it was because Dorothy only saw the good in him.
Shin Siwoo is mediocre and weak.
‘But you can’t be kind to everyone. You need to be aware of that. You are a witch, a special being. You have to discard the sensibilities of your human days.’
I couldn’t honestly agree.
I didn’t like the idea that witches should break free from their shackles because they are special beings.
It was what Bianca, who had kidnapped Takasho and brought him to the brink of death, had said, steeped in her elitist mentality.
Even though it was advice with a completely different meaning than Bianca’s, I felt an instinctive sense of rejection.
‘I like the clumsy Darling as he is now~ but sometimes I get a little anxious.’
‘That’s not enough. If you keep going like this, your weakness will eventually hold you back.’
I still thought it was good.
If the weakness Dorothy spoke of was human, I thought it had its own value.
But I was wrong.
That clumsy definition.
That irredeemable weakness.
It ultimately took the life of my beloved Dorothy.
“Ready. Last warning. Be careful not to get too consumed.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
But fortunately, Siwoo still had a chance to make amends.
There was an artifact of resurrection that everyone who had lost a loved one had once sincerely prayed for.
The relic ‘Lotus’ that Master had obtained after defeating Ea Sadalmelik.
Paola Sochitl had tried to achieve her wish by taking the lives of many humans and some witches, but Ea had proven that the lotus also worked with the lives of witches.
“I’ll start. Count down from three.”
Gretel’s magic flashed, and Siwoo’s consciousness sank deeply.
2.
I don’t understand it in detail because it’s not my major field.
But according to Gretel, traces remain in the soul.
What Siwoo and Gretel were trying to do was to trace those traces and read memories and emotions.
In a way, it was close to mental self-harm.
It was like digging into a wound before it had healed and looking inside.
“Hmm~ hmm~”
Dorothy, humming a tune, was writing a business plan.
Dorothy was living a peaceful life, completely unaware of the tragedy that was about to come.
She leisurely drank coffee, fiddled with the necklace Siwoo had given her, leisurely smoked a cigar and looked at photos, and sometimes met with Rinne to talk.
Not only the scenery she was in, but also her psychological state, emotions, and even the thoughts she muttered to herself were conveyed to Siwoo.
It felt like being assimilated.
“Hee~ I wonder what Darling is doing~”
How much she thought of Siwoo.
How much of her daily life she spent thinking of Siwoo.
Trivial information was imprinted as if it was seeping into my perception.
Just watching her daily life made me feel breathless.
The last scene of her dying in despair would surely be hundreds of times more painful than this.
But the reason Siwoo had called Gretel was not to seek a paltry atonement, or to condemn himself and obtain a cheap pardon.
“An attack?”
“Prepare yourselves.”
As it was a surprise attack that took place in just five minutes, the events unfolded quickly.
The identities of the attackers were, as I had heard, the Rehar Group, a public mercenary group that made war and combat their profession.
No matter how powerful a witch Dorothy was, specializing in defense, it was too much for her to face that many people.
At first, Dorothy resisted fiercely, but one by one, injuries were etched onto her body, she fell, and eventually she rolled on the floor in a mess.
Like piranhas that bite when they see blood, the enemies swarmed Dorothy in an instant.
Even though it was inside the mental world, I felt like I was going to throw up.
The despair Dorothy felt and the helplessness of being forced to watch the person you love die combined to burn my heart like a deadly poison.
But Siwoo did not close his eyes or look away.
Instead, he examined everything closely.
The personnel involved in this attack, the magic they used, and even the smallest information that could be helpful.
He engraved everything clearly in his eyes.
Dorothy, who sensed her end, and the attacks that poured down mercilessly on her.
“Darling, I’m sorry. One last time…”
Dorothy’s last words that were not conveyed.
“Cough!”
As soon as Siwoo got up, he jumped out of the chair and retched.
The intense anger, sadness, and despair caused even his trained spirit to suffer from hyperventilation.
“Calm down! Calm down! Breathe slowly, slowly.”
Gretel rushed over and supported Siwoo, guiding his breathing.
Even in this cold morgue, his whole body was drenched in sweat.
“You crazy bastard. I told you not to do it.”
“I’m, I’m okay. How many minutes have passed?”
“Ten minutes.”
Siwoo immediately turned on the cold water at a nearby sink and washed his face.
Washing his face with ice-cold water seemed to bring him back to his senses a little.
“Are you satisfied now?”
“……”
“You’re a real piece of work. How can you not shed a single tear?”
Gretel had received a hefty advance payment, so she wasn’t complaining, but she seemed to want to go home at this point.
“If you’re done, can I go?”
“Gretel.”
But it wasn’t over yet.
There were many shaky points in Dorothy’s memories.
Moreover, due to the nature of looking at memories through the eyes of another person, there was a limit to the information that could be analyzed with just one viewing.
I would have to fight unfavorable battles in the future, and vague information was meaningless.
Siwoo wanted to be even more thorough.
“I’d like to ask you for three more times, no, five more times.”
Mistakes will be corrected.
The price is the lives of everyone involved in this.
I will bear the sin in my hands.
Dorothy just needed to come back.
