#27
1.
“What I want isn’t anything grand. It’s the freedom to not be trapped in this narrow world. That’s all. You, being a slave, should understand, right?”
Larisa spoke, still pointing the gun.
It was a motive that was easy to understand without much thought.
Even Siwoo was researching magic to escape this place, wasn’t he?
“I’ll make you an offer. All you have to do is get the witch onto our ship. The Naga Ho is a ship that has been issued a permit from the city hall. No one will find it strange that we’re leaving. After that, you can live under the protection of the witch who commissioned this. Do you understand what that means?”
Larisa smiled faintly.
“You can be free too. You can return to the present world.”
Within the offer that sounded so sweet.
Only then did Siwoo realize why Larisa hadn’t pulled the trigger yet.
It was because he remembered something from a book he had read before.
“It’s because of autonomous defense, isn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Larisa shrugged as if she had nothing to hide.
Autonomous defense.
It was one of the characteristics that naturally manifested when a witch’s mark reached the 15th level or higher.
Its effect was easy to understand, just like its name.
An autonomous defense magic circle that responds to unexpected attacks.
If an impact or attack of a certain level or higher is applied from the outside, a defense barrier is activated naturally without the need to use magic.
It was a magic to prevent a witch from being attacked unexpectedly and dying without passing on her mark.
As such, autonomous defense was particularly powerful when unconscious, such as during sleep or fainting.
Amelia was currently fast asleep due to some unknown potion.
In other words, it was the timing when autonomous defense was operating with the highest level of vigilance.
“There’s a saying that you should never touch a sleeping witch. Autonomous defense detects not only impact but also human malice. If a hostile person lightly touches her body, it will unleash magic. I carefully put her to sleep, but I can’t even touch her, it’s really troublesome.”
If it hadn’t been for that, Siwoo would have been shot or beaten to death by Fyodor.
The thought sent shivers down his spine.
“You have a good feeling about this witch, so the autonomous defense won’t activate. So, I’m asking you. Just move her to the ship.”
Siwoo looked down at Amelia, who was curled up and asleep.
Curled up and sleeping like a baby, she was twitching her eyes as if she was having a nightmare.
How much hardship had she caused him because of that nasty associate professor?
He had to clean the bathroom at night, he had to cut off a huge deer’s antlers out of the blue, and he had to add a whole day’s worth of extra work after his work was done.
Anyway, he had suffered all kinds of hardships for five years.
Could he guarantee that he had no hostility towards such an Amelia?
“Um, I think you’re mistaken. I hate this witch very much. If I touch her, the autonomous defense will activate.”
“That’s a noble lie, but it won’t work. You’re already so close to her, and nothing’s happening. I tried to move her earlier, but even taking one step closer made her magic start to stir. Unlike you.”
“Huh?”
Siwoo was dumbfounded.
Come to think of it, Siwoo and Amelia were very close right now.
Just a little while ago, he had put his hand in front of Amelia’s nose to check her breathing, hadn’t he?
“If you’re curious, check it out.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Being cautious is good, but don’t get any funny ideas. The reason I’m making this offer to you is to give you a chance. It will take a little longer, but I can grab any citizen outside and have them move her.”
-Click
“Hurry.”
“……..”
The gun was pointed directly at Siwoo’s head.
Siwoo had no choice but to carefully place his hand on Amelia’s shoulder.
His heart pounded for a moment, but nothing happened, and Siwoo felt relieved.
A soft touch.
Amelia, who always held her head high with such arrogance, was nothing more than a small shoulder under his hand.
The delicate, soft sensation filled his palm.
It was warm.
“See?”
“You’re making it sound too easy. If you were wrong, I would have died.”
Larissa gave a hearty laugh.
“Haha, you’re such a kind-hearted softie. I can tell just by looking at your eyes. A softie like you trying to harm the witch you served? No way.”
A confident smile followed, showing she was sure her prediction was correct.
“It’s a good deal, isn’t it? You hand over the witch to us, and we free you from your slave status. No one loses. Now, lift her up.”
At Larissa’s urging, Siwoo carefully placed his hands under Amelia’s knees and back and lifted her.
Even though she was completely limp in her sleep, oblivious to the world, she was incredibly light.
The escape he had waited and prepared for was right in front of him.
He didn’t have to dirty his hands by killing the hateful Amelia himself.
All he had to do was hand her over, and everything would be resolved.
However.
“No one loses, you say?”
Something bothered him.
“What about Amelia?”
“That witch is just paying for her sins. The arrogant witch is being offered as a sacrifice.”
“You know that a witch who loses her mark dies, right?”
Larissa frowned as if wondering why he was asking such an obvious question.
“So, you’re saying this is wrong? If anything is wrong, it’s the existence of this city itself. You know it, don’t you? You’ve been deprived of your freedom while being treated as a slave! I’m just trying to get it back!”
The gun was still pointed at Siwoo.
He didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t follow her orders any further.
On the other hand, there was an easy way to get through this critical moment.
He just had to accept Larissa’s offer.
He could sell Amelia, erase her from his mind forever, and enjoy the rights he deserved.
“………”
Siwoo hated Amelia.
But had he grown fond of her, even in a hateful way?
He didn’t think she was an evil person who deserved to die.
“…Don’t do this.”
Larissa’s expression twisted at Siwoo’s determined look.
“Just go along with it. What do you gain by being stubborn here?”
Go along with it.
That was a good way to put it.
If he had just gone along with things like Takasho from the beginning, he could have enjoyed a more relaxed life as a slave.
If he had gone along with Amelia’s petty revenge, he wouldn’t have become so deeply entangled with her.
And if he had gone along with the system, Siwoo would have never researched magic.
Now, all that was left was to persuade Larissa.
“It’s wrong to gain freedom by selling someone else’s life. I can’t be a part of it.”
Larissa’s lips trembled as she bit them tightly.
It wasn’t because of the humiliation of having her goodwill rejected.
Unless she was completely evil from the root, she would know that this was wrong.
Siwoo, reading her hesitation, added, “There’s been something bothering me about what Larisa said since earlier.”
“Besides, this is too dangerous. The witch who promised freedom in exchange for handing over other witches is, after all, an exile, right?”
Moreover, if they were doing something like this, it would likely be a wicked witch among the exiles. Could they really trust a promise made by such a witch?
“This is a dangerous deal not just for me, but for you and the crew. The risk is too great…”
“So? I know that much.”
Larisa couldn’t possibly be unaware of something Siwoo could figure out so quickly.
“I don’t want to shoot you. Move quickly. If you’re so afraid of the exile, we’ll leave on our own.”
As the standoff continued, a commotion arose from the stairs.
Fyodor, followed by three other crew members, had come up.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“……..”
Larisa shook her head from side to side.
Fyodor’s thick lips twisted into a sneer.
“I told you, why bother with this complicated mess when we could just leave it to a nearby citizen? Timmy! Go get anyone!”
One of them ran back down the stairs, and Fyodor strode towards Siwoo.
“So, you can’t sell out the witch you’re serving, huh? How touching, how very touching.”
Siwoo backed away, still holding Amelia.
But the inn room was small.
He hadn’t taken more than a few steps back before his back hit the wall.
The wall was right there, and the lamp’s flame flickered just beside his head.
“How should I break you?”
Larisa’s plea cut through Fyodor’s cruel grin.
“Tie him up when it’s over. There’s no need to torment him.”
“What kind of stupid thing are you saying? Who knows what that bastard will do behind our backs? Anyway, let’s have some fun first.”
Fyodor was close enough to touch, and his breath reeked with a disgusting stench.
His bloodshot eyes, scanning Amelia, were filled with all sorts of sinister malice.
“Hey, kid, strip that girl. We can’t screw her, but we should at least see what a witch’s pussy looks like.”
Fyodor couldn’t touch Amelia’s body because of her self-defense, but Siwoo could.
That’s why he was trying to make Siwoo strip Amelia.
Siwoo glanced at the lamp right next to his head.
It was a stroke of luck.
He found a glimmer of possibility to escape this situation in their pointless desires.
“Do you know the difference between an oil lamp and a magic lamp?”
“What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?”
Siwoo firmly supported Amelia with one hand.
Then, he reached for the base of the lamp hanging on the wall right next to his head.
“The magic used for lighting in Gehenna is called ‘Decorative Flame.’ It’s a first-tier elemental alchemy magic that minimizes the heat of the flame while making the light brighter.”
The lamp was usually made of glass.
If the flame inside was real, it should give off heat.
But Siwoo felt no heat from the lamp he touched.
“It’s not hot, so it must be a lamp using Decorative Flame.”
“Is this bastard crazy now that he’s about to die?”
Siwoo twisted the lamp open and put his hand inside.
Magic lamps were indistinguishable from oil lamps in appearance.
However, the nature of their fuel was clearly different.
“The oil inside a magic lamp has a bit of alchemically mixed magic water in it.”
“So what?”
Although the mana was full of impurities and too rough to be used for magical experiments, it was sufficient for simple interference with already manifested magic.
“Bloom.”
Shiwoo forcibly activated the mana water mixed in the oil.
The ‘decorative flame’ in his palm began to shake wildly.
-Whoosh!
He analyzed and unraveled the structure.
He removed the safety device, gathered the overclocked flames, and rolled them on his palm.
The fiercely burning tongues of flame wrapped around Shiwoo like a snake.
All control was in his palm.
It was not difficult.
It was just a first-tier magic, after all.
“W-what is that?”
“How can a slave use magic…!”
Larisa, Fyodor, and an unnamed sailor were shocked.
The flames, flickering as if dancing in his hand, surged once more.
It was not the usual form of fire.
The decorative flame, having been interfered with by mana, wriggled like a living creature and began to form a wall, separating Shiwoo from the sailors.
“Stand back!”
However, not all problems were solved.
The amount of mana water added to this oil was far too small.
If it were just to dimly light a room, it could be used for a month, but creating such intense flames would only last for about 30 seconds at most.
Therefore, he first created a seemingly plausible wall of fire to break their will and block their vision.
In fact, the temperature of the fire was only about 70 degrees Celsius.
It wasn’t very thick either, so they could cross it if they were determined.
In other words, it was just a bluff.
“What are you doing! Larisa, shoot him!”
However, the majestic appearance of the flames, flickering like hellfire in front of those who didn’t know the situation, was impressive.
“I-I don’t know anything about this!”
One of the sailors had already run away in a panic.
But Fyodor and Larisa were different.
They knew what kind of future awaited them if they failed to capture the witch here and let even the slave escape.
“What if the witch gets hit?”
“If we let them go like this, we’re all dead anyway, you crazy bitch!”
While Fyodor was trying to take the gun and Larisa was stopping him, Shiwoo found the next solution.
To prepare for the next magic, he needed to replenish his mana while this bluff was effective.
Amelia’s lessons were helpful at times like this.
Unlike women, men cannot store mana.
However, unlike women, they can generate a small amount of mana.
The method was to feel sexual arousal or ejaculate.
Even if it was a small amount of mana, it was much more than the mosquito-tear-sized mana contained in this lamp.
If he could create new magic, he could manifest another magic.
Shiwoo lowered his gaze.
There, he saw Amelia’s small chest rising and falling gently with her soft breaths.
Without hesitation, Shiwoo lifted Amelia’s dress.
