City ​​of Witches 640

Chapter 640 – #129_City Of Night (3)

#640

1.
“Ah~ If only every day could be like today….”

After sending his troublesome son-in-law to the mortal realm, Albireo had a particularly good appetite.

How much had she suffered, both internally and externally, because of that troublemaking son-in-law?

Understanding with the head and understanding with the heart are completely different matters.
Just the fact that the twins were secretly sneaking out of the mansion was enough to make her blood boil, and now even the immature Deneb was involved.

To make matters worse, seeing Amelia, Sharon, and even Duke Tiferet building cozy love lines was enough to make her feel like she was about to explode.

Of course, just because he was in the mortal realm didn’t mean the fundamental problem was solved.
But just the fact that her son-in-law, who had been causing her so much anguish and worry, wasn’t around was like a sweet vacation.

At that moment.
Head Maid Galina entered and handed her a letter.

“Urgent news?”
“Yes, Great Master. It’s a letter from the location point.”
“Okay, thank you for your hard work. You may go back.”

It was a rare leisurely afternoon tea time, and to be interrupted like this.
Albireo was displeased, but she nonchalantly broke the seal on the envelope and unfolded the letter.

“Seriously, why is everyone making my life so difficult?”

Recently, the mortal realm was in utter chaos, and all sorts of documents, indiscriminately labeled as urgent, were flying to the Geminae Baek family.
It was a chore to check them one by one, so she was planning to find a witch to sort the letters soon.

Albireo was skimming through the letter with a bored expression.

-Clang!

The teacup shattered.
The teacup that Albireo had dropped soaked her skirt and fell to the floor, but she had no time to worry about such trivial matters.

The urgent news was from Duke Tiferet.

The first line stated that ‘Shin Siwoo has been kidnapped by an enemy of the state.’

“Again?!”

The rest of the content could be summarized as follows.

The enemies of the state suspected to be involved in the incident were the Silent Witch, the Sword Witch, and the Corpse Witch.

Among them, the Corpse Witch had been personally defeated by Duke Tiferet.
She herself had immediately begun the pursuit, and the letter contained a brief apology for her lack of face and a request for cooperation.

“…Ah.”

Albireo felt her vision darken.

She couldn’t understand how he had managed to get captured despite being with the Duke.
However, the reason Siwoo was in the mortal realm was clear.

In fact, Nukelabi had enough financial resources to donate the funds on his own.
Nevertheless, Albireo had kicked him out under the pretext of preparing the donation.

She was furious that her son-in-law, who was already enjoying a happy harem life, had brought a Deep Sea Witch and was now demanding citizenship.

The pretext was a kind of test to become her son-in-law, but it was nothing more than a way to vent her anger.
Albireo’s pointless tantrum had returned as the terrible conclusion of Shin Siwoo’s kidnapping.

Her fingertips trembled.

Just a few months ago, he had gone missing with Deneb.

Albireo had suffered quite a bit back then, but the situation was much more serious now.

The Sword Witch who had captured him was an enemy of the state from Qliphoth.

Unlike the Deep Sea Witch, who turned out to be a slightly dim-witted young witch, she was a dangerous individual beyond any doubt.

How many lives had been lost under that blue sword?
Moreover, the fact that Albireo was the one who had caused all of this.

“If something goes wrong….”

She wouldn’t be able to face anyone.
Albireo immediately got up.

2.
“There isn’t much time. We have to go right away, so please listen carefully.”
“Yes? Yes.”

Honestly, she was still in a daze.

The last thing she remembered was the scenery blurring like an ink painting, and a sword flying mercilessly towards her neck.

Why was she still alive, what was this luxurious ryokan-like room, and why was Yebin, who had been missing, in front of her? She couldn’t understand any of it.

Yebin, who had a look of both joy and deep concern as she received Siwoo’s first experience, quickly continued speaking.

Her words could be summarized as follows.

This was Hexennacht, a newly created city of enemies of the state.
And Siwoo, like Yebin, had been kidnapped and brought here by the Sword Witch.

This time, she hadn’t been kidnapped to a small place like a fish tank or a submarine.

It was a city of enemies of the state.
A demonic city where even the most elite of the notoriously dangerous Qliphoth were gathered.
As if being a legendary Pokémon wasn’t enough, she didn’t know what kind of treatment she would receive, and there was nothing more unsettling than this.

“Even if it’s Yebin… why did they kidnap me?”

At least if Siwoo was alive, and even received thorough first aid and treatment, then taking her life couldn’t be the goal.

“I don’t know.”

Yebin shook her head and added one thing.

“But please remember this. The Sword Witch is a very dangerous witch. Have you heard of her?”
“No.”
“She’s a witch who has wielded her sword against all sorts of witches for the sake of getting stronger. Don’t go against her. If you cooperate, she won’t try to harm you.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“There’s a lot more I want to tell you, but I’ll take you to the training grounds right away. She told me to bring you as soon as you woke up.”

The conversation was short.
In the first place, in a situation where they didn’t know what kind of surveillance was being conducted, Yebin had taken a risk just by giving him this much explanation.

Siwoo followed her out into the hallway.

She was amazed by the Kyoto-like scenery, which was out of place for the situation.

She had roughly guessed it from the tatami mats in the room she had been lying in, but it was indeed a Japanese-style traditional house.

On one side, shoji screens, which combined wooden frames with paper, lined up as walls and windows, while on the other side, a gravel garden quietly shone under the light of a stone lantern.

Come to think of it, the Sword Witch she had crossed swords with was an East Asian witch.
This kind of interior design was understandable.
After passing through the courtyard, she saw a tightly closed wooden door with a hat-shaped pattern engraved on it.

After leaving the hallway, Yebin, who had been keeping her mouth shut just in case, quietly advised him.

“Be careful.”

Siwoo nodded and opened the door to the training grounds.

The style itself was old, but the building itself was recently built.
Thanks to that, the wooden door opened smoothly and silently, revealing the scenery behind it.

The Sword Witch.

She was holding a sword and slowly swinging it down, slow enough to make one yawn.
It was a training method that Siwoo had been following when he was practicing the basics, a clear sword path.

It was a seemingly simple training method that involved repeating the exact same movements at the same timing and speed, but the difficulty was higher than one might think.

Repeating the exact same movements required perfect control over every part of the body.

She followed her movements with her eyes.
It was a sword path that felt different from her master’s.

A slash that stretched out like a snake from her small frame.
A sticky sword path that wrapped around from all directions.
And nimble movements that pierced through the blind spots.

Siwoo, who was a master of martial arts, understood why he had been completely defeated in close combat.
Just by looking at that sword dance, one could tell.

Rinne was a master of martial arts who was not at all inferior to her master in terms of technique alone.

After finishing a slow sword dance, Rinne finally cast a cold gaze at him.

“Leave.”

A gaze that was directed straight at Yebin, not Siwoo.
Yebin flinched at the gaze, as if she had been stabbed by a knife.

She had been planning to stay by his side if possible.

She didn’t know what might happen to him, and she was planning to be a little stubborn in case she could help him.

But the indifferent eyes she had seen while living together were gone.

The moment she saw Shin Siwoo, a vortex of hot emotion was swirling, emitting a fierce pressure and replacing the empty space.

“It’s okay. Go. I’ll see you later.”

Siwoo stood in front of Yebin, subtly blocking her gaze.

“……”
“……”

The two people who had met again after a few hours.

Although she didn’t have the Red Branch, Siwoo was not restricted in any way.
She had enough power to resume the fight.

If she repeatedly amplified her empty magic power, it would be possible.
Could she defeat her here?

Siwoo inwardly shook her head.
The Red Branch was a large part of her power.

Moreover, if she recalled their final clash, it was nearly impossible to defeat her in this state.
Even if she was lucky enough to kill her, this place was ‘Hexennacht’, in the middle of enemy territory.

It wouldn’t be too late to observe her reaction and purpose and plan for the future.
But how should she start the conversation?

“To become stronger, I will not hesitate to do anything.”

Rinne suddenly started talking to herself.
Her unwavering gaze was still fixed on Siwoo.

“I fight and struggle to gain power. Everything else is meaningless sediment, and I cut off meaningless branches to reach a higher level.”

The conversation began with vague words that made one wonder who she was talking to.

“Inner ruthlessness, a lofty ambition, and a fighting spirit to subdue those stronger than oneself. Nothing else is of any value… Yes, you are like me.”
“……?”

She was watching, thinking that she was introducing herself in a cool way, but the ending was strange.

Huh? Me?
She held back the urge to say that.

Siwoo preferred lying in bed to fighting, and her research into magic was for the sake of her own safety and the researcher’s unique desire to learn, not because she was deeply interested in strength itself.

But ‘you are like me?’
She couldn’t relate to that at all.

“That’s a good posture. Rather, a sloppy disguise can allow you to deliver an unexpected blow to an opponent who underestimates you.”

Rinne was increasingly saying things she didn’t understand.

“But you don’t need to hide it from me.”

Magic power flowed around her.
The outlines of objects blurred, and colors flowed out through the gaps.

The self-magnetic magic she had shown when she delivered the final blow.
A black and white world.

Siwoo straightened her posture, thinking it was a battle, but unlike before, the range of her power was limited to Rinne’s surroundings.

Inside, Rinne’s eyes shone as if they could see through everything.
She couldn’t move as if her chest had been stabbed.

“In this mind’s eye, I can see your true nature hidden behind your mask. A pure obsession with strength, so pure that it’s frightening.”

As soon as she withdrew her magic power, the surrounding scenery, which had lost its color, regained its original appearance.

“Ah….”

Siwoo’s mind was spinning.
At first, Siwoo, who thought she was talking nonsense, finally realized what she was talking about.

Rinne was seeing Siwoo’s true nature with her unique ability, whether it was a mind’s eye or something else.
However, she was looking too deeply, and was seeing the nature of a strange person, not Siwoo.

If she was looking at the nature of the Black Knight, who seemed willing to do anything for that magic, and who had been honing her magic even after being trapped in her subconscious, it was understandable why she would say that.

A flash of inspiration struck her.
She was mistaken.

She thought that Siwoo was her kind, or that their interests were aligned.

Saying ‘Huh? That’s not me’ here would be a bad move.
If she could use this misunderstanding to her advantage, she might be able to find a way out of this desperate situation.

The important thing here was.
Only her acting skills.

“Hahaha.”

A dry laugh that was completely out of place for the situation burst out.
She thought she had taken the concept too far in trying to capture the feeling of an enemy of the state, but…
It was already too late.

“Not bad, Sword Witch.”

By now, a cheap villain-like smile was on Siwoo’s lips.