City ​​of Witches 1236

Chapter 1236 – #289_The Continuing Story (3)

#1230

1.
The queen leading the forgotten witches, the Constellation Witch, Blanche Erelim.

She struggled and suffered to find the answer to a problem that seemed to have no solution. Only after seeing the light he showed her was she able to find peace for the first time in hundreds of years.

Drenched in an overwhelming sense of liberation rather than emptiness, she let go of everything she had held onto during her long life.

The light he showed and the path of the witch did not only save Blanche Erelim as an individual.

It was a true requiem dedicated to all the witches who had been thought to have vanished in vain.

Therefore, to Blanche, Shin Siwoo was light and salt, a prophet who showed that there was more to magic than suffering.

Blanche’s obedience to Siwoo was utterly sincere.
Far more than Albiereo could imagine.

She sincerely believed that if her remaining life could be used as his tool, there would be no greater happiness.

If he ordered her to die, she would follow without hesitation, and if he asked to see her genitals, as he had said during the battle, she would seek Kohab’s understanding, purify her body, and then enter his bedchamber.

If she could defile the shame of abandoning her chastity as a woman and the pride she had maintained for so long for his brief amusement, she would have gladly followed.

But this is all in the realm of imagination.
The concept of ‘possible’ does not always mean ‘it will happen’.

Taking off the rose-colored glasses of adoration and looking at him objectively, Shin Siwoo was not the type of person to give such an order.

Siwoo, who had many lovers to take care of, also had no plans to start a new relationship with Blanche.

Therefore, Albiereo’s concern about Blanche Erelim and Yvonne Kohab joining the harem was, it could be said, too premature.

“He’s really amazing, isn’t he? The Head of the Academy.”
“To single-handedly subdue the Witch of Proverbs. And even to release the spoils of war through humanitarian procedures.”

Albiereo, who had been terrified by the sight of Maid Mode Erelim, the former Duchess, and was devising special measures, perked up his ears.

“He has no personal desires and always dedicates himself to the right path, so at this point, he’s not just a Duke, but a king. The King of Gehenna.”
“The Constellation Witch planned the overall strategy for this war, but it would have been difficult to implement as planned without Shin Siwoo.”
“That’s right, I almost died on the central front, but Duke Hessed appeared and saved me.”

“I wonder if he’ll get a new girlfriend? Even a midnight rendezvous would be nice….”
“Dream on. Even if you lined up the applicants, it would wrap around the Hessed Academy.”
“It’s not bad to dream, is it?”

The praises for Siwoo that echoed from all over the hallway caught his ear.
It was all praise, to the point where he would believe that Shin Siwoo had hired shills to spread the rumors.

Everywhere he went, there was nothing but praise, praise, and more praise.

He had actually achieved that much.

Even though most of the witches were still far from the 25th level, which was the limit of the system, what he had pioneered was a breakthrough of truth that all witches would benefit from in the future.

Now, he was not just a Duke, the head of a large academy, or the only male witch.
He had become a savior who had saved not only the war between Hexennacht and Gehenna, but the witch species itself.

“Hmm… was I too far ahead?”

As he walked, listening to the eulogies, Albiereo became strangely mellow.

Looking at it closely, it was true that Shin Siwoo was caught up in romantic troubles, but he was not an irresponsible son-in-law.
If he were, would the young but intelligent twins still be so carefree?

The reason why a man with no particular desire for fame or wealth volunteered for the most dangerous operation in this war was not out of some petty heroism, but from a heartwarming story like, ‘I need to end the war quickly so I can go back to my lovers.’

If he could just manage his relationships with women, there would be no better son-in-law…

Now that he was a father and his relationships were starting to solidify, perhaps it was an excessive worry that the Erelim-Kohab duo would become new members of the harem.

Just as he was weakening, thinking he would trust him one last time.

2.
The witch trials currently being held for the surrendered Hexennacht prisoners and captured war criminals were a process of shedding the old skin before moving into a new era.

Those who deserved punishment were punished, those who were guilty were made to pay for their crimes, but those who had room for improvement were given a new opportunity.

It was difficult to say that it was completely fair, as the standard for determining what was a crime and what was not was based on Gehenna standards (especially Duke Hessed), but it was a remarkably lenient measure.

If Hexennacht had won, Gehenna would have faced a miserable end without even a proper trial.

It was not just about being a pushover.

It was intended to save witches who were not considered to have committed any crimes, like Dorothy, and to filter out the exiles who had participated in the war to save their own lives.

Either way, most of those who were considered ‘criminals’ were given a clean death sentence, whether they were investigated or not.

Knowing this, they struggled until the very end, so there were not many who were captured.

Las Werfanas, who had acted as Siwoo’s hidden dagger until the last moment.
All 32 members, excluding those who had died in battle, were also tried without exception.

Fortunately, they were ‘daggers’ raised by none other than Lydia Magnus.
The true value of a dagger lies in its ability to stab secretly.

Lydia was a criminal, but she was a witch who was reluctant to openly oppose Gehenna.
When she wielded her daggers to grow the Solidus Trading Company, it was mostly against other criminals or exiles.

In other words, from Gehenna’s point of view, most of them had committed minor crimes.

In addition, their contribution to helping Siwoo in the most important battle and acting as a relief pitcher on the most dangerous front was offset, so after a light punishment, they immediately joined Siwoo’s personal guard.

“Everyone worked hard~ Today was the last trial, right? Oh~ There are some familiar faces too?”

In the lecture hall within the academy.

Dorothy stood before Siwoo’s goddaughters, who were gathered in one place, with her characteristic languid smile.
Now that they had to live as citizens of Gehenna, Dorothy and Linne, who were originally criminals, were in charge of their ideological education.

It was called ideological education, but their loyalty to Siwoo was like religious faith.
It was actually more like an interview for future personnel transfers.

“We greet the Madam.”
“We greet the Madam.”

Dorothy and Linne were both the beloved of their godfather, who was like the sky.
If Shin Siwoo was the sun, the two of them were the moon.

Therefore, they knelt before Dorothy and Linne with the utmost respect.

Among them were witches who had been in competition with the two in the past or belonged to opposing factions, but no one cared.

“There’s no need to be so formal~ Just relax~”
“We cannot. Our duty is to serve Shin Siwoo, the father of our daughters. How could we be careless in our behavior in front of the two Madams?”
“We wish to devote ourselves to the service of our godfather, so please give us any instructions.”

Dorothy was not intoxicated by the sight of a two-digit beauty squad kneeling before her.

She just looked at Linne with a smirk.

A cold gaze that was aloof, expressionless, and a little fierce.
To others, it would seem like, ‘What? It’s just Linne as usual?’

“……”

But Dorothy, who was her best friend, knew.
Linne was now making a very sulky face.

Especially every time the goddaughters mentioned the titles ‘godfather’ and ‘father’, her eyebrows tilted by 0.1 degrees.
Her lips pouted by 0.01 cm.

She had no choice but to give up the position of her husband’s biological daughter to Malika.
But she was the only one who should be the owner of the position of his beloved daughter…

Wasn’t it like a stepdaughter (physically) pushing out a stepdaughter?

“……”

Moreover, Linne’s plump chest was taking the goddaughters’ title of ‘Madam’ as a very, very hateful check.
It was like seeing her boyfriend’s sly female friend emphasizing the title ‘sister’ next to her boyfriend.

Even if she knew rationally that it was not like that, her heart was different!

Should she line them up and give them each a flick on the forehead?
Enough to knock them out for three days?

“Hmm, but Darling didn’t ask you to do that, did he?”
“Yes?”
“I told you before~ Darling wants you to find your own happiness. Not a life of being subordinate and clinging to someone, but to be independent with your own strength. Isn’t that the warm love of a [father] who wants the true happiness of his [daughters]?”
“Kuh…”

Linne, who had suffered internal injuries from Dorothy’s powerful word magic, caused a slight stir without anyone noticing.

In fact, this was something Siwoo had already expressed several times, but it was an absurd thing for the goddaughters to hear.

However, if the Madam was conveying his intentions repeatedly, they had to respect his wishes as goddaughters.

With that sense of duty, Frau Holle, the ‘Snow Witch’ who took on the role of the eldest among the goddaughters, stepped forward.

“Then, would you mind if we called our godfather, Dad…?”

But her gestures, which had only shown restrained etiquette like a devout believer, were unusual.

It was as if she was forcibly holding back her body, which was trying to twist in embarrassment.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
The emotions contained within were a little far from pure loyalty.
There was also a slight hope.

As Frau broke the most difficult starting line, the other goddaughters stepped forward as if they had been waiting.

“I, I want to call him Dad too!”
“I… I want to call him Father… Of course, our godfather already has a daughter, but still…”
“Can I receive a gentle hug from him like last time? If that’s difficult, even just a pat on the head…”

Originally, they had called Lydia various things when they were growing up in the House of Angels, such as Lydia Unnie, Godmother, Mom, Mother, etc.
Familiar titles and relationships were as important as loyalty.

Dorothy nodded readily, as if she were Siwoo.

“Okay~ Okay~ That’s how we start, one step at a time~”

While they were each expressing their hopes, the goddaughter Nairy, who had been particularly hesitant, closed her eyes tightly and said.

“It might sound really, really strange, but I, I… I want to call my godfather… Papa!!!”

At that moment, a cold shadow covered Nairy.

“No.”
“Eh.”

It was a desperate obstruction by Linne, the original stepdaughter, without a second thought.

Dorothy rolled on the floor, laughing.
Linne, who was furious at the sight, and Dorothy, who was being sly.

“Dorothy! It’s all your fault for unnecessarily encouraging them!”
“Linne~ Aren’t you being too cold-blooded? Are you that jealous of the other daughters receiving love?”
“No! But Papa… I can’t give that up! That’s mine, mine…”
“Ooooh~ Linne’s~ What is it?”
“Bear it.”

Dorothy ran away to avoid Linne, and Linne fiercely chased after her.
The goddaughters watched the chase scene of the two people spinning around the lecture hall with confused expressions.

3.
“…This doesn’t feel good…”

Albiereo, who happened to witness this farce, shuddered.

Come to think of it, those women were there too.
Las Werfanas, a personal guard who was only loyal to Siwoo.

Until now, he had only believed that the special forces members with their twisted way of thinking had formed a strange bond with Shin Siwoo.
He thought that the end of that relationship would be at most godfather and goddaughter.

But seeing them acting out a skit, unlike what he had expected, a sharp warning seemed to slap him on the cheek.

Those were not goddaughters.
Can’t you see those cheeks flushed like a balsam?
Can’t you really see the eyes that sparkle like children every time Shin Siwoo’s name is mentioned?

Thirty-two female candidates for the womanizer Shin Siwoo had appeared.

“I should take special measures after all!”