City ​​of Witches 358

Chapter 358 – #77_Home Tutor (8)

#356

1.
Countess Lucy Yesod was a different breed from Diana.

She handled a mountain of pending matters in the mundane world with a single stroke of her pen, yet she never forgot her duty as a witch, immersing herself in magical research. She maintained amicable relationships with other witches, enjoyed her hobbies, and diligently traveled all over Gehenna whenever she had the chance.

From waking up at 6 AM to falling asleep at 2 AM.
She was a diligent witch who never stopped moving.
Recently, she had even eliminated her regular sleep schedule to tutor Shin Siwoo, Diana’s home tutor.

“I wonder if he’ll be on time today…”

The countess rested her chin on her hand, waiting for the sound of a knock.

The first male witch in Gehenna.
When Lucy first heard the news about him, she didn’t feel particularly moved.

Certainly, the word ‘first’ had an alluring nuance.
Unobserved.
Unknown.
Implying hidden, limitless potential.
However, the fact that he was the first male witch also implied that his achievement was merely ‘one generation’.

She thought that he would be of no help to the self-magnetic magic that the Yesod family had built up over thousands of years.
Perhaps this was why the great witches of the 20th rank and above didn’t pay much attention to his ‘magical value’.
That was what she used to think.

“Hmm, he’s quite amazing…”

The countess looked down at the neatly arranged stack of papers on the table, lost in thought.
It was a study log that summarized the content they had studied together over the past four days.

Her answer to the question, ‘Is he worth studying magically?’ remained unchanged.
‘He is clearly lacking.’

Conducting various experiments on him would not help the development of self-magnetic magic.
The Yesod family had already reached that level.
Apart from that, what Countess Lucy was paying attention to was his learning ability itself.

‘If it’s not too rude, may I ask how long you’ve been studying?’
‘I’ve been seriously studying for… about a month or two.’
‘A month or two…?’

He had said that he had started seriously studying reverse field magic for about a month or two.
Moreover, he hadn’t been solely focused on research like other witches in seclusion, but had been helping his friend and having fun.

At first, she thought it was half-exaggeration.
No matter how outstanding his intellect and calculation abilities were, and even if he submitted excellent answers on the tests.
There was a limit to everything.

Even child prodigy musicians were often just a cute act in front of seasoned masters.
During the three days of teaching him, the countess realized that there was a talent that defied even experience.

He solved the problems Lucy presented at an alarming speed.
When he got lost, if she gave him a very small hint, he immediately grasped the direction and charged forward with terrifying momentum.
He was navigating the labyrinth of the extremely difficult reverse field magic, sometimes breaking through walls.

As a result, he perfectly understood the reverse field theories needed for the ‘add-on’ to control the red branch.
He had dyed it in his own colors and internalized it.
Looking at him, she couldn’t help but feel curious.

“What kind of reverse field magic would Siwoo show…?”

It was inevitable that self-magnetic magic would change when fused with self-magnetic magic.
Perhaps the result would be quite different from the existing reverse field magic of Yesod.
And in the process of reaching that point, he might even present her with magical inspiration.
This was why the countess was secretly looking forward to her private tutoring sessions with him.

“And also…”
“Excuse me. May I come in?”
“Yes, come in.”

The countess quickly checked her attire in the mirror on the table and let Siwoo in.
At the same time, the door opened, and Siwoo, dressed in an outfit that she liked, entered.
He had looked very nervous on the first day, but now he seemed to feel comfortable, as his expression was quite bright.

A faint smile appeared on the countess’s face as she looked at Siwoo’s expression.
This was the second reason why the countess looked forward to tutoring time.
Having a handsome man by her side was never a boring thing.

How long had it been since she had felt this tingling sensation?
Looking at him, emotions she had forgotten for a long time resurfaced.

“I’ve been waiting for you. How was Diana today?”
“I plan to take her outdoors more seriously starting tomorrow. It went well.”
“Already? That’s quite fast progress.”
“I’m not sure if this can be called progress…”

The countess continued the lesson with Siwoo, who sat down with a wry smile.
Today was the day they would finish the theory review and begin practical lessons.

“I think the theoretical establishment is almost complete. What Siwoo is trying to do is not to build a pyramid from the bottom up, but to create an ‘add-on’ using only the necessary blocks.”

About an hour into the lesson.
Siwoo showed a sign of difficulty for the first time.

“I still can’t get a good grasp of it…”

Indeed, theory and practice were different.
Even Siwoo, who had easily solved everything, was hesitant.

“There’s no need to be impatient. It’s only the fourth day. Siwoo, you’re already doing very well.”

Reverse fields were particularly conceptual and vague magic.
The most significant problem was the constant disharmony between the image of the reverse field materialized in the mind and the magic formula calculated in reality.
It was like looking at an object under rippling water and having to draw a still life accurately.

“When you start learning reverse field magic, the most difficult part is connecting theory and practice.”

The countess stared intently at Siwoo’s face.
Lucy had also gone through this path once, so she understood his difficulties.
She also knew the fastest way to overcome this.

“Instead of that… hmm…”

The problem was whether she should do this or not…

After losing her beloved lover a long time ago, the countess had immersed herself in magic and business.
Rather than agonizing over the inevitable separation, she focused on living the rest of her life happily.

What would be solved by just sitting down and crying?
She would just cherish it as a precious memory and move on.
However, she had created a memorial space for him in a corner of her heart and had not approached any other man.

She had also completed a thesis that had shaken the academic world.
She had also raised Diana, who was a newborn baby, into a fine apprentice witch.
She thought she had kept her promise.

As her life, which had been running without looking back, was coming to an end.
What came to mind was a very small loneliness.
The countess, who already knew what it was like to be loved, had been erasing that desire by writing erotic novels alone.
For over a decade.

Then, just a little.
Wouldn’t it be okay to be a little greedy?
If it was just to fulfill a little bit of her own desires.

“Shin Siwoo.”

2.
Countess Lucy Yesod said that the materialization of a reverse field was inherently quite difficult.

“Then what should I do?”
“There’s a good way. It’s to share the scenery of the mind.”
“Ah.”

He had experienced it before.
When he first took a lesson on the elemental system from Sharon, he had clasped hands and looked at the scenery Sharon was seeing.
It goes without saying that his skills in handling elemental magic had improved dramatically since then.

“Then, would you stand up?”
“Huh? Do I have to stand up?”
“Yes, just stay still.”

All she had to do was hold his hand, so why did he have to stand up?
While wondering, he obediently stood up, and the countess unbuttoned Siwoo’s shirt one by one.
Like when they first met, the front of his shirt was quickly unbuttoned.
A cold breeze rushed in through the wide-open shirt.

“Countess?”
“It’s okay, I’m not going to do anything bad.”

He looked at the countess’s face, slightly flustered, but there was no change.
She had a very businesslike expression.

This was part of magic study.
Well, there was no guarantee that mind sharing always had to be done in the same way.

“Would you come over here for a moment?”

After unbuttoning all the buttons, the countess stood Siwoo next to the sofa.
And like an elegant swan, she walked gracefully forward and turned around.
Siwoo had to suppress a gasp.

He hadn’t noticed it when he was just facing her since he entered the room, but the dress Countess Yesod was wearing was an open-back dress that revealed a lot of skin.
It wasn’t just a slightly revealing type of clothing.
It was a daring exposure that looked like her butt crack would show if the shoulder straps loosened even a little.

From her neatly tied-up hair, the slender nape of her neck, to her radiant back and waist, which boasted perfect proportions and balance.
The feminine curve of her hips, accentuated by the clinging skirt.
The reason why her back didn’t look vulgar despite such exposure was probably due to the mature beauty that the countess naturally possessed.
Rather, it was as beautiful as looking at a work of art.

“Physical contact is important for sharing the scenery of the mind.”

She had unbuttoned the front of his shirt and was showing her back, which was as white as a snowfield…
The meaning was clear.
She was telling him to hug her from behind.

“Are you embarrassed? It’s for magic, isn’t it?”

The countess asked, glancing over her shoulder at Siwoo, who was hesitating.
It was quite burdensome, not to mention sudden.
In this late hour, alone, with bare skin touching, a back hug.
Weren’t there some suggestive words strung together like sausages?

“…If contact is necessary, can’t we just hold hands?”

So he asked.
He was worried that if he hugged her rashly, something unpleasant might happen.
He also wondered if she was trying to seduce him like other witches, but not entirely.

“…Our family does it this way.”
“Ah…”

Just as his last doubt was fading at the answer that sounded so natural.
The countess put the nail in the coffin of his dilemma of whether to do this or not.

“Are you going to embarrass me? It was a favor, after all.”
“Of course not.”

Get a grip.
This wasn’t a host bar.
Countess Yesod wasn’t a reckless witch who was obsessed with Siwoo’s uniqueness and demanded to sleep with him.

She was among the highest echelons of witches.
One of only seven countesses.

It was an overestimation of his own importance to assume that such a countess was inducing physical contact under the guise of showing him the scenery of her mind.
It seemed that he had been so tormented that he had started having such delusions.

“Then, excuse me.”
“Oh my, you should say thank you instead.”

He stiffly opened his arms and hugged the countess.
She was wearing heels, so the height difference between the two was about half a head.
He breathed only through his mouth so as not to inhale the scent of her hair and gently embraced her.

“Ah…”

The countess’s body, which he embraced through the gaping shirt in the cool air, was surprisingly warm.
Skin as soft as a mink shawl.
A slightly higher body temperature and the clear thumping of her heart.
The countess gently pulled Siwoo’s arms, which were stiff in the somewhat erotic situation, forward.

“You need to get a little closer.”
“Ack!”

Siwoo’s body, which had only been vaguely touching her chest, was now pressed against the countess’s back.
The symbol of motherhood, which was clearly braless, was felt on his arms.

If there was an additional problem here, it was that a woman’s body, unlike a man’s, had flexible curves in the front and back.
As Siwoo’s abdomen and the countess’s back were in contact, Siwoo’s snake was parked between the curves of her buttocks.

“……”

If Siwoo’s thing, which was usually quite prominent, was so close that he could feel her soft and smooth buttocks, then the countess would also notice.

“Oh my…”

He clearly heard it.
The countess’s exclamation, as if she was surprised.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Just as he was about to quickly pull his waist back and get away from her.
Lucy’s hand, which was holding Siwoo, gripped his wrist even tighter.

“It’s okay. Focus now.”

In the end, Siwoo, who had somehow compromised and was taking an unsightly pose of only slightly pulling his butt back, shared the scenery of the mind with the countess.