City ​​of Witches 567

## Chapter 567 – #117_Sleeping With The Enemy (3)

#567

1.
“Then…”

This wasn’t a relationship where they could sit face-to-face and chat amicably.
Therefore, he intended to get straight to the point.
In other words, he was going to continue the interrogation from earlier.

“Hold on a second.”

Dorothy put the cigar back in her mouth, interrupting him.
A faint, weary smile emerged from the sensually dissipating smoke.

“You’ve been asking questions since earlier, and I think I’ve given you enough service time.”
“Is that so? I still feel like it’s not enough.”

He had no desire to get close to her, so there was no need to play along.
Moreover, even from his brief observation, he could tell that she wasn’t the type who liked obvious flattery and pretense.
It wasn’t that he had any ill feelings, but once the pretense that had been covering his doubts disappeared, his tone naturally became curt.

“How about we play a drinking game from now on? We each ask a question, and then we each answer truthfully.”
“In that case… let’s bet our witch names.”

Witches were a prideful bunch.
Betting a witch name meant putting not only one’s own honor but also the honor of one’s predecessors on the table.

He had never seen a witch take this lightly, and since he didn’t have a witch name anyway, he used it as a cheat code.
Dorothy’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she soon chuckled and her eyes became languid again.

“I can bet that as much as you want, but betting a witch name against an exile or a public enemy isn’t a very good choice.”
“Huh?”
“The witches of Gehenna are obsessed with noble honor and family prestige, right?”
“That’s right.”

At least, all the witches Siwoo knew were like that.

“There are proud and noble exiles, but there are also exceptions. There are many witches who would gladly throw away their names a hundred times over.”
“Which side are you on, Dorothy?”
“I also believe that value isn’t contained in a name. I’ve already sullied the name Sahakiel five times.”

He felt a little confused for the first time while talking to her.

Dorothy didn’t seem self-absorbed, intoxicated by the idea of ‘me, who ignores all the rules of society,’ nor did she seem like a ruthless person who only pursued profit.

She had simply spoken calmly, as if advising a clueless junior.
Even in front of Siwoo, who was suspicious of her, she could have easily deceived him if she had wanted to.

He felt that the opposite of what he knew about the elements of a ‘public enemy’ kept emerging from Dorothy.
Moreover, even with the treatment that would have been unpleasant if Siwoo’s suspicions and doubts were unfounded, she hadn’t frowned even once.

When his thoughts reached this point, he realized that this was the first time he had ever had a proper conversation with a ‘public enemy.’
The previous conversations had only consisted of fierce lines about killing or saving each other.

Of course, he didn’t forget that all of this could be a deception.

“So, here’s what we’ll do. Let’s promise not to lie to each other.”
“…What is that?”

Siwoo had naturally expected some kind of magical intervention since she seemed to be suggesting an alternative.
However, the measure Dorothy proposed was too flimsy, a rule that even five-year-olds would doubt.

“You don’t believe me? Don’t worry, I can see through most lies. And you seem to be very bad at lying.”
“I don’t have such a convenient ability…”
“Really? Then, there’s no other way. Look here?”

She dropped a few drops of the red blood she had been drinking into an empty glass.

“As I said before, this blood isn’t ordinary witch’s blood. It’s a potent poison filled with all sorts of curses and spells. If a human without magical countermeasures drinks even a single drop, they’ll die instantly.”
“Why do you drink something like that?”

Ignoring his interruption, Dorothy continued her explanation.

“This blood also has another special ability hidden within it. It’s the ability to discern the truth. If you lie while this is on the back of your hand, you’ll bleed to death.”

For a moment, he was almost fooled, but seeing Dorothy’s smiling face, he quickly saw the truth.

It was clear that there were traces of unusual magical power and an unidentifiable mixture of curses in the blood, but the convenient function Dorothy had described didn’t exist.

Even if it did, a truth-telling magic with restrictions would be quite sophisticated and would require a significant level of refinement.
Simply applying it to the back of one’s hand wouldn’t be nearly enough.

“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“You’re good at it too, discerning lies. I almost fooled you for a moment.”
“There should be all sorts of magic.”

In the end, he had just been played by her teasing.
This witch, without a doubt, was the most self-centered witch he had ever met.

Dorothy straightened her body, causing her heavy breasts to sway.

“Anyway, can I ask the first question?”
“Go ahead.”

Since he had been badgering her like an investigator, as she had said, he decided to yield the first move.

“Are you in a romantic relationship with the Queen?”

It was the kind of question that made it difficult to answer from the very first question.
While he thought it was pathetic that he couldn’t answer clearly, it was a difficult question to answer carelessly.

“That’s…”

He composed himself and answered ‘yes’ after a very brief hesitation, and Dorothy’s eyes widened in shock, the most she had shown so far.

“The fact that you hesitated here means…”
“……”
“You have more than one lover?”

Seeing her read that far in an instant, he wondered if magic had been at play without him knowing.

“This is… a bit disappointing. To think that the princess’s first man would be such a wicked Casanova.”

He became genuinely curious and asked.

“How did you know that?”
“What?”
“I only hesitated for a very brief moment.”

It was a moment of hesitation that even Luel would not have paid much attention to.
Dorothy, filing her fingernails, answered nonchalantly.

“When asked if you were lovers, you turned your eyes away from the bedroom where Luel is, to somewhere else. That means you were thinking of another woman or women, but you don’t seem shameless enough to manipulate women’s hearts for your own gain. You probably haven’t properly sorted out your relationships yet, right?”

Indeed, the seemingly carefree person was a seasoned witch with at least ten snakes up her sleeve.
She had quickly discerned the situation by adding her experience and intuition to that small amount of information.
Rather than feeling humiliated, he was impressed by her clear reasoning.

“…Alright. Now it’s my turn to ask a question, right?”
“No? I answered your question about how I knew, so it’s my turn again. When and how did you get here? A submarine in the middle of the South Pacific isn’t a place you can get to by buying a ticket.”

He thought it would be okay to talk about such trivial matters, so he told her roughly.
He omitted and summarized many parts, but Dorothy seemed to enjoy it enough, listening attentively.

“You’ve lived quite a tumultuous life, haven’t you?”
“It just happened that way. So, now it’s my turn…”

He had already confirmed most of his questions through interrogation, so this time it was a bit more personal, or rather, something related to Dorothy herself.

“How did you become a public enemy?”
“I already told you, didn’t I? I was branded a public enemy from the moment I inherited it.”
“I’m asking about your predecessor.”

He thought she might not answer, but she readily opened her mouth.

“My teacher killed more than ten apprentice witches. Even after Gehenna was created, she couldn’t break her old habits and did that, which made her an outcast among the witches.”
“In that case…”
“I’ve never killed or targeted an apprentice witch. I’ve killed about a dozen witches who recklessly attacked me, though?”

He was about to ask, ‘What about you, Dorothy?’
As if she knew what question he was going to ask, Dorothy took the lead and added an explanation, raising her finger leisurely as if she didn’t care about any criticism.

“In the three years after I inherited it, there were two exiles who came to steal my brand, one from Gehenna, and three public enemies.
I was frustrated and angry. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but I had to live like a starved stray dog just because my teacher was a public enemy.
After that, I naturally killed any witch who appeared as an enemy in front of me. Sometimes I killed friends, and sometimes I killed them for interfering with my business. I took what I needed, and I threw away even what was in my pocket if I didn’t need it.”

She showed no change in emotion as she spoke about her past.

Even though it was a rather harsh story, she spoke in a flat tone, as if she were delivering some trivial information like, ‘Greenland sharks have parasites living in their eyes, so they have no eyesight.’

Dorothy, thinking she had talked too much, muttered, “Anyway, when I drink,” and gave a smile that lacked any charm.

“From your point of view, all public enemies must be terrible villains. And in reality, they’re not that different. But I don’t know any other way to live. I don’t lament or resent that I wasn’t taught any other way. After all, this is my life.”

There was no way to confirm whether her words were true or false.

However, watching her sip her drink, many thoughts swirled within him.
If he were to apply only objective standards, Dorothy was a villain.

Her business was that of an arms dealer that led countless people to their deaths, and she herself confessed to killing countless witches, befitting her title as a public enemy.
She didn’t have any guilt or remorse about it, nor did she have any intention of improving it.

However, as he talked to her on a personal level, he became confused.
At least so far, as a person, she had some unique aspects, but she didn’t seem like a bad person.

He couldn’t believe all of her words, but if he had been a witch who had inherited the brand of a public enemy.
If he had been thrown into a wild environment where he couldn’t survive without killing like her.
He couldn’t be sure how much more righteous of a choice he would have made.

“Now it’s my turn, right?”
“That’s right.”

If he could have simply defined her as an enemy, he wouldn’t have had to deal with this unpleasantness as a package deal.

“Would you like to hug me?”
“Is that a question?”
“Yes, I’m saying I’m willing to go along with it as much as you want. The princess is asleep anyway, right?”

The hem of her nun’s habit slid down.
Her long legs and luscious thighs were revealed, and Dorothy twisted her body as if to emphasize her breasts.
Her bewitching, mystical silver eyes, which were not at all unworthy of the modifier ‘alluring,’ fixed on Siwoo, exuding a fragrance-like sensuality.

There was no need to hesitate.

“I refuse.”
“Ah~ that’s too bad. I got so lonely after telling old stories…”
“…You’re lying.”

When he rejected her sudden flirtation, Dorothy gave a sly smile.

“As expected~ you’re good at discerning lies.”