Chapter 239 – #54_The Lucky Witch(3)
#237
1.
Periwinkle put down her phone and examined the two people’s conditions.
Siwoo, who had fainted from the powerful mental attack of the drowned witch, and Sharon, who had collapsed with severe injuries that had pierced her lungs.
First, she laid them side by side on the bed, which had been restored as the otherworld barrier had lifted.
Spirits don’t die easily from most injuries.
Even if their limbs are cut off, they regenerate after enough time, and even if their bodies are pierced, they recover with proper measures.
However, even considering the durability of spirits, Sharon’s injuries were severe.
The harpoon used by the drowned witch was made of seawater.
The problem was that this seawater was not just seawater that had gained substance through magic.
It was a deadly poison created from fear and despair.
It wouldn’t put a great burden on the body, but perhaps the mental damage would accumulate…
Of course, since Periwinkle had taken measures, the ‘worst outcome’ would be avoided.
True to her glorious title of the Lucky Witch, most of Periwinkle’s actions went as she intended, and Periwinkle didn’t particularly want Evergreen to die.
“Well, it’s not really my problem.”
While Periwinkle was slowly yawning on the sofa, the person who had answered the phone burst through the door.
It was Eloa Tiferet, who had been frantically searching all over Seoul for Siwoo.
Periwinkle knew that Tiferet had vouched for Siwoo, and since she had her contact information on her phone, she contacted her immediately.
She had rushed so quickly that her peach-colored hair was a mess from the speed, and her wide eyes were bloodshot.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kibelre Periwinkle… Oh, my…”
Without even fully acknowledging the greeting, Eloa passed by Periwinkle and checked on his condition as he lay on the bed.
“Siwoo… is he okay?”
Periwinkle lowered the hand she had extended for a handshake and shrugged.
Ignoring a greeting at first meeting was somewhat rude, but considering the guardian’s feelings, it wasn’t something that couldn’t be excused.
Eloa looked at Siwoo, who was pale as a corpse and unconscious, and checked his condition.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to have suffered any major injuries.
However, her relief was short-lived, and she couldn’t help but become gloomy again.
Sharon, who was lying next to him, had a clearly serious injury at first glance.
“They’re both okay. They’re a bit hurt, but they won’t die. Well, it’s all thanks to me.”
“What happened?”
In response to Tiferet’s question, Periwinkle calmly explained.
Of course, she left out the part about stalking them to watch them have sex, focusing on her own achievements.
“Would you like a drink?”
After finishing her explanation, Periwinkle leisurely walked over and offered Tiferet a can of beer from the refrigerator.
Instead of taking the beer can, Tiferet grabbed Periwinkle’s hand.
And she bowed her head.
“Thank you… thank you… thank you so much…”
“You don’t have to do this. We witches have to help each other. But if you’re really concerned, Your Grace, I wouldn’t refuse a small token of your appreciation.”
“I will definitely prepare a sufficient reward. I will never forget it.”
“You’re welcome.”
Now that the handover was complete, there was no need to stay in this gloomy place.
Periwinkle took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to Eloa.
“It was a private transaction.”
“Transaction?”
“Please remind him to contact me this time. Well, I’ll be going now.”
“What do you mean by transaction?”
Eloa, who seemed to think it was related to Siwoo, persistently dug into it.
But Periwinkle left the room without looking back, saying,
“If you tell him, he’ll understand~”
2.
The night filled with chaos was over.
Eloa, who had almost experienced another loss, had no time to blame herself for her mistakes.
She had to immediately take Sharon and Siwoo to the Gwanghwamun branch of the Waypoint.
“It seems it’s not an urgent situation, which is a blessing in disguise.”
Sharon, with her upper clothes removed, was lying on a neatly arranged bed.
Silver needles were stuck all over her body, and moxibustion was burning.
It was the treatment of Teacher Sua, who was reasonably skilled in healing magic, so it was safe to be relieved for now.
It was a small comfort to Eloa, who had almost repeated the same mistake because she hadn’t been fully alert.
Sua, having straightened her disheveled hanbok, approached Eloa, who was sitting in front of the tea table.
Of course, Sharon’s healing was an important issue, but the fundamental reason why Eloa had gone straight to the Waypoint was because Teacher Sua had directly summoned Eloa.
Naturally, the matter at hand was a meeting about the attack that had occurred last night.
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I have a little more face to see Siwoo.”
“I am also glad to be of help.”
A deep shadow was cast on Sua’s face, who was showing the virtue of humility.
Last night, when Eloa, Siwoo, Sharon, and Periwinkle were attacked.
The Cowardly Witch’s mass of homunculi attacked witches staying in Seoul simultaneously.
Out of a total of 12 witches, 4 died in one night.
Sua had also repelled the attack, but as a result, her left arm was now half paralyzed.
“What on earth is this anomaly…”
Eloa groaned.
With the attack on Dagon’s flute becoming a confirmed act of the Cowardly Witch, an even greater incident had occurred.
In these strangely connected events, it seemed like the sound of a crack was echoing.
Like the prelude to a storm.
“It is my fault for not taking proper action.”
“There is no need to blame yourself. No one could have imagined that the Cowardly Witch would cause such a disturbance.”
And that Duke Keter wouldn’t step in even in this situation.
No one could have predicted that.
“Is she still not responding?”
“I have already sent messages to the Ivory Tower several times… but I have not received a single reply.”
It wasn’t that they were trying to delegate all the problems to Keter.
But it was true that the peace of the witch society depended greatly on Duke Keter.
It was only because of Duke Keter’s existence that those powerful, dangerous, greedy, and ambitious public enemies would bow down and find a compromise between their desires and risks.
Looking back at historical precedents, the Cowardly Witch had already crossed the line twice.
She had massacred a large number of civilians without an otherworld barrier and attacked many witches at once, taking their lives.
Yet, Duke Keter had not moved.
For whatever reason, if her restraint disappeared or weakened…
It was even frightening to predict how much terrible damage a single small idea, seeing the case of the Cowardly Witch and thinking, ‘Oh? It seems okay to go this far?’ would cause.
It might be a minor accident for the public enemies to test the waters, but countless witches and civilians would die.
“Let’s organize our thoughts.”
But there was no room to worry about the future yet.
Now was the time to discuss countermeasures against the Cowardly Witch.
Sua spread out the data of the witches who had been attacked last night on the tea table.
“Most of the witches who were attacked were witches closely related to the Waypoint.”
“The witches who were actively hunting homunculi were attacked.”
The commonality of the attacked witches was easy to find.
The target selection was too blatant.
All of them had received a considerable amount of bounty money from the Waypoint.
That meant that they were witches who, whether for money or personal beliefs, did not avoid subjugating homunculi.
“It seems that the intention is to reduce the number of witches staying in Seoul as a result of this incident.”
“The witches will leave.”
“Yes… already… more than half of the witches have left Seoul.”
Four witches had died in one night.
Moreover, if the one who had done it was the notorious and dangerous public enemy, the Cowardly Witch, then the witches had no reason to stay in Seoul.
Not only the witches who had been directly attacked, but also the witches who had avoided fighting homunculi would all disappear.
They must have known implicitly that this was not all that Sochitl wanted, that something even bigger was about to happen.
“What does she want…?”
Eloa was lost in thought.
The acquisition of a large amount of magical power through Dagon’s flute.
The disappeared Red Knight and the newly appeared degraded copy White Knight.
And even driving out the witches through this attack…
The most puzzling thing was that most of the forces that Sochitl possessed had been exhausted in this attack.
The notorious Drowned Witch and the Incubus, as well as various troublesome homunculi, had died in one night.
“If she’s not going crazy… it’s right to see this as part of a plan.”
Eloa muttered.
Sochitl was definitely a crazy witch, but that didn’t mean she was a stupid witch.
She could sense that she had thrown away a card that could be discarded.
“Have you still not found Sochitl’s whereabouts?”
“She is originally skilled at hiding herself… I apologize.”
“Apologies are unnecessary. I am also in a situation where I cannot be of any help…”
It wasn’t like Sua was just sitting on a cushion drinking tea.
From the beginning, she had volunteered for the position of the Gwanghwamun branch manager for the safety and security of her hometown, and she had been working hard to find Sochitl’s whereabouts from before, as she wanted to eliminate any unexpected variables as quickly as possible.
However, most public enemies were skilled at hiding themselves.
Among them, the Cowardly Witch, who did not stand on the battlefield herself but controlled her familiars, was impossible to find if she was determined to hide, so there were no significant results.
“In addition, the whereabouts of Redcliffe are unknown.”
“The Ash Witch?”
“Yes, after investigating, she was a classmate at Trinity Academy and was close to the Cowardly Witch before she became a public enemy. However, coincidentally, she has been hiding since just before the incident occurred… I suspect her and am currently trying to locate her.”
Her head was throbbing.
How many more people would die or be injured?
“How about requesting assistance from Gehenna or other Waypoints?”
Even as she said it, she was half resigned.
Would the witches of Gehenna, who were leisurely immersed in magical research, come to the mortal world to stop a public enemy who was running wild with broken brakes?
Moreover, the witches of other Waypoints would not move easily either.
“I will discuss with the government to secure the funds needed for persuasion.”
“Thank you.”
“It is only to protect the land where I was born and raised.”
The meeting that day ended without a clear conclusion.
If only the enemy were in front of her, she would cut them down…
Since even their whereabouts were unknown, there was nothing she could do.
Eloa sighed deeply.
A gloomy autumn rain was falling from the ink-stained sky.
