City ​​of Witches 309

Chapter 309 – #69_Summer Days (2)

#307

1.
– *Sizzle!*

A barbecue grill, radiating the heat of burning charcoal.
On top of it, thick slices of pork belly, scored with a 2.5cm honeycomb pattern, are placed.
The cooler box brought from the twins’ place was filled to the brim with pork belly, having discarded the veal and lamb.
Nearly 5kg of it.

Seeing that they also packed various leafy greens for wraps and dipping sauces, which are hard to come by in Gehenna, it seems they really enjoyed what they ate in the mortal realm.

“Gulp….”
“Gulp….”
“Gulp….”

Odile, Odette, and Sharon were sitting side by side at the table, forks and knives clutched tightly in their hands.
Their eyes, shining brightly, were locked onto the barbecue that Siwoo was grilling, not wavering for a moment.

It’s true that delicious food acts as a smooth lubricant in human relationships.
There’s a reason why important meetings or blind dates are often held over meals.
Even Sharon and the twins, who had been engaged in a subtle battle of nerves, were now united in their anticipation of the meat being served.

The tense atmosphere from earlier had been broken by Sharon’s lively entrance, and the four of them were now enjoying a pleasant time at the beach together.
They built an enormous sandcastle using magic.
They also had a swimming competition, swallowing mouthfuls of salty seawater.
Siwoo, not wanting to ruin his vacation, also livened up the mood, so the four of them were ravenously hungry.

And so, as they watched the sunset paint the once-blue horizon in fiery hues, they began the highlight of their vacation: a barbecue party.

– *Sizzle!*

The twins, who had been whispering to each other, and Sharon, who occasionally chimed in, all fell silent, listening to the sound of the fat sizzling, more beautiful than an orchestral performance.

“Slurp….”

The savory aroma of the meat, hitting their empty stomachs, caused saliva to trickle from Odette’s slightly parted lips.

“Is this about right?”
“Assistant, it’s perfect. I think you can stop grilling now. It looks fully cooked to me.”
“The best way to eat meat is medium-rare.”

Listening to the twins’ urging, Siwoo placed the steaming pork belly on a cutting board and sliced it.
Was it because three beauties were watching?
Or was it because he had confidently declared that he would grill the meat?
Despite the difficulty of controlling the heat on a barbecue, the result was visually stunning.

“Wow, it’s grilled perfectly.”

The surface was golden and crispy.
The unique aroma of cooked pork mixed with the scent of herb seasoning made their mouths water.
It was so well-cooked that it made a sound like a cookie crumbling when the knife touched it.
As the knife slid in smoothly, the juices moistened the cutting board.
The pale, fatty cross-section was tantalizing and seductive.

Siwoo plated the meat beautifully and placed it on the table.

“Here you go, it’s served~”
“Yayyy!”
“It looks delicious!”

The twins clapped their hands and cheered.
Meanwhile, Sharon wrapped a piece of meat in lettuce that she had brought and put it into Siwoo’s mouth.

“Siwoo, you worked hard grilling, so have a bite first.”
“Mmm, thank you.”

The twins, who had been eagerly devouring the pork belly after their long wait, froze at the sight.
They looked like politicians who had lost an election.

While Sharon naturally took care of Siwoo first, they had been too busy putting meat in their own mouths.
Such casual consideration.
It was a bit lacking for the twins, who had always been pampered.

The twins chewed the meat in their mouths and began wrapping lettuce at lightning speed.
But compared to Sharon, who had experienced 10 years of Korean life, their wraps looked a bit clumsy.
They placed lettuce on a plate, piled the meat on, almost like origami, and when it didn’t look right, they covered it with another piece of lettuce, like a sandwich.

“Assistant, ah~”
“Assistant, we made some too!”

The wraps they made were bigger than the twins’ fists.
Siwoo grimaced at the sight of the enormous wraps being shoved right under his nose.

“I don’t think something that big will fit?”
“No, I didn’t think it would fit either, but it did.”
“That’s right! It might not seem possible, but if you try hard enough, it works!”

This was some kind of sweaty joke.
In the end, Siwoo opened his mouth wide enough to dislocate his jaw and accepted the twins’ wraps one after another, then went back to grilling more meat while chewing.

They drank the alcohol they had brought, ate the pork belly, and the grilled mushrooms, and before they knew it, the sun had completely set beyond the sea.

It was a full-fledged night at the beach, and with the alcohol flowing, the atmosphere became festive and boisterous.

“One, two, three. One, two, three!”
“Two, two, three, two, two, three!”
“Odette! Stop stepping on my feet!”
“You’re pulling too hard!”

Odile and Odette, who had announced they would do a talent show, were waltzing, holding hands.
The dance was graceful, as if the sandy beach had become a ballroom, but perhaps because they were drunk, Odette stumbled, and it eventually turned into a strange dance.
Sharon and Siwoo laughed until their faces turned red, watching their adorable antics.

“Now, look at this bottle. It’s clearly sealed tight, right? I’ll open it without touching it.”

Siwoo performed a simple magic trick that could be done at a drinking party, making the twins’ eyes widen.

“Oh my goodness!”
“Magic without using mana… this is revolutionary!”
“Assistant! Teach me too! How did you do it?”

The twins were shocked, covering their mouths, and then clung to Siwoo, asking for the secret.
Since the fun of magic is not revealing the secret, Siwoo tried to keep it hidden, but in the end, he revealed everything.
The twins’ curiosity was something that couldn’t be overcome.

“Is it my turn now? Ahem, you can’t make fun of me if I don’t sing well, okay?”

Sharon sang a beautiful verse, lifting the mood.
Sharon, singing a pop song with a spoon stuck in a bottle next to the crackling bonfire, looked like a fairy.

After everyone had shown off their talents, there was a brief lull.

They had been busy swimming during the day, and then they had been eating and drinking and having an orientation session in the evening, so they needed a moment to catch their breath.
The four of them moved to the living room of the villa, which overlooked the beautiful night sea, and continued their drinking party.
It seemed that the bugs were too bothersome outside.

“I’m going out for a smoke. Please keep an eye on Odile and Odette so they don’t cause any trouble.”

Siwoo left the boisterous atmosphere and went outside.
The slightly chilly sea breeze brushed against his cheeks, making his head feel a little clearer.

“This is nice.”

A life without any major worries.
A vacation at a fancy mansion on a beach that he would probably never stay at otherwise.
And he was with the twins, who could conquer the world with their cuteness, and Sharon, a perfect homemaker.

It would have been even more enjoyable if his teacher had been here.
He secretly wanted to see Eloa in her swimsuit.

How wonderful it would be if this kind of life could last forever?
He figured it was probably wishful thinking.

The fact that Siwoo could have fun with both Sharon and the twins was only possible because of his ambiguous and indecisive behavior.

If Siwoo were to choose one of them….
Wouldn’t it be difficult to see a scene like this again?

“Haa….”

Then, what if Siwoo were to accept the ancient and good custom of polygamy?
Even if he could make all three women happy, even if he could rationalize it as being utilitarian…

“Do I have the right to do that?”

…This question arose.

Let’s put that aside and indulge in some more fantasies.

Sharon had said that as long as he came back, as long as he stayed by her side, she didn’t care who he met.
But would the twins accept that?

This was Gehenna, the city of witches.
Among witches, there was a subtle tendency to look down on men who could not receive or give a mark.
In fact, weren’t lesbians and bisexuals overwhelmingly more common among witches?

And yet, Odile and Odette were hothouse flowers from the prestigious Geminae Baek family, a traditional witch family, who had grown up absorbing the customs of Gehenna.
In fact, the twins took the system of inheriting marks, which Siwoo found a bit repulsive, for granted.
It was difficult to even bring up the idea of ‘Should we just have a 4P relationship?’ and their reaction was completely unpredictable.

Sharon, whom he had met on equal footing in the mortal realm and had lived with.
The twins, who had poured an excessive amount of affection on him, even though he had saved their lives, as a slave.
They were all precious.

“Haa….”

At times like this, he envied Takasho.
He seemed like he would have handled it very well.
A long plume of cigarette smoke curled out from between his teeth.

“……!”

At that moment.
Siwoo felt a chill that ran down his spine.
It was not something that could be explained in words.
It was the atmosphere that he felt.

The trace of an overwhelming mana, as if he had been thrown into the middle of a deep, dark sea, where not a single ray of light could reach, and was being crushed endlessly.
There was no hostility or malice detected, but just being near it made him feel a sense of crisis.

Siwoo cautiously turned his head.
There was a woman there.

She was wearing a modest witch’s robe, completely concealing her skin, like a priest’s garment.
Her hair was as white as the first snow, and as you followed the strands, you could see various colors blending in, as if they were dyed.
Beneath her thick, lush eyelashes, her dignified golden eyes pierced through Siwoo.
Her mysterious eyes seemed to be looking at the present, and at the same time, they gave the illusion of seeing the future and the past.

She was simply beautiful.
But it was a completely different kind of beauty than what one would feel when looking at a pretty face.
It was like looking at a galaxy that could turn the planet Earth into a tiny speck of dust, an admiration and awe for something vast and immense.

Siwoo instinctively knew who she was.

The oldest and highest witch, who reigned over all witches.
The Keter Duke, who had single-handedly stepped into the 30th level of the magic realm.

There was no other explanation.
The presence of an absolute being who seemed like she could erase Siwoo’s existence completely just by sighing.

“It’s been a while, Shin Siwoo.”
“…….”

He couldn’t blink.
He couldn’t inhale or exhale.
He instantly understood why those arrogant and self-centered witches feared and revered her.

“Did you like the gift that I, (余), gave you?”

Keter slowly approached Siwoo.
Just by that, the space seemed to ripple, and even time seemed to shatter.
The intense scent of a witch that he could feel just by being near her.
The powerful impulse that made his reason fade away pushed his heart to the brink of explosion.
The only reason Siwoo didn’t move rashly was because of the fear that was ingrained in his instincts.

“Two before, and two after. Four in total?”
“…….”
“It’s woefully insufficient. Even though I bestowed upon you my ‘vessel’.”

Keter reached out her slender hand and touched Siwoo’s eyepatch.
It was warm and soft.
But the fear that he would be swallowed up was still there.
The only way to control himself amidst the lust and fear that made him feel like he was going crazy because of her scent was to do nothing.

“Shall I interfere a little more?”

Keter smiled faintly and took a step back.
Her golden eyes shone with a light like the dawn.

— — — —!

The darkness that was hanging at the edge of Siwoo’s vision shattered from the corners.
From the fragments of the broken night sky, a white light that seemed to blind him began to rise.

“Revere.”

If Keter wished it, the world would.
Be willingly destroyed.
And then recreated.

In the face of the blinding white darkness, Siwoo’s consciousness shattered into pieces and was reassembled.