Chapter 156 – #33_Living Together (4)
#154
1.
It had already been fifteen days since Sharon and Siwoo began their sweet, cozy life together.
Their schedules during that time roughly went as follows:
2 PM ~ 6 PM.
Free time with no set schedule during the day.
Both of them spent it doing whatever they pleased.
6 PM ~ 0 AM.
While Sharon went to work her part-time job, Siwoo focused on his magic studies.
0 AM ~ 3 AM.
After Sharon finished her part-time job, she immediately went out to put up flyers.
Of course, finding the homunculus was the priority rather than putting up flyers…
But they still hadn’t found it.
3 AM ~ 6 AM.
A simple late-night snack and movie time.
Originally, it was just a one or two-hour snack time, but Sharon loved movies so much that it naturally became a regular movie time.
It had also become a joy to discuss what movie to watch today.
6 AM ~ 10 AM.
A short sleep time.
Sharon’s bed had arrived during the week, so there was no more fighting over sleeping arrangements.
10 AM ~ 2 PM.
Sharon’s elemental magic class was held under the pretext of covering food and rent expenses.
Sharon taught Siwoo various magic knowledge she knew.
And now, it was Sharon’s lecture time.
“Okay, today we’ll learn about the second of the four elements, ‘water.’ We’re progressing really fast.”
“That’s all thanks to your wise teachings, teacher.”
“Is that so?”
Sharon and Siwoo had become so close that they could playfully banter with each other.
Sharon tapped the whiteboard with a marker, lightly changing the atmosphere.
They had become close enough to exchange light jokes at any time, but when it came to class, she became more serious than anyone else.
“If the earth element we learned last time provides the foundation, mixing, and base, then water governs flow, movement, and transformation. In short, it’s the second most important attribute. And…”
In fact, what Sharon was teaching Siwoo was not a high-level class.
It was the basics that were essential for apprentice witches, and Siwoo was already so skilled that he had completed self-magnetic magic in one field.
She was aware that he would learn quickly.
Nevertheless, Sharon was shocked by Siwoo’s learning ability.
Siwoo absorbed all the information at an astonishing speed, as if he were reviewing something he already knew from the beginning.
“…..Just as the earth element was effective in understanding the foundation of all elemental magic, the water element will be the beginning of embracing and understanding the elements. 70% of the human body is made up of water, right? It’s the most important element that connects the outside where magic is performed and the inside where magic is performed. Okay so far?”
“Uh, mostly.”
Was he simply good at memorization? No, that wasn’t it.
Of course, he had a much better memory than the average person, but compared to the apprentice witches who were full of extraordinary geniuses and prodigies, he was at an average level, neither outstanding nor lacking.
However, magic was not a simple study of memorization.
If everything could be solved by calculation and memorization, the strongest witch in the world would be a computer.
No matter how good a witch’s thought acceleration ability was, it would not be able to match a computer.
Therefore, Siwoo’s strength lay in his ability to find organic connections and his inspiration to break away from rigid methods and find his own path.
If he was taught one thing, he didn’t stop there, but expanded his thinking, realized it on his own, and came up with shortcuts that even Sharon hadn’t thought of.
“I have a question.”
“Yeah, ask away.”
A theory lecture that took Sharon more than a week during her apprentice witch days was finished in just an hour or two.
Sharon didn’t need to tell him everything.
She just had to put a dot on the canvas, and Siwoo would connect them all and make a big picture.
“It’s a bit complicated today.”
Sharon was only planning to teach the properties of each element, but by the end of the questions, Siwoo was already focusing on the interrelationship between the earth and water elements and had come to his own conclusions.
But even after achieving such great results, he didn’t look very satisfied.
It was probably because he didn’t even know how great he was.
Sharon didn’t praise his greatness every time.
Pride was always a poison in learning.
“What’s complicated?”
“Well… magic was like math to me. If you put numbers into a formula, you get a value. If there was a problem in that process, you could use a new formula and proof, and if you encountered new knowledge, you could just learn it, but what you’re teaching me, not that it’s your fault, it’s just a bit vague.”
Siwoo thought that Sharon’s lectures were more like art, like painting or music.
“So, it seems useless?”
“No, it’s just that when I think about how to apply this, my head hurts. It’s like, ‘Solve the given problem artistically.'”
Siwoo gave a wry smile.
Sharon stared at his face.
She liked it when he made that expression sometimes.
She didn’t know why… if she had to give a reason, it would be that she liked his effort to look troubled but not show it?
“Come here.”
“Do we have to hold hands again?”
“Don’t you like it?”
“It’s not that I don’t like it.”
Sharon spread her palm wide and held it out to Siwoo.
Siwoo clasped her hand.
It was a kind of process to share Sharon’s mental image.
Originally, the more skin contact there was, the easier it was to ‘resonate,’ but since men and women were different, they compromised by holding hands for now.
Still, perhaps because he had gotten a little used to it, his heart didn’t beat as wildly as it used to.
Siwoo and Sharon closed their eyes at the same time.
“You don’t have to be so impatient.”
But today, there was a slight change.
While holding one of his hands, Sharon pulled Siwoo’s empty hand and held it as well.
Siwoo, startled, opened his eyes.
In front of him, Sharon was so close that she was almost touching him.
“If you think of everything as numbers and calculations, magic will quickly become boring. What you need to do now is to feel and accept the existence of the elements as they are.”
Sharon’s voice whispered right in front of his nose.
At the same time, Sharon and Siwoo’s consciousness sank as if the ground was collapsing.
“Close your eyes and draw a pointillist painting in your mind. A big picture made of elements. Don’t just look at magic as knowledge, but feel it, be moved by it, and assimilate with it.”
-Drip!
“…..Huh?”
“Can you feel it?”
For a moment, it sounded like a drop of water had fallen.
A single drop of water that fell clearly into the dark void behind his eyelids soon rippled the world.
It was as if this world had turned into a large water surface.
Siwoo opened his eyes.
And he saw.
A world where water spirits seemed to be holding a festival.
A classification of blue light that filled the empty universe.
The huge, soaring blue particles swirled, curved, and rotated, enveloping the vast world.
It was a world that changed, accepted, melted, and danced, like a festival.
And against that dreamy background, Sharon was standing.
She was holding Siwoo’s hand tightly, looking at him in awe, and smiling gently.
And.
“Ah….”
When Sharon let go of his hand, the short journey was over.
Siwoo and Sharon were back in the room.
“Elements exist everywhere, but they may not exist anywhere. We just believe in their existence and pray earnestly. Please give us a miracle~”
Meanwhile, Siwoo’s mind was consumed by the magnificent scenery.
His body had returned to the real world, but his mind still felt like it was stuck there.
Was it like the feeling he had when he first encountered Ain?
It felt like he had broken another boundary in his approach to magic.
“Every witch has a different perspective. Some believe that elements should be controlled and used efficiently, while others believe that they are just mechanical devices that make up a world without good or evil. But every time I see this kind of scenery, I find myself praying.”
“Sorry, there’s something I want to try for a moment.”
“Ah! Okay.”
At Siwoo’s calm words, Sharon quickly made room for him.
She expected that he had gained some important insight because he always agreed with Sharon, but now he was being so sharp.
Watching Siwoo sit at the table and close his eyes, Sharon quietly left the room so as not to disturb him.
“I’m jealous….”
And she sighed quietly.
Unlike Sharon, who had stagnated, Siwoo, who had gained a new tutor, was growing day by day.
If he had been born a woman and officially inherited the witch’s mark, what kind of monster would he have become?
His talent was so dazzling that it made the person teaching him feel pathetic.
Sometimes, she even felt jealous.
“Am I going to be the one learning later?”
She had only just started the basic lectures, but she didn’t think it was a completely absurd statement.
In fact, Siwoo’s questions had already given Sharon small insights several times…
“This is not the time for this.”
Today’s class ended a little early, so there was some time left.
Sharon glanced at Siwoo’s door one last time and began her research.
2.
The end of an ordinary day.
Siwoo and Sharon went to bed, but Sharon was blinking her eyes.
She had become aware of a big problem.
“I’ve been playing too much lately….”
That’s right.
Perhaps because of the reaction to living such a tight life, Sharon’s recent mindset had become very lax.
She had forgotten about her debt for a while, enjoyed watching movies, and had a good time worrying about what to eat today.
Thanks to Siwoo’s kindness, her living environment had improved rapidly, and she no longer had to pay unnecessary rent.
However, that didn’t erase Sharon’s debt.
She hadn’t hunted homunculi for almost three weeks, and she had cut her losses on the coin market that had been making her money from time to time, so she was worried about whether she would be able to prepare enough money for the tribute date in two months.
“Haa….”
Sharon sighed deeply and jumped out of bed.
Originally, she used to struggle to make money by doing anything without sleeping, but after living together, she was sleeping as if it was natural…
The sudden change in environment, such as a comfortable bed, plenty of food, and enjoyable hobbies, had strangely taken away her sense of reality.
Then, a scene suddenly flashed through Sharon’s mind.
It was the offer Siwoo had made to Sharon when they first met.
‘I have a lot of spare money. I could pay your interest for you…’
Of course, Sharon had refused outright.
It was because she felt unpleasant and bad.
Although she had ended up living as a debtor due to a series of misfortunes, Sharon had the pride of a witch in her heart.
If she had been the type to accept charity, she would have abused magic to make money, risking the tracking of her location point.
“Ugh…..”
But the situation was a little different now than it was then.
Back then, she didn’t know anything about Siwoo, so his paltry sympathy felt unpleasant, but she had come to know that he was a good person by living with him.
They had become close enough that she didn’t feel a strong psychological rejection even if she received help.
Could it be that she was unconsciously trying to solve this hardship by taking advantage of his goodwill?
Had her desperation decreased because she had an insurance policy that Siwoo would somehow save her even in the worst situation?
Sharon changed her clothes.
The ceremonial robes and wand for using elemental magic were in her hands.
“…I can’t do that.”
Siwoo was a good friend.
Sharon knew that he would reach out to help without any hesitation if she was really in trouble.
That’s why Sharon didn’t want to rely on him even more.
She wanted to remain as an equal friend with him.
The moment one side receives material help, the horizontal relationship is broken.
Even if Siwoo didn’t care at all, she didn’t think she could erase the debt in her own heart.
Sharon opened the balcony and jumped straight down.
It was to find the homunculus.
