City ​​of Witches 372

Chapter 372 – #80_Hero(3)

#370

1.
Since Diana’s tutoring and Yesod’s private lessons began, Siwoo had eliminated sleep. He was busy studying the distortion field control formula, which was progressing rapidly day by day, and sparring with his master.

Late at night.
He was holed up alone in his lab, compiling and organizing everything he had learned so far. Under the lamp, with a cigarette in one hand and a pen in the other, he was establishing the newly acquired theories.

After all, inspiration and impromptu ideas are volatile, so if you don’t organize them on the day they come to mind, they become deposited in your subconscious as vague lumps.

Now that he was a spirit body, there was no need to worry about lung cancer.
He also had enough money to spend.
He would pile up the cigarette butts in the ashtray like cocktail shrimp and spend at least six hours a day studying alone.

The silence that settled down, mingling with the night dew, was very pleasing to him.
A guest had arrived.

The twins would already be wandering in dreamland.
His master, who often shared drinks with him at night, avoided drinking sessions as if they were a plague. He tried not to show it, but his master was so clumsy that it was obvious… He didn’t bother asking why and just went on as usual.

For that reason, there was only one person who would visit at this hour.

“Knock knock.”

Hair of a deep, dark green that looked black in the dark.
Mysterious cyan eyes that felt refreshing just to look at.
A witch with a delicate waistline, a fertile pelvis, and voluptuous breasts that didn’t match her figure.
Sharon Evergreen stood there, her hands behind her back, leaning slightly.

Perhaps because there had been a bit of a big event today, it felt like a very long time since he had seen her, even though it had only been the day before yesterday.

“You’re here?”
“Yeah, I missed you, Siwoo.”

Perhaps because of their first impression, Sharon always reminded him of a stray cat when he looked at her.
She would often wander into the lab without any particular purpose and hang out with Siwoo.

When he reached out to welcome her, Sharon rubbed her cheek against his palm as if she had been waiting for it.
Her seemingly cold expression instantly crumbled as she closed her eyes and acted cute.
Look at that.
Doesn’t this look just like a cute, affectionate cat?

“Hmm, cigarette smell.”

Sharon, who had been sniffing his palm, climbed up his arm and buried her nose in the collar of his shirt, breathing in.

“I usually hate the smell of cigarettes, but strangely, when it mixes with your smell, it makes me feel good.”
“You’re saying something embarrassing again.”
“What else can I do? It’s the truth.”

Siwoo let Sharon smell him to her heart’s content for a while.
In Sharon’s words, it was a kind of ritual to recharge her Siwoo power gauge.

“Haa… Charging complete for today!”

Sharon sat down on the desk with a happy smile.

“How was your lesson? Did Miss Diana not listen again?”

Just as Siwoo was busy, Sharon was also busy.
After overcoming the incomplete succession, she needed some adjustment to skillfully handle the inherited magnetic magic.
Even if they had the same mark, it was necessary to adjust the magnetic magic according to the size of the body, the definition of the mind, and so on.

To put it simply, it was like breaking in inherited clothes.
Because of this process, apprentice witches would go into seclusion for at least 5 to 10 years after inheriting the mark.
But Sharon was also in charge of the twins’ elemental lessons, so it was no wonder she was busy.

Anyway, for that reason, it seemed that the series of events that had happened in Border Town today had not yet reached Sharon’s ears.
In fact, if it had been even a little dangerous, he wouldn’t have told Sharon about it.

“What? A homunculus with 17 eyes?”
“It was nothing. I just beat it up like a dog, and it surrendered.”
“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“Of course not.”

He didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily, and it had ended so anticlimactically that it would be okay.
He told her about his exploits today, mixing in a little bit of boasting.

“So, I just beat it up like a dog with my spear.”
“Wow… wow… really? What happened next?”

Sharon’s reaction was truly genuine.
She widened her eyes and sparkled as Siwoo described the scene.
It was like a child listening to a fairy tale read by their grandmother.

It’s a well-known fact that men are programmed to be unable to resist a woman’s praise.
Siwoo, who hadn’t thought much of it, also puffed up his chest.

“Anyway, that’s what happened.”
“You did well, but you still have something to be scolded for.”

Sharon narrowed her brows as if she were angry and put her hands on her hips.

“It’s true that you were amazing, but how can you just fight recklessly like that? What if you got hurt?”
“Even if the opponent was a bit tough, it was Border Town. The witches around would have come to help.”
“You’re talking back again.”

Sharon reached out and pinched his cheek.
Since the atmosphere hadn’t been very serious, both of them naturally laughed.
As the laughter subsided, Sharon pulled her hips closer and asked.

“So, did you get anything good?”
“Ah, this. Do you want to see it?”

The spoils of this homunculus hunt were really nothing much.
There was only the homunculus’s crystal that had been embedded in Jack’s arm after he had turned back into a human, and unfortunately, there were no other relics.
It wasn’t much of a substitute, but he had salvaged the item that Jack had used for his crimes.

It was a frilly headband.
According to Diana, the moment you put it on your head, you can’t use any magic + you can’t disobey the orders of a specific person (presumably the owner of the artifact).

“It’s an artifact? What’s it for?”
“They say that if you wear this, you can’t disobey orders. You can’t use magic either.”
“Really?”

It was very pretty, as if it had been made for a woman to wear.
Perhaps that was why Sharon also turned the headband around with interested eyes.

“Should I try it on? Do you think it’ll suit me?”
“What doesn’t suit you?”

There are different levels of artifacts.
Things like Dagon’s flute and the Red Branch felt dangerous and complex at a glance.
But as far as Siwoo could tell, this headband was the kind that could be mass-produced like a music box if you had enough time and money.

“It’s trying to interfere with my autonomous defense.”
“Do you think it’ll break through?”
“No way.”
“I guess not.”

It was the same reason why Sharon was speaking in such a calm tone.

To put it in perspective, for a witch above the 15th level, this headband was about as dangerous as SM handcuffs.
The kind of handcuffs with fluffy fur so that your wrists don’t get scratched.
He tried it on as a test, and even Siwoo, who didn’t have any autonomous defense, was able to easily shake off the interference.

Sharon, who had been tilting her head with her gaze raised for a while, suddenly said as if she had just remembered something.

“Siwoo, do you know what? The Harvest Festival is coming up soon.”
“The Harvest Festival? Is it already that time?”

The Harvest Festival.
It was a grand festival held for three days from the third Monday of December every year, and it was, in short, Gehenna’s Thanksgiving.
Usually, in the present world, Thanksgiving is around October or November, but in Gehenna, the Harvest Festival is held long after the winter barley sowing is over.

The reason for this is as follows.

Although they are no match in terms of power now, witches have been in conflict with various religious groups since the past, and the conflict with Christian sects was particularly deep.
For that reason, in the early days of Gehenna, they banned various religious events of the citizens.

However, the citizens who first settled in Gehenna were medieval people who blindly believed that even diseases were punishments from God.
Their way of life and mentality were very closely related to religion.

Invisible discontent arose against the witches’ control, and the witches, realizing that they could not control them with oppression alone, promised religious freedom to the wandering medieval people.
However, without a church or parish, faith could not be sustained by word of mouth alone.
Moreover, it would be strange if their faith remained intact when the existence that the scriptures denied was showing such great mysteries right in front of their eyes.

In less than a century, the religious people naturally disappeared, and the Christmas festival that had been held every year was changed to the Harvest Festival, leaving only traces of a grand festival.

Siwoo had also spent five Harvest Festivals in Gehenna.

During the Harvest Festival, a large fir tree is erected in the square of Border Town next to the clock tower square.
Although the citizens don’t know the origin of the Christmas tree, they bring candlesticks and ornaments one by one to decorate the fir tree, and they light several large fires and dance to the lively music, wrapping their arms around each other.

The women pack a lot of food from home and come out, so the smell of warm food wafts everywhere on the streets, and the city hall provides unlimited free beer, which is known to be delicious.

It is said that in Lenormant Town and Ars Magna Town, there are fancy balls held everywhere, and even the witches who are holed up in their rooms enjoy the festive atmosphere for once.
It was one of the few enjoyable events during his time as a slave.

“Yeah, it’s less than three weeks away. So, I was wondering if you’d like to spend that day together?”

It was like asking him to spend Christmas together.
Siwoo had no reason to refuse.

“I’d love to.”
“Can Odile and Odette come too?”

In fact, if Sharon hadn’t said it, Siwoo had been planning to ask, but he was secretly surprised.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

Sharon liked Siwoo, and the twins also liked Siwoo.
In the end, he couldn’t choose either, so he ended up with three lovers, and he had received some permission from both the twins and Sharon…
Even so, he was secretly worried that there might be some rivalry, but Sharon had actually brought up the idea of bringing the twins along.

“Why wouldn’t it be okay? It would be nice if we all got along.”

If she had been a little more decisive, would she have been able to handle this situation better?
Siwoo felt grateful to Sharon, who had rolled up her sleeves and helped with the adjustments that Siwoo had to make.
And she did it without showing off or making it seem like she had done anything special.

“Ah, I think it’s done.”

Before he could say thank you, Sharon changed the subject.
Sharon tapped the headband on her head with her hand.
She tried to take it off by herself, but she only struggled as if she were doing a pantomime, and couldn’t take off the headband.

“I’ve deactivated my autonomous defense.”
“Huh?”

Sharon smiled and quietly approached Siwoo.

“It’s a very strange feeling. It feels like I’ve gone back to when I was very young, and my magic doesn’t move at all.”
“……”

For a witch, autonomous defense is like the last lifeline.
And Sharon had deactivated it in front of Siwoo so easily.
It was proof of how much she trusted him.

“Now I have to do whatever Siwoo tells me to do.”

If there was one difference between the Sharon of the past and the Sharon of now, it was that she had developed this sly side.

The authority to command as she pleases…
How could he resist this?
Siwoo picked up Sharon and headed for the sofa.