Chapter 1234 – #289_The Continuing Story
#1228
1.
The great war that determined the fate of the witch society.
Three months have passed since then.
Before discussing what has changed, I should first explain how the war concluded.
This great war was a winner-takes-all battle in the middle of the desert.
The witches belonging to Hexennacht, not wanting to miss such a great opportunity, almost 90% of them participated.
They showed a significant advantage against Gehenna.
However, Erelim, who led the Truth and True Name Society, acted as a major variable, and the battlefield, which had been in a fierce standoff, changed to a situation where Gehenna devoured Hexennacht.
‘Surrender! Please spare our lives!’
‘We shouldn’t have trusted a Gehenna duke! Sob….’
The Hexennacht’s Southern Legion, sensing an irreversible disadvantage, immediately surrendered. This accounted for 80% of the Southern Legion.
‘What are you doing! Fight! Do you think they’ll spare us?’
‘Don’t run away, stick together!’
The remaining 20%, the core of the wicked among the public, realized that surrendering was pointless and resisted to the end, but they were neatly dealt with by Duke Erelim, who joined the front lines, and Siwoo, who had returned monstrously stronger.
This pleasant rebellion that started in the center spread like a wave, affecting the Eastern and Western Legions, which were the flanks of the front.
Surrender declarations followed like dominoes falling.
The ‘Witch of Time,’ who was facing off against R’lyeh, immediately surrendered unconditionally to R’lyeh as soon as Erelim’s betrayal was confirmed, and sighed deeply.
The Witch of Time was an old witch and had accepted the position of commander of the Hexennacht legion, but it was difficult to see the Witch of Time herself as a malicious public enemy. Considering that she had accumulated few sins over a long period and did not directly cause casualties during the war, she was handed over to the ‘Witch Tribunal’ established immediately after the war and is being investigated.
After the trial, it is highly likely that she will join Gehenna after paying a suitable price, like R’lyeh in the past.
In this way, Gehenna sought to reset the system of public enemies and exiles that had been linked up until now.
Witches with minor offenses were incorporated into Gehenna after lawful punishment, and witches who had accumulated unforgivable sins were either executed or permanently imprisoned through the prophecy agency, depending on the severity of their crimes.
To some extent, it was unavoidable.
It was the most lenient stance that Gehenna could take, having been forced to take on a huge number of prisoners of war after the war.
It was not feasible to kill all the many witches who had been captured as prisoners, and if they were exiled as before, it was obvious that the current world would be messed up again.
The ‘Witch of Verdure,’ who led the Western Legion and faced off against my teacher, lost her life to the contract sword.
Her condition was not good either, but she proved once again why she was called a god of war.
‘Ugh… I’m home….’
After returning to Gehenna, I collapsed for three days, sleeping soundly without waking up no matter who tried to wake me.
Looking back, it seems like it was the only rest time in the last three months.
After that, every day was so busy that even a hundred bodies would not have been enough.
Siwoo, who had made great contributions in this war, reached the 26th rank, and not only that, but also led the war to victory, was awarded the Duke title of Erelim, who had voluntarily relinquished his title, so he had more work to do.
A slave who had been digging in the mud at Trinity Academy, now a duke and the head of Gehenna’s largest academic society.
It is indeed a promotion that makes one’s chest swell with pride.
It certainly is…
‘I clearly heard that Gehenna nobles didn’t have much to do and were in a sweet position with a lot to gain….’
‘Oh, Academic Society Head. When are you talking about? Come on, let’s safely escort you to the next meeting room.’
‘Please take a look at Sharon…. It’s been hours today.’
That’s how it turned out.
There’s just so much work.
There are about three major things within Gehenna alone.
First, they erected a memorial to commemorate the witches who sacrificed themselves in the war and to honor their noble sacrifices.
They established the Witch Tribunal and its punishment policy, as explained earlier, and built a judicial system for the tribunal to function.
They revealed the existence of the ‘System’ and presented the path that the witch society should take in the future.
In particular, the last one was as big a shockwave as the ‘truth of the world’ that triggered the war.
It provided a completely different paradigm for witches who had lived for magic.
This impact had a great influence on the public opinion of the human policy established within Gehenna.
They normalized the countries in the current world that Hexennacht had been rampant in and semi-colonized, and were called to various consultations.
The basic direction of the policy could be summarized in two words: ‘coexistence.’
Here, the existing location points played a central role, keeping their names but changing their nature.
It has become an institution that monitors witches who commit atrocities in the current world and at the same time prevents humans from getting their hands on excessively dangerous magic.
Gehenna also became a nation, not just a city, and established diplomatic ties with the nations of the current world.
I’m not sure if this direction is completely correct.
Perhaps the day will come when we regret today’s choices.
In other world lines, there was a world where humans ruled witches.
But isn’t it impossible to clearly distinguish between good and evil in the world?
Even if it seems right now, wandering, worrying, and finding a better way.
That seems like the better path.
After solving the problems of the current world while traveling around the world, which I never expected, a lot of time has passed.
Now I was finally going to relax and spend time with Malika, but…
“I want to rest….”
The reality is that I’m still buried in piles of documents in the Academic Society Head’s office.
Even though the Academic Society Head’s office is not small, it is piled high with papers with no room to step.
Reports on important trials, a project to restore the spiritual bodies of witches trapped in the Box – Arca, internal approval documents waiting for the Academic Society Head’s approval, research for variant succession now that replication is impossible due to the extinction of the unconscious, and so on and so on.
I’m about to have a nervous breakdown.
Siwoo, who was about to convulse and roll on the floor as a habit, looked around.
There was one person in the Academic Society Head’s office who was quite unsettling.
As expected.
As soon as Siwoo looked tired, a hand started massaging his shoulders as if waiting for it.
“Um, you don’t have to do this.”
“It is my duty as a servant. Shall I bring you some tea? It will help relieve your fatigue. And please speak casually to me.”
“When are you going home?”
“…….”
“Hello?”
“…I’ll bring you some black tea.”
Black hair that reached down to her hips.
Mysterious eyes that were a subtle mix of white and silver.
This woman, who was wearing rimless glasses and massaging Siwoo’s shoulders, was indeed Blanche Erelim.
Some explanation is needed as to why she is in the Academic Society Head’s office.
In a way, she can be seen as the greatest contributor to this war.
If she hadn’t pretended to betray them in the first place, the all-out war between Hexennacht and Gehenna would not have happened, and if she hadn’t dropped the Truth and True Name Society at the right time, they wouldn’t have been able to eliminate the surrounded public enemies.
However, she gave up all rights in the process of rewarding merits.
She resigned from the position of head of the Truth and True Name Society and handed the position over to Count Kohab.
She also returned the Duke title.
Instead, she came all the way to the Hesed Academic Society Head’s office, knelt before Siwoo, and begged for forgiveness.
She said that she didn’t need any compensation, but just wanted to spend the rest of her life atoning.
Siwoo is not a cruel person.
When he didn’t know the circumstances, she was a notorious bitch who was after his daughter…
At the point when he knew that Erelim had quite a pitiful situation.
At the point when he received her help in the process of advancing to the 26th rank.
He couldn’t bring himself to coldly chase away her attitude of wanting to devote the rest of her life to Siwoo and atone, having given up all her pride.
In addition, there was also some calculated calculation.
She had given up all her positions and had virtually declared her retirement, but she was a great sage who had protected Gehenna for a long time.
What does this mean?
It means that she is a veteran among veterans with unparalleled document processing skills and organizational management skills.
Also, as she owns the Heavenly Secretary’s Office, she became a key personnel in various projects to be carried out within the academic society.
She doesn’t even rest for a moment.
She works as if she is a machine, as if helping Siwoo is her lifelong wish.
She is truly a talent that you can’t give up once you’ve used her.
When he realized that all this work hell would be multiplied by 3 if she wasn’t there, he couldn’t bring himself to chase her away.
Everything is good, but there are two problems…
It feels like the family tree is a bit twisted.
Blanche claims to be Siwoo’s servant.
However, the basic course researchers, who had become somewhat comfortable with Siwoo, the head of the academic society, stiffened like mice in front of a snake when they stood in front of Blanche.
Well, that’s fine.
It’s not like he became the head of the academic society to be treated specially, and he understands why the other members of the academic society respect Erelim.
The real problem lies in Blanche’s attitude.
Unlike her expression, which is hard to know what she is thinking, her attitude towards Siwoo is as reverent as a clergyman who has met a god.
Also, she doesn’t try to be apart from him for even a moment, using work as an excuse.
This is just a guess, but Blanche Erelim was very, very dependent.
Blanche had been almost blindly loyal to Keter for hundreds of years.
And long-repeated actions affect a person’s tendencies.
Didn’t Erelim unconsciously rely on ‘Keter’ even while despairing after realizing that she had been virtually abandoned?
Siwoo was the one who presented a completely different new path to her, who had fallen into despair.
As a result, isn’t it possible that the blind faith and dependence that had been directed towards Keter had shifted to this side?
“How is the tea?”
“…It’s good.”
Siwoo sighed and sipped his black tea.
