City ​​of Witches 709

Chapter 709 – #142_The Golden Witch (5)

#709

1.
Count Kohab silently cleared away the untouched cup of black tea, as if it were his duty.
He glanced at Duke Erelim, who was sitting on the sofa and drinking tea.

“Yvonne, if you have something to say, say it.”
“No. It’s not that…”
“It’s okay. You can say it.”

After hesitating, Yvonne cautiously opened her mouth about the shocking news she had just heard.

“Shin Siwoo and Duke Tiferet were lovers.”

After that, she continued with a grumble as if she had encountered something blasphemous, like, ‘They’re in a master-disciple relationship, how could they….’

She was confused that Duke Tiferet, who couldn’t possibly be unaware of what the priest system meant in the witch society, had still entered a romantic relationship.

However, Yvonne’s words were just the introduction.
Sensing that there was a main point, Yvonne spoke to Blanche, who was silent.

“Why didn’t you tell Duke Tiferet? That you were going to receive Shin Siwoo’s custody as a price for the peace treaty.”

That’s right.
The current peace agreement with the Golden Witch included such a condition.
If she had told the truth, it was highly likely that Duke Tiferet would have acted differently.

But Blanche didn’t tell the truth.

“Yvonne.”
“Yes.”
“As soon as I receive the custody of the male witch, I plan to secretly possess him.”
“……”

Count Kohab wasn’t surprised.
It was something he had vaguely guessed.

Otherwise, there would have been no need to continue negotiations behind the scenes, and there would have been no reason not to tell Duke Tiferet.
However, what Count Kohab couldn’t understand was this.

“Is he such a valuable existence?”

Any other witch would be interested in an irregular who reached the level of a Great Witch in one generation as a male.
He would be someone worth investing all their fortune in, or even taking a hit publicly.

But who is Blanche Erelim?

The only 24th-level Duke of Gehenna.
An ancient witch who has lived for over a thousand years.
A witch who possesses the unprecedented self-generating magic called ‘The Heavenly Void Record.’

Moreover, Duke Erelim has a lot to bear.
Secretly taking Shin Siwoo seemed like putting more than his value on the line.

If this fact were to be discovered, her relationship with Duke Tiferet would turn for the worst.
She would also not be able to avoid conflict with Yesod and the Geminai County, who maintain a close relationship with him.
The plan to ease the regulations set by Keter and to form an alliance with Hexennacht could also go wrong.

Given the situation, the question naturally arose, ‘Is it really necessary to go this far for just a male witch?’

Duke Erelim only needed one word to make Count Kohab understand.

“Yvonne, he inherited Keter’s vessel.”

2.
It was a very rare sight.
Amelia, who always adhered to Gehenna’s attire even when she wasn’t particularly dressing up, was wearing modern clothes.

The large carrier or windbreaker that Amelia could curl up in and spend the night in seemed to be something she had copied from Eloa.
After all, Eloa was the most experienced in the current world subjugation war.

Tiferet didn’t bother to talk about the conversation he had with Count Erelim.
He didn’t mention that Eloa would lose her title the moment she left the current world and entered Hexennacht, or that Duke Erelim’s faction was skeptical about this rescue operation.

If it was to save his beloved disciple and lover, would this title matter?
Amelia must have been prepared for that as well.

So, he praised her.

“It suits you well.”
“Thank you.”
“What about Sharon?”
“I didn’t tell her separately.”
“Good job.”

Without any further words, the two reached an agreement that they would be the only ones entering Hexennacht to rescue Siwoo.
It was understandable that they couldn’t take the twin apprentices, but they also decided not to mobilize Sharon and Lulue.

“She’ll be upset.”
“It’s dangerous, and Sharon and Lulue are still young witches.”
“I know.”

Both Eloa and Amelia were powerful figures at the top of the witch society.
If their powers were combined, they might even be able to stop a world-ending disaster.
Conversely, they could also declare the end of the world.

Nevertheless, this operation was too dangerous.

A witch’s battle is not a game.
It doesn’t mean that it’s a fantasy game where you can go on a rampage if you have good levels and equipment.

There is a limit to an individual’s magical power, and if they were to fight head-on, the maximum number of Great Witches that two people could fight at the same time would be ten.
If there were high-ranking witches among them, the worst situation would be getting surrounded by the enemy while being held back.

Therefore, the key to this infiltration was to break through in a straight line while avoiding combat as much as possible.
It was closer to a rescue operation to just take Siwoo.

The problem wasn’t just this.
The fact that they didn’t know where or in what condition he was being held was also a factor that lowered the success rate of the operation.

Eloa coldly judged that the success rate of this operation was below 10%.
Even if Sharon and Lulue joined, it would still be around 20%.

They couldn’t bring two people who had been witches for less than 20 years from apprentice witches to such a dangerous place.

“I’ve roughly secured the map of Hexennacht through interrogation.”

There was no time to stop and talk.
Amelia and Eloa talked as they headed to the immigration office.

“How do you plan to enter?”
“The entry procedures for Hexennacht are much more complicated than Gehenna. Even if you take away their citizenship, they will be checked as soon as they use disguise magic in Hexennacht. You might be able to get away with it, but if it were me, my identity would be immediately revealed.

Instead, I’ve secured the location of the ship that supplies goods to Hexennacht. It’s docked on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Remember the code for the cargo I secured in advance.”

On a white note, GPS coordinates and cargo classification numbers such as RP 2457071 and DX 413166193 were written.
They just had to remove the cargo with the corresponding classification code and sneak in.

Amelia memorized the code and asked.

“I heard that the immigration screening and process are all strict, can we really sneak in by hiding in the cargo? I don’t think they’ll just let it slide because it’s cargo.”

At Amelia’s point, Eloa handed over the citizenship of Hexennacht that she had in her possession.
The citizenship was in the form of a red ticket.

“They can’t check all that cargo one by one. They’ll probably shorten the process with artifacts. They usually do a search by modulating the magic wave, and they use the same device as the one that checks citizenship. Is it possible?”

Amelia understood what Eloa meant just by hearing that.

Based on the magic wave transmission function built into the citizenship, she was to reverse engineer the artifact used for demodulation, and then create a disguise magic that could avoid the artifact’s search.

Amelia, who had examined the citizenship using particles, nodded.

“One day is enough.”
“Then, all that’s left is to find the cargo and hide until the ship leaves.”

The two arrived at the immigration office.
The immigration officer was nowhere to be seen.

The reason why she, who always resided in the immigration office unless there was a major issue, was absent even after the commotion earlier was one.
Although she didn’t say it directly, if Eloa ignored the travel ban and forced her way out, she would take responsibility for her own negligence and pretend not to know.

Eloa silently expressed her gratitude for her consideration, and the moment she was about to head to the portal with Amelia with a determined expression.
An unexpected person appeared.

“Oh, pink hair, your perfume is just in time.”

It was Lulue Nukelavi, the witch of the deep sea, who seemed to have just finished her entry procedures.
It was an awkward encounter for the two who were trying to get rid of Lulue.

Eloa had an upright personality and couldn’t lie, and Amelia was quite clumsy.

“Are you coming back from finishing your trial?”

Amelia, who just wanted to say a quick greeting and leave, had no choice but to do so.

She had been out to take the trial in the first place, and you could tell just by looking at those sparkling, bright blue eyes.
The look in her eyes was saying, ‘Praise me!’ which immediately diluted the tension that Amelia and Eloa shared.

“That’s right!”

Lulue raised her chin.

“I have regained my full power. The gold and jewels buried in the kingdom are enough to buy Gehenna a hundred times over. Can you feel it? The power flowing through my body? The wealth? The elegance?”
“Yes, I can feel it.”

Of course, Lulue’s claim that she could buy Gehenna a hundred times over was an exaggeration.

However, in reality, gold bars and jewels that filled a large room greeted Lulue in the kingdom’s treasury, and oil drilling rights and seabed development rights, which were worth twice as much, were stacked up in layers while maintaining their legal validity.

On top of that, she had received confirmation from Dorothy, whom she trusted more than anyone, that Siwoo didn’t seem to be in such a dangerous situation, so she was just in a good mood.

“Let’s hear the bragging later.”

Eloa, who would have usually listened to Lulue’s boasting with the intention of just accepting her childishness, didn’t have that luxury right now.
However, Lulue, who didn’t get as much praise as she wanted, stopped Eloa.

“Stop, pink-haired witch. I have an important story to tell you.”
“I already said I’d listen later.”

Lulue, who would usually flinch as soon as Eloa showed her killing intent, wasn’t like that today.
Instead, she puffed out her chest and counter-provoked her.

“If you think of the old me, you’re mistaken. The current me can take you both on with one finger.”
“Amelia, let’s go.”
“Yes. Good job, Lulue.”

Eloa silently passed by Lulue, and Amelia reluctantly added a word of praise and tried to leave.

Lulue frowned and ran in front of the two, spreading her arms to block them.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop!”
“I told you we don’t have time to play around, didn’t I?”
“That’s not it!”

Lulue, who didn’t give in to Amelia’s cold tone, said.

“Shin Siwoo is being held in the city of the public enemy!”
“……”
“……”

From their perspective, it was really late news.

But it was strange.

Lulue had completed her trial alone in an unknown underwater kingdom, so she shouldn’t know about Siwoo’s kidnapping.
There was no way she would have found out about the information, which was treated as confidential, as soon as she entered Gehenna.

Lulue continued with a triumphant tone to the two surprised people.

“I have a subordinate inside Hexennacht. I want to talk with you to rescue him, so follow my orders.”

Amelia and Eloa’s surprised eyes met.
It was a good opportunity, needless to say.