City ​​of Witches 1154

Chapter 1154 – #276_The Overture (2)

#1148

1.
Times always change.
But the people living through those times don’t easily perceive it.

In the modern era, the accelerating changes are repeatedly presented to the public with rhetoric like “unprecedented,” “upheaval,” and “turning point” in the media, and people who encounter such rhetoric dozens of times a day become desensitized.

If you see articles about hair loss cures coming out two or three times a year since a century ago, you know that most of them are just hype.

But this time was different.
People, regardless of race or country, focused on two changes.

The existence of witches and magic.

Siwoo, who had been mostly staying in Gehenna lately and hadn’t easily perceived it, was dumbfounded by the witch-related content that was everywhere he looked in Seoul.

Even his teacher, who was as solid as a rock and didn’t show much agitation over ordinary things, seemed a little bewildered.

“You’re very popular, aren’t you?”
“…W-what on earth is this?”

Well, if there’s a picture of Elroa plastered on a billboard in the middle of the city, and the phrase “I love you, Pink Peacock” is floating around, it’s understandable.

“It seems like a kind of fan cafe pooled their money to put it up. They usually do this for birthdays, I think.”
“…Why?”
“Hmm… I don’t know.”

Siwoo didn’t really know much about idol fan culture, but if you were to ask for a reason, there wasn’t really one.

Thanks to the golden touch of various media outlets, Elroa, Teacher Sua, and Siwoo, who briefly appeared on YouTube, were at the peak of their popularity in Korea.

This is the main public opinion towards witches in the First World, the liberal camp, and pro-Western countries.
More precisely, it’s the public opinion about “witches belonging to Gehenna or Witch Point.”

According to what Assemblyman Kim Jun-beop (that old congressman who came to the police station before) said earlier, it was a political step.

Anyway, it’s a fact that Urshula’s existence attacked the United States and caused great damage.
It’s also a fact that Homunculi have become rampant worldwide because of that.
It’s also a fact that the number of casualties in such a short time was as high as a national pandemic.

It means that they almost ended up filming a post-apocalyptic hunter story without gates opening and status windows.

However, it was difficult for the public in the First World countries, which had maintained friendly relations with Gehenna since ancient times, to define the witch race itself as the enemy.

Therefore, they created a common enemy called “Hexennacht” and made “Gehenna” a hero of troubled times.

Since it wasn’t far from the truth, people soon developed a longing for transcendents.
Governments of various countries spared no investment to fuel this longing.

As a result, various cultural contents flooded the market.

Movies with witches and magic as their themes revived the screen industry, which was said to be in its twilight due to the emergence of OTT, and the publishing industry, which was even more severely withered, also experienced unprecedented success.

In addition, they were reborn as various contents such as dramas, webtoons, and games, captivating the public.

Witches who appeared in front of the camera soon became celebrities and received more attention than ordinary stars, so it could be said that it was the era of witches.

“Hmm… to this extent…”

Actually, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

But what’s certain is that my teacher is very embarrassed.

Her shoulders were particularly hunched when we encountered about three billboards plastered with Pink Peacock worship during the drive.

“That’s great. I’m happy to see people like you, teacher.”
“Don’t tease me.”
“You’re actually pleased, aren’t you?”
“……”

Perhaps Elroa is the most popular witch in the world at this point.
She had never done any public activities, but she had a large fan base and was worshiped.

This was because it was widely known that she was the one who created the superhero (and even pretty) group called “Witch Point” to fight against the evil public and the monster called Homunculus.

“But even though she’s a peacock, she’s cute, lovely, and even pink, so… people can’t help but fall for her. I also feel an irresistible loveliness whenever I see you, teacher.”
“Stop! Siwoo, please stop…”

“Now that it’s like this, how about holding a fan signing event? Or how about filming a commercial? Oh, it would be great if you debuted as a singer. You’re good at singing, teacher.”
“Siwoo… If you tease me more, I’ll really get angry…”

She’s a dignified and serious teacher, but if you lay out a mat and praise her a lot, she gets very embarrassed.

Siwoo also knew this, so he teased her even more and praised Elroa.

Just when steam was about to come out of her ears, which were getting redder and redder, even through her pink hair, Siwoo stopped teasing.

When he apologized, Elroa let go of her anger to cover up her embarrassment and leaned her head on Siwoo’s shoulder.

“Why are you getting more mischievous as the days go by? You’re bad.”
“I’m sorry. I guess this disciple was too happy to see your efforts being rewarded, teacher.”
“Don’t do that in the future. I’m very embarrassed by this.”
“Then I’ll do it only occasionally.”
“Siwoo!”

Today is a date day for just me and my teacher in the present world.

The original purpose was to meet with Assemblyman Kim Jun-beop to coordinate various matters.

Now that Siwoo has become a proper count, the head of the Hessed Society, and has various influences on Witch Point, the government side also prepared a place in a secluded Korean restaurant without a signboard to discuss various issues.

Elroa accompanied him as a formidable backdrop for her disciple, who was new to these discussions, and helped him get better conditions.

‘I look forward to working with you in the future, Count.’

Siwoo was offered several unprecedented conditions in exchange for maintaining friendly relations with Korea and maintaining “the security of the witch society” within the country.
It was an immeasurable amount of support offered by the agreement of both the ruling and opposition parties.

If the Hessed Society establishes a corporation or company in Korea in the future, they will receive promised generous subsidies and tax benefits, as well as the right to mobilize manpower in case of emergency. It could be said to be a preferential policy that is barely on the threshold of the law.

The sports car with a low-pitched exhaust sound that I’m driving with my teacher right now was also a gift from the Korean restaurant.

“I can’t really feel it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think I’ve become a pretty big deal.”

Was it because I had been focusing only on the things in front of me?
Now that I’ve become the “that person” from my slave days, the “that person” whose mood you shouldn’t upset, everything feels very unfamiliar.

Scenes that I thought were just in political movies were unfolding before my eyes.

For example, the sight of a political bigwig, twice my age, repeatedly bowing and handing me the car keys.

“You have always been a great person.”
“You always say that, so I can’t believe it.”
“I’m not trying to tease you. You have always been a miraculous wonder to me.”

There was a brief silence in the car.
It was an awkward silence for Siwoo and a comfortable silence for his teacher, who was staring at her proud disciple.

“By the way, how is the other side?”
“What other side?”
“Other countries besides the US and Europe.”

Since it wasn’t a topic to be taken lightly, Elroa’s expression, which had been relaxed, took on the dignity of a duchess.

“It seems that the second and third worlds are still struggling to find their way.”

Compared to the Western camp, which had been under the protection of Gehenna since early on, the anti-Western camp had been a playground and hideout for the public since ancient times.

Inevitably, their governments had dealings with the public or exiles.
It was a truly difficult situation where they couldn’t freely portray Gehenna as the good guys or Hexennacht as the worst bitches.

If they needlessly upset the established and uncontrollable public, a disaster worse than Homunculi might unfold.

The current guideline is to gradually expand Witch Point’s influence to the outside world and reduce the public’s activity area, but no one knows how long it will take.

Anyway, the present world, with its veil of mystery removed, was surprisingly different.

Siwoo couldn’t tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, even while seeing the various friendly signs that humans were sending to the witch entity.

This was because he had a memory of directly seeing one of the possibilities in the NEO War that was included in the Ark.

“Will humans really conquer witches in this world someday?”

If you were to choose a simple solution to this question, it would be to suppress humanity at this point.
It would be to cut off the bud of an unstable future.

“Maybe.”

However, neither Siwoo nor Elroa even considered such an attempt.
That’s, well, it might sound childish, but it’s a bad thing to do.

“But it’s our role to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“I guess so.”

There’s still a lot of time left.

Even in the history of other timelines, it took hundreds of years after witches and humans started joint research for humans to get their hands on magical engineering technology, didn’t it?

-Buzz buzz

At that moment, the crystal ball in his pocket vibrated.
The caller was Teacher Sua.

“I’ve answered the phone.”
[Siwoo, please check the breaking news on television.]

Elroa, who was eavesdropping on the call, quickly manipulated the terminal and turned on the TV in the car.

A live broadcast of an American cable news channel was being broadcast with subtitles.

A white female anchor was reading a script with an emotional expression towards the camera.

A laboratory with modern facilities, resembling a giant particle accelerator, was playing as background footage.

[This is an amazing moment that opens a new chapter in science. At the Lexion Research Institute in Atlanta, a demonstration of telekinetic magic using a ‘magic particle accelerator’ will be revealed to the public for the first time. CNS will be with you for this historic moment.]

Researchers are moving busily, like in a control room before a spaceship launch.
As they manipulated the dials, a huge roar and a faint blue energy began to appear.

In front of the machine, there was a sealed room shielded by a glass wall, and in that sealed room, a small metal cube the size of a die was placed on a shelf.

[Countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1]

When the countdown ended, the small metal cube floated up.
Various indicators and data proving that there was no trickery were spewed out by experts.

[Ah, the cube is floating! It’s moving! A quirky businessman born in the United States has caused another big accident! As you can see, humanity has succeeded in the artificial implementation of magic for the first time in history. Overcoming the bitter pain that occurred from ignorance last year, humanity has found the answer again! It’s a historic scene where the boundaries between magic and science are collapsing!]

The researchers threw away their documents and expressed their joy with cheers.
That scene was also captured on camera.

Siwoo’s expression and Elroa’s expression were both dumbfounded.

This was because the meaning of this news was clear.

The restriction that no magical experiments should be made public according to the agreement was broken arbitrarily.
And it was broken by the United States, the representative of the Western camp, which has the closest agreement.

“I’m going there.”

Siwoo, who was originally planning to go to the hotel and spend some time with his teacher, immediately turned the car around and headed for Gwanghwamun.