City ​​of Witches 647

## Chapter 647 – #131_Arcana Town (2)

#647

1.
Unlike Siwoo, who was dragged away unconscious and imprisoned in Hyangwol Pavilion, Yebin had been conscious from the ‘gate’ and had passed through the city.
Therefore, she had a rough idea of the general scenery of Hexennacht.

Unlike Gehenna, which stretched horizontally to the point where the horizon was visible, Hexennacht was said to be an underground city with a vertical structure.

Hyangwol Pavilion was located on the highest floor and was a mansion surrounded by a dense bamboo forest, so it was impossible to see the surrounding city scenery properly.

In fact, even when listening to Yebin’s poor explanation, Siwoo wondered how impressive it could be.
After all, Siwoo had spent a long time in Gehenna, a city of brilliant glory and permanence.

Just by turning his head, each building standing haphazardly was a cultural asset.
Without even going to Ars Magna Town, just looking at the Malkuth Gallery boasted a splendor and luxury that was hard to find anywhere in the present world.
He was more than used to fantasy-like scenery.

However, after leaving the bamboo forest surrounding Hyangwol Pavilion and looking down at the city entrance, Siwoo was overwhelmed by a scene that surpassed his imagination.

“Wow…”

A wide open space reminiscent of a marble quarry.
In the dizzyingly deep pit, a city stacked like a dessert tower was submerged in the swirling mist.

Towers that rose sharply from the distant ground.
Dizzying drawbridges connecting town to town.
Vertical elevators that went up and down.
A huge cauldron where an unidentified liquid was bubbling.

To operate all of this, huge gears turned everywhere, and the sound of steam echoed like a ghostly cry. Meanwhile, the mist, which held the city lights, shone like bioluminescent creatures in the deep sea, pushing back the endless night.

For Siwoo, who had only imagined an anthill when he heard the word underground city, it was an awe-inspiring sight.

So, all of this was created in just about a year?
It felt like he had glimpsed the possibilities of what could be achieved when many witches gathered and combined their powers.

“Follow me.”

The place Linne led him to was an elevator.
It was more like a hoist car installed on the exterior wall of a construction site building than an elevator.

First of all, there were no proper walls, and the outside was clearly visible.

As he closed the door, sensing the situation, the elevator, which had been rattling roughly a few times, descended towards the city at a speed that made him feel like he was floating.

The place they arrived at was Arcana Town, located roughly in the middle of the deep underground city.

As soon as he got off the elevator, he saw rows of brick houses and roads running between them, and gas lamps that glowed gloomily.

He had felt it was huge when he was vaguely looking down, but now that he was inside, he could feel the scale more clearly.
Even though it was an enclosed space on both sides, he didn’t feel any sense of confinement.

If he didn’t look up at the ceiling where the sky was cut out in a circle, he would even forget that this was an underground city.

If Tarot Town had fantastically implemented the Renaissance, and Lenormand Town had implemented the Belle Époque era, Arcana Town was right in the middle.
It was a landscape that seemed to depict the gloomy Industrial Revolution era.

Of course, there were no textile machines here that ran all day on coal, nor were there workers who were exploited for more than 18 hours a day.
Well….
The latter might exist.

“Do all the witches live here?”

There were about 50 houses lined up on the left and right just from what he could see.
Most of the windows were lit, which meant that people lived inside.

“That’s right.”
“I guess so.”

Indeed, no matter how big Hexennacht was, it could not be bigger than Gehenna.

To accommodate so many public figures and exiles in this width, the residential area would inevitably become dense.
Once again, Siwoo could see that Linne, who had a separate mansion on the top floor, had considerable influence in this city.

To make an analogy based on the situation in Gehenna, she was probably one of the nobles with a title?

“By the way, where are we going?”
“Almack’s Club. We have plenty of time.”

If a typical modern person heard the word club, they would think of heart-pounding EDM and laser lights.

However, Siwoo, who had some experience as a witch, guessed that the club she was talking about meant a social gathering.
Was it a place where witches gathered and chatted like the Red Roof Salon?

He didn’t know what they would do there, but he followed her silently for now.
After all, escaping at this point would be impossible no matter how hard he tried.

As he tried to familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain, he began to see other witches.
Most of them were wearing modern clothes or very simple dresses.

“Oh my.”
“Huh?”

Their reactions to seeing Siwoo and Linne were all the same.

First, they would widen their eyes and let out a short exclamation or freeze in place, stunned.

Then, their eyes would fill with curiosity and desire, and after looking at Linne next to him again, they would mutter curses or sigh.

This was normal, and one witch who was leaning on the window frame and smoking a pipe even dropped her pipe, and another witch bumped into a street lamp.

“……”

He had anticipated and worried about this kind of attention.

In the witch society, Siwoo was a celebrity that everyone knew.
Considering the witches who had clung to him when Siwoo first entered Gehenna, this was a natural course of events.

Even with his teacher next to him, it was like that, so he thought that if he was a public figure who was much more reckless, they might immediately reach out with their vicious claws….

Surprisingly, there were no flirtatious advances until they left the residential area.
There was no denying that Linne, who was silently keeping her mouth shut, acted as a protective charm.

After leaving the similar-looking housing complex, a drawbridge that seemed to be suspended in the air greeted Siwoo and Linne.
The narrow bridge, where only one carriage could pass, led to the plaza, and when they got on top, they heard the sound of waves crashing.

“What is this sound?”
“Sound?”
“It sounds like I can hear waves.”
“The lowest level of Hexennacht is connected to the sea.”

Even after hearing the explanation, he didn’t understand.

“Can I check it out?”

After receiving Linne’s permission, he leaned over the railing and looked down. The other half of the scenery, which he couldn’t see from the top floor due to the fog, unfolded before him.

When he enhanced his eyesight with magic, he could see the bottom of the city where the dark blue sea was surging instead of the ground.
Hexennacht had a structure like a well.

While several cargo ships loaded with containers were floating around, a huge crane was spewing steam and pulling cargo to an adjacent town.

Surrounding the round sea was a large circle, ‘the gate’, similar to the one in Border Town.
The majesty of the huge artificial structure with a diameter of over 2 km and its brilliantly shining border were no different.
The only difference was whether the direction it was placed was vertical or horizontal.

Unfortunately, the distance was too far to analyze the flow of magic.
For a more precise analysis, he would have to reach that place and examine its structure and appearance in more detail.

“It’s a scenic place.”

Strictly speaking, it was espionage, so he said his impressions as if nothing was wrong.

“I don’t like it.”

He had learned from past experience that if he ended the conversation with ‘I see’ here, the conversation would end forever.
If he wanted to continue talking to her, he needed to take the initiative.

“Why?”
“Because it’s noisy.”

It was an answer that he could understand to some extent.
The sound of clocks ticking from all directions, and the occasional sound of steam.
It seemed like soundproofing magic would be essential to get a good night’s sleep in a place like this.

The drawbridge was connected to a plaza carved out of a cliff.

The disc where Siwoo and Linne arrived by elevator was a space set aside for residence, and the tunnel-like space inside the cliff was the real entrance to Arcana Town.

As they went further inside, the number of people and noise increased.
When they were in the residential area, there were only about 10 witches, but here, it was full of witches.

Perhaps because there was no tendency to cling to the old ways like in Gehenna, the unique atmosphere was highlighted by the addition of various modern items and the unique clothing of many witches.

“Hello? Pretty boy?”
“Whew~”

Perhaps they had gained courage from the large number of people, or perhaps it was because they had drunk a lot of alcohol in their hands.
The number of witches who recognized Siwoo and whistled or made flirtatious advances increased.

It wasn’t like he had no experience, so he ignored them appropriately.
By the way, he had heard that there were no ‘citizens’ in Hexennacht yet, but there were quite a few here.

The Latin man setting up a stall on the street, the black man soliciting customers in front of a brothel with pink lights, and the Asian man pulling a rickshaw could not be witches.

It had been several months since Yebin was imprisoned, so the system was gradually taking shape after that.

Anyway, Arcana Town was as crowded as Myeongdong during peak season.
The music coming from all over the place was mixed with the dizzying sound of footsteps, making his head spin.

“Is it a special day today?”

Siwoo asked, noticing that the whole town seemed to be strangely excited and noisy.

“It’s the day of the auction. We came for the auction too.”
“Almack’s Club? Is it there?”
“That’s right.”

Siwoo had never participated in an auction before.

Ah, to be precise, he had participated once.
When he was captured in Gehenna, he stood on the platform next to Takasho and was sold to a public official from the city hall.

“This way.”

Linne didn’t even glance at the annoying witches who were making advances and only went along the designated path.
The place they arrived at was Almack’s Club, where the crowd was particularly dense.

The exterior looked like an armory that had been bought by a famous porn company.

Other witches waited in line, having their slaves stand in line for them, but Linne skipped the long line and entered through another entrance.

“That gentleman over there…”

Perhaps the man in the neat clothes was bothering him, the confused male ticket inspector guided them to the theater where the auction would be held after hearing the words ‘he’s with me’.

Siwoo and Linne’s seats were in the royal box on the second floor in the center front.

It was the best seat to see the stage where the auction would be held, and at the same time, it was a place where privacy was perfectly guaranteed because there were only Linne and Siwoo.

“Have a good time. Please press the bell when you need anything.”

The male attendant awkwardly poured champagne and waited at the door.

Only then did Siwoo feel completely relieved.
When he heard the word auction, he thought, ‘Am I going to be sold again this time?’
Even though it was an absurd thought, he couldn’t ignore his past experiences.

When the first floor seats were almost full and the lights began to flow from under the stage curtain,

“It’s a gift.”

Linne opened her mouth.

“Choose one thing you want.”