City ​​of Witches 185

Chapter 185 – #40_이변

#183

1.
Rafi, an apprentice witch who had inherited a vessel from Duke Tiferet and was destined to inherit the mark.

Rafi was a child who deserved to be loved.
Everyone, young and old, loved Rafi.
Even birds, livestock, and wild animals were happy to gather around her, and when she walked through the fields, stray dogs and birds would flock to her and act affectionately.

As such, Rafi was always bright, cheerful, and a lovely child who brought happy smiles to everyone.
Rafi, with her charming personality, often surprised even the stoic Eloa with a smile.
One day, she said,

“Master! I want to go to the mortal realm!”

Considering Rafi’s curiosity and excellent action as an apprentice witch, it was a request that Eloa had expected her to make someday.
To such a question, Eloa smiled wryly and asked,

“What wind has suddenly blown you here?”
“I simply thought that an apprentice witch who is to inherit the name of the great Duke Tiferet should know a wider world to broaden her horizons!”
“Indeed, your words are as fluent as a clear stream.”

Rafi answered bravely, and Eloa smiled brightly at the sight.
The age difference between the two did not seem that great, so if someone who knew nothing about them saw them, they would think it was a pleasant chat between sisters.

“The mortal realm is dangerous. Especially for apprentice witches like Rafi, there are many vicious people who are after you.”
“I’m confident about that! I can skillfully handle the magic you gave me, Master!”

As she confidently declared, Rafi was an outstanding apprentice witch.
She had received only a single stroke of a vessel from Eloa, but she had gained combat power that could easily hold her own against most witches.

The ‘Contract of the King of All Weapons,’ which allowed her to grasp and execute the optimal move when handling any weapon.
Her innate combat sense had completely made the contract within the vessel her own.
If we were to discuss the pure realm of martial arts, there would be few witches who could compare to Rafi.
Of course, magic was never absent from witches’ battles, so it was a meaningless argument.

“Maaaster… Please? Please!”

As Eloa seemed lost in thought, Rafi seized the timing and launched an onslaught of cuteness.
She jumped up and down, came close to her, kissed her on the cheek, and swung their clasped hands back and forth, acting spoiled.

Stop it.

Eloa’s lamenting murmur, watching the scene, ultimately failed to become a voice.
It only became a bubbling noise, dissolving into bubbles and scattering powerlessly.

It must stop.
It must not be allowed.
Eloa truly thought so.

However, no matter how much she screamed, pleaded, or begged, the dream did not change, like a movie with a predetermined script.
Because this dream was already a memory of the past with a set ending.

“Hmm, I happen to have business in the mortal realm, would you like to accompany me?”
“Really? Yes? Really?”
“Of course. When have I ever spoken nonsense to you?”

Thus, Eloa had no choice but to repeat the choice with a predetermined tragedy hundreds and thousands of times.

“Waaah!!!”

Eloa also smiled warmly at the sight of Rafi’s joyful face, which she could no longer see.
No matter how dangerous the mortal realm was, Rafi would be able to buy time and cope.
If she was by her side, no enemy would dare to target her.
That was the decision she made, or so she thought.

“But.”
“Yes! I will keep it in mind, Master!”
“Until we go, do not get carried away and neglect your magic training. Can you promise me that?”
“Of course! I’ll do twice as much as usual!”
“So you’re saying you won’t sleep either.”
“Ehehehe, that’s just what I mean. Just what I mean.”

Rafi’s figure, jumping for joy, distorted.
Like a torn and damaged film being played through a projector.
Rafi’s smiling face, and Eloa’s face, looking at Rafi with affection, also distorted.

The crushed and scattered happy past became a metallic smell that stung the tip of her nose, making even her vision seem to turn red.
Eloa looked down.

Below her was Rafi.
A little lighter.
Much colder.
No longer moving.
There was Rafi.

Eloa, who foolishly, arrogantly, presumptuously, and haughtily embraced Rafi’s blood-soaked body, her uterus removed,
having lost the most precious thing due to a moment of carelessness.

Foolish Tiferet Eloa.
Did you think that what you cherished would last forever?
Did you really not expect that your arrogance and carelessness would bring about such a tragedy?
Her own voice, as if sneering, echoed in her ears like tinnitus.

The cold rain struck her skin, and the streaks of blood that flowed down formed a red pond on the cement.
A cry like the howl of a beast echoed inside the abandoned factory.

The witch of Aquarius, Aea Sadalmelik.
I swear on my name.
I will kill you.

I will tear you into a thousand pieces, making you neither dead nor alive, and throw you into pain and despair.
When I am tired of your loud screams, I will burn your wicked body.
When your limbs are burning and you writhe in pain, begging for your life, I will pour oil on them and finally laugh.

Remember me.
I will not forget you either.

With a scream and roar that made her ears completely numb, Duke Tiferet opened her eyes.
Cold sweat soaked her entire body, as if she had been having a nightmare, and her breathing was rapid.

Suppressing the surge of nausea, Eloa groped for a bottle of liquor.
Only after gulping down the lukewarm liquor could she exhale the breath that had been caught in her throat as if she had indigestion.

“Haa….haa….”

Eloa’s magic generally places a tremendous burden on her body.
When she condenses the power to cut mountains and seas into her small body, even a spirit needs rest and recovery.
Therefore, even though Eloa’s body was a spirit, it always required about 4 hours of sleep.

And that was like a curse.
Whenever she fell into a deep sleep, a terrible nightmare always came with the smell of blood that could not be washed away even by a downpour.
She had been facing and confirming her own mistakes for 100 years without missing a single day.

“……..”

Eloa calmed her dizzy head, got out of bed, and put on her slippers.
One side of the dim room was filled with the night view.
It was a hotel room that Ms. Sua had willingly provided for Eloa, who was not wealthy.
It was a splendid view that might catch one’s eye for a moment.
But Eloa did not even glance at it and headed straight to the bathroom.

She threw off the thin pajamas that clung to her body, and suddenly her eyes met her reflection in the mirror.
Eyes that were bloodshot as if they were terrified, and in the middle of them, wandering amethyst eyes.
Peach-colored hair that was as tangled as her complicated mind.

“Ha…”

A laugh came out for some reason at the sight of her appearance, which looked so empty.
An empty laugh, not knowing who to direct it to, or why it had come out, echoed dryly inside the bathroom.

If she could have torn Aea Sadalmelik to pieces with her own hands.
Would this terrible curse that came every night have ended?
A futile question that could no longer be answered floated aimlessly in her head and disappeared.

Eloa washed away the sticky sweat with cold water.
In the stream of water flowing down her body like cold raindrops, she suddenly thought.

This world is full of literary books that preach the futility of revenge.
Whenever Eloa saw works that tried to send the message of the futility and frustration of revenge, she scoffed.

Who wouldn’t know such an obvious thing?
It was an idea that anyone could come up with if they just used a little imagination.

It would be futile because the object of revenge had died.
But now it was time to stop.
Instead of being obsessed with the past, she should try to work for the world, for the sake of the world, so that others would not suffer the same pain.
Her own self whispered.

Eloa shook her head coldly.
But revenge was not an emotion that could be judged rationally.

Revenge was like fire.
It was a race toward destruction that was achieved after burning not only the enemy but also one’s own body.

Then, what should she do, having lost the target to burn with, and left alone in a state of incomplete combustion?
At the sudden feeling of eeriness, Eloa slowly sat down and compulsively muttered.

“She’ll be alive… There’s no way she died that easily. She must have escaped using a method I haven’t figured out, maybe using an artifact or something.”

Otherwise, it would be a problem.
She hoped that was the case.
She wanted to burn together in hellish pain rather than live a listless life in empty emptiness.

She desperately wanted it.

2.
“Master! I have a favor to ask!”
“Master! We have a favor to ask!”

Albiereo, who was looking over official duties, blinked at the sudden commotion.
Odile and Odette, who had been more enthusiastic about their magic studies than ever before, saying they would meet their assistant and that they would definitely inherit the mark soon, burst into the room.
They even had their eyes wide open as if they had made a big decision.

“What is that, being so rude? Go out and come back in. And knock.”

However, the twins, who had entered with great momentum, quietly closed the door and went out when they heard Albiereo’s criticism.

-Knock knock

““Master, may we come in?””
“Yes, you may.”

After knocking, they were allowed in and opened the door again.
It was a repeat of what had happened earlier.

““Master! We have a favor to ask!””

Albiereo, who was unconsciously hiding a smile at the sight of the twins acting like well-behaved puppies but still trying to say what they wanted to say.
She scratched her forehead with the tip of her quill and briefly put the pen back into the inkwell.

“Okay, my rambunctious twins. What brings you here today? Even kicking the door open.”
“We didn’t kick the door, Master…”
“That’s right! We just opened it with a little force.”

Odile and Odette, for once in perfect harmony, earnestly asserted that they had not been rude.

“Okay, okay, be careful in the future. So, what is this favor you want?”

The sight was quite cute, and she felt refreshed for the first time in a while, so Albiereo decided to grant them any reasonable request.
However, unlike their initial momentum, the twins only hesitated, and neither of them opened their mouths.
Odile poked Odette’s side, who was standing next to her.
It seemed that Odile was the one who had won rock-paper-scissors.

“M, Master… Do you know what day it is tomorrow?”
“Of course, it’s our little darlings’ birthday, isn’t it? I’ve ordered a fancy cake from Kipyushi Bakery.”

Normally, the twins would have screamed with excitement at the mere mention of a special cake made by Kipyushi, but their reaction was calm.
Albiereo sensed something.
She knew why the twins had come to her in the middle of the night to ask for something.

“Yes! That’s right! B, but… there’s a birthday present we want to receive…”
“Is that so? Let’s hear it.”
“Well… that is…”

As Odette hesitated too much, Odile, unable to bear the frustration, stepped forward boldly.

“Master! For our birthday present this year, we want to go to the mortal realm for some fun!”

The favor the twins had prepared was as Albiereo had expected.
Perhaps they had come at this hour to negotiate exclusively with Albiereo, who was relatively lenient, rather than Deneb, who was stricter.
Deneb would be holed up in her lab to do magic research after midnight.
Targeting the weaker side in the negotiation… There were traces of some clever thinking.

Albiereo calmly crossed her arms and asked.

“Do you want to go to the mortal realm? Or do you want to meet Assistant Shin Siwoo?”
“….The assistant.”
“I’m sorry for asking, but either way, it’s not going to happen.”

As expected, it was a firm answer.
The mortal realm was dangerous.
Even witches were often attacked by enemies and homunculi and died, so it went without saying that the twins, who were only apprentice witches, were in even more danger.
Even Duke Tiferet had lost her apprentice witch due to a moment of carelessness, hadn’t she?

“Please… Master… We promise we won’t do anything weird! You can even watch us from the side!”
“That’s right! Not seeing the assistant for five years is too cruel… It’s only been 141 days, but it’s already so hard.”
“He’s our friend! Our friend!”

Of course, the twins did not think that permission would be easily granted, so they repeatedly asked even after Albiereo’s firm words.
They had apparently prepared in advance, and a torrent of words poured out to persuade Albiereo.

It would be better to see their faces and resolve their worries than to leave them with lingering thoughts.
Seeing the assistant’s face once might even motivate them.
They had always been curious about the mortal realm, and new knowledge would fuel their academic passion.
They would not go on their birthday, but when their master had business in Korea, they would accompany her then.
How lonely would the assistant be alone in the mortal realm?

And so on.
They made a case for almost 50 reasons why ‘we need to meet the assistant.’

“Please, Master… We’ve been really good lately.”
“That’s right! If you grant us this one favor, we’ll work twice or three times as hard as we do now!”
“Hmm….”

Albiereo stroked her slender chin.

“Go back for now. I need to think about it a little more.”
“Really?”
“Yes, it’s not something I can decide on my own. I think I need to discuss it with Deneb as well.”

Odette and Odile, who were asking for a favor, widened their eyes as if they had not expected her to even consider it.

“It’s late, so go back to sleep. I’ll let you know the result before your birthday is over.”
“Yes! Thank you!”
“Thank you so much, Master!”

Odile and Odette were delighted with the satisfactory result.
They bowed politely like job applicants who had finished their interviews and left the office.

“Hmm…..”

In fact, allowing the twins to go to the mortal realm for a short time was something she had been considering as well.
Although she did not show it, she had noticed that the twins had become noticeably depressed, and above all, she felt a sense of guilt for having half-forced Siwoo, the benefactor of the Geminai family, into a lonely world.
However, it was too dangerous, so she could not simply nod her head.

“Well, would it be okay if I watched over them?”

Given the twins’ personalities, they might run away without saying a word.
In that case, it might not be a bad idea to give them a little break under supervision…
Albiereo’s worries deepened.